Been To Jerusalem Lately?

My very good and old friend Uri has.

I picked three out his dozens:

Almost a 'minyan' of birds at the Kotel:



A sun's peep over the Mount of Olives and into the Temple Mount compound:

Golden Dome of the Rock marking the site of the Holy of Holies in the Jewish Temples:

Ignatius, Ignorant or Misinformed?

David Ignatius has an article out, "Funding Israeli Settlements" and here in the WashPost, dealing with "a tax break fuels Middle East friction", he claims.

For many years, the United States has had a policy against spending aid money to fund Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which successive administrations have regarded as an obstacle to peace. Yet private organizations in the United States continue to raise tax-exempt contributions for the very activities that the government opposes.

There's nothing illegal about the charitable contributions to pro-settlement organizations, which are documented in filings with the Internal Revenue Service. They're similar to tax-exempt donations made to thousands of foreign organizations around the world through groups that are often described as "American friends of ... " the recipient.

But critics of Israeli settlements question why American taxpayers are supporting indirectly, through the exempt contributions, a process that the government condemns. A search of IRS records identified 28 U.S. charitable groups that made a total of $33.4 million in tax-exempt contributions to settlements and related organizations between 2004 and 2007.

"This is an issue that has not gotten the attention it deserves," said Ori Nir, a spokesman for Americans for Peace Now, a lobbying group that opposes settlements. "I don't know how many people, including in the U.S. government, realize the extent of private American funding to settlements. ... Every dollar that goes to settlements makes Middle East peace that much harder to reach."

...One of the Israeli organizations that has led the way in developing this area of East Jerusalem is called Ir David, or City of David. Like other pro-settlement groups, it has an active fundraising effort in the United States. According to Form 990s filed with the IRS, Friends of Ir David raised $8.7 million in 2004, $1.2 million in 2005 and $2.7 million in 2006.

The group's primary tax-exempt purpose, according to the IRS filings, is: "To create a charitable fund to provide financial aid & other reasonable assistance to benefit the Jewish people of the Old City of Jerusalem. To teach about the history and archeology of the biblical city of Jerusalem. To offer aid & assistance for education, housing & the rehabilitation of distressed properties."

A senior Jordanian official argued in an interview this week that Israeli pro-settlement groups such as Ir David are seeking to transform the demographic character of East Jerusalem so that a two-state solution, with Jerusalem shared by Israeli and Palestinian governments, will be impossible.

Hebron is another controversial area where settlements have received substantial tax-exempt gifts from America. According to IRS records, the Hebron Fund donated $860,637 in 2005 and $967,954 in 2006 for "social and educational well being"; the fund's online mission statement makes clear this is for Israeli settlers inside the city. The Hebron settlement of Kiryat Arba received $730,000 in 2006 from a group called American Friends of Yeshiva High School of Kiryat Arba.

Often the U.S. charities will specify that their gifts are going to charities in Israel, even though the recipients are in the West Bank, which the U.S. regards as occupied territory. American Friends of the College of Judea and Samaria, for example, said its donations were "to provide for the expansion and furtherance of the needs of educational institutions in Israel," even though the college is in the settlement of Ariel. Similarly, other filings speak of gifts to "Elon Moreh, Israel," "Gush Etzion, Israel," "Karnei Shomron, Israel," "Efrat, Israel," and "Bat Ayin, Israel," even though those settlements are all in the West Bank.

A 2005 report by the Congressional Research Service stated: "The United States stipulates that U.S. aid funds cannot be used in the occupied territories." The issue came to a head during a 1992 dispute over the uses of U.S. loan guarantees. A Jan. 25, 1992, story in The New York Times said that Secretary of State James A. Baker had cautioned Israel's ambassador "that the administration was not going to underwrite Israeli policies that fundamentally contradict its own principles and long-stated policies."

U.S.-Israeli friction over settlements is likely to increase...

I left a comment there, which I'll expand on here:

As a resident in Shiloh, a revenant Jewish community built in the territory the international community awarded the Jews through a long process of international law, Peace Conference at Versailles, San Remo Conference, League of Nations, to be developed as the "reconstituted Jewish national home", as the official wording goes, including "close settlement on the land", I dispute the supposed 'illegality' claim.

I am living on Jewish land, where Joshua set up the Tabernacle, where Samuel prophesised and judged and where Achiyah berated a king of Israel. This is not religious belief or fiction for the historical records and archeology support the Biblical account. And if there were no Jews residing there prior to 1967, when the Arabs lost that land due to their aggressive war, let's recall that whereas Arabs continued to live in Israel, the area partitioned off from the original Mandate area after 1948 to be the "Jewish state", all Jews where ethnically cleansed from the Arab areas. That's why you probably think it's "Arab" and we're there somehow "illegally".

As regards the tax question, American money goes to all sorts of purposes. Americans supporting a Palestinian state, which doesn't even exist, has been earmarked in Foreign Aid bills for three decades, at least, for NVOs, etc. That's okay even when much of the money was spongeable for Arafat's terror? What hypocrisy!

If what irks other persons who left comments in that they are concerned about democracy and enfranchisment, well, (a) first stop terror and then you'll get democracy; and (b) we can arrange for them to vote within the Jordan political system and have an autonomous administration.

There are solutions for all problems.


P.S. And I left another comment here.

Rain Storm at Shiloh

Vines in Winter; Grapes in Summer

Can't wait for summer.

Grey Skies, Pale Sun

Chassidic Breakdancing for Purim

Miscellaneous Wall Posters

"Favorite Collection Wine - 'for those who are careful about their four cups' -


Kuturkampf:

No "Nights of Song" or entertainment:

Summer is coming. It can get 'hot' in Jerusalem:

Big in Japan

There are three Yeshiva students incarcerated and awaiting a trial on drug charges in...Japan and here's a wall poster pleading to Heaven and He-Who-Is-The-Ruler-of-the-World for mercy:

I wasn't aware of this incident, so I checked.

Here's some Hebrew background (I) and (II). And eventually found this:

Drug-Smuggler Who Enticed Yeshiva Youths Indicted

At least 77 Japanese policemen, customs inspectors and others will be called to testify in the State of Israel’s case against Ben-Tzion Miller, who is accused of enticing Hassidic youths to smuggle Ecstasy into Japan.

The State of Israel filed on Monday a series of drug-trafficking charges against Miller, 31, of the Jerusalem area. He stands accused of running an international drugs-smuggling network, and of enticing three Hassidic yeshiva youths to take part. The three have been in Japanese jail for nearly a year and face prison sentences of many more years.

Miller is accused of recruiting three youths, one of whom was a minor at the time, to transport over 90,000 pills of MDMA, commonly known as Ecstasy, from Amsterdam to Japan. The three have testified, backed up by lie detector tests and the testimony of others, that he told them they were transporting items of Judaica.

The boys were given tickets to fly to Amsterdam, where they were given suitcases with false-bottoms. They were further told that the “Judaica items” were hidden in order to prevent theft and breakage.

Attorney Mordechai Tzivin, who represents two of the three youths, said, “This severe indictment against someone who enticed three innocent youths is an important part of our defense. Together with many other facts and circumstances in this case, the picture is clear that the boys in Japan were misled, and that their naivety and sincerity were abused by people who were their total opposite. The facts show that the boys are completely innocent, and could not have guessed – and certainly could not have known – that they were carrying drugs.”

The Hareidim vs. Egged

Seems the Hareidim are continuing their campaign against the Egged bus company based on religious sensibilities and economics.

This wall poster complains about the cost of the intra-city ride:

and this one also refers to the "interference" of Egged of the "kosher" transport network that is being set up in competition:

Another VClip of Women Praying Publicly

This clip was shot this morning on Bus #30. She was in the midst of the Shacharit (Morning) prayers:

Hats Are Big This Time of Year

Just what what your Hareidi boyfriend or husband or son needs for Pesach: a hat/shtreimel.

Ads in Geula:

A Visit To A Grave

Here's my friend Josh Hasten at Kever Yosef, Joseph's Tomb in Shchem (Nablus):



And he writes:


A night of mixed emotions.

Amazing to visit Kever Yosef, but very sad that we have to sneak into one of our holy sites in the middle of the night in a convoy of bullet proof buses, with about 100 soldiers.

Also very sad how the site was desecrated by our "peace partners".

Still, an uplifting experience to be there.

Is China Going Burkha?

From a recent fashion show in China:

The Other T-shirt Story

You'll recall the T-shirt story:-

Israeli officials have described as "tasteless" and inconsistent with army values a popular military pastime of printing violent cartoons on T-shirts.

An investigation in Haaretz daily says the customised shirts are often ordered when troops finish training courses...An army statement said the customised clothing was produced outside military auspices, but it pledged to stamp out the use of such imagery by soldiers.

"The examples presented by the Haaretz reporter are not in accordance with IDF values and are simply tasteless," the military statement said.

Well, there is another T-shirt story:

6 Danes convicted of selling T-shirts to fund Palestinian terror

The Danish Supreme Court on Wednesday convicted six people of supporting terrorist groups by selling T-shirts, but handed down suspended sentences.

The six were charged under anti-terrorism laws with using proceeds from the T-shirt sales to fund the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

Anyone want to guess which is getting the bigger coverage?


P.S. Found a pic:-

It's Coming Closer: The Once-In-28-Years Benediction

I blatantly took this from Muqata:


Translation:

Unique Experience -- Erev Pesach and Birkat HaChama on Har Habayit (Temple Mount). Going up on Wednesday, 14th of Nissan at 7:30 AM.

+ [Bus and cars] Leaving from the Mikva in Kiryat Arba/Hevron at 4:45 AM.
+ "Vatikin" (Early Morning Prayers) at the Kotel/Western Wall.
+ "Siyum" (Finishing a tractate of Talmud), breaking the "Fast of the First Born", and food before going to the Temple Mount.
+ "Birkat HaChama" according to the custom of Rav Goren.

Mandatory: One must go to the mikva before going to Har Habayit. One must not go to the Temple Mount with leather shoes. One must come with identification [for the police].

For more details and registration:

Yitzchak: 054-411-5809
Assaf: 02-996-3020
Gershon: 02-996-1430

============================

And wherever you are in two weeks at sunrise, have a great day!

Madoff Makes Do In Jail

One can imagine, no?

New Terms: Islamic Gender Apartheid & Honorcide

Phyllis Chesler and Marcia Pappas have published an article that demands:

- an end to the brutality of Islamic gender apartheid

and

- deplores the politics of racism among the feminist intelligentsia

The lead-in:

It is time for feminists, both women and men, of all faiths, and of no faith, to stand together for a woman’s right not to be murdered in the name of family honor. Indeed, we welcome men and women of all faiths, including Islam, to stand with us against female genital mutilation/castration, forced veiling, child marriage, arranged marriage, polygamy, and “honorcide,” and in favor of a woman’s right to live as a westerner in the West without being threatened and beaten for refusing to wear hijab, wanting to have non-Muslim friends, wear makeup, attend college, drive her own car, or end an abusive marriage. Muslim and Sikh women have been honor murdered in North America for all these alleged crimes against their religion and their culture.

Here's Another Bloke Who Can't Count

In a previous blog post (here), I drew attention to the fact that some uncouth persons who protest not only can't spell but also can't count.

And now, it seems, even Amy Winehouse's escort can't count either:




In case you're wondering, she most certainly did get her jeans caught on the fence.

Silly cow.

Two Pictures Tell Today's 'Flag Wave' March Story

Follow up on this:

Unidentified

(l-r: Itamar Ben-Gvir; MK Dr. Michael Ben-Ari; Baruch Marzel)


Source

(Kippah tip: Muqata)

Philip Weiss In A Semi-Contritional Mood

The other night a friend said that one problem he has in pro-Palestinian situations is that there is not an understanding of "the Jewish experience," which he learned about from his grandfather. I don't reflect that experience enough on this site.

Source

And somebody left this comment there:

We are sad to report that Philip Weiss died this afternoon of an exploding head. The head explosion is being blamed on his attempt to reconcile genocidal Jew hatred with respect for the Jewish experience.