Shalom NoVA - Israel

Weekly News Roundup, November 14-20, 2009

2009-11-23T13:19:00.000-08:00

I've been a bad blogger lately. Posting on days other than Fridays and whatnot, but I swear I have a good excuse this time. You see, this past weekend was my 25th birthday and, unfortunately, I was too busy having my quarter-life crisis to blog. But now I'm back and ready to tackle Israel news with a renewed passion and unbridled enthusiasm. Let's get to it.

A Rare Look into the Mind of a Former Terrorist: Most terrorists become former because either they self-detonate in a crowded marketplace or get on the express train to paradise courtesy of the IDF. This former terrorist in the video below falls into neither of these categories, which is why he's such an interesting interview. He covers such topics as women's rights in the Islamic world, how Israel should deal with terrorists, and some of his past associations with terror bigwigs. Give it a view, it's only seven minutes long:

Israel's Top 10 Gadgets: It is well known that Israel is a hotbed of technological advancement and a pioneer in the high-tech arena. Israel21C has been generous enough to put together a top 10 list of Israel-developed gadgets. Coming in at #2, but the winner in my eyes, is the Powermat. Ever get all the cords for your various cell phones, iPods, laptops and other personal electronics in a knot that you trip over in the middle of the night? I have, I'm sad to admit, and it sounds like a Powermat would solve this very problem of mine:

"The Israeli company's technology lets you embed a power grid in just about anything - from a desk to a kitchen counter. Then, with a wireless receiver hidden inside a device, there's no need for plugs anymore. Just position the device or appliance near a power "hotspot" and away it goes."

Here's a link to the corporate site in case you want to check it out for yourself or purchase a Powermat for your favorite Israel blogger that recently celebrated his 25th birthday.

More Schalit News/Rumors: It seems, as usual, that most of this is speculation and wishful thinking. Bibi refuses to comment, Hamas is only too happy to announce progress on a prisoner swap deal, and Gilad Schalit continues to rot in captivity. It's been three and a half years since he was captured, and it looks like Gilad's situation won't change in the near future. I try not to get my hopes up when Hamas announces an imminment prisoner exchange, and this time is no different. I'll believe it when I hear it from the Israelis and not a moment sooner.

That's it for now, I hope you can forgive me for being late. Have a good week everyone, enjoy your Thanksgiving, don't OD on tryptophan, and don't get trampled on Black Friday.

The Reverse Mifgash/Weekly News Roundup, November 7 - 13, 2009

2009-11-13T11:47:00.000-08:00

The Reverse Mifgash: Apologies for not writing a Weekly News Roundup last week. I was very busy participating in the Reverse Mifgash, and was unable to bone up on my Israel news-reading in time. What's a Reverse Mifgash, you ask? Well, in Hebrew, Mifgash means 'encounter,' as in an encounter between Israelis and Americans, only, unlike a traditional Birthright trip, this Mifgash takes place on American turf. It's a reverse Birthright, if you will. A lot of planning, money-raising and coordination went into this 10 day, free trip for the eight Israelis, and it really turned out quite well. While they were here, the Israelis took in our fair city quite a bit, including: volunteering at the DC JCC, a tour of the Washington Post, the US Holocaust Museum, a comedy show by Benji Lovitt (of What War Zone), Shabbat services and dinner at the DC JCC, and plenty of nights out for alcohol consumption. I participated in much of it, including a Phone-a-Thon to raise money for future Birthright trips, and had a great time, as did the Israelis. On to the news...

The Abbas Bluff: Let me get this straight, Mahmoud Abbas is threatening to quit as president of the PA, and willing to give up the figurehead power and millions of dollars in western aid money that comes with the job? Please. He's about as likely to quit as I am to be offered the job after he leaves. But Abbas threatened to quit anyway, due to the lack of progress in the 'peace process.' Then again, we have heard this before, and the old man still collects a check. I'm not biting.

Israel gets a Brazilian...Trade Deal: Shimon Peres went to Brazil earlier this week to sign a free trade deal with the largest South American country. The Brazilian government also signed a deal to buy $350 million worth of Israeli unmanned drone aircraft. On the other end of Israeli/Brazilian relations, around 40 pro-Palestinian Brazilian protestors waved banners that read 'Shimon Hitler' in honor of President Peres's visit. Nice.

Tel Aviv Bans Horse-Drawn Carriages: This week, the bustling metropolis that is Tel Aviv finally banned the use of horse-drawn carriages within the city limits. As of now, Tel Aviv is the first city in Israel to institute this ban. Perhaps the rest of the country will follow suit, but Israel's sizable Amish population is unlikely to stand by idly while its only mode of transport is outlawed. Ahh, Amish jokes.

Have a good weekend, folks.

Phoning it in for Birthright

2009-11-05T12:32:00.000-08:00

Last night, November 4, I participated in a "Phone-a-Thon" to raise money for Taglit Birthright Israel and the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington. I actually got to give a speech introducing the event and was a 'chair' of sorts, but enough horn-tootage. About 12 Americans and 8 Israelis also joined in on the fun to raise money which, thanks to the general state of the economy, the Bernie Madoff scandal, and a variety of other factors, is a little short right now for Birthright trips.

I participated in a Birthright trip in the Winter of 2008-09 and felt that, since I was given such an amazing (not to mention FREE) gift, why not try to pay that gift forward to DC area Jews?

Lacking a good reason not to participate in the Phone-a-Thon, I decided to head down to the Schusterman International Center in Chinatown to try to charm unsuspecting parents out of their money. Our 'targets' were DC area parents whose children had recently gone to Israel on a Taglit Birthright trip: striking while the iron is hot, as they say. After a short training session, during which the callers learned how to answer frequently asked questions the parents might have, how to most effectively convey our goals, etc., we took to the phones and got busy. And busy is what I got, as in busy signals. Also voicemails, hang ups, and disconnected numbers.

A good portion of the parents answered though, and the vast majority of them were willing to accept more information about donating. Some even donated over the phone. A big selling point for the donors was the fact that the Adelson Family Foundation will be double matching any of the donations we receive by December 31, 2009. For example, last night we raised $4,000 ($200 of which was raked in by yours truly) over the phones, which in actuality results in $12,000 for Taglit Birthright Israel trips due to the Adelsons' generosity.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington needs to raise $130,000 to send a full bus of DC area participants to Israel, and hopefully they'll get closer to their goal as some of the parents who requested more information mail in their donations. There's also you, dear reader, who can help out. Visit ShalomDC.com to make a donation which, if you don't remember, will be doubled by the Adelsons. It's really for a great cause and you'll feel good that you were able to help Americans get to Israel free of charge for an amazing 10 day experience. Now more than ever, it's vital we continue building strong ties between the Diaspora and Israel, and Taglit Birthright Israel trips are one of the best ways to ensure our respective communities remain closely knit.

Weekly News Roundup, October 24 - 30, 2009

2009-10-30T07:34:00.001-07:00

Welcome to another exciting week in Israel news. This week, we find Iran stalling for (even more) time to build a bomb, J-Street claiming to be pro-Israel while acting completely opposite, the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) antagonizing Israel, and Israeli baller, Omri Casspi, making his NBA debut with the Sacramento Kings. As usual, let's do it to it.

When Will We Learn?: As predicted by moi last week, Iran has summarily rejected the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) uranium enrichment offer, under which Iran would ship 70% of its low enriched uranium to France and Russia for enrichment to the 20% level, well below the level needed for weapons purposes. Iran instead countered with an offer to enrich its uranium in Iran under IAEA supervision which, judging by the IAEA's past efficacy with this issue, would lead to an Iranian bomb in no time. Meanwhile, both the US House and Senate passed sanctions legislation which would impede Iran's ability to import gasoline, but will the Prince of Peace, I mean President, sign the bills? For now, Iran continues to march toward the bomb while the International Community dithers and waffles, but what else is new?

My J Street Rage Boils Over: I haven't written about the abomination that is J Street yet, but this week I've simply had enough and could stay silent no longer. J Street was founded in April, 2008 and claims to be 'pro-Israel, pro-Peace,' yet manages to be neither. With regards to the pro-Israel aspect, just this week J Street dropped this requirement from their college campus arm, J Street U, saying:
"The student groups don't need to say they are explicitly pro-Israel so long as their programming and outreach operate from the premise that the Jewish state has a right to exist as a Jewish state"
"'We don't want to isolate people because they don't feel quite so comfortable with 'pro-Israel,' so we say 'pro-peace,'" said American University junior Lauren Barr of the "J Street U" slogan, "but behind that is 'pro-Israel.'"
In other words, J Street doesn't want to offend anyone who would be insulted by the notion of being pro-Israel, yet desires these same people to join their ranks? Right. So J Street is just implicitly pro-Israel now, while remaining pro-Peace. But can they even make this claim? No, says I.

Contrary to 78% of the American public, the House and Senate, J Street believes that "the immediate imposition of harsher sanctions on Iran would be counterproductive." Furthermore, J Street is "strongly opposed to any consideration at this time of the use of military force by Israel or the United States to attack Iran's nuclear infrastructure." According to J Street, being pro-Peace means wanting Iran to get the bomb. Really?!

During Operation Cast Lead, during which Israel finally responded to 8,000 rockets launched by terrorists and aimed at Israeli civilians, J Street had this to say after the first Israeli airstrikes on Hamas targets:
"While this morning’s air strikes by Israeli Defense Forces in Gaza can be understood and even justified in the wake of recent rocket attacks, we believe that real friends of Israel recognize that escalating the conflict will prove counterproductive, igniting further anger in the region and damaging long-term prospects for peace and stability."
So Israel defending its civilians from rocket attacks is hurting the prospects for peace, yet there's no mention or condemnation of the terrorists who are launching the rockets in the first place? It's as if J Street can't blame Hamas for attacking Israel, while at the same time expects Israel to stand by while its citizens are murdered.

From what I can gather, J Street could best be described as pro-Iran, pro-Hamas, and pro-Dead Israelis. J Street held a conference in DC this week, but I don't think my blood pressure could handle me writing about this despicable group any longer. On to another despicable group then!

OIC Behind Goldstone Report: Color me unsurprised by this revelation. I had no idea any organization was behind the Goldstone Report, but if I had to guess last week, my top choices would have been Hamas, J Street, or the OIC. Now it turns out that it was the OIC, a group of 57 Muslim nations, that was responsible for commissioning this anti-Israel report on Operation Cast Lead. While digging for information on the OIC, I came across this juicy quote from Malaysian Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad, during the OIC's 2003 meeting in Malaysia:
"They [the Jews] invented socialism, communism, human rights and democracy, so that persecuting them would appear to be wrong, so that they can enjoy equal rights with others. With these they have gained control of the most powerful countries and they, this tiny community, have become a world power. The Europeans killed six million Jews out of 12 million, but today the Jews rule the world by proxy. They get others to fight and die for them”
Like I said, I'm not surprised at all that the OIC was behind the Goldstone Report. To wit:
Al Jazeera: The UN's Goldstone report has been in the headlines in the past few weeks - not without controversy - and has brought to light the conduct of the Israelis and Hamas during the war on Gaza earlier in the year. Does the OIC see this as a step forward in recognising what
transpired during that war and in bringing the plight of the Palestinians to the fore on an international scale?

Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu [Secretary General of the OIC]: Let me first start by completing the story of the history of the Goldstone report. What I would like to put on record is that the OIC was the initiator of this process.
On January 3, during the attacks on Gaza, we convened the executive committee of the OIC on a ministerial level. It was decided that the OIC group in Geneva should ask the Human Rights Council to convene and consider the possibility of sending a fact-finding mission to Gaza.
I've written at length about the Goldstone Report before (here) and won't get into it again, but this admission by the OIC, a virulently anti-Israel and anti-Semitic organization, sheds light on why the Goldstone Report was so incredibly biased against Israel and easy going on Hamas.

The NBA Welcomes its First Israeli: After Maccabi lost to the Knicks and Clippers during the pre-season, it was up to Omri Casspi to improve Israel's basketball stature in the NBA. Luckily, the Israeli rookie had a very solid start to his NBA career, netting 15 points, on 7-9 shooting, and three rebounds in only 19 minutes. Casspi should get a lot of minutes this year as he plays on an atrocious team, the Sacramento Kings, and seems to have legitimate talent. Then again, he's on a lousy team, which kind of stinks for him. I'll update Mr. Casspi's situation as the season goes on and, as much as it pains me, try to watch some Kings games so I can see him live.

Have a great Halloween/Dia de los Muertos and remember to wear reflective clothing and not to eat too much candy; you'll get a stomach ache!

Weekly News Roundup, October 17 - 23, 2009

2009-10-23T07:53:00.000-07:00

On tap this week: Maccabi Tel Aviv's American tour/debacle, Ehud Olmert's quest to get booed in every major American city, Iran gets a taste of its own medicine and rejects nuclear deal. Let's do it to it.

Maccabi Tel Aviv Loses More than Two Games: Falling to the New York Knicks last Sunday and to the LA Clippers on Tuesday, the Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball team is probably eager to return to Israel after their American odyssey. Head coach Pini Gershon was ejected during the game against the Knicks for arguing calls with the referees. Gershon then refused to leave the court for 10 minutes until security guards and a Rabbi from the stands finally convinced the fiery coach to return to the locker room. On Tuesday, Maccabi Tel Aviv lost to the Clippers in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, during the game a thief snuck into Maccabi's locker room and stole $22,000 cash and other valuables. I don't know who had a worse American experience, Maccabi Tel Aviv's basketball team or the guy in the next story...

Ehud Olmert Gets Booed for the Wrong Reasons: Personally, I'd boo Olmert at a speech for being a scandal-ridden, weak and spineless Israeli Prime Minister who capitulated to Hamas and Hezbollah. However, useful idiots in Chicago and San Francisco heckled the former PM for being a war criminal and murderer of poor, innocent Palestinian terrorists. Like I said, I don't think Olmert went far enough in killing terrorists in either 2006 or 2009, but according to these protesters, any act of Israeli self defense constitutes the gravest of human rights violations. Check out the videos below:

Loonies in Chicago

Nuts in San Francisco

The Delicious Irony of a Suicide Bombing in Iran: After 30 years at or near the top of the list of leading terror exporters, Iran got a taste of its own medicine on Sunday as a suicide bomber blew himself up, killing five senior commanders of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and 37 others. The Sunni terror group, Jundallah, claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Iranians blamed the United States and United Kingdom anyway. Of course, terrorism is a despicable act no matter who the target is, but it's satisfying, in a Schadenfreude-esque kind of way, that the masterminds of countless terror attacks against Americans, Jews and Israelis got what was coming to them.

Iran Rejects Offer for Overseas Nuclear Enrichment: Well, not 'rejected' per se, more like 'failed to accept while remaining antagonistic to the West and its generous offer.' The offer was that Iran would export its uranium stockpiles to Russia and France, where it would be enriched for medical purposes. Clearly, this would then mean that Iran could not enrich its uranium stockpiles for weapons purposes, so the offer was obviously a non-starter from the get go. As per usual, Iran continues to buy time to build a bomb by taking advantage of the West's appeasement and 'good faith gestures.' Will we never learn?

Have a grand weekend folks, and make sure to stay tuned for next week when I'll find some convoluted way to tie the beginning of the NBA season to the Israeli bio-tech industry, or something like that.

British Colonel Takes on the Goldstone Report

2009-10-20T14:11:00.000-07:00

"The IDF did more to safeguard the rights of civilians in a combat zone than any other army in the history of warfare," says a former Colonel in the British army, Richard Kemp, much to the chagrin of Israel's enemies, bashers and trashers in the United Nations.

Rightly attacking the content and subsequent condemnation of Israel brought on by the Goldstone Report, Colonel Kemp realizes what most of the sane world does: The IDF is the most moral army in the world and would rather put its own soldiers in danger than needlessly kill Palestinian civilians. It's painfully obvious to many that Hamas cynically uses human shields for public relations purposes, to elicit sympathy from the international community, and to more easily heap criticism on Israel. But the folks in the UN seem to ignore this aspect of the terror wars in which Israel is involved, and on the defensive, I might add.

Watch the video below and send it to everyone you can, it's important for the world to hear some truth coming out of the UN every once and a while.

Weekly News Roundup, October 10 - 16, 2009

2009-10-16T07:52:00.000-07:00

A hectic week for Israel, what with the UN Human Rights Council adopting the biased Goldstone Report, Turkey airing an anti-Israel TV drama/blood libel and snubbing the IAF for Syria in war game activities, the New York Knicks taking on Maccabi Tel Aviv at Madison Square Garden this weekend (on Sunday, natch), and LeBron James contracting H1N1 which, admittedly, only impacts my Cavalier fan readers. Let's do it to it.

UN Human Rights Council Sinks Lower, Digs: The UNHRC adopted the anti-Israel, terrorism-excusing Goldstone Report today by a 25 to 6 margin in Geneva, Switzerland. Some of the countries voting to adopt the Goldstone Report were paragons of human rights like China, Cuba, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Pakistan, Russia and Saudi Arabia. As PM Netanyahu wisely observed: "Israel's only real crime is that it does not have an automatic majority in the U.N." The Goldstone Report will now be sent to New York for further, anti-Israel action.

Turkish TV Airs Anti-Israel Blood Libel Saga About Gaza: Turkey, ever since it elected Recep Erdogan and took a turn for the Islamist, has seen its ties with Israel increasingly weaken in the last several years. Just take a look at this 'debate' between Erdogan and Shimon Peres from earlier this year. Anyway, this week Turkish TV aired a show depicting the IDF as a bunch of blood-thirsty monsters. The show's producer, Selcuk Cobanoglu, claimed the savage murderers in the show "are not Israeli soldiers" and that "the show is not about IDF soldiers. We also wrote this in a warning that appeared on the screen at the beginning of the program." Funny, then, that the two screen captures below clearly depict the Israeli flag, Hebrew, and the map of Israel. Hmmm...

Turkey Snubs Israel in War Game Activities for...Syria?: The same Syria that has been embarrassed numerous times by the IDF and IAF and refuses to fight Israel directly now, preferring instead to use its Iranian sponsored terrorist proxies in Hezbollah and Hamas? That Syria? Turkey dropped out of the 'Anatolian Eagle' war game activities with the US, Israel, NATO and Italy because of the IAF's activities during Operation Cast Lead last winter. Turkey claims they backed out because of Israeli delays in delivering drone aircraft to the Turkish military, but no one who matters actually believes this. Adding insult to injury, during the same time period during which 'Anatolian Eagle' was supposed to take place, Turkey instead practiced military maneuvers with Israel's arch-nemesis, Syria. Turkey needs to get rid of this Islamist regime sooner rather than later, and hopefully before any permanent damage is done to Turkish-Israeli relations.

I Don't Roll (or Hoop) on Shabbos!: The Maccabi Tel Aviv Basketball team will take on the hapless New York Knicks on Sunday, October 18, in Madison Square Garden, as part of the NBA's preseason. Maccabi is arguably the most successful international team in competition with its NBA counterparts, having beaten the then NBA champion Washington Bullets in Israel in 1978 and the Toronto Raptors in Toronto in 2005, becoming the first non-NBA team to beat an NBA team on North American soil. Maccabi now looks to become the first non-NBA team to vanquish an NBA team on Real American soil, in the World's Most Famous Arena, no less. I'll be pulling for Maccabi here, partially because I love Israel, but also because I hate the Knicks for trying to steal LeBron James away from Cleveland. Maybe if he sees how lousy the Knicks are if they lose to Maccabi (no offense to Maccabi, of course), he'll stay where he belongs. Sorry to get off on that tangent. Maccabi will also play the equally terrible Los Angeles Clippers later this month, and I'll report on that as well.

Weekly News Roundup, October 3 - October 9, 2009

2009-10-09T07:28:00.000-07:00

This just in, I am the recipient of a very prestigious award and $1.4 million in cash for actions I have yet to take! Oh wait, that's not me, that's someone else. On to the news!

As Alluded to in the Headline...: President Barack Obama wins the Nobel Peace Prize for...something? Let's see; the US is still in two wars, Iran and North Korea continue to jerk the world around over their respective nuke programs, there's no peace in the Middle East, and the Iranian election protesters were summarily quashed after the Nobel laureate offered them little to no moral support. Now that's Change We Can Believe In!

Speaking of Peace...: Iran threatened to 'blow up the heart of Israel' if the US or Jewish state attacks Iranian nuclear sites which, as you may know, are being used to produce nuclear bombs that will...blow up the heart of Israel. Talk about being between a rock and a hard place. Then again, Iran can't even photoshop missiles properly, much less launch them. Zing!

Sweden Back to its Old Ways: After awarding the Nobel Prize for Chemistry to Israeli scientist Ada Yonath, the Swedes returned to their old, anti-Semitic ways when they voiced support for the United Nations blood libel on Operation Cast Lead, better known as the Goldstone Report. As you may recall, the Goldstone Report accuses Israel of war crimes for acting in self defense after 8 years of Hamas rockets directed at Israeli civilians. As you may also remember, the Swedes published that ludicrous article about the IDF harvesting Palestinian organs.

More Arab Riots in East Jerusalem: Israel restricts access to al-Aksa mosque on the Temple Mount to prevent rioting and gets...rioting. Again, talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place. Muslims rioted and injured 11 Israeli policemen after Friday prayers in East Jerusalem. Thousands more Muslims protested in the Gaza Strip and Syria as well, injuring no one but themselves, I'm sure. No need to fear, though. I'm certain President Obama and his new designation of "Peacemaker-at-Large" will be able to sort all this out.

That's it for this week. I'll be taking part in 'MTV Cribs: Thomas Jefferson' this weekend at Monticello. Wish me luck dealing with the early 19th century re-enactors!

Israeli Scientist Wins Nobel Prize for Chemistry

2009-10-07T08:22:00.000-07:00

Nobel Laureate Ada Yonath

And to think, just two months ago the Swedes were rabid anti-Semites. What a turnaround!

Israeli scientist Ada Yonath took home the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for her research on ribosomes which, if you took 11th grade biology, you might recall as a cell's protein producer. Yonath, along with two American scientists, studied how antibiotics bond to ribosomes using three-dimensional models. This research is now being used to develop new antibiotics, which will eventually save countless lives. Maybe now the IDF won't have to harvest Palestinian organs to keep the Israeli population healthy. Yes, that was sarcastic.

Yonath is only the fourth woman to win the Nobel Prize for Chemistry, and the first since 1964. She is, however, the ninth Israeli to win a Nobel Prize and one of over 160 Jews to take home the honor.

I, in addition to President Peres, Prime Minister Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Lieberman and opposition leader Livni, say; "good on ya, Ada, for representing Israel and the Jewish people in such a terrific and prestigious way!"

Ah, nothing brings Jews together like one of our own winning a Nobel.

Weekly News Roundup, September 26 - October 2, 2009

2009-10-02T07:21:00.000-07:00

Gilad Shalit from a September 14, 2009 video tape

Another week in the books, which means it's time for another Israel Weekly News Roundup. A major development on the Gilad Shalit front, Bibi's a grandfather, Iran rope-a-dopes world powers, and a third intifada is narrowly averted...for now.

"I yearn for the day in which I would see my family again" - Gilad Shalit, September 14, 2009: As I reported earlier in the week, Israel has traded 20 female Palestinian prisoners for video proof of Gilad Shalit's condition. Today, Israel received the video tape which depicted a calm and seemingly healthy Shalit addressing Prime Minister Netanyahu and his family while holding a Hamas newspaper dated September 14, 2009. His voice is a bit shaky, and he looks rather skinny, but all in all it's good to see a sign of life after 1,195 days in Hamas captivity. Check out the video here: Gilad Shalit Video.

Netanyahu a Grandfather: Prime Minister Netanyahu became a grandfather for the first time on Wednesday, September 30, 2009 when his daughter, Noa, gave birth to a baby boy. Mother is said to be doing well, while son is already preparing for the 2045 Likud primary elections.

Iran Hoodwinks the West: After news of a secret uranium enrichment site in the Shiite holy city of Qom, Iran hit the airwaves last week, world leaders acted in the only way they know how when it comes to Iran's nuclear program; meaningless talks and misplaced trust! Iran met with with world leaders in Geneva, Switzerland, earlier this week and agreed in principle to have Russia enrich its uranium to a level of 19.75%, which is enough for power generating purposes and well below the 90% enrichment level needed for a nuclear bomb.

The phrase "in principle" was italicized for a reason: Iran has lied and backed out of numerous agreements before regarding its nuclear program, and I don't expect this agreement will stand up either. Iran is trying to build a bomb, folks, so enriched uranium at the 19.75% level is worthless to the Mullahs. Either the Iranians will let the Russians enrich some uranium while covertly continuing to enrich to bomb-making levels in Iran, or they will drop out of the agreement altogether, inviting strong condemnation and worthless sanctions from the West. In either case, it's time to fire up the F-16s, Bibi.

Palestinian Leaders Threaten Intifada: The latest offering from those lovers of humanity, peace, justice and equality known as the Palestinians involves a group of tourists at the Temple Mount on September 27, 2009. Some 150 Muslim rioters surrounded a group of Jewish tourists and their police escorts and began attacking them for the horrendous crime of Jews visiting a Jewish holy site the night before the holiest day of theJewish year, Yom Kippur. The horror! The Palestinian Authority, an organization chock full of peace-loving and compassionate blokes, quickly responded by praising the Muslim rioters and threatening a third intifada:

"The [Palestinian] cabinet ... hailed our people who rushed yesterday to defend blessed al-Aqsa mosque and thwarted the attempt by extremist settlers to break into the compound"

and:

"A Third Intifada may erupt...in reaction to the Israeli disrespect of the feelings of Muslims and the storming by extreme Jewish groups of the al-Aqsa mosque."

Palestinians: never missing an opportunity to miss an opportunity, except when it comes to violence.

That's it for this week. Have a good weekend and a blessed Sukkot!

Breaking News: New Video of Gilad Shalit to be Released October 2nd

2009-09-30T07:59:00.000-07:00

In what may prove to be the precursor for a full blown prisoner exchange for captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit's freedom, the Israeli security cabinet today approved swapping 20 female Palestinian prisoners for a recently filmed video tape of Gilad Shalit.

Israel is scheduled to release the 20 prisoners, 19 of whom are from Judea and Samaria (aka the West Bank), on October 2, 2009. The Israeli government will release the list of 20 prisoners on the internet, after which the Israeli public will have 48 hours to appeal the government's decision. None of the prisoners have "blood on their hands" per se, although several are indirectly responsible for murdering Israelis.

German, Egyptian and Israeli negotiators all played a part in securing this deal. The release of this video will prove to Israelis that Gilad is alive and in good condition; knowledge which will hopefully pave the way for his release from Hamas captivity. As with past Shalit news, I'll continue to keep you posted with the latest developments.

UPDATE: The list of 20 prisoners has been released to the Israeli public. As I mentioned earlier, no one on the list has blood on their hands, but not for lack of trying: I count 14 prisoners on the list who were charged with attempted murder.

Weekly News Roundup, September 20-25, 2009

2009-09-25T19:03:00.000-07:00

Another week, another Weekly News Roundup. For this week, it's a special Roundup of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, New York. Let's get to it.

Gaddafi's Speech: Wow, what a doozy! Clocking in at 96 minutes of rambling jibber-jabber, Muammar Gaddafi reminded the UNGA (those who remained in the assembly hall, anyway) that he is still the creme de la creme of nut cases. The money quote vis a vis Israel came when the mad Libyan accused Israel of orchestrating the Kennedy assassination. To wit:

"Jack Ruby, an Israeli, killed Lee Harvey Oswald. Why did this Israeli kill Harvey? Ruby later died mysteriously. The whole world should know that Kennedy wanted to investigate the actions of the Israeli nuclear reactor in Dimona.”

A couple points. Ruby was born in Chicago, and never lived in Israel. He was an American Jew his entire life but never an Israeli. Second, Kennedy and America did send inspectors to Dimona in the 1960s, making Gaddafi's claims absurd.

Elsewhere in the speech, Gaddafi again called for the Israeli Palestinian conflict to be resolved as a one-state solution called 'Isratine.' Keep in mind that this psychobabble went on for 96 minutes. 96 minutes.

Ahmadinejad's Speech: Trying to prove Gaddafi wasn't the only meshugana present at the UNGA, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad did a swell job of coming off as a bona fide deranged lunatic. Canada and Israel boycotted the speech altogether, while the US, French, British, Australian and several other delegations walked out as the diminutive Iranian 'President' took the stage. Outside of the UN, hundreds of Iranians protested Ahmadinejad for stealing the Presidential elections back in June. Inside of the half empty assembly hall, Ahmadinejad railed against the evil 'Zionist regime' that has been occupying Palestine for over 60 years. 60 years, as in even Israel within the 1948 borders is illegitimate. Ahmadinejad also brought up some 'Protocols of the Elders of Zion' paranoia when he raved:

"It is no longer acceptable that a small minority would dominate the politics, economy and culture of major parts of the world by its complicated networks, and establish a new form of slavery, and harm the reputation of other nations, even European nations and the U.S., to attain its racist ambitions.”

This is an obvious reference to the dreaded 'Israel lobby' and its control over world affairs. Walt, Mearsheimer, and Osama bin Laden would be proud.

Netanyahu's Speech, For the Win!: Never fear, Bibi's here and he took the the Iranians and UN to task for illicit nuclear facilities and the Goldstone report, respectively. Holding the original blueprints for Auschwitz, Netanyahu admonished the UNGA:

"Yesterday, the man who calls the Holocaust a lie spoke from this podium. To those who refused to come and to those who left in protest, I commend you. You stood up for moral clarity, and you brought honor to your countries. But to those who gave this holocaust denier a hearing, I say on behalf of my people, the Jewish people, and decent people everywhere, have you no shame? Have you no decency?
A mere six decades after the Holocaust, you give legitimacy to a man who denies the murder of 6 million Jews? While promising to wipe out the state of Israel, the state of the Jews? What a disgrace. What a mockery of the charter of the United Nations."

Later in the speech, Bibi indirectly called out the UN's Goldstone Report on Operation Cast Lead for its overtly anti-Israel bias:

"Well, ladies and gentlemen, the jury's still out on the United Nations. And recent signs - recent signs are not encouraging. Rather than condemning the terrorists and their Iranian patrons, some here in the United Nations have condemned their victims.
This is exactly what a recent UN report on Gaza did, falsely equating terrorists with those they targeted. For eight long years Hamas fired rockets - fired those rockets from Gaza on nearby Israeli citizens - and citizens, thousands of missiles, mortars, hurling down from the sky on schools, on homes, shopping centers, bus stops - Years after - year after year as these missiles were deliberately fired on our civilians, not a single - not one UN resolution was passed condemning those criminal attacks. We heard nothing, absolutely nothing, from the UN Human Rights Council - a misnamed institution if there ever was one."

Netanyahu's speech perfectly laid out Israel's case against Iran and Hamas to the international community. Whether or not the international community is receptive is another story. Bibi had to at least attempt to persuade the world that Israel's survival is at stake before taking actions to guarantee it, and he did just that. You can see the speech in its entirety here:

That's it for this week, enjoy Bibi's speech, it really is that good. Have an easy fast, everyone, and enjoy bagels, lox and other delicacies on Monday night!

Shooting Down Israeli Jets to Protect Iranian Nuclear Sites: A Winning Policy

2009-09-21T15:28:00.000-07:00

Last week I wondered if Jimmy Carter could sink any lower after his inclusion on Osama's list of recommended reading. This week, it seems as if my musings have been answered in the affirmative. True, Zbigniew Brzezinski is not Jimmy Carter, but Carter did hire Brzezinski as his National Security Advisor during his term as president, so consider this guilt by association.

In an interview with The Daily Beast and responding to the question "what if [Israeli jets] fly over [Iraq] anyway [to attack Iranian nuclear facilities," Brzezenski offered his advice to the Obama administration:

"Well, we have to be serious about denying them that right. That means a denial where you aren’t just saying it. If they fly over, you go up and confront them. They have the choice of turning back or not. No one wishes for this but it could be a Liberty in reverse."

Not just confront the Israeli jets, but pull a 'reverse Liberty' on them. In case you were wondering what the Liberty was, it was a United States navy technical research ship in the Mediterranean during the Six Day War in 1967. Regrettably, Israel's warplanes and torpedo boats attacked the Liberty by mistake, killing 34 American sailors, fearing it was an Egyptian ship. The whole incident is explained here, but trust me when I say that in no way did Israel intend to destroy the ship of a key ally during a war for its very survival.

Brzezenski, though, would knowingly attack Israeli jets en route to attacking Iranian nuclear sites. Think about that for a second; the United States would purposely attack an ally's forces on their way to striking a mutual enemy's nuclear sites which, by the way, are being used to build bombs that could potentially target US and Israeli cities.

So it seems that Carter has sunk even lower by association thanks to this clown. A few weeks ago I also wondered if President Obama could sink lower in Israelis' eyes. Arming the Lebanese army while Hezbollah is in the government would be a good way, but intercepting IAF planes fighting for Israel's very survival would take the cake. Hopefully, Obama's National Security Advisor has a better head on his shoulders than Carter's.

Weekly News Roundup, September 12-19, 2009

2009-09-20T15:08:00.000-07:00

Sorry for being late on this week's Weekly News Roundup, I was in Cleveland for Rosh Hashanah and had to get fawned over by my family. Poor me, I know. With that, here's the Weekly News Roundup for September 12 - 19.

Human Rights 'Authority' a Nazi Aficionado: Marc Garlasco is a military analyst for Human Rights Watch (HRW). He has been accused of anti-Israel bias in his reports on Israel's battles against Hamas and Hezbollah. Turns out his bias might stem from something other than calling HRW his employer. See, Marc Garlasco is an avid collector of Nazi memorabilia and artifacts. He posts on Nazi collector websites with comments like, "That is so cool! The leather SS jacket makes my blood go cold it is so COOL!" As of September 15, Garlasco has been suspended pending an investigation which, if it's like HRW's investigations of Israel, will see him reinstated post-haste.

Goldstone Report on Operation Cast Lead a Waste of Paper: Richard Goldstone released his report on Israel's war in Gaza this past year, and Israel was not thrilled with the results. Without going into the whole thing, the Goldstone Report essentially equated Israel's defensive actions to those of Hamas, a group that acts with the intent of harming as many civilians as possible. He further ignored the eight years of rocket attacks from Gaza which provoked Israel's response in December and January. Trying to cover up his anti-Israel bias, Goldstone's daughter claimed, 'but my dad loves Israel!' earlier this week. Whatever she's sellin', this blogger ain't buyin'.

Ahmadinejad Denies the Holocaust...Again: "The Holocaust has turned into a black box and they won't let anyone open it and examine it… If this is such an important event, why won't you let us reveal the reality to the entire world?" You mean the reality surrounding the most researched and documented event in human history? I guess I shouldn't be surprised by a man who would gun down his own people in cold blood after he steals an election...but I am. Is he really this ignorant, or is he trying to minimize the Holocaust so he can perpetrate another one on the Jewish people through nuclear bombs?

Israel Celebrates the Jewish New Year: Apples, honey, and the Shofar were in full effect in Israel as Jews the world over kicked off year 5770 in the Jewish calendar. As of press time, there were no reported brisket overdoses or severe food comas in the Holy Land. At my house, on the other hand...

Shana tova, everyone! Thanks for reading and I'll try to keep it as real in 5770 as I did in 5769.

Osama's Book Club

2009-09-15T18:26:00.000-07:00

Carter's book finally gets a good review!

So, Osama bin Laden just dropped a new tape last week for the eighth anniversary of the September 11th attacks on the United States. Of course, he came with the usual bashing of the USA's support for Israel, our continuing war against his fellow jihadists in Afghanistan, and promised a new attack against America, which may be a lot more imminent than previously thought. But the mass murderer wasn't done here, oh no; bin Laden also used the tape to promote three books that will shine a light on his views. The terrorist declared:

"After you read the suggested books, you will know the truth, and you will be greatly shocked by the scale of concealment that has been exercised on you."

You see, in addition to being a genocidal, Islamist maniac, Osama bin Laden is also a very worldly and well-read sort. He must have a helluva setup in that cave of his to be able to read, no?

I'm sure you're on the edge of your seat, so without further adieu, here are the three books Osama recommends:

"The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy" by Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer. Osama only mentioned this book by name and had no further opinion of it, but I hear from sane people that it's devoid of facts, virulently anti-Israel and bordering on anti-Semitic, so naturally bin Laden would be drawn in.

"The Apology of a Hired Killer" by...actually, no such book exists. The New York Times believes bin Laden to have been referring to "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man" by John Perkins. Osama's review of the first, fake book was generally positive, hinting that this book would reveal the causes of the 9/11 attacks.

And now, for my personal favorite, "Palestine: Peace not Apartheid" by none other than ex-President Jimmy Carter! Honestly, who can blame Osama for this pick? Carter's book is overly critical of Israel, overly sympathetic to the Palestinians, and, as President, Carter armed bin Laden's mujahideen against the Soviets in Afghanistan 30 years ago. Talk about a conflict of interest!

Stay tuned for next week when Osama interviews Whitney Houston, talks about his Favorite Things, and we'll find out if the disgraced 39th President can fall any further.

Weekly News Roundup, September 5-11, 2009

2009-09-11T07:33:00.000-07:00

A new feature at Shalom NoVa - Israel called the 'Weekly News Roundup.' I'll try to do one each Friday and post snippets of stories from throughout the week. I don't typically post on the weekends since I'm way too busy being lazy. So here's the first, hopefully of many, Weekly News Roundups!

Iran Agrees to Comprehensive Talks About Nothing Important: Their nuclear program? Nope. Their support of Hezbollah, Hamas, and other terror groups? Nope. The Iranians, however, do believe that the "promotion of democracy" and "combating security threats" are paramount, which is ironic since, as we saw in June, democracy is a security threat to the Iranian regime. You can read the whole proposal here. The language is very flowery but, then again, BS almost always is.

Gone Bibi Gone: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu disappeared for about 12 hours on Monday. Speculation as to his whereabouts ran rampant and Israelis were none too happy about their leader going Keyser Soze on them. Initial reports placed Bibi at a security compound within Israel, then it was reported he was in Russia to discuss Russian arms sales to Iran. Neither Israel nor Russia has confirmed that Bibi went to Moscow, so as of now all of this is still speculation. "And like that...he's gone."

Lebanon Commemorates 9/11: So what does the Lebanese terror group Global Jihad do to remember the fallen on Septebmer 11th? Why, launch Katyusha rockets into Israel, of course! Two Katyushas, Hezbollah's weapon of choice as you might recall, landed in Northern Israel near Nahariya today. Israel responded with 15 artillery shells towards the rocket launching site in Southern Lebanon. The IDF is on high alert in case this situation develops further, but this is likely an isolated incident. Most importantly, no casualties or damage were reported from the Katyushas.

Bad Dates?: Israeli researchers have determined that eating 100 grams of dates per day will decrease the level of triglycerides (aka fats) and improve the quality of cholesterol in one's blood. I guess they didn't see 'Raiders of the Lost Ark.' Try telling this to that dead monkey...

9/11/2009: Today is September 11, 2009. It's been eight years since the heinous attacks that shook our country on that seemingly beautiful and serene Tuesday morning. Please take a moment to remember the victims, the heroes who perished in rescue attempts, and our armed service members who have been killed in the pursuit of terrorists the world over. Thank you.

Not so Fast on Hezbollah in the Lebanese Government

2009-09-10T08:25:00.000-07:00

Nice facial hair, Jack.

A few days ago I reported that Hezbollah, a terror group and arch-enemy of Israel, was offered 10 seats in the Lebanese cabinet. Well, turns out that the Iranian-backed terrorists will have to wait until a new Prime Minister-designate replaces the recently resigned Saad Hariri (the gent above with the spray painted beard and 'stache).

Hariri had the gall to name which Hezbollah members would join the Lebanese cabinet, a move which irked the genocidal gang of Islamist nutballs because, let's face it, some Islamist nutballs are better suited for cabinet positions than others.

So now we'll wait and see who Lebanese President, Michel Suleiman, appoints as the next PM-designate and whether or not he decides to include Hezbollah in the cabinet as well.

Meet the New Neighbor, Same as the Old Neighbor...

2009-09-07T11:56:00.000-07:00

Minister with an M-16?

Israel shares a border with four countries; Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, and two 'statelets' in Gaza, and West Bank. Of these 6 entities, 4 of them are terror states. The keffiyeh-clad terrorists in Hamastan aka Gaza, the Palestinian Authority's Fatah terrorists in suits who rule the West Bank, the ophthalmologist terrorist-supporter in Syria's Bashar al-Assad, and now the black turban-clad Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon's government.

I shouldn't get ahead of myself, though. Hezbollah hasn't yet accepted Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri's offer of 10 of the 30 seats in Lebanon's cabinet. But who am I kidding here; Hezbollah will be part of the next Lebanese government no matter what.

Of course, Israel is no stranger to being surrounded by terror states committed to its destruction. The Fatah conclave last month, Hamas's continued rocket attacks on southern Israel, and Syria serving as an Iranian client-state/sponsor for terrorist groups all prove their deep-seated enthusiasm for Jew-killing. Now, Lebanon can join the fray as an official terror state in the region. Israel does not have relations with Lebanon, and you can bet this recent development will set back any progress in that arena by years, if not decades.

Remember when Beirut was the 'Paris of the East?' Yeah, neither do I, but it actually was at one point a long, long time ago. When Hezbollah launches another war against Israel, notice I said 'when' and not 'if,' Beirut might warrant comparison to another European metropolis; Dresden circa 1945. What I mean here is that, due to Hezbollah's inclusion in the Lebanese government, Israel won't be pulling any punches in the next war. In fact, Prime Minister Netanyahu admitted as much in June:

"If Hizbullah joins the Lebanese government, then the Lebanese government is accepting responsibility for Hizbullah's actions, including its actions against Israel."

It's a very thinly veiled threat, sure, but it shows that Israel isn't going to play around in the next war with Hezbollah/Lebanon. If you ask me, and you obviously did if you're reading this blog, this is the proper attitude to have towards Lebanon: why should Israel hold back one iota towards a country so willing to embrace genocidal, Islamist nutjobs? Yeah, I can't think of a good reason either.

In other, related, news, I wonder if the US will reconsider sending military aid to Lebanon when Hezbollah accepts its seats in the Lebanese cabinet. If there's one way for the Obama administration to ruin its reputation even further in Israel, delivering American weapons and money to Hezbollah would be pretty high on the list. Will we be seeing a poll suggesting that 0% of Jewish Israelis consider Obama pro-Israel? Stay tuned.

Tweet4Shalit!

2009-08-26T06:53:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday, Gilad.

Gilad Shalit's 23rd birthday is on August 28, 2009. In advance of this event, Gilad's fourth such birthday in Hamas captivity, the folks at the JIDF and Radical Commentary have launched the 'Tweet4Shalit' campaign. I'll let Melissa, editor of Radical Commentary, explain the initiative:
"‘Tweet4Shalit’ is a virtual grassroots movement inspired by the struggle Gilad Shalit must endure daily as a prisoner of war and as a victim of Islamic extremism.‘Tweet4Shalit’ is a 24 hour Twitter event in which thousands of supporters will sign onto Twitter to tweet the hashtag ‘#GiladShalit’ with the goal of making Gilad a top ten Twitter ‘Trending Topic’ two days before his birth (recognizing that his actual birthday occurs on Shabbos)."

Essentially, it's an online solidarity campaign for Israel's lost son. If you remember, I wrote a fairly long post 2 months ago commemorating the 3 year anniversary of Gilad's kidnapping, so obviously this issue is near and dear to me.

If you're on twitter, write a tweet or two today using the hashtag '#GiladShalit' to keep it in Twitter's trending topics. As of this writing, "#GiladShalit" is at the #2 spot, right behind 'Senator Ted Kennedy,' which is no small feat. Also, if you're on Twitter, you can follow the organizers of the 'Tweet4Shalit' campaign @JIDF, and @Prislam, you can also follow me @JordanSK.

In other Gilad Shalit news, his sister, Hadas, has enlisted in the IDF today and there is supposedly an imminent deal to secure Gilad's release, but I won't hold my breath.

Anyway, remember to Tweet4Shalit today! Keep him in the public eye, let him and Hamas know we haven't forgotten about him on his 23rd birthday. Only good can come from this.

Update: The Blood Libel Spreads

2009-08-20T06:34:00.000-07:00

As predicted in the previous post, Out: Factual Reporting. In: Blood Libels and Historical Revisionism, the Swedish report that the soldiers of the IDF moonlight as organ harvesters is being picked up as truth in the Arab world. According to the Lebanese paragon of integrity in journalism, tayyar.org, this made up fantasy accusation against Israel is:
"A Horrible, revolting crime done by the Zionist against the Palestinians... I call upon the entire word and specifically the Arabs organizations that work to preserve "human rights", to read the article and call for an inquiry... Maybe will they be able to save those young Palestinians who deserve to live... As if it is not bad enough for them to be living in their own land, humiliated by the occupation, no it is not enough… They should also die and get their organs ripped away from their bodies for the Zionist to make money and live..what a bad irony!!"

Curious that the term "human rights" is in quotes. Perhaps because "human rights" in the Arab world hold as much significance as "dog rights" do in Casa de Michael Vick.

Adding insult to injury, the Swedish government is curiously silent over these bogus accusations. I can understand when a country dumb enough to vote for Hizbullah buys this garbage, but I thought Sweden was supposed to be 'progressive and intelligent.'

This is why these kinds of false accusations stink. Any time Israel is accused of war crimes, massacres, or anything else that is proven false, the harm to Israel's image is already done. No amount of damage control or clean up can erase the first impressions of the ignorant and gullible. As with every other battle Israel fights, the PR battle is one that is uphill and beset by enemies using dishonorable tactics.

Out: Factual Reporting. In: Blood Libels and Historical Revisionism

2009-08-19T14:38:00.000-07:00

A flurry of bogus stories regarding both Israel and Jews lately. Naturally, one of them comes from Palestinian TV, but the other two come from less obvious culprits: Sweden and Holland. Of course, anti-Semitism has existed in Europe since time immemorial, but the extents to which they're going now to spout anti-Semitic venom are right up there with the Nazis. Lots of allusions to the Nazis lately as well, with Democrats and Republicans trading barbs trying to paint each other as Hitlerian. I try not to throw around the term 'Nazi' willy-nilly, so you be the judge when you read the two anti-Semitic blood libels from Europe.

Exhibit A: Dutch journalist: Flu pandemics are Jewish conspiracy

Uhhh, come again? Not only does the Dutch journalist refer to the discredited Jews-as-Khazars theory, a favorite of anti-Semites I might add, she also completely forgets that 10 Israelis have already died due to the Great Jewish Flu Consipiracy. Her theory holds about as much water as the false rumor that no Jews died on 9/11. On a scale of 1 to Crazy, this broad is pushing the upper limits without doubt.

Exhibit B: Israel aghast at Swedish report on IDF

'Aghast' is a pretty strong word, what could this Swedish report possibly claim to leave the IDF so upset?
"In the story, headlined "They plunder the organs of our sons," and accompanied by a gruesome photograph, Palestinians are quoted as saying IDF soldiers kidnapped their sons and stole organs."

Oh, now 'aghast' makes sense. To boot, the Swedish journalist who broke this blood libel isn't even sure if it's true! Too late now, though, Donald Bostrom. This egregious lie is out in the ether and, presumably, being gobbled up the world over. Surely the same crowd that reads The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and stories about Jewish flu conspiracies will consider this gospel as well.

Exhibit C: No Jewish connection to Western Wall: PA university lecturer

Ah, the coup de grace. So we've been needlessly praying at and sticking notes into the cracks of a wall that doesn't even belong to us? Seeing as how the Quran mentions Jerusalem exactly zero times, I guess the holy city is neither holy, nor does it belong to anybody. Look at that, I just solved a major issue in the peace process.

I hate reading this stuff in the news or watching it on YouTube, I really do. I can't imagine you enjoy it either, but I share it because it needs to be seen. We can't take this stuff lying down, it needs to be exposed for what it is: lies and anti-Semitism, plain and simple.

Guess Who's Back...?

2009-08-17T14:51:00.000-07:00

"Is he wearing glasses?"

I am! After a long hiatus, during which I studied for and took the GMAT exam, I'm finally back on my home turf to analyze, theorize and crack-wise about all things Israel. A lot has happened in the past few weeks. There was a horrendous shooting in a Tel Aviv gay and lesbian center, Fatah held a conference in Bethlehem to prove they can be as hostile to Israel as Hamas, Iran's centrifuges continue to spin, and now Lady Gaga is in the Holy Land to perform in Tel Aviv on August 19 and possibly "get drunk in Jerusalem." Life moves pretty fast in Israel, and now that I'm back in the blogging fray, you won't have to miss any of it.

For now, I'll leave you with an interview between CNN's Fareed Zakaria and Israel's ambassador to the United States Michael Oren. Oren, who sounds as American as any other Princeton Ph. D. in Near East studies, deftly discusses the Iranian nuclear threat, the Arab Israeli conflict, and his boss's, that would be Bibi Netanyahu's, vision for a two-state solution. The Oren interview runs until about the 22 minute mark, at which point both Zakaria stopped discussing Israel, and I tuned out.

You can find the interview here: Fareed Zakaria interviews Michael Oren on CNN

"Our fundamental condition for cooperating with Germany was a free hand to eradicate every last Jew from Palestine and the Arab world."

2009-07-28T17:09:00.000-07:00

Husseini with his BFF (Best Fuhrer Friend)

Alan Dershowitz has long been a staunch and outspoken defender of the Jewish State. In a July 26 blog for the Jerusalem Post, Dershowitz articulately flips the Palestinian narrative of Israel's creation on its head. That narrative essentially goes like this: Israel was born out of Western guilt for the Holocaust, Israel's creation punished the Palestinians even though they had nothing to do with the Holocaust. Unfortunately, for Europe's Jews and this narrative, this is categorically untrue.

Hajj Amin al-Husseini, the Palestinian Arab leader during World War II, had a very prominent role in Hitler's 'Final Solution' and was directly responsible for the deaths of thousands of European Jews. Behold:

"Husseini's significant contributions to the Holocaust were multi-fold: first, he pleaded with Hitler to exterminate European Jewry and advised the Nazis on how to do so; second, he visited Auschwitz and urged Eichmann and Himmler to accelerate the pace of the mass murder; third, he personally stopped 4,000 children, accompanied by 500 adults, from leaving Europe and had them sent to Auschwitz and gassed; fourth, he prevented another two thousand Jews from leaving Romania for Palestine and one thousand from leaving Hungary for Palestine, who were subsequently sent to death camps; fifth, he organized the killing of 12,600 Bosnian Jews by Muslims, whom he recruited to the Waffen-SS Nazi-Bosnian division."

Of course, these are the actions of one man. What of the rest of the Palestinian Arabs? Luckily, for the Jews of Palestine and the Arab world, Husseini's plans never came to fruition:

"Hitler assured Husseini about how he would be regarded following a Nazi victory and "the destruction of the Jewish element residing in the Arab sphere." In that hour, the mufti would be the most authoritative spokesman for the Arab world. It would then be his task to set off the Arab operations that he had secretly prepared."

In other words, Hitler's 'Final Solution' would have been exported to the Middle East and over 1 million more Jews would have been slaughtered in the process. A sobering thought to be sure, even more so when Husseini's successors are considered. From Nasser, Arafat and the elder Assad, to Meshaal, Nasrallah, Ahmadinejad and the younger Assad, it is easy to see how the best-laid plans of genocidal maniacs have endured and, for the time being, gone awry.

"I kill myself to protect you and you're throwing me out?"

2009-07-27T07:21:00.000-07:00

You don't want to rob this convenience store

The title of this post is an IDF elite combat soldier's direct quote. The soldier is responding to an employee of a Tel Aviv bar who is asking him to leave for wearing his IDF uniform, or as the bar employee put it:

"Your shirt symbolizes sh&^ and disgust, and as soon as I see your shirt, it hurts me. So before I hurt you, I'm asking you to leave."

The bar is called Rogatka (Slingshot), it's 100% vegan, and it's owned by an anarchist collective. The owners of Rogatka hope to attract "environmentalists, left-wing activists, and other likeminded people," as long as they're not wearing IDF uniforms.

Rogatka's owners fail to recognize who preserves their right to own a vegan/anarchist bar, who makes it possible for any bars to exist in Israel at all, and who makes the ultimate sacrifice to protect Israeli citizens (even the thankless ones). The 'who' in question, of course, are the men and women of the IDF, and they deserve better than this.

The sad irony here is trying to imagine how far an anarchist/vegan bar would get in a city that is not protected by the IDF, say Gaza or Damascus. Would the owners of such a bar require that the Hamas or Hezbollah members take off their ski masks and AK-47s before entry or, more likely, would the owners get carted to the gallows for having dissenting views and serving alcohol? Luckily for Rogatka's owners, that's only a rhetorical question.

David Saranga's Public Diplomacy Op-Ed for Ynet

2009-07-16T12:30:00.000-07:00

You might remember David Saranga, the Consul for Media and Public Affairs of Israel in the United States, from my post covering my Israel advocacy seminar in Boston. Today he wrote an Op-Ed for Yedioth Ahronoth's (an Israeli newspaper) website Ynetnews.com. In it, he writes about many of the topics he discussed during the Israel advocacy seminar; new media, social networking, and how Israel can use these tools to influence public perception. The article is linked below, along with a few snippets in case you don't have time to read an entire Op-Ed.

A new diplomatic approach

"More recently, the social networks that have now penetrated large segments of our society have become tools that allow us to spread Israel’s message directly - unmediated by the press. This can be achieved by Israel’s official governmental bodies, as well as the Israeli public, who is very much concerned about Israel’s image in the world..."

"The government, for all its innovation, cannot fight effectively by itself on all fronts in the era of the Internet. The fact that Israeli society is so technologically advanced can certainly help in spreading our message to different audiences. Israelis who are active in social networks, participate in international forums, and speak English - which is so widely spoken in Israel - can play an integral role in strengthening the country’s public diplomacy."

I have a feeling we'll be hearing from David Saranga a lot more in the future. He's spearheading Israel's public diplomacy and is helping Israel set the standard for outreach through new media and social networking. Keep on fighting the good fight, Consul.

18th Maccabiah Kicks off in Ramat Gan

2009-07-13T11:44:00.000-07:00

Watch the opening ceremonies live online here:

Jewish Life TV

or here:

ATDHE.net

If the actual events don't fall within the hours of my Clark Kent job, I'll try to cover this more.

Enjoy.

"Our goal has never been peace. Peace is a means; and the goal is Palestine"

2009-07-13T06:48:00.000-07:00

Many see Fatah and Hamas in the Jekyll and Hyde roles; but are they really that different?

In much of the world, and especially the West, Fatah and Hamas are seen as diametrically opposed. Fatah is the moderate, peaceful, and legitimate representative of the Palestinians, while Hamas is the tyrannical Islamist group bent on Israel's destruction. But is this really the case?

Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) recently posted a video of a Fatah official declaring:

"Our goal has never been peace. Peace is a means; and the goal is Palestine"

Palestine, of course, is referring not to a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza, but to all of historic Palestine; namely the West Bank, Gaza and Israel. Sounds a little Hamas-esque, doesn't it?

Here's another choice quote advocating for Israel's destruction from Fatah MP Najat Abu Bakr:

"It doesn't mean that we don't want the 1948 borders, but rather that our current political program is to say that we want the 1967 borders."

So wanting to destroy Israel, while saying you don't, makes you moderate? At least Hamas is brazenly honest in their intentions. Why can't Fatah demonstrate the same, brutal honesty? As with most things, it boils down to money. Take it away, PA official Mohammed Dahlan:

"The Fatah movement does not recognize Israel, even today... [such recognition is] required of the government but not of the Fatah, so that this government will be able to offer the necessary assistance, to carry out the necessary reconstruction, to offer assistance to the sick, to bring relief to needy families... This can be dealt with [only] by a government that has relations with the international community, one that is acceptable to the international community, in order that we can work together and benefit from the international community."

This is akin to telling your welfare case worker you're looking for a job when you're actually lazing around all day watching TV. Instead of Dr. Jekyll, is Fatah the George Costanza of the Middle East? If only they were that harmless...

Mike Wallace Interviews Abba Eban on Israel's 10th Anniversary

2009-07-10T14:30:00.000-07:00

Abba Eban, the "voice of Israel"

You read that right, Israel's 10th anniversary. The Harry Ransom Center at The University of Texas at Austin recently unearthed this TV interview taped April 12, 1958. Abba Eban, then Israel's ambassador to America, masterfully and eloquently defends Israel's actions, viability, and very right to exist in this half hour interview. It might be his charming South African accent, but I find Eban to be infinitely more compelling, persuasive, and well-spoken than his 2009 counterparts. Here's a great quote to illustrate my point:

WALLACE: Can a Jew be a good Jew and still be opposed to Zionism and to Israel?

EBAN: In my own personal interpretation, I would say that a man who opposed the State of Israel and the great movement which brought it about, would be in revolt against the most constructive and creative events in the life of the Jewish people, and it's a fact that the great majority of our kinsmen everywhere, are exalted and uplifted by these events.

WALLACE: But Judaism is a religion, sir

EBAN: It is a religion, and it is a peoplehood, and it is a civilization, and it is a faith, and it is a memory; it is a world of thought and of spirit and of action and it cannot be restrictively defined.

And they say Bibi is a good speaker. Wow.

Give the interview a gander and decide for yourself:

Abba Eban: The Mike Wallace Interview

My reaction:

There are many aspects of Israel's present and past that share commonalities; yet there are also many paths from which the two have diverged. In 1958 it was Egypt, under Nasser, promoting its pan-Arab hegemonic views with the stated goal of eliminating the fledgling Jewish State. Israel is now at peace with Egypt, but the existential threat remains in Iran under Khamenei, attempting to control the region through Revolutionary Islam. Back then, public figures were comparing Israel's actions against Arabs to those of the Nazis against the Jews; today is no different. Diaspora Jews were accused of dual loyalties both then and now.

It's not all bad, however. Israel's economy in 1958 was weak in its nascent stages, while today Israel is a major player in the world economy with its high-tech, agriculture, and tourism industries. Furthermore, Israel is at peace with two of its Arab neighbors, enjoys a much stronger friendship with the United States, has reunified Jerusalem as its capital, and has seen its population nearly quadruple since 1958. Finally, in 2009 there are no more cigarette commercials on TV, much less interviewers smoking during a show. This was probably the most unbelievable aspect of the interview to me. Mike Wallace must have gone through half a pack of Parliaments in that half hour and, miraculously, he's still alive in 2009. Good on him.

As we've seen with the dramatic declines in cigarette advertising, a lot can change in 51 years. Although many of the same problems Israel faced in 1958 still exist today, others remain only in history books. Let us hope that 51 years from now, Israel will still be a thriving, strong state with even fewer problems than it has now.

Until next time, my name is Jordan Katz, the cigarette is Parliament.

Advocating for Israel - Part 2

2009-07-07T18:07:00.000-07:00

One of Israel's Best Branding Representatives

Picking up where I left off in Advocating for Israel - Part 1, here's the sequel. Think of it as The Dark Knight to Batman Begins...

I'll be covering:

Israel and the Media
Branding Israel
The US-Israel Relationship Today and Tomorrow

Israel and the Media: After discussing the media's role in society, how the media set an agenda, and how the media frame their stories, we dove right into a discussion of a subject that was painfully obvious to the seminar participants; the media cannot ever be 100% objective. However, news out of Israel is not only subjective; it is sometimes very biased against the Jewish State. We discussed several reasons for why this bias exists, how it manifests, and viewed a few examples of the bias in action:

Some reasons why the bias exists:

Anti-Semitism
Ignorance or misrepresentation of the situation in Israel and the Middle East
Pallywood (i.e. "media manipulation, distortion and outright fraud by the Palestinians and other Arabs designed to win the public relations war against Israel").

How the bias manifests in coverage of Israel:

Here's some Anti-Semitism you might recognize from a previous post
Here's a gross misrepresentation of a photo run in the New York Times with the caption; "An Israeli policeman and a Palestinian on the Temple Mount." The only problem is that the photo is depicting a Jew being defended by an Israeli policeman from Arabs in a neighborhood outside of the Old City altogether.
Here's a photo, carried by Reuters, of a comical example of Pallywood at work. Notice the daylight seeping through the curtains on the left side of the picture. Why would the suffering Palestinian lawmakers waste candles during an oppressive Israeli 'electricity blockade?' I'll answer that question with another; why waste an opportunity to make Israel look bad when Reuters is snapping photos?

For a much more in-depth examination of media bias in the Arab-Israeli conflict, check out HonestReporting, CAMERA, MEMRI, and PMW

Branding Israel: David Saranga, Consul for Media and Public Affairs of Israel in the United States, presented this segment of the seminar. Consul Saranga is the man behind Israel's efforts to rebrand itself through public diplomacy. Using focus groups, Web 2.0 technologies and public events, Israel is attempting to change the public's perceptions of the Jewish State. Due to Consul Saranga's Israel branding intiative, Israel is the first country to host an official blog, has its own YouTube and Facebook pages, held a photoshoot with Maxim Magazine showcasing the women of the IDF, and even conducted a press conference on Twitter during Operation Cast Lead. Clearly, Consul Saranga is a busy guy and we were very lucky to have him at our Israel Advocacy seminar.

After learning about the Israel branding initiative, we broke out into groups with the task to design an exhibit showcasing Israel at Expo 2010 in Shanghai, China, which is expected to attract 70 million visitors. After 30 minutes of brainstorming and using Crayola markers to illustrate our exhibits, the groups got together to present our ideas which, while distinct, shared some common themes:

Portraying Israel as a country with thousands of years of history and tradition, while at the same time illustrating its place as a modern, liberal democracy
Showcasing Israel's booming high-tech industry with hands-on opportunities for the Expo's attendees to use some of Israel's technologies
Displaying Israel's contributions to the green energy movement, focusing on Israel's innovations in solar power, water desalination, and energy independence
Showing that Israel is not just a Jewish State, but is a place welcome to members of all faiths, creeds and races.

It will be interesting to see how Israel actually presents itself in the Expo and, knowing Israelis, those responsible will probably decide at the last minute. Consul Saranga's words, not mine.

The US-Israel Relationship Today and Tomorrow: The last segment of a whirlwind two and a half day seminar, presented by Naomi Nuta of AIPAC's Boston offices.

Contrary to Walt and Mearsheimer's book The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, AIPAC is not a devious organization attempting to elevate Israel at the expense of America. Rather, AIPAC represents a bipartisan voice of American Jews, does not give money to politicians, and takes into consideration both American and Israeli interests. A list of their accomplishments from the past half century can be found here. Some of the most pressing issues on AIPAC's radar are listed below:

Passing tough sanctions on Iran for its nuclear program
Ensuring Israel's qualitative military edge in the Middle East
Creating cooperation between Israel and the USA in energy and national security

AIPAC's actions are mutually beneficial to both Israel and the United States. Preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon benefits both countries, as it keeps the Middle East (relatively) stable and prevents a nuke from potentially targeting Tel Aviv or New York. Israel's qualitative military edge ensures the survival of the USA's greatest ally, and the only liberal democracy, in the region. Energy and national security cooperation reduce both the United States and Israel's dependence on foreign energy and keep both countries safe from terrorism.

AIPAC's work ultimately benefits both the United States and Israel; two allies with similar ideals, goals, challenges and enemies.

Conclusion: I'll keep this short since I imagine you're hunched over your screen trying to get to this marathon post's finish line. It was a great seminar with great guests, I learned a lot and consider myself to be a better advocate for Israel than I was before. Sometime soon, my DC cohorts and I will plan an Israel event based on what we learned in Boston. Stay tuned for that and I'll keep you posted.

Conflict-Free Israeli Gems

2009-07-06T17:44:00.000-07:00

Israel21c.net is a non-profit educational foundation with a mission to focus media and public attention on the 21st century Israel that exists beyond the conflict; a description I shamelessly ripped from their website. They focus on the innovations in science, technology, art, music, and much more, coming from Israel today. Of course the conflict can't be totally ignored (especially by the mainstream American media), but it's always nice to hear about how Israel is contributing to the world outside of fighting terror. Israel21c.net is a great portal site for everything Israel, and I highly recommend you check it out.

The site even has a 'Did you Know?' page which lists dozens of factoids detailing Israel's accomplishments. I've handpicked a few to list here to whet your appetite (with my comments in parentheses):

Israel annually exports more than 1.5 billion flowers to the US and Europe (thus freeing countless husbands and boyfriends from sleepless nights on the couch.)
An Israeli company has developed the world's first video ringtones for cell phones - the Vringo (so now we get to hear and see Soulja Boy when our phones ring?!)
Bill Gates called Israel a major player in the high tech world (which is equivalent to Al Pacino calling you a major player in yelling.)
Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers was produced by Haim Saban, an Israeli whose family fled persecution in Egypt (is this really something to brag about?)
Most of the Windows NT operating system was developed by Microsoft-Israel (if it would have been Vista, this doesn't make the list.)
An Israeli doctor claims that he has succeeded in developing a female equivalent to Viagra called Sheagra (too much humor potential here, best to leave it alone.)
An Israeli study has shown that anger may trigger strokes (while a separate, 1-subject study found that anger may trigger a transformation into a giant, green, humanoid monster)

And that's just the beginning, be sure to view the complete list here, sans commentary. Enjoy!

Advocating for Israel - Part 1

2009-07-05T09:06:00.000-07:00

With Cartoons like this, from America no Less, Israel Advocacy is Vital

Israel is under attack, and while the IDF has proven time and again to be more than capable of fending off military threats, there are other arenas in which the Jewish State's enemies are waging war. On these new battlefields, Israel's most important weapons are not fighter jets, missiles or guns, but persuasive arguments, truth-telling and education.

Between June 28 and 30, 2009, I participated in an Israel Education and Advocacy Seminar in Boston, MA, hosted by the David Project and Birthright Israel NEXT. Prominent speakers like Ehud Eiran, an expert on Israeli security, David Saranga, the Israeli Consul for Media and Public Affairs at the consulate General in New York, and Naomi Nuta, AIPAC's Boston Area Director, gave talks dealing with their respective fields of expertise. There were numerous group activities, break out sessions, and PowerPoint slides to digest, all with the intent to turn the attendees into educated and well prepared advocates for Israel. The seminar covered the following topics:

The Ideological Assault Against Israel
An Analysis of Israel's Security Challenges
Israel and the Media
Branding Israel
The US-Israel Relationship Today and Tomorrow

It's difficult to pack 3 days of lectures and activities into one blog post, so I'm going to briefly cover half of the topics in this post, leave you with a cliffhanger, and cover the second half in the next post.

The Ideological Assault Against Israel: The parties waging an ideological assault against Israel are varied, yet their main objective is the same; to mentally prepare the world for Israel's elimination. We discussed the 3 major aggressors and their tactics in the ideological battle; Arabs/Muslims, the ultra-left, and the ultra-right on the political spectrum. The tactics include dehumanizing Jews/Israel, painting Israelis as modern-day Nazis, accusing Israel of running an apartheid state (I'm looking at you, Jimmy Carter), denying historical Jewish claims to the land of Israel and especially Jerusalem, and economic and intellectual divestment. We broke into 4 groups dealing with a real-life divestment scenario in Somerville, MA, discussing our strategies and methods for countering Somerville's attempts to divest from Israel. Somerville's arguments for divestment were fairly typical:

"Palestinians have been subject to a system of extreme discrimination and human rights abuses including the forced dislocation in 1948."

"Somerville has money invested in Israel Bonds as well as military companies benefitting off of the attacks on Palestinians."

There was broad consensus amongst the seminar attendees as to how a divestment effort should be countered:

Build a diverse coalition of academia, politicians, Evangelical Christians, AIPAC, Arab Zionists and everyday people who support Israel (think Joe the Plumber) to combat the divestment efforts.
Craft a message that exposes the divestment supporters for totally ignoring the reasons why Israel needs to use force to keep its citizens safe, while making the case that the United States and Israel face similar threats of terrorism and are combating the same foes, and that the United States and Israel are both liberal democracies with similar ideals and principles that respect minority rights.
Strategically deliver the message through our coalition to refute the arguments made by the divestment supporters, illuminate the threats to Israel's security, and prove that the USA and Israel have similar interests and goals through lectures, town halls, debates and other public events.

This may seem like an excessive effort to keep a city of less than 80,000 from divesting from Israel, but it is important to consider that if one city divests from Israel, what's stopping others from following suit? Sending Israel's ideological opponents a clear message that Israel's supporters and advocates won't stand for the demonization, divestment or defamation of the Jewish State makes others less likely to attack Israel in the future. Just as the IDF serves as an effective deterrent to terrorists and Arab/Muslim states on the battlefield, so too can Israel advocates serve as effective ideological deterrents to Israel's enemies in the war of ideas.

An Analysis of Israel's Security Challenges: After discussing Israel's struggle against ideological enemies, Ehud Eiran, Research Fellow for the Belfer Center’s International Security Program at Harvard University, broke down Israel's current security threats by providing an historical context. Israel's historical threats stemmed from a variety of claims and beliefs on the part of Israel's enemies:

Jews are not a national group and therefore do not deserve a state
Historic Palestine is land entrusted by Allah to Muslims
Europeans created Israel out of guilt from the Holocaust
The 1948 War of Independence created Arab refugees
Israel is an affront and a humiliation to Muslim hegemony in the region
The neighboring regimes are not free and democratic societies
The 1967 6-Day War left Israel with millions of Palestinians under its control
And, let's face it, the Middle East isn't exactly Mayberry.

These conditions and beliefs gave rise to the attempted wars of annihilation against Israel in 1948, 1967 and 1973, Palestinian terrorism as exemplified by the 1st and 2nd Intifadas, Hezbollah's creation in Lebanon, and the continuing policy of Arab/Muslim rejectionism.

Today, Israel still faces these attitudes and threats from its neighbors, with the added wrinkle of an Iranian regime bent on Israel's destruction by means of a nuclear bomb. Aside from its pursuit of nukes, Iran is also the primary funder of both Hamas and Hezbollah, and is attempting to export its Islamic Revolutionary worldview throughout the region. Needless to say, Iran's maniacal quest for atomic weapons and patronage of genocidal terror organizations are Israel's highest priorities on the security front today.

Our group activity dealt with preparing a strategy to communicate the reasons behind a hypothetical Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear sites. While this situation is not (yet) real like the Somerville Divestment case study, it is still useful to proactively craft a message justifying a strike on Iran's nuke sites. Each day that diplomatic overtures fail to contain Iran's nuclear program is a day closer to an Israeli strike being necessary, and it's far better to have your message at the ready. I'm sure Israel's PR people are diligently planning for such an event right now, and might even find an unlikely, albeit tacit, friend in attempting to justify its strike on Iranian nuclear sites; Saudi Arabia.

This wraps up the first part of my Boston odyssey in Israel advocacy. Stay tuned for part deux in the next couple of days.

Shalit's Release Imminent?

2009-06-27T15:23:00.000-07:00

Not trying to get anyone's hopes up, but here's the latest from the Jerusalem Post:

The London-based Asharq Alawsat reported Saturday significant progress in negotiations to release captive IDF soldier Gilad Schalit, held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip for over three years.
Captive IDF soldier Gilad Schalit.
Photo: Channel 10 [file]
SLIDESHOW: Israel & Region | World
According to the report, Israel and Hamas reached a compromise according to which Israel would eventually release 1,100 Palestinian prisoners, of which 400 would be picked by Hamas.
Hamas ministers and parliamentarians would also be released, according to the reported agreement.
Israel would also remove the siege of the Gaza Strip, open the southern Rafah Crossing and return it to the level of operation that existed before the Hamas coup two years ago.
The paper reported that the plan received the blessing of the United States.
Israeli and Palestinian sources both doubted the veracity of Asharq Alawsat's report, andThe Jerusalem Post could not verify its reliability.

Nothing is confirmed as of yet. I'll post again as soon as more news comes in.

Three Years Gone

2009-06-25T14:33:00.000-07:00

Gilad Shalit

On June 25, 2006, Palestinian terrorists staged a cross border raid from the Gaza Strip into Israel near the Kerem Shalom border crossing point. Using underground tunnels enabled the terrorists to cross into Israel undetected and catch the IDF off guard. The terrorists murdered two soldiers, Pavel Slutzker and Hanan Barak, and kidnapped a third, Gilad Shalit, who has remained in captivity until today.

This raid, along with a similar attack by Hezbollah into Northern Israel on July 12, 2006, kicked off Israel's two-front conflict in Gaza and Lebanon in the summer of 2006. Hezbollah's cross-border attack resulted in two additional IDF soldiers, Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, falling into terrorist hands. Autopsies revealed that both Regev and Goldwasser most likely died in the intial attack, yet Hezbollah held their remains as a bargaining chip in a ransom deal they would strike with Israel in July of 2008.

Israel agreed to release the remains of 199 Hezbollah members and 5 living terrorists, including the notorious child-killer Samir Kuntar, in exchange for Regev's and Goldwasser's coffins. It was a controversial deal to be sure, especially considering the heinous nature of Kuntar's crimes and his promise to return to the jihad against Israel: "God willing, I will get the chance to kill more Israelis." Despite the worst intentions of the freed terrorists, all that matters in Israel is the end result; its sons are home.

Efforts to secure Shalit's release have been ongoing for 3 years. Israel tried rescuing Shalit through the military route in the early days after his kidnapping. Ever since, Israel has attempted to free Gilad through a prisoner exchange with Hamas, which wants Israel to free hundreds of terrorists currently held in Israeli jails. Hamas has demanded Israel free many terrorists with blood on their hands which, quite rightly, makes many Israelis uneasy. According to a 2007 study by the The Almagor Terrorist Victims Association, over 30 terror attacks have been committed by terrorists freed in prisoner exchanges or otherwise, killing 177 innocent Israeli civilians. However, a recent poll found that 69% of adult Jewish Israelis support the release of Palestinian prisoners who have been directly involved in terror attacks in exchange for Shalit.

To Americans, this may seem like a strange contradiction, but Israelis see the situation much differently.

"When no military option exists, there is no choice but to enter negotiations and pay a price." Yitzhak Rabin said this in 1985 after Israel agreed to release 1,150 prisoners for 3 Israeli soldiers. In 2004, the Israeli government declared: "The Government of Israel...reiterates its commitment to take any action and make every effort, and not to rest, until all POWs and MIAs are returned to Israel."

Ever since the 1948 War of Independence, the army, and especially the soldiers, have been Israel's heart and soul. For the government to do anything less than the absolute maximum to secure a soldier's release would be an affront to the brave men and women who have kept Israel alive and kicking for 61 years. Additionally, the policy of freeing captured Israelis at any cost lets the soldiers know that they are highly valued and will not be forgotten should they fall into enemy hands. This policy is why, right now, the Israeli government is doing its damnedest to free Gilad, even if it means granting freedom to murderers who will likely kill again.

Gilad Shalit is believed to be alive, although Hamas has not allowed the Red Cross to confirm this, constituting a war crime. But when it comes to Hamas, what's one more war crime to them in the grand scheme? The Egyptian government has attempted to mediate an exchange between Hamas and the Israeli government yet, so far, efforts have been fruitless. There are near daily protests in Israel, often attended by Gilad's parents, Noam and Aviva, to demonstrate in support of Gilad and to pressure the government into securing his release. Paris, Rome, Miami and New Orleans have all given honorary citizenship to Gilad Shalit to express solidarity. All of Israel, and many Jews in the Diaspora, are standing behind this young man to make sure he comes home safe.

Today, we look back to remember and honor Pavel Slutzker and Hanan Barak on their yahrtzeit. Today we also look forward to Gilad Shalit's redemption from captivity, his return to family and friends, and his resumption of a normal and happy life.

NYC Gets a Bad Case of Tel Aviv Beach Envy

2009-06-23T08:59:00.000-07:00

Flier from the Tel Aviv 100th Birthday Party in NYC

Tel Aviv's beginnings; from the most reliable source on the Interwebs:

"In April 1909, sixty-six Jewish families gathered on a desolate sand dune on what is now Rothschild Boulevard to parcel out the land by lottery using seashells. The lottery was organized by Akiva Arye Weiss, the president of the association. Weiss had an original idea, the names of the families were inscribed on white shells and the plot number on gray shells. Within a year, Herzl, Ahad Ha'am, Yehuda Halevi, Lilienblum, and Rothschild streets were built; a water system was installed; and 66 houses (including some on six subdivided plots) were completed. At the end of Herzl Street, a plot was allocated for a new building for the Herzliya Hebrew High School, founded in Jaffa in 1906. On May 21, 1910, the name Tel Aviv was adopted."

100 years later, Tel Aviv is slightly larger than 66 houses and one high school. The city itself is home to nearly 400,000 Israelis, serves as Israel's economic hub, and is widely considered Israel's most cosmopolitan city; with bars, cafes, museums, clubs and boutiques lining the streets. Tel Aviv is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its modern architecture.

In Israel, they have been celebrating Tel Aviv's Centennial since April of this year, and will continue to do so for the remainder of 2009 with bike rides, concerts, and other events.

But why should Israel get to have all the fun? On Sunday, June 21, New York City's Central Park was transformed into a veritable Tel Aviv beach scene, complete with 30 tons of sand, Israeli musical acts (such as Hatikva 6) and matkot; Hebrew for paddleball.

Additional cities will be able to partake in Tel Aviv's 100th birthday as well. There will be two more Tel Aviv beach days later this summer; one in Vienna (Austria, not Virginia) and the other in Copenhagen. LA, Paris and Brussels will also host events, sans the imported sand. David Saranga, the consul for media and public affairs at the Israeli Consulate General in New York says it's all part of an outreach program to restore Tel Aviv's, and by extension Israel's, image in the eyes of the world after Operation Cast Lead earlier this year.

However, Israel's outreach to NYC and the global community at large fell on some deaf ears, I'm afraid. Lunatics from the Westboro Baptist Church and Code Pink crashed the beach party. I don't know what the Church's message was at the beach, but I do know that they helped an NYC synagogue raise $10,000 while they picketed it; which surely wasn't the Church's intent. The ladies of Code Pink came in their Sunday best bikinis, and that's where the pleasantries halted. They brought the usual anti-Israel jibber jabber about the IDF committing war crimes, and even campaigned to boycott Ahava products. The only crimes that Ahava has committed is that their stuff smells way too good and costs way too much money. If these chicks actually went to Israel and bought some duty-free mud and moisturizer, I have no doubt they'd acquit Ahava of the latter offense.

All in all, a good time was had by most (excluding the protesters). No one got stung by jellyfish or swam too quickly after a falafel, and the leftover sand was donated to local NYC playgrounds. A pretty good day for a 100th birthday celebration if you ask me.

My Current Regime was Oppressive, so Iran to Demonstrate in the Streets

2009-06-20T18:27:00.000-07:00

Massive Protest in Iran led by Mir Hossein Mousavi

What can we make of the Iranian uprising? On the one hand, it's good to see the youth of Teheran and elsewhere take to the streets in peaceful protests. On the other, will any real change come from all this once the dust settles?

If you haven't been paying attention to the events, and/or haven't watched TV, listened to the radio or surfed the net in the last week, the rundown is as follows:

Friday, June 12: Iranians hit the polls to vote for four candidates, all of whom have the the Mullahs' seal of approval. The two candidates of note are incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Mir Hossein Mousavi, a reformist challenger.
Saturday, June 13: The Iranian interior ministry releases the election results: 63% of the vote for Ahmadinejad, 34% for Mousavi.
Sunday, June 14 - Present: All hell breaks loose.

It's really been a site to behold as hundreds of thousands, and perhaps even millions, of Iranians have peacefully protested the election results which, by the way, were most likely fraudulent.

New media (blogs, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc.) have played a large role in getting information to and from Iran. The ruling regime has tried their best to impose a media blackout on its citizens, yet the tech savvy Iranians have found ways around the information blockade, setting the Interwebs ablaze with almost constant updates. Many of the updates from inside Iran are video and commentary reporting the brutal and thuggish methods the regime is using to quell the uprising. Dozens have been killed and scores have been injured, yet the protests rage on.

With regards to Israel, as with Iran, the situation remains unclear. If the status quo holds up and Ahmadinejad retains the presidency, nothing changes from the Israeli perspective. His feelings towards Israel are clear:

"Those who think they can revive the stinking corpse of the usurping and fake Israeli regime by throwing a birthday party are seriously mistaken. Today the reason for the Zionist regime's existence is questioned, and this regime is on its way to annihilation."

This cat doesn't mince words, does he?

As challenger to Ahmadinejad, Mousavi portrayed himself as a reform candidate. But if one digs a little deeper, it becomes clear that he was a hard-liner as well. As Iranian Prime Minister in the 1980s, Mousavi was one of the founders of Hezbollah, a terror organization based in Lebanon that you might remember lobbing Katyusha rockets into northern Israel in 2006. Also of note, it was Mousavi who founded Iran's nuclear program in the 1980s; the same nuclear program with which the regime intends to threaten Israel's very existence.

Perhaps Mousavi has abandoned his hard-line views towards the Jewish state, but that remains to be seen. At this point, it seems as if the protests have moved beyond the questionable election results and to the Iranians' general dissatisfaction with the theocratic and oppressive Mullocracy. This is a good sign for Israel, as an overthrown radical Iranian regime that is replaced by a liberal democracy is practically the best-case scenario. Israeli minister for Strategic Affairs, Moshe Yaalon, believes that a revolution will take place, but that the nuclear program will continue:

"It will be impossible to contain the energy there is now, I believe the Iranian regime will have to take this into consideration. While this will have no effect on the nuclear issue, this regime will fall."

Unfortunately, for now, the question of how this will impact Israel goes unanswered. Israel can take heart in the protests, the Iranian youth demonstrating openness towards the West, and the push for Democracy. But until real change occurs, the Jewish state will have to remain vigilant.

Reactions to Bibi's Speech: Israelis Approve; Arabs, on the Other Hand...

2009-06-17T10:24:00.000-07:00

Clockwise from top: Israeli PM Bibi Netanyahu, Hamas Boss Khaled Mashaal, PA President Mahmoud Abbas, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and Ann B. Davis as Alice

What's that saying about 2 Jews and 3 opinions? However it goes, it didn't apply to Bibi's June 14 speech at Bar Ilan University (covered HERE).

Haaretz poll: Netanyahu approval rating leaps after policy speech

"For example, in only a month, Netanyahu's approval rating has jumped 16 percentage points from a low of 28 percent the day after the cabinet debate over the budget on May 14. The 44 percent achieved yesterday comes a day after the speech...

The Israeli public overwhelmingly supports Netanyahu's speech - 71 percent. According to the poll, the prime minister said the right things and the television event Sunday night will help Israel in the international arena."

In this case, at least, we can put to bed the myth of the schizophrenic nature of Jewish opinions.

The Arabs, too, were consistent in their opinions, but that's where the similarity ended.

The Palestinian Authority fired the opening salvos: PA: Speech dealt deadly blow to peace process

First, they attacked Bibi's conditions for peace:

"Netanyahu's speech was a right-wing speech that destroyed the basis for negotiations when it talked of a unified Jerusalem, removing the refugee issue from the talks and recognizing a Jewish state. This is a speech that is about setting terms"

Then they called the peace process 'paralyzed':

"Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rdainah was also critical of the address. "Netanyahu's remarks have sabotaged all initiatives, paralyzed all efforts being made and challenges the Palestinian, Arab and American positions,"
The Syrians went a step further: Syrian state paper: Netanyahu wants apartheid

Comparing Israel to apartheid South Africa or Nazi Germany is a favorite tactic of the Jewish State's detractors, and the Syrians chose the former:"'Zionist government agrees to set up Palestinian cantons reminiscent of blacks' cantons in racist South Africa'.

Hamas, not to be ignored, also got in on the action: Netanyahu accepts a disarmed Palestinian state

"This speech reflects the racist and extremist ideology of Netanyahu and denies all the rights of the Palestinian people,' Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum told AFP"

Racist and extremist? One need only take a look at Hamas's charter to see some real racist and extremist language:

"Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it."

"The Day of Judgement will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Muslims, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharkad tree, would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews."

What makes a tree Jewish? Does a mohel have to trim the branches? Only Hamas knows...

In conclusion, the speech played well with the Israelis, and not so well with the Arabs. What was it that Bibi said in his speech about the root of the conflict? Oh yes, this:

"The simple truth is that the root of the conflict has been and remains the refusal to recognize the right of the Jewish People to its own state in its historical homeland."

When he's right, he's right.

Benjamin Netanyahu Delivers Peace Policy Speech

2009-06-15T10:52:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, June 14, Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a major policy speech from Bar Ilan University regarding peace with the Palestinians. The Israeli Prime Minister is walking a very thin line to maintain the support of both Israelis and Israel’s greatest ally, the United States. In my humble opinion, Bibi didn’t disappoint.

Netanyahu made overtures to satisfy both the USA and his governing coalition. The Obama administration, like its predecessors, has called for the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza. Yesterday, breaking from his Likud party’s tradition, Netanyahu called for a Palestinian state as well, but with several conditions that ought to satisfy his colleagues in the Knesset:

Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state
A demilitarized Palestinian state
A dismissal of the Palestinian refugee ‘right of return’
An end to Palestinian incitement towards Israel and Jews
Economic ties and cooperation
A unified Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty

Nothing new here.

Israel has been asking for Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state since the peace process began. Most recently, Mahmoud Abbas, leader of the Palestinian Fatah party and the Palestinian Prime Minister, rejected outright the notion of a Jewish state. “I do not accept it, it is not my job to give a description of the state. Name yourself the Hebrew Socialist Republic — it is none of my business.” (SOURCE) Then again, a Likud Prime Minister has never accepted a Palestinian state until yesterday, so we’ll see if Abbas changes his tune.

Consensus among Israelis since the Oslo Peace Accords of 1993 has been that a hostile and armed Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza would be an existential threat for Israel. Netanyahu repeatedly stressed the point of a demilitarized Palestinian state, citing the example of ‘Hamastan,’ better known as the Gaza strip, which Israel evacuated of any Jewish presence in 2005. Since the disengagement from Gaza, thousands of rockets have rained down upon southern Israeli cities and towns. Conditions in Sderot and Ashkelon are nearly unbearable. To wit, “between 75 percent and 94 percent of Sderot children aged 4-18 exhibit symptoms of post-traumatic stress” (SOURCE). Inflicting these conditions on western Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Ben Gurion airport is unacceptable.

For Israel, the Palestinian ‘right of return,’ —millions of Palestinian refugees and their families flooding Israel-proper—has never been an issue up for discussion, as it would put a demographic end to Israel’s standing as the Jewish state. Netanyahu contended that since Israel was able to absorb hundreds of thousands of Jewish refugees, both Holocaust survivors and those expelled from Arab countries in 1948, a new Palestinian state should do the same. Frankly, that’s hard to argue with.

An end to Palestinian incitement against Israel and Jews, by both Mahmoud Abbas’ Palestinian Authority and Hamas, has long been a condition for peace and, as of today, has yet to be met. Attacks have come from the Palestinian territories and beyond. To see with your own eyes the type of incitement to which Bibi is referring, check out The Middle East Media Research Institute’s website. (LINK)

Perhaps the most attainable peace condition is an economic cooperation and linkage between Israel and the Palestinians. Bibi mentioned potential avenues of collaboration, such as solar energy development, archaeological tourism, transportation, and oil pipelines. Netanyahu firmly believes that a stable and thriving Palestinian economy will do wonders for peace prospects, help to marginalize the radicals in Hamas and other organizations, and better the lives of the Palestinians. It’s not the whole shwarma (is that the equivalent of an enchilada?) of an independent state, but it certainly lays the groundwork and would enable both parties to move forward.

And now, quite possibly the thorniest issue of the peace process: a unified Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty. The Israeli take is that Jerusalem has always been the capital of the Jewish people, stretching back for 3,000 years. So many prayers, sayings, and customs in Judaism involve Jerusalem (next year in Jerusalem, if I forget thee, o Jerusalem, the direction in which we pray, etc.) These references did not come about after the 6 Day War, mind you. Jerusalem has played a major part in our history as a people, and will continue to do so. Additionally, religious freedom in Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty is complete, and members of all faiths, be they Jewish, Christian, or Muslim, are allowed to worship at the city’s holy places. Finally, under Israeli control, Jerusalem has thrived as both a spiritual center and a modern metropolis. Jerusalem still retains its ancient character in the Old City, yet manages to be a 21^st century capital outside the Old City’s gates. The Israeli argument against dividing Jerusalem is that, under Jordanian control from 1948-1967, Jerusalem was not a free city for all worshippers and did not experience the growth and prosperity it has had under Israeli control. Now the Arabs are pining to control it again. Sounds like they have a thing or two to learn from Joni Mitchell about appreciating something while you’ve got it.

I dug a few other aspects of Bibi’s speech, such as his refutation of the claim that Israel’s rebirth was due to the Holocaust, a view espoused by both President Obama in his Cairo speech last week and Iran’s newly “re-elected” president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. I’m not comparing the two, by the way, just their views. Israel was created to be the Jewish state because it is and always has been the Jewish people’s homeland. Enough said. I also enjoyed how Netanyahu brought up the Jewish people’s bona fides as a peace-loving nation. Again, as with Jerusalem, just listen for ‘Shalom’ when you’re at synagogue the next time. It’ll be there a ton, and not in the hello or goodbye context.

That’s a lot to read, I know. To be fair, it was a pretty long speech and I didn’t want to do it an injustice by reducing it to soundbites. It will be interesting to see how this speech plays with the Obama administration, Israel, the Palestinians, and the wider Arab world. Of course, this speech won’t put an end to the conflict; hell hasn’t frozen over and pigs still don’t fly. Pigs, however, can give us the flu and are inedible for both Jews and Muslims. At least there’s one thing we can agree on.

Links to Netanyahu’s speech, both in talkie and transcript form, below.

Netanyahu Speech in Full (BBC)

Full text of Netanyahu's foreign policy speech at Bar Ilan (Haaretz)