My Comment at the NYT's The Lede

It's on the Yitzhar shooting incident this past Shabbat.

^

The Original Palestine Police Force

An interview with Gerald Green who served in the Palestine Police from 1946 till 1948.

Filmed in September 2009.





^

The Pals.' Internationalists...of 1948

Sternist Leader in U.S. Names Two Britons Responsible for Last Month’s Jerusalem Bombing

NEW YORK, Mar. 16 (JTA) – The names of two British Palestine police deserters charged with responsibility for the Ben Yehuda Street bombing in Jerusalem February 22, in which 54 Jews lost their lives, were today made public by "David Yardeni," self-styled head of the Stern Group in the United States. Speaking at a press conference, the Sternist leader said the two Britons were George Ross, 24, and George Anthony White, 21.

"Yardeni," who admitted that was not his real name, said that Sternists who occupied a British police station discovered photos of British police deserters among whom were Ross and White. He said that eyewitnesses "positively identified the two as having participated in the bombing outrage. [see p. 76 here]

He also stated that Arabs in Palestine were using Moslem houses of worship as sniping posts and warned that the Sternists will not respect the sacredness of the mosques if snipers are found operating from them. "Yerdeni" [sic] said he was a deputy commander in the Stern Group, and is working in the United States with the American Friends of the Fighters far the Freedom of Israel.

By the way, two of them were killed while attempting to defuse a truck-bomb headed for Shchem by the Lechi.

See the following page there.

^

First The Sand, Now The Dirt

Yigal Elam has a new book out, in Hebrew, "What Happened Here".

From the blurb:-

The seven essays in this book undermine the basic positions and refutes some of the myths rooted firmly in Jewish history and Zionism, {discusses] the relationship between Zionism and Judaism [and claims there] is a basic contradiction between Zionism and Judaism historical for Zionism could not contain the full Israeli experience, the state, it being complex and open to much more than represented by the Zionist vision...Historical Judaism existed for 2,500 years of exile, not in spite of exile, but through the Diaspora...In the opening article the author attempts to present balanced overview as possible of Arab - Israeli conflict and Israel's achievements in the first sixty years. The resulting image carries an optimistic message after all...

In Sand's footsteps, a bit.

First the "sand", then the "dirt"?



^

Tom Friedman: Netanyahu Worse Than Arab Election-rigging Dictator

Tom Friedman hits on Netanyahu yet again.

In his latest op-ed column, Power With Purpose, he supports Ami Ayalon's "unilateral disengagement", what is now modified and termed - “coordinated” and “constructive” unilateralism. he has to take down Bibi.

So he writes:

He avoided early elections by adding a new centrist coalition partner to his right-wing cabinet, giving him control of 96 of the 120 seats in Parliament. There are Arab dictators who didn’t have majorities that big after rigged elections.

The he adds:

...The U.S. election silences any criticism coming from Washington about Israeli settlements. The Israeli peace camp is dead, and the Arab awakening has most Arab states enfeebled or preoccupied. So Israel gets to build settlements, while the Arabs, Americans, Europeans and Palestinians fund and sustain a lot of the occupation.  No wonder then that for most Israelis, the West Bank could be East Timor. “We see the writing on the wall, but we don’t care,” says the columnist Nahum Barnea of the Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot, referring to the fact that Arabs could soon outnumber Jews in areas under Israeli control.    

   


I left this comment there [it's now up]:

TF writes in agreement with the claim that "Arabs could soon outnumber Jews in areas under Israeli control" in Judea & Samaria (or does he include the state of Israel as well?).  In any case, that claim is unproven and all recent demographic data, including population registries, birth rate, fertility rates, et al., all indicate a solid Jewish majority while Arab stats fall.
As for "East Timor", well, why not talk about "East Jordan", i.e., the part of the original Mandate which was to become part of the Jewish national home by decision of international law but was removed?  Why not rejoin the geographical unit and redivide more equitably?  Or have the Hashemite Kingdom serve as the political expression agent for Arabs who, living in Israel, cannot identify with the state's purposes as the Jewish national home?
Another item about that nasty East Timor comparison that TF knows well: unlike Indonesia, Israel did not invade an existing political entity in 1967 one bright morning.  It is the Arabs who term themselves "Palestinians", in their 'inventivity model of nationalism', who rejected all diplomatic efforts at compromise since 1920, who have exclusively used terror and violence, who established first the fedayeen and later the Farah to "liberate" Israel.

But Friedman does understand something:

At the same time, Bibi is prime minister for a reason. He was elected because many Israelis lost faith in the peace process and see chaos all around them.

It's just that Friedman doesn't like democracy besides misunderstanding the Middle East, misrepresenting the issues, providing less-than-factual data and promoting his youthful Breira philosophy.

To finish off, he asks:

Does Bibi have the will?     

  

Friedman has no way but hits on others.

P.S.  I left a second comment:

Oh, and in that comparison between Bibi being worse than Arab dictators who rig elections, TF is purposefully fomenting hatred and deprecation. No wonder we have assaults on Israel's democratic character (& I am thinking of the new Beinartism) if this is the type of rational thinking the NYTimes displays.

^

Now the "Fake Graves" Story

I have attended meetings devoted to the efforts to provide proper and adequate security for the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives. A friend, Jeff Daube, is very active. The desecration of those graves during the 19-year Jordanian illegal occupation when tens of thousands were disturbed, destroyed and renoved for construction purposes as well as for walkways and latrine covers is well documented. The desecration continues and recently American elected officials were stoned there.

But this item highlights what I have termed the 'inventivity/disinventivity' model of Palestinianism, whereby the Arabs make-up elements of their presumed historical connections to this land as a national group and at the same time attempt to deny and delegitimize any proven Jewish connection to the Land

The occupation plants thousands of fake graves around Al-Aqsa

A Jerusalemite Foundation unveiled a significant escalation in the occupation authorities’ activities in implementing [sic] fake Jewish graves around Al Aqsa Mosque and the Old City of Jerusalem, attempting to “forge and Judaize the city’s history.”

Al-Aqsa Foundation for Waqf and Heritage said, in a report released on Monday that the occupation, through its executive power in the city of Jerusalem, is implanting [or is that implementing, see above] thousands of fake Jewish graves around Al-Aqsa Mosque and in the Old City, under governmental decisions...The foundation considered that through such operations, the occupation intends to Judaize all the area surrounding Al-Aqsa as well as the Old City, and is trying to impose its control on Palestinian endowment lands in order to implant graves, settlements, Talmudic gardens and Jewish institutions. It added: “The occupation is falsifying the geography, the history and the monuments in order to legitimize the implantation of the Jewish fake graves and Jewish fake holy sites.”

The report pointed out that the empty graves were implanted at the pretext of carrying out repair and maintenance works as well as engineering surveys and statistics. It is noted that the Israeli authorities prohibit the restoration of the Islamic historical graves in the city of Jerusalem and are demolishing and washing away hundreds of them.

How can we make peace with such an irrational mindset shared by the majority of Arabs in Judea and Samaria?

^

The Bethlehem Bulla

News of a great new archaeological find, but first, the picture:

Details:-

The first ancient artifact constituting tangible evidence of the existence of the city of Bethlehem, which is mentioned in the Bible, was recently discovered in Jerusalem.

A bulla measuring c. 1.5 cm was found during the sifting of soil removed from archaeological excavations the Israel Antiquities Authority is carrying out in the City of David...A bulla is a piece of clay that was used for sealing a document or object. The bulla was impressed with the seal of the person who sent the document or object, and its integrity was evidence the document or object was not opened by anyone unauthorized to do so.

Three lines of ancient Hebrew script appear on the bulla:

Bishvʽat

בשבעת

Bat Lechem

בת לים

[Lemel]ekh

[למל]ך

...“it seems that in the seventh year of the reign of a king (it is unclear if the king referred to here is Hezekiah, Manasseh or Josiah), a shipment was dispatched from Bethlehem to the king in Jerusalem. [Eli] Shukron emphasizes,” this is the first time the name Bethlehem appears outside the Bible, in an inscription from the First Temple period, which proves that Bethlehem was indeed a city in the Kingdom of Judah, and possibly also in earlier periods”.

Oh, and Bethlehem is where Ruth and Boaz met and begot eventually David, King Of Israel.  And the Shavu'ot holiday is Sunday when the Book of Ruth is read.

Another problem for Palestinian inventivity promoters and Israeli minimalist archaeologists.

____________

P.S.

From George Atthas, Dean of Research, Moore Theological College, Sydney, Australia:-

Once again, however, it seems that we have an Israeli archaeologist jumping to inordinate conclusions that simply do not reflect the actual evidence, all so that they can make a sensational political statement about Israel or Judah in antiquity. There are a number of issues with Shukron’s proposal:

The first register (line) of the bulla is quite fragmentary, with the beginning and end of the line no longer extant. If Shukron’s reading of the third register as למלך (‘for the king’) is correct, then there is ample room for at least one or two letters before the initial extant ב (b). If this is the case, then it opens up the possibility that the first register does not  relate to the number seven (Heb: שבעת), but could instead be a name, perhaps beginning with אב (Ab—).  After the ש (sh) in the first register, Shukron reads ע. However, given the shape of the other letters, which seem to resemble Hebrew letters of the seventh to sixth centuries BC, one would expect this ע to be represented by a plain circle—the standard shape for this letter in that period time. But this does not appear to be the case here. On the contrary, the shape of this letter seems to resemble a narrow floating figure ’7′. This shape is much closer to the relevant forms of letters נ ,ו, or פ, (w, n, p). though in each case, the letter would still be an unusual shape. Now it simply could be that the photograph is masking the true shape of the letter. This type of photographic distortion certainly occurs, as I found out first hand when I discovered an extra letter on the Tel Dan Inscription that simply did not show properly in photographs. So, we’ll reserve final judgement on this until we have the testimony of other skilled epigraphers who have the chance to inspect the bulla personally. But, going by the current photograph, Shukron’s reading here doesn’t seem to match what’s there.  In the second register, Shukron reconstructs the first letter, which is mostly broken off, as ב (b). This is certainly possible, but not necessary. In fact, it looks to me as though ר (r) is a slightly better fit for this fragmentary letter. Nonetheless, let’s give Shukron the benefit of the doubt here. The next two letters are not problematic. They unambiguously read תל (tl). However, Shukron claims the next letter is ח (ḥ). However, there is one big problem with this: normally the letter ḥeth has two vertical strokes, one on each side of the three horizontal ‘rungs’, producing a kind of ladder shape. But there is clearly no vertical stroke on the left side of this letter.

What we are left with is, rather, the classic ‘brush’ shape of the letter ה (he). This means that the bulla simply cannot be referring to Bethlehem (בת לחם), for that would require the letter ח, not ה. But we clearly here have a ה. Add to this the fact that the word division in this seal (as is the case with most others) is not actually apparent, and the connection to Bethlehem becomes even more stretched. So what has happened here? Has there been an absolute bungle of epigraphic analysis here? Did Shukron and the IAA totally miss the fact that this letter is he, not ḥeth? Or are they trying to make the bulla read what they want it to say and hope that the non-epigraphy-skilled public just go along with it? Whatever the reason behind it, this just simply does not refer to Bethlehem—unless the published photograph is not just distorting something, but actually fibbing. What the bulla does refer to is unknown—we’ll have to do some more thinking on that. But I am not a little astonished at the reading offered by Shukron.

Given that the second register almost certainly does not refer to Bethlehem, it’s just possible that the second register is a patronymic for a woman. If, as Shukron suggests, the first letter is ב (b), then it could read [...]בת לה (bt lh…): daughter of Lah[...]. Seals of prominent women are not unknown, but it would suggest that the owner was most likely royalty—either a wife or daughter of the king. This reading is a distinct possibility, but ultimately cannot be verified.  The third and final register has but one extant letter: כ (k). This could certainly be part of the word למלך (‘for the king’), as Shukron suggests. It seems he is being led here by the other fiscal bullae we have discovered, in which the word למלך is clearly there. If this is the case, then as is the norm, this bulla may well represent a stamp indicating the origin of some commodity sent to the king of Judah in the seventh or sixth century BC. However, as I’ve suggested above, there is just as much chance that this is a personal seal mentioning someone’s name. If this is the case, then perhaps the extant end of the first register reads בן (‘son of’). But that’s more of a guess than a hard-and-fast observation.

It seems we need to wait for some more reliable and unsensational epigraphic analysis to be done on this bulla. Unless I’m very much mistaken(1), it seems fairly clear from the published photo that this bulla does NOT refer to Bethlehem. I lean towards seeing this as the seal of a prominent woman, though ultimately I can’t even be sure of that. Could a decent epigrapher please go and have a look at this seal, or could a generous benefactor pay to fly me over to inspect it?

Links to other reports about this bulla can be found below. You can see from some of the links how quickly news of this find is being disseminated as ‘proof’ for Bethlehem. The thing is, we don’t need this bulla as evidence for Bethlehem’s existence. It’s all rather unnecessarily sensationalist.

(1) I have been known to be wrong before. I remember it well, actually. It was a Wednesday.

And more from an academic list:-

 1. Yesterday, Zachi Dvira (Zweig) forwarded some information about
the bulla and the work of the Temple Mount Sifting Project members.
Zachi and Dr. Gabriel Barkay (the "Gaby" below) direct the Project.
    Zachi wrote: "This bulla was found a few months ago at the sifting
site by Rachel Nahum, which the sifting site office manager. It was
found during the time we were working on Gibeon LMLK bulla essay. Gaby
saw this bulla and identified it immediately as a fiscal bulla
mentioning the town Bethlehem. We’ve been giving sifting services to
Eli’s Shukrun excavations for over a year, but recently we have
significantly increased the number of staff members working this
material and it will take place for some time. We expect many more
unique finds from this material to show up in the future."
    The IAA release quotes Eli Shukron stating, in part, "The bulla we
found belongs to the group of “fiscal” bullae – administrative bullae
used to seal tax shipments remitted to the taxation system of the
Kingdom of Judah in the late eighth and seventh centuries BCE."
    Those interested in fiscal bulla should see Dr. Barkay's report,
"A Fiscal Bulla from the Slopes of the Temple Mount – Evidence for the
Taxation System of the Judean Kingdom," at
http://templemount.wordpress.com/2011/12/28/finds-from-the-first-and-second-temple-period-city-dumps-at-the-eastern-slopes-of-the-temple-mount/
and his essay at http://www.echad.info/articles/fiscal_bulla.pdf [pp.
151-77 in Hebrew, and two English pages].

    2. The expanded AP news report, at PhysOrg and other sites,
states: "Shmuel Achituv, an expert in ancient scripts at Israel's
Ben-Gurion University who did not participate in the dig, said the
discovery was the oldest reference to Bethlehem ever found outside of
the Bible. Apart from the seal, the other mentions of Bethlehem,
Achituv said, 'are only in the Bible.'" In addition, the article
stated, "Hebrew words often do not have vowels, which are understood
from the context, making several interpretations of the same word
plausible. Some of the letters are crumbled, or were wiped away. Three
experts interviewed by the AP, one involved in the text and two
independents, concurred the seal says Bethlehem. There are only some
40 other existing seals of this kind from the first Jewish Temple
period, said Achituv, making this a significant find, both because
such seals are rare, and because this is the first to mention
Bethlehem." See "Ancient Bethlehem seal unearthed in Jerusalem" at
http://phys.org/news/2012-05-ancient-bethlehem-unearthed-jerusalem.html
    There's also a video of Eli Shukron speaking about the bulla in
English, including at
http://www.3news.co.nz/Ancient-Bethlehem-seal-unearthed-in-Jerusalem/tabid/1216/articleID/255380/Default.aspx
    And see four pictures at
http://news.yahoo.com/ancient-bethlehem-seal-unearthed-jerusalem-092659029.html

    3. In my earlier "Is Bethlehem on the bulla?" e-mail I mentioned
that "Some scholars have already indicated that they take issue with
Eli Shukron's reading of the bulla's text (Bishv'at Bat Lechem
[Lemel]ekh = in the seventh / bet lehem / lm[lk]) but see, instead, a
person's name or other wording."
    Since then, one scholar has posted the details of his disagreement
and another has withdrawn his reservations about the "bet lehem"
reading but with important caveats.

    A. Today, May 24, Dr. George Athas posted "A New Seal that DOES
NOT refer to Bethlehem" at his site, at
http://withmeagrepowers.wordpress.com/2012/05/24/a-new-seal-that-does-not-refer-to-bethlehem/
    In it, besides making a political judgment, he explains in detail
how he would read the lines differently and states his belief that the
letter in the second line read as a het is actually a heh, negating a
reading of of "lh(.)m" (=  "lechem"). In a comment, Dr. Peter van der
Veen agreed in part with Dr. Athas but took issue with the heh reading
("I do think that it is a het as the left vertical line can be
detected but it is rather damaged."). Dr. Athas explained why he was
not convinced and concluded that, "In any case, this is why we need
another pair of skilled eyes to inspect this bulla. I simply don’t
trust photos enough to make definitive judgements."
    (Interestingly, on May 23, a reader ("Sarah", not an epigrapher)
of Duane Smith's "A 'Fiscal Bulla' From Bethlehem" posting wrote,
"looks like a he not a cheth in 'Bethlehem'." See
http://www.telecomtally.com/blog/2012/05/a_fiscal_bulla_from_bethlehem.html)
    However (and more on that below based on Dr. Ahituv's
observations), when you look closely at a greatly enlarged photo of
the bulla, such as the IAA's high-resolution picture at ZIP file
http://www.antiquities.org.il/images/press/iaa_2205.zip, do you see
what could be an almost completely effaced left stroke of a het?
    (Unless my eyes are playing tricks on me, and subject to
stereoscopic microscope analysis, it seems to be there when observed
at very great enlargement.)
    Or do you see a heh? (The shading at the left between the
horizontal lines and to the left above the top line would disqualify
the heh.)
    Ha'aretz also has a not-quite-as-large picture (that is further
enlargeable when clicked upon with the mouse cursor) at
http://www.haaretz.com/polopoly_fs/1.432168.1337787270!/image/121356148.jpg

    B. Dr. Victor Avigdor Hurowitz of Ben-Gurion University initially
expressed reservations about the reading of the bulla in the IAA's
press release.
    However, in an e-mail and a posting at his Facebook page he wrote
the following about an hour ago: "Retraction about Beytlehem bulla.
Friends, I must retract the statements I made a few days ago about the
newly found bulla mentioning [b]yt lh(.)m בית לחם. Why? It turns out
that my objections were based on a mistaken press release of the bulla
issued by the IAA. They offered a transcription and transliteration
which were erroneous. My colleague Shmuel Ahituv, an epigrapher, saw
the bulla itself and he informs me that the signs on the right which
the IAA transcribed as ב are in fact on close examination of the
object remnants of a yod. Also, the letter transcribed as ח is indeed
such. On the photo it looks like a ה because the down stroke on the
left seems to be absent. Ahituv tells me that traces are still
visible. In other words, the text reads [ב]ית לחם This is obviously
Bethlehem and I have no objections to the identification. In summary,
if Ahituv's transcription and decipherment are correct this bulla is
an attestation of this place in an extra-Biblical, Iron Age source.
But if the IAA has correctly transcribed the text, my objections
stand. So I retract my objection but will not accept blame."

^

EU: Stone-throwing is 'non-violent protest'

Dr. Aaron Lerner of IMRA read the following and had a legitimate question of the EU'S heads:

The spokesperson of Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the Commission, issued the following statement today:

"The High Representative is very concerned by the conviction of Bassem Tamimi in an Israeli military court on 20 May 2012 on charges of taking part in illegal demonstrations and of soliciting protesters to throw stones.  The EU considers Bassem Tamimi to be a 'human rights defender' committed to non-violent protest against the expansion of an Israeli settlement on lands belonging to his West Bank village of Nabi Saleh. The EU attended all court
hearings in his case and is concerned at the use of evidence based on the testimony of a minor who was interrogated in violation of his rights. The EU believes that everyone should be able to exercise their legitimate right to protest in a non-violent manner."

And here is what Aaron wrote:

The EU doesn't deny that Bassem Tamimi engaged in soliciting protesters to throw stones.  And the EU doesn't take a stand against stone throwing.

Question:  Does the EU consider stone throwing to fall within the
classification of "non-violent protest"?

What would you reply?

Would you like to query the people at the EU?

Here:

Michael Mann +32 498 999 780 - +32 2 299 97 80 - Michael.Mann@eeas.europa.eu
Maja Kocijancic +32 498 984 425 - +32 2 298 65 70 -
Maja.Kocijancic@ec.europa.eu
Sebastien Brabant +32 460 75 09 98 -
Sebastien.Brabant@ec.europa.eu
COMM-SPP-HRVP-ASHTON@ec.europa.eu

^

Zaftig Can Be A Bad Thing

Do you see anything wrong with this woman?

Yes, she's too zaftig.  Her boobs were a dangerous distraction she claims she was told.

The story:

Lauren Odes was fired from her job at a Manhattan lingerie distributor..Two days after getting hired in April, a supervisor at the business in the Garment District told Lauren Odes the Orthodox Jewish owners were not happy with her attire.

I'd like too think they said, "she's too zaftig".

“When I was first told that I was too hot and that my breasts were too large, I was shocked,” said Odes, 29.

“She was simply fired for being attractive and for not conforming to the religious strictures imposed by top management,” said her celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred.

...“I am Jewish as well and don’t feel any employer has the right to impose their religious beliefs on me,” said Odes.

Where is the New Israel Fund when you need it?

^

Friends

Please go read and view some of what my friends have been doing.

Ilana has an op-ed at the JPost:

There is no Zionism without Jerusalem

and David Lev Banister has a new web site to assist new immigrants:

Aliyah Magazine 

Visit and read.

^

Shiloh Area - 1880

From the 1880 British-produced PEF map of Holy Land, zeroing in on the Shiloh Bloc area today:

Seilun is Shiloh and the Tel is just to the left a nd a bit up. ^

No. No. No. And No.

From the Hebrew report:

אסור להם לעצום עיניים, להתנדנד, להוציא פתק מהכיס

Or:

Jews within the Temple Mount precincts now, on police orders can neither close their eyes, schuckle (a swaying and/or rocking movement), or remove any piece of paper from their pockets.

That is in addition to the no praying, no reading from a Bible or Psalter and no prostations that are prohibited therein. Background here and the Chief Rabbinate's position.

Even Fodors Guide knows what's important:

The swaying and praying of the devout reveal the powerful hold this place still has on the hearts and minds of many Jews.

That was in relation to the Kotel.

Do you suggest we go to court?

Won't help.  The court agrees jews have the basic right to express respect through prayer but hinge that on a rquired police permission for fear of "distrubance to the public order".

Since the Muslims simply need but to threaten to riot and throw stones, although they do that, too, and the police prohibit entry, there goes prayer.

And swaying.

And closing one's eyes.

Playing soccer, however, might be allowed -

And here is a Hebrew language clip of Sunday's ascent.

^

Low-Intensity Conflict Report #17

These reports are translated and publicized by 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.In the last few days hundreds of violent attacks were directed against IDF patrols, Border Police and civilians by Arab terrorists with rocks, fire bombs, Molotov Cocktails, rocks put on the road to force the vehicles to stop.  Security forces have responded to these murderous attacks using restraint. 

May 21, 2012
Rock attacks at Border police near Issowiya
2 Rock attacks on Israeli vehicles near the Arab school in Tekoa causing damage to the windshieldsRock attacks between Bet Umar and El Arub on the Gush Etzion-Hebron Highway
Anarchists held violent demonstrations near Yair Lookout in the Southern Hebron Hills
Jerusalem A-Tur neighborhood Border police patrol attacked by dozens of Arab terrorists.  Israeli Security forces arrested 5 of the agitators.

May 20, 2012
Gush Etzion Junction Arab terrorist attempted to stab IDF officer but in the struggle stabbed himself.  At the same spot there were over 300 bicyclists who left Kiryat Arba to ride in celebration of Jerusalem Reunification Day. Pictures available on Hatzalah Yehudah and Shomron Facebook.
Israeli Security releases the following report:Secret service IDF and police arrested terror gang in the Ramallah region who attempted several kidnappings in order to force release of incarcerated terrorists.
Near Khirbat Adir on the Efrat-Tekoa Road Israeli vehicles damaged by rock attacks.
Near Na'alin on Road 446 rock attacks on Israeli vehicles causing damage to windshields
Rock attacks at Shuafat checkpost policeman moderately injured in his leg.
Rock attacks near Adam causing heavy damage to vehicles.
Rock attacks near OphraRock attacks near Maccabim 443 Highway

May 19, 2012
Near Adam and near Shuafat checkpost rock attacks by Arab terrorists.  Border policeman moderately injured near Shuafat from the attack.

May 18, 2012
Border policeman injured moderately from rocks thrown by Arab terrorists near Nebe Zalach evacuated to Belinson Hospital.South-west of Kibbutz Nachal Oz on Israeli –Gaza border. IDF troops fired upon and returned fire.

^

More Biblical Narrative Confirmation

Again, the Biblical narrative seems to be confirmed as Professor Israel Finkelstein, probably pressured following the dramatic revelations from Khirbet Quieyfa, released the following information today:

Tel Aviv University researchers discover rare trove: 3,000-year-old jewelry at Megiddo

Details:-

Researchers from Tel Aviv University have recently discovered a collection of gold and silver jewellery, dated from around 1100 B.C., hidden in a vessel at the archaeological site of Tel Megiddo in the Jezreel Valley in northern Israel. One piece — a gold earring decorated with molded ibexes, or wild goats — is "without parallel," they believe.

According to Prof. Israel Finkelstein, the vessel was found in 2010, but remained uncleaned while awaiting a molecular analysis of its content [what a wasted 2 years]. When they were finally able to wash out the dirt, pieces of jewellery, including a ring, earrings, and beads, flooded from the vessel...The researchers believe that the collection, which was discovered in the remains of a private home in the northern part of Megiddo, belongs to a time period called “Iron I,” and that at least some of the pieces could have originated in nearby Egypt...When the researchers removed the ceramic jug from the excavation site, they had no idea there was jewellery hidden within. The jewellery was well preserved and wrapped in textiles, but the circumstances surrounding it are mysterious. According to Prof. Finkelstein, it is likely that the jug was not the jewellery's normal storage place. "It's clear that people tried to hide the collection, and for some reason they were unable to come back to pick it up." The owners could have perished or been forced to flee, he says. Prof. Ussishkin believes that it was the jewellery collection of the Canaanite woman who lived in the house.

The assortment of jewellery is also out of the ordinary, notes Arie. Though the collection includes a number of lunette (moon-shaped) earrings of common Canaanite origin,

 researchers found an abundance of gold items in the collection and a number of beads made from carnelian, which was frequently used in the making of Egyptian jewellery in the same period. This points to a strong Egyptian connection, whether in influence or origin...

We Jews invented our nationalism, our chronology, our historical and cultural and religious narrative?

Tel Megiddo was an important Canaanite city-state until the early 10th century B.C.E. and a pivotal center of the Northern Kingdom of Israel in the 9th and 8th centuries B.C.E...The layer in which the jewellery was found has already been dated to the 11th century B.C., just after the end of Egyptian rule in the 12th century B.C., Arie says. Either the jewellery was left behind in the Egyptian withdrawal or the people who owned the jewellery were influenced by Egyptian culture.

More:

The Bible lists the king of Megiddo among the Canaanite rulers defeated by Joshua in his conquest of the land (Josh. 12:21). According to I Kings (9:15), King Solomon built Megiddo together with Hazor and Gezer. At that time the city had become the center of a royal province of the United Monarchy. The Egyptian Pharaoh Shishak took Megiddo in the second half of the 10th century. His conquest of the city is affirmed both in his inscriptions at the Temple at Karnak and in a stele erected at the site. In the 9th and 8th centuries B.C.E., the rulers of the Northern Kingdom refitted the fortress even more elaborately than before. The palaces, water systems and fortifications of Israelite Megiddo are among the most elaborate Iron Age architectural remains unearthed in the Levant. In 732 B.C.E., the Assyrian King Tiglath-pileser III took the region from the Northern Kingdom. In the following years Megiddo served as the capital of an Assyrian province. With the fall of the Assyrian empire the great religious reformer, King Josiah of Judah, was called to Megiddo to report to Pharaoh Necho of Egypt, who was on his way to assist the crumbling Assyrian army in its last-ditch efforts against the Babylonians. Josiah was slaughtered by Necho (II Kings 23:29). Recollection of this event, along with the memories of the great battles fought here, were probably the bases for the idea in the Book of Revelations (16:16) that Armageddon (the mound of Megiddo) would at the end of days be the site of the last battle between the forces of good and the forces of evil.

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Do You Like Pictures?

Of Jewish residents of the Shiloh Bloc of communities?

Well, here are a few, like this one,

of the Jerusalem Day march to Yishuv Ha'Da-at, near Keida.


And here are pics from the production of a film on Ancient Shiloh.


And the Lag B'Omer celebrations.  And the community of Keida.

All from the lens of Miriam-Feyge Bunimovich.

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Wanna Pray on the Temple Mount?

How to pray on the Temple Mount.


A beginner's guide.


Here.  The clip.

[And from today, including prostrations]


It helps to know Hebrew - but you'd be saying the prayers in Hebrew anyway, right?


P.S.

Yehuda Etzion (upper left) lecturing today on the Temple Mount:

UPDATE

The calm and rational reaction of Muslims to the exercise by Jews of the right to free worship and religious freedom:

Dozens of Jewish settlers started Sunday morning to flock into the courtyards of the Aqsa Mosque at the invitation of the right-wing Likud party to celebrate the occupation of east Jerusalem.  According to the Aqsa foundation for endowment and heritage, a group of about 25 settlers desecrated this morning the Aqsa Mosque and walked in its courtyards amid expectations that seven extremist Knesset members will also defile the sanctity of the Islamic holy Mosque.

These Jewish break-ins at the Aqsa Mosque are carried out under tight military and security protection, and amid restrictions imposed on all Muslim worshipers and citizens in the holy city...The preparatory committee of the popular conference on Jerusalem urged all Palestinians who have access to the holy city to be present in the morning at the Aqsa Mosque to thwart any Israeli attempt to violate its sanctity.

...For his part, head of the higher council of Islamic courts in Palestine Sheikh Yousuf Adeis called on the Palestinian people to beware of the Jewish schemes against the Aqsa Mosque and to be present all day and night inside it to protect it.  Sheikh Adeis urged the Arab League, the organization of Islamic cooperation and the international community to immediately move to protect the Aqsa Mosque and the Palestinians against the settlers’ violations.

He stressed the city of Jerusalem is an Arab Islamic city and the Aqsa Mosque, with all its premises, gates and walls including the Buraq wall, belongs only to Muslims.

From PM Netanyahu's declaration at today's cabinet session:

We are committed to the liberation of Jerusalem...A second thing that we are committed to, first of all, is to the city's past. Jerusalem was a city of the Bible, Jerusalem will be a city of the Bible. Today, we will make a series of decisions that will enable us to build Biblical sites in the city that will enhance and explain our link to the Land of the Bible, to Zion, and also allow millions of people, no less, millions of people to have a direct appreciation of Israel's heritage as it finds expression in the Bible. This will be Jerusalem and this is very important.

And his speech at the Ammunition Hill Ceremony:

...[alll the world's synagogues] face the place that has always been the center of our national and spiritual life, the place that reminds us of our glorious past and serves as the focus of our hopes for the future. And we will not turn our backs on those who have faced Jerusalem for generations. We will preserve Jerusalem because an Israel without Jerusalem is like a body without a heart. It was on this hill, 45 years ago, that the heart that unites our people began to beat again with full strength; and our heart will never be divided again.

There are people who believe that if we just divide Jerusalem, which means eventually conceding the Temple Mount – they believe we will have peace [Ehud Olmert - YM =   who called for the city to be redivided in an interview published Sunday in the Maariv daily, and who offered to divide the city in a 2008 peace proposal and in September 2010 he said that he was prepared as prime minister to share Jerusalem's holy sites, which include the Western Wall and the Temple Mount -- known to Muslims as Haram-al-Sharif -- with the Palestinians. "It will not be ours nor the Palestinians... (it) will be managed by an international trustee which includes (other) countries,"].  They believe that, but they are wrong. I am doubtful, to put it mildly, that if we grant other forces control over that square above the Temple Mount, we won't see the situation deteriorate so quickly that will devolve into a religious and sectarian war. I also know that this is the lesson of the ages – that only under Israeli rule, under Israeli sovereignty – access and freedom of religion and freedom of worship for all religions has been and will continue to be ensured. Only under Israel. Only under Israel will the quiet be maintained; only under Israel will peace between the religions be maintained. Sustainable peace is made with strong nations, and an Israel without a unified Jerusalem will be like a body with a weak heart. I want to say something else: a nation that is willing to sacrifice its heart will only convince its enemies that it lacks the willpower to fight for anything...

...we are witnesses to the fulfillment of the words of the prophets. We saw the resurrection of Zion; we saw the restoration of the sovereignty of the people of Israel here in the Land of Israel; we saw the ingathering of the exiles; and we saw the unification and rebuilding of Jerusalem. Our generation also bears the tremendous responsibility of ensuring that we safeguard this transformation for future generations.  The prophet Isaiah said: "Wake, wake! Arise, O Jerusalem." Well, Jerusalem has arisen. After centuries of repression and intolerance by other faiths, Jerusalem has arisen and been unified.

I remember the day when Motta Gur said that the Temple Mount was in our
possession. Whose heart did not tremble? Who did not think then about David and Solomon, about Isaiah and Jeremiah, about the prophesies of hope and the lamentations of destruction? Who did not feel the prayer of generations that beats within us? I felt it and so did you...

...Jerusalem is where our past has been uncovered and our future has been built, the place where our unparalleled spiritual treasures reside...For 45 years, we have built and developed Jerusalem – North and South, East and West. We will continue to build Jerusalem.  We will continue to develop our capital and we will continue to ensure that its golden light continues to light the future of our people and shine a light across the world – the light of Jerusalem.

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A Problem

I caught this and, with some disguising, publish it in the name of insanity:

I attended my nephew's bar mitzvah at a very large ____ congregation in _____,  ___ years ago and listened to the rabbi call israel an occupying entity during the sermon. Afterwards, relatives came up and asked what I thought - when I pointed out the problem with that, they had no idea what I was saying. I approached the rabbi after and he asked me what else I would call what israel was doing. I asked him how israel could occupy land to which it had a biblical, historical and legal claim - he responded, "how do you know that? Just b/c it says so in the bible?". The president of the congregation was there and simply tried to change the subject without addressing that response from the rabbi of his shul who influences thousands of families.

Think about that.

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Has Elisheva Goldberg Gone Bust?

I left this comment over at Beinart's Open Zion, at a blog post by Elisheva Goldberg:

This is one of the most silliest anti-"settlement" pieces around. First of all, the Labour Party not only supported and initiated the establishment of communities/kibbutzim/moshavim/cities/towns/villages etc. throughout Judea, Samaria and Gaza (and the Golan Heights and Sinai) but also did so before 1948. At least they are consistent. So what has been "squandered" exactly?


Secondly, as a male, I find it highly politically incorrect to write this:- "some of the most prickly settlements in the West Bank". Would Elisheva appreciate having her writing described as a "bust"?

Really:

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Incitement Then and Today

Inflammatory and false news such as what follows led to the 1929 riots in Mandate Palestine when incited Arabs killed 133 Jews, among them almost 70 in Hebron where Jews were murdered, butchered, raped and mutiliated:

The Arab parliamentary union has called on the world community to immediately act to bridle the Israeli attacks on the holy Aqsa mosque in occupied Jerusalem.  The APU said in a statement on Saturday that the Israeli attacks on the Aqsa mosque are in violation of the international law and the fourth Geneva Convention.  It denounced the continued Israeli excavation under the Aqsa mosque and in its vicinity and the restrictions imposed on Muslim worshippers. It also lashed out at the Israeli occupation authority for allowing Jewish fanatics to storm the holy site and hold parties inside it.

Only that the above item is from today.

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The Two Banks of (The) Jordan

Alerted to this following item by EOZ, I was amused as it recalled to me that when her name - and chest - came across my screen, my first reaction was the Betar song composed by Ze'ev Jabotinsky, "Two Banks Hath The Jordan".  Except with Katie Price it is "Two Banks has Jordan".

Here she is (but not in the Jordan River):-

Here it is - and it is a spoof:

AMMAN: British Glamour model and renowned children’s author Katie Price yesterday issued a warning to government officials in Amman over the name ‘Jordan’, claiming that her celebrity profile was now enough to secure its full global trademark.

More

“I can’t believe that them Jordanese folk have been using my name for so long,” the disgusted model told reporters yesterday at the launch of her own range of charcoal, or weapons-grade plutonium or something, before going on to describe the time when she first found out.

“I hadn’t not never heard of it before, then one of my nan’s friends said she going [to] Jordan on holiday and knew she wasn’t not talking about me.”

Katie Price’s solicitors, Bed, Knobs & Broomsticks, are claiming that, with 185 autobiographies and 65 reality TV shows already under her belt, the model has a far greater international connection to the name ‘Jordan’ than the country of Jordan, which has so far only been the setting for Laurence [sic] of Arabia and a few rubbisher films.

“We strongly feel that Jordan is using the fame and enormous goodwill of Jordan’s name to attract people to its country,” they said in a statement, adding that they were calling for “damages of $1 billion or an immediate cessation of the name ‘Jordan’ by King Abdullah and his fellow countrymen”.

Imagine if it turns out that Ms. Price is actually a transgender.underwent a sex-change operation.

Would we then call her "TransJordan"?

However, the real punchline though is that her maternal grandmother was Jewish and her real family name is Infield.  She's one of the tribe.

By the way, she has adopted the principle of territorial compromise having reduced her bra size.

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