Sky News Australia’s Erin Molan Delivers a 1-2 Punch
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The Israeli Army has ordered a new guided 120mm mortar shell, Iron Sting, that can use GPS or laser guidance to hit targets with greater precision than any existing guided shell. Iron Sting is also equipped to work with a new digital fire control system that is also entering wide use in the Israeli military. That means 120mm mortars, which are vehicle mounted, can receive target location data from any Israeli ground, air or naval source and quickly program and fire Iron Sting shell at anything within twelve kilometers. While GPS guidance is reliable enough to put the shell within a few meters (ten feet) of the target, laser guidance can reliably hit individual vehicles, bunkers or snipers in buildings. The laser guidance requires someone within a few thousand meters of the target to aim the laser at the target and keep it there for the laser guided shell to hit the reflected laser light. Another advantage of laser guidance is that is harder to jam than GPS. Some GPS jammers can disrupt GPS guidance within several thousand meters. Laser signal disrupters are more expensive and only provide protection for individual vehicles and similar size targets. Israel has been using GPS guided 120mm shells since 2015 and they cost about $33,000 each. Iron Sting is more expensive but considered more effective due to the laser guidance and integration with the new fire control system....Unguided mortar shells cannot put the first round very close to the target, which means firing several rounds to adjust aim before one gets one on target. A guided mortar round is very useful in urban warfare, where a miss will often kill civilians. The 120mm mortar round has about 8 kg (17 pounds) of explosives, compared to 10 kg (22) pounds in a 155mm shell. The smaller explosive charges reduce collateral damage to civilians. Normally, an unguided 120mm shell will land anywhere within a 136-meter circle (on the first shot). All GPS guided rounds land within a ten-meter circle and laser guided shells land within a one-meter circle.
On Saturday night, as Tel Aviv's City Hall lit up with the image of the Israeli flag to commemorate the dozens killed and 150 injured in the crowd-crush two nights earlier on Mount Meron, Israelis of all backgrounds came together to light yahrzeit (memorial) candles.Jpost Editorial: After Meron, violence, Israel needs a government now - editorial
Some of the people present at Rabin Square that evening, like others around the country, configurated tea lights in the shape of the numeral 45 – the number of people trampled to death during the Lag B'Omer celebrations.
The outpouring of nationwide grief over the victims and empathy with their families was not unusual in a state sadly accustomed to burying citizens who are, by all measures, too young to die. Nor was it novel for Israel's Kan Radio to play sad music, out of respect for the gravity of the hour.
The same can be said of the public's lining up in droves, and for hours on end in sweltering heat, to donate blood for the treatment of those still in the hospital. Though less frequent an occurrence, the offer by Israel's national carrier, El Al, of free passage for anyone from abroad needing to pay their last respects or provide bedside comfort to loved ones was also not surprising.
Even the fact that Arab villagers from the Meron area in the north rallied to help their Jewish brethren in distress – distributing free food and drink to survivors – wasn't totally out of the ordinary.
But all of the above has been noteworthy nevertheless, due to the identity of the casualties. All were ultra-Orthodox Jews who had made a pilgrimage to the gravesite of second-century sage Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai to dance around the holiday's traditional bonfire – hosted, as it happened, by the Jerusalem-based, anti-Zionist sect, Toldot Aharon.
Throughout the past year, since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, already strained relations between the Haredim and secular Israeli society have been particularly fraught. Indeed, COVID-19 is one force majeure that hasn't been a unifying factor in the way that other shared traumatic experiences have been, due in large part to its dragged-out duration.
If anyone still harbors any lingering doubts about why Israel must not go to a fifth election, but rather form a stable, workable government as soon as possible, the events of the last two weeks should put those doubts to rest.From Israel: Are We “Judaizing” Jerusalem??
What happened two weeks ago? Clashes began in Jerusalem between Arabs and Jews, exacerbated by a protest by a group of racist Jews, that then led to terrorists from Gaza firing rockets into Israel.
That was followed by Thursday night’s horror in Meron, and no less than three terror attacks on Sunday, including a shooting attack at the Tapuah Junction that left one yeshiva student in life-threatening condition, another in serious condition, and a third with light injuries.
Why should any of that convince people of the need for a strong government and not spin the wheel on a fifth election? Because these incidents show that while Israeli politicians are fiddling around, things out there in the real world are happening.
The world continues to spin. But while it spins, Israel is unable to prepare or respond as it should because its leaders are otherwise engaged. The recent uptick in violence and Palestinian terror came as no great surprise. First, the Muslim month of Ramadan has for years been a period of increased violence in Israel.
The amusement is fleeting, however, for there is nothing funny about the Arabs’ motivation in making this charge: They are seeking to delegitimize the Jewish claim to Jerusalem, and, more extensively, to Israel.
When I wrote my last posting, I said I would return to consider other reasons why Israel needs a strong right-wing government without delay. And this, my friends, is one significant reason. We need leaders who are clear on our rights and ready to stand on them. For, just as anti-Semitism is increasing world-wide, so is anti-Zionism, the flip side of the same ugly coin.
The Palestinian Arabs and their supporters may be virulently hostile, but they are not stupid. They know that Jerusalem and Har Habayit (the Temple Mount) are an essential element of our claim to the Land.
Our claim is based on international law.
We have just celebrated the 101st anniversary of the San Remo Conference: At the end of WWI, Great Britain, France, Italy, and Japan – with the United States as a neutral observer, came together for the Conference in San Remo, Italy, under the auspices of the League of Nations. They met to determine the allocation of Middle Eastern lands that had been part of the defeated Ottoman Empire. Borders were drawn that defined Mandate territories. These were to be governed temporarily by either Great Britain or France, and would receive independence within a relatively short period of time.
The Mandate for Palestine was given to Great Britain, which was charged with establishing it as a Jewish homeland.
The decision made at San Remo was then officially confirmed in a unanimous vote of the League of Nations (51 nations) on June 24, 1922. Thus was the Jewish right to the land established in international law; that law still stands. Jerusalem, it should be noted, was within the area defined by the Mandate as a Jewish homeland.
Our claim is also based on heritage and history.
Incorporated into the San Remo Resolution regarding the Mandate for Palestine was the Balfour Declaration – a 1917 letter from the British Foreign Secretary declaring the government’s sympathy with Zionist aspirations and endorsing establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine.
The text of the Mandate for Palestine as passed by the League of Nations additionally said this:
“…recognition has thereby been given to the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine and to the grounds for reconstituting their national home in that country.”
This is huge. The fifty-one nations of the world belonging to the League of Nations all signed on to a document recognizing the Jewish historical connection to Palestine. (See the full list here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Member_states_of_the_League_of_Nations)
The US was not a member of the League of Nations, but the Lodge-Fish Resolution, passed by both houses of Congress on June 22, 1922 (before the League of Nations voted), endorsed the Mandate for Palestine; it was then signed by President Warren Harding.
Israeli settlers have been increasing their visits to the ruins of the ancient Naaran and Shahwan synagogues in the Jericho area in the West Bank and also performing rituals in them, sparking Palestinian fears about Israeli intentions for the region.Iyad Hamdan, the director of the Department of Tourism and Archaeology in the city of Jericho, told Al-Monitor, “The Shahwan and Al-Dyouk [Naaran] synagogues are two archaeological sites located within the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities’ sites in the Jericho area and the Jordan Valley."He added, “The archaeological sites are not a place for worship, but the settlers treat them as such and insist on performing Talmudic rituals in the synagogues. More than 50 settlers visit the two synagogues on a weekly basis.”Mohammad Jaradat, the director of tourism and antiquities for Jericho governorate, said that although the Shahwan synagogue in the city of Jericho is in Area A of the West Bank, which is under the control of the Palestinian Authority, the visits from Israeli settlers and tourists "stem from the terms of the Oslo Accords, which allowed in its additional annexes the Jews to visit the synagogue which is known [to them] as Shalom Al Yisrael Synagogue." Shalom Al Yisrael means “Peace Unto Israel.”He told Al-Monitor, “Israeli army forces accompany the settlers when visiting many archaeological sites in Jericho governorate to protect them. These include the archaeological Tal al-Sultan site.”He said the "settlers’ visits are intended to entrench settlement, as they consider the site part of the Jewish religious heritage.” He added, “The visits to the archaeological and historical sites are a Zionist attempt to Judaize the Jericho area and the Jordan Valley to implement part of the Zionist annexation plan."He added, “The two synagogues are part of Palestinian history that dates back to thousands of years."
Lara Friedman is Director of Policy and Government Relations for Americans for Peace Now. As a leading authority on US foreign policy in the Middle East, Israeli settlements policy, and Jerusalem.
Friedman is an expert on settlements! She knows that Israel doesn't build anything close to 5000 settlements a year, let alone in Jerusalem over for months. Peace Now knows the entire building process intimately - they wrote a detailed article and slide deck while she was at APN that describes the process in detail.
Friedman's knowledge is clear from her attempts to twist the facts without technically lying in this Haaretz article I picked apart when she worked at Peace Now.
Most reporters don't understand the intricate details behind the stages of building housing in Judea and Samaria - but Lara Friedman knows it well.
Friedman lied - and deliberately maintains the lie. Because she wants to demonize Israel.
Now, how about the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor? Could this have just been a headline mistake, and the article is accurate?
Nope! Here are the first two paragraphs of the article:
Israel has demolished 31 homes and 27 Palestinian facilities after plans to construct 4,982 new settlement units were approved, since the beginning of this year, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor said in statement.
During the past four months, Israel has escalated its policy of demolishing Palestinian homes and facilities and removing Palestinians from their neighborhoods, while building thousands of settlement units in East Jerusalem. Such a conduct aims to perpetuate racial discrimination and eliminate the Palestinian Arab presence in the city.
Right after admitting that only plans were approved, the EMHRM says again that was building thousands of units in Jerusalem!
Lara Friedman lies - and knows it. The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor lies - and it knows it.
For normal people or organizations, being proven a liar over and over again tends to damage credibility. But for people who are anti-Israel, it burnishes their credibility among their audience who is eager to believe the lies - the bigger the lie, the better.
The US will keep up its policy of not participating in events commemorating the 2001 Durban Declaration, which singled out Israel as racist, a State Department spokesperson told The Jerusalem Post on Monday.“The United States will not attend or participate in any events commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Durban Declaration and Program of Action or the World Conference on Racism, which preceded it,” the spokesperson stated.The State Department spokesperson said that the US “remains deeply committed to combating antisemitism at home and abroad. Furthermore, the United States stands with Israel and has always shared its concerns over the Durban process’s anti-Israel sentiment, use as a forum for antisemitism and freedom of expression issues.”The spokesperson responded to a query from the Post about the March 2021 UN Human Rights Council Joint Statement on Countering Racism and Racial Discrimination, initiated by the US.The State Department spokesperson said that the joint statement “includes a brief reference to the fact that the Durban conference happened 20 years ago and in no way reflects a change in our position regarding the problematic portions of the document or the process that led to its creation.”
The US will keep up its policy of not participating in events commemorating the 2001 Durban Declaration, which singled out Israel as racist, a State Department spokesperson told The Jerusalem Post on Monday.JPost Editorial: How we must investigate Meron - editorial
“The United States will not attend or participate in any events commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Durban Declaration and Program of Action or the World Conference on Racism, which preceded it,” the spokesperson stated.
The UN plans to hold events marking the 20th anniversary of the World Conference on Racism, called Durban IV, on September 22, coinciding with Sukkot.
The State Department spokesperson said that the US “remains deeply committed to combating antisemitism at home and abroad. Furthermore, the United States stands with Israel and has always shared its concerns over the Durban process’s anti-Israel sentiment, use as a forum for antisemitism and freedom of expression issues.”
The spokesperson responded to a query from the Post about the March 2021 UN Human Rights Council Joint Statement on Countering Racism and Racial Discrimination, initiated by the US.
The statement mentions the Durban Declaration in a positive light: “Recalling the twentieth anniversary of the adoption of the Durban Declaration and Program of Action, we are committed to working within our nations and with the international community to address and combat racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, while upholding freedom of expression.”
The State Department spokesperson said that the joint statement “includes a brief reference to the fact that the Durban conference happened 20 years ago and in no way reflects a change in our position regarding the problematic portions of the document or the process that led to its creation.”
A state commission of inquiry – or a parliamentary committee of inquiry – is needed not to find who is to blame for the disaster but to establish exactly what happened, why and how, in order to prevent the recurrence of a similar catastrophe. The findings, incidentally, can be applied also to save lives at other mass events including sporting events and festivals.State comptroller announces investigation into ‘preventable’ Meron disaster
Sadly, as has happened before with events like the Arad Music Festival tragedy where three teens were crushed to death in 1995, there is no investigation until there has been a loss of life.
As the Jerusalem Post’s Herb Keinon noted yesterday: “‘Don’t worry,’ goes the oft-repeated refrain if there are safety hazards in the street, or at construction sites, or at various nature reserves, ‘everything will be okay.’ One can imagine that this was the refrain heard in Meron, both by organizers before the tragedy and by celebrants at the site: ‘Sure, it seems dangerous, but everything will be okay, as it always has been in the past.’
“But, heartbreakingly, everything wasn’t all right. And now a war needs to be waged against this ‘Take my word for it, everything will be fine’ mentality.”
A state commission of inquiry has a broad mandate to investigate on a systemic level what happened to allow the Mount Meron tragedy to occur. Learning from the disaster is essential. Nothing can bring back those who died but the state does have to do everything to make sure – as much as is possible – that these senseless tragedies don’t happen again. That is why appointing a state commission of inquiry chaired by a Supreme Court justice is the only correct decision.
The state comptroller announced Monday that he would be opening a special investigation into the disaster at the Mount Meron compound where 45 people were crushed to death last week, saying that the tragedy was “preventable.”
“I intend to launch a special investigation into the circumstances that led to this disaster, the preparation of the various bodies, both this year and during the years that have elapsed since the State Comptroller’s report from 2011,” said Matanyahu Englman at a Jerusalem press conference.
“This is an event that was preventable, and now it is up to us to examine and investigate how and what should have been done to prevent it,” Englman said.
The state comptroller said that the investigation would focus on three main aspects: the conduct of all parties involved, starting with the decision-makers and including law enforcement system, prior to and during the event; the administration of the Rashbi [Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai] compound in Meron over the years; and steps that can be taken to prevent the recurrence of such a disaster in the future.
Englman said that if there was a suspicion of criminal conduct, the information would be passed to the attorney general for consideration. Additionally, Englman said he would examine any work done by a potential state commission of inquiry into the tragedy.
As we reclaim Judaism from Zionism, our opponents try to use false claims of antisemitism against us.As we gain traction in Congress, our opponents lobby even harder to fund the Israeli military—meaning U.S.tax dollars still pay for the imprisonment of Palestinian children and the theft of Palestinian land.As the vaccine becomes widely available, the state of Israel continues its regime of medical apartheid, withholding vaccines from the millions of Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza—and accelerating the illegal demolition of Palestinian homes at a time when, for many of us, home is the safest place to be.
Human Rights Watch, the US-based NGO, has indicted Israel as an “apartheid” state, accusing Israel of institutionalized racial segregation. Israel, according to Human Rights Watch, is the new South Africa.Einat Wilf: How Not to Think About the Conflict
What is the impact of this offensive onslaught on Israel?
This ugly “apartheid” smear is central to the larger campaign to delegitimize Israel. Human Rights Watch’s assault on the Jewish state is designed to undermine Israel’s international legitimacy. Isolating Israel internationally is the intention. Turning Israel into a pariah state they hope will – just like the campaign against South Africa’s apartheid – cause the Jewish state to falter and collapse in the face of overwhelming international pressure.
“Apartheid” is a loaded word. “Apartheid” implies moral bankruptcy. It presumes a willful indifference to the consequences of one’s actions. HRW’s public charge of “apartheid” provides the campaign to delegitimize Israel with “moral standing” and an ethical basis to deny Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state.
And this is important – the delegitimize Israel assault is no longer just a marginal concept held by a few left-wing progressive radicals... no, no, no. The delegitimization of Israel has become a mainstream mindset.
The irony is that the Israeli–Palestinian conflict doesn’t provide much in the way of heroism anymore either. It is one of the least violent conflicts in the world, leading to far fewer violent deaths than most American cities experience each year. The contours of the slow separation between the State of Israel and an emerging Palestinian state are becoming more defined, and Israelis and Palestinians continue their close security cooperation. The growing normalization between Israel and many Arab states points to a regional exhaustion with “the conflict,” and a sense that Israel is part and parcel of the Middle East. A dull gray envelops a region that once seemed to promise grand battles between good and evil, black and white, Armageddon and salvation.‘We are a true friend of Israel’
Yet, in a world where so much is colored in dull gray, the market for black and white is as strong as ever. If actual, real-life Israelis, Arabs, and Palestinians are not going to supply the grand battle for right and wrong, then those who are addicted to this hallucinatory drug will have to invent it.
Yes, there are serious, complicated, and appropriate ways to understand the conflict between Israel, its Arab neighbors, and the Palestinians. None of them includes a grand battle between good and evil. But I can testify that when I sit with audiences and talk about the history of Ottoman decline, or the rise of nation-states to replace receding empires, or the interplay of various imperial and Cold War interests with those of various ethnic and religious groups, the eyes of most people glaze over. They want to know: Who are the good guys? Who are the bad? Which side should I root for — who is my team?
But Israelis and Palestinians, Jews and Arabs, are not sports teams. They are not stand-ins for good and evil, symbols for the struggles in one’s own group much closer to home — they are not a drug for generating intense feelings in a dull reality. Israelis and Palestinians, Jews and Arabs, are real people. They are struggling to resolve centuries-long conflicts, which they are slowly doing. That is a far better use of their time than serving as props and collateral damage in the domestic morality tales of other countries, giving an outlet for people to channel negative emotions with which they should be dealing on their own. Which is why, increasingly, Israelis and even Palestinians watch the intense debates taking place halfway across the world in their name and are left wondering: What does all of this have to do with us?
PRIME Minister Scott Morrison cited the importance of community and the writings of the late Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks in a speech at UIA NSW’s major donors event on Thursday night.
Morrison recalled how his father, who was a “big believer in community”, would tell him, “‘If you want to understand community, understand the Jewish community’, which he loved passionately and dearly.
“When President Rivlin visited Australia, he described Australia’s Jewish community as the ‘living bridge’ between our two countries and that is indeed what you are,” the Prime Minister said.
“Though numbering only about one per cent of our population, Jewish Australians have made a remarkable contribution to our national life and our story. You have sought to be a light unto the nations, performing the mitzvot or good deeds according to the Law of Moses.
“I honour you as Australians, and as people of a rich heritage, a great culture and a tremendous faith.”
Morrison said he been “deeply influenced” by the teachings of Lord Sacks.
Expose Israeli Apartheid:Targeted Sanctions [against Israel]Apartheid Free Zones in your community "as spaces free of racism, sexism, discrimination"Corporate Complicity (pressure on companies with branches in Israel)Racial and Indigenous Justice: Support Indigenous-led and Black-led struggles for racial justice...Environmental and climate justiceWomen’s struggles: "justice in Palestine is a feminist issue"Ethical City Councils: "Promote an intersectional motion in your local council..."Faith Communities & Tourism: "respect the Palestinian call for ethical tourism/pilgrimage."Cultural Boycott of IsraelAcademic Boycott of IsraelStudent Activism: Organize intersectional campaigns...Sports Boycott: Join the global campaign to boycott Puma...LGBTQI+ Rights: "Unmask and counter Israel’s agenda of pinkwashing..."Donate to BDS: BDS needs support from people of conscience everywhere...
Even if we take into account the fact that absolute segregation of the population groups traveling on the roads is an extreme and undesirable outcome, we must be careful to refrain from definitions that give a connotation of segregation, based on the unworthy foundations of racist and ethnic discrimination, to the security means enacted for the purpose of protecting travelers on the roads. The comparison drawn by the Petitioners between the use of separate roads for security reasons and the apartheid policy which was formerly implemented in South Africa and the actions that accompanied it, is not a worthy one. The apartheid policy constituted an especially grave crime and runs counter to the basic principles of Israeli law, international human rights law, and the provisions of international criminal law. It was a policy of racist segregation and discrimination on the basis of race and ethnic origin, founded on a series of discriminatory practices, the purpose of which is to create superiority for members of a certain race and to oppress members of other races. The great distance between the security measures practiced by the State of Israel for the purpose of protection against terrorist offensives and the reprehensible practices of the apartheid policy makes it essential to refrain from any comparison with, or use of, the latter grave expression. Not every distinction between persons, under all circumstances, necessarily constitutes improper discrimination, and not every improper discrimination is apartheid. It seems that the very use of the expression “apartheid” actually detracts from the extreme severity of the crime in question – a crime that the entire international community joined forces to extirpate, and which all of us condemn. Accordingly, the comparison between preventing Palestinian residents from traveling along Road No. 443 and the crime of apartheid is so extreme and disproportionate that it should never have been made.
One of the times I went to the White House last year, there were about that many Israelis protesting against Netanyahu outside, and they were in basically every Israeli media outlet. It was bizarre.
Buy EoZ's book, PROTOCOLS: EXPOSING MODERN ANTISEMITISM
If you want real peace, don't insist on a divided Jerusalem, @USAmbIsrael
The Apartheid charge, the Abraham Accords and the "right side of history"
With Palestinians, there is no need to exaggerate: they really support murdering random Jews
Great news for Yom HaShoah! There are no antisemites!