Israel Matzav: Right wingers flood Peace Now 'fink line' with calls

Right wingers flood Peace Now 'fink line' with calls

Peace Now has set up a 'fink line' where people can report violations of the 'settlement freeze.' But it's been flooded with calls from Right wingers.

In a twist, right wing Israelis are turning the tables on far-left organization Peace Now. The group set up a hotline for Israelis to "fink" on residents of Judea and Samaria who build homes, in violation of the government's construction freeze. The group says on its website that the hotline will help enforce the freeze, "which is an Israeli interest."

But instead, many of the calls are from righwing Israelis – reporting on illegal Arab construction. The calls reporting the Arab violations – as well as "nonsense calls" - are taking up much of the tape on Peace Now's answering machines, leaving little room for the messages the hotline was intended for. Responding to the onslaught of "incorrect" messages, Peace Now Director Yariv Oppenheimer said that the varied responses, consisting of reports on Arabs, curses, and even jokes, were "entertaining."

Heh.

Israel Matzav: Right wingers flood Peace Now 'fink line' with calls

Israel Matzav: Should Israel release 1,000 terrorists for Gilad Shalit?

Should Israel release 1,000 terrorists for Gilad Shalit?

You can vote on the question in the title by going here.

Israel Matzav: Should Israel release 1,000 terrorists for Gilad Shalit?

Israel Matzav: Israeli i-phone app finds broken parking meters

Israeli i-phone app finds broken parking meters

Do you live or drive in New York City? If so, you'll really want to check out this i-phone application. It was developed in Israel and it finds broken parking meters.

Behind the application, called NYC Broken Meters, are Raviv Turner, a native Israeli and former officer in the Armored Corps who has been living in New York City for the past eight years, and his partner Ilya Levin.

"About a year-and-a-half ago, when the iPhone platform was opened to external developers, I started the company Guerillapps with Ilya that promotes application development for the iPhone," said Turner in an interview with Calcalist.

"The City of New York recently announced a competition for developing city applications called NYC BigApps. We signed up and started looking at databases the city put online for the competition when we came across a database that collects traffic inspectors' reports of broken meters. We live and work in New York and know how hard it is to find parking. This is how the idea for the application was born," explained Turner.

The application was launched last week and received quite a bit of media buzz within a short time: an article on page 3 of the popular newspaper The New York Post, an item in the news section of NBC's local news station, and endless mentions in blogs.

Now including this one. Read the whole thing.

Israel Matzav: Israeli i-phone app finds broken parking meters

Israel Matzav: Et tu Doonesbury?

Et tu Doonesbury?

Yes, President Obumbler has even lost Doonesbury (although not for anything that would bother me):

More here (Hat Tip: Instapundit).

Israel Matzav: Et tu Doonesbury?

Israel Matzav: New Hamas video shows off their new anti-aircraft gun

Israel Matzav: New Hamas video shows off their new anti-aircraft gun

Israel Matzav: Christmas collapse?

Christmas collapse?

Heh.

Israel Matzav: Christmas collapse?

DoubleTapper: IDF Shooters

IDF Shooters

IDF Marksman training is a 1-2 week course that teaches the basics of range-determination, fast-fire cover, and shooting (day and night, prone and kneeling for the most part).

IDF Sniping is a 3-4 week course. The weapon used is the M24 with a Leupold Mark 4 10x40mm LR/T M3 scope. This course tries to apply some understanding of the greater role of a sniper (camouflage, tactics, independent/small unit action). It includes recon basics, long range fire support, range-determination, target mapping, target determination, and an understanding of the sniping system (including tripods, bipods, no-pod, prone, sitting, kneeling, day and night shooting).

Battle Prepped IDF M24 Sniper Rifles

Sniper Badge
Worn by IDF Certified Snipers

The CT/HRT course uses the Mauser SR 86 rifle. These snipers have already taken the basic course. The course deals with house to house sniping, hostage rescue, and sniping in crowded (civilian) areas.

IDF 50 Caliber long range Barrett Sniper training is another story entirely. The basic use of the Barrett M82A1 is against light armor vehicles, jeeps, etc. . .

It has also become commonplace to use is against terrorists taking cover. The training for this weapon is not unlike the sniper training, but it requires more attention to distance, as the effective fire can be up to 2 kilometers. In one IDF live fire event we took down a Bell 212 chopper.

M82A1 rifle, early version

M82A1 rifle, current version

In 2001, the IDF introduced the SR 25 rifle. It is supposed to take over the long range fire support that was once the role of the M24. The semi-automatic nature of the rifle makes this weapon better as a fast-fire support weapons for the mid-range, but less accurate than the M24. The 7.62 bullet makes for greater stopping power than the M4, M16 and Tavor at the 300-600 range.


Traditionally, the role of the IDF Sniper has been one of fire support embedded within the infantry companies.

Lately, with the creation of sniper platoons, the IDF snipers function as independent units that can be divided into 3 man teams that operate as an additional unit within the infantry company.










In addition, the IDF uses the M89 SR. It was mainly used by as a mid-range system (similar to the SR 25). It is used by IDF Special Forces for tight urban warfare as a "dirty" sniper weapons (it is easy to conceal).

T.C.I. M89-SR

Search for related posts

DoubleTapper: IDF Shooters

Parashat Vayigash: The Job of Mashiach ben Yosef

פורסם על ידי Mordechai Friedfertig ב- 21:28

22

דצמ

2009

[Tal Chermon p. 98]

Yosef himself had no equal in his ability to build the material world. This talent of the Mashiach ben Yosef has continued to unfold throughout history. It did not begin with Yosef and it did not cease with his passing. Avraham Avinu had already displayed this ability in his victorious war against the four kings (Bereshit, chap. 14), in his successful discovery of fresh water in a well he had dug (Bereshit 21:25) and in his great economic prosperity with his flock, silver and gold (ibid. 13:2). This talent also became apparent in Yitzchak when he dug wells, and was blessed with an unexpectedly prolific crop, a hundred-fold more than others (ibid. 26:12). It reached its peak with Yosef as the viceroy of Egypt. Yosef's descendants demonstrated the same expertise. Two hundred thousand of his resourceful offspring from the tribe of Efraim broke out of slavery and left Egypt earlier than the rest of the Nation (Shemot Rabbah 20:11). Later, Hashem chose Yehoshua of the tribe of Efraim to perform the miracle of halting the sun in its tracks (Yehoshua 10:12). Yehoshua became famous for this act. Shaul established both the army and the kingdom as a forerunner of the permanent kingdom of the Davidic line (Shmuel 1 14:47-52). Yoravam, an offspring of Yosef, was appointed as chief tax-collector of all the House of Yosef during King Shlomo's rule and finally became the King of Israel after the splitting of the Kingdom (Melachim 1 11:28-31). Maran Ha-Rav Kook wrote that in these times of our national re-awakening, Herzl was a spark of the Mashiach ben Yosef and he was therefore a driving force for the rebuilding of our national entity (In his eulogy for Herzl called "The Eulogy in Yerushalayim," published in Ma'amrei Ha-Re'eiyah, p. 98).

Originally posted by Torat HaRav Aviner

Elder of Ziyon: Abbas for new intifada in Arabic, against it in English

Elder of Ziyon: Abbas for new intifada in Arabic, against it in English

Love of the Land: PMW Special Report on Palestinian kidnap-for-hostage tactic

PMW Special Report on Palestinian kidnap-for-hostage tactic

Itamar Marcus, Nan Jacques Zilberdik and Barbara Crook
Palestinian Media Watch (PMW)
21 December 09

This PMW Special Report includes 50 Palestinian statements concerning the Palestinian kidnapping-for-hostage policy. The statements cover the period since the release of 1000 terrorists by Israel in exchange for a kidnapped Israeli in 2004, until the current negotiations for the release of Gilad Shalit in December 2009. These Palestinian statements document that the Palestinian motivation and justification today for continued kidnappings is the direct result of the earlier prisoner releases.

Israel's release of prisoners in exchange for hostages is not seen by Palestinian society as merely the last stage of one kidnapping, but as the first stage of the next kidnapping.

Executive Summary:

Background:
More than 10,000 Palestinians are currently in Israeli prisons for terrorism of various degrees. The Palestinian Authority demands that Israel release them all, including murderers of civilians and masterminds of suicide terror who are serving multiple life sentences. Israel argues that they have been imprisoned following proper judicial process and must complete their sentences.

PMW Findings:
Due to Israel's willingness to release Palestinian terrorists from jail in exchange for freeing kidnapped and imprisoned Israeli hostages, Palestinians have concluded that kidnapping-for-hostage is a valid strategy to achieve the release of additional Palestinian terrorists. This report documents that these opinions are found across the political spectrum and among the Palestinian leadership, both Fatah and Hamas.

(Read full bulletin)

Love of the Land: PMW Special Report on Palestinian kidnap-for-hostage tactic

Israel Matzav: Obamateurism of the year

Obamateurism of the year

Hot Air is polling to find the Obamateurism of the year. One of the items up today is the picture at the top of this post. You can vote for it by going

Israel Matzav: Obamateurism of the year

Israel Matzav: Overnight music video

Overnight music video

This is from the very first HASC concert and it features Mordechai Ben David singing "Kein yevarech othanu kulanu yachad" (So shall he bless all of us together), which is part of the daily prayers.

Let's go to the videotape.

Israel Matzav: Overnight music video

Love of the Land: The Murdered Fathers Club

The Murdered Fathers Club

David Schenker
The Weekly Standard
19 December 09

On Saturday, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri traveled to Damascus for a meeting with Syrian president Bashar Asad, the man widely believed to have ordered the assassination of his father, former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri. The 2005 murder sparked the Cedar Revolution, a mass protest movement that resulted in the end of the thirty-year Syrian military occupation of Lebanon, and swept the pro-West March 14th coalition to power. Although March 14 again triumphed over the Iranian and Syrian-backed Hizballah-led opposition in elections this past June, Washington's allies in Beirut are now facing a crisis. Hariri's trip to Damascus represents the return of Syrian influence to Lebanon, and perhaps, the end of the Cedar Revolution.

Six months ago, March 14 appeared to be in good shape. The underdog coalition had defeated Hizballah at the polls, and seemed well positioned to form a government. But the process dragged out for months as the opposition held out for preponderant influence in the cabinet. In the end, facing the specter of Hizballah violence, Hariri ultimately succumbed to pressure and acceded to opposition demands.

The composition of the cabinet--in which Hizballah wields veto power over government initiatives--was a political defeat for Hariri. Worse, facing continued pressure from Hizballah and its allies, Hariri was compelled to make an equally loathsome concession on the Ministerial Statement, the policy guidance for his incoming administration. In contravention to United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701--which stipulates the "disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon"--Hariri was forced to accept compromise language legitimating Hizballah's weapons.

Even more damaging, during the process of forming the government, Hariri was forced to accept the condition that he would travel to Damascus to meet Asad.

(Full article)

Love of the Land: The Murdered Fathers Club

Israel Matzav: Video: Dore Gold talks to Jerusalem bloggers

Video: Dore Gold talks to Jerusalem bloggers

At a conference at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, former Ambassador to the United Nations Dore Gold discusses how in Israel, as well as the United States and in the Jewish community, there is a consensus about the need for defensible borders for Israel as well as a united Jerusalem as the capital.

As you may recall, I was at this session this past Sunday.

Let's go to the videotape.



By the way, the parts of the session that I blogged on Sunday were videotaped and will be available on the JCPA web site.

Israel Matzav: Video: Dore Gold talks to Jerusalem bloggers

The Torah Revolution: Jackie Mason on Obama

Jackie Mason on Obama

The Torah Revolution: Jackie Mason on Obama

Israel Matzav: Breaking: Israel wants 125 terrorists deported

Breaking: Israel wants 125 terrorists deported

A Channel 1 news report this evening says that Israel is demanding the deportation of 125 senior terrorists as part of the 'terrorists for Gilad' trade. Unfortunately, the government is apparently willing to allow Marwan Barghouti to return to his home.

Giving a conditional green light for a deal with Hamas to free captured soldier Gilad Schalit, Israel on Tuesday reportedly gave a German mediator a list of 125 Palestinian key security prisoners and the terms under which it would agree to their release. In many cases, Channel 1 reported, their release would be contingent on their deportation

The 125 names were selected by Israel from a list of about 300 names originally presented by Hamas last spring, and subsequently reduced to some 180. According to Channel 1, Israel was firmly opposed to the release of any Israeli Arabs on the original Hamas lists, and to the release of some of the gravest offenders with "blood on their hands." The German diplomat was to meet with Hamas representatives in Gaza later on Tuesday night or on Wednesday morning and present the terrorist group with the Israeli conditions. The Hamas leadership in Damascus is reportedly opposed to a deal that would include the deportation of a significant number of released prisoners.

According to the Prime Minister's Office, the inner cabinet has given Israeli mediator Hagai Hadas a green light to continue negotiations with Hamas to secure Schalit's release. The inner cabinet is reportedly looking to go forward with the deal as long as Israel doesn't release certain prisoners with "blood on their hands" back into the West Bank or inside the Green Line.

The inner cabinet, known as the forum of seven, is made up of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu (Likud), Defense Minister Ehud Barak (Labor), Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman (Israel Beiteinu), Interior Minister Eli Yishai (Shas), Intelligence Agencies Minister Dan Meridor (Likud), Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Ya'alon (Likud) and Minister-without-Portfolio Bennie Begin (Likud). The forum met late into the night on Monday in what was described by insiders as a final marathon discussion on the prisoner-swap agreement that would end Schalit's three-and-a-half-year Gaza captivity.

I can't see Hamas agreeing to so many terrorists being deported.

Apparently, once again, Hamas in Gaza is much more anxious to do the deal than the Hamas leadership in Damascus that actually has to make the decision.

Read it all.

Israel Matzav: Breaking: Israel wants 125 terrorists deported

DoubleTapper: IDF Women Documantary

DoubleTapper: IDF Women Documantary

Israel Matzav: 'The only country with a will'

'The only country with a will'

As much as I talk like I expect an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, there's a part of me that still believes that at the last moment, the United States will step in and force Iran to halt its nuclear proliferation efforts using something less than an all-out military attack. Intellectually, with the current administration in power, that sort of thing is probably unrealistic. In that context, hearing a former State Department expert on nuclear matters refer to Israel as 'the only country with a will' when it comes to stopping Iran cannot but serve as a wakeup call.

Last week, I asked Mark Fitzpatrick, senior fellow for nonproliferation at the International Institute for Strategic Studies here, and a former State Department expert on nuclear issues, about where he saw the difficulties converging next year.

He said sanctions by the United States and European Union affecting Iran’s imports of gasoline (the mullahs have oil, but small refining capacities) could be enacted, but he doubted their effectiveness in stopping the Iranian drive towards nukes.

If that is the case, Mr. Fitzpatrick has said “threatening military force” may be the way forward. He told me, “Iran has to know it’s a real possibility.”

This was in the context of circumstances in 2010 that appear particularly sensitive. Mr. Fitzpatrick said if Israel’s obvious red-lines were known to Iran — Iranian expulsion of U.N. nuclear inspectors from its territory or its renunciation the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, for example — the nature of other tripwires that could unleash an attack were deliberately kept unclear by the Israelis.

He believes Iran’s stockpile of low enriched uranium, which he now estimated as sufficient for one and a half bombs when enriched, “will be the equivalent of three or four sometime next year.”

“When is too much too much?” for the Israelis, he asked. Or, if Iran intends to stop its enrichment and possible weapons work in building a nuke at a so-called breakout level, is that “so close that the Israelis can’t wait?”

Mr. Fitzpatrick is no advocate of an Israeli or American military strike on Iran. But if Israel would attack, he said, “I think Israel’s capacity is not insignificant. If the purpose is to take out Iran’s known enrichment-related facilities, I think Israel can do that.”

A good (and unhappy) guess is that by this time next year, we’ll be wondering when that’s going to happen.

If Mr. Fitzpatrick’s doubts about new sanctions’ inconclusive bite are correct, that pretty much guarantees United States and its European friends entering a contain-and-deter-Iran mode.

But can Iran be deterred?

Probably yes when it comes to actually dropping a bomb. On the other hand, unless the United States makes very clear it won’t stand for Iran producing or having the capacity to produce a nuke, the most likely Iranian response to deterrent noises will be stitching up a shroud of ambiguity to obscure its at-the-edge-of-production capabilities.

That would provide the credulous in the West a safe place to avoid a hard decision; and, if America goes along too, effectively turn the matter over to the Israelis.

Mr. Fitzpatrick had a good phrase for describing this approach. He said it would leave things “to the only country with the will” to make up its mind.

It's a disgrace that the American government is too paralyzed to do anything. There may yet be a price to be paid by it for having contracted the Iranian file out to Israel. But we are rapidly reaching the point of no return.

What could go wrong?

Israel Matzav: 'The only country with a will'

Love of the Land: NGO Report on Gaza: Blaming the Israeli Victims (Again)

NGO Report on Gaza: Blaming the Israeli Victims (Again)

NGO Monitor
22 December 09

A coalition of powerful political NGOs – including Amnesty-UK, Trocaire (Ireland), Finn Church Aid, Diakonia (Sweden), Oxfam, Oxfam-NOVIB (Holland), Cordaid (Holland), Christian Aid (UK) – have issued a report “Failing Gaza: No rebuilding, no recovery, no more excuses,” to coincide with the one-year anniversary of the Gaza conflict. As in numerous earlier publications on this topic, this report reflects the primacy of advocacy and the biased agendas of organizations claiming to promote “humanitarian aid”.

1) The central thesis of the report -- “primary responsibility lies with Israel” to end the blockade -- repeats the unsupported legal claim that Gaza remains occupied, as well as the false allegation of “collective punishment.” As legal scholars note, Gaza cannot be considered occupied, and economic sanctions are not illegal. These tendentious claims were apparently made in order to condemn Israel and create fictitious obligations.

2) Similarly, these groups blame Israel for ongoing conflict, minimizing the clear responsibility of Hamas for mass terror, and for blatant incitement to violence.

(Read full post)

Love of the Land: NGO Report on Gaza: Blaming the Israeli Victims (Again)

Love of the Land: Seventy Years Ago, Palestinian Arabs Threw Away Chance to Prevent Israel's Creation; Following the Same Policies Today

Seventy Years Ago, Palestinian Arabs Threw Away Chance to Prevent Israel's Creation; Following the Same Policies Today

Barry Rubin
The Rubin Report
22 December 09

The greatest opportunity ever to prevent Israel’s creation and instead make the entire land a Palestinian Arab state took place in 1939, specifically on May 17, 1939, seventy years ago.

What is truly remarkable is that the debate at that time and on that specific day was almost precisely identical to the situation on the day you’re reading this article. If you can understand these events, it is possible to comprehend why the conflict has ended this long with no end in sight.

Let’s set the scene. The British knew that another war was on the horizon with Germany and Italy ready to disrupt their control of the Mediterranean and Middle East. Fearful of Arab revolts in alliance with their fascist enemies, London was ready to give lots of concessions to them.

On the Palestine issue, the British government was so desperate that it offered an amazing deal. A single Palestine state (the British had conceded to Arab opposition over the word "federal") would be established in ten years with an Arab majority. Land sales to Jews would be prohibited in most of the country and Jewish immigration would be strictly limited. If the Arabs had agreed, Israel would never have been established. As it was, the British implemented the immigration restrictions any way, dooming hundreds of thousands of Jews in Europe to horrible deaths.

But the Arabs in Palestine rejected the proposed political deal to put them in charge of the government with a timetable for turning the country over to them. They walked out of negotiations with Britain, ostensibly over the ten-year waiting period. Most importantly, they believed that their goals could be achieved more quickly and completely through a combination of an Arab uprising and an Axis military victory in the coming war.

(Read full article)

Love of the Land: Seventy Years Ago, Palestinian Arabs Threw Away Chance to Prevent Israel's Creation; Following the Same Policies Today

Israel Matzav: British choir and its pro-'Palestinian' conductor barred by PA

British choir and its pro-'Palestinian' conductor barred by PA

A British choir and its pro-'Palestinian' conductor have been barred from performing in 'east' Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria by the 'Palestinian Authority' because they are also performing in Israel while they are here.

The choir of Clare College, Cambridge, will be singing Bach's Christmas Oratorio with the Israel Camerata Orchestra. But the singers have not, as a choir, been able to perform in East Jerusalem or Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, after a Palestinian protest against the choir's tour of Israel.

The choir has been caught in the passionate arguments over whether Israel should be boycotted.

Tim Brown says he is very disappointed. He had been hoping that the choir could precede its tour of Israel with a visit to St George's Cathedral in East Jerusalem, and the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. They had been invited to sing in both locations by the Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem.

But that was before the London-based Palestine Solidarity Campaign swung into action. The campaign wrote a letter, signed by more than 200 people, asking that the choir cancel its tour of Israel or risk, in their words, "appearing indifferent to Palestinian suffering".

The Palestinian Authority joined in.

According to one of those involved, the PA asked the Bishop of Jerusalem to withdraw the invitation for the choir to sing in East Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

...

The choir's director says his frustration is borne of what he describes as his own pro-Palestinian stance: he has taught and performed with Palestinian musicians. Mr Brown was very keen for his students to see the West Bank barrier and, as he put it, the "privations" caused by the Israeli occupation.

Betty Hunter, the general secretary of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, says that desire to travel to the West Bank does not excuse the choir's tour of Israel. That tour, she says, is "surprising and shocking" - something which, in her words, "promotes Israel as a normal state rather than one which represses Palestinians".

But give them a 'state' and they'll stop claiming that we 'repress' the people with the highest economic growth rate in the world over the last year.

Right....

Israel Matzav: British choir and its pro-'Palestinian' conductor barred by PA

Israel Matzav: They'll go back to terror, won't they?

They'll go back to terror, won't they?

As Israel contemplates the prospect of releasing anywhere from 1,000 to 2,000 terrorists in exchange for kidnapped IDF corporal Gilad Shalit, I'd like to go back to September 2003 and look at a suicide bombing that took place here in Jerusalem.

Let's go to the videotape.



The suicide bomber that night was Ramez Sali Abu Salim. According to the Jerusalem Post,

"In the terror acts committed by these freed terrorists, hundreds of Israelis were murdered, and thousands were wounded," the report said.

One example was the suicide attack in Cafe Hillel in the capital's German Colony neighborhood in 2003, in which seven people were killed including Dr. David Applebaum, head of Emergency Medicine at Shaare Zedek Medical Center, and his daughter Nava, who was to have been married the next day.

The bomber, Ramez Sali Abu Salim, from a village near Ramallah, had been released from an Israeli prison seven months earlier. He was sent by the Hamas command in Ramallah to perpetrate the attack.

Salim was far from an isolated case. A report done this past summer by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs shows that more than half of the terrorists released from Israel jails return to terrorism.

* According to an informal estimate by Israeli security bodies, about 50 percent of the terrorists freed for any reason whatsoever returned to the path of terror, either as perpetrator, planner, or accomplice. In the terror acts committed by these freed terrorists, hundreds of Israelis were murdered, and thousands were wounded.

* Israel freed 400 Palestinian prisoners and five other prisoners in return for Elhanan Tannenbaum, who was held captive by Hizbullah, and for the bodies of three soldiers kidnapped on Mount Dov. According to Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman Tzahi Hanegbi, from the date of the deal on January 29, 2004, until April 17, 2007, those freed in the deal had murdered 35 Israelis.

* An investigation by the Almagor Terror Victims Association in Israel revealed that at least 30 of the terrorist attacks perpetrated since 2000 were committed by terrorists freed in deals with terror organizations. Many were freed in the framework of goodwill gestures because they were defined by Israel as “without blood on their hands.” The bloody swath cut by these terrorists claimed the life of 177 persons, with many others wounded and made invalids.

In fact, Mr. Salim had been released twice from prison.

The murderer, Ramez Sali Abu Salim, from Rantis, northwest of Ramallah, had been freed from an Israeli prison in 2002. He was rearrested a few months later, but was freed again on February 20, 2003. Seven months later he was sent by the Hamas command in Ramallah to commit a terror attack in the heart of Jerusalem.

Some of you may recall that Nava Appelbaum was a classmate of my eldest daughter. When the Cafe Hillel attack happened, I was in London with that daughter on vacation. I went to an Internet cafe to check my email on the way home from synagogue the morning after the attack, saw that Nava had been murdered, and spent the rest of the day trying to prevent my daughter from finding out. In the evening, before we went to the airport, I left my daughter alone in our hotel room to go to synagogue, and she turned on the Beeb and heard Nava mentioned by name. When I came back to the hotel, my daughter was in shock. She asked if I'd heard that Nava had been murdered in a terror attack. I said that I had and that I had kept it from her, because I wanted her to at least enjoy her last day in London. She was silent the rest of the evening.

We were driven to the airport by an Israeli cousin of mine who works in London during the week. When he is in Israel, he volunteers for Magen David Adom - our equivalent of the Red Cross, which operates most of the ambulances in this country. He knew Dr. Appelbaum well because he had worked with him at Shaare Zedek (as had my daughter in her national service a couple of years earlier). My cousin told us in the car that he got a call from the scene of the bombing. The rescue workers all recognized Dr. Appelbaum but could do nothing to save him. They did try to save Nava, but were not successful.

If God forbid Israel releases hundreds of terrorists in exchange for Gilad Shalit, how many more Cafe Hillel's will there be? How many more David and Nava Appelbaum's HY"D (may God avenge their blood)? Is that a chance that we as a society ought to be taking? I don't think so.

Israel Matzav: They'll go back to terror, won't they?

Israel Matzav: Will China play along?

Will China play along?

The big question for the last several months has been whether Russia and China will go along with sanctioning Iran once the need to do so becomes obvious to the fools who have to make the decision.

In Paris on Monday, French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner said that he believes that the Russians are on board and that the Chinese will follow. But China is still resisting.

China signaled resistance to any U.S. and European push for tougher United Nations sanctions on Iran, saying talks aimed at preventing its development of nuclear weapons should be given a chance to succeed.

“We ask for more time to be given and efforts to be made to see if we can reach some sort of breakthrough,” La Yifan, China’s envoy for Security Council and political affairs at the UN, said in an interview yesterday. “The door to diplomatic efforts is not completely slammed yet. Efforts should focus on trying to find a solution to the current impasse.”

When will they stop trying to find a 'solution'? When Iran fires a nuclear weapon?


Israel Matzav: Will China play along?

Elder of Ziyon: Moonbats over Gaza

Elder of Ziyon: Moonbats over Gaza

A Soldier's Mother: A Nation of Soldiers?

A Soldier's Mother: A Nation of Soldiers?

The Torah Revolution: The Shalit alive video illusion

The Torah Revolution: The Shalit alive video illusion

Boycott Victorious... Er... Well...

Boycott Victorious... Er... Well...

The BBC tells the tale of a British Choir that set up a tour of six concerts in Israel, then tried to set some up some additional ones in the West Bank.

Nope. The Palestinians decided to boycott the choir, in spite of the fact that it's director, one Tim Brown, says he's actually on their side:

The choir's director says his frustration is borne of what he describes as his own pro-Palestinian stance: he has taught and performed with Palestinian musicians. Mr Brown was very keen for his students to see the West Bank barrier and, as he put it, the "privations" caused by the Israeli occupation. Betty Hunter, the general secretary of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, says that desire to travel to the West Bank does not excuse the choir's tour of Israel. That tour, she says, is "surprising and shocking" - something which, in her words, "promotes Israel as a normal state rather than one which represses Palestinians".

Jeffrey Goldberg blogs on this from a position of ridicule. Mondoweiss, predictably, approves, calling the story the "boycott's latest victory". A Mondoweiss regular commenter, one "Potsherd",asks why Israel would have the singers in the first place:

Is it not a Jewish State? Is it not busily engaged in purging all aspects of Christianity and its subversive Christmas manifestations? Are its puritan zealots not making war on Santa Claus and Christmas trees, which aren’t Christian at all? How much more so must they purge performances of the music of Bach, which is flagrantly Christian, which mentions. (making me wonder why Bach and not Handel’s Messiah)

You've got to admire these folks' firm grasp on the reality they pontificate about incessantly.

Me, I'm mostly amused. Some of the score keepers seem to have lost their instructions. The purpose of the boycott, if it has one beyond merely being spiteful, is to quarantine Israel, hurt it's economy, and force it into siege. (I think these are the goals). In this particular "victory", the pro-Palestinian choir master and his charges, some of whom may agree with him, will be singing six times before Israeli audiences who may even turn out to be cultured and reasonably human, and they'll not be preforming to any Palestinians. Did I miss something?

PS. The reason, of course, being money. They'll sell far more tickets in six Israeli concerts than in two Palestinian ones. Such an unseemly consideration.

Originally posted by Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations

Israel Matzav: Ahmadinejad flips the West the bird

Ahmadinejad flips the West the bird

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad scoffed at Western demands that he answer their proposal to compromise on uranium enrichment before year's end.

Iran's president on Tuesday dismissed a year-end deadline set by the Obama administration and the West for Tehran to accept a U.N.-drafted deal to swap enriched uranium for nuclear fuel, and claimed his government is now "10 times stronger" than a year ago.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also accused the U.S. of fabricating a purported Iranian secret document that appears to lay out a plan for developing a critical component of an atomic bomb.

Ahmadinejad's remarks underscored Tehran's defiance in the nuclear standoff - and also sought to send a message that his government has not been weakened by the protest movement sparked by June's disputed presidential election. He spoke a day after the latest opposition protest by tens of thousands mourning a dissident cleric who died over the weekend.

...

The international community can give Iran "as many deadlines as they want, we don't care," Ahmadinejad said in a speech to thousands of supporters in the southern city of Shiraz.

Ahmadinejad dismissed the threat of sanctions, saying Iran wants talks "under just conditions where there is mutual respect."

"We told you that we are not afraid of sanctions against us, and we are not intimidated," he said, addressing the West. "If Iran wanted to make a bomb, we would be brave enough to tell you."

As the crowd cheered: "We love you, Ahmadinejad," the Iranian leader lashed out at Washington, vowing Iran will stand up against U.S. attempts to "dominate the Middle East."

Meanwhile, the Obama administration and Western diplomats warned Ahmadinejad to take the deadline seriously. Just like the last five deadlines.

What could go wrong?

Israel Matzav: Ahmadinejad flips the West the bird

Love of the Land: Releasing Terrorists: New Victims Pay the Price

Releasing Terrorists: New Victims Pay the Price

Nadav Shragai
Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
Published August 2008

(According to an informal estimate by Israeli security bodies, about 50 percent of the terrorists freed for any reason whatsoever returned to the path of terror, either as a perpetrator, planner or accomplice.)

The Israeli Cabinet approved on August 17 the release of almost 200 Palestinian security prisoners as a “goodwill gesture” to Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas. The list includes several prisoners “with blood on their hands,” who, by definition, were involved in the murder of Israelis.

According to an informal estimate by Israeli security bodies, about 50 percent of the terrorists freed for any reason whatsoever returned to the path of terror, either as perpetrator, planner, or accomplice. In the terror acts committed by these freed terrorists, hundreds of Israelis were murdered, and thousands were wounded.

Israel freed 400 Palestinian prisoners and five other prisoners in return for Elhanan Tannenbaum, who was held captive by Hizbullah, and for the bodies of three soldiers kidnapped on Mount Dov. According to Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman Tzahi Hanegbi, from the date of the deal on January 29, 2004, until April 17, 2007, those freed in the deal had murdered 35 Israelis.

An investigation by the Almagor Terror Victims Association in Israel revealed that at least 30 of the terrorist attacks perpetrated since 2000 were committed by terrorists freed in deals with terror organizations. Many were freed in the framework of goodwill gestures because they were defined by Israel as “without blood on their hands.” The bloody swath cut by these terrorists claimed the life of 177 persons, with many others wounded and made invalids.

Another “Goodwill Gesture”

In anticipation of the return to the Middle East of ...

(Read Full Issue Brief)

Love of the Land: Releasing Terrorists: New Victims Pay the Price

Love of the Land: Oxfam, Amnesty, 14 other charities call for legitimisation of Hamas, produce joint report approving language that says Gazans treated like “animals”

Oxfam, Amnesty, 14 other charities call for legitimisation of Hamas, produce joint report approving language that says Gazans treated like “animals”

Robin Shepherd
Robin Shepherd Online
22 December 09

It is time for a boycott after all. At the end of this piece you will find the names of 16 charities including Amnesty International UK and Oxfam International that have clubbed together to produce a report today about the situation in Gaza which would be laughable if it wasn’t so appalling. Go to their websites, write to their directors and, where appropriate, contact relevant government offices asking to have their charitable status removed. Really. Do it. Here are five reasons why:

1) The report calls for the Middle East Quartet (EU, UN, Russia, United States) to “begin political dialogue with all Palestinian parties”, ending what it calls “the failed policy of non-engagement”.

Sorry, but who do these charities think they are in saying that refusing to legitimise vile anti-Semitic, anti-Western terror groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad has “failed”? It has certainly failed Hamas and Islamic Jihad who are now more or less contained and lack international legitimacy. I think that’s a good thing. If the charities do not, they should explain themselves.

2) In similar vein, they should be asked to explain why, despite a few pro-forma references to Israel’s security and other references to rockets, their 18 page report failed to mention the words “terrorism”, “terror” or “terrorist” one single time, thus eradicating the context of Israel’s entire Gaza policy. Was this a product of ignorance, bigotry or both?

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Love of the Land: Oxfam, Amnesty, 14 other charities call for legitimisation of Hamas, produce joint report approving language that says Gazans treated like “animals”

Love of the Land: Dishonest Reporter Award 2009

Dishonest Reporter Award 2009

Honest Reporting
Media Critique
22 December 09

Our annual recognition of the most skewed and biased coverage of the Mideast conflict.

This year, a four-letter word dominated coverage of Israel on a near-daily basis.

Gaza.

The war -- which began at the end of December in response to increased Palestinian rocket fire -- ended on the 20th day of the year.

The media war was dizzying. A prominent Greek weekly called Jews "Christ killers." Hamas terror leaders got soapboxes in prominent US and Britishpapers. BBC Arabic hosted a wonk who justified the death of Israeli kids. Canadian and Aussiereporters had close calls with Qassams; Israelrestricted media access to Gaza in large part because of the Hamas "CNN strategy." Al-Aqsa TV writers killed off Assud the Rabbit. And when Hamas fired a rocket from a foreign press building, an Al-Arabiya journalist's delighted reaction was caught on camera for YouTube posterity.

Perhaps the most definitive example of the spin games Israel confronted in the mainstream media was from South African editor Mondli Makhanya and his pernicious portrayal of Israel:

Israel's response to the "provocation" amounted to a steroid-pumped heavyweight boxer arriving to fight an anaemic midget armed with steel-lined boxing gloves.

All that was just January.

(Read full article)

Love of the Land: Dishonest Reporter Award 2009

Love of the Land: Shhh…Mubarak is building a wall

Shhh…Mubarak is building a wall

Khaled Abu Toameh
Hudson New York
22 December 09

For years, the Egyptians have been strongly condemning Israel for erecting the security fence in the West Bank. But now Egypt is quietly building its own wall along its border with the Gaza Strip and does not want to hear any complaints.

The Israeli barrier was built with the chief goal of halting suicide bombings and other terror activities against Israelis. The Egyptian fence, on the other hand, is being constructed to stop Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip from entering Egypt.

Many Palestinians can still understand why Israel does not want to open its border with the Gaza Strip. But the majority cannot understand why Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and the rest of the Arab leaders are keeping them locked inside the tiny, overcrowded and poverty-stricken area known as the Gaza Strip.

Israel does not want to reopen its borders with the Gaza Strip and that is regrettable and painful, but also understandable. But what one cannot understand is the negative attitude of the Egyptians and the rest of the Arab regimes toward the misery of their Palestinian brothers. Mubarak and the rest of the Arab dictators should be helping the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and not choking them.

By keeping the border crossings shut and now building the metal wall along the border with the Gaza Strip, Mubarak is in fact sending the Palestinians to knock on Israel’s door for help. By now it should be clear that the Arab rulers want the Gaza Strip to remain Israel’s problem alone.

The millions of dollars that are being invested in the construction of the new wall could have built hospitals and schools and created job opportunities for the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip. Half a billion dollars could even have solved the severe housing crisis in that area.

(Full article)

Love of the Land: Shhh…Mubarak is building a wall

Israel Matzav: The imaginary invitation to the imaginary ambassador to the imaginary country

The imaginary invitation to the imaginary ambassador to the imaginary country

Over the weekend, the Washington Post profiled Tareq and Michaele Salahi, the couple that crashed President Obama's first state dinner. The profile includes this little tidbit toward the end (Hat Tip: Shmuel Rosner):

The Salahis continued to live large. Gregory Wooddell drove for them in the run-up to this spring's polo cup, mostly driving Michaele; he says they still owe him for several weeks' work as well as out-of-pocket expenses. "She'd take me to lunch and Starbucks," he says, and tell him that Tareq worked for the government in an important job. "A few weeks later it was, 'He's going to be appointed ambassador -- he can choose what ambassadorship he wants, and he chose ambassador to Palestine.' " A spokesman for the U.S. State Department confirms that there is no ambassador to Palestine.

For those who take the time to read the entire profile, you will find that the Salahi's share something in common with the President: They're one great big fraud.

Israel Matzav: The imaginary invitation to the imaginary ambassador to the imaginary country

Israel Matzav: Carter shlogs al cheit

Carter shlogs al cheit

In Yiddish, shlogging al cheit refers to beating one's breast and saying mea culpa (I am guilty). It's a term that's sometimes thrown about lightly, because admitting one's guilt is only the first step of five on the road to repentance. Maimonides identifies five phases: Recognizing that one has sinned, confessing the sin, leaving the sin, regretting the sin, and undertaking not to sin in the future. Confessing when one doesn't recognize that one has sinned is meaningless and does not count. Full repentance means going through all five steps and then resisting the temptation when it presents itself again.

With that in mind, the JPost reports that Jimmy Carter has apologized to the Jewish people for any stigma he may have caused Israel.

In a letter released exclusively to JTA, the former US president sent a seasonal message wishing for peace between Israel and its neighbors, and concluded: "We must recognize Israel's achievements under difficult circumstances, even as we strive in a positive way to help Israel continue to improve its relations with its Arab populations, but we must not permit criticisms for improvement to stigmatize Israel. As I would have noted at Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, but which is appropriate at any time of the year, I offer an Al Het for any words or deeds of mine that may have done so."

Only God knows what's in people's hearts and whether Carter has truly regrets what he has done to this country, let alone whether his confession is sincere and whether he will repeat his past sins in the future.

But color me skeptical.

Haaretz carries the exact same story. But don't wait for them to shlog al cheit. They know better than the rest of us.

Israel Matzav: Carter shlogs al cheit

Love of the Land: How Carter Can Get Forgiveness

How Carter Can Get Forgiveness

TS

CAMERA/Snapshots
22 December 09

Ha'aretz reports that Former President Jimmy Carter has asked American Jews for forgiveness for "stigmatizing Israel":

Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter has apologized to the American Jewish community for 'stigmatizing Israel' and asked for forgiveness for his actions, the JTA reported on Monday.

"We must recognize Israel's achievements under difficult circumstances, even as we strive in a positive way to help Israel continue to improve its relations with its Arab populations, but we must not permit criticisms for improvement to stigmatize Israel," Carter wrote in a letter to the JTA.

"As I would have noted at Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, but which is appropriate at any time of the year, I offer an Al Het for any words or deeds of mine that may have done so," Carter wrote, referring to the prayer said on Yom Kippur in which Jews ask God for forgiveness for any sins.

According to the Jewish concept of repentance, words are not enough. A change ...

(Continue post)

Love of the Land: How Carter Can Get Forgiveness

Israel Matzav: Polish radio: Arbet macht frei sign was headed to Sweden

Polish radio: Arbet macht frei sign was headed to Sweden

Polish radio reported on Tuesday that the arbet macht frei (work makes you free) sign that was stolen from the Auschwitz concentration camp earlier this week was headed for Sweden.

The suspected thieves of the Arbeit Macht Frei ("Work Sets You Free") from the Auschwitz death camp in Poland planned on smuggling the metal sign on a ferry to Sweden, according to a report by Polish state radio Tuesday.

According to the report, the sign was destined for a Swedish citizen. It remains unclear whether or not the Swede was a middle man or the person who commissioned the theft. The Polish police declined comment and would not confirm or deny the report.

Maybe the Swedes want to open their own concentration camp.

By the way, according to some of the people in the group I was with last night, with the exception of Swedish President Prime Minister Reinfeldt and his Foreign Minister Carl Bildt (pictured), the rest of the ruling coalition is actually not as bad as the opposition there. The Swedish opposition is even worse than the ruling coalition.

Israel Matzav: Polish radio: Arbet macht frei sign was headed to Sweden

Israel Matzav: Adding insult to injury

Adding insult to injury

A 'Palestinian' report indicates that Hamas is demanding the release of the body of one of Gilad Shalit's abductors as part of the 'terrorists for Gilad' exchange that is likely to happen over the next few days.

The family of a Palestinian fighter killed in the operation that captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit said on Monday that it wants his body to be returned in a potential prisoner exchange.

Speaking on behalf of the Farwana family, Abdul Nasser Farwana, himself a former prisoner, urged Shalits captors to demand the return of the remains of Muhammad Farwana, who was killed during the 25 June 2006 raid on a military position near the Kerem Shalom crossing.

The call came amid news reports that Israel and Palestinian factions led by Hamas could be getting closer to a deal. The captors are insisting on the release of some 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Shalit.

Muhammad Farwana, 23, was a member of the Army of Islam, one of the factions that participated in the 2006 raid, which they dubbed Operation Scattered Illusions.

Abdul Nasser Farwana said that during the operation, his cousin was wounded, and chose to stay and cover the other militants who escaped back to Gaza with Shalit. He later died, and the Israeli government still holds the body.

He added that the family wants to recover the body and bury it according to Islamic tradition.

I'd bury the body in pigskin.

Israel Matzav: Adding insult to injury