Friday, January 02, 2015
Anett Haskia: I am not a traitor
People often ask me: “But how many other Israeli Arabs support Israeli like you do?” All one needs to answer this question is to take a look at the latest polls on how many Israeli Arabs would live in a Palestinian state as opposed to Israel, to realize that if given the opportunity, the silent Israeli Arab majority would openly come out in support of Israel. Nearly every Israeli Arab would prefer to live in Israel over a Palestinian state and just 30 percent come out to vote for Arab parties in Knesset elections. The Arab-Israeli electorate has lost all faith in Arab MKs who do not represent their interests (when was the last time an Arab MK supported a bill to protect battered Arab women trying to flee their abusive husbands or took up the rights of child brides?!).David Weinberg: A crystal ball on 2015
It comes down to this: the Arab MKs are the real traitors – not me. While I’m running for the Bayit Yehudi candidates list first and foremost in order to serve the best interests of Israeli Arabs, they’re creating further divisions in our society. We’re really no different from anyone else.
We want to lead quiet lives, earning a dignified living to support our families. The vast majority of us want to live in peace with the Jews without suffering from prejudice and discrimination. The Arab MKs want something entirely different. (h/t Elder of Lobby)
One year ago, I forecast -- accurately -- that in 2014 U.S. President Barack Obama would continue to fudge the nuclear issue with Iran. I also foresaw that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would agree to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's formula for a Palestinian state based on the 1967 lines, but that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas would cut and run from the negotiations at the last moment. Easy predictions.Top 10 Non-Jews Positively Influencing the Jewish Future, 2014
But I was wrong in expecting to see the hero of the social protest movement Professor Manuel Trajtenberg join Moshe Kahlon's new political party. Instead, he recently joined the ranks of Labor. I was also wrong in hoping and praying to see Natan Sharansky named the president of Israel, instead of Reuven Rivlin.
Looking into my crystal ball for the year ahead, this is what I see:
Five years have now passed since I first published my annual list of non-Jews who are worthy of recognition for their positive impact on Jewish lives and the Jewish state.
Looking back, it is fascinating to see how the list has evolved, with some personalities fading from prominence and others emerging to take their place. Some have remained constant throughout the years.
As I have pointed out in the past, my choices are by no means scientific and are primarily intended to prompt interest in this unique group of individuals. Hailing from various countries, ethnic backgrounds and religious groups, the list includes heads of state, business tycoons and spiritual and political leaders. While some of their contributions came through effort and sacrifice, for others they seemed like second nature, but all are surely worthy of our recognition. As such, I present my fifth annual list of the “Top 10 Non-Jews Positively Influencing the Jewish Future.”
Does the Israeli Left actually live here?
Who is responsible for the current situation? Don't expect any surprises: the religious Zionists and the Right. Shavit says that "for the first time," he can discern "arrogance and messianic thinking" among religious Zionists. That's what people were saying in the 1980s. His analysis is as follows: Until recently, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was a "local, political conflict." Now it has become a "religious war against the entire Muslim world." He accuses the political Right of being "detached from reality and ignorant of international developments and their implication on our independence." He argues that as a result, "the people of Israel are blindly galloping" toward catastrophe.Will the Real Palestinian Please Stand Up!
I am asking myself: Does Shavit actually live here? Does any of the Israeli Left? Or maybe he is stuck somewhere in the 1980s in his Mossad job? Is the Israeli Right responsible for the rise of Islamism in the world? If we sit quietly in the corner, will the Muslims no longer view us as the spearhead of the infidel West?
For 21 years, we have been dealing with the glorious aftermath of the Oslo Accords, which brought us unprecedented terrorism, frequent wars, an enlargement of the defense budget due to increased threats and a blow to the Israeli economy. And we haven't even mentioned the miserable 2005 disengagement from Gaza yet.
What is it that keeps the Left stuck in their fantasies, even while watching them shatter against the hard cold reality? Tell me: Who galloped blindly toward the empty promises of the Oslo architects, with the full support of the leftist media? And who was on the sober, rational side that did not become enchanted with the false promises of the so-called "peace process"? Isn't the Left, which keeps muttering the mantra "must make peace," far more messianic and 10 times more dangerous than those whose forecasts about the future of "peace" all came true?
Use of the term, Palestinian, by Israeli officials when referring to Arabs who were in the Palestinian Mandatory Territories before 1948 is, to me, absolutely incomprehensible. It is one thing when members of the Israeli left use it for they want us to submit to Arab demands and relinquish lands that were originally part of the intended Jewish home in the belief that that will bring peace upon us. However, when our Prime Minister and President use the term, they also collaborate with the lie and make it that much harder to impress upon the rest of the world the fallacy of referring to the Arabs as Palestinians.ZOA: Disqualify Groups Backing Sanctions and Boycotts Against Israel From Zionist Election
I am not saying that the Arabs that lived here in 1948 have not developed a unique identity – they have: but only because this was part of deliberate machinations on the part of other Arabs who have been using them as pawns for their own propaganda purposes in their war against the Israeli thorn in their sides. What is ironic is that if Israel were to lose a war, not only would the Jewish population be wiped out (as is happening to Christians and others in the Moslem Middle East today), but you would suddenly see that there is no such thing as a Palestinian Arab. The other Arab entities would not recognize a Palestinian people and would waste no time in quashing any hopes harbored of an independent Palestinian state. It would be swallowed up by Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon and Syria before the blink of an eye.
And what would global current events followers say then? OOPS? I think they wouldn’t even go that far. I think they really just wouldn’t care!
The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) filed a complaint with the World Zionist Congress that calls for the disqualification of a slate of progressive groups from the Congress’s upcoming election over those groups’ support of sanctions and boycotts against Israel.On College Campuses, Semester Ends With Big BDS Push
ZOA objected to the eligibility of Ameinu and Partners for a Progressive Israel (PPI), groups that are part of the election’s “HaTikvah slate,” which is named after Israel’s national anthem.
Ameinu “lobbies for international sanctions against Israeli leaders whose political positions they disagree with” and PPI “promotes boycotts against Israeli Jewish businesses in Judea and Samaria and eastern Jerusalem,” ZOA said.
The Sabra and Sodastream affairs show that BDS supporters are willing to politicize areas such as university food services and represent temporary successes as outsized victories. But while these specific decisions have been reversed, the larger BDS success is inculcating the idea among students that every choice of hummus or carbonated water is a supreme ethical decision that must be made against Israel in order to fit into university culture.Gaza is Full of Dispair, But I Know the Solution! Or So Says Roger Cohen
In the political sphere comments attributed to the State Department suggested that the Obama Administration was considering a variety of sanctions on Israel over continued building in Israeli communities across the Green Line, and particularly in Jerusalem. These leaks were quickly denied by the administration. The message behind the leaks has been interpreted as giving license to European states to consider their own sanctions against Israel.
European states also continued to adopt symbolic resolutions recognizing the state of Palestine, moves also intended to pressure Israel regarding negotiations with the Palestinian Authority. These should also be juxtaposed with the growing trend among European cities to condemn Israel, end relationships with Israeli counterparts and to ban Israeli goods. While these moves have been rejected by political organizations such as Britain’s Labour Party, the larger implication is the ongoing criminalization of Israel in Europe and acceptance of Palestinian calls for its destruction, in part through BDS.
In his final New York Times column of 2014, “Gaza is Nowhere,” Cohen first tells us that life in Gaza is devoid of hope, and that the last war in Gaza changed nothing.BBC ignores Fatah’s anniversary incitement
But the last war changed many things. It destroyed an enormous stockpile of weapons. It raised public (if not just military) awareness of terror tunnels. It taught Israel that, rather than using Israel’s material aid of cement and concrete to build schools, homes, factories and roads, Gaza uses Israel’s aid against itself. It confirmed, yet again, that no matter how just Israel may be in waging war, or how justly Israel wages it, Israel will suffer from international scrutiny and gratuitous censure. When the video of the Muslim pogrom against a Paris synagogue went viral the world saw how far and how deep Arab anti-Semitism reaches. So the war has taught Israel and the world quite a bit. Why the Gazans have not learned anything, and why they have not sought a better life, remains a question.
Roger, you describe a Gaza without hope, but you, Roger, can give hope to the hopeless. You tell us, for example, that despite its genocidal charter, Hamas is not monolithic. But you also tell us that Robert Turner, the director of Gaza’s UNRWA, describes a drift toward more radical groups in Gaza (until IS I did not know there were Islamic groups more radical than Hamas). So a variety of thought within Hamas may not be the hope we were all hoping for.
Roger Cohen ties it all up in a bow by telling us all who can fix Gaza: it is the Israelis, Palestinians, Egyptians, and Americans. (Most of Africa and Asia get a pass.) Sure. Everyone is responsible to turn Gaza into a productive society. But really, the only way the hopelessness of Gaza can be averted is with a change of Gazan mindset. Instead of using the billions in aid they receive for war and destruction, they should try using it for its intended purposes. That would be a nice start.
So, to recap, the BBC informs its audiences that the party headed by the moderate Mahmoud Abbas recognizes Israel’s right to exist, rejects terrorism and is committed to “peace and co-existence”. Now let’s take a look at some of the imagery being used by Fatah to promote the 50th anniversary (on January 1st 2015) of its first terror attack on Israel: an occasion which some might find it odd for a party which supposedly now rejects terrorism to be celebrating at all.Paris Chief Rabbi: French Jewry is Reeling From String of Anti-Semitic Attacks
As we see in the images below complied by PMW, one dominant theme is the eradication of Israel from the map: obviously rather a strange practice for a group which the BBC tells us recognizes Israel’s right to exist.
After a month of assaults in France against Jewish targets, including a brutal rape during a home invasion, and shooting attacks against synagogues and other businesses, the Chief Rabbi of Paris, Michel Guggenheim, has told the Israeli religious journal Shvi’i that the crisis is having “a powerful effect on the community.”Lawsuit Against Revlon CEO for Racist, Anti-Semitic Remarks
The attacks, which have taken place against a wave of stabbing and vehicular terror attacks by radical Muslims in several cities in France, have shocked many in the nearly 500,000-strong community.
Guggenheim, who is currently visiting Israel for a rabbinical conference, acknowledged that “Paris police are taking very severe measures against the phenomena, and, of course, we have no complaints against the security forces.”
He added, however, that “to my great regret, the judges aren’t handing down sentences sufficient to cause the individuals to think twice or deter them from their deeds.”
“There is a law that was passed that exacts a severe price for racist or antisemitic attacks. What good does it do us if there’s no deterrence?” he asked.
A discrimination lawsuit has been filed against Revlon cosmetics CEO Lorenzo Delpani, according to the New York Post, for making bigoted remarks against African-Americans, Jews, and Americans in general.ADL Deeply Troubled by Anti-Semitic Incident in Caracas
Delpani, an Italian native who rose to the position in 2013, allegedly made a number of the comments during business meetings according to the plaintiff, former Revlon scientist Alan Meyers.
The CEO, who is also said in the suit to have personally bullied Meyers, said that he was "surprised" that there were not more Jews in the company as the main shareholder, Ron Perelman, is Jewish.
His reasoning was that "Jews stick together." He added that he was thankful that Perelman "isn't like that anymore."
Delpani also made comments against black people, saying that he “could smell a black person when he entered a room" after a meeting in South Africa.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today said it is deeply troubled by reports of anti-Semitic graffiti found on a wall of the AIV del Este Sephardic synagogue in Caracas, Venezuela.HarperCollins apologizes for leaving Israel off maps
The graffiti, which allegedly was sprayed painted shortly before daily morning prayer services on December 30, included a swastika and the number six million with question marks.
The HarperCollins publishing house apologized for omitting Israel from maps in atlases that it sells to English-speaking schools in the Middle East.The Improbable Romance Between Israel and Azerbaijan
“HarperCollins regrets the omission of the name Israel from their Collins Middle East Atlas. This product has now been removed from sale in all territories and all remaining stock will be pulped. HarperCollins sincerely apologizes for this omission and for any offense caused,” it said in a statement released late Wednesday.
The atlas remained available on vendors’ websites such as Amazon and Barnes and Noble on Thursday, however.
Since its founding in 1948, Israel has found Muslim-majority allies hard to come by. Yet an improbable romance continues to develop between the Jewish state and Azerbaijan.With New Staff, FIDF Maintains Israeli Soldiers’ Morale in Precarious Times
Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon took a surprise trip to Azerbaijan in September, marking the first-ever visit by the holder of his position to a Muslim-majority nation in the Southern Caucasus region. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and former president Shimon Peres have also visited Azerbaijan, and Azeri dignitaries have made the trip to Israel. Though it is most often attributed to a shared interest in combating the threat posed by Iran, experts say the blooming Israeli-Azeri friendship goes much deeper.
“Having a close link with a Shiite-majority nation helps shatter the notion of an Islamic rejectionist front against Israel,” said American Jewish Committee (AJC) Executive Director David Harris, who in 2012 received the “Dostlug” Order of Friendship, Azerbaijan’s highest honor for a foreign citizen, from Azeri President Ilham Aliyev. “For Azerbaijan, located in a tough neighborhood, Israel is a very valued source of economic and strategic assistance.”
Israel’s tumultuous summer and fall tested the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on many fronts, as a 50-day conflict with Hamas was followed by increased Palestinian terrorism in Jerusalem and elsewhere. Yet despite the strain of war, Maj. Gen. (Res.) Meir Klifi-Amir (Klifi), the recently appointed national executive director of the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) not-for-profit organization, maintains that IDF morale is high.IDF Doctor in Emotional Reunion With Parents of Palestinian Baby Whose Life He Saved
“The IDF has the best morale that you can have in any army all over the world because our soldiers understand that [Israel] is the only country we (Jews) have to protect,” Klifi tells JNS.org in his first interview since assuming the FIDF position three months ago.
But how does that morale stay high? FIDF does its part by contributing to the army’s enduring spirit, raising funds from a vast network of international donors to support programming that enhances soldiers’ wellbeing.
“For the soldiers,” Klifi tells JNS.org, “it’s not about what’s in the box, or package. It’s about who sends that package. They were in the worst circumstances, under very strong pressure. … Knowing they get support from people all over the world who understand [the IDF’s mission] is very important for their morale.”
An emotional reunion has taken place at a Jerusalem hospital between a Palestinian family and the IDF medical officer who saved the life of their baby son as they crossed the Allenby Bridge from Jordan into Israel last weekend.Fourteen IDF Innovations of 2014
The baby was reported to have suffered a cardiac arrest at the crossing on Saturday morning. An IDF medical team led by 23-year-old Lt. Ronen Kessler quickly arrived at the scene and performed CPR before the baby was evacuated by helicopter to Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem.
On Wednesday, Kessler and division medical officer Moran Gershoni visited the family at the hospital.
“They were really happy to see us,” Kessler said, according to a report from Israel’s Channel 2 News. “Most of the time, the father spoke English. He told of what had happened before they got to the crossing, and kept thanking us for what we did. The mother also thanked us and even hugged Gershoni. It was very exciting, but it’s not easy to see a boy of six months in such bad shape.”
“I appreciate everything that IDF soldiers did, and they were praying for my boy,” the baby’s father said. “They gave him first aid and took him by helicopter to Hadassah, even though he is not Israeli but Palestinian.”
The Israeli Navy welcomed the addition of the INS Tanin, the fourth of six German-built, Israeli-equipped Dolphin-class submarines, which arrived at its home base in Haifa in September. Two locally-built tow vessels were also built to support the Dolphin-class submarines.Jerusalem Unity Prize established in memory of 3 slain teens
The Israeli Air Force received several new manned and unmanned aircraft, including the Lockheed-Martin Hercules Samson C-130J and part of Israel's squadron of Alenia-Aermacchi M346 jets.
In addition, Elbit Systems' Hermes 900 unmanned aerial system (UAS) became operational during the summer war; similarly, the IDF used US-built Patriot batteries to intercept unmanned vehicles from Palestinian Arab terrorists for the first time in world military history.
IDF ground forces received new equipment as well. The IDF Armored Corps debuted a new tank round, the Hatzav multi-mission tank round, during Protective Edge; it also reorganized its tank arsenal completely, retiring older Merkava models.
In tech, the "Yahalom" (Diamond) Unit of IDF Combat Engineers fielded its first Foster Miller-built Talon 4 tracked ordinance disposal robot in support of Operation Protective Edge, and the C4I Branch integrated a new layer of connectivity into its network for greater control and fielded a new Decision Support System (DSS).
The Homefront Command also debuted a system which disseminates personalized text messages of incoming rocket threats to soldiers on base.
Finally, the Medical Corps issued a brand-new medical kit for emergency first-aid for soldiers deployed during the summer war.
The prize, in memory of Gil-ad Shaar, Eyal Yifrach, and Naftali Fraenkel, a dual American and Israeli citizen, was announced Thursday by Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat.Prisoners of memory
The prize was developed in partnership with the families of the three boys and Jerusalem-based organization Gesher as a way to perpetuate the spirit of unity which existed across Israel and around the world during the days following the boys’ kidnapping.
The boys’ mothers, who became a symbol of the unity during the 18-day ordeal from the kidnapping until the boys’ bodies were discovered, created a video announcing the prize in which they call on Jews “to take a deep breath (and) bridge the gaps that divide us.”
Despite harrowing World War II ordeal, the story of the Auxiliary Military Pioneer Corps, British Army volunteers captured by the Nazis in Greece, is virtually unknown Seventy years later, their families seek to tell their stories.
Ben Zion Solomin, age 101, wears the cap of a British soldier and is assisted by his son and caregiver as he slowly approaches the front of the stage to light a Hanukkah candle and welcome the crowd at the Armored Corps Memorial at Latrun, near Jerusalem.
The ceremony was held to honor the families of the prisoners of war from the Auxiliary Military Pioneer Corps, who were captured by the Nazis during World War II and later freed by the Allied forces. In a cracked voice, with his son helping him, Solomin read his welcome speech from the text he had prepared.
"In honor of the endurance, the survival, the Zionist flame and the devotion to the security services," he said, and told his story briefly.
