Saturday, August 30, 2014
Will Jews Buy Umbrellas When They See Clouds in the Sky?
19th century Zionist philosopher, Max Nordau, was quoted as telling Jewish leader Ze’ev Jabotinsky that “the Jew learns not by way of reason, but from catastrophes. He won’t buy an umbrella merely because he sees clouds in the sky. He waits until he is drenched and catches pneumonia.”Policy Paper for Submission to the UN: UNRWA Pt I
On so many counts, Nordau’s words remain completely accurate and reliable today.
In Israel, in the aftermath of Jews being removed from Gaza, disastrous peace talks, and the capitulation to terrorism, Hamas is still firing weapons at the State of Israel. Throughout Europe, Jews are attacked and in danger. In America, American Jews – wrongly – think that without Judaism they can retain Jewish identity – and thus assimilation rates continue to skyrocket. And throughout all of it, the world unfairly continues to condemn Israel.
During these frightening times, it is interesting to remember Zionist heroes, such as Max Nordau, who first raised the concept of what he termed at the time a “muscle Jew,” at the Second Zionist Congress in Basel on August 28, 1898. During a recent trip to France, I met countless Jews who discussed the need to emigrate to Israel – and thankfully today there is an army to protect the Jewish State.
The UNRWA workers union has been controlled in practice by Hamas for many years. The “Professional List”, headed by senior Hamas activist Suheil Al-Hindi, won a landslide victory in the elections for the UNRWA workers union held in September 2012.Michael Lumish: Netanyahu & the West Doom Israel to Perpetual War.
In the elections, in which nearly 11,500 employees of UNRWA voted, the “Professional List” won all 11 seats allocated to the teachers’ sector, 6 of 7 seats in the employees’ sector and 8 out of 9 seats in the service sector.
The "Al-Karama (Honor) List," affiliated with the Islamic Jihad organization, also participated in the elections, whereas the Fatah movement chose to boycott them, claiming that Hamas controls the UNRWA workers union and limits its activities.
The 2012 workers union elections were not the first ones to be won by Hamas. They also won the 2009 elections. The bloc affiliated with Hamas also won the previous election for the UNRWA workers union by an overwhelming majority. Lists affiliated with Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the PLO (uniting representatives of the PFLP, Fatah and the People's Party) and the independents took part in the 2009 elections. 17 representatives of Hamas (63%), four from the PFLP, four from Fatah, one from the People’s Party and one from the independents were elected to the union, which includes 27 members.
With the recent alleged conclusion of Operation Protective Edge, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, along with the western powers, has doomed the Jews of the Middle East to perpetual war.
Unless we see significant policy changes coming out of Jerusalem viz-a-viz the security of the south, Israel can write off that part of the country and just accept the idea that their children will never be even remotely safe. Furthermore, of course, if Israel had any plans to economically or agriculturally develop that part of the country they can simply forget about, at least into the foreseeable future.
Hamas, as it turns out, is actually far more effective in the ethnic-cleansing of Jews from Jewish land than is even the EU, the UN, or the Obama administration. Obama has been twisting Jewish arms for years trying to get us to move off of Jewish land without success, but Hamas knows how it is done.
Violence.
You simply hit Jews in the head until we go away.
IDF Blog: Fighting for Life: The Female Paramedics of Operation Protective Edge
They are among the few women who entered the Gaza Strip during Operation Protective Edge. Amid the clashes and mortar fire, three combat soldiers tell us of the days they spent fighting to save the lives of their comrades on the battlefield.I Have Two Nightmares About a Palestinian State
Before entering Gaza during Operation Protective Edge, IDF combat paramedics experienced intensive training and some of the military’s most demanding courses. For a year and a half, they underwent training in the IDF Paramedic-Combat course, acquiring advanced expertise in emergency medical care.
Rigorous testing, hospital internships and intensive physical training shaped the service of IDF paramedics who participated in Israel’s operation. After returning from Gaza, they told us about their unique experiences saving lives on the battlefield.
I ran into an old friend, a well-known journalist, whose son had just emerged from the fighting in Gaza.The war in the eyes of our leaders
So what do we do now? I asked.
“I’m ready for almost any deal,” he said. “But even if Abbas were a serious partner, I worry that he’d be overthrown by Hamas if we pulled out of the West Bank. When Bibi said that we can’t give up security control there, I actually found myself agreeing with him.”
“I have two nightmares about a Palestinian state,” I said. “That there won’t be one and that there will be one.”
Meanwhile, we try not to ask ourselves too many questions about the future, because it is too terrifying. The only good news from this terrible summer of 2014 is that we’ve once again surprised ourselves with our resilience. When Hamas released a video of a song (sung in bad Hebrew) threatening terror attacks, Israelis countered with YouTube clips of young people dancing to the catchy Hamas tune in the streets of Tel Aviv. Other young Israelis went into battle singing the Hasidic song, “The whole world is a narrow bridge and the main thing is not to be afraid.” It was a psychological message of its own: We’re here to stay.
The following points are the product of conversations I have had over the past week with authorized officials of various ranks and with relevant experts. I amalgamated the disjointed conversations into one article in an effort to provide an all-inclusive view of the way the latest campaign was handled by the different branches of the Israeli leadership, from the points of view of those leaders. It is important to take these things into account in any serious discussion of this military operation and of its implications. (h/t Bob Knot)Intelligence Report: Terrorists Killed by IDF Listed as Child Casualties
The report determined that 46 percent of those killed were militants, while 54 percent were uninvolved civilians. However, due to Hamas’ policy of concealment and deception, the numbers might actually skew even more toward the militant side.Aerial Video Shows Hamas Stronghold in Ruins
For example, a great many armed militants killed during the fighting in the Gaza City suburb of Shejaiya between July 19-August 1 remain buried under rubble, and therefore do not appear on any casualty lists. According to intelligence estimates, some 100–150 terrorists were killed in Shejaiya.
The report also revealed that armed terrorists killed during the fighting were later listed as young children by the Gaza Ministry of Health (MoH).
For instance, Gaza’s MoH said that Abruim Jamal Kamal Netzer from Khan Younis, killed on July 18, was just 13-years-old. In reality, he was a 26-year-old militant associated with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement.
The ITIC said this was not an innocent mistake, but rather a deliberate effort to identify deceased terrorists as children.
An Arab-produced video shows aerial views of the Shejaiya neighborhood of Gaza. The neighborhood was reduced to rubble in the fighting between Hamas and the IDF.BBC’s summary graphic continues to mislead on Gaza casualty ratios
Thirteen IDF soldiers from the Golani Brigade were killed in Shejaiya on July 19-20. There was fierce fighting in the neighborhood, which Hamas had fillied with boobytraps, snipers and terrorists armed with antitank missiles and other weapons.
Seven of the soldiers killed in the battle had been seated inside an APC that was targeted with an RPG. In the immediate aftermath of that attack, terrorists abducted the body of Sgt. Oron Shaul hy"d. The IDF responded to the attack and abduction with fierce shelling. (h/t Bob Knot)
As we also see, there is still no evidence to suggest that the BBC has independently verified the statistics it quotes and promotes and BBC audiences have still not been informed of that lack of independent verification or of the political backdrop to the figures cited.Wounded IDF Soldier Leaves Hospital After Mt. Scopus Attack
Readers may be interested to know of the existence of a petition to try to persuade the BBC to correct its obviously problematic policy.
Notable too is the fact that at no point during its last seven weeks of coverage of the conflict has the BBC attempted to put the topic of civilian/combatant casualty ratios in Gaza into their broader context. Audiences in the UK and other Western countries have not been informed how those ratios compare to other conflicts in which their own armed forces were involved.
Twenty-five days after a near-fatal attack on Mount Scopus, during Israel's self-defense operation in Gaza, Operation Protective Edge, Sgt. Chen Schwartz was released from Hadassah Mount Scopus Hospital in Jerusalem.Zoabi proclaims Palestinian ‘victory’ in Gaza
Schwartz's release was an emotional event Friday, after spending nearly a month being treated for wounds sustained by a terrorist on a motorcycle.
The soldier thanked the hospital staff for "giving him a second life."
"I am leaving here with a smile," Schwartz stated.
Balad party MK Hanin Zoabi hailed a Palestinian “victory” over Israel in the latest round of Gaza violence, making the declaration at a rally in northern Israel on Friday.Islamic State vows to reach 'Palestine' and 'kill the barbaric Jews'
Approximately 2,000 people attended the demonstration called by the Arab Higher Monitoring Committee entitled the “Gaza victory” in the Galilean village of Kabbul. Attendees, headlined by Zoabi and fellow Balad MK Jamal Zahalka, marked a moment of silence in memory of those killed in the Gaza Strip, waved PLO flags and held picture of slain Gazans.
“The Palestinian resistance and the people as a whole in Gaza defeated all the military and political objectives that Israel set for itself. Our people’s struggle thwarted all of Israel’s objectives,” Zoabi said at the gathering.
“This is a victory rally for the Palestinian people,” she told Channel 2. “There is no people without resistance and there’s no resistance without the people. This is victory for the Palestinian people, and it’s the right of the entire nation to fight the occupation. I’m not concerned about public incitement. It’s the natural right of the Palestinians. When there won’t be occupation, there won’t be resistance.”
Now in the organization's new English language publication, Dabiq, aimed at young Muslims in western states, the extremist organization declared, "Islamic State will do everything within its means to continue striking down every apostate who stands as an obstacle on its path towards Palestine."British MP who called for Israel boycott released from hospital following attack
Denouncing the ineffectiveness of other Arab states and organizations in carrying out the "will of Allah," the magazine vows that, "Its [Islamic State's] actions speak louder than its words and it is only a matter of time and patience before it reaches Palestine to fight the barbaric Jews and kill those of them hiding behind the gharqad trees – the trees of the jews."
George Galloway, a British lawmaker known for his anti-Israel remarks, was hospitalized following an attack on the streets of Notting Hill.5 Reasons Why No One Should Be Glad That Galloway Was Beaten Up
The politician was taken to a London hospital for treatment and was released on Saturday afternoon.
Galloway was posing for pictures with the public on the streets of west London when a man plunged at him. A spokesman said he thought the attack was connected to the MP's views vis-a-vis Israel, since the assailant made remarks about the Holocaust as he began punching him.
2. He needs his jaw, and so do weNetanyahu Says Abbas Must Choose Between Hamas and Peace
I reckon every time Galloway opens his mouth, he does more for the pro-Israel cause than he would like to think. I mean he's a Grade A loon and everyone apart from the leftist hordes that have nothing better to do with their Saturdays but sit in Hyde Park with a keffiyeh and a Hezbollah flag knows it. The silent majority of Britain know him not as a great orator, or a man of significant intellect, but as a man who pretended to be a cat on Big Brother. So let's be having more of him.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Israel’s Channel 10 on Friday that the latest Gaza conflict “might have” opened a possibility for a diplomatic breakthrough with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, but only if Abbas decides to give Hamas “a divorce.”Report: Abbas, Hamas agree on plan for independent Palestinian state
Hamas and Abbas’s Fatah party are currently part of the unity government.
“I think [Abbas] understands today that he must choose between a Hamas that doesn’t only call for [Israel's] destruction, it also called for his overthrow, and in fact acted on it,” Netanyahu said, referring to a recently uncovered Hamas plot to topple Abbas in the West Bank. “I hope that we can cooperate with him on a diplomatic process.”
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas have agreed on a three-phase plan that would lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state, the Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported Saturday.Eastern Jerusalem Church Forced to Close After Years of Islamist Harassment
The paper quoted Palestinian sources in Ramallah as saying that the plan calls for giving the Americans a period of four months to draw the borders of the Palestinian state and win Israel’s recognition.
If the two sides agree on the plan, they would launch immediate negotiations with a defined timetable during which Israel would be requested to present a map showing its own borders, the sources said.
But if the plan is rejected, the sources added, the Palestinians, together with the Arab countries, would ask the United Nations Security Council to “evict Israel from the land of Palestine.”
An Evangelical Christian church in eastern Jerusalem was forced to close following years of harassment and intimidation by Islamists, a Palestinian pastor said.Nearly 600 Terror Suspects Arrested in August
The Calvary Baptist Church—which is affiliated with the Evangelical Christian Holy Land Missions organization—was forced to move out of its building in July after Islamists threatened its landlord. The congregation is currently looking for a new building.
The church, which was located in the predominantly Muslim eastern Jerusalem neighborhood of Shuafat, is trying to raise $3.5 million to purchase a new building.
“We can’t get a loan because we don’t own anything in Israel,” Holy Land Missions’ Pastor Steven Khoury told Morning Star News. “By faith we are asking the Lord to help us raise $3.5 million. We’ve been able to raise about $700,000 so far.”
According to Khoury, the persecution of Calvary Baptist congregants started shortly after the church opened in 2007. Among the attacks were a congregant being threatened with a knife, a Molotov cocktail being tossed at the building, and vehicles and even children being harassed at church functions.
Israeli security forces detained 597 terror suspects in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem in August, raising the number of terrorists and suspected terrorists in Israeli prisons to more than 7,000, the Palestinian Prisoners Club said.Two mortars explode near Israel-Syria border
The majority of the arrests took place in eastern neighborhoods of Jerusalem and in the Judean city of Hevron - both of which are hotbeds of support for Hamas, which led attacks against Israel during Operation Protective Edge - according to the Ramallah-based NGO.
Many were arrested during violent demonstrations in support of terrorists in Gaza during the deadly 50-day war with Israel, which included the firing of thousands of rockets at Israeli civilians.
Since the June kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers in Gush Etzion in Judea, at least 2,000 suspects have been questioned and detained, according to the NGO.
Two mortar shells exploded inside Israel near the Israel-Syria border in the Golan Heights Saturday, causing no injuries or damage, according to initial reports.Dozens of UN troops trapped by Syrian rebels freed under fire
The explosions were believed to be strays from fighting between rebel groups and government troops on the Syrian side of the Golan.
On Thursday, the IDF said it was raising the level of alert following the intense fighting across the border amid reports that the Quneitra crossing was seized by the Nusra Front, a rebel group affiliated with al-Qaeda, and in light of the abduction of 44 Fijian UN peacekeepers and the siege of 110 Filipino UN troops by the group.
Around three dozen Filipino UN peacekeepers out of 110 surrounded and trapped by Syrian rebels for the past few days were rescued under fire by other UN forces, news agencies reported Saturday evening.75 UN troops flee into Israel to escape Syrian rebels
Irish UNDOF soldiers participated in the rescue efforts, according to a statement by the Irish forces.
“Irish personnel secured a route, provided security as UNDOF troops withdrew from a UN position and escorted them to the Force Headquarters in Camp Faouar” on the Syrian side of the armistice line, the Irish statement said.
An Israeli military spokesman confirmed that a number of UN peacekeepers entered Israel. He spoke on condition of anonymity. Channel 2 said 75 UN troops had crossed the borders, after two UN positions on the Syrian side of the border were targeted by al-Nusra rebel forces.Suriname president’s son pleads guilty to ‘Hezbollah plot’
Earlier in the day, the Philippine defense chief said that Filipino peacekeepers in the Golan Heights were attacked by Syrian rebels, who are also holding dozens of Fijian troops hostage.
Clashes continued in the area through Saturday.
The son of the president of Suriname pleaded guilty on Friday to US charges he sought to offer a home base in his South American country to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.Saudi Arabia: ISIS Will Reach America In Two Months
Dino Bouterse, once picked by his father to lead a counterterrorism unit in Suriname, told a judge in federal court in Manhattan that as part of the scheme he provided a false Surinamese passport to a person he believed was a Hezbollah operative. He also pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and firearms charges.
The guilty plea came a year after Bouterse’s arrest in Panama on charges he conspired to smuggle cocaine into the United States. He had already been extradited to the United States and jailed when authorities added terrorism charges accusing him of agreeing to accept a multimillion-dollar payoff in exchange for allowing large numbers of Hezbollah fighters to use Suriname as a base for attacking American targets.
Saudi Arabia’s head of state King Abdullah issued a dire warning to the West if they choose to ignore the Muslim extremist group the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).Islamic State reportedly seeking biological weapons
“If we ignore them, I am sure they will reach Europe in a month and America in another month,” Abdullah said at a Friday diplomatic ceremony and later quoted by Saudi television.
“Terrorism knows no border and its danger could affect several countries outside the Middle East,” he continued. “You see how they [jihadists] carry out beheadings and make children show the severed heads in the street.”
Plans to develop biological weapons and instructions on how to weaponize the bubonic plague from infected animals were found on a laptop belonging to a Tunisian Islamic State jihadist, by a Syrian rebel commander from a moderate group in northern Syria.Armenia hands invitation letter to Erdoğan to mark 100th anniversary of 1915
The laptop was seized during an attack on an IS hideout in Idlib province, near the Turkish border, in January, according to the Syrian commander, dubbed Abu Ali, Foreign Policy Magazine reported. (h/t Alexi)
Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian has officially invited Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to a ceremony that will mark the 100th anniversary of the killing of Ottoman Armenians in 1915.‘Jewish Ritual Murder’ Page Removed, Then Restored by Facebook Within 24 Hours
Nalbandian attended Erdoğan’s inauguration ceremony in Ankara on Aug. 28, where he handed him the official letter to attend the ceremony next year.
“During the reception given after the ceremony in the honor of the heads of delegations, Nalbandian had a short conversation with President Erdoğan and handed him the official invitation letter by the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan to attend the Remembrance Ceremony, dedicated to the victims of the Armenian Genocide, which will take place in Yerevan on April 24, 2015,” a written statement by the Armenian Foreign Ministry said Aug. 29. The Turkish Foreign Ministry declined to comment on the issue.
A Facebook page entitled “Jewish Ritual Murder” was taken town and then reactivated within a 24-hour period after the social media giant reconsidered its decision that it violated their community standards, The Algemeiner has learned.British Jews to Call for 'Zero Tolerance' for Anti-Semitism
Dexter Van Zile, an analyst for media watchdog CAMERA, reported that he had been notified by Facebook that the page had been removed on Thursday, after a long campaign by Jewish activists and groups.
“Facebook Removes Antisemitic page. Life’s little victories,” Van Zile tweeted at 10:44 a.m.
But on Friday, The Algemeiner received multiple reports of Facebook users who had complained about the page, being informed that it was now back up.
Thousands of people have participated in anti-Israel protests, and the demonstrations have been accompanied by anti-Semitic violence. Over the past several weeks, for example, pro-Palestinian rioters vandalized a Birmingham Tesco store out of rage over a refusal to boycott Israeli products; in a similar incident, hundreds of demonstrators rioted outside the Kedem store in Manchester, in a series of clashes which culminated in dozens of death threats being hurled at the store's owners.Cleveland State, University of Haifa sign agreement
But British Jews have begun to fight back, according to the grassroots Campaign Against Anti-Semitism - and will rally outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London.
“There is a wave of widespread antisemitism sweeping across Europe, and also here in Britain," Jonathan Sacerdoti, spokesman for the Campaign Against Antisemitism said. "British Jews are afraid. Citizens are looking to the police and government to enforce the law with zero tolerance against antisemites, as they do in other cases of racism. It is only through zero tolerance that the tide of antisemitism can be turned. This demand is backed by the full spectrum of Jewish organizations.”
Cleveland State University and the University of Haifa have signed an agreement to develop joint programming.Cornell’s most daring step: Hoping to find Zuckerberg on new campus
David Faraggi, rector of Israel’s University of Haifa, signed the memorandum of understanding to formalize their collaborative relationship with CSU President Ronald Berkman on Wednesday in Cleveland.
Faraggi was in Cleveland for a two-day visit to meet with college deans and community leaders.
The two universities plan to develop joint programs in natural sciences, Middle Eastern studies and educational leadership, according to Cleveland State.
Cornell’s much bigger plans are down in New York, where a fifth of its 2.5 lakh alums live. Cornell Tech, the graduate school that preps students to build projects for local firms and start their own tech firms, started classes in Google’s offices in 2013 with plans to move to the Roosevelt Island campus in a few years, when it’s complete. Built in partnership with Israel’s Technion, the campus, being funded in part by Cornell grads Chuck Feeney and Irwin Jacobs, hopes to generate $23 billion in economic activity over three decades.Orbotech Announces Closing of the Acquisition of SPTS Technologies
“The entrepreneurial passion is something you can’t teach,” admits Dan Huttenlocher, dean of Cornell Tech. “But I think an Ivy League university is a tremendous place to get the skills to make you much more likely to succeed in your entrepreneurial endeavours.”
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