November 30, 2007

Israel Becoming LESS Secular!


Israel Becoming Less Secular12 Kislev 5768, 22 November 07 08:41
by Hillel Fendel(IsraelNN.com)

An Israel Democratic Institute (IDI) demographic survey finds religious growth and secular decline - but most significant is that the proportion of religious in the public is highest among the youth. The percentage of Jews describing themselves as secular has dropped sharply over the past 30 years, while the religious and traditional proportions have risen. The annual survey finds that the secular public comprises only 20% of the Israeli population - compared to 41%, more than twice as much, in 1974.Nearly half the population, 47%, describes itself as traditional, while the hareidi-religious and religious together comprise 33% of the public.The numbers were compiled based on a survey of representative sampling of 1,016 Israelis Jews. It can be inferred from the numbers that Israel is a traditional society, and that it will become even more so as the years go by. 39% of those under age 40 are religious - more than those in their 40's and 50's (32%), and much more than those aged 60 and over (20%). Country is Right-Wing; the Religious - Even More SoPolitically, the religious are more right-wing, but so are the others. Among the religious, many more identify with the Right than with the Left, by a 71-8 margin; among the traditional, it's 49-21, and among the secular, it's 43-27. In total, 55% of the population view themselves as right-wing, and only 18% are to the Left. Manhigut Yehudit needs your help now more than ever. You can also help create the Jewish majority revolution. Now is the time to support Manhigut Yehudit. Click here for our on line secure donation form. If you are in Israel, now is the time to volunteer to help. For more information, call (Israel) 02-996-1123.

Anti-Semitism In America Remains Constant; 15 Percent Of Americans Hold 'Strong' Anti-Semitic Beliefs

ADL Survey: Anti-Semitism In America Remains Constant; 15 Percent Of Americans Hold 'Strong' Anti-Semitic Beliefs
New York, NY, November 1, 2007 … A nationwide survey released today by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) shows the number of Americans who hold anti-Semitic attitudes remains constant from its 2005 findings, demonstrating once again that "anti-Semitic beliefs endure in America."
The 2007 Survey of AmericanAttitudes towards Jews in USA, a national telephone survey of 2,000 American adults conducted October 6 through October 19, found that 15% of Americans - or nearly 35 million adults - hold views about Jews that are "unquestionably anti-Semitic," compared to 14% in 2005. Previous ADL surveys over the last decade had indicated that anti-Semitism was in decline (graph). Seven years ago, in 1998, the number of Americans with hardcore anti-Semitic beliefs had dropped to 12% from 20% in 1992. The survey was released at the annual meeting of the League's National Commission.
"What concerns us is that the successes we had seen moving toward a more tolerant and accepting America appear not to have taken hold as firmly as we had hoped," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. "These findings, coupled with the ongoing acts of anti-Semitic incidents and hate crimes, suggest that anti-Semitic beliefs endure and resonate with a substantial segment of the population, nearly 35 million people."
Anti-Jewish Stereotypes Remain Consistent
The survey found that 31% of Americans believe Jews are more loyal to Israel than America, down from 33% in 2005; in 2002 it was 33%; in 1998, it was 31%; in 1992; 35%.
More than one quarter – 27% of the American people – believe Jews were responsible for the death of Christ, down from 30% in 2005, up from 25% in 2002. (graph)
Fifteen percent (15%) of the general population believes that Jews have "Too much power in the U.S." -- unchanged from 2005; 67% for those who are the most anti-Semitic.
Twenty percent (20%) believe Jews have "Too much power in the business world" and 18% believe Jews have "Too much control/influence on Wall Street, both up one percent from 2005 (graph).
"When it comes to Jews, old stereotypes die hard," said Mr. Foxman, "especially about loyalty, the death of Jesus, and power. For over 40 years one of the most stable and telling indicators of anti-Jewish prejudice in America has been the question of fundamental Jewish loyalty to the U.S."
Mr. Foxman added that, "Stereotypes about 'Jewish power' in the U.S. have replaced many of the classical ethnic stereotypes previously attributed to Jewish Americans."
Population Segments
Hispanics The survey found that anti-Semitic propensities among Hispanics, the most significant and fastest growing segment of the American population, are influenced by origin of birth. There continues to be an extraordinary gap between those born in the United States and those born abroad, though somewhat less than in 2005. The survey revealed that 29% of foreign-born Hispanics hold hardcore anti-Semitic beliefs (down from 35%), while 15% of Hispanics born in the U.S. fall into the same category (down from 19%). (graph)
"We are heartened to see progress in the Hispanic community," said Mr. Foxman, "and the outreach and collaboration with various segments of the Hispanic community throughout the country that we began after the initial findings have borne some results and we are committed to stepping up that effort."
Mr. Foxman added, "We understand that religious background has always played a role in determining one's beliefs about Jews. We believe that the strong anti-Semitic views held by one of the fastest growing segments in America is no doubt a reflection of what is being learned about Jews in the schools, churches and communities of Latin American countries, which is anti-Semitism at its most basic."
African-Americans
The number of African-Americans with strong anti-Semitic beliefs continued to remain high and stable since 1992. The 2007 survey found that 32% of African-Americans hold strong anti-Semitic beliefs, more than three times more than the 10% for whites. In 1992 it was 37%; 1998 – 34%; 2002- 35%, 2005 – 36%. (graph)
"We continue to remain troubled and somewhat at a loss to understand why African-Americans consistently have such strong anti-Semitic propensities," said Mr. Foxman.
Education and Gender
• Education - The more educated a person is, the less likely he or she is to hold anti-Semitic views: 21% of those with a high school degree or less hold strong anti-Semitic views, compared to 10% of college graduates and 8% of those who hold post-graduate degrees. (graph)
• Gender – Men are more likely than women to hold anti-Semitic views, particularly men without a college degree and unmarried. Overall, 18% of men hold strong anti-Semitic views, compared to 13% of women. Men with no college is 26%, women with no college is 17%; unmarried men 23%, unmarried women 15%. (graph)
On a positive note, the survey found a majority of Americans hold Jews in high regard on many issues. The most positive attributes ascribed to American Jews relate to ethics and family. (graph)
• 55% believe that Jews have a "special commitment to social justice and civil rights"• 65% agree that Jews "contributed much to the cultural life of America"• 79% see as positive Jewish "emphasis on the importance of family life"
Methodology
The survey was conducted by The Marttila Communications Group, a Boston-based public opinion research firm, which has conducted ADL's previous surveys on anti-Semitism, using similar questions and criteria to measure and monitor levels of anti-Semitism in the U.S.
For those questions answered by all 2,000 respondents, the survey has a margin of error of error of +/- 2.19 percent.
For many questions, the survey used the technique of "split sampling," a process in which the 2,000-person sample was split into two demographically representative national samples of 1,000 respondents each. The margin of error for questions answered by 1,000 respondents is +/- 3.09 percent. For a limited number of questions, the 1,000 person samples were also split into two representative samples of 500 respondents each. The margin of error for these questions is +/- 4.38 percent.
The purpose for split sampling in the survey was to maximize the number of questions that could be asked, to test different hypotheses about an issue and to test the impact of different question wording.
ADL European Surveys
The U.S. survey's findings help underscore the contrast between anti-Semitic attitudes held by Americans and those of Europeans polled earlier this year.
ADL surveys in 11 European countries released in May and July 2007 revealed that fully half of the Europeans surveyed believe Jews are not loyal to their country and more than one-third believe that Jews have too much power in business and finance. In Europe, the surveys revealed that a large number of Europeans believe the classical anti-Semitic canards that have persistently pursued Jews through the centuries. "The good news is that America is different," said Mr. Foxman. "Many more Americans reject the classical anti-Semitic canards than those Europeans in the countries surveyed. These attitudes help incite and legitimize anti-Semitism, including violence against Jews in many European countries. The findings that a high percentage of respondents in Spain and Poland hold negative views of Jews are not surprising, given each country's history of animus toward Jews."
The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.

Consequences of an Iran-Israel Nuclear Exchange

Anthony Cordesman, a strategist at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, has estimated the consequences if Tehran gets the bomb and a nuclear exchange with Israel ensues. He expects, writes Martin Walker of United Press International,

some 16 million to 28 million Iranians dead within 21 days, and between 200,000 and 800,000 Israelis dead within the same time frame. The total of deaths beyond 21 days could rise very much higher, depending on civil defense and public health facilities, where Israel has a major advantage.

It is theoretically possible that the Israeli state, economy and organized society might just survive such an almost-mortal blow. Iran would not survive as an organized society. "Iranian recovery is not possible in the normal sense of the term," Cordesman notes. The difference in the death tolls is largely because Israel is believed to have more nuclear weapons of very much higher yield (some of 1 megaton), and Israel is deploying the Arrow advanced anti-missile system in addition to its Patriot batteries. Fewer Iranian weapons would get through.

Why such disparities in numbers? Because of differences in yield.

The biggest bomb that Iran is expected to have is 100 kilotons, which can inflict third-degree burns on exposed flesh at 8 miles; Israel's 1-megaton bombs can inflict third-degree burns at 24 miles. Moreover, the radiation fallout from an airburst of such a 1-megaton bomb can kill unsheltered people at up to 80 miles within 18 hours as the radiation plume drifts. (Jordan, by the way, would suffer severe radiation damage from an Iranian strike on Tel Aviv.)

Cordesman assumes that Iran, with less than 30 nuclear warheads in the period after 2010, would aim for the main population centers of Tel Aviv and Haifa, while Israel would have more than 200 warheads and far better delivery systems, including cruise missiles launched from its 3 Dolphin-class submarines.

The assumption is that Israel would be going for Iran's nuclear development centers in Tehran, Natanz, Ardekan, Saghand, Gashin, Bushehr, Aral, Isfahan and Lashkar A'bad. Israel would also likely target the main population centers of Tehran, Tabriz, Qazvin, Isfahan, Shiraz, Yazd, Kerman, Qom, Ahwaz and Kermanshah. Cordesman points out that the city of Tehran, with a population of 15 million in its metropolitan area, is "a topographic basin with mountain reflector. Nearly ideal nuclear killing ground."

Further, Cordesman expects that Israel would need to keep a "reserve strike capability to ensure no other power can capitalize on Iranian strike" and might target "key Arab neighbors"— Syria, Egypt, and the Persian Gulf states in particular.

Israel would have various options, including a limited nuclear strike on the region mainly inhabited by the Alawite minority from which come the ruling Assad dynasty. A full-scale Israeli attack on Syria would kill up to 18 million people within 21 days; Syrian recovery would not be possible. A Syrian attack with all its reputed chemical and biological warfare assets could kill up to 800,000 Israelis, but Israeli society would recover.

An Israeli attack on Egypt would likely strike at the main population centers of Cairo, Alexandria, Damietta, Port Said, Suez, Luxor and Aswan. Cordesman does not give a death toll here, but it would certainly be in the tens of millions. It would also destroy the Suez Canal and almost certainly destroy the Aswan dam, sending monstrous floods down the Nile to sweep away the glowing rubble. It would mean the end of Egypt as a functioning society.

Cordesman also lists the oil wells, refineries and ports along the Gulf that could also be targets in the event of a mass nuclear response by an Israel convinced that it was being dealt a potentially mortal blow. Being contained within the region, such a nuclear exchange might not be Armageddon for the human race; it would certainly be Armageddon for the global economy.

Walker concludes that Cordesman's analysis spells out "the end of Persian civilization, quite probably the end of Egyptian civilization, and the end of the Oil Age. This would also mean the end of globalization and the extraordinary accretions in world trade and growth and prosperity that are hauling hundreds of millions of Chinese and Indians and others out of poverty."

Comments:

(1) Cordesman's projections continue the work of private individuals making available to the public what usually is the exclusive domain of intelligence services For another example pertaining to the Iranian nuclear program see the work of Whitney Raas and Austin Long, as summarized by me in "Israeli Jets vs. Iranian Nukes."

(2) If Cordesman's projections are at all accurate, they directly contradict the blithe assumptions of Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the former Iranian president, who asserted in December 2001, concerning an exchange of nuclear weapons with Israel:
If a day comes when the world of Islam is duly equipped with the arms Israel has in possession, the strategy of colonialism would face a stalemate because application of an atomic bomb would not leave anything in Israel but the same thing would just produce minor damages in the Muslim world.
In other words, Rafsanjani was saying, an exchange would wipe out Israel's smaller population but leave Iran functioning. But Cordesman draws precisely the opposite conclusion. One hopes he is being heard by non-apocalyptic leaders in Tehran.

(3) Again, assuming his analysis is sound, the stakes in an Iran-Israel nuclear exchange are both far higher and of far more universal import (China, India, the global economy?) than usually imagined.

(4) Anyone still in favor of permitting the Iranians, who do have an apocalyptic leadership, to get nuclear weapons? (November 21, 2007)

November 29, 2007

Is that a bomb strapped to your forehead?

Jewish passenger saying morning prayers on Chicago train causes panic by putting on tefellin, which other passengers thought to be wires of explosive belt

Itamar Eichner Published: 11.29.07, 16:21 / Israel Jewish Scene

A Jewish passenger on a Chicago train was arrested after fellow passengers accused him of being a suicide bomber.

The incident took place on a train that left Chicago early in the morning – when Jewish men are obligated to put on tefillin (phylacteries). The passenger began strapping the head-tefillin to his forehead and passengers unfamiliar with the custom rushed to the conductor and told him there was a man on board who was fastening a box to his head with wires dangling from it."

The conductor approached the passenger but the latter refused to answer him as he was in the middle of the prayer, heightening the conductor's suspicions.

Meanwhile, the passengers grew even more frantic when they noticed that the passenger sitting next to the Jewish man had a Middle-Eastern appearance and wore a turban.

"That was too much," said the Bob Byrd, NICTD chief of security.

The passengers panicked and the engine driver stopped the train. Police officers rushed into the train with a bomb-sniffing dog.

Police investigators soon realized their mistake and apologized to the passenger.

"This incident has given us all an opportunity to learn about other religions and their customs," said the chief of security.


(Are Horns on your head OK)

Why I hate the “peace process” - Ted Belman

1. It ignores Israel’s legal right to all the land. The Arabs have no legal right to the land.
2. It ignores that Jerusalem is the holiest site in Judaism. Christianity and Islam can’t make such a claim.
3. It ignores that Israel conquered Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria in a defensive war thereby entitling Israel to keep them.
4. It ignores that the Charters of Hamas and Fatah call for the destruction of Israel.
5. It ignores that Islam requires that Israel be wiped off the map.
6. It ignores that any “peace” agreement with the Arabs is a Hudna only.
7. It ignores that the PA has never lived up to its commitments undertaken pursuant to the “peace” process.
8. It ignores that the PA harbours, aids and abets terrorists.
9. It ignores that the PA has always incited its people to hate and kill Jews
10 It ignores that the PA has never done anything to advance peace.
11 It ignores that Abbas is a puppet without power or authority.
12 It ignores that Hamas is the elected government of the PA.
13 Although it ostensibly supports negotiations, it constantly puts restrictions on what may be negotiated, e.g., Palestine must be created, must be viable, must be contiguous, must have its capital in Jerusalem
14 It requires the right of return to be open for negotiations.
15 It is under the auspices of the UN which discriminates against and demonizes Israel
16 The US under the guise of being Israel’s friend, forces Israel to act contrary to its interests.
17 No one in the Quartet is impartial
18 The end result is a foregone conclusion.
19 Israel does not have the right to say “no”.
20 The Arabs are not held accountable for creating both the Arab and Jewish refugees.
21 The Arabs are not held accountable for terror or anything else.
22 All promises made to Israel by the US and the PA are routinely broken.
23 Israel is accorded no respect.
24. Israel is denied the right of self-defense
25 Israel is subject to constant criticism.
26 It will bring war not peace.
27 The Arabs refuse to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

These are just the start!

November 28, 2007

The Issue Is Judaism - Paul Eidelberg

The announcement of the New Jewish Congress, which convened in Jerusalem on November 27, 2007, contained one very meaningful and potentially powerful statement:

“The Sovereignty of the Jewish Nation over the Jewish State of Eretz-Israel.”

This statement recalls a policy paper I wrote several years ago entitled: “Must the State of Israel Perish for Israel to Survive?” By the “State” I mean, primarily, its political and judicial institutions: the Knesset, the Cabinet, and, above all the Supreme Court. These institutions must “perish,” meaning, they must be replaced by radically different ones. They must be replaced by institutions that do not fragment the nation into an absurd multiplicity of rival parties, that render the people powerless between elections, and that undermine Jewish national identity. The so-called Jewish State of Israel is an institutional catastrophe, as was known to eminent people in Israel in 1951 after the first two elections.

What was not known, and what is not understood to this day, is that very concept of a “Jewish State” is an oxymoron. As noted in The Myth of Israeli Democracy:

The modern concept of the “state” has its origin in Machiavelli. According to Machiavelli, the “state” and its laws are based solely on the autonomy of human will. This makes the idea of a “Jewish State” a contradiction in terms. Awesome consequences follow. The State of Israel was founded as an instrument of “Zionism.” This Zionism, however, was based not on the Torah but on the territorial nationalism of gentile Europe. But just as European nationalism supplanted Christianity, so Zionism was intended to supplant Judaism, that is, to make Jews a “normal” people—a nation like all other nations. This means that Zionism was to endow Jews with a new identity: Jews would cease to be Jewish.

This was the fundamental intention of the founders of the state. Like Herzl—all honor to him— they wanted to relegate the Torah to the home and the synagogue. The wisdom of the Prophets and the Sages would be severed from public law and statecraft. To achieve this revolutionary objective, it would be necessary to disillusion the people about the prophecies concerning Judea, Samaria, and Jerusalem.

Withdraw from this heartland and you shatter the historical memory of the Jewish people. Not security, not peace, not demographics, not democracy—no, what is at stake is here is nothing less than Judaism.

This is why the very words “Judaism” and “Eretz Israel” were deleted from the Soldiers Code of Ethics when Yitzhak Rabin became both prime minister and defense minister after the June 1992 election. If further proof is wanted that the key issue is Judaism and not peace or security etc., recall the following facts:

● Rabin appointed Shulamit Aloni, an ultra-secularist, as minister of education, who proceeded to emasculate the Jewish content of the public school curriculum.

● Yuli Tamir, the current minister of education, proposed to have inductees take their oath on the Declaration of Independence instead of the Tenach.

● Foreign minister Tzipi Livni supported the Gay parade in the name of “multiculturalism.”

● The High Priest of multiculturalism, former Supreme Court President Aharon Barak, ruled that Judea, Samaria, hence eastern Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, constitute “belligerent occupied territory”—a ruling contrary to the Court’s own precedence.

To these secular elites add President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Just as Sweden’s government renounced the country’s Swedish nationality after a large influx of Muslims, so Israel’s ruling elites want to transform Israel into “a state of its citizens.”

These elites are well aware that such is the high birthrate of religious Jews that, unless they take drastic measures, the political ascendancy of the religious community is inevitable. Today’s ruling elites, however different from the founders of the state, share the same goal: to make the Jews a “normal” people, which can only mean that Jews must cease to being Jewish.

Thus, Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit proposed to rescind the foundational law of the State, the Law of Return, which grants automatic citizenship to Jews. “Israel,” he said, “should become like every other country” (Jerusalem Post, October 31, 2007, p. 1.) This is tantamount to saying Israel should not be a Jewish nation and become a multicultural state or scociety.

Fortunately, most people in Israel want their country to remain Jewish. This being the case, all patriotic organizations should unite and advocate institutional reform that EMPOWERS the people, more precisely, that shifts power from parties to the people. How?

(1) Make members of the Legislature accountable to the people in constituency elections.

(2) Make the Legislature independent of the Executive and endow it administrative oversight.

(3) Replace multi-party cabinet government with a unitary executive in order to fix responsibility on one person—the president—who represents the nation, not the “state.”

(4) Democratize the mode of nominating Supreme Court judges and have their nominations confirmed by the Legislature on national television.


Empowering the people is the key to making Israel more Jewish as well as more democratic. Zionist organizations should support the above reforms.

For the Sake of Jerusalem - Naomi Ragen

Jews have always lived in Jerusalem. Before the birth of Mohammed, there were Jews in Jerusalem and a holy temple built by King Solomon. Before the birth of Jesus, there were Jews in Jerusalem.

Everywhere else Jews have lived, no matter how long, we have been told: "this is not your place. You have no right to practice your religion here. You have no right to live here."
We lived in Spain for over a thousand years, and yet within a month, we were told to leave. We lived in Poland and Germany for hundreds of years and yet we were told, only sixty years ago: "You have no right to practice your religion here. You have no right to live here. You have no right to live.

And so we returned to our homeland, the place that every person on earth knows was the birthplace of the Jewish people. We returned to our capital, Jerusalem.

Jerusalem is not a piece of land. It is our history, our heritage, our religion, our deepest held longing and our most everlasting hope for the future of our people.

To deny our sovereignty over all of Jerusalem, is to betray the hopes and the rights of thousands of generations of Jews for whom"next year in Jerusalem" gave them the strength to survive and to hand down their heritage to the next generation.

It is to betray thousands of years of prayers and supplications to G-d to give us back our Holy City.

It is to betray the soldiers who fought and died for her, the children who were born in her, the immigrants who flocked to her from all over the world. It is to betray every Jew in the Diaspora, who turn their face towards her each day in hope and prayer.

Our generation, for reasons we cannot know, has been given the remarkable privilege of having Jerusalem once again return to its rightful owners, the Jewish people. Unlike those who ruled it before us, we never destroyed any place holy to any other religion. We never denied any pilgrim or worshipper access to their mosques and churches. We never used the gravestones from cemeteries to pave our roads, or used our bulldozers to destroy priceless antiquities.

To betray our bond to Jerusalem, is to betray our bond to G-d,Who has chosen this place as His eternal dwelling place on earth.

We will not betray our God, or our history or our city.

"Our feet stood within your gates, Jerusalem. Jerusalem that is whole, built around a holy center....Inquire after the peace of Jerusalem, those who love you view the future unafraid" (Psalm122)Naomi

Before You Forget Jerusalem...........

by Eliezer Ben Yisrael
Summer of 1969

I am not a creature from another planet, as you seem to believe. I am a Jerusalemite like yourselves, a man of flesh and blood. I am a citizen of my city, an integral part of my people.

I have a few things to get off my chest. Because I am not a diplomat, I do not have to mince words. I do not have to please you, or even persuade you. I owe you nothing. You did not build this city; you did not live in it; you did not defend it when they came to destroy it. And we will be damned if we will let you take it away.

There was a Jerusalem before there was a New York. When Berlin, Moscow, London, and Paris were just forest and swamp, there was a thriving Jewish community here. It gave something to the world which you nations have rejected ever since you established yourselves - a humane moral code.

Here the prophets walked, their words flashing like forked lightning. Here a people who wanted nothing more than to be left alone, fought off waves of heathen would be conquerors, bled and died on the battlements, hurled themselves into the flames of their burning Temple rather than surrender, and when finally overwhelmed by sheer numbers and led away into captivity, swore that before they forgot Jerusalem, they would see their tongues cleave to their palates, their right arms wither.

For two painfilled millennia, while we were your unwelcome guests, we prayed daily to return to this city. Three times aday we petitioned the Almighty: "Gather us from the four corners of the world, bring us upright to our land; return in mercy to Jerusalem, Thy city, and dwell in it as Thou promised." On everyYom Kippur and Passover, we fervently voice the hope that next year would find us in Jerusalem.

Your inquisitions, pogroms, expulsions, the ghettos into which you jammed us, your forced baptisms, your quota systems, your genteel antiSemitism, and the final unspeakable horror,the holocaust (and worse, your terrifying disinterest in it) - all these have not broken us. They may have sapped what little moral strength you still possessed, but they forged us into steel. Do you think that you can break us now after all we have been through? Do you really believe that after Dachau and Auschwitz are frightened by your threats of blockades and sanctions? We have been to Hell and back a Hell of your making. What more could you possibly have in your arsenal that could scare us?

I have watched this city bombarded twice by nations calling themselves civilized. In 1948, while you looked on apathetically, I saw women and children blown to smithereens, after we agreed to your request to internationalize the city. It was a deadly combination that did the job. British officers, Arab gunners, and American made cannons. And then the savage sacking of the Old City; the willful slaughter, the wanton destruction of every synagogue and religious school; the desecration of Jewish cemeteries; the sale by a ghoulish government of tombstones for building materials, for poultry runs, army camps -even latrines.

And you never said a word.You never breathed the slightest protest when the Jordanians shut off the holiest of our places, the Western Wall, in violation of the pledges they had made after the war - a war they waged, incidentally, against the decision of the UN. Not a murmur came from you whenever the legionnaires in their spiked helmets casually opened fire upon our citizens from behind the walls.

Your hearts bled when Berlin came under siege. You rushed your airlift "to save the gallant Berliners". But you did not send one ounce of food when Jews starved in besieged Jerusalem. You thundered against the wall which the East Germans ran through the middle of the German capital - but not one peep out of you about that other wall, the one that tore through the heart of Jerusalem.

And when that same thing happened 20 years later, and the Arabs unleashed a savage, unprovoked bombardment of the Holy City again, did any of you do anything?

The only time you came to life was when the city was at last reunited. Then you wrung your hands and spoke loftily of "justice" and need for the "Christian" quality of turning the other cheek.

The truth is - and you know it deep inside your gut -you would prefer the city to be destroyed rather than have it governed by Jews. No matter how diplomatically you phrase it, the age old prejudices seep out of every word.

If our return to the city has tied your theology in knots, perhaps you had better reexamine your catechisms. After what we have been through, we are not passively going to accommodate ourselves to the twisted idea that we are to suffer eternal homelessness until we accept your savior.

For the first time since the year 70 there is now complete religious freedom for all in Jerusalem. For the first time since the Romans put a torch to the Temple, everyone has equal rights. (You prefer to have some more equal than others.) We loathe the sword - but it was you who forced us to take it up. We crave peace - but we are not going back to the peace of1948 as you would like us to.

We are home. It has a lovely sound for a nation you have willed to wander over the face of the globe. We are not leaving. We are redeeming the pledge made by our forefathers: Jerusalem is being rebuilt. "Next year" and the year after, and after, and after, until the end of time - "in Jerusalem!"

This "letter" (written by Eliezer Whartman) first appeared as an editorial in the summer of '69 in the Times of Israel (long defunct). Some of the sentences do not fit today's situation perfectly,but the point of the letter, and its passion is as on the mark as it was over 38 years ago.

A war against Judaism is going on in Israel

The Hidden Issue - Professor Paul Eidelberg

1) Israel started on the road to Annapolis 10 days after the Six-Day War, when a government of national unity offered to give the land Israel regained in that war to the Arabs. That same government allowed the WAKF (the Supreme Muslim Council) to retain control of the Temple Mount.

2) Oslo was initiated by Peres, not by Clinton. In 1978, Peres wrote Tomorrow is Now, in which he warned that a Palestinian state would threaten Israel’s existence. Ten years later he and MK Yossi Beilin arranged clandestine and illegal meetings with the PLO. The motive was not "Arab demographics" but “Jewish demographics.” Peres saw that Labor’s electoral base was shrinking, that religious Jews would eventually gain political ascendancy. To stop this process the Rabin-Peres government that came into power after the June 1992 elections eliminated the Jewish content from the public school curriculum. But it was also was necessary to destroy the Jewish people’s historic memory, which was rooted in the prophetic teachings about Judea, Samaria, Jerusalem, and the Temple Mount. Hence “territory for peace.”

3) Disengagement was initiated by Sharon, not by Bush.

4) The $2.28 billion military aid Israel receives from the US is only 1.3% of Israel 's $170.3 billion GDP. Israel spent more than $2.28 billion building the security fence, redeploying the IDF after pulling out of Gaza, "compensating" the Jews expelled from Gaza, etc., etc. etc.

5) The US receives far more from Israel in dollar value than Israel receives from the US.

6) Yes, Israeli leaders are cretins and cravens. Their primary concern is keeping their seats, and the “peace process” serves this end.

7) Opinion polls indicate that as much as 90% of the public knows that the Knesset is a haven for job seekers, more concerned with their own interests than with the national interest.

8) There is an abundance of (buried or ignored) evidence showing that most people in Israel OPPOSED Oslo and Disengagement. Unfortunately, the people of Israel have been rendered powerless by Israel's system of government—a well-concealed tyranny on Israel’s most basic issue: Who should rule—the religious or the secularists?

9) The issue of WHO SHOULD RULE? is the HIDDEN ISSUE UNDERLYING THE PEACE PROCESS. A war against Judaism is going on in Israel. The war is being waged by secular elitists who want to make Israel “a state of its citizens,” i.e., a multicultural society. Suffice to mention President Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzippi Livni, Education Minister Yuli Tamir, and the High Priest of these Illuminati, former Supreme Court President Aharon Barak who ruled (mendaciously) that Judea, Samaria, and Gaza constitute “belligerent occupied territory.” This is taking Israel to Annapolis, where the war against the Jews is to enfold, a war led by Israel’s own government—of course with the collaboration of the Bush Administration. All this may be a necessary prelude to the regime change required in “the only democracy in the Middle East.”

Jerusalem IS a Jewish issue - Ted Belman


Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Monday categorically rejected assertions by American Jewish leaders that Jerusalem is not an Israeli issue but “a Jewish one.”

Speaking at a news briefing Monday, Olmert said that the Jerusalem issue had “been determined long ago” and that “the government of Israel has a sovereign right to negotiate anything on behalf of Israel.”

He said that at this stage, the matter was a theoretical rather than practical one, as the subject of Jerusalem was not yet on the negotiating table.

Don’t you believe it.

I attended a lecture tonight by Jacques Gauthier, a Canadian Lawyer who just received his PhD after twenty years of research on the legal status of Jerusalem and the writing of a dissertation of some 1300 pages with 3000 footnotes. He is not a Jew and had to present his thesis to a panel of two of the leading international lawyers and one world famous Jewish historian. The reason for so many footnotes was to enable himself to defend his thesis from intense attack by one of the lawyers who happened to be a Jewish anti-Zionist and who had represented the PA on numerous occasions.

Here’s what he said in point form,

1. The Balfour Declaration of 1917 started the whole process but it didn’t create legal rights.

2. The San Remo Resolution adopted on 25 April 1920 incorporated the Balfour Declaration of 19171 and Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations. It was the basic document upon which the Mandate for Palestine was constructed. And it constituted a treaty and was thus legally binding.

The High Contracting Parties agree to entrust, by application of the provisions of Article 22, the administration of Palestine, within such boundaries as may be determined by the Principal Allied Powers, to a Mandatory, to be selected by the said Powers. The Mandatory will be responsible for putting into effect the declaration originally made on November 8, 1917, by the British Government, and adopted by the other Allied Powers, in favour of the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.

He pointed out that the Arabs weren’t even mentioned but that civil and religious rights only were accorded other inhabitants . This thereby excludes political rights for Arabs.

3. Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations provides for the creation of mandates.

To those colonies and territories which as a consequence of the late war have ceased to be under the sovereignty of the States which formerly governed them and which are inhabited by peoples not yet able to stand by themselves under the strenuous conditions of the modern world, there should be applied the principle that the well-being and development of such peoples form a sacred trust of civilisation and that securities for the performance of this trust should be embodied in this Covenant.

The legal significance here is that “the well-being and development of such peoples form a sacred trust of civilisation. The Mandatory Power was the trustee of that trust.

4 The resolution of the League of Nations creating the Palestine Mandate, included the following significant recital

“Whereas recognition has thereby been given to the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine and to the grounds for reconstituting their national home in that country;

This had never happened before in history. No such recognition had ever been according to anyone, ever. Palestine was to be held for the Jewish people wherever they lived.

ART. 2. The Mandatory shall be responsible for placing the country under such political, administrative and economic conditions as will secure the establishment of the Jewish national home, as laid down in the preamble, and the development of self-governing institutions, and also for safeguarding the civil and religious rights of all the inhabitants of Palestine, irrespective of race and religion.

Thus the operative clause specifically referred to the preamble and reiterated that there were no political rights for other inhabitants.

ART. 5. The Mandatory shall be responsible for seeing that no Palestine territory shall be ceded or leased to, or in any way placed under the control of the Government of any foreign Power.

ART. 6. The Administration of Palestine, while ensuring that the rights and position of other sections of the population are not prejudiced, shall facilitate Jewish immigration under suitable conditions and shall encourage, in co-operation with the Jewish agency referred to in Article 4, close settlement by Jews on the land, including State lands and waste lands not required for public purposes.

5. The United Nations took over from the failed League of Nations in 1945 and its Charter included

Article: 80 .. nothing in this Chapter shall be construed in or of itself to alter in any manner the rights whatsoever of any states or any peoples or the terms of existing international instruments to which Members of the United Nations may respectively be parties.

Thus the Palestinian Mandate continued without change.

6. In 1947, the General Assembly of the UN passed Res 181 which became known as the Partition Plan pursuant to which both Jews and Arabs could announce their state.

First it must be noted that the Charter of the UN specifically gave no power to the General Assembly because that would infringe on the sovereign power of individual members. So the GA could recommend only. Secondly, this recommendation was in violation of the terms of the Mandate.

This resolution also provided for a Special regime for Jerusalem which had the following defined boundaries,

A. SPECIAL REGIME The City of Jerusalem shall be established as a corpus separatum under a special international regime and shall be administered by the United Nations. The Trusteeship Council shall be designated to discharge the responsibilities of the Administering Authority on behalf of the United Nations.

B. BOUNDARIES OF THE CITY The City of Jerusalem shall include the present municipality of Jerusalem plus the surrounding villages and towns, the most eastern of which shall be Abu Dis; the most southern, Bethlehem; the most western, ‘Ein Karim (including also the built-up area of Motsa); and the most northern Shu’fat, as indicated on the attached sketch-map (annex B).

But this regime was to be limited in time

The Statute elaborated by the Trusteeship Council the aforementioned principles shall come into force not later than 1 October 1948. It shall remain in force in the first instance for a period of ten years, unless the Trusteeship Council finds it necessary to undertake a re-examination of these provisions at an earlier date. After the expiration of this period the whole scheme shall be subject to examination by the Trusteeship Council in the light of experience acquired with its functioning. The residents the City shall be then free to express by means of a referendum their wishes as to possible modifications of regime of the City.

This provision for a referendum was of critical importance to the acceptance of Res 181 by Ben Gurion. He knew that the Jews were in a majority within these boundaries and would be in 10 years when the referendum was to be held. Thus he was confidant that Jerusalem would return to Jewish hands.

Keep in mind that the disposition of this area was to be determined not by Israel but by the residents of Jerusalem so defined. Currently the Jews have a 2:1 majority there.

Needless to say that after the Armistance Agreement of ‘49 the Jordanians who were in control of Jerusalem violated every provision of this resolution calling for among other things respect for holy places. The referendum never took place.

After the ‘67 war in which Israel regained the land to the Jordan including Jerusalem, Res 242 of the Security Council was passed authorizing Israel to remain in possession of all the land until they had “secure and recognized boundaries”. It did not require Israel to withdraw from all of the territories and it was silent on Jerusalem. Also it “Affirms further the necessity for achieving a just settlement of the refugee problem”. There was no reference to Res 181 nor was there a distinction made between Jewish and Arab refugees.

Not only should Israel be demanding that the referendum be held now, Jerusalem should be the first order of business. Olmert is sloughing us off by saying “Jerusalem is not on the table yet”.

He should demand that the referendum take place before the balance of the land is negotiated. If the Arabs won’t agree to the referendum there is nothing to talk about.

Obviously, Olmert isn’t going to ask for a referendum or insist that Jerusalem not be divided.



Ted Belman

+1 416 256 7597

November 27, 2007

Israel's Jewish Mask: By Moshe Feiglin


Annapolis is in the air, and the fact that the Arabs refuse to recognize Israel as a Jewish state has painted Israel's anti-Jewish identity leaders into an uncomfortable corner. Outwardly, they demand that the Arabs recognize Israel as a Jewish state. It is an open secret, though, that since the State of Israel was established, its elites and official institutions have done all they could to erase Israel's Jewish identity. The strongest of these elites is the "rule of law gang --" in the descriptive words of Chaim Ramon -- and of course the "watchdogs of democracy --"as Israel's media likes to present itself. There are other elites as well; academia, the cultural elite, public survey institutes, the defense establishment and more. They have all joined forces to reinvent Israel as a secular state of all its citizens.
These elites retain control no matter what the results of the elections. Why, then, don't they openly admit that their goal is to erase Israel's Jewish identity and make it a state of all its citizens? Why do only Shulamit Aloni and the editorial staff of the "Ha'aretz" newspaper openly state their plans? What do the elites have to gain from the Jewish mask that it paints onto the face of the State of Israel? The Jewish Mask provides the elites with three important advantages that allow it to perpetuate their control:

1. The great majority of Israel's public wants a Jewish state. It is good to give the masses a steady dose of Jewish opium.
2. The State of Israel justifies its existence by citing the persecution of Jews throughout the long years of exile, culminating in the Holocaust. This, of course, is a very dismal justification. It leaves Achmadinijad's question "So why on my account? Let the Germans establish a state for you!" hanging in the air. Nevertheless, without our ties to Judaism, even Shulamit Aloni cannot explain why we insist on inserting ourselves under the fingernails of over a billion Moslems.
3. Money: A lot of money flows to Israel from Jews throughout the Diaspora. There are a lot of people in the "inner circle" who live well from these funds. They are in no hurry to dry up the cash flow that reinforces their power by negating the Jewish character of the State.
Thus, the Jewish Mask remains snugly on Israel's face. Even the symbol of the State of Israel that proudly hangs in all government offices is the ritual menorah from the Holy Temple. But for decades, the powers that be have worked behind the mask to neuter Israel's Jewish identity of all significance.
If not for the Arabs, it may have worked. But the identity-less Israeli needs the Arab to allow him to forget that he is a Jew. For example, Israel's Supreme Court performed amazing contortions to authorize Azmi Bashara's candidacy for the Knesset. It didn't help the Knesset lawmakers to argue that Bashara had broken Israeli law by holding traitorous meetings with Israel's enemies. Despite his meetings and anti-Israel declarations, the judicial establishment worked frantically to find a solution that would allow him to be a Knesset member. Why? Because an Arab in the Knesset proves that you do not have to be a Jew to be an Israeli. An Arab can also share the dubious distinction. And if you do not have to be a Jew to be an Israeli, Israel is not a Jewish state. (By the way, although the Supreme Court authorized the candidacy of the traitorous Bashara, it disqualified my candidacy for the same reason; the fear that Israel may turn into a Jewish state).
It took a long time for the Arabs to realize that their special status affords them immunity from prosecution. But today they understand it well: Currently, 20% of Israel's residents are above the law. The resulting plague of Arab theft, robbery, arson, rape and rioting has become a chronic Israeli fact of life. Israel allowed Azmi Bashara to escape the country even though he had passed critical security information to the Hizbollah so that it would not have to put him on trial. Israel's first Arab minister explained last week that the laws of Islam are more important to him than the laws of the State of Israel. That was an important lesson for all of us to hear. But the most important lesson is being provided to us today by the wall to wall Arab refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. They are so sure of their immunity that they fearlessly undermine the founding ethos of the State of Israel. Their refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state forces the elites to defend its Jewish mask. What is their alternative? To forgo the Jewish mask perks that perpetuate their control?
It is not clear what will come of Annapolis. But the Jewish state genie that has escaped from the bottle is very important. Now, it is not the Right or the Religious that defend Israel's Jewish identity. It is Tzippy Livni.

November 19, 2007

Judaism - Higher Reality?

The great question is whether or not this world is really real. If it is, then those who would search for some higher reality are mistaken. If this world is illusory - bit a screen for some higher order of being - then there is more to reality than meets the eye. And we have settled for some illusory treasure and given up searching for the king.

Judaism is a more or less organized way of remembering that every mystery points to a higher reality. A reality overarching and infusing this world with splendor. One pulsing through its veins. Unnoticed and unnamed. Of the Nameless One. A holiness so holy that it filles even our everyday illusions with spiritual meaning.

Lawrence Kushner - Honey from the rock page 34

November 16, 2007

Meir Kahane and a Jewish COUNTRY

Kahanists do not want to hurt anyone.
We will set up camps to shove them all into ovens is different from -
We will return fire until they are all dead.

JDL and Kahane are only needed to defend Jews!

This isn't about punishment or retribution, it's about survival. The time is here when far more evil is around the corner.

Kahanist's do not believe in KILL THEM ALL, WIPE THEM OUT.

Israel has a weak government, with a kahanist government, Israel would be strong.
The arabs will flee.

There is story about Kahane and how to deal with arab rioters.
The IDF said to fire in the air, and they could only shoot after being shot at.
Meir went into the area's with riots and as soon as they heard "kahane", they ran away yelling "KAHANE, KAHANE, KAHANE".

So Kahane used to say, if he became prime minister, not a single arab would be killed! ( except those that resist and fire at our soldiers, will be killed)

Jordan understands the problem: were the rest of the Palestinian Arabs relocated to Jordan, the Hashemite ruling class would be outnumbered by the Palestinian demographics.\
It would no longer be the Hashemite kingdom, so they need to go elsewhere.
Familiar sounding....
The Jordanians remember the conflict between Palestinian guerrilla organizations and King Hussein of Jordan that began in September 1970 and ended in July 1971 with the expulsion of the PLO to Lebanon (Black September).

Consider the Jordanians knowing that when Trans-Jordan was created in 1922 its purpose was to be the 3rd eventual Palestinian state. They're know that world opinion could change and the answer would be to send the "refugees" to Jordan.

Then of course there is the Jordanian problem with what happens when the West Bank is made a Palestinian State. The bulk of Jordanians ARE Palistinian. They know that when the "West Bank" has too much population they will expand to the east, and overthrow the monarchy.

So let's skip the middle man, send the refugees to Jordan now...whether they want to go or not.
World opinion is bogus, they all hate the Jews that they percieve to be Israeli's.
The annapolis LeConde (meeting with no results named for Sec State Rice) will provide no relief for Israel, only more requested concessions.

The time for action has been now .... for over 40 years!

November 9, 2007

Israeli Government has silenced the majority of Jews....

You are probably one of the people who signed a referendum in the summer of 2005 before the expulsion of the Jews from Gaza and Northern Shomron.

More than 100,000 people like you participated in that referendum. As insane as this may sound,Yekutiel Ben Yaakov, the man who initiated that referendum was recently convicted in a Jerusalem court on charges of incitement for his efforts to allow the people of Israel to voice their opinion on this critical issue of life or death for the state of Israel.

This draconian measure being used to silence the majority of Jews in Israel must be protested.

Please read the following item and then send an email petition to the judge urging leniency for Yekutiel Ben Yaakov....On the 25th of March, 2008 at 10:30 AM Judge Rivka Feldman will be sentencing Yekutiel Ben Yakov for his alleged crime of "incitement to racism".

More than 100,000 people participated in the referendum which asked voters to choose their preference of two "disengagement alternatives" - "The Sharon plan" - expulsion of the Jews, or "The Jewish Alternative" - to expel Israel's enemy thereby distancing the threat of Kassam rocket attacks.

Over 90 percent of those who participated, opted for the Jewish plan.

Is it any wonder that the government will do anything possible hush these results and to bury any referendum initiative? The last thing Olmert and his ilk need is for the people of Israel to voice their opinion openly and for the average Israeli "right wing extremist" to learn that his views are in the majority and not the views of some extremist fringe element.

What soldier will obey orders to expel his brother, when it becomes clear that those giving him the orders are not only demanding that he violate Torah and common sense but also that he execute orders that are anathema to the majority of Israelis. The courts have given Ben Yakov the victory that he has been seeking. Now that it has been established that it is "racist" and illegal to suggest the alternative of expulsion of our enemies in a referendum, it would surely be deemed racist to actually expel 10,000 Jews from their homes.

The public is urged to attend the hearing for the sentencing in Jerusalem on March 25th at 10:00 AM (Beit Mishpat Shalom)Funds for the legal defense can be sent to Mishalot Yisrael POBox 6592 Jerusalem Israel, or the Paypal donation link at the bottom of this email.Please send a letter of protest to Judge Rivka Friedman Feldman and urge leniency on behalf of Yekutiel Ben Yakov...All emails can be sent to MishalLYisrael@Yahoo.com with the subject Referendums are not illegal