Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, June 15, 2017

06/15 Links Pt1: Iris Yifrach: Unity after tragedy; 10 Years of Hamas in Gaza; Qatar's Comeuppance

From Ian:

Three years have passed since that dreadful day when three of our boys -- Naftali, Gil-ad and Eyal -- were kidnapped and murdered. Three handsome, talented young men became angels and their names are on all our lips in painful memory.
And we are here, still.
They are missed and so loved. We remember the days when, for a moment, we put aside all our differences and made room in ourselves for others. For a second, our hearts emitted one single great light. It was so special.
The summer of 2014 was a difficult one. We had days of agonizing fear and concern for their safety. In the days following the abduction, there was an outpouring of solidarity, thanks partially to the absence of judgement and criticism. Every one of us found the goodness that exists within us. We united as one, despite the vast differences between us, driven by an internal desire to live a better life, without discord.
It is true that in our everyday lives, it is difficult for us to give of ourselves to others. It is easier for us to focus on the problems, and each one of us is convinced that their way is the right way. Does anyone ever wonder if it is possible to live together, side by side? We are so different; we don't even speak the same language.
Keep in mind that it actually happened, just a moment ago. In reality, not in a dream, we were one big group that wanted, knew, how to be together without trying to change one another. We are still those same people, with the same views. During those 18 days of solidarity, no one tried to impose their views on the other, or change the other -- we were just there, next to one another, shoulder to shoulder, heart to heart. The entire country stood together for one single purpose -- to bring the boys home.

If We Can’t Dismantle UNRWA, Here’s How We Can Reform It

Virtually every media outlet took the recent UNRWA condemnation of Hamas terror tunnels found under an UNRWA school at face value. Yet none of these outlets acknowledged that the UNRWA teachers and workers unions in Gaza have been under the tight control of Hamas since 1999 — without a word of disapproval from UNRWA.
The timing of the tunnel discovery was ironic; it took place just before Hamas will conduct its annual summer military training camp to teach upwards of 50,000 UNRWA students, aged 9-15, how to use live guns (and, in the future, kill Jews).
In light of UNRWA’s complicity in Hamas’ activities, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently called for the organization to be “dismantled.” Unfortunately, it is not within Israel’s power to ”dismantle” UNRWA– as it operates under the mandate of the UN General Assembly.
Furthermore, if Western democratic nations were to cut funds to UNRWA, two scenarios would likely occur:
First, the radical Islamic state of Qatar, which has a presence in Gaza and Judea/Samaria, would likely step in to replace any income lost from Western cuts.
Second, Saudi Arabia, which recently stepped up its funding of UNRWA (and is now the third largest donor), would likely increase its contributions to make up for the difference.
If Qatar and Saudi Arabia become the largest donors to UNRWA, Israel and the West will lose all leverage over the organization — and UNRWA would likely become even more beholden to Hamas.

Khaled Abu Toameh: Palestinians' Real Tragedy: Failed Leadership

What is funny and sad is that the Palestinian Authority, which has been criticizing Hamas's crackdown on freedom of expression in the Gaza Strip, has long been resorting to similar measures against its critics in the West Bank.
The latest victim of the PA's suppression of public freedoms is Nassar Jaradat, a 23-year-old political activist who was arrested earlier this week for criticizing senior Palestinian official Jibril Rajoub. PA security forces arrested Jaradat after he posted a comment on Facebook in which he criticized Rajoub for acknowledging Jews' right to the Western Wall in Jerusalem. A PA court has since ordered Jaradat, an engineering student, remanded into custody for 15 days on charges of "insulting" a top Palestinian official.
Last year, the PA demonstrated that it does not hesitate to arrest even one of its own if he dares to criticize Palestinian leaders. Osama Mansour, a senior PA security official, was arrested and later fired because he criticized Mahmoud Abbas for attending the funeral of former Israeli President Shimon Peres.
Such arrests have become commonplace under the PA in the West Bank. Almost every week, Palestinians hear of another journalist or blogger or activist who has been arrested or summoned for interrogation by the PA security forces for nothing more than posting remarks critical of the government on social media.
Palestinians were hoping to achieve an independent state of their own. In the end, however, they got two separate states -- one in the West Bank and the second in the Gaza Strip -- as a result of the power struggle between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas. But the real tragedy for the Palestinians is that neither the PA nor Hamas values human rights or public freedoms. The real tragedy of the Palestinians over the past few decades has been failed leadership -- whether it is the secular PLO or the Islamist Hamas.
Given the current state of the Palestinians, it is hard to see how they could ever make any progress towards establishing a successful state with law and order and respect for public freedoms and democracy.

Now that the smoke has cleared, we can see that Secretary of State Tillerson was wrong. His announcement that Abbas agreed to end stipends to imprisoned Palestinian terrorists was greeted with skepticism from the start. While on Tuesday Tillerson claimed the Palestinian Authority "changed their policy" about terrorist salaries, just a day later he had changed his tune and said instead there were "active discussions" and made reference to vague "assurances" given to Trump during his visit in Israel.

Official portrait of Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson
Credit: US State Department

Similarly, on June 5 it seemed that Abbas had cut off salaries to Hamas. It could be that Abbas was referring to those cuts when he spoke to Trump, but there too, Hamas ended up getting their salaries.

In any case, the payment of terrorist salaries -- and the anti-Israel incitement caused by rewarding attacks on Jews -- continues.

But just how long have Palestinian terrorists been receiving these stipends?

To answer that question, Palestinian Media Watch focuses on the PA Government Resolution of 2010, while acknowledging that the resolution merely "formalized what has long been a PA practice."

In their article The Department of Pay-for-Slay, Douglas J. Feith and Sander Gerber point to the Amended Palestinian Prisoners Law No. 19 (2004), noting:

Legalism is a trait common among authoritarians. Nondemocratic societies lack rule of law, but they generally don’t lack laws. Their laws, in fact, tell us a lot about them.

Their point is that Abbas and the Palestinian Authority go beyond words to incite hatred of Israel. The stipends represent the lengths they go to encourage attacks against Israel, enacting legislation to spur violence, while at the same time maintaining that are willing to negotiate for peace.

Feith and Gerber note that the PA's success can be measured by the fact that in 2014, President Obama said that Abbas “has consistently renounced violence” and has consistently pursued a “peaceful solution” that allows Israelis “to feel secure and at peace.”

But these terrorist payments actually go much further back.

In her book, Humanitarian Rackets and their Moral Hazards: The Case of the Palestinian Refugee Camps in Lebanon, Rayyar Marron writes that these payments began long before Abbas -- and originate with Arafat back in 1964:

Yasser Arafat with Gaddafi in 1977. Credit: Rex Features; Wikipedia

The purpose of the fund at the time was to help establish the centrality of Arafat and the PLO. Marron goes on to detail other methods that Arafat used as well, all of which had the result of

providing them [Palestinian Arabs] with jobs, but it simultaneously destroyed the pre-existing civilian bureaucracy, built on utilising people's competence, rather than on nepotism as increasingly was the case under Fatah's domination.

Abbas apparently learned from the master manipulator. In recent weeks, we have seen Abbas exploiting the funds at his disposal to pressure Hamas by cutting off payments for electricity as well as threatening to cut off salaries.

Mahmoud Abbas Credit: www.kremlin.ru.(Wikipedia)

Maybe that explains why the terrorist stipends have been controversial for years and not for decades.

At first, originating with Arafat, the stipends were a political tool to gain and centralize power.. It was only much later, especially under Abbas, that funding the imprisoned terrorists has been recognized as a subtle form of encouragement -- along with naming buildings and events after terrorists while allowing incendiary sermons by Imams -- to incite attacks on Israelis.

Abbas has demonstrated that he is a good student that would make his teacher Arafat proud.

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From a BBC article on Israeli cuisine:

In reality, Israeli cuisine has long been more closely associated with its immediate environment, a fusion of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern traditions and ingredients. The early Zionists eagerly adopted Palestinian dishes, such as falafel, hummus, and shawarma, while in recent years Israelis have developed a more diversified palate.

There were never any "Palestinian dishes".

Falafel is generally considered to have originated in Egypt, perhaps created by Copts. The falafel sandwich actually originated in Israel by Yemeni Jews.

Hummus seems also to be Egyptian, with it mentioned in 13th century Egyptian literature.

Shawarama, roasted on a vertical spit, is from 19th century Turkey.

All of these foods are Levantine or Mediterranean or Middle Eastern. It is not at all accurate to call these foods in the days of pre-state Israel "Palestinian."

While this isn't the point of the article, that sentence just shows again that even BBC food writers subscribe to the lie of the Jews coming and co-opting "Palestine."

(The article is mainly about why such traditional "Jewish" foods like bagels and lox, or deli, or kugels, are not a staple of Israeli cuisine. But the premise is silly too: those "Jewish" foods all came from other cultures as well and became associated with Jews. Similarly, today falafel is associated with Israel because Israelis have gone crazy over falafel. I looked at 19th century books about cuisine in the Levant and no one mentioned falafel or hummus, instead elaborating on various lamb-based dishes, or roasted corn, or yogurt-based dishes. No doubt the dishes were there but I would argue that it was Israelis who popularized those dishes worldwide.)

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Israel Hayom (Hebrew) reports that Mahmoud Abbas is poised to declare Gaza to be a "rebel province."

It would place an immediate declaration of a state of emergency in the Gaza Strip. Hamas would be declared an illegal organization and its assets would be frozen. Arrest warrants would be issued against its leaders. The Palestinian Authority would cease to transfer money, including payments of salaries to civil servants in the Gaza Strip.

Ten years ago, Israel declared Gaza to be a "hostile territory." In response, Mahmoud Abbas said "this oppressive decision will only strengthen the choking embargo imposed on 1.5 million people in the Gaza Strip, increase their suffering, and deepen their tragedy."

Ashraf Ajrami, a minister in Abbas' government, said "It is collective punishment against the people of Gaza, and discourages serious political discussion."

Palestinian Information Minister Riyad al-Malki said, "We are going to ask the Americans to pressure Israel to refrain from taking such action."

Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general at the time, said:, "[Gazans] should not be punished for the unacceptable actions of militants and extremists. I call for Israel to reconsider this decision."

Today, Abbas wants to go beyond what Israel did. He wants to cut off electricity altogether, which Israel decided was against international law as collective punishment (although it did restrict electricity for a time to force Hamas to decide to use power for hospitals or rocket manufacturing.)

Moreover, Abbas plans to demand that the UN, the Arab League and international organizations to stop providing international aid to the Gaza Strip altogether, according to the Israel Hayom article.

The decision has not yet been made, but even considering that decision proves yet again what a hypocrite Mahmoud Abbas is.

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Egypt censoring pretty much everything that upsets it

From The Register:

Egypt has embarked on a new wave of online censorship, blocking news websites and killing off VPN services in order to limit its citizens' access to information.

Over the past three weeks, the Egyptian authorities have blocked access to more than 50 news websites, including Al Jazeera and local newspapers Daily News Egypt, Al-Borsa, and Al-Mesryoon.

On Monday, as more and more Egyptians turned to VPN services as a way to get around the blocks, ISPs started blocking access to the websites of companies offering such services. Meanwhile, the newspapers themselves have tried to bypass the censorship by hosting their content on different domains.

The Daily News Egypt, for example, for a while used the thedailynewsegypt.com domain instead of its previous dailynewsegypt.com – although that address has now also been shut down.

The start of censorship coincided with a report, published in the Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper on May 25, in which the authorities claimed to have the right to block the newspapers through anti-terrorism powers.

In that report, the government of Egypt used examples of other countries blocking websites as justification for its own censorship. It did not mention the Egyptian Constitution, however, which most legal scholars agree actively prohibits limiting access to information. It also does not provide much by way of legal justification.

Egypt's official news agency also quoted a high-level security official as saying 21 websites had been blocked and Reuters quoted an official at Egypt's telecoms regulator, the NTRA, as saying: "So what if it is true? It should not be a problem."

The situation it being monitored and reported on by a number of organizations, most notably the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE). When contacted by the AFTE, service providers claimed that the website outages were the result of website failures rather than content blocking. The government of Egypt has also refused to formally acknowledge the blocks.

This is the downside of making friends with authoritarian regimes.

Then again - everyone ignores these things when it is in their self-interest to do so. They always have and they always will, notwithstanding grandstanding at the UN.

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06/14 Links Pt2: Why Believing Atrocity Stories About Israel is Stupid, Even When They’re on CNN

From Ian:

Harvard Law Review: U.N. Security Council Resolution 2334, United Nations Security Council Asserts Illegality

In Resolution 2334, an outgoing U.S. administration — pressed for time and diplomatic opportunity — handed Abbas a lawfare victory that will fuel this project of patience. When the Trump Administration presses for good-faith negotiations, the PA can now cite to the Secretary-General’s quarterly reports concerning Israel’s noncompliance, each time riding the tide of “social alarm” until the winds of global politics shift back in its favor. In 2011, back when time was still on its side, the Obama Administration understood this well, vetoing a similar resolution on the grounds that it would “encourage the parties to stay out of negotiations.” Six years later, when the prospects of an Obama-brokered deal had vanished, the Administration reversed course, entrenching the PA’s preconditions and rewarding its preference for international fora over bilateral talks.
But what of the Obama Administration’s stated concern that settlement expansions imperil a two-state solution? Critically, the argument assumes that recent settlement activities risk foreclosing a contiguous Palestinian state. Yet Israel’s political geography proves to the contrary. Around eighty percent of Israel’s settlers live within miles of the Green Line and could be kept within its borders by “swapping territory equal to about four percent of the West Bank.” In the event of agreement, the remaining settlements, which cover less than one percent of the West Bank’s territory, would either be dismantled or allowed to remain within a Palestinian state. Removal would certainly meet resistance from the Israeli right; but even Netanyahu has acknowledged “some Jewish settlements . . . would not be part of [Israel].” Alternatively, the 100,000 or so Jews living outside the blocs could simply remain in the Palestinian state, just as almost two million Arabs live as a minority within Israel. Though the approach isn’t free of difficulty, it reveals that the truly intractable obstacle to peaceful coexistence isn’t settlements, but Abbas’s insistence on an Israeli-free Palestine. Settlement activity needn’t foreclose a contiguous Palestine.
Even crediting the contiguity objection, condemnation by yet another U.N. organ was unlikely to slow the settler movement; instead, it would foreseeably harden Israel’s resolve and expedite its settlement project. In celebrating 2334, Islamic Jihad, an Iran-funded terror group in the Gaza Strip, discerned what many within the Obama Administration professed not to see: that while the resolution alone wouldn’t deter settlement construction, it would advance the Palestinian lawfare objective of “isolati[ng]” Israel through “prosecutions” and “boycotts.”
The political gridlock between Israel and the PA has translated into immense human suffering for Jews and Arabs alike. And yet Abbas insists he will “wait for Hamas to accept international commitments” and “wait for Israel to freeze settlements.” So long as the international community embraces the Palestinian narrative without reservation and enshrines it into law, the PA will continue to wait for these unrealities; and in the interim, people will suffer. By abstaining on 2334, the United States countenanced this patience and the irredentism that lies beneath it. The result was to render peace an ever-distant dream.

Have you been to Ramallah? UNHRC says it is like Dachau

Amnesty International never asked to boycott the occupation by Indonesia of East Timor or Papua, nor of Turkey in Cyprus, Russia in Georgia and Crimea, Morocco in Western Sahara, or China in Tibet. There is only one state that Amnesty invokes for a selective boycott: the Jewish State. And what better occasion than the Israeli celebrations of the fifty years since the 1967 war to invoke the ban on its goods?
So Amnesty has just invoked a boycott of Israeli goods produced in the post 1967 lands. Kate Allen, head of Amnesty in UK, said Britain and other European countries have “the legal and moral duty” to introduce “the ban on goods produced in Israeli settlements”. The Board of Deputies of the Jewish community in England has condemned Amnesty for “ignoring the Palestinians stabbing, car attacks and gunfire attacks” Israel suffered. Marie van der Zyl, vice president of the Jewish organization, said that “Amnesty should remember that human rights are universal and apply to the Israelis as well”.
But hate doesn't obscure the minds of the humanitarian only on the Thames. On the shores of Lake Geneva, the UN Human Rights Council has just accused Israel of transforming Ramallah, the capital of Palestinian autonomy, into a concentration camp.
Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, head of that UN council, just said during the general session: “I grew not far from the Palestinian refugee camp at Baqa'a. I worked in the Wihdat refugee camp. I've been to Auschwitz-Birkenau, I visited Dachau and saw Buchenwald ...”. Hussein went on by comparing the “Palestinian suffering” with the Shoah.

Six Unknown Photographs from a Visit to Nazi Germany by Mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini

Six photographs documenting a visit to Germany by Mufti Haj Muhammad Amin al-Husseini. [Germany, ca. 1943].
The photographs show al-Husseini, accompanied by a number of Nazi senior officials, dressed in uniforms, and a number of government officials, dressed in civilian clothes, during a tour apparently held at a camp in Germany (possibly, a camp of The German Labour Front). A lineup held for the visitors of the camp is seen in some of the photographs.
All the photographs are marked on reverse with the stamp "Photo-Gerhards Trebbin". The photographer's mark attests that they were developed in Trebbin, Germany, and may have been shot in its environs.
These photographs, previously unknown, document an unidentified visit to Germany by al-Husseini. We were unable to identify the men in the photographs. However, according to some speculations, among the photographed are possibly the Croatian politician Mile Budak (a member of the Ustase Party who served as Croatian envoy to Germany in 1941-1943), Iraqi politician Rashid Ali al-Gaylani, Fritz Grobba (the German ambassador to Iraq, later in charge of Middle Eastern affairs at the German Foreign Ministry, known for his ties to al-Husseini and Rashid Ali al-Gaylani during al-Gaylani's revolt against the Iraqi government and in the following years) and the Austrian politician Arthur Seyss-Inquart.

Jenni Heltay Menashe is a charismatic lady who likes to show people around the Temple Mount. I'm a little in awe of all the people involved with the revival of our rights to this holiest site of the Jewish people—see for instance, my interview with Yosef Rabin—and I knew I had to interview her. I wanted to know more about what she does, what she knows about Har HaBayit, the Temple Mount. Getting out this column was the excuse to get an in depth look at all the amazing things this 51 year-old powerhouse is doing. I know you'll enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed the digging and prying into Jenni's life.

We live in exciting times!

Varda Epstein: Do you work for yourself?

Jenni Heltay Menashe: I work with a couple of orgs. One is called Kapot HaManul and the other is called Keren L'Moreshet Har HaBayit. They offer tours every day.

All of the organizations connected to the Temple Mount are now under a single umbrella, United Temple Mount Movements. There's really so much going on today, so many organizations. There's actually a kollel, a learning collective for Torah scholars on the Mount! A bunch of Haredim (black hat orthodox) come every day and they learn about things like the avoda, the Temple service. There are great people involved, for instance, Yaakov Hayman, who took over where Yehudah Glick left off because Glick couldn't go up to Har Habayit after he became an MK. Elyahu Weber was the mashgiach, the supervisor, for the Eda HaHaredit (an important board of haredi rabbis), and a teacher. He was a giant who gave up his position to run the kollel. He's awesome. A talmid chacham (a learned man).

Varda Epstein: How long have you been doing this work?

Jenni Heltay Menashe: Two years. I have been a tour guide with the Western Wall Heritage Foundation for 17 years working in and around the Old City. I am there anyway so I began to get involved with Har HaBayit (the Temple Mount). I'm not a licensed tour guide, but I did take courses at the Tower of David Museum and at the Jerusalem City Hall.

Today, Jews from every sector visit the Temple Mount

Varda Epstein: How would you describe yourself religiously? I'd guess Chardal?

Jenni Heltay Menashe: Yeah. I'd probably call myself chardal (haredi leumi or strict National Religious). I definitely wouldn't call myself haredi. Our posek (halachic arbiter, rabbi) is Mordechai Eliyahu.

Varda Epstein: Where are you from originally—I'm hearing a Canadian accent? When/why did you make Aliyah?

Jenni Heltay Menashe: I was born in Edmonton and grew up in Winnipeg. When I came to Israel in the 1980's I was going to be a Conservative rabbi. I came with USY on a year program. Once I was here, I became religious, became shomer Shabbat (Sabbath observant), and I stayed.

Varda Epstein: When did you first go up to the Mount?

Jenni Heltay Menashe: I was 13. I came with my parents for my bat mitzvah in 1979. We weren't religious. In those days, you could go up there anytime, no problem.

Varda Epstein: What was that like?

Jenni Heltay Menashe: We had a secular tour guide, he wasn't religious. We went into the mosque and walked all over the mountain. Today, non-Muslims can't go into any building on the Mount.

Varda Epstein: What buildings are there aside from the mosque?

Jenni Heltay Menashe: There's the museum. They display things like rocks they threw at Jews, bloody shirts, you know, anything that has to do with their "struggle."

Varda Epstein: So you went up when you were 13. When was the next time?

Jenni Heltay Menashe: The next time was after I did the course with Kapot HaManul. This is a wonderful organization founded and run by Avia Frankel, a young PhD candidate. The main mission of Kapot HaManul, is to ensure there's a tour guide available at the Mount to explain things properly during all the hours the Mount is open to non-Muslims, for instance Christians and Jews. We help explain things about the kedusha (holiness) of the place and so forth.

Jewish women go up to the Mount, as well.

Varda Epstein: Do you receive a salary for your work?

Jenni Heltay Menashe: We receive a small stipend. We're paid for our time. We have to be there at 7 AM. During summer hours, for instance, the Mount is open to non-Muslims from 7:30-11:00 AM and then from 1:30-2:30 PM, though during Ramadan, there are no afternoon hours for non-Muslims.

Only one group of Jews is allowed up at any one time and only with a police escort. There are the regular police and the Waqf (Jordanian Muslim Authority) security in attendance. We always have Waqf security people. Their job is to watch to make sure no one's lips move in prayer. They're paid by Jordan to make sure the Jews don't pray, God forbid.

Varda Epstein: How many police accompany a group?

Jenni Heltay Menashe: There's no rhyme or reason to it. There might be 25 people in a group accompanied by 10 policemen and 7 Waqf people. Once I went by myself and I had 3 regular police and 2 Waqf guys and I felt like a rock star!

It's a little silly to be honest, but it is what it is. So for instance, last week when they were throwing rocks, the regular police moved us away very quickly as soon as we realized what was happening and the yazam, the antiterrorist police, blocked off the mosque so the guys in the mosque throwing rocks, couldn't get out.

I can tell you as someone who's been going up for a long time, there's been a change. It was tense. The police were there to keep us in line for the Waqf, but since Rosh Hashana there's a new police commander, there's new staff at security where you go in, and they're much more relaxed. It's so much more pleasant.

I credit the commanders for this change in attitude. I think that part of that is because of Avia, because part of her job is to negotiate with the police. But the new people are great. That would be Danny Mizrachi who is police commander for all of Har HaBayit, and Yuval Kaminetz on security at the entrance. A lot of the regular police are Druse—the people on tour get nervous: why are they speaking all of this Arabic? But they're Druse. They're great!

Varda Epstein: So what do you do during the tours, exactly?

Jenni Heltay Menashe: We explain to people why we go where we go and why we don't go where we don't go. This is what we're trained for. It's important. Some of the rabbis are afraid to go up because they're afraid they'll go to the wrong areas.

Varda Epstein: Speaking of rabbis, do you know Rav Yisrael Ariel? I worked on a museum exhibition for him, on the bigdei kahuna (priestly garments). Some of my handspun linen thread is in those garments.

Jenni Heltay Menashe: Sure! He's so interesting to tour with. Rav Ariel was one of tzanchanim, the parachutists who liberated the Mount.

Rav Ariel is one of the few people who understands the relative importance of the Mount as compared to the Kotel (Western Wall). The Kotel is a consolation prize.

Actually, this is a really bad analogy, but it's like a contest between Miss America or Miss Congeniality, and we're picking Miss Congeniality. I'm not saying Miss Congeniality isn't important; there's always a Miss Congeniality. But we went to the Kotel because we couldn't go to the Temple Mount. Now that we can, there's no reason we shouldn't.

Of course, there's the issue of tvila, the need for ritual immersion before ascent. Some rabbis were looking into this. There's a place near Shaar HaShvatim (Gate of the Tribes), along the northern wall, an entrance you can go into without tvila. But Nashim L'Maan HaMikdash (Women for the Sanctuary) were against that. It's a good thing to do tvila before ascending to the Mount.

Nashim L'Ma'an HaMikdash is basically Rina Ariel and her sisters. You know who Rina is, the mother of Hallel Yaffa Ariel, HY"D (may God avenge her blood)? They make an aliya (go up) to Har HaBayit twice a month. Usually on yod chet, which is chai, life, and somewhat the middle of the month; and also on Rosh Chodesh, the first day of each new month.

The Mosque was built on the site of the Kadosh HaKadoshim, the Holy of the Holies.

Varda Epstein: I know they were pushing to rename Mughrabi Gate "Shaar Hallel," Hallel's Gate.

Jenni Heltay Menashe: Oh, we all call it Shaar Hallel. Those women are amazing. They have a Beit Midrash Mikdash (a Sanctuary study hall) in three locations, Kochav Yaakov, where I live, Kiryat Arba, where the Ariels live, and I think in Mevasseret. We learn all about Har HaBayit and the avoda, and sometimes we do physical things connected to the Mount like weaving or making challah in the style of the lechem panim, the display breads or shewbread.

And there are other groups. There's a group that does practice runs for the Korban Pesach (Passover Sacrifice) and they do the Omer (harvest offering) on the first intermediate day of Passover. You can't do it on Har HaBayit, so they did it in the Rova (Jewish Quarter of the Old City). People can come and see them do a practice run for all kinds of things. On Shavuot, they did the shewbread with the 2 loaves of bread.

We're so close we're practicing the ancient rituals. So when we finally can, we'll know how to do it. And I find it's one of the things that's bringing achdus, unity, because all of the different eidot (factions) are coming together to do the avoda of the Beit HaMikdash.

Varda Epstein: Why do you think Moshe Dayan gave the Temple Mount back to the Waqf in 1967?

Jenni Heltay Menashe: Dayan. Bless him. I'm really convinced he believed that giving the Waqf control of the Temple Mount was going to bring peace. He thought it was the war to end all wars and that now there would be peace. Hey, they all thought that! The fact that there's no peace is shocking to them.

He really thought it would bring peace. I think he was misguided but he wasn't being nasty or anti-religious. I am convinced he wanted peace.

I don't want to think so badly of anyone and there is this element of him being a hero. History will tell whether he was the smartest or dumbest man in history. We had the Mount and now we only have it in a very limited way. Look at Mearat HaMachpela, the Tomb of the Patriarchs, in Hebron. Jews and Muslims split it half-half. Why can't it be like that with the Mount?

We thought it was such a miracle, what happened in '67. They thought there would never be another war. It's difficult for us to understand that, but if you speak to the men who were soldiers then, that's what they all say.

The Waqf threw a tarp over these ancient wooden beams which have been carbon dated and go back to Temple times.

Ancient beams made from the wood of cypress and cedars of Lebanon trees, discarded as refuse in the Shaar Rachamim compound on the Temple Mount.

Varda Epstein: What should we be doing to take back the Temple Mount?

Jenni Heltay Menashe: 991 Jews went up on Yom Yerushalayim, Jerusalem Day—it was a record. They should have called in the Guinness people. But it should be like that all the time. Why should we have to wait to go up? The police are going to have to change their rules, so we don't have to wait.

Maybe we need to lobby the Knesset. They close Har HaBayit to Jews on all these Muslim holidays, why couldn't they open it up on Jewish festivals for Jews only?? We need to force the government to make changes for the better.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is open all the time. Why are there limited hours for Jews to visit the Mount? It should be open all the time.

How many Jews make trouble on the Mount? Go up there specifically to pray? And anyway the law says we can pray there. So why can't we do it?

They call it a provocation. We need clearer laws.

Ya know: in what other country would a people give up their holiest place and say, "We won't pray in our holiest place, we'll take the consolation prize?"

We need to shift our mentality back. Shift it back to what a Jewish mentality should be.

Varda Epstein: What do women need to know about going up to the Temple Mount?

Jenni Heltay Menashe: Women have to separate from their husbands either 3 days or two days, so there's a shalom bayit problem, a problem for married couples. There's a 1-day leniency for some. Then a woman has to dip in the mikveh, the ritual bath. There's an issue with single girls going to the mikveh. Some mikveh attendants won't allow this.

Anyway, because of the separation between husbands and wives, a lot of the rabbis are against it (women going up on the Mount). And that's the major difference between men and women. Men don't have to separate from their wives. They just tovel (dip in the ritual bath) in the morning, no problem.

It's a problem for a woman to take a break (from marital relations) for three days. There are already so many days a woman can't be with her husband (because of menstruation). You have to have a husband who is pro (women going on Har Habayit). If he's anti, she definitely shouldn't go. The biggest issue, of course, is you must plan it all out.

But a lot of what is happening today in this sphere, with Har Habayit, is due to women, the push of the women, like in Egypt and in the desert, how the women helped perpetuate our nation. Do you know there's even Beit HaMikdash jewelry, beautiful jewelry with symbols that evoke Har HaBayit. Sarah Feld of Beit El makes amazing jewelry. Maayan Ayash designed Rina Ariel's necklace with a gate that says "Zeh HaShaar, Shaar Hallel" (This is the Gate, Hallel's Gate).

The entrance to the Holy of Holies with the Hebrew words "Oro Shel Olam" or Light of the World. Original Jewelry by Sarah Feld.

Pomegranate with pearl reminds us of the Priestly garments. Original jewelry by Sarah Feld

There are new things at the Kotel, too. There's something called A Look Into the Past, which is a virtual tour of the Beit HaMikdash, you sit on a chair, put on these goggles, turn 360 degrees, and you tour the Beit HaMikdash, it's like you're really there. Everyone raves about it. I've taken people there and they just cry.

The other tour there is the Journey to Jerusalem, a computer-activated program where the Bayit Sheni (the Second Temple) has just been destroyed. The Jews have to run away: where do you go? You have options.

It's been good for the Jews for a couple hundred years, then, all the sudden, it's not so good, so where do you go? You could do the program 200 times and never get the same journey. I've done it 50 times and never get the same thing. These days there's so much more than the Kotel.

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Talmud Scholars Look To Hate Groups For Passages They Didn't Know Existed (PreOccupied Territory)

Our weekly column from the humor site PreOccupied Territory.

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New York, June 14 - Experts in the body of Jewish law and lore called the Talmud voiced amazement and gratitude this week to antisemitic groups spreading passages from the work that the scholars, despite their collective expertise, had never encountered.

Professors of Talmud around the world expressed amazement at the passages the hate groups cite with some frequency to the effect that non-Jews are subhuman, that it is permissible to kill or steal from a gentile, that the Jewish goal is world domination, and many other dicta from the collection of teachings, compiled in the fifth and sixth centuries CE. To a man, observed the scholars, not a single one of them had previously been acquainted with those passages despite poring over and analyzing the Talmud for decades.

"I don't know how they managed to find those parts - I still don't know where they are supposed to fit in, but that is for later analysis, I suppose," gushed Hugh Gottabee-Kidden, a Professor of Talmud at Ryerson University. "It just goes to show that even the experts might not be able to find things that a layman can."

"I'm curious, and eager to examine those passages in the original Aramaic," admitted Dina de Garmi of the University of Bologna, Italy. "To date I have only seen the selections in translation posted by various white power groups and Islamist sympathizers. I do hope they soon release the original manuscripts containing these passages, so linguistic and other analyses may be performed on them. What a find!"

Representative of antisemitic organization demurred. "We never said anything about manuscripts," hesitated a spokesman for the Nation of Islam. "Maybe you ought to ask the David Duke or Stormfront people - I'm sure they know all about the original source."

A call to Stormfront yielded no further information. "Oh, everyone's known that stuff for centuries - we didn't discover it ourselves," insisted a man who identified himself as Mr. Black. "Those so-called scholars are just messing with everybody. It's part of a conspiracy to hide the truth. Now that we've been instrumental in not letting anyone hide the truth anymore, they're changing tacks - instead of dismissing us as crackpots, all of a sudden we're useful to them. Well, we're nobody's fool. They're the ones with the original Aramaic, not us. Go ask any yeshiva boy."

Rabbis and yeshiva students admitted confusion. "I'm not sure I follow," responded Rabbi Yirmiya Seinfeld of the Lakewood Yeshiva. "I'm supposed to find passages teaching me how to control the world and subjugate the goyim? Man, I was hoping just to make ends meet this month. You sure you're not from the International Jewish Conspiracy, with a generous payment to prove to me you folks actually exist? Please?"

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06/14 Links Pt1: PLO: We will continue to pay terrorists, Tillerson is wrong; British Jews: A wake-up call

From Ian:

PMW: Did the PA lie to the US Secretary of State?

The US Secretary of State was told that the PA intends to "cease the payments to the family members of those who have committed murder or violence against others"
The PA currently pays 26,800 families of "Martyrs" 660 million shekels ($183 million) per year [2016 PA budget]
The PA currently pays 6,500 terrorist prisoners salaries amounting to 486 million shekels ($135 million) per year
Contrary to what the US was told, Abbas and PA officials tell Palestinians that the salaries will never be stopped:
PLO Prisoners' Affairs' Commission director:
"In response to American Secretary of State [Rex Tillerson's] statements about stopping the allowances... Karake emphasized that the Palestinian leadership will not submit to any pressure, and that the aid to the families of the prisoners and Martyrs is a national, moral, and human responsibility. He also rejected all the terms and concepts that define the prisoners and Martyrs as 'terrorists'"
PLO Prisoners' Affairs' Commission director [April 29, 2017]:
"The President [Abbas] emphasized his absolute refusal of the Israeli demands to stop the allowances of the families of the prisoners and Martyrs (Shahids), and emphasized his absolute support for them (i.e., for the payments)'"
PA Ministry of Information: "Martyrs" deserve payments because they are not "highway robbers, but people who sacrificed their lives and freedom"
PLO official Ahmed Majdalani: "... calmed the prisoners and Martyrs' families [saying] that the Palestinian leadership will not submit to the occupation's laws and will continue to be loyal to the Martyrs' blood and the prisoners' suffering."

PMW: PA TV’s “heroic prisoner,” representing “pride and honor,” is mastermind of murders of 14

Official PA TV recently visited the home of imprisoned terrorist Nasser Awais, who is serving 14 life sentences for planning attacks in which 14 were murdered. Palestinian Media Watch has documented that PA TV routinely honors terrorist murderers as "heroes," visits their homes, and even participates in their birthday celebrations .
The PA TV host praised Awais, who was also one of the founders of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades terror organization, saying:
"Nasser Awais has left behind a name and a legacy that cannot disappear. Nasser Awais who everyone knows what he did for the homeland... All the glory is yours, my brother Nasser Awais." [Official PA TV, Giants of Endurance, May 30, 2017]
In fact, the "glorious" things that Awais "did for the homeland" was plan terror attacks in which 14 were murdered and dozens were wounded:
6 murdered in shooting at Bat Mitzvah celebration (Hadera, Jan. 16, 2002)
3 murdered in shooting and stabbing at Seafood Market (Tel Aviv, March 5, 2002)
2 murdered in shooting (Jerusalem, Jan. 22, 2002)
2 murdered, 1 a baby, in grenade attack (Netanya, March 9, 2002)
Israeli border policeman murdered (March 31, 2002)
In addition to glorifying terrorists verbally, all Palestinian terrorists imprisoned by Israel receive a high monthly salary from the PA. Awais has already received 558,200 shekels ($147,000) in salary, as mandated by PA law. Under PA law, salaries of terrorist prisoners keep rising the longer the terrorists are imprisoned. In other words, the worse the crime, the longer the time in prison, the higher salary. In January 2011, the PA also raised the salaries substantially.

PA TV's “heroic prisoner,” representing “pride and honor,” is mastermind of 14 murders

Antisemitic NZ cartoonist fumes over re-establishment of relations with Israel

From Radio New Zealand:

Diplomatic relations between New Zealand and Israel have been restored after a letter from the New Zealand government expressing regret at "fallout" from a UN resolution that sparked a six-month political crisis.

Israel recalled its ambassador in December after New Zealand co-sponsored a UN Security Council resolution condemning Israel's continued settlements. Israel condemned the resolution as a "victory for terror".

The Jerusalem Post has reported Prime Minister Bill English wrote a letter saying that he regretted "the damage done to Israel-New Zealand relations as a result of New Zealand proposing Resolution 2334 at the Security Council".

Foreign Minister Gerry Brownlee confirmed diplomatic ties between the two countries had been restored.

"What the letter indicated was that New Zealand wanted to resume diplomatic relations with Israel and regretted that there'd been fallout from the co-sponsorship of the resolution," he told Morning Report.

Longtime bile-filled editorial cartoonist Malcolm Evans responded this way:

Evans has always shown intense hatred towards Israel in his cartoons:

But he has also crossed the line into clear antisemitism:

Even if one claims that these are just anti-Zionist, his true hate of Jews is clear from this cartoon of his:

Yes, Evans says that all US Jews have no loyalty to their country and look at America as a nation of despicable "goyim" to be taken advantage of.

Not surprisingly, Evans was fired from his job at the New Zealand Herald in 2003 for his noxious views, and he responded with this conspiracy-theory fueled cartoon where he pretends to be a literal martyr.

(h/t John W)

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Linda Sarsour has been taking a new tack lately to defend Islamic laws: by saying that they are exactly the same as Jewish laws.

Sharia is the Arabic translation of the Hebrew word Halakhah. Its also akin to canonic law. Get informed. #CounterActHate
— Linda Sarsour (@lsarsour) June 10, 2017

Sarsour is very wrong.

Unlike Christianity which is faith-based, normative Judaism and Islam are above all legal systems. What people are and aren't allowed to do is determined using a loose, mostly decentralized judicial system. Every aspect of both Jewish and Muslim lives, for believers, is determined by legal rulings. Both systems have personal laws that look bizarre and arcane to outsiders.

But halacha developed in the Jewish Diaspora. The bulk of Jewish laws concern the day to day lives of Jews with the implicit assumption that they are living under non-Jewish rule. While halacha can deal with matters of Jewish sovereignty, those discussions are for the most part theoretical. (Just as halacha can address theoretical questions about how to pray in the Space Shuttle or on the moon.)

Sharia, however, developed in countries that were majority Muslim. This marks the biggest practical difference between Islamic law and Jewish law; Islamic law is meant to apply not only to Muslims as individuals but to Muslims as a nation (umma.)

This is why so many Westerners get Islam wrong. Sure, it is a religion, but it is also a political philosophy (or, actually, a set of several related philosophies.)

As a political philosophy, Islam is objectively awful compared to modern political philosophies in terms of human rights and modern liberalism. But people are afraid to criticize it because they have been brainwashed to believe that it is purely a belief system and not a political worldview.

Sarsour pretends that sharia is only personal, like halacha almost always is, but then she is forced to ignore the Quranic-based laws and punishments that exist, today, in Saudi Arabia, Iran and Pakistan.

She is forced to ignore how Palestinians are arrested during Ramadan for publicly eating - and that goes for Christians, too.

Poster seen in the UK

And many Muslims do not limit their demands for sharia to only Muslim majority countries. As the graphic at the top of this article shows, sometimes they demand sharia for Western countries as well, or in areas where they are predominant:

And that brings up the next difference between sharia and halacha: Societies based on sharia law, loosely or strictly, force non-Muslims to adhere to that law as well. The constitutions of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Iran and other countries specifically say that Sharia or Koranic law are major parts of their legal system.

Oh, and so does the constitution of "Palestine". Article 4, paragraph 2, says "The principles of Islamic Shari’a shall be the main source of legislation."

Israel does not base its legal system on halacha. And very few people want it to, at least before the Messiah's arrival. But Sharia is not merely a personal legal system; it is meant to be enforced on a national or pan-Muslim basis.

At least.

When Muslims like Sarsour insist that American law of course supercedes Islamic law in the US, they are adding an implicit "for now." Because Islam's legal based system includes the political constructs of Dar al Harb, where (according to many but not all Muslims) the Western nations are places to be attacked or conquered.

There are fatwas that support killing Americans, suicide bombing Israelis, beating wives, and any number of major human rights violations. One can argue that these fatwas are not universally accepted, but they are based on Muslim religious sources and have a level of support. One cannot easily dismiss them without showing a Sharia-based argument that they are wrong - which is not always so easy, since Islamic law has not really evolved over time.

Which is perhaps the most important difference between sharia and halacha.

Halacha evolves - slowly, to be sure, but it does.It finds loopholes - solidly based in Jewish sources, of course, but they are loopholes - to allow things that would be forbidden in the strict halachic sense. The community interest can and does steer halacha away from things that would look bad or unfair or unpleasant. The concepts of "deracheha darchei noam" and "darchei shalom" and "kovod habriut" and "sha’at ha-dehak" and other meta-concepts are sometimes invoked to modify strict interpretations of halacha - or to accept previously rejected minority opinions - to make Jewish law more in line with general community sensibilities or to avoid a clearly undesirable outcome.There is a sanity check that great rabbinic decisors can, sparingly, impose on the halachic process.

In other words, halacha has a built-in mechanism to modify (i.e., modernize*) itself when necessary. It is invoked reluctantly, just as adding an amendment to the Constitution is deliberately made difficult under American law, but the ability to evolve is part of the halachic process.

Sharia, as far as I know, does not have this self-modifying property that can be used to modernize Islamic law.

So, for example, slavery is allowed in strict halacha. In reality, nowadays it is prohibited. You will not find a rabbi nowadays that says that it is permitted to own slaves for various reasons that are halachically based. But sharia has no such loophole to prohibit slavery, and slavery is still practiced in some Muslim countries, according to sharia.

As far as I can tell, a Muslim cannot say that something that was allowed in the Quran is prohibited today. They can say that they choose not to own slaves, of course, but they cannot say that it is prohibited.

These are just a few of the differences between halacha and sharia. Anyone who tries to say they are the same thing is simply not telling the truth.

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* The College Rabbi suggests that "moderate" is more accurate than "modernize" and I tend to agree.

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