A Tree Fell in Jerusalem

A translation of this article (k/t=EOZ):-

Information center Jerusalem - Al-Aqsa Foundation Building - On Sunday evening a palm tree, one of the fruitful and historic trees of al-Aqsa mosque, located off the Gate of Mercy, next to Bey, from the western side of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, fell down.

Local sources suggested to be caused by the collapse of the tree as others in recent times is the ongoing excavations conducted by the occupation authorities under the Al Aqsa Mosque and unloading of dirt...The organization suggested that the excavations carried out by occupying the bottom of the al-Aqsa mosque, is the cause of this precipitation of trees, and can also be due to chemical poisoning sprinkle some elements of the settlers who break into Al-Aqsa.The Aqsa Foundation, said in a statement tonight that it had been monitoring cases of loss of several trees in the Al-Aqsa Mosque or stiffness in their branches or roots, especially in the line that extends from the terrace Abu Bakr, and even the door of the Council, any line west of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, is well known that there are fossils occupying power down the length of the western wall of Al-Aqsa Mosque.A number of cases of cracks and the collapse of the floor of the Al Aqsa Mosque (near to Bey) and the other in the buildings or the houses of Jerusalem, which lies within the boundaries of the western wall of Al-Aqsa Mosque, were observed, pointing out that it was in 1982 AD reveal fossils Zionism arrived at the well of water close to the way Bey , and the time slot was closed with cement the well armed.A statement by the Al-Aqsa Foundation: in more than once been monitoring cases carried out by the settlers or settlement of unknown substances sprayed on the roots of trees or Agadan al-Aqsa mosque, and was directed by these settlers immediately outside the Al Aqsa Mosque.The statement pointed out that the occupation has placed more than a surveillance camera and filming on the roof of the western wall of Al-Aqsa Mosque, the trees may pose a barrier to portray these cameras.The Al-Aqsa Foundation concluded its statement by saying that "All this evidence suggests that occupation is the cause of such cases, and it remains the need to make up for the Muslim Arab Palestinian engineers and agricultural engineers are competent to examine such cases, professional, scientific, and graduated its conclusions.

Such ridiculousness.

This is Palestinian culture.

This?

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NYTimes Mixes Me Up

I caught this story:

Israel Bars Foreign Envoys From West Bank Meeting
and read further that

Delegations from five countries were denied permission to use Israeli border crossings because their governments do not recognize the state of Israel, a decision that angered the Palestinians.

What angered the "Palestinians"?
That these nations don't recognize Israel?
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A Book To Read

I have read this in Hebrew and recommend it in its new English translation edition.

The Gaon of Vilna and His Messianic Vision by Arie Morgenstern

In 1990 a document was discovered in Poland, according to which the Gaon of Vilna (1720 1797) stopped in Amsterdam on his way to Erez Israel. Research based on this astonishing find, detailed in this book, brought about a chain of dramatic discoveries that fundamentally altered our knowledge of the historic figure of the Gaon of Vilna. One such discovery reveals that the journey to Erez Israel transpired in the year 1778, three years prior to 1781 the year set as the end time by the kabbalists of that generation, including the Gaon of Vilna himself.

This book demonstrates that the Gaon of Vilna traveled to Erez Israel in order to compose a new Shulhan arukh, a final halakhic code that would bring an end to halakhic disputes within the Jewish people. In this way he hoped to ensure the Messiah s arrival in the year 1781. Mysteriously, the Gaon of Vilna abandoned his dream, reporting that Heaven had prevented him. By following in the Gaon s footsteps, The Gaon of Vilna and His Messianic Vision uncovers the cause of his aborted journey and the revolutionary approach to redemption that the Gaon subsequently developed.

The main discovery of this book is that despite the grave disillusionment and trauma that the Sabbatean crisis (1666) had inflicted, a new awakening for messianic redemption ensued in the eighteenth century. Some kabbalists continued to insist vehemently that redemption was imminent and that one needed only to find new ways to assure its fulfillment through: mystical kavvanot, ascents of the soul, and cleavage to God. But others declared that redemption can be attained only through mystical groups that would achieve fraternity and unity in Erez Israel, and exert a theurgic influence. One of the most influential figures in this movement was Rabbi Immanuel Hai Ricchi (1688–1743).

Ricchi performed various end-reckonings and geared them to a forty-one-year period that approximated his own time—from 1740 to 1781. He was not alone in this pursuit. Kabbalist like Rabbi Hayyim ben Attar , Moses Hayyim Luzzatto , kabbalists from the Kloyz of Brody, and hundreds of Hassidim in 1777, ascent to Eretz Israel out of messianic motives. We also discovered that the Gaon of Vilna was on his way in the year 1778, and even the quest for the Ten Tribes, which, according to tradition, would be discovered and returned at the End of Days, was also a part of that movement.

This book, inspired by newly discovered archive findings, sheds new light on entire eighteenth-century Jewish history, and especially on the most complex, historically unique persona of the Gaon of Vilna (1720-1797), who perceived himself as having a messianic mission: to reveal the Torah as it had been handed down to Moses at Sinai and writing the final code that would lead directly to the imminent redemption of the Jewish people.

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History in the Land of Israel

On page 384 of this book, Palestine in the Late Ottoman Period: Political, Social, and Economic Transformation, edited by David Kushner, we read:-

and on page 408, this from a Turk, Falih Rifki, visiting the country between 1914-1918, and his observations:-

and on p. 409-

and more from Seward's book:-

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Visiting Jerusalem in 1871

LBD brought this book to my attention - William H. Seward's Travels around the World by:Olive Risley Seward; William Henry Seward.

On p. 644

But, what interested us more is, a recent excavation under the pavement of this mosque, which proves to be an ancient gate. It has been closed and walled up, while the city has been built around it on the outside. The massive though broken floor, the solid columns, and the heavy transverse stones which rest upon them, are wrought in a style neither Saracenic nor Greek, but shaped and ornamented in a manner which we remarked in the Egyptian temples. This newly-discovered gate-way is believed, by the distinguished explorer, Captain Wilson, to have been one of the original entrances to the Temple of Solomon. Not only El-Aksa, but the whole area enclosed within the outer walls, now wears the appearance of neglect, dilapidation, and decay. Is this an evidence of the decline of the Mohammedan religion, or only of the increasing isolation of Jerusalem? We must go farther into the Turkish Empire to decide. Meantime, it is suggestive of much thought that not only the Mayor of Jerusalem, but the obliging sheik of the mosque, plaintively and earnestly invoked Mr. Seward to use what they thought would be an influence of some weight with the Sultan at Constantinople, for the repair of the Mosque of Omar. The various points we have described in the Mosque of Omar are held to fix beyond all dispute the site of the ancient Temple of Solomon. History, tradition, and a pride of the Jews, greater than was ever exhibited by any other nation, made that temple an object of admiration to the whole world. Though its base was Mount Moriah, the hill which bore that name must have been levelled when or before the temple was built. It was easily accessible by a gentle descent from all parts of the city, while the high wall built on the outer precipice rendered it impregnable on that side.

From p. 652

The Jewish sabbath being on Saturday, and beginning at sunset on Friday, the weekly wail of the Jews under the wall takes place on Friday, and is a preparation for the rest and worship of the day which they are commanded to "keep holy." The small rectangular oblong area, without roof or canopy, serves for the gathering of the whole remnant of the Jewish nation in Jerusalem. Here, whether it rains or shines, they come together at an early hour, old and young, men, women, and little children--the poor and the rich, in their best costumes, discordant as the diverse nations from which they come. They are attended by their rabbis, each bringing the carefully-preserved and elaborately-bound text of the book of the Lamentations of Jeremiah, either in their respective languages, or in the original Hebrew. For many hours they pour forth their complaints, reading and reciting the poetic language of the prophet, beating their hands against the wall, and bathing the stones with their kisses and tears. It is no mere formal ceremony. During the several hours while we were spectators of it, there was not one act of irreverence or indifference. Only those who have seen the solemn prayer-meeting of a religious revival, held by some evangelical denomination at home, can have a true idea of the solemnity and depth of the profound grief and pious feeling exhibited by this strange assembly on so strange an occasion, although no ritual in the Catholic, Greek, or Episcopal Church is conducted with more solemnity and propriety.

    Though we supposed our party unobserved, we had scarcely left the place, when a meek, gentle Jew, in a long, plain brown dress, his light, glossy hair falling in ringlets on either side of his face, came to us, and, respectfully accosting Mr. Seward, expressed a desire that he would visit the new synagogue, where the sabbath service was about to open at sunset. Mr. Seward assented. A crowd of "the peculiar people" attended and showed us the way to the new house of prayer, which we are informed was recently built by a rich countryman of our own whose name we did not learn. It is called the American Synagogue. It is a very lofty edifice, surmounted by a circular dome. Just underneath it a circular gallery is devoted exclusively to the women. Aisles run between the rows of columns which support the gallery and dome. On the plain stone pavement, rows of movable, wooden benches with backs are free to all who come. At the side of the synagogue, opposite the door, is an elevated desk on a platform accessible only by movable steps, and resembling more a pulpit than a chancel. It was adorned with red-damask curtains, and behind them a Hebrew inscription. Directly in the centre of the room, between the door and this platform, is a dais six feet high and ten feet square, surrounded by a brass railing, carpeted; and containing cushioned seats. We assume that this dais, high above the heads of the worshippers, and on the same elevation with the platform appropriated to prayer, is assigned to the rabbis. We took seats on one of the benches against the wall; presently an elderly person, speaking English imperfectly, invited Mr. Seward to change his seat; he hesitated, but, on being informed by Mr. Finkelstein that the person who gave the invitation was the president of the synagogue, Mr. Seward rose, and the whole party, accompanying him, were conducted up the steps and were comfortably seated on the dais, in the "chief seat in the synagogue." On this dais was a tall, branching, silver candlestick with seven arms.

    The congregation now gathered in, the women filling the gallery, and the men, in varied costumes, and wearing hats of all shapes and colors, sitting or standing as they pleased. The lighting of many silver lamps, judiciously arranged, gave notice that the sixth day's sun had set, and that the holy day had begun. Instantly, the worshippers, all standing, and as many as could turning to the wall, began the utterance of prayer, bending backward and forward, repeating the words in a chanting tone, which each read from a book, in a low voice like the reciting of prayers after the clergyman in the Episcopal service. It seemed to us a service without prescribed form or order. When it had continued some time, thinking that Mr. Seward might be impatient to leave, the chief men requested that he would remain a few moments, until a prayer should be offered for the President of the United States, and another for himself. Now a remarkable rabbi, clad in a long, rich, flowing sacerdotal dress, walked up the aisle; a table was lifted from the floor to the platform, and, by a steep ladder which was held by two assistant priests, the rabbi ascended the platform. A large folio Hebrew manuscript was laid on the table before him, and he recited with marked intonation, in clear falsetto, a prayer, in which he was joined by the assistants reading from the same manuscript. We were at first uncertain whether this was a psalm or a prayer, but we remembered that all the Hebrew prayers are expressed in a tone which rises above the recitative and approaches melody, so that a candidate for the priesthood is always required to have a musical voice. At the close of the reading, the rabbi came to Mr. Seward and informed him that it was a prayer for the President of the United States, and a thanksgiving for the deliverance of the Union from its rebellious assailants. Then came a second; it was in Hebrew and intoned, but the rabbi informed us that it was a prayer of gratitude for Mr. Seward's visit to the Jews at Jerusalem, for his health, for his safe return to his native land, and a long, happy life. The rabbi now descended, and it was evident that the service was at an end. Coming down from the dais, we were met by a band of musicians playing on drums, fifes, and violins. We questioned whether this music was a part of the service of the synagogue, but our doubt was removed when we found it accompanying us to the gate of our hotel. The Jews, in their dispersion, are understood to be forbidden the use of musical instruments in worship. Their chants of praise are the traditional songs of Israel, just as the Christians, who have succeeded them, prefer, to all other devotional hymns, the Psalms of David.

    A pleasant dinner ensued with the United States consul and his accomplished wife, where we had the honor of meeting the venerable Bishop Gobat and Mrs. Gobat. We infer that the Coptic, Catholic, Greek, and Armenian Churches have given up the design of proselytism here, and now confine their labors to the enlargement and improvement of their several convents for the entertainment of Christian pilgrims in the Holy Land. On the other hand, the Protestant missionaries from Germany, Great Britain, and the United States, are the living, active preachers and teachers of the Gospel in Syria...

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Ariel U. & Its Lecturers Under Academic Attack

An example, two out of several, of the intellectual dialogue amongst academics here in Israel over the Ariel University upgrade.  I have disidentified names.  My decision.  Maybe I'm protecting the foolish.

Dear colleagues,

I've been following the reactions to the recognition of Ariel College and hesitating to join, but couldn't stay quiet any longer. First, I agree with ________ and _________ that the issue of the future of the occupied Palestinian territories, the number of states there should be ideally or practically, should not split those who understand the need to respond to yet another step toward annexation, yet another reinforcement of occupation. Both for those who (like ________) prefer to continue the Zionist project by separating into two states, and those (like _____ and ________ and _______ and ______) who look forward to equality of rights under one polity, the "university" of Ariel is the institutionalization of discrimination, inequality, and rule by military force. (As ___________ said, the number of states matters less in this case than the quality of the regime and society). Whatever the future may be, this is an act in the present that must be condemned, opposed, resisted.

Second, I also agree with all those (___, ______, ____, and others) who point out that this is a done deal - Ariel College has existed in any case, and now by the Israeli rules that govern the occupied territories (as ________ explained), is recognized as a university. But I also agree with _________ that it can't be allowed to pass in silence, and with _________ that this is an opportunity for Israeli academics to be motivated in opposition to the occupation, even if this is by no means the worst abuse or atrocity of the occupation (as several others have said).

Third, I agree with ___________ that a committee or action group needs to be set up to put into action the various suggestions that have been floated to protest the recognition. I would also suggest that we don't need to decide on the "one right thing" to do, and instead there should be many measures taken - legal challenges to the decision, perhaps the protest strike, demands for the admission of Palestinians from the occupied territories as students and faculty. While the goals of the protest, or resistance, should be in mind (whether reversing the recognition, or as I'd think is more important, furthering the goals of equal rights and democracy in higher education as part of a broader movement), there can also be some different goals pursued by some different means. It's also more important to get people involved in some way - even if it's only signing an on-line petition - even if that act in itself changes nothing or little (not least because the signatories who at one point don't want to be very involved are potential participants in more active struggles, or donors). Social media are very good for generating such low-level but wider support. I'd be happy to take on a role in that committee, building international support.

Fourth, on the boycott issue - there's no doubt that the Israeli government recognition of Ariel will, as _______ writes, strengthen the cause of the BDS movement (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions), especially in Europe, and which applies to all Israeli academic institutions too. __________ asked if any serious journal would refuse a paper written by someone from Ariel College, and the answer is yes, because journals have already refused articles written by Israeli academics. The boycott isn't on the grounds of purely "academic" standards, but there of course ethical standards for academic research and journals can refuse to publish research that doesn't meet those standards. The conditions under which academic research is conducted are part of that ethical evaluation. In my view, the conditions at Ariel render all its research unethical, but those at Israeli institutions within the green line are not much worse than in other unequal and racist societies that set the ethical standards. Anyway, the discussion seems to be dampening down a little, which I hope is a sign that people who care are ready for action. How about this for a name of the group - The Israeli Council for Ethical Higher Education,

---------------------

One reason for this discussion list is the college in Ariel is in occupied territory and does not provide access to the Palestinians - professors or students - to teach or study there. A second reason the discussions here is a military body, not an academic body has decided to establish a college there. Because of these reasons, it is impossible to talk about academic freedom that you belong to a process in which there is no freedom, period.
Ariel College was established in its place against international law, and its establishment is another step in making the occupation an occupation forever. That's what we are protesting against this and will continue to operate.
It is no coincidence that you, the lecturers, arrived there. You chose to apply to an illegitimate college, and when been accepted, you decided to teach at the college located in occupied territory.
Certainly you are free to choose where to teach, as we - who do not agree with the existence of the college in general - may decide not to cooperate with the professors who chose to teach there.
I have no doubt that if you, lecturers, academic institutions decide to go back inside the Green Line, would be very pleased to collaborate with you - in terms of academic fields. You can keep your political views (each with his political views - right to left). There is a no demand that you change your political views, but don't continue to choose to teach in an institution located in occupied territory, in violating human rights every day, every hour.
As long as you continue to choose to teach at the college in occupied territory, taking the most basic rights of the local population, we will not cooperate with you, academically.
You took a decision and each decision has its price. That's the story.

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Occupation Humor

There is an old joke about the Israeli who lands at Heathrow and when handed the entry form to fill out sees a line that reads "Occupation". All flustered, he writes down, "No. I live in Tel Aviv".

There is now another I found:

The Israeli approaches the airplane bathroom, locks the door, and discovers it reads: 'OCCUPIED', and thinks to himself, "How did they know I'm Israeli?"

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Ms. Goldberg Has Me Nonplussed

My comment over at Open Zion today:

This part - "the inherent structural violence of the occupation. Trying to build a one-state reality in the name of “inalienable rights and realpolitik” is treacherously dishonest. The fact is, most Palestinian rights are perfectly "alienable" in the West Bank—and that is something we should never try to "normalize" "- is a bit nonplussing. Definition-wise, since "alienable" means "transferable to another's ownership", obviously, in addition to the fact that the Jewish people possess what international law declared to be a "historical connection" to the Land of Israel as a right thereby to reconsitute its homeland in the country, Ms. Goldberg now acknowledges that land can be transferred to Jews there whether, I would presume, by right of 1967 conquest or by an instrument that could stem from the latest Levy Report such as registering all land awarded by the Jordanian monarchs from state land sources and those which have not been developed, i.e., planted or built upon, should return to state land status and used, perhaps, by Jews. Moreover, since at present, both Palestinian Authority and Jordanian laws prohibit, what I would call and hope Ms. Goldberg does too, as a racist policy, Jews owning land in their territories, obvioulsy from a moral viewpoint, Arab property philosphy is definitely not 'normal' and very dishonest. That would also contribute to Jews demanding, correctly, their rights in the area.

But if we recall that Arabs arrived as conquerors, and who occupied Jewish land and worse, effectively engaged in ethnically cleansing operations over the centuries, and, paradoxically, most effectively during the British Mandate when Jews were expelled - and killed and raped - from residential locations they lived in for centuries such as Hebron, Gaza, Shchem and Jerusalem, the only treahcery here is Ms. Goldberg's defense of Arab immoral practices.

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We've Been Warned

Security Message for U.S. Citizens Regarding Travel to the Sinai

August 3, 2012

U.S. citizens are encouraged to take precautions in travel to the Sinai.  There have been multiple kidnappings in the Sinai of U.S. citizens over the past four years, and kidnappings of foreign tourists in the Sinai have increased since January 2012.  In May 2012, two U.S. citizens were kidnapped and released a day later; in July 2012, two U.S. citizens were kidnapped and released a few days later. While thus far all known foreign kidnap victims in 2012 have been released unharmed, the danger of overland travel in the Sinai is significant. Overland travel from Israel to the Sinai in particular is strongly discouraged.  U.S. government personnel are currently prohibited from traveling to the Sinai, except by air to Sharm El Sheikh. Overland travel by U.S. government employees anywhere in the Sinai outside of Sharm El Sheikh is prohibited. 

U.S. citizens contemplating travel to Sinai should be aware of the risks.  They should consult the Country Specific Information for Egypt and the latest Travel Alerts and Warnings before undertaking travel there. U.S. citizens are reminded to exercise caution and take appropriate measures to ensure their safety and security while traveling in this region, and should monitor local news sources to find the latest information on the situation, as it can change unexpectedly. 

U.S. citizens traveling abroad should regularly monitor the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs website, where the current Worldwide Caution, Travel Warnings, Travel Alerts, and Country Specific Information.  U.S. citizens are also encouraged to review "A Safe Trip Abroad", which includes valuable security information for those both living and traveling abroad.

U.S. citizens are advised to maintain valid travel documents. U.S. citizens living or traveling abroad are encouraged to enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP).  U.S. citizens without internet access may enroll directly at any U.S. Embassy or Consulate.  By enrolling, U.S. citizens make it easier for the Embassy or Consulate to contact them in case of emergency.

For further information, U.S. citizens may telephone the U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem at (972) (2) 630-4000, the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv at (972) (3) 519-7575, the U.S. Embassy in Cairo at ((20) 2-2797-2301), and the U.S. Embassy in Amman at (962) (6) 590-6000 during working hours.  After hours (for emergencies), U.S. citizens may telephone the U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem at (972) (2) 622-7250, the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv at (972) (3) 519-7551, the U.S. Embassy in Cairo at ((20) 2-2797-3300) or the Embassy in Amman at (962) (6) 590-6500.

My Recent Twitter Interaction

He replied:

Davey O ‏@daveyderavey

@ymedad how many Jews can you fit in a mini ? 52. 2 in the front, 2 in the back and 48 in the ashtray

Don't you just love antisemites?

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On 'Palestinian Culture' and Murdered Women

As we read at the LATimes:

Four recent cases of Palestinian women slain allegedly at the hand of relatives have prompted women and human rights groups to demand tougher laws against domestic violence and more stringent enforcement...Women carried placards reading "No to murder, yes to life" and "Shame on us Palestinians who kill our women."

The march, which followed other protests this week, was prompted by a slaying Monday on a busy street in Bethlehem. A 28-year-old woman was stabbed several times in the chest and her throat was slashed while people stood by and watched. She later died at a hospital. Her 33-year-old husband is in custody...activists said that the Palestinian territories' laws against domestic violence are too lax...According to Palestinian human rights groups, 29 women in the West Bank were the victims of such killings by a relative from 2007 to 2010.

But wait, what happened last year?

A 20-year-old Palestinian woman who was thrown into a well and left to die in the name of "family honor" has not become just another statistic in one of the Middle East's most shameful practices. The killing of Aya Baradiya – by an uncle who didn't like a potential suitor – sparked such outrage that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas scrapped laws this week that guaranteed sentences of six months or less for such killings.

And a few months before, there was this report:

President Mahmoud Abbas signed into law two articles by presidential decree eliminating laws allowing leniency for civilians found guilty of assault or murder "in defense of family honor."  The move, welcomed by women's rights activists, came in the wake of the grisly discovery of a Hebron woman drowned by her uncle because he disagreed with her choice of fiancee.

What type of culture is tolerant of "honor killing" and what culture of regime doesn't get moving on this matter?

And they still seek to blame Romney?  Well, he defended himself:

In the essay, “Culture Does Matter," Romney reiterated some salient points of his speech to supporters at a fundraiser in Jerusalem. “During my recent trip to Israel,” wrote the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, “I had suggested that the choices a society makes about its culture play a role in creating prosperity, and that the significant disparity between Israeli and Palestinian living standards was powerfully influenced by it. In some quarters, that comment became the subject of controversy. But what exactly accounts for prosperity if not culture?”

How language laundering works in this. And this is interesting as it deals with "Palestinian society";

by understanding the socio-cultural and political context within which disclosure or non-disclosure of sexual abuse takes place, we are better able to develop an analytical framework that might shape culturally sensitive social policy towards sexual abuse and thereby reduce it.

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American Jewish Leaders Pro-Levy Report

Read the letter and the names of 65 signatories here.

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Kudos to the Mashberg Letter

My letter-to-the-editor responding to the letters published in response to Dani Dayan's op-ed, all negative without balance, didn't make it but this one did:

To the Editor:

Maen Rashid Areikat, a senior Palestinian official, in his July 27 letter rebutting an Op-Ed article that supported Israeli settlements in the West Bank (“Israel’s Settlers Are Here to Stay,” July 26) laments “sixty-four years of a relentless struggle for freedom by Palestinians.” 

Let’s see. Sixty-four years ago takes us to 1948, the year of Israel’s birth. But there were no West Bank settlements in 1948. The West Bank was occupied by Jordan and remained so until 1967. So exactly what have the Palestinians been struggling against relentlessly for 64 years? 

Whether a welcome moment of candor or a revealing Freudian slip, a Palestinian official has acknowledged what is at the heart of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians: the very existence of the state of Israel. 

GREGG M. MASHBERG
New Rochelle, N.Y., July 27, 2012

This was mine:

The PLO's Maen Rashid Areikat, in rebutting Yesha Council head Dani Dayan's rejection of a Palestinian state, asserts the only choice is "settlements or peace" (Jul. 26). But, as we all know, the terrorist PLO was founded in 1964, following the terrorist Fedayeen in the 1950s, when there were no "settlements", that is, Jewish communities, in those territories later to be administered by Israel after 1967.  No "occupation" either.  And there certainly wasn't peace.  Areikat represents the traditional Arab anti-Zionist approach that we Jews have no choice whether to live peacefully or live in our national homeland, in any border configuration.

I hope my letter and perhaps others in the same vein, forced the NYTimes to publish one of us.

Great going Mashberg!

Oh, and as for Areikat, nothing will help.  He simply lies.

^

A Very Grave Temple Mount Story

Second installment of Nadav Shragai's coverage of the skeletons discovered and filmed by journalist Benny Liss at the foot of the eastern wall on Temple Mount.

Were they victims of a Second Temple-era massacre or simply corpses buried in a Byzantine gravesite?

In the area that stretches between the eastern wall of the Temple Mount and the channel of Nahal Kidron there is a Muslim cemetery right up against the wall of the Temple Mount. But it was the haredim, not the Muslims, whom the archaeologists feared. The Antiquities Authority officials who visited the slope at the foot of the wall on the Temple Mount that night were Drori (who has since passed away), Gideon Avni (the district archaeologist of Jerusalem) and Boaz Zissu (then the director of the unit in charge of preventing the theft of antiquities).

Benny Liss, the archaeological affairs reporter at Channel One, who had close ties with the Antiquities Authority, joined the group. They entered some of the caves that night, along with Liss and a small team. It appears that an agreement had been reached that the reporter would be allowed to tag along solely for documentation purposes, and not for release to the media.

Last weekend, three days before the fast of Tisha B'Av, Liss, now retired, dropped an archaeological bombshell. For the first time, at a conference given by Megalim, the City of David Institute for Jerusalem Studies, he showed the footage that he had filmed in those caves that night. Along with the shocking images of skeletons he filmed, came Liss' own theory, that the skeletons belonged to the 6,000 people who had been killed on the Temple Mount during the destruction of Jerusalem, as described by first-century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus. The audience was in shock.

[The footage showed] Liss go[ing] down the stairs into the cave, the photographer following him. The floor of the cave is covered with skeletons, bones and fragments of bones...The images are reminiscent of a large mass grave. Thousands upon thousands of bones, if not more. Liss recalls: “It was very disturbing."

...The cave, which is near the Golden Gate, was the ideal place [supposes Liss] for the Romans, who stayed on the Temple Mount for a month after destroying the temple, to bury the thousands of corpses. 

...historian Nathan Shor...cites evidence that Jews were among those buried on the slope that Liss and his associates visited that night. Shor quotes the account of an unnamed Jew, a student of Nahmanides, who wrote about the discovery of Jewish graves on the slope facing the Mount of Olives, at the foot of the city wall. He also quotes a similar account by an Italian monk, Niccolo da Poggibonsi, but relies mostly on the description of the region given by Rabbi Yitzhak ben Meir Latif, who was born in Italy in the second half of the 15th century....Dr. Dotan Goren of Bar-Ilan University, who documented the Jewish efforts to buy land in the holy sites in Jerusalem and its environs during the Ottoman era, gathered quite a few accounts of ancient Jewish burial sites there. Liss believes that the cemetery that was taken from the Jews was the continuation of the Jewish settlement that existed there...

...The cave was sealed by officials of the Antiquities Authority as quickly as it had been opened because the people in charge of the Ophel promenade project had promised that the caves would not be disturbed during the construction of the promenade and the improvement of the road nearby...In 1995, Ronny Reich and Eli Shukron excavated as part of the development of the Ophel road. Their dig uncovered findings that hint at dwellings, evidently Jewish ones, that existed in the area in Second Temple times. It also documented about 25 Byzantine burial caves along the length of the eastern slope.

...now Professor Boaz Zissu of the Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology at Bar-Ilan University...co-wrote, together with Professor Amos Kloner, a book titled "The Necropolis of Jerusalem in the Second Temple Period.” Zissu was able to shed some light on the mystery for me.

“I was there that night,” he said. “Even though I didn’t go inside the cave that Liss and his crew documented, I went into one that was nearby. With us in there were people from the Antiquities Authority, including the late director-general, Amir Drori, the district archaeologist, Gideon Avni, and others. After studying still photographs from Liss’ film and comparing them to other photographs from that night, Zissu said that Liss’ film showed that the cave was a Byzantine burial site.

“What shows this clearly is the double trough where the skeletons and bones are placed,” Zissu said. “Also, the entrance shafts to the caves that I remember from that area were covered by stone slabs, which is characteristic of Byzantine burials.”

Which cave are we talking about?...Liss insists that the cave that he documented was higher up, near the wall. Zissu is talking about a few meters above the road, much lower down. Liss insists that in the cave he filmed there were no Christian symbols. Also, it was not a hewn cave but rather a natural one, unlike the nearby caves that he documented, which were lower down...officials of the Antiquities Authority say that they know nothing of this issue and would be happy to receive information from Liss about it.

One of Avni’s successors at the Antiquities Authority says that he heard about a large burial cave in the region that has never been investigated.

One way or another, the chances that the cave that Liss documented, with its thousands of skeletons, will be opened anytime soon, are slim. The cave is below the Muslim cemetery, which spreads out over a large area below the eastern wall of the Temple Mount. Only recently, the Temple Mount Rescue Committee won its battle to prevent the cemetery’s expansion southward, into uninhabited areas.

The Muslims will firmly oppose anyone who dares to approach their territory to try to solve the mystery, so Schmidl and his colleagues in Atra Kadisha can relax.

The story also shows us how little we know about Jerusalem in ancient times. It also shows the major archaeological role that the Temple Mount itself, which has never been excavated due to Muslim opposition, could play in drawing up a more precise map of Jerusalem’s past.

^

Low-Intensity Conflict Report #36

Low-Intensity Conflict Report August 3, 2012

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

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.


August 2, 2012

IDF allows us to release the following:

Anti-tank fire from Gaza against IDF patrol on the Security Fence. We will not disclose the exact location for reasons of security.

Near Emanuel Junction a female resident of Kedumim reported that an Arab car forced her off of the road probably in order to steal her car.  When an Arab man got out of the car that forced her off of the road she succeeded in escaping into the Jewish community.

July 31, 2012

IDF allows us to release: IDF and Security Forces arrested 2 Arab terror cells in the Hebron region tht have been attempting to murder Jews.  The terrorists threw a block hitting the head of an adult Jewish man in the Tel Romeida spring injuring him.  The terrorists threw a block at an Israeli car while driving on the Gush Etzion-Hebron Highway from a moving car.

Resident of Kedumim injured in his face by Arabs near Yitzhar Junction.

July 30, 2012

A number of Mortars were fired from Gaza on IDF patrol near the Security Fence south-west of Kissufim.  The IDF returned fire.

Rock attacks by Arabs against Israeli vehicles:

Benjamin Region: Israeli bus attacked near T-Junction causing damage.

Near Arab village of Sinjil causing damage to the windows of a car.

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A Risk-Averter is a Disappointment?

A specific problem Daniel Gordis has with Benjamin Netanyahu is:

Yes, Mr. Netanyahu is in many respects "a disappointing, risk-averse leader." But U.S. policy is not helping matters. When Obama asked Netanyahu to agree to a second building freeze, he demanded nothing equally politically suicidal from Abbas. That sort of inequity prolongs the conflict.

Wait.  If what the Pals. propose can be "suicidal", what's the problem with Israel's Prime Minister being a "risk-averse leader"?  What is so disappointing?

Is there anything else the United States does - or does not do - that is not helpful?

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Was Romney Right?

He had said about the preparation for the Olympics, and was severely criticised, that it was

“hard to know just how well it will turn out”.

But this on Tuesday and again on Wednesday and now today on transportation delays seem to point to a problem, almost endemic.

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Peace Now Yields?

Reported in connection with the new zoning of Beit El:-

Yariv Oppenheimer, executive director of Peace Now, said that to the best of his knowledge, the land on which the Border Police base was located was state land, and did not belong to the nearby Palestinian village of Dura al-Qara.

No appeal?

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The Rubin Jerusalem Solution

As I have pointed out too often, I am surprised that so many Jews get surprised too often about American policy as regards Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.  As I have detailed here and there are books on the subject, from 1949 on the US has been angry at Israel's move.

Ben-Gurion made Israel's decision clear:

the General Assembly of the United Nations has, in the meantime, by a large majority, decided to place Jerusalem under an international regime as a separate entity. This decision is utterly incapable of implementation - if only because of the determination and unalterable opposition of the inhabitants of Jerusalem themselves...We respect and shall continue to respect the wishes of all those States which are concerned for freedom of worship and free access to the Holy Places, and which seek to safeguard existing rights in the Holy Places and religious edifices in Jerusalem...the peace, the security and the economic consolidation of Jerusalem our principal care...for the State of Israel there has always been and always will be one capital only - Jerusalem the Eternal. Thus it was 3,000 years ago - and thus it will be, we believe, until the end of time...there is nothing now to prevent the Knesset from returning to Jerusalem. We propose that you take a decision to this effect...

And as Chaim Weizmann clarified:

Jerusalem is to us the quintessence of the idea of Eretz-Yisrael. Its restoration symbolises the redemption of Israel. Rome was to the Italians the emblem of their military conquests and political organisation. Athens embodies for the Greeks the noblest their genius had wrought in art and thought. To us Jerusalem has both a spiritual and a temporal significance. It is the City of God, the seat of our ancient sanctuary. But it is also the capital of David and Solomon, the City of the Great King, the metropolis of our ancient commonwealth...It is the centre of our ancient national glory. It was our lodestar in all our wanderings. It embodies all that is noblest in our hopes for the future. Jerusalem is the eternal mother of the Jewish people, precious and beloved even in its desolation. When David made Jerusalem the capital of Judea, on that day there began the Jewish Commonwealth. When Titus destroyed it on the 9th of Ab, on that day there ended the Jewish Commonwealth. But even though our Commonwealth was destroyed, we never gave up Jerusalem.

An almost unbroken chain of Jewish settlement connects the Jerusalem of our day with the Holy City of antiquity. To countless generations of Jews in every land of their dispersion the ascent to Jerusalem was the highest that life could offer. In every generation new groups of Jews from one part or another of our far-flung Diaspora came to settle here. For over a hundred years we have formed the majority of its population. And now that, by the will of God, a Jewish Commonwealth has been re-established, is it to be conceived that Jerusalem - Jerusalem of all places - should be out of it?

I even pointed out that the Jerusalem today is smaller than the actual territory the UN allocated for the international regime that forms the basis for the US policy so the real problem is not "Jewish settlement" in the new, post-1967 neighborhoods but who administers the city as the sovereign power.

Barry Rubin, whom we all wish a full recovery, has another suggestion:

There is absolutely nothing to prevent the United States from accepting west Jerusalem, pre-1967 Jerusalem as capital of Israel while maintaining that the status of east Jerusalem is to be determined by future negotiations.  The U.S. embassy could be moved to west Jerusalem, with the existing U.S. consulate there continuing to serve east Jerusalem and the West Bank, which means also dealing with the Palestinian Authority.

Shall we try that?

^

^

And Who'll Apologize for the Anti-Semitic Innuendos?

Sheldon Adelson gets an apology:

“In press statements issued on June 29 and July 2, 2012, the DCCC made unsubstantiated allegations that attacked Sheldon Adelson, a supporter of the opposing party.  This was wrong.  The statements were untrue and unfair and we retract them.  The DCCC extends its sincere apology to Mr. Adelson and his family for any injury we have caused,” the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said in an unusual statement released on Thursday afternoon. The DCCC had seized on an Associated Press report indicating that...Adelson was aware of prostitution at the casino’s location in Macau...

...Thursday’s retraction is a public relations victory for Adelson, who along with the billionaire Koch brothers — also conservatives — have been strongly criticized by Democrats for their immense financial influence on electoral politics this cycle...

However, what about all the slandering based on anti-Semitic-like stereotypes of "Jews with the money" references?  Tom Friedman, writing "Vegas would have been so much more appropriate than Jerusalem."  That, you'll recall, followed last November's swipe:

I sure hope that Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, understands that the standing ovation he got in Congress this year was not for his politics. That ovation was bought and paid for by the Israel lobby...

And Adelson is a big part of that lobby, we can presume.

And J Street also plays the money-card:-

It has been widely speculated that a recent $100 million pledge to support Romney’s bid by right-wing billionaire Sheldon Adelson could prove a determining factor in Romney’s stance.

Left-wing liberal Jews are so... well, you fill it in..

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Dancing at Tel Shiloh

Pictures, within the constraints of modesty and privacy, from yesterday's Women's Dance Festival at Tel
Shiloh:-

Courtesy of Miriam-Feyga Bunimovich.

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At The Mercy of Journalism

If journalism at one time seemed to be an appendix to culture, today, by contrast, culture finds itself at the mercy of journalism. It is part of a world dominated by journalism. The mass media decide who will be known and to what degree and according to which interpretation.

Milan Kundera, The Tragedy of Central Europe,
New York Review of Books
Volume 31, Number 7 · April 26, 1984

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Is It Democratic That the PA Rule?

Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, who famously claimed at the Madrid Conference that 'Jesus was a Palestinian' among other incorrect historical facts, takes on Dani Dayan's NYTimes op-ed.

She beings asserting there is

the belief that everyone has the right to live in their own free country.

Of course, she does not mention and certainly does not apologize for decades of activities by Arabs to deny Jews to do just that, live in our own free country.

For her,

...the settlers in their fortress tower blocks and militarily-defensible hilltops would make it impossible in practice [to achieve a two-state solution]. At that point, Israel would become -- not by negotiations, nor by international agreement, but by force -- a single state governing a population in which a large Palestinian population could be held in subjugation only by denying them any democratic freedom...The consequence of this must be that Israel ceases to be a democracy, since the permanent settlement of Palestinian land can happen only by one people subjugating another by force.


And she goes on, and on, on this theme:

The settlers' alternative can be supported only by abandoning the belief in political freedom. It must be stressed that one cannot believe in freedom without accepting that it applies to all. Freedom that applies only to oneself fits with something else: oppression and occupation [as well as the] undemocratic, anti-freedom nature of the Israeli occupation of which -- it has to be said -- Americans know too little.

Is she correct, though, writing

...that Israel must permanently hold Palestinians under occupation, showing contempt for other people's freedom, history, and culture. Where Mr. Dayan is not honest is in failing to admit that brick by brick the settlements are burying our freedom. He never explains how the settler strategy can be reconciled with democracy because it cannot. Surely, the United States must see that this is not a strategy it can support while proclaiming its belief in freedom. Freedom must be for all, not just for the militarily strong.

There are many Arabs in Israel, citizens, who vote and get elected, serve as judges, diplomats and industrialists.  Is it not possible that democracy reign?

Even Tom Friedman adds his voice:

No wonder settlers now boast on op-ed pages that the game is over, they’ve won, the West Bank will remain with Israel forever — and they don’t care what absorbing all of its Palestinians will mean for Israel’s future as a Jewish democracy.

Oh, we care.  But, cannot we ask whether a body politic such as the Palestinian Authority be democratic?  And if not, maybe some sort of link with Israel is best for all?

If democracy is the benchmark, the Arabs residing in the territory administered by the PA deserve better.

They are oppressed and certainly Israel shouldn't which would evolve if there be an independent state of 'Palestine'.

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On the Economic "Burden' Or Not of Yesha

From a Yesha Council Factsheet on the Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria - (via Google translation with some help from me):

The question of the Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria has been the Israeli discourse theme for decades, and recently raised.  Again and again claims regarding the economic costs of settlement in Yesha are media highlighted by its opponents  .In our view, settlement in Eretz Israel seen only through economic eyes places 120 years of Zionism in a ridiculous light. It was not "economically correct" to establish the State of Israel or the settlements in the Negev and the Galilee. Furthermore, examination of these claims reveals facts that are not just demagogic, but simply unfounded. There really is no special investment.  In the last decade the State of Israel does not invest in Judea and Samaria excessive investments relative to other parts of the country and unfortunately there is a decline in investments in state infrastructure projects and residential communities in Judea and Samaria.

According to data published in Calcalist [a daily business paper] on 30/07/2012, by 2009 government budgets for Judea fell by more than 50% despite the rapid growth of population in Yesha which stands at 5% per year (more than 2-fold average increase in the State of Israel). Most of the increase is in our young - young couples and children, so every year a growing number of kids that come up gardens and grades. This requires the state to expand educational and welfare institutions according to criteria used by each state. Despite this many classrooms in Yesha are still in temporary buildings and mobile caravans.  A large part (sometimes over 50%) of the budget is passed to authorities in Judea and Samaria for education in general to be used for transportation in bulletproof vehicles. The State requires the authorities to use these shuttles for students following the Oslo Agreement and in light of terrorism exacerbated since 2000. We should have those funds?

...Is evacuation of the settlements the move that would save the Israeli economy? Planned cost of the evacuation of Gush Katif was about $ 6 billion, but so far the disengagement budget stands at over 13 billion NIS from the state. Calculating these relative costs for removal of "only" 150,000 residents who are not residents of the blocs in Yesha, will reach the minimum expenditure amount of $ 250 billion - an amount identical to the state budget (security, health, education, economics and more) for a year. Expulsion from their homes is the very opposite moral and just course, but also economic terms such a move would bring enormous national expenditure, and consequently weaken the density and pressure on the cities in the country's center [Gedera-Hadera] together with a sharp rise in house prices. This is certainly not right and not social.  How did we come to the Left's moves?...

...Even the leftist policies in recent decades was not cheap at all. Some were failed attempts for peace. How much did the Oslo Accords cost us and the subsequent terrorism? What about the costs of Operations Defensive Shield and Operation Cast Lead? What about defense budgets and protection from Beersheba in the south to Ashdod and Gedera? Some budget was invested in purchasing weapons, injured persons' compensation for the loss of work days and damaged industries? Calculating the economic significance of these errors is almost an impossible task. Settlement in Judea and Samaria is a fact and the residents there are full partners in the burden of life in Israel and therefore entitled to full rights as for all citizens in education, medicine, culture and more. A healthy political culture can sustain sharp dialogue but at the same time, superficial and cynical use of economic data in order to attack the Jewish communities across the Green Line is misleading the public and damaging public discourse.

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Guest Blog on Tom Friedman

Tom Friedman's amazing ability to write from 1992

Thanks to Mitt Romney, we can again see Tom Friedman's hypocrisy.

His latest screed starts off with this:

Since the whole trip was not about learning anything but about how to satisfy the political whims of the right-wing, super pro-Bibi Netanyahu, American Jewish casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, why didn’t they just do the whole thing in Las Vegas? I mean, it was all about money anyway — how much Romney would abase himself by saying whatever the Israeli right wanted to hear and how big a jackpot of donations Adelson would shower on the Romney campaign in return. Really, Vegas would have been so much more appropriate than Jerusalem. They could have constructed a plastic Wailing Wall and saved so much on gas.
Super right-wing! Evil Republican candidates seeking Jewish money! Jewish multibillionaires controlling US policy! Let's try to get every offensive stereotype out there and call it humor, shall we? (Not to mention that no one calls it the Wailing Wall nowadays except for Arabs and Tom Friedman.)

But it is Friedman's charge that Romney has no interest in learning anything new about the Middle East that is most ironic. Because this column shows that Friedman still thinks that we are in the early days of the peace process, somewhere between the Madrid conference and the Oslo accords. 

He writes:

While Romney had time for a $50,000-a-plate breakfast with American Jewish donors in Jerusalem, with Adelson at his elbow, he did not have two hours to go to Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority, to meet with its president, Mahmoud Abbas, or to share publicly any ideas on how he would advance the peace process...

Romney did meet with a Palestinian Arab leader: Salam Fayyad. You know, the person who Friedman has lavishly praised as the greatest hope for Palestinians. And a funny thing happened as a result: Fayyad was criticized by Palestinian Arabs, including from the Fatah organization, for meeting Romney! Does that sound like a peace partner to Friedman?...

...Friedman remains in a time warp, stuck in a twenty year old reality.
It isn't Romney who refuses to learn new facts - it is Thomas Friedman.

Read it all.

And Martin Sherman.

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The Whole 37 Acres

The Jordanian Minister of Religious Endowments has affirmed that Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem is “part of the Islamic faith” and accused Israeli soldiers and settlers of “defiling” the sacred mosque with their incursions. Abdus-Salam Al-Abadi was reacting to Israeli claims that the courtyard of the Noble Sanctuary of Al-Aqsa is “public space” and can be turned into “public parks”. Al-Abadi said that such moves would be “clear aggression against the sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque which, apart from provoking Muslim anger, are serious breaches of international conventions.”

And what is the "Al-Aqsa Mosque"?  The grey-domed structure in the south of the compound?

The whole Noble Sanctuary is “Al-Aqsa Mosque”, stressed Mr. Al-Abadi. “This includes all of the land, mosques, benches, domes open spaces and other facilities across the sanctuary’s 37 acres,” he insisted. “This is the correct Shari’ah definition of Al-Aqsa Mosque which is mentioned in the Holy Qur’an.”

That was today.  In February

 Dr. Abdul Salam Al-Abbadi, who is Jordan’s Minister of Religious Endowments and Islamic Affairs, condemned the actions of the Jewish extremists and Israeli police officers “who raided Al-Aqsa Mosque without regard for mosque etiquette and chased Muslim worshippers inside the building”. Minister Al-Abbadi denounced the “practices of the Israeli occupation authorities which desecrate holy places, and called for the removal of surveillance cameras located inside Al-Aqsa Mosque. These cameras, he asserted, “represent a blatant attack on Jordan’s custodian role in Jerusalem’s Islamic sites, the mosque and the worshippers, who are intimated by the cameras’ presence.”

No room at all?

P.S.

Jamal Amro [claims there is] the presence of traces of chemical materials found in the foundations of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, stressing the use of the Israeli occupation forces of a material solvent in the excavations conducted by the bottom of the Al-Aqsa Mosque to dissolve and break up its foundations leading to its collapse. 

What "bottom"?

In his speech, he told WAFA on Thursday that it is through his team, which handles the maintenance of the Al-Aqsa mosque and its architecture, there are professionals dedicate themselves to the development of chemical at night to remove their impact during the day, asserting that the attack on Al-Aqsa Mosque is the strongest since 3 years, and that since the proclamation of Jerusalem as the capital of Arab culture in 2009, the occupation authorities began its offensive dramatic for the Judaization of the city and clear all the original features, and that we are seeing these days is heaviest for the implementation of occupation plans. '

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Who Are the 'Liars' and 'Traitors' in the Middle East?

Who spoke these words?

“The Jews were the neighbors of the Prophet in Medina … and he negotiated with them. But in the end they proved that they were men of deceit. The most splendid thing that the Prophet Muhammad did was to drive them out of the whole of the Arabian Peninsula. … They are a nation of liars and traitors, contrivers of plots, a people born for deeds of treachery. … I promise you … the defeat of Israeli arrogance and rampaging so that they shall return and be as the Quran said of them ‘condemned to humiliation and misery’. … We shall send them back to their former status.”

Answer -

Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in a sermon he delivered in Cairo’s Al-Hussein mosque on April 25, 1972 on the occasion of the birthday anniversary of the Prophet Muhammad.

Read more at the Shmuel Katz website. where you can read this from 1981:

“The eradication of the State of Israel means the restoration of Islam to its potency, to its rightful dimensions: in Israel’s end lies the confirmation.”

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British Occupied Palestine 1919

A few aspects of life in British Occupied Palestine, 1919, two years after the Balfour Declaration, one year after the end of the was, three years before the League of Nations decision to award Gt. Britain the Mandate over the country and reconstitute a Jewish national home therein from the letters of Rudolf Sonneborn.

Not quite 21, Rudolf traveled to Palestine in January 1919 and stayed until August, acting as the 'Secretary to the Zionist Commission'.

It was difficult at the beginning, trying to set up policy in Palestine under British military occupation.

August 6, 1919:-

On the way [Felix] Frankfurter, professor of Law at Harvard, told us at length of the meeting between L.D.B. [LD Brandeis] and Mr. B.[alfour] which took place the day before.From it all it appears that the latter is very much dissatisfied with things in Palestine, particularly with the narrow military regime guided by disinterested and often prejudiced men.As the various facts were laid before him he finally burst forth with “But what can I do with those damned military men.”They will accept no authority other than the War office.One of them has even demanded that the B. Declaration be withdrawn as unfeasible – to which B. answered that not only would it not be withdrawn but strictly adhered to.And when he was told that the letter addressed to him was circulated throughout Palestine but when his answer was never mentioned or made public he became highly indignant. Among other things he has given assurances that men favorably inclined to Zionism will shortly be sent to replace the present authorities.

And there was Arab resentment:

March 20, 1919:-

The most grave problem, however, is the feeling which seems to be growing among the Arabs against Jews.Constant reports are coming in of petty robberies in the colonies by the natives.It is claimed that the natives are well armed and prepared on short notice to organize and start trouble.Tho at present we place little credence in rumors we are turning over all facts to the British authorities and asking their assurance that there will be no disturbance.

There were demonstrations by the end of 1919 and two almost violent one in February and March 1920 and the first organized riots in April when Jews were killed.

Was Weizmann the right man in the right place at the right time?

April 17, 1919:-

Weitzmann is not a big man, he is a clever and calculating politician, he knows how to play the game of diplomacy—but he is not an organizer, and [sic!] executive, or a constructive worker.

Was the State Department official sympathetic?

June 2, 1919:-

I visited an American Charge d’Affairs.He proved to be a nice young man named Gottlieb from N.Y.C. and a Jew.We had a bitter Zionist discussion for over an hour which I hope resulted in another Zionist, but actually netted me an invitation to a meal.He opposed the idea mainly because he had never given it any thought, but secondly because he felt that the movement was a distinctly religious one, and Jewish religion is out of date for practical use.

And it didn't help that he was Jewish.  Same story today.

Who, by the way, was Marianne Taylor of Tennessee? And what was she doing in Jaffa in May 1919?

And how did he confront a religious sacred site?

April 15, 1919

While here in Jerusalem I do little real work, I spend my time sight-seeing – there is enough to keep one busy for months.Wandering thru the old city it takes no stretch of imagination to realize that on almost every spot some history has been made, that its history dates back over three thousand years.Wandering up and down the narrow ways, bazaars on either side, under ancient stone arches, past clumsy grotesquely wrought long-dried founts, sliding down slippery steps, constantly rubbing shoulders with the filthy Bedouins and ragged beggars, and smelling the smells of the ages, one feels that the world has suddenly turned back many centuries.On one of these solitary wanderings yesterday I came suddenly on an overcrowded narrow, paved alley between a low white washed wall and a gigantic ancient wall formed of huge blocks of uncemented stone.

Weeds and grass grew from the crevices between the rocks.The alley was filled with old Jews both men and women, standing several rows deep facing the wall.Many had books.It was the wailing wall of the Jews, the only remaining portion of the old temple.The murmuring of the prayers rose and fell as they read the words aloud and bowed and wept, now and again reverently kissing the rocks.The men stand together in the middle, the women at either end.Behind them, where I was standing a number of beggars plied their trade.I wonder whether all the lamentations and weepings of that motley crowd was sincere.Occasionally one of the tasseled old men would stop his prayers long enough to make a careful survey of the audience which might be watching him, and then return to his laments.

History is quite interesting and even riveting.

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How Arabs Arrange the Spilling of Jewish Blood

If this is an example of Arab/Islamic culture, (and I thought this from last night was bad enough) or what I would term fanciful imagination, something is terrible wrong:

Al-Aqsa to be Converted into a Park by Israelis

The Jerusalem municipality has issued a decision to convert Al-Aqsa mosque’s yards into public parks and gardens that would be open to the general public, according to Sheikh Kamal Al-Khatib, deputy head of the Islamic Movement in occupied lands.

On Tuesday, the Palestine News Network reported on a press release issued by Al-Khatib stating that this was part of an effort by the Israeli authorities to erase the history of Palestinians in Jerusalem and end Muslim control of their own holy sites.

Al-Khatib commented, “The Israeli occupation allowed — for the first time in Ramadan — the admission of settlers into the yards of al-Aqsa mosque, without taking into consideration the feelings of Muslims. At the same time, they allowed for the Jerusalem municipality’s decision to convert the mosque’s yards into public parks and gardens, where everyone is allowed to enter.”

He's been revealing fanciful items before, like here:

Deputy head of the Islamic Movement in the 1948 occupied lands Sheikh Kamal Al-Khatib revealed that the Israeli occupation government issued a tender for the building of a massive synagogue beneath the Aqsa Mosque and its entrance would be at the Buraq wall. Sheikh Khatib stated in a press statement that the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) organized a tour for construction contractors to see the area where this synagogue would be built, noting that the IOA earmarked 20 million dollars for its project.

However, at least some two weeks ago one country got tough with him:

Jordanian border authorities prevented the Vice-President of the Islamic movement in 48 occupied territories Sheikh Kamal Al Khatib, and the widow of the martyr Dr. Abdel Aziz Rantisi, the late Hamas leader in Gaza, from entering its territories, according to Albousala news agency...

His words are criminal incendiary incitement.

All made up.  He simply lies .

But he knows this will drive too many Arabs to take actualy violent actions against any Jew so as to stop these 'crimes' that do not exist.  Arabs like these, sitting in the Temple Mount compound just waiting to be called into action:

But spilled Jewish blood is the only real thing, too real.

^

Shiloh in Pictures

Pictures of Shiloh children.

And the appearance of entertainer Udi Davidi in Shiloh's park.

Our own Miriam-Feyga Bunimovich.


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