On the Leaving Out of History

I caught this snippet in this article*:

...in the essay on the booklet The Year of Genocide (December 1943) written by Melech Neustadt, at the time political secretary of the World Union of Mapai, Dina [Porat] praises Neustadt for writing about those in the Warsaw Ghetto who “...chose to give themselves over to action as part of their community, of our brethren and our movement…we did not value it properly,” but she does not hesitate to ask difficult questions about him, such as whether “he did enough to provide the public in Eretz Israel with enough information about that quiet heroism.” Later in the essay, Porat writes appreciatively of Neustadt’s description of the preparations for the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, but criticizes him for not mentioning all of the pioneering youth movements instead of focusing only on Dror-Hehalutz, let alone leaving out the part played by the Revisionists, whom he did not mention at all (219-221).

________________
*

MORESHET • VOL. 10 • 2013
Chaim Shalem
The Smoke-Scented Morning Coffee: Essays on Encounters
of the Yishuv and Israeli Society with the
Holocaust and Its Survivors, by Dina Porat
(Yad Vashem and Am Oved: Jerusalem, 2011). (In Hebrew)

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When Dayan Dissed Disproportionality

I am reading, in the Hebrew, Benny Morris book on the period of the Arab infiltration attacks against Israel from 1949-1956.

In Chapter Ten, he recounts an event on the Jerusalem front when, after the Jordan Legion opened up fire across the front (remember?  Jerusalem used to be a divided city, sitting right on the border?) on the evening of June 30, 1954,

Davar

HaTzofeh

Israel responded, using, as did the Jordanians, mortar fire.  Many were wounded and there were fatalities on both sides as well as damage to structures.

Dayan, responding to criticism from the UN observers about the use of mortars, replied:

"It was a mistake.  We should have used cannons."

In a conversation with the head of the Commission, Dayan said,

"I will return fire with everything except for an atom bomb and I will not restrict this only to the area from where fire is being shot."

Odd that we did not hear such talk from Israel during the Gaza operations when the whole issue of disprotortionality came up.

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What Can A Muslim Do That A Jew Cannot?

Walk through this gate:

Or rennovate:

or visit at night:

It's the subtle discrimination that is ignored.


P.S.

And we cannot operate tractors there either:

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Tel Shiloh Angers Anti-Zionist Archaeologists

The far-left and perhaps even anti-Zionist group of archaeologists who cannot tolerate the justification of the Zionist enterprise through archaeology, Emek Shaveh, has now dealt with my home town.

Here's the summary of their report:

New report: Tel Shiloh (Khirbet Seilun)
Tel Shiloh is located in southern Samaria, north of the Palestinian village of Turmus ‘Aya, and west of the settlement of Shiloh. In the past, the lands were owned by residents of the village of Qaryut, [not true] located north of the archaeological mount (the “Tel.”) Today, the site is included within the area of the Shiloh settlement. The name of the Biblical site, Khirbet Seilun, has been preserved at the site. [that should be: "The name Khirbet Seilun preserves the name of the Biblical site", but English may not be their best language - YM] Although in Israel and the West Bank, the Nature and Parks Authority operates the important antiquities sites, Tel Shiloh is operated by a non-profit organization, “The Mishkan Shiloh Association –The Center for the Study and Development of the Cradle of Settlement in the Land of Israel,” together with the Binyamin Regional Council.

At Tel Shiloh, faith and tradition infuse content into the archaeological site. The Tel itself is a site of small proportions (approximately 8.5 acres, as mentioned), testifying to very limited settlement during the Biblical period. Despite this, the government of Israel decided in 2010 to invest considerable sums in the site and to turn it into a key tourist and heritage center in Samaria. The archaeological excavations make it possible to generate public interest around new discoveries, and already, one can see that there is an attempt to “prove” the Biblical story through archaeological research.

The tremendous, disproportionate investment in a site of these dimensions would not be carried out were it not for political interests bent on bolstering the settlements in the area. These interests led to the eviction of the Palestinian residents from their lands [a lie], and appropriation of the site for the benefit of the settlement. Today, they are conducting a one-dimensional presentation of the site, massive building at the heart of the archaeological layers, and administration by a private-ideological organization rather than a government agency.

Don't you just love an angry Leftist?

Visit virtually the site and then come and really visit.

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In Literary Research: Jesus and Uri-Tzvi Greenberg

From the review by Adele Reinhartz (University of Ottawa) of Neta Stahl's "Other and Brother: Jesus in the 20th-Century Jewish Literary Landscape" which, by the way, has the infamous graphic of a Uri Tzvi Greenberg poem on the cover:

"Infamous" in that an order for his arrest was issued in Warsaw causing him to flee to Berlin.

This is was Rheinhaltz writes:

Chapter 2, "Cut off from all of his Brothers, from his Blood," turns to the poetry of Uri Zvi Greenberg (1896-1981). Stahl argues that Greenberg uses the figure of Jesus to reflect his own biography and sense of self, including his experiences in the Austria-Hungarian army during World War I, the 1918 pogrom, immigration to Palestine 1923, and most important, the Holocaust. Greenberg's poetry reflects both alienation from and kinship with Jesus, who is both indifferent to and symbolic of the suffering of European Jewry. Greenberg's poetry incorporates Christian imagery not only verbally but also typographically, a point brilliantly illustrated in his poem "Uri Zvi in front of the Cross INRI" that is used to great effect on the cover of Stahl's book. In the poignant poem "God and his Gentiles," the Christian God descends from heaven, travels through Europe, laments the absence of his Jews, and is himself destined for slaughter due to his Jewish appearance. Whereas in other works the figure of Jesus is differentiated from his Christian interpretations, these poems suggest a bifurcation within the figure of Jesus himself, as both "Other" and "Brother."  This chapter provides several illustrations of Stahl's incisive and beautifully written analyses of poetry.

And from the source:

Uri Zvi Greenberg (1896–1981) was one of the most prominent figures in twentieth century Jewish poetry. In Greenberg's poetry perhaps more than in the work of any other modern Jewish writer, the figure of Jesus reflects his own personal, literary and ideological biography, and his sense of selfhood. Greenberg's characterization of Jesus is profoundly ambivalent. His poetry merges elements of rejection and aversion, rooted in traditional Judaism, with a depiction of Jesus as a character of great charm and mystery who rebels against the social and religious conventions of his time. The chapter is divided into three sections. The first section focuses on the different literary devices Greenberg uses to express the tension between Jesus' human aspect, linked to his Jewish character, and his godly aspect, connected to his idolatrous representation within the Christian Church. The second section demonstrates how this tension becomes an actual division between two personas: the Christian Jesus is referenced by the Slavic name “Yezus,” while the “authentic” Jewish Jesus is called “Yeshu.” The third section discusses the tensions between Greenberg's divergent representations of Jesus as Exilic Jew, Zionist pioneer, and even national Messiah.

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Jesus to Silverman: "That's A Good Little Jewish Girl"

Remember her cross?

Now she's in bed with Jesus:

And she's told:  

"I know where your spot is.  That's a good Jewish little girl".

P.S.  Actually, many probably didn't catch the anti-Christian dig in this clip.

Jesus never made it to 40.

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The Two-State Solution and Alice-In-Wonderland

Did you know there are several references to the Two-State Solution in Alice in Wonderland?

There's one in Alice's meeting the Gardeners in CHAPTER VIII. The Queen's Croquet-Ground:-

A large rose-tree stood near the entrance of the garden: the roses growing on it were white, but there were three gardeners at it, busily painting them red. Alice thought this a very curious thing, and she went nearer to watch them, and just as she came up to them she heard one of them say, 'Look out now, Five! Don't go splashing paint over me like that!'
'I couldn't help it,' said Five, in a sulky tone; 'Seven jogged my elbow.'
On which Seven looked up and said, 'That's right, Five! Always lay the blame on others!'
'YOU'D better not talk!' said Five. 'I heard the Queen say only yesterday you deserved to be beheaded!'
'What for?' said the one who had spoken first.
'That's none of YOUR business, Two!' said Seven.
'Yes, it IS his business!' said Five, 'and I'll tell him--it was for bringing the cook tulip-roots instead of onions.'
Seven flung down his brush, and had just begun 'Well, of all the unjust things--' when his eye chanced to fall upon Alice, as she stood watching them, and he checked himself suddenly: the others looked round also, and all of them bowed low.
'Would you tell me,' said Alice, a little timidly, 'why you are painting those roses?'
Five and Seven said nothing, but looked at Two. Two began in a low voice, 'Why the fact is, you see, Miss, this here ought to have been a RED rose-tree, and we put a white one in by mistake; and if the Queen was to find it out, we should all have our heads cut off, you know. So you see, Miss, we're doing our best, afore she comes, to--' At this moment Five, who had been anxiously looking across the garden, called out 'The Queen! The Queen!' and the three gardeners instantly threw themselves flat upon their faces. There was a sound of many footsteps, and Alice looked round, eager to see the Queen.

And here:

Alice remained looking thoughtfully at the mushroom for a minute, trying to make out which were the two sides of it; and as it was perfectly round, she found this a very difficult question.


As well as here:







...this curious child was very fond of pretending to be two people.

'But it's no use now,' thought poor Alice, 'to pretend to be two people!

Why, there's hardly enough of me left to make ONE respectable person!'



And also this




-"I GAVE HER ONE, THEY GAVE HIM TWO--" why, that must be what he did with the tarts, you know--'
'But, it goes on "THEY ALL RETURNED FROM HIM TO YOU,"' said Alice.





And it is also contained it what the White Rabbit reads:--




They told me you had been to her,
And mentioned me to him:
She gave me a good character,
But said I could not swim.

He sent them word I had not gone
(We know it to be true):
If she should push the matter on,
What would become of you?

I gave her one, they gave him two,
You gave us three or more;
They all returned from him to you,
Though they were mine before.






  







^

A Jerusalem PushMi-Pullyu

The Pushmi-Pullyu is a Dr. Doolittle character (you knew that).

Riding on Jerusalem's Light Railway this morning, I discovered the Jewish version, sort of:

As I have indicated, in the Hebrew and in the top illustration, it is clear that the proper way to act in an emergency situation to get the door open is to pull the handle.

In English, though, the suggested action (arrow) is to push.

Good luck if you are in an emergency.

And yes, if you are really calm, you would realize that what the English is telling you is that after you have pulled you need to push the "leaf" (???).  But to get to that stage of the escape, you still have to start off by pulling.  And a "leaf"; is either something that grows on trees or fits into a table.  "Door" is so much more understandable.

^

A Turmos-Aya Historical Note

That news clipping is from February 15, 1977.

A year before Jews returned to nearby Shiloh.

Following the Zion Square terror bombing carried out by Turmos Aya residents, in which a refrigerator was the instrument of destruction (and an American was killed)  --- and by the way, a perpetrator was just recently released in the new prisoners' deal --- it seems some persons attempted an assassination attempt against the village mukhtar.  He was short, seriously wounded, by two assailants.

The pickup vehicle was hidden in the village and two were caught there after the refrigerator was transported form its place of origin: Shchem (Nablus).

Maybe someone thought the mukhtar was working against terror.

I'd call him a "peace activist".

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The NYTimes Is Just Impossible

Here:

Ignoring the many misrepresentations and worse contained in Ali Jarbawi's op-ed ("The Man Who Made Peace Impossible", January 21), among them the pure fiction that Ariel Sharon "wanted an ethnically pure Jewish state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea" or that in 2000, he "entered the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem" - he did not enter any building but toured the open-aired Temple Mount compound -, a question needs be asked: why should Sharon's presence at the Temple Mount have "triggered the second intifada"?
In addition to the site being a Jewish holy site, every day, non-Muslim tourists in their hundreds, and at times more, visit the site.  Why would Muslims respond in such a violent fashion to that 2000 tour? Could it be that it is the Muslims who are interested in an ethnically pure state west of the Jordan River, one free of Jews?

^

New Low-Intensity Conflict Report

From Yehudit Tayar for January 15-22, 2014


Fire bombs: 16 – 3 were confiscated before the terrorists could attack

Rock attacks:

Over 20 attacks by Arab terrorists with rocks :

Har Hevron rock thrown from passing car to Israeli vehicle

Hevron on Bet Hadassah

Gush Etzion-Hevron Highway

Ma'aleh Shomron

Near Migdalim

Highway 446, 2 kilometers west of Neve Yair

Road between Kiryat Arba and Hevron

Mod'in Jerusalem Highway 443

Hawawara south of Shechem

Highway 55 near Nebi Elias

Dir Nizam

El Arub IDF force attacked Etzion Region

Carmei Zur Israeli protestors against violence on the roads attacked by rocks

Hizma –Benjamin Region

Shomron: Highway 55 near Tachsin Gas Station

Israeli attacked by Arab youth with rocks as he walked on the road linking Kiryat Arba and Hevron near Erez Junction

School bus attacked between Tapuah and Migdalim in the Shomron

Southern Hevron Hills Israeli bus attacked near Neguhot


Shooting attacks:

Resident of Gilad Farm reported shooting attack as driving from Kedumim from passing Arab car by Git Junction as depicted in photograph.  2 bullets hit the vehicle – B"H no injured

Etzion Region: near Migdal Oz terrorist caught with improvised weapon by IDF force – the terrorist shot off 3 bullets before he was apprehended.

Benjamin Region Single shot fired by Arab terrorist near Neria the security patrol of Neria in the Western Benjamin Region heard the gunshot.  The terrorist escaped to Dir Amar after discarding his weapon when discovered and chased by the security patrol of the community Neria.

Missile Attacks from Gaza to southern Israel including Ashdod, Ashkelon,Eilat regions -  some of the schools were closed because of the rocket fire.

IAF and IDF attacked terrorists positions in Gaza and in a joint operation were able to eliminate terrorist Achmed Machmud J'ama Halil Zaanin born 1992, resident of Bet Hanun active in Terrorist organization, Hazit Amamit and involved in the past years in many terror attacks including rocket fire into Israel, many attempts to set off explosive devices, sharpshooting and shooting against IDF tanks and troops in the Israeli region near Gaza.

This report is only from the past few days, and the amount of terror attacks continue encouraged by the heads of the PA even while the supposed talks for a settlement in this region go on.

It is not difficult to imagine what the situation would be if Israel would not have a civilian and military presence in these vital areas- the destruction of Gush Katif and the continued attacks from Gaza should be fair warning.

^

Tuesday's Number Was 157

The non-Muslim Israeli visitors to the Temple Mount, this group claims, was 157:-

157 settler and soldier storming the Al-Aqsa Mosque and desecrate

157 settlers  and recruits and recruits Israeli military uniformed recruits and also intelligence agents on Tuesday morning stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque from the Mughrabi Gate guarded by special Israeli police, said the media coordinator for the Al-Aqsa Foundation for Waqf and Heritage, Mahmoud Abu Atta. 46 settlers led by extremist Rabbi Yehuda Glick stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque since the morning in an organized a tour of the different parts of the plaza and this intrusion coincided with a storming of 90 recruits whose teams were divided and took guided explanations about the temple, within the rounds of exploration and military guidance.

He added that 21 elements of the intelligence occupation also stormed Al-Aqsa, and organized a tour of the roofed mosques -  the old mosque, Marwani Mosque and the Dome of the Rock.

He pointed to the presence of a number of forces, " rapid intervention " in the maximum , which provided protection to Mguethmin , and prevented worshipers from the people of Jerusalem and the inside of the occupier to approach them.

The photographic proof:

and one more of Glick:

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This Needs Improvement

I caught this:

I may have commented on this previously but at least two big Nos are missing.

1.  The proposed Legislative Council idea (which would have killed Zionism in the Arabs hadn't boycotted the elections) in 1923.

2. Begin's Autonomy Proposal of 1978, adopted within the Camp David framework of accords on which Begin noted:

I now wish to explain the three conditions which we cannot concede regarding autonomy in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. First - we cannot impose autonomy on anyone: This can only be realized by agreement. First, therefore there must be full agreement according to (certain) conditions, following the signature of the peace treaty with Egypt. We are prepared to negotiate the conditions under which administrative autonomy in Judea, Samaria and Gaza shall be implemented, the three conditions we shall raise in the negotiations are: (1) Our army, the IDF will be stationed in Judea; Samaria and Gaza as agreed also in the Camp David framework, (2) Security, and (3) Jewish settlement. In the course of time, we shall negotiate the establishment of autonomy following the signature of the peace with Egypt. This is the order of things according to the Camp David agreement, we shall present these conditions and shall insist upon them."

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Harper Did Find Apartheid in Israel

January 21, 2014, Toronto — Prime Minister Stephen Harper visited the Kotel (Western Wall), Judaism’s holiest site, earlier today. Mr. Harper received a hero’s welcome as he visited the Kotel Plaza and stopped to place a note in the wall as he took a moment of silent introspection. The Prime Minister had also planned to visit the Dome of the Rock located on the Temple Mount, a site holy to both Muslims and Jews. That part of the tour was called off after Mr. Harper was told that his Jewish guards would not be allowed to enter the area. 
...“It is a shame that the Prime Minister’s visit to the Kotel was marred after he learned that his security detail would not be allowed in to the Dome of the Rock because they are Jewish,” said Frank Dimant, CEO, B’nai Brith Canada. “B’nai Brith delegations have also faced moments of discrimination and harassment on previous missions. We have raised this issue with Canada’s Office of Religious Freedom. Equal access must be given to Jewish worshipers wishing to ascend the Temple Mount. This incident serves as a stark reminder of the religious discrimination going on at the hands of the Islamic Waqf responsible for administering the site."

Oh, well.

But at least Harper finally found apartheid in Israel.

^ 

The "Sin" of Zionism - A GraphicZionism Comment

Source

---

Another:

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Another 'Translation' of Poe's "Annabel Lee"

I am sure you know that Ze'ev Jabotinsky translated Edgar Allen Poe's "Annabel Lee" into Hebrew.

The first stanza:

זה היה לפנים ולפני שנים,

במלכות על ים ערפלי.

שם דרה ילדה - שמה לא תדע:

קראתי לה אנאבל לי.

משא לב אחר מלבד אהבה

לא היה גם לה וגם לי.

I just discovered a short film based on the poem 'translating' it into a plot treatment involving religious Jews in the South:

But be warned for that "In the Name of Jesus" at the end of the Kaddish.

A bit sneaky.

^

Shall We Call It 'Zionism Porn'?

You know what I am thinking after reading this UK item:

Residents in Grimsby are rising up against Channel 4’s attempts to cast them as the subjects of its next documentary series on the poor – a television genre that has been dubbed “poverty porn”.

Camera crews from the producers of controversial series Skint have been scouting and “test filming” on Grimsby’s Nunsthorpe estate since before Christmas. The first series of Skint last year caused great upset in nearby Scunthorpe, where drug users and benefits claimants were filmed on the town’s Westcliff estate.

Since then Channel 4 has caused uproar with its portrayal of Birmingham’s James Turner Street in the series Benefits Street, which has been the subject of hundreds of complaints to the media regulator Ofcom but has been a ratings success for the broadcaster.*

More than 500 people have signed a petition calling for the camera crews not to film in Grimsby. “We do not want these shows filmed in the area,” the petition reads. “…especially when the town is working hard to bring jobs to the area”.

Austin Mitchell, MP for Great Grimsby, said he was writing to Channel 4 to complain. “...This is turning the poor into objects of entertainment. I think Channel 4 has gone mad – we have now got Benefits Street and Skint. It used to be an innovative, liberal and human channel and now they are just exploiting the poor.”
After the first four-part series of Skint, Nic Dakin, MP for Scunthorpe, wrote in complaint to Channel 4. “This is not a documentary it is an 'I’m a Celebrity' type programme. It is a particularly poor piece of television and does not represent the area accurately at all,” he told BBC Radio Humberside.

...Among Grimsby residents contacted by the film crew from production company KEO films was Cath Homewood, who runs the Grimsby Food Kitchen. “They came in to our annual buffet and interviewed us, but I told them from the start that I have nothing negative to say,” she said. “I think they were amazed that we had 140 people here and not one of them was drunk or badly behaved, but they probably don’t think that will make good TV.”

Yes, that's right, I am thinking this is a parallel of how major sections of Israel's media treats solid, basic Zionist stories, reality and accomplishments and in particular, the residents of Judea and Samaria/YESHA.

In YESHA there are schools, industries, social welfare projects, immigration absorption, agriculture, volunteerism, contribution to society through National Service, security-related issues, redemption of the Land and more but the media, in much too many instances, relates to all this, and more, in a fashion that, based on the above, I would term: Zionist porn (If you comprehend Hebrew, you've seen this?).

And add to that the bias.

____________

*

Note:

Steve Chalke, executive chairman of the charity that manages Oasis Academy Foundry on James Turner Street, and a nearby primary school...questioned whether..."Channel 4 considered all the legal and pastoral implications of showing what will be an historical situation and reopening a sensitive situation?" he also asked in the letter.
Justifying his concerns, Chalke wrote that Benefits Street had already had "a considerable negative impact" on Oasis Academy Foundary pupils.
"Some of them are currently afraid to play outside … for fear of being heckled by the stream of tourists posing by the road sign against our school wall," he said.
He added that some children had not attended school since the disruption prompted by the Channel 4 documentary, which he claimed had included "tourists cruising the street in cars" heckling and shouting abuse, and journalists and cameramen "intruding into the lives of residents".

^

Salvatore Is The Man

Kudos to Salvatore J. Bommarito.

First, he managed to published a letter in the New York Times (unlike me).

Second, it contained this on the issue of democracy in the Middle East:

A true democratic constitution must treat each citizen equally. This is impossible in the Middle East because of the 1,300-year-old rift between the Sunnis and the Shiites, the two major religious groups that populate the area. Worsening the problem is that Iran and Saudi Arabia are rabid supporters of Shiite and Sunni interests, respectively.

The response by new governments, like the one in Egypt, is totalitarian rule; the military must bring order to the chaos created by dissenters, terrorists and insurgents.

The American vision of spreading democracy throughout the Middle East is a pipe dream that will not come to fruition in the foreseeable future because of religious differences and the role that the military must play to keep order. The regimes in Iran and Saudi Arabia will ensure this outcome by sabotaging American efforts in this regard.

Third, the letter is quite contrary to the NYT editorial line. 

Seems he's an author, a former investment banker and financial officer. He graduated the University of Notre Dame and Fordham University. And admits to being contentious.

^

Jordan Rep Expresses Apartheid/Racist Views

Jordan will continue to honour its commitments towards holy places in Jerusalem we have been informed by Jordanian House Speaker Atef Tarawneh today, speaking in Kuwait at the 20th conference of the Inter-Arab Parliamentary Union.

"Holy Places", he said?

Let's be specific:-

Jordan will continue to honour its historical commitments towards protecting the Islamic and Christian holy places in Jerusalem.

What happened to the Jewish sites?

Remember that March 2014 agreement?

Tarawneh said that the agreement, which was signed by His Majesty King Abdullah II and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, reaffirmed the status of His Majesty King Abdullah as the custodian of the holy sites in Jerusalem and was aimed at exerting all legal efforts to protect the holy places in Jerusalem in general and the al-Aqsa Mosque in particular.

Are there no Jewish holy places in the city?

Of course there are and they are adjacent to and contiguous with Islanic sites: the Western Wall and the Temple Mount.

Tarawneh spoke about "the Israeli attempts to Judaize and change the identity of Jerusalem" and "highlighted the Israeli violations against the holy shrines in Jerusalem, noting that these violations send a clear message that any peace agreement would remain threatened by Israel" and added, "Jordan always takes stances towards these violations, through available legal channels".

But there's more:

The key to Arab-Israeli comprehensive peace lies in implementing the two-state solution, under which an independent and fully sovereign Palestinian state is established within the June 1967 lines, with East Jerusalem its capital...we in Jordan believe that implementing the two-state solution and the establishment of an independent and fully sovereign Palestinian state within June 1967 lines with East Jerusalem as its capital constitute a higher interest for Jordan...

...Regarding East Jerusalem, His Majesty King Abdullah II is taking care of the maintenance and protection of the Christian and Islamic holy sites there, as part of the historical Hashemite custodianship of East Jerusalem. We will continue to play this role and addressing all Israeli violations, which continue to defy several resolutions issued by the UN Security Council that stipulate that all Israeli actions in occupied East Jerusalem are null and void and should be halted immediately, and that the Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem must end.

Those were the words spoken in New York of Minister of Foreign and Expatriates Affairs, Nasser Judeh, on Monday, who chaired a United Nations Security Council's open debate on various Middle East issues.

He, too, is an apartheidist, even a racist.  Jordan doesn't recognize Jewish holy sites in the city, it would appear and even if they did exist, the King, in his custodianal role, wouldn't care for them.

No suprise, really, after his grandfather's father's record of destroying almost 40,000 Jewish graves on the Mount of Olives prior to 1967 and all but one of the 35 synagogues in the Old City were destroyed, either razed or used as stables and chicken coops.

Is this the man and the position with who Mr. Netanyahu discusses peace?

By the way, at the UN, this also was said by Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson at the opening of 2014 session of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People:-

...Israeli and Palestinian negotiators are working hard towards a peaceful, comprehensive settlement of all permanent status issues...It means accepting Jerusalem as the capital of the two States, with arrangements for Holy Sites acceptable to all. 

Eppes.

__________

P.S.

As for fulfilling terms of treaties, cease-fire agreements, etc., let's not forget the experience:

In direct contravention of the 1949 armistice agreements, Jordan did not permit Jews access to their holy sites or to the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives.
Article VIII of the Israel Jordan Armistice Agreement (April 3, 1949) established a special committee which would “direct its attention to the formulation of agreed plans and arrangements” including “free access to the Holy Places and cultural institutions and use of the cemetery on the Mount of Olives.” Nevertheless, and despite numerous requests by Israeli officials and Jewish groups to the UN, the U.S., and others to attempt to enforce the armistice agreement, Jews were denied access to the Western Wall, the Jewish cemetery and all religious sites in eastern Jerusalem. The armistice lines were sealed as Jordanian snipers would perch on the walls of the Old City and shoot at Israelis across the lines.

And in reviewing what I wrote above, it may not be clear to some readers what my 'problem' is as some may assume that of course Jordan will not be "in charge" of any Jewish site so why get upset.

Briefly, I believe Netanyahu does not really want a "Palestinian" state and so seeks to have Jordan in on any agreement.  The political rights of local Arab residents west of the Jordan River will find their expression via Jordan with an improved Begin-autonomy plan. That in itself is an improvement over the Pal. Authority monster but the price will be official Jordanian administration of the Temple Mount (i.e., foreign sovereignty) and then for sure no Jewish identity will be permitted there (it will become extra-territorial), expression that will be less than today probably. That's a price I feel we do not have to fork over.

As I noted above, if now Jordanian spokespersons ignore any Jewish character of a holy site that is conterminous, as is the Temple Mount and its Western supporting wall, with a Muslim site, then we cannot expect Jewish expressions there, whether religious, spiritual or cultural.  And, perhaps, given Jordan's record, even worse.  Instead of Islamic rocks and firebombs thrown at Jews, bullets could be fired next.

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Again, The NYTimes Doesn't Publish My Letter

Since I am not as rich as Mr. Masri, I guess my letter had little chance of being published:

In his letter (Jan. 14), Munib Masri asserts that Jewish residential communities, "settlements" in his words, undermine a peaceful solution to the the conflict between Israel and the Arabs of Palestine. This is predicated on an illogical approach to the causes of the conflict.

Prior to 1967, there were no Jews living in Judea and Samaria, nor Gaza, regions of the former Mandate of Palestine that were intended, according to the League of Nations Mandate decision, for "close Jewish settlement on the land" (Article 6) and they were certainly not under Israeli "occupation".  They were, however, under Jordanian and Egyptian occupation.  Moreover, there was Arab-initiated terror, first by the fedayeen during the early 1950s and then, beginning in 1964 with the founding of the Palestine Liberation Organization, another round of terror directed at Jewish civilians was inaugurated.  Indeed, what was the "Palestine" that was to be liberated?

I would suggest that there is no connection between peace and Jews not living among Arabs.  Indeed, if there is no coexistence, peace cannot be attained. Shall we begin to refer to Arab localities in Israel as "settlements" to even out the equation of peace?

^