Tuesday, February 02, 2021
- Tuesday, February 02, 2021
- Elder of Ziyon
- cartoon of the day, humor
- Tuesday, February 02, 2021
- Varda Meyers Epstein (Judean Rose)
- Judean Rose, Opinion, Varda
Rabbi Dr. Abraham J. Twerski (Z”L) died this week, age 90, one
more in a long line of important rabbis to succumb to COVID-19. The loss of
Rabbi Twerski to the Jewish people is, of course, enormous. But for those of us
from Pittsburgh, the loss is more personal, more poignant. Rabbi Twerski was a
local celebrity, someone who made us proud, and it didn’t matter whether or not
you were Jewish.
He was a symbol of tolerance, because everyone knew this scion
of several Hassidic dynasties worked at St. Francis Hospital, alongside the
nuns. And he was a symbol of sweetness to all who suffered from addiction.
Because he understood you, and cared about you. He had compassion.
Rabbi Twerski became an authority on the subject of
addiction. He was known to pop into local AA meetings and to him, it was
probably no big deal. But everyone in those meetings knew it was an honor to
have him there. They felt it, and they loved him for just being there alongside
and among them, as if he were one of them. More importantly, I think they felt
he loved them. Their religion didn’t
matter. They were people who were suffering, and he cared. He wanted to help.
Rabbi Twerski was real. He retained his Milwaukee accent to
the end. And he didn’t mind using secular culture to make important points.
Among the more than 60 books he authored were two books (see HERE
and HERE)
illustrated with Charles Schultz’s Peanut comic strips, intended to serve as commentary
to the Twelve Steps. These books with their comic strips made the steps more
accessible and somehow more possible, to just plain folks.
Rabbi Twerski had a face that shone like an angel. When I
would see him, in person, or in a photo or video—it didn’t matter which—I always thought
of the verse from Ethics of the Fathers (1:15) that describes sever panim yafot: a pleasant
countenance.
Shammai says, "Make your Torah study regular; say little and do much; and greet every person with a pleasant countenance."
Some translate “pleasant countenance” as a smile. But it’s
that and something more: it’s the thing that shines from a face of goodness and
kindness. An extra-special something that emanates from beyond what we see on a
face or in a facial expression. I can recall numerous articles in local
Pittsburgh papers describing Rabbi Twerski as “saintly.” But what he had was sever panim yafot. Rather than the face
of a saint, he had the face of an angel.
One of the most striking things about Rabbi Twerski is that
he was balanced. He stressed
self-esteem while projecting modesty and humility. In 2019, I included a clip
of Rabbi Twerski speaking at the Mayanei HaYeshua Medical Center in Bnei Brak, in my Rosh
Hashana roundup. He spoke about the right way to raise a child: not to
punish, but to increase self-esteem. Rabbi Twerski illustrated the concept with
several stories, including a personal anecdote of a minor misdeed as a young
boy, and how his father handled the matter. The story hit all the right notes
for me as a mother, and as a person, though I’d heard it before. These precious
Rabbi Twerski stories were all a part of growing up in Pittsburgh.
Rabbi Twerski’s stories were a joy to hear and always left you with a little shock of recognition: "Yes! That’s the thing. The right way to respond, to behave, in response to a sticky situation."
And the stories were
also just plain funny. They changed depending upon who was doing the retelling.
But also because sometimes Rabbi Twerski told you a little bit more of the story. So you
never minded hearing a well-loved Rabbi Twerski tale, retold. It was all
part of the lore, and yet there was no mystique. He was a completely open book, a
very beautiful, humorous, light-hearted, yet meaningful and impactful book.
My dear friend @MyShtender emailed Rabbi Dr. Abraham J. Twerski about the Christmas play story.
— D Bash (@DBashIdeas) December 25, 2020
He responded with the details.
And frankly it’s even better than I remembered it.
Wow. https://t.co/3cSRrQZYyI pic.twitter.com/SctHzVJgYM
I was curious to see what the Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette would write about this favorite son, but I hadn’t counted
on learning something new: Danny Thomas was instrumental in enabling Rabbi
Twerski to complete his medical studies.
Married and ordained by age 21, he worked as an assistant rabbi in the Milwaukee congregation of his father, Rabbi Jacob Twerski.
But with psychiatry and psychology on the rise in the 1950s, “I noticed that people weren’t flocking to me for counseling the way they had to my father,” he later recalled in Pittsburgh Quarterly. “I decided that if I wanted to be the kind of rabbi my father was, I had to become a professional. So I went for broke, going to medical school to become a psychiatrist.”
He was going for broke almost literally.
He and his wife, Golda, already had a growing family. Even with help from members of his congregation, he fell behind on tuition. Then a gift of $4,000 arrived from an unexpected source, he wrote — the actor Danny Thomas, who had read a newspaper article about the young rabbi struggling to get through medical school at Marquette University. (Time magazine, too, caught interest early, profiling the “Rabbi in White” in 1959.)
But back to Pittsburgh, St. Francis, and the nuns. Rabbi Twerski led the psychiatry unit at St. Francis Hospital for 20 years, and then founded Gateway Rehabilitation Center. In a 1991 Post-Gazette article, Rabbi Twerski estimated he had worked with some 30,000 alcoholics, and he was far from finished with his work. It was an awesome source of pride to Pittsburghers that an august rabbi could work together with nuns day in and day out with no awkwardness, but a great deal of goodwill and harmony. The rabbi chronicled this story of coexistence in The Rabbi & the Nuns. In the days that followed his death, fellow Pittsburghers were scanning and sharing vignettes from the book.Special pictures shared with my by my dear friend @shuaros.
— D Bash (@DBashIdeas) January 31, 2021
Rabbi Twerski, from beginning to end, was a healer.
❤️ pic.twitter.com/B8pDAdEQal
Aside from the unexpected discovery that Danny Thomas helped Rabbi Twerski go to med school, there was a second surprise: Rabbi Twerski was the composer of the popular Jewish tune Hoshea et Amecha. “Save Your people, and bless Your inheritance; and tend them, and carry them forever.” Psalms 28:9.
Everyone knows this song. It’s sung everywhere, for every occasion. But I’d never known the song originated with Rabbi Twerski. And now I’ll always think of him when I hear this song.
It was all part of Rabbi Twerski’s perfect balance of humility, modesty, and self-esteem that he asked that there be no eulogies at his funeral. He requested only that mourners sing the melody he composed. It was like he was saying: "This is how I want to be remembered. I want to be remembered as the guy who made a holy song acknowledging that salvation and sustenance come from God alone."
Rabbi Twerski requested that he should not be eulogized.
— D Bash (@DBashIdeas) January 31, 2021
Instead he asked for a song to be sung.
“Save and bless Your very own people; tend them and sustain them forever.”
~Psalms 28:9 pic.twitter.com/c3LLH0fVIT
UN Watch report highlights anti-Israel bias at UN Human Rights Council
The watchdog organization UN Watch published its first-ever report on Monday detailing the strong anti-Israel claims made at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) by various countries.
The release of the report comes amid the 46th session of the UNHRC, which is scheduled to take place on February 22 in Geneva and will run until March 23.
The 58-page report titled “Agenda Item 7: Country Claims & UN Watch Responses” focuses on how claims put forward against Israel by notorious human rights abuses, such as the Palestinian Authority, Syria, North Korea, and dozens of other council members that frequently accused Israel of various crimes and human rights violations.
Among the claims made against Israel at the UNHRC include Israel hindering the Palestinians in their fight against COVID-19, Israel occupying Palestinian land, Israel committing apartheid against the Palestinians, damaging holy sites, and the blockade of Gaza being illegal.
Under Agenda Item 7, Israel is the sole country discussed at the council, while all the other 193 countries in the world are addressed under Agenda Item 4. Likewise, the report notes that no special agenda items were filed on Iran, Syria, North Korea, and other prominent human rights abusing countries.
“Israel has become a convenient punching bag and scapegoat for non-democratic states, many of them members of the UNHRC such as Cuba, Pakistan, and Libya, to divert attention away from their own gross and systematic human rights abuses," said UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer in response to the report.
At the same time, the report notes that all Western countries have refused to participate in the Item 7 debate, due to the claim it is biassed against Israel.
London: Firebomb thrown near Golders Green synagogue
A Molotov Cocktail was thrown at a synagogue in the Golders Green neighborhood of London Tuesday.
Police cordoned off the area around the Munks Beit Midrash after a suspicious individual was spotted at the site. Footage from the scene showed firefighters attempting to put out a small fire near the building.
Local councilor Alex Prager wrote on Twitter that "Golders Green Road is closed due to a security incident. Police and fire brigade on site. Appears to have involved a molotov cocktail next to a synagogue on The Riding."
Police stated that the incident is not believed to be related to terrorism.
Breaking 🚨 news out of London - Fire happening, molotov cocktail thrown near the Golders Green synagogue.
— StopAntisemitism.org (@StopAntisemites) February 2, 2021
Men in the video can be heard asking "why did he wait all that time to throw that little bottle?"
More here: https://t.co/vcliU2wvkV pic.twitter.com/kfMTKfd3dr
Pakistan orders man acquitted in Pearl murder off death row and into safe house
Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the Pakistani-British man acquitted of the 2002 gruesome beheading of American journalist Daniel Pearl off death row and moved to a so-called government “safe house.”
Ahmad Saeed Omar Sheikh, who has been on death row for 18 years, will be under guard and will not be allowed to leave the safe house, but he will be able to have his wife and children visit him.
“It is not complete freedom. It is a step toward freedom,” said Sheikh’s father, Ahmad Saeed Sheikh, who attended the hearing.
The Pakistan government has been scrambling to keep Sheikh in jail since a Supreme Court order last Thursday upheld his acquittal in the death of Pearl, triggering outrage by Pearl’s family and the US administration.
In a final effort to overturn the acquittal, Pakistan’s government as well as the Pearl family filed an appeal to the Supreme Court, asking it to review the decision to exonerate Sheikh of Pearl’s murder. The family’s lawyer, Faisal Siddiqi, however, said such a review had a slim chance of success because the same Supreme Court judges who ordered Sheikh’s acquittal sit on the review panel.
The US government has said that it would seek Sheikh’s extradition if his acquittal is upheld. Sheikh has been indicted in the United States on Pearl’s murder as well as in a 1994 kidnapping of an American citizen in Indian-ruled sector of the divided region of Kashmir. The American was eventually freed.
- Tuesday, February 02, 2021
- Elder of Ziyon
- analysis, Daled Amos
Q Thank you, Jen. Two quick foreign and one domestic, if that’s okay. Can you confirm officially that Robert Malley has been appointed Special Envoy for Iran? Is that —
MS. PSAKI: I can. I believe it was announced this morning. Yes? Or I guess I can confirm it here too for you.
Q That would be great. And then the — as you know, settlements have been a major obstacle to getting the Palestinians back to the negotiating table. Would President Biden consider it — does he believes settlements are — should be halted in the West Bank so that the Palestinians will come back?
MS. PSAKI: I don’t have any new comments from President Biden on this or the current circumstance. He’s obviously spoken to this particular issue in the past and conveyed that he doesn’t believe security assistance should be tied. But I don’t have anything more for you on the path forward toward a two-state solution. [emphasis added]
When Obama came to power, he is the one who announced that settlement activity must be stopped. If America says it and Europe says it and the whole world says it, you want me not to say it?Going a step further, the settlements are part of the negotiations as per Oslo, not a sweetener to encourage the Palestinian Arabs to first come to the table:
Settlements are only one of the six issues to be negotiated by Israel and the Palestinians according to the original Oslo Accords from 1993. To single out the issue of settlements ahead of any negotiations while ignoring other bilateral issues constitutes a fundamental distortion of these signed agreements.Yet this distortion has taken hold, including in the minds of the journalists who are supposed to be in command of the facts.
To the contrary, when Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu implemented a 10-month security freeze in order to coax the Palestinians to the negotiating table, Abbas essentially responded with a 9-month negotiating freeze. And after the moratorium on Israeli building expired, he again refused to talk peace.
we have seen more aggressive settlement construction over the last couple years than we've seen in a very long time.
In January 2017, I wrote a post debunking the claim of settlement expansion in detail -- and showed how even then the media parroted these fabrications.
In point of fact:
o There were 228 settlements -- not tens of thousandso What Kerry calls a march of settlements in 2016 is 3 settlements in 2012 -- with none from 1990 till then and none from the end of 2012 to 2016 when Kerry made his claimo If you look at what is actually going on, you see the issue is not the building of an expanding number of settlements, but of homes inside those settlements.
According to data from the Housing and Construction Ministry, an average of 1,554 houses a year were built in the settlements from 2009 to 2014 — fewer than under any of his recent predecessors.
By comparison, the annual average was 1,881 under Ariel Sharon and 1,774 under Ehud Olmert. As for Ehud Barak, during his single full year as prime minister, in 2000, he built a whopping 5,000 homes in the settlements.
o Israeli settlements are not the obstacle to negotiations, they are one of the issues to be discussed at the negotiationso There is no justification for Israel to concede on a negotiating point, while Abbas merely pockets those concessionso Settlements are not expanding. Houses within the settlements are being built to meet the need.
MR. KELLY: Well, I would say that we’ve gotten both sides to commit to this goal. They have – we have – we’ve had a intensive round or rounds of negotiations, the President brought the two leaders together in New York. Look --
QUESTION: But wait, hold on. You haven’t had any intense --
MR. KELLY: Obviously --
QUESTION: There haven’t been any negotiations.
MR. KELLY: Obviously, we’re not even in the red zone yet, okay.
QUESTION: Thank you.
MR. KELLY: I mean, we’re not – but it’s – we are less than a year into this Administration, and I think we’ve accomplished more over the last year than the previous administration [under President George Bush] did in eight years. [emphasis added]
QUESTION: Well, I – really, because the previous administration actually had them sitting down talking to each other. You guys can’t even get that far.
MR. KELLY: All right.
QUESTION: I’ll drop it.
- Tuesday, February 02, 2021
- Elder of Ziyon
The first prophet and founder of Judaism is Abraham. Another main prophet is Moses who is believed to have led the Hebrews out of slavery in Egypt and wandered the Sinai peninsula’s desert for 40 years.
When Muhammad was 40 years old he began hearing voices and seeing visions of divine angels. To better understand these visions he would go to Mount Hira and meditate. On one such journey in 610, the Archangel Gabriel appeared to him and told him that there was only one god, Allah, and he had chosen him as a prophet.
Muhammad would continue to have these revelations and began preaching his message. He soon gained many followers however, his belief in only one god upset the people who worshiped many gods. They were afraid that Muhammad’s teachings would upset the pagan gods that protected their trade.In 622, Muhammad, his family, and his followers became persecuted for their beliefs and had to flee Mecca. The flight from Mecca to Medina is called the Hijra. They were welcomed into the city of Medina and were able to freely practice their religion. There the first mosque was built and he and his followers would pray towards Mecca.At this time the pagans in Mecca tried to go to war with the Muslims in Medina. After several battles the Muslims defeated the pagans, and in 629 Muhammad returned to Mecca with 1500 converts and took control of the city. Over the next 2 years most of the Arabian Peninsula converted to Islam. Muhammad died in 632 as the effective leader of Islam and ruler of Southern Arabia.
Early in the first century AD a new religion, Christianity, appeared in Rome. At first the Romans saw the Christians as a branch of an older religion, Judaism. They didn't anticipate that Christianity would become a major force in the empire.In its chapters on Islam it does mention that some of it was derivative from Judaism and Christianity.
Muhammad Becomes a ProphetA man named Muhammad brought a different religion to the people of Arabia. Historians don't know much about Muhammad. What they do know comes from religious writings.
Muhammad was born into an important family in Mecca around 570. Muhammad's early life was not easy. His father, a merchant, died before he was born; and his mother died later, when he was six.With his parents gone, Muhammad was first raised by his grandfather and later by his uncle. When he was a child, he traveled with his uncle's caravans, visiting places such as Syria and Jerusalem.
The caravan trade made Mecca a rich city. But most of the wealth belonged to just a few people. Poor people had hard lives. Traditionally, wealthy people in Mecca had helped the poor. But as Muhammad was growing up, many rich merchants began to ignore the poor and keep their wealth for themselves....Another of Muhammad's teachings also worried Mecca's wealthy merchants. Muhammad said that everyone who believed in Allah would become part of a community in which rich and poor would be equal. But the merchants wanted to be richer and more powerful than the poor people, not equal to them. Muhammad also taught that people should give money to help the poor. However, many wealthy merchants didn't want to help the poor. Instead, they wanted to keep all of their money. Because many of the people in Mecca didn't want to hear what Muhammad had to say, they rejected his teachings.At first Muhammad did not have many followers. Mecca's merchants refused to believe in a single God and rejected the idea of equality. They even made Muhammad leave Mecca for a while. Eventually, however, Muhammad's teachings began to take root.
Slowly, more people began to listen to Muhammad's ideas. But as Islam began to influence people, the rulers of Mecca became more and more worried. They began to threaten Muhammad and his small group of followers with violence. They even planned to kill Muhammad. As a result, Muhammad had to look for support outside of Mecca.A group of people from a city north of Mecca invited Muhammad to live in their city. As the threats from Mecca's leaders got worse, Muhammad accepted the invitation. In 622 he and many of his followers, including his daughter Fatimah, left Mecca and went to Medina (muh-DEE-nuh). Named after Muhammad, Medina means "the Prophet's city" in Arabic, the language of the Arabs.
Muhammad's departure from Mecca became known in Muslim history as the hegira (hi-JY-ruh), or journey. Muhammad taught that there was only one God.Muhammad's arrival in Medina holds an important place in Islamic history. There he became both a spiritual and a political leader. His house became the first mosque (MAHSK), or building for Muslim prayer. The year of the hegira, 622, became so important to the development of Islam that Muslims made it the first year in the Islamic calendar. According to Islamic belief, in Medina Muhammad reported new revelations about rules for Muslim government, society and worship. For example, God told Muhammad that Muslims should face Mecca when they pray. Before, Muslims faced Jerusalem like Christians and Jews did.
Christians didn't face Jerusalem in prayer - they faced east no matter where they were.
Muslims recognized the importance of Mecca as the home of the Kaaba. They believe the Kaaba is a house of worship that Abraham built and dedicated to the worship of one God.As the Muslim community in Medina grew stronger, other Arab tribes in the region began to accept Islam. However, conflict with the Meccans increased. In 630, after several years of fighting, the people of Mecca gave in. They welcomed Muhammad back to the city and accepted Islam as their religion. Muslims all over the world still look toward Mecca when they pray. In Mecca Muhammad and his followers destroyed the statues of the gods and goddesses in the Kaaba. Soon most of the Arabian tribes accepted Muhammad as their spiritual leader and became Muslims.
- Tuesday, February 02, 2021
- Elder of Ziyon
Monday, February 01, 2021
Ha'aretz[$]: The Normalization of Antisemitism
The New Israel Fund, along with a series of other “progressive” organizations in the United States that make up the Progressive Israel Network – including J Street, Americans for Peace Now, Habonim Dror North America and Hashomer Hatzair World Movement – put together a petition ahead of Joe Biden’s entry to the White House. It calls on the U.S. government not to adopt the working definition of antisemitism formulated by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance and already adopted by more than 10 countries (including Muslim-majority countries like Bahrain and Albania, with Morocco also on the way). The signatories say the definition is overly broad and so will allow the fight against antisemitism to be exploited to “suppress legitimate free speech, criticism of Israeli government actions, and advocacy for Palestinian rights.”
What specifically bothers the authors of the petition? They object to the section that cites as an example of antisemitism the assertion that “the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavour.” The “existence” of Israel, mind you, is not this or that government policy. In other words, the petition’s authors wish to legitimize the ideas that stood behind the UN Security Council’s despicable 1975 resolution that “Zionism is racism.” So despicable that even the UN, not exactly the most Israel-friendly forum, decided to rescind it in 1991.
Amos Oz used to say that whoever thinks that all peoples deserve the right to self-definition, except the Jews, is antisemitic. By this definition – from the most important intellectual the Israeli left has ever had, not the IHRA – the New Israel Fund and its partners are not seeking to distinguish legitimate criticism from anti-Jewish racism, but rather to advance the legitimation and normalization of antisemitism.
So as to remove any doubt, the petition they’ve signed clarifies not just what it aims to legitimize, but whom in particular: “Secretary of State Pompeo’s State Department’s unambiguous declarations that ‘anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism’ and that ‘the Global BDS Campaign [is] a manifestation of anti-Semitism’ represent a harmful overreach.” The radical left often tends to blur the line between those who oppose the occupation and support the two states for two peoples solution, and those who do not recognize the nation-state of the Jewish people’s right to exist and believe that Zionism is a regrettable historic aberration, an illegitimate colonialist enterprise that must be rolled back.
But of course J Street is so committed to combating Antisemitism, that it is refusing to support the most widely accepted international definition of Antisemitism. Make sense? https://t.co/qvx0sMeqmh
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) February 1, 2021
The Fights Against BDS and for IHRA Converge
January was marked by unprecedented political unrest in the US, following the presidential election and rioting in Washington. The incoming Biden administration has not yet articulated its policy regarding antisemitism or BDS, but certain aspects are becoming clearer. Incoming Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated during his confirmation hearing that he and the Biden administration are “resolutely opposed to BDS.” Nominee for US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield stated in her confirmation hearing that BDS is “unacceptable,” “verges on antisemitic,” and “it’s important that they not be allowed to have a voice at the UN, and I intend to work against that.”
According to one report, a Trump-era initiative to list BDS groups has been sidelined because of the transition, and internal State Department opposition. The stance of new Education Department appointees on BDS remains unclear.
Concern is rising with regard to lower-level nominees. The nomination of a former member of Students for Justice in Palestine, Maher Bitar, to head intelligence activities at the National Security Council is especially alarming. Bitar had served in the Obama administration as Director for Israeli and Palestinian Affairs, as well as a lawyer for UNRWA, before becoming General Counsel for the House Intelligence Committee. A nominee for Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights who espoused troubling beliefs in college, including the idea that Jews were responsible for the slave trade, unconvincingly characterized her previous stance as satire but also denounced antisemitism.
The new administration has revoked the Trump administration’s Executive Order banning “Critical Race Theory” training in Federal agencies and for Federal contractors (a move that had already been blocked by a Federal court).
The use of ethnic studies and “racial equity” by the BDS movement to generate antisemitism was demonstrated by the California “ethnic studies” curriculum — and also by comments from a University of California Riverside professor that “Most California public education administrators don’t understand how Zionism politically toxified our schools and curricula. It prevents us from teaching historical material about entire populations. This must not continue.”
- Monday, February 01, 2021
- Elder of Ziyon
- cartoon of the day, humor
- Monday, February 01, 2021
- Elder of Ziyon
- COVID-19
If Israel would set up a free vaccination clinic for Palestinians outside Ramallah as @guardian
— Elder of Ziyon 🇮🇱 (@elderofziyon) February 1, 2021
insists:
1) The Palestinian Authority would threaten anyone who goes there
2) The clinic would be barraged with rocks
3) The PA would go to the UN to condemn the "illegal settlement" pic.twitter.com/euaSLtHNHI
The Israel Defense Forces opened a field hospital at Erez Crossing on July 20, 2014, intending it to be for sick and injured Palestinians from Gaza.The hospital was opened in response to reports by Gazans and news media that the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict had caused a dire shortage of medical facilities in Gaza. The decision to set up the hospital was made by the Israeli government following the recommendation of the coordinator of government activities in the Palestinian territories General Yoav Mordechai, and approved by the IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz.According to Al Jazeera, Israeli soldiers at Erez Crossing attempted to persuade families to take relatives to the field hospital for treatment, rather than making the journey to a Palestinian-run hospital in East Jerusalem. IDF Lt.-Col.Sharon Biton from the office of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories stated that "some" of the refugees passing through the Erez Crossing "refused to get medical treatments" in the Israeli field hospital. The IDF Spokesman's office asserted that Hamas “prevented Palestinians from entering Israel in order to reach the hospital.” A Gazan who asked that his name not be reported told the Jerusalem Post people are reluctant to use the field hospital out of fear Gazans treated in the IDF hospital will come under suspicion by Hamas, which controlled Gaza at the time.The hospital had 20 doctors, nurses and technicians, a lab, an X-ray device and a pharmacy. Among the doctors were a pediatrician, an ophthalmologist and a gynecologist.There was opposition on the Palestinian side to injured civilians receiving treatment in Israel thus the hospital stayed almost empty. Hamas fired ten mortar shells at the hospital.
Kushner, Berkowitz, Friedman nominated for Nobel Peace Prize for Israel deals
Former White House senior adviser Jared Kushner and his deputy, Avi Berkowitz, as well as former US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman and former Israeli Ambassador to the US Ron Dermer were nominated on Sunday for the Nobel Peace Prize for their role in negotiating four normalization deals between Israel and Arab nations known as the "Abraham Accords."
Nominating the pair of former deputies to then-President Donald Trump was American attorney Alan Dershowitz, who was eligible to do so in his capacity as a professor emeritus of Harvard Law School.
In his nomination letter, Dershowitz wrote that he strongly believes that the singular event that warrants the Nobel Peace Prize for this past year is the Abraham Accords.
"These Accords, which have brought about normalization between Israel and several Sunni Arab nations, fulfill all the criteria for the prize. They hold the promise of an even broader peace in the Middle East between Israel, the Palestinians and other Arab nations. They are a giant step forward in bringing peace and stability to the region, and even to the world," he continued.
Dershowitz added that he wanted to "emphasize the enormous contributions to peace made by Jared Kushner, Avrahm Berkowitz, David Friedman and Ron Dermer," insisting that "these men played especially important roles."
"Kushner and Berkowitz traveled all over the region, meeting with leaders and their associates, advocating for peace and nailing down all the details."
WATCH: Fascinating conversation on the #AbrahamAccords and peace in the Middle East with @omaralbusaidy from the UAE and @FleurHassanN from Israel: https://t.co/4Qkdc4DuhK #PeoplesAbrahamAccords @StandWithUs
— Michael Dickson (@michaeldickson) February 1, 2021
Muslim-majority Kosovo forges ties with Israel; will open embassy in Jerusalem
Israel and Kosovo formally established diplomatic ties on Monday, with the Muslim-majority territory also recognizing Jerusalem as the Jewish state’s capital — putting it at odds with the rest of the Islamic world.
In a ceremony held over Zoom in Jerusalem and Pristina, Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi and his counterpart from Kosovo, Meliza Haradinaj Stublla, signed a joint declaration establishing ties.
Travel restrictions to curb the spread of COVID-19, including the closure of Ben Gurion Airport, made an in-person ceremony impossible. It was the first time Israel established relations with a country virtually.
Ashkenazi said he had approved Kosovo’s “formal request to open an embassy in Jerusalem.”
“The establishment of relations between Israel and Kosovo is an important and moving historical step that reflects the many changes the region has experienced in recent months,” Ashkenazi said.
“Today, Kosovo officially joins the circle of countries that aspire to peace and stability and recognize Israel, and Jerusalem as its capital.”
The foreign ministers signed two cooperation agreements — one to establish their diplomatic relations and the other relating to the activities of Israel’s international development agency Mashav. They will send each other copies via email, each to be signed by their counterpart, according to the Foreign Ministry.
The ceremony was broadcast live on the Foreign Ministry’s Facebook page.
US State Department spokesman Ned Price praised the sides for the “historic day.”
“When our partners are united, the United States is stronger. Deeper international ties help further peace and stability in the Balkans and Middle East,” he said.
#HistoryInTheMaking yet again, as #Israel & #Kosovo formally sign agreement (via Zoom, what else) to establish diplomatic relations! Importantly, Kosovo is a majority Muslim country in Europe, that has also agreed to open its Embassy in Israel's capital, Jerusalem! 🇮🇱🤝🇽🇰 pic.twitter.com/27jcuiAm1h
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) February 1, 2021
- Monday, February 01, 2021
- Elder of Ziyon
- Monday, February 01, 2021
- Elder of Ziyon
- COVID-19
The Director General of Support Medical Services at the Ministry of Health, Osama al-Najjar, told Anadolu Agency that the ministry or any other Palestinian party “did not receive” any quantities of the Corona vaccine from Israel.Al-Najjar added, “We have not been informed of the existence of vaccines, and we do not know anything,” indicating that Israel is under international pressure and wants to publish this news to alleviate it.He said that “international institutions and human rights organizations are pressuring Israel to allow vaccinations to enter the occupied Palestinian territories. "
- Monday, February 01, 2021
- Elder of Ziyon
On Sunday, Palestinian sources said that PA security forces arrested five men in the West Bank on suspicion of being affiliated with Hamas. One of the detainees, Ameed Shehadeh, is a journalist from Nablus. The sources said he was arrested for criticizing the PA in a Facebook post.Also in Nablus, the PA security forces arrested Qassam Sabbah, who was recently released from Israeli prison and An-Najah University student Hussam Shtayyeh.In Hebron, the PA’s Preventive Security Service arrested Muhab al-Juneidi one week after his wedding. In the town of Salfit, Abdullah Abdel Fattah was also arrested by the PA security forces.Last week, the PA security forces arrested Nablus lawyer Awni al-Sharif on charges of “insulting” the Palestinian leadership on social media platforms.According to the sources, the latest arrests are in the context of the PA’s ongoing crackdown on its political rivals in the West Bank, including those suspected of being affiliated with Hamas.
Democracy!
Meanwhile, on the Gaza side:
Last week, Palestinian officials in Ramallah ... said that three senior Fatah activists – Ahmad Naji, Mustafa al-Shannat and Shukri Abu al-Hosseen – were summoned for interrogation by Hamas’ Internal Security Force.
Sunday, January 31, 2021
- Sunday, January 31, 2021
- Elder of Ziyon
- cartoon of the day, humor
NYPost Editorial: A new libel against Israel from Human Rights Watch
Israel has led the world in rapidly vaccinating much of its population, so naturally the global left has to find fault: hence the drive to condemn Jerusalem for not taking responsibility for vaccinations in Gaza and the West Bank.What drove Obama into Iran's arms?
In a series of tweets, Human Rights Watch Executive Director Kenneth Roth accused Israel of racism for this supposed failure; a week later, Palestinian officials decided to join the blame game, announcing that Israel is responsible for vaccinating Palestinians despite past statements to the contrary.
In reality, as UN Watch’s Hillel Neuer notes, the 1995 Oslo II Accord designates responsibility for the health care and vaccinations of its people to the Palestinian Authority.
And while the two countries are supposed to cooperate in terms of handling epidemics, Palestinian Health Ministry officials admitted back in December that they didn’t ask for help in obtaining vaccines from Israel.
Top Palestinian officials routinely go to Israel for major medical care, but PA propaganda discourages it for everyone else, with dark hints that Jewish doctors will offer Arabs only substandard care — if they’re not secretly experimenting on Palestinian patients.
From Obama’s perspective, Iran was the state with which to develop a relationship. The mullahs have the will, aggression and desire to destroy Israel, which they have expressed continuously. However, Iran’s nuclear ambitions posed a PR problem. Therefore, Obama relied on the belief that Iran could not be stopped, and as a result the US and some of its European partners negotiated a deal, which on the surface could be sold to a compliant and ever helpful main stream media, which in turn would sell it to the world’s public. Iran would agree not to develop a nuclear weapon for at least ten years, after which they would be free to do so. This could follow without any international interference. Obama, by then, would have “kicked the can down the road” for a future President to deal with along with the possible fate of Israel.
Whether Iran would comply didn’t really bother anyone, and clauses contained in the agreement limited inspections to civilian sites only whilst excluding military sites -- which is, of course, exactly where nuclear weapons would be developed. This was not only an awful and extremely bad agreement, which appeared to be Obama’s intention, but it has never been ratified by the US Congress. Part of the “deal” was that Obama would transfer huge amounts of cash to the Iranians in the amount of $150 to $170 billion. It remains questionable as to how much of it would find its way into Obama’s pocket. If this was so, a Democrat aligned media would be part of the conspiracy in covering it up.
During the signing and lead up to the JCPOA, I was always struck by the arrogance and cocksureness of Mohammad Javad Zarif so much on display I suspected and speculated that he possibly had Obama and Kerry in his pocket.
This whole scheme essentially threw the USA’s Sunni Arab allies “under the bus” abandoning them with Iran simultaneously threatening them. The great unintended irony, which had not been clearly thought through or even imagined, was that this would encourage the Sunni Arabs to make peace with Israel for their mutual defence as they no longer trusted America. As a result, these states were no longer bound by a ridiculous Palestinian-imposed veto. Their interests and defence obviously took precedence and under a Biden presidency, this situation would be even more relevant, with Obama very likely in the background pulling the Biden strings.
What appealed to Obama and his useless sidekick, John Kerry, was more the potential destruction of Israel, and perhaps to a lesser extent, limiting Iran’s nuclear ambitions. The JCPOA agreement said nothing about the development of missiles, which should have been a logical inclusion. Why something so fundamental was omitted remains a mystery. What should have occurred to them during negotiations was that a nuclear bomb has to be delivered. Iran has an antiquated air force which could not manage such a task. It could of course acquire aircraft from Russia or China. However, the obvious and only alternative was via a ballistic missile. This is precisely what Iran has been developing and testing for years.
Report: Evidence Suggests Iranian Link to Blast Near Israeli Embassy in New Delhi
Indian terrorist group Jaish-ul-Hind has claimed responsibility for the blast that took place near the Israeli embassy in New Delhi on Friday, local media reported.New Delhi Blast: 2 Suspects Seen on Security Footage
No one was injured in the explosion, which took place on the 29th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Israel.
According to the India.com news site, the investigation so far has recovered social-media chatter according to which Jaish-ul-Hind operatives boast about carrying out the attack.
The Indian Express reported on a police source as saying that the bomb appeared to have been planted in a flowerpot on the road divider. According to the report, a letter found on the scene, addressed to “Israel Embassy ambassador,” said that the blast was a “trailer,” suggesting that it was a prelude to future attacks against the embassy or other Israeli targets in the country.
The note also refers to “Iranian martyrs” Qassem Soleimani, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force commander killed in a US drone strike in Iran on Jan. 3, 2020, and Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, head of the Iranian military nuclear program, who was assassinated near Tehran on Nov. 27 in a hit for which Iran has blamed Israel.