الدكتور صائب عريقات ( هذا الشخص كوشنير لا يكترث للفلسطينين . وقد عزل نفسه عن أي دور فى عملية السلام . مرة اخرى أدعو الأشقاء العرب لعدم الحديث مع هذه الفرقة من المستوطنين ( كوشنير ، جرين بلات وفريدمان )ما يخططون له هو الازدهار للمستوطينين. https://t.co/cs0UmTNfrM
— Dr. Saeb Erakat الدكتور صائب عريقات (@ErakatSaeb) June 3, 2019
This person Kushner does not care about the Palestinians. He has isolated himself from any role in the peace process. Once again, I call on the Arab brothers not to talk to this group of settlers (Kushner, Greenblatt and Friedman) for what they are planning is prosperity for the settlers.
He tweeted it in English many hours later:
This person (Kushner)is very much indifferent about palestinians.He has disqualified himself from any role in the peace making .Once again I call upon Arabs not to talk to these settlers (kushner, Greenblatt, Freedman )about peace.They are planning prosperity for the settlers? pic.twitter.com/2y9yS6lebL
— Dr. Saeb Erakat الدكتور صائب عريقات (@ErakatSaeb) June 3, 2019
Apparently, Erakat believes that any religious Zionist is a settler, no matter what country they live in.
Given that the word "settler" is essentially a curse word to him, this is pretty much antisemitism.
This is common among Palestinians. For example, they routinely say that Jews who visit the Temple Mount are "settlers," even though many of them aren't, or are even Americans.
Erekat points to an interesting excerpt of an interview with Kushner on HBO, where Kushner pretty much says that the plan is to separate the Palestinian people from their leadership.
We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.
While I have written occasionally on American electoral
politics in the context of BDS and the US-Israel relationship, I don’t think
I’ve ever made any statements – besides the occasional aside – about an Israeli
election.
This is not just because I don’t subscribe to the fantasy
that a lone US blogger can have an impact on international affairs. Rather, this omission is likely the result of
being part of the overwhelming consensus within the pro-Israel community that
appreciates Israelis – and Israelis alone – carry the burden of citizenship and
thus should not be hectored (especially by those who bear no responsibility for
electoral outcomes) over whom they should vote for.
But the latest election tumult in the Jewish state does cry
out for analysis, albeit one that hopefully sheds light versus casts
aspersions.
Especially since the person at the center of the tumult,
long-time Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has not just helmed the Jewish
state for so long, but that his tenure in many political roles makes him an
historic figure, one worthy of being considered Israel’s third founder.
The first founder was Theodor Herzl, the
Austro-Hungarian writer and journalist who initially created an imaginary Jewish
state in his fiction, then worked tirelessly to turn that dream into
reality. While Herzl’s political
organization and advocacy made him a controversial figure in his day, the fact
that he never became the leader of an actual state meant he did not face the
awesome challenge of rule which requires hard choices and trade-offs, some of
them with life-and-death consequences.
Israel’s second founder was Ben-Gurion, Israel’s
first Prime Minister who set in motion nearly all of the policies that define
the Jewish state to this day: ingathering of exiles, standing firm against
enemies while also holding out hope for peace, and creating and building
institutions of statehood. Like all of
the Prime Ministers who succeeded him, Ben Gurion made his share of mistakes
and his ruthless approach to political enemies helped cement political fault
lines that have yet to heal. But like
Herzl, Ben-Gurion had a vision of a strong and independent Israel that served
as his North Star, a vision that helps explain both his good and bad choices.
The leaders who succeeded Ben-Gurion includes impressive
figures like Golda Meir, Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Rabin and Arial Sharon, all of
whom shaped Israeli history in their own way.
But, ignoring their successes and blunders (some of them – like the Oslo
fiasco – monumental) each of these leaders played cards they were dealt, rather
than inventing an entirely new game.
Netanyahu’s long-term vision, and his success at achieving
it, pushes him past this pantheon into the tiny category of “founders,” i.e.,
leaders who transformed a nation, rather than just managing its affairs or
navigating it through crises.
While no single person can be credited with turning the Jewish
state into an economic powerhouse whose brain-based industries put it on par
with the oil wealth of Israel’s enemies, Netanyahu’s decades-long commitment to
liberalizing the Israeli economy – freeing it from the shackles of Ben-Gurion’s
state socialism – was one of the prime factors leading to Startup Nation.
Other Israeli leaders have caved in to pressures (internal
and external) or hubris to “do something” vis-à-vis the Arab-Israeli conflict,
leading to fiascos like the Gaza withdrawal and the aforementioned Oslo
disaster. But Netanyahu’s vision of a
Jewish state with enough economic, military and diplomatic strength to stand on
its own – despite its diminutive size and limited resources – served as his North Star, which helps explain Netanyahu’s
ability to shape domestic politics and withstand foreign pressures (especially
during an era when a hostile US administration required extraordinarily deft
navigation) leading to the strong, wealthy, diplomatically successful Israel we
know today.
Yes, Bibi has made his share of blunders, as have all his
predecessors (and everyone else who has ever taken on the responsibility to
lead a nation). But I suspect that the
pathological hatred of him outside of Israel is the result not of his prickly
personality but of his success. For if
you look at what the Israel haters despise most (including Netanyahu, AIPAC and
Israel itself) you see a list of those entities most effective at keeping the
Jewish people safe, free and secure.
With that having been said, the title of this piece will
ring a warning bell to those who know their Roman history. For the “Third Founder of Rome” was an
informal title given to Gaius
Marius, the general who saved the Republic from destruction by foreign enemies
that had threatened the nation for years, in the process reforming Rome’s
military in ways that turned it into the most powerful in the ancient world.
Having saved the state and serving five times in the top
executive position of Consul, Marius’ star faded as a new generation of
military and political leaders rose to power. Bitter at being left out to
pasture, Marius threw in his lot with political radicals, giving him a sixth and
seventh Consulship but leading directly to the first of many civil wars that
would eventually destroy the Republic.
In bringing up Marius’ story, I am in no way suggesting that
any politician hanging in there past their sell date must lead to
catastrophe. But if Marius ended up
being the historic poster child for what happens when a political hero fails to
know when to step back, another Roman – Cincinnatus
– continues to serve as archetype for the democratic leader who knows when to
call it a day.
Legend has it that after Cincinnatus was given supreme power
to defeat Rome’s enemies, and after succeeding in doing so, voluntarily gave up
the heights of leadership to return to his farm. One need only visit our nation’s capital
where a marble
statue of George Washington in toga, handing the sword he was given back to
the people, demonstrates the impact Cincinnatus’ story has had on democracy
ever since.
Given his incomparable skill in outwitting political
enemies, Netanyahu might emerge from the second Israeli election this year more
powerful than ever before. But despite
that spot of bother the Jewish people had with the Roman Empire way back when, Roman
history provides powerful archetypes that can – or should – inform the choices
of even the most powerful men and women today.
Unfortunately, many have forgotten lessons we should have
learned from Roman folly – such as the consequences of trying to prosecute our
political enemies, rather than defeat them democratically (one of the
motivations for Julius Caesar to finally draw down the curtain on the
Republic). But if we want more
Cincinnatuses and fewer Mariuses in our political lives, we must find ways to
give those who dedicate themselves to the nation a way to retire with the honor
they (including their egos) deserve.
We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.
Tens of thousands of Israel supporters gathered in Manhattan on Sunday for the 55th annual Celebrate Israel Parade – the largest celebration of Israel in the world.
Beginning on Fifth Avenue and 57th Street and making their way up to 75th Street, marchers embraced this year’s theme of “Only in Israel” from the 1970s Hebrew classic “Rak B’Yisrael.”
The parade, which began in 1965, has been organized by the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) of New York since 2011.
“Celebrate Israel brings the Jewish community together in support of Israel. From center right to center left, we set aside our differences and truly celebrate Israel as the democratic state that it is,” Michael Miller, CEO and executive director of JCRC told The Jerusalem Post.
Around 40,000 participants took part in this year’s event, from organizations including Birthright Israel, UJA-Federation of New York, El Al, Maimonides Medial Center and many Jewish youth movements and schools. Thirty of the participating organizations designed a float with colorful banners and costumes. Six volunteers were appointed grand marshals of the parade.
“It was an immediate yes for me to take part in a more official way this year as a grand marshal,” fashion blogger Elizabeth Savetsky, who has attended the parade for the last seven years, told the Post. “The best way to combat antisemitism is by showing pride. Supporting the magic of Israel is the best way to fight for it.”
Prime Minister Netanyahu told the Cabinet on Sunday:
"We are marking 52 years since Jerusalem was unified in the Six-Day War. The war changed the fate of Israel. It removed us from a chokehold and danger of destruction, turned us into a strong regional power and - in effect - began the process of reconciliation, the continuing fruits of which we see developing today."
"It brought one more thing: The unification of the capital of Israel. We returned, I remember personally, I returned, to Jerusalem, the cradle of our people, our culture and our faith, between the walls, and this moved the entire nation, all of its parts."
"Of course, from then until today, Jerusalem has changed, it is almost unrecognizable. We are building it up. We are strengthening it. We are concerned for its future and are developing it into a prosperous city that can also be a focus of not only spirituality and a renewal of Israel's tradition and heritage, but also a city that is being renewed with global technology."
"Jerusalem is ranked as one of the more quickly developing cities. This is the right combination of heritage and science - and this is our strength. On this we built the State of Israel. This is the guiding idea of Zionism."
The Ari Fuld Project dedicated to his memory decided to ensure he was still present in spirit at the march and volunteers handed out stickers and wristbands to the participants of the Jerusalem Day Flag Parade in Ari’s memory, “to make Ari’s presence felt at the parade this year, as it was felt every year in the past,” as the organization explained.
The volunteers distributed items to the tens of thousands of Israelis who marched along the parade route through Jerusalem’s center and throughout the Old City.
“Keeping Ari Fuld’s memory alive!!! Handing out Ari Fuld bracelets!! He loved his country, he loved Jerusalem, he loved the truth and he loved celebrating Jerusalem Day!!” Avi Abelow, Fuld’s close friend, wrote on Facebook.
“It was very important to us that Ari’s presence be strongly felt at the Jerusalem Day parade, and I think we succeeded. Our wonderful volunteers handed out some 5000 stickers and another 5000 wristbands, and we could have easily handed out twice that amount,” Stephen Leavitt, Director of The Ari Fuld Project, told TPS.
As Yom Yerushalayim draws to a close, some words of wisdom. Geulah Cohen was in the Jewish underground and later the Knesset. In 1980 she introduced a bill to add Jerusalem’s capital status to Israel’s Basic Law. Here’s her response to complaints about world opinion or “timing.” pic.twitter.com/y70Z9yyJrD
Vice News had this story about an Israeli emigrant who opened a trendy restaurant in Toronto that uses a 150-year old stone mill from Israel to grind tahini using sesame seeds from Ethiopia.
This restaurant makes their tahini in-house using a stone mill they found in Jerusalem. pic.twitter.com/JU1cKvRSIh
This was apparently a trigger for Rafael Shimunov, an early founding member of IfNotNow, who responded with a bigoted, hateful tweet that shows what a jerk he is:
The owner of the restaurant is a Yemenite Jew who used to live in Israel. Shimunov sees that he is Israeli and therefore blames him for imagined Israeli crimes.
The definition of a bigot is someone who generalizes that all people in a group are guilty for the alleged actions of a few.
So from this tweet we know straight off that Shimunov, a card carrying leftist, is a bigot.
But there is more.
Israel never sterilized Ethiopian women. This is simply a lie. Haaretz once made it look like Israeli organizations were giving Ethiopian women birth control without their consent, and even that charge was found to be utterly wrong- back in 2013.
Shimunov is a liar.
But there is more.
Palestinians actually have been found to sterilize women for "honor" reasons. Someone like Shimunov who pretends to care so much about fictional Israeli victims of sterilization never say a word about when their pet Palestinians are proven to have done it for real.
Shimunov is a hypocrite.
But there is more.
Shimunov seems to be upset that an Israeli would import sesame seeds from Ethiopia. This is bizarre, to say the least. What is wrong with helping the economy in Ethiopia? Anyone else who would do it would be considered someone who supports poor farmers in north Africa. Only when a Jew does this it is somehow a problem.
But there is more.
This "woke" person saw a Vice story that made an Israeli look like a nice guy and went ballistic. This one tweet proves that his hate for Israel isn't because of "occupation" or "settlements" or whatever. It is hate for people - even people of color, even immigrants. It is hate for Vice for making a video about an Israeli that is positive.
The hate that he shows in this one tweet proves that for him (and we see this with other anti-Israel activists) it isn't about justice or loving Palestinians. It is pure hate that animates him, and so many others.
This hate is indistinguishable from the hate of racists, or bigots, of antisemites.
But this hate is still allowed and celebrated in certain circles.
UPDATE: Now the haters are posting bad reviews in Yelp by claiming that the stone mill, which they say same from the Golan, is "stolen Palestinian property."
Since when was the Golan Palestinian?
(h/t Tess)
We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.
Another textbook example of media bias, courtesy of Reuters:
Hundreds of ultra-nationalist Jews guarded by riot police streamed their way into the Jerusalem compound revered both in Judaism and Islam on Sunday, resulting in violence between police and outraged Muslim worshippers.
The Jews who visited didn't sing songs, chant nationalist slogans, pray or do anything besides walk and talk quietly. But to Reuters they are "ultra-nationalist," and "ultra-" anything is pejorative in journalism.
The Muslims who were "outraged" are not ultra-anything. They are just peaceful worshipers. Of course, the Jews never come during prayer times, so the Muslims weren't worshiping. In order to build the contrast between evil Jews and peaceful Muslims, Reuters must employ the language of "ultra-nationalist" vs. "worshippers."
The highly provocative visit came during the final days of the holy month of Ramadan when Muslims flock to pray at the compound’s al-Aqsa mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam where non-Muslim prayer has been banned since 1187.
Jews visit almost every day, but to Reuters their quiet touring of the area is "highly provocative." We learn that the area is the third holiest site in Islam but not that it is the first-holiest site in Judaism. The ban on non-Muslim prayer, rather than being framed as Muslim intolerance, is written as a basic status-quo that is being violated - even though no Jew (as far as I can tell) prayed.
Police fired tear gas and rubber-coated bullets to disperse worshippers, some of whom threw stones and chairs as the Jewish groups walked across the esplanade in front of the al-Aqsa to angry calls of ‘Allahu Akbar’ (God is great).
Which came first - the tear gas or the throwing stones and chairs? Reuters is implying that the police attacked "worshippers" (prayer only happens indoors, the police did not attack any worshippers) for no reason and the Muslims responded with throwing things - the exact opposite of what happened!
This is not reporting. This is propaganda.
We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.
Asked whether he believes the Palestinians are capable of governing themselves without Israeli interference — a fundamental demand for Palestinians — Kushner said, "That's a very good question. ... The hope is, is that over time, they can become capable of governing."
Kushner said the Palestinians "need to have a fair judicial system ... freedom of press, freedom of expression, tolerance for all religions" before the Palestinian territories can become "investable."
Kushner did not say that Palestinians cannot govern themselves but that there are severe impediments to doing so effectively before they can be truly independent. This is not a very controversial position. Why wouldn't the world demand that a new nation can take care of the basics of human rights before being admitted to the family of nations?
Moreover, Roth does not dispute that Palestinians do not have basic human rights. He says that human rights are irrelevant to the question of their suitability to statehood!
Ken Roth - the leader of a human rights group - is defending granting statehood to a nation that he admits would not offer basic human rights to its citizens from the outset.
If anyone would want a human rights litmus test before granting nationhood, it should be Ken Roth. The fact that he says the opposite is stunning.
Would he say that about any other people who desire statehood? Would he say that ISIS deserves a state despite its human rights record? Hell, he won't go on a limb to say that even Kurds deserve a state, even after they have proven the ability to govern themselves! But he supports the creation of a corrupt, kleptocratic Palestinian dictatorship - because that would take land away from Israeli control, and Jews building houses is far worse to him than Palestinians sentencing Arabs who sell land to Jews to death.
His analogy to existing nations is absurd, of course: there is no comparison between nations that already exist and entities who aspire to statehood. By all means work to fix the human rights abuses everywhere, but the idea of dismantling a state because of its abuses - real or imagined - for some reason only applies to Israel.
Look at his examples of corrupt countries - Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Not Iran, not Turkey, not China with its concentration camps filled with millions of Muslims - Roth only mentions countries that are on Israel's side politically. Even his choice of paradigmatic nations with poor human rights records (which both undoubtedly do have) reveals Roth's deep seated hate for Israel.
Roth's pathological hatred of Israel prompts him to take positions that are diametrically opposed to human rights. Which disqualifies him from his job.
We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.
Yesterday, Rabbi Shmuely Boteach put a full page ad in the New York Times denouncing and disproving Rashida Tlaib's comments on the history of Jews coming to the Holy Land after the Holocaust.
James Zogby, head of the Arab American Institute, tweeted:
This is a dishonest & dangerous assault on @RashidaTlaib by far-right Shmuley Boteach. He funnels dark money into attack ads like this that distort the truth & put people’s lives at risk. It’s not an ad, it’s incitement. Shame on @nytimes for running it. #handsoffRashida.
Since Shmuley runs a number of this [sic] hateful attacks each year - i guess the NYT is more interested in the ad revenues. But shouldn’t there be some fact-check screening of these attacks
I responded, asking exactly what in the ad wasn't factual. Because it is completely accurate, including Tlaib's complete quote.
I'm not expecting a response. Because it is easier for a major Arab American leader to baldly lie than to admit that Boteach is right in this case.
We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.
What did Jerusalem look like 150 years ago? It seems we are the first generation to be able to answer this question with any degree of certainty, thanks to prints that have been preserved in the National Library, from the early days of photography in the Land of Israel.
The last few decades of the 19th century saw large surges of visiting tourists, researchers and pilgrims who explored the Holy Land as part of a predetermined route of tourist sites in the Near East. Most did not have cameras, which were heavy and cumbersome devices in those days. The Orient and the spirit of the Bible which they wished to absorb are clearly visible in the pictures produced by the few professional photographers who worked here. The most famous of these was Félix Bonfils.
The landscapes are vast and empty, perhaps because of the difficulties involved in photographing passers-by. Cameras of the period used special glass plates, which were coated with light-sensitive chemicals, a technique that required long exposure. In certain cases, when the composition demanded it, 19th-century citizens of Jerusalem can indeed be spotted in the pictures, resembling extras on an elaborate and majestic movie set.
The welcome news that Russia decided to forego its sale of S-300 anti-aircraft systems to Syria reminds many of newspaper headlines from 52 years ago, which incidentally also appeared around the festive Shavuot holiday. The main photograph in the Maariv daily was of an SM-2 surface-to-air missile, captured during the Six-Day War. The particularly long missile was dubbed “a flying electric pole,” which accelerates at great speeds toward its high-altitude target. This missile, together with its more advanced models – the SA-3 and SA-6 – downed a large number of Israeli planes throughout the War of Attrition and Yom Kippur War.
Many years have passed, and the balance of power between Israel and its neighbors has shifted considerably: Israel now has complete air superiority and the risk of losing aircraft is negligible. While there is no room for complacency, the current reality is utterly different. The air force and other military branches are developing anti-missile and radar systems, which greatly reduce the potency of the Russian-made SA-300.
The latest news illustrates that Russia of today is not the Soviet Union of 50 years ago, nor is it the Russia of the previous decade. The willingness to convene a joint security summit in Israel (not a “peace summit”), with senior American counterparts, enhances Israel’s standing.
Two days before the outbreak of the Six-Day War, France was still an ally of Israel. However, then-French President Charles de Gaulle chose to impose an embargo that effectively quashed the sale of French planes and weapons to Israel and mainly spare parts for equipment. This crisis gave birth to Israel’s independent development of weapons systems, including the Merkava tank, and the Nesher and Kfir fighter jets. This, essentially, was the backdrop for the tremendous growth spurt of Israel’s defense industry. The Soviet Union, for its part, continued arming Arab countries without restraint.
Amid the backdrop of the current diplomatic developments – the strengthening of Israel-U.S. ties; the special relationship between Israel and Russia; recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which was captured in the Six-Day War; the relocation of the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem and other achievements – I recall the words of then-Defense Minister Moshe Dayan, who said: “We’re happy where we now stand.”
The Resolutions Committee of the California Democratic Party substantially rewrote draft resolutions fiercely critical of Israel that were put forth by far-left Democrats in California for the state party’s convention.
Four of the rewritten resolutions were passed by the committee on Friday at the party’s state convention in San Francisco, and two were withdrawn, J. The Jewish News of Northern California reported Sunday.
The original authors of the four passed resolutions withdrew their names and co-sponsorships due to the significant changes, according to the report. (JTA has yet to obtain the text of the revised resolutions.)
One resolution, authored by David Mandel, a state Assembly delegate from the Sacramento area who reportedly holds dual US-Israel citizenship, suggested that the Israeli government is partly responsible for the atmosphere inspiring last October’s massacre at a Pittsburgh synagogue.
Other resolutions urged a rollback of US President Donald Trump’s Israel policies including recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights; condemned Israel for clashes with Palestinians in Gaza without mentioning provocations or attacks by the Hamas leadership there; and directed party officials to take a subsidized trip to Israel only if they spend the same amount of time visiting Palestinian villages and leaders.
Democratic Majority for Israel, a lobbying group that calls itself “the voice of pro-Israel Democrats,” praised the California Democratic Party in a statement Friday for rejecting the one-sided resolutions attacking Israel.
Every Friday of every Ramadan for the past several decades, hundreds of thousands of Muslims have gone to the Temple Mount, what they call the Al Aqsa Mosque compound, to pray.
I cannot find any news story or photo describing anything close to that number of people there before 1967.
Not under Jordanian rule. Not under British rule. Not under Ottoman rule.
I can find a few stories mentioning "thousands" of Muslims rioting in Jerusalem and attacking Jews before the massacres a couple of months later, and of thousands of Muslims who celebrate the "Nebi Musa" festival, a made up Muslim festival that is calculated according to the Christian calendar to coincide with and interfere with Easter celebrations in Jerusalem.
But I cannot find any story mentioning any gathering of tens of thousands, and certainly not hundreds of thousands, of Muslims or Arabs in Jerusalem before 1967.
If you care about access to holy places in Jerusalem, including for Muslims, you should want Israel to control the entire city.
Or, you have to admit that Muslims weren't all that interested in the Al Aqsa Mosque before Jewish control of Jerusalem.
Israel has provided more access to more holy places for more people of more religions than any ruler of Jerusalem in history.
There is no other way to look at the facts.
We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.
This morning, hundreds of Jews visited the Temple Mount for Jerusalem Day. This is the first time in decades that Jerusalem Day coincided with Ramadan and the High Court said that the Jews would be allowed to visit, leaving it up to the police to see if they can allow it to happen safely.
Of course, the Arabs rioted.
Here are videos showing the Jews peacefully touring their holiest spot and Arabs throwing chairs, rocks and whatever else they could find.
We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.
Haaretz' Rogel Alpher has always been pathetically trying to outdo himself with his offensiveness. His latest column, though, while also offensive, is Exhibit A as to why the Israeli Left is such a tiny sliver of the electorate there.
The brains and the money of the left are abandoning Israel. That isn’t just a feeling, those are the facts. Benjamin Netanyahu’s supporters, who call leftists “sourpusses,” like to boast of the decline in emigration from Israel in the past several years. But when it comes to leftists, the exit numbers are worse than ever. The leftists are fleeing. It’s called brain drain. In Israel, brains and leftists are one and the same.
According to a new study by Prof. Dan Ben-David, published by the Shoresh Institution for Socioeconomic Research, the most educated Israelis with the most vital skills for the success of the economy are moving abroad at an increasing rate. How do we know that they are leftists? They belong to the highest-income deciles, and in Israel the highest earners vote for the left. They are the left’s electoral base.
...The right has quantity, the left has quality.
...The vast majority of educated Israelis with critical skills vote for parties that are against annexing the territories and maintaining the occupation and the settlement enterprise.
The right and the Haredim must stop dismissing and start taking the flight of the left — that is, the brains — seriously. The right must recognize the implications of the left’s enormous qualitative advantage and the fact that the right cannot live without the leftists’ brains and money.
Alpher is saying that the Leftists in Israel are smart and the Rightists are idiots. He bases this on...nothing. I couldn't find any survey that proves his contention. I did see that Rehovot has the highest household income of any city in Israel, yet Meretz received only 3.1% of the vote, Labor only 4.7% in the last elections - lower than the nation as a whole. (Blue and White did win there but the ideology of that party is hardly different than Bibis' Likud.)
Alpher think that the only Israelis with critical skills vote Left. Having critical skills to reject the Left doesn't count.
What the article does show is that Alpher's Leftists are so smug, so sure of their superiority to the average Israeli in every way, that it is no wonder that the average Israeli is turned off by them. Alpher's thinking here is the reason the average Israeli abhors the Left he represents.
We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.
Since replacing Olmert in 2009, then, Netanyahu has had to greenlight airstrikes on these convoys. Oh, and on Iranian targets in Syria, as well.
While on the subject of the Islamic Republic, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Monday tweeted a characteristic attack on the Trump administration, accusing it of “economic terrorism [that] is hurting the Iranian people and causing tension in the region.”
He began his assault with a lie, of course, claiming that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “long ago said we’re not seeking nuclear weapons – by issuing a fatwa [religious Islamic decree] banning them.”
The story of this alleged fatwa was created by Iranian honchos for consumption by Western patsies as far back as 2005, and was reiterated prior to every summit held with and about Tehran. Former US president Barack Obama not only lapped it up, but spread it repeatedly to justify his appeasement of and capitulation to the mullah-led regime.
In 2015, mere months before reaching the deal with the devil, Obama declared: “Since Iran’s Supreme Leader has issued a fatwa against the development of nuclear weapons, this framework gives Iran the opportunity to verify that its program is, in fact, peaceful.”
Yet, the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) had written six exhaustive reports – one of which was released days before Obama made that statement – proving that such a fatwa never existed.
Luckily, Trump is not Obama. He believes what he sees, not the lying eyes of wishful thinkers and evildoers. And what he is witnessing are Iranian warships in the Persian Gulf threatening American interests.
Trump might not have needed a push from Netanyahu to grasp the gravity of a nuclear Iran, especially one with long-range ballistic missiles at the ready. But he appreciates the existence of a steadfast ally on the front lines, fending off Iran’s proxies on a daily basis.
Netanyahu’s adversaries at home and abroad are gleefully trying to portray Israel’s current political crisis as a failure of his leadership – or an attempt on his part to escape possible indictment – rather than what it is: an electoral system sorely in need of reform.
Indeed, Netanyahu’s critics refuse to acknowledge the real reason that he has been prime minister for the past decade. No other party chair on the scene at the moment inspires confidence that, under his or her watch, the country would be secure enough externally to withstand its internal strife.
This weekend might provide an interesting spectacle. On Sunday the annual al-Quds Day march sets off in London from outside the Home Office. Of course al-Quds Day is the day inaugurated by the late bigot Ayatollah Khomeini, and his initiative allows peace-loving Khomeinists to stroll along the streets of London (among other capital cities) calling for the destruction of the Jewish state.
Historically the event has always attracted controversy, not just because it is organised by the farcically misnamed ‘Islamic Human Rights Commission’ but because the speakers and organisers routinely make their intentions perfectly clear. Two years ago one of the speakers on the Al-Quds Day platform declared that ‘Zionists’ were responsible for the then very recent tragedy at Grenfell Tower. This is par for the course. The only people who would be attracted to the Al-Quds Day march are Muslim and non-Muslim anti-Semites. Those who it has attracted in the past have included the leader of Her Majesty’s Opposition, Jeremy Corbyn.
But the reason why this year is interesting is because of a rare positive development in the UK. In February I wrote about the British government’s announcement that it was intending to proscribe the terrorist group Hezbollah in its entirety. Up until then the British government had attempted to insist that there was a distinction between the political and military wings of Hezbollah, which is like pretending that there is a difference between the military and social action wings of ISIS.
On the 78th anniversary of the Farhud on 1 and 2 June 1941, we recall the most traumatic event in the collective memory of Iraqi Jewry. It took place on the Jewish holiday of Shavuoth: 180 people were brutally murdered, thousands were wounded and raped, and shops and synagogues were plundered and destroyed. Here is an account prepared by the Museum of the Jewish People (Bet Hatfutsot) and reproduced in Haaretz:
The attack on the city's flourishing, peaceful Jewish community is usually referred to as the trigger for the Iraqi aliyah to Israel. But seldom is the question asked: How could such a pogrom have occurred in the first place in Iraq – a place where Jews had lived in peace for centuries, a country that did not seem to suffer anti-Semitic norms?
An examination of the historical background reveals the Farhud's causes: the opposing interests of the Iraqi government and the British Empire, Nazi Germany's influence, internal Arab movements, and a struggle between groups of Iraqi intellectuals. The unfortunate Jews were caught in the middle.
Historian Nissim Kazzaz has researched Iraqi Jewry and managed to put the Farhud in its historical context. Until the 1920s there was no significant evidence of anti-Semitism in Iraq. Old restrictions from the Ottoman era were abolished during the 20th century and the establishment of the British Mandate after World War I soon changed the Jews situation for the better.
Yet World War I had other outcomes as well. The Iraqi elite were introduced to "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a forged text that was partly translated from the original Russian into Arabic. New movements were rising in that period in Iraq, some of which argued that as long as the Jews did not hold national inspirations, they were part of the Iraqi nation without obstacles.
This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For over 19 years and 40,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.
Israellycool Website Makeover
-
[image: Israellycool Website Makeover]
Thanks to those of you who have contributed to our fundraising campaigns,
we have begun the process of revamping the...
On Jabotinsky's Views on Arabs
-
From here, Shlomo Avineri:
"In connection with the central position of national existence in
Jabotinsky’s theoretical concept, his approach to the positi...
Majority of Young Muslims in UK Want Islamic Law
-
1 in 3 Muslims living in the UK want Islam to be declared the national
religion and for everyone to live under the brutal system of Sharia law
which ca...
Confrontation with Iran: Who Won?
-
The West likes its Jews passive, dependent, and weak. When American
officials say “Israel has a right to defend [herself]” they mean that they
will allow h...
The Palestinian “Two-State” Plan: Duping the West
-
One of the great unsolved mysteries of the 21st century is why, given what
a catastrophe it proved to be, anyone, much less a whole phalanx of
politicians,...
06-Feb-24: Obituary: Naftali Gordon
-
The obituary that follows was published yesterday by *Times of Israel* under
the headline "*Master Sgt. (res.) Naftali Gordon, 32: A man of ‘honesty and
...
Closing Jews Down Under Website
-
With a heavyish heart I am closing down the website after ten years.
It is and it isn’t an easy decision after 10 years of constant work. The
past...
‘Test & Trace’ is a mirage
-
Lockdown II thoughts: Day 1 Opposition politicians have been banging on
about the need for a ‘working’ Test & Trace system even more loudly than
the govern...
Monday, June 03, 2019
Elder of Ziyon
