Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Restoring Israel’s Rights: The Levy Report
In modern times there are legal precedents for establishing the Jewish claim to Israel: This is with reference to the San Remo Conference, the Mandate for a Jewish Homeland in Palestine, confirmed in international law, and more.Jpost Editorial: Straw canard
These Jewish rights have certainly not diminished over the years. Yet there is a prevailing perception that this is the case – that there has been a rethinking of what properly accrues to the Jewish State of Israel. A revisionist perception, we might say.
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And now, at long last, the Levy Report Campaign is kicking off.
The Campaign Committee is operating with the assistance of Regavim, a fine Israeli organization that works “to ensure responsible, legal & accountable use of Israel’s national lands and the return of the rule of law to all…aspects of the land.”
The campaign is envisioned in two stages – first within the Knesset and then more broadly within the public domain.
Now, apparently, it is Straw’s turn to fight back using the same ammunition. Straw’s attack on AIPAC follows in the footsteps of John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt who in 2007 published The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy.I’m not remotely anti-Semitic, says ex-British FM Straw
Indeed, Straw, responding Monday in an e-mail to The Jerusalem Post’s Henry Rome, noted that his comments about AIPAC ’s influence on US policy are essentially based on Mearsheimer’s and Walt’s book. Straw also notes that in his 2012 memoir Last Man Standing he quotes in pages 445- 447 from these two men’s “critical study of AIPAC .”
“I am not remotely anti-Semitic. Quite the reverse. I have all my life strongly supported the state of Israel, and its right to live in peace and security,” Straw wrote in an email.Meet the Founder of Sabeel. He's an "Ecumenical" Zion-Loather
The veteran Labor politician reportedly said during a debate in the British parliament last week that the greatest obstacles to peace between Israel and the Palestinians and her Arab neighbors are the “unlimited” funds available to Jewish organizations and AIPAC in the US, as well as Germany’s “obsession” with defending Israel.
Ateek is the Anglican founder of the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Centre in Jerusalem and a leading exponent of campaigns of boycott, divestment and sanctions aimed at Israel. He has called the establishment of Israel in 1948 “a relapse to the most primitive concepts of an exclusive, tribal God.” He has accused the Israeli government of crucifying Palestinians in the occupied territories, writing that “the Israeli government crucifixion system is operating daily.” He has compared Israel to the Nazis and accused Israel of committing a Holocaust against Palestinians. He sent out a Christmas message that likened Israel to Herod and the occupation to the slaughter of the innocents.The New York Times: Telling Readers How to Think About Israel
“Shrill.” “Strident.” “Stubborn.” “Abrasive.” “Derisive.” “Cynical.” These are adjectives used by New York Times journalists this month to describe Israel’s prime minister or cabinet ministers.Peace Talks Will Fail Because Palestinians Don’t Want Peace
And that was just in news articles. New York Times editorialists added a few additional descriptors to that list – “aggressive,” “combative,” “sarcastic,” “eager for a fight,” and “sabotaging diplomacy.”
In fact, the only Israeli political party that merited a positive characterization by the Times was the far-left Meretz party, which was described in a news article as “peace-seeking.” The Meretz party with six seats of 120 in the Knesset is hardly representative of the mainstream. And while nearly all other Knesset members, including those in power, claim to be seeking peace, The New York Times is not having any of that. Nor do they want their readers to.
In short, the PA has a long-established policy of duplicity about its anti-peace intentions. In these circumstances, not only are the Israeli-Palestinian conflict negotiations convened under American auspices foredoomed, but in pursuing them, the Obama Administration has embarked on a fool’s errand. Furthermore, by pressuring Israel to make further concessions––like the freeing of jailed Palestinian terrorists, merely to get the PA to the negotiating table––it is endangering an ally.Abbas said to soften stance on interim peace agreement
This is a moment for the Congress to act. It can produce a detailed list of Palestinian bad faith statements (of which we have provided here only a fraction) and call upon the PA to explicitly retract each statement to its own public. It can make further aid to the PA conditional on verifiable Palestinian reforms, like outlawing terrorist groups, arresting terrorists and ending the incitement to hatred and murder that feeds the conflict. And it can withhold aid until these prerequisites for a genuine peace are forthcoming.
Abbas is no longer completely opposed to such a deal, which would create a framework for two states but likely postpone the resolution of the toughest issues such as final borders, shared sovereignty over Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees, according to a Tuesday Israel Radio report, which gave no further details.Isi Leibler: Candidly Speaking: Turkey's Erdogan - An autocratic Islamist bigot
Palestinian Authority officials, and Abbas himself, have repeatedly said they were strongly against an interim peace agreement with Israel. In September, speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York, Abbas said the current round of negotiations were “the last chance” to achieve peace between Israel and the Palestinians but rejected “the dizzying exhilaration of interim agreements” in lieu of a permanent resolution.
The reality is that while the inveterate anti-Semite Erdogan has his way, he will veto any efforts to improve relationships with Israel, despite the major strategic and economic benefits that would accrue to both countries.Anti-Israel ads placed on Denver buses during JNF conference
Thus, even if the US clings to the fantasy that Turkey represents a moderate, democratically influenced form of Islam, we should not delude ourselves. Erdogan is running an anti-Semitic, anti-Israeli regime that supports Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. As long as he remains in power, Israel-Turkish relations will remain cold at best.
Advertisements accusing Israel of “ethnic cleansing” are appearing on Denver-area buses while the Jewish National Fund holds its national conference in the city.BDSers Target Charles Azvanour
The ads, which include the slogan “Want peace? Stop ethnic cleansing in Palestine,” are sponsored by the website Notaxdollarstoisrael.com and the Colorado BDS Campaign, the Intermountain Jewish News reports.
On 23 November his audience will be in Tel Aviv, at the Nokia Arena.Simon Wiesenthal Center Calls on Daily Show Host to ‘Give the Jon Stewart Treatment’ to Roger Waters
But not if Omar Barghouti's Palestine Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) and its eager accomplices in the West have their way. They want Monsieur Aznavour to cancel his plans.
That's despite the fact that, as the Jerusalem Post reported on 1 October, as soon as the French singer's impending visit was announced: "Aznavour will dedicate his trip to promoting the peace process and increasing public support for it."
Calling on The Daily Show host Jon Stewart, who is Jewish, to similarly voice objection of the former Pink Floyd bassist’s attitude towards Israel Cooper said, “Come on Jon– give the Jon Stewart treatment to Waters and his pig, he’s earned it…”Jews bashed allegedly by Pacific Islanders
In January of this year Waters appeared as a guest on The Daily Show. Although Waters’ activism was discussed, Stewart was roundly criticized for not bringing up his anti-Israel views. “Stewart asked specifically about Waters’s political activities, but failed to bring up Waters’s most controversial political cause: his radical campaign against Israel,” wrote Joel Pollak at Breitbart.com.
I thought it suspicious that police and the press gave no description of the youths wanted for bashing five Jews in Bondi (Australia). That already suggested an ethnic dimension. Sure enough:Racist Attacker Assaults Israelis - For Speaking Spanish
The two boys were part of a group of eight mainly Pacific Islander youths charged with attacking the family, including a 66-year-old father and a 62-year-old mother, and friends walking home from a Sabbath dinner.
A 23 year-old man has been arrested over a racially-motivated assault in which he punched two Israeli men - because he thought they were speaking Spanish.Analysis: Druse state in Syria could be Israeli ally
Dylan T. Grall of Janesville, Wisconsin attacked the two men, who were conversing in Hebrew, on Madison street on Saturday morning.
Whether one wishes it or not, Syria may be on the way to partition or some kind of de facto break-up along the lines of ethnic division, regardless of what locals or the West want.Druze Families Remember Loved Ones Who Fought for Israel
Would such a break-up work in Israel’s favor?
According to some analysts, weak Arab states with internal strife and divisions, as well as the break-up of the existing Arab state order, plays to Israel’s strategic advantage.
Originally known as the IDF Minorities Unit, the ‘Herev’ Battalion was formed by Druze and Jewish leaders in 1948 during Israel’s War of Independence. Recently, the Herev Battalion invited the bereaved families of the unit to come together on the eve of Eid il-Adha, the religious Muslim festival known as Feast of Sacrifice, which was celebrated this year in mid-October.‘Seraphim Sense’ Creates ‘Guardian Angel’ Wristband To Monitor Health
These Druze families gather together every year to remember loved ones that they have lost in operations and wars to defend Israel, numbering in the hundreds.
Trust Israelis to transform an ancient religious belief into a bio-medical reality that can be worn around the wrist. The Angel Health Monitor is a biofeedback wristband that senses motion and acceleration, skin temperature, blood oxygen saturation and heart rate. Just like the mythical guardian angel, it monitors your every move to make sure that you are in good health. The health band is synced to a user’s smartphone and laptop via Bluetooth to provide real-time updates on their body’s internal workings.Report: Simon Cowell, Lauren Silverman Agree on Jewish Wedding; Cowell Taking Israeli Dance Lessons
“Simon and Lauren have spoken very openly about marriage and he’s told pals he may even propose by the end of the year,” Heat‘s source said.Munich launches virtual stumbling blocks memorial app
The source added that Cowell “agreed they could be blessed by a rabbi and partake in Jewish traditions, including the bedecking ceremony [where the groom identifies the bride in a room just before the wedding]. He’s even said he’ll have some Israeli dancing lessons for the party afterwards.” (h/t Yoel)
Visitors to the Bavarian capital can now see the biographies of hundreds of Jewish victims of the Holocaust as they pass by their former homes, thanks to a new app launched last week called Stolpersteine Muenchen, or Munich Stumbling Blocks.
Martina Bachmann, who is not Jewish, launched the app with business partner Sacha Bertram, who has a Jewish father. Bachmann told JTA that the aim is to create a digital memorial to all Munich victims of the Nazi regime, using 8,000 biographies. “Every person who was victimized and for whom we can find the biographical information,” Bachmann said.
