Don't Be Shy. Protest Shay's Possible Appointment

Received:


On Sunday morning Yakov Neeman will put Shay Nitzan’s candidacy for Deputy Legal Advisor up for vote in the weekly government meeting.  According to the proposal Mr. Nitzan's areas of responsibility are to include: Defense. Settlements. Outposts. Prosecuting settlers.

Shay Nitzan, as every single minister knows perfectly well, has always shown complete dedication to radical pro-Palestinian, anti-settler policies.  To give one small example, in his previous position in the Ministry of Justice, he jailed hundreds of peaceful Gush Katif protestors -- but ensured that the violent police from the Amona pogrom were not prosecuted! Even worse, there is absolutely no doubt that he will work diligently, Peace-Now style,  to bulldoze as many communities in Yehuda and Shomron as he can. 

Please SMS a suitable message to the ministers super-urgent, today Friday, Saturday night & Sunday morning. For example:

Cell phone numbers are below.  If impossible for you to SMS, please convey your message using the email addresses above in the Hebrew section. Thank you!

משה כחלון M. Cachlon 050-6845584     * יולי אדלשטיין Yuli Edelstein 050-3334298

גלעד ארדן Gilad Erdan 050-5936500 *    בוגי יעלון Bogy Yaelon 050-6625555

גדעון סער Gideon Saar 050-6343111   * יוסי פלד Yossi Peled 0525003060

יובל שטייניץ Yuval Steinitz 052-3853280 * סילבן שלום 0506208500 Silvan Shalom

 פרופ' דניאל הרשקוביץ 0506202119 Daniel Hershkowitz   * ישראל כץ 0506233939 Israel Katz

עוזי לנדאו Uzi Landau 054-2424454 *    סופה לנדבר Sofa Landver 050-4357060

אביגדור ליברמן 0548000333 0506203006 Avigdor Liberman

אלי ישי Eli Yishai 0545444444 0506240933 0506240925

אריאל אטיאס Ariel Atias 0549900011 * לימור לבנת Limor Livnat 0505-200-050

סטס מיסזניקוב Stas Miszanikov 0503833776 * יצחק אהרונוביץ Yizhak Aharonovich 0505603158

משולם נהרי Meshulam Nahary 0507440120  * יעקב מרגי 0504963737 Yakov Margi *

myaalon@knesset.gov.il; mcachlon@knesset.gov.il; yiskatz@knesset.gov.il; gsaar@knesset.gov.il; sar@sviva.gov.il; info@ng.pmo.gov.il;sar@moin.gov.il, ypeled@knesset.gov.il; yedelstein@knesset.gov.il; aliberman@knesset.gov.il; ulandau@KNESSET.GOV.IL; slandver@knesset.gov.il; smiseznikov@knesset.gov.il; ministerts@most.gov.il; dhershkovitz@KNESSET.GOV.IL;
aatias@knesset.gov.il; mnahari@knesset.gov.il;  ysteinitz@knesset.gov.il;  ymargi@dat.gov.il; iaharon@knesset.gov.il;

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When Filmed Fiction Forgets Fact

The other Israeli entry at the London Film Gestival - Zaytoun:-

From award-winning Israeli director Eran Riklis, Zaytoun is the story of Yoni and Fahed, two exiles from a divided land.

    Director Eran Riklis
    Producer Gareth Unwin, Frederick Ritzenberg
    Screenwriter Nader Rizq
    With Stephen Dorff, Abdallah El Akal, Ali Suliman
    UK-Israel 2012
    107 mins
    Sales Pathé International

Yoni, an Israeli pilot, crash-lands in war-torn Beirut in the run-up to Israel’s ill-fated invasion of the country in 1982. He is captured by a group of fighters from the Palestine Liberation Organisation, one of whom is Fahed, a young orphan and refugee, who longs to return to his family’s home in Northern Israel. Yoni and Fahed soon find themselves on the run from rival militias as their unlikeliest of friendships begins to take root in the most extreme of circumstances. Israeli director Eran Riklis (The Syrian Bride; The Lemon Tree) avoids sentimental clichés thanks to a wonderful performance from Abdallah El Akal as the wise-beyond-his-years Fahed and some sweeping cinematography that will remind viewers of the irony – and tragedy – that such a beautiful land can be the theatre of such horrific conflict.

You will recall the real story:

Ron Arad was born on May 5, 1958 in Israel...Arad, an air-force navigator in an F-4 Phantom jet...On October 6, 1986 Arad was captured by members of the Amal Shi’ite militia after bailing out of his crippled warplane over the Lebanese city of Sidon.

About a year after his capture, Israel received photographs and letters from Arad’s captors, and Arad’s case quickly attracted the attention of the international community...When negotiations for Arad’s release collapsed in 1988, Arad was “sold” by Amal security chief Mustafa Dirani to Iranian backed forces in Lebanon. Since that time there has been a great deal of contradictory information regarding his fate and whereabouts. Israeli intelligence sources have maintained that Arad is being held in Iran or Lebanon by Iranian backed forces. The Iranians have never publicly admitted to holding Arad or to having any information regarding his condition or location. Over the years many foreign governments have pressured Iran on the matter. Particularly the German government has continually attempted to utilize its close relationship with Iran to broker deals for Arad’s release, but without success to date. Arad’s case continues to haunt the Israeli public.

Oh, the other entry:

To Fill the Void:

Set in an Orthodox Hassidic community in Tel Aviv, this riveting debut feature tells the story of eighteen-year-old Shira, the youngest daughter of a deeply religious family who is about to be married off in a promising match to a young man she does not know. When an unexpected death occurs, grief engulfs the family and Shira’s impending liaison is postponed. Caught between an overwhelming sense of familial responsibility and the unfamiliar sensation of romantic yearning, Shira faces a choice that will ultimately define her future. Director Rama Burshtein draws on her own knowledge of Orthodox practice and its rituals, imbuing this singular film with great authenticity especially in her attention to gender division within the community and the relationships between the female protagonists. The visual design oscillates between intimate and suffocating, with cinematographer Asaf Sudry (Beaufort) keeping the camera close to the actors and tightly framed, while art director Ori Aminov adopts a studied, muted palette. Hadas Yaron’s mesmerising performance gives full expression to Shira’s struggle between moral, ethical and emotional truth, her suspended state of uncertainty providing the film with its dramatic tension and continuing to reverberate in the indelible final image.

And she is not an actress. 

She's the director of the film.

 And:-

Venice film critics wowed by ultra-Orthodox Jewish director's debut

'Fill the Void,' a film by Rama Burshtein, gets rave reports in Variety magazine, Hollywood Reporter and Screen Daily, while Indiewire website is less impressed.

Here Come "Biblical and Talmudic Rituals"

In a statement on Wednesday, to "all the Arab and Islamic Nation", the Al-Aqsa Foundation called for a show of support for Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa through continuous activities that keep the Aqsa and Jerusalem present in conscience of the Ummah.  It

 ...also called on Jerusalemites to intensify their presence permanently in Al-Aqsa mosque to protect it from the Israeli violations and settlers’ attacks.
The Foundation noted that the Israeli occupation adopts quiet Judaization steps in the Aqsa Mosque and seeks to make Al-Aqsa mosque plazas public...The Foundation pointed out that 80 Israeli soldiers have broken into the mosque on Tuesday, in addition to Israeli intelligence elements.  The settler groups’ daily storming of the mosque, where they practice biblical and Talmudic rituals, came in light of a serious Israeli scheme to consider Al-Aqsa mosque’s yards as public yards. Al-Aqsa Foundation’s statement stressed that Al-Aqsa mosque and all its parts are only an Islamic sacred place of worship.

I just love those biblical and Talmudi rituals.

Here are some of those ritualists:

P.S.

And there is alos this here (translated):-

the brutality of the occupation and allowing settlers and their wives and children to enter the Al-Aqsa mosque on a daily basis

^

Low-Intensity Conflict Report #44

Low-Intensity Conflict Report #44, September 5, 2012


These reports are translated and publicized by Yehudit Tayar for Hatzalah Yehudah and Shomron with the clearance and confirmation of the IDF.  Hatzalah Yehudah and Shomron is a voluntary emergency medical organization with over 500 volunteer doctors, paramedics, medics who are on call 24/7 and work along with the IDF, 669 IAF Airborn Rescue, the security officers and personal throughout Yesha and the Jordan Valley, and with MDA.

We, the volunteers of Hatzalah Yehudah and Shomron go out to rescue anyone who needs our emergency medical assistance; including civilians, military and Arabs also those within the PA territories. (with IDF presence) To us a life is precious and we go out at risk leaving home and family or stopping on the road to rescue anyone in need.


September 4, 2012

Rocket Fire from Gaza landing in the Eshkol Region in an agricultural field.  For reasons of National Security I will not disclose exact location.

During the evening hours 2 unarmed infiltrators from Gaza were caught after earlier in the day 2 others were caught near Be'eri.

IDF spokesman allows me to release:

2 Molotov cocktails were thrown at a IDF post near Abu Dis north-east of Bethlehem.

Arabs attacked Israeli vehicles with rocks on the northern entrance to Efrat in the Gush Etzion Region causing damage.

South of Ophra in the Benjamin Region Israeli bus attacked by Arabs with rocks causing damage.

September 3, 2012

IDF spokesman allows us to release the following:

Bomb squad treated and exploded under their care, 4 pipe bombs which were found during the afternoon hours in a bag which was thrown at IDF patrol by an Arab who was trying to cross the Hashmonaim checkpost in the Benjamin Region.  The Arab fled after he threw the bag with the explosives.  IDF is investigating the incident.

September 2, 2012

Rocket attacks from Gaza:

1 hit near security fence and 1 in Arab controlled area outside of security fence. 1 rocket hit in side of the Sdot HaNegev Regional Council, 1 in Eshkol Region.

IDF arrested 3 Arabs who infiltrated from Gaza and entered via the security fence.

2 additional Arabs infiltrated from Gaza

Rock attacks by Arabs near the Eli Cemetery in the Benjamin Region causing damage to windows of a vehicle

Rock attacks by Arabs north- east of Ateret Junction causing damage to vehicles.


Additional Information released:

3 weeks ago I was given security clearance to release the information regarding the arrest of 3 Arabs suspected of the poisoning of a family in Ra'anana in 2011.  The suspect Otamo Nisara, a resident of Bet Furik and Husam Abed El-Rahim from Tira, and an additional suspect put poison into the drinking containers in a private home.  The residents of the house and a policeman who was called out following a report to the police that the house was broken into, drank the poisoned liquid.

The father was very seriously injured and following a week of intensive care in the Meir Hospital , his condition stabilized.  The rest of the family including an infant and the policeman were lightly injured from the poison.

September 1, 2012

Rocket fire from Gaza, rocket hits on road near hothouses of kibbutz in Ashkelon Region.  For reasons of National Security I will not disclose exact location.

Me and That Low-Intensity Conflict

As my readers know, I have been posting Yehudit Tayar's reports on Arab anti-Jewish violence for the past few months.

Well, tonight, I became part of the statistics.

On the way home from Jerusalem, just after leaving Ofra, at about 7:43 PM, just before reaching the pillbox position, the 148 bus I was traveling on was struck by two molotov cocktails, firebombs, or as we say in abbreviated Hebrew baktavim (short for the plural of: bakbuk tav'airah).

The side mirror was completely broken and as I looked out backwards, one bottle was burning on the right side of the road and another had slid across to the other side.

No injuries.  Minor damage.

Death by flagration avoided.

If a private vehicle had been hit, rather than an armored bus, the consequences would most probably have been quite different.

Welcome to the statistics.

^

I Take Latitude at NYT Latitiude Blog

My comment up at the Latitude Blog at the New York Times' site:-

^

Western Wall Water

That above is under your feet, when you are at the Western Wall:-

A First Temple Period Public Water Reservoir Exposed for the First Time next to the Western Wall

A large rock-hewn water reservoir dating to the First Temple period was discovered in the archaeological excavations that are being conducted in the Jerusalem Archaeological Garden at the foot of Robinson’s Arch.

...the entire drainage channel of Jerusalem dating to the Second Temple period is being exposed. The channel runs north along the City of David spur, from the Siloam Pool to a point beneath Robinson’s Arch. The route of the channel was fixed in the center of the main valley that extends from north to south the length of the ancient city, parallel to the Temple Mount.

...An extraordinary installation that was exposed in recent weeks is a large water reservoir treated with several layers of plaster, which probably dates to the First Temple period.  The reservoir has an approximate capacity of 250 cubic meters and is therefore one of the largest water reservoirs from the First Temple period to be discovered so far in Jerusalem, and this was presumably a reservoir that was used by the general public.

According to Eli Shukron, the excavation director on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, “...To the best of our knowledge this is the first time that a water reservoir of this kind has been exposed in an archaeological excavation. The exposure of the current reservoir, as well as smaller cisterns that were revealed along the Tyropoeon Valley, unequivocally indicates that Jerusalem’s water consumption in the First Temple period was not solely based on the output of the Gihon Spring water works, but also on more available water resources such as the one we have just discovered.

...The exposure of the impressive water reservoir that lies below Robinson’s Arch joins a series of finds that were uncovered during recent excavations in this region of the city, indicating the existence of a densely built-up quarter that extended across the area west of the Temple Mount and predating the expansion of the Temple Mount. It seems that with the expansion of the Temple Mount compound to the west and the construction of the public buildings and the streets around the Temple Mount at the end of the Second Temple period, the buildings from the First Temple period and early Second Temple period were dismantled in this region and all that remains of them is a series of rock-cut installations, among them the hewn water reservoir.
 

It will soon be available for visits.

^

Ben-Gurion U. & the 'Citizens of Palestine'

What/Who are "Palestinian citizens of Israel"?

There is no state of Palestine and so there are no "citizens" of such.

Perhaps Arabs who are citizens?

After all, there are still Jews who have their Palestinian passports from the pre-1946 period.

I am referring to this from a mixed-upIs Ben-Gurion University:-

BGU researchers complete major study of Palestinian relations on both sides of the fence

While both groups look to bolster connections, different identities evolve

BEER-SHEVA, Israel, September 4, 2012 – A new wide-scale study of relations between Palestinians who are citizens of Israel and Palestinians living in the West Bank, conducted by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev researchers, has found that while the dominant strategy is to strengthen ties, Palestinian citizens of Israel (’48 Arabs) are more likely to embrace their own narrative and retain some distance from Palestinians living in the West Bank (’67 Arabs).

...[ Prof. Shifra] Sagy and her team discovered that there was relatively low acceptance of the “other’s” narrative, particularly among Israeli Arabs. There were also high levels of anger and less empathy towards the ’67 Arabs and vice versa.

...The survey was conducted as part of a joint project between Israelis, Palestinians and Germans funded by the German research foundation DFG.

^

Chanah's Prayer at Tel Shiloh September 12

With Rabbanit Yemima Mizrachi and entertainment by Efrat & Aharon Razal.

I Samuel 2:-

1 And Hannah prayed, and said: my heart exulteth in the LORD, my horn is exalted in the LORD; my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in Thy salvation. 2 There is none holy as the LORD, for there is none beside Thee; neither is there any rock like our God. 3 Multiply not exceeding proud talk; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth; for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed. 4 The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength. 5 They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry have ceased; while the barren hath borne seven, she that had many children hath languished. 6 The LORD killeth, and maketh alive; He bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up. 7 The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich; He bringeth low, He also lifteth up. 8 He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, He lifteth up the needy from the dung-hill, to make them sit with princes, and inherit the throne of glory; for the pillars of the earth are the LORD'S, and He hath set the world upon them. 9 He will keep the feet of His holy ones, but the wicked shall be put to silence in darkness; for not by strength shall man prevail. 10 They that strive with the LORD shall be broken to pieces; against them will He thunder in heaven; the LORD will judge the ends of the earth; and He will give strength unto His king, and exalt the horn of His anointed.

^

Mandate-Era Quiz

When did this occur?

Relations between Moslem and Christian Arabs were, however, temporarily estranged as a result of a dispute over the ownership of a cemetery at Haifa, ending in a fracas in which a Christian sustained fatal injuries.

Late 1929 (see paragraph 20).

^

Pro-Media Netanyahu

I have no claim against the media; they are doing their job.
 

From  PM Netanyahu's Announcement of the adjournment of the continuing Security Cabinet Meeting, Wednesday, 5 September 2012.

^

Sleuthing Mandate Period Photographs

I found this photograph in the Matson Collection

and it seemed to me I was perhaps familiar with the location of where those gentlemen were standing. So I went and took a picture the other day to compare:

I think that this is the sidewalk across the street from the main Post Office on Jaffa Road in downtown Jerusalem and my guess is that the first picture was snapped on the opening day ceremony.  I think the windows of the building in the rear are the same.

Oh, this is what they are looking at:

But if the Post Office was opened in June 1938, why the overcoat?  Hmmm, on that day, he wasn't wearing a coat and it's a different British official.

Then I realized I had neglected the URL listing so I went back and this is what I found:

High Commisioners. Coming and departing.
H.E. (i.e., His Excellency) the High Commsioner Sir Arthur Wauchope with Mr. Winter inspecting the new general post office building

So, I was right regarding the location but wrong about the date.  Wauchope did retire in March 1938 so this must have been a visit a few months before the opening ceremony, in the winter, prior to the arrival of his replacement, Harold MacMichael.

As for Winter, can we assume he is Postal Service Department Head?


^

Temple Mount News and Pictures

1.  In Arabic:

a hundred members of the army of occupation and its intelligence and settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque

August 28.

2. In English:

Jewish university students stormed the plazas of the Aqsa mosque on Monday under protection of the Israeli police. The Aqsa Foundation said that the students entered the mosque at the pretext of launching a guided tour. The Foundation published photos of the students while strolling inside the Aqsa with policemen escorting them.

September 3.

3.

Shh.  We're being followed:

We're being watched (that's Rachel Sela)

But there's so much empty space:

4.  What's called Judaization:

The Israeli occupation developed new Judaization schemes that target the Buraq area and its surroundings area of the Aqsa mosque, the Aqsa foundation for Endowment and Heritage revealed.

The Israeli authorities have increased the so-called “Tavilah” events for young Jews near Buraq wall funded by the Office of President of the Israeli government, the Foundation noted.
Aqsa Foundation said, in a statement on Monday, that such events aimed to Judaize the Buraq wall, the most important Islamic monuments directly related to the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

And on and on.

_______________

UPDATE

Waqf officials attempt to interfere with the Israel police permitting Hareidim to enter and film:


^

Construction Proceeding Apace

Recent photographs I snapped here in Shiloh:-

a) apartments on the west side of our hill, 11 in number, being readied for occupancy residency; sidewalk being prepared:

b) the 12-apartment terraced complex on the south side of the hill,

c) the first apartment already with occupants residents:

d) a single family home proceeding with steps almost leading to somewhere:

^

The Jewish Balabustah Pole Dancer

A week or so ago, I related to and commented on the story of Stern Girls exercising via pole dancing.

I have now managed to obtain a picture of supposedly what a true Jewish balabustah* looks like while pole dancing:

*

In Hebrew, the master of the house is literally the ba'al ha'bayit, or ba'al ha'bayis.  The words, when they transmuted into Yiddish, became balabus. It's fairly common in Yiddish for a male term, when converted to its female equivalent, to take on the ending "te" or "ene," e.g. chazzan-chazzante, yid-yidene.  Thus for every balabus there is usually a balabuste.  This is one word that is almost always positive, expressing admiration for a woman who can take hold of a home and manage it well.

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Natalie Portman's New Zionist Role: Herzl on the Balcony

From a perfume ad:

The original:

The photo of Herzl, visionary of the Jewish state, leaning on the balcony of the Drei Konige Hotel/ am Rheine at 8 Blumenrain in Basel was taken in 1897, during the days of the first Zionist congress. It has become a symbol of the Zionist vision.

^

Jewish Palestine Refugees

I cannot now recall whether I uploaded the correspondence below but since I couldn't Google it, I thought it prudent to (re)post it here.

My interest was simple, actually.  Definition of terms. For example, what is a family?  Respect for minorities. The matter of reunification.  That refugees who were Arabs did return to Israel, in December1949, from Jordan and earlier, from Lebanon.  That UNRWA was intended to assist "Palestine Refugees", not Palestinian refugees.  And now the US Senate has returned the 1946-1948 time period definition, which UNRWA admits:

Under UNRWA's operational definition, Palestine refugees are people whose normal place of residence was Palestine between June 1946 and May 1948, who lost both their homes and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict.

Note: "people", not only Arabs.

So, nine years ago, I wrote and asked if Jews had ever received assistance?  I was also hoping for a basis for a claim that Jews expelled from their homes in Judea, Samaria or Gaza - the four kibbutzim in Gush Etzion, Bet Ha'Aravah, etc. - could either return or be provided with funds.  I even spoke with former MK Gershon Shafat who was secretary of Ein Tzurim as to leading a legal effort.

My approach to UNRWA in Gaza:

And the reply:

The original number, then, of Jews who were Palestine refugees is at least 3000 but less than 17,000.

Do family descendents count?

Unfortunately, the Wikipedia entry regarding Jewish refugees due to the 1948 war does not deal with this angle.

It should be corrected.

^

What Are Jerusalem's Borders?

The Jerusalem area includes

the present municipality of Jerusalem plus the surrounding villages and towns, the most eastern of which shall be Abu Dis; the most southern, Bethlehem; the most western, Ein Karim (including also the built-up area of Motsa); and the most northern, Shu'fat,

Paragraph 8.

See the map here.


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A Boycotter Admits the Truth

In my opinion, the rights of the oppressed black South African majority would have superseded the supposed "rights" of arts companies to attempt to promote and normalise apartheid South Africa. The issue with Israeli dance company Batsheva is, in its essence, identical. The call for a boycott of Israel is not simply a protest over policy (as one might protest against the US/British invasion of Iraq, or Russia's wars against Chechnya). Rather, it is a challenge to the fundamental basis of an ethnically-defined state which is built upon ethnic cleansing and the wholesale dispossession, and continuous oppression, of the Palestinian Arab population.

Someone named Mark Brown, who is a theatre and dance critic and lectures at the University of Strathclyde.

Besides he being factually and historically misinformed about Israel, the 'crimes' he notes are those of the Arabs are perpetuated against the Jewish community that lived in the country for centuries, during the Mandate period and afterwards.

Will he recognise the truth of that?

Will he reach the correct conclusions?

Or can we doubt his willingness to consider another narrative and admit error?
 

^

Arab Ethnic Cleaning - 1500 Years Ago

Via EOZ, via Muqata:

Announced -and probably soon to be here:

1500 year old Jewish town found near Beersheva - in the 6th century CE.

Archaeologists uncovered two ritual baths and two public buildings with platforms on the Jerusalem-facing walls, indicating that they were either synagogues or Talmud schools.

It appears that the town was evacuated around the time of the Muslim invasion.

Indeed, it seems that the land of Israel had a significant - if not majority - Jewish population for centuries after the Roman conquest until the Muslim hordes came.

Evacuated?

That was an act caused by ethnic cleansing, whether by force or economic deprivation.

So, Jews were indeed a constant demographic element in this land.

^

The New Poster Boys

Spotted in the HaMevaser Hareidi daily, a teaser for an upcoming advertising campaign, it would appear:

A Bulton Potential Company concept, a company that specializes in the Hareidi and National-Religious market.

What will the future bring?

___________

Interested in a site on Hareidi advertising?
^

Worse and Worse - Batsheva in the UK

I couldn't decide which was worse in this report.

Was it

a) the lack of adequate security?

...Pro-Palestinian demonstrators managed to bring to a halt the performance of the Batsheva dance troupe on three separate nights during one of the country’s biggest arts festivals...during their final performance on Saturday night, up to 20 protesters entered the Edinburgh Playhouse auditorium and “ran amok” during performance, forcing security staff to eject them at least nine times.

b) that the dancers presented a rather timid and cowed charcater, very un-Israeli:

Witnesses reported that on each occasion the dancers stood stock still on stage, the curtain was lowered and the house lights brought up until the protesters were ejected.

c) that the audience seemed to be uninvolved accept for a post-demo cheer:

At the end of their performance, the highly-regarded, ethnically diverse contemporary dance group was greeted with enthusiastic applause and standing ovations...One audience member told The Daily Telegraph: “A few audience members, including a group including several children, left after the first disruption but other than that the audience remained calm and seated.

d) that the police ignored a criminal act and permitted threatening behavior::

More than 200 protesters have also rallied outside the theatre and have been seen shouting abuse at patrons as they left. No arrests have been made.“As we left the protesters simply screamed and yelled angrily, behind a line of police.”

e) or that they included the music of the German anti-Semite - and banned in Israel - Wagner:

During their three one-hour performances of “Hora”, they danced to a "mash up" including the Star Wars theme and music from Richard Wagner, the renowned German composer.

f) or the scurrilous and fascist attitude of certain 'persons of the spirit'

Leading up to the festival writers and artists including Iain Banks, Tom Leonard and Al Kennedy called for the festival's artistic director Jonathan Mills to axe the Israeli dance troupe. 

g) or the craven response of the festival spokeswoman, who viewed the protest and the dance performance equally and who said: 

"The festival supports freedom of expression and people's right to protest. “It welcomes constructive criticism, regularly facilitates debates and recognises the right to peaceful and orderly protest in any public place including outside its theatres. Equally the festival defends the rights of all artists, irrespective of nationality, creed or culture to have their voices heard."

h) or that the most robust and confrontational counter-attack came from...Brendan O'Neill who I presume is not Jewish:

Boycotts of everything Israeli have well and truly crossed the line from political campaigns into expressions of bigotry against the people and produce of Israel...This highly intolerant effort by one group of artists to have another group of artists banned – or perhaps quarantined at the borders until they renounce their home country and everything it stands for – is part of a bigger chattering-class trend to ghettoise Israeli culture...they practise cultural apartheid against Israelis...But there is nothing political about these censorious efforts to keep everything Israeli out of Britain. It is just an acceptable form of bigotry, a way of advertising one’s own moral decency by contrasting oneself to an inferior, infected people from Over There.

^

Another Upcoming South African Attack on Israel

Following the labeling move of agricultural produce and manufactured goods from Yesha, South Africa moves yet to another front in the Cognitive Combat Campaign:

Call for Papers: Jews, Colonialism and Postcolonialism

University of Cape Town, 2-4 January 2013

This international and interdisciplinary Conference is jointly organised by the Isaac and Jessie Kaplan Centre for Jewish Studies and Research (University of Cape Town), the Parkes Institute for the Study of Jewish/non-Jewish Relations (University of Southampton), and the Department of Hebrew, Biblical and Jewish Studies (University of Sydney).

The conference seeks to explore the connections and intersections between Jews, colonialism, and postcolonialism. The existing scholarly literature, mainly following the work of Paul Gilroy, has begun to recognise this conjunction in a variety of ways whether in relation to ‘multidirectional memory’ (Michael Rothberg), ‘the crisis of postcolonial culture’ (Aamir Mufti), or the exclusions of ‘disciplinary thinking’ (Bryan Cheyette). But there is still a need to bring together these sometimes contradictory approaches and to begin to constitute this topic as a new field of comparative studies. 

Proposals are welcome from those who want to promote theoretical engagement between Jewish and postcolonial studies as well as those providing more detailed case studies - including from all periods and all places - relating to the history, sociology, and anthropology of Jews (as both ‘white’ and ‘not quite’) in relation to colonialism and postcolonialism. This conference is part of a growing attempt to explore the substantial ways in which these fields inform each other. We welcome papers – theoretical and case studies - covering all chronologies and locations, including discussions of Jews in imperial contexts from antiquity to the present day. Papers are also welcome on how these tensions and intersections have been articulated in the cultural sphere, including, for example, art, film, literature, museums, music and television.

We have been warned.

^

More Balfour and Better, More Churchill

Last week, I posted on Lord Arthur Balfour's 1925 speech in Jerusalem.

I present now another: Lord Arthur Balfour's Speech on July 12, 1920, as excerpted from the Palestine Royal Commission [Peel] Report (Cmd. 5479) published in July 1937, in which he addresses:

 ...the inevitable difficulty of dealing with the Arab question as it presents itself within the limits of Palestine. 

And the Lord Balfour explains that Great Britain did much for the Arabs but also intended to do something for the Jews which they must accept:

It will require tact, it will require judgment, it will require above all sympathetic goodwill on the part both of Jew and Arab. So far as the Arabs are concerned - a great, an interesting and an attractive race - I hope they will remember that...the Great Powers, and among the Great Powers most especially Great Britain, has freed them, the Arab race, from the tyranny of their brutal conqueror, who had kept them under his heel for these many centuries.

I hope they will remember it is we who have established the independent Arab sovereignty of the Hedjaz. I hope they will remember that it is we who desire in Mesopotamia to prepare the way for the future of a self-governing, autonomous Arab State; and I hope that, remembering all that, they will not begrudge that small notch—for it is no more geographically, whatever it may be historically—that small notch in what are now Arab territories, being given to the people who for all these hundreds of years have been separated from it, but surely have a title to develop on their own lines in the land of their forefathers, which ought to appeal to the sympathy of the Arab people as it, I am convinced, appeals to the sympathy of the Arab people as it, I am convinced, appeals to the great mass of my own Christian fellow-countrymen.

And since we are dealing with British intentions, let's recall that on January 20, 1921, five years following the McMahon-Hussein correspondence, Winston Churchill stated that in a conversation with the Emir Faisal that day, the Emir had claimed that he was,

“prepared to accept the statement that it had been the intention of His Majesty’s government to exclude Palestine.”

Exclude Palestine from the area to become the Great Arab State that the Arabs expected from their joining with England to fight against the Ottoman Empire in World War I.

(The source for that is Great Britain, Parliamentary Debates, Commons, July 11, 1922, cols. 1032-1034, as cited in Albright, et al, Palestine: A Study of Jewish, Arab and British Policies, Vol. I, 1947, Yale University Press, p. 187)

But I went to Hansard and found this, too:

When I assumed responsibility for Middle Eastern affairs, I went carefully into the correspondence referred to, and my reading of it is the same as that of the Foreign Office, as was recently stated in the declaration of British policy in Palestine which has been published and laid before the House. I am quite satisfied that it was as fully the intention of His Majesty's Government to exclude Palestine from the area of Arab independence as it was to exclude the more northern coastal tracts of Syria.

and this exchange:

     Sir W. JOYNSON-HICKS

    Can the right hon. Gentleman say whether, confident as he is of the view of His Majesty's Government, he is at all certain that the other party to the negotiations and correspondence really thought the same thing, and whether it has not been a bond fide statement on the part of King Hussein and his advisers?

    § Mr. CHURCHILL

    I do not think that is so. At any rate, Sir Henry McMahon was perfectly clear in his indication of what was intended at the time. I am perfectly ready to place his opinion on public record.

    § Mr. ORMSBY-GORE

    Does not the right hon. Gentleman now say that this correspondence was inconclusive, and that King Hussein came in as one of the Allies before the correspondence was 1035 completed, or any real definite undertaking was actually signed as between the Treaty-making parties?

    § Mr. CHURCHILL

    That is so.

And as to the that conversation with Feisal:-

Mr. CHURCHILL
 
No pledges were made to the Palestine Arabs in 1915. An undertaking was given to the Sheriff of Mecca that His Majesty's Government would recognise and support the independence of the Arabs within certain territorial limits, which specifically excluded the districts of Mersina and Alexandretta and the portions of Syria lying to the west of the districts of Damascus, Horns, Hama and Aleppo. It was also stipulated that the undertaking applied only to those portions of the territories concerned in which Great Britain was free to act without detriment to the interests of her Allies. His Majesty's Government have always regarded and continue to regard Palestine as excluded by these provisos from the scope of their undertaking. This is clear from the fact, to which the hon. Member refers, that in the following year they concluded an agreement with the French and Russian Governments under which Palestine was to receive special treatment.

So far as I am aware, the first suggestion that Palestine was included in the area within which His Majesty's Government promised to recognise and support the independence of the Arabs was made by the Emir Feisal, now King of Iraq, at a conversation held in the Foreign Office on the 20th January, 1921, more than five years after the conclusion of the correspondence on which the claim was based. On that occasion the point of view of His Majesty's Government was explained to the Emir, who expressed himself as prepared to accept the statement that it had been the intention of His Majesty's Government to exclude Palestine.

So, not only did the Arabs campaign for the inclusion of Palestine with Syria and that there was no true Palestinian nationalism at that time, but they also knew that Palestine was always intended to be the Jewish national home.

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A BBC Breakdown

How stupid can the BBC be?

You ask?

Well,  there's this story on its site:

A woman presenter has appeared on Egyptian state TV in an Islamic headscarf for what is believed to be first time since it opened in 1960. Fatima Nabil wore a cream-coloured headscarf as she read a news bulletin.  Under the regime of ex-President Hosni Mubarak there was an unofficial ban on women presenters covering their hair. But the new Muslim Brotherhood-led government has introduced new rules, saying that nearly 70% of Egyptian women wear the headscarf.

Fatima Nabil appeared in the headscarf to read the mid-day news bulletin on Sunday.  The presenter later told the BBC: "At last the revolution has reached state television."  She is expected to be followed by other news and weather presenters similarly dressed. 

While once could sympathize with the discriminatory ban on appearing with one's head covered, such a fashion is usually indicative of a more restrictive approach to women's rights and the fact that the

new Muslim Brotherhood-led government has introduced new rules, saying that nearly 70% of Egyptian women wear the headscarf.

means that modern-looking women will be oppressed and their rights squashed.

So, what headline did the BBC give to this story?

Egypt's veiled presenter in 

breakthrough TV appearance


"Breakthrough"?

Breakdown, truly, of liberal humanist values..

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Last Night With Ruthie Blum

I was at the book launch for Ruthie Blum's new book, To Hell in a Handbasket, last night and thanks to Sharon Marks Altshul, there is proof:

My wife Batya, me and Ruthie.

The photographs I snapped:

David Hurwitz in conversation with Ruthie:

and Caroline Glick was there:

My book review should be finished soon.

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Who Will Commemorate Asher Itzkowitz?

The state of Israel maintains a memorial site for those who fell in the effort to reestablish the state and realize the Zionist vision.

The earliest victim of Arab terror is Asher Hershler who was killed in Jerusalem, chasing Arab robbers who sought to steal his money from his home in Mishkenot Sha'ananim.  He was murdered in January 1873.  Actually, the true first recognized Arab terror victim is Avraham Shlomo Zalman Tzoref and the details of his end are:

Tzoref was the main person instrumental in getting the local Pasha to issue a decree forgiving the Ashkenazim the debts of the students of Rabbi Yehuda haChasìd, and restoring to them the ruin we know as the Hurva.  known as Dir Shachnan. The Arabs who had built shops there were forced to restore the site to the Jews in return for compensation, after which Jews of Jerusalem built there the Beit Midrash named Menachem Zion.

After one attempt to kill him, another attempt by an Arab to kill him succeeded:

His assailants struck him on the head with a sword. "One night, close to sunrise, when Tzoref was making his way to the vatikin [early morning] prayer services as was his wont, murderers attacked him from behind, and struck him on the head with a sword, until he fell wallowing in his own blood. Jews who were also heading to prayers, found him in a pool of blood and while he was still alive, brought him back to his home." As a result of that sword strike, Tzoref lost his memory. He lived for another three months and then died. as he was on his way to sunrise prayers by sneaking up behind him and hitting him on the head with a sword. For months Tzoref was bedridden and lost his memory. Only on his last day on earth did his memory return, whereupon he asked all his family and friends to gather so he could bid them farewell.  Tzoref died in Jerusalem on 19 Elul, September 15, 1851 and was buried on the slopes of the Mount of Olives.

His son Mordechai was one of the yishuv’s agricultural and industrial pioneers, and Mordechai’s son, Rabbi Yoel Moshe Solomon, was one of the founders of Petach Tikva.

But if you search for a Asher Itzkowitz, you won't find him.  That is, unless you you review the Palestine Post online archives for the month of April 1947:

Yes, Asher Itzkowitz, barely a year in the country was attacked by a fanatical mob of Muslims, "lynched" is the contemporary term, and killed. The date of his death is 21 Nissan, April 11, 1947.

There is no memorial to him.  There should be.

Who will work to include his name among those who fell to Arab terror?

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Who Needs Uman When There's Jerusalem

The above psychedelic poster promotes a pilgrimage of Braslav chassidim - not to Uman to the Rebbe Nahman's grave but to the grave of Reb Israel Odesser in Jerusalem.

Wonders every day.

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Saturday Night Picture of Migron Residents

After Shabbat ended, they all gathered for a group photo.

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How To Wear An M14

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PS

Seems the fashion is old:

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Using Hitler in a Commericial Advert is Not Funny

The Senekot Company thinks it humorous - and profitable - to emply Hitler in its ad campaign for its product.

The company executives are so full of crap.

Hitler is simply not funny.



Source.

Is Scotland Aboutfacing; Set to Assist Yesha Jews?

Scotland is one of the more extreme anti-Israel centers and movements.  The recent protests against the performances of Batsheva Dance Ensemble is one example (k/t=HG): 

Support for something they call 'Palestine' is another.

But I caught the beginning of this headline,

Glasgow plans tribute to 

settlers... 

 

and was filled with anticipation.

Only to be disappointed.  The story is:

...plans are being drawn up in Glasgow for a permanent memorial to the settlers and also those who arrived in the city from Scotland's Highlands and Islands during the 1840s Potato Blight that ravaged much of northern Europe. The SNP in Glasgow has secured the support of its Labour rivals on the council for the tribute, which would bring the area into line with most other global cities to which the Irish emigrated during "An Gorta Mor".

...A motion put forward by the SNP councillor Feargal Dalton calls for recognition of "the significant cultural, economic and social impact of Ireland's An Gorta Mor and the Scottish Highland Potato Famine on the modern-day character of our great city" and "the efforts made by Glaswegians at the time to provide relief and sanctuary to those affected, a tradition that continues now as our city and its citizens continue to provide hope and assistance to those throughout the world affected by famine today".

And I thought by "settlers" they meant revenant Jews residing in their historic homeland.

So, misfortunates who flee for economic improvement to a foreign land will be honored while those who returned to their patrimony are to be opposed.

That is logic?

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