For the Record: They're Not 'Occupied'

Reported

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie apologized to Sheldon Adelson in a meeting Saturday for stepping on a fault line in Middle East politics during a speech he gave earlier in the day...Invoking a 2012 trip he and his family took to Israel, Christie recalled in the speech: “I took a helicopter ride from the occupied territories across and just felt personally how extraordinary that was to understand, the military risk that Israel faces every day.”

...his use of the term “occupied territories” set off murmurs in the crowd...the term is rejected by some conservative Zionists like Adelson who see it as validating Palestinian challenges over Israel’s presence. Other supporters of Israel oppose the use of the term as well.

Not long after his speech, Christie met with Adelson privately in the casino mogul’s office in the Venetian hotel and casino, which hosted the RJC meeting.  The source told POLITICO that Christie “clarified in the strongest terms possible that his remarks today were not meant to be a statement of policy.”...Christie made clear “that he misspoke when he referred to the ‘occupied territories.’...Adelson accepted Christie’s explanation, the source said.  ...Morton Klein, president of the hawkish Zionist Organization of America, had confronted Christie about his use of the term, telling POLITICO he explained to the New Jersey governor that “at minimum you should call it disputed territories.”

Christie was non-committal, said Klein, who concluded afterwards that the governor “either doesn’t understand the issue at all, or he’s hostile to Israel.”

And J Street snaps to attention:

in a craven attempt to win the blessing of right-wing gambling billionaire Sheldon Adelson, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is ready to throw aside 47 years of bipartisan US foreign policy: To suck up to Adelson and hopefully get his hands on some of his dollars, Christie is apologizing for using the term "occupied territories."

Tell Governor Chris Christie you stand with Israel and every US President since 1967: "Sheldon Adelson is wrong. Israel must end the occupation."
These hawkish heavyweights need to hear the truth: denying the occupation is an obstacle to peace, and fundamentally un-Presidential.
Sheldon Adelson will never listen to reason. But Chris Christie needs to hear that real support for Israel means ending the occupation and reaching a two-state solution. 
That's what we work for every day, and now--when talks are at a truly critical moment--it's that much more important for responsible voices to be heard.

^

Low-Intensity Conflict Report #90 March 20-31, 2014

Report March 20-31, 2014


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.

We, the volunteers of Hatzalah Yehudah and Shomron go out to rescue anyone who needs our emergency medical assistance; including civilians, military and Arabs also those within the PA territories. (with IDF presence) To us a life is precious and we go out at risk leaving home and family or stopping on the road to rescue anyone in need.

This is a partial report of the on-going terror attacks against Israel and IDF and innocent civilians. While the world continues to pressure Israel and boycott products from Yesha the attacks continue daily by those who wish to murder Jews in our Land.  It is imperative to break the silence of these attacks which are both encouraged and condoned by the Palestinian Authority, the UNWRA who teach to hate and murder using the excuse of Israel occupying these areas and willfully ignoring the establishment of the PLO in 1964 before the Six Day War in 1967.

While the Palestinian Authority and their representatives continue to attack Israel for not being willing to make concessions in order to continue the "Peace Talks", the reality is that Israel is the only side that has released murdering terrorists, frozen building, and made far reaching one sided concessions in order to at least try to resolve this. To no good since this is a one sided negotiation and the other side have concluded that they will never accept our existence here in our eternal homeland.

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

Rock Attacks:

Shomron Region

Policeman injured lightly in face from rock attack at Kadum

Hawara south of Shechem

Between Nofei Nechemia and Ariel

Betit Junction at Hawara south of Shechem

Between Tapuah and Rachelim

Near Kedumim

Near Bracha IDF soldier injured in hand possible fracture taken to Bellinson Hospital



Benjamin Region

Near Nili on Highway 446 causing damage no injuries

Near Givat Asaf

Hizma

Near Ophra Border policeman injured slightly in head, another injured deep cut on upper face taken to Hadassah Hospital Jerusalem, IDF soldier injured lightly in hand

Bus at Haramia Valley

North of Ophra

Near Bet El

North of Ophra on bus damage to window



Jerusalem Region


Silwad injury to IDF soldier taken to Mt. Scopus Hospital



Gush Etzion Region


Near Tekoa- damage to window

Northern entrance of Efrat

Kever Rachel Border policeman injured in leg

Between Tekoa and Herodian

Kever Rachel IDF soldier injured in head by block

Carmei Zur

Border Police attacked at Abu Dis north-east of Bethlehem

From Arab school Arab Tekoa damage caused no injuries

Near Betar 2 towards IDF force



Hevron Region


Anarchists and Arabs threw rocks at IDF post near Cave of the Patriarchs

Near Policeman's post IDF soldier wounded lightly in head taken care of on spot

Bet Romano

Bet Hadassah

Rocks and bottles thrown on Israeli children near the Cave of the Patriarachs

Halhul north of Hevron



Southern Hevron Hills Region


Near Neguhot



Fire Bombs:

Shomron:

At School bus 1

446 Highway near Abud bypass

At IDf patrol on Gilad Road

Hawara 2 Km. north of Tapua Junction towards Israeli vehicle



Benjamin:

At bus Abud bypass

Jerusalem Region:

Issowiya 3 firebombs at security of Mt. Scopus University

Gush Etzion:

Jerusalem –Hevron Highway near southern entrance to tunnels

Border Policemen attacked by Abu Dis north-east of Bethlehem



Hevron:

5 firebombs at Halhul towards IDF post on bridge

IDF post in the Jewish Quarter of Hevron

Bet Umar

2 at bus on Gush Etzion-Hevron Highway at Halhul

Hahul at bus

At IDF force Chursa south- west of Hevron

Bet Anun Junction north of Kiryat Arba

At front window of the bus by Chavat Yehuda north of Hevron (the location of the murders of Asher and Yonatan Palmer HY"D)

Israeli Egyptian Border: twice reported fire on IDF troops

March 21

South of Israel near Ein Hashlosha IDF discovered tunnel intended to be used for terror attack – Hamas declared that it was an old tunnel.  IDF spokesman: On Tuesday, March 18 a tunnel that penetrated into Israel was uncovered from southern Gaza.  The IDF will continue to work to prevent terror attacks from Gaza that will harm the sovereignty of Israel and is a direct violation of the agreements following "the Iron Helmet Operation."

March 23

Shai District Police spokesman: "During riots in the Village El Aiida near Kever Rachel an improvised explosive device and fire bombs were thrown at Border police forces.  The force responded with crowd dispersing actions. 2 of the Police

force were inured lightly and moderately by the attackers and were transferred to medical care.

March 24:

Joint operation of Security Forces, and IDF during the month of January 2014 part of a terror cell of military operatives from Shechem were arrested.  They carried out shooting attacks on Israeli vehicles at Git Junction near Kedumim, on 15.1 .  during the shooting attack they hit an Israel vehicle causing no injuries. Directly following that attack members of the cell threw an explosive device at another passing car.  The suspects were involved in previous attempts to carry out shooting attacks which did not succeed.  During the arrest a rifle was confiscated that was used in the attack. A number of the members of the cell were arrested by the PA security Forces and are still being held by them.

Amongst those who are being held by Israel:

Abed Al'gber Amad Naif Shachshir – born 1991

Johad Achmed Aadel Shachsir – born 1993

In addition Israeli arrested more of the cell who were involved in previous terror attacks:

Am'jad Fatach Allah Achmed Pula – born 1990

Malak Abed Alnazer Suliman Zuvach – born 1992

Nadel Ma'jed Ju"ad Zurba – born 1993

The arrests of the  members of this military terror cell prevented the continued development and strengthening of this cell which had carried out a number of attempted terror attacks in the Shomron against Israeli citizens.


25.2 at around 00:30 a shooting attack and stun grenade attack were carried out at an IDF post near Bir Zeit near Ramallah.  In joint operation between IDf and Police a number of residents of Bir Zeit were arrested members of the "Hazit Ammamit –Nation Front for the Liberty of Palestine" who are suspected of carrying out the attack.

March 25

IDF force during routine military operation exposed 2 explosive devices near that were put near the Security Fence of the Southern Gaza Strip.  The explosives were detonated by the Bomb Squad.  The terror from Gaza continues to try and take advantage of the area around the Security Fence to plan and execute attacks against the citizens of Israel and the IDF.

March 26

During military operation of Israeli Navy the force noticed 2 suspicious small boats making there way from the Gaza Strip towards Egypt.  When they headed back towards the Strip the force opened fire as per rules of preventing smuggling. Following the fire a strange explosion was heard. During the fire the terrorists opened fire towards Israeli Naval force who returned fire towards the source of fire – no injuries –damage to boats –

During the night IDF Forces in Yosh (Judea and Samaria) arrested 13 wanted terrorists:

Yabud - 3

Ascca Kalkilia area- 1

Burka Ramallah area -2

El Aiida Bethhlehem area – 1

Hevron -3

Sebastia- 1

Bitan Ramallah area-2

They are in custody of the Security Forces for questioning

March 26 2:30 a.m.

Shooting incident towards IDF post at Calandia – no injuries After search deposit of 13 shells found most probably M16 rifle shells

During night IDF force in Yesha arrested 2 wanted terrorists in Rantiss north–west of Ramallah.  During the arrest the IDF force exposed improvised weapon that was confiscated by the force.  The prisoners were taken in for question by the Security Forces.

March 30

IDF forces arrested 6 wanted terrorists:

Geva south west of Jenin- 2

Belil -1

Purdis south of Belil -1

Hevron – 1

Hirbat Tavis south-west of Hevron – 1

The prisoners were taken in for question by Security Forces

Hevron: Joint effort by Shomron Detective Squad, Border Police and Security Forces of the Cave of the Patriarchs 2 Arabs were arrested in J'abri neighborhood and in their home a M-16 rifle and ammunition along with scopes were confiscated.

Within the framework of joint effort of Security Forces and Jerusalem Police in the year 2011 senior activists of the Hamas Jerusalem were arrested.  During the interrogation it was disclosed that they served as a secret command center of the Hamas in Jerusalem that worked to raise funds for terror abroad and to strengthen the Hamas base within the Arab population in East Jerusalem. This secret command center was responsible for the funding of Hamas activities within Jerusalem and under this auspices of their command worked a number of committees that turned out social, religious and educational activities to strengthen the connection with the Hamas and establish its hold on the residents of the area.

In order to strengthen and pay for Hamas activities in Jerusalem the senior activists worked to raise funds abroad.  This is money for acts of terror coming to 2.5 Million NIS that was raised dishonestly by showing fictitious contracts and money transfers despite the law forbidding this.

The Hams considers itself to be a Nation acts to strengthen its hold in Jerusalem therefore the considerable effort to base itself amongst the population in Jerusalem as it did in the Gaza Strip. This organization plans to go against the Israeli rule of Jerusalem and encourages terror acts.

The main accused Yacub Abu Azav, Kafach Sarchan, and Achmad Alian were indicted on September 13 in the Jerusalem District Court for activities in a terror organization (a crime as stated in clause 2 in the prevention of acts of terror 1948), Kafach Sarchan was indicted also for possession of materials for purposes of terror (in accordance of clause 8t for the law to forbid the raising of funds for purposes of acts of terror 2005) and the clause forbidding to white wash funds (as per clause 3 for the law forbidding to white wash funds 2000)

The large amount of evidence that was presented by State witnesses to the court pointed to a clear picture of the activities organization and the level of power that the accused worked with and under them dozens of activists within meetings, camps and religious lessons.

Heavy sentences were given to the heads of this case.  During February 14 the court sentenced the accused as being involved in forbidden acts against the law with the aim of having a Hamas take over in Jerusalem through the various activities mentioned and it was pointed out the close connection between the public activities and the military activities of the accused as was concluded by the testimonies of the guilty in their interrogations.

In the sentencing the court wrote that these were activities committed that harmed the security of the State and citizens of Israel and not simply a small terror group but one that plans to destroy the State of Israel.

Due to the serious charges the sentences that were given to the guilty were serious prison sentences:

Abu Azav and Sarchan the heads of the organization were given 7 years in prison, and Achmad Alian was given 4.5 years in prison.  In addition the court confiscated $30,000 during the investigation.


Given by the Security Forces Media

^

My Location for the Temple Mount Synagogue

Several Rabbis have written to Prime Minister Netanyahu to permit the construction of a synagogue on the Temple Mount.

A copy:

“The Temple Mount is a unique place for prayer,” the letter said. “As Prime Minister, we ask you to do what is necessary to establish a place of prayer for Jews on the Temple Mount, in a respectable and peaceful manner, that will honor the holy place we all long for.”

I've got the spot.  I can be approached without going necessarily through any of the existing gates and can be actually relatively out-of-view.

To explain, here is a view from the east:

The arrow is pointing to the colonnaded walkway just north (to the left) of the Mugrahbi Gate entrance.  It is actually, in part, after the exposed Western Wall disappears behind the Makhkama Building, the eastern section of that building which houses the special Border Guard units.

In other words, entry can be facilitated by opening up a doorway there.

The colonnaded area   

could be closed off using heavy clear plastic that can be affixed with a one-way view, outward.  That way, outraged Muslims cannot even see the Jews inside.

Another possible entry point would be through the underground Barclay Gate and up the stairs, 

the exterior

the interior

an area the Waqf seems to have already renovated.

In is not that large an area but could accommodate probably 100 worshippers, depending how far south or north the area closed off.

The walkway is rarely used, if at all, since it leads nowhere but ends where a library is located.

A view from above:

From a Halachic point of view, the Western side is relatively the most holy as the inner courtyard of the original Temple precinct was closest to the west but since the area to be set aside is quite narrow, about 4 meters at the most, that would pose no problems.

The one problem is that if the synagogue does receive government permission (don't worry, it won't), that would enable the government to limit religious Jews only to that area and the encircling of the Mount as done today would be terminated.

^

Marking Deir Yassin Day

Next week, “Deir Yassin Day” will be marked.

As with many of the Arab claims, this incident, too, has been returned to its historical truth and correct proportions.  Unlike the wild propaganda over the years, the so-called “massacre” on Friday, April 9, 1948 did not occur nor was as related by Arabs and their supporters and the context of the events is much different than suggested.

I have dealt with many of the issues over the years.  I have noted the newspaper reports of initiated sniping from the village at the beginning of April which put the lie to the “quiet, tranquil village” portrayal.  That an escape route to Ein Karem was left open for the Arabs, who were expected to flee.   And that the history of the village was one of murderous Arab hostility to Jews.  Following Bernard Wasserstein, that was traced back to 1920.

One point always bothered me, or, rather, was unclear.  The sources all point to Yehoshua Goldschmidt (Gal) as the local Irgun commander who pushed for Deir Yassin to be attacked rather than other targets, and there were several.  As Yehuda Lapidot writes

In mid-March, Gal (Yehoshua Goldschmidt) returned to Jerusalem and was appointed Operations Officer of the Irgun. Gal had served as Commanding Officer of the Fighting Force in Jerusalem till 1946 when, on the wanted list of the British, he was forced to leave for Tel Aviv. He was a daring fighter and had taken part in numerous actions against the British. With his arrival, Irgun activity in Jerusalem took on a new direction.
At that time, negotiations had begun between and Raanan (Mordechai Raanan-Kaufman), Irgun Commander in the city, and Lehi Commander in Jerusalem, Meir (Yehoshua Zetler), leading to close co-operation between the Irgun and Lehi. This was no mean achievement in light of the resentments and rivalry, which had developed between the two organizations since the 1940 split.  It was decided to occupy the village of Deir Yassin with a joint force of the Irgun and Lehi.

Several sources mention that Gal had a score to settle with Deir Yassin.  For example, as Jerusalem Irgun’s 1948 campaign first historian, Yehoshua Ophir, wrote in his Hebrew  “Al Hachomot” (On the Walls) in 1951, at page 49 and. btw, he is the father of arch-anti-Zionist Adi Ophir who holds outlandish views):-

“Gal’s father, Reb Joseph Tzvi Goldshmidt, a Jewish ritual slaughterer (shochet) in Givat Shaul, was famous in his youth as a brave warrior against the Arab rioters from adjacent Deir Yassin…Goldshmidt learned from his father to be a soldier and also got his inspiration to fight the Arab village from him. This village had frequently endangered the lives of the inhabitants of the neighborhood in which he grew up. When he returned to Jerusalem in 1948, the old shochet reminded his son to ‘remember what Deir Yassin did to us.”

I always assumed it related to the attack by the villagers on his home neighborhood, Givat Shaul, which bordered the Arab village in 1929, or other attacks including during 1936-39.

I was wrong.

The great-grandson of Tzvi Yosef Goldschmidt, Avraham Binyamin, grand-nephew of Gal, grandson of Shmuel David, has now published (in Olam Katan, Number 422, Tazria 5774-March 27, 2014) the story that occurred 100 years ago, on the night of the 19^th of Adar 5674 – 16/17(?) of March 1914.  Due to a poor winter with little rain, the Arabs of Deir Yassin, as well as other neighboring villages, supplemented their meager income by stealing, from the Jews.  But that evening, almost the entire village fell upon Givat Shaul with more than theft and brigandage.  They came to kill.

His great-grandfather’s memoirs record that the Arabs came armed with pistols and swords and knives, screaming ‘itbah al-Yehud (slaughter the Jews).  In other words, if there was a massacre at Deir Yassin, this was the intended butchering of civilians and the Jews were to be the victim. The Arabs proceeded from house to house, injuring Jews they encountered that hadn’t fled and stealing.  When they came to the Goldschmidt home, they tried breaking down the door while stealing all the chickens from the pen in the yard.  Goldschmidt prevented them from breaking in even thought they shot through the door.  Nevertheless, his strength held and the Arabs left for other prey.  Yosef Tzvi  gathered up his wife and four young children and escaped to the Old People’s Home (then near the entrance of the city and now under the new Central Bus Station).  He then continued to the Turkish Army/Police station just south of Machaneh Yehuda (the ‘Lions’), 83 Jaffa Road.  A patrol was sent out and they all returned to Givat Shaul.  Firing off shots in the air, the Arabs of Deir Yassin fled but one was caught in a quarry and identified by Yosef Tzvi as one of his attackers.

This Arab, Abdul Azziz, had even worked in the Goldschmidt house.  The police commandant ascertained that indeed Azziz had recently fired a gun and found in his clothes a note from his brother-in-law, Akab Abed, who ordered him to organize the pogrom.  A few slaps elicited the fact that Akab was still hiding near the village.  A further search did not produce the wanted man but did uncover weapons including funs and much stolen goods.  All the males were then rounded up, brought to the station and “persuaded” to reveal his whereabouts under the threat that the village would be destroyed.  Akab was turned in.

The trial sentenced Akab to death and other to five years imprisonment.  It was held in front of the Damascus gate and a German officer served as judge.  Jamal Pasha the ‘Small’ (not to be confused with Jamal Pasha the ‘Great’), the Turkish Governor of Jerusalem decided to execute Akab right outside the Goldschmidt family home (located at the end of Kanfei Nehsarim Street on the left, just before the corner of Roberto Bacchi).

Goldschmidt managed to persuade him not to as that would surely lead to acts of reprisal and revenge.  The governor then tied a long rope to the door of the house and tied Akab to the other end and led him across a large field where he was shot by a squad of Turkish soldiers.

During the First World War, the family separated and the mother, Frieda, died in Tiberias of cholera during forced expulsions ordered by the Turks.  Another five children were born to Yosef Tzvi with his second wife, Esther, also a war widow.  Two of these children were Yehoshua-Gal and Sarah (Yael) who was, at age 18, also in the Irgun and was one of the two girls who made the phone calls during the King David Hotel operation when the offices of the Mandate Secretariat and the British Army HQ, located in the building’s southern wing, were demolished. The kidnapped Major Collins, taken from Mamilla Street to prevent the hanging of Dov Gruner, was held in an empty cistern near the house.

Yehoshua was killed at the Police School by Jordanian fire in mid-May 1948.  Yosef-Tzvi died in 1959.

-_______________

To grasp the immorality and historical perversion of this act, first review my Deir Yassin posts:

Visuals.

2008.

2010.

2011.

2012.

2013.

Read this article.

Read this book by Uri Milstein. 

P.S.   A newspaper report now re-discovered from Herut on April 15, 1957:

^

Olmert Needs New Travel Agency

I presume Ehud Olmert will not be traveling to New York for the Jerusalem Post Annual Conference:

He was found guilty.

As for his new business enterprise, I guess that will have to wait the appeal process.

^

Tel Aviv Spatial Conflict

It's the pedestrians vs. the bicyclists on the sidewalk.

^

Listen in to Me on Wednesday

At 2PM Israel time, I'll be on this Internet Radio Station.

In English.

One hour.

Four songs.

Six decades of life.

^

Beware of a Possible Future Pallywood

If you see this picture with the caption 

"Israeli colonialist apartheid regime prevents 

humanitarian efforts for infant Palestinian girl",

it's fake.

He's attempting to crossover into Egypt at the Rafah checkpoint.

^

A Century Ago - Also No Rain

From the Jerusalem HaMoriah newspaper of March 27, 1914:

No rain:

^

Jabotinsky's Evidence

Eliyahu Green from Eli presented me with an original 1937 copy of Jabotinsky's Evidence before the Palestine Royal Commission that would declare partition as a resolution of the conflict in the Mandate territory due to Arab opposition to Zionism, one that was exceedingly violent:

My copy includes an appendix with two items: a telegram from Jabotinsky of Aprill 6, 1936 warning of an outbreak of violence in Eretz-Yisrael and that "scarcity imperial troops inefficient police" is dangerous.  The Colonial Office's W.B. Williams took affront and saw no reason to accept of Jabotinsky-led delegation.

On April 15th a bus was attacked and Jews killed and on April 19th, full-scale riots broke out when Arabs attacked the Jews of Jaffa.

P.S. 

There was an additional pamphlet:

Jabotinsky on Stavsky, of the Arlosoroff trial.
^

The US Warns

United States Consulate General Jerusalem

March 28, 2014

Security message for U.S. citizens:  “Land Day” Demonstrations

The U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem advises U.S. citizens that "Land Day" will be commemorated on Sunday, March 29, in Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Israel. Demonstrations and heightened tensions may continue on Monday, March 30, and through the next week.  U.S. citizens are advised to exercise an extra measure of caution.

The U.S. Consulate General takes this opportunity to remind U.S. citizens that even demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and escalate into violence. U.S. citizens should avoid areas of demonstrations and exercise caution if in the vicinity of any large gatherings, protests, or demonstrations.

Review your personal security plans; remain aware of your surroundings, including local events; and monitor local news stations for updates. Maintain a high level of vigilance and take appropriate steps to enhance your personal security and follow instructions of local authorities.

          We strongly recommend that U.S. citizens traveling to or residing in Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza enroll in the Department of State's Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP). STEP enrollment gives you the latest security updates, and makes it easier for the U.S. embassy or nearest U.S. consulate to contact you in an emergency. If you don't have Internet access, enroll directly with the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate.

^

EU Opposes Compromise and Coexistence

Haaretz's Amira Hass is reporting:

EU diplomats warn of regional conflagration over Temple Mount

You should know that anti-YESHA jounralists feed material and conceptualizations to their fellow foreign media journalists, are invited to present to the EU, then gey extra chummy with these younger EU people who then feed it all up the cycle, then our own publish and thus assure that the story - and its desired conclusion - keeps moving along.

The news:

A March 18 internal report to Brussels raises caution around the changing status quo at the holy site and the growing tension triggered by the demands of right-wing Jewish groups.

It states:

“There remains a significant risk that incidents at this highly sensitive site, or perceived threats to the status quo, may spark extreme reactions locally as well as across the Arab and Muslim world, and have the potential to derail the peace negotiations,” according to the report, which was obtained by Haaretz.

"Obtained"?

It was handed over to them to generate media noise.

...The EU delegates also sound the alarm about the idea of dividing the Temple Mount and allocating separate prayer times for each religion, as was done at Hebron’s Cave of the Patriarchs, known by Muslims as the Ibrahimi Mosque.

"Alarm"?  Why warn?  What's wrong with coexistence?  Sharing?

And why should that be a problem for the EU that they should oppose it?  Why get involved?  Does the EU not want mutual respect, religious freedom, justice?

One positive note:

The report contains an implicit criticism of the tendency by Muslim religious authorities and Palestinian politicians to deny the historic affiliation Jews have to the Temple Mount.

"Tendency"?  The Waqf is an institution of implacable fanaticism, extreme intolerance as well as anti-Semitism and disinventivity:

PA religious leaders: Jews must not pray at Western Wall

The Palestinian Authority Minister of Religious Affairs Mahmoud Al-Habbash and the former Chief Justice of the PA's Religious Court both recently declared that the PA's Islamic belief and political position is that Jews are prohibited from praying at the Western Wall of the Temple Mount. Palestinian Media Watch has documented that the PA denies Israel's history and rights in Jerusalem, but these statements by top religious leaders go even further.  The PA claims that the area of the Muslim holy site, the Al-Aqsa Mosque, includes not only the mosque itself, but extends over the entire Temple Mount and includes Judaism's holy site - the Western Wall.

But there's this, too:

The report makes the same recommendations it has made in previous years...It also urges close supervision over the Temple Mount...

Who/what is the EU to make recommendations? 

Mr. Netanyahu?  Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu?  Can we hear from you? Or even from the Foreign Minister.  Even the Minister for Religious Services.  A Chief Rabbi, or two.

Hello?

^

Burston's Hellish Special Hell

Bradley Burston has a blog at Haaretz:

          A SPECIAL PLACE IN HELL

Well, he surely does have a special place in hell.

Back on January 6, 2011, he published:

When the Messiah comes, Israel will deport him

His point is that when the Messiah comes, the Right will crucify him. Im Tirzu will roll out ads and billboards showing him with a tail to go along with his horns.

Excerpts:

...When the Messiah comes, he will be questioned by a junior officer of the Shin Bet, and by an official of the Interior Ministry, who got his job through his cousin, who is an inspector of ritual dietary observance at a cookie bakery and who got his job through his sister's father-in-law, third assistant to the deputy chair of the Shas party branch in Ramla.

...His donkey, which is white and is named Snowpea, will be impounded in a leaky underground police lot near the Lod railroad station. There will be no paperwork. By nightfall it will have disappeared, spirited into a closed truck by the lot's watchman, who after his shift will drive the donkey to a moshav. Money will change hands, and the donkey as well, four times, until it is sold by settlers to Palestinians some of whose ancestral land now lies inside the settlement fence.

...When the Messiah comes, rabbis will treat him like Jesus.  They will brand him disloyal, diseased, Reform...chief rabbis of cities and towns will warn of an existential threat to the essential Jewish character of the state...The rabbis' wives will vilify him as a carnal threat to Jewish girls.

...When the Messiah comes, the Right will crucify him. Im Tirzu will roll out ads and billboards showing him with a tail to go along with his horns. A blogger from Commentary will call him a whiny, petulant boob. In Maariv and the Jerusalem Post, seven columnists will all have at him in the same three day period. NGO Monitor will ask for donations to expose his sources of funding.

...When the Messiah comes, he will be granted refugee status by the United Nations as a legitimate seeker of asylum, but will be held at a detention camp in Israel's Area 51...By the time the messiah leaves the Jewish state, he'll be thrilled to go.

Is Bradley in hell?

Or just hellish?

^ 

Holy - Bible; Holy - Quran

Source

^

The Culture of Post-Zionism

This presentation:

*Bonfire at Arnona or Crucifixion at Golgotha?*

Bruce Saposnik, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel

is among others that will be delievered at

Zionism as a Cultural MovementAn International Conference, Brown University, Sunday, April 6-7

More:

*Travel, Tourism and Cultural Zionism in Theodore Herzl's Altneuland*
Dimitry Shumsky, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
*"Flowing with Milk and Honey": Science, Cows, and the Burdens of Producing a Sacred Land*
Tamar Novick, University of Pennsylvania
*Zionist Literature: The Impossibility of the Rhetoric of Partition*,
Hannan Hever, Yale University
*Politics of Powerlessness: Zionism and Sexual Violence in Early Hebrew Literature*
Ilana Szobel, Brandeis University
*Rethinking Tel-Aviv as a Zionist Space*
Barbara Mann, Jewish Theological Seminary
*Between the Star of David and the Olive: Towards a Shared Symbolic Space in Israel?*
Hizky Shoham, Bar-Ilan University

Knowledge is such an imaginative work of culture.

^ 

Sex, Slander, Jews and Christians

Did you know that

In his first sermon against the Jews, delivered in Antioch in the autumn of 386 ce, John Chrysostom told a story of an abduction in which a "defiling and unfeeling man" forced a Christian woman, "elegant and free, well-behaved and faithful," to enter a synagogue. The woman resisted her attacker. She pleaded with Chrysostom to help her. Heroically, the newly ordained priest came to her rescue: "I was fired with jealousy," Chrysostom said, "and burning with anger, I rose up, I refused to let her be dragged into that transgression, I snatched her from the hands of her abductor! I asked him if he was a Christian, and he said he was. . . . I told him he was no better than an ass if he, who said that he worshiped Christ, would drag someone off to the dens of the Jews who had crucified him." This licentious abductor claimed to be a Christian, but, in Chrysostom's eyes, he was tainted with the stain of Jewishness. The abductor believed that an oath sworn in the synagogue was more powerful than one sworn in the church. It was precisely this sort of dangerous religious hybrid—this impure "half Christian"—that Chrysostom railed against in his sermons Adversus Iudaeos. The sexualized depiction of the heretical Christian-Jew as a male predator who preyed upon pure Christian women was not lost on Chrysostom's audience.

That's recorded in a new publication from Bryn Mawr Classical Review :-

Susanna Drake, Slandering the Jew: Sexuality and Difference in Early Christian Texts. Divinations: Rereading Late Ancient Religion

It is a book that

...explores the sexual slander of Jews in Christian texts...[and] reveal[s] how Church fathers used accusations of fleshliness, bestiality, and licentiousness as strategies to differentiate the "spiritual" Christian from the "carnal" Jew.

It examines

...the sexualized representation of Jews...[t]he construction of the Jew as a subject of perverse and excessive sexual desire...the carnal, literal-minded Jewish reader served as a convenient foil for the spiritual Christian exegete. Moreover, as Christian leaders embraced practices of asceticism and sexual renunciation, the carnal, hypersexualized Jew served as a warning against indulging the appetites of the flesh...And as the interests of Christian leaders began to dovetail with the interests of the empire, the figure of the carnal Jew served to dehumanize Jews and justify violent acts against them.

From a review by Chris L. de Wet, University of South Africa:-

The first chapter addresses the carnalization of Israel and Jewish identity in the works of Paul, Barnabas, and Justin. The most important and convincing point in this chapter is that 'the incipient trope whereby Jews were represented as sexually deviant developed, at first, without reference to Paul' (p. 28). Drake, then, argues that sexualized alterization of Jewish identity began with Justin and Barnabas, and then briefly traces its development in Diognetus, Melito, and Ignatius...

...Drake meticulously shows how Origen mediated his carnal invective by the differentiation of scriptural hermeneutics - by imposing a Pauline flesh/spirit dichotomy, Origen equates the literalness of Jewish interpretation with their carnality, whilst Christian allegorical readings are symptomatic of purity and spiritual maturity. Origen effectively rewrites Paul...Drake then...show[s] how Christian literature not only sexualized the narrative of Susanna, but also how it functioned in attributing gendered categories of socio-religious identity...Christians as in the feminine sense 'in terms of chastity, vulnerability, and victimization' (p.66), while Jewish (masculine) power is 'violent and invasive' (p. 73)...Drake argues that Chrysostom's sexualized anti-Jewish invective 'functioned as a discursive strategy to "fix" the identity of the Other' (p. 96)....'Early Christian leaders' recourse to sexual and gendered invective in their production of Jewish-Christian difference marked an insidious "process of subjectification" - one that helped to create the conditions for programs of dehumanization and violence' (p. 103)...

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Rolling Stones Coming to Israel

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Water Theft

Did this happen in the "occupied Palestinian territories"?

Authorities on Wednesday discovered a violation on a water main that supplies one of the capital’s largest reservoirs, according to a government official.A 75-millimetre pipe was installed on a 600-millimetre main that conveys water from the pumping station to the reservoir, the official said.“The technical teams faced difficulties in detecting and removing the illegal pipe because it was covered with reinforced concrete. They dug for several hours before they were able to reach the pipe,” he told.The water was being diverted to a nearby farm and used for the irrigation of crops, the official said.“The case has been referred for investigation and legal action will be taken against the violator,” added the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.Meanwhile, authorities have started a campaign to unveil all water violations on water networks and resources.“A report of all the detected violations will be submitted to the water minister by next week and the infringements will be addressed,” the official added.The government announced recently that it was committed to putting an end to all water violations, describing water theft as a form of corruption. 

Nope.

Amman, Jordan.

Authorities on Wednesday discovered a violation on a water main in Jiza that supplies one of the capital’s largest reservoirs, according to a government official. A 75-millimetre pipe was installed on a 600-millimetre main that conveys water from the Qastal pumping station in south Amman to the Abu Alanda reservoir in east Amman, the official said.
“The technical teams faced difficulties in detecting and removing the illegal pipe because it was covered with reinforced concrete. They dug for several hours before they were able to reach the pipe,” he told The Jordan Times.
The water was being diverted to a nearby farm and used for the irrigation of crops, the official said.  “The case has been referred for investigation and legal action will be taken against the violator,” added the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, authorities have started a campaign to unveil all water violations on water networks and resources in Jiza.
“A report of all the detected violations will be submitted to the water minister by next week and the infringements will be addressed,” the official added.
The government announced recently that it was committed to putting an end to all water violations, describing water theft as a form of corruption. 

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From the Mondoweiss Cesspool

The anti-Semitism that goes on at Mondioweiss:

Citizen commented on D.C. scribes party with red wine, vinyl, and image of a terrorist.

in response to hophmi:

“This is the truth: white nationalists like David Duke are much less extreme in their ethnic nationalist (and racialist/racist) views than mainstream pro-Israel activists ” This is the truth: comparing David Duke and Menachem Begin is a game for stupid people. Different people, different places, different contexts, different ideologies. Begin believed in self-determination for the [...]

@ hophmi
Why don’t you show some link evidence to support your claim that Duke believes in persecuting the Jewish people, as distinguished from being a self-proclaimed advocate for White Christian Americans?

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Is Arafat, Too, A Terrorist?

At Mondoweiss, we read:

D.C. scribes party with red wine, vinyl, and image of a terrorist

 Last week Rosie Gray of Buzzfeed tweeted the photograph above of four American journalists partying with red wine and vinyl: (from left) Jamie Kirchick, Eli Lake, Rosie Gray, and Liz Wahl, the RT anchor who resigned on-air. In the discussion on twitter, lots of folks pointed out that Lake wears a t-shirt with the image of rightwing Israeli PM and terrorist Menachem Begin. Noah Pollak of the Emergency Committee for Israel said he bought it for Lake in Israel. (Neoconservatives look out for one another.)

I left this comment:

Since I don't have the time to do thorough research, can anyone inform me if Arafat is identified as a terrorist at this site?

And then I noticed (there were 65 comments and I wasn't going to go through them all) this:

 Philip Weiss says:
 March 25, 2014 at 12:01 pm

In 2084, when msm scribes party down with Arafat’s image, we will certainly post, as we did the Harvard students’ visit to Arafat’s tomb.

So, can I guess he won't be so described?

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Instruments of Media Control

Read this carefully:

...QUESTION: Everybody knows the endgame, but I wonder now whether you can understand the fear of Israelis. Do you understand that many Israelis feel that no deal is better than a bad deal --

SECRETARY KERRY: I have no argument with anybody in Israel who wants to say to me, “No deal is better than a bad deal.” I say that too. No deal – and I’m not in the business of trying to put together a bad deal. So everything we’re doing is working very, very closely with both sides to meet the security needs and the long-term needs of both sides. One thing I know – gosh, I mean, I know it 100,000 percent – is that you can’t turn to the people of Israel with the prospect that what you’re offering is going to turn the West Bank into Gaza. You can’t do that. Of course I understand that. Israel’s security is ironclad as a priority in this issue, and I’ve said that since day one.

QUESTION: But the things that happened ever since, and I’m asking concretely about the collapse of the Oslo Accords, about the fiasco at Camp David, about the eruption of the second intifada, and I’m asking that because many Israelis feel that every time we gave up, we got a violent response.

That's from the February 11th TV interview with Ilana Dayan.

Follow Dror Eydar's lead --- he published this:

"Everybody knows the end game," Dayan said to Kerry. This is a typical left-wing statement that means: Everybody knows that in the end, Jerusalem will be divided and the Palestinians will receive all of Judea and Samaria (except for the settlement blocs), and so on.

Well, no, not everybody knows that. Many serious people think differently. So far, the solutions proposed by the left-wing camp have pushed us to the edge of the abyss. Like the rest of her fellow journalists, Dayan resists being described as belonging to any "political camp." After all, she is from the U.N. and has no political agenda that receives prominence on her program. But that is the root of the lie that has been stuffed down the Israeli public's throat -- supposedly, there is a press that reports the news and is objective and free of political ambitions, and there is a press that is right-wing. That is not true at all.

Context and framing are the weapons, okay, instruments, of media control.

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Kurdled Kerry (and Kerplunked)

Remember this?

Kerry pushes Israel to consider Arab League peace plan
July 17, 2013

After meeting with Arab League officials and Abbas in Amman, US Secretary of State urges Israel to "look hard" at Arab peace initiative; Israeli officials say plan is fine as basis of discussion, not a dictate.

Well, now we have this:

Arab League declares 'total rejection' of Jewish state recognition March 26, 2014

The Arab League announced on Wednesday its full backing of a Palestinian refusal to meet Israel's demand to be recognized as a Jewish state, a condition Jerusalem says it requires for peace.  "We express our total rejection of the call to consider Israel as a Jewish state," read a statement from the final day of the Arab summit in Kuwait.

And, in case you missed it:

Abbas defiant in speech of '3 noes' January 14, 2014

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas says the Palestinians will not recognize Israel as a Jewish state, will not agree to any deal that does not make east Jerusalem the future Palestinian capital and will not give up the right of return.

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UPDATE

Just saw this:

Third-Party Conflict Management and the Willingness to Make Concessions

Abstract

Third-party conflict management, particularly legal dispute resolution (arbitration and adjudication) and mediation, can help improve the willingness of disputants to make asymmetric concessions by ameliorating commitment problems and providing political cover. In both regards, and especially pertaining to commitment problems, mediation has substantial limitations when compared to legal dispute resolution. We develop these arguments and test the observable implications on the Issue Correlates of War data. To get traction on the mechanisms at work, we distinguish between challenger concessions and defender concessions, positing that challenger concessions face the primary hurdle of political cover while defender concessions face the primary hurdle of commitment problems. We find that legal dispute resolution strongly increases the propensity for concessions by both challengers and targets, even major asymmetric concessions. Mediation, on the other hand, only helps increase minor challenger concessions. Also consistent with expectations, mediation best enables asymmetric challenger concessions in the highly salient cases that need the most political cover, and legal dispute resolution best enables asymmetric concessions when there has been a history of failed conflict management attempts that perpetuate mistrust.

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