Monday, October 31, 2011

3400 Years Ago in Jerusalem

Last year, we were informed that

A one square inch fragment of a clay tablet believed to be a letter written by Abdi-Heba, the Canaanite ruler of Jerusalem to pharaoh Akhenaten has been found outside the old walls of the ancient city. Thought to date back some 3,400 years, this would make it the most ancient written document ever found in the Holy City...

And now:

Amarna Letters now online

High-resolution images of the famed Amarna letters, the ancient 14th-century B.C. diplomatic correspondence between the New Kingdom pharaohs of Egypt and the kings of various Canannnite city-states, among others, have been placed online by Berlin’s Vorderasiatisches Museum, which houses more than 200 of the total of over 300 tablets that define the ancient corpus.

Among the images are those representing letters written by Abdi-Heba, king of Canaanite Jerusalem, to the Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten. In that correspondence the Canaanite king, allied with Egypt, requests the Pharaoh to send troops to Jerusalem for the defense of the city against other threatening Canaanite kings. In other correspondence, King Biridiya of Megiddo complains about the King of Gezer’s attacks on his territory and attempts to improve his status with the Pharaoh...


No "Palestinians", though.

^

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Is "Armed Resistance" Covered by International Law?

I also must note, that while I, personally, and the ISM as an organization, recognize the Palestinian right to use armed struggle to resist occupation (even if we don’t engage in or actively support it), we strongly believe that armed resistance MUST adhere to international law.

That was Huwaida Arraf, cofounder of the International Solidarity Movement (and thanks to ChallahHuAkbar suspended at present).


As noted:

Any discussion about the right of resistance must begin by recognizing the extent to which government is already the aggressor. As Locke wrote, “There is only one thing which gathers people for sedition, and that is oppression.”

If you but realize that

a. the Arab countries and the local leadership of the Arabs of the former Mandate of Palestine refused to accept the UN Partition recommendationof 1947, after subverting by a campaign of terror since 1920 the right of the Jews to reconstitute their national home;

b. that they initiated a war of aggression in late 1947;

c. that they sponsored the fedayeen terror campaign of 1949-1956;

d. that they sponsored the PLO in 1964 and its terror campaign;

e. that they refused any territorial compromise, including the disengagement;

f. that their terror was directed almost exclusively at civilians in an indiscriminate manner;

g. and much more,

then you can only come to the conclusion, given Israel's attempt to negotiated a peaceful resolution of the conflict, that there is no right of resistance in this case but the the duty to desist from violence and sit at the negotiations table.

And as for "rights", read this:

Aljamal: Why do you believe that one-state solution is the best one to the conflict?

Arraf: I actually do not advocate the one-state solution. This doesn’t mean that I support the two-state solution either. Rather, I take a “rights-based approach.” This means that I focus on the rights that we’re struggling to achieve and don’t spend time arguing about one state or two. In reality, I don’t care if it’s 10 states or no states, as long as the rights of Palestinians and all people are respected and implemented. This includes the right of our refugees to return and to compensation for their losses, the right to complete equality under the law, and other rights currently denied to Palestinians. As a political solution, one state would likely achieve this best. However, if two states were proposed that included the right of all refugees to return to their homes (even if not the exact homes they lived in) inside 48 Palestine, and guaranteed equality for all people, meaning that Israel would NOT be defined as a Jewish state, but a state that represented all her people equally, then that could also work...Israel cannot define itself as a Jewish state, because then it would need to maintain a Jewish majority. This means that it would need to take steps to ensure that Jews remain a majority, including preventing Palestinian families from reuniting, continuing to recruit Jews to bring to Israel while keeping Palestinians out, perhaps some day restricting the number of children Palestinians inside Israel can have!”

What she is promoting is a denial of rights, plain and simple.

^

Hassidim in Their Military Uniforms

Who says Hassidim don't serve in the military?

Watch.

^

Er, And What Were Those Pals. Doing?

I am going to quote this press release in full and ask you one two questions:

what were these activists doing

and

why were they killed and wounded?

Ref: 108/2011
Date: 30 October 2011
Time: 11:30 GMT

IOF Escalate Attacks on the Gaza Strip; 9 Palestinians Killed and 5 Others Wounded

In the past 24 hours, Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have escalated attacks against the Gaza Strip, and Israeli warplanes launched a series of air strikes targeting several activists of Palestinian resistance groups throughout the Gaza Strip. As a result of these attacks, 9 members of the al-Quds Brigades (the armed wing of Islamic Jihad) have been killed, and another 5 Palestinians, including two civilians, one of whom is a 15-year-old child, were wounded. A number of training sites of resistance groups and a police station have been destroyed, and a number of nearby buildings and facilities were damaged. Following the first attack, in which 5 Palestinians were killed, IOF took responsibility for it, and an IOF spokesman claimed that the Israeli air force launched air strikes in the context of an operation, in which the Israeli Internal Security Service was involved, against a cell of Islamic Jihad accused of launching Grad rockets at Israeli towns. The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) warns of further escalation of such attacks, and expresses concern for the lives of Palestinian civilians, especially because the Gaza Strip is one of the most densely populated areas in the world.

According to investigations conducted by PCHR, at approximately 13:15 on Saturday, 29 October 2011, Israeli warplanes fired 3 missiles at a training site of the al-Quds Brigades (the armed wing of Islamic Jihad) known as Muhajer (Immigrant) located in a former Israeli settlement in the western part of Rafah, a town in southern Gaza Strip. As a result, 5 activists of the al-Quds Brigades were killed:

1- Ahmed Khalil al-Sheikh Khalil, 36, from Rafah;
2- Mohammed Ahmed ‘Aashour, 26, from Khan Yunis;
3- ‘Abdul Karim Mousa Shatat (al-Masri), 30, from Khan Yunis;
4- Bassem Mohammed Abu al-‘Ata, 33, from Gaza City; and
5- Hassan Mohammed al-Khudari, 27, from Gaza City.

Additionally, 3 activists were moderately wounded.

At approximately 20:30 that same day, an Israeli warplane fired a missile at two activists of the al-Quds Brigades while they were walking near al-Murabetin Mosque in al-Salam neighborhood in the south of Rafah. The two activists were instantly killed. They were identified as:

1- Suleiman Mahrous Abu Fatma, 21; and
2- Sami Hamad Abu Sabt, 23, both from Rafah.
A civilian bystander, ‘Essam Mohammed Abu Qershain, 36, was moderately wounded by shrapnel.

At approximately 21:45 of the same evening, an Israeli warplane fired a missile at a number of activists of the al-Quds Brigades, south of Wadi al-Salqa, a village located east of the central Gaza Strip town of Deir al-Balah. The missile landed near a house, and wounded an activist. Additionally, 15-year-old Rawand Tayseer Abu Mughassib, was lightly wounded in the left hand while she was on her way to her grandmother’s house in the area, according to her father. Three houses were also damaged in the attack.

Shortly thereafter, at approximately 22:30, an Israeli warplane fired a missile at two activists of the al-Quds Brigades who were near the landing ground located near Ansar security compound in the west of Gaza City. The two activists were instantly killed. They were identified as:

1- Mardi Nahidh Mohammed Hajjaj, 24; and
2- Suhail Ibrahim Jundiya, 27, both from al-Shuja’iya neighborhood in Gaza City.

On Sunday early morning, 30 October 2011, Israeli warplanes launched 5 air strikes on 4 sites in Gaza City and Khan Yunis. No casualties were reported, but Palestinian civilians were extremely terrified by attacks.

PCHR reiterates condemnation of these crimes and:

1- Stresses that these crimes form part of systematic violations perpetrated in the occupied Palestinian territory, particularly the Gaza Strip, which reflect Israeli forces disregard for the lives of Palestinian civilians;
2- Warns of further escalation in hostilities, which may result in the targeting of civilians and their property, in light of statements made by Israeli politicians and military leaders;
3- Calls upon the international community to immediately take an action to stop such crimes and reiterates its call for the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to fulfill their obligations under Article 1 which stipulates "the High Contracting Parties undertake to respect and to ensure respect for the present Convention in all circumstances," and their obligations under Article 146 which requires that the Contracting Parties prosecute persons alleged to commit grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention. These grave breaches constitute war crimes under Article 147 of the same Convention and under Protocol I Additional to Geneva Conventions.

The answers to those questions are here:

an IOF spokesman claimed that the Israeli air force launched air strikes in the context of an operation, in which the Israeli Internal Security Service was involved, against a cell of Islamic Jihad accused of launching Grad rockets at Israeli towns.

And that statement is misleading, as usual, when coming from Pal. spokespersons. Twisted and incomplete, of course.

^

Haaretz As It Is Leaning

Found here:

left-leaning Haaretz daily

^

Confirmation of Shiloh Biblical Narrative

Found in this article about a "five line ostracon from Izbet Sartah was recovered from an Early Iron Age grain silo at the
site." (and see here):-



The  first  line  of  the  text  tells  of  the  advance  of  a  group  of  people  from Shiloh  to  a  field at Aphek. Since  they came  from what is known biblically  to have been an Israelite site,  it is  reasonable  to identify  this group as  Israelites. This identification is confirmed by the  fact  that  the  text was  found at a  site which  is  Israelite  in  terms of  location and archaeology, as well as by  the contents of  the fourth line of  the  text.

The second line identifies a second party as Kittim, or Sea Peoples, which  historically included  Philistines.  Because  of  the close  correspondence  of  these  two  groups  and  their  actions  to  the events  described  in  1  Sam  4,  this  text  thus  far  already  provides presumptive  evidence  that  it  refers  to  the  same  events  as  those described  in  that  biblical  passage.  According  to  the  rest  of  the second  line,  these  Kittim  took  away  some  unnamed  object,  presumably  the  Ark  of  the Covenant  according  to  biblical  parallels, and took it  to a series of sites. Three of  those sites are named in  this line,  and  two  of  them  are  also  recognizable  in  the  narrative  of 1  Sam 5.

The  short  third  line  provides  the  name  of  another place,  this being  the site  to which  the Ark was returned when  it came back  to Israelite  territory  according  to  1  Sam  6.  The  fourth  line appears  to refer  back  to  events  contemporary with  those  narrated  in  the  first line.

Taken together, these contents of this text correlate quite directly with those described in 1 Sam 4-5-6.


Photo source.

Additional view here. And here.  And a rejoinder. But more.

^

Of Shiloh, Tennessee: Elton John's Song

The Elton John/Leon Russell song, "Gone to Shiloh":-


Here. And here.  A nice cover here.  The original with Neil Young.


Music: Elton John
Lyrics: Bernie Taupin

Luther left us first light Friday morning
Little Dan and Becky waved goodbye
They're gonna have to share the weight together
Idle hands will see a good farm slowly die

chorus

Shoulder to shoulder, side by side
Gone to Shiloh, hope springs eternal
When flags and bullets start to fly

April's come and the air smells fresh with rain
They watched his shadow fade around the bend
He's headed for a different kind of thunder
And the stunned surprise in the eyes of dying men

chorus

Gone to Shiloh for the Union
Shoulder to shoulder, side by side
Gone to Shiloh, time passes slowly
When flags and bullets start to fly

The old black rooster sang him down that dirt road
His step seemed bold, his manner fancy-free
I pray we see him alive and well in the fall here
Than that God-forsaken place in Tennessee

chorus

Gone to Shiloh for the Union
Shoulder to shoulder, side by side
Gone to Shiloh, men stand united
When flags and bullets start to fly

After all of this
If we should prevail
Heaven help the South
When Sherman comes their way

On the album. And this appreciation:

Gone to Shiloh is an automatic standard...an account of one Northern soldier's experience in the U.S. Civil War during the Battle of Shiloh, an early but exceedingly bloody Union victory. Sherman was one of the Union officers leading the troops; he later was promoted to general, and, as some may be aware, led a "scorched earth" campaign through Georgia and South Carolina during the latter stages of the war. Hence the lyric, "Heaven help the South" - not that a belligerent at Shiloh in April 1862 could have foreseen what would happen in late 1864, early 1865, but Taupin the Narrator is permitted a little poetic license here.

"To return to Gone To Shiloh...(it) work(s) about as well on record as in live performance and [is a] gorgeous, emotive song...

This, too:

Gone to Shiloh, which really does highlight the perfect union between John and Russell. Tragic and haunting, Shiloh is reminiscent of a late Johnny Cash as the two men stand 'shoulder by shoulder, side by side'...

...the album's best track, "Gone to Shiloh," seems to invent acoustic cavities it can reverberate throughout. The latter song is, somewhat embarrassingly, an inane Northern answer to "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," but there's something irreproducible about the combination of Russell's throaty nearness, John's earthen tenor, and Young's yellowing falsetto.

National Park site.  The BattleMap.

The battle of Shiloh, or Pittsburg Landing, was over. It had cost both sides a combined total of 23,746 men killed, wounded, or missing—more casualties than America had suffered in all previous wars.  Some 100,000 troops in total took part.

The Battle takes its name from the church that was constructed there:

The original "Shiloh Meeting House"—a one-room log structure with rude handmade furnishings—was built by the Southern Methodists about 1853, 9 years after the church had split over the slavery issue.

When the Union Army moved upon the field, General Sherman encamped his division along the ridge on either side of the church. It was along this same ridge that he formed his first line of battle on the morning of April 6, 1862, and where he was first attacked by the Confederates. He succeeded in holding the ridge for about 2 hours before he was forced to withdraw.

As soon as Sherman withdrew, General Beauregard established his headquarters at the church. He held the position until the Confederates began their retreat on the second day.

The church was reportedly torn down by the Union troops and the logs used to build bridges when the movement upon Corinth began.

The present structure, completed in 1949, stands on the site of the original church.

The 150th Commemoration nwill take place in 5 months time.

^

Is Gideon Levy Planning to Leave or Resist?

One might think so ready his latest in Haaretz:-

Hostile takeover

Do you really want to live in a country where the heads of the settlement enterprise allocate its lands, plan its nature sites, rule on its laws and are increasingly controlling its lifestyles?

He is upset and seeks to subvert democracy:

...the name of their game is occupation, of positions of power rather than territory. Their first target is the Israel Defense Forces: Their soldiers and officers are already nearly everywhere. Now they have turned their sights toward the civilian society...a settler as head of the Israel Lands Administration, a settler as director of the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and the first settler is on his way to the Supreme Court. These are sensitive and important positions of power, but they are only the harbingers of autumn that might usher in a winter during which a dangerous and powerful religious, messianic, nationalistic and patently antidemocratic minority will come to run our lives.

Don't kid yourselves: The settlers are assuming these powerful positions for the express purpose of imposing their ideology. Of course they have the right to apply for them, but anyone with a conscience and anyone who is worried about the character of the state has a duty to try to stop this hostile takeover...But the admission of a settler into the Supreme Court may be the most infuriating of all.

Noam Sohlberg is making his way into the Supreme Court on the wings of his religious beliefs, which have already found expression in his outrageous rulings as a District Court judge...

And he gets downwright nasty:

The settlements are a despicable enterprise based on violence, ultra-nationalism and breaking the law. Every settler has this mark of Cain on their brow. Now ask yourselves: Do you really want to live in a country where the heads of this enterprise allocate its lands, plan its nature sites, rule on its laws and are increasingly controlling its lifestyles?

Is Gideon planning on leaving?

Or joining an armed resistance underground?

After all, he already is a fighter for anti-Zionism with his pen. He already assists the enemy. His sword may be close by?

^

So, Who Was Arrested?

Who is this?



Seems to have occured at this event.

^

Saturday, October 29, 2011

NYTimes Befuddling

Pay attention to the chronology in this NYT report by Fares Akram and Isabel Kershner:

Israeli Drone Strike Kills Militants in Southern Gaza

An Israeli drone strike killed five Palestinian militants at an Islamic Jihad training site in southern Gaza on Saturday, according to witnesses and the militant group, and Gaza militants fired salvos of rockets at southern Israel after Islamic Jihad pledged that it would respond forcefully to the Israeli airstrike.

Which came first? The rocket salvos by Islamic Jihad - or the Israeli drone strike?

Several rockets struck in and around the Israeli port city of Ashdod and one Israeli was lightly wounded, according to the Israeli police. Other rockets fell in open areas.

When did this happen? Before or after that drone attack above?

Earlier, the Israeli military said that it had hit a terrorist squad that was preparing to fire long-range rockets into Israel, and that the same squad had been responsible for firing a rocket that struck late Wednesday near Ashdod.

Wait, there was a terrorist (let's hear applause for the NYT for using that term) squad preparing to fire earlier? And what's that about Wednesday? Was Wednesday too far away from today's news? But is there a connection?

Wednesday’s rocket fire interrupted weeks of relative quiet along the Israel-Gaza border and set off incoming rocket alarms as far north as Rishon LeZion, a Tel Aviv suburb. That rocket fell in an open area and caused no casualties or damage.

Ah, so the start of all this violence was...an Arab initiative.

Finally we know what started this round.

Too bad the NYT couldn't inform its readers of that earlier in this piece.

In the next paragraph we are informed about a 'precipitation':-

Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls Gaza, has made efforts to enforce a cease-fire since the last round of cross-border airstrikes and rocket attacks in August that claimed casualties on both sides. The August confrontation was precipitated by a deadly attack north of Eilat in which eight Israelis died.

And what has happened to the Israeli presence in gaza since 2005?

Witnesses to Saturday’s strike said that an Israeli drone fired two missiles at a training site situated on sandy dunes in a former Jewish settlement near the city of Rafah.

Training site for agriculture? Naw, terror.

Was this a family affair?

Yes:

A spokesman for the armed wing of Islamic Jihad said Saturday that the dead were senior commanders of the organization. They included Ahmed al-Sheikh Khalil, a leader of one of the Islamic Jihad brigades. Mr. Khalil had four brothers who were activists in the movement; they were all killed in Israeli Army operations...

The family that kills together, dies together.

^

Upcoming Visit of Congressmen

JTA rereported an Israel Hayom story:

Seven Republican congressmen to visit Israel next month

Among those who will be making the trip are the co-chairs of the Republican Israel Caucus, Peter Roskam of Illinois and Doug Lamborn of Colorado. They will be joined by Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the chairman of the Republican Study Committee, which advances a conservative social and economic agenda in the House of Representatives.

The congressmen will attend discussions at the Knesset, hold meetings throughout the country and take a helicopter flight over the West Bank Judea and Samaria, Israel Hayom reported.

Others heading to Israel are Reps. John Flemming of Louisiana, Louie Gohmert of Texas, Randy Forbes of Virginia and John Carter of Texas.

Some people have a problem with US lawmakers visiting this area. Others, too.

They seem to be a promising group of politicians:

...the trip organizer, MK Danny Danon (Likud), announced. “The visit proves without a doubt that we are not alone in our political conflict with the Palestinians,” he said.

The seven congressmen are Jim Jordan (Ohio), chairman of the Regulatory Affairs, Stimulus Oversight, and Government Spending subcommittee, and a member of the National Security, Homeland Defense and Foreign Operations subcommittee; John Fleming (Louisiana), a member of the Strategic Forces and Tactical Air and Land Forces subcommittees; Peter Roskam (Illinois) and Doug Lamborn (Colorado), co-chairmen of the Republican Israel Caucus; Louie Gohmert (Texas), chairman of the Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security subcommittee; Randy Forbes (Virginia), chairman of the Judiciary Committee and a member of Armed Services Committee; and John Carter (Texas), co-chairman of the House Army Caucus...

...The seven congressmen are to attend Knesset debates and tour the country, including a helicopter flight over Judea and Samaria.

More:

Danon said he intended to show the visiting congressmen “the complexity of Israel's political situation, with a focus on Judea and Samaria.. Each visitor who has been invited to Israel has returned to their country as an ambassador for Israel. The seven congressmen will understand why Israel insists on maintaining a presence in Judea and Samaria, and is not interested in seeing that area turned into the next terrorist base, bringing terrorism so close to Jerusalem, Netanya and Ben-Gurion International Airport...

I'm sure they will have an interesting, informative and important tour as befits the relationship between Israel and the United States, and moreover, between those who realize that Judea and Samaria is an issue crucial for Israel.

^

Stacey Solomon Pregnant - Still Not Married

The British Jewish Princess, Stacey Solomon, is pregnant by one Aaron Barnham (Jewish?), with her second child.

But she's still not married.

^

West Bank profits decline, but...

Another headline but not connected to my residential district rather Iowa:

West Bank profits decline, but loans outstanding grow

West Bancorporation, the holding company for Iowa’s sixth-largest bank by assets, had so far posted improved results through the first six months of the year, but the bank had to write down $1.7 million on real estate it owns that has declined in value as the bank tries to sell it.

“The write-downs were on land and developed lots, which we believe is the weakest segment of our real estate market,” said Dave Nelson, West Bancorporation’s president and CEO. “We are looking for buyers, and they are looking for bargains.”


^

Your Mistake, Mahmoud, and A Continuing Error

As Haaretz reports:-

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Friday in an interview with Channel 2 that the Arab world erred in rejecting the United Nations' 1947 plan to partition Palestine into a Palestinian and a Jewish state.

..."It was our mistake. It was an Arab mistake as a whole," Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told Channel 2 TV in a rare interview to the Israeli media. "But do they (the Israelis) punish us for this mistake for 64 years?"

Wait, Mahmoud.

It is the Arabs who have been punishing us, Israel and Zionists, for 64 years for being smarter than you to have accepted that decision. 

And you still harbor feelings of animus.

But more importantly, why has it taken you 64 years to admit that mistake?

And most important, why do you continue to refuse any compromise?  You surely know that you cannot receive even from the most vacillating of Israel's politicians all that you want.

And why should you?

You engaged in terror for 64 years.  Before the "occupation".  Before any "settlements".

You initiated the 1967 war by pushing the Arab states.

Doesn't "territorial compromise" mean that you, too, need compromise on territory?

Aren't you continuing to make a mistake?  Live in error?

^

^

'Price Tag' Crosses the Line?

The "Green Line", that is:-

Some 20 olive trees belonging to a well-known Arab-Israeli family were uprooted and destroyed by vandals in Jerusalem's Beit Safafa neighborhood in another 'price-tag' incident on Thursday...Among the uprooted olive trees that littered the grove adjacent to the house was found a large board featuring the handwritten words “Price tag.”   In response, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat was quoted as telling Israel Radio, “No tolerance should be shown to violence of any nature. We will continue to maintain coexistence in the city."

“Price tag” is a term coined by extremist elements within the settler population in Judea and Samaria for acts of vandalism, intimidation and violence against Palestinians and their property in response to the government's removal of outposts, roadblocks, and other perceived anti-settler actions, or in reaction to Palestinian acts of violence. In recent months, mosques and even an Israeli military base have been vandalized.

I just hope it isn't an act of provocation.  That would be a terrible price for the anti-Yesha forces to pay.

_______________

UPDATE

On February 14, 1948, the Hagana "burned out of nest of rioters at the village of Bet Safafa, according to Davar:-


^

Friday, October 28, 2011

Mentioned in the Washington Post

The article Eli Pollak and I wrote published at the Jerusalem Post on the Israel media in light of the Schalit Affair has caught the attention of Eric Wemple at his media blog at the Washington Post:

Think this great land is the only place where people obsess over media bias? Well, Yisrael Medad and Eli Pollak have news for you: The Israeli media does the same thing, all the time.

^

All Quiet on the West....

Review these stats:-

Palestinian casualties by Israeli forces

Killed this week: 0
Killed in 2011 vs. same period in 2010: 9 vs. 13

Injured this week: 21; 10 in a demonstration
Of whom were children: 1
Injured in 2011 vs. same period in 2010: 1,223 vs. 995

All quiet on the western bank?

^

JewishIsrael Claims: "Medad 'Found Jesus'; Is Venal

There is a site devoted to exposing missionary activity by Christians, Messianic Jews and what-not in Israel. It is JewishIsrael.

As with persons who are enthusiastic about their work, or too deeply ideological consumed by their mission (sorry about that play on words), or even needing to screed their message to obtain contributions, they hyper their call to action as well as fudge their 'facts'. They engage in classic guilt-by-association and in my specific case now, impugn one's motives and character.

I think even they have now committed a Jewish Halachic crime of 'halbant paninm' *.

In this post, the are attacking, mainly, Tommy Waller's efforts. But before Tommy and his HaYovel group of volunteers are touched upon, allow me to mention...me.

Here's what they write:

Jesus in Shiloh

Nitzana is not the only place where Jewish lines are being crossed by Christians. It seems that Yisrael Medad found Jesus in Shiloh. Medad, who works with the Menachem Begin Heritage Center and serves as a foreign media spokesperson for the communities in Yehuda and Shomron, blogged about new archaeological church excavations, which could put Shiloh on the map in a big way – for Christian pilgrims. What is most disturbing is the comparisons Medad draws, when perhaps he should have drawn differentiations instead...

...Medad's enthusiasm is most likely not theological in nature. It may derive from his hopes for a possible windfall for Shiloh, his hometown. With the prospect of increased Christian tourism and support, it is unlikely that interested parties in Yehuda and Shomron are going to call for a moratorium on cooperation with evangelical messianics anytime soon. However, rabbis, Jewish community leaders and activists should understand that they are playing with some pretty strange fire. Extreme caution is called for, lest Torah observant Jews break new theological ground, rather than hold Israel’s ground in Yehuda and Shomron.

From the halls of the CUFI Summit in Washington, to the Hills of Yehuda and Shomron, to liaison and winery offices, to the pages of a website, Mike Isley and Tommy Waller are united in messianic Christian fellowship.

I do not know who wrote that fiendish (I almost wrote devilish but I might have been accused of assuming Christian semanitcation - I made up that word, I think, but not to be confused with incantation or worse, incarnation) portrayal. I think one of the activists of JewishIsrael was for many years a Christian Messianist although she was born Jewish, later returning to the fold but, of course, Ellen Horowitz, a good Jewish girl, formerly of the Reform persuasion, and whose husband is trying to help people with other issues which need attention, is responsible for the content. I was informed, although not sure this was publicised, that Mina Fenton, one of the more fanatic anti-missionary activists, is no longer affiliated with JewishIsrael because she is too...ah, I cannot embarass anyone in public, so let's just say the two didn't see eye-to-eye anymore.  I admit, I cooperated with the two women - and others - in the matter of  Vatican attempts to wrest control of Mt. Zion from Israel over five years ago or more and would still do so.  I harbor no guilt-by-association prejudices but try to deal from issue to issue and position by position.  And in an aside, in the post, you can see a good few pictures of David Wilder who has 'repented' his previous cooperation and gone over to Ellen's side.  Imagine what people are now thinking when they see David's picture there.

Now, as I seem to shun posts that go on and on, let's try to be to the point:

a) in writing this:

Nitzana is not the only place where Jewish lines are being crossed by Christians. It seems that Yisrael Medad found Jesus in Shiloh.

the logical intimation is 1) Jewish lines are being crossed; 2) they are being crossed like in Nitzana; 3) Yisrael Medad did what was done in Nitzana; 4) Yisrael Medad found Jesus.

And what was done in Nitzana?

a synagogue in Eretz Yisrael was deliberately used as a forum for a Jew-gone-Christian to publicly testify her faith in jesus

Did I do that?  Did I do all that, including the above 1-4?

Is JewishIsrael crazy?  Is the writer mentally disturbed?  Or, perhaps, was caught up in an esctatic (I almost wrote orgiastic but I think that would be inapporiate) grip of religious fervor?  Or theological thundering?

Well, just to assure you,what I found was the name of Jesus in several inscriptions from the Byzantine period (333 - 614 CE) at Tel Shiloh and environs.  In addition, I have not "gone over".  Moreover, I do not cooperate with either missionaries or Jews-for-Jesus people in matters of faith or other concerns.  I do, however, seek to bolster Israel's security and the existence of the state, its diplomatic standing and other political matters and will work with anyone who is not engaged in using that cooperation to further 'soul-snatching'.

One of my mentors on this issue is the great nationalist poet Uri Tzvi Greenberg who was even bold enough to pen a poem, INRI פארן צלם  that was typographically formed as a cross (here in Polish translation; see, too, this paper and especially p. 12 and here ands here).  Oh, he didn't convert if you are wondering.

To return to Shiloh, Tel Shiloh has been know as a site of Christian residency for almost a century since a Danish excavation began to uncover what we now know are three Byzantine-era basillicas.  In that sense, Tel Shiloh is no different from hundreds of other locations that attract Christian tourism.  If JewishIsrael is suggesting all non-Jewish tourism to Israel be halted as part of their campaign, well, I know a good few tour guides, hotel owners, cafe managers, taxi and bus drivers and souvenir shop owners that may be upset.

Two more points.  The first, in writing:

a moratorium on cooperation with evangelical messianics...playing with some pretty strange fire. Extreme caution is called for, lest Torah observant Jews break new theological ground, rather than hold Israel’s ground in Yehuda and Shomron.

I am aware that there are those among Christians who seek to advance Christianity over the true essence of God's Covenant with People of Israel as expressed in His promises regarding the Land of Israel.  If there is "strange fire", it is that which is being stoked by JewishIsrael.  If any "extreme caution" is required, I know who needs to review their methodology of argumentation and analysis.  If anyone is breaking new ground, - theological - no; political - yes, then it is JewishIsrael.  If anyone may be contributing to a weakening of the Jewish people's hold on the ground in Judea and Samaria, I think it is JewishIsrael.

My second point, in summary, is that in writing

From the halls of the CUFI Summit in Washington, to the Hills of Yehuda and Shomron, to liaison and winery offices, to the pages of a website, Mike Isley and Tommy Waller are united in messianic Christian fellowship

you can see, again, an invidious maneuver to smear anyone - and most certainly me  -involved in the effort to seek links between Jews and Christians, to be tainted as potential "messianic Christians" fellow travellers, at the least.

This is an intolerable line of argumentation, to be rejected and denounced.

Oh, and one last point, the title of the post is "The Sons of the Foreigners will Plant Strange Worship in Your Land" which you may assume echoes this from Isaiah 62:8 - "The LORD hath sworn by His right hand, and by the arm of His strength: Surely I will no more give thy corn to be food for thine enemies; and strangers shall not drink thy wine, for which thou hast laboured."

But the phrase "sons of foreigners", in Hebrew בני נכר, is in other portions of Isaiah's prophecy and most definitely not in the way JewishIsrael would want you to think about relations with non-Jews.

In Isaiah 60, you can read:

And aliens shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee; for in My wrath I smote thee, but in My favour have I had compassion on thee. 11 Thy gates also shall be open continually, day and night, they shall not be shut; that men may bring unto thee the wealth of the nations, and their kings in procession. 12 For that nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted. 13 The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the cypress, the plane-tree and the larch together; to beautify the place of My sanctuary, and I will make the place of My feet glorious. 14 And the sons of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee, and all they that despised thee shall bow down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee the city of the LORD, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel. 15 Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man passed through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations. 16 Thou shalt also suck the milk of the nations, and shalt suck the breast of kings; and thou shalt know that I the LORD am thy Saviour, and I, the Mighty One of Jacob, thy Redeemer. 17 For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron; I will also make thy officers peace, and righteousness thy magistrates. 18 Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, desolation nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise. 19 The sun shall be no more thy light by day, neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee; but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. 20 Thy sun shall no more go down, Neither shall thy moon withdraw itself; for the LORD shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. 21 Thy people also shall be all righteous, they shall inherit the land for ever; the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, wherein I glory. 22 The smallest shall become a thousand, and the least a mighty nation; I the LORD will hasten it in its time.

And in Isaiah 61, we further read:

5 And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and aliens shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers. 6 But ye shall be named the priests of the LORD, men shall call you the ministers of our God; ye shall eat the wealth of the nations, and in their splendour shall ye revel.

I have pointed out this prophecy to Ellen, her assistants and even Rabbis who advise her.  It is the exact opposite of the message they are propagating. It suggests that what I am doing is most definitely what should be done.  Carefully, intelligently and wisely.

So far, no one has even attempted to address its import.  Empty responses.  Hollowness.  No wise reactions.  No intelligent discussion.  No careful debate. The Rabbis they are spoonfeeding with information who cannot read or understand English is another issue, like Rav Dov Lior and Rabbi Elchanan Bin-Nun. The ganging up on Rav Eliezer Melamed is also atrocious.

That says a lot about what JewishIsrael is all about.

If you think like me, please, let Ellen know.  You can contact her at info@jewishisrael.comThe Current Board Members include:

Administrative Director: Avraham Leibler
Public Relations Director: Shulamit Leibler
Content and Research Director: Ellen W. Horowitz

Rabbinic Director: Rabbi Dr. Sholom Gold
Academic and Religious Advisor: Rabbi Dr. Jeffrey R. Woolf
Academic Advisor: Professor Richard A. Landes
Community Affairs Advisor: Anita Tucker

If you want to let them know what you think, and you don't have to agree with me, for it's a free blogosphere, let them know as well.

P.S.  In truth, I could have written 3000 more words, but it's erev Shabbat.  I managed to do the chicken soup and shop.  And there is so much more positive things to do.

______________________________

*

halbanat panim, literally "whitening the face," but understood as doing something which shames or embarrasses someone in public. For example...Rabbi Elazar HaModai warns us that someone who shames another in public has no share in the world to come! (Avot 3:15) .

And yes, my wife has that post up, but I try to keep personal issues out of my blogging life.


PPS I left this as a comment over at JewishIsrael's blog. Will it go up?  It has.

^

New Christian Archaeological Find in Jerusalem

The story is here:

Byzantine Prayer Box Found in Jerusalem Dig

Miniature box adorned with cross dates from 6-7 century CE. Contained two icons surrounded by gold leaf.

Archaeologists in Jerusalem discovered a miniature Christian prayer box that dates back to the sixth or seventh century CE.

The box was found at the "Givati parking lot" dig in Ir David...The box contained two icon paintings surrounded by gold leaf and was probably a personal prayer object...and is made from the bone of a large animal – cattle, a camel or a horse.

...One painting inside the box depicts a bearded man with dark hair, wearing what appears to be a white tunic. The other painting seems to show a female figure dressed in blue...

Now the Muslims have not only the Jews to compete against for a narrative history of this land but also the Christians.

^

The West Bank Won

The Widnes West Bank amateur rugby team, that is.

The latest news:

Stanley Rangers 22 Widnes West Bank 36

AN early score for Josh Simm established early dominance for Widnes West Bank in their fourth away game in succession.  Jordan Barr was next to cross followed by a Ste Mellor converted touchdown for Jack White.

Barr scored again followed by White for his second. David Jones added the two points.
Jones again added the extras to Adam Middleton’s score to bring up a 30-0 half time lead.

The combination of a huge slope and a new found determination from Rangers then saw West Bank on the back foot for the first time in a long time.  Energetic Evan Simons relieved the pressure for Ste Mellor to score the final points with the conversion.

The win means that Bears finish top of their group in the NCL Interim League but finish off the campaign with two home fixtures against Waterhead and Eccles before going into the play-offs.

And in England, of all places.

^

Thursday, October 27, 2011

West Bank: Spooky Fun and a Witch

No, not in my neighborhood:

New Orleans:

West Bank has plenty of fall fun and spooky treats this weekend

The West Bank has a bounty of Halloween and Halloween-alternative events this weekend for families. You’ll find hayrides, puppets, candy, costume contests and all sorts of other fall favorites. The following is a list of events submitted to The Times-Picayune’s West Bank bureau.

Calliope Puppets in Algiers Point, 3 Vallette St., will present “Puppets Scared Silly,” a pair of silly/scary tales to celebrate Halloween, Friday, Saturday and Sunday on the West Bank. There’s a special treat if you wear a costume...

...“The Westbank Witch,” aka Patricia Baxter, sponsored by Algiers Riverview Community Garden, will present a haunted house, costume contest for ages 1 to 12 and games on Saturday from 3 to 7 p.m. at the garden, 425 Diana St. Donations of disposable bowls, nachos, wieners, buns, candy and punch are requested from the community. Also requested are game prizes, books and school supplies. Call 504.520.0024 for more information, to co-sponsor the event or arrange pickup or to drop off donations.

^

Who Lives in "Communities"?

You all know that I prefer "communities" to settlements".

And who gets to live in "communities"?

The Beduin of Judea and Samaria.

Yep.

Here:

According to Israeli human rights group BTselem, the first phase is planned to begin as early as January 2012, and would forcibly evict approximately 2,300 people – who are currently living in about 20 communities in proximity to the Israeli settlement of Ma’ale Adumim – and transfer them to a new location near the Abu Dis garbage dump, just east of Jerusalem.

We never win?

^

Posters On the Outpost Campaign

Posters that have gone up relating to Givat Assaf and Migron threats of dismantlement.

a)  Givat Assaf Valiantly Struggles to Halt the Expulsion; Stop the Tools of Destruction


b)  Mass public prayer assembly


c)  Yesha Rabbis' Committee urges determined action



^

Dear Mr. Ambassador Shapiro

New Green-Lined blog post up.

^

A Solution to the Demographic Imbalance

Papua New Guinea.

Well, almost.

^

Problems with Pal. Propagandists

In response to this article, Palestinians can't bypass Israel, Oslo accords, I found this comment:

It is not unexpected to find distortions and half-truths in the above piece written by a fellow for Middle Eastern affairs at The Heritage Foundation. Let me just give two examples:

About the Oslo Accords, he wrote: "Mahmoud Abbas essentially turned his back on the 1993 Oslo peace accord with Israel." The truth is that the Oslo Accords, specifically Oslo II, explicitly prohibited any change in the status of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Instead, in violation of the accords, the building of settlements continued and Jewish settlers continued to move to the West Bank. Furthermore, bypass roads were built to connect these settlements.

He also wrote: "Israel agreed to an unprecedented 10-month halt on building settlements in the West Bank." The writer failed to mention that the 10-month housing freeze did not include East Jerusalem, which under international law is part of the West Bank. Of course, "international law and Israel" are an oxymoron.

Medhat Credi
Elmsford

Dear Medhat:

a) the Oslo Accords expressly excluded any reference to "settlements".

Here's an Arab source:

Oslo made no mention of a settlement freeze—formal or otherwise—and, in fact, deferred the settlement issue altogether until so-called “permanent status” negotiations to be held in five years...Notably, the Oslo Accords, including the 1993 Declaration of Principles (“DOP”) and the 1995 Interim Agreement as well as subsequent agreements and protocols, did not deal directly with the issue of Israeli settlements, either with regard to their legal status (i.e., under international humanitarian law) or in terms of limiting their continued expansion.

b) as for Bibi's non-inclusion of "East Jerusalem", well, again, with the Pals. demanding all-or-nothing, despite they being the aggressors since 1920, the practicers of terror since 1920 and those who sought the thwart international agreements as regards the "reconstitution of the Jewish national home" since 1922, when that right was recognized and formalized by the League of Nations, they will get nothing.

The problem with Arab propagandists is:

- they lie

- they prevaricate

- they tell only a part of the story

- they hide what is unpleasant

- they subvert language

- they cannot produce substantiated claims

and more.

^
^

Judge Approves Settlement

In Illinois, not Judea and Samaria.

Judge Approves Settlement in Tribune Employee Stock Suit

Disgruntled Tribune Company employees are one step closer to receiving a $32 million settlement for the company’s misguided employee stock ownership plan (ESOP).

Rebecca Pallmeyer, a federal district court judge in Illinois, granted preliminary approval of the settlement of a class action case brought about by former Los Angeles Times auto writer Dan Neil and other Tribune employees.

Tribune and its employees reached the settlement back in August, and informed the judge of that.

Now that the judge has approved it, notices go out to all potential beneficiaries. There is then a hearing, slated for Jan. 30, when any of the employees can object because they feel they are not getting enough money.

^

What Is A "USV"?

Unmanned Sailing Vehicle, I guess.

See for yourselves:



We Israelis. We think of everything.

Almost.

^

Can the West Bank Be Pacific While Occupied?

Sure it can.

Especially as we are referring to the Pacific West Bank which is under occupation in Oregon by radical leftists who use the term "terrorist":-

Protesters of Pacific West Bank bring Occupy movement to West Linn

Wednesday, October 26, 2011,

WEST LINN -- The Occupy Movement has come to West Linn, sort of.

A small group of people gathered on a sidewalk near Pacific West Bank in West Linn this afternoon to object to what they called an example of corporate greed from the local bank. Demonstrators said the peaceful protest, dubbed "Occupy Pacific West Bank", is in solidarity with the Occupy Portland movement, which is approaching the three-week mark of inhabiting two downtown Portland parks.

Protesters held signs calling Pacific West Bank an “evil empire” and its CEO, Steve Gray, a “domestic terrorist.”

As empires go, West Linn-based Pacific West Bank is small. There are 12 employees at the West Linn location and another four workers at a second branch in Lake Oswego. The bank was established in 2004 and specializes in small business lending.

“Honestly, it’s all just really strange that they’re here,” said Connie Kemp, Pacific West Bank's chief operating officer. “We serve the local community, and we are not part of the Wall Street problem.”

...Bob Seibert, the bank’s chief financial officer, said other business owners in the area have expressed support for them. He also mentioned that the bank notified the West Linn Police Department of the protesters’ plans and said as long as they are peaceful, stay off business property and don’t bother customers, they are free to do what they like.

See what semantics and a radical worldview can do?

^

Chalifax or Halalifax?

Thanks to RA:-

The Jon Stewart episode on understanding the Middle East conflict - via Halifa -



^

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

The Finn Isn't Even Funny

Reported

Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja said Wednesday that Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories is tantamount to apartheid, warning that time was running out for a two-state solution.

"If you are occupying areas inhabited by... Palestinians who do not have the same rights as the Israelis in Israel, that is apartheid and that is not sustainable," he told reporters.

A more detailed report:

Tuomioja on Israel: “Apartheid state not justified”

“No apartheid state is justified or sustainable”, said Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs Erkki Tuomioja (SDP) in Helsinki on Tuesday evening. The Prime minister was referring to Israel during a panel discussion on the future of Palestine at Helsinki’s Old Student house. Tuomioja also said that now could be the last opportunity to work for a two-state model in the area.

Tuomioja used the apartheid analogy in his previous term as Foreign Minister in 2003, in his criticism of the so-called security wall. After the panel discussion, Tuomioja noted that the apartheid analogy was not his invention. “Didn’t Ehud Barak use the same term?” Tuomioja asked.

In February 2010, Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak warned that failure to reach a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians would not bring lasting peace, and would result in an apartheid state.

Tuomioja went on to soften the analogy by saying that if Israel tries to freeze the status quo, an apartheid state would be the final result. “Now, Israel has still formally approved the parameters of peace talks.”

Tuomioja doesn't know what he is talking about.

Almost every country includes residents who can't vote either for the national or even the local elections. That is not apartheid.

The Finn isn't even funny.


UPDATE

Upcomng conference.

(k/t=LM)
^

Football Game Tomorrow

Thu, Oct 27, 07:00 PM \ Hammers @ Lions \  in the Israel Football League pre-season opener.
 
And the Regular Season games of the Lions' schedule, my son's team in Jerusalem is as follows:


November

Thurs. 17 – vs Pioneers – 9:45 p.m.

December

Thurs. 8 – vs Kings – 8 p.m.

Thurs. 29 – vs Sabres – 8 p.m.

January

Thurs. 8 – vs Kings – 8 p.m.


February

Thurs. 2 – vs Petah Tikva – 9:45 p.m.

March

Thurs. 1 – vs Rebels – 7 p.m.


See you at Kraft Stadium.


Let's go Lions!
 
^

Quiz - Has She Just Lit Shabbat Candles?

Leave your answer in "comments":-


Oh, and the lady is who?

^

More on Mughrabi Gate

Following up on this news item on the Waqf's negative position, and Nadav Shragai's report, and don't forget this from 2007, we have this op-ed by Shlomo Cesana:

If you build it, they will come

...The Mughrabi is the only gate up to the Temple Mount from the Western Wall Plaza that, according to the set status quo, provides access to non-Muslims. Until 2004, the walkway rested on a dirt and stone rampart. During that winter, however, the earthen ramp collapsed. A temporary wooden bridge was erected and plans were made for a permanent bridge, the construction of which was delayed due to Palestinian outcry wrongfully claiming that with this bridge, Israel was trying to change the status quo for the Temple Mount Plaza.

...Since 1967, and especially in the last decade, the Palestinians have appropriated the Temple Mount and expanded their fight to include symbols in the area of the Western Wall as well. In essence, the Mughrabi Gate is the only passageway through which Israel can exercise its sovereign right to this area, so holy to the Jewish people.

Procrastination and indecision on the establishment of a new bridge may be interpreted by some in Israel as weakness, and lead precisely to the clashes that the government hopes to avoid.

Up, up and up.


More material:

http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=17878
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/186962.html
http://www.islammemo.cc/akhbar/arab/2011/05/23/124913.html?lang=en-us

^

More on Bellow's Jewishness Thoughts

Continuing -

In Germany the revival of the epical theme in Wagnerian and later in Hitlerian form may well have been a bid to supersede the Jewish epic. Even the plan to destroy the Jews was epical in scale. The building up of Israel was a further chapter in the epic of the Jews...

...think of what it means that your Jewish birth may condemn you to death...

- - - - -

...I spoke earlier of the nihilistic abysses of the modern world and suggested that Jews, through the horror of Jewish suffering, the enormity of the Final Solution, might stand apart from the nihilism of the West. If they wished to separate themselves from this modern and European nihilism they might legitimately exercise the option...Israel is narrowly watched by the West, and the Western press and public try hard to find evidences of Jewish evil and perhaps its aim is to implicate the Jews in its nihilism.

...I am a Jew and as such I am made to understand by Jewish history that I cannot absolutely count on enlightened laws and institutions to protect me and my descendants. I observe the Jewish present closely and actively remember the Jewish past—not only its often heroic suffering but also the high significance of the meaning of Jewish history. I think about it. I read. I try to understand what it may signify to be a Jew who cannot live by the rules of conduct set down over centuries and millennia...

...I never wished to avoid being recognized as a Jew in order to escape discrimination. I never cared enough, never granted anyone much power to discriminate against me—and now it is too late to bother about such matters. My view, a view widely held, is that there is no solution to the Jewish problem. Viciousness against Jews will never end in any foreseeable future; nor will the consciousness of being a Jew vanish, since the self-respect of Jews demands that they be faithful to their history and their culture, which is not so much a culture in the modern sense as it is a millennial loyalty to revelation and redemption.
Saul Bellow


And also found there:

The Jews live a fantastic historical paradox: we are the spiritual aborigines of the modern world.

Karl Shapiro
- In Defense of Ignorance



^

Maybe Not Shot but Dead Nevertheless

Jordan’s King Abdullah II spoke with The WashPost’s Lally Weymouth and she asked him

Do you and other leaders in this area believe you cannot rely on the U.S.?

I think everybody is wary of dealing with the West. . . . Looking at how quickly people turned their backs on Mubarak, I would say that most people are going to try and go their own way. I think there is going to be less coordination with the West and therefore a chance of more misunderstandings. Egypt is trying to develop its own way of moving forward.

And Jordan?

Two things make Jordan stand out. One is that we reached out to everybody and got a national dialogue committee. The other thing that made a major impact is that we have had demonstrations for the past 11 months but . . . nobody has been killed. It was a decision taken [from] Day One that we disarmed all our police. In other countries . . . their solution was to pull out their guns and shoot.

Nobody?

Well, according to CNN:

Demonstrations turned violent in Amman, Jordan, Friday as government loyalists clashed with protesters who are pushing for reforms.

Dozens were injured as the two sides converged in a hail of rocks and swinging sticks, according to protest organizers and the government. The country's General Security Directorate said at least 62 citizens and 58 security force members, including two senior officers, were injured

One man died of a heart attack Friday, officials said. His cause of death is disputed by some protesters who claim he was beaten.

Lucky he wasn't shot.

No, not the old man.

Abdullah II.

You wouldn't want to be caught lying with, er, to Lally.

^

Ain't That Queer

Israeli television presenter as one of the 100 most influential gays in the world for 2009. And he said:

"It's very exciting. I find it a bit odd that someone is New York heard about what I do in Israel, but if this is my contribution to representing our country abroad, then I'm happy I could have done something."

So, what does Shai Bazak, Israel's Consul in Boston, do?

According to Haaretz, he's been invited to lead a pro-Israel PR campaign to represent favorably Israel's homosexual, lesbian, bisexual, transgender in the US.

I guess Shai knows all the ins-and-outs.

^

Release Pal. Prisoners Need GPS

Seems there may be a problem after so many years in jail.

According to this story, (k/t=IMRA), it seems the newly released Pal. prisoners are getting lost on the roads.

Israeli forces Tuesday night detained Samer al-Issawi, a released Palestinian prisoner in the latest swap, according to a WAFA correspondent. Israeli soldiers arrested al-Issawi at a checkpoint near Issawiya, an Arab neighborhood in East Jerusalem, and detained him for 13 hours in al-Muskubiya [the Russian Compound]...He was released earlier this morning.

Al-Issawi’s family condemned the detention and called on human rights organizations and the Red Cross to immediately intervene to prevent future detentions...

Maybe buying them a new map or even a GPS program could help.


P.S. I don't know what the excuses these 19 Pals. had for getting into trouble.

^

Uri Avnery Nominated for Israel Prize in Journalism

The Hebrew is here.

Rino Tzror and Doron Tzuberi have proposed Uri Avnery to the Committee.


Aaaaaaaaaaargh.

^

Shiloh Housing Project

The new triplex project, Meduragei Shiloh:-


Previous post and an earlier one.

^

New T-shirt

.


^

"Palestine" or Judea? (And "Identity Theft")

The debate * (and the "identity theft" attempts, see below) continues (see here and also here) whether this country, this land is "Palestine", even from ancient days, or the Land of Israel, homeland of the Jews from time immemorial, Judea.

I found this article "A New Typology of the Yehud Stamp Impressions" by Oded Lipschits, Tel-Aviv 34: 12-37, which reviews what are know as YSI, or Yehud Stamp Impressions.

They look like this:


Details of one type:


As Oded writes of the period in which they were made:


In other words, several hundred years before the common era, - the Persian Period was from 539 to 334 BCE - Jews were living throughout this country. Like what the Bible narrative claims. And it was called Yehuda, יהודה, or Judea. And of the many YSIs, Jewish names, names recorded in the Bible, are impressioned onto the seal.

That's history. Jewish history.

It's provable science, archaeology.

The history of the Land of Israel, the Land of the Jews, the יהודים.


P.S.

There more in this book:

The Yehud Stamp Impressions: A Corpus of Inscribed Impressions from the Persian and Hellenistic Periods in Judah
by Oded Lipschits and David S. Vanderhooft, Eisenbrauns, 2011

The study of the yehud stamp impressions, which appear on the handles or bodies of store jars, has persisted for over a century, beginning with the discovery of the first of these impressions at Gezer in 1904. Nevertheless, until the pioneering work of Stern in 1973, who cataloged, classified, and discussed the stamp impressions known up to 1970, discovery and publication of new stamp impressions were scattered, and analysis was cursory at best. Furthermore, a gap in research has persisted since then.

_______________

*

and sometimes the debate goes crazy, like here:

Destruction of cultural heritage

Since October 2000 great damage has been inflicted on cultural heritage sites in the Palestinian areas (Taha, 2005). These sites have suffered military bombing, with shelling causing partial or even total destruction. Attacks on cultural heritage sites have intensified since the last major incursions in April 2002 and January 2004, causing irreparable damage, especially in the historic towns and cities, including Bethlehem, Hebron, Gaza, Beit Jala, Tulkarem, Salfit, Jenin, Gaza, Rafah, Abud, and Nablus. Sieges, curfews, roadblocks and military closures imposed on the Palestinian cities and villages have prevented the DACH from attending to its tasks in the protection of cultural heritage. Many archaeological sites and historical buildings have been the target of Israeli military attacks, including during the last war on Gaza, when the ancient Gaza port Anthedon, the Ottoman building of Dar es-Sariai and the governor’s house were damaged.

and read this article. And this one to grasp the "identity theft" being promoted.


^

Need A reason for Separate-Seating on Buses?

Mixed-gender seating can be problematic.

Hareidi Jews prefer separate. In New York, too.

And for breast-feeding mothers, it is easier, like in the Phillipines.

But if you need a practical reason to prefer mixed-seating here's one:

Couple Faces Criminal Raps For Sex On City BusCops: Pennsylvania duo’s lewd dalliance was caught on tape

A Pennsylvania couple is facing an assortment of criminal charges for having sex on a city bus, carnal activity that was captured by the vehicle’s surveillance camera.

According to a police criminal complaint, Amanda Confer, 24, boarded the bus on a Friday afternoon in late-August...Also riding the bus through Montoursville that day were “Pre-release inmates” Randell Peterson and Joshua Schill. The men were part of a work release program...

Investigators allege that Confer and Peterson, 32, sat next to each other in the rear of the bus, with Schill sitting in front of them. Before the illicit action commenced, however, Confer “turned over her infant daughter” to Schill, who apparently served as babysitter/lookout during the subsequent rendezvous.

...Confer “lowered her underwear” and, “upon sitting on” Peterson’s lap, “both defendants proceeded to have sexual intercourse for several minutes.”

Shortly after the tryst ended, Peterson and Schill exited the bus together, while Confer continued to ride on with her daughter.

...Confer and Peterson were charged earlier this month with conspiracy, indecent exposure, open lewdness, and disorderly conduct. They are scheduled for a November 4 preliminary hearing in Magisterial District Court.


^

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Harry Potter-Themed Bar Mitzva

At the Tel Aviv Port area.

Grandson of Yardena Ovadia, Lidor.

Pictures here, at 54 minutes or so.

She's here in an interview (in Hebrew) with Ilana Dayan.


Dirt-poor Moroccan from Dimona who made it rich in Equitorial Guinea and is the Honorary Consul for that country in Israel.

For example:

...a key figure in securing the Israel Shipyards deal was Yardena Ovadia, Israel's honorary consul in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea's capital.

It said Ovadia, an Israeli of Moroccan descent, has "solid connections" with the entourage of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, whose regime is flush with petrodollars from its burgeoning oil industry.

"Thanks to those contacts, several Israeli military companies have already landed major contracts in Equatorial Guinea," the Web site reported.

These include mobile observation platforms sold by Aeronautics Defense Systems and Shaldag-class naval patrol vessels in a joint venture between Israel Shipyards, a privately owned yard in Haifa, Israel's main naval base, and Israel Military Industries.

Obiang's presidential guard is being trained by Israeli security firms linked to retired Brig. Gen. Shlomo Ilya and South Africa-based arms dealer Boaz Bedihi, Africa Intelligence reported.

Getting back to the Bar Mitzva, it cost a lot. Over a millionn shekels. Enrico Macias was brought in to join a half dozen other entertainers. Last year, her daughter was married in a Venetian-style affair that cost over 5 million shekels.

^

Sex, Muslim and Good Samaritans in One Story

Here, in Salem - but no witches:

Father chases down man that groped daughter


Police say 18-year-old Yousef Hashem of West Bridgewater groped a teenage girl and then was chased down by the girl's father.

According to police documents, the 15-year-old New Hampshire girl was walking with her family in the area of an Essex Street pedestrian mall in Salem, MA. Hashem allegedly squeezed the girl's crotch so hard that she fell to the ground.

Yousef took off running but the girl’s father was so irate that he chased Hashem through busy streets, urging bystanders to stop him. A group of Good Samaritans heard the cries for help in front of Murphy's Pub on Derby Street and wrestled Hashem to the ground.

When the father caught up, witnesses say he was so angry he wanted to unleash on Hashem but bouncers at the bar held him back.

Only in America.

^

Security Wall in Palestine

No, not the one Israel has been constructing.

The one that began in 1938:-

Britain's most ingenious solution for handling terrorism in Palestine was revealed in Geneva last week to the League of Nations Permanent Mandates Commission by His Majesty's Government's Deputy Permanent Under-Secretary for Colonies, Sir John Shuckburgh. Following a suggestion of mail-fisted Sir Charles Tegart, now adviser to the Palestine Government on the suppression of terrorism, a barbed wire barrier to keep out terrorists is being strung along the entire Palestine frontier at a cost of $450,000. This includes a nine-foot barbed wire fence between Palestine and French-mandated Lebanon and Syria, which border...


Tegart (centre, emerging from car) in Palestine, c. 1938, with Sir William Battershill (right),
chief secretary to the government of Palestine. (Bodleian)

What was, will be, - including intervention of 'internationalists', such as there are at present in Israel.  For example, in India:

He [Tegart] was the main figure implicated in the accusations of police torture brought against the Bengal police in 1918 by the Theosophist and Indian nationalist Annie Besant. Besant, an Irishwoman who spent the last forty years of her life in India as an educator and spiritual leader, had been elected to the presidency of the Indian National Congress in 1916. She was a vocal critic of the government of India and launched an Irish-inspired campaign for Indian ‘home rule’. Besant accused Tegart of slapping and punching terrorist suspects and of showing one revolutionary his revolver and threatening to shoot him. Tegart indignantly attributed the accusations to his zeal in suppressing the revolutionary movement. A commission appointed by the government of Bengal concluded—unsurprisingly—that the charges were entirely baseless.

And as for dealing with terror, I think we're doing a lot better than what was happening in 1936:

Particularly recalcitrant villages would be entirely demolished, reduced to "mangled masonry," as happened to the village of Mi'ar north of Acre in October 1938. On other occasions, the British used sea mines from the battleship HMS Malaya to destroy houses. Sometimes the charges laid were so large that neighbouring houses came down or flying debris hit watching bystanders. British troops even made Palestinians demolish their own houses, brick-by-brick.

Following a search and cordon of Safad by the Hampshire Regiment, the senior police officer, Sir Charles Tegart, noted simply [on Jan. 22, 1938] and euphemistically that the soldiers "did their work thoroughly," adding that local villagers had little sympathy, feeling that the townsfolk of Safad now "know what has been happening to us." Hilda Wilson, a British school teacher in Palestine, concluded that the reason for soldiers "destructiveness was because they were bored stif" and had no social amenities, compounded by the alienation that they felt serving far from home...

...The brutality of the Palestine police95 and prison service had some official sanction. Sir Charles Tegart, a senior police officer "headhunted" from India, authorised the establishment of torture centres, known euphemistically as "Arab Investigation Centres", where suspects got the "third degree" until they "spilled the beans"...
 
and worse:

prisoners were subjected to very harsh treatment, including beatings, foot whipping, electric shocks, denailing and what is now known as "waterboarding". Tegart also imported Doberman Pinschers from South Africa and set up a special centre in Jerusalem to train interrogators in torture.[Segev, 2000, p. 416]

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