Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Monday, May 14, 2018

Former PLO envoy to Portugal says the "Nakba" was worse than the Holocaust

Hikmet Ajuri, who has acted as the PLO "ambassador" to Portugal and Ireland, wrote an essay for Ma'an that admits that the Holocaust was a crime against humanity - and then says that the "Nakba" was worse.

"What happened to the Palestinian people in 1948 by the Zionist gangs, which embodied ethnic cleansing, displacement and demolition of houses and killing by survivors of this Holocaust, makes the Nakba of Palestinians at least as terrible than the Holocaust because it did not stop in 1948 but remained in force. In addition they [Jews] exercise the same tools against the same people and for the same reasons without apology and without compensation as was the case for the Holocaust."

So you see, Palestinians who decided to flee their homes in order for the Arab armies to throw the Jews into the sea are victims of a much worse crime than the Holocaust because they were not compensated for their decision.

I wrote that Mahmoud Abbas, when he "apologized" for his outrageous antisemitic statements by saying that he sympathized with the victims of the Holocaust, really meant "The Holocaust was heinous because it prompted Jews to come to Palestine and the UN to allow Israel to become a state. The Palestinian Arab exodus from Palestine is the real catastrophe (Nakba.) Therefore, the Palestinians are the major victims of the Holocaust and I express sympathy for them."

It was not an exaggeration. This is how Palestinians look at the world, as if they are the ultimate victims and not the agents of their own misery. The very fact of the Holocaust bothers them because their entire existence is based on the lie of their being the world's most important victims, forever. Any tragedy worldwide is viewed as competition for victimhood.

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Arabic media are reporting that a general strike has been declared for all of Gaza today and tomorrow, to facilitate everyone to break through the border to Israel for the culmination of the "Great Return March" riots.

The "Coordinating Committee for Return and Breaking the Siege" announced the strike, issuing a statement saying that ""the strike will include official institutions, popular and commercial sites and all aspects of daily life, including the institutions of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA.)"

RT Arabic adds that the streets in Gaza towns and neighborhoods have become empty after shops, government and private institutions have closed their doors.

It seems apparent that this committee is really part of Hamas, because no one would be able to close government institutions in Gaza without Hamas support.

From what is being reported, it appears that UNRWA is indeed participating in these strikes.

This means that the UN is actively participating in Hamas-organized anti-Israel riots and that UNRWA, against its own policies, is engaging in political activity - and encouraging violent activity - against Israel.

Just another question for reporters to avoid asking during UNRWA's next press conference announcing how they managed to convince another nation to donate a couple of million dollars to an organization that violates the UN's own rules of non-partisanship every day.

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Gaza terror group releases video of blowing up Jewish houses

Islamic Jihad released a new video showing their members (fictionally) blowing up the houses of Jewish communities of Betar Illit, Ariel and others with RPGs and other weapons.

Meanwhile, the media is buzzing about how Palestinians have supposedly eschewed violence.

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I admit that I have not been keeping up with worldwide popular culture as much as I should, and I figured by the time that the New York Times has an article on something, it is already passe.

But watching this video from a popular German Jewish rapper, singing in German and proud of his Judaism, is almost surreal.

ESSEN, Germany — A yellow star of David — the sort the Nazis forced Jews to wear — on the sleeve of a white sweatshirt appears near the start of the rapper Sun Diego’s “Yellow Bar Mitzvah” video. Seconds later, a scene shows a yellow Lamborghini in the middle of a neon star of David. Jets of flame from a massive gold menorah punctuate rapid-fire rhymes about guns, drugs and money.

“Yellow Bar Mitzvah,” released last year, is a rare German gangsta rap recording in which Hebrew features prominently in the lyrics.

And while videos mixing menorahs and yellow stars of David with guns, sports cars and bikini-clad women pushing wheelbarrows full of cocaine would raise eyebrows anywhere, in today’s Germany they are particularly notable: Elements of the country’s booming rap and hip-hop scene have been criticized as anti-Semitic in recent weeks.

On April 12, a major German music prize was awarded to a duo whose album included the line, “My body is better defined than an Auschwitz inmate’s.” At the ceremony, called the Echo Awards, the rappers were booed. I n the weeks since, several prominent musicians returned their awards in protest, and the awards were canceled. The controversy sparked a national debate over rising anti-Semitism among young people and immigrants, two groups most likely to listen to rap.

Sun Diego, meanwhile, has succeeded while proudly proclaiming his Jewish identity. The rapper, born Dimitrij Chpakov, has 272,000 Instagram followers, and “Yellow Bar Mitzvah,” released last year, has racked up more than 9.7 million views on YouTube. Another track, “Eloah,” is closing in on 6 million views. Sun Diego’s autobiography, “Yellow Bar Mitzvah: The Seven Portals From Moloch to Fame,” co-authored with the German journalist Dennis Sand, spent weeks at the top of German best-seller lists after it went on sale in late February.

In his recent take on the 1980s Falco hit “Rock Me Amadeus,” he boasts in a lyric that “a Jew is making a new German wave.”

Sun Diego’s popularity shows that “You can’t pigeonhole German rap fans,” a Berlin-based hip-hop critic, Viola Funk, said in an interview. “Fans aren’t just interested in the art, but in the person behind it — that’s why it’s such a great thing when there is an unbelievably popular Jewish rapper.”

Here's his recent hit "Eloah" with unmistakenly Jewish (and gangsta) themes. Lyrics here.

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05/13 Links: After Eurovision win, Jerusalem gears up to strut it's stuff on world stage; How Much Effect Does BDS Have? Netta’s Eurovision Results Say None; Ambassadors from Albania to Zambia to fete US embassy move

From Ian:

After Eurovision win, Jerusalem gears up to strut stuff on world stage

Netta Barzilai’s Eurovision win kicked off massive street parties in Tel Aviv Sunday morning, but next year it’s expected Jerusalem will be the city celebrating the song contest.

Israel’s win, its first since 1998, means it wins the right to host next year’s finals, which has transformed in those intervening decades into a massive extravaganza with two rounds, tens of thousands of fans, and millions more tuning in around the world.

Barzilai scarcely had time to change out of her red and black kimono before city officials and politicians in Israel were crowing about plans to host the contest in Jerusalem.

“Next year in Jerusalem,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a congratulatory message, a sentiment echoed by many others, not least Barzilai.

“There is nothing like an Israeli party. You will find out next year,” Barzilai said after her win, yelling “Next year in Jerusalem.”

Speaking to Israel’s Kan broadcaster, she said she looked forward to the world seeing “the Israeli carnival” when Jerusalem hosts the contest.

People will see “how wonderful we are. What a vibe we have. Best people… the best place in the world,” she said.

Despite the win coming in the middle of the night in Israel, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat was among the many to quickly congratulate Barzilai and thank her for giving his city the chance to host the competition.

“The city of Jerusalem will grant any help needed in putting up Eurovision 2019 in the capital of Israel and together we will expose the beautiful face of Jerusalem to the whole world,” he said.

Rejoice with Jerusalem

A hundred thousand people carrying Israeli flags are expected to take part in the traditional Jerusalem Day "Flag Dance" parade around the Old City on Sunday. The procession will be led by veterans of the battle for Jerusalem and victims of terrorism.

For 30 years, crowds have been marching and dancing in the streets of Jerusalem. This year, the dancing started on Saturday and went on all night, with people flocking to the Western Wall.

For the religious Zionist movement, Jerusalem Day is a celebration in every sense of the word, almost like Independence Day. Sephardi and Ashkenazi Jews alike pray and wear their Sabbath clothes. The mythological Merkaz Harav Yeshiva – where the enterprise of settling Judea and Samaria began – will be hosting a huge party, and the prime minister is scheduled to speak there. Many of the yeshiva's graduates fought to liberate Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria, including IDF Paratroopers Brigade commander Yoram Zamosh, who immediately after the Western Wall was liberated in June 1967 drove Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook and Rabbi David Cohen there in a jeep, knowing the symbolic power of bringing both these great spirits of Zionism together at the remaining wall of the Second Temple compound.

"Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her," said Isaiah the prophet (Isaiah 66:10), who predicted that after the terrible exile the Jewish people would rise again. Who could have thought when Jerusalem was razed that it would rise again like this? But the prophet gave us Divine instructions: When you return to Jerusalem, you must rejoice. In current terms, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu put it: Don't be sourpusses.

David Horovitz: Israel’s ‘different’ Eurovision winner has a message for Jerusalem too

As it turned out, however, the drama kicked off even earlier than expected, on Saturday night, when Netta Barzilai won the Eurovision Song Contest with a demonstrably irresistible song at least partly highlighting female empowerment amid its chicken noises. Overwhelmed by her victory but still retaining her composure, Barzilai in her moments of triumph proved an admirable Israeli icon, praising her country, showing generosity to her defeated rivals, and hailing the contest and its voters for embracing the difference and diversity she champions.

“Thank you so much for choosing difference,” she enthused to the watching world (an estimated 200 million people). “Thank you so much for accepting differences between us. Thank you for celebrating diversity. Thank you. I love my country. Next time in Jerusalem.”

Unsurprisingly, the backlash was not long in coming. Anti-Israel activists, notably from the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement, are vowing to utilize the fact that Jerusalem will now host next year’s contest to mount a major campaign highlighting ostensible Israeli “apartheid” policies regarding the Palestinians. (The charge does not withstand serious scrutiny: For all the complexity and argument surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the bottom line is that Israel does not claim sovereignty in the West Bank and Gaza, and its key caveat over partnering the Palestinians to statehood is the eminently reasonable demand that their state not come at the expense of ours.)

But Barzilai’s victory already constituted a stinging defeat for the BDS campaigners, who had urged Eurovision participants to boycott Israel’s entry by giving it zero points. In the event, the juries from the participating nations elevated Israel to an impressive third place, and it was then the viewers’ votes in those 43 countries that lifted Barzilai into top spot — a win by genuine public acclaim.

Haaretz has a list of countries worldwide who will participate in Israel's celebrations of the US embassy move to Jerusalem:

Albania, Angola, Austria, Cameroon, Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Georgia, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, Kenya, Macedonia, Burma, Nigeria, Panama, Peru, the Philippines, Romania, Rwanda, Serbia, South Sudan, Thailand, Ukraine, Vietnam, Paraguay, Tanzania and Zambia.

Of course it is disappointing to see that most of Western Europe is so frightened of Arab terror that they pretend that the US is doing something terrible rather than recognize reality, but still this is a pretty nice list of countries who are no longer cowed by the threats (diplomatic and otherwise) of Palestinians.

This list is longer than it would have been only a few years ago.

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Ma'an Arabic reports on the horrible crime of Jews briefly unfurling an Israeli flag during their visit there this morning, on Jerusalem Day.

The article says that the police gave the "settlers" full protection and allowed the heinous act to take place.

In fact, the police detained the people who were so awful as to briefly raise an Israeli flag in the holy spot where hundreds of Hamas flags have been raised in the past with no one saying a word.

And another Jewish man was arrested for the crime of bowing down on the holiest spot in the world.

There were also riots at the site today, as enraged Muslims attacked the Jews, and some Jews responded - by singing songs.

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Salt Lake City Tribune editor denies piece saying Jews are acting like Nazis is antisemitic

Last week, the Salt lake City Tribune published a piece by a Michael Robinson that crossed the line into antisemitism. As mentioned in my critique, Robinson said:

Can the power of the U.S. Jewish lobby really be so strong that we are blinded to Israel’s atrocities? Aside from the votes that are paid for by that lobby, there seems to be a mindless philosophy that, because the Jews have historically suffered so much, we must never criticize them. Even Dr. Spock would frown on this type of parenting. It doesn’t make a naughty child any better when parents decline all discipline, just because little Suzie had a nasty owie two weeks ago.
...Oh, yes, the Jews know all about concentration camps, but they seem unable to muster any human compassion for the suffering of their neighbors. Instead of a normal and healthy outgrowth of empathy, Israel has instead become the monster.

Now, the editor of the newspaper , George Pyle, while not happy that Robinson violated the unwritten rule of saying "Zionist" instead of "Jew" that allows the worst kinds of hate become magically acceptable, still thinks that the piece was not so bad:

He did not deny Jews their humanity. Rather, he accused them, with an excessively broad brush, of exhibiting that most human of traits, the double standard. Of living and governing as if things that are a crime when done by others are an inalienable right when done by your side.

Now, imagine someone writing an essay saying that African Americans haven't learned a thing from being enslaved and having so many of them being lynched, and they are now behind a large percentage of violent crimes. Would that ever be published in mainstream American media?

Of course not. It is pure racism.

Yet when it comes to Jews, somehow such a thought is simply pointing out "double standards."

Of course there is such a thing as the U.S. Jewish lobby, just as there is such a thing as the Cuban expat lobby and the Mexican immigrant lobby and the Iowa corn farmers lobby. There’s naught wrong with any of that. Attacking the expression as some kind of hate speech only makes such an interest group sound nefarious, when it clearly is not.

Pyle seems unaware of the basics of antisemitism where a minority of Jews is accused of pulling the strings of power of the world, including of course the US. Either he tacitly agrees with this, or he has no business talking about antisemitism when he knows so little about the subject.

Many of the comments I received dehumanize Palestinians, labeling them all terrorists and violent Jew-haters, in the same awful way that true anti-Semites work to de-humanize their targets.

Yes, there are idiots on every side of every issue. Equating the pro-Israel bigots who write angry comments - and there are some - with the decision to publish a fact-free, anti-Israel, antisemitic op-ed is disingenuous and an attempt to divert attention from the newspaper's sickening decision to publish hate.

This column was illustrated with a photo of the funeral of a journalist killed in Gaza, in the Tribune's attempt to show that the original piece was merely a criticism of Israeli actions whose wording was sloppy. Yet even that image obscures the truth: that "journalist" was also a member of the terror group PFLP.

Here is my response to this column:

It would be considered the height of gall to say that things that are offensive to blacks, gays, women or any other group really isn't offensive.
Yet this is what you are doing here for Jews..
Criticizing Israel is fine; Israelis have it down to a fine art. But saying that Jews haven't learned from the Holocaust (and are acting like their persecutors) is absolutely antisemitic. Comparing the Holocaust to an "owie" that little Susie got two weeks ago is incredibly offensive to Jews. And while there is a pro-Israel lobby, using the term "Jewish lobby" in the midst of other anti-Israel lies sure sounds like the antisemitic canard of Jews controlling the US and the world.
I pointed out a few lies in my initial response to Robinson, and he chose not to respond to my basic question of whether he felt that any other nation at wartime has ever acted with more morality and care for the civilians of the other side in history. If Israel does more to minimize civilian casualties and yet Israel is singled out as if it is the worst rather than the best in a tough wartime situation, then there is something fundamentally flawed in what is being innocently characterized as being a critic of Israel. Singling out the Jewish state for things that the UK, US, France and others do that are worse indicated a pathology, not a concern for human rights.
I'm all for free speech. But it is the responsibility of a newspaper to prohibit hate speech, which is what this was. Moreover, it is also the responsibility of a newspaper to not allow obvious lies to be published even in an op-ed - fact-checking is a requirement for anything you publish.
The Tribune failed at these basic obligations.

The Tribune has a policy of reviewing comments that contain links, and I added a link to this piece. We will see if they allow their readers to be linked to this post.

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05/12 Links: U.S. Ambassador Friedman: THIS year in Jerusalem; Salt Lake Tribune doubles down on Antisemitic op-ed; IDF destroys 9th Hamas tunnel for this year

From Ian:

Winning big with both Trump and Putin, Netanyahu had a royal flush of a week

On Sunday, Benjamin Netanyahu began his week by meeting his Cypriot and Greek counterparts to finalize the commercial export to Europe of Israeli gas that he has pushed to exploit for about a decade.

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from nuclear deal with Iran was widely seen as a coup for Israel’s prime minister, a fierce opponent of the deal.

On Wednesday, he was the only Western leader at the annual May 9 military parade in Moscow as a personal guest of President Vladimir Putin — a patron of Syria and of Iran with whom Netanyahu has nonetheless cultivated a beneficial partnership.

And on Thursday, Netanyahu ordered — with backing from the European Union and Russia’s silent approval — a punishing strike on Iranian bases in Syria. It was a retaliation for the firing into Israel of a barrage of rockets that did not hit thanks to Israel’s advanced projectile interception systems — and even Iran’s allies failed to come to its defense.

All in all, a pretty good buildup for Netanyahu’s grand prize: The inauguration of the US Embassy in Jerusalem, which Netanyahu has celebrated as a historical moment since Trump announced it in December.

This streak of successes for Netanyahu has wowed his critics and supporters alike, who see it as a huge return on several of his most controversial long-term strategies.

JPost Editorial: A modern Jerusalem

Today, marks Jerusalem Day and 51 years of a unified Israeli capital. On Monday, the United States will be the first country to move its embassy to the city, in a sequence of events that demonstrates not only the significance of Jerusalem as the epicenter of the Jewish people, but also of Israel’s growing diplomatic gravitas across the globe.

Ever since Donald Trump announced five months ago that the US would recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, a select group of additional countries have followed suit. In the coming weeks, Guatemala, Paraguay and possibly others will follow in America’s footsteps and move their embassies to Jerusalem as well.

This a correction of a historic injustice. No other country has the location of its capital dictated to it by the world. The sole exception has been Israel, for the last 51 years. Even now, after Trump made his decision, the countries of Europe prefer to stick to a fallacy that they know is wrong.

When the president of France comes to Israel, he comes to Jerusalem. When the prime minister of Belgium comes to Israel, he comes to Jerusalem. So why are their embassies in Tel Aviv? It’s due to some fantasy that if they keep them in Tel Aviv, they remain neutral. They need to realize that is doing so, they are taking a stand, and it is the wrong one.

The Palestinians needs to digest this as well. Their continued intransigence is not working. The world is not turning against Israel. On the contrary – it is standing with the Jewish state. Mahmoud Abbas’s strategy of ignoring Israel and hoping the world will solve the conflict for him, is not working. The moving of the US Embassy to Jerusalem is proof of that.

David Harris: May 14, 2018: A historic day

May 14 loomed large in 1948.

It was the date, according to the secular calendar, when the modern state of Israel was born. It was a time of ecstasy. Nearly 19 centuries had passed since the last chance for Jewish sovereignty was destroyed, but the prayers for a return to the ancestral land – and to Jerusalem, the heartbeat of the Jewish people – had never stopped through all the years of wandering, exile, and persecution.

Fast forward 70 years to May 14, 2018.

This day will be remembered, above all, for another celebration – the transfer of the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to its rightful place in Jerusalem.

I am in Israel’s capital city to join in the festivities and express appreciation, on behalf of the nonpartisan American Jewish Committee (AJC), to the Trump administration for its bold decision.

It shouldn’t have had to be so bold. Every country ought to have the right to choose its own capital. But that basic political rule applies to each nation on earth, save one.

Think about it. The other 192 United Nations member states pick the site for their capital and it’s no one else’s business.

No doubt, diplomats assigned to Australia would prefer to be situated in Melbourne or Sydney, but the political choice was Canberra and that was that.

US ambassador gives first glimpse of new embassy in Jerusalem

US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman on Friday gave a first glimpse of the new US embassy in Jerusalem, showing off workers erecting the official seal on the building and preparing for the opening ceremony.

“We are so excited,” Friedman said in a video posted on the embassy’s Facebook page. “We have the official seal of the United States embassy. We have the dedication plaque. They are covered right now, but on Monday they are going to be unveiled.”

The video showed constructions workers setting up scaffolding and busy installing the huge seal. Friedman said the ceremony on Monday would be a “beautiful, inspirational event.”

“This year, thanks to the US administration, the courage, the vision of President Donald Trump we can say ‘this year in Jerusalem,'” he said, referencing the Passover wish of “next year in Jerusalem.”

Trump on Friday hailed the “big week” of the impending move of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

“Big week next week when the American Embassy in Israel will be moved to Jerusalem. Congratulations to all!” Trump tweeted.

Trump will deliver a video address for the opening of the new embassy, senior administration officials told reporters Friday morning.

Among the administration members attending are John J. Sullivan, the deputy secretary of state, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, US Special Envoy Jason Greenblatt, Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner and daughter Ivanka Trump.

Netta wins #Eurovision for Israel - and this video of Lisbon crowds dancing to her shows huge #BDSFail

From Times of Israel:

Israel won the Eurovision song contest for the first time in two decades Saturday as singer Netta Barzilai clucked and bucked her way to the top of the international song contest with women’s empowerment anthem “Toy.”

Backed up by three dancers, her trademark side buns featuring stripes of pink dyed hair to match her pink-and-black outfit, Barzilai busted her way through “Toy” on stage in Lisbon, Portugal, punctuating her singing with her trademark eye rolls and chicken dance moves.

“I’m so happy. Thank you so much for choosing difference. Thank you so much for accepting differences between us. Thank you for celebrating diversity. Thank you. I love my country. Next time in Jerusalem,” Barzilai told the watching world.

She then performed the song a second time.

Interviewed on Israel Kan TV, the state broadcaster, she said she looked forward to the world seeing “the Israeli carnival” when Jerusalem hosts the contest next year. People will see “how wonderful we are. What a vibe we have. Best people… the best place in the world.”

The hate-Israel crowd was very worried about this happening and campaigned hard to get people to vote against Netta.

The video of her victory is not available in the US, unfortunately, but this video of thousands of fans dancing to and singing along with her live performance outside the finals in Lisbon is exactly what the haters didn't want to see - people celebrating music from Israel without a single mention of anything negative.

The BDS movement, above all, wants every mention of Israel anywhere to be associated with "apartheid" or "genocide" or whatever negative words they can dream up.

The Lisbon crowd shows that despite years of efforts, all the haters combined cannot compete with a single talented Israeli woman.

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05/11 Links Pt2: Zionism before Herzl and the Jewish connection to the capital; The embassy move could turn out to be Trumps most enduring presidential achievement.

From Ian:

Zionism before Herzl and the Jewish connection to the capital

Any attempt to deny the Jewish connection to Jerusalem is preposterous, says President Reuven Rivlin, a seventh generation Jerusalemite, whose forebears came to the capital of the Jewish people in the first decade of the 19th century at the behest of the Gaon of Vilna.

Many Lithuanian Jews who were part of the Vision of Zion movement established by followers of the Gaon in 1771 came to Jerusalem hoping to greet the Messiah, Rivlin said on Thursday in a Jerusalem Day interview with The Jerusalem Post.

There were old Sephardi families who had been living in Jerusalem for centuries, he said, listing among others the family of one of his presidential predecessors, Yitzhak Navon. Since 1809, Rivlin added, there has consistently been a Jewish majority in Jerusalem, because the surrounding Arab villages were not actually part of the city, but sat on its periphery.

Rivlin, even before he became the country’s number one citizen, was a walking symbol of Jerusalem, always responding to greetings by radio or television interviewers: “Shalom from Jerusalem, the capital of Israel.”

Born before the establishment of the state, and having grown up in the city, Rivlin knows about its history with the kind of familiarity of the next door neighbor. He was, in fact, the neighbor to some of Jerusalem’s most illustrious personalities – if not next door, then just two or three doors away.

Right at the beginning of the interview, as an outcome of his intimate knowledge of the history of the city, Rivlin put paid to the popular myth that Mishkenot Sha’ananim was the first neighborhood established outside the walls of the old city.

Trump’s Jerusalem Stand

We may never know why he did it. The number of additional Jews who are likely to vote for President Trump because of the embassy move would probably fit comfortably inside a polling booth. The decision, made in December of 2017, wasn’t even engineered to coincide with — or influence — any election. The move won’t win President Trump any peace prizes. Neither is it likely to change the outcome of any peace talks: the administration has specifically said this and reiterated its commitment to a two-state solution. As many of his detractors have pointed out, in this instance, our negotiator-in-chief seems to have given without a corresponding take. That might be an ill-advised tack with an adversary, but with a friend, we would more typically think of it as common decency.

The Trump economy may soon be a distant memory. In the next administration, the tax bill might easily be reversed or much of it allowed to expire, and so much deregulation undone. Every measure achieved by unilateral executive action — the travel ban, the tariffs, withdrawal from various international accords — dispatched as quickly as it was put into place. But the embassy move, accomplished by coordination of two branches of government, is unlikely to face reversal.

The Jewish people’s memory when it comes to Jerusalem is endless. Thrice daily we pray in the direction of its chalky limestone walls. We declare at every Jewish wedding, quoting Psalms, that our right hand should wither if we forget Jerusalem, and tempting the evil eye is not for the insincere or faint of heart. We mourn Jerusalem’s long-ago destructions with rigorous fast days and celebrate its rebirth with a Festival of Lights.

It isn’t hard to imagine that for hundreds of years, Jews will teach their children what I will tell mine when we travel to Jerusalem to watch history being made: On Israel’s 70th birthday, May 14, 2018, President Trump ensured that America, which has long been great, once again kept its word.

Why these Latin American countries support moving their embassies to Jerusalem

US President Donald Trump’s decision in December to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital drew wide international criticism, with 128 countries including the United Kingdom, Germany and Canada voting in favor of a United Nations resolution condemning it.

But several countries saw Trump’s decision in a different light: as an example to follow.

Shortly after the United States officially moves its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on Monday, it will be joined by Guatemala and Paraguay. Both countries are planning to make the move this month, and Honduras may be next: Its Congress recently passed a resolution urging its foreign ministry to move its embassy.

Along with the Czech Republic, whose president said last month it will begin the process of moving its embassy to Jerusalem, these countries belong to a small club (albeit one with a superpower). On a visit to Venezuela on Monday, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas urged other Latin American countries not to move their embassies.

So how come? Why do these Latin American countries go where others fear to tread?

Observers suggest a number of reasons, or a combination thereof: The countries are likely motivated by a desire to curry favor with the Trump administration, their leaders’ personal views of the Jewish state and strong historic ties to Israel.

As Israel prepares for Yom Yerusahalyim, Jerusalem Day, celebrating the victory of the Six Day War that freed East Jerusalem from Jordanian occupation and returned Jewish sovereignty over the Temple Mount I keep hearing Yehoram Gaon describe the terror of the Yom Kippur war when Israelis did not know if the young country would survive, or if it would be the final genocide of the Jewish people.

He had been called to perform for soldiers stationed in the Sinai desert, almost at the border with Egypt. The soldiers requested he sing “Me’al Pisgat Har Hazofim”, a song about Jerusalem.

Think about that. So far from home, in such danger, they wanted to hear the ode to Jerusalem that declares:

“Thousands of generations I dreamt of you, to be granted to see the light of your face, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Shine your face to your sons! From your ruins, I will build you!”

He said: “I must tell you, I sang quite nicely. I was a little offended when they all ran away.” He thought that they were being attacked or were about to be hit by a missile but the soldiers were running to a command-car that had suddenly arrived at their desert position. It was Rabbi Goren, the Rabbi who was there when the Temple Mount was freed, the Rabbi who insisted the holy Tomb of the Patriarchs remain under Jewish administration. This man, a walking symbol of holiness and connection to the land of Israel, had two bags in his hands, full of small books of Psalms.

Yehoram Gaon’s face twisted in anguish as he recounted how the soldiers grabbed the tiny books, shoving them in to every pocket available, as if wrapping themselves in holiness. As if the Psalms would serve as a barrier, as armor, guarding them from the bullets and the bombs.

Today we still wrap ourselves in the dream of Jerusalem and Psalms to protect our soldiers and ourselves from the bullets and the bombs. The ayatollahs of Iran are determined to wipe the Jewish people off the face of the earth. Their religion actually dictates that they must wash the world in blood for their messiah to come. For them this is not a matter of politics, this is about bring the End Times closer.

The danger is very real and yet Iran doesn’t seem to understand the power of dreaming of one thing for thousands of generations, of the promise in this song: “Jerusalem, I will not move from you!”

ABOVE THE PEAK OF MT SCOPUS

Above the peak of Mount Scopus

I will bow down to the ground to you,

Above the peak of Mount Scopus,

Peace [hello] to you, Jerusalem

For thousands of generations I dreamt of you,

to see, to earn the honor of {experiencing] the light of your face.

Chorus:

Jerusalem, Jerusalem

Shine the light of your face [welcome] to your son!

Jerusalem, Jerusalem

From you ruins I will build you!

Above the peak of Mount Scopus

I will bow down to the ground to you,

Above the peak of Mount Scopus,

Peace [hello] to you, Jerusalem

Be blessed with a thousand blessings!

Temple, King, city of royalty [city from which one reigns]

Jerusalem, Jerusalem

I won't move from here!

Jerusalem, Jerusalem

The Messiah will come, will come.

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