Rambling ...

I'm an Irish Girl, A Dubliner, with the 'Gift of the Gab' ... I like to talk & to tell you things. In Celtic times news, views and comment were carried from place to place by wandering Seanachaí ~ Storytellers ~ who relied on their host's hospitality and appreciation. I will need that from you too, as I venture to share Politics, Poetry, Laughter, Love, Life & everything in-between ... from Bog to Blog!!


Monday, February 28, 2011

Ramsy & Rich ... Rare Revelations!!

Annihalation of Israel by Jihad is their Goal!

And today, Another Amazing scoop from my friend & Guest blogger Eileen Hart ...

A Marriage made in hell .... who are Ramzy Baroud & Rich Spiegel and what is the purpose of 'Deir Yassin Remembered'??

Ramzy Baroud, the son of PLO Terrorist, Mohammad Baroud resides in the Seattle area in Washington State.  His father, Mohammad is referred to as a “freedom fighter.”  The term freedom fighter was constructed by the Mainstream Media to relay the messages to the masses that this label means you have to kill Jews in exchange for freedom, and that it was Israel and the Jews who are the oppressors.  What a concept of delusional thinking, being that Israel absorbed all of these Arabs after they were expelled from Jordan and Syria as David Ben Gurion invited them before 1948.  Mohammad stockpiled rockets in Northern Gaza for Hamas and was funded by Hamas.  It should disturb every American that his son is in our country.  I will tell you why I think he’s here and what I think his intentions are.  I believe he is in our country to indocrinate, brainwash students against Israel for his own political gain and I believe he is being funded by Hamas.  In the video below, Ramzy describes how painful and despondent life was for his family when they were exiled to a Refugee Camp in Gaza.  This is all a ruse to get sympathy and compassion for their plight and his continuous journey to demonize Israel in whatever arena will give him attention.  His accusations that Israeli Army targets innocent civilians is completely inaccurate.  The Israeli Army is dedicated to ethics of the highest standard even in times of war in which they will not shoot any innocent civilians whenever they are put in the line of fire including women and children.
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From the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs: ~

Israel Security Agency Director Yuval Diskin, in a briefing to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on 14 November, noted the following quantities of arms smuggled by terrorist groups into the Gaza Strip since the Disengagement: ~ 

33 tons of military-grade high explosives
20,000 assault rifles
3,000 Pistols
6,000,000 rounds of small arms ammunition
38 long-range Kassam missiles
12 shoulder-fired, anti-aircraft guided missiles
95 anti-tank rocket launchers
410 anti-tank rockets
20 precision-guided Anti-Tank Missiles
 
In addition, between $50 miilion-$70m. in cash has been smuggled into Gaza in order to finance the Hamas terrorist operations.

In addition to their cynical tactic of using Palestinian civilians as human shields by firing rockets from densely populated areas, Palestinian terrorists are now increasingly mobilizing civilians in order to protect themselves from Israeli counterterrorist operations. In one recent example, on November 3, 2006, a group of terrorists was discovered hiding in the revered al-Nasr Mosque in Beit Hanoun. When Israeli troops surrounded the mosque and called upon the terrorists to surrender, they were met with gunfire. Soon, a procession of about 200 Muslim women, veiled and wearing traditional dress, arrived at the mosque, having been summoned by the terrorists inside. The terrorists then escaped by mingling with the women, some of them even donning women's clothing.

Another such event occurred on November 18, minutes after the IDF warned residents of Beit Lahiya that a counterterrorist strike was about to be carried out against the home of Muhammad Baroud, commander of the PRC’s Kassam rocket operations. The IDF issued the warning to prevent civilian casualties during the impending operation. Baroud quickly summoned hundreds of Palestinians, including women and children, and had them surround the building. The IDF counterterrorist operation had to be cancelled due to the proximity of the civilians ~ demonstrating vividly that the Palestinians know that Israel values their lives more than the Palestinian terrorists do.


Yes folks, you heard that right, Muhammad Baroud, father of Ramzy was a Commander of the PRC’s Kassam rocket operations.  Any individual who would beckon women and children and use them as human shields is a treacherous and murderous terrorist and any mother who agrees to this is the biggest child abuser of the face of the earth.  Muhammad stored rockets to aim at innocent Jews in Israel; men, women and children and on the flip side also used Palestinian women and children to shield them from the Israeli Army retaliation for terrorist acts.  He not only enabled the murder of Jews but the murder of Palestinian children as well.  So, to call him a freedom fighter is hypocritical being that he loved death more than he loved life and the fact that he would kill any child in order to exact revenge on Israel speaks volumes about the violence he embraced and produced.  Offenders like Muhammad believed that the only way to push their political agenda was to blow up Jews and aim missiles and rockets into Southern Israel.  The refusal to accept that THEY are occupying land that G-d gave to the Jews, and go back to Jordan and Syria where they belong is inherently clear to their agenda of radicalizing the entire region until they rule over everything and everyone. In the book of Joshua we see hundreds of truth in which Hashem tells Joshua and the Israelites to wage war against our enemies who were polluting our land that Hashem gave us, and thousands of years ago should have been a clear example that G-d himself wasn’t going to tolerate enemies in the land of Israel rising up for no reason other than to drive us out of our land. 

Even in the Torah our enemies such as the Amorites, Hivites and the Hashemites and Phillistines admitted that they heard how Hashem exacted revenge on them for going up against the G-d of Israel and being where they didn’t belong.  And yet, they still keep on fighting, demonizing us, and try to make us look illegitimate knowing that their claims to our land is criminal, illicit and filled with lies.  They know they have no right to our land, they know it isn’t theirs, and yet they persist on asking the world for sympathy all in the name of killing Jews.  The reason they continue to get away with it:  Enter the United Nations (Nazis).

In the video below, you will notice the fake tears.  Does this man look like he’s been starved and abused at the hands of the Israeli Army?  Ramzy conveniently leaves out that his father, Mohammad killed Jews for Yassir Arafat’s PLO, that terrorist organization that was responsible for the murder of 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972 as well as many other terrorist attacks.  He conveniently leaves out the facts that his father was funded by Hamas and stockpiled thousands of rockets in Northern Gaza for Hamas.  Again I repeat this because he was a direct threat to Israel’s security.  On the outside, Ramzy looks like a gentle intellectual posing as a tender and placid man in a soft spoken voice. On the inside is a vicious, contemptible monster who uses taqqiya (deception) to brainwash people into demonizing Israel.  Why can’t he be honest and tell students he lectures to that his father was a terrorist, and if he truly wants peace why doesn’t he call for an end to all the violence from Hamas?  Because he wants Hamas to keep attacking Israel, and he uses his father’s acts to legitimize acts of terrorism on Israel.  Idealist students from all walks of life are falling for it.  He sees them as an easy target because at 18 they are idiots and not equipped for real life experiences, they are young, still innocent and ripe enough to brainwash.  This man should be stripped of any position of teaching, lecturing and writing.  The only way to ensure that students at a university level are learning the truth is to shun these Ishmaelites from Arab nations from teaching positions.  Many of these universities are held up with tax payer dollars and I am sick and tired of my money being used to support these villians who are only here to bring more terrorism into the world.  They use children as human shields, and Ramzy is using students to being a revolution against freedom and Israel.  I would hope the parents of these students he lectures to will wake up and forbid their children from listening to anything he says.


Which brings me to a man by the name of Rich Siegel.  I came upon his Facebook profile in my research for another article, and what I found was deeply disturbing.  A Jewish man who is involved in anti-Zionist and anti-Israel activities.  He calls himself a musician.  Honestly, anyone who sings songs about the plight of Ishmaelites who use acts of terror isn’t a musician, he’s an apologist and an enabler of terrorists and terrorism.  He resides in Teaneck, New Jersey.  Teaneck is one of the most highly concentrated cities of Orthodox Jews in America.  Why is he living in an area that is so richly Jewish and pro Israel if he hates Israel and being Jewish so much?  Is he there to report back to his Palestinian counterparts and bring them into the arms of Hamas?  Could there be an enemy in my backyard that is one of my own?  His groups on his Facebook page includes groups such as Stop IDF sexual abuse to Palestinian children. I’m sorry, but there has never ever been proof that any IDF soldier who is held to the highest standard of ethics raping Arab children.  In fact, it is the Arabs who are notorious for raping women and children.  Just ask the former friends of Yasser Arafat and what he did to European boys when he was exiled to Beirut.  Another group he belongs to is Journey of an antizionist Jew.  How about the journey of leaving us Jews and Israel out of your self hatred Mr. Siegel?   I have an idea:  because you hate yourself, Israel and the rest of us Jews so much, go jump off a bridge and Israel will be better off without your meddling in her business.  What a guy, a real peace loving individual who seeks Israel’s destruction.  I apologize to Israel that we have this growing trend of anti Israel sentiment growing by leaps and bounds in America.  Mr. Siegel, you are truly a traitor in the most literal sense.  Shame on you.  The conclusion I come to is that liberal Jews who seek Israel’s destruction have never had a real Jewish upbringing and were already questioning their faith and siding with Israel’s enemies makes them think they are better Jews for being apologists to the Muslims. What a twisted concept. 
 
 Proof of Pedophile  Yasser Arafat ~   Rich Siegel  needs to do better research on who rapes children!!


This sick individual’s wall is open for everyone to see, and I implore everyone to read what he is expecting, for Israel’s destruction to take place.  Here is an excerpt from one of his posts .....

Rich Siegel on his Facebook Page February 22, 2011 ~
"I do not believe that a Jewish-exclusivist entity has the right to exist on stolen Palestinian land. The idea that there is this "right to exist" and that two states should co-exist side by side is ridic...ulous. First of all, Israel has made it all but impossible with settlement expansion, and intentionally so. Second, and most important, it's a question of very clear morality. Israel came into existence through massacres and military forced mass expulsions, making over three quarters of a million people homeless. Justice demands that the refugees be allowed to return. International law also demands it. The "right to exist", even though it serves its purpose as a propaganda slogan in that it sounds very good, is NONSENSE. "Israel" needs to be dismantled, and Palestine- ONE STATE- needs to the state of all its rightful citizens. The concession to the Zionists is that they be allowed to stay."

As you can see, folks, this is a delusional man determined and hell bent on Israel’s destruction and calling for the annihilation of Jews in Israel.  However, he remains silent on where he thinks they should go should Israel cease to exist.  I can only imagine his ideas on where they should go.  I probably shouldn’t say this, but my gut instinct tells me he probably wishes the ovens at Auschwitz were still in operation.  He demands Israel be dismantled.  Does this sound like someone who seeks peace?  He seeks her death and embraces a cult that loves death, murder and terrorism more than he loves life.

Mr. Siegel, do you realize that Israel has existed for over 3,000 years with historical, biblical, archeological proof?  Do you realize that while you’re an apologist aiding and abetting terrorism in Israel that Hashem gave us the Torah and the land of Israel on Mt. Sinai or do you just conveniently forget that we are the Chosen People to live in our land.  Do you not realize that G-d went to all the nations outside of Israel to offer them his Torah and Commandments and because of fact they were practicing pagan rituals they had to reject it?  Do you also not realize that throughout the Torah Hashem ordered Israel’s enemies out of the land before he inflicted his wrath upon them?   It is your friends that have been the occupiers, and for the record, they are Philistines.  Palestine is a made up name that the Romans gave Israel in order to besmirch, belittle, and degrade the Jews in such a vicious way until they were forced out of Israel with no place to go and being relegated to dispersing among the nations.  Paying lip service to “peace” in a self-aggrandizing title and a victim because you are Jewish is meaningless when YOUR version of “peace” works only one way.  If you seek peace why haven’t you and your cronies and followers called for Gilad Shalit’s release from the shackles of Hamas?  Why haven’t you ever spoken in support for him?  Why are you silent that he is being held hostage?  IT proves how slanted you are in your search for a true and lasting peace for Israel in that you seek to destroy it.  Your post on Facebook proves it by saying it needs to be dismantled.  Mr. Siegel, in your email exchange to me all you wanted was to know where I lived and used vicious and vile language toward me.  You are a Nazi in the truest sense and every Jew that near you should shun you from the community.  Does this guy not get that they were nations outside of Israel that tried to destroy her over and over again?

My good friend, Jan Steinberg said it better than anyone;  When a Muslim hates Israel he is rooting for his team. When a Christian hates Israel it is because the re-establishment of the Jewish state disproves his theology and spoils his stereotype of a Jew. When a Jew hates Israel he is sick, stupid, traitorous scum.  Need I say more.

Which brings me to a group called Deir Yassin Remembered, a group in Geneva, New York, it is based on the incident below.  They twist it out of proportion.  Below is the true story of what evolved.  Hat tip to Jewish Virtual Library .....

"The United Nations resolved that Jerusalem would be an international city apart from the Arab and Jewish states demarcated in the partition resolution. The 150,000 Jewish inhabitants were under constant military pressure; the 2,500 Jews living in the Old City were victims of an Arab blockade that lasted five months before they were forced to surrender on May 29, 1948. Prior to the surrender, and throughout the siege on Jerusalem, Jewish convoys tried to reach the city to alleviate the food shortage, which, by April, had become critical.

Meanwhile, the Arab forces, which had engaged in sporadic and unorganized ambushes since December 1947, began to make an organized attempt to cut off the highway linking Tel Aviv with Jerusalem - the city's only supply route. The Arabs controlled several strategic vantage points, which overlooked the highway and enabled them to fire on the convoys trying to reach the beleaguered city with supplies. Deir Yassin was situated on a hill, about 2600 feet high, which commanded a wide view of the vicinity and was located less than a mile from the suburbs of Jerusalem. The population was 750.

Deir Yassin Demonstration
On April 6, Operation Nachshon was launched to open the road to Jerusalem. The village of Deir Yassin was included on the list of Arab villages to be occupied as part of the operation. The following day Haganah commander David Shaltiel wrote to the leaders of the Lehi and Irgun ..... "I learn that you plan an attack on Deir Yassin. I wish to point out that the capture of Deir Yassin and its holding are one stage in our general plan. I have no objection to your carrying out the operation provided you are able to hold the village. If you are unable to do so I warn you against blowing up the village which will result in its inhabitants abandoning it and its ruins and deserted houses being occupied by foreign forces....Furthermore, if foreign forces took over, this would upset our general plan for establishing an airfield".

The Irgun decided to attack Deir Yassin on April 9, while the Haganah was still engaged in the battle for Kastel. This was the first major Irgun attack against the Arabs. Previously, the Irgun and Lehi had concentrated their attacks against the British.

According to Irgun leader Menachem Begin, the assault was carried out by 100 members of that organization; other authors say it was as many as 132 men from both groups. Begin stated that a small open truck fitted with a loudspeaker was driven to the entrance of the village before the attack and broadcast a warning to civilians to evacuate the area, which many did.  Most writers say the warning was never issued because the truck with the loudspeaker rolled into a ditch before it could broadcast the warning. One of the fighters said, the ditch was filled in and the truck continued on to the village. "One of us called out on the loudspeaker in Arabic, telling the inhabitants to put down their weapons and flee. I don't know if they heard, and I know these appeals had no effect."

Contrary to revisionist histories that the town was filled with peaceful innocents, residents and foreign troops opened fire on the attackers. One fighter described his experience ..... "My unit stormed and passed the first row of houses. I was among the first to enter the village. There were a few other guys with me, each encouraging the other to advance. At the top of the street I saw a man in khaki clothing running ahead. I thought he was one of ours. I ran after him and told him, "advance to that house." Suddenly he turned around, aimed his rifle and shot. He was an Iraqi soldier. I was hit in the foot.The battle was ferocious and took several hours. The Irgun suffered 41 casualties, including four dead",

Surprisingly, after the “massacre,” the Irgun escorted a representative of the Red Cross through the town and held a press conference. The New York Times' subsequent description of the battle was essentially the same as Begin's. The Times said more than 200 Arabs were killed, 40 captured and 70 women and children were released. No hint of a massacre appeared in the report. “Paradoxically, the Jews say about 250 out of 400 village inhabitants were killed, while Arab survivors say only 110 of 1,000.”A study by Bir Zeit University, based on discussions with each family from the village, arrived at a figure of 107 Arab civilians dead and 12 wounded, in addition to 13 "fighters," evidence that the number of dead was smaller than claimed and that the village did have troops based there. Other Arab sources have subsequently suggested the number may have been even lower.

In fact, the attackers left open an escape corridor from the village and more than 200 residents left unharmed. For example, at 9:30 A.M., about five hours after the fighting started, the Lehi evacuated 40 old men, women and children on trucks and took them to a base in Sheikh Bader. Later, the Arabs were taken to East Jerusalem. Starting at 2:00 P.M., residents were taken out of the village. The trucks passed through the Orthodox neighborhood of Mea Shearim after the Sabbath had begun, so the neighborhood people cursed and spit at them, not because they were Arabs, but because the vehicles were desecrating the Sabbath. Seeing the Arabs in the hands of Jews also helped raise the morale of the people of Jerusalem who were despondent from the setbacks in the fighting to that point. Another source says 70 women and children were taken away and turned over to the British. If the intent was to massacre the inhabitants, no one would have been evacuated.

After the remaining Arabs feigned surrender and then fired on the Jewish troops, some Jews killed Arab soldiers and civilians indiscriminately. None of the sources specify how many women and children were killed (the Times report said it was about half the victims; their original casualty figure came from the Irgun source), but there were some among the casualties. Any intentional murder of children or women is completely unjustified. At least some of the women who were killed, however, became targets because of men who tried to disguise themselves as women. The Irgun commander reported, for example, that the attackers "found men dressed as women and therefore they began to shoot at women who did not hasten to go down to the place designated for gathering the prisoners." Another story was told by a member of the Haganah who overheard a group of Arabs from Deir Yassin who said "the Jews found out that Arab warriors had disguised themselves as women. The Jews searched the women too. One of the people being checked realized he had been caught, took out a pistol and shot the Jewish commander. His friends, crazed with anger, shot in all directions and killed the Arabs in the area."


Arab Peace Plan!
 Contrary to claims from Arab propagandists at the time and some since, no evidence has ever been produced that any women were raped. On the contrary, every villager ever interviewed has denied these allegations. Like many of the claims, this was a deliberate propaganda ploy, but one that backfired. Hazam Nusseibi, who worked for the Palestine Broadcasting Service in 1948, admitted being told by Hussein Khalidi, a Palestinian Arab leader, to fabricate the atrocity claims. Abu Mahmud, a Deir Yassin resident in 1948 told Khalidi "there was no rape," but Khalidi replied, "We have to say this, so the Arab armies will come to liberate Palestine from the Jews." Nusseibeh told the BBC 50 years later, "This was our biggest mistake. We did not realize how our people would react. As soon as they heard that women had been raped at Deir Yassin, Palestinians fled in terror."

The Jewish Agency, upon learning of the attack, immediately expressed its “horror and disgust.” It also sent a letter expressing the Agency's shock and disapproval to Transjordan's King Abdullah.

The Arab Higher Committee hoped exaggerated reports about a “massacre” at Deir Yassin
would shock the population of the Arab countries into bringing pressure on their governments to intervene in Palestine. Instead, the immediate impact was to stimulate a new Palestinian exodus.

Just four days after the reports from Deir Yassin were published, an Arab force ambushed a Jewish convoy on the way to Hadassah Hospital, killing 77 Jews, including doctors, nurses, patients, and the director of the hospital. Another 23 people were injured. This massacre attracted little attention and is never mentioned by those who are quick to bring up Deir Yassin. Moreover, despite attacks such as this against the Jewish community in Palestine, in which more than 500 Jews were killed in the first four months after the partition decision alone, Jews did not flee.

The Palestinians knew, despite their rhetoric to the contrary, the Jews were not trying to annihilate them; otherwise, they would not have been allowed to evacuate Tiberias, Haifa or any of the other towns captured by the Jews. Moreover, the Palestinians could find sanctuary in nearby states. The Jews, however, had no place to run had they wanted to. They were willing to fight to the death for their country. It came to that for many, because the Arabs were interested in annihilating the Jews, as Secretary-General of the Arab League Azzam Pasha made clear in an interview with the BBC on the eve of the war (May 15, 1948) .... “The Arabs intend to conduct a war of extermination and momentous massacre which will be spoken of like the Mongolian massacres and the Crusades.”

 
Deir Yassin has remained a staple of anti-Israel propaganda for decades because the incident was unique.  People continue to use this incident to disprove Israel’s legitimacy. 

Rich and Ramzy belong to a group called Deir Yassin Remembered   located in Geneva, New York.

It has been operating under the radar for quite some time.  They are both on the Advisory Board with other Phillistines, and I believe it’s operations and activities are anything but legal.  For instance, it asks for donations, but an Advisory Board of any organization manages the funds that come in and the funds that go out.  Advisory Boards are set up to control large sums of assets.  My question is what are their true activities, where do they get their money/funds and who are they giving money to and why does it exist?  Is it a front group for terrorist activities and if so, how has it been able to stay under the radar for so long?  I call on Governor Andrew Cuomo to immediately launch an investigation into this outfit,  open the books and find out what exactly is their purpose.  WE THE PEOPLE of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA have a right to know if this group and these two miscreants are putting our National Security at risk.  IF this is a front group for terrorist activities they are in direct violation of the Constitution, Declaration of Independence and a clear and present danger to America’s security.


EILEEN HART
Eileen Hart is a 45 year old daughter of Holocaust Survivors. She was raised in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania. Eileen was raised in a very conservative and observant Jewish home and was lucky enough to hear her parents story and how important it was to never take freedom for granted, and how lucky she was to live in America. At 17, her parents took her to the American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors and was lucky enough to hear Reagan speak on April 11, 1983. His statement that the safe haven of America and Israel for Jews would never be compromised has stayed with her forever thus stapling her belief in conservatism and working to make sure the world never forgot the Holocaust. She has been active in Holocaust Remembrance programs such as The Philadelphia Holocaust Film Series, receiving a degree in honors in Jewish and Holocaust Studies. After Barack Obama was elected President, she saw the increase of antisemtism and has been actively fighting against the growing sentiment of anti Israel and anti zionist bias within the Jewish community and working against the disturbing trend of Jews turning against Israel. She resides in South Jersey with her family.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Reluctance ....

Old Oak & Robert Frost!

I promised you Poetry .... and this one reflects where I am in my life right now!

Out through the fields and the woods
and over the walls I have wended;
I have climbed the hills of view
and looked at the world, and descended;
I have come by the highway home
and lo, it is ended.

The leaves are all dead on the ground,
save those that the oak is keeping
to ravel them one by one
and let them go scraping and creeping
out over the crusted snow,
when others are sleeping.
And the dead leaves lie huddled and still,
no longer blown hither and thither;
the last lone aster is gone;
the flowers of the witch hazel wither;
the heart is still aching to seek,
but the feet question “whither?”

Ah, when to the heart of man
was it ever less than a treason
to go with the drift of things,
to yield with a grace to reason,
and bow and accept the end
of a love ... or a season?


~ Robert Frost ~
The Old Oak is the Irish National Tree.  I have to ask ..... Has it become me,  to reason & run and seek the next Shiny thing??

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Criticising Clinton's Criticisms!!


US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton called Israeli settlements "illegitimate" in an interview that aired on ABC News on Sunday last.  And called for Israel to "change" it's policy!

"I think it is absolutely clear to say, number one, that it's been American policy for many years that settlements were illegitimate and it is the continuing goal and highest priority of the Obama administration to keep working toward a two-state solution with both Israelis and Palestinians," Clinton told interviewer Christiane Amanpour.


Let's get it straight. After 62 years as a state, Israel is facing the threat of extinction at the hands of 300 million Arabs and Muslims who surround it, from  "palestinians" on its borders to the Iranians thousands of miles away. Palestinians are "illegitimate", not a real people or national entity.  They are Arabs. And the Arabs remain unwilling to let Israelis live in peace. Going back to 1947 and earlier, the Arabs used the term "Palestinian" to gain additional land from the Jewish people, and succeeded. We cannot let that happen again, wherever we live, Israel or any land.

The State of Israel today is on the historic land of the Jewish people dating back to Moses and before. That land included Judea and Samaria, as well as Jerusalem and Gaza, and in fact, a significant part of Lebanon and Syria. Through wars and extermination, the land of the Jewish people was reduced in size by foreign occupiers, until it was re-established and recognized again by the world community in 1948.

Multiple wars later, the Jewish people continue to fight for their right to have a homeland. The Arabs refuse to recognize this reality, and continue to use force, diplomacy, world opinion and terrorism to destroy Israel. Those are the facts on the ground. The Arab world's attempts to thwart peace, with the mission of ridding the Middle East of a Jewish civilization, must be seen for what it is, and brought to an end.   So, I do agree with Clinton on one point .... yes, it is time for a change. Certain principles guide my view. Certain principles remain non Negotiable. First, Israel should never again retreat from land it possesses. It has no obligation to do so. Of paramount importance, we must abide by the principle that Jews should be allowed to live any place in this world that they choose to live.

How outrageous to think that a peace agreement is being proposed and discussed based on the idea of all-Arab territory, where Jews would not be able to live, whether it be Gaza or Judea and Samaria, or even, as it was with Yamit, in the Sinai. We are fond of intoning "Never Again" when we mention the Shoah.  I hope that we have actually learned never again to accept the word 'Judenrein'

The second principle is that Israel cannot turn its enemies into friends through retreat, but only through strength. That was one of the earliest teachings of the great founders of Israel, David Ben-Gurion & Golda Meir, and the lesson remains the same today. The threats posed by the Arabs, as well as the Iranians' words of destruction against the State of Israel, must be taken seriously.

The third principle is that we must be proud of our Jewish heritage and our return to Israel. And remember what Torah teaches is Eretz Yisroel is appropriate here. Ha'Shem's promise & the original vision of Israel encompassed the land West of the Jordan River, including our previous kingdoms of Judea and Samaria, the entirety of Jerusalem, and the land of Gaza. Israel has every right to exist in that land forever, and its claim is not secondary to that of the Arabs. I reject the concept and the terminology that the lands are "occupied territories".

The fourth principle is the most clear for me. Israel can never enter into a peace agreement unless it can be convinced that it will both offer a real, long-term peace and negate the probability of enhancing the strength of Israel's enemies. We must remember certain facts. With the great wealth of the Arabs, and their vast resources of land, the "palestinian people" could be guaranteed by their brethren Arabs an incredible future on Arab land if they so choose. Jordan was to be the Palestinian state, and that kingdom threw many of their supposed 'palestinian' people out of the country.  Maintaining the United Nations refugee camps has only continued the hardships of many of the "palestinian people". It is clear that the plight of these particular Arab "palestinian people" will not be resolved by an independent Palestinian state, anywhere located.

Although I opposed the withdrawal from Gush Katif, it was done, and Gaza was set up for the "palestinians" to demonstrate that they could establish a positive society on their own land. They did not, and the fact is that Hamas set out in Gaza, under Iranian guidance, to disrupt, if not destroy, Israel.  That cannot, must not and will not be. Until the day that the Arabs accept Israel's right to be a Jewish state, their leadership's credentials remain clouded. There can be no peace with them & and no one should be pushing Israel into a peace that is no peace at all.  That includes any American administration & Hilary Clinton!




Jews had lived in Gaza throughout history. As Gaza was included in the Palestine Mandate for a Jewish national home, Jews continued to live there. In August 1929, however, the Arabs of Palestine (geographical area ~ not people), led by the Supreme Muslim Council, began a nation wide massacre against their Jewish neighbours. Instead of punishing the perpetrators, the British administration of Palestine, forced the Jews to leave Gaza as well as Hebron. The Jews weren’t even allowed to go back to their homes in Gaza when the State of Israel was declared in 1948 due to Egypt’s illegal occupation of Gaza (1948-1967). It wasn’t until after the 1967 Six Day War, that Jews were allowed back home. Since then, the Jews have been accused of occupying ‘Arab land’, when in fact, the Jews who lawfully lived in Gaza, were forced out by the Arabs rioters, and not the other way around. This fact needs to be remembered & reiterated

In August 2005, the deportation of nearly 10,000 Jews, the whole Jewish population of Gaza, by their own Israeli government occurred. 

‘’If we give up some land, then we will get some peace’’ was the premise posed.  And pushed by America!!   The answer to this thought is a question ....  What peace has there been since the Disengagement?   Is there peace? 

There is no peace. There is only pain.  Every Israeli should ask themselves these questions with their fellow Israelis in mind who were expelled from Gush Katif:
 
* Is it ‘’peaceful’’ to be made homeless?
* Is it ‘’peaceful’’ to watch your home destroyed?
* Is it ‘’peaceful’’ to have your life’s business taken away from you?
* Is it ‘’peaceful’’ to have your children’s education destroyed?
* Is it ‘’peaceful’’ to see your children urinate in their clothes from nightmares of soldiers snatching them away from their home?

There is only pain in uprooting a family from their home and it certainly isn’t in the direction of peace.  Israel withdrew from every millimetre, including evacuating settlements, received nothing in return.  Rockets in return ... Not Peace!!! 



"I still cannot understand how Israel gave up parts of its land willingly and with abandon, and how the residents connected to that land were turned into criminals, instead of raising their dedication as a banner of preserving the Jewish identity of the state of Israel."
Maj.-Gen Yiftah Ron-Tal, IDF ground forces commander at the time of the Disengagement
Kfar Chabad weekly, October 6th, 2006.

It turns out that the "extremist" and pessimistic "settlers" were those who were right. The Arabs do not wish to recognize Israel and have not accepted its existence. They turned the communities of Gush Katif into launch sites against residents of the Negev and particularly the town of Sderot.   The "palestinians" have become more, not less, radicalized.  Israel's public image as an occupying country has not significantly improved in the world, and further unilateral disengagement in Judea & Samaria as a possible way of solving the Israeli-palestinian conflict has turned out to be a chimera, in large measure because of the failure of what was supposed to be its Gazan first stage. One positive  thing is that  we know now that this assumption, that it is enough for us to leave territory in order for the other side to stop its attacks has proven false … I do not want to see a situation where we once again fold, in Judea and Samaria, and the next day Kassam rockets begin to be fired on Kfar Saba, Raanana and Herzliya. 

It is time that American & World Jewry recognizes the realities on the ground and stands firmly with Israel. We must be steadfast in our paramount interest that Israel's right to determine its own future is non-negotiable. Rabbi J. B. Soloveitchik said with regard to the Holocaust, "We must drive our own destiny, and transform fate into destiny during our life."

This must be the commitment of world Jewry today. We may not live in Israel (yet), and yet, it is clear that we can do something.   We can proudly shout out with a clarion call that Israel exists, and is entitled to a secure future just like every other country on Earth.  Am Yisrael Chai!!!  


This is what Peace means to the "palestinians" ..... I love Palm trees & I want to live in PEACE amongst them!!!!!

Monday, February 21, 2011

So Many Flotillas and Nowhere to Go !!

Weapons aboard the Mavi Marmara.
And today's blog is a News breaker by my friend and guest writer ~  Eileen Hart.  It is a privilege to host her writing here .....

The Mavi Marmara Flotilla that was bound for Israel in May of 2010 from Turkey was intent on attacking Israeli soldiers in order to break a blockade that has saved countless Israeli lives from terrorist attacks. The footage proved that the terrorists on the boats who used clubs and beat Israeli soldiers wanted to attack Jews and not engage Israel in a peaceful manner. The Israeli soldiers who were beaten with clubs were very seriously injured. This flotilla from Turkey .was a direct provocation of war with Israel. There were no supplies for Fakestinians on that boat but rather weapons in the form of clubs, knives and guns.

From Free Republic: ~  “The Israeli navy made its first contact with a flotilla carrying hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists and thousands of tons of supplies for Gaza shortly before midnight on Sunday, surprising the boats in international waters, according to activists on one vessel".

Israel has vowed not to let the flotilla reach the shores of Gaza, where the Islamic militant group Hamas holds sway, putting the activists and the Israelis on a high-profile public relations collision course. Named the Freedom Flotilla and led by the pro-Palestinian Free Gaza Movement and a Turkish organization, Insani Yardim Vakfi, the convoy of six cargo and passenger boats represents the most ambitious attempt yet to break Israel’s three-year blockade of the Palestinian coastal enclave.

Three Israeli navy missile boats left the Haifa naval base in northern Israel a few minutes after 9 p.m. local time, planning to intercept the flotilla.

After asking the captains of the boats to identify themselves, the navy told them they were approaching a blockaded area and asked them either to proceed to the Israeli port of Ashdod, north of Gaza, or to turn around and go back to their countries of origin.

The activists responded that they would continue toward their destination, Gaza.

Speaking by satellite phone from the Challenger 1 boat, which has foreign legislators and other high-profile figures on board, a Free Gaza Movement leader, Huwaida Arraf, said, “We communicated to them clearly that we are unarmed civilians. “We asked them not to use violence.” As you can see in the footage, because the flotilla refused to comply with the Israeli Navy, an Israeli soldier came down on the rope and upon descending on the boat, he was viciously attacked by the passengers on the flotilla.


 Ehud Barak, Minister of Defense in Israel ordered the IDF to use rubber bullets to protect and defend themselves while they were being beaten senseless. This man has time and again put the IDF in harm’s way. In my opinion, the fact that any Minister of Defense in Israel would knowingly enforce the use of rubber bullets instead of real bullets is the wimpification of the IDF. For now, gone are the days of Israeli Heroism when the brave men and women of the IDF would put the fear of G-d into every nation that provoked them with an act of war. Israel needs a real Minister of Defense who is Reaganesqe and tells the world and all of her enemies that we win, you lose, everything on the table. Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Libya and Lebanon all learned their lesson in 1948 when they attacked from all sides on the day David Ben Gurion declared her Independence and fought back without any artillery, weapons, guns and tanks. She won and took back land that has belonged to the Jews for thousands of years.

There are three flotillas that are preparing to go to Gaza and break the Blockade. One is set to leave Canada, San Francisco, and the other is listed on American Jews for Peace. It is not stated on that website where it is leaving from.


The Canadian Flotilla is planned to sail in May. Esther Kern is the organizer of this joke of an event and apparently she has seen it all. Sure, Esther, when you survive Hitler and Stalin like my parents did, then you can say you have seen it all, and when you off yourself like Rachel Corrie did, trust me, we won’t mourn for her when she knowingly puts herself in harm’s way all in the name of making Israel look bad and martyring herself in the name of freedom. This is one self hating Jew that many of us won’t feel bad for because as always she will have brought it on herself. Self hating Jews like this seek one objective only; to throw their fellow brethren back into the ovens and unleash hell on earth.

This group of self hating Jews come from San Francisco. It is organized by Marvin Cohen and endorsed by many groups who seek Israel’s destruction. One of them is the Muslims Students Association who are linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, Code Pink; frequently visiting Gaza to protest Israel, Free Gaza Movement, which is associated with Naomi Klein; a rabid leftwing Jew who is an apologist to the Palestinians and speaks against Israel frequently at anti Israel events. These are just a few of the organizations endorsing the passage. You can view the entire list in the endorsements tab on their page which I have linked above this paragraph.

I called Marvin who sounded like a nice elderly grandfather to ask him some questions about the boat, and he had this to say to me; “I am for justice and seek to dismantle a country wherever I see injustice throughout the planet.” He continued to say to me “You don’t view the Palestinians as human beings.” That’s perplexing because I never said anything in our phone conversation about them, my questions were entirely directed at who is funding this mission, who will be on the boat and when is the exact date of the departure. I asked him if the Muslim Brotherhood or Hamas was funding this endeavor, he laughed and said no. Of course they aren‘t involved. These Associations all have a link where you can donate money to their cause. I could not find any disclosure of financial information. Here is their mission statement on their Facebook page: ~ 

"We are planning to launch a U.S. boat to Gaza, joining a flotilla of ships from Europe, Canada, India, South Africa and parts of the Middle East due to set sail in the spring."

Apparently, there are other flotillas planning to leave from ports in other areas of the world in the spring in order to meet up in Gaza at the same time to break the blockade. The good news is that the flotilla planned to leave from the US may be short on funding. I have found that in all three of these projects they are trying to raise money. The unwavering support for Israel throughout the country has grown in leaps and bounds in the conservative movement and within the tea party since the November elections. This is a great start. Since more Americans are aligning themselves as center right patriots, the population of the left is shrinking. The hard left is approximately 8% of the population. The fact that they are short on funds could mean that less people support them and more are supporting one of the greatest allies our country has ever had. It is possible that more people are educating themselves on the truth about Israel and the Fakestinian conflict and realizing that Israel has been fighting the global war on terror since her re-founding in 1948.

I would imagine that being reduced to selling tee shirts to get this project off the ground is a sign of desperation to do anything to get that boat to leave the dock. I am surprised that George Soros hasn’t stepped up to the plate to offer them money. I hope they never sell one tee shirt. If you look at their site, you will see they have a concert planned to raise money for their flotilla. If they are successful in going to Gaza, I pray the IDF does not spare one person and realizes there are enemies among our own people. It is time to put the political correctness aside, do whatever is necessary to protect Israel even if it means taking out liberal Jews who seek to destroy her should they bring weapons with them if their intention is to hurt Israeli soldiers.


The next vessel is a Jewish Boat organized by American Jews for a Just Peace. Below is the link to their website.


This is the statement from American Jews for a Just Peace in regards to their plans to send a Jewish boat to Gaza. There is no definite date for departure. I will keep checking the website for updates and inform everyone when the date is posted. It is scheduled for the coming summer.

"The movement to break the blockade of Gaza is "unstoppable and unsinkable" said Naomi Klein, member of the Advisory Board of the Free Gaza Movement, in a powerful statement at a demonstration in Toronto on May 31. Building on the momentum and global outrage over the Israeli attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, an international coalition of Jewish organizations working for justice in Palestine will sponsor a Jewish Boat to Gaza this summer, with AJJP as its U.S. coordinator.

AJJP joins the "Jüdische Stimme" ('Jewish Voice' for a Just Peace in the Near East and Jews for Justice For Palestinians (UK) in sending the boat as a call to the leaders of the world to help Israel find her way to reason, to a sense of humanity and a life without fear.
The participants on the boat will be chosen by its European organizers. In coordination with the medical, educational and mental health services in Gaza, the boat will take school bags and books, donated by German schoolchildren; musical instruments and art materials to support the Gaza Community Mental Health Program; nets and tackle for fishermen; and essential medicines and small medical equipment for the civilian population under siege. Absolutely no weapons will be on board, and all participants will be trained in the principles of non-violence".

American Jews for a Just Peace accuse Israel of attacking the passengers on the Marvi Marmara, but my video posted in the first link is proof positive that the passengers were the aggressors waiting for IDF Soldiers to provoke an attack.  Why is this group twisting the truth around when the evidence is so clear?  Three Jewish based organizations sending boats is a disturbing trend in a series of left wing actions geared toward attempting to affect and force policy in Israel.  I hope the IDF sinks every boat without life preservers.  I pray none of these flotillas never leave or raise enough money to do it.  These organizations must understand that the blockade has save countless Jewish and Egyptian lives.  The blockade has thwarted thousands of terrorist attacks at the hands of Hamas.  If this barrier, which is a line of defense for safety measures is ever removed, it will increase terrorist attacks from the sea and missiles and rockets will be launched from boats.  If any of these boats make it to Gaza every one of them should be treated as an enemy invading Israel. 
 
In my investigation of these sites.  Many of them haven’t posted links, comments and articles since 2010.  I sincerely hope they are losing credibility and that they are unable to convince people of their lies.  If that is the case, major kudos to the American people for holding to the truth.

EILEEN HART ~ 
Eileen Hart is a 45 year old daughter of Holocaust Survivors. She was raised in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania. Eileen was raised in a very conservative and observant Jewish home and was lucky enough to hear her parents story and how important it was to never take freedom for granted, and how lucky she was to live in America. At 17, her parents took her to the American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors and was lucky enough to hear Reagan speak on April 11, 1983. His statement that the safe haven of America and Israel for Jews would never be compromised has stayed with her forever thus stapling her belief in conservatism and working to make sure the world never forgot the Holocaust. She has been active in Holocaust Remembrance programs such as The Philadelphia Holocaust Film Series, receiving a degree in honors in Jewish and Holocaust Studies. After Barack Obama was elected President, she saw the increase of antisemtism and has been actively fighting against the growing sentiment of anti Israel and anti zionist bias within the Jewish community and working against the disturbing trend of Jews turning against Israel. She resides in South Jersey with her family.

Friday, February 18, 2011

It's Thunderbolt Time!!


Back to Blogging today & it's Friday.  Film Friday .... and today's Film is 1977's  "Raid on Entebee."   It is a true tale.  And,  it is a holiday weekend here & as I contemplate what I am doing with my holiday weekend, I am also thinking of Sgt. Gilad Shalit, who today is 1,700 days in captivity, held by Hamas. 

Gilad Shalit was a 19 year old male serving in the Israeli Defence Forces when he was kidnapped by 'palestinian' terrorists, Hamas, on Sunday morning, 25th June 2006.  He was at the time engaged in his 'job' of protecting Israel's borders.  They dragged the wounded Gilad out through a 900 foot tunnel to Gaza & he has been held there in Captivity ever since.  Those manning his checkpoint with him on that fateful Sunday morning were killed by these terrorists.  

"Raid on Entebee"  is a docu-drama relating how the 'palestinian  Liberation Organisation'  ~ PLO ~  hi-jacked a plane full of Israelis in 1976 and took them to Uganda.  It is really the story the Israeli response which was both swift and precise. Then, we did not negotiate with our enemies who kidnapped our fellow Jews, nor did we petition an international body, we did what was neccesary. A famous soldier was sadly killed during this operation ~ Yonatan Netanyahu, the only Israeli commando who died during the operation.  He is the brother of the present Israeli Prime Minister, Benyamin Netanyahu.

It took Israeli commandos minutes to conduct one of the greatest and most daring rescue missions in modern history, in  Entebbe, Uganda, on July 4, 1976.  During those brief fateful moments, good triumphed over evil ~ the innocent were saved and the terrorists who threatened them were routed.



It was 11:30 pm Saturday night.  The seventh night that over 100 Israelis, non-Israeli Jews, and the twelve-member Air France crew were held in the Entebbe airport since the PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation of palestine) terrorists and two West German supporters, members of the Baader Meinhof gang, hijacked a jet while on the ground in Athens. Supporting the terrorists and giving them cover was the Ugandan regime under Idi Amin or simply 'Dada'. In the prior decade, Uganda had received military and non-military aid from Israel prior to severing ties in 1967.

The plane was bound from Tel Aviv to Paris. It was diverted to Benghazi airport in Libya for refuelling and then headed for Entebbe.

The final deadline to meet the hijackers' demands and release forty terrorists held in Israel and thirteen in West Germany, Switzerland, France and Kenya, was steadily approaching. Negotiations managed to postpone the approaching July 1 deadline for three days. On July 1, the non-Jewish passengers were released by the terrorists. The Air France crew chose to stay with the remaining hostages. On July 3, French diplomats involved in the negotiations stated that there was no hope for an agreement. Releasing the terrorists would embolden them to continue such operations. Not meeting the terrorists' demands could result in a massacre.

As international attention was focused upon the events, Israeli planes made their way to Uganda flying under radar over the Red Sea, in order to avoid detection by the Egyptians and Saudis. They soon landed and the operation commenced. That night, the weary hostages were sound asleep except for a group of five playing bridge. The hijackers were also within the complex. There were also about eighty Ugandan troops guarding the building. At that moment, three Hercules personnel transports with Israel's elite 'Sayeret Matkal' commandos, along with medical teams, had just landed at the well-lit Entebbe airport without suspicion.

The commandos drove toward the terminal in a Black Mercedes with Land Rover escorts, tricking Ugandan guards to believe that Idi Amin was visiting. Guards soon approached the vehicles and were shot, the ruse was now over. Time was of the essence. A few seconds delay could foil the entire operation. Taking a chance that the airport complex was not booby trapped, they headed toward the hostage compound. Nearby, seven parked Soviet-made MIGS were hastily destroyed, preventing pursuit of the Israeli aircraft after the operation. The commandos were just a few hundred yards away. They burst in, alerting the stunned hostages that they were Israelis and to keep low. Some shouted out the word nes, Hebrew for "miracle".

Over the next 45 seconds, there were bursts of gunfire, and then the firing ended. The hostages were quickly escorted on board the Hercules transports, which headed home to Israel via a brief stop in Nairobi, Kenya, for refueling and medical treatment for some of the wounded. The entire raid lasted fifty-three minutes. It took fifty-three minutes to thwart the plans of the PFLP.

The operation was so daring, the Israeli cabinet repeatedly deliberated, and only decided to proceed at the last minute, within hours of the deadline. The mission's overall commander, Brigadier-General Dan Shomron, later described the daring and extreme difficulties of the rescue mission: ...... "You had more than one hundred people sitting in a small room, surrounded by terrorists with their fingers on the trigger. They could fire in a fraction of a second. We had to fly seven hours land safely, drive to the terminal area where the hostages were being held, get inside, and eliminate the terrorists before any of them could fire."   The seven hijackers and approximately twenty Ugandan troops died.  Three hostages were killed during the gunfire exchange.

Israeli Commando Surin Hershko was paralyzed when he was shot while on a diversionary tactic. One passenger, Dora Bloch, a Jewish British citizen, who was hospitalized earlier for stomach pains, was murdered the next day by Ugandan soldiers.


Yoni Netanyahu
The rescue operation, originally named Operation Thunderbolt, was renamed  'Operation Yonatan' in honour of the operation's commander, Yonatan Netanyahu, 30, who was cut down by a Ugandan sentry as he was about to enter the compound. Netanyahu believed from the outset that the plan was do-able and his confidence influenced government leaders and his fellow commandos. On that day, one of Israel's greatest soldiers was slain.

On that day, which also happens to be American Independance Day, the forces that threaten freedom were routed by courage and daring as they were on that Original day over 200 years ago.  In the UN General Assembly, some praised the mission, others condemned and criticized. No matter.  All words aside, heroic actions spoke on that triumphant day.  And the hostages were Freed!

And today, from Yoni to Gilad ....


A Gaunt Gilad Shalit
Four years ago,  a Jewish son was taken from his parents.  The Hamas terror organization kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit during an incursion from Gaza into Israel. His captors have denied access to him by the Red Cross in complete violation of the Geneva Convention. For four years a merciless enemy has held captive a young man, a soldier. While Gilad Shalit has become a symbol, there has been no Rescue attempt and only a series of stalled negotiations.

So, Why doesn't Israel go into Gaza and get Gilad Shalit? It is much closer then Uganda. How did we lose the resolve to get Shalit that we had to go all the way to Uganda?

We Know that Gilad is Alive. And there is a media campaign. It is massive ..... massive, but mistaken. It keeps repeating that "the fate of Shalit is in Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's hands." That's not true.  

Gilad Shalit isn't in "Netanyahu's hands."    Oh! that he were .....


General Idi Amin, terrorist!
He's in Hamas, Arab terrorists' hands, and they are the ones who have the physical and moral responsibility to free him. It's not up to Israel to bargain and beg for his life. Those Arabs are being strengthened by the International media, because the media blame Israel, and not the Arab terrorists who continue his incarceration and are the guilty ones. Gilad Shalit is not a negotiating tool to be bargained off in a numbers game with Hamas, which they have tried to turn on & off for the last four years ~ NOT ONE Hamas murderer should be released in a trade off for the freeing of Gilad Shalit

How can one compare the life of a soldier with the release of such evil to the world?  Will Hammed Ibrahim, military leader of Hamas in the 'West Bank',  who killed & organized attacks that killed 76 people, be freed? Or Abdullah Barghouti, "the engineer" who prepared all the explosives that caused bloodshed in Jerusalem between 2001 and 2003? His targets included the Sbarro restaurant, the University Cafeteria at Mount Scopus. He killed at least 46. What about Sayed Abbas, who masterminded the suicide bombing in a Natanya hotel in 2002, in which 30 Israelis were killed during the Passover seder, including many elderly Holocaust survivors and their families?

Having said that I am TOTALLY for Gilad being freed NOW. Not one day more in Captivity, four years is too long. 1,700 days is unacceptable.  One day more is too much.  But, I dont believe in a negotiated exchange.

Different tactics now need to be tried. Like turning off the electric supply to Gaza. Like turning off the water supply. It is supplied by Israel. Like enforcing a total embargo by land and by sea. Nothing goes in, nothing goes out. By shutting down the Temple Mount to Arabs. By putting the PA hierarchy in Ramallah under seige. By assassinating the Hamas leadership, one after the next after the next. Same with convicted Arab prisoners held in Israeli jails. By returning Israeli's to their surrendered homes in Gush Katif and other sites in Gaza. By using the combined forces of the IDF & IDA to go get Gilad.   Oh! Yes. There's lots of ways to get Gilad back without releasing 1,000 terrorists.


Why are 'palestinian' supplies allowed in to Gaza? Why are "ambulances" allowed out?

The Israeli Government too Must Do More To Free Gilad. The very first thing for them to do is to suspend all Red Cross visits to Arab terrorist prisoners in Israeli hands. If they can't see Gilad Shalit, they can't see anyone in Israel. No family visits for Arab prisoners .... no walks in the yard, no games, no cards, no books, nothing, no education, no degrees or doctorates to earn. Same conditions as Shalit has endured all of this time. Hamas are not playing games or being 'nice' or even 'humane'!!

Hit Hamas where it hurts ~ No monetary 'Aid' Allowed! Freeze All Banking Activity to Gaza ~ Close the Gravy train to Gaza!!!

At the same time all "humanitarian aid" to Gaza must be suspended and blocked. Turn off the Power & the water to start. Reinstate and tighten Israel's economic sanctions against Gaza, and take more effective action to block smuggling into Gaza through the tunnels along the Gaza-Egypt border. No Gas to Gaza ..... Then every week lessen the 'aid'. Let's "Aid" this Israeli Soldier not Hamas Murderers. It's interesting to note that the 'humanitarain' flotillas all REFUSED to bring a parcel or letter to Gilad from his family. So, lets lessen the amount of 'Aid' & supplies in by a given percentage every extra day Gilad spends in his Dungeon.

"There are 1.5 million people living in Gaza and only one of them really needs humanitarian aid,” Defence Minister Ehud Barak said. “Only one of them is locked in a tiny room and never sees the light of day, only one of them is not allowed visits and is in uncertain health ~ his name is Gilad Shalit .....”

Let's remember the "Raid on Entebbe" today ..... Let's Remember Gilad Shalit ...... It's Thunderbolt Time!!!!!!

Hine ma tov uma nayim shevet achim gam yachad!  ~ Look how good and how lovely it is for Jews to dwell together in unity!

Thursday, February 17, 2011

THIS IS MY LAND!!

Mountains of Samaria ~ Southern View

I have to apologise for my non - blogging self this week.  I have a hideous headcold that just won't go away & I know my 'What is Israel' series remains unfinished, so Apologies & Assurances that I will be back to blogging tomorrow.  For today, and on theme, this blog has been written by my friend & JEWS NEWS partner, Eliyokim Cohen.

Hi my name is Eliyokim Cohen, and I live in an "illegal Jewish settlement" in Judea and Samaria...HI ELIYOKIM.  Sounds a little rehabish I know, but sadly many Jews around the world have become addicted to labeling my home by the same definition that the rest of the Jew hating world labels it. Like virtually everything else leveled at Israel, this assertion is truly false as well. It's one thing hearing this pathetic rhetoric from the gentile world, but it becomes infuriating when I hear it from my own people.

If you are living in america right now, I hate to break it to you, but you live in an "illegal settlement". The native americans lived there long before you got there, so kindly pick up and just move somewhere else that isn't so controversial please. If you live in europe, I am sorry but their were people that lived there before you as well, and you are "occupying" their land, and I would like you to give it back. Same goes for you russia, there might not be a more guilty nation on earth in territorial aggression than "mother russia", so please kindly move to a more suitable location.

You might laugh at what I just said, but in no way can you tell me that I'm wrong. G-d created this world, and He decided how He wanted to apportion the nations and their territories. He chose to give the Land of Israel to the Jewish people, just like he decided to give the land of seir to the edomites. However, if you don't agree with that statement, anyway you slice the pie the Jews have a right to live anywhere we want in the Land, which I will explain coming up. The world can whine and complain all they want, but BZ"H I will continue to get up every morning, and eat my eggs, and look out at a Land that my ancestors settled before that pedophile muhammed was even a glimmer in his mother's eye.

Jews were here before muslims, that is a fact that is set in stone. Anyway you travel in this country you will see artifacts of a Jewish presence that dates back thousands of years. You might see a mosque, but there is a 104% chance that it was built on top of a Shul. The supposed holiest thing to the muslims in my country was built right smack on top of the Holiest place in the world, the Temple Mount. When you look at an aerial view of that area, you will see the ruins of our Temple courtyard, yet for some reason the muslims decided to claim that Jews have NEVER had a presence on our Temple Mount. The level of chutzpah in that statement should draw the ire of every Jew on earth, but sadly most don't care.

Jews were here first, that is not even up for debate, but if you want to say that the muslims conquered this Land, therefore it is theirs, I will actually agree that you might have a leg to stand on there...but sadly I will knock that leg out from under you because we conquered ALL of the Land back in 1967. We won that war, we did not want that war, we did not ask for that war, but we certainly dominated that war...and now that Land is ours.

If you look back in history you will see an endless sea of territorial expansion. Just looking at the last 100 years you will see a few nations that made enormous territorial gains, and imposed their will on their new possessions. Anyone ever heard of World War II? If there has ever been a more overt land grab in history, then I would like to know about it. To the victors go the spoils is the old adage, and I know it hurts the world to hear me say this, but WE ARE THE VICTORS, WE DESTROYED THE MUSLIM ARMIES, AND WE TOOK BACK OUR LAND.

The world doesn't like Israel, and if you think I'm crazy then look into the number of united nations resolutions over the past 50 years or so, and see if something stands out to you. Is there a reason why one of the tiniest countries on earth has more resolutions involving it then every other nation combined pretty much? Is there a reason why the world can't even agree that the sky is blue, but they can agree that Israel is a disease that needs to be cured? You know something is fishy when the muslim and christian nations of the world can only find common ground on their vilification of Israel.

I do not live in an illegal settlement, I live in my home in Israel. I am not an obstacle to peace, peace is an obstacle to peace. I am not occupying another's Land, I am claiming my own Land. I do not engage in apartheid, I am actually the victim of it. The world needs to learn how to think for themselves, how to do a little research, how to block-out pathetic catch-phrases, and how to look at a situation logically.

If you tell me that I have to go, then I'm telling you that YOU have to go. If you don't like me living in Samaria because it is "poor, oppressed palestinian land", then I don't like you living in manhattan, which is proud native american land. You want me out on the street in the Hills of Biblical Israel, then I want you out on the street in france. You want me to pack my bags in my wonderful community in a Land that G-d gave me, then I want you to ready your suitcase in moscow. This is my Land, and this is my Home, and if you don't like that, then learn to live with it because I don't answer to you, or to your government, or to the united nations...I answer to G-d, and I live on the gift that He prepared just for me!

THIS IS MY LAND SO DEAL WITH IT ~ ELIYOKIM COHEN ~ http://www.sidetick.com/


Monday, February 14, 2011

My Jewish Valentine??


Roses are Red,
Violets are Blue,
Do I celebrate 'Valentine's' 
If I'm a Jew???

I like Chocolate.  I love Fresh Flowers.  Isn't it Fun to get a Valentine??

After all,  there is nothing about the contemporary traditions of Valentine's Day ~ cards, flowers, chocolate ~ that seems distasteful or overtly religious.   Isn't it really a secular holiday nowadays?? .....  In the United States, the marketing of 'Valentine's Day' has tagged it as a "Hallmark holiday".   In Ireland,  it's an evening to dine with the love of your life.  Or pine to dine with them while crying at the tv 'Rom Com'.   Although the recent trend towards political correctness has begun to refer to February 14th as "Singles Awareness Day".   At least in California,    the holiday's full name of 'St. Valentine's Day' certainly implies that it has Christian roots.  Thus, there is a  question of whether it's appropriate for Jews to celebrate Valentine's Day.  The answer would seem to be tied to the true origins of the holiday and the history of the 'saint' for whom it's named.  Who was St. Valentine?  What about how it historically has been celebrated??  Are there Answers there???

Valentine's Day was first instituted by Pope Gelasius I in 496 C.E. to commemorate the martyrdom of St. Valentine. Yet scholars know almost nothing about this St. Valentine. Most believe that Valentine lived in the late 3rd century C.E. However, the name Valentine (derived from the Latin word valeo meaning strong) was common in the ancient world. There are at least 30 mentions of the name in historical documents from this time period.

The stories associated with St. Valentine are not historical, but rather originate in a number of polemical legends written during the 6th and 7th centuries. According to these legends, Valentine was a priest who was arrested by the Emperor Claudius. Following a theological debate about the merits of Christianity, Valentine was sentenced to live with a noble by the name of Asterius in a form of house arrest. With the help of G-d and "true faith", Valentine miraculously restores the sight of his master's adopted daughter and, in doing so, converts Asterius and the 24 members of his house. When Emperor Claudius hears of this "miracle" and the subsequent conversions, he has Valentine killed.

Another legend from roughly the same time period, The Passion of the Bishop Valentine of Terni, is a longer and more complex version of the same story. These two renditions of the Valentine legend have a number of factual and stylistic problems that have led scholars to agree that they are not reliable sources of historical information. The clearest example of this is the identity of the emperor, as there is no documentation of persecution by Claudius. In this and other ways, these legends must be understood as part of a literary genre focused on imparting specific values.

In the case of the legends of St. Valentine, the message highlights the miraculous power and importance of true and unwavering faith even when facing persecution or martyrdom. The fact that these legends do not connect the martyrdom of St. Valentine and the themes of love and fertility have raised questions about the origins of the themes of Valentine's Day.

Some have suggested that Valentine's Day is a Christian reconstruction of a pagan holiday known as Lupercalia. Lupercalia was a fertility festival described by Plutarch, the Greek biographer and neo-Platonist philosopher, as a time when noble youths ran through the city naked for sport, striking those they met with loin cloths. It was widely believed that getting struck with one of these loin cloths could help a pregnant woman deliver and a barren woman conceive.  So is Valentine's really an ancient post-winter-early-spring Roman fertility and purification festival that was observed on February 15th in which boys slapped women with bloody goat's hides & Jews with soiled loin cloths??

The amourously-charged Carnivale celebrations and its American variant known as Mardi Gras also take place at this time.   There is some evidence too that Valentine's Day's themes of love and romance were actually a creation of Geoffrey Chaucer and a number of his contemporaries in late 14th century England. In fact, the first literary reference to Valentine’s Day in this context is Chaucer's "Parlement of Foules" published in 1382 in honour of the first anniversary of the engagement of King Richard II of England and Anne Bohemia.  This was a time when courtly 'love'  in literature was coming into vogue!

The ritual of sending formal greetings seems to have appeared in the 1500's. Today, the custom has grown so widespread that the Greeting Card Association of America estimates that roughly one billion valentines are sent each year worldwide. Despite this popularity, the source for the custom seems to have evolved out of an embellishment to the apocryphal legend of St. Valentine. In this telling, Valentine falls in love with the daughter of his jailer and on the night before his execution, he writes her a parting note signed "from your Valentine."

Academics aren't the only ones who have recognized the dubious historical basis for Valentine’s Day. Vatican II, the set of reforms adopted by the Catholic Church in 1969, removed Valentine's Day from the Catholic church's calendar, asserting that "though the memorial of St. Valentine is ancient… apart from his name nothing is known…. Except that he was buried on the Via Flaminia on 14th February."  


Not to be a romantic spoiler, there is a grim, long forgotten reason for Jews not to rush out to invest in lingerie or make dinner reservations.  According to Cecil Roth in his classic 'The Jewish Book of Days', it was on this day in 1349 that the Massacre of Strasbourg took place,  perhaps the worst of the many anti-Jewish outrages that occurred during the Black Death.  It was alleged that Jews were suffering and dying from the Black Plague at a much lower rate than Christians. It is not clear if this was actually true, but there are several theories explaining the apparent phenomenon. One theory suggests that Jews buried their dead much more quickly than Christians and in separate cemeteries, thus making their deaths less visible. Another theory speculates that Passover was responsible for saving a great portion of the Jewish population. According to Dr. Martin Blaser, as reported by The New York Times,  has suggested that the clearing of hametz (leavened bread) from homes ahead of Passover deprived rats of food and shelter, helping to stymie the disease’s spread. He adds that the plague peaked in the spring, around the time that Passover would have fallen.

When the plague struck Europe, panic got the better of the population and its religious, civil and economic leaders. Considering that upwards of 40 percent of Europe’s population was wiped out by this mystery pandemic known only at the time as the “Black Plague,” and so a scapegoat was sought and made to pay. Considering the prejudice and persecution that Europe’s Jews were already suffering, it's not a huge stretch of imagination to see why we became the scapegoat for the Black Plague.

Despite a papal bull by Pope Clement VI in the second half of 1348 clearing the Jews of responsibility for the plague, the blaming, burning and banishing of the Jews did not stop.  The Strasbourg locals had blamed fluctuations in the price of corn on the Jews, whom they suspected of being protected by the city council.  And it was on February 14th, 1349 that a mob barricaded the Judenstrasse (Street of the Jews) and drove & dragged the whole Jewish community into the cemetery where they built a huge pyre. About two thousand Jewish men, women and children were burned to death.  Only those who accepted Christianity ~ and proved it by 'being baptised' ~ were allowed to live.

A new council was installed shortly after, and officially barred Jews from the city for a century. As it happens, this ban was eased 20 years later.  Among the spoils of that day was a shofar the mob had found in the main synagogue. This find confirmed the suspicions of the townsfolk: it was, they said, prepared by the Jews in order to betray the city. By blowing it, the Jews would be able to signal their unnamed allies lurking outside the city walls.  For many years after, the so-called 'Judenblos' was blown each evening on a 'grusselhorn', an imitation shofar, as a warning to any Jews within the city limits to depart before nightfall, and also as a reminder to the townspeople of their 'miraculous' rescue from the machinations of the 'devious Jews'.

 And that is not all .... On February 14th in

1667 ~ The end of the practice known as “Black Monday.” Prior to this date, the Jews of Rome had been subjected to a humiliating medieval practice of running a race in the Roman carnivals, scantily clad, amid insults and blows. This practice of "Black Monday" named for the day of the week during the Carnival Season on which it took place was not practiced after 1667.

1670:  ~ Leopold I ordered Jews to be expelled from Vienna within a few months. Although Leopold was reluctant to lose the large amount of taxes (50,000 Florins) paid by the Jews, he was persuaded to do so by his wife Margaret, the daughter of the Phillip IV Spanish Regent, and a strong follower of the Jesuits Margaret blamed the death of her firstborn on the tolerance shown to the Jews. 

1727: ~  Benedict XIII issuesd Emanavit nuper, a Papal Bull, dealing with “the necessary conditions for imposing baptism on a Jew.” 

Fast forward to 1910 when the Hallmark Corporation was created and Cupid really got his wings.  But, given all of the above (& much more that could be cited) .... Should we Celebrate today as a feasting festival??  It is not a day when much love has been shown to Jews!!

In Judaism we have an altogether different day to demonstrate our love for our partners,  or desire for a potential partner!  It is called Tu B’Av,  or the 15th day of the Month of Av.  It has become a rather obscure holiday, but the Rabbis of the Talmud,  the first legal compendium of Jewish Law and Custom, wrote that there were no days more festive in Judaism than Yom Kippur and Tu B’Av.  Rabban Gamliel made this claim because it was on these days that all the young unmarried women came out in flowing white dresses to say, “Young man consider who you choose as a wife.”

It was like a Jewish matchmaking day.  It was 'jdate.com' before the internet. While this day has remained under the Jewish radar for centuries, it has seen a resurgence in recent decades amongst those who choose to ignore Valentine’s Day,  and in Israel where it has become a Jewish version of the 'Valentine's' February 14th.