Get Ready: The New Unilateralism

The New York Times does it again.  Another op-ed from the left.  Despite attempts, has the NYTimes ever published an op-ed from someone, not an elected politician or government official, supporting the viewpoint that Israel has a right and need to be in Judea and Samaria, and Gaza, and to contruct communities there?

Well, today, we have "Peace Without Partners" from Ami Ayalon, Orni Petruschka and Gilead Sher (Ayalon is a former commander of the Israeli Navy and head of the Israeli domestic security agency and a failed politician, Orni Petruschka is an entrepreneur (?!), and Sher was a peace negotiator and chief of staff to Prime Minister Barak from 1999 to 2001.


Excerpts:


...Israel doesn’t need to wait for a final-status deal with the Palestinians. What it needs is a radically new unilateral approach: It should set the conditions for a territorial compromise based on the principle of two states for two peoples, which is essential for Israel’s future as both a Jewish and a democratic state.


Israel can and must take constructive steps to advance the reality of two states based on the 1967 borders, with land swaps — regardless of whether Palestinian leaders have agreed to accept it. Through a series of unilateral actions, gradual but tangible changes could begin to transform the situation on the ground.


That is a recipe for disaster, see: Unilateral Disengagement and Yossi Beilin:


"The greatest risk underlying unilateral action is the strengthening of extremists," wrote Yossi Beilin, a former Israeli justice minister and one of the architects of the Geneva Accord, an unofficial peace plan.
Israel...should create a plan to help 100,000 settlers who live east of the barrier to relocate within Israel’s recognized borders. That plan would not take full effect before a peace agreement was in place.


But, what "recognized borders"?  If unilateral and, regardless if the Pals. accept it, ...are they crazy?


...Israel should also enact a voluntary evacuation, compensation and absorption law for settlers east of the fence...


Can we do so to Arabs west of the new "recognized borders"?  Why not?


Our organization, Blue White Future, holds regular meetings with settlers. We have found that many would move voluntarily if the government renounced its sovereign claims to the West Bank, because they would see no future for themselves there.

Actually, that sounds like the Black-and-Blue Future.

Critics will argue that unilateral moves by Israel have been failures — notably the hasty withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005, which left settlers homeless and allowed Hamas to move into the vacuum and launch rockets into Israel. But we can learn lessons from those mistakes. Under our proposal, the Israeli Army would remain in the West Bank until the conflict was officially resolved with a final-status agreement. And Israel would not physically force its citizens to leave until an agreement was reached, even though preparations would begin well before such an accord.


Oh, they read my mind.  Have they read the Pals' minds?  No way will that be acceptable to the other side.  Have they read Hamas' latest "we won't accept a [peace treaty" statement?
And after reading this, ask youselves, out of 360,000 Jewish resident revenants in Yesha, how many are the "many" of whom they write?

We don’t expect the most ideologically motivated settlers to support this plan, since their visions for Israel’s future differ radically from ours. But as a result of our discussions and seminars with settlers of all stripes, we believe that many of them recognize that people with different visions are no less Zionist than they are. We have learned that we must be candid about our proposed plan, discuss the settlers’ concerns and above all not demonize them. They are the ones who would pay the price of being uprooted from their homes and also from their deeply felt mission of settling the land.


There's more but it is platidudinal prose.  No logic, no realpolitik.


Too bad the NYTimes wastes column inches on such.

^

Jeffrey Goldberg: Settlers = Hamas

Jeffrey Goldberg equalizes and equates the Hamas with the Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria (in an attack on Peter Beinart k/t=LK):-

In other news from Happyland, the number-two of Hamas, Moussa Abu Marzook, gave an interview to the Forward in which he -- and this will be very surprising to people who aren't paying attention, and to Peter Beinart -- rules out recognizing Israel, and says that the most Hamas could offer Israel is a long-term truce. "We will not recognize Israel as a state. It will be like the relationship between Lebanon and Israel or Syria and Israel."


And those are excellent relationships!
I mention Peter because he has argued for quite a while that Hamas is actually moderating, and that we should not pay too much attention to the group's charter (which calls for, you know, killing a lot of Israelis and destroying their country). One of the irksome qualities of Peter's benign interpretation of Hamas is that he doesn't extend the same benefit of the doubt to another group of bearded fundamentalists, the Jewish settlers. For Peter, settler ideology is deadly and should be treated as such; Hamas, on the other hand, is just waiting for the right moment to emerge as a moderate, non-anti-Semitic force. I think it's better to take all religious fundamentalists at their word, which is why I worry incessantly about the willingness of some settlers to bring about the apocalypse, as I wrote here.

Two liberals fight each other and both dump on the Jews.

^

With Logic Like This, We Can Make Peace?

Egypt’s Islamist-dominated parliament on Sunday called on the Mufti to quit after a visit to Jerusalem, stepping up pressure on the state-appointed official over a trip that critics say bestowed recognition of Israeli control of the city.

Is that crazy or what?

And they call the site a "holy place".

Wholly illogical.

^

Low-Intensity War - #10

Arab War of Terror Against Israel #10

These reports are courtesy of Hatzallah Yeudah and Shomron a voluntary emergency rescue organization who works with the IDF, 669 Airborn Rescue, the security forces and emergency rescue services in Judea, Samaria, the Jordan Valley.  The IDF approves and verifies these reports of the continuous violence directed against Israel.

Yehudit Tayar


April 19, 2012


Rock attacks near Zif Junction in the Southern Hebron Hills causing damage to Israeli vehicles.

Rock attacks on Israeli bus on the Gush Etzion-Hebron Highway next to El Arub causing damage to the windshield.

North of Ofra rock attacks against Israeli vehicles causing damage to vehicles.

Jerusalem Shimon HaZaddik neighborhood Jewish man attacked and wounded moderately in his stomach and thigh by Arab terrorist with knife.

Molotov thrown towards Highway 60 the Tunnel Highway leading from Jerusalem to the south. Border Police searching for the terrorist who threw it. Following the search another Molotov was found ready to be fired.

Arab terrorists throwing rocks on Israeli vehicles near El Hader on the Gush Etzion-Hebron Highway.

High-quality explosive devices put by Arab terrorists near Carmel in the Southern Hebron Hills several roads closed in order to clear the bombs.

Explosion heard in the area where the bombs were left near Carmel.

Near IDF post on Gush Etzion-Hebron Highway near El-Arub massive rock attacks on Israeli vehicles.

Attempted car theft thwarted between Bet El and Psagot Arab terrorists attempted to block an Israeli vehicle the female driver succeeded in escaping and arrived safely to the community.

Massive rock attacks between Hizma and Adam and Lubin A'Shrakia near Shiloh.

Efrat-Tekoa Road massive rock attack on Israeli vehicles heavy damage caused to several of them.

Rock attack on Israeli bus and IDF soldiers near Bet Umar on the Gush Etzion-Hebron Highway. Anarchists and Arabs there with cameras trying to provoke an incident.

Anarchists desecrated memorial to IDF soldiers in the Jordan Valley.

April 20, 2012


Large masses of anarchists and Arabs attacking IDF troops with rocks in Na'alin, Nebe Zalach, and kadum. 1 Border Policeman injured moderately at Nebe Zalach and 3 agitators arrested.

About 20 Arabs accompanied by groups of anarchists and photographers demonstrated in attempt to cause provocations inside Gal neighborhood in Kiryat Arba Hebron. Large numbers of Israeli security dispersed them.

April 21, 2012

Two 17 year old Arab terrorists were apprehended by Border Police near the Tapuach Junction.  In their possession were found 4 pipe bombs, pistol and knife.  The explosive devices were safely detonated by the security forces.

April 22, 2012


Haramia Valley north of the British Police Junction heavy rock attacks against Israeli vehicles causing damage to Israeli bus and at least 4 vehicles.


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Bob "Hatchet Job" Simon and His Christians

Bob Simon was surprised that Israel's US Ambassador Michael Oren presumed that he would do a 'hatchet job' on a story on Israel. (and see at end)

{I am updating so go to the end where I am adding material if you've been here previously}
_____________

But, of course, it was a hatchet job.

Here are portions of the text from the transcript of Bob Simon's April 22 '60 Minutes' piece, "Christians of the Holy Land", Harry Radliffe, producer, - with my comments in square brackets in italics (and the video clip is here):-

The lead-in sets the tone:

(CBS News) The exodus from the Holy Land of Palestinian Christians could eventually leave holy cities like Jerusalem and Bethlehem without a local Christian population, Bob Simon reports. Why are they leaving? For some, life in the middle of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has become too difficult.

[wait, what 'exodus'? what 'Holy Land'? are Christians leaving...Israel? or what? and, by the way, aren't Jews a people who have holy cities? should that not figure in? do Muslims have holy cities? So, where is this "Holy Land"? Is it only "Occupied Palestine"? Jordan is not part of the "Holy Land"? They'd be disappointed as their tourism (see below) depends on that characterization. Simons never develops for the listener/viewer the reality, in all its proportions and complexity. he 'smoothes over' all the politics, the history - flattening it out so the viewer is putty in his hands]

Christianity may have been born in the Middle East, but Arab Christians have never had it easy there, especially not today. In Iraq and Egypt, scores of churches have been attacked, hundreds murdered. In Syria, revolution seriously threatens Christian communities. The one place where Christians are not suffering from violence is the Holy Land

[but they are, at the hands of fundamentalist Islamists who punish them as part of their fight with Israel in Gaza, and all throughout the Palestinian Authority but as you'll see later on, Simon allows that to slip away, too]: but Palestinian Christians have been leaving in large numbers for years. So many, the Christian population there is down to less than two percent, and the prospect of holy sites, like Jerusalem and Bethlehem, without local Christians is looming as a real possibility.

[Sounds ominous, does it not? And who is at fault?]

This is what the Holy Land looks like today. Bethlehem, where Jesus was born. [Jesus was born in "Bethlehem of Judea" - that is, Judea, not "Palestine"]. Nazareth, where he grew up. Jerusalem, where he died and where Christians believe he was resurrected. Nazareth is inside the state of Israel. Bethlehem is on the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The Christian section of Jerusalem is also under Israeli control. [actually, the neighborhood is termed the "Christian Quarter' but Christians live all throughout]

Bob Simon: When you first came here in 1964 [when Jordan occupied the area], what was the percentage of Christians in the old city?
Theophilos: There were around 30,000 of-- Christians living in the Old City.
Bob Simon: And now how many are there?
Theophilos: Very few.
So few, some 11,000 Christians out of a population of almost 800,000 -- just one and a half percent.

[wait, but what was the previous percentage?  UPDATE: k/t=DG: - Keith Roderick wrote in December 2006: "Midway through this century, Christians comprised about 80 percent of the population of Bethlehem. Christians now make up less than 15 percent of the town. This is a trend that mirrors the Christian flight throughout the Palestinian Authority. However, this exodus began long before Israeli checkpoints and the security wall. It is estimated that nearly two-thirds of the Christian population fled during the time when Jordan occupied the West Bank. The Christian population under the Palestinian Authority has suffered from a negative growth-rate and now number less than 50,000, or about 2.4 percent of the population".]

Religious leaders are afraid Jerusalem could become a museum, a spiritual theme park, a great place for tourists and pilgrims, but not for the Arab Christians whose roots date back to the church's very beginnings.

[but were there Arabs in Jerusalem when Christianity began?]

Mitri Raheb: Christianity started here. The only thing that Palestine

[don't forget: "Palestine" is a post-135 CE geopolitical concept; don't allow Simons to mix you up with today's "Palestine".]

was able to export so successfully was Christianity. Mitri Raheb is a Palestinian, a Christian and a Lutheran minister from Bethlehem. He runs schools, cultural centers and health clinics.

[and Israel considers him a 'racist' and an 'anti-Semite']

Mitri Raheb: Christianity has actually on the back a stamp saying, "Made in Palestine."

[it does? by whom? is that correct? no, it isn't. it's a propaganda ploy]

Palestinian Christians, once a powerful minority, are becoming the invisible people, squeezed between a growing Muslim majority and burgeoning Israeli settlements

[we in the Jewish communities in Yesha have nothing to do and surely are not squeezing Christians].

Israel has occupied the West Bank for 45 years.

[and the figures are: in Israel,it was reported in December 2011 that Christians constitute roughly 2 percent of the country’s citizens, or 153,000 people out of the 7.5 million population, according to figures released by the Central Bureau of Statistics. According to the figures, 80.4% of the Christians in Israel are Arabs and the rest are immigrants who arrived under the Law of Return, since they had Jewish relatives. The majority of those in the second category of Christians arrived during the large waves of aliya from the former Soviet Union. Nazareth has the largest Christian community with some 22,000 people; Haifa follows with 14,000, Jerusalem with 11,000 and Shfaram has 9,200 Christian residents. The CBS statistics also show the makeup of Christian families in Israel. The average family has two children, slightly fewer than the 2.2 for Jewish families and the 3 for Muslim citizens. so maybe Christians also have their own demographic problem? Moreover: Israel is the only Middle East nation where the Christian population has grown in the last half century (from 34,000 in 1948 to 140,000 today), in large measure because of the freedom to practice their religion. And It was during Jordan's control of the Old City from 1948 until 1967 that Christian rights were infringed and Israeli Christians were barred from their holy places. The Christian population declined by nearly half, from 25,000 to 12,646. Since then, the population has slowly been growing. Some Christians have been among those inconvenienced by Israel's construction of the security fence, but they have not been harmed because of their religious beliefs. They simply live in areas where the fence is being built. The proportion of Christians in the Palestinian territories has dropped from 15 percent of the Arab population in 1950 to less than 1 percent today. Three-fourths of all Bethlehem Christians now live abroad, and the majority of the city’s population is Muslim. The Christian population declined 29 percent in the West Bank and 20 percent in the Gaza Strip from 1997 to 2002. By contrast, in the period 1995–2003, Israel’s Arab Christian population grew 14.1 percent (CAMERA, December 24, 2004).]

Israel built the wall over the last 10 years, which completely separates Israel from the occupied West Bank. The wall was built to stop Palestinian terrorists from getting into Israel. And it's worked. Terrorism has gone down 90 percent. At the same time, the wall completely surrounds Bethlehem, turning the "little town" where Christ was born into what its residents call "an open air prison."

[you do not see those quotation marks on the screen, do you?]

...The Anastas family lives on the third floor. This is the view from the kitchen, from the master bedroom and bathroom. The children's room has a good view of this Israeli guard tower. The family runs a souvenir shop on the ground floor, sells Christian artifacts on what used to be the busiest commercial street in town. Now, it's a dead end...Claire Anastas: I tell them, we have to stay. We need to stay and struggle and fight. This is our cross.

[too bad Simons doesn't clarify exactly which wall he is referring to: the security barrier of the wall Israel has to erect after Arabs firebombed and shot at peaceful religious pilgrims trying to safely reach Rachel's Tomb]

...Michael Oren, who used to be Israel's director of Interreligious Affairs, is Israel's ambassador to the United States...according to Ambassador Oren, they're thriving. The reason Christians are leaving the West Bank, he says, is Islamic extremism.

[why doesn't Simons interview Christians who, as I know, have a different opinion that the Christians he has allowed to appear? btw, I think Oren made a poor showing and he could - or did he and it was edited out - supplied better information]]

...I think that the major problem in the West Bank as in elsewhere in the Middle East is that the Christian communities are living under duress.
Bob Simon: And this duress is coming from Muslims, not from the Israel occupation?
Ambassador Michael Oren: I believe that the major duress is coming from that.

[that's it, Mr. Ambassador?]

[And what is this doing in the transcript? A producer's note of excitement for his anti-Israel angle?]

[Zahi Khouri: Great selling point. Easy to sell to the American public.]

Zahi Khouri: I'll tell you I don't know of anybody and I probably have 12,000 customers here. I've never heard that someone is leaving because of Islamic persecution. [he's lying]

[and Bob adds here: In 2009, this group of Christian activists did something unprecedented. They published a document called Kairos, the original 1985 one was against South African apartheid, criticizing Islamic extremism and advocating non-violent resistance to the Israeli occupation which they called a sin against God.  That "document" was roundly criticized by many Christians and Jews.]

Ari Shavit: Israel is not persecuting Christians as Christians. The Christians in the Holy Land suffer from Israeli policies that are a result of the overall tragic situation. And this, of course, has consequences for everybody.

[they don't suffer from Islamists?]

Bob Simon: For Israel, there could be serious economic consequences. According to Israeli government figures, tourism is a multi billion dollar business there. Most tourists are Christian. Many of them are American. That's one reason why Israelis are very sensitive about their image in the United States.

[Jews are such money-grubbers.  heavens that Israel should simply be concerned about things like truth, facts, lack of bias, etc.]

And that could be why Ambassador Oren phoned Jeff Fager, the head of CBS News and executive producer of 60 Minutes, while we were still reporting the story, long before tonight's broadcast. He said he had information our story was quote: "a hatchet job."

Michael Oren: It seemed to me outrageous. Completely incomprehensible that at a time when these communities, Christian communities throughout the Middle East are being oppressed and massacred, when churches are being burnt, when one of the great stories in history is unfolding? I think it's-- I think it's-- I think you got me a little bit mystified.
Bob Simon: And it was a reason to call the president of-- chairman of CBS News? ...Nothing's been confirmed by the interview, Mr. Ambassador, because you don't know what's going to be put on air.
Michael Oren: Okay. I don't. True.

[but he's no dummy. when has Simon or "60 Minutes" ever done a fair piece on Israel?]

Bob Simon: Mr. Ambassador, I've been doing this a long time. And I've received lots of reactions from just about everyone I've done stories about. But I've never gotten a reaction before from a story that hasn't been broadcast yet.

Michael Oren: Well, there's a first time for everything, Bob.

Bob Simons:  Pilgrims have been coming here since 1106 AD [why only from then?] to wash themselves in the holy fire, to celebrate the founding miracle of Christianity. They will certainly continue to do so. But how many will be coming from the neighborhood? That's not a religious question anymore. It's political.

[and one in the court of the Arab Muslims. Israel permits religious freedom and Christian residency]

Simon feeds this view:

... for many of the Palestinian Christian clergy and their activist sympathizers, “the Palestinian church is the real church. Jesus, on this reading, was an underdog, who came to champion the underdog. He was oppressed by the Romans, so if you are Christ-like, you are also oppressed, like the Palestinians. This increasingly includes the idea that Jesus was a Palestinian. It’s an adopted narrative that is believed to have started with Yasser Arafat, but to some people it’s become a gospel fact.” In other words, it’s a narrative that denies Jesus’ Jewish identity. “It is a very ugly expression of Christian anti-Semitism,” Neal said.

__________

EoZ has pre-blogged.
____________

P.S. Received from LBD:

DENIAL OF RELIGIOUS RIGHTS BY THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY

According to the U.S. State Department's Annual Report on Religious Freedom: "Periodically, there are incidents of Christian-Muslim tension in the occupied territories. Tensions have arisen over Christian- Muslim romantic relationships or when Christians have erected large crosses in the public domain. Christians in the Bethlehem area also have complained about Muslims settling there and constructing homes illegally on land not zoned for building. "During the period covered by this report, there were periodic reports that some Christian converts from Islam who publicize their religious beliefs have been harassed. Converts complained that they were mistreated and threatened. The draft Palestinian Basic Law specifically forbids discrimination against individuals based on their religion; however, the PA did not take any action against persons accused of harassment."

HISTORY OF PALESTINIAN ASSAULTS ON HOLY SITES

Abraham's Oak Russian "Holy Trinity" Monastery Located in the Palestinian-controlled part of Hebron, the monastery belonged to the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. On July 5, 1997, Palestinian policemen arrived at the monastery, physically removed the monks and nuns, and took over the site. Several of the monks and nuns required hospitalization.

Joseph's Tomb During the September 1996 riots, a Palestinian mob led by Palestinian policemen assaulted the Tomb. Palestinian security agents opened fire on Israeli …

Church of St. Nicholas, Beit Jalla During the October and November 2000 hostilities, Fatah gunmen -- members of the "Tansim"-- fired on the Jewish neighborhood of Gilo from areas adjacent to churches in Beit Jalla, most notably the Church of St. Nicholas, hoping that Israel's return fire will hit a church," reported a Christian cleric. "Then it will be front-page news for the "Christian West,' that Israel is now destroying churches."

Jericho Monastery In January 2000, Palestinian police evicted five "White Russian" monks from their 19th-century monastery in the West Bank town of Jericho, handing the property over to the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Church of the Nativity In May 2002, 13 Palestinian terrorists forcibly took over the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem. They stole gold objects from the monks, ate their scarce food, and urinated on the church floor. Tanzim commander Abdullah Abu-Hadid told Yediot Achronot that the seizure of the Church was premeditated. He said: "The idea was to enter the church in order to create international pressure on Israel ... We knew beforehand that there was two years worth of food for 50 monks, oil, beans, rice, olives. Good bathrooms and the largest wells in old Bethlehem…”

________________

Oh, and from DG:


Recently the IDF named its outstanding soldiers of the year. I've seen items about two of them. One, (via Daily Alert Blog) comes from Israel Hayom.

“S,” an Arab from eastern Jerusalem, is one of the outstanding IDF soldiers who will be recognized at this year’s Israel Independence Day ceremony at the President’s residence. “First of all, I’m an Israeli,” he says. “For me, to continue to serve in the IDF is a dream.”

Is "S" a Christian or a Muslim?

_________________

P.P.S.

Haaretz blogger adds:

At the Israeli Embassy, the final report was seen as sort of diplomatic victory, and the ambassador's attempt to intervene was presented as a fine example of a pro-active approach to Israeli diplomacy. "The relationship between Israel and the Christian world is our strategic interest and when we received information about this report several months ago and plans for broadcasting without any reaction by Israeli officials, Ambassador Oren did what a diplomat is supposed to do to prevent serious damage to the country he represents," a senior Israeli diplomat told Haaretz.
"What we asked to do is to comment on it, and also recommended they talk to other Christian officials. As far as we know, they didn't talk to them, but the result is still not as bad as it could have been without any Israeli reaction," said the official. "The final result was just a biased report touching on several familiar issues that should be resolved between Israel and the Palestinians...

______________


And here is that idiot, MJ Rosenberg, who (a) inserts a bit of anti-Semitic conspiracy theory -Jews can get media people fired; and (b) while getting the story line wrong, proves how biased Bob Simon's report was:

How long will Bob Simon keep his job with 60 Minutes?  On Sunday, the Jewish American CBS correspondent, exposed the exodus of Christians from Israel (a once dominant community is now a shell) and laid it at the door of Israel’s policies toward all Palestinians, Christians and Muslims.

The story was the supposed Christian exodus from the "Holy Land", by which Simon meant East Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria, aka the 'West Bank'. Not Israel.

If MJ got it wrong, Simon was, alas, too good.

___________

From a The Tablet writer:

I thought Oren came off lamely, almost deliberately so, as though he feared appearing impotent less than he did all-powerful. I don’t see why the Israeli ambassador should be embarrassed about fighting stories that make Israel look bad; I’m sure U.S. diplomats around the world do it all the time. It’s past time we stopped calling run-of-the-mill government public-relations efforts by its Hebrew name, hasbara, and automatically assuming it is clumsy, sinister, or both (it sometimes is, but it isn’t by definition). Instead of dissembling, I wish Oren had responded to the effect of, “You’re damn right I called your boss, because your story sounds like it’s going to be B.S.”  Because here’s the thing: the story is kind of B.S...

Jennifer Rubin in the WashPost and CBS reaction.

Natan Guttman in The Forward.

JTA.

Mondoweiss was applauding, though.

StandWithUs urges action.

JE Dwyer.

And here is, finally, CAMERA's review.  Summary:

Simon deceived viewers in a number of ways. For example:

He described the Palestinian population as dwindling when the Christian population in Bethlehem and the surrounding communities has actually increased since Israel took control of the West Bank in 1967. It's declined as a percentage of the total because of the growing number of Muslims.

Simon sharply downplayed Islamist hostility toward Christians in Palestinian society when it's a highly negative and often menacing factor in the lives of many.

Although profiling the village of Taybeh, "60 Minutes" completely ignored the terrorizing of Taybeh's Christians by Palestinian Muslims in 2005.

He falsely portrayed anti-Israel propaganda issued by Palestinian Christians in the form of the Kairos Document as an honest attempt to bring peace between Israel and the Palestinians, omitting mention that the Central Conference of American Rabbis denounced the document as "supersessionist and anti-Semitic."

He falsely claimed Israel's security barrier "completely surrounds Bethlehem, turning the 'little town' where Christ was born into what its residents call an open air prison." The barrier does not encircle the city but curves around its northern and western sides.

Although mentioning Nazareth, "where [Jesus] grew up," the segment completely ignores the Christians who live there now. In fact, it completely ignores all Israeli Christians, who live in safety and whose numbers are growing.

"60 Minutes" could not find time in the story for a statement by Ambassador Oren detailing how Israeli Christians are thriving but only posted a brief video on its website. Why couldn't "60 Minutes" include mention of the fact that Israeli Christians serve on the Supreme Court, in the Knesset, and volunteer to serve in the IDF by the thousands?

Simon completely ignored the fact that:

200,000 Christians have fled Egypt in the past year since the "Arab Spring"

80% of Iraqi Christians have fled and 200 churches have been burned there in the past few years

Recently the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia declared that all churches in the region should be destroyed

These errors, distortions and omissions need to be fully corrected on-air in a segment that tells the truth about the assault on Christians in the Middle East.

There's a lot more detail, follow the link.

And here is the expose on Bob Simon's perfidy refarding Oren's appearance:

...Simon’s apparent shock — and high dudgeon — at Oren’s conduct were nowhere to be found in a letter he wrote the ambassador before the taping, and which was provided to BuzzFeed by a political operative not party to the dispute who said he shared it because he thought it illustrated CBS doubletalk.


“Fortunately, we are still in the process of reporting the story, so [CBS News Chairman Jeff] Fager and I want to give you an opportunity to express your views and correct any misrepresentations or omissions which you apparently believe might have occurred,” Simon wrote, in a courteous missive on personalized “60 Minutes” letterhead, dated January 4. “Thank you and best wishes.”
 
...It’s not unusual for reporters to seek difficult interviews with innocuous correspondence. Less common is the theatrical outrage Simon expressed on air, but not in the letter, at Oren’s interest in shaping a story about his country...Oren dropped any hope that he could shape the segment in a February 13 letter CBS, also provided to BuzzFeed, written after the confrontational interview but before the episode aired.


“The interview not only confirmed my concerns about the segment but deepened them,” he wrote, calling Simon’s approach “a feebly disguised attempt to exploit Christians—and inflame religious tensions” without any “historical or diplomatic context."

Oren blasted “Mr. Simon’s lack of understanding of – or genuine interest in – the basic facts regarding Christians in the Holy Land,” and anticipated the segment “would be irresponsible, unfair, and beneath the standards of your program.”...

In connection with the theme, here is Raja Shehadeh, writing in the New York Times on April 19, about "Easter in Ramallah",

For the small minority of us Palestinians who are Christian — meaning, mostly, Greek Orthodox— Easter is the holiest of festivals. There used to be other big festivals in Jerusalem, like the ones commemorating the Way of the Cross along the Via Dolorosa or the Annunciation, for which Christians and Muslims would camp out on the hill outside the Lion Gate. But since Israel’s occupation of Jerusalem, either these celebrations have been canceled or Palestinian Christians from outside Jerusalem have not been able to participate because they can no longer freely enter the Holy City.

Of course, that is a misrepresentation.  Entry depends on the security situation and the level of Arab incitement.  And this is so passe:

It was so normal back then for Christians, Muslims and Jews to partake in each other’s religious celebrations.

 

More resource material on the situation of Christians.

-_______________________

Good point from Daniel Laufer:

The construction of the segment is such that it is based around a solitary element of data: the demographics of Christians in the Holy Land...What’s more is that he never really attempts to prove a specific thesis. He just sort of implies, against a backdrop of pictures and some interviews that at best speak in general terms about the conflict, that the responsibility for the drop in Christian population is directly tied to Israel.

How is it tied to Israel? Well, he only utilizes a coherent argument for “why.” That is, he elaborates at length about “why” Israel’s ambassador to the US, Michael Oren, might want to stop the segment, and how airing it could damage support for Israel. Then Simon frames the ambassador’s actions in conspiratorial terms and actually tries to chastise him. The detailed explanations stop there...Simon doesn’t actually explain the mechanics of why Christians are leaving the Holy Land, or how Israel’s actions affect Christians specifically.

That’s because such an explanation would require facts. And Simon and his team haven’t got many of those...

amd

Which raises another question: How far has the journalistic standard fallen that 10-odd minutes of tired Middle-East clichés qualify as an “investigative report?”  Where are the academic experts on history, demographics, sociology and religion? Where are the charts of facts and figures? Where is any research at all?

If there is only one complaint allowed of this episode, it isn’t an accusation of bias or misreporting of facts — it is the non-reporting. The sheer laziness of 60 Minutes apparent in the segment should be appalling not just to its viewers, but should be cause for anger upstairs at CBS’s management. What is it, after all, that Bob Simon and his team are paid for? It cannot be to simply repeat an interviewee’s claims as fact and go home, job done.

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More of Shiloh's Children

I've posted here some photographs of Shiloh's kindergarten, pre-school children getting ready for Independence Day activities/ceremonies.

What can I say?

They're so cute.

Here's the link to the album, by Miriam-Feyge Bunimavich.

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Shiloh in Latma

In this Latma news clip, at 1:40, you can hear a satirical version of the news from last week when a vineyard near Shiloh was uprooted and irrigation equipment damaged.

It could have been, suggests Caroline Glick's Latma team, that the saplings wer being provocative and had even beat an old woman and an eight-year old child.

By the way, there's a typo at 4:58 - "hour" should actually be "how".


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When Things Aren't So Bad for An Arab Village

Well, maybe Israel isn't as hard-hearted as too many wish to portray it (k/t=BLS):-

The pastoral village, dotted by wells and water reservoirs, stands above Refaim Stream and the railway track to Jerusalem, and is a unique case in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Its inhabitants were the only Palestinians allowed to continue to cultivate their lands inside Israel's border after the 1948 war. The reason for this anomaly, which was mentioned in the 1949 Armistice Agreements, was an oral agreement between village leaders and Moshe Dayan: The villagers were allowed to cultivate their lands in return for preventing damage to the railway track or the trains. Batir's inhabitants continued to cultivate their lands on both sides of the border until 1967 - and afterward.

Yes, Batir or, the fortress town of the commander of the Jewish revolt against Rome, 132-135 CE, Bar Kochba - Betar. A village that was "hostile" and its inhabitants participated in the Arab terror campaign before (and after) there was an "occupation" or prior to a "settlement" being contructed in Judea and Samaria:

July 5, 1965 - A Fatah cell planted explosives on the railroad tracks to Jerusalem near Kfar Battir.

and

The railroad suffered numerous terrorist attacks during the 1960s prior to the Six-Day War, especially due to its proximity to the Green Line and the Arab village Battir. On October 27, 1966, one person was injured from a bomb that was placed along the route.

Co-existence is an attainable goal.

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Standing Up for Jabotinsky

In this article, Jordan Chandler Hirsch counters the claims that Ze'ev Jabotinsky was bad for Zionism, noting that

...Roger Cohen wrote in the New York Times that Netanyahu was “raised in the Jabotinsky strain of Zionism by a father who viewed Arabs as ‘semi-barbaric.’ ” Andrew Sullivan, in his review of Peter Beinart’s book The Crisis of Zionism, argued that Netanyahu’s policy in Gaza and the West Bank, seen in light of Jabotinsky’s influence, “makes more sense … it’s a conscious relentless assault on the lives of Palestinians to immiserate them to such an extent that they flee.”

And he deals with three of the main points brought to mischaracterize Jabotinsky:

a glance at Jabotinsky’s writings suggests that the Zionist pioneer was not the warmongering bigot that these pundits make him out to be. Consider the three main charges commonly brought against him:


1. Jabotinsky was a racist;
2. Jabotinsky’s racism toward Arabs informed his maximalist demand for a Jewish state on both sides of the Jordan River;
3. Jabotinsky called for never-ending war against Palestinian Arabs until they succumbed.

And he makes the following observations:

Jabotinsky was a classical 19th-century liberal who championed full civic equality. Although he would later flirt with the idea of voluntary transfer of Arabs out of Palestine [a proposal made in 1944 by the...British Labour Party!!!], he firmly opposed their mandatory expulsion—

It’s true that Jabotinsky did not hold Arab culture in high regard. In the “Iron Wall,” for example, he wrote that “culturally, [Palestinian Arabs] are 500 years behind us.” But in many ways, Jabotinsky openly respected Arab aspirations far more than most Labor Zionists under Ben-Gurion...

...It was Jabotinsky’s obsession with sheltering millions of European Jews, not some anti-Arab bigotry, that drove his territorial claims. [not quite.  what "drove" him was the coming catastrophe, yes, but that situation only made the fundamental demand for all of Eretz-Yisrael more urgent, not more correct and just] Even as he expressed “the profoundest feeling for the Arab case,” Jabotinsky argued that it simply could not compare to the Jewish need for refuge...

...In referring to Jews “crushing” and “immiserating” Palestinian Arabs with military might until they break, writers like Peter Beinart and Andrew Sullivan are offering a shallow interpretation of Jabotinsky’s iron wall.  Jabotinsky first proposed the iron wall in 1923 less as a literal buffer than a demonstration of strength meant to convince the Arabs that the Jews were there to stay...any true peace would need to wait for the necessary psychological shift.  The iron wall was not meant to be an excuse for ruthless force, but a display of resolution and permanence that would eventually lead to reconciliation...As eager as Jabotinsky was to establish Jewish sovereignty, he was just as eager to make peace with the Arabs once they recognized the inevitability of the Jewish state...

...Of course, you wouldn’t know any of this from recent critics, who, by reading history backwards from the present, have demonized and simplified Jabotinsky’s legacy to attack their current political foe, Netanyahu. But if Jabotinsky really is central to Bibi’s thinking, then perhaps those critics are as wrong about the present as they are about the past.

Previous references of mine to Jabotinsky and the Arabs on this subject

here

here

here

^

When Is A Cohen Not Jewish?

Until he converts if his mother isn't Jewish.  Here:

Peaches Geldof has become a mother for the first time.


She and fiancé Thomas Cohen welcomed a baby boy to the world - who they have called Astala - which they announced on their Twitter pages today.

It is unclear exactly when their little bundle of joy was born, but this afternoon, Peaches, 23, took to her page and declared: 'yes, it's true - I'M A MUMMY!'

UPDATE

And the baby boy's name is

Astala Dylan Willow Cohen-Geldof

Explanation:

'I wanted a Jewish name because my fiance is a Jew and the name is the male version of Esther.'

Astala? Estelle? What could be masculine there?

Esther's Hebrew name was Hadassah. Esther 2:7:

And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle's daughter; for she had neither father nor mother, and the maiden was of beautiful form and fair to look on; and when her father and mother were dead, Mordecai took her for his own daughter.

And Hadassah means myrtle in Hebrew.

At least Peaches wears a Jewish star pendant.

^

Adler's Short Way to Negativism

On April 20, this letter by James Adler of Cambridge, Mass., was published at the New York Times/IHT website, entitled Israel and the Activists:-

Regarding “Israel blocks campaigners from visiting West Bank” (April 17):

Israel’s public relations and human rights problem is that the world’s attention is mainly drawn to three issues, namely the transgression of international borders and occupation of other people’s land; domestic human rights violations that are systematic, official, long-term, and ethnic or religious in nature; and genocide. Unfortunately, Israel’s policies happen to combine two of the three main attention-grabbing irritants: border transgressions and occupation, and systematic policies based on race and religion. This goes a long way to explaining Israel’s conflict with human rights activists.

He has published letter before, for example here.  And I have criticized him previously.

If anything is an irritant, it is Adler's method.  He doesn't say outright Israel is doing anything wrong and surely doesn't illustrate how Israel isn't doing anything that should merit such abusive treatment by "human rights activists" or such a negative press.  What he does do is write that Israel's policies "combine...attention-grabbing irritants".  They don't, really.  And by ignoring anything that happens on the other side, the Palestinian Authority, Hamas, etc., he conveniently encourages such negative media coverage by permitting the real negative irritant to be hidden  and therefore, ignored.

He takes the short way to undermine Israel.

^

Have Bike, Willl Travel - To Shiloh

If you go here, you can see some 80 photographs taken by Miriam-Feyge Bunimovitch of the visit of three dozen or so motorcyclists and motor-bikers to Shiloh, the Tel and the Synagogue, members of the Tel Aviv Bikers Club:

Here are a few:

Not quite the Wild One.  ;->)

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News! WashPost Gets A Gaza Story Almost Right

Seems reporter  Karin Brulliard got the story right, almost:-

In Gaza, Hamas rule has not turned out as many expected

The housing stipends, promised by Hamas social workers after much of Umm Mohammed’s neighborhood was demolished in an Israeli military assault three years ago, never came. The water barrels pledged by municipal authorities seemed to go only to Hamas cadres. Electricity is a rarity...the housewife said, the enclave’s Hamas rulers watched from “their chairs” — lingo here for cushy seats of power...“They say they are the resistance against the enemy,” said Umm Mohammed, 26, bouncing a baby on her knee. “Where is the resistance?”


...after five years of Hamas administration...Hamas is fast losing popularity, and recent surveys indicate that it would not win if elections were held in Gaza today...some say Hamas’s path from violent opposition movement to de facto government could be instructive: The Gaza-based rulers, many analysts say, have become more pragmatic and more self-interested — a bit more like common politicians. Whether that means Hamas, an offshoot of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, has altered its extremist ideology is far from clear.

[what?!!!]

...Israeli military officials say the movement remains dedicated to Israel’s ruin, as stated in its charter, and is hoarding arms for future offensives. Although some Hamas leaders voice admiration for Turkey’s moderate and democratic Islamism to foreign audiences, others unfurl militant, anti-Israel rhetoric to chanting supporters.


...Hamas...no longer looks the same to many Gazans. It secured once-lawless streets, as promised. But hopes of Islam-guided fairness and an end to the graft that had tainted the tenure of the secular Fatah party have turned to widespread griping about Hamas corruption and patronage...Members of the Hamas elite are widely thought to have enriched themselves through investment in the dusty labyrinth of smuggling tunnels beneath the border with Egypt and taxes on the imported goods. That money has been channeled into flashy cars and Hamas-owned businesses that only stalwarts get a stake in, critics say.


Street-level umbrage has risen in recent months alongside tax increases and a crippling power crisis that...began after Egypt stopped providing subsidized fuel for vehicles and...the crisis has been prolonged by Hamas’s refusal to import pricier fuel through an Israeli-controlled crossing...“Many aspects of the siege are imposed by Hamas,” said the manager, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of fears of losing his job.


...Alcohol and belly dancing have been banned. But efforts to require schoolgirls to wear veils, prohibit women from smoking water pipes or prevent “un-Islamic” behavior on the strip’s breezy beaches largely failed amid criticism from the public...Authoritarianism has come more in the form of quashed dissent and arrests of perceived political opponents...“We became like a police state,” said Ahmed Yousef, a former adviser to Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. “They became scared of any rally or demonstration.”


Hamas, eager to preserve its rule, has also become wary of provoking a new Israeli offensive in Gaza, costing it credibility...Hamas itself has mostly adhered to an unofficial cease-fire since the 2008-2009 Israeli offensive...Hamas has essentially abandoned longtime patron Syria...Taher al-Nunu, a spokesman for the movement, said Hamas leaders restrained fighters last month because they thought Israel was trying to provoke them to learn about their weapons arsenal, not because they have abandoned armed tactics.


“We are not working by remote control like Israel wants,” he said.

[what?!!!]

But only those who “pray in a Hamas mosque” get work...said, adding that the movement’s leaders look as though they have gotten comfortable with their mini-state and have forgotten about fighting for Palestinian independence.

So, is Hamas a remote-controlled Israeli creation? Is Gaza a great place to live? Who is at fault for the economic disaster, the corruption, the incompetence?

Who is seeking a conflict?

^

Feminism Gone Wild or Nosey N?

Haaretz pumped up a first-page story of wild sex on the beach and that it was rape.

...A government worker who says she witnessed the gang rape of a mentally ill young woman on a Tel Aviv beach in broad daylight insists that police never responded to her report of the incident, while police say they responded and saw nothing. The ongoing sexual activity on Bograshov Beach that N. described to Haaretz was similarly described by employees of a nearby restaurant, though none of the employees thought to call police, as N. did.

The incident occurred two weeks ago, when N., a Jerusalem resident who works in the State Prosecutor's Office, took a day off and went with a friend to Tel Aviv...At some point, N. and her friend noticed a circle of people who had gathered not far from them. They were mostly men and a few young women, who seemed to be applauding and cheering something going on inside the circle.

After a few minutes, a young woman and one of the men came out of the circle and walked toward the water. As they got a bit closer, N. noticed that the woman was wearing a blouse and a jacket, but was naked from the waist down. Within seconds, N. saw the two have intercourse right on the shore, with everyone in the vicinity looking on. They then got up and went back to the circle.

N. decided to find out what was going on and she and her friend moved their towels closer to the circle..."After those two came back to the circle, other men started stroking the girl and convinced her to remain. Each one, after speaking to her for a couple of minutes, proceeded to have sex with her within the circle."  At a later stage, she said, some of the men started shouting, "Anyone who wants oral sex can pay a shekel and get in line."...apparently because it looked like the girl was agreeing to it," N. said. "At no point did she scream; she was actually laughing the whole time. But I wanted to put a stop to it." She approached the men in the circle and started to tell them off.  "I tried to talk the girl into leaving, but she started screaming at me, and said 'I'm a free woman, I'll do what I want with my body.'...But from the short conversation N. had with her, it was clear that the woman was mentally disturbed. Being familiar with the law, N. knew that this could turn what on the surface seemed like consensual sex into the gang rape of a helpless person...Shortly after 3 P.M., N. called 100 to report the incident. "I didn't tell the operator that it was rape, because it still wasn't clear what was going on, but I told her that there's a woman on Bograshov Beach having sex with a lot of men on the beach. I figured she'd understand it was rape from the way I described it."

Well, the extreme Left here had taken this on and at this Facebook page, you can see (in Hebrew) a call for action.

Between 1:30-4 there'll be a gathering of "Prayer and "Protest at the Loss of Human Dignity" at Bograshov Beach, Tel Aviv.  And so far, 151 people will be attending it seems.
However, it turns out the lady was a hooker on a day off (so far, Hebrew source) and was offering, of her own free will, freebies.

If I am not mistaken, women's liberation does provide for a woman to control her own boby, including granting sexual favors.

Nows, I am not implying that N. was a nutty prude.  But, coming from the State Prosecutor's Office I think it might have been that she felt she could throw her legal weight around and interfere.  Or, she just did not know what was going on.

In any case, the police are now dealing with the issue after Haaretz put it up as front page news.

^

The 'Palestine' Pat-Down

The TSA pat down procedure is really getting to people.

Even people like Bar Rafaeli.

Well, pat downs are not new.

For example, here's a 1938 pat-down:

Woman on woman.

I think that's at Zion Gate, from the inside.

A 1939 pat-down out in the countryside:

^

If He Can Freely Visit, Why Not I?

Even when Israel provides full religious freedom, there are fanatical enemies of ours who don't appreciate it:

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood on Thursday denounced a rare visit to Jerusalem by the nation's top Islamic theologian that broke with decades of opposition to traveling to areas under Israeli control.  Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa replied that his two-hour visit on Wednesday was a show of solidarity with the Palestinians' claim to Israeli-held east Jerusalem.

The short trip countered a long-standing unofficial view that there should be no contacts with Israel until an Arab-Israeli peace settlement is reached...The boycott is not state-sanctioned, but it has been endorsed by a wide range of Muslims, including the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood, more radical groups and institutes whose heads are appointed by the state.

The travel ban also has the backing of professional unions, universities and private associations. In the past, some who have defied the ban have been ostracized... a body of senior clerics at Cairo's Al-Azhar...repeated their rejection of visits to Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa while under Israel's control but stopped short of reprimanding the mufti, who prayed at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam's third-holiest site.

Another visitor - and yet another and another:

The cousin of Jordan's King Abdullah, Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad, arrived on Wednesday for a visit at Temple Mount in Jerusalem...Two weeks ago, the Hashemite king's son, Prince Hashim Bin al-Hussein arrived on a secret visit to Jerusalem, during which he prayed at al-Aqsa mosque. The visit was not coordinated with the Defense Ministry, which permits the entry of Jordanian citizens into Israel. Ministry officials stated that Jordan's interior minister also paid a visit to Israel.

Maybe Israel will yet extend freedom, full freedom to Jews to respect and honor our sacred and holy site, the Temple Mount, in a proper way.


P.S.  See EOZ's take.

And see this from Benny Morris' rebutal of Daniel Levy on Arafat:

...in 2000 he told President Clinton at Camp David that there had never been a Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem's Old City—effectively rejecting the legitimacy of Jewish claims to Jerusalem and, by extension, to the Land of Israel/Palestine in toto. Palestinian spokesmen, despite fourteen hundred years of Muslim tradition, continue to deny the e existence of the Temple and, in effect, the Jewish heritage of the Land of Israel/Palestine. No rightful claim means that Zionism/Israel is illegitimate.

That's why Jewish rights to - and on - the Temple Mount are important.



^

So That's What a Sica Looks Like

See that short sword in her left hand, held high?

That's a sica, the weapon-of-choice of the sicarri.  You know, those "Jewish terrorists".

About her?

Oh, here:-

A small bronze statue dating back nearly 2,000 years may be that of a female gladiator, a victorious one at that, suggests a new study...It’s not known where the statue was originally found, though it is currently in the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbein Hamburg, Germany...in the air she raises what the researcher, Alfonso Manas of the University of Granada, believes is a sica, a short curved sword used by gladiators. The gesture she gives is a "salute to the people, to the crowd,"

Recently, in Sh'ma, David Makovsky used the metaphor and added:

In the years leading up to the destruction of the Second Temple, no one stood up to the Sicarii. As the rabbis say, sinat chinam, senseless hatred, destroyed the Second Jewish Commonwealth. If the Third Jewish Commonwealth is to endure, the people and their institutions must stand up against the new, violent hatred of “Price Tag” and other modern “Sicarii” groups, just as they do to Palestinian terrorism.

I sent in a response (that hasn't - yet? - appeared):-

David Makovsky suggests ("A History of Hatred", Sh'ma 42/689, April 2012) that the small group of "Price Tag" hooligans are "the closest inheritor of the Sicarii mantle", that "it is possible they are enjoying the tacit support of a wider group" ajnd they must be stood up to "just as [is done] with Palestinian terrorism".  Makovsky is not only misleading his readers but is engaging in the very sinat chinim he rails against.  For example, no one has been found guilty or even charged with the crime of mosque-torching.

All the representative bodies of the Jewish residents in Judea and Samaria (Yesha) have consistently condemned the reckless, irresponsible criminal actions that were carried out under the "Price Tag" label.  Dany Dayan, Naftali Bennet, Elyakim HaEtzni, Pinchas Wallerstein and others are on record, in media interviews and op-ed articles.  Moreover, after the last outburst, "Price Tag" activity has disappeared.  Do Rabbis, educators and public figures need do more?  Yes.  Surely so.  But Makovsky's intimation, which would permit the entire camp of Jews living in Yesha to be stained and besmirched, is itself a bit of internecine warfare, semantic, true, but nevertheless is intended to support an attack on a "wider group" that certainly is not involved and has worked against the phenomenon.

A second disturbing frame of argument employed by Makovsky is comparing Arab terror activity with  "Price Tag" operations.  That is wrong.  David wears a kippa and he knows that Jewish law can turn on the size of an olive.  These kids are not modern-day sicarii.  In fact, I would suggest that the amount of soccer stadium ruffians are many more in absolute numbers here in Israel and have caused damage to life, limb and property which might even equal that of the "Price Tag" teenagers. I am not relieving anyone of responsibility but simple providing some perspective which was lacking in Makovsky's piece which could justify a claim of "we Jews have the Price Taggers and the Arabs have Hamas/Fatah/Islamic Jihad".  That would be immoral because it would, and it could, allow anti-Zionists and others to point a finger of blame which should not be done.

The over 350,000 Jews resident in Judea and Samaria have established institutions of society, social welfare, education, culture, health, immigrant absorption, science, security and politics.  We include voters from Meretz to Shas.  We have a problem and it is being dealt with and hopefully, if not under control, is being treated the best we can, also on the background of the sometimes irrational actions of the Military Government here as well as the absurdities emanating from the Defense Ministry (among other things, I am referring to the latest house purchase in Hebron).

And there is a new book out, The Sicarri in Josephus' Judean War.

^

Low-Intensity War Update #9

ARAB WAR UPDATE # 9

Yehudit Tayar

These reports are courtesy of Hatzalah Yehudah and Shomron and are approved by the IDF.  Hatzalah Yehudah and Shomron is a voluntary emergency rescue organization that works along with the IDF, 669 Airborn Rescue, the security forces in the various communities of Yesha, and the Jordan Valley and is on call 24/7 on a strictly voluntary basis.

April 18, 2012

Charamiya Valley Benjamin Region Israeli vehicles attacked by rocks causing damage to 5 vehicles

April 17, 20122 Border policemen moderately injured from rock attack next to security fence of Har Adar.
Following rock attack at Azun 2 moderately injured Israelis reached the entrance of Karnei Shomron.
Rock attack near the Givat Avot in Kiryat Arba on 2 young Israeli women walking  moderately injured one of them in her hand possibly broken. Father of one of the young girls identified the attackers and was assaulted and beaten by 7 members of the family of the terrorists. 
Rock attacks against Israeli bus near Abud.
Rock attacks against Israeli vehicles near Rantis and Marda village causing damage to vehicles.
Rock attacks on Israeli bus between Tapuach Junction and Chawara south of Shechem causing damage to vehicles.

April 16,2012
Rocks thrown at Jewish woman walking near the Cave of the Patriarchs wounding her moderately in her face.

April 15, 2012
Missile fired from Gaza on Israeli-Gaza Border near Kerem Shalom hits inside of agricultural fields of Kibbutz.
Rocks thrown near Dolev and Talmon damage Israeli vehicle.
On routine police and Border police patrol near Ein Karem a vehicle with Arabs that are illegally inside of Israel was discovered.  The vehicle bashed into the patrol car moderately injuring 3 policemen.
Arab terrorists destroyed over 3.5 dunam of vineyards causing damage to the agricultural equipment and destroying over 1000 grape vines near Achiya and Aish Kodesh in the Benjamin Region.  Benajmin Region police opened investigation.
Molotov attack on IDF patrol on the Gush Etzion-Hebron Highway near El Harub causing damage to vehicle.
Egyptian –Israeli border near Karem Shalom, fire opened from Egyptian side on illegal persons injuring one in the chest and one in the thigh, airborne rescue evacuated them.  Shells from the shooting were reported falling near agriculturalists inside kibbutz nearby.

^

Jewish People Provided With Exclusive Political Rights to Palestine

Howard Grief deals with someone who raises a point I find anti-Zionists raising in comments sections wars:

...I am a bit baffled by your principal point that there is nothing in the Mandate for Palestine that explicitly gives the Jewish People exclusive national or collective political rights to Palestine.

For that matter, you may also say the same thing about the Mandate for Syria and the Draft Mandate for Mesopotamia concerning the explicit lack of identifying who were the national beneficiaries of those Mandates. You appear to take both sides of the question in apparent contradiction...you say that “the existence of a grant of collective political or national rights [to the Jewish People] is not clear. Nowhere in the Mandate for Palestine does it expressly or explicitly say that the WWI Allies are granting the ‘Jewish People of the world’ [you should say here ‘World Jewry’] exclusive collective political or national rights to Palestine. But it suggests it.”

...May I first point out that the country of Mandated Palestine was created by the Principal Allied Powers for one reason only: to be the Jewish National Home and future independent Jewish State. It was not created to award national rights to the local Arab inhabitants of Palestine in any part of the country...It follows directly from the Allied decision to create Palestine to implement the Balfour Declaration in conjunction with Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations, which is the basis of the San Remo Resolution upon which the Mandate for Palestine was constructed...
The only rights that individual non-Jews and existing non-Jewish religious communities in Palestine were granted under the Balfour Declaration, the San Remo Resolution and the Mandate for Palestine were “civil and religious rights” but definitely not national and collective political rights. This should be evident to you upon reading and examining the aforementioned documents as well as the minutes of the San Remo Peace Conference for the two sessions of April 24 and April 25 1920. No tortured interpretation is required to realize what was the intent of the Principal Allied Powers in creating Palestine.

While the Jewish People received exclusive national rights to Palestine, the Arabs, on the other hand, were given exclusive national rights to Syria and Mesopotamia though, as already noted, this was never specifically mentioned. Such rights were also extended to the states of the Arabian Peninsula. There was no injustice done to Arabs since they were given the lion’s share of the former Ottoman territories and actually took over land meant for other nations such as the Kurdish People who were deprived of their own state though the Treaty of Sèvres provided for it.

...Further evidence that Palestine was meant only for the Jewish People is furnished by the Smuts Resolution, the precursor of Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations, the Weizmann-Feisal Agreement, the Franco-British Boundary Convention of December 23, 1920 and the Anglo-American Convention of December 5, 1924 respecting the Mandate for Palestine as confirmed by the negotiations or preparatory work that took place.

...However, the British Government subsequently sabotaged the Mandate and deviously pretended that national rights to Palestine were also given to Arabs which was absolutely false. As you well know there is no mention of Arabs directly or indirectly as a national community in the Mandate Charter which is not surprising since it was drawn up at the outset by both British and Zionist delegates. In point of fact, the first draft of the Mandate Charter were formulated by the Zionists themselves.

In my opinion, the evidence for exclusive Jewish national rights to Palestine as originally conceived, is overwhelming, a fact that bears no doubt or ambiguity as you seem to think.

(from a letter, a copy of which was conveyed to me)

^

Political Zionism Represented at Philadelphia 1918 Congress of Oppressed Nationalities

I stumbled across an historical incident that either I had forgotten ever knowing or I was never aware of it.

As noted, a Congress of Oppressed Nationalities, convened in Rome, Italy, during the second week of April 1918:

...[it closed on April 10] after representatives from the Czechoslovak, South Slav (or Yugoslav), Romanian and Polish National Committees proclaim their right to become "completely independent national States" after World War I ends.


U.S. President Woodrow Wilson's call for "self-determination" for all nations in his famous Fourteen Points speech, delivered in January 1918, began a decisive year in the history of the diverse peoples of central and eastern Europe...The Congress of Oppressed Nationalities was sponsored by the Allies–particularly France and Italy–and designed to encourage the minority populations of different ethnicities inside Germany and particularly Austria-Hungary to assert their right to self-determination and rebel against their oppressors, thus weakening the Central Powers and making an Allied victory more likely. The congress's closing vote, on April 10, denounced the Hapsburg government as an impediment to the rightful freedom and development of the nations and called for the dismemberment of Austria-Hungary once it had been defeated in the war.

But that was only a first development.  Another congress convened:-

Conference of oppressed or dependent nationalities at Washington, December 10th and 11th, under the auspices of American Delegation to the Congress-After-the-War of the Internation Committee of Women for Permanent Peace.

But before proceeding, let us back up a bit.  Back in January 1916, the first annual meeting of the Women's Peace Party was held at Washington and as testified to:-

The reports showed that during the year mass meetings had been held all over the country...there were one hundred and sixty-five group memberships, totaling about forty thousand women. In becoming a section of the Women's International Committee for Permanent Peace we were securely committed to an international body which at that time had well defined branches in fifteen countries.

The third annual meeting was held at the end of eleven months, in December of 1916, again in Washington. The most important feature of it was a conference on Oppressed and Dependent Nationalities...The invitations to this special conference called attention to the fact that as Americans we believed that good government is no substitute for self-government, and that a federal form offers the most satisfactory method of giving local self-government in a country great in territory or complex in population...

...Prominent representatives of the Poles, Czecho-Slovaks, Lithuanians and Letts, Ukrainians, Jugo-Slavs, Albanians, Armenians, Zionists and Irish Republicians were, for this reason, the speakers at the Conference. All the problems of conflicting claims and the creation of new subject minorities as a result of any territorial changes which might be made, were developed in the course of the Conference. Disagreement also developed as to the weight which should be given to historic claims in the righting of ancient wrongs in contrast to the demands of a present population.
This experimental conference had behind it a very sound theory of the contribution which American experience might have made toward a reconciliation of European differences in advance of the meeting of the Peace Conference. Professor Masaryk, later President of Czecho-Slovakia, attempted to accomplish such an end in the organization of the Central European nationalities, which actually came to a tentative agreement in Philadelphia more than a year later...

Did you notice that?

Zionists.  Yes, Zionism was on the international political map.

It was at this third annual meeting in Washington, the last held before the United States entered the war, that we discussed the inevitable shortage of food throughout the world which long-continued war entailed. For three years we, like many other sympathetic citizens of the United States, had been at times horribly oppressed with the consciousness that widespread famine had once more returned to the world. At moments there seemed to be no spot upon which to rest one's mind with a sense of well being. One recalled...Palestine, where the old horrors of the siege of Jerusalem, as described by Josephus, had been revived;

That was from Jane Addams, Peace and Bread in Time of War, Chapter 1 - "At the Beginning of the Great War." Boston: G.K. Hall & Co., 1960, (originally published by The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, 1922-1945), pp. 1-25.  In Bulgaria, there's a university course that deals with this "Oppressed Nationalities" theme.


At the Philadelphia session of the Congress in late 1918, a declaration was issued and there was a Hebrew translation issued at that time:

Declaration of Common Aims of the Mid-European Nations, [Philadelphia, Pennsylvania], 1918. Hebrew and English.


The declaration was written on 26.10.1918, following three days of discussions between representatives of 13 nations, Zionists amongst them, who represented "fifty million people between the Adriatic Sea the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea". "We declare that we give our allies all we have for use in their war against our common enemy". Two columns: Hebrew and English, with signatures of twelve leaders, amongst them Thomas Massarik. Massarik declared several days earlier, in the same place, the independence of Czeckoslovakia. Itamar Ben Avi also participated in that meeting. The American Liberty Bell appears on the upper part with the writing '1776', and opposite it the Liberty Bell of Central Europe, '1918' and between them an illustration of the Independence Hall in Philadelphia where the United States declared its independence. 46X60 cm.

A wonderful episode about that conference can be found here, how Itamar Ben-Avi became

a representative of the reborn Jewish nation in the Holy Land to the Conference of Small Nations. The conference first met in Philadelphia, and then traveled to France, to the peace conference. There, representatives of displaced and dispossessed small nations of the world in the lands of the defeated enemies of France, Britain, Italy and the U.S. demanded their independence.

And there's a picture there where Itamar ben-Avi, the 'first Hebrew child', Eliezer ben-Yehudah's eldest son, can be seen at the far right, next to the Zionist flag:

Thomas Masaryk, the first Czech president is seated in the middle.  Among others there are Herbert Adolphus Miller, U. S. expert and director of Mid-European Democratic Union, profesor of sociology on Oberlin College (Ohio); Tomas Narucevicius, from Lithuania, promiment leader of Lithuanian exile from Russia; Christo Anastalos Dako, from Albania; Carlo Tomazolli representantive of Italian irredentists in Austria; Mykola Cehlynskyj representanting the Federation of Ukrainians in USA; Christos Vassilekakis, Greek irredentist from Turkey; Tadeusz Helinski, representantive of the Polish National Comittee in Paris; Basile Stoica (in a captain's uniform of the French army), representantive of Romanians from south Hungary;
Gregogy Zatkovic (or Zhatkovich), leader of ethnic organizations of Ruthenians (from north Hungary) in USA;


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