Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Sunday, May 14, 2017

Another Arab myth exploded: Jews actually HELPED Arab workers in the 1920s

The Arab narrative is that Jews came to Palestine and took their livelihoods. But this news article from The Palestine Bulletin from exactly 90 years ago shows that the Jewish labor leaders did everything they could to aid Arab workers, to the praise of international unions.

When the article says that most of the Arabs in the transport sector are "not residents in the places they work" it is referring to the tens of thousands of Arabs, mostly from Syria and Lebanon, who worked in British Mandate Palestine (often seasonally) because the economy was booming there, and they sent money back home.

You know what those people are called nowadays? "Palestinians."

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Translated from the Turkish "Shalom" Jewish newspaper:

Israel's 69th Independence Day was celebrated with a reception and award ceremony held by the Consulate-General of Israel in Istanbul. Speaking at the reception at the Hilton Bosphorus Convention Center, Israeli Consul General Shai Cohen pointed to the rapid development of Turkey-Israel relations after the normalization treaty. Stating that they are in serious cooperation in bilateral trade, as well as bilateral developments in art, culture and academia, Cohen stated that the relations between the two countries are increasing and that efforts are being made to move to higher levels. At a ceremony where Israeli Ambassador to Ankara Eitan Na'eh was present, he stated that the situation of the Syrian refugees deeply affected the Israelis coming from a refugee community. The Consul General, in Istanbul for the benefit of Syrian children,

Chief Rabbi Rav Isak Haleva and Ishak Ibrahimzadeh, the President of the Turkish Jewish Society, were present at the ceremony attended by the representatives of the Turkish Jewish Society as well as the world of business and academia.

In the framework of the arranged reception, the institutions and persons contributing to the development of the relations between the two countries were also rewarded. Within this scope, Turkish companies including Turkish Airlines, Koç, Zorlu, and Bank Hapoalim, and Israeli firms including Netafim were awarded for their contributions to the bilateral relations.

There is clearly no love between Turkey's leader and the State of Israel. Erdogan made a speech last week attacking any Jews who visit the holiest site in Judaism and Israel responded sharply.

I don't know how large this gathering was. But as far as I can tell, this event in a major hotel in Istanbul didn't have something that you would find in nearly any similar Zionist gathering in Western Europe or the US:

Protesters.

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The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics issued a document for "Nakba Day" that proves, if anything, that Palestinian statisticians lie just as much as their politicians do.

The document starts off with "Ms. Ola Awad, President of the PCBS, reviews the conditions of the Palestinian people via statistical figures and findings, on the eve of the sixty ninth anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba."

And statistics don't lie, right?

Well, maybe, but Palestinian statistics and statisticians sure do.

It starts off defining the "Nakba" this way:

[T]he Nakba in Palestine describes a process of ethnic cleansing in which an unarmed nation was destroyed and its population displaced to be replaced systematically by another nation. Unlike a natural catastrophe, the Palestinian Nakba was the result of a man-made military plan with the consent of other states, leading to a major tragedy for the Palestinian people.

Sure, except that there was no "nation" that was destroyed, the "unarmed" people they are referring to were the ones who started the war, there was no "ethnic cleansing" (except for the Jews of Arab countries,) there was no "Palestinian people" and the vast majority of them left voluntarily to escape the fighting, assuming that their side would win.

Yeah, there is not one part of that paragraph that reflects reality.

But that is just a preamble. How about cold, hard facts?

Population Density: Gaza Strip is the most crowded place in the world

The population density in Palestine at the end of 2016 was 811 individuals per square kilometer (km²): 526 individuals/km² in the West Bank and 5,239 individuals/km² in Gaza Strip.

The most crowded countries and territories in the world are:

Territory	Density (people/km2)
Macau	55,001
Monaco	18,589
Singapore	7,797
Hong Kong	6,644

But the most crowded places are cities, with Manila at over 100,000 people per square kilometer. In fact, Gaza City itself doesn't rank in the Wikipedia list of most crowded cities - while Bnei Brak in Israel is #6 with over 70,000 per square kilometer.

The document also calls every dead terrorist a "martyr."

Oh, and for good measure, this document filled with lies says,"The Israeli Occupation narrative is based on falsification of the culture, civilization and history of Palestine."

Well they sure know about falsification.

This document comes in handy just in case anyone thought that the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics was any more dedicated to facts and truth than any other Palestinian Arab political entity.

Here's a video I made in 2009 about the "most crowded" meme:

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05/13 Links: Pierre Rehov:The UN's Obsession against Israel; Lawsuit Targets American Muslims for Palestine

From Ian:

Pierre Rehov: The UN's Obsession against Israel

The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) met once again on March 20 to debate "Agenda Item 7," a mandatory subject of debate since June 2006, the only one whose goal is systematically to condemn the Israeli democracy for crimes the existence of which remain to be proven.
The agenda, officially designed to assess the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territories, in the light of the reports submitted by Fatah, the PLO and various NGOs, is part of a wider campaign, carried out by countries such as Libya, Algeria, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Sudan and Yemen. Israel is thus the only country on the planet to benefit from the doubtful privilege of being scrutinized on the least of its actions, through an agenda decided by its enemies.
If it were only a question of expressing this obsession, born out of an old habit for the Arab-Muslim dictatorships to turn the Hebrew state into their scapegoat, responsible for all the misfortunes plaguing their societies, Agenda Item 7 would be a mere oddity, especially since the session is regularly boycotted by a majority of Western countries, and systematically by the United States.
Unfortunately, this Israelphobia has been spreading throughout the United Nations. In 1948, when Israel, after being officially recognized as a sovereign state by virtually all Western democracies, had just repelled the genocidal aggression of five neighboring countries, and hundreds of thousands of Jews were fleeing the oppression of Arab dictatorships, the UN gave birth to UNRWA, an organization designed to help Palestinian refugees exclusively. This was despite there already being a program for refugees at the UN, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
The mandate of UNRWA was for one year. Seventy years later, the organization, now a lavish UN jobs program, continues to function within the Palestinian territories and neighboring countries, with an annual budget close to one billion dollars. Part of that covers salaries and pension funds for 25,000 to 27,000 employees (including many members of Hamas); schools in which the descendants of descendants of "refugees", in suburbs or villages called "camps", are inaccurately told that Tel Aviv and Haifa had belonged to them and should be returned to them, and where the myth of an impossible "right of return" continues to hold new generations of Palestinians hostage and inciting hatred of Israel and Jews.
As Said Aburish, one of Yasser Arafat's biographers and a former adviser to Saddam Hussein, told this author:
"In order to conserve UNRWA rations, Palestinians had become accustomed to bury their dead at night, so that no one died in the camps except when it was possible to accuse Israel of it. As a result, the refugee figures have always been distorted, with the passive complicity of UNRWA, as its annual budget depends on the number of souls for which they are responsible."

Lawsuit Targets American Muslims for Palestine

A national anti-Israel group and several of its activists are "alter egos and/or successors" of a Hamas-support network that was found liable for an American teen's death in a 1996 terrorist attack, litigation filed in Chicago federal court Friday claims.
After Stanley and Joyce Boim won $156 million in damages, defendants including the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP) and the American Muslim Society (AMS) shut down and claimed to be unable to pay. It was a ruse, the Boims' attorneys claim, as many of the same people opened up American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) at a nearby address.
A subsequent criminal prosecution found that other defendants in the original lawsuit, like the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF) and the United Association for Studies and Research, were part of a Muslim Brotherhood-created Hamas-support network in the United States called the Palestine Committee.
The IAP used to hold annual conventions. The year after it shut down, AMP held its first national meeting, offering the same "audience, content, management, speakers, and ... message" as the IAP gatherings, the complaint said.
Today, AMP and its financial arm, Americans for Justice in Palestine Educational Foundation, continue the work done by the defunct groups in the original Boim suit, the complaint said. AMP donors and officers "are substantially identical to the management and donors of their alter egos and predecessors, HLF, IAP and AMS."

IsraellyCool: Terror Supporters JVP and AMP Stung By Flyers Accusing Them Of Being Terror Supporters

The following flyers have been placed all over New York City.
Including the homes of Rebecca Vilkomerson, Executive Director, Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), and Hatem Bazian, Chairman of American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), leading to this attack by Vilkomerson, JVP and AMP.
Note how they characterize the flyers as “Islamophobic” because they “attempt to link Islam with terrorism” – even though nothing in the flyers actually suggests this.
Instead, let’s look at the accusations in the flyer to see if they are founded.
American Muslims for Palestine (AMP)
According to the ADL – which incidentally comes out hard against “Islamophobia” – AMP is not only affiliated with terrorists, but is also antisemitic.

Are Biblical scholars that ignorant? Or is it only Haaretz?

From Haaretz:

Can We Eat Bacon Now? Leviticus Was Written for Priests, Not You, Say Scholars

The Book of Leviticus, the third book in the Old Testament, is considered something of an anomaly by some scholars.

The rest of the Old Testament books are concerned with the history of the Jewish people and their belief. But Leviticus concerns itself with ritual, legal, and moral practices. It lays down the laws by which the Jewish people are supposed to live.

But, was it truly meant for the laity? Should all Jews have to adhere to its tenets, as is commonly assumed? Some Biblical scholars argue that the Book of Leviticus was not originally meant to apply to the general public: its laws were meant for the priests of the Temple.

Dr. Robert Gnuse, professor in the Religious Studies Department at Loyola University, says that historically, the rules on food and clothing found in the Book of Leviticus were meant exclusively for priests, just like the laws in the Hindu Code of Manu Smriti for Brahmin priests.

That is, until the period of the Babylonian captivity. Someone from the priestly class in Babylon found a way to encourage the Jewish people living in exile to take on these laws in order to keep them together as a community, Gnuse theorizes. This is also the view Mary Douglas took in her earlier works.

First of all, the text of Leviticus makes it clear which rules are for all Israelites and which only for priests.

Some sections start with variants of And the LORD called unto Moses, and spoke unto him out of the tent of meeting, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them:

Others start with And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying: Command Aaron and his sons, saying:

It is pretty clear which sections were meant for priests and which were meant for everyone.

Beyond that, the laws of Kosher are also in Deuteronomy, where the entire book was clearly meant for the entire nation. (A little of the kosher laws are in Exodus, too, and at least one mentioned in Genesis.)

So how much is this are idiotic Biblical scholars and how much Haaretz twisting their words for the story?

I want to stress that I have respect for some non-Jewish Biblical scholars. Like George Bush. No, not that one, but a relative who wrote books about the Bible in the 19th century. Here is the first page of his commentary on Leviticus 11, the chapter that speaks about kosher laws:

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05/12 Links Pt2: The People vs. Haaretz; Comedy Central promotes Anti-Israel Linda Sarsour on ‘The President Show’

From Ian:

The People vs. Haaretz

Haaretz is an Israeli newspaper. Admired by many foreigners and few Israelis, loathed by many, mostly Israelis. Read by few, denounced by many, it is a highly ideological, high-quality paper. It has a history of excellence. It has a history of independence. It has a history of counting Israel’s mistakes and misbehavior. It has a history of getting on Israel’s nerves.
Still, it is just a newspaper. The story of the people vs. Haaretz — that is, of a great number of Israelis’ growing dislike for the paper — is worth telling only because it tells us something about Israel itself: that the country’s far left is evolving from a political position into a mental state and that the right-wing majority has not yet evolved into being a mature, self-confident public.
Consider an incident from mid-April. Haaretz published an op-ed by one of its columnists. It made a less-than-convincing argument that religious Zionist Israelis are more dangerous to Israel than Hezbollah terrorists. And yet, the response was overwhelming. The prime minister, defense minister, education minister and justice minister all denounced the article and the newspaper. The president condemned the article, too. The leader of the centrist party Yesh Atid called the op-ed “anti-Semitic.” Leaders of the left-of-center Labor Party called it hateful. The country was almost unified in condemnation.
Of course, not completely unified. On the far left, a few voices supported the article and the newspaper. Some argued that the article was substantively valid. Others argued that whether the article was substantive or not, the onslaught on Haaretz is a cynical ploy to shake another pillar of the left — maybe its most visible remaining pillar. (h/t Elder of Lobby)

Comedy Central Gives Anti-Israel Linda Sarsour Spot on ‘The President Show’

Sarsour has in the past stated that Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a victim of genital mutilation as a child, doesn't deserve to be a woman and should have her vagina taken away.
After asking Sarsour about the meaning of "intersectionality," Atamanuik turned back to Muslim issues for a joke about how the political right uses "Islam as a way to criticize female treatment in Muslim countries" even though they are "trying to kill women here by having a health care bill that basically takes out people."
"Don't you think that there's a problem that extends beyond political party or ideology in displaying Muslims as somehow rudimentary, or violent, or other, in a way that extends to commentary from the left, talking about Muslims needing to take responsibility for terrorist attacks, or on the right, using Islam as a way to criticize female treatment in Muslim countries when we actually are trying to kill women here by having a health care bill that basically takes out people," asked Atamanuik during the comedy show.
Sarsour said that she refuses to take responsibility for terrorist attacks, arguing that while they are "outrageous and horrible," it is not her responsibility.
"It's not my responsibility [as a Muslim]," Sarsour said. "Those people didn’t call me up and ask my permission for doing something horrific. I want to condemn it as a human being, as an American just like everybody else."
Sarsour appeared at an event last month with Rasmea Odeh, a convicted terrorist responsible for the death of two young students in Israel, and said she was "honored to be on the stage with Rasmea."

White House: Trump to push Palestinian ‘self-determination’ on Mideast trip

US President Donald Trump will work toward a “just and lasting peace” between Israel and the Palestinians, including the Palestinian aspiration of “self-determination” on his upcoming trip to the region, the White House said Friday.
US National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster told reporters during the daily press briefing that Trump will meet again with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, where the president will “express his desire for dignity and self-determination for the Palestinians.”
McMaster also said that Trump’s meetings with Israeli leaders would look to cement stronger ties between the two allies.
“With President (Reuven) Rivlin and Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu, he will reaffirm America’s unshakable bond to the Jewish state,” he said.

One of the more prominent (alleged) hunger strikers is Karim Younis, 59, a terrorist who murdered Avraham Bromberg in 1980. He was originally sentenced in 1983 to life in prison but Shimon Peres commuted the sentence to 40 years.

He is one of a handful of Palestinians prisoners who have been there since before Oslo.

Today, Arab media is reporting that Younis is getting weaker from the hunger strike. But they are adding a detail that Younis is the longest serving prisoner in the world.

Of course, this is a lie. The 34 years he served so far are not even in the ballpark of the longest serving prisoners in the world, several of whom have been in prison over 60 years. Francis Clifford Smith has been in prison for nearly 67 years, almost double Younis' stint.

For some reason, Palestinians always want to be known as the record-breakers. From "the only people under military occupation in the world" to the "largest refugee population in the world" they lie, exaggerate and make things up just to stay in the spotlight - a spotlight that they had for decades and whose bulb is inexorably burning out.

(h/t Ibn Boutros)

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05/12 Links Pt1: Glick: The PLO’s most powerful lobbyists; Has The Red Cross Visited Israeli Prisoners in Gaza?

From Ian:

Caroline Glick: The PLO’s most powerful lobbyists

In choosing to treat anti-Israel groups like Breaking the Silence and B’Tselem with kid gloves, the General Staff is inserting itself directly into Israeli politics.
Likewise, when IDF generals lobby Congress to maintain US funding of the PA , and when “military sources” express their opposition to Trump’s plan to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem, they are behaving as political activists.
This returns us to Netanyahu and his frustration at Trump’s sudden embrace of the PLO , which places the most pro-Israel president in history on a collision course with Israel.
Netanyahu is right to be angry. But his rage at Lauder is misdirected. The real culprit is the General Staff.
Since no prime minister can dispute the holy grail of “security concerns,” Lauder got blamed.
This situation is insufferable. Our generals cannot continue to receive a pass for their political activism.
When they lobby for the PLO and against moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem they cross the line into gross insubordination. When they protect Breaking the Silence and B’Tselem rather than their soldiers, they commit a grave dereliction of duty.

Sheri Oz: Question. How Many Times Has The Red Cross Visited Israeli Prisoners in Gaza?

Tell me, Mr Barghouti – how do your prison conditions compare with those of Gilad Shalit who was abducted and held by Hamas in Gaza for five years? How do they compare with the conditions Hamas offers to current Israeli prisoners: Abera Mengistu, Israeli of Ethiopian origin being held in Gaza since September 2014, Hisham al-Syed, Israeli Bedouin held since April 2015, and Juma Ibrahim Abu Anima, Israeli Bedouin who has been held since July last year?
The Israeli Prison Service (IPS) has agreed to let the International Red Cross visit you today (Thursday) in lieu of the pre-scheduled meeting with your lawyer that was cancelled since you called on security prisoners to join you in a hunger strike and you were consequently put into solitary. The reports note that you have not seen anyone from the Red Cross since before the hunger strike. That means that you HAVE seen Red Cross staff before that – and we have no idea how many times these visits have taken place but apparently the IRC visits security prisoners in Israel on a regular basis.
Out of curiousity, I wanted to know how many times the IRC has visited with Abera Mengistu so I called Uri Perednik, Parliamentary Aide to MK Avraham Neguise (pronounced Negosa), who serves as chair of the Caucus for the Return of Avraham (Abera) Mengistu. Perednik told me that the IRC has visited Mengistu a total of zero times. Furthermore, while the Israeli government and Hamas insist that Mengistu is alive, there have been no signs of life presented in fact, according to Perednik.

PM: All embassies, especially the US, should be in Jerusalem

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that all foreign embassies in Israel should be located in Jerusalem, chief among them the American embassy.
Speaking at a Likud event on Thursday, Netanyahu said Jerusalem is the “eternal capital of the Israeli people and it is fitting that all embassies, especially that of our friend the United States, be moved the Jerusalem.”
The remark came less than two weeks ahead of the expected visit of US President Donald Trump, who during his presidential campaign last year, promised to move the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a potential move he has distanced himself from since his election in November.
Israel considers Jerusalem its undivided capital while the Palestinians want East Jerusalem, including the Old City, as the capital of a future state. The international community has never recognized Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem after Israel captured it in 1967.
Most foreign embassies in Israel are in Tel Aviv, with some nations also maintaining consulate-generals in Jerusalem.

Egypt is hardly a paradigm of human rights, but human rights NGOs ignore some of the remarkable things that have been done under the current Egyptian leadership.

From Al Ahram:

A Cairo misdemeanor court has set 24 June to start the trial of a prominent Islamic cleric and television presenter on charges of contempt of religion, after he described Christians as non-believers on an episode of his television show.

The lawsuit filed against Salem Abdel-Geliel by lawyer Naguib Gibrail initially charged that Abdel-Geliel’s comments displayed contempt of religion, threatened national unity, disrupted public peace and incited the killing of Christians.

Abdel-Geliel, a former deputy minister for proselytisation at the Ministry of Religious Endowments, has presented a daily religious programme, Muslims Ask, on Mehwar satellite channel since early 2016.

Hassan Rateb, the head of Mehwar, said on Wednesday that the cleric’s contract with the station would be cancelled. The channel also apologised to all “Christian brothers” in an official statement.

Abdel-Geliel, who is been known for his mainstream religious views, described Christians as "unbelievers" and their beliefs as "corrupted" during his explanation of a Quranic verse on an episode of his programme earlier this week.

He said later in a statement that the description “unbeliever” was applied to Christians in the Quran in a specific context, but he apologised if he had offended Christians’ feelings.

He also stressed that describing Christians as such doesn’t carry any sort of incitement to violence against Christians or followers of any other religion, as such violence is forbidden in Islam.

Abdel-Geliel also said that he fully understood the channel's decision to end his contract.

Egypt's Ministry of Endowments had said that Abdel-Geliel would be banned from giving sermons at ministry-affiliated mosques until he issued an apology.

Defendants charged with contempt of religion are normally Christians, or others holding minority religious views, charged with insulting Islam.

But this is not the first time in recent years that an Islamic religious figure has been tried on charges of contempt of Christianity.

Controversial preacher Abu Islam, who burnt a copy of the Bible in front of the American embassy in Cairo during Salafi protests in September 2012, was sentenced in June 2013 to 11 years in jail and a EGP3,000 fine over the incident after he was found guilty of insulting Christianity.

The sentence was reduced to three years following a series of appeals.

Even Abdel Geliel's reaction is remarkable. His words were fairly mild and also pretty accurate. There is much worse incitement all over the Arab world as can be seen from five minutes at MEMRI. Furthermore, he isn't some firebrand preacher or crazy jihadist. He is popular and represents mainstream Islam.

Egypt does seem to be taking anti-Christian attitudes seriously. Perhaps it is too little, too late, but this is very welcome.

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From Arab News:

A notorious sectarian leader in Iraq has claimed that the Shiite project of encircling and dominating the Middle Eastern states is on track.
Delivering a speech in Arabic, at a graduation ceremony of Shiite clerics in Iraq on Thursday, Asaib Ahl Al-Haq militia commander Qais Al-Khazali said: “The reappearance of Imam Mahdi will mark the completion of the Shiite project. Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Asaib Ahl Al-Haq and the Houthis are working hard to make the ground fertile for Imam Mahdi.”
Al-Khazali was referring to the Shiite belief that Imam Mahdi — the 12th and last Shiite imam who disappeared in the 9th century — will one day appear in order to bring justice to earth.
Asaib Ahl Al-Haq, which Al-Khazali leads, is one of the most violent Shiite militias in Iraq. It is aided and abetted by Iran. Al-Khazali reportedly said: “We’ll continue to work toward our project of a Shiite full moon, not a Shiite crescent as our enemies say.”
The phrase “Shiite crescent” was first coined by King Abdallah of Jordan 10 years ago. At that time, he meant Iranian control over Lebanon via Hezbollah, Syria via the Bashar Assad regime, and Iraq through the new Iran-allied government in Baghdad. Al-Khazali is now talking of a “Shiite full moon.”

The topic of Iran's goal of regional dominance is rarely addressed in the media. Ironically, the Muslims accuse Israel of aspiring to regional dominance, when in fact that role has gone to Iran, Egypt, Syria, Turkey, Jordan and Saudi Arabia over the past century - but never Israel.

This is the main reason why Arabs are so alarmed by Iran today. They know that between Iran and Israel, only Iran truly aspires to take over the region while Israel wants to make allies with existing states but not dominate them.

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A Palestinian Arab tries, and fails, to answer the Dry Bones quiz

Many years ago, Dry Bones published this cartoon:

Nada Elia at Middle East Eye claims to demolish this argument - and fails spectacularly.

She believes that the questions themselves are illegitimate to begin with, but pretends to show that they make no sense even within its own context. She does this by purposefully misunderstanding English.

The questions in the cartoon reveal a surprisingly shallow knowledge of history, plagued by utter disrespect for chronology and logic. I particularly like #9, which asks us to choose “any date in history” and give the exchange rate of the “Palestinian currency against the US dollar”.
What if I chose a date before 1792, when the US dollar was first created? But let’s not go so far back in history - the Deutsche Mark itself did not come into existence until 1948.
And if picking a date in history and comparing one country’s currency rate to another’s is proof that the country has historical legitimacy, what if I chose the year 1937, and asked how the Israeli currency compared to the Japanese Yen then? And if I came up blank, would that mean that neither country can lay claim to historical existence?

The phrase "choose any date in history" means that the people who claim to have a state can choose any date that the nation supposedly existed to prove their nationhood, not that they can choose a date when the state didn't exist.

Obviously there is a United States and a Japan and a Germany, and currencies are one way of showing nationhood. The Palestinian Arabs cannot point to any date in history that they had one.

This is obvious and Elia's attempt to misunderstand what the cartoon is saying shows her dishonesty.

But this isn't her main point. After quoting Zionist figures in history to prove that they were colonialist (as if they didn't also speak passionately about rebuilding Judah and Israel of old) she makes her only real point, which proves the exact opposite of what she intends:

The Zionist logic, that we did not exist because we did not have a currency, national boundaries, etc, would also deny that Native Americans existed, because they did not have nation states recognisable to the Europeans. And indeed, that is how the colonisation of the Americas happened - violently, and hinging on genocide, but above all, grounded in racism.

No one denies that Native Americans exist and existed. And no one denies that they were a set of tribes. However, no one could call them a nation. While the Incas and the Aztecs had vast empires, Native North Americans never reached that level. So, while the Incas and Aztecs could not answer all of the Dry Bones questions, they could answer enough of them to show that they were nations - they had leaders, borders, their own languages; they had a central government, they controlled territory.

The Palestinian Arabs had none of those things. None of the questions can be answered.

And Elia never tries to say what her concept of a nation is that can be twisted to allow the Palestinians to be called one. She spends her entire essay trying to prove that those who say Palestine was never a nation are wrong or Eurocentric in their logic, but she cannot come up with a single example that would put Palestinians on par with, say, the Abbasids who had a flourishing culture or the Rasulids who controlled Yemen and issued currency in the 13th century. Even in Eurocentric thinking, those Middle Eastern dynasties had the features of nationhood.

There was never a Palestinian nation, a Palestinian people, or a Palestinian political entity. Nada Elia can give her own definition of nationhood if she wants. She doesn't, because she knows that Palestinians aren't and never have fit any definition of nationhood, no matter how expansive.

The truth is, the Palestinian Arabs weren't a nation or even a people by any definition, European or Middle Eastern. And she knows she cannot prove their peoplehood so she obfuscates the truth and fails at answering the main argument - of a cartoonist.

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05/11 Links Pt2: Phillips: Change the narrative, Mr. President; Joanna Lumley condemns ‘appalling’ boycotts of Israel

From Ian:

Melanie Phillips: Change the narrative, Mr. President

Trump is the ultimate big picture man.
He thinks with his gut. He doesn’t do detail.
So he should be told this simple fact: that the reason the Arab-Israel impasse continues without end is that America and the West have treated the Palestinian agenda as a reasonable basis for compromise, when in fact it has the unconscionable goal of destroying the homeland of the Jewish people. And negotiating with an unconscionable agenda encourages its proponents to twist the screw still further.
It’s possible that Trump knows all this and, having given Abbas enough rope with which to hang the Palestinian cause, will now pull the noose tight.
It’s also possible, though, that among all the pro-Israel people in his administration there isn’t one who has ever told him the inconvenient truth: that the reason the Arab war against Israel goes on and on without end is that it is the only war of extermination where the so-called civilized world has systematically rewarded and incentivized the aggressor.
Donald Trump wants to go down in history as the president who solved the Arab-Israel impasse. What the author of The Art of the Deal needs to realize, however, is that the solution lies in grasping that a deal here is impossible, and what is needed instead is to defeat the vile aim of destroying Israel.
Change the narrative altogether, Mr.
President, and your place in history will be all but guaranteed as the person who faced down an agenda of falsehood, hatred and extermination to pave the way for a more decent, stable and safer world. (h/t Elder of Lobby)

Caroline Glick's Speech at Jpost NY Conference

Popular Jerusalem Post Columnist Caroline Glick wrapped up an illustrious roster of speakers at the Jerusalem Post Annual Conference in New York City Last Week. Glick delivered her famous no-hold-barred brand of insight and analysis in front of an enthusiastic crowd.
The Conference also featured Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, intelligence Minister Israel Katz and Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon. Also on hand were Ronald Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress and Senior Trump Aide Sebastian Gorka. (h/t Elder of Lobby)

Joanna Lumley condemns ‘appalling’ cultural boycotts of Israel

National treasure Joanna Lumley has condemned cultural boycotts of Israel as “appalling”.
The celebrated actress and campaigner spoke to the Jewish News after addressing charity Tikva’s annual dinner in central London.
“I hate barriers, I hate walls, I hate boycotts,” she said when asked about cultural boycotts. “I think it’s appalling. I would never join in such a boycott.” Music stars from around the world are frequently targeted by BDS campaigners, urging them to cancel planned concerts in the country.
Lumley, who will receive the Bafta fellowship this weekend, said one of her “greatest heroes in life” is Daniel Barenboim, the Israeli conductor who established with Edward Said the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra to bring together young Israeli, Palestinian and Arab musicians.
The Absolutely Fabulous actress earlier delighted more than 200 guests at the event, regaling tales of her 40-year career from starting as a model to becoming a Bong Girl and starring in the hit sitcom opposite Jennifer Saunders. She also successfully led a campaign for Gurkha veterans who served in the British Army to have the right to settle in the UK.

Aliyah, IDF Style- Part 2 (Ziesel R)

A few months ago I asked a friend of mine whose daughter had just made Aliyah right out of high school if she would be interested in writing about her experiences. This is part 2. Part 1 is here.

5 May 2017

It started Wednesday morning April 19th. I get to Beer Sheva with all my stuff ready to begin my new journey. Only now do have a moment to write this down.

I get assigned a bus and we leave for the bakum in Tel Aviv. The bakum is where you officially become a soldier. You get there and are told to take off all your jewelry and put your bags and everything you have away. The only thing I had on me was my ID and bank information. You go through a process of getting your fingers printed, picture taken, finger pricked, cheek swabbed, arm stabbed with shots and so on. Eventually you are given your choger (army ID) and diskeet (dog tags). When all this is done you get the uniform that you will need to wear for the next 2+ years. The first time you put on those crisp green shirts and shiny new boots you feel proud. Proud that you are here and have done everything you can to get to this moment.

That feeling of finally being a soldier is great and overwhelming but after a few days you start to miss being a civilian. It's hard to always be on someone else's schedule. It's frustrating not be able to do whatever you want, whenever you want. However you need to accept your new reality of being property of the army. That might sound like a horrible way of putting it but that is what you are. You can no longer think or do whatever you want. Everything is on your mefakedet's (commanders) command.

Something that was really hard for me was getting a gun. I've always seen soldiers in the streets and thought they were "so cool". However I no longer see it that way. Now when I see them I feel bad for them. I have an long M16 which is about 3 kg. It hangs on me awkwardly and bangs into my knees whenever we have to run. The first week I was covered in bruises. Slowly you learn how to hold it without it banging into you. But the weight and awkwardness of the gun wasn't my problem. I was having trouble focusing and understanding the lessons.

See, everything for me is a double lesson. For someone who grew up in Israel all they need to know is the basic information. But for me it's a double challenge. I need to first learn and understand all the vocabulary and after that I can learn the actual lesson itself. After practicing several times I now feel more confident. However I needed to first teach myself that asking for help is okay and isn't a bad thing.

Next week we are heading to the shetach (field) to shoot our guns. I know I am ready.

This past week was Yom Hazikaron and Yom Haatzmaut. My Yom Hazikaron started on Sunday night when I attended atekes (ceremony) in Sderot about 10 minutes from where I live. Standing there in my uniform I began to think about the bigger picture. This was reinforced even stronger the next day when I went to Har Herzl cemetery for the first time in my uniform. Standing next to the section for lone soldiers I wondered what their stories are. Each and every one of those soldiers in Har Herzl has one. It's scary to think one day I may know someone buried there. But that is why each and every lone soldier I know is in Israel. They are all willing to risk their lives for our home.

Yom Haatzmaut was really lively and fun. I attended the BBQ at the Michael Levin Center for Lone Solders in Jerusalem with many of my friends. All the volunteers are nice and friendly. They each want to do whatever they can to help us. It was extremely surreal to be in Israel for Independence Day. I knew that I finally made it home.

Settling into army life is not easy. After my first full week I didn't want to have to come back. I felt unmotivated and was focusing on all the negatives. A friend helped me realize that I would never be able to do it until I changed my mindset. So this week I did. I realized that the army is just a game and I just need to win the game. Every time we are told to run, I run as fast as I can to be first. Whenever we are told to say or do anything I give it 100%. Doing this has really helped me handle the army better. I'm just a piece on the game board trying to get to the finish before all the other players. Now, this doesn't always end up working out. Many times I think I'm moving ahead when all of a sudden I get thrown back a few spots.

For example the other day we needed to take our straps off our gun to put it away for the weekend. One of my friends had arrived late holding two guns because she was asked to take another girl's gun back. Seeing her struggle I asked permission to help her. I asked in the proper way with the proper Hebrew grammar.

I was then told to do push-ups.

Even when you try your hardest to be a team player it sometimes just doesn't work out. At the end of the day this is the army game, the rules are made up as they go along. All I can do is try my hardest to win.

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Vic Rosenthal's Weekly Column

In April of this year, the UN released the 2017 World Happiness Report. Using polling data collected by the Gallup organization, it ranked 156 countries in the world in order of how happy with their lives respondents said they were, on a scale of 1 to 10. For each country, they also measured 6 relatively objective factors: GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make choices, generosity, and trust in business and government. By comparing the scores in these categories with a hypothetical “Dystopia,” to which they assigned the scores from lowest-scoring country in each category, they attempted to explain how much the objective factors contributed to the subjective perception of happiness.

Could this ranking possibly be meaningful? I have no idea, honestly, but Israel came in 12^th out of the 156, beating the US which was in 15^th place, the UK in 20^th, and France which was a miserable 32^nd. Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland, Finland, The Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand, Sweden and Australia were ahead of Israel. But not by much: Israelis give themselves 7.213 while the smug, top-ranked Norwegians claim 7.537. The most unhappy place in the world, the Central African Republic, rated themselves a 2.693. Trust in business and government contributed very little to Israel’s high score. Shocking! (not)

Although not the subject of this post, the score of US has dropped very significantly since 2007. The report suggests that this is primarily due to social factors rather than economic ones.

The report’s writers do say that high perceived happiness is strongly correlated with the reelection of governments. Clearly, Israel has been a happy place lately.

But possibly more significantly, Israel leads the 36 OECD nations with a fertility rate of 3.1 children per woman (Mexico is a distant second with 2.2). And Israel’s rate is the only one of the 36 that is increasing. I can provide anecdotal evidence: one of the first things I noticed when I came here from the US was the number of pregnant women, people pushing baby strollers and walking with children. This despite the continuous terrorism, Iranian threat, periodic wars, compulsory conscription and reserve duty, ridiculous cost of housing, economic inequality and other quite serious problems.

Fertility rates in 36 OECD countries

If you read Ha’aretz or listen to liberal American Jews like Peter Beinart, you will probably get the idea that the Jewish state is tearing itself apart. But it isn’t, and both Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel are relatively happy and thriving. The Left is prophesying doom, but meanwhile the number of Israelis that identify or vote with them – especially young ones – is dropping. Israelis think that they are happy, and they are optimistically bringing children into the world.

I am going to propose a radical explanation for this. I think Israel’s economic and social success is due to the existence of a collective purpose. If you ask them they will probably deny it, but – at least to a greater extent than in America or Europe – Israelis do identify with their state, and even those that dislike the state identify with the land and the people. Israeli culture today developed directly from the Zionist struggle to build a Jewish state, and the feeling of ownership this created isn’t all gone. Even the most secular Jews feel a tug in their heart when they consider that their ancestors walked here in biblical times. Israelis tend to help one another when they are in trouble because they see themselves as a people. They feel as though they are all in it together.

Even Arab citizens who oppose Zionism partake of and benefit from this culture, although they are more likely to identify with a family or clan than the state. But yes, Jews and Arabs sometimes help one another and some Arabs will even say they are proud to be Israeli!

Certainly the concept of a Jewish state, not just a democratic one, amplifies the collective purpose of Israel’s Jewish citizens. This is one reason I favor the Jewish nation-state bill that has just been re-introduced in the Knesset.

Such a law has been proposed several times in the past – the last time in 2014, when it was abandoned as the Knesset dissolved itself in preparation for elections. Now it has raised its head again. On Sunday the Ministerial Committee for Legislation approved it, and it will be submitted on Wednesday for a preliminary reading in the Knesset as a government-backed bill.

The various versions of the law have all been quite controversial, even in watered-down compromise form. Apparently, the idea of a new Basic Law – in essence, a piece of Israel’s “constitution” – that articulates the meaning of “Jewish” in the accepted formulation “a Jewish and democratic state” is considered both unnecessary and provocative by many.

Some opponents of a nation-state law, Arabs and the Left, believe that Israel ought not be, in any structural sense, a Jewish state. They would prefer a “state of its citizens,” a democratic state like the US or Australia. Such an Israel would be Jewish only by virtue of having a Jewish majority. Of course this position negates the Zionist principles on which the state was founded – both the practical idea that only the existence of a Jewish state can protect the Jewish people from antisemitism, and the spiritual one that ties the Jewish people to their historic homeland.

“So what?” many would say. But such a change would be very dangerous and might endanger the identification that Israel’s Jewish population feels for its country. It might damage the collective purpose that historically led Jewish Israelis to make so many sacrifices for the sake of the state, and which is in part responsible for its surprising success today. If Israel is just a small Australia, why not go live in the real Australia where you won’t have to do reserve duty? How long would there continue to be a Jewish majority?

Paradoxically, the coherence and national purpose of Israel’s Jewish citizens benefits Arab Israelis as well. If there can be coexistence between Jewish and Arab Israelis (I am not talking about the Arabs of the territories now, who present a much more complicated problem), then it will require a recognition by the Arabs that being Israeli means living as a national minority in a Jewish state.

The Jewish nation-state bill should therefore recognize the existence of such minorities and guarantee their rights, while at the same time assert the identity of the state as the state of the Jewish people.

We are walking a tightrope. One fifth of our population is Arab. After 69 years they are not going away and we can’t pretend not to see them. We must see them as equals in every respect, except that of national rights. But by the same token, they must understand that Israel is a Jewish, Zionist state with a national purpose defined by the Jewish people.

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.

05/11 Links Pt1: 'Barghouti's sweets' handed out at Nakba Day ceremony; Mr. Trump, on Jerusalem just do nothing

From Ian:

PMW: Abbas' and PA's female role model: Mother of 4 terrorists serving life sentences

Abbas invited the mother of 4 terrorists to event in his office
Fatah leadership delegation visited her in her home
PA official, Governor of Ramallah, visited her in her home
Mother of terrorists nicknamed "The Oak Tree of Palestine" and "Khansa of Palestine" - reference to a woman in the earliest period of Islam who rejoiced when all four of her sons were killed in battles, as Martyrs for Islam
The current hunger strike held by imprisoned Palestinian terrorists gave the Palestinian Authority another opportunity to promote one of its female role models: Um Nasser Abu Hmeid.
Latifa Abu Hmeid (her proper name) is famous in the PA for being the mother of 4 imprisoned terrorists, all of whom are serving life sentences (their crimes appear below). She has joined the hunger strike in solidarity with her sons and the other imprisoned terrorists. A fifth son, a member of Hamas, was killed and is considered "a Martyr."
In the eyes of the PA, her fostering of 5 terrorists makes her uniquely worthy of honor. Abbas himself received her and other relatives of terrorist prisoners at his office last month (photo above), and a Fatah leadership delegation visited her at home.

PMW: Palestinian university names class after terrorist murderer Dalal Mughrabi
"The Class of the Bride of the Coast - Martyr Dalal Mughrabi"

Palestinian university names class of economics and political science students after terrorist murderer Dalal Mughrabi "The Class of the Bride of the Coast - Martyr Dalal Mughrabi"
Shabiba logo at graduation ceremony reads: "From the sea of blood of the Martyrs we will create a state"
Meanwhile, Fatah youth movement music video honors 4 terrorists:
Abu Iyad - Planner of Olympic Massacre - 11 murdered
Abu Jihad - planned terror attacks - 125 murdered
Marwan Barghouti - planned terror attacks - 5 murdered
Dalal Mughrabi - led murder of 37, 12 of them children
When Fatah's student movement Shabiba held its annual graduation ceremony at the An-Najah National University together with the student council last month, it included a class named after terrorist murderer Dalal Mughrabi. Mughrabi led the most lethal terror attack in Israel's history, a bus hijacking in which 37 civilians, among them 12 children, were murdered.
Fatah's Central Committee member Jamal Muhaisen spoke at the graduation and Fatah posted photos from it on Facebook. One photo shows a large banner at the event naming the economics and political science class after murderer Mughrabi:
Text on poster: "[Fatah's] Shabiba student movement The Martyrs' cell Annual graduation ceremony Class of the Bride of the Coast Martyr Dalal Mughrabi" [Official Fatah Facebook page, April 12, 2017]

'Barghouti's sweets' handed out at Nakba Day ceremony

Dozens of Im Tirtzu activists and other Zionist activists held the annual Nakba Day event which took place today at Entin Square at Tel Aviv University.
The event is meant to remind leftist and Arab students how good it is to live in Israel rather than elsewhere in the Middle East.
The Im Tirtzu activists waved Israeli flags and handed out booklets which were meant to debunk the lies of the anti-Israel narrative.
This year, a huge sign was raised which called the Arab Nakba (Arabic for catastrophe) a lie. The activists also distributed dozens of 'torteet' chocolate sweets, the same sweet convicted murderer Marwan Barghouti, the leader of the hunger strike among security prisoners in Israeli prisons. was caught eating. The film of Barghouti eating the sweets showed that he was cheating on the hunger strike.
Matan Peleg, director general of the Im Tirtzu movement, said at the event: "It is absurd to see what higher education institutions, which are funded by the Israeli taxpayer, do with that public funding they receive. The university must be kept from becoming a harsh hotbed of anti-Zionism."

Pizza Hut fires Israeli PR firm over prison hunger strike ad

Pizza Hut has apologized and fired an advertising firm responsible for an Israeli Facebook ad that mocked Fatah official Marwan Barghouti, the leader of a hunger strike staged by Palestinian security prisoners jailed in Israel. The ad on Pizza Hut Israel's Facebook page was deleted, and the parent company said in a statement that the post was "completely inappropriate."
Barghouti, 58, who is serving five life terms, called the hunger strike to pressure Israel to improve security prisoners' conditions. The strikers' demands include cell phones and family visits, among other things. While some 1,300 prisoners initially heeded his call, hundreds of them have quit the strike. According to the Israel Prison Service, some 880 prisoners are still maintaining the hunger strike, going on its 24th day.
On Sunday, the IPS released a video showing Barghouti secretly snacking on a candy bar.
Pizza Hut then published a Facebook post with a pizza box superimposed on Barghouti's prison cell with a caption asking if he would rather have broken his hunger strike with a pizza.