Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Former Iranian president admits Iran has pursued nuclear weapons

From TOI:

A former Iranian president admitted this week that the country’s nuclear program was started with the intent of building a nuclear weapon.

The comments by Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani to the state-run IRNA news agency would appear to mark the first time a top Iranian official — current or former — has said the country sought a nuclear weapon, in contravention of repeated assurances by the regime that its enrichment program is and always has been peaceful.

Rafsanjani said the program was begun while the country was at war with Iraq in the 1980s with the express consent and participation of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The comments by Rafsanjani, which do not appear on IRNA’s english website, were first reported on by the National Council of Resistance of Iran, a dissident group of Iranian exiles.

“Our basic doctrine was peaceful usage of the nuclear technology although we never abandoned the idea that if one day we are threatened and it is imperative, we would have the capability for going the other path [to nuclear weapon] as well,” Rafsanjani said, according to the NCRI translation.

According to the NCRI, Rafsanjani’s comments are tantamount to admitting that the country is still pursuing a nuclear weapon, though that assertion was not borne out by the group’s translation of the interview.

“The statement by Rafsanjani is an unequivocal testimony to the fact that the Iranian regime, from the onset until present, and under direct supervision of Khamenei and Rafsanjani, has been in search of the nuclear weapon and has never abandoned it,” NCRI said in a statement

Here are excerpts from the NCR-Iran article:

Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, former Iranian regime President and present head of regime’s State Exigency Council that has been regime’s No. 2 man from the outset made unprecedented concessions in an interview that the regime was looking to acquire nuclear bomb when it initiated its nuclear program and has never abandoned the idea.

According to this interview published by regime’s official news agency IRNA on 26 October 2015, Rafsanjani in the capacity of speaker of parliament or President and Khamenei as President or Supreme Leader of this regime have been personally following up the project to acquire the nuclear bomb. Moreover, Rafsanjani has acknowledged that from the onset there has been a comprehensive clandestine nuclear plan, including construction of secret sites, enrichment of uranium, manufacture of centrifuge parts, laser technology, and the heavy water reactor.

Rafsanjani also admitted that “80% to 90% of the Iranian people… concur with the [nuclear] accord and want to be done with it [nuclear project]”. Thus, he alludes to years of falsification in regime’s propaganda that the nuclear project is popular with the Iranian people.

In this interview Rafsanjani says: “At the time that we started, we were at war and we were looking to have this capability [the nuclear bomb] for the day that our enemy would want to resort to the nuclear bomb.” He audaciously continues, “Our basic doctrine was peaceful usage of the nuclear technology although we never abandoned the idea that if one day we are threatened and it is imperative, we would have the capability for going the other path [to nuclear weapon] as well”.

Rafsanjani acknowledges in this interview that both he and Khamenei wanted to meet Abdul Qadeer Khan. He noted: “There were some talks with the Pakistanis. There was a nuclear scientist called Abdul Qadeer Khan in Pakistan… In a trip to Pakistan, I asked to see him. They did not show him to me… I had gone to Pakistan twice. In any case, I did not see him. Ayatollah Khamenei did not see him either. However, during the war, we were both pursuing to begin the work. It seemed that Mr. Abdul Qadeer Khan himself believed that the Islamic World should have the nuclear bomb. He believed in this and it was he who built Pakistan’s nuclear bomb although it took time to build the bomb. In any case, they agreed to help us a bit.”

Rafsanjani’s interview clearly indicates that from the onset the regime was after deceiving the International Atomic Energy Agency. “We had no problem with the IAEA in the nuclear activities because we were an IAEA member. They would come and sometimes point to some problems and Mr. Amrollahi and his friends would respond to them. During the early work, the agency never disturbed us although it didn’t help us either,” he says. “After my tenure as President, the West suddenly realized that we have made advances in different sections.”

The NCR-Iran article also notes that Rafsanjani didn't say a word about the supposed fatwa issued by Iran's Supreme Leader Khamanei against nuclear weapons - because he was directly involved in the nuclear weapons project, and tried to meet with Pakistan's Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of the Islamic bomb!

Details about previous nuclear activities are one of the demands that the US has caved on, even though it is critical information for the IAEA to know where to look for evidence of a nuclear weapon program today.

This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For over 11 years and over 22,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.

.@UNRWA uses Hamas human shield victim for fundraising and demonizing Israel

Over the past year, Chris Gunness of UNRWA has trotted out Mohammed, a child who was tragically blinded in an Israeli airstrike, as a poster child to raise money from people who would be aghast at Israel's cruelty at doing something so vicious to such an innocent boy.

He wrote in September for Haaretz:

Behind these statistics are real lives each with a dignity and a destiny that must be nurtured and respected. Allow me to tell you about one of them – the nephew of my colleague, Kamal. A missile struck the house where he lived with his extended family. Four of his brother’s children were severely injured as they slept. Kamal’s eight-year-old nephew was wounded by shrapnel to the face. He was taken to hospital unconscious. The child awoke from his coma blind. We found a hospital in Amman to take the boy. But his mother was denied passage out and eventually his aunt accompanied the sightless boy from Gaza. Ten days later, his father was in the mosque about to pray. It was hit. The child found himself both sightless and fatherless.

In November, he tweeted this:

Mohammed 8, son of #Gaza colleague woke up from coma, blind. His father died later while praying when mosque hit RT pic.twitter.com/12fLpgtoUF
— Chris Gunness (@ChrisGunness) November 1, 2014

He used Mohammed for fundraising something called "The Vision Project":

The UNRWA Vision Project came about because of an astonishingly brave kid in Gaza, Mohammad aged 8 whose life was changed forever when a single shell hit his house and blinded him. We need to make this project a reality for hundreds of children in Gaza. Please donate today to end their suffering and help bringing them a brighter future.

More implied Israeli cruelty for his fundraising tweet in May:

The project 2 help kids like Mohammed needs some cash to make it solar http://t.co/G9uO3Eu5p4 thx. @ChrisGunness pic.twitter.com/G5KdS11NyC
— Chris Gunness (@ChrisGunness) May 25, 2015

This week he spoke about Mohammed to at least two more audiences in London, one at the US designated terror group Interpal that I mentioned previously, and one other at Parliament:

Told story of brave little Mohammed from Gaza & Vision Project in UK parliament; event attended by MPs and Lords RT pic.twitter.com/GdyIadtoZx
— Chris Gunness (@ChrisGunness) October 27, 2015

That is a lot of mileage from a kid who was blinded by an airstrike.

But who is to blame for Mohammed's blindness?

This man - Mohammed's father, Nidal, a commander for Hamas Al Qassam Brigades Nuseirat Battalion.

Nidal was a legitimate target under the laws of war by any definition,. He used his family, including Mohammed, as human shields.

No one was killed in the Israeli airstrike targeting Nidal, although Mohammed's siblings were injured.

A week later, Nidal met with two other senior Hamas terrorists in a mosque at 3:30 AM, way before dawn prayers. Israeli forces did not miss that time and all three were killed. Hamas detained an AP reporter looking at the rubble of the mosque because they didn't want him to see evidence that the mosque was in fact a terrorist headquarters.

Mohammed Badran is blind because his father was a disgusting Hamas terrorist who valued his own life above that of his family.

Gunness knows that Mohammed's father was a Hamas terrorist. He won't ever admit it out loud.

Because this is all about money, and Chris Gunness is more than happy to cynically use this victim of Hamas policy to raise money.

UNRWA cannot fundraise by telling the truth. Mohammed is young and his photos are heartbreaking. So Israel must be blamed for his injuries, explicitly or implicitly - because UNRWA raises cash from donors who hate Israel.

Truth be damned - UNRWA needs to slander Israel in order to make money so it can teach the next generation to hate Israel even more.

10/27 Links Pt2: Boycott is the enemy of peace; The dangerous idiots of academia; A Scholarly Roll of Shame

From Ian:

Vic Rosenthal: When do we stop ignoring the information war?

How did Israel allow herself, with all of her alleged intellectual muscle, to get into this situation? How could there have been such a massive failure to tell our story – our true story to the world? Can it be turned around?
Israel is failing at hasbara for two main reasons:
First, the state suffers from a massive oversupply of homegrown critics, who attack it with as much or more vigor than outsiders. I think if we had a way to measure the pro- and anti-Israel output of our media, academics and cultural figures, we would find that the negative far outweighs the positive. Naturally when an Israeli criticizes Israel, a listener is prepared to credit what he says much more than when it comes from an outsider. Anti-Israel Israelis are helped in this by the large fraction of Diaspora Jews who, for whatever reason, are always found among Israel’s most vehement critics. There is no comparable phenomenon among Arabs and Muslims, who maintain admirable message discipline.
Not only is this pervasive self-deprecation damaging to our image, it may be responsible for the fact that we don’t even try to project a positive one.
Second, like the whore in Catch-22 who hits Captain Orr over the head repeatedly with her shoe, our critics are getting paid to beat us up. Molding the way the world thinks about a subject isn’t cheap, and our enemies haven’t spared the expense. Here are just some ways anti-Israel dollars from governments and wealthy individuals (George Soros) are effectively employed as information weapons:

Honest Reporting: HonestReporting at the Gaza Border

The reality of life in the Israeli towns and communities that border the Gaza Strip is rarely in the news, particularly during supposedly “quiet” times when “only” the odd rocket is fired from Gaza.
With that in mind, HonestReporting led a one-day trip to the Gaza border with military expert Elliot Chodoff to explore the issues Israel faces in dealing with this extremely problematic area. The trip is a snapshot sample of the week-long HonestReporting Mission that takes place in the Spring and Fall every year.
Along the way, Major (res.) Chodoff discussed the complexities of first defining and then dealing with terrorists. When a group like Hamas arms itself with military weapons and tactics, it becomes harder for a state to defend itself according to traditional military doctrine. The laws of war become less clear when a terrorist group embeds itself within civilian communities and hides behind civilian targets. Policy makers must decide whether attacks against military personnel qualify as terrorism as opposed to attacks against civilians which is more clearly defined.

Ben-Dror Yemini: Boycott is the enemy of peace

In an article in The Washington Post, Steven Levitsky and Glen Weyl claim they support the boycott against Israel for their love of Israel. But one cannot reach a peace agreement by supporting a campaign that opposes any peace agreement.
“When we say '67 borders, we know that the greater goal is the end of Israel… Don't say these things to the world. Keep it to yourself" - Abbas Zaki, Senior PLO official, Al-Jazeera, Sep. 2011.
"Muslims' destiny is to kill Jews. Resurrection will come only after Jews are killed by Muslims" - the principal Palestinian Authority religious leader, the Mufti Muhammad Hussein, Jan. 2012. The authors admit that Israel "is hardly the world’s worst human rights violator". They even admit that "boycotting Israel is double standard". But they excuse it with their love for Israel.
This is an interesting argument. When haters demand a boycott, they do it because they deny the right of Israel to exist. When lovers of Israel do it, they suffocate Israel with their love. The result is the same. But what is more interesting is that there is no Palestinian or Arab movement that will demand self-responsibility from the Palestinian leadership. No calls for a boycott of the Palestinian Authority even if time and again the Palestinian leadership refused any settlement based on the idea of two states for two peoples. No calls for a boycott of the Palestinian Authority even though it makes monthly payments to terrorist murderers of Jews, including members of Hamas, who are sitting in prisons. There is no call for a boycott against the PA that continues to fund anti-Semitic incitement against Israel.
There is something very racist about the absolute exemption from criticism granted to the Palestinian side, but obsessive criticism, directed to the Israeli side. The day when supporters of peace understand that the Palestinian side has some responsibility; the day when they demand that Palestinians end incitement and terrorist funding - will be a better day for the prospect of peace.
We can assume the authors have good intentions. They strive for peace. But their way is wrong. One cannot reach a peace agreement by supporting a campaign that opposes any peace agreement. One cannot stop the occupation by ignoring Palestinian rejectionism of the two states for two peoples solution. You cannot support a campaign that opposes the existence of Israel and claim that this is due to your love of Israel.
Peace is the enemy of the boycott campaign, and the boycott campaign is the enemy of peace.

Who said he would “save the Arabs by expelling and annihilating all Zionists and Jews”?

An Arab leader once said he would “save the Arabs by expelling and annihilating all Zionists and Jews.” Who was he?

A) The Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husayni
B) Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser
C) Original PLO leader Ahmed Shukeiry
D) Saddam Hussein
E) Hamas leader Khaled Meshal

None of the above. It was a "moderate."

From JTA, November 16, 1948:

While negotiations were going on among the Jews, Egyptians and the U.N. in Paris, King Abdullah of Transjordan carried out a political coup in Palestine, proclaiming himself “King of Palestine.” The “coronation,” which preceded the proclamation, occurred in the Old City of Jerusalem Friday when Abdullah paid it a visit. Abdullah’s proclamation apparently referred to non-Israeli Palestine.

In a speech to the members of his court who gathered in the Coptic Convent in the old City for the ceremony, Abdullah declared that he was going to “save the Arabs by expelling and annihilating all Zionists and Jews.” The formal proclamation was made by a representative of the Coptic Bishop who declared: “As the Christian Church welcomed Omar Ikn Khatib, handing over to him the boys of the Holy Sepulchre, so we proclaim you today King of Palestine.”

At the time, Palestinian Arabs didn't object to the Transjordanian king taking over the territory that we are told has always been "Palestinian."

I'm walking to daughter to school on a muggy morning. We arrive in the yard by the caravan classrooms she learns in and all of a sudden there is the smell, burning in my throat and eyes and all of the children are coughing and covering up their mouths.

The burning smell was wafting through the air from the previous evening's riot that took place the day before Day of Rage protests in the neighboring Arab village. I had no idea that tear gas and pepper spray have lingering smells and effects, but there it was. I immediately notified one of the school teachers and we scrambled to call security to make sure we and our children were not being poisoned with something deadly that Iran might have put out in the air over Israel.

The teachers immediately took control and notified security. They in turn assured us it was only the after effects of the tactics our brave men in uniform used to quell the rioters and restore calm. Nothing further than a scenario of tragedy crossed my mind. It's that way in Israel. Slowly, slowly, you get used to it just like you learn to close your windows to drown out the Friday "kill the Jew" sermon that sounds like dead people screaming for help from purgatory. None of us should have to "get used to it."

I have been tinkering with some ideas of how to combat the Islamic noise pollution that is infecting Israel. I would love to see the entire country get together for one night from every yishuv, town and village put up loudspeakers blasting the Shema to counter the Islamic terror broadcasting network. We aren't supposed to be hearing the Muslim call to prayer in the land of Israel. We are supposed to hear the shofar, and the call to come pray at the Temple.

So, who cares that we don't have a temple or who or what has to build it. It's our responsibility that Jewish prayer be heard all through the land. Let us be heard for a change. Let the words of One G-d and the voice of a beautiful singing Rabbi be heard that counters the call for murdering us. The only reason we hear what we hear from these Palestinian territories is because they know they can get away with it.

A while back, someone living in Jerusalem who couldn't stand the blaring sounds of the mosques' attempt to keep them from sleeping took a loudspeaker and blasted the Shema. Imagine if we could get a one day campaign going where every Jew in Israel could imagine themselves in ancient times hearing the voices of our sages and prophets proudly proclaiming that Hashem is the one true G-d of Israel. Don't you think he would be proud?

Imagine Anachnu Maaminim being heard throughout the land encouraging our children to dance and smile. We are the believers. Wouldn't you, my fellow Israeli love to see our children dance and smile for a day rather than have the fear and stress of stabbings on their mind?

Who is with me?

10/27 Links Pt1: 1,703 terror attacks in 2015; 20,000 Israelis sue Facebook for ignoring Palestinian incitement

From Ian:

By the numbers: 1,703 terror attacks since the start of 2015

Since the beginning of 2013, it said, there is a continuing trend of worsening security situation and the steady increase in terrorist activity.
This is reflected in an increase in the number of terrorist attacks and the number of Israeli casualties as a result of terrorism, with a steady rise in terror activity since March 2014.
In 2013 there were approximately 1,414 attacks; in 2014 there were about 1,650 terrorist attacks; in 2015 this trend continued, with 1,703 attacks from January until October 18. Of the victims, 35 have been killed - up from zero in 2012.
Of the 1,703 attacks in 2015, a staggering 778 attacks have been launched against Israelis since Rosh Hashana (the Jewish New Year) last month - which killed 11 civilians and injured about a hundred civilians and soldiers.
"The above data indicates a significant change in circumstances and the escalating scope, intensity and level of murderous terrorism, that require knowing that political and security officials are taking measures to deter potential terrorists from carrying out attacks in general, and such as those that recently circulated, in particular," the report said.
The professional assessment of security officials - also shared by the Prime Minister, Defense Minister, and IDF Chief of Staff - is essential now that the maximum deterrence from committing further attacks, it added - including the High Court issuing a ruling on the demolitions as soon as possible.

20,000 Israelis sue Facebook for ignoring Palestinian incitement

A class-action lawsuit against Facebook is accusing the social media platform of ignoring widespread Palestinian posts calling for violence against Jews.
In the suit filed Monday in New York State Supreme Court in Brooklyn, the 20,000 Israeli plaintiffs claim the Facebook posts have inspired many recent terror attacks and that “Facebook’s algorithms and platform connects inciters to terrorists who are further encouraged to perpetrate stabbings and other violence attacks against Israelis.”
According to a news release issued by the plaintiffs, many recent assailants “were motivated to commit their heinous crimes by incitement to murder they read on Facebook — demagogues and leaders exhorting their followers to “slaughter the Jews,” and offering instruction as to the best manner to do so, including even anatomical charts showing the best places to stab a human being.”
The suit alleges that Facebook has a “legal and moral obligation” to block much of this content but that it chooses not to.

WATCH the videos that made 20,000 Israelis SUE Facebook over Palestinian incitement

While mainstream North American television recycles the same footage, we decided to go deeper.
This report includes selected videos that were posted this week on social media and Palestinian TV.
Nearly 5000 Israelis marched in Tel Aviv last night, calling on Israeli leaders to sit down with Palestinian leaders and work for long lasting solution to the Middle East conflict.
In contrast, Palestinian youth are being bombarded by visuals of incitement by the PLO, Hamas and various Arab nations.
They call on the youth to sacrifice their lives and be martyrs.
While Israelis are protesting for peace -- and suing Facebook for its role in spreading anti-Semitic hatred -- the ongoing incitement by Palestinian on social media and Palestinian television creates a culture and society of martyrdom that seemingly worships death over life.

SHOCKING NEW FOOTAGE: Palestinian TV incites Arabs to murder Jews

Today's incitement to violence from @UNRWA workers

UNRWA worker Zakaria Masharqa shared this image on Facebook:

The caption says "Will Not Fall" - meaning that stabbing Jews is what keeps the dream of a Judenrein Palestine alive.(The placement evokes the PLO flag.)

UNRWA worker Nadia Kayed is more direct:

UNRWA worker Omar Harithi chose to be a little more subtle in what he shares:

.@UNRWA worker hate update plus one more "peaceful" employee

Since August, I have identified 56 UNRWA teachers with pro-terror, pro-violence and/or antisemitic postings on Facebook. (I identified a bunch more in 2014 as well.)

Some of those images are still there, like the antisemitism from this UNRWA worker Basel Mohamad:

Other UNRWA employees simply removed any mention of UNRWA from their profiles, and kept the antisemitism, like Hassan Alear:

But Hassan still has photos and captions showing his affiliation with UNRWA:

Here is a new one, Ali Esbaita of Gaza, who likes terrorists:

I don't think I will ever run out of examples.

CIA tried to recruit Israelis in 2012

From Yediot Aharonot's Alex Fishman, translated by Yoel:

...The rift [between Israel and the US] was worsened [in 2012] when it became clear that the CIA, headed by general David Petraeus, tried hard to recruit Israeli citizens that served in classified units and worked for Israeli and American high-tech firms on US soil. The move was probably approved by Obama.

The CIA had CVs of some of these Israelis and knew their military background. In some cases Israeli high-tech employees were stopped at JFK and questioned for hours, which later turned out to be an attempt to recruit them to the CIA. These attempts involved former IDF soldiers who served in classified units, one of them being questioned for over ten hours. Eventually the Israeli consul and his security officer arrived on the scene. They quickly understood this isn't a mere innocent questioning and got the Israelis out of the airport.

Israel strongly protested this to the highest echelons of the US government. The Americans denied these were recruitment attempts, claiming instead that these were mere bureaucratic delays due to problems with the Israelis' work permits and fears they may be trying to immigrate to the US.But after these high-tech employees were questioned in Israel it became clear that the one questioning them wasn't an immigration official but a CIA recruitment officer who was interested in their military background.

The Americans were looking for ways to access the IDF's classified units so they can know Israel's strike plans for Iran.

...It turns out that [in 2011-2012] Israel had a substantial contribution to US intelligence, providing it with intelligence it couldn't obtain on Iran's nuclear facilities.

As exposed by Edward Snowden, at that time the Israeli Prime Minister, the Defense Minister and their aids were under constant US surveillance...at that time Israel also cancelled the joint military exercise with the US army. More over, Israel even prevented an Aegis guided missile cruiser to enter its territorial waters.

...The White House likes to portray the crisis as a result of Israel launching planes to Iran in preparation for striking its nuclear reactor. But leaking Israeli classified material in order to portray it as rash and irresponsible when it comes to Iran has become a US hobby.

In Israel they were those who thought this kind of treatment would end once the Americans reached an agreement with Iran. But old habits die hard. The latest leak is probably part of a "warm welcome" for Defense Minister Yaalon, who will be visiting the US this week, and Netanyahu, who will be visiting it next month.

Interpal-UK tweeted:

.@ChrisGunness talking about little Mohammad, who was blinded when an Israeli shell hit his home in July 2014 #Gaza pic.twitter.com/5L2OwcEhO9
— Interpal (@InterpalUK) October 26, 2015

Interpal is listed by the US Treasury as a SDGT, or "specially designated global terrorist" organization.

The UK does nor designate the organization as such, but Gatestone Institute had an article last year that detailed the current ties that Interpal has with Hamas:

[Interpal] is, for example, presently supporting the Gaza-based Al Falah Benevolent Society, which, according to the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Centre, is one of "Hamas's charitable societies." The director of this Interpal partner-organization is Ramadan Tamboura, whom Ha'aretz newspaper describes as "a well-known Hamas figure."

Interpal partner Ramada Tamboura with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.

Ibrahim Hewitt, one of Interpal's trustees, advocates the killing of apostates and adulterers, and demands that homosexuals suffer "severe punishments" for their "great sin." Members of Interpal's staff refer to Hamas terrorists as "martyrs" and publish notes on social media in support of Hamas' leaders.

It is Interpal's other trustee, however, who fully reveals the charity's true colors. Essam Yusuf (also known as Essam Mustafa) manages on behalf of Interpal an aid convoy program called "Miles of Smiles," which supplies the Hamas regime's welfare programs in Gaza. To manage these convoys, Essam Yusuf works closely with Ahmed Brahimi, an Algerian national and Hamas activist, who recently wrote in response to the recent murder of five Israelis at a Jerusalem synagogue that, "God is most great... God be praised for the martyrdom operation in Jerusalem and news of the state of the killed and injured... God is Most Great and God be praised."

Essam Yusuf is regularly photographed with Hamas leaders in Gaza who welcome each convoy with a ceremony and series of celebratory events. Oborne notes, in fact, that, "In late 2013 [Yusuf] was attacked by the media for appearing in a video next to Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, appearing to participate in an anti-Israeli song that praises Hamas' military wing, Al Qassam Brigades, and martyrdom."

Interpal trustee Essam Yusuf takes his place on Hamas leader's right hand.

The rest of the article is just as enlightening.

Interpal also gives lots of money to UNRWA, so UNRWA is literally accepting funding from organizations with terror ties.

(h/t Kate Havard)

To the UN, the Jewish Quarter is just another illegal settlement

Detail from a UN-OCHA map showing how those horrible Israelis have added checkpoints in their capital city to find terrorists before they stab Israelis:

How dare those Jews illegally squat in the Jewish Quarter, which is obviously really part of the Islamic Waqf!

I also wonder if they regard this as a roadblock. If a mound of earth is terrible, then what is a pile of fiery tires?

Oh, sorry, I forgot Rule #1: Only Israelis are guilty. Definitions are created ex post facto to follow that rule.

(h/t Ian)

"Rabbi" Michael Lerner tramples Jewish values

Writing in the Huffington Post, Michael Lerner of Tikkun Magazine writes:

Israel's Prime Minister attributing the Holocaust to Palestinian influence over Hitler is a "Blood Libel" level lie.

...In a speech to an international group of Zionist leaders attending the 37th International Zionist Congress, Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that Hitler was intending to only banish Jews from Europe, until he met with the anti-Semitic Palestinian al-Husseini, the "Mufti" of Jerusalem who convinced him to murder all the Jews.

As Israeli Policy Forum's policy director Michael Koplow explains, "Netanyahu brought up al-Husseini's well-known connection to the Nazis and vocal support of Hitler in warning about the dangers of Palestinian incitement regarding Israel's alleged efforts to alter the status quo on the Temple Mount. His connection between these two seemingly disparate threads was that al-Husseini had instigated riots in the 1920s by accusing the Jews of wanting to destroy al-Aqsa, and he later met with Hitler in 1941 and - in Netanyahu's telling - convinced Hitler to exterminate European Jewry rather than expel them. So the implication is that false warnings about Jews trying to take over al-Aqsa, or to even just change the Temple Mount status quo, lead to attempts to exterminate Jews, including the Holocaust."

Really? That's the implication?

...[T]he historical distortion here, far from being a sudden "oops," is part of the larger picture of hatred toward Palestinians that Netanyahu has been promoting throughout his political life.

Bibi was wrong to imply that Hitler would not have enacted the Final Solution before the Mufti urged him to do so, and he said so himself. But this is not a blood libel. A blood libel is where the libel is meant to incite the population to murder people, and nothing that Netanyahu said could be construed that way except by people blinded with extreme hate like Lerner - hate that he projects onto Netanyahu.

Bibi's speech wasn't about the Mufti. It was about the lies that Israel's enemies (like Michael Lerner) say about Israel today. Netanyahu listed ten lies and showed them to be false. The story about the Mufti was an aside for Lie #2.

Bibi's point wasn't that Palestinians who today make up lies about Al Aqsa have the potential to create a new Holocaust. (If they had the power to, they very well might - why would anyone think that they would treat Jews better than Muslims treat each other? But that wasn't the point.) The part that Lerner refers to in the speech was a short aside from the main points, and Bibi's message was that the idea that the Al Aqsa Mosque is in danger is a lie that has been around for a hundred years, an absurd lie one that is still repeated even as the Mosque remains intact under Jewish rule. Yo take his aside about the Mufti - who indeed wanted to kill all the Jews - and call that a "blood libel" is itself a libel.

Does Bibi promote hate of Arabs? No, that's another slander. The village that gave the highest percentage of votes for Netanyahu was Arab - literally named Arab al Naim. Its residents voted Likud to show appreciation for the improvements in infrastructure that this supposed Arab hater gave this Bedouin town.

Similarly, Israel under Bibi has been spending millions of shekels to improve schooling and infrastructure in Arab towns. Does this sound like the actions of someone who hates Arabs?

The only hate we see here is exhibited by Michael Lerner.

Lerner likes to pretend that he is supporting Jewish values. He likes to selectively quote parts of Jewish texts, interpret them in ways that fit his biases, and ignore the rest. But that is not Judaism.

A Jewish value is "dan l'chaf zechut," to give people the benefit of the doubt. But in this case, he takes words that Bibi himself has walked back, and uses absurd extrapolations of those words as his own Torah, while anything that Netanyahu says in plain English that is the exact opposite of what Lerner pretends he is saying is dismissed.

Lerner isn't being "dan l'chaf zechut." He is instead violating the very serious Jewish prohibition of "motzei shem ra," slander. He is taking Bibi's words out of context, blowing up a mistake out of proportion as if Bibi is trying to justify murdering all Palestinians in response to their genocidal desires, and ignoring the clarifying statements that Netanyahu made almost immediately.

Lerner's hate extends beyond Bibi to many religious Jews:.

[W]hen a group of Jewish fundamentalists called Atteret HaKohanim (who explicitly believe that it is time to tear down the Al Asqa Mosque, rebuild the ancient Temple, and begin animal sacrifices once again) were allowed by the Israeli government to go to the Temple Mount on the Jewish holiday of Sukkot a few weeks ago, it is no surprise that many Muslims reacted by thinking that the Israeli government, which controls access to the Mount, intended to send a signal to the Muslims that their stay on one of their holiest sites is in danger. Some responded by throwing rocks at these extremists (a response I find unacceptable), and then the Israeli government, rather than restraining the Jewish fundamentalists, shut the Temple Mount to Islamic men under the age of fifty. This is a pattern that happens over and over again, and led to the start of the 2nd Intifada and to the current spontaneous acts of outrage at the Occupation, this time by Palestinians living in Jerusalem who had not joined in previous demonstrations against Israeli occupation.

Lerner, who is supposedly liberal, says that Israel should ban Jews from peacefully walking on their holiest place because some of those strollers would like to see the third Temple built there. Instead, all Jews must be restricted. Collective punishment is mandatory. Israel, by preserving the status quo of allowing people of all religions to visit the Mount, is - according to Lerner - responsible for forcing the poor Arabs to stab Jews.

How sick is that?

Lerner cannot find a single example of a Jewish "fundamentalist" civilian acting with violence or even insults against the Muslims on the Temple Mount. yet Lerner has more sympathy for the violent Arabs than of the peaceful Jews.

Is that a Jewish value, Lerner?

Another Jewish value is "kol Yisrael areivim zeh bazeh," "all Israel is responsible for one another." Yet to "Rabbi" Lerner, Arabs who threaten violence because of their hatred of Jews are more worthy of respect than Jews who want the basic rights to visit their holiest place.

What kind of a "rabbi" would prefer the murderers over the Jews who merely walk on the Har HaBayit?

One who has no shame.

The article reveals even more hate that Lerner has for Israeli Jews:

While we deplore the murder of random Israeli citizens by their Palestinian neighbors and the murder of (many more) random Palestinians by their Israeli neighbors, ... we see all this as the inevitable working out of the logic of Occupation and subordination.

Lerner is accusing Israeli Jews of "murdering" more Arabs than Arabs are murdering Jews.

Not "killing" - murder.

Which means that Lerner believes that every Arab killed in the process of trying to stab Jews, or of throwing firebombs, has been murdered - premeditated killing where the stabbings and Molotovs are merely an excuse for the bloodthirsty, amoral Israeli Jews to target them for death.

This is a slander against the entire people of Israel. And "Rabbi" Lerner is perverting Judaism to pretend that such slander is righteous, not reprehensible.

I urge you to read the entire speech that Netanyahu gave to the 37th Zionist Congress. Because Bibi destroys the lies of Michael Lerner and other haters of Israel, and Lerner does not want anyone to see the rest of that speech that shows him to be a fool.

Michael Lerner is not practicing Judaism. He is no rabbi. He has created his own new-age cult, using vaguely Jewish-sounding but bogus concepts like "Tikun Olam" as the basis of his newer testament. But scratching below the surface you can see that his sorry excuse for "faith" is centered on his own hate and that Lerner uses pseudo-Judaism to further his perverted agenda.

10/26 Links Pt2: Winning a Debate with an Israel-Hater; Rivlin: Rabin ordered us to defend Jerusalem

From Ian:

Legal Insurrection: Winning a Debate with an Israel-Hater

How to challenge anti-Israel extremists in your neighborhood or campus.
“It often happens in the middle of an otherwise pleasant day — you’re shopping, or walking across a college campus, and you encounter THEM. They’re holding signs that claim Israel is an “apartheid state” and charge Israel with committing “genocide” against Palestinians. They’re calling for boycotts against Israeli products, and divestment from companies that do business with Israel.
You know supporting Israel is the right thing to do. And you’re not alone. For decades, polls have shown a large plurality, usually a majority, of Americans back Israel. But here’s the problem: you don’t know how to respond – or if you even should – to these Israel haters.
This is an all-too-familiar sight, and has become more frequent in the past decade as Israel-bashing extremists have taken their hostility into the public square.
Their words don’t represent a simple disagreement with specific actions or policies of the Israeli government. Instead, they’re an open call for the elimination of the one country that shares American values in a region full of despots and anti-American fanatics. Simply put, they’re not just promoting a Palestinian state, they’re demanding that it replace the Jewish one.”
This is the opening of my new book, “Winning A Debate with an Israel-Hater“, published earlier this month by Shorehouse Books.

Rabin ‘ordered us’ to defend Jerusalem, Rivlin says at memorial

President Reuven Rivlin on Monday led the state tributes to Yitzhak Rabin, telling participants at a memorial service at Mount Herzl cemetery that the legacy of the slain prime minister was to “safeguard Jerusalem,” and that dividing it would be an obstacle to peace with the Palestinians.
Speaking at a ceremony to mark the 20th anniversary of Rabin’s assassination, the president drove home the prime minister’s connection to his hometown and the city’s relevance.
“We are in the throes of a struggle in Jerusalem for Jerusalem, and Rabin [was] one of its great fighters and liberators,” Rivlin said, referring to the weeks of Palestinian unrest and violence against Israelis in the capital.
The memorial at Rabin’s grave site was attended by Rabin’s family and Israeli dignitaries, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein and Supreme Court President Miriam Naor.
“Rabin was the one who cleared our path to Jerusalem [in 1948], he’s the one who united Jerusalem for us [in 1967], and he’s the one who commanded us, the supporters and opponents of the Oslo [Peace Accords],” Rivlin said. “Today it’s clear to us all that we can’t continue to ignore East Jerusalem. We can’t continue to suppress its existence.”
Rivlin cited Rabin’s opening speech to the 13th Knesset in 1992, in which he said: “This Government, like all of its predecessors, believes there is no disagreement in this House concerning Jerusalem as the eternal capital of Israel. United Jerusalem has been and will forever be the capital of the Jewish People.”

Britain’s Former Chief Rabbi Tackles the Roots of Islamist Terror in New Book

An ominous shadow has swept across the Middle East and North Africa, leaving chaos and carnage in its wake. Mad men armed with Kalashnikovs and depraved convictions commit unspeakable acts – all safe in the knowledge that they are doing God’s work.
How the civilized world counters the Islamic State and its associates is the subject of Lord Jonathan Sacks’ timely new book, Not In God’s Name.
The former Chief Rabbi of Britain sees the battle against ISIS and similar groups as the defining conflict of the 21st century.
The frontline might be Syria and Iraq, but the battle is being fought everywhere and targets everyone — especially Jews.
In Europe, radical Islamists have spilled Jewish blood in Paris, Brussels, and Copenhagen in recent months. For Lord Sacks, Jews are the canaries in the cage. “The hate begins with Jews but never ends with them,” he says. “That’s why Jews must never be left to fight anti-Semitism alone. If it’s not safe to be a Jew in Europe today, it’s not safe to be a European in Europe today. Anti-Semitism is a sign of something larger and even more dangerous.”

Another disgusting incitement cartoon on @UNRWA teacher page

UNRWA teacher Mohamed Odeh posted this on his Facebook page:

The entire purpose is to incite.

By the way - guess who pays his salary?

At the start of its “Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen,” the French National Assembly” (1789) declared: “All men are born and remain free and equal in rights … No person shall be molested for his opinions, even such as are religious, provided that the manifestation of these opinions does not disturb the public order established by the law”. Two years later, in 1791, the same body explicitly acknowledged the Jews as full citizens of the Republic, and, subsequently, in territories where the French Revolutionary armies proved victorious ghetto walls fell and the Jews were liberated in the name of the ideals of the French Republic. In 1806 Napoleon – reflecting the widespread contemporary continental view that Jews were benighted followers of an atavistic creed – convened a so-called Assembly of Jewish Notables, sometimes dubbed the Paris Sanhedrin, in order to satisfy himself, through their replies to a number of questions posed to them, that France’s Jews could adapt to modernity, were capable of assimilating (in the integrationist sense), and therefore merited equality.

Many if not most of Elder’s readers will, of course, be well aware of this episode in modern European history, but for those who don’t, or need reminding, let’s run through a few those questions – there were a dozen in all – and the answers given.

Question One: Is it lawful for Jews to marry more than one wife?

Answer: It is not lawful for Jews to marry more than one wife; in all European countries they conform to the general practice, marrying only one. Moses [the Lawgiver] does not command expressly to take several, but he does not forbid it. He seems even to adopt that custom as generally prevailing, since he settles the rights of inheritance between children of different wives. Although this practice still prevails in the East, yet their ancient doctors have enjoined them to refrain from taking more than one wife, except when the man is enabled by his fortune to maintain several. The case has been different in the West; the wish of adopting the customs of the inhabitants of this part of the world has induced the Jews to renounce polygamy. But as several individuals still indulged in that practice, a synod was convened at Worms in the eleventh century, composed of one hundred rabbis, with Gershom [of Mainz] at their head. This assembly pronounced an excommunication against every Israelite who should in future take more than one wife. Although this prohibition was not to last forever the influence of European mores has universally prevailed.

Question Two: Is divorce allowed by the Jewish religion? Is divorce valid when not pronounced by courts of justice by virtue of laws in contradiction with those of the French Code?

Answer: Repudiation is allowed by the Law of Moses, but is not valid if not previously pronounced by the French Code. In the eyes of every Israelite, without exception, submission to the prince is the first of duties. It is a principle generally acknowledged among them that in everything relating to civil or political interests the law of the state is the supreme law. Before they were admitted in France to share the rights of all citizens, and when they lived under a particular legislation which set them at liberty to follow their religious customs, they had the ability to divorce their wives, but it was extremely rare to see it put into practice. Since the Revolution they have acknowledged no other laws on this head but those of the Empire. At that juncture when they were admitted to the ranks of citizens, the rabbis and the principal Jews appeared before the municipalities of their respective dwelling places and took oaths to conform in everything to the laws and to recognize no other rules in all civil matters.

Question Four: In the eyes of Jews, are Frenchmen considered as their brethren? Or are they considered as strangers?

Answer: In the eyes of Jews Frenchmen are their brethren, and not strangers. The true spirit of the Law of Moses is compatible with this mode of considering Frenchmen. When the Israelites formed a settled and independent nation their law made it a rule for them to consider strangers as their brethren. With the tenderest care for their welfare, their Lawgiver commands to love them, “Love ye therefore the strangers,” says he to the Israelites, “for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.” …. A religion whose fundamental tenets are such – a religion which makes a duty of loving the stranger … must surely require that its followers should consider their fellow-citizens as brethren. And how could they consider them otherwise when they inhabit the same land, when they are ruled and protected by the same government and by the same laws? When they enjoy the same rights, and have the same duties to fulfil? There exists, even between the Jew and Christian, a tie which abundantly compensates for religion – it is the ties of gratitude. This sentiment was at first excited in us by the mere grant of toleration. It has been increased these eighteen years by new favours from government, made to such a degree that now our fate is irrevocably linked with the common fate of all Frenchmen. Yes, France is our country, all Frenchmen are our brethren, and this glorious title, by raising up our own esteem, becomes a sure pledge that we shall never cease to be worthy of it.

I mention these particular questions, and their answers, because the scrutiny then applied to Judaism starkly contrasts with the attitude of “liberals” in France, and for that matter “liberals” elsewhere in Western Europe, regarding the large and growing Islamic presence in the continent. Just last week, French academic Guy Mollière – a warm and outspoken admirer of Israel – observed in a typically thoughtful and cogent article (http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/6721/muslim-invasion-europe) – please read it! – that ‘Cultural identities in Europe have been eroded to such a point that saying that Europe is based on Judeo-Christian values has become controversial. Any criticism of Islam in Europe is treated as a form of racism, and "Islamophobia" is considered a crime or a sign of mental illness. Islam has not melted into a smooth multiculturalism; it is creating increasingly distressing problems that are almost never brought to light.’

The Gatestone Institute’s publications contain many examples of such “distressing problems” that European elites prefer to ignore, not only problems that impact adversely on Jews, Christians, and state welfare systems themselves, but on women. The Swedish journalist Ingrid Carlquist, for instance, has written often of the blind eye turned by her country’s authorities towards sexual crimes against Swedish women committed by Muslim immigrants. A recent article (http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/6753/germany-migrants-demands) describes, inter alia, the despicable, male supremacist contempt for German women, including professionals trying to help them, displayed by Muslim arrivals in Germany.

As for polygamy, what Napoleon was not prepared to tolerate in Jews is being tolerated by supine governments throughout Western Europe, so long as it’s only Muslims who have more than one spouse. These polygamous unions, with all that they portend for the demography of the continent (some Muslim men in Britain, and no doubt in other foolish lands, have 20 children!), are made possible by the welfare payments paid to ostensibly single parent households (the households of the surplus wives). In Britain, several members of the House of Lords are currently warning of the horrendous effects of polygamy and of the discrimination suffered by Muslim women by sharia courts. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/11952163/Muslim-men-having-20-children-each-because-of-polygamy-peer-claims.html).

“The Influence of European Mores Has Universally Prevailed”. O, the bitter, bitter irony!