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An announcement of the Haifa Jewish Community Committee declaring 3 days of events against the Nazi inferno: including a day of fast and prayer, a day of cessation from work and a public protest assembly, 1942

An announcement of the Haifa Jewish Community Committee declaring 3 days of events against the Nazi inferno: including a day of fast and prayer, a day of cessation from work and a public protest assembly, 1942

Fasting Guide for those Participating in the 72-Hour Fast

From:Yeranen Yaakov 17March2016 http://yeranenyaakov.blogspot.co.il/2016/03/fasting-guide-for-those-participating.html
As mentioned in a number of Hebrew-language articles, on Rafi’s blog, on CDG’s blog, and elsewhere, there is a rabbinically-supported initiative to fast for 3 days straight on the 11th, 12th, and 13th of Adar Sheni this year.
As mentioned in the guide below, this is intended only for healthy people who are able to do so.

Fasting Guide The Three Days  May our prayers and fasting bring about an end to our suffering and the beginning of our personal and national redemption. Amen.

This is just like in Eretz Israel in 1942: The first concrete news describing the final solution came to the attention of the heads of the Jewish community through Chaim Barlas, a representative of the Jewish Agency in Geneva, August 1942. When The Gedolim גדולים found out they prayed and fasted; then Institutions of the Yishuv declare three days of mourning from 30November1942 – 2December1942.

Annulling Harsh Decrees
Kabalistic literature reveals another reason behind the fast of Esther. Even though Haman’s plans were overturned, a small part of the decree remained. Every year, at the time that his plans were to be carried out, the Satan comes to Hashem, claiming that the Jewish people should be destroyed.
…The Rambam writes that when the Jewish people are experiencing such tragic situations, the Torah obligates us to cry out to Hashem and sound trumpets to arouse us to repentance (Bamidbar 10:9). If we realize that our own actions are at the root of our difficulties, we will learn to mend our ways and cause the harsh decree to be rescinded. If we don’t follow this path, and instead relate to what is happening as mere coincidence, the tzaros will simply increase (Rambam, Hilchos Taanis 1:1-3, Mishna Berura 576:1).
In the merit of our fasting and prayers this Taanis Esther may all past decrees on the Jewish people be overturned, all future decrees annulled, and may all of Haman’s evil intentions be put to an end once and for all.

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Powerful Prayer Day

http://shiratdevorah.blogspot.co.il/2016/03/powerful-prayer-day.html
Many classic sources tell us that Purim represents a special opportunity for one’s prayers to be answered.
The Sefer Kav HaYosher says the following: Taanis Esther is a day that is very auspicious for one’s prayers to be answered in the merit of Mordechai and Esther. Whoever needs mercy for any particular needs should put aside time for themselves and do the following: First, recite Chapter 22 in Tehilim. Then, pour out your heart to Hashem and ask for all your needs and mention the merit of Mordechai and Esther [whose merits saved us from Haman]. The Gates of Mercy will be opened and your prayers will be accepted beratzon.
More segulot for Purim at Zchus Avos
The Ritv”a in his commentary to Megillah 7a quotes the Talmud Yerushalmi which explains regarding the fulfillment of the obligation to give matanos la’evyonim [gifts to the poor] on Purim, that kol ha’posheit yado leetol yitnu lo – we give to anyone who extends his hand to receive”. This is to say that on this festive day we give money to everyone who asks, without first checking to see if they truly are poor and worthy of receiving tzedakah funds. The Chasam Sofer writes that just as we are not particular if the people to whom we give charity on Purim are truly deserving, and whoever extends his hand gets helped, so, too, does G-d listen to all our prayers on this special day, and kol ha’posheit yado leetol yitnu lo – He gives to anyone who extends his hand to receive. Also see: Purim’s Golden Opportunity
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Coronavirus briefs: Purim impact, increasing travel restrictions

by Reb Akiva at Mystical Paths 05March2020 https://www.mpaths.com/2020/03/coronavirus-briefs-purim-impact.html

Purim-Coronavirus-Mishloach Manot: Corona Extra Beer, Alco-Gel Hand Sanitizer, DEXAMOL Fever Reducer/Pain Killer, Tea and Medical Protective Face Mask

Purim-Coronavirus-Mishloach Manot: Corona Extra Beer, Alco-Gel Hand Sanitizer, DEXAMOL Fever Reducer/Pain Killer, Tea and Medical Protective Face Mask

Mishloach Manot – shalach manos, the mitzvah of sending gifts to your friends, is a major requirement of Purim. As is hearing the Megillah, having a seudah (large Purim meal) and generally partying, being happy and being very social.

Based on the rulings of Gedolei HaPoskim

During an epidemic, one should fulfil the mitzvah of Mishloach Manot with just one or two people and instead give more “matanot l’evyonim” – gift charity to the poor.

Better to use pre-packaged sealed foods and not home-made items to decrease the possibility of infection. And frankly, if Coronavirus is in the area, are you going to open those shalach manos anyway? So are the people you send them too?

– If authorities declare no gatherings or limited small gatherings, people should not get together in synagogue (for general prayer or to hear the Megillah on Purim). People should instead, staying within the rules given by government and health authorities, make small groups, or just a minyan if that size is allowed, or just 15-20 people well spaced out or masked – to read/hear the Megillah. Hearing through a window or doorway or some distance away is still fulfilling the mitzvah, spread out for safety (more of a problem with children).

– If someone is unable to hear the Megillah, (some authorities say) he/she should recite Hallel (instead) without a blessing.

– If one can only hear the Megillah once, better day than night.

– The Purim Seudah should be kept to small groups such as immediate family (minimise the possibility of group infection).

– Heavy drinking and excessive partying while people are suffering from an epidemic is inappropriate. Stay subdued. (Nobody needs pictures of drunken Jews partying appearing on Facebook opposite people in intensive care struggling to breathe.)

On the topic of travel, and/or visiting Israel or traveling from Israel to the US for the holidays:

— Many European and Asian airlines have suspended travel to Israel as of today until … (the middle of the month, the end of the month, unknown).

— United Airlines and Jet Blue in the U.S. have significantly reduced their flight schedule, as less people are flying and as staff is affected by quarantines.

— Israel has increased travel restrictions, stopping entry or requiring everyone coming to immediately enter 14 day quarantine upon entering from France, Switzerland, Australia, Spain, Germany, Italy, Austria, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, China, Japan, Hong Kong, Macau, South Korea.

— Anyone even changing planes in Italy, China, or South Korea gets the 14 day quarantine upon arriving in Israel.

(Israeli Ministry of Health Corona site in English for travellers.)

ADVICE – High probability things get worse before they get better, more flights will be cancelled, more restrictions added, more events cancelled. Some airlines and hotels may go out of business – make sure you’ve paid with a credit card that gives an easy refund in such a situation (U.S. credit cards are pretty good about this).

I advise to cancel and re-plan while you can (while you can get a refund) – or at least have a backup plan in case your primary plans end up in the toilet. Don’t freak out, think through an alternative “just in case”. As things get worse for a while, you may be able to travel but not return (for some weeks/months) – keep that in mind and plan appropriately. (If mother is coming to visit, that may not be so bad [as long as she can get her medications where you are]. If you and the 5 children went to visit mother, that may be…challenging.)

IN ISRAEL –

— Large gatherings forbidden (sporting events, stadium events, concerts)
— Conferences cancelled
— Marathon cancelled
— Purim parades cancelled
— Passover markets cancelled (some)
— Some non-Jewish tourist and holy sites closed (all Bethlehem sites)
— Some Jewish tourist and holy sites closed (all Kever Yosef tours suspended as of today)
— Hi-tech employers preparing employees for remote work (if employees or employer offices are quarantined), mass buying laptops and video conf. services

For an example of worse or “farther along”, take a look at Italy, all schools closed nationwide and no public events that don’t allow “1 meter separation”.

RUMORS

– Events over 100 people may be prohibited.
– Wedding halls may be closed.
– Large synagogues may be closed.
– There may be a Passover matzah shortage as people who normally travel for Pesach aren’t able to do so (raising local matzah demand by 10% over capacity).
– In a “worst case” scenario, the whole country (Israel) may pause / quarantine for 2 weeks, everyone staying home (except for health care, public safety or defense) – which should halt spreading and identify all infected (at a severe economic cost).

Symptoms of the Novel Coronavirus CoVid-19: fever, Cough, Shortness of Breath

Symptoms of the Novel Coronavirus CoVid-19: fever, Cough, Shortness of Breath

May Hashem grant a quick solution and end to this plague, keep all klal Yisroel and everyone safe and healthy.

Pray, think, prepare. Torah is Toras Chayim, you are required to take steps to live and not risk your life unnecessarily.
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PURIM REVIEW from Torah Tidbits

Torah Tidbits #1363 Tetzaveh Pg. 61 07March2020

TAANIT ESTHER is the same day whether you celebrate Purim on the 14th or the15th of Adar. Times in the Schedule (p.48).

Zeicher L’Machatzit HaShekelcan be at Mincha of Taanit Esther or before Megila reading. Common amount is 3 half-shekel coins. Some give the value of the original sliver half-shekel, which at today’s price of silver and the current exchange rate is around 20NIS. Remember -we don’t give Machatzit HaShekel without a Beit HaMikdash, we give ZEICHER – commemorative of it.

AL HANISIM Said in the Amida in the B’RACHA of MODIM and in Birkat HaMazon in the B’RACHA of NODEH L’CHA. If you forget AL HANISIM in the Amida, do NOT repeat it. If you catch your omission before HaShem’s name in HATOV SHIMCHA… go back and say it. If you already said HaShem’s name, finishthe Amida and before you say YIHYU L’RATZON…and take your steps back, say Al HaNisim with a modified opening sentence:

Similar for Birkat HaMazon. Before HaShem’s name in AL HAARETZ V’AL HAMAZON, go back and say it. After HaShem’s name, continue until right before HARACHAMAN HU Y’ZAKEINU and say it with themodified opener, as above.

From here to there Jerusalemites who go outside for 14 Adar and outsiders who cometo Jerusalem for our Purim should ask a Rav whatis and is not required of you on the other day.

Torah Reading is from the end ofB’shalach – VAYAVO AMALEK… If you missed ZACHOR, you should ask the Baal Korei to have the Mitzva of ZACHOR in mind, and you should have KAVANA likewise.

MEGILA READING Required TWICE, at night and in the day (morning is most common). KAVANA should include the Mitzva of Megila andthe publicizing of HaShem’s miracles. The b’racha of SHEHECHEYANU in the morning covers the other mitzvot of the day. (Have them in mind.)

MATANOT LA’EVYONIM are gifts to the poor – usually money (be generous, more than you spend on Mishlo’ach Manot). Best to give on Purim day. Giving it earlier to someone who will distribute it on Purim day is also okay.

MISHLO’ACH MANOT are gifts of foods (min. two kinds) to friends (or just otherJews) – who are observing Purim the same day you are. One MM is sufficient, but most people give multiple times.

SEUDAT PURIM is a festive meal in the afternoon of your Purim day. Those who havePurim on the 14th, should plan to continue their Seuda a little into the night of the 15th. Those who celebrate on the 15th, need not extend their Seuda.

The proper custom on Purim is to drink more wine than you usually do. A bit more is sufficient. It isdefinitely NOT PROPER to get drunk on Purim (nomatter how many fine upstanding Jews of your acquaintance do). In most cases, excessive drinking turns out not to be in line with SIMCHAT PURIM. Be careful. And watch out for your family members.

On the lighter side – wine, the only drink thatreally belongs on Purim, is mentioned in the megila6 times, but beer is mentioned 10 times – as inSHUSHAN HABIRA. (Purim joke). Enjoy!

 

OU Torah Tidbits-Midei Chodesh B'Chasho By Rabbi Shmuel Gordin

OU Torah Tidbits-Midei Chodesh B’Chasho By Rabbi Shmuel Gordin

"OU Torah Tidbits logo newRabbi Shmuel Goldin Torah Tidbits #1361 Mishpatim Pgs.70-73 22February2020

The Most Frightening Moment?

What is, to your mind, the most frightening moment of the Purim story?

I will admit that this question might seem somewhat strange. Purim, after all, is not an occasion designed to inspire fear. Celebration, merriment, frivolity, are much more the order of the day.

And yet, I would argue that there many candidates for the most frightening moment of the Purim story. Rooted at the historical juncture when our first national exile (the Babylonian Exile) becomes an exile of choice, Purim emerges as a paradigmatic tale of narrowly missed national tragedy. Through its events, Hashem delivers a message to the vast majority of Babylonian Jews who choose not to return to Israel, but to remain behind under Persian rule: If it’s galut you want, its galut you will get. I will show you what diaspora existence truly means, in all of its “glory.”

Not by accident, therefore, the Purim story is populated by phenomena that will appear over and over again in the long exile journey of our people: overwhelming instability (v’nahfoch hu); God’s hiddenness (hester panim); irrational hatred of the Jew (Haman); a complicit world (Achashveirosh); martyrdom (Esther); and more. Not by accident, as well, Jewish communities and families across time will view Purim as a paradigm for their experience. Dozens of these groups, upon narrowly escaping tragedy, will establish their own unique celebrations and refer to each as “Purim of [the community/family].” The classical Purim story is seen by these individuals as a serious tale, foreshadowing their own story and other stories like theirs across the face of history.

Which brings us back to our original question. Given the serious, prescient character of the Purim narrative, what is, to your mind, the most frightening moment in the tale?

Is it when Esther is taken to the king’s palace on a journey from which she is never to return? Is it when Haman rises to power, or when he irrationally threatens the entire Jewish population of Persia with destruction? Perhaps it is the dramatic moment captured by the Megilla as it contrasts Achashveirosh’s and Haman’s callousness with the consternation caused by their edict: “And the King and Haman sat down to drink and the city of Shushan was astonished.” Are you captivated by Esther’s plaintive plea as she initiates her voluntary audience with the King: “And if I will be lost, I will be lost”? Or are you moved most by the extent of Achashveirosh’s pitiless cruelty as he mandates civil war in the streets of his kingdom; refusing to withdraw the edict against the Jews, instead permitting their right to self-defense? A pox on both your houses, the king affirms. Let blood run through the streets of my cities. As long as I am not involved.

Truth be told, the Purim story is filled with frightening moments…

My choice, however, for the most frightening moment of the Purim story is actually none of the above. It is a choice that will probably surprise you.

Travel back with me the following scene. Mordechai, dressed in sackcloth, has arrived at the gates of the palace. Forbidden to enter in clothes of mourning (a clear indication of the king’s determination to keep his subjects’ pain at an arm’s length), Mordechai sends a message to Esther informing her of the edict against the Jewish population. He asks her to gain an audience with the King in order to plead on behalf of people. Esther demurs. She explains to Mordechai that the king (in yet another attempt to totally control his own insular existence) summarily executes anyone who appears before him without being summoned; only sparing those to whom he extends his scepter. She points out that she, personally, has not been summoned to the king for 30 days. Esther apparently hesitates to take a chance…

How would we expect Mordechai to react to Esther’s concerns? We would suppose, I think, that Mordechai would appeal to Esther’s sense of duty and responsibility. How can you send me such an answer? Will you not risk your life to save your nation? Are you willing to stand idly by as your brothers and sisters are murdered in a government sanctioned pogrom?

Startlingly, however, Mordechai’s initial response to Esther is totally different. He immediately retorts: “Do not think in your soul that those in the king’s palace will be spared the fate of all the Jews. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from another place, while you and your father’s house will perish.” Effectively, Mordechai argues: Esther, don’t think that you are safe. Don’t assume that your place in the palace will spare you from the fate of your people. If you fail to act, your people still survive, but you will not. Only after conveying that warning, does Mordechai appeal to Esther’s higher sensibilities. “And who knows whether it was specifically for a time like this that you attained a royal position.”

How are we to understand Mordechai’s initial response to Esther? Does he really imagine that Esther is only concerned for her own safety? Does he not know the true character of the extraordinary woman who grew up in his own home (and who, according to midrashic tradition, actually became his wife)?

Mordechai’s concerns can be understood once we clearly define the source of his fear. Esther has, after all, spend considerable time by now in the palace of Achashveirosh. She has been exposed to a monarchy that is completely defined by its desperate desire for distance from an outside world. What happens outside my palace gates, Achashveirosh insists, stays outside my palace gates. As long as I am safe, as long as I can continue to live in the palace world of my own creation, I do not care what happens to my subjects.

Mordechai understands the powerful effect that living in such an environment can have, even upon someone as strong as Esther. Is it possible, he wonders in fear, that my dear Esther has actually been changed? Has Esther, without her own awareness, become uncaring? Has she begun to become like “them?”

Desperate to convince Esther to appear before the king, therefore, Mordechai argues the only way that he can. Esther, do not think that you are safe. Only after making that argument does he then appeal to the Esther whom he has known for years; to the Esther who can and will rise up to save her people, even at great cost to herself.

And, indeed, Esther does take heroic action. For the sake of her nation, she takes a step that not only endangers her life, but according to rabbinic tradition, seals her spiritual fate. “And if I am lost, I am lost,” she says to Mordechai. By initiating, for the first time, a voluntary audience with the King, I will have crossed a line of no return. I will be lost to my people forever.

Here, then, what is, to my mind, the most frightening moment of the Purim story; the moment when Mordechai fears that Esther may have changed. His fear underscores the second great danger of living in an alien, evil world. For while you can easily become a “victim” in such a world; you can just as easily become a “perpetrator”. You continually run the risk of letting that world change you, of allowing those around you to make you like “them.”

As we enter the Purim/Pesach season, a time of focus on the history of our people, we should once again recognize what may well be our greatest accomplishment as a people. Not simply that we have survived; but how we have survived. Surrounded by hate, we have refused to become haters; surrounded by lies we have invariably spoken the truth; surrounded by immorality, we have remained moral. Guided by our Torah and tradition, we have fulfilled our responsibility of being a “light unto the nations.” Against all odds, we have remained, in our hearts and souls, largely unchanged by the world around us.

And now, as we build our homeland anew, we once again refuse to become like “them.” Our textbooks do not preach the wanton murder of our enemies; we struggle with democratic process while surrounded by tyranny and oppression; we strive for peace with our neighbors in the face of aggression; we vigilantly protect our own interests, yet struggle to respect the rights of others, as well. And when we misstep, as we invariably will, we honestly recalibrate and do our best to regain our footing.

In the turbulent months ahead, as our nation faces momentous decisions, we pray that HaShem guide us in our struggle against all threats presented by our enemies. May we secure a safe, strong future for ourselves, our children and our grandchildren. And may we always remain the people that we are; fundamentally unchanged by those around us; true to our God, our heritage and ourselves.

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A Purim Warning to American Jews

Horrific Poway Chabad House Shooting

April 29, 2019 Chabad of Poway, California,
“I’m defending our nation against the Jewish people, who are trying to destroy all white people,” John T. Earnest, who killed One Dead, Three Injured.

Just a reminder of what the America was like in 1939 before World War ll.

Field of Vision – A Night at the Garden from Field of Vision on Vimeo.

In 1939, 20,000 Americans rallied in New York’s Madison Square Garden to celebrate the rise of Nazism — an event largely forgotten from U.S. history. A NIGHT AT THE GARDEN, made entirely from archival footage filmed that night, transports audiences to this chilling gathering and shines a light on the power of demagoguery and anti-Semitism in the United States.

Directed by Marshall Curry

See more from Field of Vision here: fieldofvision.org

For more on the rally, read a Q&A with Marshall Curry here:
fieldofvision.org/q-a-with-a-night-at-the-garden-director-marshall-curry

Comment: Philip K. Dick’s “Man in the High Castle” was correct.

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Chaya Malka Burn Foundation

Prevention and Recovery

Purim Burn Prevention Post

P U R I M   CAPS   for  Cap  Guns  ARE  E X P L O S I V E!

February 20, 2013 by Chaya Malka

Purim Burn Prevention Post

P U R I M CAPS for Cap Guns ARE E X P L O S I V E!

P U R I M CAPS for Cap Guns ARE E X P L O S I V E!

Its not just big bangers and fire-crackers that  are dangerous. Regular caps can endanger life. Let’s learn from one families serious injury, “Our son was terribly burnt and injured on Purim from caps that exploded in his pants’ pockets with a massive BOOM. It was a miracle that the pants didn’t carry on burning. The manufactures of these caps know they’re EXPLOSIVES! The tiny “how to use” warning on the package, is barely legible and needs magnification to read. The caps rub together creating friction. Touching them heats them further. So the manufacturers write not to put them in a pocket – do they really think kids will keep them somewhere else!? They say “Don’t touch the caps, keep them in their packaging”- so how do they get into the cap-gun? They say “only to be used with adult supervision”  – as if an adult could prevent the injury! In fact I was sitting next to my son at the time of the EXPLOSION!”

 My son’s entire right arm and both legs had to be bandaged for months. Looked very unpleasant… What about under the bandaging? Hand burns can leave scars that seriously limit hand and finger movement and require lengthy physiotherapy treatment. My son’s leg wounds were very serious especially on points where the inflammable material exploded directly into them, causing terribly painful deep cuts and loss of skin.(see photos in sidebar).

Treating burns requires daily washing to prevent infection and regular bandage changing. The treatment required spreading special creams on the burn- which is extremely painful.  The effected skin had to be peeled off to allow new tissue to grow. The pain following the explosion was indescribable and the suffering continued for weeks. Recovery from burns is a long, slow, painful process.

Today’s caps are made all over the world from cheap materials to save the manufacturers’ money. They are cheap and deadly! Baruch Hashem our son recovered but every year the hospitals are inundated with kids suffering injuries from the caps, such as serious burns, lost fingers and horrific facial injuries…Don’t allow any EXPLOSIVE “toys” in the house! Explain to your children their dangers – they shouldn’t touch them or go near them.

Do everything you can to motivate your kids NOT to use caps. Caps can cause years of suffering, pain, and misery. Tell the teachers at schools to warn students. Tell your friends! Please spread the word however you can! Caps are EXPLOSIVES !!

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Don’t Drink and Drive

 

Do Not Drink and Drive on Purim

Do Not Drink and Drive on Purim

Don't Drink and Drive

Don’t Drink and Drive

Protect Jewish Girls on Purim

Jewish women and girls are not allowed to drink on Purim

Preventing exploitation of Jewish Girls in Israel through intervention and Empowerment http://www.learnandlive.org.il/

Preventing exploitation of Jewish Girls in Israel through intervention and Empowerment http://www.learnandlive.org.il/

From Arutz Sheva Israel National News.com: The Jewish holiday of Purim will take place next week, amid typically boisterous celebrations. But one group is warning that young Jewish girls face a serious danger on the day of drinking and celebrating the Jewish people’s rescue from destruction in ancient Persia.

Patty Kupfer, Director of Learn and Live, a group focused on saving Jewish girls from abusive relationships, notes one particularly drunk 17-year-old girl last Purim was nearly “helped” by two Arab men into their car.

“We intervened and took her to our ‘safe tent’ where female staff look after girls and let them sleep off the liquor till the morning. We save girls like this every year,” reported Kupfer.

Kupfer notes that particularly in downtown Jerusalem, 15- to 18-year-old girls tend to take too far the religious imperative to drink and revel in the salvation back in the days of Queen Esther, becoming inebriated and unwittingly putting themselves in danger of being taken advantage of. Exploitation of

Jewish girls — not just for Purim

Knesset figures state that last year over 700 young Jewish girls were lured into relationships with Arab men, only to be confronted by abuse. Reportedly over a thousand calls from girls trapped in Arab villages are fielded by Israeli hotlines every year, with many others unable to call.

The group notes that Muslim legal authority Sheik Abu Humam Al-Athari announced in 2011 that Islamic law encourages Arab men to capture “infidel” (Jewish and Christian) women. Since the ruling, Learn and Live reports the number of Jewish girls who have “gone missing” more than doubled.

“This is a silent war and our daughters on are on the front line,” warns Kupfer. “Vulnerability and low self-esteem, combined with the Sharia law, has led to this disastrous state of affairs for the girls and for the Jewish people.”

Click to download PDF file  Click to download 

KNESSET_REPORT_ON_THE_WELFARE_OF_THE_CHILD_2012_ENGLISH_TRANSLATION

Preventing exploitation of Jewish Girls in Israel through intervention and Empowerment http://www.learnandlive.org.il/

Preventing exploitation of Jewish Girls in Israel through intervention and Empowerment http://www.learnandlive.org.il/

 

Rescued Jewish Girls

Rescued Jewish Girls

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Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder

Wikipedia-logo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fetal_alcohol_spectrum_disorder

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs) are a group of conditions that can occur in a person whose mother drank alcohol during pregnancy.[1] Symptoms can include an abnormal appearance, short height, low body weight, small head size, poor coordination, behavioral problems, learning difficulties, and problems with hearing and sight.[1][2] Those affected are more likely to have trouble with school, the legal system, alcohol, other drugs, and other areas of high risk.[9]

Too Young To Drink_Champagne-Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders

Too Young To Drink_Champagne-Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders

Preventing-Fetal-Alcohol-Spectrum-Disorders-Infographic

Preventing-Fetal-Alcohol-Spectrum-Disorders-Infographic

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Click to download PDF file Click to download PDF file

Prayer before drinking wine on Purim – Say before every cup

RAV ELIEZER BERLAND’S PRAYER FOR PURIM

wine Prayer English

wine Prayer English

Click to enlarge image
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Click to download PDF file  Click to download PDF file wine-prayer-Hebrew-Purim

Prayer said prior to each glass of wine in Hebrew

Prayer said prior to each glass of wine in Hebrew

Click to enlarge image
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Kitzur Shulchan Aruch Laws of the Megillah Ch. 141:1-23 הלכות מגילה
141:1 [משנכנס אדר] From when the month of Adar begins, [מרבים בשמחה] we increase (our) joy. [וישראל שיש לו דין ודברים עם אינו יהודי] A Jew who has a dispute with a non-Jew, [ישפוט עמו בחודש זה] should have the judgment with him in this month.1
1) The month of Adar is considered a favorable time for Jews. [From when the month of Adar begins,] משנכנס אדר [we increase (our) joy.] מרבים בשמחה [A Jew who has a dispute with a non-Jew,] וישראל שיש לו דין ודברים עם אינו יהודי [should have the judgment with him in this month.] ישפוט עמו בחודש זה א
141:2 [בימי מרדכי ואסתר] During the time of Mordechai and Esther, [נקהלו היהודים בשלשה עשר לחדש אדר] the Jews gathered together on the thirteenth of Adar [לעמוד על נפשם ולהנקם מאויביהם] to defend their lives and take revenge on their enemies.1 [והיו צריכין לבקש רחמים] They needed to ask for mercy, [מאת ה’ יתברך שמו שיעזרם] from G-d, blessed be His name, to aid them. [ומצינו שכאשר היו ישראל במלחמה] We have found, that when the Jews were at war [התענו שיעזרם ה’] they fasted so that G-d would aid them. [וגם משה רבינו עליו השלום] Also Moses our teacher, may he be in peace, [ביום שנלחם עם עמלק התענה] when we waged war against Amalek, fasted. [ואם כן מסתמא גם אז בימי מרדכי ואסתר] If this was so, we can assume that also then at the time of Mordechai and Esther, [התענו ביום י”ג אדר] they fasted on the thirteenth of Adar. [ולכן קבלו עליהם כל ישראל יום זה] So this day has been accepted by the entire Jewish people [לתענית צבור ונקרא ”תענית אסתר”] as a communal fast and is called the ”Fast of Esther”, [כדי לזכור שהבורא יתברך שמו] in order to remember that the Creator, blessed be His name, [רואה ושומע תפלת כל איש בעת צרתו] watches and hears the prayers of each person in his time of difficulty [כאשר יתענה וישוב אל ה’ בכל לבבו] when he fasts and repents to G-d wholeheartedly, [כמו שעשה לאבותינו בימים ההם] just He did for our forefathers in those (Purim) days. [ומכל מקום אין תענית זה חובה כל כך] In any event, this fast is not such an obligation [כמו ארבעה תעניתים שכתובים במקרא] as the four fasts mentioned in the prophetic writings,2 [ולכן יש להקל בו בעת הצורך] Therefore, one should be lenient in a time of need, [כגון מעוברות ומניקות] for example, pregnant and nursing women, [או אפילו חולה קצת בכאב עינים] and people who are ill, even one who merely feels pain in his eyes, [שאם מצטערים הרבה לא יתענו] need not fast if they suffer great discomfort. [וכן יולדת כל שלשים יום] Similarly, a woman who has given birth within thirty days [וכן חתן בתוך שבעת ימי המשתה שלו] and a groom during the seven days after the wedding, [אינו צריך להתענות] do not have to fast. [ויפרעו את התענית אחר כך] These people should ”repay” this fast at a later date.3 [אבל שאר הבריאים] In contrast, other individuals who are healthy [לא יפרשו את עצמם מן הצבור] should not separate themselves from the community [ואפילו מי שהולך בדרך וקשה עליו התענית] Even a person on a journey for whom the fast is difficult [מכל מקום צריך להתענות] is required to fast.
1) Haman had convinced the Persian king, Achashverosh, to sign a decree allowing the Persian population to destroy the Jews on the 13th of Adar. When Haman was hung and Mordechai appointed chief advisor in his place, the king signed another decree allowing the Jews to defend themselves and attack their enemies on the 13th of Adar – see the ”Book of Esther”
2) See also Ch. 121.
3) That is, they should fast for a day in the future, to make up for not fasting during the Fast of Esther. [During the time of Mordechai and Esther,] בימי מרדכי ואסתר [the Jews gathered together on the thirteenth of Adar] נקהלו היהודים בשלשה עשר לחדש אדר [to defend their lives and take revenge on their enemies.] לעמוד על נפשם ולהנקם מאויביהם [They needed to ask for mercy,] והיו צריכין לבקש רחמים [from G-d, blessed be His name, to aid them.] מאת ה’ יתברך שמו שיעזרם [We have found, that when the Jews were at war] ומצינו שכאשר היו ישראל במלחמה [they fasted so that G-d would aid them.] התענו שיעזרם ה’ [Also Moses our teacher, may he be in peace,] וגם משה רבינו עליו השלום [when we waged war against Amalek, fasted.] ביום שנלחם עם עמלק התענה [If this was so, we can assume that also then at the time of Mordechai and Esther,] ואם כן מסתמא גם אז בימי מרדכי ואסתר [they fasted on the thirteenth of Adar.] התענו ביום י”ג אדר [So this day has been accepted by the entire Jewish people] ולכן קבלו עליהם כל ישראל יום זה [as a communal fast and is called the ”Fast of Esther”,] לתענית צבור ונקרא ”תענית אסתר” [in order to remember that the Creator, blessed be His name,] כדי לזכור שהבורא יתברך שמו [watches and hears the prayers of each person in his time of difficulty] רואה ושומע תפלת כל איש בעת צרתו [when he fasts and repents to G-d wholeheartedly,] כאשר יתענה וישוב אל ה’ בכל לבבו [just He did for our forefathers in those (Purim) days.] כמו שעשה לאבותינו בימים ההם [In any event, this fast is not such an obligation] ומכל מקום אין תענית זה חובה כל כך [as the four fasts mentioned in the prophetic writings,] כמו ארבעה תעניתים שכתובים במקרא [Therefore, one should be lenient in a time of need,] ולכן יש להקל בו בעת הצורך [for example, pregnant and nursing women,] כגון מעוברות ומניקות [and people who are ill, even one who merely feels pain in his eyes,] או אפילו חולה קצת בכאב עינים [need not fast if they suffer great discomfort.] שאם מצטערים הרבה לא יתענו [Similarly, a woman who has given birth within thirty days] וכן יולדת כל שלשים יום [and a groom during the seven days after the wedding,] וכן חתן בתוך שבעת ימי המשתה שלו [do not have to fast.] אינו צריך להתענות [These people should ”repay” this fast at a later date.] ויפרעו את התענית אחר כך [In contrast, other individuals who are healthy] אבל שאר הבריאים [should not separate themselves from the community] לא יפרשו את עצמם מן הצבור [Even a person on a journey for whom the fast is difficult] ואפילו מי שהולך בדרך וקשה עליו התענית [is required to fast.] מכל מקום צריך להתענות ב
141:3 [ביום י”ד אדר הוא פורים] The fourteenth of Adar is Purim,1 [ואם חל פורים ביום ראשון] and if Purim comes on Sunday, [מקדימין להתענות ביום חמישי] the Fast (of Esther) is brought forward to the (previous) Thursday. [ואם יש אז ברית מילה] If there is then (on Thursday) a circumcision, [יעשו את הסעודה בלילה] one makes the festive meal at night, [אבל הסנדק] but the ”Sandek”2 [ואבי הבן מותרין לאכול ביום] and the father of the child may eat during the day,3 [ואין צריכין להתענות ביום ששי] and they do not have to (make up by) fasting on Friday. [אבל אדם אחר ששכח ואכל ביום חמישי] However, another person who forgot and ate on (that) Thursday, [יתענה ביום ששי] should fast on Friday.
1) For those living in un-walled cities, but cities that were walled at the time of Joshua, have Purim on the fifteen – see also Law 23 below.
2) The one who holds the baby on his knees during the ceremony.
3) The Mishna Berurah also allows both the mother of the baby and the ”Mohel”, who did the circumcision, to eat during the day. [The fourteenth of Adar is Purim,] ביום י”ד אדר הוא פורים [and if Purim comes on Sunday,] ואם חל פורים ביום ראשון [the Fast (of Esther) is brought forward to the (previous) Thursday.] מקדימין להתענות ביום חמישי [If there is then (on Thursday) a circumcision,] ואם יש אז ברית מילה [one makes the festive meal at night,] יעשו את הסעודה בלילה [but the ”Sandek”] אבל הסנדק [and the father of the child may eat during the day,] ואבי הבן מותרין לאכול ביום [and they do not have to (make up by) fasting on Friday.] ואין צריכין להתענות ביום ששי [However, another person who forgot and ate on (that) Thursday,] אבל אדם אחר ששכח ואכל ביום חמישי [should fast on Friday.] יתענה ביום ששי ג
141:4 [לכבוד המגילה] In honor of the (reading of) the Megillah [יש ללבוש בגדי שבת מבערב] one should wear (one’s) Shabbat clothes in the evening. [וכשבא מבית הכנסת] When one returns from the synagogue, [ימצא בביתו נרות דולקים] one should find in one’s home (that) the candles are lit, [ושלחן ערוך] the table is set, [ומטה מוצעת] and the beds are made.1 [ערבית לאחר שמונה עשרה] In the evening service, after Shemoneh Esreh, [אומרים קדיש שלם עם תתקבל] one says the full Kaddish (including) ”May the prayers and supplications…”, [וקורין את המגילה] then we read the Megillah, [אחר כך אומרים ואתה קדוש] after that we say ”But You are holy…” [שהוא במזמור למנצח על אילת השחר] (which is in the Psalm2 ”To the Chief Musician on the coming up of the dawn…” [שנאמר על אסתר] which was said about Esther, [ושם נאמר] and it was written3 there: [אלהי אקרא וגו’] ”My G-d, I call to You during the day… and at night.” [דנאמר על מקרא מגילה] and it is written in Megillah4 [דאמר ר’ יהושע בן לוי] that Rabbi Yehoshuah ben Levi said: [חייב אדם לקרות את המגילה בלילה] ”A person is obligated to read the Megillah at night [ולשנותה ביום] and repeat it during the day”. [שנאמר אלהי אקרא יומם] as was said ”My G-d, I call to You during the day…” [ולא תענה] and not fast, [ולילה ולא דומיה לי] ”…and at night.” I will not rest, [וסמיך ליה ואתה קדוש וגו’] and this (verse) is followed by ”But You are holy…”.)5 [ואחר כך קדיש שלם בלא תתקבל] afterwards full Kaddish without ”May the prayers and supplications…”. [ובמוצאי שבת ויהי נועם ואתה קדוש] On out Shabbat (we say) ”And let the graciousness…” and ”But You are holy…”, [קדיש שלם בלא תתקבל, ויתן לך] full Kaddish without ”May the prayers and supplications…”, [ומבדילין על הכוס] Havdalah (is made) over a cup (of wine), [עלינו] (and then one says) ”It is our duty to praise…”.
1) As is the case on Shabbat and festivals.
2) Psalm 22.
3) Verse 3.
4) Megillah 4a.
5) So they derived both the requirement to read the Megillah at night and during the day, and adding ”But You are holy…” to the evening service, from Psalm 22. [In honor of the (reading of) the Megillah] לכבוד המגילה [one should wear (one’s) Shabbat clothes in the evening.] יש ללבוש בגדי שבת מבערב [When one returns from the synagogue,] וכשבא מבית הכנסת [one should find in one’s home (that) the candles are lit,] ימצא בביתו נרות דולקים [the table is set,] ושלחן ערוך [and the beds are made.] ומטה מוצעת [In the evening service, after Shemoneh Esreh,] ערבית לאחר שמונה עשרה [one says the full Kaddish (including) ”May the prayers and supplications…”,] אומרים קדיש שלם עם תתקבל [then we read the Megillah,] וקורין את המגילה [after that we say ”But You are holy…”] אחר כך אומרים ואתה קדוש [(which is in the Psalm ”To the Chief Musician on the coming up of the dawn…”] שהוא במזמור למנצח על אילת השחר [which was said about Esther,] שנאמר על אסתר [and it was written (Verse 3) there:] ושם נאמר [”My G-d, I call to You during the day… and at night.”] אלהי אקרא וגו’ [and it is written in Megillah] דנאמר על מקרא מגילה [that Rabbi Yehoshuah ben Levi said:] דאמר ר’ יהושע בן לוי [”A person is obligated to read the Megillah at night] חייב אדם לקרות את המגילה בלילה [and repeat it during the day”.] ולשנותה ביום [as was said ”My G-d, I call to You during the day…”] שנאמר אלהי אקרא יומם [and not fast,] ולא תענה [”…and at night.” I will not rest,] ולילה ולא דומיה לי [and this (verse) is followed by ”But You are holy…”.)] וסמיך ליה ואתה קדוש וגו’ [afterwards full Kaddish without ”May the prayers and supplications…”.] ואחר כך קדיש שלם בלא תתקבל [On out Shabbat (we say) ”And let the graciousness…” and ”But You are holy…”,] ובמוצאי שבת ויהי נועם ואתה קדוש [full Kaddish without ”May the prayers and supplications…”,] קדיש שלם בלא תתקבל, ויתן לך [Havdalah (is made) over a cup (of wine),] ומבדילין על הכוס [(and then one says) ”It is our duty to praise…”.] עלינו ד
141:5 [נוהגין ליתן קודם פורים] It is the custom to give (just) before Purim, [מחצית מן המטבע הקבוע] half of the standard monetary unit in use [באותו מקום ובאותו זמן] in one’s local place and at the current time. [זכר למחצית השקל שהיו נותנין באדר] in memory of the half-shekel that was given in (every) Adar, [לצורך קרבנות הצבור] in order to buy the (animals for the) public sacrifices. [ומנהג ליתן שלש מחצית] It’s customary to give three (times the) half (monetary) units [משום דבפרשת כי תשא כתיב] because in Parashat Ki Tisa,1 it writes [שלשה פעמים תרומה] the word ”Terumah” three times.2 [ונותנין בערב לפני קריאת המגילה] One gives (this money) in the evening, before the Megillah reading, [ומחלקין אותן לעניים] and it is distributed to the poor. [קטן פטור] A minor is exempt (from this donation), [ואם אביו נתן בשבילו פעם אחת] but if his father gave on his behalf one time, [חייב לעולם] (he is) obliged (to continue to give) always. [בן שלש עשרה שנה] (Concerning) a thirteen year old boy, [יש אומרים דחייב] some (authorities) say (that) he is obligated (to donate), [ויש אומרים דפטור עד שיהא בן עשרים] and some (others) say that he is exempt until he is twenty.
1) Ex. 30:11.
2) ”Terumah” means a donation. From Rosh Chodesh Nissan onwards, the animals used for all the communal sacrifices in the Temple, had to be purchased using money collected that year. Therefore, one month before, on Rosh Hodesh Adar, announcements would be made to remind people to donate the half-shekel, so that animals could be purchased with the ”new” money before Nissan. The reading of Parashat Shekalim just before (or on) Rosh Hodesh Adar also serves as a reminder of that mitzvah. [It is the custom to give (just) before Purim,] נוהגין ליתן קודם פורים [half of the standard monetary unit in use] מחצית מן המטבע הקבוע [in one’s local place and at the current time.] באותו מקום ובאותו זמן [in memory of the half-shekel that was given in (every) Adar,] זכר למחצית השקל שהיו נותנין באדר [in order to buy the (animals for the) public sacrifices.] לצורך קרבנות הצבור [It’s customary to give three (times the) half (monetary) units] ומנהג ליתן שלש מחצית [because in Parashat Ki Tisa, it writes] משום דבפרשת כי תשא כתיב [the word ”Terumah” three times.] שלשה פעמים תרומה [One gives (this money) in the evening, before the Megillah reading,] ונותנין בערב לפני קריאת המגילה [and it is distributed to the poor.] ומחלקין אותן לעניים [A minor is exempt (from this donation),] קטן פטור [but if his father gave on his behalf one time,] ואם אביו נתן בשבילו פעם אחת [(he is) obliged (to continue to give) always.] חייב לעולם [(Concerning) a thirteen year old boy,] בן שלש עשרה שנה [some (authorities) say (that) he is obligated (to donate),] יש אומרים דחייב [and some (others) say that he is exempt until he is twenty.] ויש אומרים דפטור עד שיהא בן עשרים ה
141:6 [בפורים] On Purim, [דהיינו ביום י”ד] (that is on the 14th) [ערבית] in the (Shemone Esrei of the) evening service, [שחרית ומנחה] and (also) in the morning and afternoon services [אומרים על הנסים] one says ”For the miracles…”. [ואם שכח] If one forgot, [דינו כמו בחנוכה] the (same) laws as for Hanukah apply. [On Purim,] בפורים [(that is on the 14th)] דהיינו ביום י”ד [in the (Shemone Esrei of the) evening service,] ערבית [and (also) in the morning and afternoon services] שחרית ומנחה [one says ”For the miracles…”.] אומרים על הנסים [If one forgot,] ואם שכח [the (same) laws as for Hanukah apply.] דינו כמו בחנוכה ו
141:7 [חייב כל אדם בין איש בין אשה] Everyone is obliged, whether men or women, [לשמוע קריאת המגילה בלילה וביום] to hear the reading of the Megillah at night and during the day. [ולכן גם הבתולות יש להן ללכת לבית הכנסת] Therefore, also the young single girls should go to the synagogue. [ואם אינן הולכות] If they do not go, [צריכין לקרות לפניהן בבית] one needs to read for them at home. [וגם את הקטנים חייבים לחנך אותם] Also (with) young children, we must educate them, [שישמעו קריאת המגילה] that they hear the reading of the Megillah, [ומכל מקום לא יביאו לבית הכנסת קטנים ביותר] however, one should not bring to the synagogue very young children [שמבלבלים דעת השומעים] because they disturb the concentration of those listening. [Everyone is obliged, whether men or women,] חייב כל אדם בין איש בין אשה [to hear the reading of the Megillah at night and during the day.] לשמוע קריאת המגילה בלילה וביום [Therefore, also the young single girls should go to the synagogue.] ולכן גם הבתולות יש להן ללכת לבית הכנסת [If they do not go,] ואם אינן הולכות [one needs to read for them at home.] צריכין לקרות לפניהן בבית [Also (with) young children, we must educate them,] וגם את הקטנים חייבים לחנך אותם [that they hear the reading of the Megillah,] שישמעו קריאת המגילה [however, one should not bring to the synagogue very young children] ומכל מקום לא יביאו לבית הכנסת קטנים ביותר [because they disturb the concentration of those listening.] שמבלבלים דעת השומעים ז
141:8 [מגילה של לילה אסור לקרות] It is forbidden to read the Megillah at night [קודם צאת הכוכבים] before the appearance of (three) stars, [אף על פי שמצטער הרבה מחמת התענית] even though one is greatly suffering due to the fast. [אך יכול לטעום קצת קודם המגילה] However, one may taste a little1 before the Megillah (reading), [כגון קפה וכדומה] such as coffee and similar (drinks), [כדי להחזיק מעט] in order to slightly strengthen oneself [מחולשת התענית] from the weakness of the fast.
1) One may eat the volume of a ”k’beitzah” (lit: ”like an egg”) of bread and cake, or liquid in the same quantity. This is from 86.23 ml to 100 ml or in normal terms about two thirds of a slice of white bread or three quarters of a square matzah. [It is forbidden to read the Megillah at night] מגילה של לילה אסור לקרות [before the appearance of (three) stars,] קודם צאת הכוכבים [even though one is greatly suffering due to the fast.] אף על פי שמצטער הרבה מחמת התענית [However, one may taste a little before the Megillah (reading),] אך יכול לטעום קצת קודם המגילה [such as coffee and similar (drinks),] כגון קפה וכדומה [in order to slightly strengthen oneself] כדי להחזיק מעט [from the weakness of the fast.] מחולשת התענית ח
141:9 [מצוה מן המובחר] The most desirable way to fulfill the mitzvah [לשמוע קריאת המגילה בבית הכנסת] is to hear the reading of the Megillah in a synagogue, [במקום שיש רוב אנשים] where there are many people, [משום] from:1 [דברוב עם הדרת מלך] ”Within the multitude of the people is the glory of the King.” [ולכל הפחות] At the very least, [יראה לשמוע אותה במנין עשרה] one should be careful to hear it in a ”Minyan” of ten. [ואם אי אפשר לקרותה במנין] If it is impossible to read it with a ”Minyan”, [יקרא אותה כל יחיד] each individual should read it [מתוך מגילה כשרה עם הברכות שלפניה] from a kosher scroll, with the blessings beforehand. [ואם אחד יודע לקרותה] If one (person) knows how to read it, [והשאר אינם יודעים] and the rest do not know, [יקרא זה שהוא יודע] the person who knows should read [והם ישמעו ויוצאים] and they should listen and (will) fulfill their obligation, [אף על פי שאינם עשרה] even though there are not ten (listening). [אבל ברכה שלאחריה] However, the blessing after (the reading) [אין אומרים רק בעשרה] is not said unless there are ten. [ואך בלא שם ומלכות] However, without (G-d’s) name and (mention of His) Kingship, [יכול גם יחיד לאמרה] even an individual can say it.
1) Proverbs 12:28. [The most desirable way to fulfill the mitzvah] מצוה מן המובחר [is to hear the reading of the Megillah in a synagogue,] לשמוע קריאת המגילה בבית הכנסת [where there are many people,] במקום שיש רוב אנשים [from:] משום [”Within the multitude of the people is the glory of the King.”] דברוב עם הדרת מלך [At the very least,] ולכל הפחות [one should be careful to hear it in a ”Minyan” of ten.] יראה לשמוע אותה במנין עשרה [If it is impossible to read it with a ”Minyan”,] ואם אי אפשר לקרותה במנין [each individual should read it] יקרא אותה כל יחיד [from a kosher scroll, with the blessings beforehand.] מתוך מגילה כשרה עם הברכות שלפניה [If one (person) knows how to read it,] ואם אחד יודע לקרותה [and the rest do not know,] והשאר אינם יודעים [the person who knows should read] יקרא זה שהוא יודע [and they should listen and (will) fulfill their obligation,] והם ישמעו ויוצאים [even though there are not ten (listening).] אף על פי שאינם עשרה [However, the blessing after (the reading)] אבל ברכה שלאחריה [is not said unless there are ten.] אין אומרים רק בעשרה [However, without (G-d’s) name and (mention of His) Kingship,] ואך בלא שם ומלכות [even an individual can say it.] יכול גם יחיד לאמרה ט
141:10 [מנהג בכל ישראל] It is customary in all Jewish communities [שהקורא אינו קורא מתוך מגילה כרוכה] that the reader does not read from a rolled up Megillah,1 [אלא פושט אותה] rather he spreads it out [וכופלה דף על דף כמו אגרת] and folds (each) page on (each other) page like a letter,2 [מפני שנקראת ”אגרת הפורים”] because it (the Megillah) is called ”The Purim Letter”.3 [אבל השומעים אינם צריכים לפשטה] However, those listening don’t need to spread out their (own scrolls).
1) A scroll opened only to the page presently being read.
2) The Megillah should be unrolled and folded before the reader says the blessings preceding the reading, so that there will be no interruption between the blessings and the reading.
3) Esther 9:29. [It is customary in all Jewish communities] מנהג בכל ישראל [that the reader does not read from a rolled up Megillah,] שהקורא אינו קורא מתוך מגילה כרוכה [rather he spreads it out] אלא פושט אותה [and folds (each) page on (each other) page like a letter,] וכופלה דף על דף כמו אגרת [because it (the Megillah) is called ”The Purim Letter”.] מפני שנקראת ”אגרת הפורים” [However, those listening don’t need to spread out their (own scrolls).] אבל השומעים אינם צריכים לפשטה י
141:11 [הקורא את המגילה] The one who reads the Megillah, [בין ביום ובין בלילה] whether by day or by night, [מברך לפניה שלש ברכות] blesses before it three blessings, [על מקרא מגילה] ”…concerning the reading of the Megillah.”, [שעשה נסים] ”…who carried out miracles…”, [ושהחיינו] and ”…who has kept us in life…”. [ולאחר קריאתה כורכה כולה] After reading it he rolls it up completely, [ומניחה לפניו] lays it down in front of himself, [ומברכין ברכת הרב את ריבנו וכו’] and blesses the blessing ”…who contends for us…” [אם אבל קורא את המגילה] If a mourner read the Megillah, [יברך אחר את הברכות] another should bless the blessings [משום ברכת שהחיינו] because of the blessing ”…who has kept us in life…”.1
1) It is not appropriate for the mourner to say this blessing publicly. [The one who reads the Megillah,] הקורא את המגילה [whether by day or by night,] בין ביום ובין בלילה [blesses before it three blessings,] מברך לפניה שלש ברכות [”…concerning the reading of the Megillah.”,] על מקרא מגילה [”…who carried out miracles…”,] שעשה נסים [and ”…who has kept us in life…”.] ושהחיינו [After reading it he rolls it up completely,] ולאחר קריאתה כורכה כולה [lays it down in front of himself,] ומניחה לפניו [and blesses the blessing ”…who contends for us…”] ומברכין ברכת הרב את ריבנו וכו’ [If a mourner read the Megillah,] אם אבל קורא את המגילה [another should bless the blessings] יברך אחר את הברכות [because of the blessing ”…who has kept us in life…”.] משום ברכת שהחיינו יא
141:12 [בברכת שהחיינו של יום] On the blessing ”…who has kept us in life…” (that is said) in the day, [יכוונו גם על מצות] they (the listeners) should have in mind also the commandment of [משלוח מנות] sending food presents (to friends), [ומתנות לאביונים] (giving) gifts to the poor, [וסעודת פורים] and the festive Purim meal. [וכן השליח צבור צריך שיכוין להוציא] Similarly, the Reader1 needs to intend to cover [את הצבור גם על מצות אלו] the congegration also for these three commandments.
1) lit; ”representative of the congregation” that is, the one reading the Megillah for the congegration. [On the blessing ”…who has kept us in life…” (that is said) in the day,] בברכת שהחיינו של יום [they (the listeners) should have in mind also the commandment of] יכוונו גם על מצות [sending food presents (to friends),] משלוח מנות [(giving) gifts to the poor,] ומתנות לאביונים [and the festive Purim meal.] וסעודת פורים [Similarly, the Reader needs to intend to cover] וכן השליח צבור צריך שיכוין להוציא [the congegration also for these three commandments.] את הצבור גם על מצות אלו יב
141:13 [הקורא את המגילה צריך לכוין] The one reading the Megillah must intend [להוציא את כל השומעים] to cover all those listening. [וגם השומע צריך לכוין לצאת] Also the listener needs to intend to cover (his obligation) [ולשמוע כל תיבה ותיבה] and to listen to each and every word. [שאפילו אם רק תיבה אחת] Even if (it was) only one word, [לא שמע אינו יוצא] that he did not hear, he has not fulfilled his obligation. [ולכן צריך הקורא להשגיח מאד] Therefore, the reader needs be very careful [שבשעה שמרעישין ומבלבלין] that when noise and disturbances [בהכאת המן] are made to block out (the name of) Haman, [ישתוק עד יעבור הרעש לגמרי] he should be silent until the noise is completely over. [ומכל מקום ראוי ונכון שיהיה לכל אחד] In any case, it is proper and correct that each individual has [מגילה כשרה כדי שיאמר בעצמו] a kosher Megillah1 so that one can say by oneself [מלה במלה בלחש] word by word quietly, [פן לא ישמע תיבה אחת מן הקורא] in case he did not hear (any) one word from the reader, [וכן כל אשה חכמת לב] Similarly, every woman who understands (the Megillah), [שעומדת בעזרת נשים] and is standing in the women’s section, [אם אפשר מה טוב] if possible it is preferable [להיות לה מגילה כשרה לקרות מתוכה] for her to have a kosher Megillah to read from, [כי שם קשה לשמוע] because there it is hard to hear [והנשים חייבות כמו האנשים] and women are obliged (to hear) just like the men. [אם לא קדשו את הלבנה] (If they had not (yet) blessed the New Moon, [ונראתה בשעת קריאת המגילה] and they saw it (for the first time) at the time of Megillah reading, [עיין לעיל סוף סימן צ] see this topic at the end of Ch. 97. )
1) If one doesn’t have a kosher handwritten Megillah, one can read from a printed Megillah – Mishna Berurah 690:19. [The one reading the Megillah must intend] הקורא את המגילה צריך לכוין [to cover all those listening.] להוציא את כל השומעים [Also the listener needs to intend to cover (his obligation)] וגם השומע צריך לכוין לצאת [and to listen to each and every word.] ולשמוע כל תיבה ותיבה [Even if (it was) only one word,] שאפילו אם רק תיבה אחת [that he did not hear, he has not fulfilled his obligation.] לא שמע אינו יוצא [Therefore, the reader needs be very careful] ולכן צריך הקורא להשגיח מאד [that when noise and disturbances] שבשעה שמרעישין ומבלבלין [are made to block out (the name of) Haman,] בהכאת המן [he should be silent until the noise is completely over.] ישתוק עד יעבור הרעש לגמרי [In any case, it is proper and correct that each individual has] ומכל מקום ראוי ונכון שיהיה לכל אחד [a kosher Megillah so that one can say by oneself] מגילה כשרה כדי שיאמר בעצמו [word by word quietly,] מלה במלה בלחש [in case he did not hear (any) one word from the reader,] פן לא ישמע תיבה אחת מן הקורא [Similarly, every woman who understands (the Megillah),] וכן כל אשה חכמת לב [and is standing in the women’s section,] שעומדת בעזרת נשים [if possible it is preferable] אם אפשר מה טוב [for her to have a kosher Megilla to read from,] להיות לה מגילה כשרה לקרות מתוכה [because there it is hard to hear] כי שם קשה לשמוע [and women are obliged (to hear) just like the men.] והנשים חייבות כמו האנשים [(If they had not (yet) blessed the New Moon,] אם לא קדשו את הלבנה [and they saw it (for the first time) at the time of Megillah reading,] ונראתה בשעת קריאת המגילה [see this topic at the end of Ch. 97. )] עיין לעיל סוף סימן צ”ז יג
141:14 [הקורא צריך שיאמר את עשרת בני המן] The reader needs to say (the names of) the ten sons of Haman1 [וגם תיבת עשרת הכל בנשימה אחת] and the word ”ten”, all in a single breath, [להודיע שכולם נהרגו ונתלו כאחד] to proclaim that they were all killed and hung as one. [ונוהגין לכתחלה לומר מן חמש מאות איש] It is the custom to first say from ”five hundred men”2 [הכל בנשימה אחת] in a single breath. [ובדיעבד אפילו הפסיק] After the fact, even if one paused [בין עשרת בני המן] between the (names of the) ten sons of Haman, [יצא] one has fulfilled one’s obligation. [ומה שנוהגין בקצת מקומות] What is customary in some communities, [שכל הקהל אומרים עשרת בני המן] where all the congregation says (the names of) the ten sons of Haman, [אינו מנהג נכון] is not a correct custom. [אלא הקורא לבד יאמרם] Rather, the reader alone should say them [והקהל ישמעו כמו כל המגילה] and the congegration listen as with the rest of the Megillah. [כשאומר הקורא] When the reader says:3 [בלילה ההוא נדדה וגו’] ”On that night, the king could not sleep,” [יגביה קולו] he should raise his voice, [כי שם מתחיל עיקר הנס] because (from) there starts the essential part of the miracle. [וכשאומר האגרת הזאת] When he says4 ”this letter”, [ינענע את המגילה] he should shake the Megillah.
1) Esther 9:6-10.
2) According to the Aruch Hashulchan 690:21, each of the ten sons of Haman controlled fifty men.
3) Esther 6:1.
4) Esther 9:26. [The reader needs to say (the names of) the ten sons of Haman] הקורא צריך שיאמר את עשרת בני המן [and the word ”ten”, all in a single breath,] וגם תיבת עשרת הכל בנשימה אחת [to proclaim that they were all killed and hung as one.] להודיע שכולם נהרגו ונתלו כאחד [It is the custom to first say from ”five hundred men”] ונוהגין לכתחלה לומר מן חמש מאות איש [in a single breath.] הכל בנשימה אחת [After the fact, even if one paused] ובדיעבד אפילו הפסיק [between the (names of the) ten sons of Haman,] בין עשרת בני המן [one has fulfilled one’s obligation.] יצא [What is customary in some communities,] ומה שנוהגין בקצת מקומות [where all the congregation says (the names of) the ten sons of Haman,] שכל הקהל אומרים עשרת בני המן [is not a correct custom.] אינו מנהג נכון [Rather, the reader alone should say them] אלא הקורא לבד יאמרם [and the congegration listen as with the rest of the Megillah.] והקהל ישמעו כמו כל המגילה [When the reader says:] כשאומר הקורא [”On that night, the king could not sleep,”] בלילה ההוא נדדה וגו’ [he should raise his voice,] יגביה קולו [because (from) there starts the essential part of the miracle.] כי שם מתחיל עיקר הנס [When he says ”this letter”,] וכשאומר האגרת הזאת [he should shake the Megillah.] ינענע את המגילה יד
141:15 [מי שיש לפניו מגילה פסולה] One who has before him a non-kosher Megillah (scroll) [או חומש] or a printed text version, [לא יקרא עם השליח צבור] should not read with the reader, [כי אם הוא קורא אינו יכול לכוין] because if he reads he is not able to concentrate [לשמוע מן השליח צבור] on hearing (the words) from the reader. [ואפילו אם הוא יכוין] Even if he (can) concentrate, [שמא ישמע אחר מה שהוא קורא] there maybe another who hears what he is reading [ולא יכוין לקריאת השליח צבור] and (so) will not concentrate on the reading of the reader. [וכן לא יסייע שום אדם בעל פה להשליח צבור] Similarily, no one should assist the reader by memory. [ולכן אותן ארבעה פסוקי גאולה] Therefore, those four verses of redemption1 [שאומרים הקהל בקול רם] which the congregation say aloud, [צריך השליח צבור לחזור ולקרותם] the reader needs to return and read them [מתוך המגילה הכשרה] from the kosher Megillah.2
1) Esther 2:5 ”There was a Jew in Shushan…”, 8:15 ”And Mordechai went out…”, 8:16 ”The Jews had light, and gladness…”, 10:3 ”For Mordechai the Jew…”.
2) In order to fulfill the obligation, one must read the Megillah, or hear it being read from a kosher scroll. One who says the words of the Megillah from memory or hears someone else say it from memory, has not fulfilled his obligation. [One who has before him a non-kosher Megillah (scroll)] [or a printed text version,] או חומש [should not read with the reader,] לא יקרא עם השליח צבור [because if he reads he is not able to concentrate] כי אם הוא קורא אינו יכול לכוין [on hearing (the words) from the reader.] לשמוע מן השליח צבור [Even if he (can) concentrate,] ואפילו אם הוא יכוין [there maybe another who hears what he is reading] שמא ישמע אחר מה שהוא קורא [and (so) will not concentrate on the reading of the reader.] ולא יכוין לקריאת השליח צבור [Similarily, no one should assist the reader by memory.] וכן לא יסייע שום אדם בעל פה להשליח צבור [Therefore, those four verses of redemption] ולכן אותן ארבעה פסוקי גאולה [which the congregation say aloud,] שאומרים הקהל בקול רם [the reader needs to return and read them] צריך השליח צבור לחזור ולקרותם [from the kosher Megillah.] מתוך המגילה הכשרה טו
141:16 [מי שכבר יצא בקריאת מגילה] One who has already fulfilled the obligation of reading the Megillah [וקורא להוציא אחר] and (now) reads (again) for (the benefit of) another, [אם זה שהוא צריך לצאת] if the one who he is reading it for, [יודע בעצמו לברך את הברכות] knows himself (how) to say the blessings, [יברך בעצמו] he should bless himself. [ואם היא אשה] If (the one he is reading for) is a woman, [טוב יותר שהקורא יברך] it is preferable for the reader to bless [ויאמר אשר קדשנו במצותיו] and say ”who has sanctified us with his commandments [וצונו לשמוע מגילה] and commanded us to hear the Megillah.”1
1) The normal end to the blessing is ”to read the Megillah”. The change is made because halachicly a woman is required to hear the Megillah but not read it herself (Mishna Berurah 689:7). Others say ”to hear the reading of the Megillah” (Mishna Berurah 689:8). Similarly, if there is no one to read for her, she can read for herself from a kosher Megillah, but still end the blessing ”to hear the Megillah”. [One who has already fulfilled the obligation of reading the Megillah] מי שכבר יצא בקריאת מגילה [and (now) reads (again) for (the benefit of) another,] וקורא להוציא אחר [if the one who he is reading it for,] אם זה שהוא צריך לצאת [knows himself (how) to say the blessings,] יודע בעצמו לברך את הברכות [he should bless himself.] יברך בעצמו [If (the one he is reading for) is a woman,] ואם היא אשה [it is preferable for the reader to bless] טוב יותר שהקורא יברך [and say ”who has sanctified us with his commandments] ויאמר אשר קדשנו במצותיו [and commanded us to hear the Megillah.”] וצונו לשמוע מגילה טז
141:17 [בשבת] On a Shabbat [שאינו פורים] (which is not Purim)1 [מותרין לטלטל את המגילה] it is permitted to handle the Megillah. [ומכל מקום אם חל פורים ביום א’] However, if Purim falls on Sunday, [אין להביא בשבת את המגילה לבית הכנסת] one should not bring on Shabbat the Megillah to the synagogue, [אפילו] even in a city which has an ”Eiruv”,2 [משום דהוי מכין משבת לחול] because this is like preparing on Shabbat for a weekday (need).
1) In fact, our calendar is arranged so that Purim never occurs on Shabbat.
2) An enclosure around an area, made up of existing telephone wires and other cables, and additional poles with wires attached which the community puts up. This enclosure turns the area into a private domain inside which one may carry on Shabbat. [On a Shabbat] בשבת [(which is not Purim)] שאינו פורים [it is permitted to handle the Megillah.] מותרין לטלטל את המגילה [However, if Purim falls on Sunday,] ומכל מקום אם חל פורים ביום א’ [one should not bring on Shabbat the Megillah to the synagogue,] אין להביא בשבת את המגילה לבית הכנסת [even in a city which has an ”Eiruv”,] אפילו בעיר שהוא מתוקנת בעירובין [because this is like preparing on Shabbat for a weekday (need).] משום דהוי מכין משבת לחול יז
141:18 [צבור שאין להם שליח צבור] A congregation which does not have a reader [שיכול לקרות את המגילה עם הטעמים כראוי] who can read the Megillah with the correct notes, [יכול לקרות גם בלא טעמים] can (have someone) read also without the notes, [רק שיקרא את התיבות כראוי] as long as he reads the words properly [שלא ישתנה הענין] so as not to change the meaning. [שאם קרא במקום ומרדכי יושב] If (for example) he read instead of ”And Mordechai was sitting”, [ישב או במקום והמן נופל] ”…sat”, or instead of ”Haman was fallen” [נפל] ”…fell” [וכדומה] and the like, [אפילו בדיעבד אינו יוצא] even after the event the mitzvah has not been fulfilled.1 [ויכולין לעשות במגילה נקודות וטעמים] One can mark in the Megillah (the) vowels and (the) notes [שיקרא כהוגן] so that one can read properly, [כיון שהוא שעת הדחק] since this is an urgent situation,2 [והכי עדיף טפי ממה שיקרא אחר] and more preferable than having someone else read [מתוך החומש בלחש] from a printed text quietly (to him), [דכיון שזה הקורא מתוך החומש] Because the one who reads from the printed text, [אפילו הוא קורא בלחש] even if he is reading quietly, [אינו יכול לכוין דעתו] is not able to concentrate his attention [שישמע מהשליח צבור] on hearing (the words) from the reader. [ונמצא שקרא רק מתוך החומש] Therefore he has read only from the printed text [ואינו יוצא] and has not fulfilled his obligation, [ואם אירע כך] and if this did happen, [צריך לחזור ולשמעה מתוך מגילה כשרה] he needs to return and hear (it again) from a kosher Megillah.
1) The Megillah is then re-read from the place the mistake was made, but without a new blessing. Similarly if an entire word was omitted (Biur Halachah 690:14).
2) In a situation where the reader doesn’t know how to pronounce the words without the vowels, and doesn’t know the correct tune. [A congregation which does not have a reader] צבור שאין להם שליח צבור [who can read the Megillah with the correct notes,] שיכול לקרות את המגילה עם הטעמים כראוי [can (have someone) read also without the notes,] יכול לקרות גם בלא טעמים [as long as he reads the words properly] רק שיקרא את התיבות כראוי [so as not to change the meaning.] שלא ישתנה הענין [If (for example) he read instead of ”And Mordechai was sitting”,] שאם קרא במקום ומרדכי יושב [”…sat”, or instead of ”Haman was fallen”] ישב או במקום והמן נופל [”…fell”] נפל [and the like,] וכדומה [even after the event the mitzvah has not been fulfilled.] אפילו בדיעבד אינו יוצא [One can mark in the Megillah (the) vowels and (the) notes] ויכולין לעשות במגילה נקודות וטעמים [so that one can read properly,] שיקרא כהוגן [since this is an urgent situation,] כיון שהוא שעת הדחק [and more preferable than having someone else read] והכי עדיף טפי ממה שיקרא אחר [from a printed text quietly (to him),] מתוך החומש בלחש [Because the one who reads from the printed text,] דכיון שזה הקורא מתוך החומש [even if he is reading quietly,] אפילו הוא קורא בלחש [is not able to concentrate his attention] אינו יכול לכוין דעתו [on hearing (the words) from the reader.] שישמע מהשליח צבור [Therefore he has read only from the printed text] ונמצא שקרא רק מתוך החומש [and has not fulfilled his obligation,] ואינו יוצא [and if this did happen,] ואם אירע כך [he needs to return and hear (it again) from a kosher Megillah.] צריך לחזור ולשמעה מתוך מגילה כשרה יח
141:19 [צבור שאין להם מגילה כשרה כדינה] A congregation that does not have a Megillah that is completely kosher, [מכל מקום אם היא כתובה כהלכתה] however, if it is written according to halacha, [רק שחסרים איזה תיבות באמצעה] only is missing some words in the middle, [כיון שלא חסר בה ענין אחד שלם] since there is not missing in it one complete topic, [יכולין לקרות מתוכה עם הברכות] one may read in it with the blessings; [והטעות יקרא הקורא בעל פה] and the error (of missing words), the reader reads by heart, [או יאמר לפניו בלחש מתוך החומש] or someone say before him quietly, from a printed text. [אבל אם אין להם מגילה כלל] However, if they do not have a Megillah at all, [או שחסר בה ענין אחד שלם] or there is missing in it one complete topic, [או שחסר בה בתחלה או בסוף] or there are missing (words) in it, at the beginning or the end, [קורין מתוך החומש כל אחד] each person reads from a printed text [בפני עצמו ואין מברכין] to himself and does not bless. [ויחיד שאין לו רק מגילה פסולה] An individual who only has a non-kosher Megillah, [קורא בה בלא ברכות] reads in it without (the) blessings. [A congregation that does not have a Megillah that is completely kosher,] צבור שאין להם מגילה כשרה כדינה [however, if it is written according to halacha,] מכל מקום אם היא כתובה כהלכתה [only is missing some words in the middle,] רק שחסרים איזה תיבות באמצעה [since there is not missing in it one complete topic,] כיון שלא חסר בה ענין אחד שלם [one may read in it with the blessings;] יכולין לקרות מתוכה עם הברכות [and the error (of missing words), the reader reads by heart,] והטעות יקרא הקורא בעל פה [or someone say before him quietly, from a printed text.] או יאמר לפניו בלחש מתוך החומש [However, if they do not have a Megillah at all,] אבל אם אין להם מגילה כלל [or there is missing in it one complete topic,] או שחסר בה ענין אחד שלם [or there are missing (words) in it, at the beginning or the end,] או שחסר בה בתחלה או בסוף [each person reads from a printed text] קורין מתוך החומש כל אחד [to himself and does not bless.] בפני עצמו ואין מברכין [An individual who only has a non-kosher Megillah,] ויחיד שאין לו רק מגילה פסולה [reads in it without (the) blessings.] קורא בה בלא ברכות יט
141:20 [אבל תוך שבעה נוהג בכל דיני אבלות] A mourner during the seven (days)1 observes all the laws of mourning, [ואסור לראות כל מיני שמחה] and is forbidden to see any kind of celebration. [אך בנעילת הסנדל וישיבה על גבי ספסל] However, wearing shoes and sitting on a chair [מותר מפני שהן דברים הנראין לכל] are permitted because these are activities that are obvious to all.2 [בלילה אם יכול לאסוף מנין לביתו] In the evening if he can get a minyan3 to his home [לקרות המגילה מוטב] to read the Megillah, this is preferable. [ואם לאו יתפלל בביתו] Otherwise, he should pray at home [וילך לבית הכנסת לשמוע המגילה] and (then) go to the synagogue to hear the Megillah.4 [אם חל במוצאי שבת ילך לבית הכנסת] If (Purim) starts on Saturday night, he should go to the synagogue [לאחר סעודה שלישית בעוד יום] after the third meal, before sunset, [וביום הולך לבית הכנסת לתפלה ולמגילה] and in the day he goes to the synagogue for the services and the Megillah.
1) The first seven days after the burial of a member of one’s immediate family.
2) There is a dispute among the later authorities as to whether the laws of mourning apply on the day that Purim is celebrated. The present custom is that only the aspects of mourning that can be kept private are observed (Shulchan Aruch 496:4).
3) Ten adult males (including the mourner himself.
4) A mourner, during the first seven days, is not allowed to leave the house except for certain circumstances, such as performing certain mitzvot. The reason for this is so that the mourner doesn’t get distracted from mourning. Since it is a mitzvah to hear the Megillah with a minyan, if he can’t get ten men to his home, he may go to synagogue. [A mourner during the seven (days) observes all the laws of mourning,] אבל תוך שבעה נוהג בכל דיני אבלות [and is forbidden to see any kind of celebration.] ואסור לראות כל מיני שמחה [However, wearing shoes and sitting on a chair] אך בנעילת הסנדל וישיבה על גבי ספסל [are permitted because these are activities that are obvious to all.] מותר מפני שהן דברים הנראין לכל [In the evening if he can get a minyan to his home] בלילה אם יכול לאסוף מנין לביתו [to read the Megillah, this is preferable.] לקרות המגילה מוטב [Otherwise, he should pray at home] ואם לאו יתפלל בביתו [and (then) go to the synagogue to hear the Megillah.] וילך לבית הכנסת לשמוע המגילה [If (Purim) starts on Saturday night, he should go to the synagogue] אם חל במוצאי שבת ילך לבית הכנסת [after the third meal, before sunset,] לאחר סעודה שלישית בעוד יום [and in the day he goes to the synagogue for the services and the Megillah.] וביום הולך לבית הכנסת לתפלה ולמגילה כ
141:21 [מי שמת לו מת בתענית אסתר] One who has a (immediate relative1) die on the Fast of Esther, [ובלילה הוא אונן קודם הקבורה] is on (Purim) night an ”Onan”2 before the burial, [ישמע קריאת המגילה מאחר] should listen to the reading of the Megillah by another, [ולא יאכל בשר ולא ישתה יין] and not eat meat or drink wine, [כי בלילה אינו חייב במשתה] because at night he is not obligated to the festive meal. [וביום לאחר יציאה מבית הכנסת] In the morning (following), after (all are) leaving the synagogue [קוברין את המת] one buries the dead, [ואחר כך יתפלל] and afterwards prays (the morning service) [ויקרא את המגילה] and reads the Megillah, [או ישמע מאחר] or listen (to the reading) by another. [ואם שמע קריאת המגילה קודם הקבורה] If he hears the Megillah reading before the burial, [יצא] he has fulfilled his obligation. [ומכל מקום נכון שיחזור ויקרא בלא ברכות] In this event, it is right that he reads it again without the blessings. [ותפילין לא יניח אפילו אחר הקבורה] He should not put on tefillin even after the burial [כיון שהוא יום ראשון באבלו] since this is the first day of his mourning.3 [ואונן בפורים ביום מותר בבשר וביין] An ”Onan” on Purim during the day is allowed meat and wine.
1) Parents, brothers, sisters, children or spouse.
2) One who is waiting to bury their dead. Special laws apply to them. See Chapter 196.
3) See Ch. 211:2 [One who has a (immediate relative) die on the Fast of Esther,] מי שמת לו מת בתענית אסתר [is on (Purim) night an ”Onan” before the burial,] ובלילה הוא אונן קודם הקבורה [should listen to the reading of the Megillah by another,] ישמע קריאת המגילה מאחר [and not eat meat or drink wine,] ולא יאכל בשר ולא ישתה יין [because at night he is not obligated to the festive meal.] כי בלילה אינו חייב במשתה [In the morning (following), after (all are) leaving the synagogue] וביום לאחר יציאה מבית הכנסת [one buries the dead,] קוברין את המת [and afterwards prays (the morning service)] ואחר כך יתפלל [and reads the Megillah,] ויקרא את המגילה [or listen (to the reading) by another.] או ישמע מאחר [If he hears the Megillah reading before the burial,] ואם שמע קריאת המגילה קודם הקבורה [he has fulfilled his obligation.] יצא [In this event, it is right that he reads it again without the blessings.] ומכל מקום נכון שיחזור ויקרא בלא ברכות [He should not put on tefillin even after the burial] ותפילין לא יניח אפילו אחר הקבורה [since this is the first day of his mourning.] כיון שהוא יום ראשון באבלו [An ”Onan” on Purim during the day is allowed meat and wine.] ואונן בפורים ביום מותר בבשר וביין כא
141:22 [שחרית משכימין לבית הכנסת] On (Purim) morning one comes early to the synagogue. [לאחר שמונה עשרה אומרים חצי קדיש] After the Amidah (Shemoneh Esreh) half-kaddish is said,1 [וקורין בתורה בפרשת] one reads in the Torah the passage:2 [ויבא עמלק תלתא גברי] ”Then came Amalek…” (while calling up) three men. [ואחר כך חצי קדיש] After this half-kaddish, [ולאחר שמכניסין את הספר תורה] and after the Torah is put back (in the ark), [קורין את המגילה] we read the Megillah. [לאחר ברכה אחרונה אין אומרים] After the concluding blessing, one does not say [בשחרית אשר הניא] in the morning, (the Piyyut) ”The Lord wrecked the counsel…” [ולאחר שסיים האל המושיע] and after one has finished (the concluding blessing) ”…redeeeming G-d.” [אומרים שושנת יעקב וכו’] one says ”The Jews of Shushan shouted for joy…” (instead). [ואומרים אשרי ובא לציון] (Then) one says ”Happy are those…” and ”A redeemer shall come to Zion…”,3 [קדיש שלם עם תתקבל] full Kaddish with ”(May the prayers)…be accepted…”. [ואין לחלוץ את התפילין עד לאחר קריאת המגילה] Tefillin are not removed until after the Megilah reading [משום דכתיב בה ויקר] because it’s written4 that ”and glory”5 [ודרשינן אלו תפילין] refers to the Tefillin. [אם יש מילה] If there is a baby to be circumcised, [מלין קודם קריאת המגילה] one does the circumcision before the Megillah reading, [משום דכתיב וששון זו מילה] because it’s written ** ”…rejoicing…” which is (refers to) circumcision.
1) Hallel is not said on Purim because though we were saved from Haman’s plot, we still remained servants of King Achashverosh – Mishna Berurah 693:7
2) Ex. 17:8-16.
3) Psalm 20 which comes between these two, is not said on Purim, because it contains the word ”hardship” which is not appropriate to Purim.
4) Megillah 16b.
5) From Esther 8:16: ”And the Jews enjoyed light, happiness, rejoicing, and glory”. [On (Purim) morning one comes early to the synagogue.] שחרית משכימין לבית הכנסת [After the Amidah (Shemoneh Esreh) half-kaddish is said,] לאחר שמונה עשרה אומרים חצי קדיש [one reads in the Torah the passage (Ex. 17:8-16):] וקורין בתורה בפרשת [”Then came Amalek…” (while calling up) three men.] ויבא עמלק תלתא גברי [After this half-kaddish,] ואחר כך חצי קדיש [and after the Torah is put back (in the ark),] ולאחר שמכניסין את הספר תורה [we read the Megillah.] קורין את המגילה [After the concluding blessing, one does not say] לאחר ברכה אחרונה אין אומרים [in the morning, (the Piyyut) ”The Lord wrecked the counsel…”] בשחרית אשר הניא [and after one has finished (the concluding blessing) ”…redeeeming G-d.”] ולאחר שסיים האל המושיע [one says ”The Jews of Shushan shouted for joy…” (instead).] אומרים שושנת יעקב וכו’ [(Then) one says ”Happy are those…” and ”A redeemer shall come to Zion…”,] ואומרים אשרי ובא לציון [full Kaddish with ”(May the prayers)…be accepted…”.] קדיש שלם עם תתקבל [Tefillin are not removed until after the Megilah reading] ואין לחלוץ את התפילין עד לאחר קריאת המגילה [because it’s written that ”and glory”] משום דכתיב בה ויקר [refers to the Tefillin.] ודרשינן אלו תפילין [If there is a baby to be circumcised,] אם יש מילה [one does the circumcision before the Megillah reading,] מלין קודם קריאת המגילה [because it’s written ”…rejoicing…” which is (refers to) circumcision.] משום דכתיב וששון זו מילה כב
141:23 [עיר שהיא מוקפת חומה] A city which was surrounded by a wall [מימות יהושע בן נון] at the time of Joshua ben Nun1 [קורין בה בט”ו] read it (the Megillah) on the 15th (of Adar),2 [ולא שכיחי במדינותינו] This is not common in our cities.3
1) Joshua led the Jews into the Land of Israel in 1272 BCE to conquer the land.
2) As in Megillat Esther (9:19): ”Therefore, the Jews…living in UNWALLED cities celebrate the 14th day of the month of Adar,”, but doesn’t say when those in walled cities should celebrate Purim. The Talmud (Megillah 2b) concludes that walled cities should celebrate on the 15th of Adar, just like Shushan, a walled city, did at the time of Purim (the battle against the enemies of the Jews in Shushan lasted one day longer than the war in other cities, and thus the victory was celebrated there on the 15th rather than the 14th – see Esther 9:15).
Why should the status of a city be based on whether it had a wall at the time of Joshua’s conquest rather than whether it had a wall at the time of the miracle of Purim? There are two main reasons given:
a) Had it been based on whether a wall existed at the time of Purim, the great cities of the land of Israel would have to be classified as unwalled cities, because their walls lay in ruins at the time of Purim, due to the Babylonian conquest. So, by making it the time of Joshua, the cities of the land of Israel received the honor of reading with the walled cities (Jerusalem Talmud).
b) Since it was Joshua who led the first battle against Amalek when the Jews left Egypt (Ex 17:8-16), the sages felt it appropriate to associate his name with the celebration of the downfall of Amalek at the time of Purim (Haman was a descendant of Amalek).
3) The Kitzur Shulchan Aruch is (of course) referring to his place and time – the Jewish communities in Europe in the late 19th Century CE. [A city which was surrounded by a wall] עיר שהיא מוקפת חומה [at the time of Joshua ben Nun] מימות יהושע בן נון [read it (the Megillah) on the 15th (of Adar),] קורין בה בט”ו [This is not common in our cities.] ולא שכיחי במדינותינו כג
Kitzur Shulchan Aruch: Purim Gifts and Festive Meal Ch. 142:1-10 הלכות משלוח מנות איש לרעהו ומתנות לאביונים וסעודת פורים
142:1 [חייב כל אדם לשלוח] Every person is obliged to send [לכל הפחות לאדם אחד שתי מתנות] to at least one other person two gifts [דכתיב ומשלוח מנות איש לרעהו] as it is written:1 ”…sending portions, each person to his friend” [משמע שתי מתנות לאחד] meaning (at least) two gifts to one (person). [וכל המרבה לשלוח מנות לרעים הרי זה משובח] All who send many gifts to their friends are to be praised. [ומכל מקום מוטב להרבות במתנות לאביונים] In any case, it is better to increase the gifts to the poor [מלהרבות בסעודתו ובמשלוח מנות לרעים] instead of making a bigger festive meal or sending gifts to friends, [כי אין שמחה גדולה ומפוארת] for there is no greater and glorious joy [לפני הקדוש ברוך הוא] before the Holy One, blessed be He, [אלא לשמח לב עניים ויתומים ואלמנות] than to gladden the hearts of the poor, the orphans, and the widows. [והמשמח לב האומללים האלו] One who gladdens the hearts of these unfortunates [דומה לשכינה] resembles the Divine Presence [שנאמר] as it is said:2 [להחיות רוח שפלים ולהחיות לב נדכאים] ”…to revive the spirit of the humble, to revive the heart of the depressed…”.
1) Esther 9:22
2) Isaiah 57:16 [Every person is obliged to send] חייב כל אדם לשלוח [to at least one other person two gifts] לכל הפחות לאדם אחד שתי מתנות [as it is written: ”…sending portions, each person to his friend”] דכתיב ומשלוח מנות איש לרעהו [meaning (at least) two gifts to one (person).] משמע שתי מתנות לאחד [All who send many gifts to their friends are to be praised.] וכל המרבה לשלוח מנות לרעים הרי זה משובח [In any case, it is better to increase the gifts to the poor] ומכל מקום מוטב להרבות במתנות לאביונים [instead of making a bigger festive meal or sending gifts to friends,] מלהרבות בסעודתו ובמשלוח מנות לרעים [for there is no greater and glorious joy] כי אין שמחה גדולה ומפוארת [before the Holy One, blessed be He,] לפני הקדוש ברוך הוא [than to gladden the hearts of the poor, the orphans, and the widows.] אלא לשמח לב עניים ויתומים ואלמנות [One who gladdens the hearts of these unfortunates] והמשמח לב האומללים האלו [resembles the Divine Presence] דומה לשכינה [as it is said:] שנאמר [”…to revive the spirit of the humble, to revive the heart of the depressed…”.] להחיות רוח שפלים ולהחיות לב נדכאים א
142:2 [לא נקרא מנות אלא דבר שראוי לאכול] It is not called a gift1 unless it is ready to eat [כמות שהוא בלי תיקון] as it is without preparation, [כגון בשר ודגים מבושלים ולא חיין] like cooked meat or fish and not raw, [או מיני מתיקה או פירות] or candies (sweets), or fruit, [או כוס יין ומי דבש וכיוצא בו] or a drink of wine or mead and the like.2
1) lit; portion.
2) The ”portions” should be of a good size like those one would serve to guests in ones home. One should give at least two different types of food (including two types of meat), or two different beverages or one food item and one beverage. One can add to these as many items as one wants. [It is not called a gift unless it is ready to eat] לא נקרא מנות אלא דבר שראוי לאכול [as it is without preparation,] כמות שהוא בלי תיקון [like cooked meat or fish and not raw,] כגון בשר ודגים מבושלים ולא חיין [or candies (sweets), or fruit,] או מיני מתיקה או פירות [or a drink of wine or mead and the like.] או כוס יין ומי דבש וכיוצא בו ב
142:3 [כל אדם אפילו עני שבישראל המקבל צדקה] Every person,1 even a poor Jew receiving charity, [חייב ליתן לכל הפחות שתי מתנות לשני עניים] is obliged to give at least two gifts2 to two poor people, [דהיינו מתנה אחת לכל אחד] that is one gift to each one, [דכתיב ומתנות לאביונים] it is written:3 ”gifts to poor people” [משמע שתי מתנות לשני אביונים] implying (by the plural) two gifts to two poor persons. [ואין מדקדקין במעות פורים] One is not too selective about money (given out) on Purim, [אלא כל הפושט יד ליטול נותנים לו] rather to everyone that puts his hand out, one gives to him. [ומי שהוא במקום שאין שם עניים] One who is in a place where there are no poor, [יעכב את המעות אצלו] should keep the money to himself [עד שיזדמנו לו עניים או ישלחם להם] until he finds a poor person or send it to them.
1) Men and women are both obliged.
2) Money or food.
3) Esther 9:22 [Every person, even a poor Jew receiving charity,] כל אדם אפילו עני שבישראל המקבל צדקה [is obliged to give at least two gifts to two poor people,] חייב ליתן לכל הפחות שתי מתנות לשני עניים [that is one gift to each one,] דהיינו מתנה אחת לכל אחד [it is written: ”gifts to poor people”] דכתיב ומתנות לאביונים [implying (by the plural) two gifts to two poor persons.] משמע שתי מתנות לשני אביונים [One is not too selective about money (given out) on Purim,] ואין מדקדקין במעות פורים [rather to everyone that puts his hand out, one gives to him.] אלא כל הפושט יד ליטול נותנים לו [One who is in a place where there are no poor,] ומי שהוא במקום שאין שם עניים [should keep the money to himself] יעכב את המעות אצלו [until he finds a poor person or send it to them.] עד שיזדמנו לו עניים או ישלחם להם ג
142:4 [גם הנשים חייבות במשלוח מנות ומתנות לאביונים] Women are also obligated to send food and gifts to the poor. [משלוח מנות תשלח אשה לאשה ואיש לאיש] Gifts of food should be sent by a woman to (another) woman or a man to (another) man. [אבל מתנות לאביונים יכולה גם אשה] However (with regard to) gifts to the poor, a woman can also [לשלוח לאיש וכן בהיפוך] send to a man and vice versa. [קצת נשים סומכות על בעליהן] Some women rely on their husbands [שהן שולחים גם בשבילן] that they will send also for them, [ואינו נכון אלא יש להחמיר] but this is not correct, and one should be scrupulous (about this). [Women are also obligated to send food and gifts to the poor.] גם הנשים חייבות במשלוח מנות ומתנות לאביונים [Gifts of food should be sent by a woman to (another) woman or a man to (another) man.] משלוח מנות תשלח אשה לאשה ואיש לאיש [However (with regard to) gifts to the poor, a woman can also] אבל מתנות לאביונים יכולה גם אשה [send to a man and vice versa.] לשלוח לאיש וכן בהיפוך [Some women rely on their husbands] קצת נשים סומכות על בעליהן [that they will send also for them,] שהן שולחים גם בשבילן [but this is not correct, and one should be scrupulous (about this).] ואינו נכון אלא יש להחמיר ד
142:5 [חייבין לאכול ולשתות ולשמוח בפורים] We are obliged to eat, drink, and rejoice on Purim. [גם בליל י”ד] Also on the night of the 14th [ישמח וירבה קצת בסעודה] one should rejoice and have some more at the meal. [וכשחל במוצאי שבת אף שצריך] When (Purim) comes on Sunday even though one needs [לעשות בשבת סעודה שלישית] to make on Shabbat a third meal, [ימעט קצת באכילתו ביום] one should slightly reduce what we eat during the day [ליתן מקום לסעודת ליל פורים] in order to have room for the Purim evening meal. [ומכל מקום בסעודה שעושין בלילה] In any case, in the meal one makes in the evening, [אין יוצאין ידי חובתן] one does not fulfill ones obligation, [דעיקר הסעודה מצותה שתהא ביום] because the essence of the festive meal is that it should be in the day [דכתיב ימי משתה] since it’s written:1 ”…DAYS of merriment.” [ויש להדליק נרות דרך שמחה ויום טוב] One should light candles (in the evening) as is done for a joyous festival, [גם כשעושין הסעודה ביום] even though we are making the (main) festive meal in the day. [וגם בליל ט”ו צריך לשמוח קצת] Also on the night of the 15th one needs to rejoice a little. [גם מתנות לאביונים ומנות לרעהו] Also the gifts to the poor and the food for friends [צריך להיות ביום] need to be in the day, [ומשום דטרידי במשלוח מנות] and because one is busy with sending food, [עושין מקצת סעודה בלילה] one carries on (the festive meal) a little into the evening. [ומתפללין מנחה בעוד היום גדול] One prays the afternoon service early in the afternoon, [ועושין את הסעודה לאחר מנחה] and make the festive meal after the afternoon service. [וצריכין לעשות על כל פנים] One needs to make, in any case, [רוב סעודה ביום] most of the meal in the day. [וכשחל בערב שבת] When it falls on Friday, [עושין אותה בשחרית] one makes it (the festive meal) in the morning [מפני כבוד שבת] so as (not to take away from) the honor of Shabbat. [וטוב לעסוק קצת בתורה] It’s proper to do a little Torah (study) [קודם שמתחיל הסעודה] before starting the festive meal. [וסמך לדבר ליהודים היתה אורה] The authority for this (custom) comes from:2 ”To the Jews was light…” [ודרשינן אורה זו תורה] and explains3 that ”light” is (also) Torah. [יש אומרים שיש לאכול מיני זרעונין בפורים] Some say that one should eat (different) kinds of pulses4 on Purim [זכר לזרעונין שאכלו דניאל וחביריו בבבל] in memory of the pulses that were eaten by Daniel and his group in Babylon,5 [וזכר לזרעונין שאכלה אסתר] and in memory of the pulses eaten by Esther [דאיתא בגמרא] as the Gemorrah,6 [וישנה ואת נערותיה לטוב] ”And he changed her and her maidservants to the best…”, [שהאכילה זרעונים] that he fed them pulses.7 [דיני על הנסים בברכת המזון] (The laws concerning ”For the miracles…” (which is added) in the grace after meals [עיין סימן מ”ד סעיף ט”ו, ט”ז] are covered in Ch. 44:16 and 17.)
1) Esther 9:22
2) Esther 8:16
3) Megillah 16b
4) Pulses are the edible seeds of the group of plants that include peas, beans and lentils.
5) After Nebuchadnezzar had conquered Jerusalem in the 5th Century BCE, he ordered that a group of the best Jewish youths be brought to Babylon and groomed to serve in his palace. Daniel, Chananyah, Mishael and Azariah, were the best of the group and they asked the steward in charge to provide them with pulses rather than the non-kosher food that the king was providing for them. The steward was worried that after a while the signs of malnutrition would begin to show, and the king would be furious. Daniel proposed a ten day trial, and after those ten days of eating pulses, Daniel, Chananyah, Mishael and Azariah looked healthier than those who were eating the king’s food (Daniel 1:1-21). Daniel played a role in the Purim story – according to one opinion in the Midrash, he was Hasach, the messenger sent by Esther to Mordechai (Esther 4:5); according to another opinion, he was Memuchan, one of King Achashverosh’s advisors (Esther 1:14).
6) Megillah 13a explains the verse Esther 2:9.
7) The servant in charge of the women in the palace fed Esther and her maidservants pulses so that they wouldn’t have to eat the non-kosher food. [We are obliged to eat, drink, and rejoice on Purim.] חייבין לאכול ולשתות ולשמוח בפורים [Also on the night of the 14th] גם בליל י”ד [one should rejoice and have some more at the meal.] ישמח וירבה קצת בסעודה [When (Purim) comes on Sunday even though one needs] וכשחל במוצאי שבת אף שצריך [to make on Shabbat a third meal,] לעשות בשבת סעודה שלישית [one should slightly reduce what we eat during the day] ימעט קצת באכילתו ביום [in order to have room for the Purim evening meal.] ליתן מקום לסעודת ליל פורים [In any case, in the meal one makes in the evening,] ומכל מקום בסעודה שעושין בלילה [one does not fulfill ones obligation,] אין יוצאין ידי חובתן [because the essence of the festive meal is that it should be in the day] דעיקר הסעודה מצותה שתהא ביום [since it’s written: ”…DAYS of merriment.”] דכתיב ימי משתה [One should light candles (in the evening) as is done for a joyous festival,] ויש להדליק נרות דרך שמחה ויום טוב [even though we are making the (main) festive meal in the day.] גם כשעושין הסעודה ביום [Also on the night of the 15th one needs to rejoice a little.] וגם בליל ט”ו צריך לשמוח קצת [Also the gifts to the poor and the food for friends] גם מתנות לאביונים ומנות לרעהו [need to be in the day,] צריך להיות ביום [and because one is busy with sending food,] ומשום דטרידי במשלוח מנות [one carries on (the festive meal) a little into the evening.] עושין מקצת סעודה בלילה [One prays the afternoon service early in the afternoon,] ומתפללין מנחה בעוד היום גדול [and make the festive meal after the afternoon service.] ועושין את הסעודה לאחר מנחה [One needs to make, in any case,] וצריכין לעשות על כל פנים [most of the meal in the day.] רוב סעודה ביום [When it falls on Friday,] וכשחל בערב שבת [one makes it (the festive meal) in the morning] עושין אותה בשחרית [so as (not to take away from) the honor of Shabbat.] מפני כבוד שבת [It’s proper to do a little Torah (study)] וטוב לעסוק קצת בתורה [before starting the festive meal.] קודם שמתחיל הסעודה [The authority for this (custom) comes from: ”To the Jews was light…”] וסמך לדבר ליהודים היתה אורה [and explains that ”light” is (also) Torah.] ודרשינן אורה זו תורה [Some say that one should eat (different) kinds of pulses on Purim] יש אומרים שיש לאכול מיני זרעונין בפורים [in memory of the pulses that were eaten by Daniel and his group in Babylon,] זכר לזרעונין שאכלו דניאל וחביריו בבבל [and in memory of the pulses eaten by Esther] וזכר לזרעונין שאכלה אסתר [as the Gemorrah,] דאיתא בגמרא [”And he changed her and her maidservants to the best…”,] וישנה ואת נערותיה לטוב [that he fed them pulses.] שהאכילה זרעונים [(The laws concerning ”For the miracles…” (which is added) in the grace after meals] דיני על הנסים בברכת המזון [are covered in Ch. 44:16 and 17. )] עיין סימן מ”ד סעיף ט”ו, ט”ז ה
142:6 [כיון שכל הנס היה על ידי היין] Because all of the miracle took place through (the agency of) wine, [ושתי נטרדה במשתה היין] (for example) Vashti was deposed during the wine feast [ובאה אסתר במקומה] and Esther came in her place, [וכן ענין המן ומפלתו היה על ידי יין] and also Haman’s downfall was because of wine, [לכן חייבו חכמינו זכרונם לברכה] therefore we are obliged by our sages, of blessed memory, [להשתכר ביין] to get drunk with wine. [ואמרו חייב אינש לבסומי בפוריא] It is said:1 ”A person is obliged to drink on Purim [עד דלא ידע] until he does not know (the difference) [בין ארור המן לברוך מרדי] between ‘Cursed be Haman’ and ‘Blessed be Mordechai’ ”. [ולפחות ישתה יותר מהרגלו] At least, he should drink more than his custom [כדי לזכור את הנס הגדול ויישן] in memory of the great miracle and (then) fall asleep. [ומתוך שישן אינו יודע] Then while sleeping, he will not know (the difference) [בין ארור המן לברוך מרדכי] between ‘Cursed be Haman’ and ‘Blessed be Mordechai’. [ואולם מי שהוא חלוש בטבעו] However, one who has a weak constitution, [וכן מי שיודע בעצמו] and also one who knows himself, [שעל ידי כן יזלזל] that by this (excessive drinking) he would treat lightly, [חס ושלום באיזה מצוה] Heaven forbid, some commandment, [בברכה או בתפלה או שיבא] a blessing, or a prayer, or will come, [חס ושלום לקלות ראש] Heaven forbid, to irreverence, [מוטב שלא להשתכר] it is best (for him) not to get drunk. [וכל מעשיו יהיו לשם שמים] (Thus) and ”all your actions will be for the sake of Heaven.”2
1) Megillah 7b
2) Pirkei Avos. 2:12 [Because all of the miracle took place through (the agency of) wine,] כיון שכל הנס היה על ידי היין [(for example) Vashti was deposed during the wine feast] ושתי נטרדה במשתה היין [and Esther came in her place,] ובאה אסתר במקומה [and also Haman’s downfall was because of wine,] וכן ענין המן ומפלתו היה על ידי יין [therefore we are obliged by our sages, of blessed memory,] לכן חייבו חכמינו זכרונם לברכה [to get drunk with wine.] להשתכר ביין [It is said: ”A person is obliged to drink on Purim] ואמרו חייב אינש לבסומי בפוריא [until he does not know (the difference)] עד דלא ידע [between ‘Cursed be Haman’ and ‘Blessed be Mordechai’ ”.] בין ארור המן לברוך מרדי [At least, he should drink more than his custom] ולפחות ישתה יותר מהרגלו [in memory of the great miracle and (then) fall asleep.] כדי לזכור את הנס הגדול ויישן [Then while sleeping, he will not know (the difference)] ומתוך שישן אינו יודע [between ‘Cursed be Haman’ and ‘Blessed be Mordechai’.] בין ארור המן לברוך מרדכי [However, one who has a weak constitution,] ואולם מי שהוא חלוש בטבעו [and also one who knows himself,] וכן מי שיודע בעצמו [that by this (excessive drinking) he would treat lightly,] שעל ידי כן יזלזל [Heaven forbid, some commandment,] חס ושלום באיזה מצוה [a blessing, or a prayer, or will come,] בברכה או בתפלה או שיבא [Heaven forbid, to irreverence,] חס ושלום לקלות ראש [it is best (for him) not to get drunk.] מוטב שלא להשתכר [(Thus) and ”all your actions will be for the sake of Heaven.”] וכל מעשיו יהיו לשם שמים ו
142:7 [האבל אפילו תוך שבעה] A mourner, even in the (first) seven (days), [חייב במתנות לאביונים וגם לשלוח מנות לרעהו] is obliged to (give) gifts to the poor and send food to his friends. [ומכל מקום לא ישלח דבר של שמחה] In any case, he should not send something (which is connected with) joy. [אבל להאבל אין שולחין מנות] However one does not send gifts to a mourner [כל שנים עשר חודש] during the whole twelve months (of mourning) [אפילו דבר שאינו של שמחה] even something which are not connected to happiness. [אם הוא עני מותר לשלוח לו מעות] If he (the mourner) is a poor person, one can send him money [או שאר דבר שאינו של שמחה] or other things which are not connected to happiness. [ואם אין במקום ההוא רק האבל עם אחד] If there no (Jews) in a place besides the mourner and one other, [חייב לשלוח לו] one must send him [כדי לקיים המצוה משלוח מנות] in order to carry out the commandment of sending gifts. [דין האונן עיין לעיל] (The laws concerning an ”Onan”1 are covered [סימן קמ”א סעיף כ”א] in Ch. 141:21 )
1) One who has not yet buried his dead. [A mourner, even in the (first) seven (days),] האבל אפילו תוך שבעה [is obliged to (give) gifts to the poor and send food to his friends.] חייב במתנות לאביונים וגם לשלוח מנות לרעהו [In any case, he should not send something (which is connected with) joy.] ומכל מקום לא ישלח דבר של שמחה [However one does not send gifts to a mourner] אבל להאבל אין שולחין מנות [during the whole twelve months (of mourning)] כל שנים עשר חודש [even something which are not connected to happiness.] אפילו דבר שאינו של שמחה [If he (the mourner) is a poor person, one can send him money] אם הוא עני מותר לשלוח לו מעות [or other things which are not connected to happiness.] או שאר דבר שאינו של שמחה [If there no (Jews) in a place besides the mourner and one other,] ואם אין במקום ההוא רק האבל עם אחד [one must send him] חייב לשלוח לו [in order to carry out the commandment of sending gifts.] כדי לקיים המצוה משלוח מנות [(The laws concerning an ”Onan” are covered] דין האונן עיין לעיל [in Ch. 141:21 )] סימן קמ”א סעיף כ”א ז
142:8 [אין לעשות מלאכה בפורים] One should not do (creative) work1 on Purim, [ומי שעושה בו מלאכה] and the one who does on it (creative) work [אינו רואה מאותה מלאכה] will not see from this same work [סימן ברכה לעולם] a sign of blessing for ever. [ועל ידי אינו יהודי מותר] If carried out by a non-jew, this is allowed. [ומותר לעסוק בפרקמטיא] It’s allowed to carry on business activities [וכן מותר לכתוב אפילו אגרת שלום] and also allowed to write, even a whole letter. [וכן חובותיו וכל דבר] Also (doing) one’s accounts and anything else [שאינו צריך עיון גדול] that does not need great concentration. [וכל שכן לכתוב דבר מצוה] Certainly, one can write (concerning) a commandment, [או לעשות שאר דבר מצוה] or to do an activity (connected with) a commandment. [וכן לצורך פורים מותר לעשות] Also for Purim itself one is allowed to do [אפילו מלאכות גמורות] even complete (creative) work.
1) One of the 39 specific categories of creative activity, such as planting seeds, kneading dough and construction, which are forbidden to do on Shabbat. [One should not do (creative) work on Purim,] אין לעשות מלאכה בפורים [and the one who does on it (creative) work] ומי שעושה בו מלאכה [will not see from this same work] אינו רואה מאותה מלאכה [a sign of blessing for ever.] סימן ברכה לעולם [If carried out by a non-jew, this is allowed.] ועל ידי אינו יהודי מותר [It’s allowed to carry on business activities] ומותר לעסוק בפרקמטיא [and also allowed to write, even a whole letter.] וכן מותר לכתוב אפילו אגרת שלום [Also (doing) one’s accounts and anything else] וכן חובותיו וכל דבר [that does not need great concentration.] שאינו צריך עיון גדול [Certainly, one can write (concerning) a commandment,] וכל שכן לכתוב דבר מצוה [or to do an activity (connected with) a commandment.] או לעשות שאר דבר מצוה [Also for Purim itself one is allowed to do] וכן לצורך פורים מותר לעשות [even complete (creative) work.] אפילו מלאכות גמורות ח
142:9 [יום ט”ו אדר נקרא אצלנו שושן פורים] The fifteen of Adar is called by us Shushan Purim.1 [אין אומרים בו תחנון] One does not say on it the supplicatory prayers, [ולא אל ארך אפים ולא למנצח] nor ”O G-d, slow to anger…”, nor Psalm 20. [ואסור גם בהספד ותענית] It is forbidden also to give a funeral eulogy, or to fast, [ונוהגין בו קצת משתה ושמחה] and it is customary to have some feasting and joy [אבל אין אומרים על הנסים] but one does not say ”For the miracles…”. [ומותרין לעשות בו נישואין] One can have on it weddings [כיון שאין אנו קורין בו את המגילה] because we don’t read on it the Megillah. [אבל ביום שקורין את המגילה] However, on the day that we do read the Megillah, [שאז עיקר השמחה] which is the core of the celebration, [אין עושין נישואין] one does not make weddings, [משום דאין מערבין שמחה בשמחה] because one should not mix one celebration with (another) celebration.
1) The Jews of Shushan achieved final victory against their enemies on the fifteenth of Adar, and so held their celebrations on that day, one day later than the Jews throughout the rest of the Persian empire. Shushan (along with any city which had a wall at the time that Joshua conquered the Land of Israel in 1272 BCE), read the Megillah on the 15th. [The fifteen of Adar is called by us Shushan Purim.] יום ט”ו אדר נקרא אצלנו שושן פורים [One does not say on it the supplicatory prayers,] אין אומרים בו תחנון [nor ”O G-d, slow to anger…”, nor Psalm 20.] ולא אל ארך אפים ולא למנצח [It is forbidden also to give a funeral eulogy, or to fast,] ואסור גם בהספד ותענית [and it is customary to have some feasting and joy] ונוהגין בו קצת משתה ושמחה [but one does not say ”For the miracles…”.] אבל אין אומרים על הנסים [One can have on it weddings] ומותרין לעשות בו נישואין [because we don’t read on it the Megillah.] כיון שאין אנו קורין בו את המגילה [However, on the day that we do read the Megillah,] אבל ביום שקורין את המגילה [which is the core of the celebration,] שאז עיקר השמחה [one does not make weddings,] אין עושין נישואין [because one should not mix one celebration with (another) celebration.] משום דאין מערבין שמחה בשמחה ט
142:10 [יום י”ד וט”ו שבאדר הראשון] On the fourteen and fifteen of Adar I 1 [גם כן אין אומרים] we also do not say [לא תחנון ולא אל ארך אפים ולא למנצח] neither the supplicatory prayers, nor ”O G-d, slow to anger…”, nor Psalm 20. [ואסורין בהספד ותענית] It is forbidden to give a funeral eulogy, or to fast. [וביום י”ד מרבים קצת בסעודה] On the fourteenth we have a slightly larger meal.
1) A lunar year is approximately 11 days shorter than the solar year; so, in order to keep the Jewish festivals (which are based on the lunar cycle) in the correct seasons (e.g. Pesach in the spring), an extra month of Adar is added every 3rd, 6th, 9th, 11th, 14th, and 17th years out of the cycle of 19 years. During a leap year, Purim is on the 14th and 15th of the second month of Adar. [On the fourteen and fifteen of Adar I] יום י”ד וט”ו שבאדר הראשון [we also do not say] גם כן אין אומרים [neither the supplicatory prayers, nor ”O G-d, slow to anger…”, nor Psalm 20.] לא תחנון ולא אל ארך אפים ולא למנצח [It is forbidden to give a funeral eulogy, or to fast.] ואסורין בהספד ותענית [On the fourteenth we have a slightly larger meal.] וביום י”ד מרבים קצת בסעודהTOP

 

 

7October

History is repeating itself. Remember 30November. Don’t Be A Statistic!

Why Didn't You Save Us By: Asher Schwartz http://www.jewishpress.com/cartoons/god-will-save-us/ Published: February 16th, 2015

Why Didn’t You Save Us By: Asher Schwartz http://www.jewishpress.com/cartoons/god-will-save-us/ Published: February 16th, 2015

From UK: Make Aliyah! Have them call Jewish Agency to start the formal application  0800-085-2105 / 0800-051-8227 or email gci-en@jafi.org
Depuis la France : faites votre Aliyah ! Demandez-leur d’appeler l’Agence juive pour lancer la candidature formelle 0-800-916-647 ou par courrier électronique à gci-fr@jafi.org

US & CAN 1-866-4-ALIYAH Israel 02-659-5800 www.nbn.org.il
Alyah : mode d’emploi https://www.jewishagency.org/fr/  Choisissez celle qui vous correspond et inscrivez-vous sur notre site Internet en cliquant ICI ou par téléphone, en appelant le Global Center au 0-800-916-647
The Jewish Agency Global Service Center http://www.jewishagency.org/global_center

כ”ב בתשרי, תשמ”ד  October 7, 2023 should be called ‘White Shabbat’ because on that day, the light of repentance came down to this world!

כ”ב בתשרי, תשמ”ד  October 7, 2023 – “שבת שחורה Shabbat HaSh’chora – Black Shabbat” (Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah) when Palestinian militants from Hamas, along with other groups and civilians, invaded Israel and proceeded to systematically kill civilians, including women, children, the elderly and babies. They literally raped, pillaged and plundered their way through several Israeli communities close to the Gaza border.

Nefesh B'Nefesh: Live the Dream US & CAN 1-866-4-ALIYAH | UK 020-8150-6690 or 0800-085-2105 | Israel 02-659-5800 https://www.nbn.org.il/ info@nbn.org.il

Nefesh B’Nefesh: Live the Dream US & CAN 1-866-4-ALIYAH | UK 020-8150-6690 or 0800-085-2105 | Israel 02-659-5800 https://www.nbn.org.il/ info@nbn.org.il

It’s time to come home! Nefesh B’Nefesh: Live the Dream 1-866-4-ALIYAH

When do we leave?
“When they start shooting Jews in the street, get out.”

When do we leave?

‎28 ‎January ‎2016  Lori Palatnik of the Jewish Women’s Renaissance Project thinks it is time for Jews to send their kids to live in Israel.
She explained that after 9/11, she started reading about “the end of days,” and asked “a very great” rabbi – “when do we leave?” He said that the time to get out was when “they start killing Jews in the street.”Unfortunately, she said – this is precisely what is already happening in France and New York.

The Antisemites are in Full force!

The Palestinian  and their Antisemitic supporters are now after EVERY JEW IN THE WORLD. THEY WANT TO DO TO YOU WHAT THEY DID IN ISRAEL

Let’s Come Back Home Again

This corridor is the most magical place on earth.


Joe Roberts-tweet-25December2023-this corridor is the most magical place on earth
Forget Disneyworld, this corridor is the most magical place on earth.

Joe Roberts-tweet-25December2023-this corridor is the most magical place on earth

Joe Roberts-tweet-25December2023-this corridor is the most magical place on earth

 



Joe Roberts-tweet-20February2024-Aliyah is up
🇮🇱’s Aliyah and Integration Ministry reports applications for Aliyah (immigration to Israel) are up:

300% from 🇫🇷

100% from 🇺🇸

150% from 🇨🇦

40% from 🇬🇧

Joe Roberts-tweet-20February2024-Aliyah and Integration Ministry reports, Aliyah is up

Joe Roberts-tweet-20February2024-Aliyah and Integration Ministry reports, Aliyah is up

 



Arsen Ostrovsky-tweet-4March2024-Golda Meir-The Jewish people have regained our sovereignty
Golda Meir famously said: “The world hates a Jew who hits back. The world loves us only when we are to be pitied.”

She was right! Looking at the world reaction to Israel’s response to the Oct 7 Hamas massacre, I would just add:

“Well, no more will we settle for the world’s pity. The Jewish people have regained our sovereignty, our army and our independence, having made a solemn promise of Never Again, whereas Hamas seeks to repeat the massacre of Oct 7 again and again.”

Arsen Ostrovsky-tweet-4March2024-Golda Meir "The Jewish people have regained our sovereignty"

Arsen Ostrovsky-tweet-4March2024-Golda Meir “The Jewish people have regained our sovereignty”

 

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StandWithUs Supporting Israel

StandWithUs Supporting Israel

For Jews, every day is October 7th

https://www.standwithus.com/post/for-jews-every-day-is-october-7th

The Times of Israel
Michael Dickson
2November2023

Jewish Star Of David on Brick Photo via: StandWithUs/Shutterstock

Jewish Star Of David on Brick Photo via: StandWithUs/Shutterstock

Experiencing violent trauma would have been enough.

 

Now imagine experiencing violent trauma, the rape of your loved ones, their murder in ways so brutal as to be almost unimaginable, and then their dismemberment and the defilement of their bodies. Add to this unfathomable loss, the constant fear of attack as you attempt to grieve, the inability to give your surviving family a sense of security and the consistent dripfeed of new, gruesome testimony – and indeed video as the perpetrators filmed it all – on a daily basis. And as each shiva in each mourning-house takes place, the shadow of anxiety about the wellbeing of the mass-kidnappees is ever-present.

 

I studied the psychology of resilience in the face of terrible ordeals and wrote a book about it, but there is no psychologist on this earth that is fully equipped to counsel the victims of the Hamas massacre of October 7th. Help is certainly at hand – but there will never be a coming to terms with what happened that grisly Sabbath morning in southern Israel.

 

Your Jewish friends are suffering. Days, weeks have passed since the news started to seep out and the revelations began to be heard, but it is as if the clocks stopped on that unbearable day and time has yet to move on.

Jewish friends are mourning Photo via: StandWithUs/Shutterstock

Jewish friends are mourning Photo via: StandWithUs/Shutterstock

I studied the psychology of resilience in the face of terrible ordeals and wrote a book about it, but there is no psychologist on this earth that is fully equipped to counsel the victims of the Hamas massacre of October 7th. Help is certainly at hand – but there will never be a coming to terms with what happened that grisly Sabbath morning in southern Israel.

 

Your Jewish friends are suffering. Days, weeks have passed since the news started to seep out and the revelations began to be heard, but it is as if the clocks stopped on that unbearable day and time has yet to move on.

 

The deadliest day for the Jewish People since the Holocaust, a shadow that looms large in the mind of every Jew. The parallels abound. Yet – with the exception of a decreasing amount of people – we didn’t live through the Holocaust. We did live through October 7th. (One awful thought I had following the massacre: for the first time, I am pleased that most Holocaust survivors are no longer with us so they were spared having to see this atrocity take place again in their lifetime.)

 

It is as the terrorists intended. The Nazis carried out systemic murder, and cruelty and took pride in it. But they didn’t have social media. The Hamas jihadists tortured and massacred families – and uploaded it to Facebook in real-time so their extended family and friends would have to watch. The psychological damage alone to so many – including children – is gargantuan.

“Trawl through your favorite digital platform of choice and see denial, minimization and justification – not just from Hamas – but from people who live near you. Antisemitic attacks and threats peak. Never again is ever again.”

It took time for modern-day racists to begin to deny the Holocaust. Today’s massacre-deniers did not pause for breath. Trawl through your favorite digital platform of choice and see denial, minimization and justification – not just from Hamas – but from people who live near you. Antisemitic attacks and threats peak. Never again is ever again.

 

Jews are the eternal survivors. From Greek and Roman attempts to snuff out our nationhood and appropriate our symbols, to the bloodletting of the Crusades, the pogroms of Eastern Europe, the Arab Farhud attacks of Middle Eastern Jews and beyond, we are still here. We are also no strangers to terrorism. Hamas and their allies have murdered civilians riding buses, eating out, dancing at clubs and at prayer. We are still here.

 

And we will be here forevermore. Hamas will be relegated, much like the aforementioned Jew-oppressors, to the recesses of history. Jews will continue, never the same, but as committed to life and their peoplehood as ever. Meanwhile, we grieve and we would appreciate your solidarity.

 

For now, every day is October 7th. It will be October 7th for some time.

 



Caroline Glick-tweet12-November2023-We don’t want peace
We don’t want peace. We want liberation.
Globalize the Intifada (that means kill Jews everywhere)..
Some of the zingers at the LA march for peace for Hamas.
Oh, one more, Israel’s genocide of Palestinians started Oct. 7.
And the U.S. needs to disappear.
https://www.thefp.com/p/video-peace-is-for-suckers

Caroline Glick-tweet-12November2023-We don't want peace

Caroline Glick-tweet-12November2023-We don’t want peace

 



Dr. Eli David-tweet-1December2023-long airport security lines
Ever wondered why you’re standing in long airport security lines?

Not because a Jew blew up or hijacked an airplane. In all cases they were the same “peaceful” people:

1970: Four airplanes blasted in Jordan
Perpetrators: Palestinian Liberation Front (PLO)

1985: American TWA flight 847 hijacked
Perpetrators: Hizbullah

1988: American Pan-Am Flight, 243 passengers killed.
Perpetrator: Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi

2015: Russian Metrojet Flight, 224 passengers killed
Perpetrators: ISIS-backed Ansar Bait al-Maqdis

2001: 9/11 Twin Towers New York
Perpetrators: Al-Qaeda

Dr. Eli David-tweet-1December2023-long airport security lines

Dr. Eli David-tweet-1December2023-long airport security lines

 


Jewish wedding pictures-Lakewood, NJ.


Frum TikTok-tweet-19February2024-Jewish wedding pictures-Lakewood NJ
Jewish wedding pictures looking different these days. 😉

Location: Lakewood, NJ.

Mazel Tov! ❤️

Frum TikTok-tweet-19February2024-Jewish wedding pictures: Lakewood, NJ.

Frum TikTok-tweet-19February2024-Jewish wedding pictures: Lakewood, NJ.

 

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Rabbi Lazer Brody lazerbrody-net-logo
Tuesday, 05 June 2018 https://lazerbrody.typepad.com/lazer_beams/2018/06/rav-yehuda-zev-leibowitzs-third-prediction.html  Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20180607122634/https://lazerbrody.typepad.com/lazer_beams/2018/06/rav-yehuda-zev-leibowitzs-third-prediction.html

Rav Yehuda Zev Leibowitz’s Third Prediction

Rav Yehuda Zev Leibowitz's Third Prediction

 

If I were running for office or attempting to win a popularity contest, I wouldn’t be writing this post. Many of our readers outside of Israel are not going to like this. But what can a person do if he doesn’t like the weather? Bury his head in the ground? Close the curtains and say that there’s no hurricane with killer winds outside? Once a person’s house becomes flooded, the closed windows and curtains don’t help anymore. There comes a time when one cannot escape the storm outside. Yet, once the storm is predicted, he doesn’t sit with folded arms until it washes him away. He can get in the car or on a plane and move to a more amenable climate.

 

Don’t forget that the inclement weather, as well as the inclement political climate, all come from Hashem and for a reason.

Be patient, I’m getting to the point. But first, I must preface and ask a question: Why are we so happy on Passover Seder night? Any 7-year-old will laugh and say, “What a dumb question! That’s when Hashem took us out of slavery in Egypt!”

 

Is it such a dumb question when I show little 7-year-old Chaimk’e and his parents that in the three days that preceded our Exodus from Egypt in the Hebrew year of 2448 (1282 BCE), eight million Jews died, and that’s according to the conservative figure. Some say it was 10 million. Rashi explains that only 1 out of 5 Jews left Egypt in the Exodus; the other 4 died during the three days of darkness. Since a minimum of 2 million left, that means that at least 8 million perished!

 

Why, therefore, do we not mourn during the three days that precede Pesach, and declare them as national Holocaust Days, when 33% more Jews died than during the entire six years of the Nazi Holocaust? Not only do we not mourn, we rejoice! What’s going on?

 

Our sages rule that we do not mourn anyone who denies the Redemption and refuses to be a part of it, just as we don’t mourn a heretic who denies the veracity of Moses’s prophecy and the Torah (Rambam, Laws of Teshuva, 3:8, and other places). This notion is even anchored in The Code of Jewish Law (see Shulchan Oruch, Yora Deah 345:5; Mishna Berura on Orach Chaim 126:1, letter b). Moses, in the Name of Hashem, told the Children of Israel to arise, we must quickly leave Egypt. 80% didn’t listen to him. They paid a steep price but we don’t mourn for them. They had become used to Egypt and had no desire – despite what Hashem wanted – to leave Egypt. Even though they were slaves, they liked the Egyptian culture, music, pastimes and food. Moses said no, we must go to our Promised Land. Egypt is not our home.

 

Moses’s voice saying, “We must go to our Promised Land”, echoes through all of our history.

 

The periodic “Golden Ages” of our Diaspora have always been followed by calamity. The Golden Age of Jewry in the Iberian Peninsula culminated in 1492, when the horrendous Inquisition began. Jews were either killed, exiled or forcefully converted to Catholicism. The Golden Age of German and Eastern European Jewry ended in Hitler’s Holocaust.

 

There is only one, true Golden Age in Judaism, and that’s when our exiles return home, Moshiach comes and our Holy Temple is rebuilt.

 

Hashem wants to redeem His people but in the meanwhile, He won’t until they come home. The sand of that “meanwhile” keeps is emptying out from the top of that 2,000 year hourglass. When a certain date comes according to Hashem’s timeline, He won’t wait anymore and Moshiach will come whether we like it or not or whether we’re here in Israel or not.

 

Rav Yehuda Zev, of saintly and blessed memory, lived through the Nazi Holocaust. He witnessed the slaughter of his parents, his siblings and his fiance. He never had children because of the torture that the satanic Nazis did to his body. He did not take the word “Holocaust” lightly – he lived through it and experienced it on his own flesh and in his own heart in the most excruciatingly painful way. Though scarred, completely, inside and out, he was a tzaddik of perfect emuna and not bitter in the slightest. He knew that everything was from Hashem. Yet, with all his heart, he did everything to prevent another Holocaust. He didn’t want Moshiach to come if the price would be tragic.

 

A tzaddik of Rav Yehuda Zev’s caliber has 20/20 spiritual vision because nothing in this world can fool, sway or tempt him. No wonder he was so accurate in predicting the Arab Spring and Bibi’s inability to attack Iran as we wrote on our No Go post from this past Friday.

 

A movie clip has now become public, where Rabbi Aharon Stern shlit’a from Bnai Brak, who was Rabbi Yehuda Zev’s personal attendant, reveals the tzaddik’s third prediction and says: “Before his death, Rav Leibowitz told me that the anti-Semitism in the United States is only going to continue to grow, until it gets to the point where the Jews will be forced to flee. They must come to Israel soon; if they wait too long, they’ll be lucky to exit with the shirt on their backs…come soon, the Redemption will be here in the Land of Israel, not anywhere else.” In case anyone doubts the veracity and authenticity of the quote, at the bottom of this post is the vid in Hebrew where you can see Rav Stern saying this (see minutes 2:48-3:40).

 

Hashem wants to redeem us, so He wants us all here. But what about those who for any number of reasons can’t come now? What about those with joint custody on children from a previous marriage or those with an elderly parent? (Plug in your own reason…)

 

Rav Shalom Arush shlit’a says that even if you can’t come now, you can do 2 things:

1) Pray daily for Aliya, so that you too can come home to the Land of Israel;

2) Spread emuna far and wide, in any way you can. This will protect you in the meanwhile, because the spread of emuna is also needed to expedite Geula, the full redemption of our people, speedily and in our days, amen!

ביבי בוקר טוב – הרב אהרון שטרן שליט”א

 

Kristallnacht 1938 and 2018

Kristallnacht 1938 and 2018

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The World does not want to see


Israel Foreign Ministry-tweet-2December2023-The World does not want to see
“We were foolish to believe after WWII, the world will never forget. At least back then, people could use the excuse they did not know. And now what you’re really saying, is not that you don’t know, is just that you don’t want to see.”

Every word @lucyaharish.

Israel Foreign Ministry-tweet-2December2023-The World does not want to see

Israel Foreign Ministry-tweet-2December2023-The World does not want to see

 

 



Canary Mission-tweet-19December2023-Prof Rabab Abdulhadi at SFSU
Prof @AbdulhadiRabab @SFSU objects to @IlhanMN calling Hamas’ massacre of Jews “senseless violence.” Abdulhadi says the attacks were self-defense. Imagine being a Jewish student at SFSU & having your prof justify the brutal slaughter of 1,200 Israelis. https://canarymission.org/professor/Rabab_Abdulhadi

Canary Mission-tweet-19December2023-Prof Rabab Abdulhadi at SFSU

Canary Mission-tweet-19December2023-Prof Rabab Abdulhadi at SFSU

 

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#KidnappedFromIsrael

https://www.kidnappedfromisrael.com/

Poster of abducted Israeli

Poster of abducted Israeli

Poster of abducted Israeli

Poster of abducted Israeli

 

On October 7th, 2023 more than 240 innocent civilians were abducted from Israel into the Gaza Strip by Hamas. Ranging in age from 3 months to 85 years old, these people were kidnapped in the midst of a vicious attack against Israel during which thousands of children, elderly, women, and men were slaughtered, raped, and wounded.

 

With the clear goal of returning these hostages back home safely and immediately, thousands of people have been hanging photos of the hostages in dozens of cities around the world, pasting up posters that were circulated via dropbox for individuals to print independently.

These are the Posters. Please Download and Print them out.

Click to download PDF file Bring them home November 7 English

 

Emily holds up her own kidnapped poster


Aviva Klompas-tweet-30November2023-Emily holds up her own kidnapped poster
Emily holds up her own kidnapped poster.

I hope every horrible person who tore down her poster sees this.

 

Aviva Klompas-tweet-30November2023-Emily holds up her own kidnapped poster

Aviva Klompas-tweet-30November2023-Emily holds up her own kidnapped poster

 

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Antisemites caught ripping down posters of kidnapped Israelis.

Baruchy-tweet-7November2023-Try Again
Try again
Baruchy-tweet-7November2023-Bring Them Home Now
Bring Them Home Now
Share!
#BringThemBackHome
#BringThemHome

Baruchy-tweet-7November2023-Try Again

Baruchy-tweet-7November2023-Try Again

 


StopAntisemitism-tweet-7November2023-
UPDATE: NY County public defender Victoria Ruiz has resigned from her position after she was caught ripping down a poster of kidnapped Israelis.
StopAntisemitism-tweet-7November2023-Victoria Ruiz caught removing posters of Israeli children kidnapped by Hamas terrorists
NYC – New York County public defender Victoria Ruiz caught removing posters of Israeli children kidnapped by Hamas terrorists.

It is absolutely unacceptable for someone with such bias and hate to serve in your office @nyc_defenders

StopAntisemitism-tweet-7November2023-Victoria Ruiz caught removing posters of Israeli children kidnapped by Hamas terrorists

StopAntisemitism-tweet-7November2023-Victoria Ruiz caught removing posters of Israeli children kidnapped by Hamas terrorists

 


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zerohedge-com-logo

Senior CIA Official Posts, Then Deletes Pro-Palestine Content

by Tyler Durden, 29November2023 – https://www.zerohedge.com/political/senior-cia-official-posts-then-deletes-pro-palestine-content

Via Middle East Eye,

 

A senior official at the CIA posted a pro-Palestine photo on her Facebook page amid Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip but later deleted the post and other pro-Palestinian content after it was reported by the media.

 

The Financial Times reported on Tuesday that the CIA associate deputy director for analysis changed her Facebook cover photo on 21 October to an image of a man waving a Palestinian flag.

The photo of a man waving a Palestinian flag that was shared on the Facebook page of a senior CIA official (Photo by Ahmed Abu Hameeda/Unsplash)

The photo of a man waving a Palestinian flag that was shared on the Facebook page of a senior CIA official (Photo by Ahmed Abu Hameeda/Unsplash)

The image posted to the CIA official’s Facebook page, as identified in FT.

The official also published a selfie with a sticker saying “Free Palestine” superimposed on the photograph, which the Financial Times reported was posted to Facebook years before the ongoing war, citing an unnamed person familiar with the image.

 

The images were deleted on Monday after the Financial Times contacted the official, the report said. Middle East Eye reached out to the CIA associate deputy director for analysis on LinkedIn for comment but didn’t receive a reply by the time of publication.

 

While CIA officials like those in the directorate of operations mainly work undercover with their identity obscured, others who provide analysis for the agency can have a more public profile. It is extremely rare, however, for officials working in government intelligence, particularly senior officials, to share their political views on current events.

 

The associate deputy director for analysis at the CIA reviews and studies the raw intelligence that field officers collect from foreign sources abroad. That intelligence goes into a highly classified document known as the President’s Daily Brief, which the US leader receives almost daily.

 

The revelation that a senior US intelligence official was posting images widely seen as supportive of the Palestinian cause comes at a sensitive time for the Biden administration, which has faced pushback from officials over its unconditional support for Israel.

 

Middle East Eye reported in October that State Department officials had penned dissent cables calling for the US to push Israel for a ceasefire. The Biden administration’s stance has also pitted senior officials within the National Security Council against younger staffers, particularly those from diverse backgrounds, who have expressed concern over the support to Israel.

 

A former US official was recently filmed advocating for killing Palestinian children. New York police arrested Stuart Seldowitz, a former US State Department official, earlier in November after he was captured on video calling an Egyptian halal food street vendor a terrorist and saying the death of 4,000 Palestinian children “wasn’t enough”.

 

Seldowitz was deputy director in the US State Department’s Office of Israel and Palestinian Affairs. He was later National Security Council advisor to President Barack Obama.

 

The Financial Times report is notable because it is the first to suggest that a senior US official within the intelligence community has expressed pro-Palestinian sentiment since the outbreak of war on 7 October.

 

The CIA official was later identified by name in a Washington Free Beacon report…


Chuck Callesto-tweet-28November2023-CIA Officer Found Sharing Pro-Palestinian Material
JUST IN: High-Ranking CIA Officer Found Sharing Pro-Palestinian Material on Social Media..

Amy McFadden, the Associate Deputy Director for Analysis at the CIA, altered her social media cover photo to one supporting Palestine, which occurred two weeks after Hamas, recognized as a terrorist organization by the United States, launched attacks against Israel.

Chuck Callesto-tweet-28November2023-CIA Officer Found Sharing Pro-Palestinian Material

Chuck Callesto-tweet-28November2023-CIA Officer Found Sharing Pro-Palestinian Material

The CIA prides itself on being apolitical and delivering unbiased intelligence to the US president regardless of the political views of its officers and staff. It is extremely rare for a senior intelligence officer to make personal political statements.

 

The disclosure comes as the head of the spy agency, Bill Burns, takes on a leading role in managing the administration’s response to the conflict. The CIA director has met with leaders from Egypt, Jordan, Israel, and Gulf states to discuss Israel’s battle plans and the release of hostages. On Tuesday, he was in Doha for talks with his Israeli counterpart and Qatari officials serving as mediators with Hamas.

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JerusalemCats Comments: Look at the News with all the pro-Palestinian riots, look at Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan. Look at the Universities! Hamas is in America and Europe!
zerohedge-com-logo

Netanyahu Warns America: “You’re Next” If IDF Doesn’t Decimate Hamas “Barbarism”

by Tyler Durden, 14November2023 – https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/netanyahu-tells-americans-youre-next-if-idf-doesnt-defeat-hamas-barbarism

 

Israel has been ramping up its global messaging campaign at a moment it faces increased isolation from Global South countries, and amid growing criticism from large powers like China, Russia, and major Latin American countries such as Brazil.

 

But there have been signs of dissent even within the Biden administration as well, with pushback especially coming from the State Department of late, as US officials want to see the White House become more publicly critical of alleged Israeli war crimes, given also the immense death toll, at over 11,200 Gazans killed – with some half of these believed to be women and children.

 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is now taking his message to the American public, in a Monday night appearance on Fox News’ Sean Hannity, warning that the US will be “next” if his military doesn’t decimate Hamas.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and biden Via AP

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and biden Via AP

“We have to win not only for our sake, but for the sake of the Middle East, for the sake of our Arab neighbors. You know what, for the sake of Gazans who’ve been held by this dark tyranny that has brutalized and brought them nothing but bloodshed and poverty and misery,” Netanyahu introduced.

 

“We have to win to protect Israel. We have to win to safeguard the Middle East. We have to win for the sake of the civilized world. That’s the battle we’re fighting, and it’s being waged right now. There is no substitute for that victory.”

 

And that’s when he emphasized the potential dire repercussions for the West if Israel fails in its objectives. “If we don’t win now, then Europe is next and you’re next. And we have to win,” he added.

 

Netanyahu’s words carried a theme of a war between ‘barbarians’ and ‘civilization’, with an intent to make Americans believe what’s happening in the Middle East is “your fight” as well. According to Fox:

Netanyahu stressed that “our fight is your fight” and that there is “no substitute for victory.”

“We have to have the forces of civilization beat these barbarians because otherwise this barbarism will spread and will endanger the entire world,” Netanyahu said. “Every American, every civilized country will be under peril. We have to win. There is no substitute for victory. Total victory.”

Such messaging filled with a ‘good vs. evil’ motif was also heavily relied upon by the Bush administration and neocons in selling the Iraq War in 2003. Netanyahu has in past years also painted such simple contrasts when speaking about Iran and its supposed ‘nuclear threat’ as well.

 

Netanyahu may have been responding to rare words of restraint issued by President Biden on the same day. “I have not been reluctant in expressing my concerns about what’s going on and it’s my hope and expectation that it will be less intrusive action relative to the hospital,” Biden said Monday regarding the worsening humanitarian crisis at al-Shifa hospital in the center of Gaza City.

 

Zelensky’s playbook of “you’re next”?…


Michael Tracey-tweet-14November2023-Netanyahu on Hannity
Netanyahu on Hannity last night:

– Israel is invading Gaza “for the sake of Gazans.” Sounds very generous and humanitarian

– War boils down to “good guys” versus “bad guys”

– If Israel doesn’t occupy the Gaza strip, “Europe is next, and you’re next.” I guess he means Ohio

Michael Tracey-tweet-14November2023-Netanyahu on Hannity

Michael Tracey-tweet-14November2023-Netanyahu on Hannity

“So, I remain somewhat hopeful but the hospital must be protected,” he said. This was in response to growing international condemnation, including from the UN, of Israeli troops laying siege to the large Gaza hospital, amid reports that patients – including the very young – are dying, and as the hospital has run out of fuel to keep vital generators going.

 

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EU Supreme Court has just outlawed kosher slaughter in the EU


Caroline Glick-tweet-13February2024-EU bans kosher slaughter
The EU Supreme Court has just outlawed kosher slaughter in the EU. That means the EU has just declared Judaism illegal within its boundaries.
This comes the day after the EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called for a weapons embargo against Israel.
The Palestinians are Europe’s way of maintaining its 2,000 year war against the Jews.

Caroline Glick-tweet-13February2024-EU bans kosher slaughter

Caroline Glick-tweet-13February2024-EU bans kosher slaughter

 

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The lives of French Jews today


Elder of Ziyon-tweet-28November2023-The lives of French Jews today
This article in Le Figaro describes the lives of French Jews today:

” A hairdresser refusing a Jewish client
* Jews changing their names on mailboxes so as not to be targets
* 74% of French Jews say they have already experienced anti-Semitic behavior, from mockery to physical aggression.
* 48% sometimes avoid saying that they are Jewish in a discussion
* 55% of parents ask their children not to wear distinctive Jewish clothing
* Taxi driver at Orly airport: “Dirty Jew! If I would take you (in my cab), I would have slaughtered you, your wife and your children ”
* Muslim Uber drivers are giving low ratings to visibly Jewish customers
* Delivery people refuse to take food from kosher restaurants
* Post office employees purposefully “lose” mail and packages to and from Israel

https://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite-france/tu-es-juive-donc-je-ne-te-coifferai-pas-la-montee-de-l-antisemitisme-au-quotidien-en-france-20231127

Elder of Ziyon-tweet-28November2023-The lives of French Jews today

Elder of Ziyon-tweet-28November2023-The lives of French Jews today

 

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timesofisrael-com-logo

Dear diaspora Jews: It’s over

The past month has reinforced my belief that there is one place we’re meant to be, and it isn’t New York, Buenos Aires, or London

Josh Feldman  Nov 19, 2023, https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/dear-diaspora-jews-its-over/

 

As an Australian Jew, I’ve always proudly contended that I live in the safest Jewish community in the world. We have no lists of synagogues shot up by white supremacists, nor politicians whose campaign to become prime minister prompted nearly half the country’s Jews to consider leaving (high standards, I know). And while Australian Jewry — which is believed to have the world’s largest Holocaust survivor population per capita outside of Israel — is well aware of the dangers of antisemitism, much of the community has long-shared this sentiment. Antisemitism has always been present, but it was rarely, if ever, a cause for widespread anxiety.

 

If the outbreak of Jew-hatred after the October 7 Massacre didn’t change that, then November 10 did. As Melbourne’s Jews welcomed Shabbat, a mob of Arab and far-left thugs traveled from the other side of the city to protest in the heart of Melbourne’s Jewish community, forcing a synagogue only meters from the protest to evacuate mid-prayer.

 

Masked in keffiyehs, waving Palestinian flags, and accompanied by an astonishingly useless police force, the group chanted “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” — that all-too familiar call for the Jewish state’s destruction — and hurled vile insults at Jewish locals who exited their homes in a show of defiance, sparking violent clashes. Multiple witnesses told me protesters threw rocks and full water bottles at Jewish attendees.

 

One protester, keenly aware of the significance of harassing Jews in their backyard on Shabbat, taunted Jewish counter-protesters that they “can’t do this in Broadmeadows,” a heavily Muslim suburb around 40 minutes by car from where the protest took place. “People inside their homes having Shabbat dinner terrified hearing the chants of Allahu Akbar,” one Jewish local wrote during the ordeal.

 

To say this has shaken Melbourne’s Jewish community is a gross understatement. The quiet suburban life for Melburnian Jews, often accompanied by varying levels of naivety and denial about the dangers facing us, is over as we know it.

 

Such a story has become chillingly familiar for too many Diaspora Jewish communities since Hamas’s sadistic orgy of terror on October 7 and the terrifying explosion of antisemitism that followed. Jews have begun removing mezuzahs from their front doors. Jewish schools are telling their students they don’t have to wear school uniform so as to avoid being identifiably Jewish in public. Others are letting students study at home, while some Jewish parents have banned their children from taking public transport to school.

 

The night of the Melbourne protest, a Jewish family friend had invited people over to celebrate their birthday. Some refused to go: they were too scared to leave their homes.

 

The confident assertion that now is the best time in history to be Jewish has been all but forgotten. Welcome to the new Jewish reality.

 

For much of Diaspora Jewry, this is an immensely disorientating time, and understandably so. But as I told a friend who said the other day that no matter where we live, Jews will always be outnumbered by those who hate us, there is, in fact, one place we can go. It’s home to some seven million Jews, is run by Jews, for Jews, and three of its last six prime ministers have been veterans of one of the most elite Jewish fighting forces in our people’s history.

 

If ever there was a time to move to Israel, it’s now.

Modern Zionism’s founding father Theodor Herzl’s rationale was simple: Europe is not safe for Jews; only in an independent Jewish state in the land of Israel can we guarantee our own safety. He was right. In a post-Holocaust West, however, many Jews believed that they too, had found countries that could guarantee not just their safety, but their sense of security. As long as that remained true, there was little reason to leave — hence why approximately half of world Jewry lives outside of Israel.

 

The last few weeks have shattered that illusion for many Jews. In response, some Jewish writers and activists have argued that now is the time for Diaspora Jewry to create new institutions, rethink who its allies are, and change how it educates the non-Jewish world about antisemitism.

 

While well-intentioned, these miss the point entirely. Generation after generation, Jews were expelled from their homes, shoved into ghettos, and murdered at will. Nothing our ancestors did could change that. Jewish communities today need to come to the same realization. This is not, and never has been, a question of allyship or education. Antisemitism is not an enemy you can defeat with well-funded and cleverly planned campaigns. The game is up. It’s over.

 

For some, moving to Israel now might feel like giving up, and I can understand why. I began the process of making aliyah months before October 7, and as someone who has never had much faith in the non-Jewish world’s ability or desire to guarantee Jewish safety, the past month has only reinforced my belief that there is one place we’re meant to be, and it isn’t New York, Buenos Aires, London, or Johannesburg.

 

For other Jews, however — many of whose families have spent generations flourishing in the Diaspora — it’s far from simple to admit that the societies they, their parents, and their grandparents invested in have proven to be a false promise.

 

But moving to Israel is not giving up. It is an embrace of Jewish destiny. It is to unapologetically declare that as Jews, we are choosing to direct our energy towards helping our ancestral homeland instead of spending countless hours and dollars contributing to societies that are already beginning to turn on us. My sense of Jewish pride demands that I accept nothing less than a society that will do everything in its power to guarantee my ability to live safely as a proud Jew. A world in which Jews are scared to be publicly Jewish is not one I want to live in.

 

Diaspora Jews have long-described Israel as the one place we can go to if we no longer feel safe in our host countries. It’s our insurance policy on which we hoped we’d never have to make a claim. But since October 7, what was usually little more than a comforting remark has been violently transformed, against our will, to a concrete reflection of reality.

It’s time for us to cash in.

 

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1970-2020 Jewish golden age


Elder of Ziyon-tweet-30January2024-1970-2020 jewish golden age
Some seven decades of limited antisemitism in the West has come to an end. People can now publicly harass and attack Jews at will, and Jews are reverting to living in fear.

History will look at 1970-2020 as a golden age, where Jewish men in most Western cities could walk openly with a kippah without much concern. Where Jews could go on family outings with only a vague worry that there is a tiny chance that some crazy person might harass them. Where no one had a second thought about walking to and from synagogue with the kids.

Certainly there are some neighborhoods where this is still true, but the map of where Jews can walk without fear has been shrinking over the past several years, and shrank dramatically since October 7, after decades of expansion.

Like it or not, the normal state of the world over the past 2000 years is where Jews are outcasts and demeaned. These last decades were not a trend as we had hoped, but an anomaly.

The West should be nervous. Jews are the canary in the coal mine, and this is just the beginning. History shows that the future for countries that decide that it is too much trouble to protect their Jews is bleak indeed.
JerusalemCats-tweet-31January2024-Baal Teshuva movement
1970s Baal Teshuva movement; Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, Aish HaTorah, The Jewish Catalog, 1980-1990s Russian Refuseniks Aliyah, Rabbi Meir Kahane, 2000s Nefesh B’Nefesh, 2010s Gaza Wars,

Elder of Ziyon-tweet-30January2024-1970-2020 jewish golden age

Elder of Ziyon-tweet-30January2024-1970-2020 jewish golden age

JerusalemCats-tweet-31January2024-Baal Teshuva movement

JerusalemCats-tweet-31January2024-Baal Teshuva movement

JerusalemCats Comments: I would add that the start of the “Golden Age” was the Six Day War on June 5 to 10, 1967 and ended on October 7, 2023

 

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jns-org-logo

The truth is Israel’s narrative

It took 30 years, billions in petrodollars and billions more from cultural Marxists to develop a language of lies and manipulation that placed Jews in Israel and the Diaspora in the oppressor column.

A single photograph of a couple remains on the wall of a bullet-riddled home in Kfar Aza in southern Israel after Hamas terrorists rampaged through the community on Oct. 7, murdering families and taking civilians hostage, Oct. 16, 2023. Photo by Rina Castelnuovo.

A single photograph of a couple remains on the wall of a bullet-riddled home in Kfar Aza in southern Israel after Hamas terrorists rampaged through the community on Oct. 7, murdering families and taking civilians hostage, Oct. 16, 2023. Photo by Rina Castelnuovo.


https://www.jns.org/the-truth-is-israels-narrative/

Caroline B. Glick

Caroline B. Glick

Caroline B. Glick
Caroline B. Glick is the senior contributing editor of Jewish News Syndicate and host of the “Caroline Glick Show” on JNS. She is also the diplomatic commentator for Israel’s Channel 14, as well as a columnist for Newsweek. Glick is the senior fellow for Middle Eastern Affairs at the Center for Security Policy in Washington and a lecturer at Israel’s College of Statesmanship.

 

(November 8, 2023 / JNS) Paul Kessler went to a pro-Hamas demonstration in the Los Angeles area waving an Israeli flag to stand down the crowd gathered to support the genocide of Jews. A pro-Hamas demonstrator, who tracked the 69-year-old before he approached him, clubbed Kessler in the head with a megaphone. Kessler fell to the ground and died of cerebral bleeding.

 

Forty-eight hours after Kessler was killed, his murderer was still free, even though the police know who he is. Ventura County Sheriff Jim Fryoff hadn’t arrested him because he couldn’t decide whether the murderer’s blow was the reason that Kessler died. Maybe he would have fallen on the ground head-first anyway. These things happen.

 

Fryoff isn’t the only one who can’t see the connection between A and B these days.

From coast to coast, university presidents can’t figure out whether Israel is to be supported and Hamas condemned, or Hamas is to be supported and Israel is to be condemned. It’s true Hamas murderers savagely executed, raped, sodomized, decapitated, dismembered and kidnapped thousands of innocent Israelis. But then again, Israel retaliated and stuff.

 

The confusion isn’t limited to police chiefs and professors.

Consider Sen. Bernie Sanders. The Socialist from Vermont told CNN that a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is impossible. As he put it, “I don’t know how you can have a ceasefire, a permanent ceasefire with an organization like Hamas, which is dedicated to turmoil and chaos and destroying the State of Israel.”

 

But then again, Sanders said: “The immediate task right now is to end the bombing, to end the horrific humanitarian disaster, to build—go forward with the entire world for a two-tier, two-state solution to the crisis to give the Palestinian people hope.”

 

So, on the one hand, you can’t have a ceasefire because Hamas won’t cease firing since it seeks Israel’s annihilation. And on the other hand, Israel needs to stop firing on Hamas and give the people who elected Hamas a state. Sanders’s confusion makes sense, given his Jewish roots on the one hand, and his ties to the Hamas caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives on the other.

 

The obvious contradiction in his position resonates with President Joe Biden’s viewpoints as well. True, Biden says, Israel has a right and a duty to defeat Hamas. But it must do so without harming any of Hamas’s human shields, and it needs to accept a ceasefire that will allow Hamas to regroup, resupply and rearm.

 

True, Biden admits, Hamas wants to annihilate the Jews. And true (although he won’t acknowledge it), the unpopular PLO-controlled Palestinian Authority also wants to annihilate the Jews. All the same, Biden insists that they must always be empowered and never punished for anything.

 

Deeper than the competence of spokespeople

On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told ABC News that after the war, Israel will need to maintain overall security control over the Gaza Strip to prevent Hamas from rebuilding its military capabilities. The next day, the U.S. State Department publicly rejected the notion that Israel might stick around. State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters, “Our viewpoint is that Palestinians must be at the forefront of these decisions, and Gaza is Palestinian land and will remain Palestinian land.”

 

People keep comparing Hamas’s slaughter of civilians to Sept. 11 and Israel’s counterattack as its invasion of Iraq. But as Capt. Thomas Wheatley, a professor of international law at West Point, explained in a paper he published in a George Mason University international legal journal, the analogy is wrong. Hamas didn’t hijack a plane. It invaded Israel. It occupied Israeli territory for several hours and used its time in power to conduct crimes against humanity and genocidal acts. It seized 244 hostages. The proper analogy of Israel’s counterattacks isn’t Mosul but Normandy. Israel needs to treat Gaza how the United States and the Allies treated Nazi Germany, Wheatley explained.

Why can’t the West’s “best and brightest” understand this basic truth?

 

Israelis like to blame ourselves for this fiasco. We say that our public diplomacy, aka hasbara, is a complete failure. Our spokespeople are incompetent, the critics insist. But the truth is different. Israel’s official spokesmen are generally competent and often well-spoken. Palestinian spokesmen are just as often incompetent, and look and sound like terrorists.

The problem is much deeper than the competence of official spokespeople.

 

Partly, it’s that a lot of people around the world simply hate Jews. We’ve been getting a good look at the dimensions of the phenomenon since the Oct. 7 mass slaughter. Jew-haters from Pakistan to Philadelphia like Hamas because Hamas is killing Jews.

 

But not all of the people who insist that Israel is in the wrong—or simply can’t see the difference between Israel and Hamas—are motivated primarily by bigotry.

 

Their problem isn’t that they despise Jews or even that Israel isn’t providing the facts. Their problem is that they have been trained to care more about “the narrative” than the facts. And “the narrative” tells them to stand with the Palestinians, who seek to annihilate the Jews.

 

Whether the problem began with Edward Said’s destruction of Middle East Studies with the publication of his anti-intellectual and glamorous Orientalism in 1978—or with the imposition of groupthink under the title “political correctness” as a litmus test for social, academic and professional advancement in the 1990s—over the last generation and a half, the details of the narrative were filled in. Across all fields of human endeavor and experience, humankind was divided into the oppressed, who can do no wrong, and the oppressors, who can do no right.

 

It took 30 years, billions in petrodollars and billions more from cultural Marxists to develop a language of lies and manipulation that placed Jews in Israel and the Diaspora in the oppressor column. But with enough money and indoctrination, David was transformed into Goliath, and Goliath was transformed into the Jews who were so scared of the Philistine giant that they sent a 13-year-old shepherd with a slingshot in to defend them.

“David and Goliath” fresco, 1509, by Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel. Credit: Web Gallery of Art via Wikimedia Commons.

“David and Goliath” fresco, 1509, by Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel. Credit: Web Gallery of Art via Wikimedia Commons.

 

The ‘new’ David and Goliath

None of this made any sense. None of it had anything to do with history, facts or scholarship. Indeed, to believe these lies, it was necessary to reject objective truth as a measuring rod for academic or professional advancement.

 

Faced with a state of affairs where public discourse was dominated by a narrative that vilified Jews, Jewish liberals in Israel and the United States invented their own narrative they hoped would satisfy their indoctrinated and incentivized colleagues in the West. They based their narrative on the same oppressor-oppressed narrative their Western counterparts embraced. But their narrative distinguished between “good Jews” and “bad Jews.”

 

They were the good Jews. And as good Jews, they accepted that Israel was Goliath. But they insisted that they didn’t want to be Goliath. They wanted to give the oppressed Palestinian David a state. They embraced the “two-state solution” that requires Israel to give up Israel’s biblical heartland—Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem along with the Gaza Strip to the Palestinians. The “bad Jews,” the oppressor Jews, refused to do so based on their atavistic, messianic belief that the land of Israel belongs to the Jews.

 

The key to peace, the “good Jews” proclaimed, is for the liberal Jews to be supported by all right-thinking people. Right-thinking, narrative-driven people need to oppose the leaders of the “bad Jews”—first and foremost, Netanyahu—and to deny tenure, promotions and even legitimacy to Jews in Israel and abroad who think like Netanyahu about certain things, particularly the “two-state solution.

 

Like their Western counterparts, these Jewish liberals were immune to rational debate. True, the Palestinians rejected the “two-state solution,” and all factions of Palestinian society call for the elimination of Israel. And true, the “two-state solution” foresees Israel shrinking to indefensible boundaries that invite invasion. But since the “two-state solution” would end Israel’s status as an oppressor, the Palestinians and their allies would bury the hatchet, and Israel could live securely in indefensible boundaries because no one would think of attacking it. Many liberal Jews accepted the slaughter of wrong-thinking Jews with something bordering on equanimity. They were asking for it, of course, by refusing to end the so-called “occupation.”

 

The problem with liberal Israelis’ and Diaspora Jewry’s acceptance of narrative over facts is that facts have proven their narrative—and the broader oppressed/oppressor narrative—false. As they wake up to the realization that Israel’s enemies see no difference between “good” Jews who support the “two-state solution” and the “bad” Jews who oppose it, they are coming to realize that their colleagues on the left really don’t care. They prefer their narrative to reality—and won’t reject it even if keeping the faith with the oppressed means embracing the eliminationist slogan, “From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free.”

 

Which brings us back to public diplomacy.

It is the liberal Jewish embrace of the oppressor-oppressed narrative about themselves that has rendered Israel’s hasbara efforts dead in the water. If Israel is in the wrong and the Palestinians are in the right, then Hamas is right to slaughter and rape and abduct Israeli Jews. After all, we had it coming. And Israel has no right to annihilate Hamas because Hamas is oppressed. Rape isn’t a form of oppression if it is carried out by the oppressed against the oppressor. What does it matter how many women were brutalized? The same is the case with burning babies.

 

What’s missing from Israel’s hasbara isn’t facts and figures—of dead, of atrocities, of dates and of genocidal covenants, or even decent English.

 

What is missing is our story. Our history is the most compelling tale of human will and hope that the world has ever known. Our Jewish state is an apotheosis of justice. Jewish freedom is the triumph of the oppressed Jews against an oppressive humanity. Jewish settlement of the land of Israel from north to south, east to west is the victory of a native people against centuries of colonialist, imperialist invaders and occupiers. The Palestinians have organized themselves as a cult that sanctifies death, sadism, mass murder and destruction. They have no identity independent of their hatred of Israel. Were Israel to vanish, the Palestinians would be forgotten immediately.

 

It’s time to tell the truth about them, too.

Perhaps more than we need to tell our story to the world, we need to tell it to ourselves. We need to let the truth remind us of who we are after a generation of unwarranted and deeply destructive self-flagellation. The more we tell our story, the less we will care whether people are persuaded because we will understand that our greatest triumphs across time happened when we were true to ourselves, our people, our traditions and our God. And when we stop caring whether we are alone or not, we will see that people of goodwill around the world will be standing with us.

 

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New York is turning into a Nazi city


Caroline Glick-tweet-13February2024-New York is turning into a Nazi city
New York is turning into a Nazi city. Can’t go to the MOMA, can’t walk down the street, can’t get to the airport, can’t go to school or get a coffee without being assaulted by Nazi goon squads who hate Jews and want to banish them from public spaces.
Oliya Scootercaster-tweet-12February2024-Pro-palestine protesters shut down a tunnel
#NOW Pro-palestine protesters shut down a tunnel on 40th street and Park Avenue in Manhattan.

Video by @yyeeaahhhboiii2 Desk@freedomnews.tv to license

Caroline Glick-tweet-13February2024-New York is turning into a Nazi city

Caroline Glick-tweet-13February2024-New York is turning into a Nazi city

 

 


 

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https://www.jpost.com/

Elderly Jewish man dies after being beaten by pro-Palestinian protester

A video posted to the social media platform by StopAntisemitism captured the event.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
NOVEMBER 7, 2023 02:26 Updated: NOVEMBER 7, 2023 03:51 https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-772031

 

PRO-PALESTINE demonstrators protest outside the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles in May. (photo credit: LUCY NICHOLSON / REUTERS)

PRO-PALESTINE demonstrators protest outside the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles in May. (photo credit: LUCY NICHOLSON / REUTERS)

 

An elderly Jewish man [65 years old] was allegedly beaten to death at a pro-Israel rally in Los Angeles on Monday in America by a pro-Palestinian demonstrator, the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed.

 

According to eyewitnesses a confrontation developed between the elderly man and the suspect. The elderly man was then found on the ground bleeding and was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead from a cerebral hemorrhage.

 

“We are devastated to learn of the tragic death of an elderly Jewish man who was struck in the  head by a megaphone wielded by a pro-Palestinian protestor in Westlake Village,” the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles said in a statement. “Our hearts  are with the family of the victim.

 

“While we wait for more information from our law  enforcement partners, we remind you that this is the fourth major antisemitic crime committed in Los Angeles this year alone,” the federation continued. “Violence against our people has no place in  civilized society. We demand safety. We will not tolerate violence against our community.  We will do everything in our power to prevent it.”

The incident was caught on film by locals and shared with a warning of graphic content on X by the NGO StopAntisemitism.

[EDD: updated tweet]


StopAntisemitism-tweet-7November2023-Jewish man murdered by pro Palestinian protestor
Content warning ⚠️ – an elderly Jewish man has been killed by a pro Palestinian protestor who hit him over the head with a megaphone at yesterday’s Israel rally.

Sadly, the victim has passed away from internal bleeding.

May his memory be a blessing and his attacker be prosecuted to the fullest degree of the law!

StopAntisemitism-tweet-7November2023-alleged attacker
These photos of the alleged attacker are circulating online; we will update this thread once we learn more.

StopAntisemitism-tweet-7November2023-Jewish man murdered by pro Palestinian protestor

StopAntisemitism-tweet-7November2023-Jewish man murdered by pro Palestinian protestor

 

 

'Long live the Intifada': Palestinians and pro-Palestinian supporters protest against Israeli attacks on Gaza amid days of conflict between the two sides, in Brooklyn, New York, US, May 15, 2021. (credit: RASHID UMAR ABBASI / REUTERS)

‘Long live the Intifada’: Palestinians and pro-Palestinian supporters protest against Israeli attacks on Gaza amid days of conflict between the two sides, in Brooklyn, New York, US, May 15, 2021. (credit: RASHID UMAR ABBASI / REUTERS)

 

Police have declined to provide further details and it is unknown if the suspect has been arrested


UPDATE:


StopAntisemitism-tweet-8November2023-College Professor Loay Alnaji Murdered Paul Kessler
Los Angeles area – a pro Hamas video has been discovered on the Instagram feed of Loay Alnaji, the college professor who hit Jewish individual Paul Kessler in the face with a megaphone, ultimately killing him.

Kessler was holding an Israeli flag and standing with other supporters when two pro-Palestinian agitators crossed the street to start trouble.

Paul Kessler passed away from skull fractures, as well as brain swelling and bruising.

Meanwhile, Loay Alnaji STILL has not been arrested. This is unacceptable @VENTURASHERIFF!
Becca-tweet-9November2023-Alnaji deliberately crossed the intersection to confront Paul
Kessler’s friend who was holding signs with him that day said that Alnaji and/or his allegedly gun toting friend was also filming them earlier, before the attack. He also said Alnaji deliberately crossed the intersection to confront Paul. This shows plan and intent to attack.

 

StopAntisemitism-tweet-8November2023-College Professor Loay Alnaji Murdered Paul Kessler

StopAntisemitism-tweet-8November2023-College Professor Loay Alnaji Murdered Paul Kessler

Becca-tweet-9November2023-Alnaji deliberately crossed the intersection to confront Paul

Becca-tweet-9November2023-Alnaji deliberately crossed the intersection to confront Paul

 

 


UPDATE:

legal-insurrection-logo

Suspect Arrested in Death of Jewish Man at California ‘Pro-Palestine’ Rally

An autopsy ruled Paul Kessler’s death a homicide. The medical examiner concluded a blunt-force head injury killed him.

Posted by Mary Chastain 16November2023 https://legalinsurrection.com/2023/11/suspect-arrested-in-death-of-jewish-man-at-california-pro-palestine-rally/

 

The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department announced the arrest of Loay Abdelfattah Alnaji, 50, in the death of Paul Kessler, a Jewish man, at an anti-Israel rally in Thousand Oaks, CA.

The police charged Alnaji with involuntary manslaughter. His bail is set at $1 million.

The department did not mention if authorities will add a hate crime charge

An autopsy ruled Kessler’s death a homicide. The medical examiner concluded a blunt-force head injury killed Kessler.

People on the scene claimed that Alnaji, a computer science professor at Ventura County Community College, hit Kessler with a megaphone:

At the scene, Alnjai was filmed telling a police officer he was trying to hit Kessler’s phone away.

But witnesses including Kessler’s friend, Jonathan Oswaks, say he punched him with his megaphone.

‘All of a sudden, I see a punch…the white megaphone flying through the air,’ Oswaks, speaking at the scene of the protest last week, said.

Oswaks implored the police to act sooner.

Alnaji stayed at the scene after Kessler was taken away in an ambulance. He later cooperated with police at his home.

Videos taken after he fell show Palestine supporters continuing to chant against Israel, and some making antisemitic remarks about Hitler.


Leftism-tweet-7November2023-pro-Palestine protester has been arrested after killing
BREAKING: A pro-Palestine protester has been arrested after killing a 65 year old Jewish man by hitting him over the head with a megaphone during a verbal altercation in the Thousand Oaks area of LA.
The man suffered from a brain hemorrhage as a result & succumbed to his injuries.

Leftism-tweet-7November2023-pro-Palestine protester has been arrested after killing

Leftism-tweet-7November2023-pro-Palestine protester has been arrested after killing

 

 

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jns-org-logo

Citing Jew-hatred, Jewish families seek transfers out of Oakland school district

At least 30 Jewish families had their transfer requests approved to leave the Oakland Unified School District, per media reports.

Jessamyn Dodd https://www.jns.org/citing-jew-hatred-jewish-families-seek-transfers-out-of-oakland-school-district/

 

(January 18, 2024 / JNS) On Jan. 16, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights announced a Title VI investigation of alleged “discrimination involving shared ancestry” at the Oakland Unified School District, which consists of about 34,000 students and nearly 2,300 teachers at 80 schools in Oakland, Calif.

 

The department doesn’t specify the nature of the discrimination. But a few days beforehand, J. The Jewish News of Northern California reported that at least 30 Jewish families had transfer requests approved between October and Dec. 19 to leave the Oakland Unified School District “specifically due to issues related to the Israel-Hamas war,” according to John Sasaki, the district’s communications director.

 

“I just felt that there wasn’t a path forward for Jewish families, because I had reached out to OUSD and asked them to have a conversation about how they were going to keep Jewish families feeling safe and included,” a parent named Rebecca told CBS News Bay Area.

 

“When there were lesson plans that were being taught that said, ‘Draw the Zionist bully,’ or ‘I for Intifada, J is for Jesus.’ And to me, it felt like—honestly—we were being targeted and singled out and alienated,” she added in the interview.

 

A catalyst for the exodus of Jewish families, reportedly, was a “teach-in” of the Oakland Education Association, a teachers union, that drew dozens of teachers. The union encouraged using pro-Palestinian lesson plans about the war in Gaza, including a coloring book for elementary-school students that states: “A group of bullies called Zionists wanted our land, so they stole it by force and hurt many people.”

 

The parents reportedly felt it was important to transfer their children out of the school district mid-year, despite the inconvenience, to protect their kids. Some were reportedly unable to do so, as other districts were at capacity.

 

JNS contacted the Oakland Unified School District for a statement but did not receive a response by publication time.

 

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jns-org-logo

Even before Oct. 7, Jewish groups struggled with security issues, burnout

A survey of more than 18,000 employees and CEOs puts forth ideas on how to keep Jewish employees energized and engaged.

DAVID SWINDLE https://www.jns.org/even-before-oct-7-jewish-groups-struggled-with-security-issues-burnout/

 

(January 4, 2024 / JNS) Leading Edge released its report “The State of the Jewish Workplace 2023” based on data from 18,212 employees and 304 CEOs at 327 organizations. The information comes from a May 2023 survey.

 

The results of the survey—the largest of its kind researching Jewish organizations—offered five conclusions presented by Leading Edge

First, the organization urged increased security, given that 14% of employees in May reported not feeling safe. Leading Edge pointed out that post-Oct. 7 polls showed that 70% of American Jews now feel less safe. The survey also found a link between workers feeling a sense of belonging and their on-the-job performance.

 

The research also revealed that organizations’ managers also needed more support. Leading Edge also reported that 66% of employees felt that employee well-being was a priority at their organization, a number below that of the average employer. Leading Edge urged an improvement here to reduce burnout, which it described as a “crisis.”

 

The report also found that the primary problem with employee engagement was a lack of confidence in organizational leadership—an issue that could be relieved with greater dialogue between workers and their bosses.

 

“Check in frequently with your team about their workloads and well-being. You can do that with employee surveys, conversations in one-on-one meetings, and other ways of checking in,” Gali Cooks, the president and CEO of Leading Edge, told JNS. “Set aside frequent, official times to ask for help. Ask in every weekly all-staff meeting if anyone has a project they need support on.”

 

Cooks urged for the occasional organization-wide shutdown, saying: “Giving all employees the chance to be ‘offline’ at the same time gives everyone permission to truly shut down and recharge, and allows executives to model the behavior for everyone. Plus, when everyone is out of the office, no one returns to a full inbox or a sense of missing out on key meetings.”

 

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breslev-magazine-co-il-logo

Background: Remember Germany and look around you.

Brownshirt Clouds

1932: The Jewish ‘grape vine’ has information that the Brown Shirt’s are already getting military training and will soon be getting firearms as well…

Yaakov Bar Nahman Posted on 16April2023 https://breslev.com/365103/

 

Meanwhile on a fine afternoon in the autumn of 1932 in grand Vienna, the city of the Blue Danube, the Waltz, Kneissl skis, delicious cakes made more of whipped cream and butter than flour —

 

“Moshe Paul, look at you!” his mother shouted, “Just look at you, bruised, dirty, your shirt torn. You and your rowdy friends got into another silly fight?”

 

“Boys will be boys Mama.”

“Go clean yourself up and change your clothes. You and your friends are 17 years old already. When will you boys calm down?”

 

“Yes Mama I’ll go clean up. Sorry I cause you grief. We didn’t look for this one. A gang of thugs from the third quarter came over and beat up cousin Rudolf Klinger and Bobbi Levi, and stole their bicycles. We went to rescue them. You know that the police won’t do anything to help Jews or catch those thugs.”

 

“Nu, fine but why are you always involved in such things?”

“Oh, Mama, you know I care about my fellow Jews. Also we have so many cousins that almost every attack by neighborhood gangs involves at least one of them. Really Momma can I let family get hurt and stand by doing nothing?”

 

“Nu fine what can I say? Go wash up and come down for dinner.” “Martha, please bring a clean set of clothes to the bath for our knight in shining armor. Ernst, hot water for his bath, please.”

 

Moshe Paul climbed the oak staircase with the carved cherry wood banister and went to the bath. There Ernst was already preparing the bath. They chatted while waiting for the water boiler to heat enough for the bath, and for Martha to bring fresh clothes.

 

“Master Paul”, said the servant Ernst, “You and your friends must be more careful.”

“Why do you say that Ernst?”

“You know the servants ‘grape vine’. Before you came home I already knew about the fight you and your buddies were in today. And I know about your group and what you do. But don’t worry, as you see we have not told your mother, Frau Hermina.”

 

“Good, thank you. Thank God she believed my story too. Well it is at least half truth. I wouldn’t want Mama to know that I am in the Yuden Bundt. It will likely soon come a day that it would be dangerous for her to know.” Silently he thought to himself, ‘and not just a member but an officer and secret weapons maker, and whenever Ze’eiv comes to Vienna I am his body guard.’

 

Ze’ev Vladamir Jabotinski, was a controversial man of vision, a man with guts. Early on he saw the oncoming danger to European Jewry that would come from that little Austrian madman who gained power in Germany. Ze’eiv wanted to Jews to get out and to be ready to fight for their survival. The Vienna Yuden Bundt crew was operating by his inspiration and guidance. They were the youths of the Herut Movement.

 

Paul Feldman, Stephan Goldschmidt, Moti Klinger, Aharon Glick, Dudi Shmerler and Moshe Paul were the core of the defense crew in their neighborhood and in the high school.

 

Paul Feldman was later during war to escape to the U.S.A. to become a heavyweight wrestling champion.

“You know Ernst, that in a few months I will be eligible to go to the army to get military training. It will serve us well to fight better against those who seek to harm us.”

 

“Yes, master Paul. Yet even so, I tell you that you and your friends must be careful. The ‘grape vine’ brings us information from the Brown Shirt’s side as well. They are already getting military training and will soon be getting firearms as well. On top of that, in the police they have more and more sympathizers. The police soon will not only refuse to help Jews against the Nazi Youth gangs, but will help those gangs against you. In case you haven’t heard any news lately, there is growing fear that the Anschluss will hit Austria soon, and there is great effort to infiltrate the police force and army command with their sympathizers.”

 

“Thank you Ernst, though Ze’ev has already warned us about the approaching take over by the Anschluss. He has ordered us that the day Austria falls to the Nazis we are to leave immediately. By the way that reminds me, I need you to buy me some items for survival, a hunting knife etc. I will give you a list and the money.”

 

“As you wish young master. Well the bath is ready and here are your clean clothes. Wash up quickly and I’ll clean up the bath room when you’re done. Your mother is waiting for you with dinner. Oh and here is the bottle of iodine for your scrapes if you wish.”

 

After the hot bath, Moshe now refreshed and polished descended the decorative stair case and entered the posh dining room. His mother and the kitchen servant were awaiting him.

 

“Mama, here I am, sparkling clean. What a wonderful smelling gulash (stew). You are indeed a kitchen marvel, God bless you. You can teach our cooks their profession.”

“Thank you Mosheleh, now sit down and eat please.”

“Mama has Papa returned from his sales tour yet?”

“Not yet. This tour is a little longer since he’s going through Yugoslavia as well. He’s using the trip as a way to get to visit with his big brother Layish too.”

 

“Uncle Layish?! Oh I haven’t seen him in a long time. Pity Papa didn’t take me too. I love visits with him. I remember him still wearing the turban and long cloaks like our previous generations. I remember when I was six and Papa took me to visit uncle’s home in Yugoslavia seeing him fire his rifle while standing on horseback. Not only shooting, but hitting bullseye of the target while stepping from one horse’s back to another with both horses running.

 

He’s a master swordsman too. Mama did you know that he is a super horseman & rifleman as well? Well at least he came to visit here now and then and sent his sons sometimes.”

 

Pondering to himself he recalled the training sessions in the woods, learning the ancient martial arts system used by King David and his brethren in the Tribe of Judah. “Ben Teimah … light as an eagle … audacious as a panther …” The system served him well against the Brown Shirts and would yet serve him well later in life too.

 

“Oh yes Layish is indeed a dashing fellow. You know Moshe, you do look a lot like him too.”

Rally of Hitler youth

Rally of Hitler youth

Photo above: Rally of Hitler youth

 

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JerusalemCats Comments: Remember the Democrats hate the Jews and Israel

Protester burn Israeli flag outside DNC, Byron Tau/ Wall Street Journal

Protester burn Israeli flag outside DNC, Byron Tau/ Wall Street Journal

zerohedge-com-logo

White House Sanctions Israeli Settlers For 1st Time Since Clinton Administration

by Tyler Durden, 06December2023 – https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/white-house-sanction-israeli-settlers-1st-time-clinton-administration

 

The Biden administration is moving to impose sanctions on Israeli settlers involved in attacks on Palestinians, which will involve banning them from traveling to the United States.

 

Fresh Axios reporting on Tuesday has cited government officials who specify that multiple dozens of known Israeli settlers will be impacted by the visa ban, expected to be implemented by the State Department.

 

The US government has not sanctioned Israeli settlers going all the way back to the Clinton administration, but Washington has consistently condemned settler expansion in the West Bank, at least as far as public policy and rhetoric goes.

 

Gaza sources have said the death toll in the Strip has reportedly surpassed 15,200. Meanwhile the White House has come under increased international pressure to impose limits on Israel’s military operations as well as usage of US-supplied bombs.

 

The conflict centered on Gaza has received by far most international media attention, but there’s been a parallel war happening in the West Bank. Nablus, for example, last week was declared a closed military zone, and is under blockade by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for 55 days.

 

Regional sources say that since Oct.7 more than 250 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank – mostly in army raids and clashes with Israeli security forces, but also as a result of settler violence.

 

Axios has noted that since the conflict’s start there’s been “a spike in the number of attacks by settlers against Palestinians.”

Two weeks ago the Biden administration circulated a memo to top State Department and other officials asking them to prepare action “against individuals or entities who directly or indirectly engaged in actions that threaten security or stability in the West Bank or take actions that intimidate civilians in the West Bank or actions that significantly obstruct, disrupt or prevent efforts to achieve a two-state solution.”

 


Abdelrahman Badawy-tweeet-5December2023-NY Times Antisemitic Propaganda

Abdelrahman Badawy-tweeet-5December2023-NY Times Antisemitic Propaganda

Abdelrahman Badawy-tweeet-5December2023-NY Times Antisemitic Propaganda

 

European countries like France are also said to be readying sanctions against settlers. European leaders have long been more vocal in highlighting the problem.

 

Since the Hamas terror raids which kicked off the Gaza war, individual Israeli citizens have sought to obtain assault rifles in droves. This has sparked concerns over US small arms being used by hardline Jewish settlers to attack Palestinians. Often it’s for the sake of removing entire West Bank families from their land or olive groves.

 

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jns-org-logo

Victory is more important than US support

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his ministers must remember that Israel is not an American vassal state.

 

Caroline B. Glick
https://www.jns.org/victory-is-more-important-than-us-support/

Caroline B. Glick is the senior contributing editor of Jewish News Syndicate and host of the “Caroline Glick Show” on JNS. She is also the diplomatic commentator for Israel’s Channel 14, as well as a columnist for Newsweek. Glick is the senior fellow for Middle Eastern Affairs at the Center for Security Policy in Washington and a lecturer at Israel’s College of Statesmanship.

(January 10, 2024 / JNS) At his press conference Tuesday evening, U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken showed that contrary to popular belief, the Biden administration is not Israel’s ally. It is the greatest obstacle to Israel’s victory.

 

Blinken began his remarks by drawing a moral equivalence between the suffering of Israeli hostages and their families and that of the Palestinians in Gaza. The Palestinians in Gaza, who overwhelmingly support Hamas, are just as innocent as the hostages, Blinken insisted.

 

Blinken said nothing about the torture, rape, mutilation and deliberate starvation of the hostages carried out by Hamas terrorists and its civilian accomplices alike. Instead, Blinken spoke of the “acute food insecurity,” that Gazans suffer from—and blamed that “acute food insecurity” on Israel.

 

“Israel needs to do everything it can to remove any obstacles from [aid] crossing to…Gaza. Improving deconfliction procedures to ensure that the aid can move safely and securely is a critical part of that,” he said.

 

The body responsible for distributing “humanitarian aid” in Gaza today is the United Nations, through UNRWA. Blinken ignored completely the documented fact that thousands of UNRWA employees  posted fulsome praise for the Oct. 7 slaughter on social media. He ignored the overwhelming evidence that UNRWA schools and clinics are Hamas military bases. He ignored that UNRWA employees have been credibly accused of holding Israeli hostages and deliberately starving them. And he ignored that UNRWA employees, including all of its regional directors in Gaza, have been credibly accused of being Hamas terrorists themselves.

 

Burying his head deep in the sand, Blinken cooed, “The United Nations is playing an indispensable role in addressing the immense humanitarian needs in Gaza. There is simply no alternative.

 

“UN personnel…in Gaza are demonstrating extraordinary courage by continuing to provide lifesaving services in what are extremely challenging conditions.”

 

Israel, he demanded, must join the United States in giving the United Nations its “full support.”

As for Israel’s military campaign to wipe out Hamas, Blinken said that military operations must take no toll on civilians, even if that means that Israel will lose the war.

 

“We know that facing an enemy that embeds itself among civilians—who hides in and fires from schools, from hospitals—makes this incredibly challenging. But the daily toll on civilians in Gaza, particularly on children, is far too high,” said Blinken.

 

The only way to separate the civilians from the terrorists and so protect them is by permitting them to leave Gaza, just as 6 million Ukrainians left their country since the Russian invasion.

 

Gazans are so eager to leave that the Guardian reported they are paying $10,000 to middlemen to bribe Egyptian officials to let them leave. But the United States will have none of it.

 

“The United States unequivocally rejects any proposals advocating for the resettlement of Palestinians outside of Gaza,” said Blinken with a scowl.

 

Not only must Israel force the Palestinians to stay in Gaza and care for them, Israel must allow them to return to northern Gaza, thus subverting Israel’s main sustained operational achievement since the ground operation began.

 

“In today’s meetings” with Israeli leaders, Blinken said, “I was also crystal clear: Palestinian civilians must be able to return home as soon as conditions allow.”

 

The only way for the now abandoned Israeli towns and villages bordering Gaza to be rebuilt and for their surviving residents to return safely is to block Hamas from rebuilding its terror infrastructure, including its forces in northern Gaza.

 

Keeping that area unpopulated, or lightly populated, for the foreseeable future is a military imperative.

After demanding that Israel permit Hamas to survive and regroup in Gaza, Blinken moved to the northern front against Hezbollah. There too, the United States demands that Israel lose.

 

“As I told the war cabinet and other senior officials, the United States stands with Israel in ensuring its northern border is secure. We’re fully committed to working with Israel to find a diplomatic solution that avoids escalation and allows families to return to their homes, to live security in northern Israel and also in southern Lebanon,” he said.

 

The problem is that the “diplomatic solution,” the United States proposes will make it impossible for Israel to secure its northern border or permit the 80,000 civilians that were forced to flee their homes along to border to return to their homes.

 

Blinken and the administration are pushing for a deal that will see no decrease in Hezbollah’s forces trained to invade Israel and commit genocide. Their deal will see no decrease in Hezbollah’s missile and drone arsenal, which are capable of destroying strategic targets and civilian populations throughout Israel.

 

The administration’s “diplomatic solution” requires Israel to surrender sovereign territory to Hezbollah in exchange for the removal of Hezbollah forces from the border area.

 

There are two problems with the plan. First, it requires Israel to surrender its land to terrorists. And second, the only force capable of pushing Hezbollah away from the border is the Israel Defense Forces, a prospect the deal is geared towards blocking at all costs.

 

In other words, just as is the case with Gaza, U.S. policy is to enable Israel’s enemies to win strategic victories against Israel by forbidding Israel to defeat them on the battlefield.

 

Leaving aside the administration’s slavish commitment to establishing Iran as the regional hegemon by empowering the regime and its terror proxies, the expressed goal of the administration’s effort to induce an Israeli defeat is to establish a Palestinian state.

 

As the administration sees things, the main obstacle to this goal is Israel, and specifically, the Netanyahu government, which represents the people of Israel.

 

To push this obstacle aside, the administration is working to overthrow the Netanyahu government. On Sunday, CNN’s Jake Tapper reported that an administration official told him that Netanyahu has to choose between his coalition partners from the nationalist Religious Zionism and Otzma Yehudit parties led by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, respectively, and his ties to President Biden and the United States.

 

In other words, Netanyahu needs to choose between the Israeli public, which elected him to office as the head of a right-religious governing coalition, and Washington, which rejects the will of the Israeli people.

 

During his visit Tuesday, Blinken took the unprecedented step of meeting privately with Minister Benny Gantz and Knesset member Gadi Eisenkot. In the wake of the Oct. 7 invasion, Gantz and Eisenkot brought their leftist opposition party into the government to form an emergency unity coalition. The administration has been all but explicit about its intention to use these men and their party to overthrow the Netanyahu government.

 

Immediately after their meeting, reports began to stream in that Gantz’s inclination to leave the government is growing. Blinken and the administration see two scenarios for Gantz to seize power. Either Gantz can incite a revolt in Likud that can lead to Netanyahu’s ouster and the formation of an alternative government led by Gantz in the current Knesset; or by working with the administration, Gantz can force Netanyahu to accept pro-Palestinian policies that will compel Smotrich and Ben-Gvir to bolt the government. If they leave and Gantz remains in the coalition, Netanyahu will become completely dependent on Gantz to remain in power.

 

Under both scenarios, the administration believes that it will be in a position to force Israel to crown the terrorist Fatah-led Palestinian Authority as the new leader of Gaza. That in turn will set the stage for a massive pressure campaign to coerce the Gantz-controlled government to make massive strategic concessions to the P.A. in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem that will facilitate the establishment of a Palestinian state.

 

Blinken’s statements on the topic were nearly bereft of diplomatic niceties.

“As I told the prime minister, every [Arab] partner that I met on this trip said that they’re ready to support a lasting solution that ends the long-running cycle of violence and ensures Israel’s security. But they underscored that this can only come through a regional approach that includes a pathway to a Palestinian state,” he said.

 

“To make this possible, Israel must be a partner to Palestinian leaders who are willing to lead their people in living side by side in peace with Israel and as neighbors,” he continued, adding, “and Israel must…stop taking steps that undercut Palestinians’ ability to govern themselves effectively.”

 

Doubling down on his practice of slandering Israelis as the moral equivalents of terrorists, Blinken then libeled the half million Israeli residents of Judea and Samaria as well as IDF forces operating in these areas.

 

“Extremist settler violence carried out with impunity, settlement expansion, demolitions, evictions all make it harder, not easier, for Israel to achieve lasting peace and security,” he said.

 

Finally, echoing Tapper’s report, Blinken took a shot at Israel’s leadership, stating that, “If Israel wants its Arab neighbors to make the tough decisions necessary to help ensure its lasting security, Israeli leaders will have to make hard decisions themselves.”

 

Blinken made his remarks during the primetime news hour. Before he spoke, commentators from left to right insisted that Blinken is a friend and an ally in Israel’s war. After his diatribe, they sheepishly changed their tune.

 

Blinken, they admitted, presented demands that would foment Israel’s defeat. The only way for Israel to rout its enemies and enable its citizens to return to their homes in southern and northern Israel is to do precisely the opposite of what the United State demands. Israel must end the farce of “humanitarian assistance” to Gaza. It must stop providing electricity and fuel to Gaza. It must fully control the distribution of food and water to the population. It must block the return of the population to northern Gaza. And it must open the Egyptian border with Gaza to permit the Gazans to leave or permit them to exit through Israel.

 

As for Hezbollah, the government must stop participating in the destructive farce of U.S. diplomacy. Instead, Israel should strike missile stores and terrorist barracks and be prepared to carry out a ground operation in the immediate term.

Israel must defeat Hezbollah. It is the only way Israelis in northern communities will be able to live safely in their homes.

 

If the United States retaliates by placing a weapons embargo on Israel, then Israel must make do with what it has and what it can produce. Use of imprecise missiles will expand collateral damage, but it will also win the war faster at less risk to IDF soldiers.

 

Since entering office, the Biden administration has treated Israel with colonialist contempt. Rather than respect Israel as an independent ally, Biden and his aides have acted like imperial overlords barking orders at a backwater, troublesome province.

 

Despite the pressure, Netanyahu and his ministers must remember that Israel is not a vassal state. We are a successful regional power. It is Israeli power, not U.S. charity that has sustained us to date. And it is Israeli power, not U.S. largesse that will bring us victory in this war for our survival. If forced to choose between support from Washington and victory, the choice is an easy one.

 

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Jews In Name Only promoting Antisemitism


Elder of Ziyon-tweet-17November2023-JINOs-Jewish activists
OK, so “Jewish Voice for Peace” and “IfNotNow” have been shutting down federal buildings, major bridges, and major commuter hubs, with banners and T-Shirts and signs with “JEWS SAY CEASEFIRE NOW!” printed.

And some media is referring to them as “Jewish activists” even though they represent no one in the Jewish community besides themselves.

But think about it: average working people, who don’t have the privilege these pseudo-Jews have to spend all day protesting, just want to get to their work or home to his or her family. Who’s stopping them? All these jerks with big signs claiming they are JEWS.

Not only are these self-entitled jerks directly promoting antisemitism with their “anti-Zionist” rhetoric, they are potentially causing ordinary Americans to hate Jews because they see these “Jews” disrupting their lives for a cause most don’t care about.

These progressive “Jews” are not only antisemites. They are actively choosing to piss normal people off as Jews.

This is what is known in real Judaism as a “chilul Hashem” and there are very few sins that are worse than this.

Elder of Ziyon-tweet-17November2023-JINOs-Jewish activists

Elder of Ziyon-tweet-17November2023-JINOs-Jewish activists

 

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Israel-At-War

Denial of Hamas’ October 7 massacre spreads in US

‘False flag attack’: Washington Post reports that US groups saying Israel staged attack to justify ‘genocide’ in Gaza grow on social media despite ample proof of Hamas’ atrocities

Ynet| 22January2024 | https://www.ynetnews.com/article/syxgwasy6

 

A U.S.-based news outlet The Washington Post reported Sunday on a disturbing phenomenon that is gaining momentum: the denial of the massacre carried out by Hamas on October 7. The newspaper said despite numerous pieces of evidence indicating that Hamas committed these horrible acts, including footage captured by the terrorists themselves, denial continues to spread.

Pro-Palestinian protest in New York (Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz)

Pro-Palestinian protest in New York
(Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz)

 

According to The Washington Post, the number of massacre deniers in the United States is currently small, but growing. Some claim the IDF carried out the massacre to “justify genocide in Gaza,” while others believe some hostages were kidnapped by Israel. Some are even confident that the United States is behind the attack.

 

These false narratives have circulated on social media, and users on platforms like TikTok and Reddit are already blaming Israel for a “false flag” attack – a staged attack designed to justify a harsh retaliatory action.

 

This phenomenon is troubling Jewish leaders and researchers who see a connection between it and Holocaust denial. They also identify similarities between the denial of the massacre and conspiracy theories with antisemitic foundations, including supporters of the QAnon conspiracy theory.

 

In The Washington Post article, the news outlet shared the story of Mirela Monte, a real estate agent and holistic healer from South Carolina, who was shocked when she first heard about the October 7 massacre.

 

She continued to read more about it on Uncensored Truths, a Telegram group with 2,958 members focusing on international news and “supposed perils” related to vaccinations. According to posts in the group, Israel stood behind the attack.

Pro-Palestinian protest in New York (Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz)

Pro-Palestinian protest in New York
(Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz)

 

Now, Monte is convinced that the massacre is a “false flag” attack by Israel – carried out with American assistance – to justify “genocide” in Gaza. Monte called Israel “pure evil.”

 

The false narrative according to which “Israel murdered their own people on October 7,” isn’t only growing online but is also present in anti-Israel demonstrations and protests where posters of Israeli hostages were hung in London, Chicago and other cities.

 

Following Hamas’ attack, Basem Naim, a senior Hamas official, claimed the terrorist organization didn’t kill Israeli civilians, saying it was “Israeli propaganda.” Some Reddit users are convinced he’s telling the truth.

 

“So basically the Hamas attack was a false flag for Israel to occupy Gaza and kill Palestinians. Expected behavior from Nazi wannabes.'” wrote one user in r/LateStageCapitalism, a left-wing forum on Reddit.

Pro-Palestinian protest in New York (Photo: AP)

Pro-Palestinian protest in New York
(Photo: AP)

 

This claim can also be seen on extreme news websites like Electronic Intifada and GrayZone, where it was written that most Israeli victims were killed by operations carried out by the IDF, and not Hamas. According to The Washington Post, it’s not only extreme left-leaning individuals who blame Israel for killing its civilians, but also extreme right-wingers and Holocaust deniers.

 

Holocaust denial, the American newspaper wrote, is gaining momentum among American youths. According to a survey by The Economist and YouGov conducted in early December 2023, one in five Americans under the age of 30 agrees with the statement that the “Holocaust is a myth.” More than a fifth of respondents in the survey believe the data published about the Holocaust are exaggerated.

 

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legal-insurrection-logo

Israel’s Response To October 7 Massacre Triggers Virulent Antisemitic Pro-Hamas Demonstrations Across Europe

UK media, politicians slam ‘far-right’ for disrupting London’s ‘pro-Palestinian’ demonstration.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal 12November2023 https://legalinsurrection.com/2023/11/israels-response-to-october-7-massacre-triggers-virulent-antisemitic-pro-hamas-demonstrations-across-europe/

Pro-Hamas demonstration-UK-Germany-Europe

Pro-Hamas demonstration-UK-Germany-Europe

Israel’s counter-terrorism operation in Gaza triggered angry pro-Hamas demonstrations in London, Berlin, Brussels and other European cities. Tens and thousands of largely immigrant Muslims turned out for anti-Israel rallies, marked with violent clashes and antisemitic incidents.

 

Islamist and pro-jihad demonstrators are joined by useful idiots from the European Left, who see terror-supporting Palestinians as allies in their struggle for Utopian Socialism.

 

These ‘pro-Palestinian’ rallies are accompanied with antisemitic attacks on Europe’s tiny and dwindling Jewish population “The public prosecutor’s office is investigating the attempted arson attack on a Jewish community in Berlin,” German state TV ARD reported recently. “Since Hamas’ attack on Israel, more than 200 antisemitic cases have been registered in Germany.”

 


Turning Point UK-tweet-11November2023-Pro-Palestine protestors attack man
Pro-Palestine protestors attack man holding up “Hamas is ISIS” sign in London.

Isn’t it interesting that at all these “ceasefire” protests they never condemn the terrorist group Hamas.

In fact whenever someone criticises Hamas they react violently.

Turning Point UK-tweet-11November2023-Pro-Palestine protestors attack man

Turning Point UK-tweet-11November2023-Pro-Palestine protestors attack man

In London, hundreds and thousands of pro-Hamas marchers on Saturday were confronted by English nationalists, who wanted to prevent them from desecrating British monuments and war memorials as their anti-Israel rally coincided with Armistice Day, marking the end of the WWI.

 

The UK media and politicians condemned ‘far-right’ demonstrators for guarding national symbols. “Far-right protesters repeatedly tried to ambush pro-Palestinian supporters on a huge march across central London,” The Times of London reported Saturday.

 


Oli London-tweet-11November2023-Police surround British men carrying the British flag
Police surround British men carrying the British flag during Remembrance Day in London.

Police officers have been repeatedly targeting those who carry the British flag whilst allowing those carrying the Hamas flag and chanting hate to march freely.

Oli London-tweet-11November2023-Police surround British men carrying the British flag

Oli London-tweet-11November2023-Police surround British men carrying the British flag

 

The mainstream media blamed the ‘far-right’ for disrupting the pro-Hamas demonstration. “More than 300,000 people gathered in London for a pro-Palestinian march as police arrested dozens of mainly far-right counter-protesters seeking to disrupt what had turned into a hot political issue,” the Bloomberg reported.

 


Emily Schrader-tweet-11November2023-Hamas supporter in London
Hamas supporter in London:

“Hitler knew how to deal with these people”

Emily-Schrader-tweet-11November2023-Hamas-supporter-in-London

Emily-Schrader-tweet-11November2023-Hamas-supporter-in-London

 

Ahead of Saturday’s pro-Hamas march, the London police apparently remove the Union Jacks from national war memorial. The Daily Mail (UK) reported November 5:

The Metropolitan Police vowed to use ‘all its powers’ to prevent disruption on the day of reflection and were seen out in force this weekend guarding the Cenotaph, which has been stripped of its British flags and surrounded by metal barriers.

 

Scotland Yard said the Union Jacks had been removed as part of a routine clean ahead of the memorial weekend adding that they would be returned soon after anger and confusion erupted on social media at the sight of the bare monument.

 


Rɪᴄʜᴀʀᴅ Kᴇᴍᴘ ⋁-tweet-11November2023-British government minister attempted murder by Hamas
Without the bravery of the police a senior British government minister would have been murdered by Hamas-supporting thugs on the streets of London today.

Rɪᴄʜᴀʀᴅ Kᴇᴍᴘ ⋁-tweet-11November2023-British government minister attempted murder by Hamas

Rɪᴄʜᴀʀᴅ Kᴇᴍᴘ ⋁-tweet-11November2023-British government minister attempted murder by Hamas

 

Uncontrolled mass-migration from the Middle East and Muslim-majority North Africa, has converted major European cities into strongholds for Islamic radicalism. Israel’s anti-terror offensive in Gaza gave many jihad-supporters an opportunity to come out in full force.

 

“Several thousand people took part in a demonstration in Dublin city centre in support of Palestine today,” Irish state broadcaster RTÉ reported. “Around 1,500 people attended the march in Cork city in support of Palestine.”

 

Similar “peaceful” pro-Hamas demonstration took place in the Belgian capital of Brussels. The France24 TV channel reported:

Many of the protesters yelled “free Palestine” and “stop the genocide” as they participated in the peaceful demonstration that took place on Armistice Day, a public holiday in Belgium and other countries to mark the signing of the armistice that ended World War I.

 

Some also cried out “EU, shame on you” for perceived bias towards Israel at the expense of Palestinian lives and rights.

 

Brussels police, which put the turnout at 21,000, watched over the march and closed traffic on several roads as it wended through the city for two hours.

Berlin: Pro-Hamas mob angered by Israel flag; Berlin state bans antisemitic “From the River to the Sea” slogan

In Berlin, a mob of Hamas supporters got enraged when a resident waved an Israeli flag from his apartment. A video clip showed demonstrators kicking the person’s door and shouting threats at him.

 

“Residents waved an Israeli flag,” German weekly Der Fokus reported Saturday. “This angered the Demonstrators, who booed and screamed.” According to the magazine, “one of the Israel-haters reportedly broke into the house. Another video shows an unknown person kicking the residential apartment’s front door.”

 

But there is still some silver lining despite this dark pro-jihad cloud over Germany. Berlin reportedly became the first German state to ban the antisemitic “From the River to the Sea” slogan. “Berlin appears to be the only one of the 16 German federal states to outlaw the chant ”From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free,” which has often been heard at mass rallies in the capital city. The criminal penalty for incitement to hate can be a prison term or a fine,” the Israeli TV channel i24NEWS reported Friday.

 


ZOKA-tweet-12November2023-Palestinian and Hamas supporters today in Germany tried to break in jew apartment
Palestinian and Hamas supporters today in Germany tried to break in jew apartment after he showed them Israel flag.
How is Germany allowing rise of antisemitism again? I don’t get it. This isn’t diversity. It is pure hate.

ZOKA-tweet-12November2023-Palestinian and Hamas supporters today in Germany tried to break in jew apartment

ZOKA-tweet-12November2023-Palestinian and Hamas supporters today in Germany tried to break in jew apartment

Pro-Israel demonstrations are a rare thing in German cities nowadays. Every pro-Israel gathering is met with a much larger pro-Hamas mob.

 

Here is a video I myself took on October 19 in the Germany city of Bonn, showing a few dozen of us (pro-Israel demonstrators) surrounded by 600 Hamas supporters screaming Allahu Akbar and trying to shout us down. Only a strong police presence prevented them from getting into a hitting-distance from us.

 


vijeta uniyal-tweet-19October2023-Israel supporters surrounded by hundreds of angry pro-Hamas demonstrators
A few dozen Israel supporters surrounded by hundreds of angry pro-Hamas demonstrators. Police protecting us. Germany 2023

vijeta uniyal-tweet-19October2023-Israel supporters surrounded by hundreds of angry pro-Hamas demonstrators

vijeta uniyal-tweet-19October2023-Israel supporters surrounded by hundreds of angry pro-Hamas demonstrators

 

Protester Wraps Palestinian Flag Around World War I Memorial In London, U.K., On Armistice Day

 

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Britain is the new capital of anti-Israel hate

As their country unites in the face of terrorist evil, ours is exposing a nasty and divided underbelly

16 November 2023 • https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/11/16/britain-new-capital-anti-israel-hate/

London's marching season Anti-Israel protestors head for the US embassy in Vauxhall

London’s marching season Anti-Israel protestors head for the US embassy in Vauxhall

London’s marching season: Anti-Israel protestors head for the US embassy in Vauxhall

 

I have spent recent weeks in Israel, and goodness knows this is a country that has plenty of challenges. But one question I have been asked a lot by an alarmingly wide array of Israelis is: “What happened to Britain?”

 

Generally, I get protective after this question, and reassure people that Britain is still Britain and that our core of decency remains as it always was. But the response is always the same: “But these marches?” Now perhaps they will say “… and the vote?”

 

It amazes most Israelis – as it amazes me – that Britain has seen some of the worst scenes of all the anti-Israel marches across the world. And I say “anti-Israel” for a reason. The first protests in London happened before Israel had even begun its military response to October 7. Rallies were held within hours of the massacres. To most Israelis this is nearly unfeasible.

 

What other country would see 1,400 of its citizens slaughtered, 240 kidnapped and countless more wounded for life, and not be allowed even a day to mourn? What other country, having suffered a set of atrocities hardly superseded in the whole history of violence wouldn’t get even one day of sympathy?

 

Only the Jewish state. And everybody in Israel knows as much. Pakistan is currently in the process of forcibly deporting two million Afghans. Nobody cares. Bashar al-Assad is in his twelfth year of killing Muslims in Syria and the world’s cameras turned away long ago. Only Israel, when involved in any military action, or even when it is simply on the receiving end of extreme violence, cannot rely even on the world’s understanding.

 

And it is in this light that Israel notices the British politicians calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. The ignorance of a large number of figures in British political life, from Humza Yousaf to Jess Phillips, can hardly be exaggerated. As it happens, a ceasefire of a kind existed in Gaza. Israel withdrew from Gaza unilaterally, and very painfully, in 2005 – removing every Jew from the strip. They handed over the land and got rockets in return.

 

Everyone around the Gaza border and across wider Israel was used to running from rockets to the shelters. But despite various exchanges over the years, nobody ever foresaw the battalion-sized terrorist attack of October 7. It was Hamas who broke what ceasefire existed that day when its legions gunned down young people at a music festival, went door to door in small communities, and burned people alive in their homes.

 

I have been to the sites of many of these massacres. I passed by one – the utterly destroyed kibbutz of Be’eri – earlier this week as I went into Gaza. It is a reminder of a dream that once was. Many of the residents of kibbutzim such as Be’eri were peace activists. I have seen with my own eyes the peacenik literature that lies among the blood stains and looted remains of their houses. Their dream died with them on October 7. Not one Israeli believes they can now live with Hamas – a group whose leaders say they want to repeat the October 7 time and again.

 

To call for a ceasefire now shows an astonishing lack of military understanding but also a horrific lack of decency. I have watched the Israeli Defence Force manage the evacuation of Gazans from the north of the strip to the south, so that the IDF can try to isolate Hamas and destroy them. It is a righteous mission, though one that is likely to prove incredibly hard.

 

I have also met many of the parents of the children and others stolen into Gaza. They want their children back. Why has there been no mass movement of MPs – from Labour, say – demanding that there be no ceasefire until Hamas hand back the hostages? Such a move seems to have never been on the cards.

 

Anti-Israel Labour MPs and others only ever campaign and condemn when they attack Israel. Perhaps because they know that Hamas would never listen to them anyway. These MPs are internationalist eunuchs. But my, do they talk a big game. Especially while they whip along the sectarian politics, which are the real driver of the protests on our streets.

 

In my view, Israel can look after itself. Watching the unity of this nation at war assures me of that.

But as I watch hooligans clamber over our war memorials and statues and hold our city centres hostage, I wonder whether it isn’t Britain that is the one in real trouble here.

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They’re literally just hunting Jews on the streets of England.


Marina Medvin-tweet-18November2023-They’re literally just hunting Jews on the streets of England
They’re literally just hunting Jews on the streets of England.
From Harry’s Place

Marina Medvin-tweet-18November2023-They’re literally just hunting Jews on the streets of England

Marina Medvin-tweet-18November2023-They’re literally just hunting Jews on the streets of England

 

 



Amy Mek-tweet-18November2023-Islamized UK
Islamized UK

Muslim School Children march through the streets chanting the Islamic battle cry: “Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar…”

Most popular name among those born in England in 2022 is Mohammed

Britain has the 3rd largest Muslim population in the EU, after France, then Germany

Notice the young sharia-compliant school girls wearing their Hijabs…

Hijab is supposed to prevent men from being tempted to sin by the appearance of women, right!?

So, what exactly is tempting about the body of little girl that needs to be covered?

 

Amy Mek-tweet-18November2023-Islamized UK

Amy Mek-tweet-18November2023-Islamized UK

 

 


 

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London just canceled the Jews


Marina Medvin-tweet-29November2023-London just canceled the Jews
London can’t control its Islamist problem so they decided to take the easy way out and just canceled the Jews.

Marina Medvin-tweet-29November2023-London just canceled the Jews

Marina Medvin-tweet-29November2023-London just canceled the Jews

 


 

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London is now a “no-go zone for Jews.”


The International Legal Forum – ILF-tweet-8March2024-London is now a ‘no-go zone for Jews.’
#London is now a “no-go zone for Jews.”

The International Legal Forum - ILF-tweet-8March2024-London is now a 'no-go zone for Jews.'

The International Legal Forum – ILF-tweet-8March2024-London is now a ‘no-go zone for Jews.’

 


 

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Let’s Come Back Home Again


Living Lchaim-tweet-7November2023-Let’s Come Back Home Again

We will come back home. 🫶🏻

Not sure who made this. It’s brilliant.

Living Lchaim-tweet-7November2023-Let's Come Back Home Again

Living Lchaim-tweet-7November2023-Let’s Come Back Home Again

Time to COME HOME AGAIN…

Posted 3November2023 Abraham’s Legacy:

 

Am Yisrael, it’s time we stop chasing “their” cheers and instead awaken to our inner strength, unashamed of who we are, “Orr Lagoyim”. The time to return is NOW – Let’s COME BACK HOME AGAIN!

 

My greatest hope with this film is that it doesn’t simply inspire but rather that it inspire each of us to ACTION. It may seem impossible to drop everything and return back to our homeland, but isn’t that what we pray for day in and day out? The power to return is in our hands, we simply need to heed the wake up call of Hashem and make the journey; to head out on our very own “Lech Lecha”.

 

I do not own this footage or music – just did the edit. This message has been in my heart for several years and I hope it inspires you.

 

Song Rights: The Greatest Showman | “From Now On” Lyric Video | Fox Family Entertainment

 

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Nefesh B’Nefesh

Strengthening Olim in Times of Crisis

Nefesh B’Nefesh is staying focused on its responsibilities and unique capabilities committing our efforts to three main areas:

Relief for Olim in distress, support for our Lone Soldiers and their families, and recruitment and coordination of volunteer physicians to bolster Israel’s national health care system.


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Cleansing the World

Rabbi Shalom Arush Posted on 13November2023 https://breslev.com/video/cleansing-the-world/?_atscid=2_92797_86200982_4966760_0_Tawxttjaeucshh8uw

Miracles!! How many miracles – protection from missiles, teshuva, unity! This war is global and affects all Jews. Who will hold firm to emuna in Hashem? Hashem is ridding the world of evil and those who oppose Him. CRITICAL: Aliyah – come now to experience the miracles! Importance of daily teshuva in personal prayer.

 


Humanity-Howard Klineberg


Hillel Fuld-tweet-14February2024-Humanity-Howard Klineberg
“When we were led into the gas chamber, YOU said nothing.

When we were forcibly converted, YOU said nothing.

When we were thrown out of a country
just for being Jews, YOU said nothing.

When we now defend ourselves
all of a sudden, YOU have something to say.

How did we take our revenge
on the Germans for their Final Solution?

How did we take revenge
on the Spanish for their Inquisition?

How did we take revenge
on Islam for being Dhimmis?

How did we take revenge
on the lies of the Protocols of Zion?

We studied our Torah
We innovated in medicine
We innovated in defense systems
We innovated in technology
We innovated in agriculture
We made music
We wrote poetry
We made the desert bloom
We won Nobel prizes
We founded the movie industry
We financed democracy
We fulfilled the word of Hashem by becoming a light unto the Nations of the Earth.

So World, when you criticize us for defending our heritage and our ancestral homeland, we the Jews of the world do exactly what you did, we ignore you.

You have proven to us for the last 2,000 years that when the chips are down, you don’t care.

Now leave us alone and go sort out your own backyard whilst we continue our 5784-year-old mission, enhancing the world we share.”

– Howard Klineberg,

Hillel Fuld-tweet-14February2024-Humanity-Howard Klineberg

Hillel Fuld-tweet-14February2024-Humanity-Howard Klineberg

 

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My Lot in the Land of Life

This week, Americans celebrate Thanksgiving. Let’s be thankful for being able to live in Eretz Yisrael! The Land of Israel is stronger than all other mitzvot, and therefore it is important to always remember the greatness of living there!

Rabbi Shalom Arush Posted on 21November2023 https://breslev.com/4073222/

My Lot in the Land of Life by Rabbi Shalom Arush

My Lot in the Land of Life by Rabbi Shalom Arush

Never Get Used to This!

The Torah warns us time and again not to get used to abundance. When a person gets used to abundance, he loses his ability to feel it; he loses any sense of gratitude. He doesn’t appreciate – and that is precisely the sin of “Yeshurun (Yisrael) grew fat and kicked” that leads to distance from Hashem to the point of doing avoda zara (worshiping false gods).

 

We have much good, much light, much chessed, much abundance in the Land of Israel. And, unfortunately, we became accustomed to it. We didn’t thank Hashem enough, and did not appreciate all this, and due to our sins, we were forced to learn to appreciate our existence here in the Holy Land the hard way.

 

The greatest chessed is the very fact that we are living in the Land of Israel!

 

This is not the place to bring all the amazing sayings of Chazal about the Land of Israel and its holiness.

 

So many generations yearned and prayed, cried and hoped to set foot on the land of Eretz Yisrael and to kiss it, and even just to be buried in it. The greatest rabbis endangered their lives to travel to this land. Hashem yitbarach had mercy on us and gave us the merit to live in the Holy Land, and to breathe the holy air, and to observe Torah and mitzvot here, including the mitzvot that are dependent on living here, and to visit the graves of our forefathers and ancient luminaries.

 

Tie-breaking Weapon

Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Bender zt”l, who was one of the greatest of Breslev chassidim, conveyor of its message in the previous generation, would say to his disciples: “Avreichim! Test me on this one! Do your best to remember that you are in Eretz Yisrael and be happy about this fact – and you will feel a great positive influence on all your service of Hashem.”

 

That means that if Rabbi Nachman of Breslev said that all of one’s service of Hashem depends on a person always searching for and finding good points, merits, mitzvot – Rabbi Levi Yitzchak says that there is one special point that is a “tie-breaking weapon” – and that is the Land of Israel. In other words, the Land of Israel is not just one other mitzvah, but rather a super-mitzvah, a mitzvah so big and powerful that it is stronger than all other mitzvot, and therefore it is important for a person to remember at all times the greatness of the merit of being in the Land of Israel and to think of it as a huge asset.

 

This is very useful for our service of Hashem because we have a rule: Every mitzvah brings glow to a person according to his attitude, his appreciation, and his yearning for the mitzvah. The rule of “As water reflects the face shown to it, so does one man’s heart reciprocate another’s” is true for mitzvot as well. All the immense light of the mitzvah of living in the Land of Israel depends on our appreciating the mitzvah, loving the Land of Israel, and thanking Hashem for this gift, and on our never taking for granted the immense merit we have earned.

 

Win-Win

Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel), too, “gains” from our residing in it. Eretz Yisrael glows only when the Jewish people live there. Rashi explains this in parashat Chayei Sarah.

 

In this parasha an amazing thing happens in the history of the Jewish People. Avraham Avinu purchases the first tract of land in Eretz Yisrael. “The Promised Land” is not just “on paper” anymore: it becomes a real property of the Jewish People.

 

Even before we were a Jewish People, we had a plot in Eretz Yisrael.

 

And after the transaction, the Torah says: “Vayakom – And Efron’s field rose”. (Bereishit 23:17) What does vayakom mean? How can a field rise? Says Rashi: “Tekuma haita lo: It rose in importance, for it passed from the hand of a commoner to the hand of a king.”

 

When Eretz Yisrael was in the hands of other nations it was actually in a state of falling; but when Eretz Yisrael passes into the hands of the Jewish People – that is the rising. Eretz Yisrael rises and brushes off the dirt, renewing itself as in times of old.

 

Rabbi Natan explains wondrous things in the parasha relating to the purchase of Me’arat HaMachpelah (Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron) according to the sod – the secrets of the Torah. He says that Efron had the aspects of afar – of dirt, of the Serpent, of sadness, and therefore the holy field of Me’arat HaMachpelah seemed dark and full of foreboding for him, and he didn’t have the merit to see the immense light and smell the fragrance of Gan Eden in this field.

 

The rectification of the trait of sadness is the trait of emuna (faith), as explained in the books of Rabbeinu. Avraham Avinu was the first of the believers, and therefore it was he who had to rectify the klipa of sadness of Efron and transfer the Land of Israel from being controlled by the klipa, to being controlled by kedusha – holiness.

 

And Eretz Yisrael itself was elevated, it had tekuma. Its holiness and light were revealed, and it became “the Land of Life”, as David Hamelech calls it. And therefore, the first act that Avraham Avinu performs in the land is to bury a righteous person in it. Because righteous people have the aspect of life; long life. Righteous people are considered to be alive even when they’re dead, and therefore immediately after buying a plot in the Land, it says about Avraham, “And Avraham was old, advanced in days (years),” for he merited a long life thanks to the holiness of Eretz Yisrael.

 

It is explained in several places in the books of Rabbi Nachman of Breslev that a long life doesn’t mean only living for many years, rather, that the days themselves should be long and full of Torah and tefilla, full of yir’at Shamayim (fear of Heaven) and love of Hashem.

 

Now we will go back to our piece of advice: never forget for a minute the extent of the merit, be joyful and thank Hashem endlessly.

 

No More Sleeping

It is clear that the focal point of this entire tragedy and terrible massacre [Editor: on Simchat Torah], and the whole difficult situation that the Jewish People finds itself in is the control over Eretz Yisrael. The cruel enemy – enemy of Hashem and enemy of the Jews – is willing to die for Eretz Yisrael. And our answer to that is to strengthen our connection with Eretz Yisrael, strengthen our emotional connection, our joy in the mitzvah of living in Eretz Yisrael.

 

And as I have said repeatedly since this terrible disaster occurred, we must pray with all our might and insist in our prayers to Hashem that we get the complete Ge’ula (Redemption) – nothing less. So too we must pray to Hashem ceaselessly and without compromise for Eretz Yisrael, that the entire land should be in the hands of the Jewish People, with no exceptions.

 

Unfortunately, the main parts of Eretz Yisrael – all the places where our holy forefathers lived, and all the holiest places are in the hands of the lowliest of the nations. The princes, sons of the queen, have been shunted off to the coastal plain, whereas the prime parts of the Land are being ruled by the children of the maidservant.

 

Holy Jews, we were not given this difficult situation in order to ask Hashem only for peace and quiet, so that we can go back to slumbering.

 

Hashem has shaken us and woken us up in such a painful way, so that we will truly wake up and not go back to sleep again.

 

And waking up means to rise and shout: We are asking for the complete Ge’ula, we are asking for the kingdom of Heaven, we are asking for the kingship of the House of David and not for any cheap substitute. And we want the Land of Israel in its entirely, and specifically our holy Temple in its full glory that precisely from this big crisis will be built speedily in our days, Amen.

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End the Shame

We don’t need Mashiach to come to solve our problems. We need Mashiach to come so that Hashem’s glory will be fully revealed and the desecration of His Name will end.

Rachel Avrahami | 11January2024 | https://breslev.com/4085308/

 

End the Shame by Rachel Avrahami

End the Shame by Rachel Avrahami

Since my last article on antisemitism, of course things are only getting scarier.

 

At some point, I realized that I was drowning in terror – but where was my emuna? If Hashem does everything for the best, then clearly this also must be the “darkness before the dawn,” or as Rabbi Arush puts it – the light of salvation that just hasn’t been revealed yet.

 

Clearly the 400%+ rise in Aliyah applications is a result of that fear (I actually wish that number was much higher based on Rabbi Arush’s warnings). I’ve spoken with Jews around the world who are starting to get closer to Hashem specifically through this tragedy. As Rabbi Arush said, “It’s forbidden to call it [Oct 7] ‘Black Shabbat’ – call it ‘White Shabbat’ because on that day, the light of repentance came down to this world!”

 

Even more than that, I realized that I can understand one of Rabbi Arush’s teachings about Mashiach a lot better now.

 

Some months ago, Rabbi Arush said, “What do we need Mashiach for? He is not coming for us or for our problems – there is the Law of Gratitude. Whatever suffering you have, do the Law – we don’t need Mashiach for our troubles.

 

“We need Mashiach because Hashem’s name is being desecrated and humiliated. Mashiach is coming for God’s Honor, not for us.”

 

Now I understand better the rampant antisemitism and the outrageous lies being spread about Jews, the IDF, and Israel. The Jews do represent God and a good portion of the world recognizes that, even if it’s subconsciously.

 

So, when the world has completely reversed the roles of the Jewish people and thinks that Israel i.e. JEWS are occupier-Nazis who are committing genocide – we have here a desecration of Hashem’s name of the worst kind.

 

The issue here is not what Israel is doing. The issue is that the hatred for Jews runs so deep. No matter how hard Israel tries to prove that these are just the usual blood libels (it’s just a modern twist on the “Jew killed a non-Jewish baby to use its blood in Passover matzah”) – the reality is that truth doesn’t matter when there is an agenda. The world and many people in it simply don’t want the truth. No matter what the circumstances, Jews are always to blame, and the current situation is no exception.

 

Herein lies the quintessential problem. The world does not recognize that goodness and morality come from the Jewish people – because we learned it from God Himself, Who is all good! Rather, the world thinks that the Jewish people are the evilest of all peoples! Evil incarnate! This thinking demonstrates complete psychopathic gaslighting role-reversal. This is the twisted, crooked thinking of so many people living on this planet!

 

Just a small example – We are the most righteous country, definitely human and imperfect but even in Gaza, the civilian death rate is 0.8%, compared to a global average of 4.5% and better than the US civilian death rate in Afghanistan! Rabbi Arush actually bemoaned and cried over this fact, because Jewish soldiers are dying to protect Gazan civilians. As Rabbi Arush put it, “The government is putting our boys in danger in order to protect our enemies.”

 

Another example – When the IDF did a military operation in Jenin to clear out terrorists a few months ago with ZERO civilian deaths, the UN Secretary General called it an illegal use of “excessive force.” Clearly then, any use of force is considered illegal or excessive if Jews are the ones wielding it. Every human on the planet is granted basic human rights, including the right of a country to strike offensively to defend its population. Self-defense is part of international law, and the US has been doing this recently with strikes in Syria to defend American troops. Clearly, Jews must not be humans with the basic right to defend themselves. I mean, what other country in the world even needs to have major politicians declare that Jews DO in fact, have a right to defend themselves?! Since when is it even a question? But clearly despite all the equal rights promises – Jews just don’t make the cut. We’re just not humans.

 

The truth is that in a certain respect, they are right. The Jews are called “the light unto the nations,” God’s “chosen people”, and a “priestly nation.” We ARE different, and we are supposed to be different. Even Hitler himself, his name should be erased, said “Conscience is a Jewish invention.” 1

 

Hitler continued: If one little Jewish boy survives without any Jewish education, with no synagogue and no Hebrew school, it [Judaism] is in his soul. Even if there had never been a synagogue or a Jewish school or an Old Testament, the Jewish spirit would still exist and exert its influence. It has been there from the beginning, and there is no Jew, not a single one, who does not personify it. 2

 

Sometimes an enemy can say it best.

 

Israel is going out of its way to prove its righteousness to the world, with little visible results. Jews are making Hashem’s name great by going to war, but with none of the typical war crimes that have been committed for centuries. The world is blaspheming God by saying that Israel is anyway doing all of that and worse. The world ignores the real act of genocide committed by Hamas against Israel and the captives, who are quite possibly near death in tunnels in Gaza. The massacre by Hamas was against all international laws. The hypocrisy and double standard are breathtaking.

 

I just don’t see any way out of this pit without Mashiach showing up and proving the world wrong. Mashiach will vindicate Hashem’s holy name. And THAT is why we want Mashiach to come as fast as possible!

 

It’s true that Rabbi Arush has been stressing the need to scream every day for Mashiach to come save us (watch the intro of The Geula is Ready! ) just like the Jews in Egypt did. Hashem immediately sent Moshe (Moses) after the Jews cried out from the oppression.

 

But what we should be screaming the most about is the terrible desecration of His name currently taking place.

 

If the purpose of creation is to learn emuna and recognize God – and that is true for every human on this planet, Jew and non-Jew – well, if this much of the world thinks what they do of emuna, God, and His people – we’re in big trouble.

 

So, scream for Hashem to not only save us, but most importantly, for God Himself to show up and prove Who is right – once and for all. And then the nations will recognize Him, and His name will be made great, and everyone will know that Hashem is good and will learn emuna – amen.

 


1 The complete quote: “The tablets of Mount Sinai have lost their validity. Conscience is a Jewish invention. Like circumcision it mutilates man…”. Published in Hitler Speaks (English translation of Gespräche mit Hitler) by Hermann Rauschning, p. 220, 1939.

 

***

 

Rachel Avrahami grew up in Los Angeles, CA, USA in a far-off valley where she was one of only a handful of Jews in a public high school of thousands. She found Hashem in the urban jungle of the university. Rachel was privileged to read one of the first copies of The Garden of Emuna in English, and the rest, as they say, is history. She made Aliyah and immediately began working at Breslev Israel. 

 

Rachel is now the Editor of Breslev Israel’s English website. She welcomes questions, comments, articles, and personal stories to her email: rachel.avrahami@breslev.co.il.

Reader’s Comments:

1. Tamar
12January2024

Israel on trial – with tremendous international media coverage!

When this article went to press, the ICJ (International Court of Justice) began hearing South Africa’s case of genocide against Israel.

Such an unfounded accusation is a major chillul Hashem on a planet-wide scale!

How true is Harav’s call to cry out to Hashem for Mashiach to vindicate Hashem’s honor!

 

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Don’t threaten us with cutting off aid to give up our principles.


Netanel Worthy-tweet-19February2024-Don’t threaten us
“Don’t threaten us with cutting off aid to give up our principles. I’m not a Jew with trembling knees. I am a proud Jew with 3,700 years of civilized history. Nobody came to our aid when we were dying in the gas chambers and ovens. Nobody came to our aid when we were striving to create our country. We paid for it. We fought for it. We died for it. We will stand by our principles. We will defend them. And, when necessary, we will die for them again, with or without your aid.”

-Prime Minister Menachem Begin to Senator Joe Biden, 1982

Netanel Worthy-tweet-19February2024-Don’t threaten us

Netanel Worthy-tweet-19February2024-Don’t threaten us

 


 

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SOVEREIGNTY-logo https://www.ribonut.co.il/

SOVEREIGNTY-logo https://www.ribonut.co.il/

74% of Israeli citizens oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state

womeningreen@womeningreen.org from E-Mail 25January2024

Ad that Haarestz doesnt want you to see 2024

Ad that Haarestz doesnt want you to see 2024

An ad by the Sovereignty Movement with data from a survey that was conducted, stating that 74% of Israeli citizens oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state – was rejected for publication in the Ha’aretz newspaper. The Sovereignty Movement: “Ha’aretz is trying to hide from its readers the awakening of Israeli citizens”.

 

Also, according to the survey that was conducted by the Direct Polls Survey Institute for the conference organized by the Sovereignty Movement and the Yesha Council entitled “Wake-up call from Gaza – putting an End to the Two-States Paradigm”, a mere 20% of Israeli citizens support the idea of two states, and 6% responded with “no opinion” on the matter.

SEE: https://www.ribonut.co.il/BlogPostID.aspx?BlogPostId=861&lang=2

 

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SOVEREIGNTY-logo https://www.ribonut.co.il/

SOVEREIGNTY-logo https://www.ribonut.co.il/

83% of Israeli citizens support total victory

Overwhelming support for encouraging emigration and against a Palestinian state – the survey

Meir elipur 12January2024 https://www.ribonut.co.il/BlogPostID.aspx?BlogPostId=858&lang=2

Here are the results of the survey presented by the Sovereignty Movement at the Lessons of the Gaza War Conference. The voice of the people is clear and unequivocal: no to a Palestinian state, yes to encouraging emigration of the Arabs from the Gaza Strip

49% of Israeli citizens support total victory and tell the US to “Go to Hell”.
33% of Israeli citizens support total victory and we need to talk to the US.

Sovereignty Movement Poll 10January2024-1

Sovereignty Movement Poll 10January2024-1

 

Sovereignty Movement Poll 10January2024-2

Sovereignty Movement Poll 10January2024-2

 

Sovereignty Movement Poll 10January2024-3

Sovereignty Movement Poll 10January2024-3

 

Sovereignty Movement Poll 10January2024-4

Sovereignty Movement Poll 10January2024-4

 

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SOVEREIGNTY-logo https://www.ribonut.co.il/

SOVEREIGNTY-logo https://www.ribonut.co.il/

OPEN THE DOOR!

Meir elipur  16January2024 https://www.ribonut.co.il/BlogPostID.aspx?BlogPostId=860&lang=2

Minister of Intelligence Gila Gamliel laid out her plan for the day after the war at a conference organized by the Sovereignty Movement, in collaboration with the Yesha Council.


Sovereignty Movement Poll 10January2024-1

Sovereignty Movement Poll 10January2024-1

76% of Israeli citizens support voluntary emigration of the residents of the Gaza Strip to other countries

[JerusalemCats Comments: How about New York, London, Los Angeles, The Hague, San Francisco, Michigan, Minnesota,  Massachusetts, Vermont and so on 🇺🇸🐎, 🇪🇺] 


To read the article in its entirety
Jerusalem Post Article by Atara Bec* January 15, 2024

 

The conference, titled “Lessons from Gaza – an end to the idea of two states,” held at the Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem last Thursday, focused mainly on opposition to the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

 

According to a poll presented at the conference, in the wake of the Oct. 7 massacre, an overwhelming majority (74%) also said they were against a two-state solution; 20% were in favor, and 6%
had no opinion.

 

The poll, conducted by Direct Polls Ltd. for the Sovereignty Movement a day ahead of the conference, also asked: “Are you for or against voluntary transfer emigration of the residents of the Gaza Strip to other countries?” A clear majority – 76% – responded in favor; 16% were against, and 8% had no opinion.

 

Surprisingly, center-left voters from the Yesh Atid and National Unity parties, headed by Opposition leader Yair Lapid and Minister Benny Gantz respectively, responded similarly regarding the issue.  Among the Yesh Atid voters, 61% were in favor of the emigration, 24% were against, and 15% had no opinion. Among those who voted for Gantz’s party, 71% were in favor, 18% were against, and 11% had no opinion.

 

*Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel, a longtime supporter of sovereignty over all of Judea and Samaria, addressed the conference on the issue of voluntary emigration.*

 

“Now is the time that we must try new solutions,” she told the audience. “It is clear that much has to change if any conceptions were proven wrong on the day of the pogrom of October 7.

“Every time Israel retreated from territory, it became a base for terror and bloodshed”
……

“Gaza has long been thought of as a problem without an answer. The greatest failure was the disengagement from Gaza,” she said.  The State of Israel tried many solutions – enrichment, conflict management, and building high walls – in the hope of keeping the monsters of Hamas out of Israel. These have all failed.

 

“One of the issues on which my office has been working diligently is how to proceed the day after Hamas has been defeated and annihilated. We will still have about two million people, many of whom voted for Hamas and celebrated the massacre of innocent for men, women, and children. Gaza is a breeding ground for extremism… Gaza is a place devoid of hope, stolen by the genocidal terrorists of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other terrorist groups.”

 

*‘Open the door’*
Gamliel then referred to a recent article in the Guardian (UK) that described the hopelessness of the Palestinians in Gaza. “These people are desperate, and the international community, which claims to care about the Palestinians, sits by idly and watches. This is an opportunity,” she declared.

 

“Unfortunately, for the last 75 years, UNRWA has done zero to help the Palestinian people even though it has an annual budget of well over one billion dollars,” she continued. “Instead of funneling money to rebuild Gaza or to the failed UNWRA, the international community can assist in the cost of humanitarian voluntary resettlement, helping the people of Gaza build new lives in their new host countries

 

“I will make it simple by stating it in three simple words: Open the door.

 

“I say to the international community: No one is pushing or forcing anybody out, but surely you can’t be indifferent to their suffering. Just open the door and let those who wish it to join the hundreds of thousands of Gazans who have already left voluntarily in the last few years…

 

“It is an obligation of leadership to propose solutions and not just circle back to the same tired ideas and cliches,” she concluded.

 

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The Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies BESA https://besacenter.org/

The Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies BESA https://besacenter.org/

The Occupation of Territory in War: A Diplomatic and Strategic Achievement for Israel

By Brig. Gen. (res.) Dr. Meir Finkel | 14February2024 | https://besacenter.org/the-occupation-of-territory-in-war-a-diplomatic-and-strategic-achievement-for-israel/

 

BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 2,263, February 14, 2024

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The occupation and holding of territory, which used to be a central component of the IDF’s war concept at all levels, became almost irrelevant during Israel’s many years of fighting terrorism and guerrillas in Gaza and Lebanon. But there are three reasons why it is a big mistake to discount the value of conquered territory. First, the occupation by Israel of enemy territory (while evacuating the local population for its own protection) is considered by Israel’s enemies to be a painful loss, and the possession of territory can serve as a bargaining chip in political negotiations. Second, occupation offers the IDF an asymmetric advantage, as only it can occupy territory, clear it of the enemy, and protect it from counterattack. Third, after a long period of “wars of choice” in which Israel was the strong side, we have returned to the era of “wars of no choice” in which the occupation of territory has both internal and external legitimacy. These insights should be applied to any future war in Lebanon.

 

Until the 1980s, the occupation of territory and transfer of the war into enemy territory for the purpose of removing the threat of invasion into Israel were central components in the IDF’s perception of warfare. But combat against guerrilla warfare in the security zone in Lebanon, and against terror and guerrilla warfare in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, caused a shift in this perception. The holding of conquered territory that contained an enemy population prepared to conduct guerrilla warfare was perceived as a liability rather than an advantage.

 

The transition of enemy behavior to a pattern of stand-off bombardment of Israeli territory, and the development of an Israeli response of counter-fire and active defense implemented in limited “rounds” in Gaza, almost completely removed the occupation of territory from Israeli military and public discourse. This diminished the IDF’s focus on maintaining the military capability meant to implement occupation: the ground maneuver.

 

This trend can be seen in IDF strategic documents over the years. In the IDF Operations Concept document of Chief of Staff Dan Halutz (2006), for example, an emphasis was placed on developing the capability of operational-level fire against armored fighting vehicles as an alternative to the strategy of occupying territory when fighting enemy states. Occupation was perceived as an unacceptable burden because of the guerrilla warfare to which occupying IDF forces would be subjected.

 

The prolonged influence of the IDF’s experience in Lebanon is evident here. In the IDF Strategic Concept document of 2015, written almost a decade after the Second Lebanon War, a return to ground maneuver capability was stressed, with two components: the “focused maneuver” against key political and authoritative centers and the “distributed maneuver” against dispersed enemy artillery units and military infrastructures. However, occupying territory to be used as a diplomatic bargaining chip was not defined as an objective.

 

The Victory Concept authored by Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi had three pillars: long-range fire strikes, ground maneuver, and defense. With the ground maneuver emphasizing “neutralizing capabilities” – in other words, maneuvering for the purposes of destroying specific enemy assets: artillery, combatants, and military infrastructure, but not for the purpose of occupying territory.

 

Israel’s operations in Gaza clearly illustrate the IDF’s preference for stand-off fire and defense. The offensive maneuver was activated during Operation Protective Edge only to neutralize the threat of the attack tunnels. Ever since the Second Lebanon War, the IDF has immediately withdrawn from every territory it conquered, forfeiting any achievement provided by the occupation of territory. In all documents and operations, occupation was meant to neutralize artillery fire or tunnels but was not viewed as an objective unto itself.

 

This is a narrow view, as occupying territory serves multiple purposes on all levels of warfare. On the tactical level, it can be used to capture advantageous positions from the enemy. On the operational level, it can disrupt enemy formations. On the strategic level, the enemy’s capital can be occupied for the purpose of regime change. On the diplomatic level, occupied territory can be a bargaining chip for negotiation.

 

There are three reasons why it is a serious mistake to devalue the achievement of occupying territory.

 

The first reason is at the diplomatic and strategic level: It’s the land, stupid. Losing territory is a painful loss for Israel’s enemies. Hamas in Gaza wants to “return” to Jaffa, Ashdod, Ashkelon (Majdal), and indeed the rest of the State of Israel, either through direct occupation, by exhausting Israel until it collapses, or by exerting enough political pressure to force the “right of return”. Hezbollah is fighting for the Galilee foothills, and the Rashidun force wanted to conquer the Galilee. Territory remains as important to Israel’s enemies as it ever was. Therefore, Israel’s occupation and holding of enemy territory constitutes a serious loss for those enemies.

 

Holding territory is also a bargaining chip in diplomatic negotiations. This was the case with Egypt and Syria in the agreements on the separation of forces at the end of the Yom Kippur War, and later in the framework of the peace agreement with Egypt, which insisted on the complete return of Sinai.

 

This will always apply when Israel occupies territory. Hamas’s claim that it will return the captives as long as the IDF withdraws from Gaza’s population centers proves that occupied territory is once again a diplomatic bargaining chip.

 

The second reason is at the operational level: The occupation of territory gives the IDF a clear asymmetrical advantage. This exploits enemy vulnerabilities and maximizes the IDF’s strengths. Only the IDF can occupy territory, clear it of the enemy, defend it against counterattack, use it to reduce the threat of infiltration, and hold it as a bargaining chip for diplomatic negotiations. None of Israel’s enemies can occupy territory and hold it for more than a few hours.

 

This asymmetry is especially important when it comes to firepower. Though the IDF is reluctant to admit this, a sort of symmetry has emerged between Israel and Hezbollah. Hezbollah has built a vast arsenal containing statistical rockets, short-range rockets, precision missiles, 120mm mortars, and drone-delivered explosives. The IDF has a highly sophisticated air force with precise intelligence-guided targeting capabilities on a world-class scale. The problem is that a symmetry has emerged. Both sides are capable of inflicting significant damage on the other, and victory in this operational space will be by points.

 

It has been argued for many years that occupying territory is not worth the price it will cost in terms of heavy casualties and exposure of IDF troops to guerrilla warfare. The “Iron Swords” war demonstrates that both these risks are limited in scope. It appears that with adjustments, territorial occupation can be restored during a future war in Lebanon. This can be done with relatively low attrition ratios (harder to achieve in Lebanon than in densely built Gaza) and with the evacuation of the local population from the battlefield area (easier to achieve in Lebanon than in Gaza).

 

Territory captured in a future war must be cleared of military infrastructure. Residents should not be allowed to return until Israel’s desired diplomatic arrangement is achieved, even if this means the IDF maintains a security zone for months or years in the enemy’s territory. I stress that preventing the return of the population is not for the purpose of punishing them. Rather, it is for the same reason that they were evacuated before the war: to minimize the chances of their being harmed. Territory captured during ground combat will remain largely destroyed and will lack any basic electricity or water infrastructure, and it will be filled with ruins and explosive remnants. Fighting is also likely to continue to occur in the area, even if only sporadically.

 

The third reason is that warfare changes constantly, both globally and regionally. Unlike advanced science, which progresses forward, the phenomenon of warfare sometimes returns to old motivations and patterns. When Israel was perceived as the stronger side against Hamas, the limitations placed upon it were severe. The Western world expected Israel to defend its citizens solely with active defense systems and counter-fire, without resorting to ground action. In terms of internal legitimacy, the cost of occupying territory was believed to outweigh the benefits when each round of conflict ended with relatively minor damage.

 

But on October 7, 2023, both Israel’s and the world’s understanding of the conflict with Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran changed completely. In response to Hamas’s brutal, genocidal massacre and mass hostage-taking, the State of Israel declared a comprehensive war. After a long period of “wars of choice” in which Israel was the stronger side, the Jewish State has returned to an era of “no-choice wars”. In a comprehensive multi-front war, which will include fighting against Hezbollah and Iran and possibly other elements, Israel will have to utilize all means at its disposal to defend itself. This includes occupying and holding territory.

 

Occupying territory in Lebanon – for the fifth time

 

Without attempting to broadly speculate on how the next war in Lebanon will unfold, we will consider a situation in which Israel has decided to enter Lebanon on the ground. In such a scenario, a defensive zone would be established and held as a security belt to protect the northern border settlements from surface-to-surface fire and ground attack until a diplomatic arrangement is reached. The conquered territory would remain “sterile”, with neither an enemy presence nor returned local residents, in order to protect those residents from the fighting that is likely to continue in the area as the enemy attempts to reconquer the territory or attack IDF forces.

 

Israel has a great deal of experience in Lebanon. During Operation Hiram in October 1948, the IDF captured 14 villages in the eastern sector. Israel withdrew half a year later as part of an agreement with the Lebanese government, but in Operation Litani in 1978, the villages were recaptured. In the First Lebanon War in 1982, they were captured a third time; in the Second Lebanon War in 2006, they were captured a fourth time. If we were to capture them a fifth time, as well as other areas along the border for a fourth time, we will need to ensure as much as possible that that will be the last time they pose a threat to the border settlements.

 

The way to do this, given the history I have described, is to gain internal and international legitimacy by turning these rural areas into a security zone under Israeli control. They should remain under Israeli security control until an agreement is reached that ensures that if Israel withdraws, the areas will no longer pose a threat.

 

view pdf

 

Brigadier General (res.) Dr. Meir Finkel is head of research at the Dado Center and its former commander. He has written a series of books about the IDF’s senior headquarters: the Chief of Staff (2018), the General Staff (2020), Air Force Headquarters (2022) and Ground Headquarters (2023).

 

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Protect yourselves; Hire Jewish Labor

http://palmtreeofdeborah.blogspot.com

NEVER FORGET!

7 Shevat 5784 16January2024 http://palmtreeofdeborah.blogspot.com/2024/01/never-forget.html

 

The message seems to have finally gotten through that we cannot safely employ Arabs from Palestinian areas.  (Petition)  Now, if only people will understand that no Arab can be trusted and that’s just how it is.

 

But, never forget that it is not only Yishmael whom we are fighting but Eisav and their attached Erev Rav as well.  As more and more Jews are rejecting Arab labor, there is going to be a big push on by The Other Side to replicate the Hayovel model across the country, replacing Arab labor with imported Christian Evangelical “lovers of Israel.”  God forbid!!

 

Watch out for it!

 


 

Beit Shemesh residents concerned for security say YES to Jewish & Foreign workers

Citizens of Beit Shemesh 31December2023  https://www.change.org/p/beit-shemesh-residents-concerned-for-security-say-yes-to-jewish-foreign-workers

 

Residents of Beit Shemesh concerned for their security, say YES to Jewish and foreign workers!

 

We, the residents of Beit Shemesh, write with deep concerns regarding the potential entry of non-Israeli Arabs into our city. We understand the economic needs and the importance of cooperation, but recent events, particularly the tragic October 7th massacre, have heightened our fears for the safety of our residents and families.

 

In the aftermath of this terrible incident, with many of our men drafted to serve in various capacities, our community is already facing a heightened sense of vulnerability. The trauma and anxiety stemming from the events of October 7th have left us grappling with a profound sense of insecurity. In light of these circumstances, we are apprehensive about the introduction of non-Israeli Arabs into Beit Shemesh, even with the presence of guards.

 

While we acknowledge the necessity of labor from various sources, we believe that the safety of our families should be the top priority. The recent tragedy serves as a stark reminder of the unpredictable nature of the region, and we fear that allowing non-Israeli Arab workers to roam freely, even with security measures in place, exposes our community to unnecessary risks.

 

In light of these circumstances, we respectfully request that the government reconsiders any plans to allow non-Israeli Arabs into Beit Shemesh. We understand the complexities of balancing the economic needs of our residents and security concerns but believe that alternative solutions can be explored to address labor needs without compromising the safety of our families.

 

Sincerely,

 

The residents of Beit Shemesh

 

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Nefesh B'Nefesh: Live the Dream US & CAN 1-866-4-ALIYAH | UK 020-8150-6690 or 0800-085-2105 | Israel 02-659-5800 https://www.nbn.org.il/ info@nbn.org.il

Nefesh B’Nefesh: Live the Dream US & CAN 1-866-4-ALIYAH | UK 020-8150-6690 or 0800-085-2105 | Israel 02-659-5800 https://www.nbn.org.il/ info@nbn.org.il

It’s time to come home! Nefesh B’Nefesh: Live the Dream 1-866-4-ALIYAH

French Jews arriving at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel, November 2, 2016. (JTA/IFCJ)

French Jews arriving at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel, November 2, 2016. (JTA/IFCJ)

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Anything but Aliya

The Evil Inclination will do anything in the world to keep a Jew from moving to the Land of Israel. When the EI hears the word Aliya – it goes on the warpath. Why?

Rabbi Shalom Arush Posted on 09October2023  https://breslev.com/479379/

Anything but Aliya by Rabbi Shalom Arush

Anything but Aliya by Rabbi Shalom Arush

Rebbe Nachman couldn’t say enough good things about the Land of Israel. It’s therefore no wonder that the Yetzer Hara (the evil inclination, or “EI”) wages an ongoing battle on both Rebbe Nachman’s teaching and Aliya (immigration) to the Land of Israel.

 

The EI will do anything in the world to keep a Jew from moving to the Land of Israel. When the EI hears the word Aliya – it goes on the warpath. And, once a person has made Aliya and has moved to Israel, the EI doesn’t give up; it still fights tooth and nail to convince a person how terrible Israel is, Heaven forbid, and how good life once was in New York, LA, Chicago, Miami, or Toronto.

 

Why does the EI get so upset about a Jew living in the Land of Israel? On a national scale, the EI doesn’t want Geula (redemption), including Mashiach and our Holy Temple. Every Jew who comes here hastens the Geula. On an individual level, the EI wants you and your children wallowing in the diaspora, stressed and depressed, and not coming home to where your soul belongs. The Yetzer doesn’t want you attaining your soul correction, so he fights to keep you away from here and gives you fifty reasons to remain in the Diaspora.

 

With so much opposition from the Dark Side, a person with spiritual awareness can begin to realize the value of living in the Land of Israel.

 

The holiness of the Land of Israel is honey for the soul. Rebbe Nachman teaches that emuna leads to having one’s prayers answered. All prayers rise by way of the Land of Israel. A person’s prayers are strongest in the Land of Israel, to the extent that they can work miracles, above the limitations of nature.

 

The Land of Israel is the place to acquire emuna, for one sees Hashem’s hand very clearly here, every single day, especially in recent current events.

 

Shofar sounding as Jewish Olim land on a Nefesh B' Nefesh flight to Israel

Shofar sounding as Jewish Olim land on a Nefesh B’ Nefesh flight to Israel

Rebbe Nachman teaches that the Land of Israel is the place for children. Our forefathers were barren outside of Israel, but Abraham and Sarah came here and had children. This can work for you too.

 

The Land of Israel can save a person from all evil, because of its high-level kedusha. Only in Israel can a person attain the level of emuna where natural restrictions and limitations don’t affect him at all, for here is the place of upper-level holiness.

 

The air of the Land of Israel makes a person’s brain function better. The Talmud teaches that a person can fulfill his intellectual potential only in the Land of Israel. That’s understandable, because the more emuna a person has, the better his or her mind functions. Since the Land of Israel is the land of emuna, one can attain a broadening of the mind here.

 

Rabbi Zeira fasted 100 times in order to forget the Babylonian Talmud, so that he could have a clean mind to learn the Torah of Eretz Yisrael.

 

Every Jew has a share in the Land of Israel – it’s your home!

 

The Torah teaches that Hashem’s eyes never depart from the Land of Israel. Therefore, those who are privileged to dwell here enjoy a maximum measure of Divine providence over their lives.

 

The Land of Israel is the source of blessings, for all blessings are derived from here.

 

There’s an optical illusion that money is easier to come by outside of the Land of Israel. That’s another trick of the Evil Inclination.

 

Why do you pray three times a day for the in-gathering of the exiles if you have no intention of coming here?

 

It is surprising the extent to which Shabbat-observant people don’t want to come to the Land of Israel. Rebbe Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, who had nothing but good to say about every Jew, said that if a Jew doesn’t earnestly strive to come to the Land of Israel, and if he doesn’t long for the Land of Israel, and pray to come here and beg Hashem to let him have a foothold in the Land of Israel – then he won’t have a share in the redemption of our people in the Land of Israel! Are you waiting for Mashiach before you come?

 

Mashiach will say, “Now you’ve come? Where were you when we needed you?”

 

The Land of Israel is the place to get to know Hashem. The Land of Israel is the place where body and soul find unity and happiness. You can change your life for the better by coming here. If you yearn for fulfillment, emuna, fulfilling your potential, raising your children the best way possible, living as a Jew, and attaining personal freedom, there is no better place on earth than the Land of Israel!

 

Ask Hashem to take you home to Eretz Yisrael. I sincerely hope to see you here soon, with Mashiach, the in-gathering of the exiles, and the full redemption of our people speedily and in our time, amen.

Olim from North America arrive in Israel - Nefesh B'Nefesh

Olim from North America arrive in Israel – Nefesh B’Nefesh

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You Get What You Ask For

The world is increasingly dangerous for Jews and supporters of Israel. How can we protect ourselves? Let’s take our enemies’ message to heart and grab our weapons!

Rachel Avrahami | Posted on 14November2023 | https://breslev.com/4070244/

You Get What You Ask For by Rachel Avrahami

You Get What You Ask For by Rachel Avrahami

 

Jews around the world are alarmed by the sharp increase in antisemitism around the world in the wake of the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Besides the war on the ground in Gaza, there are “battles” being fought in protests, both for Israel and ever-increasingly violent mobs of pro-Palestinian protesters, in addition to the war of comments all over social media.

 

I just saw a comment on X that “all Israelis are illegal occupiers.” With one swipe we’re no longer civilians, no longer HUMANS, we’re “occupiers” – and therefore our death and abduction is “justified,” dismissed and even celebrated. Who cares about international law or history?

“Our weapon is prayers and mitzvot – begging God to save us, our soldiers, our captives.”

So I add – if antisemites say essentially that we’re all soldiers, no civilians here – then let’s realize that’s a wake up call from G-d Himself! Everyone needs to fight in this war! Our weapon is prayers and mitzvot – begging G-d to save us, our soldiers, our captives. Our weapon is holiness and modesty, that Hashem should be “in our camp… to save us” and not “turn away from behind us.”

 

Even the nations recognize that, like it or not, we are all soldiers in Hashem’s army – so let’s act like it!!!

 

We have already seen the silence of the UN, the EU, and other international bodies and countries in the face of the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. We can’t make them care. We can’t make them not hate us or our continued existence despite all their efforts to the contrary.

 

I keep thinking about all the miracle stories of our enemies. In the Gulf War, some captured Iraqi generals admitted that they sent thousands of missiles, they carpet bombed Israel with everything including chemical weapons! And they watched the missiles simply disappear off the radar. Only 39 missiles fell in Israel – 39, for the 39 types of prohibited work on Shabbat and the 39 lashes that can be given by the Jewish court. Hashem sent them to atone for the people.

 

There are so many more stories. They openly admit that “their G-d is moving the missiles.” So why are they still fighting? Why continue to fight G-d Himself???

 

The answer is that it doesn’t make any sense, correct. But Hashem is making them fight against all reason, and be stubborn against all reason – because we Jews are fighting Hashem against all reason! We are stubborn and refuse to listen to Him, to obey His laws for our own benefit! It’s midda k’neged midda – tit for tat.

“Israel is the only country in the world that is forced to defend itself for defending itself.”

The reality is that Israel is the only country in the world that is forced to defend itself for defending itself. The world is screaming for a cease-fire. Excuse me, is anyone screaming for Ukraine to make a cease-fire? Since when does anyone get to say boo about what another sovereign country decides to do? And when Hamas still has hundreds of hostages???

 

It’s not just a double-standard – it’s downright ridiculous! I continuously remind myself that all of these people have a special place in Hell, don’t worry! And the media is first in line…

 

So, what CAN we do in the face of all of this terrifying reality that we cannot directly change??? Clearly, we need special protection from above!

 

Rabbi Shalom Arush makes an awesome comment in The Garden of Emuna

He says that the only way to merit 100% Divine Providence – is to ask for it!!! 

And that someone who doesn’t ask for it and doesn’t focus on the reality that Hashem is the only power and only good comes from Him – can have real evil, that was not originally part of his soul correction, happen to him, G-d forbid!

 

The idea is simple. Hashem loves us and only wants to do good things for us. Every parent knows just how much they want the best for their children, even better than for themselves! Could it be that the Creator is less loving than a flesh and blood parent?! As Rabbi Arush repeats over and over: Emuna is – Hashem loves me, everything is good and it’s only getting better and better!

 

So, what’s the catch? Everything goes according to the emuna! We have to believe!!!

 

Hashem is pushing us, individually and collectively, way past our ability to cope. He is asking us to wake up, to repent, to realize that our old way of living is gone, and He wants to give us something so much better in response.

 

We only have to respond – but we must respond.

 

We have to dig deep and create a connection in this darkness, which will light our way. To recognize that Hashem is always there with us. To believe He is here, loving us.

 

To not shrug off thousands of missiles and hardly any casualties, and a baited and ready Hamas just waiting for the IDF to come in and get slaughtered – and not see Hashem protecting us, and fighting for us, with outright miracles!

 

To work hard on our emuna, building those emuna muscles, that Hashem is the only power in the world, ein od milvado. Nothing and no one can hurt me, or anyone who calls out to Him, if it’s not His will. And if it’s His will, then it’s good – so there is nothing to be afraid of!

 

Rabbi Arush promises that anyone who strengthens their emuna and trust in Hashem in this way – Hashem will personally guard him and nothing bad can happen to him. As King David says in Psalms, “G-d is with me – what can a human do to me?” (Psalm 118:6)

 

And the opposite is true as well – if we don’t do this work, if we don’t focus on Hashem’s protection, if we don’t work on our absolute rock-solid belief that the only power in the world is G-d – then G-d forbid real evil could happen.

 

In the face of the evil on the streets, emuna isn’t just a nicety anymore. It’s our ticket to salvation. Please read my article Not Just Another War which includes specific segulot for protection during this very dangerous time.

 

They know we are Hashem’s people – that’s why they hate us! 

 

But when we step up and call out to Hashem, to fight for us, to protect us, because really this is His war after all – and we act like Hashem’s people by trusting in Him and really try, really WANT, to return to His ways – then we will surely see wonders even greater than the Exodus of Egypt!

 

Amen soon and in our days!

 

***

Rachel Avrahami grew up in Los Angeles, CA, USA in a far-off valley where she was one of only a handful of Jews in a public high school of thousands. She found Hashem in the urban jungle of the university. Rachel was privileged to read one of the first copies of The Garden of Emuna in English, and the rest, as they say, is history. She made Aliyah and immediately began working at Breslev Israel.  
 
Rachel is now the Editor of Breslev Israel’s English website. She welcomes questions, comments, articles, and personal stories to her email: rachel.avrahami@breslev.co.il.

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Why Hashem Loves the Activist 

We are living in the days of Avraham Avinu, Abraham Our Father.  It is our birthright to follow in his footsteps as mankind’s first activist. We must continue his work of acknowledging the One True God and of serving Him with determination and faith.

David Ben Horin Posted on 21November2023 https://breslev.com/4072624/

Why Hashem Loves the Activist by David Ben Horin

Why Hashem Loves the Activist by David Ben Horin

The world was created three times.  Twice it was destroyed. The third time it survived.

 

Adam lived 930 years. He gave birth to the succeeding generations. He introduced the concepts of sin, free choice, and forgiveness to the world.

 

After ten generations, God destroyed the world he lived in.

 

Noah lived 950 years. He saved the world. He introduced the concept of reward for the righteous, the seven universal standards of mankind, and eating meat to the world.

 

After ten generations, God scattered his world into a multitude of languages.

 

Both of these great men, Adam and Noah, were the focus of their portion of the Torah (parshat Bereishit and parshat Noach respectively). But neither are mentioned beyond their parsha.

Breaking His Limitations

Avraham was different.  He deduced the Kingship of God at the age of three!

 

He fought for Hashem by destroying his father’s idols. He gained followers. He confronted Nimrod, the king of the earth, and was willing to die al Kiddush Hashem when Nimrod threw him into a fiery furnace.

 

Avraham lived 175 years. He introduced to the Jewish People the commandment to live in the Land of Israel, hosting guests, eternal and limitless faith in God, and the covenant of circumcision.

 

Avraham is the first to be mentioned beyond a single parsha in the Torah. He is mentioned hundreds of times through the Book of Deuteronomy whose events take place over three hundred years later.

 

How did Avraham merit to outlive his parsha?

Avraham’s Mission

Adam and Noah knew the truth, but the world didn’t listen.

 

Adam fasted for 120 years after the sin in the Garden of Eden. Noah spent 120 years building the ark. People had time to reflect on what they were doing and mend their ways. Adam and Noah were shining lights to the world. Anyone who chose to look could see the truth and live accordingly.

 

Avraham refused to shine like a light. He chose to blaze like a fire.  A fire’s job is to spread its flame to everything it touches. When a fire shares a part of its flame with another object, that object gets its own flame while the original fire maintains its strength.

 

This is Abraham.

A Holy Cause

Avraham rebelled against his father. He rebelled against the country of his birth. He rebelled against all the idols of the day. He rebelled against what society considered to be moral, socially just, and progressive. He rebelled against 2,000 years of what everyone was comfortable with and pledged to change the course of history by recognizing the King of the earth and refusing to follow anyone else.

 

By following the One True God, Avraham rebelled against mankind. He was just like Adam and Noah throughout their lives.

 

Then, he took it one step further. He refused to be a spark in a world of darkness. Like a flame, he vowed to spread his light to others – Avraham became an “activist”.

 

He invited people to his tent for dinner and taught them about the True God. He begged Hashem for more guests, even as he nursed the most sensitive part of his body after performing the covenant of circumcision at the age of 99.

 

From the moment he learned the truth, he made it his mission to tell everyone. His vision was to transform mankind into a God-serving world.

 

It made him immortal. Right now, almost four millennia later, there are millions of Jews around the world all praying the Shemonei Esrei prayer three times a day by invoking God’s Name as the God of Avraham.

Fighting for the Truth Today

Once again, our world is drowning in darkness. On Oct 7, the world bore witness to women being raped, men beheaded, and babies burned alive by Hamas terrorists.

 

The world did nothing to stop the slaughter during the Holocaust. Likewise, world media today is siding with Hamas to the point of justifying their savagery.

 

Only a world that has blinded itself to Truth can reach such an abyss of human behavior. How can we convince the world that murder is wrong when they refuse to acknowledge He Who establishes that murder is wrong?

 

We are living in the days of Avraham. We possess a truth that few hold. We own knowledge that most have relinquished.

 

It is our birthright to follow in the steps of our forefather Avraham and to continue his work. We must acknowledge the One True God of Heaven and earth. We must serve Him with determination and with unbounded and unbending faith. We must scream to the four corners of the earth that His Name is One, His universe is one, His Torah is one, His reign is one, and His vision of right and wrong is one.

 

We, the sons of the world’s first activist, will continue the revolution until the world is set right.

***

David Ben Horin lives in Afula with his family, millions of sunflowers, and Matilda, our local camel. David‘s Israeli startup, 300 Marketing Solutions, is a lean marketing agency for startups and small businesses that creates and promotes SEO-optimized ROI-driven to the right audience on LinkedIn to make your business the star of the show.

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‘The safest place to be Jewish’: 2,600 people have moved to Israel since Hamas invaded

New arrivals cite incidents of being spat on, bullied, and general rise in antisemitism; many had intended to make aliya and accelerated plans; authorities predict many more to come

By Deborah Danan 23December2023
https://www.timesofisrael.com/the-safest-place-to-be-jewish-2600-people-have-moved-to-israel-since-hamas-invaded/

 

JTA — When Yona and Mikhael Benichou decided over the summer to move to Israel from their home in France, they set a target date of around a year later — in time for their eldest son, David, 15, to begin his studies for Israel’s matriculation exams.

 

But after the murderous Hamas invasion of Israel on October 7, they sped up their plans to immigrate, known in Hebrew as making aliyah. The straw that broke the camel’s back, Yona Benichou said, came a week after the attack in which the terrorists killed some 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and took 240 hostage in Gaza, when the family, who wear identifiably Jewish symbols, were spat on by a group of rugby fans while walking down the street in their hometown of Marseilles.

 

“I was in total shock, I didn’t know how to react. Lots of other people saw what happened but no one tried to help us,” she told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

 

“The antisemites were always there. But after October 7, we felt like they have a platform to do whatever they like and that no one — and definitely not the French authorities — can stop them.”

 

The Benichous landed in Israel on October 31, arriving in a country still reeling from Hamas’s devastating attack on its southern communities and in the early stages of a grueling ground war that has reshaped society.

 

They are among the more than 2,600 people whom Israeli authorities say have chosen to move to Israel over the last two months despite the crisis.

Accelerated aliya

Almost all of the new arrivals had been planning to move to Israel for some time, though a handful, like the Benichous, have accelerated their immigration.

 

Aaron Gold, 26, had planned to move to Israel next year and was in the country visiting when the war broke out. His parents, alarmed by the emergency evacuation of American citizens and by the fact that Gold did not live in an apartment with a safe room, pressured their son to return to the United States. He flew back to Philadelphia on October 18, but said he “despised” being there and returned to Israel as a new immigrant on November 16.

 

Gold, a product manager at Deloitte, said making aliyah had “always been a dream of mine” and said he felt waiting to see how the war played out would not make any difference.

 

“Hezbollah could attack now, they could attack in six months, they could attack in six years,” he said. “You can’t plan it.”

According to Israel’s Immigration and Absorption Ministry, 2,662 people have made aliyah since October 7, including 1,635 from Russia, 218 from the United States, 128 from Ukraine, 116 from France, and 106 from Belarus.

 

The numbers are smaller than the average in recent years and dramatically lower than in the same period in 2022, when 16,400 new immigrants arrived, propelled by people escaping the war in Ukraine. They also come at the end of a year when political discord in Israel had already depressed immigration beyond the usual rate.

More expected

Still, the new immigrants, known as olim, demonstrate that during challenging times, some Jews will still choose to move to Israel. And the organizations that support them say they anticipate a flood of arrivals soon, once the war ends but concerns about spiking antisemitism are still fresh.

 

The Benichous reached out to the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, which has helped 317 people make aliyah since October 7. The organization purchased flights for the family and donated around $2,000 toward the cost of furniture for the family’s new apartment in the central Israeli city of Beit Shemesh.

 

According to the group’s president, Yael Eckstein, fewer new immigrants have arrived in Israel since October 7 than in other years due to a combination of canceled flights and decisions to put plans on hold until the security situation stabilizes. Israel quickly retaliated to the Hamas attacks of October 7, launching a dedicated operation to topple the Hamas rule in Gaza. At the same time, Hezbollah has consistently sent rockets and armed drones over the northern border, leading to a months-long tit-for-tat campaign.

 

But Eckstein said she has seen an “increase in the number of requests for information about the immigration process from countries where cases of antisemitic incidents have risen.”

 

Nefesh B’Nefesh has facilitated aliyah for 384 people from the US and Canada since the start of the war, mostly for people who had begun the process long before October 7, the group’s vice president of communications, Yael Katsman, told JTA.

 

Still, like Eckstein, Katsman pointed to a “vast surge” in interest since the attack, marking an “an unprecedented increase” of more than 100% in aliyah applications compared to the same timespan in 2022. She attributed the spike to an increased “commitment to building Israel” by Diaspora Jewry during “difficult historic events.”

 

Many people who initiate aliyah applications, required for new immigrants to secure a range of benefits, do not end up completing them. But the chair of the Jewish Agency, which facilitates immigration, recently told an Israeli news station that he expects 1 million new Jewish immigrants in the coming years — a number that would dramatically reshape the country of about 10 million.

 

The agency’s head of international relations, Yigal Palmor, was more circumspect in comments to JTA but likewise said signs pointed to a rise in new arrivals. One thousand people initiated applications in France in October and November, according to agency data, marking a 470 percent increase over the previous two months.

 

“We’ve witnessed a dramatic rise in aliyah applications since the outbreak of the conflict, most notably in France and the US,” Palmor said. “We will probably see the results in the coming months, but it’s premature to predict numbers.”

 

Immigration Minister Ofir Sofer told JTA in a statement that his ministry was preparing for a surge in immigration as a result of the war.

 

Since October 7, there has been “a lot of interest [in immigration] from young people, students and young couples from western countries, including those from western European countries where people in the past did not show much interest in immigrating,” Sofer said.

 

The two main reasons, he said, were “growing antisemitism around the world, and solidarity with Israel.”

 

Gold said antisemitism in the United States redoubled his commitment to move to Israel permanently.

 

“You kind of realize you’re afraid to go to work, not only of physical violence but just emotionally,” he told JTA about his return in October. “I was with coworkers who told me that from their office they were able to hear people saying, ‘Restart the Intifada, death to the Jews’ and things like that.”

The safest place to be Jewish

Daniel Bleiweiss, 51, made aliyah with his 14-year-old son Emiliano this fall from Buenos Aires, Argentina. He had made the decision years ago, but postponed it because of the pandemic as well as bureaucratic issues related to Emiliano’s adoption, a yearslong process that was resolved only in 2019.

 

Bleiweiss, a physician, planned on arriving in Israel on October 10 with his wife Natalia and her teenage daughter, Lucia, from a previous marriage. The war threw a wrench into their original plan and the flights were canceled. Ultimately, the family decided that Daniel and Emiliano would move immediately, while Natalia and Lucía would join them in the future when conditions become more stable.

 

Bleiweiss cited several reasons for wanting to make aliyah, including Argentina’s economic crisis and the South American country’s inadequate resources to support his son, who has learning and social difficulties. But like the other new immigrants JTA spoke to, the main impetus was a rise in antisemitism coupled with a strong desire to live in the Jewish homeland, which he described as a “historic responsibility.”

 

Bleiweiss recounted a recent incident in which his wife had tried to check into a hotel where she had a reservation. The clerk saw the Israeli visa in her passport and subsequently refused to allow her to stay at the hotel, Bleiweiss said, adding that his wife chose not to press charges. He also said that his son had been bullied at school for being Jewish.

 

“It is painful, but it reinforces our conviction that Israel is the safest place to be Jewish right now, and it is perhaps the only place where we can express our identity proudly and in peace,” he said.

 

Bleiweiss said that another reason he didn’t want to delay his aliyah again was because he felt compelled to be in the Jewish state in its time of need.

 

“If a friend is in trouble, you shouldn’t wait for a better time to go see him,” he said. “That’s the time you should be there.”

 

Meanwhile, in Beit Shemesh, life isn’t without its challenges for the Benichou family. Because of how suddenly they left France, they didn’t have time to save up money or sell their belongings.

 

“We never thought in a million years we would come within a month. We came without any money,” Yona Benichou said. “It’s not easy to build yourself anew.”

 

But there are no regrets for Benichou or her children, who she said were understanding of the fact that this Hanukkah they wouldn’t be receiving gifts on every night of the festival as they were used to from previous years.

 

She said: “My 8-year-old son told me, ‘Mommy, we don’t need Hanukkah presents this year. The biggest present is that we’re here.’”

 

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Jewish Heroes


Aviva Klompas-tweet-20November2023-Adar defended 120 newly enlisted soldiers
“My 20-year-old daughter Adar, an officer, commander and combat soldier in the Search and Rescue Brigade, heard on October 7 that terrorists had infiltrated her military base. With great determination, she and her friends defended 120 newly enlisted soldiers. Adar directed all of them to the shelter and went bravely to fight the terrorists. Please share her story in her memory.” -Zehava (Adar Ben Simon’s mother)

May Adar’s memory forever be a blessing🕯️

Aviva Klompa-tweet-20November2023-Adar defended 120 newly enlisted soldiers

Aviva Klompa-tweet-20November2023-Adar defended 120 newly enlisted soldiers

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The indomitable spirit of volunteerism in wartime

From English teacher to volunteer chef for soldiers. a young American discovers a new Israel.

ETGAR LEFKOVITS https://www.jns.org/the-indomitable-spirit-of-volunteerism-in-wartime/

American Israel Tolchinsky (right) and another volunteer with IDF soldiers. Photo: Courtesy.

American Israel Tolchinsky (right) and another volunteer with IDF soldiers. Photo: Courtesy.

 

(November 14, 2023 / JNS) When the war with Hamas broke out last month, 25-year-old Israel Tolchinsky from Queens, New York, had been in Israel for less than six weeks on an educational program aimed at immersing Diaspora Jews into Israeli society.

 

Then, with rocket attacks raining down nationwide, the phone calls from the U.S. started coming in urging him to come home. With most airlines suspending service to and from Israel, his father found him a connecting flight via Europe and urged him to take it.

 

“I love it here so much, I need to stay,” Tolchinsky responded. “The flight will be sold out, take it,” his father exhorted. “That’s OK,” he responded.

Israel Tolchinsky prepares a barbecue for soldiers. Photo: Courtesy.

Israel Tolchinsky prepares a barbecue for soldiers. Photo: Courtesy.

From English teacher to volunteer chef

Tolchinsky arrived in Israel in late August on a Masa Israel Journey program, to teach English in an elementary school. He had “fallen in love” with Israel on an earlier Birthright trip, and was looking for something steady to do for the year when the idea of teaching came up.

 

“It seemed like the perfect opportunity to come to Israel and give back to my own country and teach kids at the same time,” he told JNS in an interview.

 

Tolchinsky began teaching in the Tel Aviv suburb of Rishon Letzion this fall, not without some trepidation, amid cautionary tales that Israeli kids are much more aggressive than their American peers.

His experience was just the opposite.

 

“I fell in love with the school and felt the love and connection real closely,” he said. When his pupils heard he was from New York, they assumed he must be an actor, he recounted.

 

But no sooner had the school year started—quickly followed by the fall Jewish holidays—than the war erupted on the very last day of the extended holiday period, before he had a chance to make friends with any Israelis.

 

With the educational program put on hold, and some of his roommates packed up to leave, Tolchinsky was determined to find something useful to do and not waste his days staying in his apartment.

 

“I got to be more Israeli,” he told himself, and with his minimal Hebrew, he walked into a bar that had put up signs asking for volunteers to help pack food clothes and essentials for soldiers.

 

“Everybody was so welcoming,” he said, with some finding his story crazy and others telling him he really must stay in the country.

 

As the rocket fire grew in the first weeks of the war, the calls from home intensified (“every second,” in his words) to as many as three times a day. His aunt offered to buy him a ticket; his cousin told him to just get on the plane. But Tolchinsky would have none of it.

 

“’I’m sorry, I feel something,” Tolchinsky told them. “This is my real home. I need to be here.”

Having worked in catering in New York for some years, he decided to volunteer as a chef and connected with an organization of veteran American immigrants in Modi’in, “Grilling for the IDF,” which makes barbeques for soldiers.

 

Next, he volunteered with Israeli chefs making meals for soldiers. He was even asked to cook for a wartime wedding in the IDF for 150 people.

 

“It felt so good to go to the bases and be thanked by the soldiers,” Tolchinsky said. “Bro, you are from New York—we love it,” they told him.

 

“We are all one family,” Tolchinsky said in the interview last week from a bustling cooking school kitchen in Or Yehuda, east of Tel Aviv, where meals were being prepared for soldiers and bereaved families.

 

Israel Tolchinsky with some buddies from the Israel Air Force. Photo: Courtesy.

Israel Tolchinsky with some buddies from the Israel Air Force. Photo: Courtesy.

A nation of volunteers

Nearly 50% of Israelis volunteered during the first month of the war, a recent survey found.

Some 48.6% of the population engaged in volunteering during the war, including 28% who had not previously volunteered, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem study found.

 

The rate of volunteerism among the Israeli Arab population also reached a record high during the war, 29%.

 

Meanwhile, nearly 4,000 of the 5,700 young Jewish adults (aged 18-30) from abroad on the Masa Israel Journey program ended up staying in Israel during the war, a Masa spokesperson said. Many of those who left at the beginning of the war are now coming back.

 

In addition, the organization has launched a new six-week volunteer program after receiving more than 1,000 requests from young Jewish adults to volunteer in Israel.

 

Since its founding in 2004, Masa Israel has provided long-term educational programs to about 200,000 young people from more than 60 countries, aimed at immersing Diaspora Jews into Israeli society.

 

Israel Tolchinsky with some friends from the army. Photo: Courtesy.

Israel Tolchinsky with some friends from the army. Photo: Courtesy.

 

Bonding

For Tolchinsky, the war opened a whole new Israel to him.

 

“I would never have met all these wonderful people if not for the war,” he said. “You don’t feel this connection in New York that you feel here.”

 

In the meantime, with school back on in central Israel, Tolchinsky is mixing his English teaching with volunteer cooking, with this past month in a country both at war and united irrevocably shaping his life.

 

“Nearly all my friends here are now Israelis,” he said. “I feel I should live my life here more than ever before.”

 

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Sultan Knish - The Journalism of Daniel Greenfield

1 in 10 American Jews Showed Up in D.C. on a Tuesday to Stand for Israel

published November 19, 2023 href=”http://www.danielgreenfield.org/2023/11/1-in-10-american-jews-showed-up-in-dc.html

 

On a Tuesday in November, around a third of a million American Jews left their jobs, skipped class and headed to Washington D.C. Some didn’t make it. In Detroit, bus drivers deliberately stranded hundreds of Jews heading to D.C. Others ran into less widely reported problems.

 

Even among those who arrived, tens of thousands never made it through into the secured area. In the final count, 290,000 people passed through the metal detectors at the ‘March for Israel’.

 

This was not only the largest ever rally by American Jews, but the largest gathering against Islamic terror.

Having a third of a million people show up at the National Mall is not completely extraordinary. Farrakhan’s Million Man March did manage to turn out 400,000 black people from a total population of 34 million. The ‘March for Israel’ brought over 300,000 out of 4.2 million Jews.

 

There are an estimated 4.2 million American Jews by religion. 7% of them showed up.

Accounting for the very old and very young who could not have made the trip, that’s 1 in 10 American Jews traveling to be in D.C. on a random Tuesday on fairly short notice.

 

The demographic equivalent would be 3 million black people, 4.5 million Latinos, 1.2 million Asians and 14 million white people rallying on the National Mall.

 

While the Million Man March received widespread media coverage at the time and in succeeding anniversaries, and was immortalized in movies like Spike Lee’s ‘Get on the Bus’, the media offered less coverage of the ‘March for Israel’ than it did of far smaller anti-Israel events.

 

The March for Israel ruined the media’s narrative that American Jews are turning on Israel. And so the media did what it always does: it protected the narrative by spinning and suppressing..

 

rally dc frameThe Washington Post. which recently censored an anti-Hamas cartoon, falsely claimed that only “thousands” had attended the rally even though its own photos clearly showed far more than that. The AP began its coverage with the false claims of “thousands” and later updated it to the still false claims of “tens of thousands”. It’s easy to see from aerial photos that this is not true.

 

While the Post put the Women’s March, which turned out 470,000 participants, on its front page, it buried the ‘March for Israel’ in its metro section.

 

But despite the predictable media bias and the flaws of the rally, organized by liberal groups, it was an important statement of where American Jews stand. After weeks of the media providing disproportionate coverage to pro-Hamas rallies of hundreds of people by hate groups like If Not Now, hundreds of thousands of Jews stood with Israel and its war against Islamic terrorism.

 

In contrast to the pro-Hamas rallies in D.C. where flags were burned and monuments vandalized, the pro-Israel rally was a sea of American flags and attendees sang the anthem. Police officers were assaulted at pro-Hamas rallies and thanked at the ‘March for Israel’.

 

It wasn’t just across the ocean that the difference between Israel and Hamas was made clear, but right here in America. Pro-Israel rallies don’t break down into violence, vandalism and orgies of hatred for America. It’s the pro-Hamas rallies that turn into riots over and over again.

 

The ‘March for Israel’ had plenty of flaws. Like most liberal Jewish establishment projects, it sacrificed meaningful commitments for simple truisms (Hamas is bad, Israel is good) even if these truisms are now being disputed by academia, the media and large parts of the Left. Rather than taking a direct position on the issues being debated in D.C., pauses in the fighting, trading a ceasefire for hostages, and whether the PLO will take over Gaza, the march sought the broadest possible unity platform which maximized turnout, but didn’t break new ground.

 

Some rally speakers pledged support for a two-state solution: meaning an Islamic terrorist state inside Israel, whose existence is the reason for thirty years of terrorism against Israelis. The only Israel they seemed to be willing to support was one willing to give its enemies every possible chance until they finally do something so horrific that fighting back becomes justified.

 

There was little concept of who the enemy was, apart from Hamas, and what the issue was, apart from antisemitism coming from undefined sources, including on college campuses. And so there was also little concept of what standing for Israel actually meant beyond opposing Hamas. Speakers at the rally expressed pain, grief and determination, but lacked any real focus.

 

Biden spurned the rally, refusing to send a high-profile official, instead dispatching Deborah Lipstadt, the administration’s antisemitism monitor, but offering no larger presence at the event as another sign that he is moving even further away from his support for the war on Hamas. Other elected officials however showed up as did a whole lot of other seemingly random people.

 

The emphasis on unity did bring together people you would otherwise have trouble imagining participating in the same event. Not just Speaker Mike Johnson alternating with Democrat House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, but Pastor John Hagee and former Will and Grace star Debra Messing, a baffling appearance by Van Jones who didn’t seem to know which rally he was at, and a musical performance by Ishay Ribo, a major Israeli Orthodox Jewish pop star probably unknown to much of the parts of the audience that binge watches Will and Grace.

 

While to outsiders, American Jews may seem like members of the same group and reflect familiar stereotypes, the reality is those few millions consist of a dizzying variety of different groups which have little in common with each other and inhabit echo chambers. The ‘March for Israel’ brought together devout and secular, Reform and Orthodox, Christian supporters of Israel and Hollywood celebrities: people whose worlds never really meet.

 

And it took a major crisis to get at least some Jews from suburban temples and urban synagogues, those who study the Talmud and those who believe in Tikkun Olam, to temporarily stand in the same place and realize that Islamic terrorists, like the Nazis, want to kill them all.

 

That brief community is not likely to last, just as the unity of unity that brought together New Yorkers after 9/11 fell apart into infighting and routine, but it still is a meaningful moment.

 

Although it may not last, it is a rehearsal for what needs to happen for all of us, Jews and Christians, people who believe in something and those who believe in nothing, in the face of an enemy that wants to destroy us all.

 

There is plenty to criticize about the ‘March for Israel’, but the content of the march mattered less than the statement that bringing so many people together to stand up to terror made.

 

The flaws of the rally were those of American Jews: many still addicted to the illusion of peace with terrorists, incapable of questioning their partisan political allegiances and trapped in their echo chambers, in pain, but failing to understand where the pain is coming from.

 

But for all its failures of imagination, the March for Israel was representative of American Jews. From the mother of a hostage to a standup comedian outraged at the hypocrisy of his industry hostage, from angry college students to the politicians they hope will save them, the rally was a snapshot of what is wrong with American Jews, but also a reminder that there is hope.

 

The Left has put out a narrative that American Jews are turning on Israel. Those who are still Jewish, rather than merely possessing Jewish last names, have not. American Jews suffer from a painful ignorance and some of their lost descendants, like Kamala’s stepdaughter, may rally for the enemy, but those who have not given up on being Jewish have not abandoned Israel.

 

In Washington D.C., representatives of the scattered strands of American Jewry briefly met and stood together in the shadow of enormous hate and evil. And briefly became one.

 

After the Passover Massacre by Hamas in 2002, one hundred thousand Jews had rallied in Washington D.C. That rally may have been smaller, but resembled this one in many ways.

 

Elie Wiesel, then still alive, told the crowd that, “this day will be remembered in the history of American Jewry.” It was not. But that failure of memory is a choice. Whether or not this one will be remembered is also a choice. The choice is a matter of commitment and priorities.

 

If American Jewry is to have a history, it will have to remember and more importantly act.

Nearly 1 in 10 American Jews showing up in D.C. on a random Tuesday is a historic moment. But whether it will change history is up to that third of a million and all the others who watched from home and attended rallies locally. History is made up of the choices that we make.

 

Will the March for Israel crystalize a wave of commitment in Jewish communities? Will it change how people vote, how they act and the cultural values that they pass on to their children?

 

Either we make history or we become history.
Daniel Greenfield is a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center. This article previously appeared at the Center’s Front Page Magazine.

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Rabbis for Ceasefire vs. God’s Vow About Israel

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‘Rabbis for Ceasefire’ Start Reciting Torah Before Rally with Rashida Tlaib, Then Reader Gets to God’s Vow About Israel

By Rachel M. Emmanuel 20November2023 https://www.westernjournal.com/rabbis-ceasefire-start-reciting-torah-rally-rashida-tlaib-reader-gets-gods-vow-israel/

That awkward moment when the undiluted Word of God gets in the way of your agenda.

On Nov. 13, dozens of Jewish leaders from “Rabbis for Ceasefire” gathered near the U.S. Capitol in Washington to pray and call for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas conflict, according to ABC News.

 

The Detroit News reported the event was accompanied by a news conference that included members of the “squad” of left-wing lawmakers: Democratic Reps. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, some of whom have made grossly anti-Semitic statements in the past.


Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib(D-Gaza)-tweet-14November2023-Hamas-Useful Idiots
I stood in solidarity with Rabbis from across the country and Jewish peace advocates calling for an immediate ceasefire and an end to the violence. Their commitment to recognizing our shared humanity inspires me.

Translated from DoubleSpeak by

These Useful Idiots will say or do anything to screw the Jews.

Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib(D-Gaza)-tweet-14November2023-Hamas-Useful Idiots

Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib(D-Gaza)-tweet-14November2023-Hamas-Useful Idiots

 

“This is a public Shacharit, the Jewish morning service, so prayers for a CEASEFIRE will ring into the streets and our elected officials’ offices,” the group said in a post on X.

 


Rabbis for Ceasefire-tweet-13November2023-Act 1-Shacharit
RIGHT NOW: Over 40 Rabbis, members of their congregations, and communities are gathered in front of Congress. This is a public Shacharit, the Jewish morning service, so prayers for a CEASEFIRE will ring into the streets and our elected officials’ offices. Livestream link in bio!

Rabbis for Ceasefire-tweet-13November2023-Act 1-Shacharit

Rabbis for Ceasefire-tweet-13November2023-Act 1-Shacharit

 

During the service, rabbis also chanted a portion of the Torah in keeping with Jewish custom to read the same section across communities in the same week.

 

What happened next is proof God has a sense of humor.

 

As several Jewish posters on social media pointed out, the week’s reading included God’s promise to Isaac, the son of the Jewish patriarch Abraham, found in Genesis 26:3.

 

“Watch her drop her voice to a whisper TWICE when she awkwardly gets to the text, ‘to you and to your descendants will I give all these lands (Israel)…,’” Israeli entrepreneur Lazer Cohen noted on X.


Lazer Cohen-tweet-19November2023-You can’t make this stuff up
You can’t make this stuff up!
Token anti-Israel Jews were holding a Torah reading before a rally with Rashida Talib. Watch her drop her voice to a whisper TWICE when she awkwardly gets to the text, “to you and to your descendants will I give all these lands (Israel)…”

Lazer Cohen-tweet-19November2023-You can't make this stuff up

Lazer Cohen-tweet-19November2023-You can’t make this stuff up

 

 

“This is delicious,” said Ari Hoffman, a host at KVI-AM in Seattle. “Anti-Israel ‘Jews’ were reading the Torah at a rally with Rep. Rashida Talib (D-Gaza). The person reading goes quiet when she gets to the Hebrew for ‘…to you and to your descendants will I give all these lands (Israel).’”

 


Ari Hoffman-tweet-20November2023-This is delicious
This is delicious

Anti-Israel “Jews” were reading the Torah at a rally with Rep. Rashida Talib (D-Gaza).

The person reading goes quiet when she gets to the Hebrew for “…to you and to your descendants will I give all these lands (Israel)”

Ari Hoffman-tweet-20November2023-This is delicious

Ari Hoffman-tweet-20November2023-This is delicious

 

Rabbi Yaakov Menken called it like it is, posting, “For those who don’t understand, when the so-called ‘Rabbis for Ceasefire’ read the Torah portion, they deliberately mumbled & skipped over God’s promise of the Holy Land to the Jews.

 

“What do you call a ‘Rabbi’ who repudiates Torah? A fraud. They are frauds, each & every one.”

 


Rabbi Yaakov Menken-tweet-17November2023-Rabbi who repudiates Torah-A fraud
For those who don’t understand, when the so-called “Rabbis for Ceasefire” read the Torah portion, they deliberately mumbled & skipped over God’s promise of the Holy Land to the Jews.

What do you call a “Rabbi” who repudiates Torah? A fraud.

They are frauds, each & every one.
Vaad HaBadchanim-tweet-17November2023-
CEASEFIRE RABBIS PLANNING MEETING:

“Ok so then we’ll do Torah reading in Hebrew and English.”

“Great, love it. Oh wait, what Parsha?”

“Toldos.”

“Shoot, not good. There’s some stuff in there about how Hashem promised the land to the Avos.”

“Not to worry, we’ll handle that.”

Rabbi Yaakov Menken-tweet-17November2023-Rabbi who repudiates Torah-A fraud

Rabbi Yaakov Menken-tweet-17November2023-Rabbi who repudiates Torah-A fraud

 

Maybe these rabbis should have checked what the reading of the week was before deciding to read it out loud before the world, publicly disproving themselves.

 

The Torah — included in the Bible’s Old Testament — is clear that the land of Israel belongs to the Jewish people as promised to Abraham and his descendants through his son Isaac.

 

While some people may disagree on policies and politics related to the Holy Land, it is entirely contradictory to say you believe in the Scriptures and yet deny the right of the Jewish people to possess the land.

 

The ridiculousness of the rabbi trying to mumble away an inconvenient passage serves as a powerful reminder that the Word of God transcends our agendas.

 

Although some try to interpret Scripture in ways that align with their views, God’s truth will always remain unchanged.

 

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SEE: South Africa takes Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ, UN) for the Gaza War

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SHYLOCK AT THE HAGUE: Embracing Shylock and Disdaining the International Criminal Court

12January2024  https://www.newenglishreview.org/shylock-at-the-hague-embracing-shylock-and-disdaining-the-international-criminal-court/

 

Illustration from Phillip Medhurst Collection depicting Joshua fighting Amalek (Exodus 17).

Illustration from Phillip Medhurst Collection depicting Joshua fighting Amalek (Exodus 17).

by Howard Rotberg

 

“As for legal niceties, the team of august lawyers Israel summoned to the Hague gives a shot in the arm to the ICJ, signalling that Israel concedes the case can be won on legalities. Israel was naive to rely only on jurists to defeat antisemites. One expert on anti-Israel propaganda could be worth a bench full of gowns.”  – Steve Apfel

 

I am trained as a lawyer, but sometimes great literature is more enlightening than great law.

 

“Thou callst me dog before thou hadst a cause;
But, since I am a dog, beware my fangs:”
– Shylock in William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice

 

Anti-Israelism has passed into the realm of anti-Semitism through its holding of Israel to different standards than any other country, and its focus on the retributive aspects of Israeli reactions, rather than the actions of murderers attacking Israel.

 

The underlying premise is that modernity and culture itself, whether it was the modernity of a supposedly cultured German society in 1939, or whether it is present day modernity and culture, offers no protection for the well-being and safety of Jewish civilians.   To the extent that modernity has embraced moral relativism, it is by nature hostile to our cause.   And no assertion of a higher morality, be it religious, secular, judicial, or (as the Jews and later the American founding fathers saw it), a type of hybrid where religious notions could be adapted to a liberal, secular, and just democracy will be attractive to post-modern relativists.

 

The relativists, however, have eliminated the notion of personal and community responsibility from their lexicon.  The severance of rights from responsibilities is the essence of today’s anti-Semitism and anti-Israelism.   If the Palestinians are going to have the right to a sovereign nation, they must accept the responsibility to stop killing Jewish civilians, and the responsibility to create some kind of justice system and some freedoms in their own society.   If the relativists simply critique Israel’s reactions without dissecting the actions that caused those reactions, that is bias, and a rather nasty bias, too. In a world of moral relativism, in a world of violent Islamism where European countries again are sacrificing Jews to aggressive totalitarianism (this time Islamism), we need more than ever a vigilance in our pursuit of justice.  Tragically, the more vigilant we Jews and our homeland are, the more we are labeled “vengeful”, “disproportionate”, “unmerciful” and “extreme”.   In other words, we risk being seen as Shylocks.

 

At least, Shakespeare gave Shylock the voice to ruminate over his situation (“Hath not a Jew eyes?”); the vast majority of persecuted Jews, including those of the Holocaust, had no Shakespeares to emphasize their profound moral struggles and their ultimate fates, which were certainly no more palatable than Shylock’s.

 

Jonathan Pollard, about whom I wrote in The Second Catastrophe, stepped outside the law; Shylock tried to have his “contract” enforced within the law.  In fact, Shylock was judged in a sham of a trial, presided over by Portia impersonating a Roman doctor named Balthasar.   Driven to madness by his faith that a Court controlled by anti-Semites could ever dispense justice, Shylock continues to assert his claim for a surety’s pound of flesh, even when presented with the option of taking three times the monetary indebtedness.   Pollard’s greatest error, ultimately, was also his faith in a corrupted Justice system (corrupted by Caspar Weinberger’s secret memo to the Judge.)  He also passed into a form of madness due to the refusal of his superiors to pass on a clear threat to an ally, and so he also ignores justice while he continues to insist on it.   He thought a plea bargain for a charge of passing secrets to a friendly nation would attract the appropriate sentence for that crime, not a sentence commensurate with treason.   Shylock’s fate was forced conversion to Christianity; Pollard’s fate was abandonment by his community – many American Jews would “excommunicate” him if they could.  Finally, after serving his unjust sentence he has been released and is now living in Israel.

 

If, as American politician Barry Goldwater argued, “moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue”, and if there were some severe problems in the administration of justice when it comes to both Pollard and the fictional Shylock, there is a problem, that too many commentators have glossed over.   The actions of Pollard and Shylock can be seen as neurotic responses to travesties of justice, rather than themselves being unjust.  In Shylock’s case, look at what the Duke, who presided over the Court in Venice (before turning it over to Portia’s impersonation) had to say to Antonio, at the very start of the trial, about the other litigant:

 

“I am sorry for thee: thou art come to answer
A stony adversary, an inhuman wretch.”

 

A Court this predisposed against him could not render justice to Shylock, and he knew it.  That knowledge more than anything else explains why he turns aside an offer of three times the debt, and instead insists on his contractual “pound of flesh”.  As he states in the quote at the start of this Chapter, having been called a “dog” without any cause, and since he has been pre-judged to be a dog, then, he states, “beware my fangs”.

 

The Jewish “dog”, says Shakespeare, is forced to seek salvation in justice because he cannot understand Christian concepts of mercy.   Says Portia in the famous speech which starts with the words:

 

“The quality of mercy is not strained…”:
“And earthly power doth then show likest God’s
When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew,
Though justice be thy plea, consider this,
That, in the course of justice, none of us
Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy. I have spoke thus much

 

To mitigate the justice of thy plea;
Which if thou follow, this strict court of Venice
Must needs give sentence against the merchant there.”

 

Goldwater disagreed:   Moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.

 

Goldwater says that the Americans are with the Jews on this one.

 

This is the key to understanding our current cultural struggle against Islamism, and why the Americans and the Israelis are on one side, and most Europeans are on the other side. It is an issue of Justice and Liberty.  Unfortunately, any Jew in England or France or Israel today who insists on Justice, may find himself descending into that particular madness of Shylock.  Israel avoids this fate only because of its military and other elements of its power and is not as isolated as Shylock.

 

Given their situations, neither Pollard nor Shylock had any alternative to the courses of action they tried.   If their sad fates are meant to serve as a warning, however, I think we should rethink the whole matter of just what the warning tells us. The reader might ask, “Understanding Shylock is one thing, but embracing him is surely going too far?”   I respond:  In embracing Shylock we are not condoning his acts of madness, but instead we are embracing him as he faces his horrible situation.  We are showing mercy.  We are showing mercy towards one whose very existence is marginalized by an anti-Semitic society that allows him only the occupation of a usurer.  We are showing mercy to one who clings to Justice as his only friend, his only protector, even as it is clear that the rules of justice have been subverted, subverted by the Duke who at the outset of the trial calls him an “inhuman wretch” and then abdicates his judicial duties by turning over the decision-making to a supposed Roman doctor, who is actually Portia in disguise. The anti-Semite focuses on Shylock’s evil character.  We focus on the evil character of the Justice system as described by Shakespeare.  Surely, the Judge in the trial between Shylock and Antonio could simply have directed Shylock to accept the funds tendered by Bassanio and release the bond.  Instead, Portia tricks Shylock by pointing out that his bond is only a pound of flesh and not any blood, so that it is impossible to take the flesh without causing bleeding, thus voiding this evil bond.  Throughout the
Court scene, the Duke and Portia (in her disguise as Balthasar) subvert justice rather than carry it out.  Poor Shylock – surely the modern mind realizes that his sanity has been jeopardized by the actions toward him; his actions and words are not as much the result of his evil character, or the evil Jewish character, as they are of the anti-Semitism of Venetian society.

 

And so we embrace him, embrace him for the pitiful example of what happens to the Jew who is powerless, who ceases even to recognize that it is ridiculous to insist on Justice in a world in which the justice system is itself corrupted and used against him. We embrace him because of what he tells us about the world today.  Even in America, the left is weaponizing the justice system and using injustice such as lawfare and removal of candidates from the ballot. Israel in the United Nations is like Shylock in the Court of Venice.   Jonathan Pollard in the American Court system in the time of Caspar Weinberger and CIA Director Bobby Ray Inman, was like Shylock in the Court of Venice.   Israel, defending itself against Hezbollah and Hamas missiles aimed at Israeli civilians, is seen by much of the world as exacting its “pound of flesh” against the “innocent” Palestinian civilians, notwithstanding that these civilians had allowed Hezbollah and Hamas to use their apartment blocks as launching sites, and notwithstanding that Israel dropped warning leaflets before bombing the launching sites. Yet Shakespeare’s Shylock was powerless.   In the end, he is forced to convert to Christianity.   We do not embrace him for the sad fact of what was his fate in 16th century Venice; we embrace him because of what it tells us about 16th century Venice, about 20th century Europe, and now about 21st century Iran.   The evil is not in the Jew; it is in the anti-Semite.   The Duke characterizes Shylock as inhuman even as the trial begins.   The mullahs of Iran characterize Israel as deserving of destruction as they prepare their nuclear weapons knowing that America is appeasing them.   Shylock tried to adhere to Justice, but in his society, justice was not meant for the Jews.  Israel tries to adhere to Justice, and then is told by the United Nations that it is a Shylock, it is vengeful, it uses “disproportionate force”, and its ruthless neighbours are hardly criticized.

 

We return to Shylock’s words:

 

“Thou calledst me dog before thou hadst a cause;
But, since I am a dog, beware my fangs:”

 

No we do not depart from our quest for Justice and Liberty, but be sure, if you make us into dogs, because of your animal conduct, beware our fangs. Yet here is the question:  how do we use our fangs, in a just and productive manner? To use our fangs is to empower Shylock, and thus to transform him.  Have we not learned anything from the history of the Holocaust and modern day Israel?  Strength of the Jewish state, Israel, creates respect; Weakness conduces to anti-Semitism.  It is that simple.  Diaspora Jews must learn that lesson, above all.  Respect does not come from our accomplishments; it does not come from our wealth.  Look how quickly Europeans are turning on their Jews in the last few years.   Shylock’s wealth did not save him.  Only a strong Jewish state could inhibit the unjust actions of the corrupt Venetian Court.  Only the option of removing himself entirely from their jurisdiction (to a jurisdiction where a Jew could obtain justice) would give Shylock the strength and sanity he lacked.

 

The late Isi Leibler, a heroic and wise former leader of Australian Jewry, who moved to Israel, wrote the following in the October 31, 2006 edition of the Jerusalem Post: “The reality is that when Israel is perceived as strong and able to stand up to its foes, anti-Semitism tends to decline.  Public manifestations of Judeophobia reached their lowest point following the Six Day War.  In contrast, the exponential revival of anti-Semitism can be traced back to the Oslo Accords, reaching its climax in the course of the Gaza disengagement and during the Lebanese war, which were perceived by our enemies as manifestations of weakness.

 

“Unlike the 1930s there is an Israel and it is not powerless in the face of anti-Semitism and, together with Jewish communities throughout the world, not least the influential American Jewish community, we can defend ourselves.   But we must galvanize to confront the barbarians in the war of ideas with no less determination than our adoption of countermeasures against terrorists seeking to bleed us.   The decision is ours.”

 

So, to answer the question, how do we use our fangs, in a just and productive manner: The fangs that ultimately protect every Jew around the world, every potential Shylock, are the fangs of the Israel Defence Forces, and the strength and wisdom of Israel’s political and military leaders, to keep Israel strong and safe, while at the same time upholding freedom and justice.  We Diaspora Jews must give our support, both financial and moral, to keep Israel strong.   Israel’s strength, then protects all Jews from future victimhood, and protects all Jews from becoming pathetic Shylocks. Yet strength is one thing; knowing when to use it is another.  In other words, if we are constrained by our confusion, or by international pressures, from using our strength, we begin to lose it, and our enemies know this.  Accordingly, we must examine the threshold issue of when to use our strength.

 

This is a particularly difficult question in an age of moral and cultural relativism, which is loath to label anyone as “evil” and holds that in all conflicts, there must be wrong on each side, there must be evil on both sides; otherwise there would have been some way to avoid the conflict, some negotiated settlement possible.  For example, the relativists still see Israel as faulty as the Palestinians that there is no settlement of the dispute, notwithstanding that Israel has tried every type of offer, even vacating Gaza, only to have Palestinian violence and terrorism increase. An ideologically based reluctance to label any people or any leader as evil is the trend today.  I am opposed to that trend, because I contend that the leader of Iran, with his holocaust-denial, his threats to create a nuclear bomb and “wipe out” Israel, is more than just “nasty”;  I contend that he is evil,  just as Hitler was evil.  I know that my language is outside the norms of the language used by the post-modernists, the relativists and the politically correct.   But that is because I take seriously the words of the Jewish Torah.  In particular I take seriously the teaching concerning Amalek. In Deut. 25:17-19 we read: “Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when ye were come forth out of Egypt; How he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee, when thou wast faint and weary; and he feared not God. Therefore it shall be, when the Lord thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it, that thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; thou shalt not forget it.”

 

Rabbi Marc Gellman has written:  “What made Amalek so dastardly was that unlike any other enemy who attacked the Israelites fleeing slavery in Egypt from the front, Amalek attacked the rear. This meant that his soldiers could kill women and children, the elderly and the infirm and in so doing avoid engagement with the soldiers at the front. In this way he could produce maximum carnage and maximum terror. The moral problem the Bible addresses is that this is not warfare, it is the slaughter of innocents—it is terrorism.”

 

Rabbi Gellman concludes:  “Why, I wondered, would God command us to remember the terrorist Amalek? There are other villains in the Bible, but there is no biblical command to remember Pharaoh or Nebuchadnezzar, or Cyrus. We are commanded only to remember Amalek… Indeed our remembrance of Amalek is combined with a chilling pledge from God that is also unique in the Bible: ‘The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation’ (Exod. 17:16). Our enemies are just our enemies except if our enemy is Amalek. In that case our enemy is also the enemy of God. Amalek thus becomes the symbol of terrorism in every generation. He is the symbol not of evil but of radical evil.  In our generation Amalek is alive and well.”

 

And so the Jewish people have faced an Amalek in every generation.  In my father’s generation, he was Hitler;  in my generation, he is Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.  We are commanded, not to seek out what might be good with such Amaleks, not to try to appease and negotiate with such Amaleks, but we are commanded to “blot” them out, that is, to wipe them out.  When doing so, we shall try to minimize the death or injury of innocent civilians, but we are commanded to do so, and do so we must.  Then we must never lose sight of the distinction that our armies, uniformed and
subject to the laws of warfare, are morally different from non-uniformed terrorists who fight under the cover of their own civilians and intentionally attack our weakest, that is, our women, children and old people.   Amalek represents the terrorists; the moral world must defeat Amalek, must defeat the terrorists, and must understand that failure to use our strength is not a moral position.

 

Shylock failed to understand the evil of the pseudo-justice system of the Venetian Court, and that is why he submitted his case to it.   So many of use today fail to understand the evil of Radical Islam and that is why some of us submit to it or fail to meet it with the strength and determination required.   Let us not make Shylock’s mistake.  Let us understand the lesson of the Torah that when we face an evil, we must call it an evil, and we must blot it out as we have been commanded to do.

 

Relying on an unjust court system is, as Steve Apfel argues in the quote that starts this essay, “naive”.

 

Howard Rotberg is the author of The Second Catastrophe:  A Novel About a Book and its Author;  Tolerism:  The Ideology Revealed;  The Ideological Path to Submission; and the forthcoming Second Generation Radical;  The World Through One Man’s Second Generation Lens, from which this essay is excerpted.

 

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Indian journalists, including Muslims from Kashmir, tour Israel

“It was important to bring this group to see the truth firsthand so that they bring this story to millions of their readers and followers.”

Etgar Lefkovits https://www.jns.org/indian-journalists-including-muslims-from-kashmir-tour-israel/

 

Sajid Yousuf Shah, head of media for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party in Kashmir, visits Kibbutz Kfar Aza, Jan. 16, 2024. Credit: Sharaka

Sajid Yousuf Shah, head of media for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party in Kashmir, visits Kibbutz Kfar Aza, Jan. 16, 2024. Credit: Sharaka

 

(January 19, 2024 / JNS) A delegation of Indian journalists and social media influencers, including three Muslim writers from Kashmir, are in Israel on a weeklong media tour in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre and the three-month-old war in Gaza as Israel seeks to bolster its case in the world of public opinion.

 

The group, which also includes an Afghan journalist living in exile in Germany, is visiting amid a bitter media war over the narrative of the war with the Islamic terrorist organization in Gaza and growing international focus on the humanitarian situation in Gaza, where Hamas uses civilian buildings to launch attacks from densely populated urban areas.

 

“How do I stop the support for the evil things that Hamas has done,” Yana Mir, Kashmir’s first Muslim female blogger, told JNS in an interview.

 

Mir has been threatened for her support for Israel in Muslim-dominated Kashmir.

 

She said that reading a children’s book at the age of nine about the birth of Christianity changed her worldview and put her at odds with the universal teaching in Kashmir that Israel is the land of the Muslims.

 

“How can Israelis and Jews occupy their own land?” Mir asked. Of the Oct. 7 massacre that killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and triggered the war, she said, “Now in our era, Jews are being exterminated again.”

 

Columnist Irfan Ali Pirjade added, “We felt the parallels with what Hamas is doing after visiting the [Yad Vashem] Holocaust Museum.”

 

“I am Muslim, but Jews deserve life and dignity,” said Sajid Yousuf Shah, the founder and CEO of The Real Kashmir News who now serves as media head of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party in Kashmir. “It’s not a matter of land but a matter of existence.”

 

He noted that his mother and uncle were killed in Kashmir by Islamist terrorists in front of his four-year-old cousin.

Educational tour

The weeklong study visit, which was funded by an Israeli NGO, included time at hard-hit southern kibbutzim attacked by Hamas, which have become a focus of war tours, and the traditional tourist stops at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Center and the Knesset in Jerusalem.

 

“Especially during these times, it was important for us to bring this group of journalists and social media influencers to see the truth firsthand so that they bring this story to millions of their readers and followers in India,” said Amit Deri, chairman of Sharaka (“Partnership” in Arabic), an Israeli NGO founded after the Abraham Accords were signed that seeks to shape a new Middle East built on dialogue, understanding, cooperation and friendship.

 

The Afghan journalist on the delegation, Abdulhaq Omeri, said that he had no clue before the visit that Muslims make up 20% of Israeli citizens, noting that he was pleasantly pleased to freely visit the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem and hear the Muslim call to prayer by the muezzin, things that he did not think were possible.

 

Swati Goel Sharma, an editor at “Swarajya” magazine in India, visits Kibbutz Kfar Aza, Jan. 16, 2024. Credit: Sharaka.

Swati Goel Sharma, an editor at “Swarajya” magazine in India, visits Kibbutz Kfar Aza, Jan. 16, 2024. Credit: Sharaka.

 

News cycle moved on

“People have forgotten the brutality of October 7 with the relentless propaganda of the media,” said Swati Goel Sharma, an editor at Swarajya magazine who is Hindu.

 

She said that while the Qatari-based Al Jazeera television network openly picks a side in the conflict, the Western media was more deceptive in their pretense of reporting on both sides’ perspectives.

 

The Indian journalist noted that the majority Hindu India was largely supportive of Israel, with the exception of the upper class and the cinema world, which follow the cue of the American left.

 

“Not too many people in Bollywood have an understanding about Israel, but if [American actress] Susan Sarandon says something about Jews or Israel then it’s fashionable,” Sharma said.

 

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jns-org-logo

Torah’s blueprint for the Simchat Torah war

The war is one scene in the biblical story of Jacob’s return from exile and his taking on an Israeli identity.

Shlomo Vile https://www.jns.org/the-torahs-blueprint-for-the-simchat-torah-war/

Shlomo Vile is the webmaster and digital marketing director for JNS.

 

(January 18, 2024 / JNS) Knowing that we’re in a biblical story can help make us less anxious. Knowing where we are in the story and what needs to happen next can help cement our commitment to wiping out Hamas and moving us toward the story’s glorious conclusion.

 

Jacob’s return is the central theme of the Torah portion Vayishlach (Genesis 32-36), and it is the prototype for all the subsequent returns of the Jewish people from exile. The modern return of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel closely follows the Genesis prototype. In the story, when Jacob returns to the land of his fathers, he is renamed Israel.  Curiously, he is renamed Israel twice in two separate incidents.

 

The first renaming: All-night wrestling match
The first renaming takes place after Jacob wrestles all night with the angel of his brother, Esau. In the wake of this struggle, the angel renames Jacob. “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel.” In this first renaming, the meaning of the name Israel is given explicitly in the Torah text: “You have wrestled with Gods and with men and prevailed.”

 

Our sages associated Esau with Rome and with Christian Europe. The wrestling match between the Jewish people and Christian Europe was indeed a dark night of struggle, culminating in the darkest night of the Holocaust.

 

Even after the Holocaust ended in 1945, the Jewish people still had to struggle with Great Britain to gain its independence. In 1945, the British Empire spanned the globe; it was the Esauian power of the day. The Jewish underground organizations waged an intense and bloody struggle with Britain in order to gain independence. In the biblical story, Jacob did not destroy Esau’s angel, but the angel “could not prevail” over him (Genesis 32:16). So too, the Jewish underground guerrillas did not destroy Great Britain, but they convinced Britain to leave and allow the Jews to create an independent state named Israel.

 

The second renaming, Part 1: Rape and kidnapping of Dina
The second time that Jacob is renamed Israel, he is renamed by God. But first, Jacob and his family have to deal with the rape and kidnapping of Jacob’s daughter by the prince of the city of Shechem (Genesis 34).

 

When we read this section of the Torah—most recently, the week of Nov. 26—the story had a disturbing resonance with current events. Rape and kidnapping were central to what happened on Oct. 7.

 

The second renaming, Part II: Shimon and Levi wipe out Shechem and look bad to the neighbors
The two sons of Jacob—Levi and Shimon—were the elite commandos of Jacob’s 12 sons. They kill every male inhabitant of Shechem, and they successfully rescue their sister.

 

Right now, every Jew around the world who treasures their Jewish identity is hoping and praying for two outcomes of war that are unmistakably similar: the utter destruction of Hamas; and the rescue of our sisters and brothers who were kidnapped.

 

Jacob voices two criticisms of Shimon and Levi for their actions. The first criticism (עֲכַרְתֶּ֣ם אֹתִי֒) is explained by the 13th-century sage, Rabeinu Bahaya, to mean that Shimon and Levi appear to the surrounding people as having spilled innocent blood. The 11th-century commentator Rashi, says that the term indicates that Jacob’s mind was clouded by what Shimon and Levi did.

 

The second criticism (הַבְאִישֵׁ֙נִי֙) means that Shimon and Levi’s actions made Jacob’s family smell rotten to the surrounding people.

 

It is uncanny how accurately these terms characterize the negative impact of the war on Israel’s image in the world. The world is accusing us of killing innocent Gazans, and Israel’s image in most of the world’s media stinks right now.

 

In response to these concerns, Shimon and Levi ask their father: “Shall we allow our sister to be turned into a prostitute?”

 

Have you seen the videos and heard the witnesses describe what happened on Oct. 7? Can we allow our sisters and brothers to be raped/murdered/mutilated in such a horrific and degrading way? Can we allow the fear of not looking good to the world to cloud our minds and prevent us from doing what must be done to destroy Hamas?

 

The second renaming, Part III: Idolatrous conceptions are buried
In the next scene of the Genesis story, Jacob has his family undergo a spiritual cleansing in which they relinquish and bury their false idols.

 

So, too, the belief that Israel can live in peace with a Palestinian state needs to be buried. The belief that we can rely on technology for our security needs to be buried. These and other false conceptions that have guided Israel’s leaders over the last three decades need to be rejected and buried.

 

The second renaming, Part IV: Israel achieves security and God-awareness grows
In the next verses of the biblical narrative, we learn that the neighboring people felt fear of God and did not pursue Jacob’s family (Genesis 35:5). Wiping out Shechem instilled a fear of God in the surrounding people and provided Jacob’s family with security.

 

So, too, in the current story, destroying Hamas is a prerequisite to Israel’s security. This war truly is a second War of Independence.

 

More than that, the story implies that a heightened global awareness of God will follow in the wake of Israel’s destruction of Hamas.

 

The second renaming, Part V: Israel rises to leadership
God renames Jacob as Israel. The meaning of Israel here, according to Rashi, is a prince or a leader. In this second renaming, Israel’s stature is elevated in the world. Israel and the Jewish people are looked up to for leadership and guidance.

 

For the last 100 years, we have been living in the biblical story of the return of our forefather Jacob to the land of Israel and his taking on Israeli identity, and we are now reaching the climax of that story.

 

My hope in writing this article is that everyone reading this can feel more at ease in these unsettled times, knowing that we’re living out an old story with a glorious ending.

 

Secondly, I hope that knowing where we are in the story can strengthen our nation’s commitment to fulfilling the two conditions necessary to reach that glorious ending:

  • destroying Hamas and
  • burying the false conceptions that led to Oct. 7.

The opinions and facts presented in this article are those of the author, and neither JNS nor its partners assume any responsibility for them.

 

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Ultra-Orthodox will be able to maintain empty kibbutzim and settlements in the south and north within the framework of the purity of the holy place.

Emuna and Dancing with the IDF near Gaza

Emuna and Dancing with the IDF near Gaza

JerusalemCats Comments: YES! Each kibbutzim and settlement will have a Yeshiva and Jews will be able to Learn Torah, Dance and Sing to Hashem beside guard the Land and People of Israel!


berale_crombie-tweet-1February2024-ultra-Orthodox will maintain empty kibbutzim and settlements

מקור בכיר במשרד הביטחון אומר לי: בחודשים הקרובים החסר של חיילים בצבא יגיע ל-2500. אנחנו שוברים את הראש איך מביאים עוד חיילים בלי למוטט את המשק והאפיק היחידי שעומד כרגע על הפרק הוא הציבור החרדי. לדבריו חרדים יוכלו לשמור על קיבוצים וישובים ריקים בדרום ובצפון במסגרת על טהרת הקודש.

Translated from Hebrew by

A senior source in the Ministry of Defense tells me: in the coming months the shortage of soldiers in the army will reach 2500. We are racking our brains on how to bring in more soldiers without collapsing the economy and the only channel that is currently on the agenda is the ultra-orthodox public. According to him, ultra-Orthodox will be able to maintain empty kibbutzim and settlements in the south and north within the framework of the purity of the holy place.

berale_crombie-tweet-1February2024-ultra-Orthodox will maintain empty kibbutzim and settlements

berale_crombie-tweet-1February2024-ultra-Orthodox will maintain empty kibbutzim and settlements

 

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Nefesh B’Nefesh
THE CONTINUING STORY…November 15, 2023  https://www.nbn.org.il/stories/standing-with-israel-physician-volunteers-from-overseas/

Standing with Israel: Physician Volunteers from Overseas

With continued stress on Israel’s national healthcare system, Nefesh B’Nefesh, together with Israel’s Ministries of Health and Aliyah as well as The Jewish Agency for Israel, is working to help alleviate the nation’s physician shortage

Nefesh B’Nefesh -Standing with Israel: Physician Volunteers from Overseas

Nefesh B’Nefesh -Standing with Israel: Physician Volunteers from Overseas

Jerusalem, November 15, 2023 – In response to Israel’s pressing healthcare challenges during wartime, Nefesh B’Nefesh has been collaborating with the Israeli Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration and The Jewish Agency for Israel on assembling a comprehensive database of thousands of Jewish and non-Jewish physician volunteers from around the world. The Iron Swords War has heightened the demand for additional medical professionals in Israel, particularly in areas affected by the conflict in the south and north and this new initiative serves as an immediate solution for the shortage.

 

Designed to immediately bolster Israel’s national healthcare system, this extensive database includes essential information about the volunteers’ medical specialties, Hebrew-language proficiency and the documentation necessary to expedite the process for obtaining a temporary Israeli medical license. This enables the physicians to begin volunteering in hospitals and medical facilities around the country as quickly and efficiently as possible. Each participating physician will generously dedicate an average of two weeks of their time, although some may choose to extend their stay to provide longer-term assistance.

If you are a physician from overseas who would like to volunteer in Israel, click the button below.

Physician Volunteer Application

American Jewish medical professionals seen at Galli Medical Center as they volunteer to help Israel's medical system during the war.

American Jewish medical professionals seen at Galli Medical Center as they volunteer to help Israel’s medical system during the war.

“Supporting Israel’s healthcare system and finding an immediate solution for the physician shortage is extremely vital today,” said Tony Gelbart, Chairman and Co-Founder of Nefesh B’Nefesh. “We are honored to lead this joint initiative, in order to immediately provide Israel with essential care while alleviating the pressure on the nation’s healthcare system in areas where assistance is most urgently needed. In addition, Nefesh B’Nefesh is exploring ways to help solve Israel’s long-term physician shortage as part of a broader strategic plan.”

 

“The Israeli healthcare system is one of the best in the world, and its remarkable capabilities were demonstrated as soon as the war broke out. At present, we see great importance in strengthening our medical system with highly skilled, value-oriented, Zionist professionals who seek to tie their fate with that of the State of Israel,” said Israel’s Minister of Health, Uriel Buso. “These physicians are offering to help from a deep sense of national mission and love of the people and the Jewish homeland. I thank the doctors who have volunteered to come and help Israel and who are embodying the expression of ‘all of Israel are bound to each other’ in the purest of ways. And I’d like to especially thank Nefesh B’Nefesh, the Jewish Agency, and the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration for their cooperation on this blessed issue.”

 

“The support, solidarity, and rallying of our Jewish brothers in the Diaspora, in general, and in North America, in particular, during the war, is very heartfelt and strengthens the State of Israel,” said Minister of Aliyah and Integration, MK Ofir Sofer. “I want to thank them and salute them for helping our healthcare system by saving the lives of our soldiers as well as the civilians on the home front. Together with all the partners in the project – the Ministries of Aliyah and Integration and Health, Nefesh B’Nefesh, and the Jewish Agency – the people of Israel will win.”

 

“The mobilization of the Jewish communities in support of the State of Israel, at this difficult time, is particularly moving and strengthens us all,” said Maj.-Gen (ret.) Doron Almog, Chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel. The physicians who have come to volunteer in the Israeli healthcare system and the volunteers from the Jewish communities who are working side by side with the Israelis in essential fields throughout the country, are a tremendous display of strength and resilience.”

 

Over seventy physicians from various specialties, including emergency and urgent medicine, surgery, anesthesiology, pediatrics, cardiology, orthopedics and psychiatry have already arrived in Israel and additional doctors are expected to arrive in the coming weeks as needed. These doctors have integrated into medical centers throughout the country, including Ichilov, Barzilai, Soroka, Beilinson, Hadassah, Rambam, Shamir, Galil Medical Center, and the Magen David Adom Association. There is a particular emphasis on centers in combat areas, such as Sderot and Ashkelon.

 

This first-of-its-kind program has been made possible thanks to the generous sponsorship of The Marcus Foundation, an organization committed to making a difference in the lives of countless individuals and communities.

 

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Am Ysroel Chai עם ישראל חי

IDF Praying at Western Wall

IDF Praying at Western Wall

And Israel shall dwell securely, alone (Devarim 33:28).

Lion of Israel

Lion of Israel

Excerpted from The Chanukah Scroll by Hagi Ben Artzi:
[When Antiochus sent a demand for the return of captured ‘Greek cities’ in Eretz Yisrael] …Shimon rebuffed these demands…, and responded in resolute and firm terms:

“We didn’t take a foreign land and we didn’t exist on the spoils of other nations, but on the lands of our fathers that through the years was illegally seized by our enemies. We, when we had the opportunity, restored our birthright.” – Shimon Maccabee to the Greek Antiochus 2158 year ago. 3626 -136BCE


If Israel was like any other country they would have dropped Nukes on October 8th. Remember what the US did to Japan, Napalm Tokyo, Nuke Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Fake International Law just for the JEWS. That’s Antisemitism.

Am Ysroel Chai עם ישראל חי

עמית סגל Amit Segal
@amit_segal

*בקשה לסיוע בהמשך*

אני חוזר עכשיו נפעם ממוקד העשייה הציונית מהגדולים במדינה כרגע: המרכז של אחים לנשק בגני התערוכה.

באולם אחד למידת מכונה שמזהה מצב חטופים לפי צבע המכנס בסרטונים, בחניון מרכז לוגיסטי עצום שממיין תרומות עד רמת סוג השמפו ומשגר למי שצריך באמצעות מחשב.

באולם אחר חמ״ל שדואג לאנשי העוטף שנמצאים כעת במלונות.

בשבוע האחרון הם חילצו פיזית אלפיים איש ממוקדי הקרבות בדרום.

במוקד אחר מתאמים ציוד ששומר על חיילי צה״ל, מאיתור מפעלים, דרך תשלום על ידי תורמים, הטסה שחרור ממכס ועד הרכבה. בכל רגע נתון מאה מתנדבים 24/7 מרכיבים את הציוד כדי לשמור על החיילים שלנו.

יש אפילו חמ״ל לחילוץ כלבים שנותרו בעוטף ועל הלוח הגדול יש שמות של אנשים שמאוד הרגיזו אותי עד השבוע שעבר וגם אני אותם מן הסתם, אבל עכשיו מתגייסים בלי חשבון ובלי להבחין בין דעה ודעה.

יש 15,000 מתנדבים ברחבי הארץ, מכל ההשקפות והדעות.

מה נחוץ עכשיו?
1. ציוד צבאי (לא נשק אלא ביגוד, בדגש על חם, מעילים, נעליים, פנסים) – כל מה שיש תביאו דחוף לגני התערוכה למרכז הלוגיסטי.
2. האתגר הבא זה משפחות המפונים בים המלח ובאילת. הן זקוקות לכל סיוע אפשרי, וזה יהיה ממושך ויסודי. אסור לנו להרשות אירוע הומניטרי מתמשך.

ובעיקר חזרתי עם מחשבה: כמה כוחות יש בעם הזה, איזו תעוזה, אנחנו נצטרך לעשות הכל, מכל הצדדים, כדי שביום שאחרי הם יושקעו רק בביטחון ובכלכלה ולא אחד נגד השני.

Translated from Hebrew by

*request for further assistance*

I am now returning thrilled by one of the largest centers of Zionist activity in the country at the moment: the Center of Brothers in Arms in the Exhibition Gardens.

In one hall a machine learning that identifies the situation of abductees based on the color of the pants in the videos, in a parking lot a huge logistics center that sorts donations down to the level of the type of shampoo and sends them to those who need them via computer.

In another hall, a military officer who takes care of the Otaf men who are now in hotels.

In the last week, they physically rescued two thousand people from the fighting centers in the south.

In another center, equipment that protects IDF soldiers is coordinated, from locating factories, through payment by donors, flying, customs clearance to assembly. At any given moment, a hundred volunteers 24/7 assemble the equipment to keep our soldiers safe.

There is even a rescue team for dogs that were left in Otaf and on the big board there are names of people who really upset me until last week, and I probably also them, but now they are enlisting without calculation and without distinguishing between opinion and opinion.

There are 15,000 volunteers across the country, of all views and opinions.

What is needed now?
1. Military equipment (not weapons but clothing, with an emphasis on warm, coats, shoes, flashlights) – bring everything you have urgently to the exhibition grounds to the logistics center.
2. The next challenge is the families of the evacuees in the Dead Sea and Eilat. They need all possible assistance, and it will be prolonged and thorough. We must not allow an ongoing humanitarian event.

And above all I came back with a thought: how much strength this nation has, what courage, we will have to do everything, from all sides, so that the day after they will be invested only in security and the economy and not against each other.

Amit Segal-tweet-15October2023-request for further assistance

Amit Segal-tweet-15October2023-request for further assistance

 



The Persian Jewess-tweet-19February2024-EL_AL_ISRAEL
This beautiful @EL_AL_ISRAEL commercial has me crying like a baby.

💙🇮🇱💙

#StandWithIsrael
David Oh-tweet-19February2024-My daughter is a flight attendant at El AL
My daughter is a flight attendant at El AL, She says that they let people seat in the toilet at takeoffs, the planes were full of Israelis coming back home to join the army. We have a wonderful people, great young generation.

 

The Persian Jewess-tweet-19February2024-EL_AL_ISRAEL

The Persian Jewess-tweet-19February2024-EL_AL_ISRAEL

David Oh-tweet-19February2024-My daughter is a flight attendant at El AL

David Oh-tweet-19February2024-My daughter is a flight attendant at El AL

 

 


The Jewish people liberated their homeland


Caroline Glick-tweet-29February2024-The Jewish people liberated their homeland
When David Ben Gurion came before the Peel Commission to plead the case that Britain fulfill its legal obligation to transfer the land of Israel to Jewish sovereignty, he brought a copy of the Bible with him, and said that the Bible is the deed.
Everyday more proof is found attesting to the truth he spoke.
The Jewish people liberated their homeland. We are not occupiers. This is our land. https://armstronginstitute.org/995-3000-year-old-phoenician-electrum-earring-pendant-discovered-in-jerusalem

Caroline Glick-tweet-29February2024-The Jewish people liberated their homeland

Caroline Glick-tweet-29February2024-The Jewish people liberated their homeland

 



Israel-tweet-10December-2023-two links in a long chain of Jewish survival and triumph
In 1950, 13 year old Holocaust survivor Yisrael Meir celebrated his bar mitzvah as an orphan (his parents were murdered by the Nazis).

73 years later, Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau (the former Chief Rabbi of Israel) stood beside 13 year old Ariel Zohar -an orphan whose parents were murdered on October 7th- as he marked his Bar Mitzvah.

Two orphans, two heroes, two links in a long chain of Jewish survival and triumph over darkness.

Am Yisrael Chai.

Israel-tweet-10December-2023-two links in a long chain of Jewish survival and triumph

Israel-tweet-10December-2023-two links in a long chain of Jewish survival and triumph

 



Yitzchak Schochet-tweet-20February2024-There will be no hungry soldiers on my bus
Noa is a combat soldier in the IDF. She got on a bus & sat near the driver. They chatted; she shared some of her missions, that she just left the field & hadn’t had a chance to eat. The driver pulled over by a restaurant, took money from his pocket & told her: “There will be no hungry soldiers on my bus. Go get some food.” The whole bus happily waited till she returned. Only in #Israel

Yitzchak Schochet-tweet-20February2024-There will be no hungry soldiers on my bus

Yitzchak Schochet-tweet-20February2024-There will be no hungry soldiers on my bus

 



Living Lchaim-tweet-30October2023-
This is an extraordinary story.

This morning, 3 tank soldiers planted an orange tree in Kfar Azza, one of the communities that was devastated in the Hamas attack on Oct 7 – Simchat Torah.

Why?

Because these men were the brave first defenders of the Kibbutz and were part of the team who killed over 100 Hamas murderous terrorists.

On that awful day they entered the Kibbutz in a tank, and they ran over a tree and destroyed it.

They didn’t forget.

Today, 3 weeks later, they returned to replant a new tree! (see the fallen tree in the background.)

Are we not a remarkable nation? A people who, in the middle of a war, stop to build and replant with such humanity and hope, can never be defeated.

As the prophet Amos wrote:
“They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them… They will plant gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them, says the Lord”

Source: Almog Boker

Living Lchaim-tweet-30October2023-This is an extraordinary story

Living Lchaim-tweet-30October2023-This is an extraordinary story

 


This poor abused dog found in Gaza was rescued by an IDF soldier


Israel War Room-tweet-5February2024-This poor abused dog found in Gaza was rescued by an IDF soldier
We’re not crying, you’re crying.
This poor abused dog found in Gaza was rescued by an IDF soldier.
She’s now living her best life in Israel.

Israel War Room-tweet-5February2024-This poor abused dog found in Gaza was rescued by an IDF soldier

Israel War Room-tweet-5February2024-This poor abused dog found in Gaza was rescued by an IDF soldier

This poor abused dog found in Gaza was rescued by an IDF soldier

 



Living Lchaim-tweet-5November2023-The owners of a small plant nursery in Kibbutz Be’eri had to evacuate

The owners of a small plant nursery in Kibbutz Be’eri had to evacuate following the Hamas attack.

They returned to their shop expecting to find all the plants dried up.

Instead, they found healthy thriving plants and a sign from IDF soldiers that read:

“Sorry we broke in. We had to water the plants. With love, the soldiers.”

We care about people, animals, plants and all.

Living Lchaim-tweet-5November2023-The owners of a small plant nursery in Kibbutz Be’eri had to evacuate

Living Lchaim-tweet-5November2023-The owners of a small plant nursery in Kibbutz Be’eri had to evacuate

 

 



Living Lchaim-tweet-3November2023-He just gave 30 brand new cars to the survivors
He just gave 30 brand new cars to the survivors…

The fellow below is Shmuel Charlap.

He just gifted 30 brand new Mitsubishi cars to the survivors of Kibbutz Nachal Oz which was demolished by Hamas.

This is just the beginning of his generosity as the survivors of Beeri and Kfar Aza are next on the list of this tzaddik!

Post by: Rabbi Shlomo Landau

Living Lchaim-tweet-3November2023-He just gave 30 brand new cars to the survivors

Living Lchaim-tweet-3November2023-He just gave 30 brand new cars to the survivors

 


Over 9 million Israelis have just put all 5 fingers down.

Posted 17October2023 Israel Defense Forces:

The impact of the Hamas terror attacks and the Gaza war on Israeli and Jews worldwide

 


They tried to bury us. They didn’t know we were seeds.


The Persian Jewess-tweet-17February2024-They tried to bury us They didn’t know we were seeds
They tried to bury us. They didn’t know we were seeds.

#AmYisraelChai
leekern-tweet-15February2024-Flowers growing at the site of the Nova Festival massacre
Flowers growing at the site of the Nova Festival massacre. The world can’t help it. It wants to be beautiful in spite of the bastards.

The Persian Jewess-tweet-17February2024-They tried to bury us They didn’t know we were seeds

The Persian Jewess-tweet-17February2024-They tried to bury us They didn’t know we were seeds

 


Life Unplugged A Doctor’s Regret, Steipler’s Guidance, and Life Beyond Death – Rabbi Lazer Brody

Stories To Inspire – Audio Only



Elder-of-Ziyon-tweet-18October2023-Here’s where the Arab honor/shame psyche becomes hugely important
Here’s where the Arab honor/shame psyche becomes hugely important.

Arab leaders, across the board, as engaging in extreme rhetoric against Israel because of the Al Ahli bombing.

Admitting they were wrong in blaming Israel for the catastrophic bombing and that it was really done by a Palestinian terror group is out of the question. No matter what evidence is offered. No matter that Al Jazeera’s own video proves it. They blamed Israel and it would be shameful to publicly admit they were wrong.

So they will continue to blame Israel. And whip up their people into a frenzy.

And such a major crime must be avenged, even though deep down they know it wasn’t done by Israel. They have to keep the anger going, because if they try to soft-pedal it, their people will turn on them.

And they will be pressured to do something rash.

Wars have started for less.

Now, out of fear for an escalation, the West will be spooked about Israel continuing the campaign against Hamas. And even if Arab leaders privately know the truth, they will be happy to feign outrage and point to the “street” as a reason to pressure Israel to stop its campaign.

The EU will cave and start publicly denouncing Israel for defending itself legally and morally. And the US might not be far behind.

All because of Islamic Jihad killing possibly hundreds of their brethren while attempting to murder Jews.

We live in a post-truth world, and mere facts and truth aren’t as important as feelings and beliefs. And, too often, lies.

Will Israel be able to withstand this pressure and continue its moral campaign to destroy Hamas? There is no choice – but it might come at a greater political cost than anyone thought.

All because of a lie.

Elder-of-Ziyon-tweet-18October2023-Here's where the Arab honor/shame psyche becomes hugely important

Elder-of-Ziyon-tweet-18October2023-Here’s where the Arab honor/shame psyche becomes hugely important

 


Mycological-tweet-17October2023-MSM is the mouthpiece of leftist elite. - Nothing but garbage

Mycological-tweet-17October2023-MSM is the mouthpiece of leftist elite. – Nothing but garbage

 


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For the Merit of the Mitzvah of Hafrashas Challah – “The Separation of Dough”

SEE: The Secret of Challah – How to Separate Challah

The Untold Story of The Rescued IDF Soldier from Hamas

Posted 31October2023 thelandofisrael:

 


Rabbi Shmuel Reichman-tweet-30October2023-
Inspiring beyond words! 🇱 💙
The mother of Ori Megidish, the observation soldier taken hostage by Hamas  in Gaza and rescued by the IDF, is seen here a week ago praying to G-d to return her daughter home as she performs the Mitzvah of Hafrashas Challah – “The Separation of Dough”.

This is just a reminder that everything we do in life matters; everything.

And everything we do in life has consequences; everything.

Every. Mitzvah. Counts.

(And just as we need to distinguish the Kodesh (holy) from the Chol (mundane), we need to distinguish good from evil.

Not doing so is actually the highest form of evil.)

Rabbi Shmuel Reichman-tweet-30October2023-The mother of Ori Megidish-Hafrashas Challah

Rabbi Shmuel Reichman-tweet-30October2023-The mother of Ori Megidish-Hafrashas Challah

 

 



Living Lchaim-30November2023-hafrashas challah-Her husband is finally coming home
Wow.

She was literally doing the sacred mitzvah of hafrashas challah when she got the best call of her life.

Her husband is finally coming home ♥️

Living Lchaim-30November2023-hafrashas challah-Her husband is finally coming home

Living Lchaim-30November2023-hafrashas challah-Her husband is finally coming home

 



Living Lchaim-tweet-3November2023-Thank you IvankaTrump

Thank you @IvankaTrump for performing the beautiful mitzvah of Challah in solidarity with our brothers and sisters.

We won’t stop until we bring them home.

Wishing everyone a safe and happy Shabbos.

Living Lchaim-tweet-3November2023-Thank you IvankaTrump

Living Lchaim-tweet-3November2023-Thank you IvankaTrump

 

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Making Aliyah during the War


Kylie Ora Lobell-tweet-4December2023-feel safer under the IDF than under my American government
Am I insane for wanting to make aliyah during a war and right after the worst massacre of the Jews since the Holocaust because I’d feel safer under the IDF than under my American government due to the rise in antisemitism here?

Just my thought every morning when I wake up.

Kylie Ora Lobell-tweet-4December2023-feel safer under the IDF than under my American government

Kylie Ora Lobell-tweet-4December2023-feel safer under the IDF than under my American government

 

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The Generations

 



Eylon Levy-tweet-22February2024-One in eight widows of fallen soldiers since October 7 are pregnant
One in eight widows of fallen soldiers since October 7 are pregnant, per @N12News.

Their children will be born without fathers, who fell defending their people from terrorists who burn and abduct babies.

Eylon Levy-tweet-22February2024-One in eight widows of fallen soldiers since October 7 are pregnant

Eylon Levy-tweet-22February2024-One in eight widows of fallen soldiers since October 7 are pregnant

 



Yaakov Langer-tweet-11January2024-The first orphan baby girl of the Iron Swords War
A very bitter sweet moment.

The first orphan baby girl of the Iron Swords War. The widow of Roi Moshe HY” D, who was killed on Simchas Torah when he went out to save his brothers and sisters, gave birth tonight, Rosh Chodesh Shevat, to a healthy baby girl who she named Gili.

This was the name her father z’l chose for her before he was killed r’l.

Shai Graucher relates: The emotional widow told me about the incredibly difficult experience of having to have a baby without her husband. “It was hard mentally and physically… I heard my husband talking to me and I cried out to Hashem to please bring Mashiach already so I can see my husband once again!”

Baruch Hashem the month has begun with a big simcha. Mazel tov!

Yaakov Langer-tweet-11January2024-The first orphan baby girl of the Iron Swords War

Yaakov Langer-tweet-11January2024-The first orphan baby girl of the Iron Swords War

 



Rabbi Shmuel Reichman-tweet-8November2023-Dor-new generation
The best video you’ll see today!!! 🇮🇱

Even while fighting against Hamas terrorists, there was no stopping Ran from attending his son’s Bris Milah (Circumcision), even if it meant being on the phone.

When it came time to naming his newborn son, everyone waited to hear the name he would choose.

Despite intense gunfire sounds in the background, you can hear Ran name his son “Dor,” which roughly translates to “new generation.”

This is because Ran and his wife hope that this will be the beginning of the next generation of the Jewish People, where all hate and terror can finally end.

How incredible is this?! 🥹

Am Yisrael Chai! 🇮🇱

 

Rabbi Shmuel Reichman-tweet-8November2023-Dor-new generation

Rabbi Shmuel Reichman-tweet-8November2023-Dor-new generation

 



Israel Defense Forces-tweet-9November2023-This is LTC Or Ben Yehuda
This is LTC Or Ben Yehuda, commander of the Caracal Battalion, whose troops successfully eliminated approximately 100 Hamas terrorists—ultimately saving countless lives.

Heroism appears to be a family tradition, as her mother earned a military commendation 50 years ago for defending Israel in the Yom Kippur War.

We salute these extraordinary women for their courage and dedication to protecting the State of Israel.

Israel Defense Forces-tweet-9November2023-This is LTC Or Ben Yehuda

Israel Defense Forces-tweet-9November2023-This is LTC Or Ben Yehuda

 



S block-tweet-8November2023-Ezra Yachin-95-IDF Reservist
Ezra Yachin, at 95, is the IDF’s oldest reservist

S block-tweet-8November2023-Ezra Yachin-95-IDF Reservist

S block-tweet-8November2023-Ezra Yachin-95-IDF Reservist

 


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Mobile Protection Unit and Artillery

 


Hillel Fuld-tweet-5November2023-mobile protection unit
On top of Israel’s superior infantry, navy, intelligence, and airforce, Israel also has a secret weapon, a defense system that no other army or nation can ever have.

No money in the world can buy it and it’ll ultimately, with the help of God, be the weapon that brings Israel’s enemies to their knees.

It’s the only defense system the Jewish people have had for thousands of years and it’s what helped them survive despite all the empires that tried to annihilate the Jews.

The best part? It’s built into every single Jew’s heart, even if they don’t realize it.

This defense mechanism was designed thousands of years ago, but statistically speaking, has achieved better results than any cutting edge defense system.

Israel is fortunate to have the privilege of this system and no matter what, it continues to accompany the Jewish people generation to generation. ✡️🇮🇱💪

Hillel Fuld-tweet-5November2023-mobile protection unit

Hillel Fuld-tweet-5November2023-mobile protection unit

Don’t forget the Artillery

IDF LtCol Battalion Commander res-blowing a Shofar, Israel October 2023

IDF LtCol Battalion Commander res-blowing a Shofar, Israel October 2023

 


The power of Tehilim!


Living Lchaim-tweet-23November2023-The power of Tehilim
The power of Tehilim!

It stopped a bullet.

Wow.

Source: @emanumiller

Living Lchaim-tweet-23November2023-The power of Tehilim

Living Lchaim-tweet-23November2023-The power of Tehilim

 


 

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Arutz Sheva http://www.israelnationalnews.com/

A Soldier’s Perspective: What we really need from Diaspora Jewry

The greatest boost of strength I can receive as a soldier is the knowledge that what I’m doing is inspiring those around me to want to take part in what we’re building as well. Op-ed.

Jacob Lerer
8February2024, 9:50 AM (GMT+2) https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/384880<

 

Jacob Lerer made Aliyah with his family four and a half years go from Teaneck, New Jersey and currently resides in Raanana. After finishing his Hesder army service, he returned to Yeshiva, where he learned until Oct 7. Since then, he’s been fighting with his battalion in Gaza. May he and all the IDF soldiers return home safely.

 

Am Yisrael needs help.

 

We all want to make a difference, but being so distant from Israel has left many Jews wondering what substantial difference they can make. As someone who appreciates Diaspora Jewish identity, having grown up in Teaneck, and who has spent the last three months in Azza, I want to offer a perspective which can hopefully speak to your heart.

 

Life in Israel hasn’t been simple for anyone in the last few months. We all know someone killed or kidnapped on Simchat Torah. We all have friends or family who have been killed in battle, and the cycle of pain doesn’t end. Regular life, for all intents and purposes, has completely paused even if people outwardly seem to go about their regular lives.

 

However, while sadness has definitely anchored itself in our lives, no feeling has been stronger than the display of hope and pride that our wonderful nation has put forth. The support I, and everyone around me, have received is a testament to the unbreakable will of our People. And as a relative of one of the kidnapped told me yesterday, the silver lining of all the horror he has gone through has been Am Yisrael.

 

This reality speaks to one of the core differences which divide Israeli and Diaspora Jewish society, a schism which today is driving a wedge between our two communities. It’s why I feel a difference in the barbeques I’ve received from Israelis and Americans, and why the entire enterprise of solidarity missions has been so controversial throughout olim communities. To live the American Jewish dream means to create for oneself a personal spiritual utopia while in Israel, it means to become one with our nation around us.

 

Many ask how they can help but are not willing to sacrifice anything that removes any real comfort from their personal lives. Of course financial help is important. In fact, it’s vital. But that doesn’t discharge us of our obligation of עמו אנכי בצרה! (being with Am Yisrael in difficult times, as Rashi says the burning bush symbolized) With that being said, we Olim appreciate the struggle of connecting to Israel while not physically being here because we, too, once lived that reality.

 

Even so, there are many passionate Jews still doing whatever they can to do their part, by sending money, coming to Israel, raising awareness, and most importantly never letting Israel leave their hearts. And this is all the more impressive, given that many others around them seem to go on with their lives as if it’s time to move on. What more can these Jews do? After all, whether they’re happy about it or not, the reality is that they don’t live in Israel.

Families try to connect with their loved ones in any way they can

Families try to connect with their loved ones in any way they can

To these people, I’m really grateful; their perspective is not self-evident. But at the same time, while all the gear, snacks, and missions support us physically and allow those helping to feel a connection, it’s not enough. It’s not what we need. The best way to help our soldiers, the families of our חטופים – hostages -, those who lost their homes, and the nation as a whole, is to show that you’re genuinely with us.

 

Show that you wish to join in the pain of the nation.

 

Show that you wish you were here with us, both suffering the lows and rejoicing in the highs.

 

The greatest boost of strength I can receive as a soldier is the knowledge that what I’m doing is inspiring those around me to want to take part in what we’re building as well.

 

From our perspective as Torah Jews in Israel, the choice to live here and fight rests on the holy notion that all of this sacrifice is required in order to enable our nation, our holy nation, to take off and become a light to the rest of the world. And the more of us invested in this mission, the greater the impact we’ll be able to make.

 

It’s possible that this isn’t the goal for some Diaspora Jews, but if so, it’s important that they don’t hide behind their barbeques and solidarity missions and instead, own that belief.

 

This is what we’re fighting for. This is what our whole nation is fighting for.

 

For us, we’re not merely protecting a safe haven for Jews. We’re building our future. And each Jew in the world must think deeply about whether or not they want to be a part of it. While it’s easy for me, as someone already quite integrated in Israeli life, to demand that everyone make Aliyah immediately, such a demand is neither realistic nor fair. Therefore, I want to offer a proactive solution which both empowers anyone willing to capture the moment, and additionally, may show Israeli Jewry a form of comfort which no donation can impart. All you have to do is prove to yourself that while you may not be here yet, your heart and soul are, and when the time comes, the rest will follow.

 

I created a pledge which states that you will genuinely try your best to one day make Aliyah, and that already now, you’ll commit to a proactive change in your life (of your choosing) to keep those convictions real. You’ll be sent a monthly reminder of your pledge with a personal note you can choose to write to yourself, capturing your feelings during this deeply emotional time.

 

The ball is now in your court. Am Yisrael Beeretz Yisrael is standing at a crossroads and needs all the help it can get. This simple pledge will stand before us as a testament to our true convictions. Destiny is watching. Are you ready to join us?

 

The Pledge: https://forms.gle/2EXJPWn4KRUWCJHJ7

 

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Arutz Sheva http://www.israelnationalnews.com/

Haredi rabbi: No rain? ‘Acknowledge miracles’

Rabbi Yitzhak Zilberstein urges public to recognize ‘outstanding, amazing miracle’ of lack of damage by rockets launched towards Israel.

Israel National News / 6January2024 / http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/383154

 

Rabbi Yitzhak Zilberstein, a leading haredi rabbi, said in a Torah class on Saturday that the lack of rain this year stems from a lack of acknowledgement of the miracles taking place in Israel.

 

“G-d brings clouds, and even those who are not professionals can see that the black clouds are chock-full of water, but in practice only a few drops fall on us, and they do not make up the lack,” he said. “The public wishes to know what needs to be improved.”

 

“And here, if we pay attention to how many missiles and shells are fired towards the Land of Israel, and almost none of them hit a person. A bit here, a bit there, but of all the tens of thousands of missiles and weapons of destruction which have infiltrated Israel, there have not been people who suffered fatal injuries, and the monetary damage is very little.

 

“This is an outstanding and amazing miracle! And anyone who does not remember the Gulf War, during which Saddam Hussein fired dozens of missiles into the Land of Israel, and not a single one hurt someone …. So much so that people started to think that maybe those missiles were made of paper … and really unable to cause harm.

 

“Until there was one missile which was fired at a US military camp, and killed 28 US soldiers! So then we understood it all – that these are very deadly missiles, and it was the kindness of G-d that, miracle of miracles, none of the Jews of the Land of Israel were hurt.”

 

Rabbi ZIlberstein stressed the importance of recognizing and giving thanks for the miracles: “And when we do not thank G-d for the miracles that He does with us, G-d does not continue His chain of kindness, and does not bring down rain for us.”

 

“And this is similar, really, to a child whose father does many good things for him, and if the child gets used to saying, ‘thank you,’ the father is encouraged by this and continues to do things for his son. But if he sees that the son is receiving the good things that he does for him as things which are self-understood, he stops doing favors for him.”

 

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Our kids are strong, compassionate Jews, and they’ll make Israel better


An Israeli mother-tweet-20January2024-Our kids are strong, compassionate Jews, and they’ll make Israel better
Talked with a 5th grade teacher in a primary school yesterday.
In her class, 4 kids out of 30 are mourning a brother, a cousin, a father (two cousins are mourning the same boy-hero, HYD).
When the elections for class delegates came on, all the students voted for those four, “so they have something good to think about”.

What made it more poignant, is that one of the fallen soldiers had sat on the same chairs, only nine year ago.

Almost every generation of Jewish children has grown up in some measure of existential fear and in the absolute, primal knowledge that many people all around us have dedicated their existence to terminate ours.

It’s true of our kids today too, traumatized by the #October7Massacre pics you can’t really hide here, worrying for their parents and elder siblings fighting the absolute evil of the #hamasnazis in Gaza, rushing their smaller siblings to the shelter/safe room and soothing them even though they themselves are terrified. Hugging their mourning classmates.

Our kids are hurt.
Our kids are scarred.
Our kids are strong, compassionate Jews, and they’ll make #Israel better.

And for once @PaliHistory has made a pic he can be proud of. Ha.

An Israeli mother-tweet-20January2024-Our kids are strong compassionate Jews and they'll make Israel better

An Israeli mother-tweet-20January2024-Our kids are strong compassionate Jews and they’ll make Israel better

 

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Haka for Israel: One Indigenous People to another


Avi Yemini-tweet-20November2023-Haka for Israel-Māoris are standing for Israel
🚨 Why so many Māoris are standing for Israel

I caught up with the brave Indigenous activists who gathered in Brisbane yesterday to ‘Haka for Israel’, forcing a pre-planned pro-Hamas rally to change the location for their hatefest.

Full story: http://rebelne.ws/3R5I6fV

Avi Yemini-tweet-20November2023-Haka for Israel-Māoris are standing for Israel

Avi Yemini-tweet-20November2023-Haka for Israel-Māoris are standing for Israel

 

 

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breslev-magazine-co-il-logo

WHY is Hashem Doing This to Us?

A MUST READ on the situation in Israel! One of the most important messages by Rabbi Arush ever! READ AND SHARE!

Rabbi Shalom Arush | Posted on 30October2023  https://breslev.com/4064147/

WHY is Hashem Doing This to Us? by Rabbi Shalom Arush

WHY is Hashem Doing This to Us? by Rabbi Shalom Arush

Excerpted from Rabbi Arush’s weekly class in Holon from Thursday night 5 Cheshvan 5784 – Oct. 19, 2023.

Today I am going to focus on self-strengthening (hitchazkut).

 

I had prepared a different class, but on the way here there was a siren. My driver pulled over to the side of the road, and we stood there thanking Hashem that He protected us until now with outright miracles and is protecting us now too. I saw how terrified people were, so Hashem put into my heart a different lesson on how to be strong right now, and what we need to do.

 

Hashem, the King of Kings, God Almighty – He loves us so much! He is protecting us with outright miracles! “Behold, the Guardian of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps.” God is guarding us! So, what exactly is Hashem doing right now? He is showing us how much He loves us. Eye to eye, we are seeing how much He loves us!

 

Look – thousands of rockets, missiles, bombs, whatever they are called – are falling on the Land of Israel and almost zero have been killed! Statistically, the percentage is called zero, the number of people dying is essentially zero.

 

Hashem sends one of their missiles, but He turns it around and makes it land on them, killing a lot more people. (Editor’s note: This is the missile fired by Hamas toward Tel Aviv. Instead, the missile misfired and landed next to a hospital in Gaza.) You see what just one bomb can do.

 

So, Hashem is showing us eye to eye – I love you! I am guarding you!

 

They have sent so many missiles and zero have died! Every missile is another miracle! This one falls in between buildings, that one Hashem made sure no one was there.

 

So, what does Hashem want?

 

Hashem wants the Jewish people to return in repentance and do teshuva. This is what Hashem wants!!!

 

Hashem is making us scared in order to make us do teshuva. All these sirens, everything that is going on, all of it is to scare us and get us to repent and change our ways. That’s the general message.

 

What exactly are we supposed to work on? Where do we need improvement? A few things:

Hitbodedut – Personal Prayer 

Someone who does personal prayer every day including 30-60 minutes cheshbon nefesh, doing an accounting of everything he did from the last hitbodedut until now – is totally fine. Such a person isn’t scared at all! He’s totally fine, every day he repents.

 

Shabbat

Shabbat guards us!

 

The two communities around Gaza that keep Shabbat – they were both saved! The families were saved! Shabbat guarded them! “The one who guards Shabbat, God guards him.” What miracles there were!

 

One story: A boy at the party (the Rave) saw the terrorists shooting and felt guilty for being there. He said to Hashem, “If You will save me, I promise to keep Shabbat!” He managed to grab a gun, kill some terrorists. Hashem guarded him until he was able to run away.

 

Another story – one of my students who is going to the IDF bases told me about a soldier who was given my booklet Source of Salvation, about bringing in Shabbat earlier. This soldier never kept Shabbat, but he told my student that last week he kept Shabbat and even brought in Shabbat early!

 

Hashem wants that people should see eye to eye how He wants us to return in teshuva.

 

Modesty

The first story – My daughter told me this story, she knows the girl personally and the girl told her this story: This girl was at that party on Simchat Torah but she was dressed modestly. The terrorists surprised the party and started shooting. The terrorist saw her covered properly, STOPS SHOOTING and yelled – “Get out of here! You don’t belong here!” He stopped shooting!

 

Editor’s Note – This girl not only saved her life with her modest dress, but she surely saved the lives of others, since the terrorist stopped shooting, giving others time to run away.

 

I also heard the story of another girl from the party not dressed properly. She was forced to walk two hours to the border of Gaza to be a hostage. As she saw the wall and understood what was about to become of her, she said to God, “If You will save me, I promise to start dressing modestly!”

 

Suddenly the terrorist turns towards her and says, “Get out of here!” She started running, afraid he would shoot her. She made it all the way home safely.

 

Girls, you must know – when you dress modestly, you are guarding our soldiers. And if you don’t dress modestly, I don’t want to say what will happen, G-d forbid. 

 

It’s against all reason! There is no terrorist, no nothing – there is only God in the world! Only Hashem! She took upon herself to dress modestly, and Hashem saved her.

 

Ladies, this is critically important. David Hamelech says, “There is no breach, no going into captivity, and no cries on the streets. Praiseworthy is the nation that is like this, praiseworthy is the nation that Hashem is their God.”

 

If there is no pritzut – immodesty (“breach” – paretz), if there is no lack of modesty (again Rabbi Arush plays on the word used in Psalms) – then there is no screaming on the streets! Praiseworthy is that nation, praiseworthy is the nation that Hashem is their God!

 

Ladies, now all together, be careful with modesty! Dress modestly, the pinnacle of modesty! Be a model of modesty! You are guarding our soldiers, and the entire Jewish people! And the opposite – you are endangering everyone. 

 

Breslev Israel is happy to partner with Bring the Shechina Home – protect a soldier or hostage by taking upon yourself some extra effort in modesty. For women and girls in Israel, an evening of tefillot and inspiration will be held on Nov 4 at 7:30PM in Beit Shemesh. Check the website for details as they are updated.

 

Thanking Hashem

Here is a story that needs to go into the next book “Say Thank You and See Miracles.”

 

A woman in the south has a safe room in her house, but the handle broke. Someone managed to get it working so that the door can lock from the inside, but it can still be opened from the outside. (The idea of the safe room is that it can also protect from terrorists in that it can be locked from the inside and then cannot be opened from the outside).

 

Now, in this war, the sirens went off and she went into the safe room. Twelve terrorists came into her home, and they were trying to get into the safe room. What did she do? She stood there thanking Hashem for every second He protected her. She didn’t keep Shabbat or anything, but Hashem put into her heart to thank Him. She was saved – they didn’t manage to open the door! I said thank you, and my life was saved!

 

We also must thank Hashem for protecting us! Thank you, Hashem, for every missile that falls, and no one was killed! 

 

God Fights Our Wars

The last thing we need to strengthen is staying far away from “the might of my right hand.”

 

Read this section in Tanach, Chronicles II, Chapter 20. The story is about King Yehoshafat, a mass of soldiers of Amalek, Moav, and Amnon come to Jerusalem. The King calls the people to the Holy Temple, and speaks to Hashem, “Behold You are God and You rule all the nations! With any suffering that comes to us, You tell us to come to this House and cry out to You from our suffering, listen and save us!”

 

We need to scream to Hashem: “Listen and save us!”

 

There was a prophet there who received a prophesy at that time and said, “Hashem says, Do not be afraid!”  (Chronicles II, Chapter 20:15)

 

The prophet tells us not to be afraid! First thing, don’t be afraid!

 

“…and do not sin before this mass… because this war is not for you, because Hashem will fight for you…” (Chronicles II, Chapter 20:15)

 

Do not let your spirits be broken! Do not sin, do not lose your emuna! Hashem will fight for you! We must pray and ask Hashem to fight for us!

 

So what did King Yehoshafat do? He got a band! He got everyone singing “Thank you Hashem, because His mercy is eternal” (הודו להכי טוב כי לעולם חסדו) and at that time they starting singing and praising Hashem… Hashem smote them with a plague! (Chronicles II, Chapter 20:21-22)

 

Everyone needs to sing and dance and thank Hashem! How many miracles, how much Hashem is protecting us! I know an elderly tzaddik, every night he dances with his community 2-3 hours after evening prayers. In my community we dance to “Hodu l’H’ ki tov” for an hour or more!

 

May it be Hashem’s will that everyone should be scared and return in complete repentance!

Don’t forget – I want everyone to have a Likutei Moharan in their house. Recommended – Rabbi Arush’s Likutei Moharan-One Million Edition, or for the car, stroller and more, the pocket-sized edition. Distribute them to others! Distribute books of emuna to others!

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breslev-magazine-co-il-logo

Avenging their Blood

What can we do to avenge the blood of those who were killed on Simchat Torah? Forget about eradicating Hamas, we have a mission much more powerful and important!

Rachel Avrahami | Posted on 30October2023 https://breslev.com/4065588/

Avenging their Blood-by Rachel Avrahami

Avenging their Blood-by Rachel Avrahami

 

Rabbi Arush’s class from last week is a MUST READ – one of the most important I’ve ever heard Why is Hashem Doing This to Us? That article is the foundation of this article.

The first thing we need to strengthen is the basis – emuna. Read The Garden of Emuna, and then read it again! Harav said recently that this book is our manual for life, especially right now.

Miracles in Front of Our Eyes

My daughter was scared to go to sleep the other night. I am grateful that things are quiet in Jerusalem right now, but the war weighs on all our hearts. I reminded her that the fact that we exist as Jews is already a huge miracle and the biggest proof of God there is. We should be found only in history books between Persia-Media, the Greeks, and the Romans. Oh, and there were these people the Jews, they lived in a land called Israel, their capital was called Jerusalem, they were conquered in 70CE… So although we do what we can to protect ourselves, the reality of the Jew is that we rely on miracles and Hashem to guard us from the non-Jews who hate us. My daughter is old enough to need to know that God Himself is protecting her! And she can talk to Him whenever she wants.

 

If that wasn’t proof enough, try to consider what these missiles should be doing. A single missile can easily kill tens of people, and yet thousands of missiles have killed very, very few – statistically zero. It’s part of the problem of “death equivalency” – thousands of Gazans have been killed (assuming you can trust Gaza Health Dept, which is a BIG assumption) and yet almost no Israelis since the massacre of Simchat Torah. How is that fair? Well, war isn’t fair and who is right and wrong is not determined by death counts. But besides that, there SHOULD be thousands of dead Israelis and there SHOULD be hospitals that are over-filled. The only explanation is God Almighty Himself (no offense, it’s not the Iron Dome – there are plenty of missiles that get through, unfortunately).

 

Add that to the personal stories like Rabbi Arush mentioned in Why is Hashem Doing This to Us? – I don’t need to tell you that these stories are way above nature – such things absolutely cannot be! It’s even more crazy than thousands of bombs landing in big cities but killing almost no one. We are literally witnessing outright miracles in front of our eyes. It’s absolute proof that God exists, and that every Jew has personal Divine Providence, regardless of where he is spiritually and what mitzvot he keeps or doesn’t keep.

 

Antisemitism is still the same. Who is surprised that BLM supports Hamas? Not me. Clearly Black lives matter, but certainly not Jewish ones… Who is surprised that campuses continue to be hotbeds of antisemitism? More than 300 campuses have Hamas-funded campus organizations! Forget about the quotes from some professors that I’ll skip quoting here. Who is surprised that there were more than 1,000 antisemitic attacks in France in the 48 hours after the Simchat Torah massacre, and that many other antisemitic things happened around the world against Jews as well?

 

If Russia did in the Ukraine or in France what Hamas did in southern Israel, NO ONE would say anything positive about Russia. No one would say a peep that Russia had a right to do what they did. Suddenly, somehow, Hamas is different?!

Time to Wake Up

Those who were killed al Kiddush Hashem (for the sanctification of Hashem’s name), who were butchered simply because they were Jews – they are in the highest chamber in Heaven. Why Hashem did that is a very lengthy discussion which includes the Holocaust, pogroms, and the like. But the biggest thing we can do to not let them die in vain is to wake up and see what Hashem is doing!

 

When we do a mitzvah because of the tragedy, we are avenging their blood. We are giving the martyrs  merit. You cannot forget them! And the captives – we can give them merit to be saved! Every second, remember – what can I do for them?

 

There is a verse: “Don’t be afraid of them… because Hashem your God walks with you, to fight your enemies, to save you.” (Devarim 20: 3-4)

 

We see from here how critically important it is that Hashem be with us now! Reality on the ground – without miracles, thousands of soldiers and citizens throughout the entire country are in grave danger. The very existence of the State of Israel is now on the line. Regardless of what we think of its leadership, without it, millions of Jews are in grave danger.

What Can We Do?

What can we do to make sure Hashem is with us?

 

Shabbat

Strengthen observance of Shabbat! The two communities around Gaza that keep Shabbat were both saved that day! The press does not report this miracle, because they only talk about those who were killed. Shabbat guarded them! It’s impossible! When we keep Shabbat, Hashem is with us. Also, I heard from a Rabbi I used to know, that the Hebrew word “neshek” (which means “weapon”) stands for “neirot Shabbat kodesh” – candles for the holy Shabbat. Ladies, your Shabbat candles give the Jewish people spiritual weapons that fuel the physical weapons!

Modesty

Here is the real kicker – a hidden tzaddik quoted the Torah, “Lest something immodest be seen in you and God will turn away from behind you.” He said the modest dress of the women is critical to Hashem being “with us” and not needing to “turn away” to avoid seeing our immodesty.

 

Rabbi Yaakov Ades recently called for “kedusha elyona” – the highest levels of personal holiness. So are many other tzaddikim, including Rabbi Arush.

 

Every centimeter of longer sleeves, longer skirt, wider clothing, etc. saves lives. Rabbi Arush said that a short skirt kills a soldier, and a long skirt guards the soldier with miracles! And oy va voy, a see-through garment kills a battalion, Hashem should save us.

 

Hashem simply hates and despises sexual lust. A woman’s beauty is powerful, and the entire basis of holiness is that a man be able to think about Hashem instead of running after short skirts. And for a woman, Hashem also keeps the Torah in a certain respect. A man is not allowed to look at or say a blessing around a woman dressed immodestly. So too Hashem can’t “look at” her either, and hence does not hear her prayers in the same way.

 

The holiness of the men is also very, very important – no Jew is exempt. But there is a reason why it says, “In the merit of the righteous women we were redeemed from Egypt, and in the merit of the righteous woman we will be redeemed from exile!” (Talmud, Sotah 11b)

 

Breslev Israel is happy to partner with Bring the Shechina Home – protect a soldier or hostage by taking upon yourself some extra effort in modesty. For women and girls in Israel, an evening of tefillot and inspiration will be held on Nov 4 at 7:30PM in Beit Shemesh. Check the website for details as they are updated.

***

Rachel Avrahami grew up in Los Angeles, CA, USA in a far-off valley where she was one of only a handful of Jews in a public high school of thousands. She found Hashem in the urban jungle of the university. Rachel was privileged to read one of the first copies of The Garden of Emuna in English, and the rest, as they say, is history. She made Aliyah and immediately began working at Breslev Israel.  
 
Rachel is now the Editor of Breslev Israel’s English website. She welcomes questions, comments, articles, and personal stories to her email: rachel.avrahami@breslev.co.il.

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Not Just Another War

Many tzaddikim are saying this is the war of Gog and Magog. How do we win – and how do we survive?

Rachel Avrahami | Posted on 02November23 https://breslev.com/4067862/

Not Just Another War by Rachel Avrahami

Not Just Another War by Rachel Avrahami

This is not just another war. More than one of the 36 hidden tzaddikim that I am connected to is saying that this is the last war, and after this, Mashiach will come. We are fighting a war on two fronts. Some missiles have come in from Syria, an ominous sign. Yemen has been sending missiles and drones and officially declared war. And now US army bases have been attached in Syria and Iraq. Big, big signs.

 

The Gemara says that Mashiach will come when everyone has already despaired of him coming. I know that I for one am feeling that despair right now. However, I did hear from one reliable source that it’s not actually wrong. It’s just that the Redemption is a long process and we don’t understand how it’s unfolding. But looking back after Mashiach is revealed, we will understand how these were years of the Redemption, years during which important background processes happened that were necessary.

 

And the Holocaust that the Jewish people just experienced on Simchat Torah is one of them. Another stop along the way, another big contraction in this birth of a new world, a perfected world, of the Full Redemption and the revelation not only of Mashiach himself, but of the Kingship of Hashem. That there is one God who runs the world and manages and decides every detail in it. Ein od milvado – there is none other.

 

Additionally, Rabbi Kaduri’s son recently came to Rabbi Arush, explaining that his father left him a sealed envelope before his passing, telling him not to open it until he was given permission. Friday night of Parshat Bereishit, the week after the Holocaust of Simchat Torah – Rabbi Kaduri zt”l came to his son in a dream telling him to open the envelope. Inside, it said that when terrorists will come into Israel and butcher Jews in the south – this is the sign that the Geula is now beginning in earnest. And then Rabbi Kaduri’s son learned with Rabbi Arush the section in Chronicles that Harav then discussed in his class last week: Why is Hashem Doing This to Us?

 

Another sign I heard in the class of a prominent Kabbalist, Rabbi Biton, is that everything happened between 6 and 7. In the Jewish year, we are in the year 5783, getting towards the end of the 6th millennia. The 7th millennia is Shabbat – Mashiach, the world in a perfected state. So right now, we are in Chevlei Mashiach – the “birth pangs” of Mashiach, as Hashem prepares the world to transition. The terrorists butchered most of the Jews on Simchat Torah between 6 and 7 in the morning, a hint from Hashem as to where this attack falls in the spectrum of time. There were several other hints from the Zohar he brought between 6 and 7, including a hint to this attack on page 298 – רצח – in the Zohar (in Hebrew, letters are also numbers and can be used to number pages in books). That page number spells out retzach – which means “murder” in Hebrew.

 

Hence, there are hints and signs everywhere! The question is: What are we supposed to do about it?

 

More and More Prayer

I’ve already written extensively about how everyone needs to fight this war with everything they have in my previous articles in this series, particularly my article Avenging their Blood. A hidden tzaddik recently mentioned a section in the Rambam which discusses the positive mitzvah to cry out to Hashem in times of distress. Hence, this tzaddik said that every letter of Psalms right now is a positive Torah commandment – not just Rabbinical, but Torah obligated! He said it is the biggest cruelty right now to not say Psalms when all the Jewish people is in terrible danger. Hamas is loaded to the gills with weaponry not only in Gaza, but all over the land – and we have nothing to protect ourselves with. The least we can do is use the power we do have – “the voice is the voice of Jacob” – personal prayer and Psalms!

 

More and More Emuna

I was discussing with a friend last week that all of Rabbi Arush’s teachings to date were all preparation for RIGHT NOW. Rabbanit Arush mentioned when she brought a group of women with her to pray at Kever David Hamelech that everything that is happening is part of the final and most painful birur – clarification of souls.

 

You can’t sit on the fence anymore, nor can you hide. It’s time to choose if you’re with the Jewish people, or not. Your actions prove your decision! We see how many people are – thank You, Hashem! – keeping Shabbat for the first time, putting on tefillin and tzitzit, saying Psalms, more and more. The war is pushing us to action!

 

The key is to tone down thinking about the physical war and remember that the real war of Gog and Magog is spiritual! A spiritual war over each and every Jewish soul.

Will you hold onto your emuna? Will you pray, or be glued to your phone? And most importantly – will you be afraid – or will you be filled with emuna and trust in Hashem?

 

Evil in the world is rising, but it’s only a mirage. If you trust only in Hashem, nothing can touch you. Every bullet has an address. Ein od milvado – there is nothing besides God!

 

A few ideas to do in these times of distress:

  1. Say Shema: A proven segula for protection from the Zohar!
    Shema Yisrael, Ado-nai Elo-henu, Ado-nai Echad. Then quietly – Baruch shem kavod malchuto l’olam vaed. When you say “malchuto” – pray for the revelation of Hashem as God, King Mashiach ben David, and rebuilding of the Holy Temple.
  2. Ein od milvado: Another proven segula is remembering that there is only Hashem, and He manages the world with perfect Divine providence. Nothing can harm you if it is not His will, and if it is His will, then it’s good and I accept Your will with love!
  3. Hashem’s Name. This is from Rabbi Biton – imagine in your head the letters of Hashem’s name,  י -ה- ו-ה. Imagine the letters getting bigger and bigger, filling up all the space in your mind. Whenever you are focused on this, you are focusing essentially on Hashem, you are with Hashem, and you are totally protected!

Those who continue to focus only on Hashem, who truly want to serve Hashem, who trust Hashem and know that He is the only real power, who stay away from “fallen fears” and “the might of my right hand,” who do lots of acts of loving-kindness and loving fellow Jews – Hashem will indeed save them, and they will merit to see Mashiach and outright miracles, very soon, amen!

 

***

Rachel Avrahami grew up in Los Angeles, CA, USA in a far-off valley where she was one of only a handful of Jews in a public high school of thousands. She found Hashem in the urban jungle of the university. Rachel was privileged to read one of the first copies of The Garden of Emuna in English, and the rest, as they say, is history. She made Aliyah and immediately began working at Breslev Israel.  
 
Rachel is now the Editor of Breslev Israel’s English website. She welcomes questions, comments, articles, and personal stories to her email: rachel.avrahami@breslev.co.il.

 

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The Battle No One is Exempt From

The current war calls all of us to arms. No exemptions! Our war effort now is teshuva and prayer for the complete redemption in a merciful way.

David Ben Horin | Posted on 31October2023 https://breslev.com/4066907/

The Battle No One is Exempt From by David Ben Horin

The Battle No One is Exempt From by David Ben Horin

 

God bless the People of Israel.

 

Days after the horrific massacre on Simchat Torah, 130% of the people called to fight have reported for duty. Reservists who weren’t called up to enter the minefields of Gaza refused to sit on the sidelines, and they came without orders.

 

Israelis stand in line for 10 hours to donate blood to their brothers.

 

The support given to the victims of the attacks, soldiers serving on the front, and Israeli refugees who have been evacuated from their homes on both the northern and southern borders is staggering.

 

Everybody has abandoned their politics for the good of the nation. Left-wing leaders have joined the right-wing government. Former finance ministers on both the right and left advise Betzalel Smotrich on piloting our economy through this unprecedented war.

 

There is so much charity. There is so much unity. There is so much goodness.

 

In the merit of Jewish unity, may Hashem bless us with victory.

The Same Playbook, the Same Tactics

Our first steps were powerful. We bombed Gaza fearlessly. We laid a total blockade to starve them into releasing our brothers and sisters taken hostage. We amassed hundreds of thousands of troops on the Gazan and Lebanese borders to eradicate our adversaries.

 

Moments before we were about to give the go-ahead for our troops to enter Gaza, President Biden announced, without coordinating with us, he was coming to Israel.

 

His staff spent seven hours in our IDF war room dictating terms of what we were allowed to do. Suddenly, the siege on Gaza was lifted, and Hamas is eating Swiss chocolate from the Red Cross again. Even when we want to be bold, the Americans put a leash on our leaders and handcuff our army. We are restricted from doing anything that we haven’t done in previous operations.

 

The only side that is permitted to do something new is Hamas. As long as America limits us to military and humanitarian actions that we’ve used in the past, Hamas has the advantage. Hamas knows what Israeli actions come next, and they are prepared accordingly.

 

Old is the New New

The only way to win this brutal war is to do something we haven’t done before.

 

As a nation, we haven’t prayed before. We haven’t made universal repentance before. We haven’t rallied each other to perform mitzvot before.

 

The one exception was the first week in June 1967. We saw the blessing Hashem gave us from our unity, humility, and repentance.

 

Unfortunately, the exception did not become the rule. We still rely on the IDF to do the nation’s job of teshuva. There is more to be done and every one of us must do it.

 

We still rely on our political leaders to do God’s job. We must petition our Father, Maker of Heaven and Earth to earn redemption, protection, and salvation. It is the job of every Jew to look to our Father to protect us from our enemies. The way to win this war is to cry out to our Father in prayer.

 

Before charity, volunteering, and social media activism, our sworn duty is to recite Psalms daily for our brothers and sisters, the people of Israel. All Psalms are powerful. Our Sages recommend Psalms 20, 22, 69, 83, 121, 122, and 124.

 

Take one mitzvah and do it with more intensity. Increase your Torah learning. Tell God you love Him.

 

God has His eyes on Israel from the first day of the year to the last. He is infinitely stronger than the US State Department. He is immensely greater than Europe.

 

Hashem can squash Hamas in Gaza like ants. We must ask Him. Every day.

 

This is the battle nobody is excused from.

***

David Ben Horin lives in Afula with his family, millions of sunflowers, and Matilda, our local camel. David‘s Israeli startup, 300 Marketing Solutions, is a lean marketing agency for startups and small businesses that creates and promotes SEO-optimized ROI-driven to the right audience on LinkedIn to make your business the star of the show.

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The Tzaddik of Simchat Torah

The tremendous story by a survivor of the Simchat Torah massacre came out. How did he survive against all odds? Let’s follow his example to bring the Final Redemption mercifully!

David Ben Horin Posted on 10November2023 https://breslev.com/4067654/

The Tzaddik of Simchat Torah by David Ben Horin

The Tzaddik of Simchat Torah by David Ben Horin

Even out of the carnage of the Simchat Torah massacre of more than a thousand Jews, we find a story of repentance and salvation.

 

While 3,000 partygoers were dancing away at sunrise, Hamas terrorists breached the Gaza border fence that separates us and them. The terrorists didn’t come wearing terrorist garb. They came in IDF uniforms and dressed as medics. Hamas terrorists knew that the partygoers would flee to the “soldiers” and “medics” whom they thought were there to rescue them.

 

It was an ambush.  Instead of rescue, the terrorists raped, tortured, beheaded, and butchered 1,400 Israelis. They wounded over 5,000 more. They took over 220 hostages.

A Survivor’s Story

One of the partygoers ran with a group of his friends. He saw a pile of leaves and quickly buried himself inside. Surrounded by bullets coming at him and his friends from all sides, he started to pray to God. He began to make repentance at what he thought would be the last moments of his life.

 

God saved him.  All his friends who kept running were murdered by these soulless barbarians. He lived.

 

He recounted that he prayed all day until he was able to escape. He survived. He beat the odds. Everyone around him was executed, but he did something different – he appealed to God to protect him.

Our Story

We are all fighting the same war against the same enemy. UN Aid trucks are now coming into Gaza. Every time they unload their “assistance,” it starts to rain missiles on Tel Aviv. Even after this massacre, the world is still arming Hamas to do to us what ISIS did to the Yazidis.

 

To beat these monsters once and for all, we need to act like this brave man. We need to increase our prayer. We all need to strive to become righteous.

 

Netivot is as close to Gaza as Sderot. The great Baba Sali is buried in Netivot. The entire city was spared.  We have the greatest protection in the universe. If we want to be safe, we must seek shelter in the shadow of God. This is how to protect our children from our enemies.

The World is Hamas

Torah and mitzvot beseech Hashem’s protection from a physical enemy. They also guarantee Hashem’s protection from a cultural and spiritual enemy.

 

How many religious Jews want to dress up as a member of the opposite sex? How many religious Jews give their hard-earned money to senseless causes? Does even 1% of the religious community protest in favor of Hamas?

 

When we seek shelter in the shadow of God, He will protect us from Hamas in Gaza and every type of Hamas in the world.

 

“Hamas” (חמס) is a Hebrew word and is found in the Torah:

ותשחת הארץ לפני ה’ ותמלא הארץ חמס

And the earth had become corrupt before G-d; and the earth had become filled with robbery. (Bereishit 6:11)

 

God judged that the world was filled with hamas right before He destroyed it in the flood.  “Hamas” is robbery, theft, lying, cheating, murder, perversion, and all forms of injustice. “Hamas” is every abomination in this world that God hates.

 

Hamas is our physical and spiritual enemy. The way to win our war against Hamas is through prayer and mitzvot. A life of Torah is the Divine antidote to the sickness of Hamas and everything it represents.

We are at War

This war has been raging for a long time. Now it’s time for all of us to fight.

 

Brothers and sisters: God has given us a very clear path to victory and total obliteration of our enemies. Let us follow the survivor’s example.

 

Here is how you can protect yourselves and your loved ones:

God will lead the charge to destroy the enemies of Israel.

 

Our job is to fall in behind Him.

***

David Ben Horin lives in Afula with his family, millions of sunflowers, and Matilda, our local camel. Davids Israeli startup, 300 Marketing Solutions, is a lean marketing agency for startups and small businesses that creates and promotes SEO-optimized ROI-driven to the right audience on LinkedIn to make your business the star of the show.

 

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The Global Pidyon

by Rivka Levy 31December2023 https://thinkforyourselfpublishing.com/the-global-pidyon/

 

Last week, one of the biggest tzaddik nistarim in Israel was asked what could be done, to get this horrible war to stop.

He said that there was nothing that could be done, because (I’m paraphrasing here) ‘the other side’ had already made sure to tie the hands of the ‘One in a Generation’ who could actually ‘sweeten’ the global harsh decrees that are made against the Jewish people.

These days, that person can’t so much as even mention the word ‘pidyon’, or they will get sent straight back to jail.

And they certainly can’t put out any statements explaining what a ‘global pidyon’ actually is, or how it’s going to help to change the whole, horrible, picture around here, in the Holy Land.

====

So, what’s to be done?

While I was pondering all this, I got word that the Rav has been taken ill with pneumonia, and is currently very weak…

This has happened so many times in the past, including even recently.

 

And the timing is always meaningful, and always coincides with another big ‘uptick’ in the dinim hanging over the Jews…. Which then have a habit of melting away, like they never existed in the first place.

 

Halavai, this should happen this time around.

====

But in the meantime, I started going through OIAG 2, to find some more examples of when the Rav took ill exactly the same time as there were massive ‘wars’, or waves of terrorism, about to erupt involving Eretz Yisrael and the Jewish people.

 

(There have been literally tens of examples, in recent years.)

 

And that’s when I tripped across these passages, talking about the ‘98 global pidyon’.

====

OIAG 2 was first published back in 2019 – four years ago.

And these statements from the Rav were actually made back in 2015 – eight years ago.

 

But, they are still so relevant for right now.

====

I know all this is a bit cryptic.

 

All I can say, is that ‘the evils’ planned this whole thing meticulously, to literally take the Rav out of action, outlaw pidyonot, and stick him in prison, the same week ‘Covid’ turned up in Israel….

I.e. – precisely the time when the pidyonot would be most required.

====

I am now looking for more of what the Rav said back in 2015 about the ‘98 pidyon’, but what follows all comes from OIAG 2, beginning on page 234, in the chapter called THE THIRD INTIFADA BEGINS.

 

It starts with when the Rav’s heart literally stopped for many minutes in Holland, and he almost died, God forbid.

 

It’s truly prophetic – and is describing exactly what we’ve been going through here in Eretz Yisrael, since October 7th, 2023:

====

[The excerpt from OIAG 2 starts here]

On the January 7, 2015, less than a week after the Rav was hospitalized and fitted with a pacemaker, Muslim terrorism hit the French capital, Paris, in a dramatic way.

First, armed Muslim gunmen forced their way into the offices of a French satirical periodical called Charlie Hebdo and started firing. They killed 12 people and injured another 11, before being tracked down by French police and killed in a gun battle.

 

At the same time the Charlie Hebdo massacre was occurring, another armed Muslim terrorist broke into a kosher supermarket called Hypercacher in the Île-de-France region, where five Jews were murdered in cold blood and another 11 were wounded.

 

The twin terror attacks on the French capital shocked the world, and signaled the beginning of a new, and increasingly violent, chapter in Muslim terrorism.

 

====

A couple of weeks later, on Rosh Chodesh Shvat 5775 (January 21, 2015), the Rav delivered the following rousing call to his followers, and to the nation of Israel:

“Now, we’re in a war. This is a new intifada. In Paris, they murdered five Jews. In Holland, they also tried to kill a couple of Jews. They closed all the schools, and they closed all the offices. The children are scared to go to school now, because of what happened in Toulouse[1]. Am Yisrael, we’re in more danger now than ever before. This is a terrible intifada that is spreading throughout the whole globe, the whole world.”

 

“Yesterday, they stabbed 12 innocent, sinless Jews on a bus[2], and no one even paid any attention; no one was even shocked by it. No one is talking about this, but we need to publicize this. The whole world is applauding each Jew that is murdered and killed.

 

====

It’s impossible to sweeten the harsh judgments over the people of Israel, except by jumping into the fire [i.e. acting with mesirus Nefesh].

Only if we jump into the fire will we be able to sweeten all the judgments, so that there won’t be any more judgments against Am Yisrael. 

 

Every man is obligated to guard his eyes! This is true mesirus Nefesh! If people would guard their eyes, it would sweeten all of the harsh decrees.

 

All the bad decrees are due to a lack of guarding the eyes. Each time an eye is opened [to see forbidden things], a Jew is killed. Each time an eye is opened, a Jew is stabbed.

 

====

If someone would see how many demons and spirits [there are in every square meter of the world], even a little, then immediately his soul would leave him.

 

Therefore, Hashem gave us the ability not to see. And now is the time when all of the demons and spirits are coming out of the bottle and are bursting forth.

 

All of the terrorists are demons and spirits. All of Hamas and all of Al–Qaida and all of ISIS, they are demons and spirits.

====

[When a person is reciting the Shema,] he needs to have the proper intention, he needs to have proper attention when saying Hashem Aechad [God is one]. AecHaD also stand for: Al-Qaida, Hamas and Da-ash (the Arabic name for ISIS).

 

A person needs to have the correct intention that Hashem Aechad, God is One. If a person has the intention that God is One, then he will excise all of Al-Qaida, all of Hamas, and all of Da-ash (ISIS), [those] who decapitate others, and kill children and babies.

 

====

“This whole intifada is being encouraged by the nations of the world.

The whole world is egging on this intifada, all of the nations, and all of them are sorry that Hitler (may his name be erased) didn’t finish the job.

Now, they’re relying on the Arabs [to finish the job]… 

All the nations of the world long for Jewish blood Now, there’s an intifada like there hasn’t been since the beginning of the world. Twelve innocent people got stabbed on a bus, and the [nations of the world] don’t flinch. The world didn’t shake, and the world didn’t even pay it any attention.

 

====

They only pay attention if a shot is fired in Gaza [in self defense], then the whole world is shaken up.

‘They fired a bullet in Gaza!? How could they do such a terrible thing!? Who did this terrible crime?! Judge him in The Hague, judge him in Brussels!’

 

So, we have arrived at the end of days. This is the prophecy of the end of days. This is why Yaakov was scared to reveal the prophecy of what would happen at the end of days.”

 

====

On Erev Sukkos 5776 (September 27, 2015), the Rav wrote an unusual prayer about the so-called “blood-red moon” that was seen in the skies above Jerusalem on the first night of Sukkos. The Rav wrote: “About this [the blood moon] the Zohar wrote in parsahas Shelach 162 that ‘the moon will turn to blood.

Immediately after the blood-red moon appeared, the third intifada began, with the cold-blooded murder of Rabbi and Rebbetzin Henkin on October 1, 2015, who were shot to death by Palestinian terrorists in front of their four children as they were driving in the Shomron hills.

Just a few days later, on October 3, 2015, the holy martyrs Aharon Bennett and Rav Nechemia Lavi were also murdered in cold blood in front of their children, in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem….

 

====

A little before Purim 5755, Rav Berland issued a call for every member of Am Yisrael to contribute a sum of money, however small, toward a communal “pidyon hakollel” that would sweeten the harsh decrees of the so-called Third Intifada that the Rav could see looming on the horizon.

The goal was to raise $600,000 — a dollar for each of the root souls of the nation of Israel — and to sweeten the judgments that way.

 

====

At that time, he sent out a message saying:

 

“We are in a new intifada, and it’s a terrible intifada that will spread around the globe. It’s impossible to stop it [by natural means].”

 

Unfortunately, even though the request to participate in the “pidyon hakollel” was repeated many times, with announcements appearing in many of the Breslov yeshivos encouraging people to donate, and many people took the Rav’s plea to heart, most of these people were not wealthy, and barely a sixth of the total required was raised.

 

====

Then the Festival of Sukkos 5776 arrived, and with it came the beginning of the prophesized upswing in Arab violence.

When the shootings, stabbings and other attacks began in earnest in Eretz Yisrael, everyone saw that the prophecy of the Rav had indeed materialized. The Third Intifada, foreseen by the Rav and which he’d hoped to avoid and sweeten, had begun.

 

At this time, the Rav publicized an important message that whoever would donate 98 shekels a month for a pidyon would be saved, in that merit, along with his whole family, from the terrorist attacks.

 

====

The Rav promised this himself, in the following words where he said:

 

“As long as the intifada continues, everyone is obligated to give, every Jew in every place of the world. Even non-Jews should give 98 shekels — which is $26, or €25, every month, for as long as this continues.*

 

In every place in the world there are terror attacks. Whoever wants to be saved from this new intifada that is spreading over the entire globe, needs to give.

 

Everyone who gives the pidyon will be saved from all attacks, and from all stumbling blocks, and from all types of sin.”

 

====

All of this comes directly from the pages of OIAG2, written 4-5 years ago, describing comments the Rav made eight years ago.

 

The bit to pay attention to is this:

At this time, the Rav publicized an important message that whoever would donate 98 shekels* a month for a pidyon would be saved, in that merit, along with his whole family, from the terrorist attacks.

The Rav promised this himself, in the following words where he said:

 

“As long as the intifada continues, everyone is obligated to give, every Jew in every place of the world. Even non-Jews should give 98 shekels — which is $26, or €25, every month, for as long as this continues.

 

In every place in the world there are terror attacks. Whoever wants to be saved from this new intifada that is spreading over the entire globe, needs to give.

Everyone who gives the pidyon will be saved from all attacks, and from all stumbling blocks, and from all types of sin.”

 

====

*The 98 shekels ($26, €25) was later changed by the Rav, as the killings increased to 98 shekels for those living in Israel, 98 USD for those living in US, and 98 euro for everyone else. And it should be done for each member of the household on a monthly recurring basis.

 

Ad kan, from OIAG 2, published back in 2019.

 

====

There are no ‘promises’ today, let’s be 100% clear.

 

The Rav was sent to prison for two years because the State claimed he was promising stuff he couldn’t deliver.

 

This whole deal is emunat tzaddikim.

 

If you don’t have emunat tzaddikim – move on, don’t donate, and don’t participate in trying to get this ‘pidyon kollel’ raised to bring this horrible war to an end here in Israel.

 

Go find some other solution, some other response, that ticks your box more.

 

====

But in the meantime, let me bring a few more snippets from that same OIAG2 – published four years ago:

 

====

WHY PIDYON NEFESH WORKS TO REMOVE HARSH JUDGMENTS – BOX OUT

 

The language that Chazal use to describe “money” is damim, which literally means “blood” or “bloods” in Hebrew. When there are harsh decrees hanging over Am Yisrael, they can only be sweetened by immense amounts of mesirus nefesh, or self-sacrifice from the Jewish people, which often entails the spilling of blood.

 

But there is another way of sweetening the decrees.

Instead of spilling real blood, God forbid, it’s also possible to fulfill the requirement to “spill blood” by the self-sacrifice required in giving money, or damim.

 

If you give whatever amount you’re able to give, with mesirus nefesh, then you fulfill the verse that states, “Charity saves from death[3].”

 

====

A pidyon nefesh where each person gives a fixed amount is called pidyon hakollel, or “communal redemption.”

 

And this sweetens all of the judgments that are currently hanging over the nation of Israel, which means we won’t see any more blood spilled in our country.

 

====

As the toll from the terrible stabbings, murders and other terrorist attacks in Israel continued to mount, shortly before the Fast of Esther 5776 (March 22, 2016), Rav Berland issued a call for at least 10,000 people to come together at Me’aras Hamachpelah in Chevron.

 

Rav Berland promised that if a minimum of 10,000 participants would go to Chevron on the forthcoming Fast of Esther to pray, the attacks would stop.

 

====

A little over 10,000 people — including some of the nation’s leading Rabbis — heeded the call and went to Chevron for the prayer gathering.

 

After the crowd had finished reading through the entire book of Tehillim, Rav Berland was contacted to speak to the gathering on a phone that was attached to a number of loudspeakers.

 

Over 10,000 people heard him say that night: “In the merit of this gathering, the Intifada will stop”.

 

====

Miraculously from that night on, the stabbings and attacks that had been occurring on an almost daily basis beforehand did indeed abruptly stop.

 

====

After the event, Rav Yekusiel Fish commented: “Whoever can’t put two and two together is an idiot.

 

Specifically, at the same time that we are under constant attack from the Iranian nuclear threat, Rav Berland is being persecuted and is suffering in exile.

 

Without question, Rav Berland has been fighting the [Iranian’s] spiritual source, as is hinted to in his name “Berland”, which means ‘land of the bear’ in Yiddish. It’s known from the Gemara, (Tractate Yoma 77a) that the spiritual source of the Persian nation is called “Dubiel” the heavenly bear.

 

There is no question that Rav Berland is fighting them at their source, as well as all the other threats that Am Yisrael is facing. Whoever doesn’t put two and two together….

 

Here’s a Tzaddik who is halting the tragedies himself, who is stopping a nuclear attack.

 

He said: “Go and make a prayer gather on the night of the fast of Esther and it will stop the Intifada.” They went and did this, and immediately the Intifada stopped after half a year that not one day passed without killings!”

 

====

Speaking shortly before Pesach 5776, Rav Shalom Arush commented:

 

“After the last prayer gathering in Chevron on the Fast of Esther, we clearly saw with our own eyes the strength of our teacher, Rav Eliezer Berland, shlita. 

 

After the prayer gathering that the Rav called for in Chevron, the terrorist attacks halted altogether.

We suffered so much from those terrorist attacks and now we see with our own eyes that it stopped.”

 

====

Rav Berland had requested that another prayer gathering should be organized in Chevron on April 27, 2016, and Rav Arush was encouraging people to attend.

 

Rav Arush continued:

 

“Pesach is the time of redemption, and there is no other place that can work salvations like Me’aras Hamachpelah… 

 

Everyone is obligated to make an effort and to participate. It’s really important. We clearly saw with our own eyes how the last prayer gathering truly worked miracles on behalf of Am Yisrael… We need to [pray to] continue to bring the geulah the sweet way, and that the Rav should return [to Israel].”

 

====

Pray on this, mull this over, above all else, think for yourself, about the clues these passages contain.

 

About how we can actually start to turn things around spiritually, and protect our soldiers being sent to fight in the Gaza death trap – and ourselves.

 

BH in the next post, I’ll bring more translated material from a few years ago, explaining why specifically 98.

 

With Hashem’s help, we can start to turn things around today, too, using the same strategy.

Amen.

TBC

====

FOOTNOTES:

[1] On March 19, 2012, four Jews, including a father and his three small children, were shot to death by a gunman at the Otzer HaTorah Jewish school in the French city of Toulouse.

[2] On January 21, 2015, 12 Israelis were stabbed by a Palestinian terrorist on a Tel Aviv commuter bus.

[3] Mishlei 11:4.

 

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rivka-levy-com-logo

Hidden things

by Rivka Levy 23November2023 https://www.thinkforyourselfpublishing.com/hidden-things/

Yesterday, I went to the evening prayers of the Rav, and he wasn’t there.

Someone thought he’d gone to Tel Aviv or something – but he had definitely left Jerusalem.

This last week, the Rav’s been keeping his comments after the evening prayers pretty short, just repeating how ‘tznius’ and smashing i-Phones are the key to getting the war to end with no more Jewish lives lost.

 

I am still going through his comments from 2-3 weeks ago, and if I have time I will put some more of them up soon.

But the stuff that’s already gone up here should be enough to clue us in to the following basic ideas:

  • All of politics, the world over, is a sham, a stage-managed farce full of ‘actors’ who pretend they are the ones deciding policy and laws.
  • All these wars all over the world are being ‘stage managed’ from behind the scenes, by the cabal who actually profits from all this death, suffering and hatred.
  • That cabal is run from the shadows, by the people at the very top of all these ‘secret societies’ – the names of which don’t actually matter so much, as they are connect straight back to demonic forces, and transcend country, faith and people.
  • The real war is the one being fought between ‘good’ and ‘evil’.

====

If you want to carry on wasting your time and energy and ‘soul power’ arguing over politics, decrying the puppets for acting as though they are not actually working for the best outcome for the Jewish people (like, duh!) – that’s your choice.

You won’t change anything real like that, and you’ll probably just end getting very bitter, depressed and despairing about the state of the world.

That’s why the Rav – and other genuine Jewish leaders – have been putting the emphasis right on the start on us upping our own game, spiritually.

 

That means more tehillim, teshuva, tznius, mitzvot – and of course, understanding that only the people who were listening to the instructions of Moshe Rabbenu actually got out of Mitzrayim, regardless of all the other good stuff they were engaged in.

====

Right now, you and me have no idea what is really going on.

And don’t think that listening to Army Radio, or watching Channel 14 news 24/7 is going to change that – it’s just going to give you a headache and make you even more stressed and worried.

But there are a group of our holy leaders who have been fully aware of this evil, and fighting it, for decades.

If you do your best to identify who the really holy people are, and to do what they say, you’ll get through this OK, God willing.

====

In the meantime… life continues in Israel.

Weddings are still happening, BH, (I will tell you more about what a rollercoaster ride that has been, the last few weeks, once the happy couple actually get hitched, BH.)

People are still going down to the Kotel.

There is still food in the shops, and sales in the malls for ‘blue November’.

Kids are back in school, mostly.

====

And more and more people are now understanding that we only have Hashem to rely on.

If they didn’t figure that out when our corrupt government spent millions of shekels chasing the Rav all over the world a decade ago….

 

Or, when our corrupt government then went ‘full fascist’ with Covid lockdowns and green passports…

 

Or, when 45 people got deliberately murdered at Meron….

 

Or even, when our whole security establishment ‘went to sleep’ that horrible morning of Simchat Torah (and also, three months beforehand when Hamas were training for the attack right next to the fence….)

Now, they are finally starting to get it.

Which means that soon, very soon, all this WILL turn around for the very best.

====

So, going forward, some recommendations for how to maintain optimal emotional equilibrium in this very difficult situation we still find ourselves in:

  1. Turn off the news, and stop engaging with the ‘puppet theatre’ that is politics. No marches, demonstrations, hasbara, or ranting about Biden, Hamas or anyone else is going to achieve anything positive – and actually does the opposite. The forces of evil actually ‘feed off’ all those negative emotions of fear, despair, anger, hatred etc, that the corrupt media is so good at inducing in us all.
  2. Chuck out your smartphone and switch online stuff to a computer or tablet that stays in your house, and doesn’t come with you every where like a digital ball-and-chain.
  3. Keep going with the prayers and tehillim – aim for an hour of day of talking to God in your own words, which you can combine with walking, washing dishes, sitting with a cup of tea etc.
  4. In times of war, the attribute of Heavenly Judgement focusses in especially on kedoshim tiyehu – you shall be holy! Hence, the Rav’s massive emphasis on more modest dress and behavior, and getting the sources of pritzus out of dalet amot.
  5. Keep updated on the ravberland.com site, or if you read Hebrew, shuvubanimint.com site – that last one has the Shivivei Or newsletters with the Rav’s weekly shiurim in PDF format, that you can print out and read in the original.
  6. In past years when there were times of war in Israel, the Rav asked people to contribute ’98’ in their local currency a month, as a global pidyon for the Jewish people. He is now forbidden from saying anything about money or pidyonot at all, so I’m extrapolating that what held then, still holds now.

Do some hitbodedut, come to your own conclusions.

====

In the meantime, here’s the headline of another of the latest translated shiurim from the Rav, from the ravberland.com website, which basically spells out exactly what is really going on here:

The Whole World Regrets that Hitler Didn’t Finish Off the Jews” – R’ Eliezer Berland Shlit”a

The Rav has been saying this for years, and honestly, I used to think he was exaggerating a little.

But not anymore.

And may we see with our own eyes, how all this turns around very, very soon for the best.

====

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Better News So Far:

12November2023


Yoni Leviatan-tweet-12November2023-Two predictions about this war that have not played out so far
Two predictions about this war that have not played out so far:

1. Everyone said a ground op into Gaza would greatly increase the casualties on both sides, but the opposite has happened – far less innocent Gazans have died from ground forces in the last few days than they did when the air force was busy preparing the battlefield.

Most of the people dying now are Hamas.

Just as important, far less @IDF soldiers have died than anyone expected, notwithstanding the tragic few we’ve already lost. They’ve also been able to safely evacuate 200,000 more Gazans from the northern strip – Gazans that Hamas was shooting at in order to get them to stay and die as human shields.

The slow and steady strategy seems to be working well for everyone (except Hamas).

Again, this is only true at this point, but the larger point is Americans forgot that Gaza isn’t Fallujah while Europeans forgot that Israelis aren’t blithering cowards.

All of which goes to show why @Israel
should continue to ignore the naysayers and stick to the business of eradicating Hamas, haters be damned.

2. Everyone said Israel would ruin its ties with the Arab world, but not a single friendly Arab country has chosen to do so.

In fact, Saudi Arabia said it intends to continue pursuing relations with Israel. It also called for the hostages to be released at the Arab League/OIC summit this weekend.

Additionally, Egypt, Jordan, the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan, Morocco, Mauritania, Djibouti and Saudi Arabia all voted against a proposal that wanted to: cut ties, disrupt oil supplies to Israel and its allies, prevent the transfer of US equipment to Israel from bases in Arab countries, prevent flights to and from Israel using Arab countries’ air space, and form a joint mission to put pressure on Western nations for a ceasefire.

Numerous Arab countries rejected all of that.

Just as we should reject all of the NGOs, government quacks, armchair quarterbacks and keyboard commandos who don’t know the first thing about how to survive in the Middle East.

Yoni Leviatan-tweet-12November2023-Two predictions about this war that have not played out so far

Yoni Leviatan-tweet-12November2023-Two predictions about this war that have not played out so far

 


 


Mossad Commentary-tweet-13November2023-Israel

Mossad Commentary-tweet-13November2023-Israel

Mossad Commentary-tweet-13November2023-Israel

 



Israel Defense Forces-tweet-3December2023-IDF troops eliminated exposed shafts to Hamas’ underground tunnels
IDF troops eliminated 500 of the 800+ exposed shafts to Hamas’ underground tunnels located near or inside kindergartens, schools, playgrounds and mosques.

To be clear, these places aren’t childproof, but rather teeming with terrorism.

Every tunnel shaft and weapon we find is further proof of how Hamas deliberately uses the residents of Gaza for their terrorist agenda against Israelis.

Israel Defense Forces-tweet-3December2023-IDF troops eliminated exposed shafts to Hamas’ underground tunnels

Israel Defense Forces-tweet-3December2023-IDF troops eliminated exposed shafts to Hamas’ underground tunnels

 


 

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Hanukkah-IDF-Our Light will overcome Hamas’ Darkness


Israel Defense Forces-tweet-7December2023-Hanukkah-IDF-Our Light will overcome Hamas’ Darkness
Tonight, while all those celebrating Hanukkah light the first candle, the IDF will be here, on the ground watching over our home.

Together our light is stronger.

Israel Defense Forces-tweet-7December2023-Hanukkah-IDF-Our Light will overcome Hamas' Darkness

Israel Defense Forces-tweet-7December2023-Hanukkah-IDF-Our Light will overcome Hamas’ Darkness

 

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jns-org-logo

The Maccabean revolt of 2023

Caroline B. Glick https://www.jns.org/the-maccabean-revolt-of-2023/

The Maccabean Revolt of 2023-The Caroline Glick Show In-Focus

The Maccabean Revolt of 2023-The Caroline Glick Show In-Focus

 

Special Chanukah episode of the Caroline Glick Show “IN-FOCUS.”

(December 11, 2023 / JNS) Caroline Glick examines the Macabees, Hellenists and the struggle for Jewish identity throughout Jewish history, including during this present moment in the battle for Israel against neighboring terrorism.
Tune in to a special Chanukah episode of “IN-FOCUS.”

 

SPECIAL HANUKKAH EPISODE: The Maccabean Revolt of 2023 | The Caroline Glick Show In – Focus

 

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Arutz Sheva http://www.israelnationalnews.com/

Government approves hostage release deal, Otzma Yehudit ministers vote against

Government approves deal under which 50 living Israelis will be released in batches during a four-day ceasefire. The releases will begin on Thursday. Religious Zionist Party votes in favor, Otzma Yehudit votes against.

Emphasis: https://www.israpundit.org/government-approves-hostage-release-deal-only-three-ministers-vote-against/


Published:  22November2023, https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/380717

 

The government overnight Tuesday approved the deal for the release of some of the hostages being held in Gaza in exchange for the release of Palestinian Arab terrorists who are imprisoned in Israel and at least four days of a ceasefire.

 

The Religious Zionist Party voted in favor of the deal after a consultation among the members of the faction. The ministers from Otzma Yehudit voted against the deal.

 

According to the outline, 50 living Israelis will be released in several batches throughout the four days of the ceasefire.

Every day, 12 to 13 hostages will be released. For every 10 additional Israeli hostages who are released – another day of a pause in the fighting will be given.Israeli officials believe that in addition to the 50 hostages, Hamas can release another 30 Israelis.

 

Accordingly, 140 terrorists will also be released in several phases. The IDF will continue to encircle the northern Gaza Strip. In addition, fuel will only enter Gaza during the days of the ceasefire. The IDF and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) will continue intelligence gathering operations.

 

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar has pledged to return 30 out of 40 children. About 8 out of 13 mothers will be returned, and an additional 12 elderly women will be returned as well.

 

The Israeli government said in an official statement on Tuesday night: “The Israeli government is committed to bringing home all the hostages. Tonight, the government approved the outline for the first stage of achieving this goal, according to which at least 50 hostages – women and children – will be released over 4 days, during which there will be a lull in the fighting. The release of every ten additional hostages will result in an additional day of respite.”

 

“The Israeli government, the IDF and the security forces will continue the war in order to return all the hostages, complete the elimination of Hamas and ensure that there is no renewed threat from Gaza to the State of Israel,” the statement added.

 

During the discussion, a confrontation broke out between ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Benny Gantz, after Smotrich expressed concern that Hamas would extend the truce beyond what was agreed upon and announce that it had found more hostages.

 

Gantz replied to Smotrich: “What kind of question is this? We are telling you that this is the deal. What, do you trust us less than Sinwar?”

 

Meanwhile, Culture Minister Miki Zohar criticized National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, and asked why Otzma Yehudit gathered for a faction meeting before the cabinet meeting. Ben Gvir replied to Zohar: “Because we saw everything in the media before the meeting, so it is very good that we held a meeting. We are not united. This is a that could cause damage for years to come and that will harm us badly.”

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at the start of the meeting, and made clear to the ministers that the deal would include visits by the Red Cross to those hostages who will not be released and will include the supply of medicine. The ministers were told that the first day of the ceasefire will be on Thursday and the first batch of hostages will be released that day.

 

The Prime Minister also promised the ministers that at the end of the ceasefire and the release of the hostages – the fighting against Hamas in Gaza will be resumed with all its might.

 

“We are at war – and will continue the war. We will continue the war until we achieve all of our war aims: To eliminate Hamas, return all of our hostages and our missing, and ensure that there is no element in Gaza that threatens Israel,” said Netanyahu.

 

He recalled, “Yesterday evening, I met, together with the members of the War Cabinet, members of the hostages’ families. I listened closely to their plight. With shaking voices, sometimes in tears, they described the nightmare they are in. I told the dear families: ‘Returning our hostages is a sacred and supreme task – and I am obligated to it together with my colleagues. As Maimonides says: There is no greater precept than redeeming captives.”

 

“We will not relent in our efforts until we redeem them all, until we return them all, the boys and girls, the mothers and fathers, the young men and women, the elderly men and women, the male and female soldiers, all of them,” he stated, adding, “In war there are stages, and in returning the hostages there are stages, but we will not relent until we achieve the absolute victory and until we bring them all back. This is my sacred duty, of all of us.”

 

“In recent days, I have spoken with our friend, US President Joe Biden and I requested his intervention in order to improve the outline that will be presented to you. Indeed, it has been improved to include more hostages and at a lower cost. These talks have been productive. President Biden joined in the effort and I thank him for it. Before you this evening, now, is a difficult decision but it is the correct decision. All of the security agencies fully support it; they have made it completely clear in their professional assessment, that the security of our forces will be ensured during the pause and that the intelligence effort will be maintained in those days. They have made it clear that not only will the war effort not be harmed, it will enable the IDF to prepare for the continuation of the fighting,” said Netanyahu.

 

The Prime Minister reiterated, “The war is continuing and the war will continue until we achieve all of our goals – Eliminating Hamas, returning all of our hostages and assuring that the day after Hamas, Gaza will no longer threaten Israel, that there will be no other element that supports terrorism, educates its children for terrorism and threatens the State of Israel. With G-d’s help, we will do it and we will succeed – and together we will win.”

 

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said, “In the coming hours and days we will be required to make important decisions. The focused, professional and precise operations of the IDF will lead to the results that we hope to achieve in the near future.”

 

“As a result of the decision taken about a month ago to intensify our ground operations, to enter [Gaza] and to increase the pressure on Hamas, there is now a chance to create a plan that will lead to the release of hostages. I view the release of hostages first and foremost as an issue related to values – a moral issue, an issue that points to the [unwritten] agreement between the State, the government and its citizens. All members of the cabinet, all the members of the IDF, ISA, and Mossad, everyone who is working on the issue of the hostages and missing persons – is dedicating all their time, soul and energy to this issue, day and night,” he added.

 

“IDF soldiers risk their lives every day, and we see the results. For me, the release of the hostages is of immense value. We all see the pictures, the videos, the people [around us] and think about the [kidnapped] children, soldiers, adults, and Holocaust survivors- and we all understand how important this is.”

 

“At the same time, without continuing [military] pressure, there will be no chance of bringing [home] additional hostages. Therefore, upon my request and that of the defense establishment, the government has included in its decision, the unequivocal demand that immediately after we have exhausted this phase, all operations by the IDF, ISA and all the security forces, will continue in full force – first in order to defeat Hamas, and secondly, in order to create the necessary conditions to bring home additional hostages,” said the Minister of Defense.

 

“I would like to take this opportunity together with all members of the government, to express my appreciation, and the appreciation I am sure we share, for all the security forces that are fighting in this war – the IDF, ISA, and Mossad, and every single person working on the issue of the hostages and missing persons. We have a great establishment, and a large part of its strength is in the unity that is demonstrated by this forum, in the government, in the cabinet and in the war cabinet. Thank you very much,” he concluded.

 


UPDATE:


Israel War Room-tweet-22November2023-Hostage-temp ceasefire deal is delayed
Hostage/temp ceasefire deal is delayed:
▪️ Hamas hasn’t signed the deal
▪️ Not all the details have been agreed upon
▪️ Israeli officials: we don’t think the gaps will lead to the collapse of the ceasefire, but “who knows”
▪️ No ceasefire tomorrow, hostages will be released *not before Friday*
▪️ Israel has not received the list of the first hostages to be released (@AmichaiStein1)

Israel War Rooms-tweet-22November2023-Hostage/temp ceasefire deal is delayed

Israel War Rooms-tweet-22November2023-Hostage/temp ceasefire deal is delayed

 

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The released child hostages


Aviva Klompas-tweet-24November2023-The released child hostages
An IDF soldier has been assigned to accompany every released child hostage back to Israel.

If a child asks where their mother or father is, the soldiers have been told to say, “I’m sorry sweetie, I don’t know. My job is to bring you to Israel to a safe place where people you know can answer all your questions.”

Some of the children don’t have parents to return to.

Aviva Klompas-tweet-24November2023-The released child hostages

Aviva Klompas-tweet-24November2023-The released child hostages

 



Marina Medvin-tweet-25November2023-The luckiest man in the world
The luckiest man in the world — the father of the two little girls and their mother, who were kidnapped by Palestinian terrorists and held as hostages, is reunited with his girls after 49 days of them being kept in the underground tunnels of Gaza.

Marina Medvin-tweet-25November2023-The luckiest man in the world

Marina Medvin-tweet-25November2023-The luckiest man in the world

 

 



David/Dovid Bashevkin-tweet-25November2023-Yahel Shoham-Kidnapped by Hamas
Yahel Shoham, young enough to still need a car seat.

Kidnapped by Hamas.

Finally released.

Young enough for a car seat.

We will never forget these horrors. Never.

David/Dovid Bashevkin-tweet-25November2023-Yahel Shoham-Kidnapped by Hamas

David/Dovid Bashevkin-tweet-25November2023-Yahel Shoham-Kidnapped by Hamas

 



Israel War Room-tweet-27November2023-the returned abductees
The doctors who treated the returned abductees: “They arrived in a state of malnutrition with poor indicators”

At Wolfson Hospital, they told about the medical condition of the freed people, and the conditions they were provided with in Gaza. “Their diet in captivity was mainly based on rice, hummus with flour and pita bread, one of them lost 20 kg,” said the director of the department. “There were days when they didn’t get any food at all.”

Israel War Room-tweet-27November2023-the returned abductees

Israel War Room-tweet-27November2023-the returned abductees

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This is where Hamas held hostages


Israel Defense Forces-tweet-21January2024-This is where Hamas held hostages
This is where Hamas held hostages.

IDF soldiers operated in a tunnel located at the heart of a civilian area in Khan Yunis that was used to hold about 20 hostages at different times. The tunnel was about 830 meters long and about 20 meters deep.

We cannot and will not rest knowing innocent civilians are being held in compounds like this one. We will not stop operating until we bring the hostages home.

 

Israel Defense Forces-tweet-21January2024-This is where Hamas held hostages

Israel Defense Forces-tweet-21January2024-This is where Hamas held hostages

 

 

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No Aid to the Nazi Society.

The War is Not About Hamas. It’s About Gaza as a Society – Jeremy Gimpel

 



Hillel Fuld-tweet-29February2024-Gaza is rotten to the core and needs to be denazified from the ground up
Some of the truly insane things I’ve heard from friends and family who are fighting in the depths of Gaza.

I was told that a friend had been to three Hamas bases. I asked him what he means by a base? Like a building they call a base?

Nope. He said Hamas has full army bases equipped with everything a normal base has including obstacle courses, shooting ranges, and more. They’re all over Gaza.

I was also told that they could not walk three feet without seeing a tunnel opening. Gaza is absolutely covered with tunnel holes. I was told that Gaza is literally duplicated under ground.

I was told that every single house, EVERY one, had weapons hidden somewhere. They didn’t enter a single house without some weapons somewhere.

I was told that none of the Hamas terrorists wear uniforms. They are all dressed in civilian clothes so when they’re killed, Hamas can claim they were innocent.

I was told that we have no idea to what extent they use human shields. Hamas terrorists open fire on IDF soldiers with one hand, while holding an elderly lady with the other. This is their most popular tactic.

I was told that they have not met a single innocent civilian there and every single person, even those who pretend they’re innocent in the beginning, are somehow connected to Hamas. Everyone there supports Hamas.

I was told that there are days in which the IDF eliminates hundreds of terrorists.

I was told that it is widely known that if (when) Israel enters Rafah, it’s all over for Hamas. Everyone knows that hundreds, maybe thousands of them are hiding in Rafah hoping the world manages to stop the IDF from going in there. They’re banking on that.

I was told they keep finding books, from children books to text books, describing the history of the Jews, and general information about Jews explaining why they should be killed.

I was told that when an IDF soldier is killed, everyone there celebrates. Somehow they all know about it within minutes and firecrackers are their main method of celebration. Firecrackers and firing guns into the air. And of course, candies. They love giving out candies when a Jew is murdered.

I was told that Hamas terrorists in Gaza are like athletes or movie stars in other places. They are absolute heroes to the Palestinian people who have pictures of them on their walls and describe them as total rockstars.

And finally, the doozy. I was told that on every single computer they find in people’s homes in Gaza, there is porn everywhere. Every single computer has porn on it. But get this, in addition to porn, every single house has sex artifacts all over the place. Sex toys, sexy outfits, and more. All over the place.

All in all, seems like a solid society they’ve built over there in Gaza…

Israel is dealing with some seriously twisted and morally depraved human beings who are told from age zero that Jews are nothing more than animals that deserve to be killed wherever they are.

This society is rotten to the core and needs to be denazified from the ground up. Anything else will just be a bandaid on a society that needs open heart surgery.

Hillel Fuld-tweet-29February2024-Gaza is rotten to the core and needs to be denazified from the ground up

Hillel Fuld-tweet-29February2024-Gaza is rotten to the core and needs to be denazified from the ground up

 

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Israeli protester unite to stop aid trucks from entering Gaza

26January2024 7:02 am | Ticker, Virtual Jerusalem

https://virtualjerusalem.com/israeli-protester-unite-to-stop-aid-trucks-from-entering-gaza/

Israelis demonstrate at a protest action at Kerem Shalom border crossing on January 24, 2024. (Courtesy Reut Ben Haim)

Israelis demonstrate at a protest action at Kerem Shalom border crossing on January 24, 2024. (Courtesy Reut Ben Haim)

No humanitarian aid will be allowed until the hostages are treated humanely.

Israelis from left and right have united to physically block the entry of truck convoys containing aid for Gazans but which in fact has fallen directly into Hamas control while Israeli hostages don’t get food, medicine or visits from anyone.

 

For the second days in a row, no trucks were allowed in, and the dozens of protesters in the first day have swelled to hundreds, with even more expected on the weekend.

 

The protesters include relatives of hostages held in Gaza and parents of soldiers who have fallen in battle. Unlike the leftist Israelis politicizing the issue and raising the price of hostagews, the Kerem Shalom blockaders have taken a firm and unifying stance that improves Israel’s bargaining position and increases pressure on Hamas.

[EDD: Protesters from the “Order 9” movement demanded that “no aid goes through until the last of the abductees returns, no equipment be transferred to the enemy.”

(An Order 8 call-up notice is an order for the emergency mobilization of an IDF reserve soldier outside the framework of regular reserve duty. Many were issued after Hamas’s Oct. 7 invasion of the northwestern Negev with the mobilization of some 360,000 reserve soldiers).]

Their demand is uncompromising: halt humanitarian aid to Gaza until their loved ones are freed from captivity. This group’s resilience was evident as they bypassed roadblocks, walking kilometers to make their voices heard for the second consecutive day.

 

Tsufit Libman, directly affected by this crisis, articulates the sentiment of many, labeling the ongoing aid delivery a “moral failure.” Her powerful words, “While we don’t know where our families are and if they are alive, they [Gazans] are getting humanitarian aid,” capture the heart of the protest. This statement, accusing Gazans of abetting Hamas and hiding crimes, reflects deep frustration and a sense of betrayal.

 

Dani Elgarat, another voice in this chorus of despair, appeals to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for bravery. His message is clear: resist international pressure, notably from the U.S., and prioritize the return of captives. Elgarat’s call to action, urging others to physically impede aid, resonates with a community united in anguish and determination.

 

The situation at the border is more than a blockade; it’s a reflection of a community’s outcry against perceived injustice. Protesters like Elgarat highlight the grim reality that the captives are likely not benefiting from the humanitarian aid entering Gaza. His words, “There are no visits by the Red Cross, no food, medications, signs of life, nothing humanitarian is happening to our captives,” underline the dire situation of the hostages.

 

The Biden Administration is really exercised about this, insisting that Israel allow the aid to enter. But a government that can’t even keep the Ayalon freeway in Tel Aviv open may find it hard to cope with the groundswell of opposition to the “humanitarian hypcrisy” where only Gazans are entitled to humane treatment.

 

The Israeli government, however, has failed to stop the growing protests and may not be in such a big hurry to do so. The government would like nations demanding that Israeli fulfill “humanitarian” demands to do something, even the bare minimum, for the civilians and soldiers in Hamas captivity.

 

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Arutz Sheva http://www.israelnationalnews.com/

What is Netanyahu’s “Something Else”?

Military rule without a settlement presence does not yield results that guarantee calm and stability. Op-ed.

Yehudit Katsover & Nadia Matar


21November2023, https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/380670

Yehudit Katsover and Nadia Matar are Co-chairs of the Sovereignty Movement

 

“Something else.” That is how the Prime Minister characterized the entity that will control the Gaza Strip on the day after the war.

 

We, citizens of Israel, ask, what is that unnamed “something else.”

 

As we recall, in response to journalist Moti Kastel’s question: “What will be on the day after?” – the Prime Minister replied: “Security control including the ability to enter whenever we choose in order to eliminate terrorists who might resurface. I can tell you what will not be. There will not be Hamas. I will tell you what else there will not be. There will not be a civil authority there that educates its children to hate Israel, to murder Israelis, to liquidate the State of Israel. There cannot be an authority that pays families of murderers based on the number of victims they killed. There cannot be an authority whose leader, more than 30 days after the massacre, still has not condemned the horrific massacre. That cannot be. There must be something else there, but in any case, we must have security control. I am saying this. There might also be pressure in this regard, but I do not intend to capitulate.”

 

The clear and resolute words of the Prime Minister that Hamas and the current Palestinian Authority will no longer be able to rule over Gaza are praiseworthy. Indeed, our movement, which is conducting a hasbara (public information) campaign on this issue, supports his position on this, but we remain with the question lingering in the air:

 

What is this “something else” that will be on the day after? What political framework are the Prime Minister and the members of the political cabinet, especially the members of the limited war cabinet, seeking to establish?

 

In recent days, many plans and ideas have emerged, and we will enumerate only a few examples.

 

1. Some suggested that Gaza’s status would be similar to that of the territories of Area B in Judea and Samaria, like the model of Shechem and Jenin, leaving security and military control in Israel’s hands while transferring civil control over everything else to the Arabs. Past experience in Israel and worldwide has proven that the result of military rule without a settlement presence is failure and withdrawal. This was the case in Southern Lebanon, so it was proven in northern Samaria, and we saw the same in Afghanistan and Iraq.

 

Military rule without a settlement presence does not yield results that guarantee calm and stability.

 

According to this model, our courageous soldiers enter these areas almost every night, fighting terrorist nests and their surrounding armed supporters, yet we are far from genuine security calm. Israel is spilling the blood of its precious children in countless small, dangerous, and painful military operations, but there is no real fundamental solution.

 

2. Another suggestion is to transfer the Gaza Strip under the rule of the United Nations, but past attempts, whether worldwide or right next door in the Lebanon sector, teaches that multinational forces are not willing to spill their blood for the security of another nation, certainly not for the sake of our nation’s security. On the contrary; the UN has collaborated with Hezbollah. With the first security incident, they quickly capitulate and disappear from the area. Consequently, all agreements that signed the Second Lebanon War were voided, and Hezbollah, that was supposed to remain north of the Litani River, have positioned themselves at the border fence and no UN force dares confront them there.

 

3. Meanwhile, the name of Mohammed Dahlan, a former senior official of the Palestinian Authority, has also been raised as a candidate to assume leadership of the Gaza Strip. He is a “terrorist in a suit and tie” that do not successfully conceal his aspiration to establish a Palestinian Arab state on the ruins of Israel. Dahlan is responsible, among other things, for the terrorist attack on the children’s bus in Kefar Darom, and considers the establishment of settlements as an act of terror in every sense. His hatred for Israel is no less than that of any of his fellow graduates from the Palestinian Authority academy of terror.

 

Here is the time and the place to present the Prime Minister and the government ministers other plans that should be placed on the public agenda and tabled for political discussion.

 

The important suggestion of Members of Knesset Ram Ben-Barak and Danny Danon included encouraging voluntary emigration and called upon each of approximately 100 countries worldwide to absorb between 10 and 20 thousand Gazans in their territories, where they would be guaranteed a better future than the destroyed cities that remain in Gaza can offer them. (After all, their lives before the war were controlled by Hamas elites who let them languish in crowded poverty while Hamas leaders lived in luxury, ed.).

 

Now we must bring to the forefront the Zionist program that includes full Israeli control, applying sovereignty and Jewish settlement throughout Gaza, establishing cities, communities, and industrial and agricultural areas. Similarly, Israel must have control over the curricula in the Arab education system, strict oversight that will prevent anti-Israel incitement in mosques, and more. This plan will ensure the wellbeing of the communities in the Gaza periphery that will be rebuilt, blossom, and flourish.

 

In our view, a plan combining the proposal of Ben-Barak and Danon that will reduce the Arab population in Gaza with the Zionist plan of imposing sovereignty and settlement will ensure resolution, deterrence, victory, and security. A political step of that kind will clarify to all the peoples of the region that Israel will always command the steepest price for terrorism, the price of land, that is the most highly held commodity in Arab culture, especially when it comes to land that was never theirs.

 

We must remember and remind ourselves, first and foremost, that Gaza is part of the tribal portion of Judah. It is ours. It is highly moral that we keep it, not in the sense of Samson’s formula of “let my soul die with the Philistines” (Judges 16:30), but in the sense of “in your blood, you shall live, in your blood, you shall live” (Ezekiel 16:06).

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IDF make men great again

Lola-tweet-26October2023-IDF make men great again

Lola-tweet-26October2023-IDF make men great again

 

 


The-Mossad-Satirical,-Yet-Awesome-tweet-24October2023-I love this trend

The-Mossad-Satirical,-Yet-Awesome-tweet-24October2023-I love this trend

 

 



Israel Defense Forces-tweet-25October2023-“We refuse to forget our values. We are fighting for our home.”

The Golani Brigade was the first to respond to the brutal attack by Hamas on the morning of October 7.

The soldiers fought hard battles against hundreds of terrorists and suffered many losses. Now they are undergoing in-depth, extensive training to stay ready for anything.

 

Israel Defense Forces-tweet-25October2023-"We refuse to forget our values. We are fighting for our home." The Golani Brigade was the first to respond to the brutal attack by Hamas on the morning of October 7. The soldiers fought hard battles against hundreds of terrorists and suffered many losses. Now they are undergoing in-depth, extensive training to stay ready for anything.

Israel Defense Forces-tweet-25October2023-“We refuse to forget our values. We are fighting for our home.”
The Golani Brigade was the first to respond to the brutal attack by Hamas on the morning of October 7.
The soldiers fought hard battles against hundreds of terrorists and suffered many losses. Now they are undergoing in-depth, extensive training to stay ready for anything.

 

Why draft older men not youngsters.

From an Email 19October2023

When one pensioner’s military application gets rejected on the grounds of being too old, he gets really, really mad!
I’m a pensioner and the armed forces think I’m too old to track down terrorists. If you’re over 42, then you can’t join the military. They’re got their whole system backwards!

 

Instead of sending 18-year-olds to war zones, they should take us old guys. They shouldn’t let you join the military until you’re at least 35!

 

18-year-olds have been proven to think about sex every 10 seconds, while pensioners only think about it once or twice a month. This leaves us an extra 280,000 seconds per day to focus on the enemy. Young soldiers don’t have enough life experience to be cranky, and a cranky soldier is a terrifying soldier! ‘I’m tired and hungry, my back hurts, I can’t sleep!

 

We’re impatient and bad-tempered, so perhaps letting us kill some jerk who desperately deserves it will cheer us up and keep us quiet! 18-year-olds never usually get up before 10am. Old guys always wake up early to pee! Besides, like I’ve already said, since I can’t get to sleep, I may as well be off killing some fanatical son-of-a-bitch!

 

If they capture us we’d never spill the beans, because we wouldn’t remember where we put them. Name, rank, and serial number would be a huge brainteaser! Old guys would ace boot camp! We’re used to people yelling at us, and we’re accustomed to eating soft food.

 

We also have a deep appreciation of firearms. We’ve been using them for years as an excuse to get away from all of the yelling! They could lighten up on the obstacle course, though. I’ve been in combat, but I’ve never come across a 20-foot wall with ropes hanging over either side! They can probably get rid of the running part as well. I’ve never seen anybody outrun a bullet!

 

18-year-olds have their whole lives ahead of them. They should still be learning how to shave, and how to talk to pretty girls. They still haven’t even figured out how to properly wear a baseball cap! These are all good reasons why we should keep our kids at home. Let us old guys track terrorists down!

 

No enemy wants to see a couple million old guys, with automatic weapons and bad attitudes, who know that their best years are behind them! And what about recruiting women in their 50s? In menopause! You think only men can have a bad attitude? You ain’t seen nothing yet! If nothing else, they can be put on border control. It’ll be secured by the end of the first night!

 

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The nation of Israel is alive and well.

Record 1,823 births in one month at Shaare Zedek

 

Living Lchaim-tweet-2November2023-
I am a midwife in Shaare Zedek.

On a difficult day when we count the fallen, I wanted to share another count.

Last night we counted and found out that we broke an all-time record for the number of births in one month.

1,823!

I am attaching the photo from the department’s birth book, a photo that moved us very much tonight and we wanted to tell our people about it.

This figure comes thanks to the southern families who now live in the city.

Thanks to the soldiers’ wives who came to their parents, And thanks to the women of Jerusalem and the surrounding area who come in droves to give birth with us.

This gives us a lot of strength and hope, and a clear knowledge:

The nation of Israel is alive and well.

We are a nation for eternity and this answer, all these sweet babies, will help bring joy to the world with great pride.

Rachel Levy
Shaare Zedek Medical Center

 

Living Lchaim-tweet-2November2023-Record 1,823 births in one month at Shaare Zedek

Living Lchaim-tweet-2November2023-Record 1,823 births in one month at Shaare Zedek

 

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17,629 babies born in Israel since 7October2023


Hillel Fuld-tweet-24November2023-17,629 babies born in Israel since 7October2023
17,629!

That’s the number of babies born in Israel since October 7th.

In a country with less than 10 million people, that’s huge!

45 of the babies were named Be’eri and three of them named Nova.

Oh and hundreds of thousands have made Aliyah and come home to Israel since the war started.

An Israel Chai!

Hillel Fuld-tweet-24November2023-17,629 babies born in Israel since 7October2023

Hillel Fuld-tweet-24November2023-17,629 babies born in Israel since 7October2023

 

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Nicholas Winton saved 669 Jewish Children from the Holocaust. Here is the Video of the Grown Children thanking Him. Please Share.

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jns-org-logo

Generations

“In every generation they rise up to destroy us” was, and is, a warning to be taken seriously.

DRY BONES-Generations Credit: Yaakov (DryBones) Kirschen.

DRY BONES-Generations Credit: Yaakov (DryBones) Kirschen.

DRY BONES

Brooklyn-born (in 1938) cartoonist Yaakov Kirschen made Aliyah to Israel in 1971 and began drawing his Dry Bones cartoons in January of 1973. He is a member of both America’s National Cartoonists Society and the Israeli Cartoonists Society. Dry Bones was internationally syndicated and ran in The Jerusalem Post for 50 years, being reprinted by the New York TimesTime magazine, the Los Angeles Times, the Wall Street Journal and other major media publications. The Dry Bones story has been covered by CBSCNNForbes and many others.

https://www.jns.org/generations/

(October 24, 2023 / JNS) Hamas’s Oct. 7 pogrom has changed us.

It has smashed our youngsters with an explosive and frightening reality.

How will they deal with this trauma? What will they be like as adults? What will their Israel be like?

“Never again” is a great slogan.

But “In every generation they rise up to destroy us” was, and is, a warning to be taken seriously.

SEE: ‘I Understood My Life Is Going to End’: A Mother Describes 20 Hours in a Safe Room

 

Bari Weiss-tweet-25October2023-
You hear stories from the Holocaust of people with little children in hiding, and I always thought, “How do you keep a child that small, that young, quiet in this situation?” But the energy was so heavy and we were so quiet.

I told my daughter, “You need to be as quiet as a mouse. We’re not talking now.” And she whispered through the whole day. Even when she fell over, she didn’t cry.

“‘I Understood My Life Is Going to End’: A Mother Describes 20 Hours in a Safe Room”

‘I Understood My Life Is Going to End’: A Mother Describes 20 Hours in a Safe Room
https://www.thefp.com/p/my-life-is-going-to-end

Bari Weiss-tweet-25October2023-Mother Describes 20 Hours in a Safe Room

Bari Weiss-tweet-25October2023-Mother Describes 20 Hours in a Safe Room

 

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That is Beit Hanoun


Ron M.-tweet-7March2024-That is Beit Hanoun
That’s Beit Hanoun – a primary staging ground for tens of thousands of rocket attacks on Israel, and a Hamas stronghold from which many of the OCT 7 Massacres were planned and executed. It got exactly what was coming in heavy fighting that lasted weeks. Israel should prevent reconstruction here ENTIRELY.

🟥 Beit Hanoun, GAZA.
🟦 Sderot, Israel.

Ron M-tweet-7March2024-That is Beit Hanoun

Ron M-tweet-7March2024-That is Beit Hanoun

 

 

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Arutz Sheva http://www.israelnationalnews.com/

Footage from Huwara: IDF demolishes pizzeria which demeaned woman who was abducted to Gaza

IDF bulldozer operates in Huwara to demolish pizzeria that encouraged terrorism through an advertisement featuring an elderly woman abducted by Hamas to Gaza.

Israel National News


Published: Oct 13October2023, https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/378404

 

An IDF bulldozer was documented on Thursday evening demolishing a pizzeria in Huwara that encouraged terrorism and published an ad promoting its products which used a photo of an elderly woman who was abducted by Hamas terrorists to Gaza and forced by them to make a “V” sign with her fingers.

 

Earlier it was reported that legal advisers do not approve the demolition of the building and only its sealing, but a bulldozer was subsequently brought to the site and carried out demolition operations.

 

In addition, the owner of the pizzeria has been detained for questioning.

The Honenu legal aid organization had earlier sent an urgent letter to the head of the IDF Central Command, Major General Yehuda Fox, demanding that the Huwara pizzeria be shut down.

 

Attorney Ofir Steiner, from the civil department of the organization, wrote in the letter that the business in question is named “Eiffel Bakery”, which is located in the center of Huwara. Another publication stated that the owner of the pizzeria is Salah Hamous who several years ago seriously injured a boy from Yitzhar with a rock, but was released due to lack of evidence.

 

Translated from Hebrew by

Documentation: The IDF destroys a pizzeria in Hawara that looted an elderly woman who was kidnapped to Gaza
@carmeldangor | @ItayBlumental

kann_news-tweet-12October2023-The IDF destroys a pizzeria in Hawara

kann_news-tweet-12October2023-The IDF destroys a pizzeria in Hawara

 

“We are in a time of war, after a murderous terrorist incident, the most terrible and the largest seen in human history,” Steiner wrote in his letter to Major General Fox. “At this time, any support for the said murderous and unprecedented terrorist event is like support for the great haters of the Jewish people – the Nazis, may their name be erased. It is difficult to exaggerate the importance of immediate enforcement, in a deterrent and decisive manner, which is needed at this time against phenomena of this kind.”

About an hour after the pizzeria was demolished, an apology in Hebrew was published on its official Facebook page.

 

“Hello, we are very sorry for the photo that was posted. The photo obviously was not posted with our consent. Someone tried to harm us. We are against harming people and women, and just want to earn a living with dignity and live in peace with everyone. We apologize to the members of the family that was hurt and the other people that were hurt,” said the post.

Post Comments:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSkxD8ZGvPk

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Israel Police arrest 63 on suspicion of terror incitement

Police in Jerusalem have been “operating in an increased format… to monitor and address publications on social media networks that incite terrorism and violence.”

UPDATE DESK https://www.jns.org/israel-police-arrest-63-on-suspicion-of-terror-incitement/

 

(October 17, 2023 / JNS) Police have arrested 63 suspects on charges of incitement and support for terrorism in the wake of Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror assault, the Israel Police said on Monday.

 

The Hamas terrorist organization killed at least 1,400 Israelis and wounded more than 4,100 in a massive offensive launched from the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, which included the firing of thousands of rockets at Israel and the infiltration of the Jewish state by terrorist forces.

 

The terrorists butchered men, women, children, the elderly, the disabled and infants—some were decapitated while others were raped or burned alive. At least 199 hostages, including children, were taken to Gaza, Israel Defense Forces Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel confirmed on Monday.

 

The Jerusalem District Police has been “operating in an increased format, in cooperation with other security agencies, to monitor and address publications on social media networks that incite terrorism and violence,” warned the Israel Police on Monday.

 

Indictments will be filed “in the coming days,” added the statement.

Among other suspects, police officers arrested a 20-year-old female resident of Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah/Shimon HaTzadik neighborhood, Israel’s Walla news site reported. The suspect allegedly shared pictures of fallen IDF soldiers on social media and praised their Palestinian killers.

 

In another case, officers detained a cook who worked in a central Jerusalem restaurant. After losing his job due to his public support for Hamas terror, he reportedly threatened to carry out an attack on the diner.

 

Amid fighting on Israel’s southern and northern borders, as well as ongoing attempts to open a front in Judea and Samaria, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir last week said his ministry was preparing for possible Arab riots in mixed Jewish-Arab cities.

 

During a visit to the western Negev city of Sderot, one of the communities attacked by Hamas on Oct. 7, Ben-Gvir announced that he ordered Israel Police Commissioner Yaakov Shabtai to make preparations for “a scenario of ‘Guardian of the Walls II,’ which I think is looming.”

 

Ben-Gvir’s remarks referred to the widespread Arab rioting in Israeli cities with large numbers of Arab and Jewish residents that took place during the IDF’s May 2021 aerial operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

 

Over the weekend, suspected Hamas sympathizers burned down a bicycle shop in Tayibe, an Arab city in central Israel, after its owner donated 50 bicycles to survivors of Hamas’s terror assault on southern Israel.

 

Meanwhile, on Sunday, the Kol Yehudi news outlet shared footage of what it said showed Israeli Arabs from the central city of Umm al-Fahm conducting military exercises at a training camp in northern Israel.

 

“All of them are well known to the authorities, but Gaza-Hamas was also known to the authorities,” Kol Yehudi journalist Elchanan Groner wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “The problem is the concept. These guys are the enemy.”

 

Translated from Hebrew by

A few months ago, when we saw in the Jewish Voice that Hirak al-Fahmawi (the branch of the northern faction that we exposed that led the Tashfa riots) were training in paintball, mounted convoys of all-terrain vehicles and horses around Kibbutz Megiddo, and conducting combat training in a special club, we understood that they were planning to fight as part of a multi-arena campaign, but we were afraid that we will be hospitalized >

elchangr-tweet-15October2023-Hirak al-Fahmawi

elchangr-tweet-15October2023-Hirak al-Fahmawi

 

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legal-insurrection-logo

IDF’s Latest Hamas Weapon Cache Discovered in a Kindergarten in Northern Gaza

“IDF troops located dozens of mortar shells that were hidden by Hamas in a kindergarten in the northern Gaza Strip.”

Posted by Mary Chastain 17November2023  https://legalinsurrection.com/2023/11/idfs-latest-hamas-weapon-cache-discovered-in-a-kindergarten-in-northern-gaza/

 

How much more proof do the left and antisemitics need?

 

The IDF finds Hamas weapons in hospitals, rooms belonging to children, and now a kindergarten classroom:

“IDF troops located dozens of mortar shells that were hidden by Hamas in a kindergarten in the northern Gaza Strip. In addition, IDF troops located numerous Hamas weapons hidden in the ‘Al-Karmel’ elementary school,” the IDF said.

 


Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian-tweet-17November2023-kindergarten mortars
Troops of the Bislamach Brigade located a cache of mortars inside a kindergarten in northern Gaza, footage published by the IDF shows.

Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian-tweet-17November2023-kindergarten mortars

Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian-tweet-17November2023-kindergarten mortars

 

From The Times of Israel:

Troops of the IDF’s Bislamach Brigade located a cache of mortars inside a daycare center in northern Gaza, footage published by the military shows.

 

The IDF says the Golani Brigade’s reconnaissance unit, meanwhile, raided the al-Karmel school in Gaza City, and found firearms, RPGs and military equipment.

 

Separately, the IDF says troops of the 7th Armored Brigade’s 12th Battalion identified a group of Hamas operatives in Gaza City, and attempted to chase after them. As the gunmen fled, the troops called in a drone strike to kill them.

 

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unitedwithisrael-org-logo

Kidnapped by Terrorists, Elderly Couple Defies Abduction to Gaza and Emerges Unharmed

13October2023 https://unitedwithisrael.org/kidnapped-by-terrorists-elderly-couple-defies-abduction-to-gaza-and-emerges-unharmed/

Even after sustaining injuries in the Hamas invasion, Diana and Moshe Rosen resisted the terrorists’ insistence to accompany them to the Gaza Strip.

By United with Israel Staff

An elderly Israeli couple taken hostage by Arab terrorists during the Hamas invasion of southern Israel managed to defy their captors and live to tell the tale.

 

Diana Rosen and her husband Moshe, residents of Nir Yitzhak, a kibbutz near the Gaza frontier, were both shot and wounded by terrorists, after their town was overrun early Saturday morning.

 

The couple were eventually taken hostage by marauding terrorists, but refused to go with them to Gaza.

 

Days later, the two recalled the harrowing events in an interview with Channel 12, conducted at their bedside in Jerusalem’s Hadassah Mount Scopus Medical Center.

 

“We are used to this nightmare, but very quickly we understood that this was a different kind of event,” Moshe said. “At a certain point, there was a notification that terrorists had entered the community.”

 

“We heard loud knocking on the front door. I said to Diana, ‘They are inside the home; they are here.’”

 

Diana and Moshe managed to lock themselves in their safe room, preventing the terrorists from forcing their way in.

 

Eventually, however, the terrorists shot the locking mechanism open, wounded the couple in their hands.

 

Five terrorists rushed into the safe room, seizing the couple and forcing them out of their house.

 

Walking towards the Gaza border, Moshe and Diana saw the border fence had been breached in multiple places.

 

“They told us to be quiet and indicated with a hand to the throat that if we speak it will be the end of us,” Moshe continued.

 

“We dared to tell the terrorists that we simply aren’t going to Gaza.”

 

Moshe said that he used English words to explain their refusal to enter Gaza.

 

“We told them we are injured, bleeding, and need to go to a hospital. Of course, their leader didn’t accept that. I said to him ‘ambulance, hospital,’ and he said ‘Gaza.’”

 

Eventually, the terrorists told Moshe and Diana: “Okay, go,” in English.

 

“We turned around and walked. During those long moments, we feared they would shoot us. We didn’t turn around to see what he was doing.”

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https://www.jpost.com/

IDF arrests Ahed Tamimi who called for Jews to be slaughtered

Last week, Tamimi called for the murder of settlers in the West Bank in an Instagram post.

By JOANIE MARGULIES 6NOVEMBER2023 https://www.jpost.com/arab-israeli-conflict/article-771867

 

Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi, 22, was arrested Monday morning by the IDF, according to Israeli media citing Palestinian reports. Tamimi has gained prominence in her community for her violent actions against the IDF and has been deemed by many as a national hero for West Bank Palestinians.

 

Tamimi has become something of a symbol in the Palestinian struggle against Israeli policy in the Palestinian territories, becoming an honorary member of the Palestinian National Council in May 2018.

 

Last week, the Palestinian inciter called for the murder of settlers in the West Bank in an Instagram post. “We are waiting for you in all the West Bank cities from Hebron to Jenin – we will slaughter you and you will say that what Hitler did to you was a joke,” she wrote on social media.

We will drink your blood and eat your skull. Come on, we are waiting for you,” she wrote on Instagram.

In March 2018, Tamimi was convicted on four counts of assaulting an IDF officer and soldier, incitement, and interference with IDF forces, and was sentenced to eight months in prison and eight months of probation. She was released on July 29, 2018, after serving her full prison term.

How did Tamimi rise to ‘fame’?

The 21-year-old became famous following the distribution of videos and photographs in which she attacked IDF soldiers in several incidents in her home village, Nabi Saleh.

 

Following her arrest, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir posted on Facebook congratulating the IDF for arresting her.

 

“Kudos to the IDF and the rest of the security forces who arrested the terrorist and ‘human rights activist’ Ehad Tamimi Manbi Saleh, who was previously convicted of attacking IDF soldiers and since the outbreak of the war has expressed sympathy and support for the Nazi human beings on social media,” he wrote. “Zero tolerance with terrorists and supporters of terrorism! Just like that!”

 



Marc Zell-tweet-6November2023-Meet Ahed al-Tamimi

Meet Ahed al-Tamimi, a member of an infamous family of Palestinian terrorists. Yesterday she posted on Instagram a call for the Palestinian Arabs of Judea & Samaria (West Bank) to slaughter the Jews living there (my wife and I, 2 daughters, one son-in-law and 10 grandchildren are among them) saying, “after we’re finished with you, you’ll think what Hitler did to you Jews was a joke.” She’s shown in the photo being arrested by security forces for incitement. THIS IS ANOTHER REASON WHY WE ARE FIGHTING.

Marc Zell-tweet-6November2023-Meet Ahed al-Tamimi

Marc Zell-tweet-6November2023-Meet Ahed al-Tamimi

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Israeli housing minister kickstarts process to evict UNRWA

Yitzhak Goldknopf instructed the Israel Lands Authority “to immediately end all agreements” with the “nefarious” organization over its ties to Hamas

https://www.jns.org/israeli-housing-minister-kickstarts-process-to-evict-unrwa/

 

(February 13, 2024 / JNS) Israeli Housing and Construction Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf has instructed the Israel Land Authority (ILA) to immediately cancel all lease agreements with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency and evict it from its main headquarters in eastern Jerusalem.

 

UNRWA “acted in the service of Hamas and even took part in the brutal massacre on Oct. 7, and mounting evidence shows that the organization has been supporting, assisting and educating [Palestinians] to harm Israel,” Goldknopf wrote in a letter made public on Monday night.

 

The minister instructed ILA head Yanki Quint “to immediately end all agreements of the Israel Land Authority with the nefarious UNRWA organization and remove them from the territories leased to them and from all the territories that the organization uses in the State of Israel.”

 

UNRWA maintains extensive facilities in Jerusalem, including a large compound on Shlomo Zalman Shragai Street in Maalot Dafna and structures in the capital’s northeastern Kafr Aqab neighborhood.

 

YinonMagal-tweet-12February2024-sever all ties with UNRA

שר השיכון גולדקנופף הנחה את רמ”י לנתק כל קשר עם אונר”א ולפנות את הארגון שיושב על אדמה השייכת למדינה

Translated from Hebrew by

Housing Minister Goldknopf instructed Rami to sever all ties with UNRA and evacuate the organization that sits on land belonging to the state

YinonMagal-tweet-12February2024-sever all ties with UNRA

YinonMagal-tweet-12February2024-sever all ties with UNRA

 

The agency has been embroiled in scandal since last month’s revelation of the involvement of 12 of its employees in Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre.

 

One of the UNRWA workers is accused of kidnapping a woman, another of participating in the Kibbutz Be’eri massacre, in which nearly 100 people were killed, and a third of distributing ammunition.

 

Last week, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich ordered the annulment of tax benefits granted to UNRWA, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked the country’s military to find alternatives for the distribution of humanitarian aid to Palestinians.

 

The Prime Minister’s Office said on Jan. 30 that intelligence “indicates that out of approximately 12,000 UNRWA employees in the Gaza Strip, about 10% are Hamas or Islamic Jihad operatives, and another 50% are first-degree relatives of a Hamas operative.”

 

Late last week, Israeli forces exposed a Hamas data center underneath the Gaza headquarters of UNRWA, replete with servers, electricity, a backup power station and living quarters for terrorists.

 

Israel Defense Forces soldiers have also found missiles hidden among UNRWA relief supplies, while UNRWA-marked aid sacks were found filled with dirt and used in the lining of Hamas terror tunnels.

 

“UNRWA is totally infiltrated [by] Hamas,” Netanyahu told a visiting delegation of U.N. ambassadors earlier this month.

 

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A Seismic Victory in Gaza: Mapping the Tunnels of the “Gaza Metro”

By Malcolm E. Whittaker
16November2023  https://realclearwire.com/articles/2023/11/16/a_seismic_victory_in_gaza_mapping_the_tunnels_of_the_gaza_metro_993093.html

 

Gaza OneArmedMan, Wikimedia Commons

Gaza OneArmedMan, Wikimedia Commons

According to sources, Hamas’ tunnels under Gaza extend “a few dozen miles.” Other sources believe these tunnels extend hundreds of miles and rival the underground of a major European city. This has caused some commentators to refer to Hama’s tunnels as the “Gaza metro.” The ‘Gaza metro’: The mysterious subterranean tunnel network used by Hamas | CNN. Whatever their length, they shield fighters from surveillance and allow movement without fear of observation or attack. What if these tunnels could be precisely located? Rather than being safe locations, they would become death traps.

 

Commentators suggest the tunnels give Hamas an asymmetric advantage. The noted publication Foreign Affairs, states that only “[b]ulldozers can be used to expose tunnels during a ground operation. Drones, robots, or dogs can help clear tunnels. There might be a need to enter the tunnels to rescue hostages, as a measure of last resort. … This is how most states have eliminated subterranean threats in the past, and this is what Israel should do, as well.” (November 9, 2023, “Israel Must Destroy Hama’s Tunnels, Demolishing the Groups Infrastructure Is More Important Than Eliminating Its Leaders”). In short, according to Foreign Affairs, only personnel on the ground can locate and destroy Hama’s tunnels. Of course, Israeli personnel searching open ground to locate the entrances to the tunnels would be exposed to attack.

 

Currently used seismic equipment could locate tunnels using a system of geophones and pulse generators. However, personnel placing the geophone data acquisition equipment on the surface would be exposed to small arms fire and potential capture. The need to potentially expose personnel to attack while emplacing geophones would seem to defeat use of this well-understood technology that could readily and accurately locate Hama’s tunnels.

 

At its most basic, a seismic system can map layers in the earth’s surface. To do so, as seen in the figure below, a source generates a seismic wave. This wave travels through the earth and reflects off reflecting subsurface layers, such as the roof and floor of a tunnel, and these reflected waves are collected by a receiver. A source and be anything that generates a seismic wave. Currently, stamper trucks and explosives are frequently used to generate these waves. Seismic receivers are generically referred to as “geophones.” Geophones collect seismic data, i.e., seismic waves, and map the earth’s subsurface.

Fig. 1 – Schematic of Seismic Reflection Method – courtesy of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Environmental Geophysics webpage Seismic Reflection Methods | Environmental Geophysics | U.S. EPA

Fig. 1 – Schematic of Seismic Reflection Method – courtesy of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Environmental Geophysics webpage Seismic Reflection Methods | Environmental Geophysics | U.S. EPA

Fig. 1 – Schematic of Seismic Reflection Method – courtesy of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Environmental Geophysics webpage Seismic Reflection Methods | Environmental Geophysics | U.S. EPA

 

Current seismic technology readily available from the oil field will allow identification (and then destruction) of these tunnels. Wireless Seismic METIS (Multiphysics Exploration Technology Integrated System) uses a seismic recording channel collected by autonomous drones. These drones also drop DART (Downfall Air Receiver Technology) receivers, i.e., geophones. The DARTs are dropped by the drone and impale themselves into the ground creating a system of geophones to model the subsurface data. This system was thoroughly evaluated in Papua New Guinea in 2018. Wireless Seismic News — METIS field test yields excellent results. A single drone dropped 60 DARTs in one hour and these drones recovered “real time seismic data” thereby imaging subsurface data of underground voids. Precision guided artillery shells could provide the seismic source needed for the geophones to collect subsurface data. The DART’s would be dropped inside Gaza to model any location, i.e., not just locations close to where Israeli troops are located. Thus, METIS could accurately map the entire Gaza strip.

 

Once the location of the tunnels is known, they can be destroyed using deep penetrating bombs fused to detonate deep in the ground and dropped from aircraft. This could potentially interdict the entire system of tunnels. Even an extensive metro-like system of tunnels could be defeated if important chokepoints could be detected and collapsed.

 

Finally, this technology could resolve the ongoing factual dispute over whether Hamas has placed tunnels underneath hospitals, United Nations positions, schools, and other places that are protected from attack. While not a panacea, the METIS system could answer these basic questions and, potentially, turn Hama’s tunnels into a death trap for fighters using the tunnels. At least, it would mitigate any asymmetric advantage Hama’s tunnels provide.


Malcolm E. Whittaker is a former candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives. Malcolm is an engineer and patent attorney in Houston, Texas.
This article was originally published by RealClearDefense and made available via RealClearWire.

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IDF evacuated Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza


Marina Medvin-tweet-13November2023-IDF evacuated Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza
A doctor from Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza says that IDF evacuated the hospital — that it is empty. Remember this moment because the Gaza Healthy Ministry will inevitably claim something like Israel killed 5627 hospital babies with umbilical cords attached.

Marina Medvin-tweet-13November2023-IDF evacuated Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza

Marina Medvin-tweet-13November2023-IDF evacuated Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza

 

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The war for Jewish survival

Caroline B. Glick

This is What We're Fighting For - Caroline B. Glick

This is What We’re Fighting For – Caroline B. Glick

A week into the war against Hamas, it is important to remember why Israel is vital to the Jewish people. The Caroline Glick Show IN FOCUS

(October 13, 2023 / JNS) With the end of a week that started with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declaring war on the Hamas terror organization that rules Gaza and Jews being threatened by Hamas supporters worldwide, Caroline discusses Israel’s role in the survival of the Jewish people.

 

ISRAEL AT WAR – WEEK 1: The War for Jewish Survival | The Caroline Glick Show. IN FOCUS

Posted 13October2023:

As Jews worldwide are threatened by Hamas supporters, Caroline discusses the purpose of Israel and its role in the survival of the Jewish people in Israel and worldwide.

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T. Belman. This is a great interview. The protest movement in Israel is growing. The soldiers and their families are opposed to the elite policies. And the country supports them big time. Watch it grow. A clear victory means Palestinians must be allowed to leave and Gaza must be annexed.

Major in reserves: ‘This time, we must demand complete victory in Gaza’

Caroline B. Glick

 

Major in reserves ‘This time, we must demand complete victory in Gaza - Caroline B. Glick’

Major in reserves ‘This time, we must demand complete victory in Gaza – Caroline B. Glick’

“The Caroline Glick Show,” Ep. 87

(January 8, 2024 / JNS) This week, Caroline Glick spoke with the founder of “Courage for Israel” Gilad Ach, a major in the Israeli reserves. This group of reservist Israeli Defense Forces soldiers demands from the government that the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip continue until the terror group is completely destroyed.

 

They discuss the breaking of morale among veteran soldiers who feel that they have been fighting Hamas for decades because of government indecision; what complete victory in Gaza would look like; as well as the disconnect between the dedicated soldiers on the ground and Israeli leadership at the top.

Posted 8January2024 JNS TV:
This week, Caroline Glick spoke with Major in Reserves and founder of Courage for Israel Gilad Ach. Courage for Israel is a group of reserve soldiers that are demanding from the government that they do not stop the war in Gaza until Hamas is completely destroyed.

They discuss
– the breaking of morale amongst veteran soldiers who feel that they have been fighting Hamas for decades because of government indecision
– what complete victory in Gaza looks like
– the disconnect between the wholly dedicated soldiers on the ground and the Israeli leadership at the top.

 

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Israel’s reality in 10 seconds.


Israel Defense Forces-tweet-13October2023-Israel’s reality in 10 seconds
Israel’s reality in 10 seconds.

Israel Defense Forces-tweet-13October2023-Israel's reality in 10 seconds

Israel Defense Forces-tweet-13October2023-Israel’s reality in 10 seconds

 

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We are coming back!


Malkah Fleisher-tweet-26February2024-We are coming back
We are coming back.

With our tractors, with our builders, with our rabbis, with our children.

We are coming back. 🇮🇱
Jeremy Gimpel-tweet-22February 22, 2024-Jewish Farmers from the South
AMAZING!!! Jewish Farmers from the South going past the fence in Gaza and starting to plow the fields to plant new crops. That is Redemption!

Malkah Fleisher-tweet-26February2024-We are coming back

Malkah Fleisher-tweet-26February2024-We are coming back

 

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Israel Victory Project https://www.meforum.org/israel-victory-project/

Israel Victory Project https://www.meforum.org/israel-victory-project/

Israeli Victory Is the Only ‘Proportional’ Response

by Nave Dromi
JNS
18October2023 https://www.meforum.org/israel-victory-project/65002/israeli-victory-is-the-only-proportional-response

Published originally under the title “Victory Is the Only ‘Proportional’ Response.”

 

Israeli VictoryOnce again, the international community and the media are becoming obsessively focused on the ridiculous notion of “proportionality” in regard to Israel’s response to the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre.

 

First, it should be clearly understood that there is no accepted or exact definition of the term “proportionality” or a formula for calculating it.

 

In general, the principle of proportionality involves a balance between the military advantage that will likely result from a proposed operation and the harm that is likely to be inflicted on civilians and noncombatants.

 

This is extremely hard to assess for those outside of a military and intelligence apparatus, simply because outsiders do not have access to all the information necessary to make such an assessment.

 

Unfortunately, however, many ill-informed commentators believe proportionality is simply a numbers game, as if war and conflict were some sort of sports match.

 

Already, the international media is presenting the casualties among Israelis and Palestinians side-by-side and asking if Israel’s response to the horrors and atrocities committed by Hamas terrorists is proportionate.

Israel seems to be the only country in the world who are never allowed to win a war. Whenever Israel begins to win it is told to stop.

This is outrageous. It implies that once Israel has killed more Palestinians than Palestinians killed Israelis, Israel’s war suddenly becomes illegitimate.

 

British author and journalist Douglas Murray said during a recent interview that this “would mean that, in retaliation for what Hamas did in Israel on Saturday, Israel should try to locate a music festival in Gaza, for instance—and good luck with that—and rape precisely the number of women that Hamas raped on Saturday. Kill precisely the number of young people that Hamas killed on Saturday.”

 

“They should find a town of exactly the same size as Sderot, and make sure they go door-to-door and kill precisely the correct number of babies that Hamas killed in Sderot on Saturday, and shoot in the head precisely the same number of old age pensioners as were shot in Sderot on Saturday, just to choose one town,” Murray added.

 

This response immediately shut up the interviewer who had tried to press Murray on the issue of proportionality. It was an excellent retort, but I would like to turn to another comment of Murray’s that is even more important.

 

In a recent meeting with Jewish leaders in the U.K., Murray said, “Israel seems to be the only country in the world who are never allowed to win a war. Whenever Israel begins to win it is told to stop.”

 

This is the crux of the issue.

The proportionality obsessives know Israel cannot be defeated by Hamas, so they want to ensure that Israel does not defeat Hamas.

By mercilessly pushing the proportionality narrative, Israel is being told that, in its wars of defense, it will not be allowed to achieve victory. The proportionality obsessives know Israel cannot be defeated by Hamas, so they want to ensure that Israel does not defeat Hamas.

 

This diminishes Israel’s security, to which every sovereign nation has a right.

 

Even if were possible to put aside the bestial manner in which Hamas mercilessly raped women, beheaded and burned babies, and kidnapped old women and children, it is almost trite to say that any nation that lost the same proportion of Israelis in one day to terrorist attacks would use overwhelming force to ensure that those who perpetrated the attacks could never do so again.

 

We have seen such reactions around the world and the word “proportionality” was never once used during or after such military operations. It is a word that seems to apply only to the Jewish state.

 

Israeli leaders and the IDF should dismiss such hypocritical criticisms from the international community. They should seek victory and nothing else. Victory must be the only word in our lexicon when we decide how to respond to Hamas’s atrocities.

Hamas must never be allowed to raise their heads again to massacre Israelis. This must be the last war against Hamas.

Hamas cannot be allowed to stand after this war. They must never be allowed to raise their heads again to massacre Israelis. This must be the last war against Hamas. The international community must understand why victory is essential for Israel, for the innocent Gazans who are oppressed by Hamas and for the region and beyond.

 

Hamas’s defeat will immediately make millions of innocent people more safe and secure. It will end the group’s genocidal actions and aspirations. It will also stand as a warning to other extremist and terrorist organizations around the world who threaten the lives of tens if not hundreds of millions of people.

Clearly, defeating Hamas is the only proportional response possible.

Nave Dromi is director of the Middle East Forum’s office in Israel and head of the Israel Victory Project. She is the author of the book, Rifle Full of Roses, which examines how radical agendas have influenced the IDF in recent decades.

 

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The Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies BESA https://besacenter.org/

The Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies BESA https://besacenter.org/

A New Existential War – Part III: Forming a Clear Post-War National Vision Means Returning to the Roots of Zionism

By | 8January2024 | https://besacenter.org/a-new-existential-war-part-iii-forming-a-clear-post-war-national-vision-means-returning-to-the-roots-of-zionism/

BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 2,251, January 8, 2023

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: On the morning of October 7, 2023, the strategic Israeli security concept collapsed, marking the end of the 30-year era since the Oslo Accords. With the shocking force of an earthquake, a cultural concept that had its roots planted in the dream of peace, and in the illusion that the State of Israel could aspire to become a kind of Denmark, disintegrated completely. For Israel to achieve victory in the war with Hamas, it will have to adapt its security concept to reflect a new and deeper understanding of the enemy’s perception of the nature of its struggle with Israel.

 

In the wake of October 7, the State of Israel, its society, and all its institutions are at a critical crossroads. One path forward demands a thorough investigation and examination of everything that failed on that day so the necessary corrections can be made. The second path directs Israel towards a comprehensive inquiry across all dimensions and urges the formulation of a new and updated national narrative in the face of the existential challenge. The question is, which of the two paths is worth pursuing?

 

This article is divided into three parts. The first examines the roots of the failure of October 7 and Israel’s perception of the struggle on the opposing side. The second describes the ways in which the Israeli security perception needs to evolve to provide a proper response to the opposing side’s perception of the struggle. This, the third, presents the components of the national vision and the principles of action that will ensure the existence of the State of Israel in the face of emerging threats.

“Nation of Israel, for what purpose do you live?”

Despite broad Israeli agreement on the immediate goals of the war as formulated by the cabinet, the debate over its ultimate objectives is intensifying.

 

This dispute will likely be reflected in the fundamental questions that will be asked post-war, and may also penetrate the discussions of the state inquiry committee that will undoubtedly be established. The committee will naturally address operational and technical questions, the workings of the IDF, General Staff, Southern Command, and Air Force, and regulatory relations between the IDF and the civil leadership. But the depth and scope of this crisis require a comprehensive cultural and spiritual rethinking of how we perceive ourselves and the enemy, focusing on the question of why the enemy fights and what we are fighting for.

 

Hamas and Hezbollah fight out of religious belief. By contrast, we are not clear on our reasons for uniting to fight wars beyond our desire to safeguard our existence and survival.

 

A.B. Yehoshua once posed an existential question: “Nation of Israel, for what purpose do you live?” Later, he clarified: “Survival is considered the most prominent aspect of the Jewish people… but it is not survival that is the prominent aspect, but rather how it is done, what its agenda is, what values it holds, and primarily, what its cost is.” (A.B. Yehoshua, Haaretz Books Supplement, 20.2.2013)

 

This question must be applied to clarify the central inquiry: Nation of Israel, for what purpose do you fight, and how do you fight?

 

I am not aware of a framework for a state inquiry committee that would know how to address such questions and critically examine the connections between them and the focal points of failure in the security system. Nevertheless, this inquiry, whether conscious or subconscious, will shed light on the investigation into everything that happened at the outset of the war and everything that will happen from its conclusion onwards in the context of the ongoing internal struggle in Israel over conflicting dreams.

What has Zionism achieved? The imposition of doubt

The sudden strike by Hamas thrust the Zionist idea back to the dilemma of its earliest days. It prompted an echoing of the doubt cast during Herzl’s visit: “You might solve the Jews’ problem, but you won’t solve the problem of Judaism.” On October 7, we were forcefully confronted with the fundamental Zionist question: What do the Jews want in the Land of Israel?

 

The current war, which has enveloped us all, is intertwined with the anxiety of the cultural war that erupted in Israel last year. The crisis of the Jews, which focuses on the question of physical existence, has become entangled with the crisis of Judaism, which has lost its spiritual path.

 

As early as 2005, Dan Meron touched upon the Zionist dilemma in his book Healing for Touching. A professor of 20th century Hebrew literature, Meron cast doubt on the ultimate goal of the Zionist enterprise, questioning what it has truly achieved since its inception:

 

…[T]he expectation of Zionism that the distancing of Jews from European societies and their concentration in their own country would lead to the disappearance of antisemitism did not materialize. Even the security of Zionism, which was supposed to be able to extricate the Jewish people from existential threats, leading to a new Jewish existential activism, did not come to fruition and may not reach the goal it set for itself…The historical development of Zionism and its success in achieving Jewish statehood have only led to the replacement of one type of existential threat with another. (Dan Meron, 2005, Healing for Touching, p. 63, translated from the Hebrew)

 

With these words, Meron raises two challenging questions about the state of Zionism, both of which have been debated since its beginnings.

 

In one dimension of the Zionist vision, Herzl sought a response to antisemitism. With his visionary breakthrough, he acknowledged that the Jews had not succeeded in finding a solution to the problem of antisemitism even though they had exhausted every possible avenue, including assimilation. He believed that if the Jews could only gather in their own normal state, where they could be accepted as a nation among nations, a state among nation-states, it would bring an end to antisemitism.

 

We must ask whether over the hundred years since the beginning of the Zionist effort to gather the Jews in their homeland, Herzl’s expectation of the disappearance of antisemitism has been realized. It appears that the opposite has occurred. Antisemitism has emerged in a new form that is more sophisticated, as it is shielded by a kind of vaccine: it is ostensibly not hatred of Jews as Jews, but merely criticism of the State of Israel. Yet fierce antipathy is directed against Jews worldwide whenever they voice complaints about actions that threaten the State of Israel, actions they feel endanger them as well. Jews around the world are thus forbidden to defend Israel or the Jews who live in it or be themselves the victims of antisemitism. The process that was supposed to solve antismitism has instead generated, over the past two decades, a new and equally dangerous form of it. In this way, Meron argues, the Zionist vision has become caught in a deadlock.

 

In the second dimension, Zionism sought a response to the problem of the need to physically protect Jews, who have never ceased suffering persecution, pogroms, and other threats around the world. In this dimension as well, Meron raises a concern that has troubled many Israelis. There is a fear that despite Israel’s independence and military strength, Zionism has achieved nothing more than to replace one existential problem, like pogroms in Kishinev, with another one, like the Iranian nuclear threat that threatens Tel Aviv or the Simchat Torah massacre of the northwestern Negev. In essence, Zionism has merely swapped ailment A for ailment B.

 

Yet despite Meron’s reservations, to those who witness the combat spirit of the IDF soldiers and the full support of their parents, the Zionist narrative manifests itself in all its practical simplicity by demonstrating a readiness to fight without hesitation to defend the people and the country. This is a major historical achievement.

Cracks in the “Iron Wall”

A hundred years ago, in the article “The Iron Wall,” Ze’ev Jabotinsky laid the cornerstone for the foundations of Israel’s security perception. As early as 1923, he identified the motivations behind Arab resistance to the Zionist enterprise in the Land of Israel and proposed a strategic approach to achieving Zionist goals.

 

The relevance of his article to the security challenges of modern-day Israel can be summarized in three statements.

First: The Arab resistance and struggle against Zionism express a religious-nationalist struggle with enduring motivational roots. The idea promoted by the American government and European Union leadership that a positive, lasting solution to the conflict can be arrived at through suitable compensation and willing compromise has been repeatedly revealed as overly optimistic.

Second: The Arab struggle and adoption of terrorist methods and violence do not stem from economic hardship, poverty, and despair, as many in the West and certain prominent Israeli “peace-seekers” claim. Instead, it arises from the Arab hope that Zionist dominance can be consistently challenged and weakened until its ultimate demise. It is not despair that generates Arab terrorism but hope.

Third: In recognizing the first two statements as true, the concept of the “Iron Wall” negates the Arab hope of achieving gains through incessant resistance to the Zionist Israeli presence and authority.

 

In 1936, during a discussion at the Mapai Center, David Ben-Gurion stated that “there is no chance for an understanding with the Arabs.” Therefore, efforts should be directed towards an understanding with the British. He said, “What can push the Arabs towards mutual understanding with us? Facts! Only after we manage to create a significant Jewish presence in the Land of Israel, with a Jewish force that everyone will see cannot be moved, only then will the preliminary conditions for discussion with the Arabs be established.”

 

The language and spirit of these words express the Iron Wall position as articulated in Jabotinsky’s article: “As long as the Arabs have even a glimmer of hope of getting rid of us, they will not give up on this hope… A living people agrees to concessions on fateful questions whose importance is immense only when it has no hope, only when not a single crack is visible in the Iron Wall.”

 

In recent years, deep cracks have appeared in the Zionist Iron Wall. The goal of the current war should be to restore the Zionist Iron Wall and establish it with renewed strength for the next hundred years.

 

Within this context, the rehabilitation of the communities damaged in Hamas’s attack and the return of the communities to the Galilee and Negev are critical components in the reconstruction of the Iron Wall. This means far more than simply renovation and construction. Ben-Gurion wrote about the sources of strength for victory in 1948: “We reached victory through three paths: the path of faith, the path of pioneering creativity, and the path of suffering.” These will be the paths to victory in today’s war as well.

The collapse of the dream of peace

In his eulogy at the grave of Ro’i Rothberg in Nahal Oz in April 1956, Chief of Staff Moshe Dayan said: “A generation of pioneers we are, bareheaded, with steel helmets and the rifle. We cannot plant a tree and build a home. Our children will not have a life if we do not dig shelters…” The speech concluded with the statement: “Ro’i – the light in his heart blinded his eyes, and he did not see the flash of the mortar. The yearning for peace silenced his ears, and he did not hear the voice of the ambush…”

 

In the midst of the War of Attrition, at the end of the Command and Staff College course in 1969, Moshe Dayan stated his existential philosophy: “Rest and heritage are longed-for aspirations for us, not realities. And if we occasionally achieve them, they are only short intermediate stations – aspirations for the continuation of the struggle.” Explaining the necessity of an endless struggle, he said: “The only basic answer we can give to the question ‘what will be’ is – we will continue to fight, just as we did in the past, and now too. The answer to the question ‘what will be’ must focus on our ability to withstand difficulties, our ability to cope – more than on absolute and final solutions to our problems. We must prepare ourselves mentally and physically for a prolonged process of struggle.”

 

These words differ significantly from those expressed by the Israeli leadership in recent decades. For instance, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, in his speech at the UN, chose to emphasize: “What Israelis want is a good life for themselves and their families and a future ready for their children.”

 

Moshe Dayan, despite his emphasis on normalcy, always highlighted the presence in our consciousness of the struggle. This was brutally expressed in his will, where he instructed his three children: “Serve the inheritance of the fathers each one, and the sword over your beds, and in the evening, it will become a legacy to your sons. And now, let each one take his backpack and stick and cross the Jordan in his own way…” (Yael Dayan, My Father’s House, p. 207).

 

Yael Dayan, representing a generation that has refused to reconcile with the inevitability of constant struggle, described in her book her deep dissociation from her father’s will: “I felt like a person banished from paradise, a curse more than a blessing. We were all destined to work the land and fight, and this was a commandment for our children.” (ibid.)

 

On Saturday, October 7, the dream of an Israeli paradise collapsed. With the war in Ukraine and even in Western Europe, it has become clear that despite hopes for peace everywhere, there is no paradise on Earth. As expressed in the Negev lullaby my mother sang to me in my childhood, “There is no deep silence without a weapon…sleep, son.”

Conclusion

The State of Israel is in one of the most difficult crises it has ever known. It suffered an unprecedented blow and is required to receive an unprecedented punishment. Asking to return to the familiar track after making technical repairs is asking to escape the true magnitude of the repair that is required. The national leadership of the State of Israel, together with the security system, must be committed in the face of this crisis to formulating a new national security concept.

 

After the surprise attack by Hamas on October 7, will residents of Rosh HaAyin and Kfar Saba lend a hand in the establishment of a Palestinian state that would turn them into border settlements akin to Nahal Oz or Metula? Any arrangement of the territory of Israel between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea that aims at a Jewish withdrawal from Judea and Samaria, an uprooting of Israeli settlements, and a defining of the eastern border of the State of Israel in the Rosh HaAyin-Kfar Saba region along Highway 6 would be a Palestinian national victory and an Israeli defeat.

 

Despite all our faith in the IDF and its capabilities, there is not now, and there will not be, an option to defend the State of Israel along the coastal strip. This fact must be brought to broad national consensus and placed at the center of the Israeli security perception.

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Maj. Gen. (res.) Gershon Hacohen is a senior research fellow at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies. He served in the IDF for 42 years. He commanded troops in battles with Egypt and Syria. He was formerly a corps commander and commander of the IDF Military Colleges.

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Israel to launch the largest military campaign in West Bank history


Mudar Adnan Zahran-tweet-8January2024-Israel to launch the largest military campaign in West Bank history
Israel is about to launch the largest military campaign in the history of the West Bank to completely exterminate armed cells, dozens of names on the target list…
The operations will introduce “a different utilization of drones “, fighting will be parallel the war in Gaza at the hottest points; those are Jenin and its camp, Nablus and Balata camp, Tulkarm camp, and Shuafat camp…

Mudar Adnan Zahran-tweet-8January2024-Israel to launch the largest military campaign in West Bank history

Mudar Adnan Zahran-tweet-8January2024-Israel to launch the largest military campaign in West Bank history

 

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Arutz Sheva http://www.israelnationalnews.com/

The war against Hamas should bring with it a paradigm shift

For far too long, Zionism has been stuck in a defensive mode. Op-ed.

Howard Rotberg  9December2023 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/381680

 

Come gather ’round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You’ll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth savin’
Then you better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’

 

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won’t come again
And don’t speak too soon
For the wheel’s still in spin
And there’s no tellin’ who that it’s namin’
For the loser now will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin’

– Bob Dylan

 

Watching the protests in American and Canadian and European cities where predominantly young people call for a genocide of the Jews in Israel – “From the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free” – one is struck by some important facts.

 

First, a lot of the protests are in universities and while Antifa and other anti-liberal groups participate, one can assume that the protesters have a high representation among Muslims and/or university students. Looking at the female protestors, anywhere from 50% to 75% are wearing hijabs.

 

Second, university professors, mainly in Middle Eastern studies and gender and diversity studies, are indoctrinating their students to hate Israel and Jews everywhere.

 

Third, while many may be in a country on student or other temporary visas, looking at the population figures for Muslims in the West, they are a growing presence and a growing influence. Surely if we allow people with vile opinions into the country, we must be prepared to live with the consequences once they assume elected office.

 

Third, this growing influence can be seen in American Muslim areas like Dearbor, Michigan and Minneapolis, Minnesota..

Fourth, although not all the residents there are radical Islamists, we see that they are electing university trained Islamists, such as Ilhan Omar in Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib in Dearborn.

 

Fifth, these elected representatives organize themselves into radical caucuses allying with left-wing Black radicals and spend a lot of time trying to pressure their governments to take anti-Israel actions.

 

Sixth, we see in the case of American Secretary of State Blinken, who is apparently Jewish, that efforts are made to pressure Israel to lose the war against Hamas by allowing some Palestinian Arab group, be it the corrupt and hateful Palestinian Authority or others, to participate in the governance of Gaza after the war. Anyone who understands the facts about the history of Palestinian Arab terrorism and rejectionism of peace proposals should understand that America and other western countries have become financial backers of Palestinian Arab terrorism and leaders in the international efforts to isolate and endanger Israel.

 

And so, in this context, we who support Israel must begin to look at a paradigm shift. According to Merriam-Webster is “an important change that happens when the usual way of thinking about or doing something is replaced by a new and different way.”

 

We need a new way of looking at those who support Islamist terrorism whether it is in the UN, in the universities, in the media, or from elected officials who are Islamists – and a new way of dealing with them.

 

For far too long, Zionism has been stuck in a defensive mode, whether it is trying to deal with an evil United Nations, UNRWA and UNHCR, or international NGOs, including those funded and controlled by antisemites such as George Soros and including BDS boycotters and advocates for diversity and inclusion – which promises inclusion for everyone except the Jews of Israel and their supporters.

 

Israel has become a powerful country in terms of its military, its high tech sector and its finances, but what good is power if you don’t use it? I am thinking here of using power to shift the paradigm. Specifically the paradigm that Muslims are growing all around the world and have through immigration and demographics grown so much in terms of power in the West that there is nothing we can do, except submit. I discuss this sad submission in my book The Ideological Path to Submission … and what we can do about it. We must address the issue head on – we shall never submit to Sharia Law, jihad and a world-wide Caliphate just as we shall never submit to Hamas, no matter what naive talks emanate from the talking heads in the media.

 

I have written a lot about Germany and the gradual evolution of its Israel policy from that of “special relationship” to that of a typical European antipathy. See my essays in israel National News: “Germany’s Moral Choice”, January 20, 2020, “Michelle Goldberg and Angela Merkel seek moral absolution in the wrong place”, October 31, 2021 and “A two-state solution for Germany and other migrant-filled European countries”, November 17, 2023.

 

The demographic situation in Germany, France, Sweden, Belgium etc., and the rise of European leaders on the right, including Orban in Hungary and Gert Wilders in the Netherlands has perhaps opened the floodgates, where the alliance between leftists and Islamists is seen to be bad for society, and people are unafraid to say so and risk the opprobrium from the politically correct.

 

Here is a speech given by German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck on Nov. 2.

“Hamas’s terrorist attack on Israel took place almost four weeks ago now. A lot has happened since then. Not only politically, but especially for the people. So many people’s lives are now consumed by fear and suffering. Public debate since the attack has been heated, sometimes muddled.

 

“Too much seems to me to have been mixed up too quickly. The phrase, ‘Israel’s security is part of Germany’s raison d’état’ has never been an empty phrase, and it must not become one. It means that Israel’s security is essential for us as a country. This special relationship with Israel stems from our historical responsibility.

 

“It was the generation of my grandparents that wanted to exterminate Jewish life in Germany and Europe. After the Holocaust, the founding of Israel was the promise of protection to the Jews — and Germany is compelled to help ensure that this promise can be fulfilled. This is a historical foundation of our republic.

 

“Our historical responsibility also means that Jews must be able to live freely and safely in Germany.”

This statement shows to me that classical antisemitism rising in places where Islamists are taking power means the beginning of a realistic assessment of liberalism and whether individual human rights can coexist with radical Islam.

 

Germany, despite the passage of time is still known for Naziism just as the Arabs should be known for their terrorist groups. Hamas, while it has awakened the protesting antisemites, has also awakened Good people everywhere to advocate for Good over Evil. It should also awaken the Arab countries who were attracted to the Abraham Accord and who fear Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood.

 

Toby Axelrod reports in JTA: “Recognizing Israel’s right to exist is now mandatory for those who want to become German citizens in the former East German state of Saxony-Anhalt.

 

“Applicants living in the state will have to confirm in writing ‘that they recognize Israel’s right to exist and condemn any efforts directed against the existence of the State of Israel.”

 

The paradigm shift must be that the advantages of citizenship in the freedom loving western nations must be reserved for those who do not hate our freedoms and wish to replace them with Sharia law and jihad. America under Biden not only has an open border policy but also does not properly vet regular immigrants. The shift in assumptions and policies must take into account that the world is a nasty place and evil must be constantly fought, and that multiculturalism must be adjusted to recognize that not all cultures are equal.

 

On the bright side, I believe some young people are ready for a paradigm shift away from the reflexive UN anti-Israel resolutions and the totalitarian leftist-Islamist alliance. For example, the youth wing of the German Social Democratic Party (SPD), called the Jusos, in late November, 2019, condemned its leadership’s anti-Israel voting record at the UN. This organization of 14 to 35 year-olds has over 70,000 members. who adopted a resolution that the “disproportionate condemnation of Israel, the only democratic state in the Middle East” is a problem affecting UN bodies “that is carried on not only by states of the Middle East, but also European states, who pass, or abstain from, anti-Israel resolutions”. They urged the leadership to “dissociate from the initiatives and alliances of antisemitic member states in the bodies and specialized agencies of the United Nations.

 

Donald Trump was a great U.S. President in foreign matters including Israel and specifically his Abraham Accord. Joseph Biden, perhaps just a tool of his far left and anti-Israel advisors has been one of the worst presidents, specifically for empowering and enriching Iran, the country that boasts of its intentions to use nuclear weapons against Israel.

 

A paradigm shift must take account of the damage wrought by Biden and how Israel will be able to live safely in a world full of appeasers and antisemites. Although he is helping Israel with arms, Biden wants a shrunken weakened Israel and a strong Iran.

 

Every Jew must see himself or herself as a Maccabee. From the Maccabees to the IDF, we fight, but on Hanukkah we don’t celebrate a military victory as much as a religious victory. Our Maccabees throughout history will sacrifice on our behalf, and our duty is to properly analyze the shifting paradigms so that we can win the war of ideologies.

 

Howard Rotberg is the author of The Second Catastrophe: A Novel About a Book and its Author, (about Israel during the Second Intifada), TOLERism: The Ideology Revealed, and The Ideological Path to Submission… and what we can do about it.

 

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Keppler, Victor. Buy war bonds: Third War Loan., poster, 1943; [Washington, D.C.]

Keppler, Victor. Buy war bonds: Third War Loan., poster, 1943; [Washington, D.C.]

Israel needs to Sell War Bonds to Rebuild her Industries.

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Rising from the ruins of a generation of Israeli doctrine

It will take years to correct the damage the generals wrought by reducing the size of the IDF and inducing its total dependence on the United States

Caroline B. Glick

Caroline B. Glick is the senior contributing editor of Jewish News Syndicate and host of the “Caroline Glick Show” on JNS. She is also the diplomatic commentator for Israel’s Channel 14, as well as a columnist for Newsweek. Glick is the senior fellow for Middle Eastern Affairs at the Center for Security Policy in Washington and a lecturer at Israel’s College of Statesmanship.

https://www.jns.org/rising-from-the-ruins-of-a-generation-of-israeli-doctrine/

 

(December 22, 2023 / JNS) Two underlying assumptions guided Israel’s security establishment for the past generation. The first asserted that with the end of the Cold War, the era of conventional wars had ended. In the present age, brains, rather than brawn, would rule the roost.

 

The primary author of the “small and smart IDF” doctrine was Ehud Barak, who served as Chief of General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces when the Berlin Wall crumbled. In later years, the slogan was finessed.

 

A generation of IDF Chiefs of General Staff organized around the vision of a “small, technological and lethal army.”

As Maj. Gen. Yitzhak Brick, (retired) who served as the IDF ombudsman for ten years, has documented, operating under the spell of Barak’s doctrine, the IDF shut down multiple reserve divisions. It cut its artillery forces by 50%. Armored brigades were shut down. The reserve force was reduced by 80% between 2003 and 2017. The non-commissioned officer corps was gutted. The bulk of the IDF budget and nearly all the U.S. military aid were diverted to the Air Force—the strategic arm of the “small, technological and lethal” IDF.

 

The doctrine was repeatedly exposed as a farce. But to no avail. The air force didn’t defeat the Palestinian terror factories in Judea and Samaria in 2002. The ground forces did. The air force never had a response to missiles from Hezbollah to the north and Hamas to the south. Without regional brigades defending the borders, Israel’s “peacetime” borders with Jordan on the east and Egypt at its west became highways for weapons smugglers.

 

Brick’s warnings fell on deaf ears until the “small, smart army” fallacy was obliterated by Hamas invaders on Oct. 7. Israel’s multi-billion shekel “smart fence” was felled by bulldozers. Its automatic response system was obliterated by RPGs. Hundreds of soldiers manning these worthless technological wonders were slaughtered or kidnapped. Everything failed.

 

A microcosm of all things oppressive

This brings us to the second underlying assumption that guided Israel’s security establishment for the past generation. This assumption, also championed by Barak, asserted that Israel’s most important strategic asset was the United States.

 

Leaving aside the obvious fact that a strategy of dependence on an outside actor effectively gutted Israel’s national independence, on the surface, Barak’s dependence concept seemed reasonable.

 

The Americans rescued Israel with its weapons airlift in the 1973 Yom Kippur War. In 1992, the United States was the sole global superpower. Because Israel was seen as Washington’s “mini-me,” countries worldwide lined up to be friends with Israel, which they perceived as the gateway to Washington. The vast majority of Americans supported Israel. U.S. military aid to Israel enjoyed wide bipartisan support.

 

Under the spell of Barak’s U.S. dependence doctrine, Israel gutted its domestic military production capabilities. Nearly everything that it had produced domestically—from uniforms to rifles to bullets, to artillery and tank shells—was shut down. Thousands of military industry workers lost their jobs. Knowledge was lost. The contracts moved to the United States. Even projects developed jointly by Israeli engineers financed by America were transferred to the United States for production. So it happened that Israel’s Iron Dome missiles are solely produced in the United States.

 

Along with Barak, the dependence doctrine’s biggest champions were the air force generals. Under their leadership, Israel’s air force effectively became a U.S. asset. The air force cannot operate without U.S. platforms, spare parts and bombs. All air force ordnance is made in America.

 

But even during the 1990s and 2000s, the writing was appearing on the walls telling us that things were changing in America. A generation after the United States emerged from the Cold War as the sole global superpower, it struggles to contend with the threat of China, which surpasses it in several key technologies.

 

Under the spell of globalization, the United States gutted its industrial base. Even if it wanted to, today it is hard-pressed to repeat the 1973 airlift in real time.

 

Even worse, the end of the Cold War initiated changes in American society that over the past 20 years have exploded in convulsive transformations.

 

Since the early 2000s, hard-core cultural Marxist progressives have seized control over the U.S. education system at all levels. As a result, young Americans are emerging from high schools and universities with values unlike anything we have ever seen.

 

The new American values are built around a division of humanity into two classes: oppressor and oppressed. “Oppressors,” young Americans now believe, are evil and must be punished. “Oppressed” are pure and must be empowered. The United States is the chief oppressor. Its social and economic orders must be radically transformed to expiate its sins.

 

Israel (America’s “mini-me”), and Jews generally, are presented as a microcosm of all things oppressive.

The implications of this progressive indoctrination present America with an existential challenge. If allowed to continue into the next generation, the United States will be destroyed.

 

For Jews, the threat this indoctrination poses is immediate, as a survey published last week by Harvard-Harris demonstrated.

 

Harvard-Harris asked their respondents’ views on the Israel-Hamas war, and more broadly, about Jews and Jew-hatred. The answers showed that unlike their parents and grandparents, young Americans have embraced a comprehensive, internally consistent and genocidal hatred for Israel and Jews.

 

Two-thirds of Americans aged 18 to 24 believe that Jews are oppressors and should be treated as such. Around 70% in that same age bracket believe that antisemitism is rising in the United States generally and on university campuses specifically. They believe that calls for genocide of Jews are hate speech and a form of harassment.

 

At the same time, 53% of them think this harassment and hate speech should go unpunished.

Similarly, 66% of 18- to 24-year-olds agree that Hamas’s attack on Oct. 7 was genocidal. All the same, 60% believe it was justified.

 

Logically flowing from these sentiments, 51% of young Americans believe that the proper end of the Palestinian-Israel conflict is the destruction of the Jewish state and its replacement with a Hamas-controlled Palestinian entity. That is, the majority of young Americans support the annihilation of the Jewish people.

 

Unlike the generals’ “small, smart army” doctrine, it took several weeks for the public to see the devastating consequences of their “America-dependence doctrine.”

America in a holding pattern

In the immediate aftermath of Oct. 7, their faith in American support seemed to be borne out. President Joe Biden and his top advisers pledged their total support for Israel. Biden deployed U.S. aircraft carrier groups to the Eastern Mediterranean and promised $14.3 billion in supplemental military aid to Israel to ensure that Israel has what it needs to successfully win the war.

 

But in recent weeks, particularly since Israel resumed its operation in Gaza at the end of November after the 10-day hostages-for-terrorists ceasefire, that assessment has changed dramatically. The public has realized that friendliness and declarations of solidarity aside, the United States does not share—and in some areas opposes—Israel’s war aims. To win the war, Israel must eradicate Hamas in Gaza and remove the threat Hezbollah poses to northern Israel. It must also take action to prevent the Houthis from maintaining their effective maritime blockade of the Port of Eilat.

 

On all of these fronts, Biden and his top aides have made clear that their goals are not the same as Israel’s. They do not seek the eradication of Hamas and the return of the hostages. They seek the end of the war and the return of the hostages. And at the end of the war, they want to rebuild Gaza. They want to use the war’s end as a means to compel Israel into a “peace process.” The goal of that process is to establish a Palestinian state in Gaza, and Judea and Samaria, led by terrorists from the Palestinian Authority which, like Hamas, seeks the annihilation of the Jewish state.

 

In Lebanon, the administration seeks to prevent war, even though doing so will leave Hezbollah with its capacity to invade the Galilee and destroy strategic targets all over Israel with its massive missile arsenal.

 

As for Yemen, the United States has demanded that Israel take no offensive action against either the Houthis or the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps’ overlords directing Houthi operations from their spy ship in the Red Sea.

 

Instead, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has formed a multinational task force from which Israel has been excluded. While its purpose is subject still to speculation, to many U.S. and Israeli observers, it appears that America intends to use its coalition to beef up its efforts to intercept Houthi missiles and drones launched against merchant vessels in the Red Sea. That is, as with Hezbollah, the U.S. goal vis-à-vis the Houthis seems to be to end Houthi assaults on merchant ships without diminishing their capacity to carry them out.

 

As for military supplies, the $14.3 billion is still languishing in Congress. It won’t be considered until Congress reconvenes on Jan. 9 after the Christmas and New Year recess.

 

It will take years to correct the damage the generals wrought by reducing the size of the IDF and inducing its total dependence on the United States.

‘The IDF is changing its view’

But this week, the Defense Ministry let it be known that it is moving to correct the situation. On Tuesday, Ynet reported that the Defense Ministry is initiating what it refers to as “Independence Project.”

 

According to the report, the Defense Ministry is launching a crash program with Israel’s military industries and major industrialists to make Israel independent in everything related to ordnance. In the initial phase, Israel will begin producing bombs for its aircraft. Jerusalem also intends to expand its production of tank and artillery shells, as well as assault rifles and bullets. Separately, there is increased discussion regarding the establishment of a missile force as an independent arm of the IDF. The force would reduce reliance on the air force and develop more versatile, more easily defended missile launch platforms and massively expand Israel’s missile and drone arsenals.

 

After meeting with Defense Ministry Director General Maj. Gen. Eyal Zamir, Ron Tomer, the head of Israel’s Industrialists Union, told Ynet, “The war demonstrates our need for a powerful and advanced industrial base to ensure Israel’s national strength and independent capabilities. The IDF is changing its view of how it arms its forces, enlarging domestic production lines in order to be less dependent on ordnance from abroad. The ideal of a small high-tech military did not prove itself.”

 

Brick and others argue that had Hezbollah joined Hamas in invading and bombing Israel on Oct. 7, Israel may well have been destroyed that day. A combination of Hezbollah’s 10,000-man Radwan Brigades perched at the border and capable of invading the Galilee, and a barrage of up to 4,000 missiles with various payloads targeting Israel’s air bases, and other strategic sites and civilian population centers every day for weeks, would have caused irreparable damage equal in force to a nuclear bomb.

 

Iran’s decision not to involve Hezbollah on Oct. 7 has given Israel the opportunity to reorganize its forces and prepare for the multi-front war that awaits us. We don’t have a moment to lose.

 

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Israel can mobilize & equip 350,000 soldiers, its economy, and homefront


Ron M.-tweet-27February2024-Israel can mobilize
Unprecedented: The most important thing learned from the GAZA War is that Israel can mobilize & equip 350,000 soldiers, its economy, and homefront, along with tanks & aircraft to fight for 5 months of daily combat & missile war.

Trust me Iran & Hezbollah noticed. 🇮🇱

Ron M-tweet-27February2024-Israel can mobilize

Ron M-tweet-27February2024-Israel can mobilize

 

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Israel Signals Self-Reliance for Weapons

By Simone Ledeen
04January2024 https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2024/01/04/israel_signals_self-reliance_for_weapons_1002676.html

Israel’s declaration that it intends to expand its domestic munitions production heralds a new chapter in U.S.-Israel relations, where strategic recalibration meets the challenges of an evolving international arms landscape. Israel’s announcement signifies a dual aim: to diminish U.S. leverage in its military operations and to confront the relentless shortages prevalent in the global market. In the volatile landscape of global munitions sales, the Black Sabbath massacre orchestrated by Hamas has seemingly propelled Israel into a serious reassessment of how much leverage over its military decision-making it is willing to give the United States.

 

On December 29th with Israel engaged in heavy fighting during clearing operations in Gaza, and a looming regional conflict on the horizon, the Biden White House approved the second emergency transfer of the month for Israel, this one totaling nearly $150 million in military equipment, including critically important 155mm artillery ammunition. In response to Israel’s previous emergency request, the US expedited the delivery of over 13,000 tank shells.

 

Historically, the United States has been a key supplier of military aid to Israel, offering critical support in times of conflict. However, the increasing acknowledgment within Israel’s leadership that this dependence also translates to a degree of subservience in military decision-making seems to have prompted a reevaluation. By cultivating a more self-reliant approach to armaments, Israel aims to reduce its vulnerability to external influences, particularly, the leverage that U.S. armaments confer on its military decisions.

 

While the alliance is rooted in shared values and common interests, the leverage the U.S. holds through the provision of military aid has, at times, led to complex diplomatic negotiations, acknowledging the occasional divergence in goals between Israel and the U.S. The U.S. imperative is not just to address regional conflicts but to grapple with a global market in flux. The global weapons market is always driven by geopolitical shifts, and now more than ever, an insatiable demand for artillery ammunition as two hot shooting wars are taking place.

 

In recent months, the U.S. had to some extent stepped up production within our defense industrial base to meet immediate demands and replenish stockpiles, but more is needed and quickly. The urgency for increased production becomes not just a response to immediate needs, but a strategic imperative to stay ahead in an ever-evolving defense landscape where the future is increasingly violent and difficult to predict.

 

In addition to old-fashioned artillery, unmanned aerial vehicles, particularly First Person View (FPV) drones, have emerged as transformative assets. The ability to deploy munitions from drones reshapes the dynamics of conflict, presenting both opportunities and ethical challenges.

 

FPV drones, equipped with real-time video transmission systems, have become linchpins in modern warfare. In both Israel’s war with Hamas and Ukraine’s war with Russia, these drones provide tactical advantages by offering military forces a valuable tool for reconnaissance, target identification, and even the delivery of munitions. Yet, the integration of FPV technology also raises ethical concerns. Battlefield videos from Ukraine show these drones sometimes being used for activities that violate international norms.

 

In this landscape, the FPV drone discussion stands as a microcosm of the broader challenges and opportunities that define our American path forward. Israel is signaling an intent to chart its own course in the coming months and years, as it must defeat Hamas both militarily and politically, despite pressure for a ceasefire from some quarters.

 

The recent emergency transfers of military equipment from the Biden White House to Israel have highlighted the constraints that come with heavy reliance on external support. The expedited deliveries, while addressing immediate needs, have underscored the vulnerability inherent in relying on a foreign ally for crucial military supplies during times of conflict and the many reasons why this current global environment requires a new approach.


Simone Ledeen is an accomplished national security professional with expertise spanning defense policy, intelligence, counterterrorism, counter threat finance, and emerging technologies. As Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Middle East Policy, Ms. Ledeen was responsible for U.S. defense policy for Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestinian Authority, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. She strengthened key U.S. defense relationships through close collaboration with foreign counterparts and oversaw the development and implementation of critical policies and initiatives including in counterterrorism, information operations, cybersecurity, and emerging technologies. Ms. Ledeen advises several venture capital and early-stage defense technology firms. Previously, Ms. Ledeen held various leadership roles across the U.S. Government, executing complex operations overseas and spearheading initiatives to counter extremist threats. She received her MBA from Bocconi University and her B.A. from Brandeis University.

 

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Israel begins shift to domestic ammunition production

“The lesson from the war in Ukraine and against Hamas is identical: Israel must significantly increase its arsenal,” said a former Israeli defense official.

Yaakov Lappin https://www.jns.org/israel-begins-shift-to-domestic-ammunition-production/

Yaakov Lappin is an Israel-based military affairs correspondent and analyst. He is the in-house analyst at the Miryam Institute; a research associate at the Alma Research and Education Center; and a research associate at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University. He is a frequent guest commentator on international television news networks, including Sky News and i24 News. Lappin is the author of Virtual Caliphate: Exposing the Islamist State on the Internet. Follow him at: www.patreon.com/yaakovlappin.

 

(February 8, 2024 / JNS) In the wake of the ongoing war against Hamas and its exposure of Israel’s near total dependence on the United States to replenish its stocks of ammunition, Israel has begun shifting toward greater domestic ammunition production.
The Israeli Defense Ministry has begun reaching out to local defense companies to boost production lines and place orders that will ensure they churn out ammunition for years to come, as a top priority.

 

The ministry saw domestic production as a priority even before the war, but the issue has now risen to the top of the national agenda.

 

“The lesson from the war in Ukraine and against Hamas is identical: Israel must significantly increase the arsenal with which it enters the campaign,” a former defense official told JNS.

 

This includes a variety of arms, ranging from Iron Dome interceptors to sophisticated guided air-to-ground munitions and artillery shells. Tank shells could also be a candidate for domestic production.

 

Yet not everything can be moved to Israel. Military aircraft will continue to be made in the United States.

 

The cost of producing aircraft for a single military without exporting them to additional clients would make their production a financial non-starter for Israeli defense industries. Nor would the U.S. agree for Israel to begin competing with it in the global fighter aircraft market, as the 1980s Lavi jet project, which shut down for these reasons, demonstrated.

 

On Jan. 25, ministry director general Maj. Gen. (res.) Eyal Zamir concluded a working visit to Washington, D.C., where he met with senior U.S. Department of Defense and State Department leadership, as well as with Lockheed Martin and Boeing executives.

 

Those two companies produce the Israeli Air Force’s growing fleet—F-35s, CH53 transport helicopters, Apache helicopters and F-15s. Israel is reportedly attempting to fast-track some of those deliveries, particularly the Apaches.

 

“The visit underscored the close cooperation between Israel and the United States since the beginning of the ongoing Swords of Iron war,” the ministry said in a statement at the time. “Maj. Gen. (res.) Zamir engaged in discussions with his American counterparts about armament procurement, aligning with preparations for evolving combat scenarios. The discussions also focused on plans for force build-up in the upcoming multi-year strategy, including the acquisition of advanced platforms and capabilities to maintain the IDF’s qualitative military edge and readiness for diverse scenarios. This approach integrates lessons learned from the war into strategies for obtaining military equipment,” it stated.

 

Nevertheless, it has become painfully clear that Israel’s dependence on American ammunition supplies, which saw more than 200 cargo planes touch down Israel following Hamas’s Oct. 7 invasion, has become a danger to national security and independence.

 

This dependence means that any Israeli Cabinet must consider the principle of “legitimacy” in its warfare planning—a principle that could become paralyzing if leverage over Israel becomes too great.

 

Should that principle trickle down into operational decision-making, the result can only harm Israel’s war efforts.

 

IDF combat officers should be thinkingly purely about how to accomplish missions, while of course adhering to the IDF’s own internal ethical code and upholding its own internal commitment to adhering to the laws of armed conflict. But if concerns over “legitimacy” in the eyes of a foreign government, no matter how close an ally, creep in, due to ammunition reliance, that is a serious problem.

 

Furthermore, Israel’s current lack of independent mass ammunition production has meant that the IDF needs to weigh its uses of resources carefully in Gaza, when looking at multi-arena threats in the north and at Iran, both of which could become involved in full-scale wars at any time.

 

Such precaution means that the IDF has been running an “armament economy” regarding certain munitions.

 

Both the air force and the ground forces must take the prospects of additional fronts catching fire into account.

 

All of this means that mass domestic ammunition production is a must-have for Israel going forward, and there are encouraging signs that this is in fact what is developing.

 

This will also create very real economic burdens in the future; American ammunition was bought with U.S. aid money.

 

For Israel to create and fund new production lines among its defense industries, it will also need to ensure that society can manage this burden by having as many economically productive citizens in the work force as possible.

 

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Israel’s going to need a bigger army and other lessons from this war

Israel must also lower its dependency on the US for arms. On the bright side, the Abraham Accords are still intact

Efraim Inbar  23December2023  https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/israels-going-to-need-a-bigger-army-and-other-lessons-from-this-war/
The war on Hamas is not over, but certain lessons already seem very clear.

 

The US has displayed great support for vanquishing Hamas, and this has enhanced Israel’s position as a valued American ally. Yet, the American motives are suspect. The Biden administration’s support is predicated by an obsession with the Two-State paradigm, which requires eliminating Hamas from Gaza and restoring the moribund and corrupt Palestinian Authority (PA) there. Moreover, the American embrace aims to restrain Israel from attacking Iranian proxies, a move that could lead to a regional escalation – something Washington is eager to avert. This has been the major motive for sending aircraft carriers to the region.

 

The US has no appetite to take on the main culprit for the Hamas, Hezbollah, and Houthi aggression against Israel, Iran. Washington, which had pressured Saudi Arabia to stop fighting the Houthis, even warned Israel not to take independent action to defend the freedom of navigation for its ships in the Bab-al Mandeb Straits. It is not clear how determined the international flotilla that the US has initiated will be against the Houthi threat. So far Washington has preferred a defensive posture.

 

The war has proved also that the two-state paradigm is still the international Pavlovian response to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, even though the war shows clearly that the Palestinians cannot become a good neighbor – not even in the next generation. The PA refused to condemn the Hamas atrocities and even called upon Hamas to join the PA as a junior partner in ruling over the Palestinians. Palestinian hatred towards Israel has reached incredibly high levels. A September 2023 poll showed that the Hamas candidate for prime minister has a 60 percent support rating in the Palestinian territories. A June 2023 poll indicates that two-thirds say Israel will not celebrate the centenary of its establishment, and the majority believes that the Palestinian people will be able in the future to recover Palestine and return its refugees to their homes. Polls taken after October 7 show immense support (around 80%) for the barbaric Hamas attack. Unfortunately, this ideology has many adherents in the Muslim world. Moreover, Hamas has established kindergartens, schools, social services, and mosques, ensuring that it is firmly entrenched in Palestinian society. Its messages are popular and fall on responsive Palestinian ears. The antisemitic wave engulfing many Western states reinforces the current high level of Palestinian hostility toward Israel. Much of the world refuses to see the unpleasant facts that defy a widely-held paradigm.

 

The war also facilitates the continuation of the global ostrich syndrome concerning Iran’s nuclear advances. Despite the worrisome November report by the IAEA about further growth in Iran’s breakout capabilities as a result of the continued growth of enriched uranium stockpiles, the US appears to have paid scant attention. Moreover, Iran, in a continuation of its strategy to reduce transparency over its sensitive nuclear programs, withdrew the designation of European inspectors with experience in enrichment technology, thus further handicapping attempts to inspect its nuclear programs. This elicited no Western response. Israel is busy with its war on Hamas without a clear effective strategy to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

 

On the bright side, the Abraham Accords seem to have overcome a difficult test. The UAE and Bahrain maintained their diplomatic relations and even Saudi Arabia signaled its intention to continue with the normalization process. Similarly, Egypt and Jordan cooperate with Israel in providing humanitarian aid to the Palestinians in Gaza. All these Arab states relish the fact that Israel is doing the dirty job of administering a serious blow to the Palestinian offshoot of the Muslim Brothers.

 

Israel needs a quick decisive victory over Hamas, primarily to restore lost deterrence. It cannot survive in the Middle East if it is not feared. Fear is the best political currency in this region. In addition, it must meet several immediate challenges.

 

Jerusalem cannot change the asymmetric nature of its relations with Washington which will always act upon its perceived interests. Yet, it is imperative to lower the dependency upon the US for ammunition and weaponry. It is largely a question of allocating enough money to have a larger storage capability and more investment in R&D. Israel’s military industries probably need compensation for a quick transition to an emergency mode to supply the IDF. The goal is not to free Israel of the need to rely on the US but to increase Israel’s freedom of action for longer periods in emergencies when the two states do not see eye to eye. [Israel needs to copy what Russia did with her Military-Industrial Complex to beat any Sanctions or Arms Package Vetoes]

 

Indeed, Israel must allocate much larger amounts of money for its defense budget. It needs a larger standing army that can better protect Israel’s borders and a stronger military able to fight at least on two fronts simultaneously. Shortening the period of compulsory military period is no longer an option and increasing the pool of available conscripts is necessary.

 

Hezbollah’s joining the fray could have been an opportunity to defeat another Iranian proxy, but Israel did not capitalize on this because of a shortage of adequate available military might. In the future, an opportunity for a preemptive strike should not be missed. Deterrence requires maintenance, and the use of force is one of its lubricants.

 

A nuclear Iran is an existential threat that the international community, and primarily the US, refuses to deal with. Israel is on its own, and it is naive to believe that anything but a preventive Israeli military strike, will eliminate this challenge. Israel has to refocus and prepare to end the nuclear threat.

 

Dealing with the Palestinian challenge requires patience because there is no ending to the conflict any time soon. There is little chance of the dysfunctional Palestinian national movement evolving into a “revitalized” Palestinian Authority (PA) of the nature the Americans dream about. Any Palestinian entity will continue to constitute only a marginal security risk as long as Israel is determined to mow the grass as often as needed.

About the Author
Efraim Inbar is president of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security (JISS) and head of the program on Strategy, Diplomacy, and National Security at the Shalem Academic Center.

 

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Israel’s declared goals similar to Russia’s – Lavrov

The fight against Nazism is what historically unites Russia and the Middle Eastern country, the foreign minister believes

28December2023 https://www.rt.com/russia/589831-lavrov-israeli-gaza-hypocrisy/

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov © Ramil Sitdikov; RIA Novosti

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov © Ramil Sitdikov; RIA Novosti

The declared goals of Israel in its ongoing operation against Hamas militants in Gaza seem nearly identical to Moscow’s in its campaign against the Ukrainian government, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said in an interview with RIA Novosti on Thursday.

 

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) has been carrying out a relentless bombing campaign in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza over the past two months following a surprise Hamas attack on Israeli territories on October 7. The attack by the Palestinian militants left some 1,200 people dead and saw the kidnapping of over 200 hostages. Israel’s response, meanwhile, has reportedly cost the lives of over 21,000 people, according to Gaza health officials.

 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated that the end goal of the IDF is the complete destruction of the Hamas movement in all its forms, as well as the elimination of all extremism in Gaza.

 

Lavrov, however, noted that these goals seem similar to “demilitarization” and “denazification,” which Moscow has been pursuing in Ukraine since it launched its offensive in February 2022.

 

The diplomat noted the hypocrisy demonstrated by Israel’s former government under Prime Minister Yair Lapid, who condemned Russia’s military operation and accused Moscow of attacking the civilian population and annexing parts of Ukraine. “This was unfair,” said Lavrov.

 

At the same time, the minister pointed out that the current Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu – who took office for a sixth term in December 2022 – has avoided making any statements against Russia, despite international criticism and finding himself in “a difficult situation.”

 

Lavrov further recalled that Netanyahu had held two phone conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin and that the Israelis had helped Moscow evacuate Russian citizens from Gaza.

 

“Therefore, we need to be very careful about our common history with Israel and, above all, the history of the fight against Nazism. This is the main thing that unites us historically,” Lavrov said.

 

Russia has repeatedly called on both Israel and Hamas to stop hostilities in Gaza, with Putin stating that the only way to resolve the Middle East crisis was through a “two-state” formula approved by the UN Security Council.

 

Netanyahu, meanwhile, has refused to send military aid to Ukraine and has instead offered himself as a potential mediator for peace talks between Moscow and Kiev.

 

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Khamenei Silent As Russia Again Undermines Iran’s Territorial Integrity

Peloni:  As Alex Grinsberg noted earlier this year, Russia and Iran are each driven by their respective national interests which are not mutually aligned.

Iran International Newsroom, December 24, 2023  https://www.israpundit.org/khamenei-silent-as-russia-again-undermines-irans-territorial-integrity/ Original Source: https://www.iranintl.com/en/202312248912

 

Russia’s support for the United Arab Emirates in its dispute with Iran over the ownership of three Persian Gulf islands has turned into a controversy in Tehran.

 

The Iranian leadership, typically reticent about Russia’s double standards, has, for the second time this year, heightened its response to Moscow’s stance. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s most senior foreign policy adviser, former Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati, implicitly criticized Russia’s behavior by stating, “Iran will not allow any foreign entity to intervene in its internal affairs.”

 

In a similar situation earlier this year, Velayati, following Russia’s joint statement with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in September, emphasized the importance of Iran’s friendly and strategic ties with Russia. He pointed out that both sides’ bilateral and regional interests should be considered. Notably, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei remained silent, as is often the case, regarding Russia’s actions that undermine Iran’s territorial integrity.

 

Recently, the Iranian Foreign Ministry criticized “part of the statement of the 6th Arab-Russian Cooperation Forum held in Morocco, dismissing the claims on three Iranian islands as baseless and unacceptable.” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani asserted that “The Islands of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb, and Lesser Tunb are eternal parts of Iran and inseparable from the Islamic Republic.” He underscored that Iran’s sovereignty over these islands is non-negotiable, emphasizing the country’s commitment to protecting its territorial integrity.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) and Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Tehran on July 19, 2022

Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) and Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Tehran on July 19, 2022

In response to the Foreign Ministry’s statement, Iranian international lawyer Reza Nasri highlighted that Russia’s support for the UAE’s sovereignty claims over the Persian Gulf islands contrasts with Iran’s support for Russia in the Ukraine conflict. Nasri emphasized the need for Russia to be a strategic ally to Iran and called for respect for Iran’s territorial integrity.

 

Britain, which maintained control of Abu Musa, and the Greater and Lesser Tunb it had occupied in the 19th century, withdrew its forces from the Persian Gulf in 1971 and the United Arab Emirates was formed. However, Iran’s Imperial government at the time decided to reclaim what it believed were historical Iranian islands.

 

Mohammad Reza Shah sent the Iranian navy to secure all three in November of the same year, two days before UAE was established. Iranian forces remain on the islands, with only Abu Musa having much of a civilian population of several thousand.

 

X (Twitter) users criticized the untimeliness of Russia’s behavior, especially as Iran is working to finalize a strategic security pact with Russia. Some social media users labeled Iranian officials as “traitors” over Tehran’s response.

 

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Amirabdollahian called on Moscow to respect Iran’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, after Russia supported the UAE’s sovereignty claims over three Persian Gulf islands. He said during a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov: “The Islamic Republic of Iran completely rejects any claim in this regard by any party. Respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of countries is one of the fundamental principles in relations between countries, and Tehran makes no compromises with any party when it comes to respect for its territorial integrity and sovereignty issues.” Lavrov responded that “The sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran has always been respected by Russia and Moscow’s official policy in this regard should never be doubted.”

 

Earlier in this year, the media pointed out that some Iranian hardliners supported Russia’s humiliating stances on the three Iranian islands in the Persian Gulf. At the time Raisi-administration-owned daily Iran charged that Iranian media outlets that criticized Russia’s positions get their orders from the United States.

 

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The Shocking Truth

Antisemitism, Jew-hatred – whatever term you use – is soaring to alarming levels not seen since the Holocaust. How did it get to be so bad, so quickly when we have equality, civil rights, and religious freedom?!

Rachel Avrahami | Posted on 22December2023 | https://breslev.com/4079674/

The Shocking Truth by Rachel Avrahami

The Shocking Truth by Rachel Avrahami

Shocking. Unbelievable. Unconscionable.

 

The now infamous and completely morally corrupt testimony of the three University presidents of MIT, UPenn and Harvard was shocking beyond words. The Presidents didn’t even try to lie or cover up their gross and intentional negligence towards Jewish students. Even more appalling than the smug and brazen refusal to answer simple yes or no questions by Representative Stefanik in the now famous clip, was the utter silence they gave to Rep. John James, an African-American congressman, when he asked the question: “Just remind us, what each of you are doing on your college campuses [to combat antisemitism]?” (I highly recommend that you take a minute to watch it for yourself HERE).

 

We all know that if these questions were directed at the Universities’ responses regarding the rights of any other minority group, the answers would have been decisive and definitive.

 

We see across the board – whether it’s University silence about the threats to Jews on campus that lead one student of UPenn to testify before Congress that “I do not feel safe,” or the silence of the UN and other leading feminist organizations in the face of the atrocities and crimes against humanity against Jewish women committed by Hamas on Simchat Torah, or the silence and deafening inaction of the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) to help the hostages in any way – the world has once again chosen to stand against Jews, against morality, and against God Himself.

 

Even worse, bodies like the UN and the ICC which were created supposedly to ensure that there would “Never Again” be a Holocaust allowed on this planet – are exactly the bodies that are not only silent in the face of the Holocaust and blatant act of genocide that occurred on Simchat Torah, openly refusing to condemn Hamas, openly refusing to help Jews, but have even become Israel’s worst enemies, gaslighting Israel to say that Israel is doing to Gazans what Hamas actually did to us! The world bodies are even bringing incredible pressure to bear to try to stop Israel from retaliating and eliminating the threat Hamas poses to doing what it already promised to try to do: to commit the genocide of October 7 again and again and again, God should save us!

 

When the pot boils, the froth comes to the surface. Against this backdrop, global antisemitism is soaring. Neo-Nazis are marching in broad daylight at the University of Wisconsin, and pro-Palestinian, pro-Hamas antisemites are marching around the world. Antisemitic attacks and vandalism are reaching a tipping point. Jewish college students are told not to wear Jewish symbols, and a student at NYU testified before Congress that she was attacked by another student while wearing an American-Israeli flag pin – and nothing whatsoever was done to her attacker who continues to roam freely around campus! [Editor’s Note: According to data compiled by the Mosaic organization for the Knesset Subcommittee for Foreign Policy and Public Diplomacy, campus antisemitism has risen by 700% since 7-Oct.] So much for “speech can become harassment if it leads to conduct” – it’s a bunch of bull anyway, but even to that they turn a blind eye! And hot off the press – hundreds of bomb threats to synagogues across America this past Shabbat.

 

Scary and depressing does not even begin to describe the deep sea of terror and dread shaking every Jew on the planet to the core. It’s like we’ve been taken back in time into a black and white Holocaust horror film that we never dreamed we would be in.

 

I know as a born JAP (Jewish American Princess) I’ve found myself thinking many times that all this is just too much for me. We were taught that this level of Jew-hatred was over, put into a glass box in a Holocaust memorial. Isn’t the new post-modern world past all this hatred?

 

It seems that the answer is very clear – all the rules and protection and equality apply to everyone except Jews. 

 

Jews are still hated, still gaslighted, still held to double-standards, still labeled with whatever the society deems as bad – even if it means total hypocrisy. Even if it means that Jews defending themselves will be labeled as the very “Nazis” who murdered 6 million of us. That Jews in our own lawful land will be called “occupiers.”

 

And it’s showing no signs of letting up anytime soon. In fact, Rabbi Arush has already given multiple warnings (see Rabbi Arush’s video Q&A on Aliyah) that the danger to Jews is liable to get a lot worse, Hashem should save us.

 

(PS – Check out Rabbi Arush here saying that while Jews outside the Land do not feel safe, the most secure place is in the Land of Israel and especially in Jerusalem, which enjoys Hashem’s special protection. And contrary to what most think, Rabbi Arush says that after Mashiach comes, it will be a lot HARDER to get to Israel.
So come NOW! We don’t know when it will be too late… I shake while reminding you that the Jews in Europe also thought they had more time.)

 

I don’t know about you, but having our belief and trust in equality being spit in our faces in this matter has me shocked – and scared.

 

Emuna – or Hell

The point is not to bring everything out of the shadows in order to wring our hands. The point is to see where the world is going and realize that Rabbi Arush’s motto of “emuna or Hell” has never been so clear as right now.

 

What’s the emuna? Rabbi Arush recently said that it’s forbidden to refer to the massacre of Simchat Torah as “Black Sabbath.” He said, “It was White Sabbath! The light of repentance came into the world! We see how many Jews are returning to Hashem because of what happened! Every day – more Jews! The light and happiness in the Upper Worlds are unimaginable. The whole world has waited for these days since creation!”

 

Meanwhile, every week Rabbi Arush reminds us to never stop seeing Hashem in the miracles of the thousands of missiles of every type launched at Israel, and “statistically, zero killed.” How much Hashem is protecting us every minute – and to be filled with gratitude, thanking Hashem all the time.

 

I don’t know about you, but it’s incredibly difficult to hold on to that reality out here in “the real world.” A world filled with yet another soldier who fell in battle. A world filled with a true war on social media, and yet another story from a captive who was taken hostage on Oct. 7.

 

This is exactly the point. 

 

As I mentioned in my article Not Just Another War, this is fundamentally a spiritual war for each and every Jewish soul. Will we hold onto our emuna, as Rabbi Arush teaches us to – or not???

 

Will we spend all day crying over the news and the feed, worried about what the next moment will bring? Or will we spend all day thanking Hashem for protecting us?

 

Will we see the heavy darkness of antisemitism everywhere? Or the beautiful light of Jews unifying to help each other and finding their Jewish identity as never before?

 

No one is immune from this war. Each and every one of us is struggling with it – and victory is not guaranteed, no matter who you are! 

 

Take it from me – I’m first in line to testify that I struggle with this fight multiple times each and every day, even with all my closeness to the teachings of emuna. I lose battles, and sometimes I feel that I can’t win. But the energy I receive when I’m in “emuna” mode keeps me going, even if I unfortunately spend plenty of time reeling in Hell…

 

What gives me strength is Rabbi Nachman’s teaching: “Who is the one called victorious? The one who doesn’t put down his weapon.”

 

The weapon of the Jew is prayer.

 

So as long as you keep praying and begging Hashem for emuna, and doing your very best to follow Rabbi Arush’s advice, reading The Garden of Emuna and strengthening your emuna – Rabbi Nachman promises you will win!

Update: If you still aren’t convinced of just how clear and present the danger is to Jews in America, journalist Ami Horowitz spoke to 35 random students on a left-leaning campus. 80% of them supported killing Jews around the world, specifically hitting soft targets like schools and synagogues. 50% were willing to put money towards the cause. Not one pushed back. Watch for yourself.

 

Please read the continuation of this article – Why is There Antisemitism?

***

Rachel Avrahami grew up in Los Angeles, CA, USA in a far-off valley where she was one of only a handful of Jews in a public high school of thousands. She found Hashem in the urban jungle of the university. Rachel was privileged to read one of the first copies of The Garden of Emuna in English, and the rest, as they say, is history. She made Aliyah and immediately began working at Breslev Israel. 
 
Rachel is now the Editor of Breslev Israel’s English website. She welcomes questions, comments, articles, and personal stories to her email: rachel.avrahami@breslev.co.il.

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Simchat Torah for Our Martyrs

On Simchat Torah, Hashem reminded us that those who celebrate and follow His Torah are protected. What can we do for those who were killed on that day while celebrating a licentious event? A LOT!

David Ben Horin | Posted on 24December2023 | https://breslev.com/4080632/

Simchat Torah for Our Martyrs by David Ben Horin

Simchat Torah for Our Martyrs by David Ben Horin

All the pundits on podcasts are trying to tell us why the Simchat Torah massacre happened and what they think will happen next. They’re all wrong. 

 

Somebody asked me whether to call the massacre the “Oct 7 Massacre” or the “Simchat Torah Massacre”.

 

It’s Simchat Torah.

 

It’s the day Hashem reminded His children, the Jewish people, and the rest of the world that those who dance around His Torah celebrate His blessing and protection. Those who spend their days dancing around a huge idol lose His protection against the savages and monsters of this world.

 

The IDF can’t protect us. On Simchat Torah, they didn’t. The Mossad, Shin Bet, or American aid didn’t turn away the barbarians at the gate.

 

The gates that turned away these animals were at the only two kibbutzim in the Gaza Belt that were dancing around the Torah.

 

This reaffirms the Torah truths in the portion Ki Tavo. It’s a reaffirmation of the Jewish way of life: The life Hashem commands us.

 

From the day Adam was cast out of Paradise to today, Hashem blesses His people with strength. Hashem blesses His people with peace. (Psalms 29:11)

 

Hashem makes a distinction between those who follow His Torah and those who don’t. These are the lessons of the Simchat Torah Distinction.

 

What Happens Next

It’s a hard truth to swallow.

 

We are at war. Our brothers are still in captivity. The wounds of this horrible catastrophe are still open.

 

However, we in Israel are strong. In our Land, Hashem blesses us with the mental toughness to accept the truth, and the truth is that we must make repentance. We must return to God.

 

We must place a carpet ban on idolatry, sodomy, non-kosher foods, and breaking Shabbat or Jewish Holidays that Hashem commands His people. 

 

In his Mishnah Torah, the Rambam tells us that when we are physically sick, what normally tastes good tastes repulsive, and what normally tastes repulsive tastes good. When you get a sore throat, somehow Ginger Ale becomes a delicacy.

 

The Rambam takes it to the next step by teaching that the same is true for our soul. When we are spiritually sick, things like sex, drugs, clubbing, flashy cars, and all-night gambling binges seem appealing.

 

Investing the night in Torah study, prayer, and visiting the sick doesn’t seem as enticing – even when we know where the first set of activities will ultimately place us versus the second set of Divine mitzvot.

 

The secular professors and military analysts, along with many generals and ministers, are talking about conquering Gaza, only to give it back to the PLO or to the local Gazan population on “the day after.”  Didn’t Hamas mutate out of the local population? Doesn’t the PLO still pay its citizens a monthly salary to kill Jews?

 

It’s the Rabbis who are saying we must conquer Gaza and rebuild its Jewish communities so that we can always keep an eye on the Gazans.

 

For the past 5,000 years of human history, that’s what conquering nations did. They annexed the land and started planting their people on it. The only difference is that God never commanded America to conquer Mexico and start putting its people in their northern provinces of Nevada and California.

 

We are commanded to live in Gaza because it is part of the Land of Israel.

 

Following the Rambam’s teachings, the spiritually healthy are the ones who are morally and intellectually healthy. They are the ones who know right from wrong – in everything.

 

Make Martyrs Out of Them

What will become of those who were murdered on Oct 7? What of those who were violated? What of those 1,200 people who were murdered, raped, and tortured after two days of dancing around an idol and licentiousness?

 

We send them to the highest levels of heaven.

 

Every Rosh Hashanah, we are all judged — both the living and the dead.

 

Hashem judges the living on their actions. But what about the dead? They have no actions to speak of in this world. What will they be judged on?

 

The dead are judged on the actions they cause after their death.

 

Suppose a man teaches his children to guard Shabbat every week. If his children continue to keep Shabbat after he passes, then Hashem will judge this man for the mitzvot his children do because he showed them how.

 

There are countless times where a parent came to a son or daughter in a dream and asked them to perform a mitzvah in this world so the parent could rise higher in the Next World.

 

Like on earth, heaven has good places and better places. You can live in a simple 2-bedroom apartment in Lod. You save up, get a higher-paying job, and pretty soon, you can move into a nice penthouse in Beit Shemesh. Hashem can pull you from a place in heaven that feels equivalent to the 2-bedroom flat in Lod and elevate you to the heavenly equivalent of the penthouse in Beit Shemesh – or better.

 

This is what we can do for the fallen.

 

Every prayer we recite, every charity we give, every kindness we perform, every line of Torah we learn because of what happened last Simchat Torah transforms our brethren into catalysts of mitzvot. Immediately, they are Zicuy Rabin – they bring us closer to Hashem.

 

They go from victims to martyrs. They go from being buried beneath the earth to vaulted high above the heavens.

 

They can get judged for performing the greatest mitzvah in the Torah.

 

If you recite the Shema tonight because of the horrors of October 7 and the lessons learned, it is in their honor. They were the reason you did something for Hashem that you never did before.

 

God gives you the chance to raise their spirits – literally! 

 

With every step of repentance we make, as individuals, as communities, and as a nation, we elevate Klal Yisrael. Hashem willing, we merit God’s protection against all our enemies. This is also promised in parsha Ki Tavo.

 

If we learned on October 7 that the curses of parsha Ki Tavo are as real today as they always were, then we know for a fact that the blessings of Ki Tavo – that we will be powerful and prosperous and that Hashem will bless us in victory for everything we do – are also as real today as they always were.

 

This is the Simcha of the Torah our Father gives us.

 

***

David Ben Horin lives in Afula with his family, millions of sunflowers, and Matilda, our local camel. David‘s Israeli startup, 300 Marketing Solutions, is a lean marketing agency for startups and small businesses that creates and promotes SEO-optimized ROI-driven to the right audience on LinkedIn to make your business the star of the show.

 

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You support Terrorists, you get..


Ari Sade-tweet-8November2023-You support Terrorists, you get
You murdered, raped, burnt, beheaded, and kidnapped our people. Men, women, children and babies, and you celebrated it! And streamed it live! Proudly!
This is a fraction of your punishment. Return the hostages and surrender. We might let you live.
#HamasisISIS
#BringThemHome

 

Ari Sade-tweet-8November2023, You support Terrorists-you get

Ari Sade-tweet-8November2023, You support Terrorists-you get

 



Dr. Eli David-tweet-31December2023-You celebrated the massacre on 7October and now expect us to have sympathy for you
You celebrated the massacre on October 7, and now expect us to have sympathy for you?
_

Dr. Eli David-tweet-31December2023-You celebrated the massacre on 7October and now expect us to have sympathy for you?

Dr. Eli David-tweet-31December2023-You celebrated the massacre on 7October and now expect us to have sympathy for you?

 


Why Islam canot coexist with not just the Israelis but all non-Muslims

Why Islam canot coexist with not just the Israelis but all non-Muslims

 


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American farmhands and cowboys on their way to Israel


Lenny Ben-David-tweet-6November2023-American farmhands and cowboys on their way to Israel
American farmhands and cowboys on their way to Israel to help farmers in Israel after the #Hamas attack. Many lost their lives and/or farm workers.

That’s love! Thank you.❤️

 

Lenny Ben-David-tweet-6November2023-American farmhands and cowboys on their way to Israel

Lenny Ben-David-tweet-6November2023-American farmhands and cowboys on their way to Israel

 

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Republicans Press Pentagon Over American-Made Weapons in Hamas’s Hands

Lawmakers want answers from the Pentagon on how U.S.-made weapons may have ended up in the hands of Hamas terrorists who slaughtered Israeli civilians.

A young boy holds a U.S.-made M4A1 rifle during a rally of Hamas supporters, at the Jabalia refugee camp, Gaza Strip, on Dec. 12, 2014. (Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images)

A young boy holds a U.S.-made M4A1 rifle during a rally of Hamas supporters, at the Jabalia refugee camp, Gaza Strip, on Dec. 12, 2014. (Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images)

By Tom Ozimek

(emphasis zerohedge https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/unconscionable-republicans-press-pentagon-over-american-made-weapons-hamass-hands)
23October2023 Updated: 24October2023 https://www.theepochtimes.com/article/republicans-press-pentagon-over-american-made-weapons-in-hamass-hands-5515455

 

Citing reports that advanced U.S.-made firearms have ended up in the possession of the Hamas terrorist group in Gaza, several House Oversight Committee Republicans are demanding answers from the Pentagon about what’s being done to make sure American-made weapons don’t end up in the wrong hands.

 

“The Committee has seen reports that U.S.-manufactured weapons are being redistributed and resold in secondary markets to terrorist organizations, including Hamas,”  wrote House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) in an Oct. 23 letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

 

Mr. Comer and Ms. Greene cited a series of media reports indicating that American-made weapons were being diverted and ending up in the hands of terrorists.

 

One source of these U.S.-made weapons is reportedly the roughly $7 billion stockpile left behind in the botched Afghanistan withdrawal. Another is related to the arms that the United States is providing to Ukraine amid its war with Russia but that are being diverted to the Middle East by various actors, including gun-smuggling criminal groups.

 

“The potential possession of U.S. weapons by terrorists is alarming in light of the terrorist group’s recent horrific attack on Israel,” the pair of lawmakers wrote, referring to the Oct. 7 assault by Hamas operatives that killed about 1,500 Israelis, mostly civilians—many of them in barbaric fashion.

 

In their letter, they demanded a staff briefing from the Pentagon by the end of October on what procedures the Department of Defense (DOD) has in place “for preventing, addressing, and mitigating weapon diversion abroad.”

A Ukrainian serviceman checks his U.S-made M4A1 carbine after cleaning it at a base in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, on Feb. 23, 2023. (Yasuyoshi Chima/AFP/Getty Images)

A Ukrainian serviceman checks his U.S-made M4A1 carbine after cleaning it at a base in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, on Feb. 23, 2023. (Yasuyoshi Chima/AFP/Getty Images)

‘Arsenal of Anarchy’

 

Israel Captures Hamas Navel Commander; 9 Americans Killed by Hamas Attacks: US

In their letter, Mr. Comer and Ms. Greene cited a number of media reports indicating that American-made weapons were ending up in the hands of those who may wish to use them to harm the United States and its allies.

 

One of these is a June 15 report by Newsweek that cites a high-ranking Israel Defense Forces (IDF) commander as saying that the Israeli military was concerned that U.S.-made weapons provided to Ukraine were being diverted and ending up in the hands of Israel’s enemies in the Middle East.

 

“We are very worried that some of these capabilities are going to fall to Hezbollah and Hamas’ hands,” the IDF commander told the publication.

 

Since the Russia–Ukraine conflict erupted in February 2022, the United States has sent more than $46 billion in military assistance to Kyiv, sparking worries that some of that massive flow of arms was being diverted and ending up in other regions.

 

While a report in March from the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime found that “there is currently no substantial outflow of weapons from the Ukrainian conflict zone,” it warned of the prospect of serious proliferation.

 

The report’s authors warned in a statement that when the war ends, “Ukraine’s battlefields could and will become the new arsenal of anarchy, arming everyone from insurgents in Africa to gangsters in the streets of Europe.”

 

While it’s impossible to tell without further investigation where the weapons are coming from, it’s been alleged that some U.S.-made weapons are finding their way to Gaza and into the hands of Hamas.

 

In their letter, the GOP lawmakers said that “recently released photos show Hamas terrorists allegedly holding what appear to be H4A1 Carbines,” a type of weapon that they point out was specially designed for U.S. Special Operations Forces.

 

“This would not be the first time our military service members and allies have been targeted by terrorist organizations misappropriating American-made weapons,” the lawmakers wrote, citing the massive $7 billion arsenal that ended up in the hands of the Taliban.

 

Taliban Seize $7 Billion Worth of US Weapons and Equipment

After U.S. forces withdrew from Afghanistan in the summer of 2021, they left behind billions of dollars of American-made weapons and equipment.

 

A Pentagon watchdog reported in August 2022 that “U.S.-funded equipment valued at $7.12 billion was in the inventory of the former Afghan government when it collapsed, much of which has since been seized by the Taliban.”

 

The report, which was confirmed by the DOD, indicated that the equipment that had fallen into Taliban hands included military aircraft, ground vehicles, weapons, and other military equipment.

 

The items that ended up in Taliban hands included large equipment like Black Hawk helicopters and Humvees, as well as small but sophisticated arms like M16 assault rifles and M4 carbines.

 

“We have already seen Taliban fighters armed with U.S.-made weapons they seized from the Afghan forces. This poses a significant threat to the United States and our allies,” Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told Reuters in an email last year.

 

Lt. Col. Emron Musavi, an Indian army spokesperson, told CNBC in an email last year that weapons left behind by U.S. forces during the withdrawal from Afghanistan were making their way into other conflict zones, including in India-controlled Kashmir, which some terror groups are trying to annex for Pakistan.

 

“It can be safely assumed that they have access to the weapons left behind,” he told the outlet, amid reports that operatives from Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba, two Pakistan-based groups designated by the United States as terrorist organizations, had been spotted with U.S.-made arms like M4s and M16s.

 

Military vehicles transferred by the U.S. to the Afghan National Army in February 2021. (Afghanistan Ministry of Defense/via Reuters)

Military vehicles transferred by the U.S. to the Afghan National Army in February 2021. Afghanistan Ministry of Defense/via REUTERS

 

Taliban stand guard at an entrance gate outside the Interior Ministry in Kabul, on Aug. 17, 2021. (Javed Tanveer/AFP via Getty Images)

Taliban stand guard at an entrance gate outside the Interior Ministry in Kabul, on Aug. 17, 2021. (Javed Tanveer/AFP via Getty Images)

 

Demands for Oversight

The letter from Mr. Comer and Ms. Greene is not the first time Republicans have pressed the Pentagon on U.S.-made weapons falling into the wrong hands.

 

Shortly after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, several Republican senators demanded the DOD provide full accounting over the weapons and equipment that were captured by the Taliban.

 

“As we watched the images coming out of Afghanistan as the Taliban retook the country, we were horrified to see U.S. equipment—including UH-60 Black Hawks—in the hands of the Taliban,” Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and two dozen other senators wrote to Mr. Austin.

 

“It is unconscionable that high-tech military equipment paid for by U.S. taxpayers has fallen into the hands of the Taliban and their terrorist allies,” the Republicans added.

 

“Securing U.S. assets should have been among the top priorities for the U.S. Department of Defense prior to announcing the withdrawal from Afghanistan.”

 

Tom Ozimek

Author (Reporter)

Tom Ozimek is a senior reporter for The Epoch Times. He has a broad background in journalism, deposit insurance, marketing and communications, and adult education.

 

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Narendra Modi has shifted India from the Palestinians to Israel

The pivot reflects Indian domestic politics and new interests in the Middle East

Banyan 2November2023  https://www.economist.com/asia/2023/11/02/narendra-modi-has-shifted-india-from-the-palestinians-to-israel

 

FOREIGN NEWS usually gets short shrift in India. Yet for the past month the country’s television channels have been dominated by wall-to-wall coverage of events in Israel and Gaza, mostly from Israel’s perspective. News anchors in bulletproof vests stand in the desert delivering breathless reports on the aftermath of Hamas’s atrocities in Israel on October 7th. Talk-show hosts restage the Palestinian terrorist group’s attack from Gaza with toy soldiers and miniature bulldozers. Weeks into the war, coverage remains intense.

 

The media’s fascination with Israel’s plight and retribution coincides with a marked shift in the Indian government’s stance on the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. It has moved from backing the Palestinians to more or less unqualified support for Israel. The pivot is based on a realist reappraisal of Indian interests in the Middle East. It has also met with strong public backing from Narendra Modi’s domestic supporters, which is gratifying for Mr Modi’s government ahead of state elections this month and a general election next year.

 

In the past, like many countries in the global south, India tempered any expression of support for Israel with expressions of concern for the Palestinians’ plight. No more. Mr Modi took to X (formerly Twitter) within hours of Hamas’s assault to express his horror at the “terrorist attacks” and declare that “we stand in solidarity with Israel”. It took five days for India’s Ministry of External Affairs to reiterate, in response to questions from reporters, that India continued to support a two-state solution to the conflict. On October 27th, in a departure from its usual voting record, India abstained as the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution calling for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza; it objected that the text did not condemn Hamas’s assault.

 

The shift reflects India’s growing defence and commercial ties to Israel. Co-operation between the two countries has been deepening ever since Israel provided India with military help during the Kargil war against Pakistan in 1999. That was long before America took a serious interest in military co-operation with India. Over the past decade India has bought missiles, drones and border-security equipment (and probably surveillance software, though it has not admitted this) from Israel, making it the Israeli defence industry’s biggest foreign customer.

 

A bromance between Mr Modi and Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, has deepened the relationship. So has the two countries’ shared preoccupation with fighting terrorism, especially the Islamist variant. Explaining the abstention in the UN vote, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, India’s foreign minister, said in a speech on October 29th that India took a strong position on terrorism “because we are big victims of terrorism”.

 

India has also been increasing its ties with Gulf Arab countries, especially Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. And it can ill afford to alienate them; it depends on them for much of its oil and goodwill towards an estimated 9m expatriate Indian workers. Yet the fact that both countries have recently moved closer to Israel has allowed Mr Modi to effect his shift with alacrity. Even in the current crisis, the Saudis and Emiratis appear reluctant to allow the events in Gaza to cause a rupture in their long-term rapprochement with Israel.

 

Domestically, the Modi government’s pivot is essentially all upside. The Congress-led opposition has condemned it; leaders of India’s 200m Muslims have heavily criticised Israel’s military response. Yet the Indian middle-class that mostly backs Mr Modi is especially concerned about Islamist terrorism. Its members look on Hamas’s attack and recall the tragedy Mumbai suffered in 2008, when Pakistani Islamists killed 175 people and wounded more than 300 during a four-day rampage. It included an attack on a Jewish community centre in the city, where the terrorists murdered the rabbi and his pregnant wife.

 

There is a small risk the government will overplay its hand. As the civilian death toll in Gaza rises, India’s Arab partners might turn against the Israelis and their backers more aggressively. Mr Modi has latterly hedged against that possibility. He has reached out to Palestinian leaders, offering Indian condolences and humanitarian aid. Meanwhile, his Hindu-nationalist henchmen are unrestrained in using the conflict to stoke the Islamophobia that has propelled their party’s rise. Even if Mr Modi’s pivot becomes difficult abroad, it will probably help him win elections.

 

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the diplomatic battle between Israel and Egypt can decide the future of Gaza

For Egypt, Gaza is a forward outpost that keeps IDF forces occupied in the south, disturbs Israel, and prevents it from strengthening. Op-ed.

Tzachi Levi


20October2023  https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/378874

 

The diplomatic tug-of-war between Israel and Egypt over the opening of the Rafah Crossing has the potential to decide the future of the Gaza Strip and the war altogether.

 

The question is as follows: Which side will succeed in forcing the other to take responsibility for the residents of the Gaza Strip? Israel has demanded the opening of the Rafah Crossing in one direction, and according to several media outlets, has offered Egypt, along with the United States and the United Arab Emirates, a series of economic benefits in exchange for opening the crossing.

 

The Egyptians, for their part, refuse to open the crossing even to Gazans who are citizens of foreign countries, and instead calls for sending supposedly “civilian” aid into the Strip to prevent a humanitarian crisis and the wave of refugees that Egypt fears.

 

Not for nothing, this issue was ostensibly at the center of the Egyptian President’s meetings with international leaders, came up in the Netanyahu-Biden meeting, and received special attention from the King of Jordan.

 

What is unfolding before us us is a diplomatic “chicken fight,” the outcome of which may decide the entire war and shape the Middle East for years to come.

 

Many in Israel, from all ends of the political spectrum, understand that even if we eliminate all the tens of thousands of terrorists in the Strip exactly as the Israeli government has stated, Iran is not going anywhere, and, absent a meaningful permanent Israeli or international force on the ground, in a few short years a new Hamas or some other radical regime will be established in the Strip, thus setting up the next inevitable confrontation. Under such conditions, it will be impossible to rehabilitate the towns around Gaza that were ravaged by Hamas’s war crimes.

 

In light of this reality, the resettlement of the civilian population of the Gaza Strip in Egypt and elsewhere in the Muslim world, should become an overt political goal of Israel. This is the most humane solution to the situation, both for Israel and for the Gazans, many of whom want to emigrate from the Strip anyway and were imprisoned in it by Hamas.

 

It is worth noting, in addition, that there is nothing that discourages Arab aggression more than the loss of land. Therefore, in addition to the military goal of ending Hamas’ rule with minimum loss of civilian lives, the extension of Israeli sovereignty to all or some of the Gaza Strip would act as a powerful deterrent against Israel’s other enemies which are thinking about attempting to commit another heinous act such as the one we witnessed on the morning of October 7th.

 

Egypt sees the situation differently.

For the Egyptians, the loss of the Strip would be a strategic problem. For Egypt, Gaza is a forward outpost that keeps the IDF forces occupied in the south, disturbs Israel, and prevents it from strengthening.

 

Anyone who follows the strengthening of the Egyptian army from visible sources, and sees the huge bridging array it is building above and below the Suez Canal, and the military procurement in the tens of billions of dollars in all army arrays: sea, land, air and even satellites, understands that Egypt sees Israel as its main military adversary, in spite of the peace agreement.

 

Most of Egypt’s military exercises are directed against Israel, and that is why we can see reports, in the open media, about a long series of Egyptian violations of the peace agreement, which limits the deployment of Egyptian forces in Sinai, under the pretext of a war against ISIS.

 

For many years, Egypt has allowed the strengthening of terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip, during both the Mubarak and Morsi eras. During the el-Sisi era, Egypt increased its supervision and control over what entered the Strip while building a massive barrier on the Egyptian side of the border. All this is just an indication that what did enter, apparently entered with an Egyptian “blind eye”.

 

Israel needs to think strategically about how to encourage Gazans to make their way into Egypt.

Israel must take advantage of the severe economic crisis in Egypt in favor of organizing international aid to the country in exchange for the absorption of all or some of the Gazans. Just recently, the Moody’s rating agency lowered the Egypt’s credit rating from B3 to Caa1. Indeed, Egypt is on the verge of insolvency, which may endanger the stability of the regime in the near term.

 

In the first stage, Israel needs to increase the humanitarian pressure on the Gaza Strip so that eventually hundreds of thousands of hungry and thirsty Gazans will break through the Rafah Crossing.

 

In the second stage, when Egypt will face the finished fact of an influx of refugees in its territory, it is recommended that Israel and the US organize the international community, UNRWA, and the International Monetary Fund, to flow economic aid to Egypt, to enable the absorption of some of the Gazans in Egypt.

 

It is important to understand: The Gazans whom Hamas imprisoned in the Strip, very much want to emigrate from it. Turkey, which is ready to take them in, is a very popular destination, as is Europe, which is obliged to take in those to whom UNRWA has granted a refugee certificate. The percentage of the Gazan population that will eventually be taken in by Egypt is lower than the country’s annual birth rate, which is over 2 million babies a year.

 

And in relation to housing solutions – in Egypt there is a stock of vacant apartments for immediate occupancy of at least 2 million apartments, a result of the regime’s planned economy.

 

Success in the diplomatic struggle with Egypt over the opening of the Rafah Crossing will shorten the war and therefore reduce the risk of opening more fronts.

 

Emptying the population of its Arab inhabitants while applying Israeli sovereignty means an overwhelming victory that will restore deterrence in all sectors, strengthen the Abraham Accords, and bring peace with Saudi Arabia.

 

In the Middle East, one does business only with the powerful, and Israel must recognize the opportunity to project power, while changing the Middle East for generations.

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Another True Account of Shabbat Saving a Life, Plus a Message from the Next World

23October2023 http://myrtlerising.weebly.com/blog/another-true-account-of-shabbat-saving-a-life-plus-a-message-from-the-next-world

 

Someone wrote me the true story of a young man, a friend of the correspondent’s son, who was encouraged by other friends to attended the “rave” party near the Gaza Strip on Shabbat/Simchat Torah.

 

As the correspondent explained:

My son says the parties are full of eastern “spirituality” and he’s been warning his friends who go to them about the avodah zora aspects of them.

He says they “worship the speakers” or something.

​They don’t mean it to be avodah zora, but it’s not good.

Yet the son’s friend recently took Shabbat upon himself and managed to resist his friends’ repeated urgings to go with them to the party.

 

As is now self-understood, that refusal to attend the party for the sake of Shabbat saved that young man’s life.

So many people saved their own lives by either not attending the party at all or leaving before Shabbat!

​Yet the brother of another friend did attend the fateful party.

Afterwards, no one knew where he was.

One night shortly after, the father of the missing boy had a dream. As the correspondent describes it:

…his father dreamed that his son was holding a golden sefer and he said, “Don’t worry, Abba. I’m learning Torah with Hash-m.”

The next day, the family was informed the boy was found, but hadn’t survived the attack.


Who Knows the Cheshbonot of Shamayim?

While we’ve been hearing a lot about people saved from slaughter by last-minute teshuvah or even just progress in their mitzvah-observance, we remain unable to know the final moments of those who didn’t survive.

 

Yet from the accounts of the people who knew them well, we can glean indications regarding their last moments, that some managed to do some kind of teshuvah or some kind of kavanah to die al kiddush Hashem (for the sanctification of God’s Name).

 

And we know from great tzaddikim and talmidei chachamim like Rav Yehudah Petayah, that even a split-second thought of teshuvah the moment before death still holds tremendous power for atonement in the Next World.

 

(For more on that topic, please see here: minchat-yehudah-part-i-teshuvah-and-what-happens-after-you-die.html.)

 

In conclusion, let’s take comfort in the words of the Me’am Lo’ez on Parshat Beresheit (page 184):

If a person has been killed by the gentiles, his image is engraved on [the angel’s] vestments, and [the angel] brings it to the highest heaven.

There, this person is recorded in the Great Book.

 

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Dr. Emuna: Overcoming the Terror

Emuna gives us powerful tools to cope with anxiety, fear, pain, and confusion. How can we use those tools to strengthen ourselves in the war situation?

Rachel Avrahami | Posted on 13October2023  https://breslev.com/4061929/

Overcoming the TERROR - Rachel Avrahami

Overcoming the TERROR – Rachel Avrahami

Hashem is God, ein od milvado, there is no nature and no Hamas. What happened is somehow for the best and will go down in the annals of history along with the Holocaust as something we cannot understand why. Now, we look forward, never forgetting that the Guardian of Israel does not slumber and does not sleep!

That being said, we’re all nervous wrecks. We’re all shocked, appalled, suffering, and overwhelmed. We’re all glued to our phones and computers to check the news. Round-the-clock updates. It’s almost impossible to put it down.

 

However, the solution is specifically the opposite – stop looking at the news and start praying! Here is why:

Sitting around looking at “what is going on” is just a trap of the Evil Inclination. It might even dress up like a tzaddik, saying “Oh, you need to know what exactly to pray for, and to pray with more feeling.” This is all a lie, for a few reasons:

  1. The media is part of the Other Side, it’s not from the side of holiness. It sells lies and slander all the time. Even if it’s “true,” it’s not the whole truth, which is emuna and Hashem. Whatever you read is only taking you away from the simple emuna and truth of the Almighty God and the true emuna that Hashem loves you, everything is good, and it’s only getting better and better.I refer once again to Rabbi Arush’s article (Who Doesn’t Like to Pay?) about how the biggest judgements come specifically from our difficulty in truly believing this, and that being unable to believe that it’s only getting better can create the reality that it won’t, Hashem should save us!
  2. Watching the media makes it hard to hold on to your emuna, because the media makes us afraid, anxious, depressed, sad, and worse. All those negative emotions are the opposite of emuna! Rebbe Nachman teaches that what you are afraid of is allowed to rule you. That’s incredibly dangerous at any time, and especially right now. We want to be 100% only under Hashem’s personal Divine Providence. For that, we need to fear only Him and look only to Him and believe only in His power and guidance. If we’re looking only to His Providence, we are not biting our nails over what already happened and what might happen in the next moment.Only when we disconnect from the news, can we connect to the emuna truth we need to hear and repeat to ourselves constantly: Every bullet and every missile has its address; everything comes only from Hashem Who loves us. Even when, G-d forbid, He takes people in the sanctification of His Name, even that is good and from love in a way we simply cannot understand in this world. Every one of us is here for a purpose and a rectification. If it’s our rectification to die, then there is no escaping it. If not, there is even less reason to be afraid! Whatever it is, only Hashem is in charge – not Hamas, not chance, not the wind, and not anything else, including the Iron Dome!
  3. The media desensitizes you. You become numb. In addition to the fear and sadness which shuts down the heart and thus the ability to speak, you stop being sensitive to the suffering in the same way.Hence, now you have less emuna, more fear, and more numbness. Most of the time, that creates a blocked heart that cannot pour forth words of personal prayer or emotion into Psalms and the like. You become totally neutralized – which of course is the goal of the Evil Inclination that told you to “check the news” in the first place!

 

Why is this Evil Inclination to see what is happening so difficult to overcome? Because it’s part of the sin of Adam. In checking the news, we are grasping onto straws in a subconscious effort to take back some semblance of control when we feel so scared and so helpless.

 

The key is to take that fear and helplessness and turn it into prayer to Hashem! Because we truly are helpless – but only to Him! 

 

And Hashem has the biggest Hands and the biggest Shoulders that can protect us and carry us and provide for us, without or without natural means.

 

It’s very hard to let go of the desire to be in control, to be “like G-d” and know everything that is going on, as if it’s going to help us manage or control the future. But the more we can “let go and let G-d” so to speak, the more we will be more relaxed and filled with emuna – which Rabbi Arush calls “the ability to cope.” Who doesn’t need that right now?

 

Then there is simply the incredible amount of wasted time spent checking on the situation! Set a timer for five minutes and see how little you manage to do. I found it to be more like 15 – 20 minutes, multiple times a day!

 

Let’s compare that to praying for the Jewish people – every word is equivalent to the number of Jews, which thank G-d still stands at approximately 15 million according to Rabbi Arush. So, in five minutes you just did BILLIONS of mitzvot! Forget about one hour! Even one sentence is so precious!!!

 

Finally, there is the psychological reality that when someone does something to help himself, there is less trauma and feelings of paralysis and helplessness. Checking the news only adds to these feelings and makes everything WORSE, not better. But sitting down and praying makes you feel so much better, because here you actually did something to help yourself and the situation! There is just so much that needs to be done right now and so many prayers that need to be said – get to work! Who has time and energy to waste?

 

Hence, the Evil Inclination ensnares us and makes us think that by checking the news we’ll feel better and more in control. In reality, he is just selling us spam that makes us sick. He makes us unable to do what really will make us feel better and will give us power to make things better – words of emuna and prayer.

 

I readily admit that it’s really hard to stop checking in, but you’ll feel so much better as you conquer the drive, and really the addiction, to the news, to the news-feed, and everything like it. You’ll feel better because you’re not ingesting poison, and because G-d willing now you’ll be freer to pray and follow the rest of Rabbi Arush’s advice which really will help you take back your personal power!

 

Make sure to also read Rabbi Arush’s newest update on the situation, Redemption is the News here.

 

The Jewish people is counting on you now to do your part – don’t let the Evil Inclination neutralize you!

 

PS. After I wrote this article, a hidden tzaddik spoke about the great need to learn Torah and pray Psalms instead of listening to the news, “which is all nonsense; all the news is against religion, against Torah, against the Land of Israel.”

 

With Hashem’s help, I will be continuing this series with more advice on how to cope in the aftermath and the war, whether you’re in Israel or abroad.

 

***

Rachel Avrahami grew up in Los Angeles, CA, USA in a far-off valley where she was one of only a handful of Jews in a public high school of thousands. She found Hashem in the urban jungle of the university. Rachel was privileged to read one of the first copies of The Garden of Emuna in English, and the rest, as they say, is history. She made Aliyah and immediately began working at Breslev Israel.  
 
Rachel is now the Editor of Breslev Israel’s English website. She welcomes questions, comments, articles, and personal stories to her email: rachel.avrahami@breslev.co.il.

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Only fear Hashem

October 15, 2023  https://www.thinkforyourselfpublishing.com/only-fear-hashem/

I couldn’t get into my blog for three days…

Maybe it got hacked, maybe it didn’t.

Who knows.

In the meantime, I’m here to tell you that the only thing to fear right now is Hashem.

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Like so many of us, I have been on a crazy roller-coaster ride of ‘OK’ and ‘not-so-OK’ the last week, but I feel like all the tehillim, all the prayers, the teshuva, the mesirut nefesh, the chessed, the people getting behind the Rav and following instructions – it’s all starting to send some light into what is still a very heavy and dark situation.

 

Our enemies are still pulling the wool over so many people’s eyes with all their propaganda about ‘Iran, Iran, Iran’.

 

And now also ‘Russia, Russia, Russia’.

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Bottom line:

It’s the US that is behind what is going on now.

Without the shadow of a doubt.

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But that’s not what I’m here to tell you, or harp on.

The truth is coming out all over the place – and there is nothing they can do to stop it.

But in the meantime, we need to keep the prayers and all the other stuff going.

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Tachlis:

The Rav a few days ago said this:

Everyone should take it upon themselves to say the Book of Psalms, because now they want to enter Gaza.

They are afraid and therefore they are pushing it off.

They are scared thousands of soldiers could die.

When you go in [to Gaza], you can’t tell who’s a terrorist and who’s a soldier.

They could start shooting each other, and a thousand soldiers could die from the gunfire of our own forces.

The war has been 4 days (during the lesson) and they have not yet entered Gaza, they are scared to death to enter Gaza – who knows who will live and who will die.

====

The Rav’s lessons are full of hints and secrets.

 

When he tells you: a thousand soldiers could die from being shot at by our own forces, he is hinting to some very terrible things about what is really going on here, God forbid.

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In the meantime, please also do whatever you can to get the Rav’s prayers around to as many soldiers, people and bases as you can.

One of the Rav’s gabbays put out a message last week that even a tenuous link to the Rav – even just having one of his unnamed prayers in your home – is enough to be considered to be ‘connected’ into the circle of the Tzaddik.

This is the prayer the Rav wrote especially to protect our soldiers now:

 

Prayer for the soldiers

Prayer for the soldiers

Click to Enlarge

Print off a few copies, and give them out to as many people, as many soldiers, as you can.

They don’t need to know it’s from the Rav.

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In the meantime, I am personally praying we stay the heck out of Gaza, and that this all ‘dies down’ again so we can get to the way more important job of figuring out who the real traitors in our midst are.

And which State, or ‘States’, planned and financed the terrible pogrom on so many thousands of Jews last Shabbat, with the help of those traitors in our midst.

God has His own way of dealing with our enemies, and sending hundreds of thousands of our precious Jews into narrow, booby-trapped alleyways, following orders from people who at the very least are covering up for the mass murderers of thousand of Jews doesn’t sound like the best plan, at this stage.

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Remember this:

The Rav said that if a war does happen, God forbid, it will end with an earthquake.

He also said many, many times over the last few years that in the month of Cheshvan, the sea will be full of ships from the nations of the world coming to attack Israel.

And the sea will split miraculously, and all those enemy ships will sink to the bottom of the ocean.

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When Gush Katif was destroyed as per the instructions of our same ‘friends’ in sheeps’ clothing 18 years ago, there was a lot of rumours discussing an imminent tsunami hitting Gaza, and explaining that this was the reason the Jews had been moved out.

Take a look at THIS (it’s a xtian blog, but it preserved some links on the ‘geula’ blogs from around that time.)

This is a snippet:

“A recent Jewish prophetic blog was posted on August 5, 2005 on both the Years of Awe and the “Moshiach and Geula, End of Days Prophecies, Geula, Moshiach, Gog and Magog,”orthodox and mystical Jewish blogsite that made the following claim.  The claimant for this post referenced the Hebrew site, Moriyah.org, stated:

 

Years of Awe and Moshiach and Geula – HaRav Baruch Shapira, ztvk”l, said ten years ago“I am a big prophet and head of the 36 hidden tzaddikim, and my prophecy is that in the future they will drive out complete settlements from the Gaza Strip, and immediately afterwards there will be a very strong earthquake in the area of Gaza and a huge wave will come and wash away the whole area into the sea, along with all the Palestinians.

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Those tsunami rumours resurfaced again in 2014.

 

But the bit that was ‘missing’ from all those discussions is that you need massive earthquakes, in order to have massive tsunamis.

In 2023, right now,  the earthquakes are picking up all over the world.

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A couple of months ago, the Rav talked repeatedly about big quakes hitting Israel, but said that the quakes won’t harm Jews, and will just cause the mosques and churches to fall.

 

Earthquake = tsunami = sea splitting and enemy warships being totally sunk to the bottom of the ocean = Gaza flooded.

 

(There is some weird kink in the topography of the sea bed in the Mediterranean, that appears to suggest that if a massive tsunami does hit, Gaza will take the brunt. But clearly, still a very serious circumstance, and still a lot of prayers required for everyone.)

====

So, let God do His thing.

And do yours, by praying, making teshuva and carrying on with the kindnesses and the charity.

Over the next 30 days of Cheshvan:

> Every day, women should aim for one whole book of tehillim a day – but do whatever you can manage, without letting yourself off the hook.

> And men should aim for three books a day, plus 10 pages of Gemara – but again, do whatever you can manage and push yourself to just keep doing a bit more.

> Turn off the lying news – it just pulls people into despair and fear.

And then the miracles will come.

====

Honestly?

The miracles are already coming.

A week ago this time – I truly thought we’d be in the middle of a war on three fronts, thousands of rockets every day and God forbid, thousands of precious Jews bogged down in Gaza being killed by yet more ‘friendly fire’ (ahem….)

 

None of that is happening.

Yet.

And BH, it won’t happen at all.

But keep going with the tehillim and prayers!

Because only the ‘voice of Yaakov’ can finally destroy the ‘Iron Swords’ of Esav, once and for all.

 

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From Parenting To Practicalities: Baby Forum Evolves For Wartime

By Ariel Grossman, NoCamels – 16November2023 https://nocamels.com/2023/11/from-parenting-to-practicalities-baby-forum-evolves-for-wartime/

 

Israelis struggling during the country’s ongoing war with Hamas have found support from an unexpected quarter – an online platform for new parents that now also offers access to a range of free services from temporary housing and professional counseling to babysitting and home-cooked meals.

 

The Jama website was created to help guide new parents through the first period after childbirth by connecting them to one another and offering them free and paid professional seminars.

 

But now, recognizing a broader demand during wartime, it has created a universal marketplace for Israelis wanting to offer their skills and services for free to those in need.

 

The original site was born in 2019, just a few months after co-founder and COO Maya Dayan Shalev found herself struggling with postpartum depression following the birth of her first child.

 

“When I became a new mom, I felt like I was diving into this world without any preparation, without anyone to guide me and without anyone to hold my hand,” she tells NoCamels.

 

“We used to raise kids in tribes, in communities, and somewhere along the way, things changed and we now do it all alone,” she says. “But it doesn’t have to be that way.”

 

When Hamas terrorists stormed into Israel from Gaza on October 7, killing 1,200 people and abducting 240 others, Israelis around the country rushed to help the victims and their families – and the soldiers quickly called up to wage war on the terror group.

 

But according to Maya, there was not a unified channel to coordinate the outpouring of goodwill.

“We saw that so many people wanted to help one another,” says Maya. “There was no one place that could organize everything in a smart way.”

 

Maya and her brother Kfir Dayan, Jama’s CEO and co-founder, quickly realized that they in fact already had their own platform that had been created solely to bring people together.

 

As Jama was created as a map showing users the location of other parents nearby with children of a similar age, it was easy to adapt to its new purpose.

 

“We took our map that usually connects between parents and parenting events, and turned it into a place to offer any kind of help you want, or to come and [accept] that help,” says Kfir.

 

The Jama team – which consists of both Israeli and Ukrainian developers – needed just 48 hours to add a new section and make it accessible to all Israelis in need.

 

The site’s artificial intelligence platform, which analyzes data provided during registration and subsequent navigation to provide the most relevant content, is now also used to suggest services required by the new wave of users.

 

“That’s what I love most about the Israeli nation,” says Kfir. “When you’re in trouble, people that don’t even know you will come and help you.”

 

The first feature of the new section, which is called Jama Help, was a way for people to advertise homes and rooms available to people who had to evacuate from southern Israel due to the security situation with Gaza.

 

From there, Jama Help expanded to include donations for army equipment and professional and psychological services. And then Israelis with no professional training in mental health also joined the platform, offering to do whatever they could for anyone in need.

 

“People wanted to offer any kind of help. There was someone who wanted to cook for others, teachers who wanted to teach students for free,” says Maya.

 

“It was amazing to see how much help there was in just a few days. It really warmed our hearts.”

Today, Jama Help is open to anyone who wants or is in need of assistance of any kind.

Registration for Jama Help requires providing some basic data such as location, a phone number and date of birth. For now, the site is only in Hebrew, but the siblings plan to make it available in English too.

 

Thousands have now signed up to both offer assistance and find a helping hand, says Maya.

Users who want to offer a service simply click on the plus sign at the side of the map, which takes them to a form where they select the kind of service they have, such as a vacant apartment or room or professional help, the dates and location of the assistance, and how many people can be accommodated.

 

And while there are other initiatives that attempt to coalesce both services on offer and requests for help on a single platform, Kfir says that Jama Help’s AI shows users the most relevant offers for them based on their activity on the website.

 

“I think that all of us as startups – and as people – have the ability to affect for good,” says Maya.

 

“That was the inspiration behind Jama Help: the belief that everyone has the ability to help, and the knowledge that we had the technology to make it possible.”

 

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Functional Trauma Stress Disorder: Civilians Under Siege

November 5, 2023 by Lazer Brody

Functional Trauma Stress Disorder: Civilians Under Siege

FTSD-Functional Trauma Stress Disorder-Civilians Under Siege

FTSD-Functional Trauma Stress Disorder-Civilians Under Siege

Everyone is aware of PTSD – post-trauma stress disorder. This is the emotional and psychosomatic aftermath of war and severe life-threatening situations. Yet, few people – unless they live in the Ukraine, Israel or any other place with constant or prolonged wartime conditions, are aware of FTSD – functional trauma stress disorder.

The Severity of FTSD

Several aspects FTSD render it a greater challenge that PTSD. for example:

  1. While PTSD is post-trauma, FTSD is ongoing trauma.
  2. While PTSD is easy to recognize and identify, FTSD is not.
  3. Therapists are very familiar with PTSD, but less so with FTSD.
  4. While those with PTSD are usually willing to seek and accept help, those with FTSD might not even be aware that they need help.
  5. PTSD sufferers are rarely in denial. FTSD sufferers are liable to consider their suffering as a weakness and therefore use denial as a defense mechanism.

The FTSD Lab

The Current Simchat Torah War (aka “Iron Shields”) began with the Hamas massacre of 1400 innocent Israelis on October 7, 2023. That day was both Shabbat and Simchat Torah. The entire nation of Israel went from extreme joy to extreme fury and indignation. Hamas kidnapped another 241 people (at the time of this writing – the count goes up almost daily). Yet, the south of Israel continues to bear the brunt of the war. For years, southern Israeli cities, towns and villages have suffered intermittent rocket fire. Every child under the age of 16 has been born into the reality of bomb shelters. As a health coach, spiritual guide and former IDF combat soldier, many people have sought my help. The following is the result of my personal experience and observation.

The Symptoms of FTSD

People with acute FTSD suffer one or more of the following symptoms:

  1. Disorientation – in the middle of a task, they forget what they were doing. They go from one room to another, and forget what they wanted to accomplish. Perhaps they open the refridgerator and forget what they wanted.
  2. Fuzzy thinking and lack of focus – they read a sentence 3 times and either lose their place or forget what they read.
  3. Difficulty in concentrating – they experience sluggishness and require much more time to accomplish routine tasks.
  4. Fear of the future – they fear that the next missile attack will hit them or their home. They also have a doomsday outlook where small problems mushroom in their minds to life-threatening dangers.
  5. Short-temperedness – they are easily aggravated and react sharply or with anger.
  6. Futility – this is especially pronounced among civilians and all those who are not able to actively share in the war effort.
  7. Sleep Disorders – wake up multiple times during the night.
  8. Digestive disorders – from extremes of loss of appetite to heavily emotional eating and dinking.
  9. Headaches, muscle tension and tightening, diaphram pain, difficulty in breathing and similar psychosomatic disorders that cause actual physical suffering.
  10. Sadness and depression.

Coping with FTSD

Conventional therapy doesn’t have effective answers to FTSD. The reason is that emotional strength comes from the soul. FTSD is the result of the current trauma being stronger than the soul in its current state. If the soul is stronger than the body, then it can cope with the current trauma and overcome it. But, the more the body overcomes the soul, the more it suffers from FTSD.

 

Coping with and overcoming FTSD necessitates strengthening the soul. We accomplish that by learning emuna. The body might worry about danger, but when the soul is strong in emuna, it elicits Hashem’s help in overcoming the danger. That is how King David can so calmly declare, “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You [Hashem] are with me (Psalm 23:4).

 

In light of the above, prayer, recitation of Psalms and especially personal prayer are wonderful relievers of PTSD. Reading emuna books and most effective in neutralizing FTSD. I strongly recommend 3 Words of Emuna for immediate relief and 13 Principles of Emuna for longterm treatment.

Don’t Be in Denial

Be honest with yourself. Don’t be in denial. If you experience one or more of the abovementioned 10 symptoms, admit it to yourself. Living in the south of Israel, at one time or another, I’ve felt each one. Yet, I’ve coped and continue coping with the very same advice I give you, And remember: you don’t learn emuna from eating chocolate ice-cream. Challenging times are a wonderful opportunity to gain genuine spiritual and emotional growth. May Hashem help us to be successful and may we hear good news from one another, amen!

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Israel Looking To Replace All Palestinian Labor With Foreign Workforce

The Judean Staff News 10January2024 https://thejudean.com/index.php/news/2332-israel-looking-to-replace-all-palestinian-labor-with-foreign-workforce

 

In the aftermath of the heinous October 7 attacks, Israel’s Economy Minister Nir Barkat from the Likud party articulated a decisive albeit controversial strategy: phasing out Palestinian labor in favor of foreign workers, effectively shutting the doors to Palestinians which would have dire consequences for their economy, but bring many Israelis peace of mind. This shift is not just a reactionary measure to a single tragic event, but a profound reevaluation of national security and economic strategy.

 

On October 7, Israel experienced one of its darkest days, revealing vulnerabilities in its labor force composition. Speaking at a conferfence in Jerusalem, Minister Barkat pinpointed the employment of Palestinian workers as a security risk, alleging some were involved in intelligence gathering for Hamas. This accusation is part of a broader narrative that the Palestinian Authority (PA) is complicit, through its “pay-for-slay” program, in incentivizing violence against Israelis.

 

To mitigate this risk, Barkat proposes a radical overhaul of Israel’s labor market. The plan involves transitioning from Palestinian to foreign labor, emphasizing the need for rapid action. The minister’s plan is underpinned by the belief that foreign workers present a significantly lower security threat and can effectively fill Israel’s labor needs.

 

Currently, Israel hosts approximately 130,000 foreign workers but needs an additional 170,000 to meet demand. Barkat’s recent discussions with India’s economy minister highlight the global nature of this labor shift, with countries like India eager to participate. This move is not just about filling low-skilled jobs; it’s about strategically aligning Israel’s workforce with its economic ambitions, pushing Israeli workers towards high-tech and skilled sectors.

 

Barkat dismisses concerns of collective punishment towards Palestinians, arguing that Israel is not responsible for job creation in the Palestinian territories. He stresses that the PA must foster its own economic growth and employment opportunities.

 

In the broader context of Israel’s economy, Barkat remains optimistic. Despite temporary setbacks due to regional conflicts, he sees a pattern of resilience and growth in Israel’s economy, particularly in the high-tech sector. The government’s billion-shekel investment in building industry clusters, following Professor Michael E. Porter’s economic model, is a testament to this optimism. This initiative aims to foster public-private partnerships, boosting Israel’s competitive edge globally.

 

In conclusion, Barkat’s strategy represents a significant pivot in Israel’s labor and economic policies, driven by security concerns and economic aspirations. While the move may have profound implications for Israeli-Palestinian relations, it is seen by the minister as a necessary step in ensuring Israel’s long-term security and economic prosperity.

 

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Israeli agriculture and the Gaza War

jns-org-logo

Imports to offset Israeli shortage of onions, tomatoes

This season’s yield of strawberries will also be lower than usual.

https://www.jns.org/imports-to-offset-israeli-shortage-of-onions-tomatoes/

 

(January 18, 2024 / JNS) Israel’s Ministry of Agriculture will increase imports of onions and tomatoes to offset a projected shortage through the end of March.

 

No shortages of peppers, carrots, potatoes or sweet potatoes are expected.

 

A gap in the supply of cabbage has been narrowed, and it is expected to return to normal in about two weeks.

 

The ministry added that this season’s yield of strawberries will be lower than usual, but the scope depends on the availability of professional workers for picking.

 

Israeli agriculture is facing staggering losses in production and manpower. Before Oct. 7, Israel had 29,900 foreigners, mostly Thais, working in farms, orchards, greenhouses and packing plants. Nearly all have returned to Thailand.

 

Farmers also employed 10,000-20,000 Palestinians, depending on the season, but they are currently denied entry into Green Line Israel.

Israeli workers who might have filled the gaps have been called up for military reserve duty.

 

And because of security concerns, farmers near the Gaza and Lebanese borders cannot access many of their fields and orchards.

 

A survey of 389 farmers conducted by the MIGAL Galilee Research Institute in November found that 89% of Israeli farmers had experienced some form of damage, and 96% expected more during the next three months. While farmers in the Gaza and northern regions have had the greatest disruption, all areas have been severely affected, and the impact is expected to continue for months to come.

 

Nearly three-quarters of the farmers, 72%, said they have experienced disruptions to their workforce, even in areas not near Gaza or Lebanon such as central Israel and the Jordan Valley.

 

Access was another problem cited by farmers, with 23% saying they couldn’t reach their fields to plant, pick crops or perform routine fertilizing or irrigation work, or damage control. Those farmers were primarily near the Gaza and Lebanese borders.

 

When asked to estimate their expected losses, farmers on average predicted a 35% drop in both production and revenue. But farmers in the area near the Gaza border—regarded as Israel’s breadbasket—projected on average a 70% loss of produce and 69% loss of income.

Reader’s Comments:
Zelda Torna

Many of us in Israel would rather eat more sweet potatoes and fewer tomatoes —- rather than put our lives at risk 24/7 with Palestinian workers in Israel’s Farms & Agricultural areas. Given the situation in the world today, surely there are more than enough foreign workers who will do an excellent job, and will NOT be a threat. On the contrary, it will improve relations with their home country….. because Israel treats its workers very well. Remember, it was Hamas who killed the Thai workers…..

 

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How cutting-edge Israeli med tech is boosting survival rates of war wounded

AI reviews scans at Sheba Medical Center and sends alerts to doctors’ phones, while at Hadassah, wounded soldiers recover quickly after surgeons remove bullets with robots

By Renee Ghert-Zand
17January2014  https://www.timesofisrael.com/how-cutting-edge-israeli-med-tech-is-boosting-survival-rates-of-war-wounded/

 

Dr. Gal Yaniv sits next to his computer at Sheba Medical Center that shows how Aidoc platform used AI to identify potentially lethal tiny aneurysm in brain of Nova festival victim and immediately notified relevant medical staff to take action, December 28, 2023. (Renee Ghert-Zand/Times of Israel)

Dr. Gal Yaniv sits next to his computer at Sheba Medical Center that shows how Aidoc platform used AI to identify potentially lethal tiny aneurysm in brain of Nova festival victim and immediately notified relevant medical staff to take action, December 28, 2023. (Renee Ghert-Zand/Times of Israel)

 

A 23-year-old woman was shot multiple times by Hamas terrorists from Gaza as they savagely attacked the outdoor Supernova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im on October 7. One of the bullets penetrated the woman’s left eye and lodged in the right side of her brain.

 

By the end of that horrific day, the terrorists had butchered 1,200 people in southern Israel, mainly civilians. An additional 240 were taken hostage to Gaza. Thousands of others, like the woman from the festival, were injured and rushed to Israeli hospitals.

 

Fortunately, the young woman survived.

She and other wounded civilians and soldiers have not only doctors and other medical staff to thank for saving their lives, but also new Israeli-developed medical technologies.

 

The death rate among wounded soldiers in the current war is 6.7 percent, which is less than half the rate during the Second Lebanon War and 2.5% less than that during Operation Protective Edge in the summer of 2014.

 

This can be attributed to faster evacuations from the battlefield to hospitals (an average of one hour and 6 minutes faster) and better protective equipment. However, medical advances based on new technologies developed since earlier conflicts also play a critical role in boosting the survival rate.

llustrative: Lahak-United Hatzalah medivac teams fly air rescue missions across Israel’s south on October 7, 2023. (Courtesy United Hatzalah)

llustrative: Lahak-United Hatzalah medivac teams fly air rescue missions across Israel’s south on October 7, 2023. (Courtesy United Hatzalah)

Artificial intelligence streamlines patient treatment

Upon arrival at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, the woman from the music festival underwent a variety of scans, and a bleed was detected in one of the arteries in her brain.

 

“I got a notification when any patient with a brain bleed came in that day,” said Dr. Gal Yaniv, head of endovascular surgery at Sheba.

 

That notification came not as a call from his colleagues at the hospital, but via an automatic alert to his computer and an app on his phone thanks to an artificial intelligence platform called Aidoc.

 

Every scan done at Sheba is pushed through a dedicated server programmed with Aidoc’s pathology-detecting technology. A radiologist will also read the scan, but Aidoc acts faster and is critically important when every lifesaving moment counts.

 

“Time is life. Aidoc sends the push notification to the relevant doctor wherever they are for treating the problem. When they get it, they can see the patient’s scans and begin streamlining their treatment plan and the necessary intervention immediately,” Yaniv said.

 

“In a mass casualty event like October 7 and the war, Aidoc is especially useful in assisting us to triage and prioritize care for patients,” Yaniv said.

 

“In a mass casualty event like October 7 and the war, Aidoc is especially useful in assisting us to triage and prioritize care for patients,” Yaniv said.

 

Yaniv is co-founder and chief medical officer at Aidoc, which provides 17 AI solutions for radiology (X-rays, computed tomography, and ultrasound). The company was established at Sheba in 2016 and has been used at the hospital since 2018. Now some 1,200 hospitals worldwide are using the platform.

 

Thanks to this advanced AI technology, Sheba’s neurovascular team was able to act quickly in the Supernova victim’s case. An angiogram detected a tiny aneurysm in a small distal vessel in her brain that had to be closed immediately to prevent a dangerous re-rupture, which would have likely led to death.

 

“Fortunately, everything was caught in time and treated properly and the young woman is now recovering from this and her other wounds in our rehabilitation center,” Yaniv said.

 

Using surgical robots to remove bullets and shrapnel

Prof. Leon Kaplan performs robot-guided minimally invasive spine surgery to remove a bullet from an injured IDF soldier at Hadassah Medical Center, December 2023. (Courtesy of Hadassah)

Prof. Leon Kaplan performs robot-guided minimally invasive spine surgery to remove a bullet from an injured IDF soldier at Hadassah Medical Center, December 2023. (Courtesy of Hadassah)

At Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem, Dr. Josh Schroeder, head of the spinal deformities surgery department, has used robots in his work for the last decade.

 

“Robotic spine surgery to treat scoliosis and other deformities is our bread and butter. The robot guides us in the placement of pedicle screws, for example,” Schroeder said.

 

While surgical robotic technology has been around a while, Schroeder, along with Prof. Leon Kaplan, and Prof. Meir Liebergall, used it in a novel way in late December to treat a soldier who had a bullet stuck in his sacrum, the large triangular bone at the base of the spine.

 

Leaving the bullet in the body was not an option, as it would affect the nerves going down the leg and could also lead to lead poisoning.

 

“The soldier was initially brought to another hospital, and they said they could only operate by opening up the body. We said we could do robotically-assisted minimally invasive surgery. It would take no more than one and a half hours instead of half a day. And the recovery would be much easier and quicker,” Schroeder said.

 

The Hadassah surgeons used the Mazor robotic guidance system sold by the Israeli company Medtronic. Hadassah has one such robot at each of its Jerusalem campuses. The surgery to remove the bullet from the soldier was done at the Ein Kerem hospital.

Bullet removed from injured IDF soldier by Hadassah Medical Center spine surgeons using robot-guided minimally invasive surgery, December 2023. (Courtesy of Hadassah)

Bullet removed from injured IDF soldier by Hadassah Medical Center spine surgeons using robot-guided minimally invasive surgery, December 2023. (Courtesy of Hadassah)

 

The team uploaded computed tomography scans from before the surgery and two “fluoro shots” (X-rays) taken in surgery. The robot merged all this input and calculated the exact location for the surgeons to go in and extract the bullet.

 

“We’ve also used the robot to do minimally invasive surgery to fix fractures in soldier’s spines, remove shrapnel, and treat various injuries of October 7 victims,” Schroeder said.

 

“We can do this because the robot gives us the perfect trajectory for going in to fix the problem,” he said.

 

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ISRAEL AT WAR 5784: 1 sheep and 70 wolves


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Smotrich’s Revenge: Biden’s Sanctions on Settlers Turned into Potential Collapse of PA Banking System

By David Israel – 5 Adar II 5784 – March 15, 2024 https://www.jewishpress.com/news/business-economy/smotrichs-revenge-bidens-sanctions-on-settlers-turned-into-potential-collapse-of-pa-banking-system/2024/03/15/

 

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has had it up to here with US sanctions against Jewish settlers in Judea and Samaria, and this week decided to release the kraken.

 

Smotrich responded to the sanctions: “These decisions are a surrender of the Biden administration to the BDS campaign designed to blacken the entire State of Israel and lead to the elimination of the settlement enterprise and the establishment of a Palestinian terrorist state. The Israeli government is standing to the right of the settlement. These measures are completely unacceptable and we will fight to cancel them.”

 

It began with this week’s Axios’ exclusive report that the Biden administration is expected to impose new sanctions on two Jewish outposts in Judea and Samaria from which settlers went out to attack PA Arabs.

 

In early February, the Biden administration weaponized its “settler violence” mantra (based on fake reports by anti-Israel NGOs, according to the Israel Police) as a tool for pushing through the two-state agenda.

 

The President signed an executive order allowing the United States to issue financial sanctions against “those directing or participating in certain actions, including acts or threats of violence against civilians, intimidating civilians to cause them to leave their homes, destroying or seizing property, or engaging in terrorist activity in the West Bank. And the State Department also today issued four designations under this new executive authority,” NSA’s John Kirby told reporters.

 

A reporter then asked Kirby: “Is this a signal to those officials in the Israeli government who openly support and facilitate such violence, including Itamar Ben Gvir, who supply the weapons to these people who perpetrate?”

 

Kirby’s response: “I think it’s a signal to the whole world how seriously President Biden takes this violence against the settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.”

YOU WANT SANCTIONS? WE CAN DO SANCTIONS

In retaliation, according to Israel Hayom, Smotrich refuses to renew his signature on a document that provides protection from lawsuits to the Israeli banks doing business with the Palestinian Authority –  Discount and Po’alim.

 

Without government protection, the Israeli banks are expected to sever ties with the PA banks, fearing that they would become exposed to lawsuits on charges of transferring funds to entities that pay out salaries to terrorists.

 

And since the PA’s economy wholly depends on its relationship with Israel, this means an immediate freeze of economic activity in the Palestinian Authority.

 

Following the Biden administration’s announcement of sanctions against four Jewish settlers (who had not been convicted of any crime), the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in the US Treasury Department updated its list of sanctioned individuals, and overnight Bank Leumi and Postal Bank froze their accounts.

 

Now, Smotrich, who prefers his revenge dish eaten cold, is turning the damage of a few thousand shekels to four Jewish settles into the possible collapse of the Palestinian Authority.

 

In 2018, the Israeli government created the Correspondence Government Company, to absorb the financial risks undertaken by Israeli banks doing business with PA banks. This was done after the Israeli banks threatened to sever their relations with PA institutions lest they be sued for collaborating with terrorists. The new company provides clearance services to Israeli banks, thus keeping them protected from lawsuits. But the new company is also leery about doing business with the PA, which is why the political and security cabinet each year issues a letter of protection to the Israeli banks, signed by the finance minister, absolving the of fiduciary responsibility for the PA’s terrorist shenanigans.

 

Now Smotrich is refusing to sign this letter of protection.

 

Israel Hayom’s Ariel Kahana suggested the finance minister is expecting that just as the Americans do not complain to the Israeli banks about their relationship with the Palestinian Authority, they will make it clear that they have no objection to releasing the frozen funds of the sanctioned Jewish settlers.

 

Otherwise, perhaps the US should start airdropping food packages on Ramallah.

 

The move means the immediate freezing of significant parts of the economic activity in the Palestinian Authority, whose currency is the shekel. Also, the vast majority of PA exports and imports are done through Israeli ports – no backing from Israeli banks, no trade. And of course, Smotrich’s favorite, the tax money that Israel collects will now be frozen until further notice, tell Ramallah to raise more rabbits and chop more wood for heating – it’s back to a barter economy.

 

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Israel Beauty Queen has been called up for military service


MOT-tweet-19March2024-Israel Beauty Queen has been called up for military service
Israel’s 2021 Beauty Queen, Noah Kohwa, has been called up for military service. Am Yisrael Chai #Israel #VictoryForIsrael #IDF #Zionism #IDFHeroes

MOT-tweet-19March2024-Israel Beauty Queen has been called up for military service

MOT-tweet-19March2024-Israel Beauty Queen has been called up for military service

 

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The pundits in DC, the EU and the UN will never understand Israel


David M Friedman-tweet-18March2024-The pundits in DC, the EU and the UN will never understand Israel
Spent this evening at an Army Base in Israel where a Torah Scroll was dedicated to the soldiers. Yishai Rebo, who fills 25,000 seats at Madison Square Garden, showed up to perform for 200. The world doesn’t understand the commitment and spirit of the IDF. These soldiers, almost all reservists with families at home, serve with incredible patriotism and loyalty. They are determined to defend their homeland and the Jewish People. The pundits in DC and at the EU and UN never visit places like this. And that is why they will never understand Israel.

David M Friedman-tweet-18March2024-The pundits in DC, the EU and the UN will never understand Israel

David M Friedman-tweet-18March2024-The pundits in DC, the EU and the UN will never understand Israel

 

 

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The Canary Mission database was created to expose individuals and groups that are anti-Freedom, anti-American and anti-Semitic in order to protect the public and our democratic values.

The Canary Mission database was created to expose individuals and groups that are anti-Freedom, anti-American and anti-Semitic in order to protect the public and our democratic values.

CODEPINK

https://canarymission.org/organization/CODEPINK

Overview

CODEPINK: Women for Peace is an anti-war activist group in the United States that engages in regular actions to harm the State of Israel. The organization aggressively promotes the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and has been criticized for maintaining close ties to the Hamas regime in Gaza.

 

CODEPINK describes itself as “a women-led grassroots organization working to end U.S. wars and militarism, support peace and human rights initiatives, and redirect our tax dollars into healthcare, education, green jobs and other life-affirming programs.”

 

With members wearing the group’s signature pink color, CODEPINK has conducted marches, protests and high-visibility publicity stunts in pursuit of its goals. It has regional offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, D.C. and New York.

 

Background

CODEPINK was founded on November 17, 2002 by Jodie Evans, Medea Benjamin and other anti-war activists. The group’s name is a play on the United States Department of Homeland Security’s color-coded alert system in which Code Red signifies the highest level of danger.

 

In September 2008, a number of CODEPINK leaders personally met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in New York City. CODEPINK subsequently launched an aggressive anti-Israel campaign that included open support for Hamas. That November, Jodie Evans and a CODEPINK contingent visited Iran at the personal invitation of Ahmadinejad.

Meeting With Hamas

In March 2009, CODEPINK led an international delegation of anti-Israel activists to Gaza. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh addressed the activists in Gaza by phone while other Hamas officials addressed them in person.

 

Hamas protected the demonstrators during their two-day stay in Gaza by tightly controlling CODEPINK’s movements and contacts which included Palestinian homes, local NGO’s and Palestinian refugee camps run by the United Nations. Activists also stayed in a luxurious hotel owned by Hamas.

 

In 2009 CODEPINK further escalated the intensity of its international campaign to stop the blockade that Egypt and Israel had imposed on Gaza (to prevent the importation of weaponry) after Hamas‘s 2006 election as the region’s dominant political entity.

 

CODEPINK helped to organize an “International Women’s Day” delegation to Gaza in March of 2014. Upon arriving at the Cairo airport on March 3, 2014, however, Benjamin was detained by Egyptian authorities. She was reportedly injured by Egyptian security forces and deported to Turkey. Other members of the international delegation who arrived the next day were also deported. Some members made it into Cairo, although none from the delegation made it to Gaza.

Identifying with Al Qaeda

On June 14, 2014 – CODEPINK founder Benjamin posted a photo on Facebook, with the caption: “Foto from last night here in Yemen with Nasser Al-Awlaki, whose son Anwar and grandson Abdulrahman were killed by drones.”

 

Anwar al-Awlaki was linked to the Fort Hood Shooting and, identified by the U.S. government as involved in senior recruitment and planning for Al Qaeda terrorist operations.

 

On June 17, 2013, Benjamin and fellow CODEPINK founder Jodie Evans organized a protest in Yemen with Al Qaeda-affiliated group al-Karama. Later that year, the U.S. Treasury Department determined that al-Karama’s founding president, Qatari history professor and human-rights activist Abdul Rahman Omeir al-Naimi, was an Al-Qaeda financier.

Anti-Israel Activism

CODEPINK’s official position is to “stand(s) in solidarity with Palestinian and Israeli nonviolent activists and human rights advocates working to hold Israel accountable for its violations of international law” and to “educate Americans about the realities of Israel’s occupation and to change U.S. foreign policy in the region.”

 

CODEPINKdivestment campaigns have specifically targeted RE/MAX, Ahava, SodaStream, Hewlett Packard and Airbnb.

 

On November 20, 2016, CODEPINK leader Ariel Gold disrupted a speech given by the actor Ashton Kutcher, who later defended Airbnb. Kutcher stated, “I can appreciate that where there is change there will be a fringe case that feels objectified. But this company is about bringing people together and about loving one another.” Gold was escorted off the stage by security.

 

Prior to the “Gaza Freedom March,” CODEPINK endorsed the “Cairo Declaration to End Israeli Apartheid” that calls for comprehensive boycott of Israel.

 

During the march, CODEPINK co-founder Medea Benjamin coordinated the organization’s stay with the Hamas government. Members stayed in the Commodore, a Hamas-owned five star hotel in Gaza City.

 

While Benjamin claimed that the Hamas government had “pledged to ensure our safety” other CODEPINK leaders accused Hamas of hijacking the initiative and imposing prohibitions on the organization’s movements around Gaza.

Funding

CODEPINK has received financial support from the Benjamin Fund, Global Exchange, the Streisand Foundation, the Threshold Foundation and the Tides Foundation.

 

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Hamas At The Oscars 2024


Canary Mission-tweet-11March2024-celebrities at the Oscars wore a button celebrating the Oct. 7 massacre
It has literally gotten to the point where celebrities at the Oscars wore a button celebrating the Oct. 7 massacre symbolized by one horrific event in 2000 where a violent lynch mob slaughtered & dismembered 2 IDF reservists who got lost & ended up in Ramallah.

Canary Mission-tweet-11March2024-celebrities at the Oscars wore a button celebrating the Oct. 7 massacre

Canary Mission-tweet-11March2024-celebrities at the Oscars wore a button celebrating the Oct. 7 massacre

 



Irish Jewish Voice-tweet-11March2024-Red HandPin stands for murder Jews
#Oscar2024 #Oscar A Red HandPin was worn by some last night. Here’s what it stands for.

In 2000 two Israeli soldiers went the wrong way and ended up in Ramallah where they were captured and slaughtered. A gleeful raging Palestinian mob disemboweled them and ate their organs.
There is a photo of one of the terrorists, his bloodied hands pressed against a window.

That’s your red hand pin.

Irish Jewish Voice-tweet-11March2024-Red HandPin stands for murder Jews

Irish Jewish Voice-tweet-11March2024-Red HandPin stands for murder Jews


The Persian Jewess-tweet-15March2024-Oscar2024 Blue Pin
I like our pins better. 😎

#AmYisraelChai
#StandWithIsrael

The Persian Jewess-tweet-15March2024-Oscar2024 Blue Pin

The Persian Jewess-tweet-15March2024-Oscar2024 Blue Pin

 

A shield from the “evil eye”


Chabad.org-tweet-26February2024-The Hamsa-A shield from the ‘evil eye’
I see it everywhere, the iconic wide-open eye on the palm of the hand.
Buts the Hamsa a Jewish Symbol?
https://chabad.org/lxuabf
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/6324210/jewish/Is-Hamsa-Jewish.htm

Chabad.org-tweet-26February2024-The Hamsa-A shield from the 'evil eye'

Chabad.org-tweet-26February2024-The Hamsa-A shield from the ‘evil eye’

 

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chabad-org-logo

Is Hamsa Jewish?

By Menachem Posner https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/6324210/jewish/Is-Hamsa-Jewish.htm

 

Hamsa

Hamsa

A Hamsa is an amulet that depicts a symmetrical open hand, typically used decoratively in the home or worn on jewelry. Its name—Arabic for “five”—is representative of the five fingers of the hand and the protective qualities associated with that number. While designs vary, it is common for there to be a wide-open eye on the palm of the hand—symbolizing the desire to be shielded from the “evil eye.”

 

The Hamsa is widespread among Sephardic Jews, many of whom hail from Arabic lands. But it is also common among Muslims and Christians from those same lands. So can the Hamsa be considered a legitimately Jewish symbol, or is it something borrowed from non-Jewish neighbors, or even a holdover from idolatry which was once ubiquitous in those lands?

 

This question has been hotly debated, with great halachic authorities supporting various approaches.

Following the opinion that considers it foreign to the Jewish religion, many Jews refrain from using the Hamsa or hanging it in their homes.

 

However, many Sephardic rabbis taught that it was a legitimate Jewish symbol. Prime examples would be Rabbi Chayim Yosef David Azulai (Chida), as well as Rabbi Yosef Chaim of Baghdad (the Ben Ish Chai), who records the custom of hanging a small hand engraved with the Hebrew letter hei (which has the numerical value of five) to ward off the evil eye.1

 

So if this was the custom of your community, you may continue to use one with confidence. If you have no such custom, it would be wise to consult with your rabbi before purchasing that flashy little Hamsa charm.

 

Furthermore, it is important to keep in mind that the Talmud reassures us that the evil eye only affects you if you give it credence and if you worry about it; if you ignore it, the evil eye does not affect you at all.

 

Footnotes
1. Ben Ish Chai, Second Year, Parshat Pinchas, 13.

By Menachem Posner

Rabbi Menachem Posner serves as managing editor at Chabad.org, the world’s largest Jewish informational website. He has been writing, researching, and editing for Chabad.org since 2006, when he received his rabbinic degree from Central Yeshiva Tomchei Temimim Lubavitch. He lives in Chicago, Ill., with his family.

More from Menachem Posner  |  RSS

© Copyright, all rights reserved. If you enjoyed this article, we encourage you to distribute it further, provided that you comply with Chabad.org’s copyright policy.

 

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Americans airdropped MRE food into Gaza, Gazans throw it out


Aviva Klompas-tweet-4March2024-Americans airdropped MRE food into Gaza, Gazans throw it out
Americans airdropped food into Gaza.

This man throws it in the trash.

Aviva Klompas-tweet-4March2024-Americans airdropped MRE food into Gaza, Gazans throw it out

Aviva Klompas-tweet-4March2024-Americans airdropped MRE food into Gaza, Gazans throw it out

 

 


American Humanitarian Aid washing up on Tel Aviv beach


Lee Caspi-tweet-16March2024-on Lee Caspi-tweet-16March2024-on Tel Aviv beach
Spotted on this morning’s Tel Aviv beach walk: unopened canisters of cooking oil, individual soap packages, and a few bottles of condensed milk. They were being cleaned up by a municipal employee, who told me “it’s a humanitarian delivery to Gaza” 💔💔💔

Lee Caspi-tweet-16March2024-on Tel Aviv beach

Lee Caspi-tweet-16March2024-on Tel Aviv beach

 


 

Steaming hot shawarma in Gaza


Marina Medvin-tweet-5March2024-steaming hot shawarma in Gaza
No wonder they’re throwing American air-dropped dry meals into the trash— they got steaming hot shawarma in Gaza right now. I too prefer shawarma to dry ramen noodles.

Marina Medvin-tweet-5March2024-steaming hot shawarma in Gaza

Marina Medvin-tweet-5March2024-steaming hot shawarma in Gaza

 

 


 

The Gaza genocide is a blatant lie


Marina Medvin-tweet-7March2024-Gaza genocide is a blatant lie
Man from Gaza confirms a food deficit and destruction but says people are alive and living their lives.

The Gaza genocide is a blatant lie— it’s literally a Holocaust smear they use to prod at Jews.

Marina Medvin-tweet-7March2024-Gaza genocide is a blatant lie

Marina Medvin-tweet-7March2024-Gaza genocide is a blatant lie

 

 



Marina Medvin-tweet-11March2024-they have better food on the table
The reason they throw away the dehydrated American parachute drop meals is because they have better food on the table.

The only people starving in Gaza are the Israeli and American hostages.
Imshin-tweet-11March2024-Displaced Gazans in South Gaza Strip eat their first Suhour meal
Displaced Gazans in South Gaza Strip eat their first Suhour meal before dawn today, in preparation the first day of the Ramadan fast.
#TheGazaYouDontSee https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSFf3psp5/

Marina Medvin-tweet-11March2024-they have better food on the table

Marina Medvin-tweet-11March2024-they have better food on the table

 

 


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Hamas MRE Review


John Aziz-tweet-17March2024-air dropped aid
There is something really twisted about dismissing air dropped aid that has been delivered to help Palestinians in Gaza to stay alive and survive.

This aid will save people’s lives.

But this guy went to the trouble of making a video denigrating it.
Community-Notes-logo Quds News Network-tweet-16March2024-Ahmed Kouta MRE review
Palestinian activist Ahmed Kouta exposes the contents of US airdrops to the starving population of Gaza.
Readers added context
An MRE (Meal Ready to Eat) are packages of condensed calories meant for military, and also used for humanitarian aid.

According to the Defense Logistics Agency, “The contents of one MRE meal bag provides an average of 1250 kilocalories” made of “13% protein” and “36% fat”.

https://www.dla.mil/Troop-Support/Subsistence/Operational-rations/MRE/

Quds News Networks-tweet-16March2024-Ahmed Kouta MRE review

Quds News Networks-tweet-16March2024-Ahmed Kouta MRE review

 

 


 

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Propaganda vs Reality

GUERNICA BY Pablo Picasso

GUERNICA BY Pablo Picasso

 

Elon Musk’s Revelation – He Didn’t Know it Was About Israel: The Land of Israel Fellowship

 


Elon Musk-tweet-31October2023-The real battle
The real battle is between the extinctionists and the humanists.

Once you see it, you can’t unsee it.

Elon Musk-tweet-31October2023-The real battle is between the extinctionists and the humanists. Once you see it, you can’t unsee it.

Elon Musk-tweet-31October2023-The real battle is between the extinctionists and the humanists. Once you see it, you can’t unsee it.

Excerpted from The Chanukah Scroll by Hagi Ben Artzi:
[When Antiochus sent a demand for the return of captured ‘Greek cities’ in Eretz Yisrael] …Shimon rebuffed these demands…, and responded in resolute and firm terms:

“We didn’t take a foreign land and we didn’t exist on the spoils of other nations, but on the lands of our fathers that through the years was illegally seized by our enemies. We, when we had the opportunity, restored our birthright.” – Shimon Maccabee to the Greek Antiochus 2158 year ago. 3626 -136BCE

Judenstern_Yellow Star of David Symbol that Jews were forced to wear during the Holocaust, so that they could be identified as Jews.

Judenstern_Yellow Star of David
Symbol that Jews were forced to wear during the Holocaust, so that they could be identified as Jews.

Israel Hamas War RANT

Yishai Fleisher @YishaiFleisherTV https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1EasxeXGzoXJb2y3HTMsLA


Excerpted from The Chanukah Scroll by Hagi Ben Artzi:
[When Antiochus sent a demand for the return of captured ‘Greek cities’ in Eretz Yisrael] …Shimon rebuffed these demands…, and responded in resolute and firm terms:

“We didn’t take a foreign land and we didn’t exist on the spoils of other nations, but on the lands of our fathers that through the years was illegally seized by our enemies. We, when we had the opportunity, restored our birthright.” – Shimon Maccabee to the Greek Antiochus 2158 year ago. 3626 -136BCE

http://palmtreeofdeborah.blogspot.com

Those Inspiring Maccabees!

 

1 Tevet 5784 12December2023 http://palmtreeofdeborah.blogspot.com/2023/12/those-inspiring-maccabees.html
Rosh Chodesh
6th Candle of Hanukkah<

 

Following is a sampling of inspiring speeches made by the Maccabean leaders which aroused the Jewish neshamahs of their followers to greatness in the Name of Hashem. Excerpted from The Chanukah Scroll by Hagi Ben Artzi:

 

[To the Greek officer who bid him come and sacrifice a pig on the altar to Zeus,]…Matityahu’s response was delivered in a loud and confident voice, and was clearly heard throughout the city square. Matityahu said: “Even if all the nations in the Kingdom of Antiochus hearken to him and abandon their traditions and customs and follow the paths of the Greeks, I, and my sons and my brothers will continue to walk in the ways of our Forefathers, and will not betray the covenant of our God. We dare not leave our Torah and our national tradition! We will not follow and will not hearken to the words of King Antiochus, for the God Who dwells in Heaven is our King.”

 

…”Jews, we are going out to war! Whoever is zealous for the Torah, whoever is loyal to the covenant with our God, follow me to fight for our faith and our Torah!”

 

[Even from his deathbed, Matityahu persevered]…”My sons, be zealous for the Torah; give your very souls for the sake of the covenant of your Forefathers. Remember the actions of your fathers, how they gave their lives and brought salvation to their nation. Remember Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov; remember Moshe and Pinchas; remember Yehoshua and Calev; remember David and Eliyahu; remember Daniel, Chanayah, Mishael and Azaryah.

Carefully reflect on the previous generations; learn from them that one need not fear an evil man, even if he is strong and threatening. Our fathers trusted in God, and He came to their salvation. You, as well: Believe in God, and become strong with Torah – for only this way will bring you pride. In your war with the enemies of our nation, Yehuda will be your Chief of Staff and commander, and Shimon will be your advisor and father. Gather to you all those who uphold the Torah, and avenge the honor of your people. Give the Gentiles what they deserve, and hold fast on to the Torah’s commandments.”

 

With these words, Matityahu passed away….

 

…when Yehuda’s few men saw the great Syrian army marching towards them, great fear fell upon them. They called to their commander Yehuda: “We are few and weak; how will we be able to fight this great camp?” Yehuda then gathered all the men together, and strengthened their spirit with words of faith.

 

Thus he said to them: “Nothing can prevent God from saving us, whether we are few or many. It is not great numbers of soldiers or heavy weaponry that brings victory in war. It is rather a spirit of valor, one that stems from true faith. We are fighting for our nation and our Torah, whereas they are coming upon us with haughtiness and evil, to destroy us, our wives and our children, and to take our property. The God of our fathers will not abandon us; He will smite them before us.

 

Arise, my brothers! Go out and fight without fear!”

 

When Yehuda finished speaking, a spirit of valor overtook his men, and they fell upon their enemies with great force.

 

[When the war had continued many years, Shimon, the last of the Maccabees] …gathered a large crowd in the courtyard of the Temple in Jerusalem, and encouraged them and raised their spirits. He said to them: “You know that which we have done – I, my brothers, and my father’s house – on behalf of the Torah and the Temple. All my brothers died in the great war, in which they gave their lives for their people; I, alone, remain. Do not fear that their deaths have caused  me to be afraid or to seek my own personal safety, for I know that I am no better than my brothers. Just as they did, I will continue to lead you in the way of the Torah and to fight the wars of God.”

 

[When Antiochus sent a demand for the return of captured ‘Greek cities’ in Eretz Yisrael] …Shimon rebuffed these demands…, and responded in resolute and firm terms: 

 

“Not foreign land did we take, and not over property of foreigners did we take control. We have returned to the inheritance of our forefathers, from which we were unjustly banished by our enemies. And now, with the help of our God, we have returned to the inheritance of our fathers.”

 

AMEN AND AMEN!!

 

And the Spirit of the Maccabees lives on…

 

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breslev-magazine-co-il-logo

Our Holiday, Our Land

How do you describe the simple pleasure of celebrating Chanukah in a place where everyone is also rushing home to light their menorah? Our holiday, our land…

Natalie Kovan | Posted on 09October2023 | https://breslev.com/366335/

 

Our Holiday, Our Land by Natalie Kovan

Our Holiday, Our Land by Natalie Kovan

I can’t believe we’ve been here for a few years. Even so, when it comes to Chanukah, I still feel that same excitement I felt the first time we celebrated it as new olim (immigrants) in our homeland. I didn’t realize just how deep the disconnection with all things secular in America was until a recent conversation with my Mom. As she described my brother’s vacation on the 23rd and 24th of December, I asked her if it was a holiday or something.

 

Silence.

 

“It’s X-mas!” my mother piped up, in total disbelief. Like, only the entire world knows what holiday falls on those dates! What my mother forgets is that here in our Blessed Land we are not constantly bombarded or reminded since the end of October when the pumpkins are just being put away, and the Jack-o lanterns are beginning to rot. My mailbox is not overflowing with ‘holiday’ themed catalogs, and red and green trees are not to be seen. The flora and fauna around me don’t suddenly sprout colorful blinking lights. Reindeer (especially those sporting red noses) are basically extinct.  In short—Gan Eden! And after five plus years of breathing in the kedusha (holiness) of Eretz Yisrael, the 23rd and 24th of December became just that—two regular days in the Gregorian calendar.

 

The first and most obvious pleasure of being in Israel this time of year is that the only men you see with long white beards are those who are wearing black coats. No man in the red suit in sight. No flashing-colored lights. No green and red plastered on any store fronts. Not a one. Here, we are absolutely oblivious on what day the ‘big day’ actually falls. Yes, there is actually a place on this earth where the big arm of the catalog behemoth does not reach, and we are blessed to be totally clueless about the latest twenty-eight-inch Bob Sponge whatever –his-name-is who dances and sings and twirls in a 360-degree pirouette with accompanying ukulele accoutrements—all for the low price of $28.99!

 

Sufganiyot at Mahane Yehuda shuk

Sufganiyot at Mahane Yehuda shuk

Here we have been overdosing on suffganyot (fried doughnuts filled with jelly—or caramel as the case may be) since Simchat Torah. Supermarkets display an endless supply of menorahs, chocolate covered Chanukah gelt (“money”), candles, oil—you name it. The entire nation puts aside their differences for eight days, as they wish each other a Chanukah sameach (Happy Chanukah!). Everything shuts down early—so that everyone can light their menorahs with their loved ones. As you stand on the street after dark, you see menorah upon menorah—lights upon lights—lights belonging to us, bridging century upon century of Jews keeping the fires of Yiddishkeit burning, living—in our Land.

 

Even the dreidel—a simple dreidel brings home the knowledge that living in Israel is, well—miraculous. Our son, looking at an Israeli dreidel for the first time, suddenly burst out, “hey—there’s no ‘Shin’ on this dreidel!’. Upon closer inspection, we found a ‘Pey’ where the shin should have been. In the rest of the world, the letters ‘Nun, Gimmel, Hay, Shin’ (נ ג ה ש) for “a big miracle happened THERE’. But for us living in Eretz Israel, it’s “Nun, Gimmel, Hay, Pey’ (נ ג ה פ) “— a big miracle happened HERE’. Here. In our backyard (almost literally—Modiin is but a drive away). Here. Not there, but here. Jews all over the world light menorahs and celebrate a miracle that happened not too far away from our living room, in a place that is still seeing miracles to this very day.

 

How do you describe the simple pleasure of celebrating Chanukah in a place where everyone is also rushing home to light their menorah? It’s a communal event, where every single one of your neighbors is celebrating with you. Our holiday. Our land. Here we don’t take second place as ‘the consolation holiday ‘. Here, our holiday is THE holiday. Here everything stops for Chanukah. Everything revolves around lighting the menorah, not the other way around. No jingles in the supermarket overloading your subconscious. In their stead, Jewish children walk around singing Chanukah songs, filling the air with their pure words.  How does one grasp it? Here it is a tangible. You are enveloped in it day and night, not just as you huddle with your family around the menorah. I can’t describe how wonderful it is not to have to endure another “Merry (insert name of holiday here)”, while internally screaming, “But I’m Jewish!” No generic “Happy holiday” greetings either. Here, your taxi driver wishes you a “Chanukah sameach,” and your soul responds, because it feels right. That’s the magic of living in Israel.

 

The other major difference is that Chanukah in Israel is not so much about the presents—it’s about the miracle. When you live in a country that exists because of one long continuous miracle sustained by Hashem—it’s the miracle that counts. When a sonic boom breaks the silence of the night sky, as army planes ‘do their job’ up North—and the realization that this little country with a spirit which is too big to fill its borders—is being guarded by Hashem and His emissaries because we have a right to be here—then the miracle that is Israel—that is Chanukah—takes on a whole new meaning.

 

As we read about the battles fought by Judah Maccabee and his army, the mind can’t help but marvel at the fact that not much has changed since those days, except for the fact that technologically, warfare has evolved drastically, to say the least. We are still the few against the many. A small nation surrounded by those who would love nothing more than to see our destruction. The story of Chanukah is not a quaint and inspiring story that we celebrate as part of our past—it is also the story of our present.

 

I remember two years ago, during Operation Cast Lead, as we lit our menorahs with the backdrop of a war going on at several of our borders. Stories of soldiers requesting tzitzit before they would go into battle streamed out to the public. And that is what Chanukah is about. Keeping our identity separate and whole from the rest of the nations as we do spiritual and physical battle with our adversaries. Looking at our uniqueness not as an impairment, but an asset to be celebrated and protected at all costs. For when we act like Jews, proud in ourselves, our Land and our Torah—then defeating our enemies becomes a reality, with the help of our Creator.

 

It is only by the benevolence of Hashem that Israel and the Jewish people exist. Without the Land of Israel, there is no nation, and vice versa. It is here that the plans for Am Israel took root, and it is here where they will culminate when Mashiach comes (may it be speedily in our days). Even though we wandered for centuries without a ‘home’, Hashem has gifted us in the last 60 years with concrete borders to come home to. A Kotel to pray at. Land to be populated and bring back to life. He is setting the stage for our ultimate return and Redemption (may it be His will). To be here and call this home—despite the hardships—is a miracle. As painful as it is to be so far from loved ones, friends and all things familiar—there is nothing like the miracle of finally coming home. Home where the soul and body are finally in alignment for the very first time. That is a miracle all its own.

 

Even as I write, it is impossible to describe in mere words the enormity of living here. Sometimes it’s a struggle, sometimes it’s a cultural shock, sometimes it’s just plain hard. And sometimes, while standing at the top of a hill, looking out at the valley, and at cities that were not here that long ago, brimming with Jews—and the eyes fill at the intensity of the knowledge that you are home—finally—then you say, “Thank You, Hashem, for the miracle that is Israel.  Thank You for bringing me home.”

 

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Hashem Signals our Settlers

Often, when we look below the surface of what appears to be a dismal situation, we can find the hidden solution. So too, in our current situation in Eretz Yisrael, we see the glimmer of redemption!

David Ben Horin | Posted on 13December2023 | https://breslev.com/4078471/

Hashem Signals our Settlers by David Ben Horin

Hashem Signals our Settlers by David Ben Horin

On the surface, the news looks like one series of uppercuts to the head of Am Israel. Look deeper, and you will see Hashem’s blessings. 

 

In 1914, there was a convention of Sages from Agudat Israel in Switzerland. They wanted to discuss Zionism – were they for it or against it?

 

They invited Rav Avraham Kook to come and speak. He resisted. His heart was in the Land of Israel, and to him, a mere moment outside the paradise God gave him was like an eternity in Gehinnom.  Reluctantly, for the sake of Israel, he left the Land to attend the conference. When he arrived, World War I broke out. As a result, he was stranded in Europe and couldn’t get back to Israel.

 

On the surface, it was a nightmare.

 

He made his way to England and became a powerful voice in the British Jewish community. By 1917, the British Parliament debated whether to declare the Land of Israel the homeland of the Jewish People.

 

The loud voice of assimilated Jews lobbied the MPs to reject the proposal. They protested that they were English first and shouldn’t be branded as dual loyalists.

 

Rabbi Kook was asked to present a counter claim in favor of the proposal before the House of Commons. He gave a passionate speech. When he met objections, the non-Jewish lawmakers stood up and said, “Look at the man. Head to toe, he lives in the service of God. He represents the Jews.”

 

Had Rav Kook remained in Israel, would Britain’s Balfour Declaration that gave political backing “to establish a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine” become reality?

 

A Hundred Years Later

In November 2023, American President Joe Biden issued a statement which decreed that anyone in the “occupied territories who acts in opposition to peace will be denied entry into the US.” (The Caroline Glick Show In-Focus|Nobody is Decrying Jewish Genocide (@10:18-15:08) ).

 

It doesn’t specify “violent settlers” or “Jewish extremists.” President Biden refers to anyone who lives in what is called “occupied territories,” which includes most of Jerusalem.

 

On the surface, this is a disaster. The city of Efrat has thousands of people with dual citizenship who make their livelihoods going back and forth from America to Israel. Thousands of residents throughout Yesha are dual citizens who may be torn apart from their families living abroad.

 

Think about how COVID-19 split families. How many tragedies did we hear about mothers not being able to see their daughters and fathers not being able to see their sons because of the pandemic?

 

Major Miracles

Hashem is bringing His children home. He is encouraging countless Jews outside of Israel to come here as often as possible.

 

What about the residents of Judea and Shomron? Hashem is giving them the ultimate gift. He is keeping them in Israel. Could this be to protect them from catastrophe in America?

 

Could Mashiach be HERE and Hashem doesn’t want His precious children to be anywhere else when He reveals His anointed to the world? Are these decrees a signal from God that everyone should be in Israel right now – that we shouldn’t leave, not even for a moment?

 

The Tanya Rebbe Yehuda writes that just before Mashiach comes, Jews living along the borders of Israel will be without homes and will wander from city to city. (Sanhedrin 97a) Currently, 100,000 Israelis in Kiryat Shemona (near the Israel-Lebanese border) and in border towns along the Gaza belt are relocated in temporary living quarters throughout the land.

 

Has the time come?

 

From Woke to Awakening

Whenever you hear “From the River to the Sea,” follow it up by saying “Hashem natan ha’aretz li” (God gave the Land to me)!

 

Non-Jews can’t say that!

***

David Ben Horin lives in Afula with his family, millions of sunflowers, and Matilda, our local camel. David‘s Israeli startup, 300 Marketing Solutions, is a lean marketing agency for startups and small businesses that creates and promotes SEO-optimized ROI-driven to the right audience on LinkedIn to make your business the star of the show.

 

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Palestinians are a tiny bunch of whining Arabs-NOT INDIGENOUS


Hussain Abdul-Hussain-tweet-22February2024-Palestinians are a tiny bunch of whining Arabs
Yeah, except that Palestinians are not a race, neither are two billion Muslims. Palestinians are a tiny bunch of whining Arabs who think they are the center of the universe. All Palestinians on the planet would barely fill half of New York City.
The number of Palestinian dead and displaced over the past century of conflict with Israel remains a fraction of those killed and displaced in other Mideastern conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Sudan and Yemen. The disproportionate attention that Palestinians have received makes much bigger Arab problems look irrelevant.
Palestinians want to “put things in context” and liberate Palestine “by any means necessary,” including through the terrorism of Hamas, that’s on them. Just stop making it the end of the world. It’s just another Middle Eastern war. Had Jews and Israel not been involved, it wouldn’t have made it to the bottom of the last page of any newspaper.

Hussain Abdul-Hussain-tweet-22February2024-Palestinians are a tiny bunch of whining Arabs

Hussain Abdul-Hussain-tweet-22February2024-Palestinians are a tiny bunch of whining Arabs

 

 



Yiskah Chaya-tweet-23February2024-WHAT’S AN ARAB?
WHAT’S AN ARAB? https://twitter.com/i/status/1710627833750384813
“Arab” is a cultural & linguistic term. It refers to those who speak Arabic as their first language. United by culture & history, Arabs are not a race. Some have blue eyes & red hair; others are dark skinned; many are somewhere in between.
idan segal-tweet-7October2023-The truth about the issue And the Palestinian

האמת על ה״סוגייה״

ועל ה״פלסטינים״

“The truth about the “issue”
“And the “Palestinians”

Yiskah Chaya-tweet-23February2024-WHAT'S AN ARAB?

Yiskah Chaya-tweet-23February2024-WHAT’S AN ARAB?

 

 


JonJon from SF-tweet-3February2024-Today’s Palestinians are descendants of immigrants
Notes:
– Today’s Palestinians are descendants of immigrants who came to Palestine seeking economic opportunities due to Zionism.
(NOT INDIGENOUS)
– According to historical sources like De Hass History and the 1911 Encyclopaedia Brittanica, these immigrants hailed from various places including the Balkans, Greece, Syria, Egypt, Turkey, Armenia, and more.
– Reports from the 1860s and 1937 document significant Arab immigration from places like Sinai, Transjordan, and Syria.
– Even Winston Churchill in 1939 noted the substantial increase in the Arab population in Palestine.
– CG Smith’s Studies on Palestine reveals the Turkish policy of planting Circassian colonies in the region.
– Historical documentation by De Haas mentions the establishment of permanent Egyptian colonies by Ibrahim Pasha, the Egyptian conqueror.

JonJon from SF-tweet-3February2024-Palestinians are NOT INDIGENOUS

JonJon from SF-tweet-3February2024-Palestinians are NOT INDIGENOUS

 

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unherd-com-logo

Why Israel can’t accept a ceasefire

Hamas has dictated the parameters of victory

BY

Professor Edward Luttwak is a strategist and historian known for his works on grand strategy, geoeconomics, military history, and international relations. His most recent book is The Art of Military Innovation: Lessons from the Israel Defense Forces.
X ELuttwak

23December2023  https://unherd.com/2023/12/why-israel-cant-accept-a-ceasefire/

 

During their protected wars in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, America’s leaders and generals could never define victory. Hamas, by contrast, has a clear understanding of what it looks like. Now that the terror group has demonstrated the failure of Israel’s deterrence, it insists it will not any more short ceasefires in exchange for hostages, but only a complete end to Israel’s offensive, which would of course leave it in full control of Gaza.

 

What would this entail? Most immediately, this would also hand Hamas the millions of dollars in aid that will arrive from Western nations, as well as the billions coming from Qatar, Kuwait and other oil-rich countries. And while these funds are intended for welfare distributions and for civilian reconstruction, Hamas will of course use them to rebuild its underground tunnel networks, and to fund its military training, propaganda and political units in and out of Gaza.

 

The reason it would get away with this is straightforward: Hamas has never pretended to be fighting for the well-being of Gaza’s population, or for Palestine as a national cause. It serves global Islam —the Umma — that rejects all nationalisms and demands supremacy over all other religions. In other words, it accepts no responsibility for the dead and wounded of the war, or for Gaza’s reconstruction.

 

Hence, if there is a permanent ceasefire, Hamas can start to prepare its next surprise attack, hoping for another October 7 of indiscriminate killings and rapes. If anyone in Gaza objects, Hamas will also act as it did in the past, shoving sacks over their heads and shooting them in front of crowds.

 

And yet, steadfastly ignoring this inevitability, retired generals and even, in an unguarded moment, Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, have urged the Israelis to reduce their bombing or even their attacks altogether, in order to win over Gaza’s population. Yet this is to forget that such a formula failed in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan: populations dominated by brutal extremists cannot be “won over”.

 

For the Israelis, however, there is clarity: because Hamas defines its victory so clearly, so can the Israelis. While the “complete end of the offensive” that Hamas, the UN and countless American and British undergraduates demand would mean a complete defeat for Israel, the continuation of the war — sine die, as they say in diplomacy — is the essential precondition of victory.

 

In this sense, little has changed since 1948: the Israelis might have to keep fighting on their own without US support. As soon as the first of Israel’s wars started on May 15, 1948, the US and the British, then very much the senior partner in the Middle East, imposed a total arms embargo on everyone involved. This favoured the Arab armies, who already had their British-supplied kits of small arms, machine-guns, field artillery and even a few aircraft and tanks, while the Jews only had rifles and submachine guns. It was very much the goal of the British Foreign Office and US State Department that the newly proclaimed State of Israel should be defeated as soon as possible, so as to preserve the stability of British power over the region.

 

But, then, something entirely unexpected happened: the Jews started winning. As a result, having favoured war to put a quick end to Israel, the Brits then had to end it to save their collapsing Arab allies. And the resourceful Foreign Office had the necessary remedy, promptly backed by the obedient State Department: on June 11, 1948, the UN Security Council imposed a total ceasefire, after 26 days of fighting. Had the Israelis not resumed fighting on July 9, Israel could not have emerged as a viable state.

 

Even so, this set the pattern for all subsequent UN ceasefires in the region: as soon as Israel launches its counteroffensives and starts winning, the UN General Assembly demands an immediate ceasefire, and pressure builds on the UN Security Council to actually order one.

 

But here the continuity ends. Everything else is very different now that Israel is a stronger, more self-sufficient military power. The US can certainly help to deter Hezbollah, and is the only power that can disarm the Houthi menace in the Red Sea and Suez Canal. But only Israel can incapacitate Hamas, by fighting in one alley, tunnel and bunker after another right across the Gaza Strip.

 

Very reasonably, the Biden Administration has been asking the Israelis to hurry up with their fighting, instead of prolonging the suffering of Gaza’s civilians. And just as reasonably, the Biden Administration has been asking the Israelis to use less air power, less artillery and more infantry to reduce civilian casualties. But to move faster in Gaza’s intricate urban terrain would sharply increase Israeli casualties. The same is true of any imposed reduction in artillery fire and air strikes. And to do both simultaneously would not just add to Israeli casualties but multiply them.

 

Because the leaders on both sides know those things, and because they respect each other, there is a back-and-forth process of mutual accommodation day by day. But the unavoidable reality is that Israel cannot end its offensive, nor even accept protracted ceasefires in exchange for hostages.

 

Instead, its forces must persist until every basement and tunnel has been cleared and Hamas’s cadre of trained fighters has been drastically reduced. Nor is the capture of Yahya Sinwar, the top Hamas leader in Gaza, a realistic goal — with the help of Sinai Bedouin smugglers, it would be all too easy for him to escape and join Hamas’s other leaders in their five-star suites in Doha.

 

Of course, although essential, destroying the military power of Hamas cannot by itself bring about a permanent state of peace in Gaza. But if Hamas can no longer subject Gaza’s population to its perpetual war, it will be victory enough.

 

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A guide to the chants at ‘pro-Palestinian’ rallies:

Please send this to anyone at a School, College or University. Parents, Students, Administrators and Teachers. These are Felony Death Threats. This violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/antisemitism-dcl.pdf
This is not free speech.
Click to download PDF file Click to download PDF file UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION-OFFICE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS-antisemitism-dcl

Elder of Ziyon logo http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/

Elder of Ziyon logo http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/


Elder of Ziyon-tweet-29October2023-A guide to the chants at ‘pro-Palestinian’ rallies
Re-upping this meme for those who witnessed the disgusting worldwide demos on Shabbat.

Elder of Ziyon-tweet-29October2023-A guide to the chants at 'pro-Palestinian' rallies:

Elder of Ziyon-tweet-29October2023-A guide to the chants at ‘pro-Palestinian’ rallies:

A guide to the chants at 'pro-Palestinian' rallies:

A guide to the chants at ‘pro-Palestinian’ rallies:

The Proper Jewish Response:

“Hashem natan ha’aretz li” (God gave the Land to me)!

“Eretz Yisrael Yehudi ” (Eretz Yisrael is Jewish land)

 

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Pallywood: Palestinian Propaganda

Pallywood: “it’s just an act mommy”


Imam of Peace-tweet-12November2023-Pallywood-it’s just an act mommy
This is gold. A Palestinian mother sees images online showing her son injured. She races to the hospital only to find it all fake. He is fine, it’s just an act mommy. It’s called Pallywood.

 

Imam of Peace-tweet-12November2023-Pallywood-it’s just an act mommy

Imam of Peace-tweet-12November2023-Pallywood-it’s just an act mommy

 


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YNet Logo https://www.ynetnews.com/

Time to debunk the media’s anti-Israel narrative: You have blood on your hands

Opinion: The only way to end the all-pervasive anti-Israel bias in so much of the media is to shake their underlying narrative, which forms part of the greatest slur campaign in history

Col. Richard Kemp |2023-10-22 | https://www.ynetnews.com/article/bjqi11m7ma

 

Much of Western media has blood on its hands. Following the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, many news outlets have been acting as willing tools of the genocidal terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip that perpetrated it. This is neither new nor unpredictable. An anti-Zionist narrative has for many years displaced media objectivity in every conflict involving Israel.

 

The strategic objective of Hamas’s attacks is to incite international condemnation of Israel by compelling it to take military action in which Gaza civilians will inevitably be killed despite unparalleled IDF measures to prevent it. Whenever this happens, like Pavlov’s dogs a chorus of reporters, tame analysts and newscasters immediately appear on the airwaves to accuse Israel of war crimes. Such accusations are loudly echoed in universities, human rights groups and international bodies. Exactly as Hamas intended.

Pro-Palestinian demonstration following reports of Al Ahli Hospital blast, in Rabat, Morocco, April 18, 2023 (Photo: AP Photo)

Pro-Palestinian demonstration following reports of Al Ahli Hospital blast, in Rabat, Morocco, April 18, 2023
(Photo: AP Photo)

That in turn encourages Hamas to do the same thing again and again and is the real “cycle of violence” that many journalists love to accuse others of but are in fact themselves active participants.

When Donnison retweeted a photo of a girl from Syria, as Palestinian

A few days ago, an explosion occurred in the parking lot at Al Ahli Hospital in the Gaza Strip. No one outside Gaza knew what had caused it. Immediately, the Hamas disinformation machine swung into action, accusing Israel of attacking the hospital and causing hundreds of casualties. Across the world, media parroted their accusations without question or challenge.

Pro-Israel rally outside BBC studios, in London, October 14, 2023 (Photo: Carl Court / GettyImages)

Pro-Israel rally outside BBC studios, in London, October 14, 2023
(Photo: Carl Court / GettyImages)

One of the worst offenders was the BBC, by far the most influential media organization in the UK, and with one of the largest audiences internationally. It is regarded by many as the most authoritative and impartial news organization in the world and has been seen as a beacon of truth going back to the Second World War.

 

“Hundreds killed in Israeli strike on Gaza hospital — Palestinian officials,” was the BBC headline. The next day, the British Financial Times splashed with: “Gaza Health Ministry says hundreds killed in Israeli air strike on hospital”. Across the Atlantic, the New York Times, among others, reported the Al Alhi incident in similarly false terms.

 

BBC reporter John Donnison told viewers: “It is hard to see what else this could be really given the size of the explosion other than an Israeli air strike or several air strikes.” Well, if he was incapable of comprehending the other obvious possibility — a terrorist rocket falling short, which it turned out to be — then perhaps he should have restrained himself from venturing any opinion at all.

 

Donnison has a track record. During an earlier Gaza conflict in 2012, he retweeted a picture of a young girl lying in hospital with bloodied clothes, presented as a casualty of Israeli strikes in Gaza. In fact, it was a photograph from Syria.

Terrorists attacking Israel are always “militants”

He is far from alone. Six BBC Arabic language journalists “liked” X.com postings praising the 7th October attacks, with one reporter celebrating the slaughter as a “morning of hope.” And back in 2009, the BBC’s Middle East Editor, Jeremy Bowen, now World Editor, was censured by the BBC’s editorial standards body over complaints of impartiality and inaccuracy in his reporting on Israel. In 2004, after complaints about anti-Israel bias at the corporation, the BBC commissioned its own investigation which resulted in the 20,000-word Balen Report. Since it was written, the BBC has spent more than $425,000 in legal fees to contest demands that it should be published. It remains under wraps nearly 20 years later.

 

Even after the 7th October massacre, the BBC still refuses to call Hamas what everybody else knows they are: “terrorists”. Instead, terrorists attacking Israel are always referred to as “militants”. Meanwhile, the BBC are happy to brand as terrorists the 9/11 attackers, the London suicide bombers in 2005 and the 2017 Manchester Arena bombers. And despite digging their heels in against complaints over their stance on Hamas, the BBC described a shooting in Brussels last week as a “terrorist attack”.

BBC studios covered in red paint in protest of coverage of Israel-Hamas war, in London, October 14, 2023 (Photo: Reuters / Susannah Ireland)

BBC studios covered in red paint in protest of coverage of Israel-Hamas war, in London, October 14, 2023
(Photo: Reuters / Susannah Ireland)

 

The same deliberate mischaracterisation of terrorists attacking Israelis is shared on the UK’s Sky News, who have also referred to Hamas as a “political organization”. This is much more than mere semantics: it can only reflect these media outlets’ real view of Hamas and their cause.

 

Wider concerns about the BBC help shed light on what lies behind their anti-Israel bias. In 2021, the Simon Wiesenthal Center rated the corporation as number three on its annual “Global Antisemitism Top Ten”. Iran was number one with Hamas in second place.

 

Jewish students at colleges – physically attacked

One example of the BBC’s alleged antisemitism cited by Wiesenthal was their reporting of an attack on a bus containing Jewish teenagers in London’s Oxford Street as they celebrated Hanukkah. Rabbi Mervin Hier, the center’s chief, said: “The BBC falsely reported that a victim on the bus used an anti-Muslim slur”. The BBC had misinterpreted the words of a distressed Jewish man speaking in Hebrew appealing for help. Again, they instinctively leapt to the wrong conclusion, but the one that fitted their narrative.

 

Discussing the Al Alhi hospital incident with a British reporter, I was told the accusation against Israel was made because it was “a fast-moving news situation”, and that corrections were published by many papers and broadcasters as the situation became clearer. But “clarification” usually meant substituting the false assertions against Israel with reports that “both sides traded blame”. As though there can be any equivalence between a proscribed terrorist murder gang and the official statements of democratically accountable armed forces.

 

I got no answer from the reporter on why Hamas statements were automatically given immediate credence, including the grossly exaggerated casualty figures churned out by the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry. When media did correct their fake news it was too late and their stories had already been eagerly recycled, including by politicians such as Canada’s Justin Trudeau and former UK Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn as well as human rights organizations like Amnesty International, well known for their anti-Israel bias.

 

Aftermath of Al Ahli Hospital blast, in Gaza City, October 18, 2023 (Photo: AP / Abed Khaled)

Aftermath of Al Ahli Hospital blast, in Gaza City, October 18, 2023
(Photo: AP / Abed Khaled)

Such stories are also seized on in the streets, leading to mass protests, violence and even terrorism. Three days after media accused the IDF of the Al Ahli incident, the Daily Telegraph reported that a terrorist attack occurred in Britain; when arrested the perpetrator told police he had done it for “Palestine”. No further details have yet been published, supposedly for legal reasons.

 

In the last few days, Jewish students at colleges in the U.S. and UK have been set on and physically attacked as a result of disinformation spread by the media, which stokes and inflames pre-existing anti-Zionist movements so rife on many university campuses. Police in London report a 1,353% increase in antisemitic offences this month compared to the same period last year.

 

During a Sky News interview a few years ago, I contested the standard falsehoods about illegal occupation, illegal settlements and the old trope of “Israeli apartheid”. Afterwards, a veteran Sky Middle East correspondent told me privately that he agreed with me. I asked him why, then, did his reporting always reflect the opposite perspective? He told me if it did not he would be fired.

 

This sums up the intractable problem that dominates the editorial policies of the BBC, Sky and so much of U.S. and European media. That is the lie that Israel is an illegitimate state that deliberately oppresses innocent, peace-loving Palestinians whose land has been stolen. They may not say as much publicly, but the dominant view, even after such horrific attacks as 7th October, is that the Israelis had it coming, or at least have a major share in the blame.

 

Colonel Richard Kemp (Photo: Courtesy)

Colonel Richard Kemp
(Photo: Courtesy)

The flimsy mask seemed to slip last week when Sky News journalist Kay Burley claimed the head of the Palestinian Authority mission to the UK had said Israel “had it coming”, a remark he did not make.

 

Perhaps a case of projection of her own views and so many of her media colleagues? The only way to end the all-pervasive anti-Israel bias in so much of the media is to shake their underlying narrative, which forms part of the greatest slur campaign in history. And how, exactly, do you do that?

Colonel Richard Kemp is a former UK Armed Forces commander

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Honest Reporting New Logo

Fact-Checking Website Snopes Shills For Hamas & Debates Beheaded Babies in Sickening ‘Debunking’ Articles

Snopes is one of the most well-known “fact-checker” websites worldwide, regularly posting articles debunking online conspiracy theories, dispelling media misinformation and separating satire from serious news. Its website boasts of the stringent process its editorial…

Rachel O’Donoghue October 23, 2023 https://honestreporting.com/fact-checking-website-snopes-shills-for-hamas-debates-beheaded-babies-in-sickening-debunking-articles/

 

Snopes is one of the most well-known “fact-checker” websites worldwide, regularly posting articles debunking online conspiracy theories, dispelling media misinformation and separating satire from serious news.

 

Its website boasts of the stringent process its editorial team undertakes to ensure the veracity of information, including contacting primary sources, finding experts who have relevant expertise in the subject at hand, and using non-partisan information and data sources to inform its pieces.

 

However, since the outbreak of the October 7 war against Israel, Snopes has been producing some dubious content that requires some fact-checking of its own.

 

Here are just a few examples of Snopes’ problematic fact-checking on the Israel-Hamas war:

Sneaky Editing on Gaza Hospital Blast

The explosion at Gaza City’s al-Ahli Hospital sparked a flurry of media misinformation and social media disinformation.

 

From the New York Times headline that an “Israeli airstrike” was responsible for “killing 500″ to the BBC’s correspondent Jon Donnison confidently announcing live on-air that he found it “hard to see” who else could be responsible other than the IDF, the lie that Israel bombed a civilian hospital spread like wildfire.

 

But then the truth emerged. The Israeli military released satellite imagery, videos of the blast, and tapped phone recordings that proved it was a misfired rocket shot by Islamic Jihad that was responsible.

 

What’s more, further evidence came out that the rocket did not directly hit the hospital and that nowhere near 500 people died.

 

On October 19, two days after the explosion, Snopes published an article asking, “Did Israel Warn Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza to Evacuate?” written by former Al Jazeera journalist Nur Ibrahim.

 

In addition to relying on widely discredited reporting on the events from the New York Times for its “fact-checking,” the article also fails to acknowledge the many pieces of evidence released by Israel that exonerate itself, as well as the United States’ own findings that Islamic Jihad was responsible.

 

Perhaps owing to her employment history, Ibrahim uses a statement given to Al Jazeera without noting the outlet is a state-run propaganda arm of the Qatari government and fails to note that the “unnamed senior health official in Gaza” who spoke to Al Jazeera would be affiliated with Hamas, which controls the Gazan health authorities.

 

It is also clear that Snopes did some sneaky editing of the article where it had initially made errors.

An original version of the piece states unequivocally that “500 people were killed” which was later amended to read “hundreds of people” even though that figure is still in dispute.

 

Did Israel Warn Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza to Evacuate-old version.

Did Israel Warn Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza to Evacuate-old version.

Did Israel Warn Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza to Evacuate-new version.

Did Israel Warn Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza to Evacuate-new version.

 

Fact-Finding Over Beheaded Babies

One of the most disgusting “debates” that has taken place during the war is whether Hamas terrorists beheaded babies or shot them during their murderous onslaught in Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7.

 

Also written by Nur Ibrahim, the Snopes article allegedly debunking the claim flippantly describes the atrocity as a “viral rumor spread by news media, the US president, and so on.”

 

It also includes this disturbing paragraph: “As we looked into the claim, we found contradictory reports from journalists, Israeli army officials, and almost no independent corroborations of the alleged war crime, leading to concerns among fact-checkers that such a claim may be premature or unsubstantiated.”

This is a lie.

In addition to numerous eyewitness accounts, including from independent journalists who saw the aftermath of the massacre and photographic evidence, there is enough proof to say that babies were indeed beheaded during the Hamas rampage.

 

More importantly, Ibrahim’s insistence on calling it an “alleged war crime” is baffling. For, even if babies had not been beheaded, what Hamas did would have still amounted to a war crime — there is nothing “alleged” about the events of October 7.

 

Lastly, Ibrahim claims details of the massacre being released could lead to hatred toward Muslims, explaining that people should be “wary of claims that echo Islamophobic rhetoric, or statements that compare the violence in Kfar Aza to ‘ISIS-style’ killings — i.e., beheadings that have taken place in a different context and were committed by a different group” because they have the “potential to become dangerous propaganda.’

 

HonestReporting-tweet-11October2023-

BREAKING: Israeli official confirms two important details.

⭕ Babies were decapitated at Kibbutz Be’eri.

⭕ Women were raped next to the bodies of fellow festivalgoers at Re’im. They were “killed twice, first raped and then murdered,” the official said.

HonestReporting-tweet-11October2023-Israeli official confirms two important details

HonestReporting-tweet-11October2023-Israeli official confirms two important details

 

Shilling for the Iranian Ayatollah

Ibrahim acted as an apologist for another Islamist regime in an October 10 article that asked, “Did Iran Say It Will Hit Israel with Missile Strikes from Lebanon, Yemen and Iran if Attacked?

 

According to the Snopes piece, the following claim that appeared in the Wall Street Journal remains unproven: “During the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023, Iranian officials said that if Iran were attacked, it would respond with missile strikes on Israel from Lebanon, Yemen and Iran, and send Iranian fighters into Israel from Syria.”

 

Citing the fact the WSJ only cited one source for the threat, Ibrahim concluded Snopes “cannot independently verify whether such a threat was sanctioned by the Iranian state.”

 

But just days after the Snopes article was published, Iran effectively confirmed its threats when its foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian warned the regime may take “preemptive action” against Israel via its proxies, which happen to be based in Lebanon and Yemen.

 

“Today, when we talk about the resistance in the region, it is not only Hezbollah, and we are witnessing the activities of various resistance groups in the region,” Amir-Abdollahian added.

 

Did Snopes update its article to reflect this? Nope.

Found this article informative? Follow the HonestReporting page on Facebook to read more articles debunking news bias and smears, as well as others explaining Israel’s history, politics, and international affairs. Click here to learn more!

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Honest Reporting New Logo

Media Rush To Defend Hamas Ministry Providing Skewed Data on Gaza Casualties

It was impossible not to notice a disturbing trend that took place last week, as respectable news outlets rushed to publish almost identical reports defending their only source of information on Gaza casualties: The Hamas-run…

Hamas-Gaza-Hospital-logo

Rinat Harash 29October2023

Media Rush To Defend Hamas Ministry Providing Skewed Data on Gaza Casualties

 

It was impossible not to notice a disturbing trend that took place last week, as respectable news outlets rushed to publish almost identical reports defending their only source of information on Gaza casualties: The Hamas-run Health Ministry.

 

Reuters, AP, The New York Times, The Guardian, Time Magazine and The Washington Post included all or most of the following elements in their pieces: The release by the Hamas-run Ministry of a list of victims, flawed reasoning, attributions to the same problematic sources, and ridiculous attempts to claim that the Ministry was actually run by the PA, Hamas’ rival. This orchestrated pattern seemed like it carried the heavy footprints of an agenda-driven effort that journalists were all too happy to parrot.

Victims List and Logical Fallacy

All of the outlets mentioned above based their apologetic reports on the release of a list of Palestinian victims that the Hamas-run Health Ministry sent out after US President Joe Biden had questioned its reliability. The list — which was not published — reportedly included the names and identity numbers of 6,747 Palestinians who according to the Ministry had been killed in Israeli bombardments of the enclave.

 

But almost all outlets failed to notice or mention that the document included 471 victims from the blast at al-Ahli hospital, which according to analyses of several intelligence services was the fault of a misfired Palestinian missile and not an Israeli strike. And that number, which is still disputed, was modified from an earlier estimation of 500 fatalities falsely provided by the ministry in the immediate aftermath of the blast.

 

Related Reading: Gaza Hospital Explosion: The Evidence

But this is just one symptom of a deeper problem. When analyzing the reasoning behind these reports, a logical fallacy emerges. Here’s how AP makes its case:

Throughout four wars and numerous bloody skirmishes between Israel and Hamas, U.N. agencies have cited the Health Ministry’s death tolls in regular reports. The International Committee of the Red Cross and Palestinian Red Crescent also use the numbers…International news agencies, including AP, as well as humanitarian workers and rights groups, have used the ministry’s numbers when independent verification is impossible.

How does the fact that other bodies rely on a sole source make it reliable? They simply don’t have any other choice.

 

So the argument fails. But it fails also because some of the bodies quoted as part of this equation — like the UN’s OCHA and Human Rights Watch — are problematic in their own right.

Agenda-driven Attributions

The main talking head in all of the reports is none other than Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine Director at Human Rights Watch.

 

Yet no report mentions that Shakir is far from being impartial when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; Shakir was forced to leave Israel in November 2019 after his work visa was not renewed due to his support of the controversial Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

 

Both Reuters and AP also quote OCHA (the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) as a body whose reliance on the data provided by the Hamas-run Health Ministry is a testament to its accuracy.

 

But OCHA, as detailed by NGO Monitor, is a body that oversees funding for anti-Israeli NGOs, including some that engage in blatantly antisemitic activities and have ties to the PFLP, a proscribed terrorist organization.

 

AP also mentions Gaza’s Health Ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qidra, who is described as a logistical genius:

Gaza’s most widely quoted source on casualties is Health Ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qidra. From an office at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, al-Qidra receives a constant flow of data from every hospital in the strip.

While this may be true, al-Qidra is working for Hamas. As former Reuters bureau chief Luke Baker recently wrote on X/Twitter, “any health official stepping out of line and not giving the death tolls that Hamas wants reported to journalists risks serious consequences.”

HonestReporting-tweet-25October2023-

A former @Reuters  Jerusalem bureau chief spells out the clear problems with the media coverage of Gazan casualty figures:

The numbers are supplied by Hamas and Hamas can’t be trusted.

HonestReporting-tweet-25October2023-The numbers are supplied by Hamas and Hamas can't be trusted

HonestReporting-tweet-25October2023-The numbers are supplied by Hamas and Hamas can’t be trusted

Moreover, an Israeli think tank estimated in 2014 that al-Qidra was a former Hamas activist who has been affiliated with the terrorist movement since the 1990s.

 

It is no wonder, then, that several media outlets added a ridiculous argument to their case, defying reason and reality altogether: The Gaza-Health Ministry is actually not run by Hamas.

Denying Hamas’ Responsibility

Three media outlets — Reuters, AP and The New York Times — have made a special effort to distort reality by falsely claiming that the Gaza Health Ministry is supervised by the Palestinian Authority, Hamas’ rival which holds sway in the West Bank.

Here is Reuters’ version:

While Hamas controls Gaza and exercises tight control over information coming out of the enclave, formal responsibility for the health ministry still rests with the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank.

And AP’s:

The Palestinian Authority, which controlled Gaza before Hamas overran the area in 2007, retains power over health and education services in Gaza, though it’s based in the occupied West Bank. The ministry is a mix of recent Hamas hires and older civil servants affiliated with the secular nationalist Fatah party, officials say.

And The New York Times:

The Ministry of Health, which is part of the Hamas government in Gaza but employs civil servants who predate Hamas’s control of the territory, did not say why it had decided to publish the names of the dead.

Did these outlets forget the violent Hamas takeover of Gaza in 2007? Do they not know that a Gazan civil servant who doesn’t abide by Hamas’ dictates risks his or her life? Why are they parroting agenda-driven talking points without adding a shred of factual context? Their absurd description makes Gaza look like a pluralistic society in which the two rival Palestinian factions have reconciled.

 

Unfortunately, all these outlets know that Hamas is skewing the data. Their contradictory reports even say so:

  • They admit that the Hamas-run Health Ministry doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants
  • They admit that it inflated the numbers of victims in al-Ahli hospital blast
  • They admit it’s almost impossible to reach a definite number of casualties amid the debris and rubble

So why are they dedicating entire pieces to defending this source of twisted information? Why can’t they just include a skeptical line in every relevant piece saying the tally by the Hamas-run Ministry cannot be independently verified? Why do they try to “counterbalance” any such caveat with a false doubt cast on Israel’s tally of its own victims, which is publicly available?

 

Why do they fail to accept that a terror group which can slaughter, rape and kidnap to achieve its goals can also, quite easily, just lie?

 

Found this article informative? Follow the HonestReporting page on Facebook to read more articles debunking news bias and smears, as well as others explaining Israel’s history, politics, and international affairs. Click here to learn more!

Photo Credit: DAWOOD NEMER/AFP via Getty Images

 

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Fake Numbers

Honest Reporting New Logo


HonestReporting-tweet-12February2024-Washington Post fake numbers
Hey, @washingtonpost, why is it ok for you to diminish the number of Israeli civilians killed (it was mainly civilians, not “many of them”) while failing to point out that the Palestinian figures are supplied by Hamas and do not differentiate between civilians and combatants?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/02/11/biden-netanyahu-closer-to-a-breach/
ReneJayeee-tweet-12February2024-no difference between civilians and combatants
As far as I’m concerned there is no difference between civilians and combatants–all are combatants having been radicalized by UNRWA from childhood to hate and murder Israelis. Its generational, since 1949. Their leadership considers them expendable and for use as human shields. It puts its babies and children in harm’s way for their propaganda value.

These are foreign concepts to the Western mind which doesn’t comprehend how the Palestinian Arabs are so radicalized that parents look forward to their children being needlessly martyred to equality needless killing.

HonestReporting-tweet-12February2024-Washington Post fake numbers

HonestReporting-tweet-12February2024-Washington Post fake numbers

 

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The Journalists are the Terrorists

timesofisrael-com-logo

Israel demands clarification from global media over photographers during Hamas assault

AP, Reuters, NY Times deny any prior knowledge, say their job is to cover news; CNN suspends ties with freelancer; Israel warns those present could be held accountable for crimes

By Stuart Winer 9November2023, https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-demands-clarification-from-global-media-over-photographers-during-hamas-assault/

 

Palestinians from the Gaza Strip enter Kibbutz Kfar Aza on Oct. 7, 2023, amid a massive assault by the Hamas terror group. (AP Photo/Hassan Eslaiah)

Palestinians from the Gaza Strip enter Kibbutz Kfar Aza on Oct. 7, 2023, amid a massive assault by the Hamas terror group. (AP Photo/Hassan Eslaiah)

Israel on Thursday demanded that international media outlets explain the circumstances under which photographers in their pay were present at the scene of the surprise October 7 assault by the Hamas terror group on southern Israel, and warned they could be held complicit in the crimes.

The move came after the pro-Israel watchdog group Honest Reporting published a report Wednesday showing that photographers used by The Associated Press, Reuters, The New York Times, and CNN provided images taken as the attack was ongoing from the border area and including from inside Israel — intimating they may have had advance knowledge of the assault.

 

The report also raised questions about the relationship between some of the photographers and the Hamas terror group that rules Gaza.

AP, Reuters and The New York Times all denied having any prior knowledge of the attack and reiterated that their role is to cover breaking news events. CNN said it had cut ties with one of the photographers named in the report even though it had no reason to doubt the “journalistic accuracy” of his work.

 

The National Information System, a department of the Prime Minister’s Office, said in a statement Thursday that it “takes very seriously the phenomenon of journalists working with international media joining [with attackers] to cover the brutal massacres by Hamas terrorists on Saturday 10/7/2023 in the communities surrounding Gaza.”

 

It said the Government Press Office “issued an urgent letter to the heads of the media systems where these photographers are employed, and asked for clarification on the matter.”

 

Still, without receiving answers, it concluded that: “These media people are complicit in crimes against humanity.”

“This is a violation of the rules of professional ethics,” the statement said. “The National Information System demands that immediate action be taken.”

Gazans celebrate by a destroyed Israeli tank at the broken Israel-Gaza border fence, east of Khan Younis, October 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Yousef Masoud)

Gazans celebrate by a destroyed Israeli tank at the broken Israel-Gaza border fence, east of Khan Younis, October 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Yousef Masoud)

Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi also sent a letter to The New York Times asserting that photographers and others at the paper had prior knowledge of the attack and urging the paper to investigate.

 

“I write to you with deep concern regarding recent reports about your employees’ alleged involvement in the tragic events in southern Israel,” Karhi wrote. “It has come to our attention that certain individuals within your organization, including photographers and others, had prior knowledge of these horrific actions and may have maintained a troubling connection with the perpetrators.”

 

“I urgently request a thorough investigation into this matter,” Karhi wrote. “The gravity of the situation demands a swift and thorough response.”

 

The New York Times rejected the accusations, saying regarding photographer Yousef Masoud that “There is no evidence for Honest Reporting’s insinuations.”

 

While noting Masoud was not working for the paper on the day of the attack itself, the paper added: “Our review of his work shows that he was doing what photojournalists always do during major news events, documenting the tragedy as it unfolded.”

 

It added that freelance photojournalists’ jobs “often require them to rush into danger to provide first-hand witness accounts and to document important news.”

 

Minister Benny Gantz, a member of the war cabinet set up to oversee the conflict, said in a post to his X (formerly Twitter) feed: “Journalists found to have known about the massacre – and still chose to stand as idle bystanders while children were slaughtered – are no different than terrorists and should be treated as such.”

 

On October 7, Hamas led over 3,000 terrorists who burst through the Gaza Strip border and rampaged murderously through southern Israel. The gunmen overran communities, slaughtering some 1,400 people, the vast majority of them civilians in their homes or at a massive outdoor music festival. At least 240 people were taken hostage and dragged into Gaza. Hundreds of cases of brutality and abuse were recorded.

 

Many of the attackers recorded their acts on body cameras or other video equipment and the images were published by Hamas.

 

The onslaught, which began at around 6:30 a.m., came under the cover of thousands of rockets fired at Israel. It was reportedly planned under great secrecy with only senior Hamas commanders being aware of the full scale and scope of the attack before it went ahead.

 

In its report, Honest Reporting asked: “Is it conceivable to assume that ‘journalists’ just happened to appear early in the morning at the border without prior coordination with the terrorists? Or were they part of the plan?”

 

“Some of [the Hamas terrorists’] atrocities were captured by Gaza-based photojournalists working for The Associated Press and Reuters news agencies whose early morning presence at the breached border raises serious ethical questions,” it wrote.

 

The website listed four photojournalists whose names appear in Associated Press pictures from the Israel-Gaza border area on the day of the attack: Hassan Eslaiah, Yousef Masoud, Ali Mahmud, and Hatem Ali.

 

Eslaiah, it said, crossed the border into Israel and took pictures of a burning IDF tank. He also photographed attackers entering Kibbutz Kfar Aza, where dozens of civilians were massacred. The report said that in now-removed tweets posted to his X feed, Eslaiah was seen in front of the tank but not wearing a press vest that would identify him as a member of the media.

 

A photo has also emerged online of Eslaiah being kissed by Hamas’s Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar. It is not clear when the photo was taken, but it seems to have been prior to the October 7 attack.

 


HonestReporting-tweet-8November2023-In the hours following our expose
In the hours following our expose, new material is still coming to light concerning Gazan freelance journalist Hassan Eslaiah whom both AP & CNN used on Oct. 7.

Here he is pictured with Hamas leader and mastermind of the Oct. 7 massacre, Yahya Sinwar.
HonestReporting-tweet-8November2023-And here is footage of Eslaiah
And here is footage of Eslaiah after he crossed into Israel and took photos of a burning Israeli tank. He then captured infiltrators entering Kibbutz Kfar Azza.

Note that he is not identifiable as a member of the press. But AP & CNN deemed it acceptable to use his services.

HonestReporting-tweet-8November2023-In the hours following our expose

HonestReporting-tweet-8November2023-In the hours following our expose

 

Honest Reporting said Masoud also took pictures of a destroyed tank.

Mahmud and Ali both took pictures of people being abducted from Israel into Gaza, the report said.

 

The names of several of the photographers have since been removed from images of the attacks in the AP database, the watchdog said. (At time of writing, Eslaiah’s credit had indeed been removed in AP’s database from the photo at the top of this article and from other photographs he took on October 7.)

 

Reuters published images from two photographers, Mohammed Fayq Abu Mostafa and Yasser Qudih. Both men apparently crossed into Israel from Gaza to photograph a burning tank, according to the report.

 

“Even if they didn’t know the exact details of what was going to happen, once it unfolded did they not realize they were breaching a border? And if so, did they notify the news agencies? Some sort of communication was undoubtedly necessary — before, after or during the attack — in order to get the photos published,” the watchdog asked.

 

“Either way, when international news agencies decide to pay for material that has been captured under such problematic circumstances, their standards may be questioned and their audience deserves to know about it. And if their people on the ground actively or passively collaborated with Hamas to get the shots, they should be called out to redefine the border between journalism and barbarism.”

Palestinians celebrate by a destroyed Israeli tank at the Gaza Strip fence east of Khan Younis, October 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Hassan Eslaiah)

Palestinians celebrate by a destroyed Israeli tank at the Gaza Strip fence east of Khan Younis, October 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Hassan Eslaiah)

Israel’s Channel 12 stated on Thursday, without attribution, that these photographers “were not there at 6:30 in the morning” when the border fence was breached in multiple locations, “and apparently not in the first wave after the breach.”

 

The arguments are over “the second wave and a little after that, at around 8 in the morning,” the TV report said.

In a response to the Ynet outlet, CNN said it has stopped working with Eslaiah.

“We are aware of the article and photo concerning Hassan Eslaiah, a freelance photojournalist who has worked with a number of international and Israeli outlets. While we have not at this time found reason to doubt the journalistic accuracy of the work he has done for us, we have decided to suspend all ties with him,” CNN said.

 

The Associated Press said in a statement that it “had no knowledge of the Oct. 7 attacks before they happened. The role of the AP is to gather information on breaking news events around the world, wherever they happen, even when those events are horrific and cause mass casualties.”

 

“AP uses images taken by freelancers around the world, including in Gaza,” it said.

The Reuters news agency also denied having any prior knowledge of the assault.

 


Update: Israel demands clarification from global media over photographers during Hamas assault


Marina Medvin-tweet-8November2023-Notice the AP reporter
AP “journalists” who entered Israel on October 7 together with the Palestinian terrorists: Hassan Eslaiah, Yousef Masoud, Ali Mahmud, and Hatem Ali.

They documented some of the kidnappings. Did these “journalists” know of the plan ahead of time?

Ali Mahmud and Hatem Ali shot pictures of the abductions of Israelis into Gaza. Mahmud also captured the pickup truck carrying the body of Shani Louk.

Great expose—- https://honestreporting.com/photographers-without-borders-ap-reuters-pictures-of-hamas-atrocities-raise-ethical-questions/
Marina Medvin-tweet-8November2023-
Notice how the AP “reporter” “reported” the nude body of Shani Louk as an “Israeli soldier” —
Marina Medvin-tweet-8November2023-
Of course all of this explains why AP was renting office space from Hamas in the first place.
Marina Medvin-tweet-8November2023-
🚨 Obama’s former spokesperson talked to the people who were in the AP/Hamas building in Gaza and it turns out that AP lied, people in that building knew they were sharing office space with Hamas.
Marina Medvin-tweet-8November2023-
Dovi Safier-tweet-8November2023-
I guess I wasn’t the only one wondering why the @AP had photographers embedded with the terrorists on 10/7?

 

Marina Medvin-tweet-8November2023-Notice the AP reporter

Marina Medvin-tweet-8November2023-Notice the AP reporter

Marina Medvin-tweet-8November2023-AP had photographers embedded with the terrorists

Marina Medvin-tweet-8November2023-AP had photographers embedded with the terrorists

 


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https://www.jpost.com/

Crossing the lines of integrity with a Hamas-praising photojournalist – analysis

‘Post’ revelations show Hassan Eslaiah likely knew about the planned massacre ahead of time and expressed support as he watched the murders

By MAAYAN JAFFE-HOFFMAN
11NOVEMBER2023 Updated:12NOVEMBER2023 https://www.jpost.com/arab-israeli-conflict/gaza-news/article-772827

A photograph taken by Gaza photojournalist Hassan Eslaiah. (photo credit: Screenshots from Telegram)

A photograph taken by Gaza photojournalist Hassan Eslaiah. (photo credit: Screenshots from Telegram)

 

CNN hired a photojournalist who just three days before posted videos and photos of himself inside Israel during the Hamas massacre, including with an Israeli tank and a room of bloody, dead bodies.

 

Gaza photojournalist Hassan Eslaiah crossed into Israel on October 7 to document the Hamas massacre of more than 1,200 Israelis. His photos from the scene appeared on several international news outlets, including The Associated Press, the Jerusalem-based watchdog HonestReporting revealed last week.

 

The watchdog’s story sparked a series of questions and international outcry, ultimately leading to his being let go from the two institutions.

 

However, CNN said in a statement last week that their working relationship with the freelancer began after the October 7 terrorist attacks on Israel, on October 10. It also noted that despite its decision to stop working with Eslaiah, it did not have “any reason to doubt the journalistic accuracy of the work he has done for us,” as reported by Ynet and confirmed by The Jerusalem Post.

 

Images taken by Gaza photojournalist Hassan Eslaiah, who worked for both AP and CNN, of the Hamas massacre on October 7. (credit: Screenshots from Telegram)

Images taken by Gaza photojournalist Hassan Eslaiah, who worked for both AP and CNN, of the Hamas massacre on October 7. (credit: Screenshots from Telegram)

 

The Post confirmed that Eslaiah was not fired for his work on the 7th but for a separate but related concern.

 

It was unclear if CNN knew about Eslaiah’s posts on Telegram before offering him work.

 

CNN told the Post it will not be commenting further on the matter.

Crossing the line: Did a photojournalist support the massacre of Israelis?

The issue goes beyond issues of accuracy or bias but is more about the lines that get crossed when a photojournalist appears to act with delight in response to witnessing the killing of civilians, while working for a major news outlet.

 

HonestReporting showed a screenshot of a now-removed post of the photojournalist on X standing in front of the Israeli tank without a press vest or helmet. The tweet read, “Live from inside the Gaza Strip settlements.” A similar image still appears on his Telegram page.

 

HonestReporting also published a separate image from well before the massacre showing Eslaiah buddying up with Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

 

However, by scrolling through Eslaiah’s personal Telegram channel, the Post has found that Eslaiah posted much more than a tank on the 7th, including items that indicate that not only did he likely know about the planned massacre before it began at around 6:30 a.m., but that he supported the deaths of the innocent Israelis he watched being murdered.

 

Eslaiah’s first post on October 7 was at 5:59 a.m.: “We wake up to the great gifts of God,” he posted, according to a translation by ChatGPT. “The spirit has returned, and our blessings have increased.”

 

Within half an hour, he is posting about the rockets being launched at Israel and the sounds of the Iron Dome intercepting them over Khan Yunis. Then, between 6:55 a.m. and 8:30 a.m., he posts multiple variations: “To follow the latest news moment by moment, follow me on my media platforms.”

 

At 8:29 a.m., he appears “live from inside the settlements near the Gaza Strip” with a picture of a burning tank in the background.

 

At 8:36 a.m., after witnessing nearly 10 minutes of the massacre, he posts images from the scene with a verse from the Koran: “ And on that day, the believers will rejoice in the victory of Allah” and the hashtag “#AqsaFlood.”

 

At 9:25 a.m., the most gruesome of posts is revealed: a video with his watermark: “Filmed by Hassan Eslaiah” in the center, depicting a room full of dead, bloody bodies.

 

This particular video does not appear to have been published anywhere else. In the background, you hear a calm voice that sounds like his from other videos, and is spoken in his Arabic dialect, stating the following: “[Animal] carcasses, carcasses. God is great. This is the path to Jerusalem.”

 

There is another video at 9:49 a.m. of his standing in front of burning Jewish homes as terrorists run by. And a final video one minute later of his leaving Israel on the back of someone’s motorbike.

 

Is this the kind of photojournalist that major news outlets should be hiring? What kind of vetting process should be required before hiring someone in a foreign country?

 

Perhaps these are the questions that all international outlets should now be asking themselves.

 


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Terrorist as journalists


Israel Advocacy Movement-tweet-21January2024-Terrorist as journalists
The media falsely claims that more journalists have been killed in Gaza than in any conflict since WWII.

This is a lie… watch as we unmask the so-called journalists and expose how 75% of them aren’t who the media portrays them to be.

Israel Advocacy Movement-tweet-21January2024-Terrorist as journalists

Israel Advocacy Movement-tweet-21January2024-Terrorist as journalists

 



Michael Elgort-tweet-11February2024-Muhammad Washah Hamas-Al Jazeera journalist
A laptop that belonged to Muhammad Washah, an @AlJazeera journalist, was recovered by @IDF in the northern Gaza Strip. It has pics proving he also serves as a senior Hamas military operative in the anti-tank missile system and worked in the R&D of aerial weapons News via @N12News

Michael Elgort-tweet-11February2024-Muhammad Washah Hamas-Al Jazeera journalist

Michael Elgort-tweet-11February2024-Muhammad Washah Hamas-Al Jazeera journalist

 


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Arutz Sheva http://www.israelnationalnews.com/

NBC journalist arrested for inciting terrorism

Jerusalem police have arrested a journalist employed by NBC for posts lauding the Hamas invasion of Israel.

Israel National News


18November2023  http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/380527

 

Maariv reports that Mirvat al-Azzeh, a 45-year-old journalist who works for NBC, was arrested on Thursday on suspicions of inciting terror and identifying with a terrorist organization. The arrest comes after she published posts on Facebook commenting on the Hamas invasion of Israel

 

Police claim that she arrived at the station “ready to be arrested,” without her mobile phone and with the telephone numbers written on her leg. During her investigation, she admitted to the deeds ascribed to her. A representative of the police summarized the interrogation at the court hearing Friday in Jerusalem: “This is a serious crime during a declared war, during which the defendant is living and employed in the country that is under attack, and still decided to incite and praise the attacks against citizens.”

Her attorney commented: “The woman in question is an ordinary woman, who works as a journalist and whose work is important to us all. She was asked during her investigation about her employment. I believe she admitted to all the deeds described to her, and cooperated fully with the investigation. She did not attempt to conceal the offenses or claim that her accounts had been hacked. Even when she didn’t have a mobile phone, which is the main tool involved, she still said, ‘Yes, those are my posts.'”

 

“This makes many more steps completely superfluous. You have her confession and there is no further need to investigate. I request that she be released on any conditions that the court seems appropriate. She is from a very respected family.”

 

At the end of the hearing, her detention was extended. Over the past month, the police has asked the prosecution for a permit to investigate the journalist and the permit was granted last week. The journalist, as stated, was arrested two days ago by Jerusalem police, and her detention was extended in a court hearing for four days.

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Honest Reporting New Logo

Head of BBC Global Service ‘Told Journalists That Hamas Is No Less Credible Than Israel & October 7 Attack Should Not Be Called a Massacre’

There has reportedly been turmoil in the BBC’s Middle East offices since Hamas launched its brutal October 7 attack on Israel after some of the broadcaster’s own journalists turned against their employer and accused the…

Rachel O’Donoghue , 16November2023 https://honestreporting.com/head-of-bbc-global-service-told-journalists-that-hamas-is-no-less-credible-than-israel-october-7-attack-should-not-be-called-a-massacre/

Lilliane Landor_BBC

Lilliane Landor_BBC

There has reportedly been turmoil in the BBC’s Middle East offices since Hamas launched its brutal October 7 attack on Israel after some of the broadcaster’s own journalists turned against their employer and accused the BBC of promoting a “pro-Israel” narrative in its coverage.

 

Allegations of such slanted reportage will, no doubt, come as a surprise to many — not least because the BBC’s reporting has repeatedly come under fire since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, including when it backtracked after falsely reporting that an Israeli strike on the Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza had killed hundreds

 

The BBC has also shied away from addressing concerns about its coverage, preferring instead to issue mealy-mouthed apologies about how such mistakes merely “fell below the BBC’s editorial standards.”

 


HonestReporting-tweet-15November2023-That’s a pretty low bar these days
“We apologize for this error, which fell below our usual editorial standards.”

That’s a pretty low bar these days, @BBCNews.
We Stand With Israel-tweet-15November2023-
WATCH

@bbcnews have just issued an on air apology (again) for their report last night that stated the ‘IDF are targeting medical teams and Arab speakers’

Not good enough. Time and again they defame & smear Israel and think a simple apology will suffice after the damage is done

HonestReporting-tweet-15November2023-That's a pretty low bar these days

HonestReporting-tweet-15November2023-That’s a pretty low bar these days

 

But accusations by staff of a pro-Israel bias were reportedly enough to compel the director of the BBC’s Global Service, Liliane Landor, to hold a series of meetings with employees to address their concerns.

 

According to BBC journalists quoted in Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram, Landor is said to have asked staff for evidence of the alleged pro-Israel bias while assuring them that both Hamas and the Palestinians “should not be considered less credible than the Israelis.”

 

Landor also reportedly said that “it is wrong to use expressions like massacre to describe Hamas’s behavior and avoid using them to describe Israeli attacks” on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip.

 

One journalist who attended the meeting is quoted in Al-Ahram saying that they “have never seen such a widespread revolution, comprehensive dissatisfaction, and open anger from Arab journalists since [they] joined the institution more than 22 years ago.”

 

Another journalist working in the BBC’s Jordan office is said to have cried and told Landor: “I never imagined that the BBC would follow double standards in covering the war. I can no longer be proud to be a journalist at the BBC.”

 

One staff member reportedly warned that the “BBC does not realize or appreciate the extent of dissatisfaction in the Middle East from our shameful coverage that makes us threatened in our countries.”

 

Following the meetings, it is claimed a special team was formed that would specifically deal with staff complaints about the coverage and receive opinions on rectifying harm caused by the alleged bias.

 

The new measure, however, was apparently not enough to quell staff outrage and a journalist told Al-Ahram that discussions are underway for Arab service journalists to take part in a strike “unless the management takes urgent measures to fix the clear professional flaw in the BBC’s coverage of the current war on Gaza.”

 

At least two journalists — one in the BBC’s Beirut office and another correspondent based in Tunisia — reportedly resigned in protest at the corporation’s coverage of the Israel-Hamas war.

 

HonestReporting has reached out to the BBC to comment on the remarks made by Landor, specifically if it is the UK taxpayer-funded corporation’s official position that Hamas should not be considered less credible than the Israeli government and whether the BBC agrees with Landor that the October 7 attack should not be described as a “massacre.”

 

In addition, we asked whether the broadcaster wished to address reports that two journalists had resigned from their jobs.

We received no response.

We wonder whether saying a terrorist group that slaughtered 1,200 mostly Israeli civilians should be considered as trustworthy as the democratically elected government of Israel lives up to the BBC’s supposedly high editorial standards.

 

Found this article informative? Follow the HonestReporting page on Facebook to read more articles debunking news bias and smears, as well as others explaining Israel’s history, politics, and international affairs. Click here to learn more!

Photo credit: AIB (Association for International Broadcasting) via Flickr

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Honest Reporting New Logo

Can The BBC Ever Be Trusted Again After Israel-Hamas War?

In summarizing its mission as the publicly-funded broadcaster in the United Kingdom, the BBC states it must “provide impartial news and information to help people understand and engage with the world around them.” This involves…

Rachel O’Donoghue December 6, 2023 https://honestreporting.com/can-the-bbc-ever-be-trusted-again-after-israel-hamas-war/

BBCX_Hamas-Attack

 

In summarizing its mission as the publicly-funded broadcaster in the United Kingdom, the BBC states it must “provide impartial news and information to help people understand and engage with the world around them.”

 

This involves — the corporation promises — providing accurate and impartial news, current affairs and factual programming” that conforms to the highest editorial standards.

 

The commitment to impartiality is — or should be — what sets the BBC apart from other media organizations that nail their political colors to their mast.

 

While the BBC has staunchly defended itself against criticism that it has a deep-seated bias against Israel, its critics have pointed to many examples over the years of the broadcaster’s journalists brazenly breaking the corporation’s impartiality guidelines.

 

But the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7 has seen criticism of the BBC reach a climax amid accusations of an abject failure by the organization to report on the Israel-Hamas war fairly, accurately and transparently.

Spreading Misinformation

There is an irony in the BBC’s publishing of a piece one week after Hamas terrorists invaded southern Israel that asked: “Who’s behind Israel-Gaza disinformation and hate online?

 

The article, by the corporation’s so-called “disinformation and social media correspondent” Marianna Spring, reported how social media was “awash with false claims, conspiracy theories and hateful content surrounding what’s happening in Israel and Gaza.”

 

This, Spring warned, was resulting in successful attempts to distort and confuse the online conversation,” which “can have serious implications for the international community when it comes to investigating allegations of war crimes, providing aid and figuring out what’s happening where.”

 

Yet, the BBC itself has been guilty of spreading its distortions and false claims about the Israel-Hamas war online.

 

One of the most damaging was undoubtedly the corporation’s reporting on the Al-Ahli Hospital explosion in Gaza, which saw the BBC print unverified (and later debunked) claims by Hamas-linked officials that hundreds of Palestinians had been killed in an Israeli airstrike at the hospital.

 

Even as Israel said it was investigating the blast and as facts were still emerging, the corporation doubled down on its misinformation when BBC correspondent Jon Donnison announced live on air that he thought it was most likely that Israel was to blame.

 

And when conclusive evidence emerged that a misinformed Islamic Jihad rocket was responsible, the BBC still sought to defend its coverage on the basis that while it made a mistake, it was a “fast-moving story,” where there were “claims and counter-claims” and where its journalists were “reporting in difficult and dangerous conditions.”


HonestReporting-tweet-3November2023-Hamas-A BBC reporter
.@BBCNews likes to tell us that Israeli videos “cannot be verified.” But they’ve got no problem broadcasting footage featuring a Palestinian who has appeared in multiple videos playing different characters, including one where he fakes his own death.
We Stand With Israel-tweet-3November2023-New Job-A BBC reporter
Seems the man who has pretty much done every job in Gaza (including dying and coming back to life) has yet another job. A BBC reporter.

It was only a matter of time I guess https://twitter.com/TheMossadIL/status/1720495432550273287
The Mossad: Satirical, Yet Awesome-tweet-3November2023-This guy’s got more lives than Super Mario
This guy’s got more lives than Super Mario.

HonestReporting-tweet-3November2023-Hamas-A BBC reporter

HonestReporting-tweet-3November2023-Hamas-A BBC reporter

The Obsession With Balance

Balance is important when it comes to the news: outlets have a duty to report both sides of the story.

 

However, the BBC has been accused of having a fetish with its attempts at balance in its reports on the current war.

 

But giving equal weighting to claims made by an internationally recognized terrorist group to those of a democratic state such as Israel is simply absurd.

 

The absurdity of this was perfectly encapsulated in the BBC’s refusal to call Hamas what it actually is — a terrorist organization.

 

The BBC’s world affairs editor John Simpson even defended the decision not to call Hamas terrorists because, “terrorism is a loaded word, which people use about an outfit they disapprove of morally. It’s simply not the BBC’s job to tell people who to support and who to condemn — who are the good guys and who are the bad guys.”


HonestReporting-tweet-11October2023-According to BBCNews
According to @BBCNews, “It’s simply not the BBC’s job to tell people who to support and who to condemn – who are the good guys and who are the bad guys.”

And yet the BBC does a damn good job of portraying Israel as the bad guys.
BBC News (World)-tweet-11October2023-John Simpson
Why BBC doesn’t call Hamas militants ‘terrorists’ – John Simpson

HonestReporting-tweet-11October2023-According to BBCNews

HonestReporting-tweet-11October2023-According to BBCNews

 

While the corporation eventually walked back from its insistence that it would refer to terrorists as “militants” following a considerable backlash — announcing that in future coverage it would make clear that Hamas is a UK-proscribed terrorist organization — the fact that the BBC couldn’t decide who’s the good guy and the bad guy between Israel and Hamas speaks volumes.

 

Another example of the BBC trying to offer “two sides” in a report where none exists was during the IDF’s raid on Al-Shifa Hospital, which for many years has been used as a Hamas command center.

 


HonestReporting-tweet-15November2023-BBCNews reinterprets it to libel the IDF
The IDF clearly states it is bringing medical teams & Arabic speakers into Al-Shifa Hospital to help patients.

@BBCNews reinterprets it to libel the IDF as *targeting* medical teams & Arabic speakers.

Just how much lower can the BBC go?
We Stand With Israel-tweet-15November2023-Israel WILL NOT be targeting medical teams
What the actual fuck @bbcnews?!

You’re happily disseminating Hamas propaganda without bothering to check its veracity

Israel WILL NOT be targeting medical teams. Hamas terrorists are hiding in the hospital

How many times must you fuck up before you learn your lesson?

HonestReporting-tweet-15November2023-BBCNews reinterprets it to libel the IDF

HonestReporting-tweet-15November2023-BBCNews reinterprets it to libel the IDF

 

 

When the IDF provided real-time evidence of how Hamas had embedded itself within the hospital, the BBC seemed to work overtime to try and undermine and discredit as much of the IDF’s proof as possible.

 

Included in the many instances of its disturbing tendency to give weight to the claims of a bloodthirsty terror group, the BBC’s international editor Jeremy Bowen suggested that the caches of weaponry uncovered by Israeli soldiers inside Al-Shifa may have belonged to the hospital security team.

 


HonestReporting-tweet-17November2023-BowenBBC
Utterly incredible. @BowenBBC trying to “normalize” the presence of weapons in a Gaza hospital. Anything to avoid acknowledging that Hamas could be using Al Shifa for nefarious means.

Keep going, Jeremy. Maybe you’ll end up on Israel’s favorite satirical comedy show next week.
Edward Levey-tweet-17November2023-BowenBBC strains every sinew
“It’s not inconceivable that the pile of kalashnikovs belonged to the hospital security department”.

Rather than applying Occam’s Razor, @BowenBBC strains every sinew to cast doubt on the claim that the hospital was being used by Hamas terrorists.

HonestReporting-tweet-17November2023-BowenBBC

HonestReporting-tweet-17November2023-BowenBBC

 

 

Turmoil Among BBC Staff

The BBC is also facing what appears to be growing anger from within its own ranks at how the corporation is covering the Israel-Hamas war.

 

HonestReporting recently revealed that the head of the BBC’s Global Service, Liliane Landor, was forced to address allegations from reporters based in the Middle East that the corporation is biased in favor of Israel.

 

Yet, rather than robustly challenge staff who threatened to walk out in protest, Landor reportedly promised to set up a special team to handle staff complaints and receive opinions on rectifying harm caused by the alleged pro-Israel bias.

 

Meanwhile, bosses at the BBC’s London HQ denied permission for journalists to attend a massive march against antisemitism using guidelines that prevent employees from attending demonstrations deemed “controversial.” This despite the BBC having a policy that allows staff to demonstrate in “opposition to racism [which] is a fundamental democratic principle.”

 


HonestReporting-tweet-1December2023-But for BBCNews
The fighting resumed after Hamas fired rockets at Israel before the ceasefire had expired.

That’s a fact. But for @BBCNews, the Hamas ceasefire violation is couched in terms of an Israeli “accusation.”

Because the BBC can only ever see Israel as the aggressor.

HonestReporting-tweet-1December2023-But for BBCNews

HonestReporting-tweet-1December2023-But for BBCNews

 

Why the Must BBC Rebuild Trust

As mentioned, allegations of an anti-Israel bias have dogged the BBC for years.

 

But the barrage of criticism aimed at the BBC over its coverage of the current Israel-Hamas war has shown that the corporation cannot continue burying its head in the sand where this issue is concerned.

 

The BBC will lose all credibility if it does not.

Found this article informative? Follow the HonestReporting page on Facebook to read more articles debunking news bias and smears, as well as others explaining Israel’s history, politics, and international affairs. Click here to learn more!

Photo credit: Abed Rahim Khatib via Flash90

 

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thejc-com-logo

BBC Broadcasting House, London

BBC Broadcasting House, London

The BBC: We need to face up to the scale of the axis against Israel

There is onslaught against Israel and the Jews from an unholy alliance between extremist Muslims, the left and the political class, and we need to start taking the fight to them

Melanie Phillips  January 17, 2024 https://www.thejc.com/lets-talk/we-need-to-face-up-to-the-scale-of-the-axis-against-israel-xz0m5uxt

 

The Conservative MP Andrew Percy has accused the BBC of putting British Jews directly at risk through its coverage of the Israel-Gaza conflict.

 

Absolutely. The BBC’s relentless portrayal of the Israelis not as the victims of genocidal terror but as hard-hearted, vengeful and wanton killers of children and the innocent has channelled ancient antisemitic tropes of Jewish blood-lust and helped fuel an enormous increase in attacks on Jews.

 

As Percy said, the BBC’s double standards on Israel, treating patently absurd civilian casualty figures from Hamas as reliable while casting doubt on Israeli statements, present Israel rather than Hamas as the aggressor and rogue actor.

 

A principal offender has been the Today programme presenter, Mishal Husain. Interviewing the Defence Secretary Grant Shapps on Monday, she unleashed a barrage of distorted and out-of-context quotes to demonise Israel as a bloodthirsty aggressor.

 

Claiming that the IDF spokesman, Rear-Admiral Daniel Hagari, had said in October that “our focus is on creating damage not precision,” and that Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, had said “we will eliminate everything” in Gaza, Husain said these remarks suggested Israel wasn’t acting within international law and might be why “so many Palestinians have died”.

 

Yet as the Guardian acknowledged on 5 December, Hagari had been mistranslated. He had actually said: “While balancing accuracy with the scope of damage, right now we’re focused on what causes maximum damage”.

 

Gallant’s words have been taken out of context. He had said: “Gaza won’t return to what it was before, and Hamas will not exist. We will eliminate everything”. He meant eliminating Hamas, not Gaza’s civilians.

 

In any event, what matters is not what’s said but what Israel does. For the ratio of civilians to combatants killed by Israel is around two to one.

 

This is far fewer than the proportion of civilians killed in war by any other nation’s army — and when taking into account the Hamas rockets falling short into Gaza and killing its people, fewer still.

 

Most disgusting of all was how Husain twisted Benjamin Netanyahu’s reference to the ancient Israelites’ biblical foe, Amalek, when he said: “We remember, and we are fighting.”

 

Husain claimed that “Amalek” involved the injunction to spare no-one and destroy “every man, woman and child, sheep, camel and donkey”. And she suggested this was the cause of Israel’s rate of death and destruction in Gaza.

 

This was grotesque. Amalek was the genocidal enemy of the Jewish people, whose attack was so lethal that the Jews have a religious commitment to “remember” him in order to destroy any such enemy before it can wipe out the Jewish people again.

 

Yet Husain and other Israel-haters have abused this sacred duty to defend the Jewish people against genocide by claiming obscenely that it meant Israel intends to wipe out the Palestinians as an act of malign aggression.

 

The government has supported Israel over its show trial at the International Court of Justice. The Foreign Secretary, Lord Cameron, has said South Africa’s accusation against Israel of “genocide” is wrong because “genocide” involves an intention to wipe out an entire people whereas Israel is merely defending itself in Gaza.

 

Defending Israel, however, takes more than objecting to “when did you stop beating your wife” harassment. It involves calling out the murderous lies that are circulating about Israel’s behaviour, and stating the truth instead.

 

But instead, Cameron took aim at Israel with a few poisonous barbs of his own. He was “worried,” he told a parliamentary committee, that Israel “might be in breach of international law” in Gaza and that “on lots of occasions” its compliance was “under question”.

 

Since he offered no evidence of any such breaches, his remarks served merely as yet another smear against an Israel fighting for its life according to international law and yet being demonised for doing so.

 

The Jews find themselves in the hallucinatory situation of being under unprecedented physical and verbal assault by a western world determined to erase genocidal Jewish victimisation and instead delegitimise Israeli Jews as enemies of humanity.

 

This has been building up for years. Yet the community’s leadership has chosen not to call out publicly the enemies of the Jews in British society. Instead it has sought to appease, to genuflect and to grovel.

 

Last week the Chief Rabbi, Sir Ephraim Mirvis, indicated the desperate failure of that approach when he called for British Jews to be “brave” and challenge Muslims over Israel following the “deeply disappointing” Muslim attacks on the Jewish state since the October 7 pogrom.

 

Candidly, Mirvis regretted that he hadn’t always prioritised Israel in interfaith dialogue, which mostly “focused on what unites us”.

 

The community needs to start calling out the unique evil of the onslaught against Israel and the Jews from the unholy alliance between extremist Muslims, the left and the political class.

 

Instead of responding with instantly forgettable rallies against antisemitism to the malevolent falsehoods raining down daily from the intelligentsia, the church and the Hamas Broadcasting Corporation, British Jews should start taking the fight in public and by name to those intent on destroying truth, justice and the Jewish people.

 

Melanie Phillips is a Times columnist

 

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Honest Reporting New Logo

Captured Hamas Terrorist: False Claims


HonestReporting-tweet-9December2023-Captured Hamas Terrorist: False Claims
Conspiracy theories surrounding this picture are spreading like wildfire.

❌ Mass graves.
❌ Humiliation.
❌ Torture.
❌ Abducted civilians who are never seen again.

In reality, there are already reports that some of these men have been released…
Stuart374-tweet-9December2023
I was mostly surprised about how fat Hamas’ “fighters” are.
Hohisier-tweet-9December2023
All that food aid they stole from the people. Evidently terrorizing builds a hell of an appetite

HonestReporting-tweet-9December2023-Captured Hamas Terrorist: False Claims

HonestReporting-tweet-9December2023-Captured Hamas Terrorist: False Claims

 

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Unabated, Unhinged, Orgiastic Jew-hatred!

Gad Saad-tweet-24October2023-Over the past two weeks, the reality has been unabated, unhinged, orgiastic Jew-hatred. They are coming from all directions. I do not see a way out of this. Nothing seems to temper the attacks, the delusions, the hateful fervour. I’m trying to play out different scenarios and it looks so bleak. I always believe in the power of reason but not if your predators are foaming with genocidal zeal. I truly think that this might be a historical tipping point in the West. Good night.

Gad Saad-tweet-24October2023-the reality has been unabated unhinged orgiastic Jew-hatred

Gad Saad-tweet-24October2023-the reality has been unabated unhinged orgiastic Jew-hatred

 


Charlie Kirk-tweet-23October2023-TThis is our @TPUSA staffer, Peter Christos, who is Christian, not Jewish. Yesterday, he was violently attacked while he and another TPUSA staffer were trying to escort an elderly Jewish couple away from a pro-Israel rally. On the way to their cars, they encountered pro-Hamas supporters who assaulted them, punched them repeatedly, and hit them with a flag pole before cops could pull them away to safety.

All of these thugs need to be arrested and charged with hate crimes.

Charlie-Kirk-tweet-23October2023-This-is-our-TPUSA-staffer-Peter-Christos-who-is-Christian

Charlie-Kirk-tweet-23October2023-This-is-our-TPUSA-staffer-Peter-Christos-who-is-Christian

 


 

The BBC


Michael Yifrah-tweet-28October2023-The BBC

Michael Yifrah-tweet-28October2023-The BBC

Michael Yifrah-tweet-28October2023-The BBC

Watch the latest “news” from the BBC [Antisemitic BBC reporting from Israel]

 

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Mainstream Media use of ‘Palestinian Journalist’

Honest Reporting New Logo


HonestReporting-tweet-28October2023-
When Palestinians tried to connect with Israelis to build a better future, @Hind_Gaza
turned them into Hamas. This is who @washingtonpost
considers a credible journalist?

#JournalistOrTerrorist

HonestReporting-tweet-28October2023-When Palestinians tried to connect with Israelis to build a better future, @Hind_Gaza turned them into Hamas. This is who @washingtonpost considers a credible journalist?

HonestReporting-tweet-28October2023-When Palestinians tried to connect with Israelis to build a better future, @Hind_Gaza
turned them into Hamas. This is who @washingtonpost
considers a credible journalist?

HonestReporting-tweet-28October2023-When Palestinians tried to connect with Israelis to build a better future, @Hind_Gaza turned them into Hamas. This is who @washingtonpost considers a credible journalist?

HonestReporting-tweet-28October2023-When Palestinians tried to connect with Israelis to build a better future, @Hind_Gaza
turned them into Hamas. This is who @washingtonpost
considers a credible journalist?

 


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Who Are the Killed Gazan Journalists Affiliated With Palestinian Terror Groups?

One of the more widely discussed facets of the Israel-Hamas war has been the number of Palestinian journalists killed in Gaza since October 7. The Washington Post, The New York Times, the Associated Press, and…

Chaim Lax 22February2024
https://honestreporting.com/who-are-the-killed-gazan-journalists-affiliated-with-palestinian-terror-groups/

 

One of the more widely discussed facets of the Israel-Hamas war has been the number of Palestinian journalists killed in Gaza since October 7.

 

The Washington Post, The New York Times, the Associated Press, and the Financial Times are just some of the mainstream media organizations that have featured in-depth reports on the Palestinian journalist casualties in Gaza.

 

However, what these reports fail to disclose is that a substantial number of these Gaza-based journalists were either members of proscribed Palestinian terror organizations or affiliated with these groups. These groups include Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

 

Based on information provided by the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), of the 83 Palestinian journalists identified by the CPJ as being killed in Gaza to date (February 22, 2024), 45 (roughly 55%) were either members or affiliates of a Palestinian terrorist group.

 

The following is a list of the killed Palestinian journalists who were associated with Gaza-based terror groups:

  1. Alaa Al-Hams (passed away on February 12, 2024 from a prior wound) – She had previously worked for the Houthi-affiliated Al Masira TV Network and the Hamas-affiliated news agency, Al-Rai.
  2. Mohammed Atallah (reported killed on January 29, 2024) – He worked for the Hamas-affiliated Al-Resalah news website.
  3. Iyad El-Ruwagh (reported killed on January 25, 2024) – He worked as a host for the Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa Voice Radio.
  4. Mohamed Jamal Sobhi Al-Thalathini (reported killed on January 11, 2024) – He worked for the Islamic Jihad-affiliated broadcaster, Al-Qouds Al-Youm.
  5. Ahmed Bdeir (reported killed on January 10, 2024) – He worked for Bawabat al-Hadaf, which is affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
  6. Hamza Al Dahdouh (reported killed on January 7, 2024) – He worked for Al Jazeera. He reportedly served in Islamic Jihad’s electronic engineering unit and previously served as a deputy commander in the Zeitoun Brigade’s rocket force.
  7. Mustafa Thuraya (reported killed on January 7, 2024) – He worked as a freelancer for AFP. He reportedly served as a deputy squad commander in Hamas’ Gaza City Brigade.
  8. Akram Elshafie (passed away on January 5, 2024 from injuries sustained in October 2023) – He worked for the Hamas-affiliated Safa news agency.
  9. Jabr Abu Hadrous (reported killed on December 29, 2023) – He worked as a reporter for the Islamic Jihad-affiliated broadcaster, Al-Qouds Al-Youm.
  10. Ahmed Khaireddine (reported killed on December 28, 2023) – He worked as a cameraman for the Islamic Jihad-affiliated broadcaster Al-Qouds Al-Youm and for the Hamas-affiliated Quds Feed.
  11. Mohamad Al-Iff (reported killed on December 24, 2023) – He worked as a journalist and photographer for the Hamas-affiliated news agency, Al-Rai.
  12. Mohamed Azzaytouniyah (reported killed on December 24, 2023) – He worked as a sound engineer for the Hamas-affiliated news agency, Al-Rai.
  13. Ahmad Jamal Al-Madhoun (reported killed on December 24, 2023) – He served as the deputy director of the Hamas-affiliated news agency, Al-Rai.
  14. Mohamed Naser Abu Huwaidi (reported killed on December 22, 2023) – He worked for the Islamic Jihad-affiliated newspaper, Al-Istiklal.
  15. Mohamed Khalifeh (reported killed on December 22, 2023) – He served as a director at the Hamas-affiliated broadcaster, Al-Aqsa TV*.
  16. Adel Zorob (reported killed on December 19, 2023) –  He was freelance journalist who worked with a variety of media outlets in Gaza, including the Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa Voice Radio.
  17. Abdallah Alwan (reported killed on December 18, 2023) – He worked for Al Jazeera and also as a radio host at the Islamic University in Gaza, a Hamas-affiliated organization.
  18. Haneen Kashtan (reported killed on December 17, 2023) – He worked for the Fatah-affiliated Al-Kofiya TV and for Tzut Alutan, a radio station affiliated with the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
  19. Hassan Farajalla (reported killed on December 3, 2023) – According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, he held a senior position at Hamas-affiliated Al-Quds TV. According to the Meir Amit Center, he held a senior position at the Islamic Jihad-affiliated broadcaster, Al-Qouds Al-Youm.
  20. Shaima El-Gazzar (reported killed on either December 3 or 4, 2023) – She worked for the Al-Majedat network and was reportedly also a Hamas activist.
  21. Abdullah Darwish (reported killed on December 1, 2023) – He worked as a cameraman for the Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV*.
  22. Mostafa Bakeer (reported killed on November 24, 2023) – He worked as a cameraman and journalist for the Hamas-affiliated broadcaster, Al-Aqsa TV*.
  23. Assem Al-Barsh (reported killed on November 22, 2023) – He worked for the Hamas-affiliated news agency, Al-Rai.
  24. Mohamed Nabil Al-Zaq (reported killed November 22, 2023) – He worked for the Islamic Jihad-affiliated media network, Al-Qouds Al-Youm.
  25. Abdelhalim Awad (reported killed November 18, 2023) – He served as a media worker and driver for the Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV*.
  26. Mostafa El Sawaf (reported killed November 18, 2023) – He worked for the local news website MSDR News. He joined Hamas at its founding and previously served as a member of Hamas’ Gaza leadership.
  27. Amro Salah Abu Hayah (reported killed on November 18, 2023) – He worked in the broadcast department of Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV*.
  28. Yahya Abu Manih (reported killed on November 7, 2023) – He worked as a journalist for Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa Radio.
  29. Mohamad Al-Bayyari (reported killed on November 2, 2023) – He worked as a journalist for Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV*.
  30. Iyad Matar (reported killed on November 1, 2023) – He worked as a journalist for Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV*.
  31. Majed Kashko (reported killed on October 31, 2023) – He worked for the Islamic Jihad-affiliated media channel, Palestine Today.
  32. Yasser Abu Namous (reported killed on October 27, 2023) He worked for the Hamas-affiliated Al-Sahel media organization.
  33. Duaa Sharaf (reported killed on October 26, 2023) – She worked as a host for the Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa Radio.
  34. Jamal Al-Faqaawi (reported killed on October 25, 2023) – He worked for the Islamic Jihad-affiliated Mithaq Media Foundation.
  35. Saed Al-Halabi (reported killed on October 25, 2023) – He worked as a journalist for the Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV*.
  36. Ahmed Abu Mhadi (reported killed on October 25, 2023) – He worked for the Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV*.
  37. Mohammed Imad Labad (reported killed on October 23, 2023) – He worked for the Hamas-affiliated news website, Al-Resalah.
  38. Khalil Abu Aathra (reported killed on October 19, 2023) – He worked as a videographer for Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV*.
  39. Sameeh Al-Nady (reported killed on October 18, 2023) – He worked as a journalist and director for Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV*.
  40. Mohammad Balousha (reported killed on October 17, 2023) – He worked as a journalist and administrator for the Islamic Jihad-affiliated media channel, Palestine Today.
  41. Issam Bhar (reported killed on October 17, 2023) – He worked for Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV*.
  42. Husam Mubarak (reported killed on October 13, 2023) – He worked as a journalist for the Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa radio station.
  43. Ahmed Shehab (reported killed on October 12, 2023) – He worked for the Islamic Jihad-affiliated radio station, Voice of the Prisoners. He had previously been imprisoned by Israel and was released during the 2011 Shalit deal.
  44. Mohammad Al-Salhi (reported killed on October 7, 2023) – He worked as a photojournalist for the Fourth Authority news agency and was also responsible for public relations for the Hamas-affiliated Dar al-Quran al-Karrem wal-Sunnah organization.
  45. Mohammad Jarghoun (reported killed on October 7, 2023) – He worked as a journalist for Smart Media and reportedly served in Hamas’ al-Qassam Brigades.

 

*= Since 2010, Al-Aqsa TV has been designated a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the US Department of the Treasury.

 

Note: This list is based on the number of Palestinian journalists recorded by the Committee to Protect Journalists and does not include journalists who are solely affiliated with Fatah or the Palestinian Authority.

 

The list will be periodically updated.

 

Liked this article? Follow HonestReporting on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok to see even more posts and videos debunking news bias and smears, as well as other content explaining what’s really going on in Israel and the region.

 


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Hamas Oscar Nominations 2024

Hamas Oscar Nominations 2024

Hamas Oscar Nominations 2024

 


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Cycle of Violence-misleading terminology

Honest Reporting New Logo


HonestReporting-tweet-28October2023-Media shorthand to say, “Israelis and Palestinians are at each other’s throats again. We’re too lazy to provide you meaningful context.”

HonestReporting-tweet-28October2023-Cycle of Violence-misleading terminology

HonestReporting-tweet-28October2023-Cycle of Violence-misleading terminology

 

Cycle of Violence-misleading terminology

Cycle of Violence-misleading terminology

 

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How In The World Did We Get Here?

Over the years, media outlets have become islands of ideological conformity, where the need to affirm supersedes the obligation to inform. In the case of Israel, the subordination of Truth to ideology by some of…

GuestPost [Mark Sachs]
26October2023 https://honestreporting.com/how-in-the-world-did-we-get-here/

 

Over the years, media outlets have become islands of ideological conformity, where the need to affirm supersedes the obligation to inform. In the case of Israel, the subordination of Truth to ideology by some of the most revered international news outlets has led to levels of global antisemitism not seen since the Holocaust.

 

Under the guise of “objective journalism,” journalists frame information in such a way that ignites our confirmation bias while trying to mask their own biases and agendas. Given the constant bombardment of information from these sources, seeking out alternative views requires Herculean discipline, which few of us possess.

 

Media bias did not light the fuse for recent events, but it certainly fanned the flames. The dangers of media bias cannot be underestimated.

 

Sadly, bias presumes unconscious intent, and I do not believe the rush to judgment by the BBC, New York Times, and others in blaming Israel for the purported attack on the Gaza hospital, or in CNN’s case, equivocating over the likely culprit, was unconscious. It was malicious and intentional.

 

Their false reporting based on verifiably false information led to violent global protests and raised the prospect of a world war. It’s only natural to ask, “How in the world did we get here?”

 

I’ll try to shed light on how we got here by exploring the convergence of four cultural trends in Western nations, most notably the US and the UK, and the ensuing psychological prisons that capture minds.

The Role of the Universities

Let’s start with the trend affecting the media and proceed from there. Many journalists are educated in elite institutions like Cambridge, Columbia, Harvard, NYU, Oxford, Stanford, and Yale. Even those who attended other institutions of higher learning could be considered somewhat elite since approximately only 38% and 26% of the US and UK populations earned a bachelor’s degree.

 

Unfortunately, elite institutions possess very little viewpoint diversity. As I wrote in my book, The Cancel Culture Curse, “At Brown, Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, Yale, and Princeton, liberal students outnumber conservative ones by a ratio of at least 4:1.” It’s safe to assume that Columbia, NYU, and Stanford suffer the same lack of viewpoint diversity.

 

Notice that the elite universities with the lowest viewpoint diversities are the very same universities now hosting pro-Hamas and “pro-Palestinian” protesters chanting “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” and signing letters pronouncing Israel as the aggressor while ignoring the atrocities perpetrated against Israelis. In the US, Columbia, Harvard, NYU, Penn, and Stanford have become ground zero for antisemitism and anti-Israelism.

 

While being a college liberal in no way guarantees a student is anti-Israel and pro-Hamas, every pro-Hamas or “pro-Palestinian” protester at the dozens of protests across the US and the UK falls decidedly in the liberal camp.

 

I can hear some of you questioning, “What about the far right?!” The far right does in fact have a “Jew problem,” and they no doubt are aligning in words and deeds with their brethren on the far left. However, the trends I’m discussing, and which are playing out in colleges and media outlets across the country are not being driven by the right.

 

The UK has its own long history of antisemitism and anti-Israelism, but British universities are likely on par with US universities when it comes to viewpoint diversity. Hence, the BBC, the Financial Times, and The Guardian are bastions of anti-Israel viewpoints.

 

The changing college milieus in which current and would-be journalists are cultivated is a trend that profoundly impacts what and how “news” is presented and received.  Now, let’s explore why these educational environments became ground zero for anti-Israel sentiment.

Saudi-Funded Programs

For decades, Saudi Arabia funneled billions of dollars into hundreds of American universities to fund Islamic studies and international relations programs as well as other programs in science and technology. In 2019 alone, 144 American universities received a total of $270 million from Saudi Arabia. When Qatar and China are added to the mix, the total amount is estimated to be $43,000,0000,000 since 1990. Yes, forty-three BILLION dollars.

 

The well-funded Islamic Studies and International Affairs programs helped lay the groundwork for pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel narratives to take hold throughout the US and no doubt the UK as well.

 

The promotion of these viewpoints created fertile ground to enable these Islamist and pro-Palestinian voices to ingratiate themselves into left-wing politics. Once inside, these voices started appropriating left-wing causes as their own: aligning themselves with African-American activism by referring to themselves as “people of color,” describing Israel as a colonial power, and conflating Palestinian rights with reproductive justice, gay rights, and transgender rights.

 

That’s how we get a group called SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Campaign conflating reproductive justice, which does not exist in Gaza, with the understanding “that Palestine and the freedom of the Palestinian people is an issue of reproductive justice.” Freedom from whom, we all know to be Israel, not Hamas.

 

Once these alliances were formed, they started to snowball.

Despite the fact that upwards of 70% of Israelis could be classified, using the left’s definition, as “people of color,” all Israelis, in fact, all Jews, are viewed as white oppressors. These identitarian gymnastics are the result of intersectionality, a framework to classify groups of people as oppressors and oppressed.

 

According to intersectionality, Jews are white oppressors and Israel is a white colonial oppressive nation. Palestinians and Muslims, on the other hand, are considered oppressed “people of color.”

 

Each of these trends has dramatically changed college education and culture, and it is on these campuses where many current and most future American and British journalists were and are nurtured. They then take their viewpoints to the media outlets that employ them.

 

These outlets have become ideologically homogenous echo chambers that promote intersectionality either consciously or unconsciously. As such, conflicts between Israel and the Palestinians can be viewed as a conflict between the “oppressor” and “oppressed” or the powerful and the powerless.

 

Regardless of the sheer magnitude of the atrocities perpetrated by the “oppressed” Palestinians, outlets such as the BBC will rationalize such violence based on the status of oppression.

“Intelligent Stupidity” and Cognitive Dissonance

The coalescing of these trends has resulted in two dangerous consequences. The first is amathia, a Greek word that can be defined as lacking wisdom, or as “intelligent stupidity.”

 

Massimo Pigliucci, a professor of philosophy, explains amathia in this way: “It is the opposite of wisdom, a kind of dis-knowledge of how to deal with other human beings, and it results in awful actions undertaken by otherwise perfectly functional, intelligent human beings. Moreover, people characterized by amathia cannot simply be persuaded by reasoned argument, because they understand the argument but are crucially deficient in their character, which…is developed over time by a combination of instincts, environment influences [author’s note: college, media, social media], and reason.”

 

Those protesting on elite college campuses and journalists at the NYT, CNN, and BBC are all intelligent, very much so. However, their characters are flawed. But for the fact that our laws prevent them from dismembering or killing people, these people possess the intelligence to rationalize any form of violence against people they don’t like. The only check on their reason would be to possess the right character. This is the danger of intelligent stupidity. It leads to what Hannah Arendt called the banality of evil.

 

The second is cognitive dissonance, which is the tension created when someone is faced with information that conflicts with their strongly held beliefs. To resolve that tension, people tend to double down on their beliefs with more aggression and conviction rather than change their position.

 

Amathia and Cognitive Dissonance help explain why Ivy League protesters, purportedly the brightest among us, having been birthed in anti-Israel incubators, not only look askance to the reports of horrific atrocities perpetrated by the Palestinians but double down on their support of Hamas.

 

Only those who suffer from amathia and cognitive dissonance could argue that slaughtering babies, disemboweling mothers, and burning alive innocent people are fair acts of resistance.

Signs of Resistance

Knowing from where all this came can be instructive for how to move forward from here. Thankfully, we are seeing signs of resistance.

1) Huge donors to Ivy League schools in the US have finally started speaking with their dollars. While losing millions here and there when an endowment has billions, may not have a huge financial impact. But, it sends a powerful message of “no more.”

2) Exposure is the best disinfectant against dangerous ideological viruses. Americans are now seeing what has been lurking in certain corners of American educational institutions, and most Americans are disgusted by what they are seeing. Finally.

3) This is one issue that is not partisan. The overwhelming populations in Western nations are banding together to confront this assault on reason, compassion, and humanity. The lines are no longer left versus right. Instead, the battle lines are between wisdom and amathia, civilized and uncivilized, and good and evil.

Each of us has a role to play. Sapir Journal has put out a comprehensive list of actionable steps each of us can take: signing college petitions, taking political action, and seeking out news sources that more fairly present information.  You are sure to find something constructive from Sapir’s list. It’s on all of us to toe the line.

 

Mark Sachs is the founder of Orwell Grey Strategic Communications and a long-time pro-Israel activist. Mark co-authored the book, The Cancel Culture Curse.

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Arab Propaganda

Vs. Arab Reality

SEE: 30 November The Expulsion of the Jews in Arab Lands


Michael Shermer-tweet-2November2023-
“Israel is committing genocide”
—every critic

“You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means”
—Inigo Montoya

Genocide: “the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group” or “a coordinated plan of different actions aiming at the destruction of essential foundations of the life of national groups, with the aim of annihilating the groups themselves.”

Israel could annihilate all of Gaza & the Palestinians if it wanted.
It doesn’t because it is not a genocidal nation.

Whose Genocide Is It Anyway?

Afshine Emrani MD FACC-tweet-2November2023-
Speaking of ethnic cleansing… @michaelshermer

Where are the Jews in Arab countries?

Afshine Emrani MD FACC-tweet-2November2023-Speaking of ethnic cleansing

Afshine Emrani MD FACC-tweet-2November2023-Speaking of ethnic cleansing

Displacement of Jewish communities and when they were founded

Displacement of Jewish communities and when they were founded

Justice for Jews from Arab Countries

 



Dr. Eli David-tweet-22November2023-Ethnic Cleansing 101
Ethnic Cleansing 101

Dr. Eli David-tweet-22November2023-Ethnic Cleansing 101

Dr. Eli David-tweet-22November2023-Ethnic Cleansing 101

 

This is Ethnic Cleansing

This is Ethnic Cleansing

 

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Arab lies


Hillel Fuld-tweet-9November2023-I can’t stand the lies anymore
Ok, enough is enough!!

I can’t stand the lies anymore!!!

I’m not referring to subjective opinions or analysis. I’m talking about facts, 100% objective, undeniable facts.

Does truth even matter anymore?

Well, I guess we can’t blame people for their ignorance unless we make sure the facts are accessible to them, so I’ll do my best.

Hopefully this post can be useful to others who face the lies on campuses, on the streets, and even in parliaments across the globe.

So let’s get to it. Lie by lie.

Watch the video.

Let’s see, what lies did I miss?

I’m sure there are many more but if you have a half a brain in your head, you’ll read this carefully and realize you’re being fed lies and propaganda by a globally recognized terrorist organization.

You’re choosing to believe the lies.
Stop buying the lies and use your brain.
None of what I wrote above is my opinion.

These are all hard facts backed up by indisputable evidence.
If you don’t accept any of the above facts, there are only really three choices.

1- You’re ignorant and refuse to learn history.

2- Your intelligence level prevents you from understanding facts.

3- You are a good ol’ fashioned Jew hater and have now successfully found a way to disguise your hatred of Jews by making things up to vilify the Jewish people.

So which one is it?

Stop believing lies. Stop spreading lies. Open your eyes. Believe what Hamas tells you when they say they want all Jews dead and then, they’ll come after all infidels.

Stop dismissing and discounting their words.

I hope this equipped you with some facts for you to let your Ivy League college friends know that they’re siding with actual genocidal lunatics who will absolutely come after them next.

Good will always prevail and that’s why Israel will be here in 50 years while Hamas will join ancient Egypt, the Romans, the Greeks, the Nazis, and anyone else who has tried to annihilate the Jews.

They are long gone but the Jews and their homeland is here, strong, united, and 100% set on sending Hamas straight where they belong.

Stand with Israel.

 

Hillel Fuld-tweet-9November2023-I can’t stand the lies anymore

Hillel Fuld-tweet-9November2023-I can’t stand the lies anymore

 

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Arab Diplomacy


Senator Ted Budd-tweet-17February2024-the Qataris promised
First the Qataris promised us they were “strong-arming” Hamas to release American and Israeli hostages. Then they said they have no leverage. Now they’re calling for a ceasefire regardless of whether hostages are released.

Enough.

Qatar is no longer a productive partner in securing the hostages’ freedom. They must expel Hamas terrorists out of their nation immediately, or risk repercussions.
Barak Ravid-tweet-17February2024-The Prime Minister of Qatar

ראש ממשלת קטאר בוועידת מינכן: שחרור החטופים לא צריך להיות תנאי להפסקת אש בעזה. המלחמה בעזה צריכה להיפסק מיד

Translated from Hebrew by

The Prime Minister of Qatar at the Munich Conference: The release of the abductees should not be a condition for a ceasefire in Gaza. The war in Gaza must stop immediately

Senator Ted Budd-tweet-17February2024-the Qataris promised

Senator Ted Budd-tweet-17February2024-the Qataris promised

Barak Ravid-tweet-17February2024-The Prime Minister of Qatar

Barak Ravid-tweet-17February2024-The Prime Minister of Qatar

 


Gaza’s sky is black but Qatar is always sunny

 


 

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Hamas’ Hidden Strategy


Hillel Fuld-tweet->19November2023-Hamas’ Hidden Strategy
Very well said

Hillel Fuld-tweet-19November2023-Hamas' Hidden Strategy

Hillel Fuld-tweet-19November2023-Hamas’ Hidden Strategy

 


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What the “Arab Street” thinks of Hamas


Hussain Abdul-Hussain-tweet-14November2023-What the “Arab Street” thinks of Hamas
One of the biggest Western myths is that the “Arab Street” is unified behind Palestinian “resistance” and against #Israel.
When #Qatar sponsored a fake “spontaneous popular” campaign of World Cup Arab audience waving Palestinian flags, @NYT
argued that Abraham Accords were government peace not peoples’ peace, that if Arabs were given free choice, they’d oppose peace.
Now listen how this destitute Gaza man, interviewed live on Hamas’s Al-Jazeera, thrashes Hamas. Interviewer immediately turned away.
Hundreds of thousands of Arabs share his opinion, and like him are always shut down.

Hussain Abdul-Hussain-tweet-14November2023-What the Arab Street thinks of Hamas

Hussain Abdul-Hussain-tweet-14November2023-What the Arab Street thinks of Hamas

 

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Elder of Ziyon logo http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/

Elder of Ziyon logo http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/

Here comes a “new” Arab boycott

27December2023  https://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2023/12/here-comes-new-arab-boycott.html

The Arab Parliament

The Arab Parliament

 

The Arab Parliament, which is the legislative body of the Arab League, is trying to bring back the Arab boycott of Jews…I mean, Israel.

 

Ahead of a planned emergency session on Gaza tomorrow, the speaker of the Arab Parliament, Adel Al-Asoumi, called on the Arab people to adhere to the economic boycott of companies that support Israel.

 

Al-Asoumi said that the Arab Parliament has supported the Palestinian cause since the first day of the war on Gaza on the seventh of last October, which sure makes it sound as if they supported the massacre on October 7.

 

The funny part is that the Arab League boycott of Jewish-owned businesses, which started in late 1945, has never officially ended. Syria and Lebanon still adhere to it fully, everyone else abandoned it.

 

So this is a call to follow an existing 78 year old boycott. A boycott which was always against Jewish companies.

 

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Elder of Ziyon logo http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/

Elder of Ziyon logo http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/

Arab antisemitic articles are getting worse: now they are praising Hitler, praying for genocide

30October2023  https://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2023/10/arab-antisemitic-articles-are-getting.html

cairo24 hit-What did Hitler say about the Jews

cairo24 hit-What did Hitler say about the Jews

Antisemitism in Arab media has been getting much worse lately.

 

Cairo24 uses the Gaza war as an excuse to praise Hitler:

 

What did Hitler say about the Jews? In light of the escalating events by the Zionist occupation towards the Palestinians, especially children, women and the elderly, some are searching for the most prominent things said by Adolf Alois Hitler, the Nazi German politician. He wanted to exterminate them from the face of the earth, so his view was correct. He told them that they were the cause of the devastation that was befalling the world, so he burned them.

 

They also publish the fake quote that antisemites ascribe to Hitler, “It was in my power to eliminate all the Jews of the world, but I left some of them so that you would know why I was exterminating them.” But they also favorably quoted some antisemitism from Mein Kampf.

 

That is only one article in the past 24 hours.

 

Algeria’s El Khabar has an article that says:

 

 A question that has always been on my mind: Why is the West so keen on the existence of Israel? Why do they support the Jews so endlessly? I found only one answer, which is to get rid of their evils. Anyone who traces the history of the people will find that Stalin, for example, did not promise the Jews the establishment of a national homeland for them in Palestine except to get rid of their disease, and Hitler did not search for a rubbish bin to collect them except to cleanse Germany of their filth. America itself suffers from them, but it is helpless. Because the Zionist lobby is suffocating its breath.

 

There is no evil that has spread in the world unless these bastards are behind it. The Jew Karl Marx was behind atheistic communism, the other Jew Durkheim was behind the sociology that tampered with the family, the Jew Freud based his psychology on scandalous sex, and the Jew Sater promoted pornography.

Egypt’s El Balad publishes a prayer for genocide of Jews. Here is a small part:

 

Oh God, curse the killers of the prophets, O God, send stones of shale upon them and throw terror and panic into their hearts.

Oh God, destroy the Jews in Palestine, the children of monkeys and pigs, and make their women barren, O God, and may their children be dispersed.

Oh God, send upon them strong winds that will uproot their power.

 

A columnist in Saudi Arabia’s Al Madina writes:

 

The current events in Gaza have proven the truth of the Holy Qur’an about the Jews, in their many and hideous characteristics, including their constant practice of killing. If they did not kill others, they would kill themselves, meaning they would fight among themselves. And God says: (Then it is you who kill yourselves) in addition to their killing of the prophets, and whoever kills the prophets will not There is no doubt that killing Arabs and Palestinians is easy for them, and the doctrine of Israel’s army, police, and Mossad intelligence is killing, then killing, then more killing!

 

We all hated what happened and is happening to the people of Gaza, but perhaps it is a good hatred, as it showed us some of the characteristics of the Jews that require us to be wary of them and consider them the most prominent enemy, especially since the lobby pressuring them has recruited the greatest powers, international Freemasonry, and the media with them, in the name of religion and in the name of non-religion, to dominate the world within their ill-fated plan!

But while some articles ue the Quran to justify hating Jews, others claim that Jews are not really the Jews in the Quran to begin with.  Dr. Ahmed Rabie , former dean of the Faculty of Islamic Dawa at Al-Azhar University, said that “today’s Jews are not descendants of our Prophet Jacob” and only arabs are the remaining descendants of Abraham.

 

But why seek consistency in the details? The main point remains: Jews are evil and must be destroyed.

 

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Arab Reality

JewishPress-Logo

Arab Blogger Tells You the Truth About Gaza

By Hana Levi Julian – 14 Tevet 5784 – 25December2023 – https://www.jewishpress.com/news/eye-on-palestine/hamas/the-gaza-you-thought-you-knew-versus-the-real-gaza/2023/12/25/

 

Muslim girls study the Koran during a summer camp at a mosque in Gaza City, June 13, 2023.

Muslim girls study the Koran during a summer camp at a mosque in Gaza City, June 13, 2023.

For decades, Palestinian Authority propaganda and misinformation conveyed to the European Union, the United States and various Arab nations by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has lamented a Gaza populated by downtrodden Arabs steeped in abject poverty and misery, blockaded, occupied and besieged by the State of Israel.

 

A Gaza with frequent electrical outages due to a lack of fuel. A people forced to live with unclean water due to old, broken-down sewage facilities. Families desperate for a little more food for their children.

 

Gazans suffering dying due to lack of medical facilities and quality medical care.

All the while, Gazans were apparently raking in the dough while living a better life than many of their Palestinian Arab peers in nations like Yemen, Lebanon, Syria and the like.

 

Arab blogger Hoda Jannat exposed the lies in a series of posts on the X social media platform, together with video footage to substantiate his claims.

 

Behold.
“This is Gaza before October 7th. The Arab mind was fooled on the basis that Gaza was besieged. There are Arab people in Arab countries who eat meat once a year, like the Algerian people,” the blogger writes in Arabic.


Hoda_jannat-tweet-25December2023-This is Gaza before October 7th

هذه غزة قبل السابع من أكتوبر

تم استحمار العقل العربي على أساس أن غزة محاصرة ..

وهنالك شعوب عربية في دول عربية تأكل اللحم مرة في السنة مثل الشعب الجزائري

Translated from Arabic by

This is Gaza before October 7th

The Arab mind was fooled on the basis that Gaza was besieged.

There are Arab people in Arab countries who eat meat once a year, like the Algerian people

Hoda_jannat-tweet-25December2023-This is Gaza before October 7th

Hoda_jannat-tweet-25December2023-This is Gaza before October 7th

 

 

In a separate tweet, @HodaJannat writes:
Suddenly we discovered that Gaza, which is inhabited by 2 million people… has 36 hospitals.
There are Arab countries with 30 million citizens and do not have this number of hospitals.

 

? Suddenly we discovered that Gaza was getting water, electricity, gas, and fuel for free from Israel.
Of course, there is no Arab citizen who does not pay water, electricity and fuel bills.

 

? Suddenly we discovered that Gaza was receiving $30 million a month from Qatar alone
And $120 million a month from UNRWA
And $50 million a month from the European Union
And 30 million dollars a month from America.
There are Arab countries drowning in debt and cannot find anyone to help them, even with one million dollars.

 

? Suddenly we discovered that Gaza was not besieged, and all goods were entering it, as were foreigners and people of foreign nationalities. Its residents were traveling to Egypt and from there to the rest of the world, and Fafo is the biggest example.

 

? Suddenly we discovered that Gaza was living better than many Arab countries…and its people were living better than many Arab peoples.

 

Suddenly…we discovered that our minds were besieged by a programmed lie…by the (Muslim) Brotherhood media.

 


gevwey-tweet-24December2023-Suddenly we discovered that Gaza

🔴فجأة اكتشفنا أن غزة التي يسكنها 2 مليون نسمة … فيها 36 مستشفى وهنالك دول عربية بها 30 مليون مواطن وما فيها هذا العدد من المستشفيات .

🔴فجأة اكتشفنا أن غزة كانت تحصل على الماء والكهرباء والغاز والوقود بالمجان من اسرائيل . طبعا ليس هنالك مواطن عربي لا يدفع فواتير الماء والكهرباء والوقود .

🔴فجأة اكتشفنا أن غزة كانت تصلها 30 مليون دولار شهريا من قطر وحدها و120 مليون دولار شهريا من الأونروا و50 مليون دولار شهريا من الاتحاد الأوربي و30 مليون دولار شهريا من امريكا. وهنالك دول عربية غارقة في الديون ولا تجد من يساعدها ولو بمليون دولار واحد .

🔴فجأة اكتشفنا أن غزة لم تكن محاصرة وكانت تدخلها كل السلع ويدخلها اجانب وأصحاب جنسيات أجنبية ..وكان سكانها يسافرون إلى مصر ومنها إلى باقي دول العالم وفافو اكبر مثال.

🔴فجأة اكتشفنا أن غزة كانت تعيش افضل من بلدان عربية كثيرة …وشعبها كان يعيش افضل من شعوب عربية كثيرة. فجأة …اكتشفنا أن عقولنا هي المحاصرة بكذب مبرمج …من قبل الإعلام الاخونجي.

 

Translated from Arabic by

🔴 Suddenly we discovered that Gaza, which is inhabited by 2 million people… has 36 hospitals
There are Arab countries with 30 million citizens and do not have this number of hospitals.

🔴 Suddenly we discovered that Gaza was getting water, electricity, gas, and fuel for free from Israel.
Of course, there is no Arab citizen who does not pay water, electricity and fuel bills.

🔴 Suddenly we discovered that Gaza was receiving $30 million a month from Qatar alone
And $120 million a month from UNRWA
And $50 million a month from the European Union
And 30 million dollars a month from America.
There are Arab countries drowning in debt and cannot find anyone to help them, even with one million dollars.

🔴 Suddenly we discovered that Gaza was not besieged, and all goods were entering it, as were foreigners and people of foreign nationalities. Its residents were traveling to Egypt and from there to the rest of the world, and Fafo is the biggest example.
🔴 Suddenly we discovered that Gaza was living better than many Arab countries…and its people were living better than many Arab peoples.

Suddenly…we discovered that our minds were besieged by a programmed lie…by the Brotherhood media.

gevwey-tweet-24December2023-Suddenly we discovered that Gaza

gevwey-tweet-24December2023-Suddenly we discovered that Gaza

 

Surprisingly, Hoda Jannat is not the only one to expose the real quality of life enjoyed by Gazans prior to October 7th.

Meet social media poster @Imshin, who specializes in showing what life in Gaza was really like by showing videos and photos from Gazans themselves, including videos, blog posts, and news that was posted by middle-class and wealthy Gazans. Imshin posted this Feb. 2022:

 


Imshin-tweet-11February2022-Gaza Land of Contrasts
#Gaza Land of Contrasts.
#TheGazaYouDontSee – an introduction.
#Palestine #Hamas #HamasTerrorists

Imshin-tweet-11February2022-Gaza Land of Contrasts

Imshin-tweet-11February2022-Gaza Land of Contrasts

 

 

And this was posted on Dec. 25, 2023, also by Imshin:


Imshin-tweet-25December2023-What was Gaza like before the hostilities
Text:
“What was Gaza like before the hostilities?”

“We lived well, no blockade or anything.
Enough with the lies!
Hamas came and destroyed everything for their own good.”

#TheGazaYouDontSee
#October7massacre

https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSNG6YS66/

Imshin-tweet-25December2023-What was Gaza like before the hostilities

Imshin-tweet-25December2023-What was Gaza like before the hostilities

 

 

And this:


Imshin-tweet-25December2023-Shopping in Gaza City before October7massacre
Shopping in Gaza City, before #October7massacre.
#TheGazaYouDontSee

Imshin-tweet-25December2023-Shopping in Gaza City before October7massacre

Imshin-tweet-25December2023-Shopping in Gaza City before October7massacre

 

Was there hardship in Gaza? Yes. As in any other society — including that in Israel, and in the United States — there were families who had less; but they learned to make do. But those who suffered did so at the behest of their Iranian-backed Hamas terrorist rulers who were overwhelmingly, democratically, elected into power by Gaza voters themselves.

 

Israel withdrew any presence from the enclave well before the January 2006 elections won by Hamas against the Palestinian Authority’s ruling Fatah faction in a vote of 74 to 45 seats.

 

Gaza hasn’t been “occupied” since August 2005, when the government of then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon instituted the Disengagement from Gaza, expelling nearly 10,000 Jews from their homes and communities in the Gush Katif region of the enclave.

 

In response, Israel was rewarded with more than 10,000 rockets fired at its civilians by its neighbors in Judenrein Gaza, not to mention the series of mini-wars forced upon the Jewish State by Gaza since that time, and during which Israeli soldiers worked hard to “mow the lawn” and trim back the threat to Israel from Hamas.

 

But it didn’t work.

Between October 7 and December 25, 2023, Hamas and its ally, the Iranian-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror organization have fired more than 12,500 rockets and missiles at Israeli civilians, and they continue to fire sporadically, whenever they manage to scurry out from beneath the rubble to launch another barrage.

 

Since October 7, IDF soldiers have uncovered at least 1,500 tunnel shafts leading to the subterranean labyrinth known locally as the “Gaza Metro” comprised of more than 500 miles of tunnels — a veritable underground city — built by Hamas during the years of its rule.

 

Hundreds of subsurface rocket launchers are so well concealed, they barely peek above the surface, and one practically has to stumble on to them before being able to see them and destroy them. Entire command and control complexes, all of them built 30 to 50 meters (98 feet 164 feet) below the surface — deeper than any grave.

 

However long it takes, Israel no longer has any choice but to completely wipe out Hamas and its terrorist allies in Gaza, because at this point, it’s either them or us.

 

Special thanks to Hoda Jannat and Imshin!

 


9 minutes of how Gaza used to look like before October 7th


Visegrád 24-tweet-17February2024-9 minutes of how Gaza used to look like before October 7th
9 minutes of how Gaza used to look like before October 7th.

Hamas ruined the lives of more than 2 million people

Visegrád 24-tweet-17February2024-9 minutes of how Gaza used to look like before October 7th

Visegrád 24-tweet-17February2024-9 minutes of how Gaza used to look like before October 7th

 

9 minutes of how Gaza used to look like before October 7th

 

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Arutz Sheva http://www.israelnationalnews.com/

Does the UN hate the Gazans?

Or does it simply hate Israel so much it is willing to use Gazan Arabs as pawns and cannon fodder. The MUST READ concise history of Gaza. Op-ed.

Lt. Col.(res.) Maurice Hirsch / 8January2024 / https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/383231


 

Lt. Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch is the director of the Initiative for Palestinian Authority Accountability and Reform in the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs; a senior legal analyst for Human Rights Voices; and a member of the Israel Defense and Security Forum.

 

Over the last 500 years, at least, the Gaza Strip has been a backwater. No one has ever truly invested in Gaza or the Gazans. For the last 100 years, Gaza and the Gazans have increasingly been used as pawns, by both the Arabs and the international community, in their efforts to vilify Israel and the Jews.

 

When push came to shove, the international community, led by the United Nations, preferred dead Gazans over losing leverage against Israel. Paradoxically and entirely contrary to common perception, Israel did more for the Gazans and the Gaza Strip than any of its many rulers, and had the international community not hated the Gazans so much, their situation today could have been drastically different.

 

Gaza under the Ottomans

For 400 years (1517-1917), the area known today as the Gaza Strip was part of the Ottoman Empire. It was not recognized as an independent area or as being at all linked to Judea and Samaria. Under Ottoman rule, the Gaza Strip saw changing fortunes and investments, depending on the circumstances and the identity and connections of its appointed governor.

 

Gaza under the Mandate

In the aftermath of the First World War and the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the Gaza Strip was included in the area that came under the control of Great Britain. Following the Balfour Declaration (1917), the Paris Peace Conference (1919), the San Remo Conference (1920) and the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine, Great Britain controlled the area with the sole purpose of it becoming part of the Jewish national homeland. One of the more substantial moves made by Great Britain during the period of the Mandate (1922-1948) was to finalize the official border separating Egypt from the Gaza Strip.

 

After Great Britain betrayed the Mandate and capitulated to Arab violence instead of giving the Jews the land designated for their national homeland, the 1947 United Nations Partition Plan (which suggested an Arab state and a tiny Jewish state on that same land), included the Gaza Strip in the territory of the “Arab State.” However, having ceremoniously rejected the Partition Plan, the Arab countries chose instead to wage war on the nascent Jewish state. While Israel managed to survive the onslaught of five Arab armies, when the fighting came to its end, it did not conquer the Gaza Strip, which would now be under Egyptian rule. Except for a short break between 1956 and 1957 duing the Sinai War, the Strip remained under Egyptian control from 1948 to 1967.

 

The Arab countries reject Israel

Positive proof of the disdain of both the Arab countries and the international community toward the Gazans appeared during this period.

 

According to U.N. records, during Israel’s War of Independence (9 months and 3 weeks, ed.), the population of the Gaza Strip swelled from about 70,000 people to 270,000 people. In the multilateral discussions that followed the war, Israel offered to include the Gaza Strip within the borders of the Jewish state and give all its residents full Israeli citizenship. Had the offer been accepted, the Gaza Strip would today be an integral part of Israel, all its residents would hold full citizenship and both the area and its residents would have shared and enjoyed the prosperity of Israel.

 

However, both the Arab states and the international community did not care about the fate of Gaza’s residents, old and new. The Arab countries rejected the offer, preferring to continue their fight against Israel’s very right to exist. For its part, the international community allowed the Arab countries to reject the offer without providing any substantial alternative.

 

Unlike Jordan’s unsuccessful claim of ownership of Judea and Samaria (also supposed to be part of the Jewish national homeland), Egypt never claimed to have any proprietary or sovereign claim to the Gaza Strip. It merely administered the Strip under perpetual military law, never granting its residents Egyptian citizenship.

 

The colossal UNRWA failure

The disdain of the international community for the Gazan residents was further expressed by its inaction.

 

While allowing the Egyptians to deny the Gazans any opportunity to settle, deny them citizenship and deny them rights, the international community simultaneously failed to provide the Gazans with any alternative. Between 1948 and 1967, no U.N. resolution ever called on Egypt to end its illegal occupation of the Strip and withdraw or to recognize the new Arab state envisaged by the Partition Plan. It was not called an occupier. The areas that are now so often referred to as the “Occupied Palestinian Territories” do not appear to have been considered “Palestinian territories” until they were liberated by Israel in 1967.

 

Instead of developing a comprehensive solution for the residents of Gaza, the Arab countries and the international community decided to establish the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the U.N. organization dedicated solely to dealing with the non-Jewish so-called “Palestine refugees.”

 

UNRWA’s raison d’etre is to perpetuate the falsehood that the perpetual “Palestine refugees” will eventually flood Israel, thereby demographically and democratically destroying Israel as a Jewish state.

 

True to its mission and sadly for the Gazans, despite having received tens of billions of dollars of international aid in the 74 years since its creation, UNRWA has failed to settle the “Palestine refugees” permanently. The opposite is true. Since the creation of UNRWA, the number of “Palestine refugees” has swelled from 711,00 initially to over 6 million people. According to UNRWA, the original 200,000 “Palestine refugees” who settled in Gaza in 1948 have multiplied at a staggering rate and now number no fewer than 1,577,522 people, an unmatched 4th generation of “refugees”..

 

Amazingly, according to UNRWA statistics, over 20% of the original “refugees,” now all aged over 80 (41,842 people), are still alive and living in Gaza.

 

For 74 years, UNRWA has ensured that the Gazans and other “Palestine refugees” remain stateless, living in poverty and constantly dependent on international aid. (That is how it continues to exist and its staff retain their salaries, ed.)

 

Gaza under Israeli rule

Once Israel liberated Gaza from the Egyptian occupation, things started looking up for the Gazans. Israel not only allowed the Gazans to enter Israel to work, allowing for substantial growth, but also started linking Gaza to Israeli infrastructure, such as electricity and water.

 

Gaza under the Palestinian Authority

Despite the positive change, the Arab countries and the international community refused to accept the Israeli presence in the Strip, inventing the false claim that Israel was an “occupier.” Over time, the rhetoric against Israel as an “occupier” intensified until Israel agreed to enter into the Oslo Accords with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and pave the way for the creation of the Palestinian Authority.

 

Instead of promoting the needs of the Gazans, the P.A., with the help of the international community, again subjugated the Gazan population. While the PLO/P.A. promised peace and democracy, all it delivered was brainwashing to hate Israel, and incitement of violence, murder and terror.

 

Democracy was a fleeting incident, with elections taking place only twice, once in 1996 and then again in 2006. The first elections ushered in the dictatorial leadership of Yasser Arafat and his Fatah party, and the second ushered in the dictatorial rule of Hamas, an internationally designated terror organization.

 

Israel’s disengagement from Gaza

Pursuant to its agenda to destroy Israel, in September 2000, the PLO/P.A. launched a terror war. During the war, which raged till 2005, Palestinian Arab terrorists carried out thousands of terror attacks. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon decided to “disengage” from the area. Thus, in Sept. 2005, Israel completed the total expulsion of all the Israelis from the Gaza Strip (over 8000 people were displaced from thriving communities they had built with government encouragement, ed.) and withdrew all its forces, redeploying to the Armistice Line agreed upon in 1949 at the end of Israel’s war of independence.

 

Gaza in its entirety, including an advanced agricultural industry built by Israeli know-how and hard work, was handed to the P.A. (Gazans promptly set fire to the greenhouses that had previously provided Europe and Israel with a significant percentage of its flowers and vegetables, and had been donated to them to help them make sea-fronted Gaza into “the Singapore of the Middle East”, ed.)

 

Hamas takes control of Gaza

Shortly after the “disengagement” in January 2006, the P.A. held a general election. Again, showing its disdain for the Gazans, the P.A. and the international community persuaded Israel to agree to the participation of Hamas in the elections. While P.A. chairman Mahmoud Abbas did his utmost to manipulate the elections in favor of his Fatah party, Hamas won, receiving 74 of the 132 seats in the P.A. parliament. After a period of turmoil, a year later, in the summer of 2007, Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip. (It then murdered Fatah rivals, often by pushing them off the roofs of buildings, ed.)

 

Again, abandoning the Gazans to their fate, the international community did not protest the rulership of a terrorist organization over the area but instead developed a policy of wilful blindness, rebranding the terrorists as the “de facto” leadership of Gaza.

 

Under the guise of expressing concern for the Gazans, broad international support poured into Hamas coffers for 16 years. With the international aid, Hamas and its leadership grew rich, while the average Gazan remained poor and impoverished. Instead of using the aid to develop Gaza, the Hamas terrorists diverted their resources to build hundreds of kilometers of terror tunnels.

 

Despite the Israeli “disengagement” and the fact that the Gaza Strip was controlled by a terror organization, the international community refused to hold the Gazans and their leadership responsible for their actions. Instead of demanding that Hamas and the Gazans abandon their desire to destroy Israel, the international community flouted international law and invented the sui generis claim that Israel remained an “occupier” of Gaza. In no other situation in the world is a country considered an “occupier” of another region without “boots on the ground” and without exercising effective control. (Israel does control the border into its territory as does every sovereign state, and after ships filled with arms tried to deliver them to Gaza, controls the sea border,, while Egypt controls its own border with Gaza, ed.)

 

From 2006 through Oct. 6, 2023, the terrorists in Gaza fired tens of thousands of rockets into Israel, indiscriminately targeting its civilian population, and made hundreds of attempts, many successful, to infiltrate Israel and carry out terror attacks. These attacks inevitably ended in war-like “cycles of violence” between Israel and the Gazan terrorists.

 

Instead of condemning the terrorists and their homicidal actions and holding them responsible for their aggression, the international community again chose to abandon the Gazans to their fate and their terrorist leadership, preferring to focus all criticism on Israel’s self-defense.

 

The Oct. 7 massacre

If the disdain of the international community for the Gazans was unclear until now, their actions following the 10/7 massacre leave no room for doubt.

 

On Oct. 7, 2023, over 3,000 terrorists infiltrated Israel from Gaza, led by the Nukhba forces of Hamas. The terrorists murdered more than 1,200 Israelis and foreigners. Some were tortured, some, even infants, burned alive, some raped and some beheaded. An additional 240 people—men, women, children, babies, the disabled, the elderly and the sick—were taken hostage. ( A not insubstantial number of Gazan “civilians” also took part in the murder and pillage, ed.)

Israel responded by declaring all-out war on the Gazan terrorists. As part of the operation, the Israeli forces attacked thousands of targets from the air, the sea and the ground. In preparation for the ground operation, Israel recommended that the civilians living in the northern Gaza Strip leave their homes and travel south.

 

To put the situation into context, it is essential to note that the Gaza Strip is only 41 kilometers (25 miles) long, from 6 to 12 km (3.7 to 7.5 miles) wide, and has a total area of 365 square kilometers (141 square miles). Approximately 2 million people inhabit it. As a result of the fighting in the north, over 800,000 people were displaced.

 

Egypt and the international community refuse refuge for the Gazans

In normal circumstances, wars almost always results in the creation of refugees. Thus, for example, as a result of the Russia-Ukraine war, over 6,332,700 Ukrainians became refugees. As a result of the Syrian civil war, approximately 5.5 million Syrians were forced to flee Syria, becoming refugees. (They will probably settle successfully in their new homes, as other refugees have throughout history, ed.)

 

Despite the high intensity of the war in Gaza, exacerbated by the confined space and high population density, astonishingly, the war created no refugees.

 

While Gaza is surrounded from the north and east by Israel and on the west by the Mediterranean Sea, Gaza also shares a border with Egypt. Instead of welcoming their Arab brothers, Egypt refused to allow Gazans to cross into the Sinai Peninsula and seek refuge. Soon after the start of the war, Egypt reportedly lined up tanks and armored vehicles along the Gazan border specifically to prevent the Gazans from fleeing the war. Shamefully, despite clearly putting the Gazans in mortal danger, the international community remained silent in the face of the Egyptian cold-heartedness.

 

No U.N. resolution called upon Egypt to show humanity towards the Gazans, and no U.N. resolution condemned their decision to refuse the Gazans refuge. While Scotland’s first minister, Humza Yousaf, did offer the Gazans refuge in Scotland and called on the United Kingdom and the international community to provide refuge for the Gazans, nothing happened. Canada also made positive overtures and even adopted relaxed criteria to allow Gazans to seek refuge, but as yet, no Gazans have been able to take advantage of the change. (It is not too late – petition your government to rescue the Gazans, ed.)

 

The world hates the Gazans

Given the repeated approach of the international community and its consistent decisions to abandon the Gazans—even leaving them to face mortal danger—one would not be entirely mistaken to conclude that the world does hate the Gazans.

 

There is, however, another possible conclusion, which is no less nefarious.

The international community may not actually hate the Gazans. Rather, the international community hates Israel and is willing to do its utmost to vilify and condemn the Jewish state. (It may even intend to sit by placidly while the Gazans re-arm for their next try. After all, the arms came through the tunnels under the border with Egypt, with whom Israel signed a peace treaty, and no one knows how many terrorists were among the Gazans who fled south at Israel’s suggestion, ed.) To serve this goal, the international community uses the Gazans as pawns and cannon fodder.

 

Gazans’ lives don’t matter to the international community unless they can be weaponized against the Jews and the Jewish state.

Originally published by The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.

 

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NGO Propaganda

The International Community


Hillel Fuld-tweet-31December2023-The International Community


The absurdity knows no bounds:

Israel:
“They massacred, beheaded, and raped our women and children!”

The international community: “Yea, we don’t care until you prove it!”

“Ok, here are the testimonials.”
“Sorry, not good enough.”

“Sure. Photos.”
“Fake.”

“Ok, here’s video evidence.”
“Sorry, you’re gonna have to do better than that”

“Ok, here are the actual victims and their stories.”
“Liars!”

“Here is Hamas admitting it all!”
“They aren’t reliable. They don’t mean it.”

“Here are the bodies.”
“Prove that Hamas did that and not the IDF.”

Israel: 🙄

Hamas: “Israel killed 10 zillion people in Gaza, 100% of them are children. Trust us.”

The international community: “It’s a genocide!!

JerusalemCats-tweet-1January2024-What needs to be done
Israel needs to treat the International organizations as Hamas Agents or Supporters, then bring out the Tennis Rackets. Just say your filming a Supermarket Ad. We have Killer Prices. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Mahmoud_Al-Mabhouh Just say your filming a Supermarket Ad. We have Killer Prices. https://www.jpost.com/Israel/Supermarket-chains-ad-spoof-on-Dubai-hit-set-to-go-viral

 

Hillel Fuld-tweet-31December2023-The International Community

Hillel Fuld-tweet-31December2023-The International Community

JerusalemCats-tweet-1January2024-What needs to be done

JerusalemCats-tweet-1January2024-What needs to be done

 

 

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The Europeans

Danish ambassador, JPost’s Caroline Glick exchange verbal blows over EU attitude toward Israel

19January2015

 

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Israel needs to treat NGOs [Non-Government Organizations] as terror supporters until proven otherwise


Canary Mission-tweet-23November2023-humanitarian agencies have not condemned 7October
We’re still waiting for these “humanitarian” agencies to condemn Hamas’ Oct . 7 massacre of 1,200 Israelis: @unicefchief, WHO head @DrTedros, @amnesty, International Red Cross @ICRC, United Nation High Commissioner on Human Rights @volker_turk, @UNHumanRights, @UNRWA, UN Special Rapporteur @FranceskAlbs, Human Rights Watch @hrw, @EU_Commission, @unwomenchief, Malala Yousafzai @Malala & @MalalaFund

Canary Mission-tweet-23November2023-humanitarian agencies have not condemned 7October

Canary Mission-tweet-23November2023-humanitarian agencies have not condemned 7October

humanitarian agencies that still haven't condemned 7October2023

humanitarian agencies that still haven’t condemned 7October2023

 

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Qatar funded Human Rights Watch


i24NEWS English-tweet-23November2023-Qatar funded Human Rights Watch
A leaked document obtained by @MEMRIReports shows @hrw was given Qatari state funds

@BenWeinthal investigates

i24NEWS English-tweet-23November2023-Qatar funded Human Rights Watch

i24NEWS English-tweet-23November2023-Qatar funded Human Rights Watch

 

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JerusalemCats Comments: When you think of the Red Cross, Think of the Medieval Christian Knights Templar slaughtering Jews during the Crusades!

A knight of the Templar. Warrior Monk

A knight of the Templar. Warrior Monk

 

esseragaroth-blogspot-com-logo

הוועד הבינלאומי של ארגון הצלב האדום הוא רשע / The International Committee of the Red Cross is Evil

27December2023 http://esseragaroth.blogspot.com/2023/12/international-committee-of-red-cross-is.html

ט״ו לחודש העשירי תשפ״ד

English follows the Hebrew.

YNET: מזכ”ל אונר”א לשעבר, שהתפטר בשל חשד לשחיתות, מונה למנכ”ל הצלב האדום
דניאל אדלסון, ניו יורק, 22.12.2023

 

הצלב האדום הודיע כי מזכ”ל אונר”א לשעבר פייר קרנבול, שהתפטר בעקבות חשד לשחיתות, מונה למנכ”ל הארגון. בחקירה שהתנהלה נגד קרנבול עלו טענות על הטרדות מיניות, נפוטיזם וניצול סמכויות. בין השאר, נטען כי קרנבול מינה את הפלסטינית מריה מוחמדי, שעימה לכאורה ניהל יחסים אינטימיים, לתפקיד בכיר באונר”א בשכר של 200 אלף דולר.

עשר אגורות (2¢):
בדרך כלל אני מוכן להגיד שהדוח על ידי דניאל אדלסון מספיק כדי להבין את היסוד הרשע של הוועד הבינלאומי של ארגון הצלב האדום.

 

לא היום. אף פעם לא מספיק להדגיש דבר כזה כשיהודים עושים אותו הטעות פעם אחר פעם ומצפים לתוצאות שונות. איזה טעויות? לסמוך ותמוך בהוועד הבינלאומי של ארגון הצלב האדום, ולצפות מהם החלטות צדקות.

 

YNET: “אלו התרופות של בני”: קרובי חטופים בכו בפגישה קשה עם נשיאת הצלב האדום
מיריאנה ספולאריץ’ שמעה ביקורת חריפה בפגישתה הראשונה אחרי נחיתתה בארץ. “67 יום שהצלב האדום נכשל במשימתו לבקר את החטופים”, אמר שר החוץ כהן. נתניהו שנפגש עם ספולאריץ’ לאחר מכן העניק לה קופסת תרופות שלהן זקוקים החטופים: “בטוח שאתם יכולים למצוא את הדרכים לספק את זה”
אדיר ינקו, רועי רובינשטיין, איתמר אייכנר | 14.12.23

 

YNET: נתניהו: ביקשתי מנשיאת הצלב האדום שתיתן תרופות לחטופים, היא סירבה
ראש הממשלה בנימין נתניהו אמר במליאת הכנסת כי “לפני כמה ימים נפגשתי עם נשיאת הצלב האדום והנחתי ארגז של תרופות שהחטופים זקוקים להן. אמרתי לה ‘קחי את זה למעבר רפיח’, היא לא הסכימה“. לדברי נתניהו, “זו הייתה שיחה מאוד לא קלה. רעייתי שרה פנתה לאפיפיור וביקשה ממנו לפנות לנשיאת הצלב האדום ולדרוש ממנה להעביר את התרופות. אנחנו לא חוסכים שום מאמץ”.
סיון חילאי | 25.12.2023

אני מזכיר לכם על האירועים שעברו על ידי הוועד הבינלאומי של ארגון הצלב האדום (הכתבות באנגלית):

2015: הסהר האדום נמנע מלטפל ביהודים שבסופו של דבר נפטרו
2010: הצלב האדום מחסה מחבלים
2005: הצלב האדום מחליף את סמל מד״א עם מעוין אדום

אם אתם עדיין לא יכולים להבין שהוועד הבינלאומי של ארגון הצלב האדום רשע מכה אלה, אז לא נראה לי שאני מוסגל להוכיח לכם את זה.

Red Magen David Adom (Red Shield of David) symbol getting erased
סמל מגן דוד אדום נמחק
Red Magen David Adom (Red Shield of David) symbol getting erased.

 

YNET: Red Cross names embattled former UNRWA chief as new head
Daniel Edelson, New York, December 22, 2023

 

The Red Cross announced on Friday that former UNRWA Commissioner-General Pierre Krähenbühl, who resigned due to corruption allegations, has been appointed as the organization’s director-general.

 

Investigations against Krähenbühl raised claims of sexual harassment, nepotism and abuse of power. Among other allegations, it’s claimed that Krähenbühl appointed the Palestinian Maria Mohammedi, with whom he supposedly had an intimate relationship, to a senior position in UNRWA on a $200,000 salary.

Esser Agaroth (2¢):
Generally I am willing to say that the report by Daniel Adelson is enough to understand the evil element of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

 

Not today. It is never enough to emphasize such a thing when Jews make the same mistake over and over and expect different results. What mistakes? To trust and support the International Committee of the Red Cross, and to expect it to make just decisions.

YNET: Families of hostages burst into tears during a difficult meeting with ICRC chief: ‘These are my son’s medications’
Mirjana Spoljaric, criticized by father of Omer Vankert, still in captivity, and presented the medicine he needs; Foreign Minister Cohen also attending meeting says ICRC fails in task to visit captives

Adir Yanko, Itamar Eichner | 12.14.23

 

Families of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, met on Thursday with Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross in an emotional exchange bringing some family members to tears.

The original Hebrew says that Mirjana Spoljaric responded, “Surely, you can find ways to get these to them.”

JPost: Red Cross refused to give medicine to Gaza hostages, Netanyahu tells families
“We are sparing no effort, both seen and hidden, to bring all of the hostages home,” Netanyahu told hostages’ families at the Knesset plenum.
By Jerusalem Post Staff, December 25, 2023

 

An International Committee of the Red Cross representative refused to bring a box of life-saving medicine to Israelis taken hostage in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed in a Monday address to the Knesset plenum.

 

“I met with the Red Cross; I handed them a box of medicine for some of the hostages shown here. Some of them really need it…I told a representative to take this box to Rafah; she said no. It was a difficult conversation,” he told a special Knesset session attended by families of hostages, who were heard shouting “Now!” at the prime minister as he explained the return of all hostages would take time.

 

“We are sparing no effort, both seen and hidden, to bring all of the hostages home,” Netanyahu said.

Here are a few of the Red Cross’s past strikes against Israel and the Jewish People:

2015: Red Crescent Withholds Treatment from Jews who Eventually Die
2010: Red Cross Harbors Hamas Fugitives
2005: Red Cross Replaces the Star of David with a Diamond as Israel’s Official Symbol

If you still cannot see how evil the Red Cross is, then I am not sure I can help you to see the light.

 

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timesofisrael-com-logo

Israel: Red Cross has ‘no right to exist’ if it can’t help hostages in Gaza

FM Eli Cohen’s remarks come after organization warns Israel over emergency law concerning conditions of security prisoners in Israeli jails

By ToI Staff 1November2023, href=”https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-red-cross-has-no-right-to-exist-if-it-cant-help-hostages-in-gaza/

 

Amid an ongoing spat with the Red Cross, Foreign Minister Eli Cohen demanded Wednesday that the group visit the 240 hostages Israeli believes are being held captive by Hamas in the Gaza Strip and harshly criticized the organization’s conduct.

 

The foreign minister told the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Mirjana Spoljaric, that the ICRC must demand to meet and provide medical assistance to all the hostages, Cohen’s office said.

 

“The Red Cross has no right to exist if it does not succeed in visiting the hostages being held captive by the Hamas terror group,” Cohen told Spoljaric, and noted that “children, women and Holocaust survivors” are being held captive.

 

“The Red Cross must act decisively and with a clear voice and utilize all leverage it has to push for a visit to the hostages as soon as possible,” Cohen added.

 

Cohen’s statements came after the Red Cross sent a letter on Tuesday to the Israel Prison Service, cautioning the state about a wartime law passed in the Knesset two weeks ago that allows National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir to worsen the conditions of security prisoners if a “prison emergency” were to be declared.

 

The foreign minister criticized the ICRC for focusing on Israel, “which is bound by international law and acts in accordance with it,” instead of the enormous humanitarian crisis created by Hamas.

 

Prison Service commissioner Katy Perry, in a statement Wednesday, said that the Red Cross would not be allowed to visit Palestinian terror prisoners held in Israeli jails until the organization is able to provide assistance to the Israeli hostages in Gaza.

 

The Israel-Hamas war broke out on October 7 with Hamas’s shock assault, which took the lives of some 1,400 people in Israel, the vast majority of them civilians. More than 240 people were taken captive as Hamas terrorists rampaged through the communities adjacent to Gaza.

 

Since then, while waging war against Hamas in Gaza, Israel has agitated for the International Red Cross to be allowed to visit the hostages held in the Strip, but so far the terror group  has shown little inclination to permit such visits.

 

The Red Cross has also made multiple statements concerning the war, has cautioned Israel in regards to civilian casualties in Gaza, and is involved with providing humanitarian aid packages to Gaza. When two Israeli-American hostages, Judith and Natalie Raanan, were released by Hamas on October 20, they were first turned over to the Red Cross.

 


Benjamin B@dejo-tweet-24November2023-The Red Cross sympathizes with terrorists
The Red Cross (@ICRC/@ICRC_ilot) just deleted their tweet saying they are “RELIEVED” that Palestinian prisoners — including convicted attempted murderers — were released and can now “hug their families” after a “long separation.” The Red Cross sympathizes with terrorists.

Benjamin B@dejo-tweet-24November2023-The Red Cross sympathizes with terrorists

Benjamin B@dejo-tweet-24November2023-The Red Cross sympathizes with terrorists

 

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Red Cross in 1944: “We found no trace” Red Cross in 2023: “We found no evidence”


Dr. Eli David-tweet-26November2023-Red Cross in 1944-2023-We found no trace
Red Cross in 1944: “We found no trace of installations for exterminating civilian prisoners in Auschwitz” 👇

Red Cross in 2023: “We found no evidence of weapons or hostages being kept in hospitals in Gaza”

Dr. Eli David-tweet-26November2023-Red Cross in 1944-2023-We found no trace

Dr. Eli David-tweet-26November2023-Red Cross in 1944-2023-We found no trace

 

Red Cross in 1944-We found no trace of installations for exterminating civilian prisoners in Auschwitz

Red Cross in 1944-We found no trace of installations for exterminating civilian prisoners in Auschwitz

 


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PROOF: Red Cross is Antisemitic


Arsen Ostrovsky-tweet-17December2023-
70+ DAYS and @ICRC still has not seen a single Israeli hostage in Gaza, obtained any proof of life or delivered any medicine.

The Red Cross prides itself on being unwaveringly neutral, but when it comes to Israeli lives, they are just unwaveringly absent! @ICRCPresident
JerusalemCats-tweet-17December2023-ICRC is Antisemitic
No, the ICRC is a Antisemitic, Nazi terrorist supporting Organization that has a long history of antisemitism. Such as demanding the Magen David Adom change it’s logo from the Red Star of David to something else.

JerusalemCats-tweet-17December2023-ICRC is Antisemitic

JerusalemCats-tweet-17December2023-ICRC is Antisemitic

timesofisrael-com-logo

Red Cross asked to expel MDA over emblem violation

Pro-Palestinian groups say using Star of David shape in West Bank violates Geneva Convention protocol

By Tamar Pileggi
20September2015, https://www.timesofisrael.com/red-cross-to-weigh-expelling-mda-over-emblem-violation/

 

MDA paramedic Tal Rabin attends to displaced Nepalese locals in Kathmandu. (photo courtesy Magen David Adom)

MDA paramedic Tal Rabin attends to displaced Nepalese locals in Kathmandu. (photo courtesy Magen David Adom)

 

A number of pro-Palestinian organizations have petitioned the International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent to expel Israel’s national emergency medical service for using the emblem of the international federation on its ambulances operating in West Bank.

 

The Palestinian groups charge that Magen David Adom — the country’s medical, disaster, ambulance and blood bank service — is in violation of a Geneva Convention protocol stipulating Israeli paramedic teams use a neutral emblem while working outside the country, the Yedioth Aharonoth daily newspaper reported Sunday.

 

In 2006, the MDA emerged from decades of isolation and was admitted to the ICRC after agreeing to abide by a protocol adopted by Geneva Convention signatories the year before.

 

The protocol introduced a neutral “red crystal” emblem to be used by any relief teams in areas where there is sensitivity about Christian or Muslim symbols.

 

The MDA, along with IDF medics, were instructed to use the new symbol — a red square at an angle on a white background — when participating in operations outside Israel.

 

While operating in missions in conjunction with other ICRC agencies, the red crystal emblem was to be used in conjunction with MDA’s star of David. In Israel, MDA was allowed to keep its traditional logo.

 

According to the report, ICRC officials will discuss the complaint at the body’s annual meeting in December.

A Foreign Ministry official told the paper that the initiative was being followed up though diplomatic channels.

“We will not allow anyone to remove MDA from the Red Cross,” the official said, dismissing the complaint as mere “threats and catchphrases.”

 

“Its a shame that officials choose not to address the issues in Syria, Libya or Yemen and instead choose to focus on Israel — a country that provides emergency and standard medical services to Jews, Muslims, Christians, Palestinians and Israelis alike.”

 


 

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Dror Futter’s Post

Dror Futter
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/drorfutter_what-is-missing-from-the-international-committee-activity-7123084504407097344-KGAl?trk=public_profile_like_view
Corporate Lawyer Focusing on Venture Formation and Financing, Mergers and Acquisitions and Commercial and IP Agreements | External GC

1mo

International Committee of the Red Cross List of Accepted Logos

International Committee of the Red Cross List of Accepted Logos

What is Missing from the International Committee of the Red Cross List of Accepted Logos?
1️⃣ Notice that the Star of David is not present<
2️⃣ For 10 points, which faith uses the diamond as its symbol [hint: rhymes with none]?

 

▶ Although the ICRC contends that the symbols are not religious, evidently that logic applies solely to the Magen David (the Star of David) but not to the Christian cross or the Muslim crescent.  For almost the first 60 years of its existence, based on opposition from Muslim countries, Israel’s Magen David Adom (Israel’s Red Star of David ie. its Red Cross) was denied admission to the ICRC.

 

▶ Israel was finally admitted in 2006, under heavy pressure for the American Red Cross.  However, to do so, it was forced to agree that the Star of David would not be recognized as an official ICRC symbol.  Instead, the ICRC created the red crystal. Here are the “rules” of the red crystal:

 

🔹 Within its own national territory, a national society can use either of the recognized symbols alone, or incorporate any of these symbols or a combination of them into the Red Crystal.

 

🔹 For indicative use on foreign territory, a national society which does not use one of the recognized symbols as its emblem has to incorporate its unique symbol into the Red Crystal, based on the previously mentioned condition about communicating its unique symbol to the state parties of the Geneva Conventions.

 

🔹 For protective use, only the symbols recognized by the Geneva Conventions can be used. Specifically, those national societies which do not use one of the recognized symbols as their emblem have to use the Red Crystal without incorporation of any additional symbol.

 

➡ Wrap your head around this.  The ICRC “allows” Israel to use the Star of David in Israel. If it wants to display its symbol outside Israel, it can only do so if it displays it inside the diamond. Finally, if it wants the protective benefits of displaying the symbol outside of Israel (such as in combat) it cannot display the Star of David within the crystal.

 

▶ The ICRC website states: “The emblems are not religious symbols. They serve humanity. They are symbols of protection and convey that help is at hand. They also signify hope, and must be respected.” I guess if you are Jewish, you are only entitled to protection and hope if you do not identify as Jewish.

 

▶We are conditioned to give respect to humanitarian organizations.  Many do not realize that many of these global organizations are structurally anti-Jews and anti-Israel.

 

▶ In the weeks to come, the news is likely to be full of statements about the war in Gaza from “humanitarian organizations.” Without minimizing the tragedy of the loss of an innocent on either side of the border, when you read and evaluate statements by the ICRC and organizations like the UN, Amnesty International, UNRWA and others, keep in mind their long standing prejudices with respect to the parties in the region. Heck, the ICRC isn’t even hiding it.

 


 

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legal-insurrection-logo

‘Abandoned Twice’: Daughter of Freed Hostage in Critical Condition Rips Apart Red Cross

“The Red Cross refused to bring her her medications.”

Posted by Mary Chastain Monday, 27November2023 https://legalinsurrection.com/2023/11/abandoned-twice-daughter-of-freed-hostage-in-critical-condition-rips-apart-red-cross/

 

Elma Avraham, 84, a freed Hamas hostage, remains in critical condition.

Elma Avraham, 84, a freed Hamas hostage, remains in critical condition.

Elma Avraham, 84, a freed Hamas hostage, remains in critical condition.

Tali Amano, her daughter, ripped apart the Red Cross for not bringing her mom the medications she needed. From The Times of Israel:

“My mother didn’t deserve to return like this,” she says. “My mother was medically neglected. The Red Cross refused to bring her her medications. She arrived with a heart rate of 40 bpm and a body temperature of 28 degrees Celsius, on the verge of losing consciousness and injured all over.

“She was abandoned twice — once on October 7, and a second time by all the organizations that should have saved her,” Amano charges.

“I hope they haven’t managed to defeat her,” she says, in an expression of hope that she’ll recover.

This is just awful:

“We pulled ourselves together real quick, managed to get her medication list together, and they made our lives really tough. They personally brought the medications to my brother, he went to meet with the Red Cross rep to hand over the meds, and they said no.” She added, “A few days later, we were protesting in front of the Red Cross building, and again we got turned away. My mom shouldn’t have come back like this. I don’t know how she’s going to get through the next few days.”

 


i24NEWS English-tweet-27November2023-Red Cross-mother was abandoned twice
‘My mother was on the brink of death when she came to us’

Tal Amano, daughter of Elma Avraham, 84-year-old freed from #Hamas says her mother was abandoned twice. First on #October7 and then by all the organizations whose responsibility it was to save her

i24NEWS English-tweet-27November2023-Red Cross-Mother was abandoned twice

i24NEWS English-tweet-27November2023-Red Cross-Mother was abandoned twice

 

 

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timesofisrael-com-logo

The Red Cross is violating its neutrality principle

Blocked from visiting hostages, the aid organization should give Hamas an ultimatum: Let us see them or we’ll leave Gaza

Shlomo Levin 14December2023, https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/why-the-red-cross-must-visit-the-hostages/

 

The International Committee of the Red Cross recently had a highly visible role, transporting released hostages out of Gaza in vans displaying plastered with the Red Cross logo and flying their flags. But this has also renewed criticism of the organization, as in spite of their heavy presence in Gaza helping Palestinians this is the first time they’ve done anything for the hostages. Some Israelis have called the Red Cross nothing more than an Uber service. It moved the hostages once they were released, but its job should have been to care for them all along.

 

Is that fair? What are the Red Cross’s responsibilities, and what can we reasonably expect? To answer, we have to understand the special legal status of the Red Cross and the code of conduct by which it operates.

 

A key principle of humanitarian law is that medical personnel and equipment, even if belonging to an enemy or treating enemy soldiers, cannot be the target of military attacks. The reason is that medical personnel take no part in military operations and exclusively work to help the wounded. There is therefore no military benefit in attacking them. Doing so would be uselessly destructive and is therefore not allowed. The Red Cross emblem serves as a sign making known to all combatants that an individual, vehicle, or other piece of equipment is being used solely for medical purposes and thereby enjoys this immunity from attack.

 

But this alone does not explain the Red Cross’s role in facilitating the release of hostages. For example, even though Hamas allowed the Red Cross to transport the hostages from Gaza, there is no way it would have allowed IDF medical units displaying the Red Cross symbol (or in this case the Magen David Adom) to do the same.

Impartiality and Neutrality

This is because the International Committee of the Red Cross commits to also following two additional principles. These are impartiality and neutrality. The Red Cross defines impartiality as being guided solely by the needs of people who are suffering, prioritized by the urgency of the case, without discriminating due to nationality, race, religion, or other status. They define neutrality as not taking sides in hostilities or engaging in controversies of a political, racial, religious, or ideological nature. You can see this on their website here.

 

This principle of neutrality in particular requires explanation. A simple way to look at it is that the Red Cross readily admits that it as an organization, as well as its individual members, take political and ideological positions. The best example is their commitment to humanitarian law itself. The Red Cross states clearly that taking hostages is wrong, and that it condemns Hamas for doing it. The Red Cross does not require itself to be neutral or non-committal about that point.

 

What neutrality means is that even though they have a clear position about what humanitarian law is and that it must be followed, acting in their official capacity they vow not to take any actions to stop humanitarian abuses or other wrongdoing they encounter of any sort. So in return for access to visit hostages, they pledge not to help them escape, not to reveal to the outside world where they are being held, and so forth. They even commit not to cooperate with any future war crimes investigations or the International Criminal Court. An Israeli medical unit, even though it is also legally shielded from attack and bears the proper logo, would never agree to that (and there is zero chance they would be believed even if they said they would).

 

The Red Cross believes that neutrality and impartiality taken together mean there should be no grounds for any party to a conflict to deny it access to anything. Since even if a group is committing the most heinous war crimes, such as holding civilian hostages and deliberately targeting civilians, the Red Cross while acting in its territory under its protection will take no actions to hinder those violations now or in the future, there is no valid reason to keep them out.

The Hostages

So why hasn’t the Red Cross visited the hostages? They’ve reassured Israel they want to and are trying. But they don’t know where the hostages are, and even if they did know the Red Cross cannot just barge in. They depend on Hamas to allow them access, and so far Hamas hasn’t obliged.

 

Now of course it’s true that they cannot visit the hostages without Hamas’s permission. The question becomes what their response should be as Hamas continues to refuse.

 

In the beginning, the Red Cross could have argued that the logistics of visiting the hostages are difficult and it takes time for them to reassure Hamas of their neutrality and work out a system for visiting without giving away information to Israeli intelligence. But by now it’s clear Hamas is just saying no.

 

This is in effect causing the Red Cross to violate its principle of impartiality. Surely the hostages are in grave need of medical and psychological assistance. But the Red Cross is discriminating against them. It’s helping only Palestinians in Gaza who need assistance, while it ignores Israelis (and other foreigners) being held in that same place.

 

I’m sure the Red Cross will argue that it’s vital that it remain in Gaza because of the immense need for medical services that it is helping to fulfill. But by doing so it is compromising its principles. The Red Cross could tell Hamas that either they allow it to treat everyone in order of need without regard to nationality, hostages included, or that it will pack its bags and leave. While various Israeli political leaders, joined recently by the US Secretary of State, have urged the Red Cross to continue pushing Hamas to grant access, it’s unclear to what extent they’ve demanded the Red Cross take such a stand.

 

It should be noted that Israel also has additional, unrelated complaints that the Red Cross has violated its commitment to impartiality and neutrality in other ways. But this demand that the Red Cross visit the hostages, reassure families about their condition, and provide them urgent medical attention, Israel can make clearly, unequivocally, and based on the Red Cross’s own guiding principles. If the Red Cross meekly accepts Hamas’s refusal and just goes on treating Palestinians without visiting the hostages, it should lose its lofty humanitarian status. Israel can also deny Red Cross workers some of their privileges of coming and going through Israeli territory, and internationally it should forfeit some funding as well.

 

About the Author
Shlomo Levin received Rabbinic ordination from the Israeli Chief Rabbinate and Yeshivat Hamivtar, and an M.A. in International Law and Human RIghts from the United Nations University for Peace in Costa Rica. He is the author of the Human Rights Haggadah, which highlights human rights issues in the Passover story with Jewish and secular sources along and questions for discussion. Learn more at www.hrhaggadah.com.

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ICRC appoint Palestinian activist next Director General


Arsen Ostrovsky-tweet-22December2023-ICRC appoint Palestinian activist next Director General
They’re just trolling us now!

Because @ICRC has not shown enough hostility towards Israel and outright indifference to Jewish lives, they are now set to appoint Palestinian activist and former head of @UNRWA, Pierre Krahenbuhl, as their next Director General.

Neutrality, hey?

Arsen Ostrovsky-tweet-22December2023-ICRC appoint Palestinian activist next Director General

Arsen Ostrovsky-tweet-22December2023-ICRC appoint Palestinian activist next Director General

 


 

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pre-occupied-territory-logo

I Assure You The Red Cross Is Working As Hard As It Can To Facilitate Terrorism

by Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, president, International Committee of the Red Cross

http://www.preoccupiedterritory.com/i-assure-you-the-red-cross-is-working-as-hard-as-it-can-to-facilitate-terrorism/

Mirjana Spoljaric Egger

Mirjana Spoljaric Egger

Geneva, January 25 – Since its founding in 1863, this organization has led the world in first aid and disaster response, and continues to do so even in the most dangerous locations worldwide. This mission includes the Gaza Strip, where the ICRC has responded to the most recent outbreak of violence by making every imaginable effort not to get in the way of Hamas’s operations, even going as far as to refrain from criticizing Hamas.

 

Unfair accusations have stemmed from the Red Cross’s handling of Israelis held hostage in Gaza: that we have neglected to insist on visiting them; that we have cooperated with a terrorist organization; that when some hostages were freed, we served as little more than couriers. Those charges are profoundly insulting to anyone who knows what our organization does, the values it upholds, and how it operates.

 

To begin with, open criticism of Hamas in a Hamas-controlled area would put our personnel at risk and threaten the crucial functions that the Red Cross plays in Gaza. Without a robust ICRC presence, Hamas might be forced to provide health care for Gaza residents, and that would hamper the group’s ability to, and resources toward, killing and torturing Israelis. Imagine how annoyed that would make Hamas! We cannot take that risk.

 

Thus our refusal to convey medications to hostages in need of it is understandable in context. The same for our silence on the question of hostages being raped or otherwise mistreated. We simply have to take Hamas at their word, since they are known for strict adherence to the truth in medical matters, such as the bombing of the Al-Ahli Hospital and the total absence of Hamas military infrastructure in or under health care facilities.

 

Also the death toll and classification of every single casualty as a noncombatant, which we all know to be unimpeachable and completely in line with every other urban combat situation in military history. The missiles into Israel are launching themselves!

 

Israeli sources enjoy no such credibility, as they contradict what everyone knows without checking. This is common knowledge. I cannot believe it requires explaining. It is precisely the attitude we were trying to get across when we told the family of an Israeli held hostage in Gaza, “Don’t you feel sympathy for the Palestinians?” Because that it hat one says to a suffering, grieving, terrified person.

If they’re Jewish.

 

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South Africa takes Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ, UN) for the Gaza War

International Criminal Court trying October 7th 2023 Israeli Rape Victims

International Criminal Court trying October 7th 2023 Israeli Rape Victims

South Africa has one of the highest murder and gender based violence rates in the world


StopAntisemitism-tweet-12January2024-South Africa the highest murder rates takes Israel to the ICC for Gaza War
South Africa has one of the highest murder and gender based violence rates in the world.

So what is the country’s leadership focusing on?

Taking Israel to court for defending itself against maniacal Hamas terrorists determined to wipe out 7 million Jews.

🤯.

StopAntisemitism-tweet-12January2024-South Africa the highest murder rates takes Israel to the ICC for Gaza War

StopAntisemitism-tweet-12January2024-South Africa the highest murder rates takes Israel to the ICC for Gaza War

 


ICJ and Hamas-Israel Hayom-Caricature-28January2024

ICJ and Hamas-Israel Hayom-Caricature-28January2024

South Africa Lawfare against Israel


UK Lawyers For Israel-tweet-11January2024-South Africa Lawfare against Israel
Natasha Hausdorff, @UKLFI CT Legal Director, discusses the case brought by South Africa against Israel alleging genocide @CIJ_ICJ and the risk that it will further undermine respect for international law @i24NEWS_EN:

UK Lawyers For Israel-tweet-11January2024-South Africa Lawfare against Israel

UK Lawyers For Israel-tweet-11January2024-South Africa Lawfare against Israel

Natasha Hausdorff talks to I24’s Laura Cellier about the ICJ

 


Masterful display of international law


Eylon Levy-tweet-12January2024-Israel’s superstar legal team
Not all heroes wear capes, but many of them wear gowns.

Our superstar legal team rebutting South Africa’s absurd blood libel at the ICJ, headed by the expert who literally wrote the textbook on international law.

Eylon Levy-tweet-12January2024-Israel's superstar legal team

Eylon Levy-tweet-12January2024-Israel’s superstar legal team


Arsen Ostrovsky-tweet-13January2024-Prof. Malcolm Shaw international law South Africa case at ICJ
In case you missed, here is the full video of Prof. Malcolm Shaw’s masterful display in international law and meticulous take-down of #SouthAfrica’s case at #ICJ, during his submission on behalf of #Israel.

Arsen Ostrovsky-tweet-13January2024-Prof Malcolm Shaw international law South Africa case at ICJ

Arsen Ostrovsky-tweet-13January2024-Prof Malcolm Shaw international law South Africa case at ICJ

Prof. Malcolm Shaw’s masterful display in international law and meticulous take-down of South Africa’s case at International Court of Justice



Israel-tweet-12January2024-Dr. Tal Becker legal case at ICJ
𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝟑𝟎 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭.

Today Dr. Tal Becker and Israel’s legal team presented its case to the @CIJ_ICJ.

With them stood the souls of the more than 1,000 Israelis who were murdered by Hamas on October 7th and are unable to testify.

Watch Dr. Becker’s opening remarks:

Israel-tweet-12January2024-Dr Tal Becker legal case at ICJ

Israel-tweet-12January2024-Dr Tal Becker legal case at ICJ

SA-Israel ICJ case | Tal Becker: Legal advisor to Israel’s department of foreign affairs


SA/Israel case at the ICJ: Dr. Galit Raguan, Israeli Ministry of Justice on SABCNews

Posted 15January2024 AIJAC:
South Africa takes Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ, UN) for the Gaza War
Dr. Galit Raguan, Israeli Ministry of Justice

 


The ICJ called for the release of Israeli hostages


John Aziz-tweet-26January-2024-The ICJ called for the release of Israeli hostages
Big takeaway:

The ICJ called for the release of Israeli hostages, and declined to order an immediate ceasefire.

They also called for Israel to do measures such as “preventing the commission of genocide” which Israel ALREADY ACCEPTS & which the Israeli judge voted for
Israel War Room-tweet-26January-2024-ICj does not accept South Africa’s demand
⚡️The court in The Hague does not accept South Africa’s demand to stop the war in Gaza.

John Aziz-tweet-26January2024-The ICJ called for the release of Israeli hostages

John Aziz-tweet-26January2024-The ICJ called for the release of Israeli hostages

StandWithUs Supporting Israel

StandWithUs Supporting Israel

StandWithUs Rejects ICJ Ruling & Language, but Agrees with Court’s Decision Demanding Hostages be Released and Not Calling for a Ceasefire

 

(Los Angeles, January 26, 2024) https://www.standwithus.com/post/standwithus-expresses-disappointment-over-icj-ruling-but-agrees-with-court-s-decision-demanding-host

 

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has rejected a demand by the South African government to order a “ceasefire” that would allow Hamas to remain in power in Gaza, continue to oppress its own people, and rearm for the next massacre of Israeli civilians. However, StandWithUs is appaulled by the ICJ’s decision to accept other parts of this slanderous case, which uses the Genocide Convention to defame Israel and undermine its right to defend itself against genocidal terrorism. Read the entire press release HERE.

 

In its ruling, the ICJ calls for the immediate and unconditional release of the remaining 136 hostages held by Hamas since October 7. We take note that Hamas said they would abide by the court’s ruling, and as such Hamas must release the hostages immediately.

 

Of note, the ICJ did not rule on South Africa’s main and unsubstantiated contention that Israel is committing a “genocide” in ongoing war started by Hamas on October 7th. A decision on this matter is not expected until years from now, if at all.

 

We take further note that the majority opinion of the court relies exclusively on statements made by UN officials, including leaders of UNWRA, about the situation in Gaza. The anti-Israel bias of these officials and the UN system has long been known and proven.

 

South Africa’s decision to bring Israel before the ICJ was politically motivated and lacked legal merits. The South African government has allied itself with the genocidal Hamas terrorists responsible for the October 7th massacre. The Jerusalem Post revealed, a “network of several South African organizations and straw man companies deeply involved with funding Hamas activities through the Al-Quds Foundation, an international group sanctioned by the US and outlawed by Israel, using accounts registered in major local South African banks: Standard Bank, Nedbank, and Absa.” Furthermore, after the October 7th atrocities, a senior level delegation of Hamas officials visited South Africa for a global “solidarity” gathering held from December 3-5, 2023.

 

The evidence South Africa presented to the court was decontextualized and often deeply misleading. Their case relied heavily upon inflammatory and out of context statements, demonstrably false claims, and gross misrepresentations of Israel’s actions. Israel is acting in accordance with international law as it is waging a war of self-defense against Hamas, an antisemitic terror group with explicitly genocidal aims.

 

Hamas started this war when it invaded southern Israel on October 7th, 2023. Their death squads attacked 22 Israeli towns and villages, murdered 1,200 Israelis and other nationals, committed mass rape against scores of Israeli women, burned entire families alive in their own homes, paraded the naked bodies of women in the streets of Gaza, and kidnapped over 250 people, including children, women, and the elderly, most of whom are still being held hostage in Gaza. Their leaders have promised to repeat these atrocities again and again until Israel is destroyed.

 

StandWithUs calls on the international community to stop demonizing Israel in forums like the ICJ. For the sake of Israelis, Palestinians, and humanity, the world must unite around pressuring Hamas to release the hostages, surrender, and bring this war to an end.

 

About StandWithUs

StandWithUs (SWU) is an international, nonprofit and non-partisan Israel education organization that works to inspire and educate people of all ages about Israel, as well as challenge misinformation and fight against antisemitism.

 

Through university fellowships, high school internships, middle school curricula, conferences, materials, social media, educational films and missions to Israel, StandWithUs supports people around the world who want to educate their schools and communities about Israel.

 

Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Los Angeles, the organization has chapters and programs throughout the U.S., in Israel, the UK, Canada, South Africa, Brazil and the Netherlands.

 

For the last eleven years, SWU has consistently received the highest possible ratings from Charity Navigator and Guidestar, two charity watchdog groups that assess hundreds of thousands of charities in the United States.

www.standwithus.com and www.facebook.com/standwithus and www.twitter.com/standwithus and www.instagram.com/standwithus.com


 


thejc-com-logo

High Noon at the Hague: South Africa vs Israel

The ICJ ruling is unsatisfactory for at least six reasons

Raymond Wacks
29January2024 https://www.thejc.com/lets-talk/hypocrisy-at-the-hague-south-africa-vs-israel-marsmmnm

 

The world has watched the apocalyptic scenes of medieval privation and devastation in Gaza with horror. The scale of death and injury is a damning indictment of the callous indifference and cruelty of the jihadists whose well-heeled leaders are safely ensconced in five-star hotels or luxuriating in lavish spas. Provoking Israel by their despicable depravity of 7 October — murder, rape, torture, abduction, arson, and pillaging — the butchers have reaped a whirlwind whose calamitous consequences will endure for decades.

 

Gazans obviously deserve better, and it is incomprehensible that their voices have not been raised against the terrorists for triggering their disastrous predicament. Exhorting them to surrender and release the surviving hostages would bring an end to their torment.

 

Amid this seemingly intractable chaos, it fell to South Africa to assume the role of conscientious accuser. Although its application to the International Court of Justice under the Genocide Convention failed to secure a ceasefire as a ‘provisional measure of protection’, the court ordered Israel to observe with several requirements to prevent acts of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, including the killing of Palestinians, causing serious bodily or mental harm to civilians, and ending the imposition of measures intended to prevent births. Israel is also to directed to take immediate steps to permit the provision of humanitarian assistance to residents in Gaza.

 

It is important to note that the decision is both interim and unenforceable by the court. And while it explicitly avoids deciding on the merits, the judgment does constitute an uncomfortable rebuke to Israel in respect of its military execution of self-defence.

 

The decision is, I believe, unsatisfactory in a number of respects.

 

First, the Court passes lightly over Israel’s defence. It is extraordinary that the judges fail to acknowledge the critical fact that Israel is fighting an enemy that is demonstrably committed to the Jewish state’s annihilation. The 2017 revised Hamas Charter is explicit in its ambition to continue its resistance until Israel is obliterated: “Palestine symbolizes the resistance that shall continue until liberation is accomplished, until the return is fulfilled and until a fully sovereign state is established with Jerusalem as its capital…[Palestine] was seized by a racist, anti-human and colonial Zionist project…” A pronouncement that requires little clarification.

 

Second, it surprisingly overlooks the terrible reality that Israel’s cold-blooded foe hides its fighters, weapons, and hostages in a subterranean city, and operates amongst civilians in schools, mosques, and hospitals. It also continues to fire rockets into Israel.

 

Third, the court uncritically concurs with the applicants’ assertion that various bellicose statements, uttered in the aftermath of the gruesome 7 October attacks, demonstrate the requisite intention by Israel to commit genocide.’ A moment’s thought would explain why, following the barbaric, sadistic onslaught, which left at least 1,200 dead, many wounded, and some 250 taken hostage, certain Israeli political and military leaders rashly unleashed clamorous calls to arms, promising vengeance and retaliation for the unspeakable suffering that befell so many innocent citizens and foreign visitors. To treat such injudicious remarks—made in the heat of a national tragedy—as evidence of a state’s intention to commit genocide is both disingenuous and highly tendentious, especially as they included comments made by individuals with no direct role in Israel’s military decision-making.

 

Fourth, the court ought to have considered whether the Genocide Convention is, in fact, the appropriate legal basis for the litigation. As the ad hoc Israeli judge, Aharon Barak points out in his dissenting judgment, the framework of international humanitarian law affords a more congenial authority under which the application should have been mounted. It provides that harm to innocent civilians and civilian infrastructure should not be excessive as compared with the anticipated military advantage. The loss of innocent lives is not unlawful providing it complies with the rules and principles of this law.

 

Fifth, the court abjures finding of facts, yet it unhesitatingly cites a plethora of evidence from various agencies of the United Nations whose neutrality is, at the very least, questionable. They include the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief, the World Health Organisation (WHO), the UN Human Rights Council, and the Commissioner-General of (the recently discredited) UNRWA.

 

Sixth, the judges fail to enquire whether South Africa’s application might be tainted by its cordiality towards Hamas. The country, it seems, wishes to be seen as the conscience of the world. To this end, it predictably invokes the memory of Nelson Mandela to shore up its crumbling legitimacy. One might have thought that the moral standing of the ANC government, mortally wounded by years of corruption and broken promises, had reached rock bottom. Yet its shameless embrace of the Hamas murderers and rapists condemns it to infamy from which it may never recover. A mere ten days after 7 October, South Africa’s foreign minister, Naledi Pandor, held a telephone call with the leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, to express the country’s ‘solidarity and support’ for the Palestinian people. This was followed in January by a delegation of three Hamas officials to Pretoria.

 

Is it unreasonable to detect a thinly disguised strain of antisemitism in this opportunistic campaign? While strongly castigating Israel, the social justice warriors of Pretoria barely mention the malevolence of Hamas and other Iranian proxies. Could it be that in this conflict Jewish lives are regarded as somehow less worthy? Or is it simply that the ANC’s yearning to burnish its radical pro-Palestinian (and even pro-Iranian) credentials, blinds it to the suffering of the victims of these crimes—particularly as it faces a general election this year?

 

Among the ironies at play in this sorry charade is the fact that many South African Jews were in the vanguard of the struggle against the grotesque injustice of apartheid. They were tortured, imprisoned, and vilified by the apartheid state. In his memoir, Mandela reflects:

 

I have found [South African] Jews to be more broad-minded than most whites on issues of race and politics, perhaps because they themselves have historically been victims of prejudice.

 

He might have added that several had relatives who were victims of a real genocide at the hands of the Nazis.

 

Unlike most of his successors, Mandela was, in many ways, a paragon of humility and modesty. I was fortunate enough to spend an hour with the great man soon after his release from almost three decades of incarceration. These virtues were palpable; the nearly total absence of ego and bitterness was genuinely unsettling. This, unhappily, is a far cry from the tone of pious hubris of the South African submission to the ICJ, quick to assign all blame to Israel for defending itself against the sadistic barbarity of terrorists (exultantly recorded and celebrated by them). South Africa’s application—and the court’s judgment—is silent on the scourge of antisemitism and the existential threats to Israel from its neighbours since its very establishment in 1948.

 

The sad state of South Africa must, in large part, be attributable to the governance of the ANC. The level of violence (27,000 deaths in a single year), corruption, unemployment, poverty, and falling life expectancy, speak for themselves. Solemn undertakings to provide basic utilities—water, electricity, housing—have not been met. None of this is easy to achieve, but ought not the focus of the administration be directed toward improving the plight of its people rather than posturing on the world stage and cosying up to authoritarian regimes and terrorists?

 

In fairness, I do wonder whether my revulsion at South Africa’s allegation of Israeli genocide is principally based on the fact that it has been brought by a country whose motives seem, at best, impure. Is it the moral turpitude of the ANC that troubles me so deeply? Suppose that, say, Sweden, Switzerland, or Spain had launched the application. Would that diminish my indignation? It would not, of course, alter the spurious nature of the case—the notion that Israel is engaged in genocide is both odious and absurd—but it might conceivably subdue my irritation.

 

Sadly, the leaders of post-apartheid South Africa have failed to follow the laudable example of its first President. That they have the audacity to side with savagery, renders it morally unfit to stand before the World Court—and the world— to denounce a country engaged in defending itself against an abhorrent, inhuman adversary.

 

Raymond Wacks, Emeritus Professor of Law and Legal Theory, is the author of 16 books, and editor of ten. His works have been translated into more than a dozen languages. His books include Personal Information: Privacy and the Law; Privacy and Media Freedom; Privacy: A Very Short Introduction; Law: A Very Short Introduction; and Justice: A Beginner’s Guide. Among his most recent publications are Protecting Personal Information: The Right to Privacy Reconsidered, COVID-19 and Public Policy in the Digital Age, and National Security in the New World Order: Government and the Technology of Information (with Andrea Monti). The sixth edition of his Understanding Jurisprudence: An Introduction to Legal Theory appeared in 2021, as did The Rule of Law Under Fire? His latest book, Animal Lives Matter: The Continuing Quest for Justice, is to be published next month.

 


 


israel-hayom-logo

Israel can limit the ICJ’s damage

Israel must immediately end its acceptance of the ICJ’s jurisdiction with respect to the Genocide Convention. Even a slight change in the composition of the Court or the geopolitical climate would bring a disastrous result – and hostile states like South Africa can roll the dice as many times as they want, with no consequence if they lose and a huge payoff if they win.

By  Prof. Eugene Kontorovich
Published on 28January2024 10:19 – Last modified: 28January2024 19:52 https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/israel-can-place-limits-on-the-damage-the-icj-can-inflict/

 

Israelis on Friday displayed what is called Jewish joy – they celebrated that the pogromniks only broke the windows, but did not kill anyone. The good news was the International Court of Justice did not effectively order us to wait to be tortured and murdered, by demanding a halt to the Gaza War. That is certainly good – but only in the twisted world where the ICJ is putting Israel, not Hamas, on trial for the absolutely absurd charge of genocide.

 

Otherwise, the decision was horrible. The Court accepted South Africa’s argument that it has jurisdiction and that Israel could possibly be proven to be committing genocide. The case is not over and will go on for years. In the meantime, the Court has made clear that it considers itself to have authority to review and superintend every aspect of Israel’s war for survival – and demands monthly reports. No other country receives such treatment, and it is designed to make the military constantly look over its shoulders.

 

The ICJ is not an independent body – it is an organ of the United Nations. They serve a renewable nine-year term, further undermining their independence.  Its judges are elected by the General Assembly and Security Council, and their positions largely track the foreign policy of their home countries. Thus while we might get lucky sometimes, over the long run, the policy of the Court will reflect the policy of the United Nations.

 

The General Assembly’s obsessive condemnation of the Jewish State is well known – Israel would never agree to have its fate determined by them. But agreeing to the jurisdiction of the Court indirectly does the same thing. In Israel it is thought unacceptable to have judges appointed by democratically elected politicians decide the meaning of ordinary laws. Yet we have agreed to have judges elected by dictatorial regimes decide the basic question of whether we can exist – whether we can defend ourselves.

 

It does not have to be this way: the ICJ does not automatically have jurisdiction over countries – they must specifically agree, typically by agreeing that The Hague can decide a specific dispute or questions under a specific treaty. In this case, Israel signed the Genocide Convention, which provides that “disputes between the …parties” about the treaty can be decided by the ICJ. But that does not mean cases like this, where a totally unrelated State has brought a purely political complaint in a matter it has no relation to. The Court should not have accepted jurisdiction, and by doing so it effectively claimed for itself power to supervise the conduct of wars around the world, so long as some country claims genocide is involved.

 

Israel did not have to agree to the ICJ jurisdiction to be a member of the Genocide Convention, and in retrospect, doing so was a major mistake. Countries are allowed to opt out of ICJ jurisdiction in various treaties, and very commonly do so. Indeed, sixteen countries have opted out of the Genocide Convention minus the ICJ jurisdiction – including the world’s largest democracies, the United States and India.  Even the world’s biggest superpowers did not trust the ICJ to hear cases involving the use of force in an apolitical way.

 

The United States also did not agree to the provision of the Genocide Convention that deals with speech, knowing the Court can twist legitimate speech into supposed “incitement.” Indeed, those who think the statements of some MKs are what got Israel into trouble should consider the comments of President Obama, who spoke of “eradicating a cancer” in the campaign against ISIS, or Biden, who once said, “We should never take anything off the table when we are in war.”

 

But Israel did not opt out, leaving itself exposed. The Genocide Convention was a response to the Holocaust, and it seemed appropriate that the Jewish State would be fully on board. Also, Israeli officials did not expect such a gross abuse of the Court’s authority. But they should have. And the Genocide Convention which Israel so respected was turned into a farce, a platform to accuse the Jews of genocide even as they defend themselves from a systematic attempt to wipe them out.

 

The hearings in The Hague were a judicial Oct. 7th – a completely unjustified surprise attack that shows us we must fundamentally rethink our defensive posture. In this case, the extraordinary work of the State’s lawyers, and good fortune, prevented disaster.

 

But we must see that mere sentimentalism, or some lingering faith in international institutions, cannot leave us open to such attacks again. Even a slight change in the composition of the Court or the geopolitical climate would bring a disastrous result – and hostile states like South Africa can roll the dice as many times as they want, with no consequence if they lose and a huge payoff if they win.

 

Thus Israel must immediately end its acceptance of the ICJ’s jurisdiction concerning the Genocide Convention. This will not end the current proceedings, but it will prevent further such attempts in this or other conflicts. Moreover, Israel must review all of its treaties for provisions granting ICJ jurisdiction and opt out of those. The US did just that when Iran used a long-forgotten treaty to bring America to The Hague a few years ago.

 


 

Chief Rabbi Dr Warren Goldstein of South Africa-Put the UN on trial, not Israel at ICJ


Chief Rabbi Dr Warren Goldstein-tweet-11January2024-Put the UN on trial, not Israel at ICJ
The UN’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) is illegitimate, and lacks the moral authority to adjudicate Israel’s just war of self-defense.

Allegations of genocide against Israel are bizarre and without foundation in fact or law, and the ICJ proceedings are a dangerous farce. The UN General Assembly, who appoints ICJ judges, is dominated by dictatorships and riddled with antisemitism. Therefore by definition, those judges lack the moral authority to stand in judgment over any democracy, especially Israel.

The UN and its institutions have increasingly been hijacked by undemocratic societies to advance objectives that threaten freedom, peace, and prosperity in the world. The majority of countries making up the General Assembly and UN Human Rights Council (HRC) are repressive, authoritarian regimes.

Consider that of the 193 members of the UN General Assembly only 84 are ranked as free societies, according to Freedom House. Or that of the 47 members of the UN Human Rights Council (whose very reason for existence is to protect and uphold human rights) only 13 can be defined as fully economically and politically free, according to the Social Research Foundation Global Freedom Scores.

That makes the ICJ case against Israel a theater of the absurd – where a majority of non-free societies are weaponsing a UN platform to undermine the self-defense rights of a liberal democracy. Allow that precedent to continue and the outlook for freedom in the world is dire.

Among the ICJ judges hearing this case, one is from serial human rights abuser, China, and another is from Lebanon, where Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy and combatant in the current war on Israel, is a key member of the government.

The UN’s anti-Israel bias and obsession with the world’s only Jewish state, and the only free democracy in the Middle East, is clear. At the General Assembly, each year there are more condemnations of Israel than the rest of the world combined. The HRC has adopted 103 resolutions condemning Israel, and zero for countries guilty of real human rights violations such as China, Venezuela and Saudi Arabia.

The ICJ case is nevertheless an opportunity for free countries to reassess their relationship with the UN. For constitutional democracies to continue to submit themselves to the judgment of UN institutions is ludicrous. No UN body should exercise authority over Israel or any free society’s sovereignty, and certainly not over national security decisions such as how to conduct an existential war of self-defense.

The time has come to build a new global alliance of free societies with shared values and a sincere commitment to human rights.

View the full video ➡️ https://youtube.com/watch?v=UbWeJrpuxGA

#PutTheUNOnTrial
#ICJ #israel #SouthAfrica #un #InternationalCourtofJustice #international_justice_Court

Chief Rabbi Dr Warren Goldstein-tweet-11January2024-Put the UN on trial, not Israel at ICJ

Chief Rabbi Dr Warren Goldstein-tweet-11January2024-Put the UN on trial, not Israel at ICJ

 

Chief Rabbi: Put the UN on trial, not Israel at ICJ

 


 

BREAKING: Israel on Trial in the Kangaroo Courtroom of the ICJ | The Caroline Glick Show

Posted 14January2024 JNS TV:

Caroline Glick speaks with Professor of Law (Bar Ilan University, San Diego School of Law) Avi Bell on the inner workings of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and what the accusation of genocide from South Africa is really about.

 


rivka-levy-com-logo

Judgement below

13January2024 https://thinkforyourselfpublishing.com/judgement-below/

This morning, I had an amazing thought pop into my head, during hitbodedut.

It was this:

JUDGEMENT BELOW.

(Can you tell where this is going already?)

====

The Midrash in Devarim Rabbah 5:4 says this

 “When there is no judgment below, there is judgment above”. 

This is a very well-known teaching in Breslov circles, as it’s part of the explanation for why we do hitbodedut every single day (try to….) in order to ‘catch’ what we might be thinking, saying or doing that isn’t what it should be.

 

When a person ‘judges themselves below’, then there is no ‘judgement above’.

And then, all the spiritual harsh decrees are ripped up.

====

Unless you live in a cave, you are probably aware that the misnamed International Court of Justice is currently ‘judging’ the State of Israel for war crimes in Gaza.

This is ‘judgement below’ – mamash.

We all know, the puppets here are working with the puppets there to give the nations of the world an excuse to gang up on Israel and ‘invade’, whenever this pre-planned exercise in hypocrisy actually ends.

(My guess is: in super-quick time.)

====

It’s already totally ridiculous that this ‘came to trial’ so quickly – what a joke!

Anyone who has ever had a court case understands that even the most simple ‘infraction’ takes many weeks, months, and even years before it comes to court.

 

But here, literally in 10 seconds, Puppet 1 here sent Puppet 2 out for the ‘show trial’ and it’s foregone conclusion.

 

(Whisper it: a two state solution, ‘imposed’ by the nation of the world….)

====

In the meantime…..All the nations of the world have now officially ‘ganged up’ on Israel.

And spiritually, this is also fantastic news.

Why?

This comes from something that Rav Yaakov Moshe Salmanovitch had to say eight years ago, at the height of the first wave of terrible persecution of Rav Berland.

Snippet:

Everyone has an element of trying to do things *le shem Shemayim *(for the sake of Heaven), but how many terrible things have been done here already, that aren’t for the sake of Heaven?

“Hashem looks after the person being chased [or persecuted] – even if it’s a Tzaddik who’s persecuting a wicked person!

But that’s not even what’s going on here.”

====

Yet again, we see the parallel between what the (misnamed) ‘justice system’ in the State did to the Rav over the last 12+ years…. and what is now happening to Israel, internationally.

But pay attention to this bit:

Hashem looks after the person being chased.

====

B’kitzur – the nations of the world have just managed to blast all the ‘spiritual dinim’ stacked up against Israel into outer space.

Let them chase, with all their puppet-show planned show trial.

Where it really counts, now THERE IS NO JUDGEMENT ABOVE.

Which means things are about to get really interesting.

In a good way, for the Jewish people who are doing their best to hold on to Hashem, to at least try to follow His Torah – and to stick close to the real Tzaddikim.

Hold on to your hats.

====

REMINDER:

You can help to write the Rav’s Sefer Torah for the soldiers in the following ways:

20,000 nis – donates a whole section of parchment (including the actual writing), and gets your names transcribed as donors.

5,000 nis – donates a page (parchment and writing).

OR, donate whatever amount you can afford.

In all cases, just go to THIS link, and make it clear in the comments that the donation is for the Rav’s Sefer Torah.

YOU CAN ALSO MAKE A ‘STAGED’ DONATION OVER A FEW MONTHS, IF YOU WANT TO BUY A PAGE ETC, BUT CAN’T AFFORD TO DO IT IN ONE SHOT.

Once again, click:

HERE

And may all the decrees be sweetened very, very fast.

 

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MUST READ! THE DIABOLICAL BLINKEN PLAN EXPOSED!


Mark R. Levin-tweet-18November-2023-the-diabolical-blinken-plan-exposed
MUST READ! THE DIABOLICAL BLINKEN PLAN EXPOSED!

It is crystal clear now that Blinken is exploiting the war against Israel to destroy the existing state of Israel by using pressure, threats, blackmail, leaks, the media, diplomatic backstabbing, the Arab states, the EU, and the UN. Read the Blinken memo I have included in this post. Here’s a pull paragraph:

“…. As I said in private and in public, we believe Palestinian people’s voices and aspirations must be at the center of post-crisis governance in Gaza. We believe in Palestinian-led governance of Gaza, with Gaza unified with the West Bank. Gaza’s reconstruction must be supported with a sustained mechanism. We also underscored America’s firm opposition to actions that would undermine efforts to build lasting peace and security. No forcible displacement of Palestinian civilians from Gaza – not now, not after the fighting stops. No reoccupation of Gaza after the conflict. No attempt to blockade or besiege Gaza. No reduction in the territory of Gaza. No use of Gaza as a platform for terrorism or other violent attacks, and no tolerating the use of the West Bank to carry out such attacks. No more violence from extremist settlers in the West Bank. These steps are not ends in themselves. They must lead to Israelis and Palestinians living side.”
https://pdf.ac/2hDL9F

 

This also explains the current pressure campaign by leftists in Israel to try and topple the Netanyahu led conservative government and replace it with radical leftwing parties that will deliver Israel to the effective control of United States State Department where Blinken, a mere appointed U.S. cabinet secretary in our government, will determine Israel’s fate. And with the Blinken plan, Israel will not survive, certainly not for long. This has been the plan since Obama was president, when Blinken was deputy secretary of state. John McCain was 100% right when he went to the Senate floor to excoriate Blinken and he refused to vote for his confirmation as deputy secretary of state. Check this out:
https://c-span.org/video/?323344-6/senator-john-mccain-tony-blinken-nomination

 

Blinken, the Biden whisperer, is behind pouring $100 billion into the rearming of Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Youtes. Blinken set the Middle East on fire immediately upon taking office at the State Department nearly 3-years ago, lifting or refusing to enforce virtually every sanction on Iran. Blinken destroyed the popular uprising in Iran, where the Iranians sought to remove their murderous regime, by backing the Iranian regime over its people. Blinken chose Robert Malley, a Marxist supporter of Iran, as the U.S. envoy to Iran to negotiate another nuclear deal. Malley installed a high-level Iranian spy ring in DC and undermined our nation (and Israel) at every turn. Check this out:
https://tabletmag.com/sections/israel-middle-east/articles/iran-spy-ring-robert-malley-lee-smith

 

The Obama-Biden-Blinken “Realignment” is now underway, and the consequences are dire and grave for Israel and the United States, indeed for the entire Middle East and the world. It is a hideous and diabolical plan, being instituted right now without any transparency, involvement of Congress, or the American people. It is the brainchild of a small cabal of rogue, radical leftwing foreign policy arsonists who could easily trigger WWIII.
https://tabletmag.com/sections/israel-middle-east/articles/realignment-iran-biden-obama-michael-doran-tony-badran

 

The question is, how long will this go on before Blinken is stopped? Where are the House Republican committee chairmen? Where are the Senate Republicans? Where are conservative think-tanks? Where are the conservative media? I understand that the Democrat Party media and the Democrat Party are worse than useless. In fact, they are colluders and propagandists for this, from Thomas Friedman at the New York Times to Jamie Raskin in the House. But if there is not an organized pushback immediately, a relentless and public demand for accountability and transparency, and the targeting of Blinken for impeachment (successful or not), evil to prevail. Never forget all the disasters the Biden whisperer has unleashed in a mere 3-years running American foreign policy, and the death, inhumanity, and impoverishment he has imposed on one region and society after another.

 

Mark R. Levin-tweet-18November-2023-the-diabolical-blinken-plan-exposed

Mark R. Levin-tweet-18November-2023-the-diabolical-blinken-plan-exposed

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Leftist Propaganda vs Reality

Jewish Voice for Peace has a Twitter account managed by the Hamas


Caroline Glick-tweet-13May2023-Quite a discovery.
“Jewish” Voice for Peace has a Twitter account managed by the Hamas aligned leader of the BDS movement in the US.

Caroline Glick-tweet-13May2023-Quite a discovery

Caroline Glick-tweet-13May2023-Quite a discovery

 

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Queers for Palestine v Palestine for Queers

Paddy Manning-tweet-13October2023-Queers for Palestine v Palestine for Queers

Paddy Manning-tweet-13October2023-Queers for Palestine v Palestine for Queers

Wishful Thinking/Propaganda

Queers for Palestine

Queers for Palestine

This is like Chickens being “Chickens for KFC !”

This is like Chickens being like "Chickens for KFC !"

This is like Chickens being like “Chickens for KFC !”

vs. Reality

Palestine’s Official message to-Queers for Palestine

timesofisrael-com-logo

Gay Palestinian living under asylum in Israel murdered, beheaded in Hebron

Suspect uploaded footage of murder to social media; unclear how the victim ended up in the West Bank, with some claiming he was kidnapped

By Jack Mukand 6October2022 https://www.timesofisrael.com/gay-palestinian-living-under-asylum-in-israel-murdered-beheaded-in-hebron/

 

Ahmad Abu Murkhiyeh (Social media)

Ahmad Abu Murkhiyeh (Social media)

A gay Palestinian man living under asylum in Israel was murdered and beheaded Wednesday in the West Bank city of Hebron. The unnamed suspect, who was arrested by Palestinian Authority police near the scene of the crime soon after committing it, recorded the act in a video that he uploaded to social media before his capture.

 

The victim was 25-year-old Ahmad Abu Murkhiyeh, who according to reports on Ynet and Channel 12 had been living in Israel for the past two years as an asylum-seeker after authorities acknowledged his life would be in danger if he returned to Palestinian territory.

 

It was not immediately clear how or why the young man ended up in Hebron. Friends of Abu Murkhiyeh in Israel believe he was kidnapped to the West Bank before his murder, though it was not clear that they had evidence of this.

Rita Petrenko, founder of Al-Bayt Al-Mukhtalif, a non-profit organization for the empowerment of the Arab LGBT community, said that she had helped to arrange for Abu Murkhiyeh’s asylum papers in preparation for his eventual resettlement in Canada and that he’d actively participated in LGBT discussion groups. Describing the young man as “hard-working and intelligent,” Petrenko regretted that he had not been transferred to safety in Canada before his life was brutally taken from him.

 

Israeli sources, the PA police and the Abu Murkhiyeh family have all been unable to clarify if the victim and his killer had any prior relationship. No motive has yet been disclosed as a result of the Palestinian Authority police’s investigation, but the suspect is currently being interrogated.

 

A spokesman for the PA police, Lu’ay Arziqat, described the beheading as a “new kind of crime in Palestine” and urged people to refrain from circulating the morbid video.

 

The circumstances surrounding the crime remain unclear while the Palestinian police in Hebron carry out a full investigation.

A view of the West Bank city of Hebron. (photo by Nati Shohat/Flash90)

A view of the West Bank city of Hebron. (photo by Nati Shohat/Flash90)

In an interview with Palestinian radio station Karama, an older member of the victim’s family, also named Ahmad Abu Murkhiyeh, asserted that the young man was residing in his father’s native Jordan but often visited Hebron to work and to spend time with family in the city.

 

That account contradicted multiple Israeli sources, and was possibly indicative of relatives’ reluctance to acknowledge his reported life in Israel.

 

Petrenko said that to the best of her knowledge, Abu Murkhiyeh had not returned to the West Bank since his asylum, out of fear for what his estranged family and residents of his native village might do to him. She added that his stay at various LGBT shelters in Israel is a documented fact. He had not informed any friends of an intention to enter the West Bank.

 

Palestinians have expressed revulsion at the exceptionally violent nature of the crime, even as Abu Murkhiyeh’s sexual identity and Israeli residency have been kept under wraps in Palestinian reports. The presenter on the Karama radio station distilled the common outrage when saying the beheading “crossed every single red line in our society, whether in terms of morals, customs, or basic humanity.”

 

The filming of such brutality for distribution on social media has had a particularly shocking effect. Speaking for police, Arziqat said the recording and upload of the video represented “the most dangerous” aspect of a crime he characterized as the most terrible one he’s ever dealt with.

 

About 90 Palestinians who identify as members of the LGBT community currently live as asylum-seekers in Israel. They suffered discrimination, and, in extreme cases, violence in their communities before fleeing. Until this past July, the law allowed them to reside in Israel but not to work.

 

Petrenko said that since the law changed, Abu Murkhiyeh had been searching diligently for a stable, legal job, but only managed to find low-paying, under-the-table gigs at restaurants in Tel Aviv’s Sarona neighborhood, one of the city’s upscale culinary hubs.

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Palestine’s Official message to-Queers for Palestine

Visegrád 24-tweet-28October2023-

A Palestinian scholar from the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem sends a message to the “Queers for Palestine-crowd” in the West:

“The people of Palestine will not allow a single homosexual in our land,” such perversion brings the wrath of Allah”

Visegrád 24-tweet-28October2023-message to-Queers for Palestine-crowd

Visegrád 24-tweet-28October2023-message to-Queers for Palestine-crowd

 


Gay Conservative-tweet-24October2023-This is how Palestinians respond to those “Queers for Palestine” (sorry to be so graphic)

Gay Conservative-tweet-24October2023-This is how Palestinians respond to those "Queers for Palestine" (sorry to be so graphic)

Gay Conservative-tweet-24October2023-This is how Palestinians respond to those “Queers for Palestine”
(sorry to be so graphic)

Palestinians respond to those -Queers for Palestine-1

Palestinians respond to those -Queers for Palestine-1

Palestinians respond to those -Queers for Palestine-2aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaac

Palestinians respond to those -Queers for Palestine-1

Doug-tweet-21October2023-Pride month in Gaza

Doug-tweet-21October2023-Pride month in Gaza

Doug-tweet-21October2023-Pride month in Gaza

 

Pride month in Gaza-21October2023

Pride month in Gaza-21October2023

 

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How Queers react to: How Hamas Weaponized Sexual Violence on 7October


Bari Weiss-tweet-28December2023-How Hamas Weaponized Sexual Violence on 7October
The first victim she said she saw was a young woman with copper-color hair, blood running down her back, pants pushed down to her knees. One man pulled her by the hair and made her bend over. Another penetrated her, Sapir said, and every time she flinched, he plunged a knife into her back.

She said she then watched another woman “shredded into pieces.” While one terrorist raped her, she said, another pulled out a box cutter and sliced off her breast.

“One continues to rape her, and the other throws her breast to someone else, and they play with it, throw it, and it falls on the road,” Sapir said.

She said the men sliced her face and then the woman fell out of view. Around the same time, she said, she saw three other women raped and terrorists carrying the severed heads of three more women.

Sapir provided photographs of her hiding place and her wounds, and police officials have stood by her testimony and released a video of her, with her face blurred, recounting some of what she saw.

Yura Karol, a 22-year-old security consultant, said he was hiding in the same spot, and he can be seen in one of Sapir’s photos. He and Sapir were part of a group of friends who had met up at the party. In an interview, Mr. Karol said he barely lifted his head to look at the road but he also described seeing a woman raped and killed.

Since that day, Sapir said, she has struggled with a painful rash that spread across her torso, and she can barely sleep, waking up at night, heart pounding, covered in sweat.

“That day, I became an animal,” she said. “I was emotionally detached, sharp, just the adrenaline of survival. I looked at all this as if I was photographing them with my eyes, not forgetting any detail. I told myself: I should remember everything.”

‘Screams Without Words’: How Hamas Weaponized Sexual Violence on Oct. 7

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/28/world/middleeast/oct-7-attacks-hamas-israel-sexual-violence.html
rachel wahba-tweet-28December2023-
And u kno what many in my queer community tell me? “Don’t send me this stuff it’s triggering” code for “ I am pro Hamas” I did not stop and was then called a “bully” — amazing Jews who fight back are “ bullies” Dara Horn spot on w her chilling book “ people love dead Jews”

Bari Weiss-tweet-28December2023-How Hamas Weaponized Sexual Violence on 7October

Bari Weiss-tweet-28December2023-How Hamas Weaponized Sexual Violence on 7October

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Live Action Role-Playing gamers-Keep standing on the side of genocide

A live action role-playing game is a form of role-playing game where the participants physically portray their characters. The players pursue goals within a fictional setting represented by real-world environments while interacting with each other in character. Wikipedia

 


Elder of Ziyon-tweet-29October2023-FAKE JEWS FOR HAMAS

This rally, which shut down Grand Central Station on Friday night, started after Shabbat began.

These aren’t Jews. They are LARPers who use kippot and tallitot as props against the vast majority of real Jews. Their only use of Judaism is to twist it into ammunition against the Jewish state. Their knowledge of Judaism starts and ends with a wrong interpretation of “tikkun olam”. Their only use of Jewish practice or objects is to subvert them; if it wasn’t for their political play-acting, they would never don a kippah or attend a seder. In short, they twist and trivialize a great religion in the service of terrorism and genocide against Jews.

They are the modern version of the Verband Nationaldeutscher Juden, a tiny group of pro-Nazi Jews who derided everything about Judaism (and Zionism) in a failed attempt to ingratiate themselves with Hitler’s Germany. They ended up in the gas chambers along with those they hated. See more: https://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2021/07/ifnotnow-jewish-voice-for-peace-and.html

JVP and IfNotNow are disgusting pieces of garbage, and have no place in the Jewish community.

https://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2021/07/ifnotnow-jewish-voice-for-peace-and.html

 

Elder of Ziyon-tweet-29October2023-FAKE JEWS FOR HAMAS

Elder of Ziyon-tweet-29October2023-FAKE JEWS FOR HAMAS

 


 

Don Incognito-tweet-29October2023-Keep standing on the side of genocide

Don Incognito-tweet-29October2023-Keep standing on the side of genocide

 

 


So proud to organize Hanukkah Shlishi


Rabbi Linda Goldstein-tweet-20February2024-So proud to organize Hanukkah Shlishi
So proud to organize Hanukkah Shlishi and Havdalah in solidarity with Palestinian resistance ❤️🇵🇸
Fred Menachem-tweet-20February2024-Freeks
The guy all the way in the back looks like he would give the Unabomber a run for his money.

The guy with the mask needs to be kept away from any place where children congregate and the dude in the front looks like he’s building a pipe bomb out of a Chanukiah.

Make your own judgements… 🇮🇱

Rabbi Linda Goldstein-tweet-20February2024-So proud to organize Hanukkah Shlishi

Rabbi Linda Goldstein-tweet-20February2024-So proud to organize Hanukkah Shlishi

 

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Elder of Ziyon logo http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/

Elder of Ziyon logo http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/

IfNotNow, Jewish Voice for Peace, and their spiritual ancestor the Verband Nationaldeutscher Juden

01July2021  https://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2021/07/ifnotnow-jewish-voice-for-peace-and.html

Today’s antisemitic Jews of IfNotNow and Jewish Voice for Peace have an illustrious antecedent.

 

Dr. Max Naumann Still Loyal to Nazi Opppressors

Dr. Max Naumann Still Loyal to Nazi Opppressors

From JTA, August 13, 1933:

 

Although the fortunes of many have been wiped out, although their professions have been taken away from them, and although they live in a state of rigid suspense and fear of the moment when they will be humiliated, beaten, or imprisoned, a large number of German Jews continue to remain faithful to the fatherland.

 

A few of them even support the current anti-Semitic National Socialist administration because of the party’s policies on non-racial questions. They applaud the party’s success in uniting the various divergent parts of Germany. They strongly approve Germany’s demands for restoration of the old empire and the rearmament of the country. And in certain of its aspects they even support the current action of the Nazis against their race.

 

Dr. Max Naumann, leader of the Union of National German Jews, (Verband Nationaldeutscher Juden) an organization enrolling seven thousand Jewish citizens of Germany, declared in an interview that Nazi action against Jews was in many ways justified. He further stated that patriotic German Jews did not want the support of foreign [column cut off]

 

Dr. Naumann scored the Zionists for their retention of Jewish customs and their unquenchable desire to create a Jewish nation. He declared they were intrinsically traitors to the country in which they lived. On this basis he supported Nazi action against the famous scientist, Albert Einstein, because he is a Zionist.

 

Eastern Jews, according to Dr. Naumann, came to Germany in great numbers immediately after the World War. During the inflation period and financial crisis of 1920-23 almost 600,000 Eastern Jews took advantage of the situation, bought for a few foreign pennies valuable estates, reconverted or mortgaged them after stabilization, and left the country. He estimates the number of Eastern Jews in Germany now at 50,000.

 

Dr. Naumann believes the German government would be quite within its right in confiscating the properties of Eastern Jews who are now living abroad.

 

Anti-Zionist? Check.
Dividing Jews into “good assimilationist Jews” and “bad proud Jews”? Check.
Politics above logic and self-preservation? Check.

 

Sound familiar?

 

Even in 1935, as members of his group realized that Hitler is not someone to rely on, Naumann held his course – and accused his detractors of being “Zionists.”

Nazi Jews hold Stormy Berlin Session

Nazi Jews hold Stormy Berlin Session

What happened to Dr. Naumann?  From the B’nai B’rith Messenger⁩⁩, 20 December 1935:

Exit: Dr. Max Naumann

Exit: Dr. Max Naumann

 

Exit: Dr. Max Naumann - continued

Exit: Dr. Max Naumann – continued

 

Dr  Max Naumann , president of the League of National German Jews , is reported under arrest in Berlin and his assimilationist organization has been dissolved by the Nazis .

 

The reasons given for this dissolution are that this league insisted on its rights to display the German flag — something that is forbidden to Jews by the Nazis — and these so-called German Nationalist Jews had refused to display the Zionist flag which had been reserved by Hitlerism for the Jews ; and the continued repudiation of the racial principle and insistent advocacy of assimilation in defiance of Nazi theories that Jews are a race apart .

The most tragic figure in Germany today is Dr . Max Naumann . He insisted not only on claiming German allegiance but in denying definite Jewish principles in his quest for Germanism . He fought and hated the Zionists and made overtures to the Nazis . Had he been accepted by Hitler , it is possible that not an iota of Jewish loyalty would have stirred him . Now he stands repudiated , his organization is dissolved and his assimilationist cravings are destroyed by the Nazis themselves . Thus Herr Naumann is a shining example of the futility of self-hate . and self-destruction .

 

Taking the side of the enemies of the Jews invariably ends up badly.

 

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You can’t hijack planes. You can’t throw Molotovs. You can’t self-immolate


Dr. Einat Wilf-tweet-2March2024-The problem is not with the means but with the goal
The problem is not with the means employed by Palestinians, as abhorrent as many of these means were and are, but with the goal.
As long as the Palestinian “cause” continues to be defined by a total negation of Jewish sovereignty in any part of the land, it will breed failure.

Dr. Einat Wilf-tweet-2March2024-The problem is not with the means but with the goal

Dr. Einat Wilf-tweet-2March2024-The problem is not with the means but with the goal

 


Mohammed El-Kurd-tweet-26February2024-You can’t
You can’t protest peacefully. You can’t boycott. You can’t hunger strike. You can’t hijack planes. You can’t block traffic. You can’t throw Molotovs. You can’t self-immolate. You can’t heckle politicians. You can’t march. You can’t riot. You can’t dissent. You just can’t be.

Mohammed El-Kurd-tweet-26February2024-You can’t

Mohammed El-Kurd-tweet-26February2024-You can’t

 

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