Friday, October 16, 2015
Melanie Phillips: Jewish blood stains many hands
Predictably, the Western media ignored the hundreds of attacks on Israeli Jews these past few weeks. It waited until Israel started killing terrorists. Then it sprang into action to portray the Israelis as brutal oppressors driving helpless Palestinians to desperate measures.Col. Richard Kemp: Palestinian and Western Leaders: Blood on Their Hands
In American and British newspapers, on CNN and the BBC, the focus was on the Palestinians who had been killed with their Israeli victims added as an afterthought.
The New York Times excelled itself in its twisted anti-Israel reporting by peddling an absurd theory – which every expert dismisses as utter rubbish – that the “explosive historical question” was whether the two Jewish Temples had ever stood on the Temple Mount at all.
On BBC TV’s Newsnight, presenter Evan Davies tried to insist that measures Israel was taking to deter further murderous attacks were “reprisals” – in other words, revenge attacks. Then he suggested that the most likely reason why these young, “post-Oslo” Arabs believed Israelis should be killed was that they had been “provoked” by Israel’s behavior.
Such remarks betray total ignorance of the Arab pogroms against Jews, the frenzied butchery and the very same incitement and lies about al-Aksa that have being going on in the Land of Israel for almost a century.
Even more important than the malice of the media is the part played in Arab incitement by Israel’s supposed friends and allies.
Secretary Kerry's comments will encourage the continuation of violence and lead to further deaths of both Israelis and Palestinians. His explanation for the widespread knifings, suicide bombings, shootings, arson, firebombings, vehicle attacks and lethal rock-throwing is either naive or mendacious; perhaps both.Fred Maroun: Are Israeli Jews too nice?
Kerry asserts that the frustrations of Israeli settlement activity are responsible for the Palestinians' murderous behaviour. The reality is that this new wave of killings is a continuation of the aggression against Jews that has been going on in the territory of Palestine for many decades -- since long before 1948 and pre-dating the first Israeli settlements in the West Bank that Kerry falsely brands as illegal.
The violence is motivated by the same racist and sectarian zeal that drives the Islamic State and numerous Arab governments and jihadist groups that have sought to eradicate the presence of "infidels," whether Jews, Christians or Yazidis, from land that they consider the exclusive preserve of Muslims.
Palestinian children are taught that Jews are descended from apes and pigs and must be killed before their "filthy feet" desecrate the holy places of Islam -- in the words of President Abbas.
Secretary Kerry, the UN, and the EU should be discouraging further violence by condemnation and by meaningful threats of sanction against the Palestinian Authority leadership. The international community has encouraged Hamas's illegal use of human shields and berated Israel for defending itself and for inflicting civilian casualties, which were in reality the unavoidable consequence of Hamas's unprovoked aggression and its way of fighting from within private houses, schools, hospitals and mosques.
This encouragement of Hamas violence, especially the effectiveness of its human shield strategy, did not go unnoticed by other Islamist terrorist groups. That is also what Hizballah wants: the wholesale deaths of their own people as a trigger for unbearable international pressure against Israel.
In a 2004 Haaretz interview, left-wing historian Benny Morris who had previously been the darling of anti-Zionists expressed the opinion that Israel’s founders had been naïve. As Morris put it, “It was a mistake to think that it would be possible to establish a tranquil state here that lives in harmony with its surroundings.”In the tent pissing in: Fisking J-Street’s Alan Elsner’s Op-Ed on Jerusalem Violence
I think that Israel’s founders were not naïve, but they took the high road even though the Arab attackers had no such ethics. Yet, if Jews behaved like Arabs, today’s Israel would have been very different.
If Jews behaved like Arabs
If Jews behaved like Arabs, after her victory in 1948, Israel would have expelled all Arab residents (although some Arabs were expelled, this was not an official policy, and the vast majority of Arabs who wished to stay were able to do so). Since Arab states were expelling Jewish citizens, such an action by Israel would have seemed natural, and today’s Israel would not have had Arab members of parliament in Israel’s Knesset attacking Israel’s legitimacy and defending Palestinian terrorists.
If Jews behaved like Arabs, after her victory in 1967 and the annexation of East Jerusalem, Israel would have expelled all Arab residents from East Jerusalem. This would have almost been expected since Jordan had in 1948 expelled all Jews from East Jerusalem even though they were at that point a majority. In fact, if Jews behaved like Arabs, Israel would also have annexed the West Bank and Gaza and expelled all their Arab residents. (h/t Cliff)
CNN published an op-ed by Alan Eisner. It’s logic is quintessential (cookie cutter) J-Street logic. Good insight into how Western audiences tragically misread the situation here. I first experienced Elsner at a conference on BDS at University of Baltimore Law School. Feeling a bit defensive, he at one point said, “Look, do you want us in the tent pissing out, or outside the tent, pissing in.” To which someone from the audience called out, “We’re afraid you’ll be in the tent pissing in.” And here we go.
He triumphally blames Israel for the violence. It’s as if, to paraphrase the venerable Jeremiah Wright, “Israel’s karma is coming home to roost.”
Both sides must realize that they have no choice other than to negotiate a just end to this conflict, and that can only come through a two-state solution.
Huh? Even the far left peaceniks in Israel have realized that this liberal take on the problem is not shared by the Palestinians.
Without the ability to exercise their right to self-determination, Palestinians will continue to resist with whatever means they have at their disposal.
This is pure Palestinian propaganda. There’s nothing here about Palestinians getting serious about making the kinds of compromises that a “two-state” solution – whose logic is oh so obvious to Elsner and so many other right-thinking folks in liberal democracies. It’s basically a free pass to “resist” by any means (including stabbing 13-year old boys) until Israel makes the concessions that J-Street demands.
This is not to justify these meaningless and horrific knife attacks.
Ooops. Sorry. I guess I misunderstood. He’s about to denounce these acts and get at why they are completely unacceptable, and how he, as a liberal with strong moral standards, cannot remain sympathetic to their cause as long as they resort to such depraved means of “resistance.”
In new terror war, Palestinians deny even best documented attacks on Jews
The indirect exchange between Netanyahu and Abbas may not be the first public expression of the war of narratives characterizing Palestinian-Israeli violence, but it is among the most striking. As in previous conflicts, it is not just the reasons for the conflagration that are being contested, but the facts themselves.Israel’s Diminishing Returns
And yet, in numerous recent incidents, the facts — in some cases, corroborated by mobile phone footage — would be appear to be incontestable, and are simply being rejected by the Palestinians.
Among Palestinians, it is widely asserted that Shorouq Dwayyat, 18, was shot in Jerusalem’s Old City on October 7 not after stabbing a Jewish man, but rather after a “settler” attacked her, trying to forcibly remove her veil. In reality, Dawayyat had stabbed the man, whose name was not released to the media, injuring him moderately. He fired at her with his personal handgun, leaving her in serious condition. Both Dwayyat and her victim were taken to Hadassah Ein Karem Hospital. She had earlier posted a Facebook status proclaiming her intention to become a martyr.
John Kerry’s speech at Harvard University on Wednesday and the State Department’s subsequent series of walk-backs left me with one clear conclusion: Israel ought to start building massively in the settlements and change the status quo on the Temple Mount. Because if it’s going to be blamed for doing both even when it is, in fact, doing neither, it should at least get the very real benefits that taking those steps would entail.
First, a word on those benefits: On the Mount, the status quo grossly violates Jewish rights. Jews are forbidden to pray at Judaism’s holiest site, and even acts as simple as shedding a tear are deemed “praying.” They also suffer nonstop harassment when visiting without praying. That the Jewish state discriminates against Jews in this way is simply a travesty.
As for settlement construction, Israel is suffering a severe housing crisis; an average apartment currently costs 146 average monthly salaries, up from just 43 in 2008. The primary shortages are in greater Tel Aviv, where little land is available for new housing, and Jerusalem, whose main land reserves are in the eastern section. Indeed, the capital loses about 18,000 Jews every year, and those leaving cite the housing shortage as their primary reason.
But the settlement blocs that would remain Israeli under any conceivable agreement are all within reasonable commute of either Tel Aviv or Jerusalem; hence massive building in those blocs, along with Jewish neighborhoods of east Jerusalem, could significantly alleviate the housing crisis. Moreover, given the international community’s refusal to support Israel’s claims to any area not so heavily populated that evacuation is impractical, bolstering the population of areas Israel wants to keep would strengthen its position in future negotiations.
Anti Israel Media Bias Much?
In a almost absurd week of media bias against Israel, people should think twice, or maybe even 3 times about what they are reading. Know the facts!
BBC News amplification for Abbas’ lies and incitement about ‘dead’ terrorist
Whilst this BBC report amplifies Mahmoud Abbas’ inflammatory and inaccurate claims, the corporation does not make an independent statement of its own to clarify to readers that Abbas’ libels are baseless or provide them with any of the evidence showing that Ahmed Manasra is alive.Evidently, the Guardian journo didn’t see the video of the Palestinian teen stabbers
Instead, it resorts to a version the well-worn ‘Israel says’ formula, which over the years BBC audiences have been well groomed to understand as meaning that the BBC does not confirm or endorse the information provided by Israeli sources. And predictably – in line with its editorial policy to date – the BBC also refrains from informing its audiences how incitement such as this latest example from Abbas has fueled the current wave of terror in Israel.
So much for the BBC’s claim that it is “standard-setter of international journalism“.
So, whilst Shuttleworth commendably refutes the lie by Abbas that the Palestinian child was “executed”, she nonetheless fails to challenge one final false Palestinian allegation in the final passage of her article.Hamas says intifada – BBC’s Yolande Knell knows better
Palestinian leadership claim he is innocent and he was shot in an attempt to kill him.
However, despite such “claims”, a video was released by Israeli officials – taken by closed circuit cameras stationed at the scene of the incident – clearly showing that the Palestinian boy (Ahmed Manasra) was NOT innocent and was shot only after charging at responding officers with his knife.
You’d think that, after all these years, professional journalists would have learned to be as skeptical of claims made by Palestinian leaders as they always are with Israeli claims.
There was no mention of that incident or the later gunfire at an Israeli army vehicle in the BBC News website’s main report for that day. On October 14th rioting was again seen in the Bureij area but the only reference to that came in the form of the laconic statement “Clashes were also reported along the Israeli border with Gaza” which appeared in an article originally published on that day.CNN’s Marc Lamont Hill Endorses Demographic Destruction Of Israel
So, despite repeatedly telling readers that “violence has also spread to the border with Gaza”, the BBC News website has actually ignored most of the violent incidents in that area – including breaches of the border fence – and has certainly not provided audiences with any information concerning the very relevant background topic of incitement from officials and clerics in the Gaza Strip or the failure of Hamas to exercise its ability to prevent violent rioters from reaching the border area and breaching the fence.
Marc Lamont Hill, a political contributor for CNN and a professor at Morehouse College, tweeted yesterday that he supports the destruction of the world’s only Jewish-majority state through the “return” of third- and fourth-generation descendants of Palestinian Arabs who left Israel in 1948 and 1967.Lauryn Hill in Pro-Palestinian Video as Terror Hits Israel
It’s unclear, however, how exactly he thinks that would work in the Arab-majority state that he wants Israel to become. For all his academic credentials, Marc acts as though he is oblivious to the fact that, out of 56 Muslim-majority nations, there is not one in which Jews may live openly with equal rights and freedom from persecution.
But remember, he’s just an anti-Zionist, not an anti-Semite.
As knife-wielding Palestinian terrorists waged a slew of bloody attacks on Jews in Israel, and five months after bowing to anti-Israel boycotts by canceling a scheduled concert in the Holy Land, recording artist Lauryn Hill appeared in a short video entitled, “When I See Them I See Us,” in a show of solidarity with the Black Lives Matter and Palestinian movements.Every Picture Tells A Story: Only ‘Palestinians’ are Victims
Hill draws parallels between the two groups and endorses the video’s message of their common “struggle.”
Hill is seen holding up a sign that reads “Free All Political Prisoners” in the video, which was released by a range of African-American and Palestininian activists, featuring well-known names like political activist Cornel West, author of the The Color Purple Alice Walker, and actor Danny Glover.
The “Every Pictures tells a Story” series reviews newspapers through a lens focused only on their pictures and captions. The brutal attacks that occurred in Israel during the week October 6-13 provides a good snapshot for how the New York Times viewed the conflict – the only victims in the Middle East are ‘Palestinians’.Iran Document on Amended JCPOA Includes Anti-Israel Section
To set the background for the two weeks of violence: on October 1, 2015, ‘Palestinians’ shot an Israeli couple who were driving on a road with four of their children. After shooting up the car, the ‘Palestinians’ approached it once it came to a stop and executed the parents. The Times did not post any pictures of the Henkins, the murdered Israelis along the story. If one were to only focus on the pictures and captions, their murders would never have occurred.
In the following days, the number of ‘Palestinian’ Arab attacks against Jews continued to grow in frequency. Yet remarkably, the Times pictures showed one story: ‘Palestinians’ as victims.
The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) translated the text of a report by the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) detailing the votes of the parliament on the proposed and approved amendments, as well as the final vote on the entire document. According to an English translation of the Hebrew translation provided by MEMRI to JNS.org, in addition to its own analysis of some of the amendments, paragraph 1 has been amended to state that “the [Iranian] government must act on the issue of a Middle East without nuclear weapons, and in particular to disarm the Zionist regime from nuclear weapons.”Report: Iran Has Not Fully Cooperated With IAEA Probe of Its Nuclear History
Yes, that is exactly how it sounds.
An amendment to the nuclear deal reached between Iran and the P5+1 powers stipulates that Israel’s nuclear program should be eliminated. Furthermore, according to MEMRI’s translation, after the original approval of this particular amendment on Tuesday, the deputies shouted “death to Israel.”
Journalist Amir Taheri predicted such changes in an article for the Gatestone Institute on Oct. 12. According to Taheri, Mohsen Zakani, who heads the original committee that examined the text, said that “the changes we seek would require substantial rewriting of the text.”
In another significant change, the Iranian text was amended to say that “the government will monitor any non-performance by the other party [to the agreement] in the matter of failing to lift the sanctions, or restoring the canceled sanctions, or imposing sanctions for any another reason, and will take steps to actualize the rights of the Iranian nation and to terminate the voluntary cooperation…and to handle the rapid expansion of the Iranian nuclear program for peaceful purposes, so that within two years the enrichment potential in Iran will reach 190,000 SWU.”
The government of Iran spent months brushing off inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency tasked with investigating Iran’s past nuclear work, and only began fully cooperating with them this week, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.Iranian Brass Tells Chinese Counterpart That America Is ‘Common Enemy’
Iran’s behavior changed when “the IAEA and some Western governments directly warned Tehran that it must increase cooperation if it wanted IAEA board members to conclude it had sufficiently addressed their concerns,” the Journal reported.
Diplomats interviewed by the Journal said that they expected that the IAEA “would gain access to key sites, documents and people who had worked on Iran’s nuclear program.” But Iran has shared much less than what was hoped for. Documents provided to the IAEA in August contained little new information. Iran has held expert-level meetings with the IAEA for the past month, but sources described them as “unhelpful, with Iranian officials largely stonewalling on questions and claiming that IAEA evidence was forged.”
Today is the deadline for Iran to provide the IAEA with all relevant information to answer questions about its past nuclear work. Iran has supplied the IAEA with “more information and more access” in the past two weeks, a source told the Journal. But despite increased last-minute cooperation, it “remains unclear if Iran’s response will be enough to answer some long-standing questions” about its past nuclear weapons research.
The head of the Iranian military told a member of China’s top brass on Thursday that the United States was the common enemy of the two countries, according to a report in the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).UAE to US lawmaker: We have a right to enrich uranium, too
Major General Hassan Firouzabadi, the chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, said this during a meeting he held with visiting Deputy Chief of General Staff of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Admiral Sun Jianguo.
Firouzabadi told Jianguo that the Islamic Republic had been wary of U.S. plots and conspiracies against China for the past decade, and that he had “sent Brigadier General [Mohammad] Baqeri [the Iranian Deputy Chief of Staff] to inform the Chinese officials of these concerns.”
Firouzabadai claimed that the U.S. was now resorting to proxy wars and “terrorism” to harm Iran’s interests, since its regional military “adventures” in Iraq and Afghanistan had ended in failure.
In a 2009 pact with the UAE, the United States agreed to share materials, technology and equipment for producing nuclear energy. In the accord — known as a 123 Agreement — the UAE made a bold pledge not to enrich uranium or reprocess spent fuel to extract plutonium, two pathways to an atomic weapon.Russia-Israel ‘hotline’ to prevent aerial clashes in Syria
Asked to respond, the UAE Embassy in Washington sent a one-sentence email that said the “government has not formally changed its views or perspective on the 123 Agreement or commitments.” The UAE has said in the past that it welcomes the nuclear deal reached with Iran.
However, Royce said al-Otaiba told him that the UAE “no longer felt bound” by those provisions of the agreement. While he said al-Otaiba did not explicitly state that his country was walking away from them, Royce said, “I took that to mean that they had the right to do that and that it was under consideration.”
The State Department declined requests for comment.
The Russian Defense Ministry said Thursday that its forces in Syria had set up a “hotline” with the Israeli military to avoid clashes in the sky over the war-torn country.Israeli, Russian Pilots to Carry Out Joint Exercise
“Mutual information-sharing on the actions of aircraft has been established through a hotline between the Russian aviation command center at the Hmeimim air base and a command post of the Israeli Air Force,” ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency, adding that the two sides were undergoing training on how to cooperate.
After Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his army was going to increase its activity in the Syrian theater, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flew to Moscow to meet with him. During the September 21 meeting, Netanyahu and Putin focused on coordinating Israeli and Russian operations in Syria’s airspace.
“It could come down to Israel and Russia agreeing to limit themselves to defined areas of operation in Syria, or even that they fly at daytime and we fly at night,” a former adviser to Netanyahu told Reuters at the time.
Russian and Israeli Air Force pilots will begin carrying out joint training exercises, a spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry revealed, Maariv reported on Thursday.Erekat Accuses Quartet of Caving in to Israel
Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said the purpose of the exercise is to prevent accidental clashes between Russian and Israeli planes over Syria.
This announcement comes in the wake of increased Russian military involvement in the Syrian civil war, with the Russian military carrying out strikes against opposition forces, including Al-Nusra Front and ISIS, on behalf of Moscow’s ally and client, President Bashar Al-Assad.
The joint training exercises are presumably part of the mechanism — agreed upon by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting in Moscow last month — aimed at avoiding unwitting clashes between IDF and Russian forces operating in Syria.
The Palestinian Authority’s (PA) chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat, is accusing the Middle East Quartet of “giving in to Israeli dictates” by postponing a visit by a Quartet delegation, which was scheduled to arrive in Ramallah on Wednesday.Hamas: '1948 and 1967 are Temporary Borders'
Representatives of the Quartet were set to visit Jerusalem and Ramallah this week, but they canceled the trip after a request by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who reportedly objected to the visit's timing.
In a strongly-worded letter to a Quartet representative quoted by Haaretz on Thursday, Erekat said that The Quarter's decision to cancel its visit "sends a troubling message that the international community is willing to heed Israeli demands for non-intervention, thus signaling acceptance of Israel's escalation of its violations of individual and collective Palestinian rights."
Erekat also blamed the recent security escalation on the "lack of action" on the part of the international community.
Hamas continues to make clear that its ultimate goal is to drive all Jews out of what it perceives to be “Palestinian land”.Indian president invites Netanyahu to be second Israeli PM to visit India
Senior Hamas member Mahmoud al-Zahar on Wednesday said he sees the latest terror wave as a springboard for “the liberation of all of Palestine”.
"The struggle against the occupation is strong and deep, and the Palestinian people cannot give it up," Zahar said in a speech in Gaza, adding that an armed struggle is no shame for any organization or movement, but a plan which all the Palestinian people embrace.
Zahar called on Arab countries to begin the establishment of an “Al-Quds Army” to help in the “liberation” of so-called “Palestinian land”. He who negotiates the Palestinian basic principles and gives up on them does not represent the Palestinian people, he added, calling for the abolishment of the Palestinian Authority’s security forces.
Finally, he stressed that "the borders of 1948 and the borders of 1967 are temporary borders and our goal is to liberate all of Palestine."
On the last day of his historic first trip to Israel, Indian President Pranab Mukherjee extended an invitation on Thursday to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to visit India, which would be only the second visit there by an Israeli prime minister. The invitation came during a working lunch the two held in Jerusalem, during which, according to the Prime Minster’s Office, the two focused on bilateral ties in the fields of security, technology, innovation, and agriculture.India, Israel signed 10 MoUs to enhance bilateral cooperation
Although Mukherjee did not mention terrorism publicly during his 24-hour stay in the Palestinian Authority at the beginning of the week, and only mentioned it directly on one occasion during his public appearances over the last three days in Jerusalem, the two leaders – according to a statement put out by Israel – “discussed counter-terrorism and advanced policing methods, and agreed to enhance bilateral cooperation in this area, including ministerial visits.”
India and Israel on 15 October 2015 inked ten Memoranda of Understandings (MoUs) in various fields. The MoUs were signed as part of the President Pranab Mukherjee's state visit to Israel.Hamas vs hummus: Indian president raises MKs’ eyebrows
Mukherjee was on a three-day visit to Israel from 13 to 15 October 2015. He visited the country at the invitation of Reuven Rivlin, President of State of Israel. He is the first ever President of India to visit Israel.
During the tour to Israel, President Mukherjee was accompanied by a high level delegation including Thaawar Chand Gehlot, Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, Members of parliament, senior officials, senior representatives of our educational and academic institution and media representatives.
Indian President Pranab Mukherjee left Israeli lawmakers baffled on Wednesday when he waxed lyrical about Hamas at a Knesset session in his honor, but consternation soon turned to relief when they realized he was praising the much-loved chickpea dish of hummus.US, Israel Celebrate 30 Years of Economic, Scientific Ties
Mukherjee told the special plenary session that the Indian people enjoy the taste of hummus, Indian’s NDTV media outlet reported, but he pronounced the word so that it sounded like “Hamas” — the name of the Islamist terror group that rules the Gaza Strip and has fought Israel in three bloody conflicts since 2008.
Meeting President Reuven Rivlin earlier Wednesday, the Indian leader condemned the current wave of terrorism striking Israel, saying that his country is “disturbed by the recent violence.”
At a premier economic summit in Washington, 50 distinguished participants from the U.S. and Israel convened to mark 30 years since the forming of the Joint Economic Development Group (JEDG).Israel’s Ambassador to UN Ron Prosor ‘Glad to Come Home’
The JEDG promotes senior-level economic policy dialogue between the two countries and has much to be proud of. For instance, the U.S.-Israel Free Trade Agreement (FTA) signed 30 years ago has allowed two-way trade to blossom. This has increased from $4.6 billion in 1986 to an incredible $38 billion in 2014 according to the U.S. Department of State.
Participants included Israeli Finance Ministry Director General Shai Babad (Israel Chair), Dr. Karnit Flug, Governor of the Bank of Israel, and Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, Ambassador Ron Dermer, among other senior Israeli officials. The U.S. delegation included Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs Ambassador Charles Rivkin (U.S. Co-Chair), Assistant Secretary of Treasury for International Finance Ramin Toloui (U.S. Co-Chair), among other senior officials.
Secretary Rivkin declared that "the JEDG remains an invaluable forum where we can assess strategically the content and context of our broad, deep, and diverse economic relationship." The JEDG meetings, he said, "provide a forum for identifying challenges that need to be addressed and opportunities to forge new areas of cooperation."
Israel’s outgoing Ambassador to the United Nations, Ron Prosor met with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to bid farewell this week to the world body in New York. The two men spoke about the Ambassador’s four-year tenure at the UN and the situation in Israel.Israeli Soldier Gives Food to Arab Girl Rummaging Through IDF Garbage Cans
The Secretary-General expressed his deep appreciation for Prosor’s contribution and for their collaboration, and Prosor invited the Secretary-General to visit Israel again. On his Facebook page, Prosor continued: “Four years ago, when I arrived at our Mission to the UN, Israel was facing a challenging reality and was fighting in the battle on public opinion. Today, upon my return to Israel, our reality remains complicated.
“Throughout my time here at the UN, I have always said that I walk the halls of the United Nations standing tall and proud, knowing who I represent and what I represent, and I’m going home with this same feeling.
“I have confidence in the resilience of the people of Israel in the face of constant challenges, and I thank the government of Israel and its citizens for the privilege of representing you at the United Nations, an important arena that knows no rest.
A heartwarming image of an Israeli soldier handing a young Arab child food, after finding her rummaging through garbage cans to find something to eat, created a stir on Thursday, drawing the attention of thousands on social media networks.Eugene Kontorovich: Upcoming talks in Brussels, D.C. and New York
Corporal Evyatar Ofri, wrote about the encounter on his Facebook page, in Hebrew and English.
Here is how he described the interaction:
Today I met one of the most beautiful little girls I’ve ever seen, an Arab girl about 10 years old. She was looking for some food in a trash can about 500 meters away from where I serve in the desert. I noticed her while I was cleaning our site and took the trash out. She was standing there with her two donkeys, looking for food in the garbage, and having no success. She was wearing rags and a smile, barefoot with wild hair, yet at the same time very cute. I asked her what her name was in Arabic: Ranin.
In the next two weeks, I’ll be speaking in a variety of fora in Belgium, Washington and New York and at the University of Virginia.Keep ISM Out of Judea and Samaria
On Tuesday, I will be speaking at a few events in the European Parliament in Brussels. Both are open to the public, although subject to seating limitations.
At 9 a.m. in Room PHS 6B054, I will participate in an “exchange of views on EU-Israel trade relations and international law,” with members of the parliament’s delegation for relations with Israel. I think that is a diplomatic way of saying a “robust debate.”
In the afternoon, I will speak on International Criminal Court jurisdiction over Turkish settlement activity in Cyprus and its possible role in a peace process. I’ll be joined by professor William Schabas and Cyprus’s Ambassador Kornelios Korneliou in an event sponsored by the parliament’s Socialists and Democrats group. I have written about the issue before. I believe both parliamentary events will be recorded.
If the daily knife attacks and other murders by the Palestinians aren’t disconcerting enough for you, consider this: The International Solidarity Movement plans to bring international “volunteers” to the Holy Land for the next Olive Harvest in November from all over the US and EU.'Israel' Collateral Damage in Report of U.S. Restraint
The Israeli government knows the ISM is really a terrorist support group and these radicals from the US and EU come specifically to interfere with the IDF. But I don’t see the government doing anything to really prevent this. As Jews are being knifed and run over by cars, why not admit these hellions to interfere even more with the IDF?
The ISM on their website tells their “activists” how to enter Israel and warns them it isn’t as easy as it used to be. Now they are prepping their people to accuse Jews of harassing Arab children, and since their antics have become recognized as supporting terror, the new game is to tell people that those religious Jewish settlers are attacking peace loving Arabs all the time in the 'West Bank' and the brats from Berkeley and New York are the only line of defense against the murderous IDF.
Basim Tamimi of Nabi Saleh is an Arab ISM leader who arranges the weekly riots and stone throwing at IDF soldiers. His whole family gets into the act for the ISM propaganda machine. They were the ones who attacked and bit and IDF soldier who was arresting Tamimi’s 12 year-old brat for throwing stones at the IDF. His wife and Tamimi’s daughters all descended on the soldier and kicked and bit him until the 12 year-old escaped,creating a Kodak moment for the ISM. Tamimi just toured all across the USA for the ISM to encourage more ISM volunteers for next month.
The following unpublished letter was sent to The Wall Street Journal on Oct. 7, 2015:New York Times: “Throw the Jew Down the Well”
"Dear Editor:
"The U.S. military does go to great lengths to minimize civilian casualties, an accomplishment made more impressive given the frequent use of civilians as 'human shields' by terrorists ('The Taliban and the Hospital,' October 5). Yet, it should be noted that the Israeli military may well have set the standard in this regard, according to a former commander of British forces in Afghanistan. Col. Richard Kemp has pointed out that according to U.N. estimates, the ratio of civilian to combat deaths in most conflicts worldwide, including U.S. and coalition operations in Afghanistan, is 3:1; three civilians for every combatant killed. Citing U.N. figures showing a ratio of roughly 1:1 civilian-to-combat deaths during Israel’s 2008 war against the Hamas terror group, Kemp said 'the Israeli Defence Forces did more to safeguard the rights of civilians in a combat zone than any other army in the history of warfare.'”
"Such ratios highlight the distinction between the values of Western militaries and their enemies. It might be worth examining whether those militaries’ practice of incurring disproportionate risks and losses of life often unrecognized by the press or other countries emboldens enemies and prolongs conflicts.
Sincerely,
Sean Durns
Media Assistant
CAMERA—Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America"
“Throw the Jew from the Temple Mount“Buzz Aldrin touches down in Jerusalem
In an article entitled “Historical Certainty Proves Elusive at Jerusalem’s Holiest Place” Rick Gladstone wrote that there is little evidence that Jewish Temples existed on the Temple Mount.
As if echoing the Palestinian Arab and Jordanian Arab narrative that Jews have no history in Israel or Jerusalem, that they are trying to “Judaize” the city and “falsify history,” the Times wrote a piece that completely misrepresented archaeological findings. Indeed, the only religion that has archaeological proof of being on the Temple Mount is Judaism (there are no structures to show where Jesus walked or Mohammed’s night journey).
The Times’ echoed the calls of anti-Semites who seek to deny Jews of their history and basic rights. The Times effectively moved from the back of the Tucson cowboy bar to the front row singing and clapping along with Abbas:
Israelis seeking an escape from this week’s daily terror attacks couldn’t fly to the moon, but they had a chance to hear from someone who did — Buzz Aldrin.
In Israel’s terror-riven capital, the Israel Space Agency — the country’s version of NASA — is hosting this year’s International Astronautical Congress, the premier confab for all things space. An exhibition hall shows off a range of gadgets and robotics, and talks fill the schedule this week with titles like “The State of Space Situational Awareness, Conjunction Warning and Collision.”
Those of us not qualified to consult on “The Martian” film got the common thrill on Monday of seeing Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon after Neil Armstrong.
Of course, Aldrin said, he should have been the first. So why did Armstrong, the mission commander, beat him?
“He was closer to the door,” Aldrin said.
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