Posts Tagged ‘Israel’

Today many Torontonian Jews and their supporters took part in the annual Walk with Israel event. Despite the unusually cold weather in the morning (damn global warming!) thousands of people showed up at Exhibition Place to march in support of Israel.

 

 

People from different organizations, including the Israeli Consulate, came to participate in the event. A big surprise was the presence of the Premier of Ontario Kathleen Wynne. I wonder how she is going to explain that fact to her loyal Muslim constituents. After all, it is her electorate that runs the notorious mosqueteria in a public school.

 

 

 

The walk was quite long – it continued for about 4 hours, with occasional stops for pretzels, water and dancing. It was well organized, practically without problems, except for small confrontations with a few anti-Semitic idiots (that will be the topic of another post).

 

 

 

All in all, it was a very enjoyable experience, which people definitely liked. You can see that for yourself – here is a short video, which shows the highlights from the walk, with dances, music, talks, and of course Ms. Wynne:

 

© 2013 Blogwrath.com

On May 21 I attended a lecture titled “Alarming Truths: Subversion and Security Threats to Our Society” delivered by the US strategic policy and intelligence expert Clare Lopez, a former operations officer with the CIA (the event was organized by Toronto’s Speakers Action Group).

 

It wasn’t a cheery event – the whole point of the lecture was to explain the threats we are facing as a society and to warn that many of us choose to ignore them at our own peril. There was something ominous in the dark picture of imminent danger painted by Clare Lopez through dozens of facts. That ominous feeling  took a shape the next day when two Muslim savages beheaded a British soldier in London. It showed the inevitable result of our refusal to deal with the threats.

Clare Lopez covered most of the same topics that Pamela Geller talked in Toronto over a week ago. However, the delivery was very different – they spoke about the same Islamic cancer, but Pamela talked with the emotion of a family member discussing the cancer of a relative. Clare, on the other hand, sounded more like a physician clinicly describing the advancement of the same cancer, but of course the troubling impact on the listeners was the same.

She specifically stated that all the facts she shared were publicly accessible (for those willing to look for them), there was nothing classified.

Clare said in the beginning that the main problem we deal with is one of the basic pillars of Islam – jihad. It is the foundation of the activities of the “axis of jihad” – Iran, Hezbollah and al-Qaeda. Jihad is an obligatory action for all Muslims everywhere and in every era, which will end only when all the world is under Allah rule alone.

 

A lot has been written to figure out what we have done to deserve the Muslim hatred. Writers and journalists have been looking for years to find our shortcomings as a society. The sad truth is that the reason is our very existence, they see a dangerous influence of the free societies, which stands in the way of the universal Caliphate and shariah law. Jihad , as a tool of that offensive, is global, organized and encompasses nation states and sub-national groups.  The mission is to overthrow non-shariah governments by force, targeting all “enemies” regardless of there they are. There is absolutely nothing we can do to accommodate Muslims demands other than complete surrender.

Islamists had always been very open about those goals. Al-Zawahiri said shortly after Obama was elected that he will be facing a jihadi awakening Renaissance, which is shaking the foundations of the Muslim world.

The threat is complex, dangerous and affects the whole world. In order to confront it, a long-term counter jihad strategy is urgently required. It should include education, understanding, and acknowledgement and will not be effective without an integrated international socio-political plan covering all diplomatic, economic, intelligence, legal, and military aspects of the problem.

At this time in history the main forces pushing jihad are Iran, Hezbollah, and Al-Qaeda, which work very actively and their attack is imminent in North America, as the intelligence sources show.

The jihad indoctrination starts at an early age. It is common to teach Muslim children at schools and mosques to hate. Clare Lopez gave an example with curriculum from a Toronto Imam that taught jihad warfare and Islamic Jew-hatred. Sayyid Muhammad Rizvi supports interfaith dialogue and at the same time demands death for apostasy and child marriage. The curriculum is derived directly from the Koran, Sunna, and sharia. That is the result of multiculturalism and cultural relativism.

There was a similar case at Lady Evelyn Alternative School (Ottawa), which used Farsi language textbooks authorized by the Iranian Ministry of Education. They glorified child ‘martyrdom’ and anti-Semitism. What must be done in such cases? Many people, even Muslims, have taken notice and reported that curriculum to school boards and the RCMP.

 

That extremist Muslim infection has affected even the government institutions. Recently free speech has been under fire in Canada: on May 13 a speech by Pamela Geller at Thornhill Synagogue was cancelled by the rabbi after York police threatened his chaplain position. The officer who did that was responsible for diversity, equity and inclusion, yet that didn’t include free speech.

The accusations against Pamela Geller were totally baseless. Lopez said that it’s enough to recall Aqsa Pervez (the Canadian honour killing victim) and what Pamela did in her memory. Even though her initiative for a memorial was refused because ISNA owns all plots in Meadowvale Cemetery in Brampton, Ontario, the memorial was finally placed in a lovely grove in Israel.

CAIR-Canada is one of the main organizations battling for shariah in Canada. In November 2012, CAIR-Canada’s Amira Elghawaby (author, journalist, teacher, and Muslim Brotherhood operative) urged Muslims to use the Canadian multiculturalism and non-discrimination laws to defeat the Canadian secular legal system and insinuate shariah instead.

We are the target – the Islamic jihad presence throughout the Americas reflects Iranian regime policy to export revolution. That happened over many years and through several organizations. In 1980s-1990s Hezbollah rode vector of Lebanese Shiite emigration to South America. In the 2000s Iran’s diplomatic initiatives opened new opportunities for terror ties to cartels, gangs, and organized crime. The threat is not hypothetical, it is mature, robust, and is here now.

Iran is the focus of tension and threat across the Middle East through many different actions: nuclear weapons program; terror sponsorship; genocide threats vs. Israel; arming, funding, training Iraqi terror; narcotics trade and Taliban support in Afghanistan.

Its purpose is to influence Western governments, buy time for a nuclear program, increase geopolitical influence, and confront Israel. Its immediate objectives in the USA are to avoid harsh, coercive measures or attack; remove sanctions and unfreeze assets (imposed under the Iran Sanctions Act of 2008); remove terror designations (IRGC, banks); gain recognition, status for the regime without offering any concessions.

One of its tools is the Supreme Council for Iranians Living Abroad, formed in 2000, headed by the Iranian President. The goal is to win academic sympathizers; law enforcement; local Arab, Lebanese and Muslim communities; National security agencies; media and mosques. In Canada Iran has a fifth column, which operates in the information battle space and attempts to control educational institutions like the already mentioned Toronto East End Madrassah and the Ottawa Lady Evelyn Alternative School.

The Iranian ‘outreach’ in Canada also includes influence operations targeting the Iranian diaspora, and the Toronto Center for Iranian Studies, which was an Iranian front facility. It is suspected that Hamid Mohammadi, Iranian ‘cultural counselor’, likely had other “responsibilities”.

Al-Qaeda also has its presence in Canada. The recently uncovered VIA Rail terror plot, sponsored by the Al-Qaeda Shura Council in Iran, was preceded in August 2010 by the Ottawa parliament terror plot and earlier in 2006 by the Toronto 18. The accused in the railway attack plot (which the US media ignored) Chiheb Esseghaier and Raed Jasser worked for the Al-Qaeda Shura Council in Iran. Essenghaier declared in court he did not recognize Canadian law, but only shariah.

 

There is a strong evidence of an Al-Qaeda – Iran alliance. Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri met the top Iranian leadership in Sudan in 1991. Bin Laden met Imad Mughniyah (prominent Iranian intelligence operative active in Hezbollah) in Iran and Sudan – wanted his explosives expertise. Iran tasked Mughniyah and Hezbollah to train Al-Qaeda. Later al-Zawahiri established personal relationship with the Iranian intelligence and the Qods force. The 9/11 Commission implicated Mughniyah and Iran in the 9/11 attacks. The 9/11 hijackers transited Beirut and Iranian territory; Mughniyah shared a flight with some of them from South America to Beirut in November 2000.

That developed a jihad alliance – Osama bin Laden was impressed with the Beirut bombings and the suicide bomber concept. According to the 9/11 Commission Report, the IRGC/Qods Force, Hezbollah/Mughniyeh set up 11 training camps for explosives training. The ties between Iran and Sudan expanded to Somalia – the alliance was behind the Somali warlord Aideed in 1993.

The same report also stated: “In October 2000, a senior operative of Hezbollah [Imad Mughniyah] visited Saudi Arabia to coordinate activities there. He also planned to assist individuals in Saudi Arabia in traveling to Iran during November. A top Hezbollah commander [Mughniyah] and Saudi Hezbollah contacts were involved.”

The Iran connection was confirmed by a court in the little-known Havlish Case. It was started by widows of people who perished in the 9/11 attack, who were not satisfied with the government’s investigation. Clare Lopez was an expert witness in the case. The government tried to cover up the proceedings, two of the witnesses were threatened and had to be taken to safety until the end of the trial.

Despite that, in December 2011 Judge George Daniels, Southern District NY, ruled that Iran provided “direct and material support” to Al-Qaeda in the 9/11 attack. The mainstream media completely ignored the findings.

IRGC and Qods Force, which deal with the Islamic expansion, have their role codified in the Iranian constitution as defenders of the revolution and in charge of the expansion abroad. They control all weapons of mass destruction, like nuclear arms and missiles. They have extensive liaisons abroad and own a large segment of Iran’s economy (over 30%). They have played a key role in the Iran-Iraq war due to their fervor and ideological fanaticism.

They and the IRGC comander Jafari directly command the Hezbollah terror cells. Qods Force has a global mission implemented by its 21,000 personnel.

Another player in Iran’s jihad is VEVAK – an intelligence institution with a wide reach. They have a virtual carte blanche on tactics and are provided with practically unlimited funds. VEVAK is under the Ministry of Intelligence and Security, but that is a ministry only in name, it is under the direct control of the Supreme  Leader. It has a secret budget and no legal accountability. Up to 30,000 officers and support staff work for it, it is one of the largest in the Middle East. It’s responsible for protecting the regime and dealing with enemies (through assassinations, terror, and kidnappings).

 

Hezbollah is an arm of those organizations. It used to receive about $1 Billion a year after 9/11, now the amount they get is less. The Iranians operate smuggling networks for arms, drugs, explosives and use the embassies diplomatic pouches. Hezbollah is under direct Iranian control and funding.

That is clear from their political platform (February 1985):

“We view the Iranian regime as the vanguard and a new nucleus of the leading Islamic state in the world. We abide by the orders of one single wise and just leadership, represented by “Wali Faqih” and personified by Khomeini… Whoever offends the Muslims, offends in fact the body of our Umma, and we shall therefore endeavor to stand up against this threat, guided by a legitimate ruling and an all-embracing political doctrine determined by the leader, i.e. Wilayat al-Faqih.”

Hezbollah is an immediate threat. They work with Al-Qaeda, Iran, (what was known as) KGB, the North Koreans, narco traffickers, organized crime, and Syria. They also deal with explosives research and development, training, money laundering, weapons smuggling, and forged documents. They have a long rap sheet of terror before Al-Qaeda appeared and joint terror missions after that.

Other than the current leaders, like Nasralla, who have deep connections with Iran – it is necessary to mention again Mughniya, who was their most effective terror operative. He was assassinated by Mossad in Damascus in February 2008. For 30 years he was the head of Iran’s worldwide terror operations. 9/11 commission implicated Iran in attacks in part because of Mughniya’s involvement. Hezbollah promised revenge for his death.

In 2003 the former CIA Director George Tenet testified that 12 Hezbollah cells were operating in the USA. Hezbollah has sleeper cells in Canada. In June 2008 the US and Canadian intelligence warned that the Hezbollah sleeper cells had been activated. Their purpose is to strike Jewish targets in revenge for Mughniya’s killing.

Hezbollah is also increasing its presence in South America through support of criminal groups and anti-American regimes.

Under the regime of Hugo Chavez they widened their presence in Venezuela, with the purpose to expand their operations (in the past they were limited to Argentina bombings like the Jewish community Center in 1994 , and the Israeli Embassy in 1992, both in Buenos Aires).

Iran also has a direct military presence in Venezuela: Parchin Chemical Industries (produces explosive propellant); Qods Aeronautics Industries; Kimia Sanat (building unmanned aerial vehicles); Iranian Offshore Engineering Construction Co. (sanctioned for work on the Fordow enrichmnet site, operating on Paraguana Peninsula, where the Iranian IRGC Construction battalion is building in-ground missile silos).

Hezbollah is also involved in banking on Venezuela’s Margarita Island, where they have a finance center. It is also linked to the Mexican drug cartels to use their criminal trafficking channels into the USA. They are involved in human smuggling as  well. In 2008-2010, according to the US intelligence and sheriffs’ information, over 180,000 illegals have entered the USA, including Afghans, Egyptians, Iranians, Iraqis, Pakistanis, Sudanese and Yemenis, possibly including terrorists.

In February 2011 a Lebanese Canadian Bank was identified by the US government as a Hezbollah money laundering front.

Iran and its proxies are also very interested in obtaining military equipment. The US-Canada Hezbollah network sought laser-range finders, aircraft-analysis software, GPS gear, night-vision goggles, blasting equipment, and mine-detection devices. In Colombia they trade in US military weapons stolen in Iraq, traded by Hezbollah with FARC for cocaine to sell in the USA.

Those forces even infiltrated the US government. A good example is the Prouty case. Nadia Nadim Prouty (nee al-Aouar) was a Hezbollah spy who penetrated both CIA and FBI. Despite her proven family terrorist ties and fraudulent citizenship, she was given security clearances. When discovered, she wasn’t even deported.

There are many such disturbing cases of willful blindness displayed by the media and the government. So far, they have stubbornly refused to discuss the Iran-Hezbollah role in the 9/11 attacks despite the strong evidence (see for example http://iran911case.com ).

The attack from Iran or its proxies is imminent and will be triggered by possible Israel or US strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities or the fall of Bashar al-Assad or Iran judges US susceptible to coercion, deterrence.

In the end Clare Lopez mentioned the difficulties in handling the jihadist attacks. The Obama administration is less and less willing to acknowledge the danger to the USA. They are reluctant to use the terms terror and terrorism and obfuscate their links with Islam. The study materials for the army and the intelligence forces are purged from criticism of Islam. The purge affects personalities as well – people like Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer are less likely to be used and the government even hires as experts on Islam and terrorism people who have connections with the Muslim Brotherhood.

It’s not a pretty situation, but this puts the burden of change on the ordinary people, who are the direct victims of the failed government policies. It is very unlikely that things will get better without their pressure, which can eventually influence the politicians.

© 2013 Blogwrath.com

 

 

Earlier today I received an e-mail from Philippe Karsenty sharing the news that the Israeli government at last decided to issue a report that the infamous “documentary”, in which an Arab father and son are supposedly attacked and shot at by the Israeli army, was a hoax. The report is a result of the work of numerous experts.

 

 

The movie was one of the numerous “masterpieces” of Pallywood – a prolific propaganda industry, which produces false documentaries and pictures designed to demonize Israel. The al Dura hoax is not an exception – the unarmed father and son depicted in the footage allegedly suffered many bullet wounds and the boy was reportedly killed.

Even a layman could tell that was a fake – the father was supposedly hit by 12 bullets and yet no blood is seen. Unlike other such hoaxes, this one received enormous publicity, especially after being aired by major TV networks, which didn’t bother to explain its inconsistencies.

The well-founded doubt about the movie came first from Germany, but the person, who pursued the issue relentlessly for years was the French intellectual Philippe Karsenty. The reluctance of the French television to admit that they promoted an anti-Israeli hoax brought the issue in front of the courts (the final decision is to be announced later this month).

The struggle for revealing the truth was carried on exclusively by Karsenty, with very little support from government institutions. The Israeli governments are notoriously bad in handling the PR of their country, often missing many opportunities to confront with facts the blackmail against Israel. That gives more power to the clumsily made Palestinian propaganda whose lies are not that hard to refute.

The al Dura case was treated in very much the same way. Consecutive Israeli governments tried to ignore it hoping that it eventually would go away. The only result was that the hoax spread even more and the silence of Israel was exploited by the Arabs as an admission of guilt.

The new development is a welcome change, which shows that Philippe Karsenty’s work finally receives the recognition it deserves.

 

© 2013 Blogwrath.com

Last Monday Toronto hosted an Israeli politician, member of the Knesset. His appearance wasn’t met by the usual crowd of screaming lefties, calling for his lynching for “war crimes”. On the contrary, he was applauded for the simple reason that the guest was Jamal Zahalka, an “Israeli Arab” and a leader of the Balad party.

 

Listening to him, it was easy to figure out that this wasn’t the ordinary type of parliamentarian elected to serve his country. He sounded like an angry PLO guy, who just came back from stoning an Israeli military post in the West Bank. From his lecture it was clear that he didn’t see himself as an Israeli, he considered himself Palestinian and the Knesset membership was a temporary stunt to be held before better fighting opportunities come up.

The lecture was held at Beit  Zetoun, a Palestinian club, which is located in an odd place – across the street from it is “Honest Ed’s” (a huge discount store), which could be considered one of Toronto’s large Zionist projects, because it was founded by “Honest Ed” Mirvish, a very successful businessman and philanthropist (who even supported the Jerusalem Museum). In fact, the whole area is called Mirvish Village in his honour and many of the houses host galleries, arts stores and artists (quite a few of them Jewish).

To preserve its identity among that overwhelming Zionist environment, Beit Zetoun has turned itself into a miniature Palestinian bunker. It is decorated with scary military signs from Israel.

 

On the walls we could see large photographs of people holding pictures. As the organizers explained, that was in Hebron during the celebration of the “political prisoners” day and the photographer just happened to be there to cover the event. Behind Mr. Zahalka’s back there was a board of stills from a documentary. Supposedly, it covered an Israeli army exercise in the Negev, where they used Palestinian prisoners and even killed one of them (nice to see that Pallywood is still churning out movies).

You could also buy books and Palestinian olive oil for 20 bucks a bottle (looks like the term “competitive price” is unknown here).

The audience consisted of a few people from the notorious Palestine House (they organized the event), a large number of old tired commies and a group of students. Many wore “Support the Intifada” pins. The International Socialists were peddling their communist paper for a buck (or any coins you have). Everybody in the audience received an invitation to a fundraiser for the “Gaza Ark”, a boat that is supposed to sail out of Gaza to export goods (most likely suicide vests).

It was good to see a few familiar faces. I spotted Haroon Siddiqui, the Toronto Star resident Islamist, to whom every Muslim terrorist act is rooted in the Western imperialism. I anxiously await his coverage of the event, where he will probably explain what a great and compassionate humanitarian Mr. Zahalka is.

 

I also saw Noa Shaindlinger, an emerging star of the Toronto Israeli Apartheid Week and the quintessential self-hating Jew. Recently she got extra notoriety by rejoicing about the death of Israeli soldiers in a helicopter crash. After the event I heard her explaining that she was shocked by the bad reactions and threats she received because of that.

 

With such an audience, Mr. Zahalka’s success was guaranteed.

He introduced himself – he is a scientist specializing in pharmaceutics. All of his degrees (including the PH.D.) were obtained from Israeli universities (in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem). That’s important to note, because in the whining that followed, he mentioned several times how Palestinians were discriminated in most fields. Not only was he able to graduate despite being arrested for anti-Israeli activities, but his degrees would be recognized internationally due to the high quality of education in Israel (unlike the Arab degrees).

 

Despite that, he made sure to point out that he would be bashing Israel throughout the lecture (note on the quotes from the transcript: despite Mr. Zahalka’s admirable command of English, that’s not his first language, so some grammar structures may sound odd to native speakers):

Tonight I am going to speak and expose the dirty secret of the Israeli democracy. I’ll try to debunk the myths of Israeli democracy. I think it’s an extremely important mission, because the Israeli oppression of the Palestinian people is based on the international legitimacy of the Israel state. People believe that Israel is a democratic state, for that belief Israel gets full legitimacy and this legitimacy is used against the Palestinian people. 

It gets worse from here, but his opinion is not unique. As a good friend of mine, with knowledge of Israeli politics, told me, Zahalka is one of the several Arab MKs who regularly bash Israel, not with constructive criticism (as it would be normal and even welcome) but with slanderous accusations bordering on sedition.  Among his colleagues at the Knesset, Azmi Bishara consorted with Hezbollah and finally left Israel; Ahmed Tibi was a personal advisor of Arafat at the height of the intifada; Hanan Zuabi was part of the crew in the Gaza Flotilla; and Ibrahim Sarsur was promoting radical Islam and criticizing Israel for Judaizing Jerusalem.

He sees Israelis and Palestinians as having two different narratives – of oppressor and oppressed – that cannot be reconciled.

The story of the victim and the story of the criminal is not the same thing, they are not equal… So at this time we have a Palestinian short story and Israeli very, very, very long story. If you ask a Palestinian [he says] they took me from my village and threw me away, and this is the end of the story.

If ask Israeli – it was 3000 years ago [laughter] and God was involved there in some way… as a real estate agent, he promised me that and gave me that, things like this. Even secular Israelis, who don’t believe in god, still believe in his promise to the people of Israel. A friend of mine wrote an article about the secular Zionism [where he stated its point] there is no god but he promised us the land [laughter]. That’s how you can summarize the secular Zionism’s story.

Of course, that simplistic explanation conveniently omits the long Jewish history in those lands and the numerous international agreements that have established their rights there.

But that doesn’t matter, everything Israelis say is a lie:

It doesn’t mean that the Palestinians don’t lie, many of them lie, but it’s not a personal quality, but a story of the victim. If somebody is a victim he wants to tell about himself as a victim, he wants the facts to be known. That’s why I am saying it’s not equal, it’s not a competition between narratives – there is a lie and there is a fact. We are trying to tell the truth and the Israelis are trying to lie as much as they can. When I analyze the Israeli story, it’s like the onion symbol – you try to find some truth, you uncover the first layer, then the second layer, seeking for something solid – nothing – lie over lie, over lie, over lie. This is the Israeli story. That’s why we have to be very suspicious over the Israeli story.

So what’s the “real” story?

At the very beginning, the project of the Jewish state…you should be aggressive to implement such thing. There was no other way, because the Palestinians were not going to give them the land in good will. So when you take that project of Jewish state and want to implement it in a country where you have an Arab Palestinian majority, now logically you can do it in one of two ways – either to make apartheid, a minority regime, and make a Jewish state, or create a majority regime by expelling the indigenous people from their homeland. This is the logical analysis and somebody may say that things were not clear in the 40s and the 30s, it wasn’t like this. Then in 1939 in a hotel in New York, Biltmore hotel, the Zionist movement decided to establish a Jewish state all over Palestine…

Now the tragedy of the Palestinians was that the logical analysis overlapped totally the historical events. And in ’48 85% of the Palestinian people that the Israeli forces occupied, 800,000 were transferred from their villages and towns. 500 villages were destroyed and the vast majority of the Palestinians in cities were also expelled, and only 100,000 people stayed, and later about 50,000 people joined them because of the Rhodes agreements. So I ask myself why transfer – there are two alternatives, to make apartheid or to make transfer. Why did the Zionist leadership choose transfer? They chose transfer, because they were democrats. They have a self-image of democrats, they cannot suffer a racist regime, so it was easier to take the Palestinians away from the scene and establish the Israeli democracy. And that’s the dirty secret of the Israeli democracy – it’s a democracy built on transfer, no transfer, no Israeli democracy.

There is no other way. If you insist on Jewish state, I’ll say ok, the Palestinians will stay in their country and a minority regime will be established and the Palestinians will suffer from discrimination and I would say that apartheid is the Palestinian dream. We demand apartheid, give us apartheid, it’s good for us, it’s much better than our situation of being refugees, of being uprooted from our villages and towns. So I sometimes, when people compare Palestinian situation with South Africa I feel pain – what’s wrong with apartheid? It’s much better than being expelled to Lebanon and suffering as refugees.

One undisputable truth that Mr. Zahalka mentioned earlier was that Palestinians also lie. This tirade confirms it. The Elders of Zion conspired in 1939 in the dark halls of Biltmore Hotel how to create their evil state. Then in 1948 they invaded the Holy Land and single-handedly kicked out several hundred thousand peace-loving Arabs, who until then were happily frolicking in the green pastures once graced by Old Mo’s flying horse.

As a pharmacist, Mr. Zahalka may need to prescribe to himself some memory loss drugs, because it seems he has forgotten plenty of facts. There has always been a strong Jewish presence in Palestine (as a geographical term, there has never been such a country). After the Balfour Declaration and the establishment of the Mandate, the Jewish immigration increased, improving the conditions in that mostly deserted land.

That caused increased immigration of Arabs to Palestine (often illegally, in the 1930s and 1940s) from neighbouring countries, although the land was allocated for a Jewish state. For example, the governor of Syria boasted in 1934 that in the space of a few months about 30,000 Arabs entered Palestine. That despite the fact that Transjordan was already carved out of the Mandate to be an Arab state, where no Jewish immigration was allowed.

The 1948 events didn’t come out of nowhere. Mr. Zahalka forgot that although the Jews accepted the unfair partition plan UN resolution, they were immediately attacked by all Arab neighbours with the explicit purpose to be pushed into the sea (an old Palestinian dream). The vast majority of Arabs left the country following the calls of the Arab leaders on the eve of their attack in May 1948.  There are plenty of US, UK and Arab press reports and witness accounts, which document that.

Now they want to go back, it’s like saying: “OK, we tried to kill you, but it didn’t work. Can we return now?”

Instead of telling the truth, Mr. Zahalka, an Israeli citizen, wails like a Ramallah drama queen: “Give us apartheid! It’s good for us!”

He dedicated part of his lecture to attacking the Israeli laws, which supposedly are inherently unjust and cannot be applied better, they need to be abolished. An example was the citizenship law:

So-called citizenship law – it gives priority to Jews, everyone can get automatically citizenship and rights. There are many rights that a Jewish man in Brooklyn has more than me. The law was changed in year 2000 to say that Palestinian couples from both sides of the green line, from west bank and Gaza cannot live together. 5000 families are suffering from that, it’s preventing family unification, if you are a Jew, you can get citizenship immediately. it was said it was for security reasons and then Sharon said they want to hide behind security, but it is because of demographic considerations.

They say Palestinians have fake or fabricated marriages to get citizenship, it’s conspiracy against the state. I told them there are no such marriages in our community, no family would allow it. 

Again, Mr. Zahalka fails to notice that Israel is the Jewish national state. Every national state has laws to protect itself and control who gets in. For example, Japan is the country of the Japanese – it is extremely difficult to immigrate there and if they accept you, you must act like a Japanese and obey all the laws. Nobody criticizes Japan about that. Only Israel is denied that right for a very simple reason – Arabs like Zahalka simply don’t want it to exist.

Flooding a country with illegal immigrants, who later change it, is one of the oldest tricks. But it looks like the Palestinians are heavenly angels incapable of committing immigration fraud.

Then he mentioned the so-called “cowboy law”, which lets you buy from the government land for a ranch, the law supposedly discriminates against the Bedouins. (Wasn’t the definition of Bedouin somebody, who moves from place to place and doesn’t own land?)

But the best material, which was unscripted, came during the Q&A session.

The first question addressed his complaints about the Israeli democracy: since he travels the world criticising Israel, is he harassed by the Israeli government?

Mr. Zahalka gave an evasive answer – he mentioned again the arrest and jail time when he was young. He also said that in 2002, 2006, 2009 and 2013 his party had problems with the election registration, because of doubts that it doesn’t recognize the Jewish state. However, he couldn’t give a single example of him being harassed by the government for his personal views.

Then a young revolutionary posed the following question:

“Given the scale of the occupation of the west bank since the Oslo accords, is the so-called two-state solution a dead letter now? And the only way to do it now is to fight for dismantling the Zionist state and establishing a secular and democratic state for all the people in the region.”

Zahalka:

I would agree with you about the two-state solution is dying. It’s a very bad situation. The Arab league presented a very generous and unprecedented offer to the Israelis to recognize Israel if Israel withdraws from the West Bank and a Palestinian state is established and some rights of the Palestinian refugees are recognized and Israel said no. I see that the Israeli government is a very extreme government – no chance, there is no Israeli partner for the two state solution. If I look for example at the ruling party Likud, most of them are crazy people. The leaders of that party are people very, very extreme; all of the people who were less extreme were not elected. In this situation there is no chance – not for one step, no for two steps.

…We speak for one state, two states, the number of the states is not important, I do believe that in the long term there is no chance for democracy peace and freedom without ending the Zionist regime. That’s the key point. If Israelis want to believe in Zionism I don’t care, it’s just beliefs. It’s the question of political thought, of sovereignty.  You cannot live in peace if one part is hegemonious over the other.

 

So he wants to get rid of the Zionist parties, which he said previously are the majority of the political parties, but didn’t say what will replace them.

We may get the answer when he replies to another question: since it is so difficult to operate in Knesset, why doesn’t he consider boycotting it.

Zahalka had a good reply, sprinkled with Marxism-Leninism:

It’s not black and white, but legitimate question. They try to prevent my party from running and if they do it frankly I won’t be disappointed. But if I don’t go I will give them another argument – we give him the opportunity and he doesn’t use it…

Lenin and Trotsky said something like this (I am not Leninist I used to be but they are right here) – if you don’t participate in the parliament, you must have a strong revolutionary process, which is very strong, very loud. When I come to the conclusion that I can go to a revolutionary phase, I will leave it. If there is something stronger outside of the parliament, I will leave it. 

Let’s see – revolution means overthrowing the existing social order by force. What kind of a revolution is going Mr. Zahalka to join? Is it against the Israeli government? Whatever it is, it is bizarre to hear that from a person whose job is to work for his country.

He gave us a better idea about the nature of that revolution when another question about the Palestinian future came up:

Now there is also of course the struggle against occupation, the struggle against the Judaization of Jerusalem, I can tell how I evaluate the Israeli government – there are two things – they are extreme and weak. Mr. Netanyahu is a very extreme person, but he is weak. He is not like Sharon. If there is pressure against him, he surrenders to pressure.

And the pressure could come from Palestinian struggle against occupation and from international solidarity movement. This is the coalition. Here we saw something the two-state solution is dying and the one state is not born yet, but we also have a closed door, no negotiations. How can we get out of it? Diplomatic intifada is not enough, Mr. Abu Mazen went to the UN for recognition of Palestine, ok, but if there is now a Palestinian uprising it will be weak, the Palestinians and their allies came to the conclusion that there are no negotiations; the only way is to create pressure over Israel like the case of South Africa. I don’t need to teach you what to do, you know.

[Voices: Boycott, boycott]

I think economic and diplomatic and scientific pressure over Israel is the way. If there are two pressures – from the Palestinian uprising you know there is a consensus in the Palestinian leadership now that we support a Palestinian intifada. It has not come into practice, but as you know people carry buttons with intifada. I can give you my instinct that a third intifada is on its way. The situation is very complicated it’s not only the Palestinians also the international community which gives money to PA to keep stability, financing the occupation.  That’s not helping the Palestinian people; it is preserving the stability and silence. And our duty as I said is to give voice to the silent suffering. 

Is Mr. Zahalka really a member of the Israeli parliament?

He calls for an armed uprising against his own government, supported by the international lefties. And on top of that he wants to starve his own people on the West Bank by cutting their funds, thus revolutionizing them.

He sounds like a character from “The Invasion of the Body Snatchers” whose body has been taken over by the vilest Hamas terrorist in Gaza. But most likely, that’s the real Jamal Zahalka speaking and we need to be concerned when a member of the Knesset thinks and talks like that.

The final nail in the coffin of the Jewish state came when he answered the last question, about the collaboration between Jews and Palestinians in political parties like Hadash:

I think that the morality of the progressive Jews is to support the Palestinian national movement, because it represents oppressed people and you can’t demand from people who are oppressed to support something like internationalism and chauvinism, like come to us not as a national person. There is a difference between the nationality of the oppressor and the nationality of the oppressed. And as we saw the Marxists and the communists in South Africa supported the ANC, they were part of ANC… We cooperate with Jewish progressive people but are not ready to give up our nationality to join Jewish supporters. It’s hard to explain because sometimes you use nationality to oppress people, other times to liberate them.

Did you hear it, “progressive Jews”? The Palestinians have their own revolutionary apartheid. If you want to waste your lives for them, you should play the second fiddle and do what they tell you. And it is not hard to imagine what will happen to you if they win.

There wasn’t a peep from the audience after that blatant rejection of “internationalism” and “multicultural brotherhood”. But again, the lefties are not the sharpest tool in the shed…

So that was it…

Imagine that a member of the Chinese parliament of Tibetan background says about China half of the things Zahalka said about Israel. He or she would never leave prison.

And the demonic Zionist kingdom of Israel lets Zahalka in and out of the country without any problems. Isn’t that the “dirty secret” of the Israeli democracy?

 

© 2013 Blogwrath.com

 

At this week’s rally at York University, which was organized to celebrate the decision to destroy Israel by economic means, Professor David McNally was one of the keynote speakers. You can enjoy his speech in the video above.

He is well known leftist, who sincerely believes that his prescriptions to resolve the world’s problems by applying the mouldy Marxist tools, could really make all of us live better.

At the same time, he finds pleasure in hanging out at events with such devout fans of the Iranian Muslim extremism like Ali Mallah and Zafar Bangash.

While socializing with those people, he promotes heavily in his teaching issues and fields, which his Muslim buddies may find disturbing:

“I am teaching four courses this academic year. In the Fall Term 2012, I’ll be teaching a fourth-year and M.A. seminar entitled, “Marxism, Feminism and Poststructuralism” and a graduate seminar on volume one of Marx’s Capital entitled, “Appropriating Marx’s Capital, 1” (In Winter Term 2013 I will teach a third-year course, “The Political Culture of Race and Racism” and a graduate seminar, “Appropriating Marx’s Capital, 2” on volumes 2 and 3 of Capital.)”

McNally is a curious case, because even in the times of Brezhnev it was hard to find scholars from the communist countries, who truly believed in Marx’s hodgepodge. Most of those were in the field to get easy money from lectures delivered and books published with the understanding that it was illegal to criticize them.

Islam is not big on feminism and poststructuralism, yet Muslims value McNally. It may look like a paradox, but the answer is simple – both sides have a pathological hatred for Israel that unites them (at least temporarily).

It’s delightful to see that McNally is loved by his students, who give him high ratings. So what is the basis of those ratings?

“This Guy Rocks!!! Awesome Prof, Awesome Lectures.., No Exams!!! Easy to approach and talk to.. Total Lefty which is cool in my books”

“great prof. heavily leaning towards the left, but it’s possible to live with that. no tests or exams!”

If we leave aside the spelling, which shows that the York University education is hard to trust, the main attraction of Prof. McNally’s courses appears to be the lack of tests and exams. (The lectures apparently don’t enrich the students intellectually, because they still express themselves at a grade-two level.)

That’s the dream of the lazy lefty. A useless subject like political science is easy enough, but the “prof” makes it even easier by letting everybody pass. It’s the ultimate communist fairness, where everybody is equal; everybody deserves the same regardless of work or ability. And why not? That degree is useless anyway, unless you get some parasitic government job, like a Human Rights inquisitor with a license to hunt Christians.

Why are we paying for all that?

 

© 2013 Blogwrath.com

It was another excruciating day at York University. Yesterday I attended there a rally organized by Students Against Israeli Apartheid, called to celebrate the student federation’s endorsement of the boycott of Israel and demand that the university administration comply with it. Plus, I read the local paper, praising John Greyson’s new tranny film project and convincing men to switch to women’s clothing.

Nothing summarized the spirit of the event than the huge sign, in front of which most speakers stood. It read: “Zionism-Israel-Racism”.

 

Equating these three words demonizes Israel and everybody, who lives there, in the same way that the classic anti-Semites do. Israel and the Jews are not that popular at that university – the unholy alliance of Muslims, lefties and union activists never misses the opportunity to show that in different ways – from hosting the notorious George Galloway to the annual Israeli Apartheid Week.

The organizers tried to soften the anti-Israeli impression by featuring Independent Jewish Voices, whose big sign was also hanging from the wall (apparently the Neturei Karta nuts were not available).

 

Adding that tiny group to the York University anti-Israeli Kool-Aid cocktail is not going to fool many people. The only thing that group proves is that not all Jews are smart.

The latest decision about the BDS campaign is not that different from what happened in the past. Even Excalibur (the YU paper, which can hardly be called pro-Israeli) reluctantly admits that Hillel and Hasbara said they were not notified officially about the meeting of the student federation (YSF), where the motion was voted. The devious leaders of YSF even made sure the vote took place during Passover, thus eliminating the Jewish students.

There was even a petition to adopt the motion signed by 5,000  students (out of 55,000). Of course, the opinion of 5,000 Muslims and lefties (if the petition is real) trumps the opinions of the rest.

Over 100 people attended the rally and spent the time yelling and chanting against Israel.

 

The rally didn’t attract just fans of the Palestinian terrorism… oops, “struggle for liberation” – there were several people from the Tamil student organization of York University, proudly waving Tamil Tigers flags.

 

Obviously, the news that the Tamil Tigers are a terrorist organization still hasn’t reached the university.

The decorations in Vari Hall put up by the organizers were consistent with their anti-Israeli sentiments. One of them called to “drop fees not bombs” – I had no idea that York University was bombing somebody.

 

Another sign expressed rage over Gaza – “the siege continues, Gaza, apartheid, Israel”. Well, they somehow forgot that Egypt is also blocking Gaza; its government even destroyed many of the underground tunnels. Imagine how terrible the Hamas government is, if even their Muslim Brotherhood godfathers don’t like them.

 

 

The lefty taste for weird expressions of their “ideas” was visible all over the place.

 

The lineup of speakers was impressive – with representatives from a few kooky organizations united by their disdain for the non-conforming Jews. I caught most of the speeches on video and will put the best moments of them on YouTube, but let me just present the people who spoke.

 

A fiery girl from YUBSA, the York University Black Students Association, trashed Israel for its racism. She compared it to South Africa. It was curious to hear this from an organization, which offers to its members discounts from black-owned businesses (isn’t that racist?).

 

My old friend Mariam, who some time ago put a lot of effort to promote Muslim prayers in a Toronto public school, was ecstatic about the BDS decision. She also demanded that her tuition fees should not finance Israel.

 

A guy from CUPE, the public employees’ union, proudly stated how several locals of the union are already boycotting Israel.

 

A person from Independent Jewish Voices (not sure if it was a man, woman or two-spirited) assured the participants that most of the progressive Jews fully support the BDS campaign. He or she didn’t specify the number of those progressive Jews.

 

An especially interesting lefty specimen was a hijab Filipina, who spoke against the Israeli racism in such a tense and rabid way that her speech sounded more like a dialogue with a rattlesnake. She bore close resemblance with Michelle Malkin, but I shouldn’t remind you that appearance often lies. I am going to put her in a separate video.

It is hard to believe that somebody would challenge that screaming and hostile crowd. However, a small group of Jewish students showed up to make their point against the blackmail. One of the students was brave enough to wear a large Israeli flag; another one was handing out flyers with information about Israel.

 

Needless to say, many of the people present were hostile and not interested in any new information about Israel. Soon enough it turned out that regardless of how quiet they were, the Jewish students were unwanted. They were sent to the upper level of the hall, most of which was also occupied by an anti-Israeli crowd, although smaller.

 

That wasn’t the only case of harassment – I am not particularly liked by that type of crowd and this time I even got special attention from it. A creepy guy began to follow me with a camera, taking many pictures. He had that strange grin, which could belong either to a leering homosexual or a common psychopath. At certain point he came very close to me. literally shoving his camera in my face and almost hit my lens, as you can see in the sequence below.

 

 

 

He did the same to one of the Jewish students – following him with the same leering grin.

 

Eventually, we complained to one of the security guys. His “helpful” answer was that he is allowed to take pictures and there is nothing they can do. Obviously, the concept of harassment doesn’t apply at York University when the targets are Jewish people. I hope that creep took enough pictures for the Kristallnacht rolodex of the Israeli apartheid activists.

Banishing the Jewish students to the less-populated upper level didn’t stop the harassment. Soon enough they were swarmed by hijabs and lefties, who blamed the Israeli Jews for committing genocide.

 

The attempt to explain that Israel has never been involved in genocide was scoffed at. When one of the students pointed out that the Jews themselves had been victims of genocide of 6 million, the guy in the picture asked: “Who is counting?”

Very soon the lefties ran out of arguments and continued in the old way – by shouting “Free, free Palestine!” and other nonsense.

The guy who argued more than the rest looked strangely familiar. I recalled that I have seen him before – he was at the Idle No More event at SUN NEW (which I covered in a video), where he argued with Ezra Levant and when he ran out of arguments started shouting: “Ezra, you can hide, but we can see your racist side!” It was strange statement, provided that Ezra had no intention of hiding.

 

Before that I had seen him helping the illegal Indian occupation in Caledonia with Tom Keefer. He was taunting Gary McHale during his arrest.

 

It’s a small world for those lefties.

After that incident, the Jewish students were asked to move again. At the new locations, one of them, fed up with the whole thing, started to chant “Free Gaza from Hamas!” Other than being factually correct, the call wasn’t louder or more provocative that the Israel-bashing going on at the lower level. Yet the security showed up again to tell the Jews to shut up.

At that moment, a few of the Jewish students urged the rest to stop, because if they continue the confrontation, the crowd below would continue to harass them after the rally. Yes, that was the classic Jewish defeatism – if you keep quiet, the Cossacks may miss your house. I got the same last month in a comment to my post “A Madhouse Called York University”. A supposedly Jewish student chastised me that by criticizing Muslims and lefties I am destroying the fragile peace between the Jews and them.

It is sad that many people forget how fruitless such defeatism has always been. All Jewish accomplishments (including the history of Israel) show that success comes from asserting yourself, not from lying low.

Judging from the atmosphere in York University, anti-Semitism is just one of the facets of their progressivist agenda. I picked there a copy of Excalibur, the local rag, which had on its front page a sympathetic coverage of the BDS motion.

Along with that there were crime reports – a pervert masturbated in front of girls in a lab; a black guy stole a girl’s phone at gun point. Last month they had a large student rally against the police, which called to fight crime on campus by anti-colonialist and anti-poverty measures instead. It looks like that didn’t work out.

In an editorial the Editor-in-Chief praised the freedom of her paper, which lets you use freely the word “fuck” (I wonder if an anti-abortionist would enjoy the same freedom). Then I saw a full-page article about the new film project of John Greyson. If you remember, that professor, who hates Israel with passion, made two years ago (on public dime) a short movie, which tried to discourage Justin Bieber from performing in Israel.

The article, titled “York film professor uses TTC platform for social issues: John Greyson’s “Murder in Passing” discusses transgender, transit, and transmedia issues”, tells us the plot of the new masterpiece. A bike courier is killed on Toronto public transit property and a tranny detective tries to solve the murder, tackling many tranny issues in the process. Remember folks – we, the voiceless taxpayers, and the gullible York University donors are paying for that tripe.

Another full-page article urges men to wear skirts as an ultimate fashion statement (and I am not talking kilts here). The article “Androgyny from the runway to the streets: Women don boyfriend-blazers, jeans, and shirts, but when will men want to shop in the women’s section?”  tries to convince men that they need to transition from faggy fashion to a full-blown tranny wardrobe. The author ponders the question about when that tranny fashion for men will finally spill from the runway into the everyday life. I wonder how that would be promoted among the York University Muslims students.

Without any doubt, the madhouse called York University is getting even madder – and there is no relief in sight.

 

© 2013 Blogwrath.com

On March 14 Israel Truth Week, an initiative dedicated to educating Canadians about Israel, held its first event at a university. Toronto’s Ryerson University hosted a presentation by Salomon Benzimra on the legal rights of the Jewish people to the land of Israel.

Organized jointly by ITW, Canadians for Israel’s Legal Rights (CILR) and the Ryerson Israeli Student Association, the lecture’s goal was to confront the propaganda spread within our universities during the Israeli Apartheid Week.

 

In front of the audience, which included students and visitors from outside of the university, Mark Vandermaas introduced Salomon Benzimra and his work. Goldi Steiner from CILR provided information about the activities of the organization, which include spreading the truth about Israel not only in Canada, but also in Israel, where not enough has been done to communicate that truth to the younger generation. The targets of the tireless work of CILR are not limited just to individuals and organizations; they also include politicians like Moshe Yaalon, a supporter of CILR, who recently became the new Defense Minister of Israel.

 

 

In his lecture Salomon Benzimra covered the most important facts about how the rights of the Jewish people over the land of Israel were recognized.

 

The audience listened with interest the concise presentation, which covered the history of the issue from ancient times to the most recent developments. I am not going to cover the presentation in detail in this post – I have done that before when writing about his other appearances (including the Israel Truth Week conference talk on March 5, 2013). Besides, you can find everything explained in his book “The Jewish People’s Rights to the Land of Israel” (available at Amazon).

 

I want to write about another important thing – under the ITW time constraints, Salomon had to limit his talk to the time allotted, there wasn’t much time for communication with the audience. The Ryerson event provided plenty of time for a dialogue with the people present.

While answering the questions, Salomon had the opportunity to share his extensive knowledge about the problems facing Israel.

As it has happened before, a question came about the discrepancy between the emotional and rational approach toward those issues. While the lecture covers convincingly the facts, many people, especially activists, tend to ignore them and act upon emotions that are difficult to confront.

From that point of view, an elderly gentleman shared the case of his family. His eldest son is trying to convert everybody to the idea that Jews and Palestinians are going to live in peace and harmony, if both sides compromised enough, especially if the Jews admit that they are occupiers. The father’s attempts to show that this is a utopian idea disproved by the history of the conflict, fell on deaf ears.

Salomon’s reply was that regardless of the emotional issues involved, facts remain facts. The restoration of Israel was not a random whim, but part of extensive negotiations after World War I. Those international treaties shaped the borders of many countries and so far nobody has questioned that. The Versailles treaties reshaped Bulgaria, Romania, and Turkey. They also created the new country of Yugoslavia. The League of Nations’ Mandates, one of which was supposed to be the new Jewish state, also resulted in the creation of Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon.

It is impossible to question the legality of Israel without putting in doubt the whole legal framework, which affected so many countries. Logic requires the admission that if Israel’s creation is illegal, so is everything else in those treaties. Of course, only the provisions affecting Israel are seen that way. It’s not difficult to figure out that in this case we are dealing with an emotion – pure hate for the Jews and Israel, which has no place in international relations. It should be refuted in the same way in conversations, because regardless of the emotions felt, facts eventually prevail, though not as quickly as we wish.

Another interesting question concerned the peace negotiation between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs, specifically the demand that Israel withdraw to the 1967 borders.

Salomon methodically showed the absurdity of that demand. Although the Jews reluctantly agreed to the division of the Mandate land by the UN in 1948, the Arabs rejected it and even tried to destroy the Jewish State. That voided the partition resolution and the so-called 1967 borders are nothing but armistice lines. PLO, founded in 1964, had no demands for those territories while they were under Jordanian and Egyptian control.

It is absurd to push cease-fire lines as official border of a country without negotiations and reaching an agreement by all sides involved. But what is unacceptable in any other part of the world, seems to be the rule  when dealing with Israel – the demonization and questioning the legitimacy of the Jewish state seem to be the “normal” approach in that area.

One of the attendees expressed the frustration that such important historical facts, like those covered by Salomon Benzimra, get such a little attention in the media. I fully share that frustration, although I think that the truth would eventually prevail albeit in a long and slow process of education.

 

© 2013 Blogwrath.com

 

‘Non-Jewish groups join forces for Israel Truth Week Vigil at York University, March 11-15, 11:00am -1:00 pm daily

The Canadian Patriotic Society (CPS), led by Ms. Shobie Kapoor who spearheaded the petition drive to keep Omar Khadr out of Canada, is holding a daily ‘Israel Truth Week Vigil’ between 11am-1pm, from Monday March 11th until Friday March 15th inclusive at the Founders Road entrance to York University (off Steeles Ave. W., between Jane & Keele; MAP: http://goo.gl/maps/2KQll). The purpose of this vigil is to show solidarity with Jewish students and their families so they know they are not alone when dealing with campus anti-Semitic hate campaigns.

We encourage all pro-Israel groups & individuals – Jewish and non-Jewish — to join us to help send a strong message that racism and hate directed against Jewish students is not acceptable.

Parliamentarians condemn IAW

The Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, Jason Kenney; the Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, Bob Rae; and MPs such as Conservative Marc Adler and Liberal Joyce Murray – herself a former citizen of South Africa who “lived out the harms and injuries caused…by the policies of Apartheid” each condemned, in their own way, the intrinsic anti-Semitism and intolerance of the Israel Apartheid activities.

From Bob Rae: “Israeli Apartheid Week continues to defy logic and the cause of social justice. From MP Adler: [These views] are a disgrace and their hate-filled words and tactics must be condemned by all who believe in freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law. I urge all members to join me in condemning this ugly smear campaign.”

Israel Truth Week and the Canadian Patriotic Society agree: ‘Israel Apartheid Week’ is about attacking values. Israel stands as a proxy for all the liberal democratic values that we in the West hold dear: Respect for the rule of law; freedom of expression; freedom of religion, and the right to be treated equally before the law and to be protected equally by the law. People who share those values are being attacked, persecuted and terrorized, even murdered. Israel Truth Week is not just about religion or borders, it is about defending those values and the people who hold them whether they live in Israel or in Canada.”

Additional Israel Truth Week events

• March 14, 6:30pm, Ryerson University, Toronto: Ryerson Israeli Student Association/Ryerson Campus Conservatives present author Salomon Benzimra who will present research from his book, ‘The Jewish People’s Rights to the Land of Israel.’ Mr. Benzimra was a presenter at the recent 2013 Israel Truth Week Conference as was ISA President, Eitan Gilboord.
• March 18, 7pm, Hamilton Christian Fellowship, Hamilton: Screening of award-winning documentary Precious Life, the story of an Israeli doctor who saves the life of a Palestinian child only to discover that the mother supports suicide bombers.
• March 20, 7pm, Royal View Church, London: Screening of Precious Life.

About the Canadian Patriotic Society (www.CanadianPatrioticSociety.com)

The Canadian Patriotic Society unites Canadians who are concerned about public safety, national security and justice. They opposed the repatriation of Omar Khadr and presented Roxanne James, M.P. for Scarborough Central with a petition requesting that the Government of Canada try Omar Khadr for treason under the laws of Canada for his actions against coalition forces in Afghanistan.

About Israel Truth Week (www.IsraelTruthWeek.org/)

The mission of Israel Truth Week is to promote a truthful image of Israel; to assist pro-Israel organizations stand up for Israel; and to let Jewish students and their families know they are not alone when faced with Israel Apartheid Week vilification. Our approach is promote a peaceful, determined, reasoned, unified response to anti-Israelism and anti-Semitism – on and off campus. ITW seeks to provide an identity under which organizations and individuals can respond to ‘Israel Apartheid Week’ activities in their home campuses and cities.

CONTACTS:

Israel Truth Week
Mark Vandermaas, Founder
519.457.0709
mark@israeltruthweek.org

Canadian Patriotic Society
Sharon Isac
416.562.8493
sharon.isac@yahoo.ca

2013 ISRAEL TRUTH WEEK CONFERENCE

 

March 5-6, 2013

 

Victory International Church

Dr. Peter R. Marshall, Pastor

2799 Barton Street East, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8E 2J8

Conference Keynote Finale:

Reverend Majed El Shafie, One Free World International

 

IN SUPPORT OF: the children of ALYN Hospital

Jerusalem, Israel

- Online Donations -

https://www.alynus.org/israeltruthweek

- CONTACT -

Mark Vandermaas

mark@israeltruthweek.org

519.457.0709

 

DAY 1 – AFTERNOON SESSION

 

Tuesday, March 05, 2013, 1:00 – 5:00pm (doors open 12:30)

Victory International Church,

2799 Barton Street East, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8E 2J8

 

1:00 OPENING REMARKS

• · Emcee: Stuart Laughton, Never Again Group (5)
• · Welcome – Victory International Church (4)
• · Blowing of shofar – Rev. Joe Campbell (4)

 

MARK VANDERMAAS, Israel Truth Week/Caledonia Victims Project: ‘Israel Truth Week: Born of Nazi-occupied Holland And The Caledonia Crisis’ (15)

 

CATHY LANYARD, President, Canadian Friends of ALYN Hospital, Jerusalem: ‘The Secret To Middle

East Peace is at ALYN Hospital: The Compassionate Israel, The True Israel, The Israel You Never

See On The News’ (15)

 

Announcement: Children’s book ‘Israel – Repairing The World’ by Rabbi Stephen Wise (Shaarei-

Beth El Congregation, Oakville) for sale. 40% of sales will be donated to ALYN Hospital. See Tibor

Choleva at Matovu Productions table.

 

NETWORKING BREAK – 15 mins

 

RABBI JONATHAN HAUSMAN, BA, MA, JD, Ahavath Torah Congregation, Stoughton MA, USA: ‘The

Jewish Case for Israel’ (15)

 

ASSOCIATE PASTOR KINGSLEY OSEI, Victory International Church: ‘The Christian Case for Israel’

(15)

 

SHOBIE KAPOOR, Canadian Patriotic Society: ‘An East Indian-Canadian’s Case for Israel’ (15)

 

RENANAH GOLDHAR-GEMEINER, Jewish Activist, Toronto, ON: Announcement re ‘Petition to House

of Commons of Canada For the Reaffirmation of Jewish Legal Rights to the Land of Israel…’ (5)

 

NETWORKING BREAK – 15 mins

 

DR. LAWRENCE HART, Professor, McMaster University: ‘Israel Apartheid Week On Campus: A Jewish

Faculty Perspective’ (15)

 

ALAN HERMAN, Canadian Institute for Jewish Research (CIJR, Toronto Chapter)

 

ZACHARY PAIKIN, Program Graduate: ‘The Student Israel-Advocacy Program (SIAP): Equipping Students With Knowledge And Skills To Confront Anti-Semitism On Campus’ (20)

 

SALOMON BENZIMRA, P.Eng., Canadians for Israel’s Legal Rights (CILR), Toronto: ‘The Jewish

People’s Rights to the Land of Israel’ (30)

 

Q&A (30)

 

5:00 – 6:30 DINNER/NETWORKING BREAK (food not included, restaurants nearby)

 

DAY 1 – EVENING SESSION

 

Tuesday, March 05, 2013, 6:30 – 9:30pm (doors open 6:00)

Victory International Church,

2799 Barton Street East, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8E 2J8

 

6:30 OPENING REMARKS

• · Emcee: Stuart Laughton, Never Again Group (2)
• · Welcome Back – Victory International Church (2)
• · VIDEO: ‘Star Spangled Banner’ (2)

 

BRENT BELESKEY, The Intelligence Summit, ‘Knowledge is Power’ (5)

 

VIDEO: ALYN Children’s Hospital: ‘The Breath of Life’ (4:09) http://youtu.be/0NiglmtIiys

CATHY LANYARD, Executive Director, Friends of ALYN Hospital, Jerusalem (USA office): ‘The Heroic

Children of ALYN Hospital’ (5)

 

Announcement: Children’s book ‘Israel – Repairing The World,’ by Rabbi Stephen Wise (Shaarei-

Beth El Congregation, Oakville) for sale. 40% of sales will be donated to ALYN Hospital. See Tibor

Choleva at Matovu Productions table.

 

VIDEO: Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Minister Danny Ayalon, Sep 12/11: The Truth

About The Peace Process (5:59) http://youtu.be/QAuBc_cbXo0

 

ATARA MESSINGER, Student, Arts & Science Program, McMaster University: ‘Israel Apartheid Week at

McMaster University: A Jewish Student’s Perspective’ (15)

 

VIDEO: Palestinian Media Watch: Translation of Palestinian TV (PA TV) broadcast of Oct 23/11

interview w/terrorist Ahlam Tamimi (1:17) http://youtu.be/Av1-yWX1TmI

 

VIDEO: Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) translation of Al-Aqsa TV (Hamas/Gaza)

broadcast of May 11/11 interview w/Hamas MP Yunis Al-Astal: ‘Jews were brought to Palestine for

the great massacre.’ (2:19) http://youtu.be/9Fic15V8ChE

 

LT.COL. (ret) JONATHAN D. HALEVI, Orient Research Group: ‘Peace In The Middle East: Fiction Or

Attainable Reality? (15)

 

NETWORKING BREAK – 15 mins

 

BILL WARNER, PhD, Center for the Study of Political Islam, Nashville, USA: VIDEO LECTURE: ‘A

Rational Study of Radical Islam’ [22:56] http://youtu.be/C9sYgqRtZGg (LIVE Q&A TO FOLLOW

NEXT SPEAKER)

 

VIDEO: Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, May 2011: ‘Israel’s Critical Security Needs for a

Viable Peace’ (5:27) http://youtu.be/HIakII4AFnY

 

MATTHEW M. HAUSMAN, BA, JD, Connecticut, USA: ‘Israel’s Land Rights And The Question Of

Annexation vs. a Two State Solution’ (30)

 

NETWORKING BREAK – 15 mins

 

BILL WARNER, PhD, Center for the Study of Political Islam, Nashville, USA: Live Q&A (30)

 

Q&A (30)

 

9:45 END OF DAY 1

 

DAY 2 – AFTERNOON SESSION

Wednesday, March 06, 2013,

1:00 – 5:00pm (doors open 12:30)

Victory International Church,

2799 Barton Street East, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8E 2J8

12:30 DOORS OPEN:

1:00 OPENING REMARKS

• · Emcee: Stuart Laughton, Never Again Group (2)
• · Welcome Back – Victory International Church (2)
• · Blowing of shofar – Rev. Joe Campbell) (2)
• · VIDEO: Hatikva (‘The Hope’), National Anthem of Israel (2)

 

VIDEO: ALYN Children’s Hospital: ‘Wheels of Love – 10 Years of Riding’ (4:46) http://youtu.be/Z45H_HEIz9s

 

MONICA DI FRANCESCO, Return Ministries

 

EVELYN DI FRANCESCO, B.Kin.(Hons.), MSc(OT): ‘Baptism By Wind, Rain And Fire: Riding Under

Missiles From Gaza for ALL The Children of ALYN Hospital – Jewish, Christian And Arab‘ (20)

 

RABBI/AUTHOR STEPHEN WISE, Shaarei-Beth El Congregation, Oakville: Announcement re his

children’s book for sale, ‘Israel – Repairing The World’ for sale. 40% of sales will be donated to

ALYN Hospital. (5)

 

VIDEO: Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Minister Danny Ayalon, July 12/11: The Truth

About the West Bank’ (6:17) http://youtu.be/XGYxLWUKwWo

 

NETWORKING BREAK – 15 mins

 

JACOB PERETZ, Jewish Activist, London, ON: ‘Responding To The Gaza ‘Children’s Art’ Tour in

London, Ontario’ (15)

 

MARK VANDERMAAS, Israel Truth Week/Caledonia Victims Project: ‘When Police Refuse To Uphold

The Law: Protecting Civil Rights And National Security From Illegal Peacekeeping Missions on

Canadian Soil’ (15)

 

STUART LAUGHTON, Never Again Group, Hamilton, ON: ‘Defending Liberal Democratic Values

Via Self-Empowered And Virtual Team Synergies’ (15)

 

MEIR WEINSTEIN, Director, Jewish Defence League of Canada: ‘Defending Israel Via Activism,

Education And Relationships’ (15)

 

NETWORKING BREAK – 15 mins

 

GARY MCHALE, Canadian Advocates for Charter Equality, Hamilton, ON: ‘Dr. King’s ‘Letter From

Birmingham Jail: A Handbook For Effective, Principled Activism’ (15)

 

RABBI JONATHAN HAUSMAN, BA, MA, JD; Ahavath Torah Congregation, USA: ‘Building International

Unity In Defence of Freedom’ + Tribute to fallen comrades: Rose Lax (Never Again Group) and

Merlyn Kinrade, RCN (ret) (Canadian Advocates for Charter Equality) (30)

 

Q&A (30)

 

5:00 – 6:30 DINNER/NETWORKING BREAK (food not included, restaurants nearby)

 

DAY 2 – EVENING SESSION

Wednesday, March 06, 2013

6:30 – 10:00pm (doors open 6:00)

Victory International Church,

2799 Barton Street East, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8E 2J8

 

Conference Keynote Finale

 

6:30 OPENING REMARKS

• · Emcee: Stuart Laughton, Never Again Group (2)
• · Welcome Back – Victory International Church (2)
• · VIDEO: Hatikva (‘The Hope’), National Anthem of Israel (2)
• · VIDEO: ‘Star Spangled Banner,’ (2)
• · VIDEO: ‘O Canada’ (2)

 

CATHY LANYARD, Executive Director, Friends of ALYN Hospital, Jerusalem (USA office): ‘The Heroic

Children of ALYN Hospital ’ (5)

 

Announcement: Children’s book ‘Israel – Repairing The World,’ by Rabbi Stephen Wise (Shaarei-

Beth El Congregation, Oakville) for sale. 40% of sales will be donated to ALYN Hospital. See Tibor

Choleva at Matovu Productions table.

 

REV. MAJED EL SHAFIE, One Free World International, Toronto: ‘Religious Persecution – Why Does

The World Not Care? Risking Everything To Give A Voice To The Voiceless’

• · Rev. El Shafie intro to ‘Freedom Fighter‘ documentary film (5)
• · Screening of ‘Freedom Fighter’ (1:20)

 

NETWORKING BREAK – 15 mins

 

• · Q&A w/Rev. El Shafie (45)

 

MINGLE (45)

 

10:00 END OF CONFERENCE

 

Last Thursday I attended a “People’s Forum”at York University calling for kicking out the police from campus. An odd collection of militant Arabs, tree-hugging lefties, “trans-people”, wannabe Black Panthers and a few in-between wanted to resolve their university’s crime problem by getting rid of the only entity qualified to take care of the problem. Even more puzzling was the presence of the Israeli apartheid crowd. What does the “Israeli apartheid” have to do with the crime issues at YU?

A few metres across the “forum” a group of Jewish students had a table with materials providing information about the BDS (Boycott-Divest-Sanction) movement against Israel. That initiative, masked as compassion for the “oppressed” has the simple and straightforward goal to destroy the Israeli economics. It looks like the “model” is gaining popularity, because recently some Manitoba Indian chiefs threatened that they’ll put Canada’s economy on its knees, if their demands for more free money are not met.

I went to the table to talk with the students. I asked them if they experience any harassment for what they are doing. One of them diplomatically noted that generally there is no harassment, but they have to deal with a very vocal minority, which sometimes makes things difficult.

 

My personal impressions of that “minority” at YU are that the group is not that small. In November 2010 they brought to YU the anti-Semitic Hamas supporter and financer George Galloway, with the full support of the administration.

At the time the President of YU threatened with court action a Rabbi, who called for a protest against Galloway. At the event itself, when a large group of students and supporters were protesting, the Tamil president of the student union brought a group of Muslims among the Jewish protesters to provoke a fight, which the police managed to prevent. After the protest some of the Jewish students were threatened with expulsion.

“The B.S. of BDS” exhibition on Thursday didn’t cause a heated response. It listed a few of the Israeli inventions, including the “date rape straw”, which detects the presence of a date-rape drugs in a drink.

This is a touchy issue, because if the Israeli achievements are boycotted, the lefties and their Arab friends should give up a large number of electronic devises, which are partially or fully developed by Israeli scientists. Not unlike the Muslims in general, who boast scientific discoveries they made in the 10^th century, the Palestinian Arabs are fighting with the Jews over issues like who invented falafel and the Israeli salad. It’s a pity that the few inventions they have are limited to more efficient suicide belts and Kassam Gaza-made rockets.

In their materials the students made good points against the BDS movement: it distorts historical facts, spreads misinformation, and delegitimizes Israel. It also blames only Israel for the conflict and never mentions the ongoing terrorism that has murdered thousands of Israelis in the past 60 years, from groups like Hezbollah and Hamas.

The movement’s founder Omar Barghouti supports a one state solution, calling for the complete destruction of Israel. However creating one state with the “right to return” would mean that there would be no Israel and no self-determination for the Jewish people. This is not a basis for peace but a formula for perpetual conflict.

Blaming and penalizing only one side rewards the other. Boycotting Israeli products does not encourage Palestinian leaders to return to negotiations. In fact, it shows them that they do not need to negotiate because others are willing to hurt Israel economically and politically. Palestinian leadership does not support BDS, Saeb Erakat and Jordan’s Prince el Hassan al bin Talal attended the 2012 Herzliya conference and concluded about BDS that “these conversations aren’t going to lead us anywhere unless we find the will to progress together.”

 

I am glad they brought up Barghouti’s case. He is the perfect example of a conman, who deceives his followers forcing them to give up things he himself enjoys. While giving his fiery speeches in defense of the destruction of Israel, he attends the Tel Aviv University, which is supposed to be boycotted.

In July 2011, at a lecture held at the University of Toronto, he was confronted with a few inconvenient questions about his positions. Instead of defending his points, he chose to literally run away.

That’s the typical behaviour of a cult or communist leader, who does the opposite of what he preaches. Of course, he can’t do that on his own; he needs a crowd of followers stupid enough not to question him. The “Israeli apartheid” idiots who follow him are his perfect foot soldiers.

The points that the presentation made were too logical for the York University environment. They won’t be able to penetrate the wooden heads of the BDS and apartheid crowd. People who intend to solve a crime problem by kicking out the police have lost long ago their ability to think rationally. All those marginal social “studies”, which are being poured into their heads by Marxist-post-structural-queer-trans- racialized-marginalized-homsexualized-antiheterosexualized-environmentalized professors guarantee that conmen like Barghouti will have an endless supply of suckers to exploit.

 

© 2013 Blogwrath.com

 

 

On January 22 Israel held elections for a new Knesset. Despite the small size of the country, the event received worldwide coverage. Both those who hate and who admire Israel were looking into the results for confirmation of their views. Israel has the unique position of being a tiny island of sanity within an ocean of Muslim barbarism.

Even the most ignorant people can predict the results of the elections in the Muslim countries surrounding Israel (many of them don’t even hold elections). In the Israeli democracy that’s much harder. The low threshold (a party needs only 2% of the votes to get a seat in the Knesset) makes it possible for many tiny political parties to enter the competition successfully.

That makes the Israeli political life very complex. If you go through the lists of the past Knesset members, you’ll find small parties that don’t exist anymore; large parties that split into smaller entities; parties that have quickly gained influence and then just as quickly disappeared.

The whole thing resembles a huge maze, where most people feel lost without a guide. Such a knowledgeable guide is Dr. Mordechai Kedar, a prominent scholar from Bar-Ilan University (Israel). In a lecture at Temple Sinai Congregation in Toronto on January 27, he patiently led his audience through the election maze, making sense of the results.

He is uniquely qualified to discuss the complicated realities of the Middle East. Representatives of the organizers – David Freedman (from the Canadian Institute for Jewish Research) and Shirley Anne Haber (from The Speakers Action Group) – introduced us to his background.

 

 

Dr. Kedar is a descendant of Polish Jews, who immigrated to the land of Israel before the Shoah. All of his relatives, who remained in Poland, were killed. He speaks fluent Arabic and is often interviewed on Arab TV and radio stations, including Al-Jazeera. Unlike many other journalists and scholars, who don’t speak the local language, and rely on the disinformation provided by their handlers, Dr. Kedar has first-hand knowledge about the events in the Middle East.

He started by stating that unlike many other elections in the past, those in 2013 clearly show deep changes taking place in the Israeli society.

 

The results, which still are not final (although any additional changes will have a minor effect) show a distribution of seats which is different from what many analysts expected: Likud-Beiteinu – 31; Lapid – 19; Labor – 15; Bayit Yehudi (Jewish Home) – 12; Shas – 11; the Tzipi Livni party – 6; Meretz – 6; Haredim – 6; Kadima – 2; Arab parties – 12.

The main news is the failure of the Likud-Beiteinu block to win the expected seats in the Knesset. Netanyahu and Avigdor Liberman signed their agreement expecting that their coalition would gain at least 42-43 seats, which was the combined number for the both parties in the previous Knesset.

Why did Likud lose so many seats? The centerpiece of their election platform was the national security, yet the Israelis didn’t buy that. What was the reason?

The main reason for Likud’s unsatisfactory performance, according to Dr. Kedar, was the so-called Arab Spring. That process, which started as a series of riots demanding better life, caused such deterioration within the social structure of the Arab countries that they are no more the threat they were before.

After overthrowing Mubarak, the Egyptians are much worse off. The poverty is rampant – in many areas people live in “houses” resembling boxes with no phone, no internet or even electricity. (Does anybody still remember the imaginary “Facebook revolution” in Egypt, which CNN and Time Magazine promoted?)

The new government is even less competent than the old one. The World Bank refuses to lend them money, unless Egypt ends the subsidies for foods, which in the case of the bread reach 80% of the price. If they do so, there will be riots again; if they don’t, the riots would come a little bit later when the country gets bankrupt. Either way the results will be horrible – Egypt is slowly but surely approaching an abyss and its next revolution will be driven by hunger.

Egypt has practically lost its tourism industry, which was a major source of foreign currency. The foreign investments have dried up as well, because nobody wants to invest in a country controlled by unpredictable Muslim fanatics. The only remaining source of income is the tax collected from the ships that pass the Suez Canal.

Egypt is not a threat, because it is barely capable of feeding and equipping its army.

The situation in Syria is even worse – so far over 70,000 people have been killed in the fighting. There are thousands of refugees; whole towns have been totally destroyed. It would take a long time before the country recovers enough to become a military threat to Israel.

Although Jordan is still relatively peaceful, there are already demonstrations calling the King to go. The ancestors of the Jordan royal family were Saudis brought to power in Transjordan by the British. The locals still dislike that family. The domino effect of the Arab world events will soon reach Jordan. It’s just a matter of time.

Although Hezbollah in Lebanon is still a real threat, its positions have been weakened. Israel has dealt with them before and it may happen again. The turmoil in Syria changed the situation – the country was the corridor that Iran used to deliver weapons and supplies to Hezbollah. The situation makes it very unlikely for the terrorist organization to attack Israel when they can’t rely on steady supplies from Iran.

That’s why the Israelis, who are carefully watching the situation within the countries surrounding Israel, didn’t take Netanyahu’s position seriously. They wanted the government to put emphasis on dealing with social issues like poverty, affordable housing, etc.

The pressure to deal with those problems started a few years ago – there was an “Occupy Rothschild Boulevard” movement, which was the prototype of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Some of the people, who took part in it, are now new members of the Knesset from Lapid and Labor parties.

Likud failed to read the map – they didn’t pay attention to the change in the young generation. The party lost its support, because they didn’t understand how to address the housing and other concerns. That transition in the social values and concerns found its way in the election results.

The case of Bayit Yehudi (Jewish Home) deserves special attention. Dr. Kedar described their constituency as people like his late old father – who had very traditional views. The party, which was called before National Religious Party, was losing support, but under its new leadership it managed to get new blood and enhance its appearance.

Naftali Bennett was the person who contributed most to that change. He was a member of a very elite unit of the IDF and not just a simple soldier, but a Major. That gave him good credentials with most Israelis. He even worked in the Netanyahu government. He is a multi-millionaire, who founded, developed and sold a highly-successful high-tech company. Many people in Israel see him as a leader, who won’t need to get secret envelops with cash to pass legislations or do favours. He is the dream of many Israelis.

Bennett introduced a new type of people into the party, who are not religious. Ayelet Shaked, a young-looking woman married to a combat pilot, is one of the new secular leaders of Bayit Yehudi. The new faces and the ideology, which is now based more on national than purely religious values, showed that everybody who shared those values was welcome. That contributed to the growing popularity of the party.

As of the religious party Shas, its popularity remained the same. Maybe even many of their voters (the Orthodox Jews) moved to Bayit Yehudi. The main purpose of Shas is to defend the interests of the Orthodox Jews, so they could join either a right-wing or left-wing coalition, if it supports their demands like religious school funding, etc.

The Livni party and Kadima is what’s left from a party that a few years ago held the power in Israel. The Kadima position is shaky, because they barely passed the 2% threshold and they may lose their seats if the final vote count changes the percentages. The Meretz leftists increased their seat numbers, but that doesn’t make them a factor in the political life.

The Arab parties deserve a special note. Arab citizens are 20% of the population of Israel, so theoretically they could get 24 seats in the Knesset. However, they never reach that number for several reasons. First of all, the Knesset is not their game – many of them wouldn’t want to vote for a budget, which includes expenses for defense and security. Most militants would consider that treason. Also, they don’t want be a part of any Jewish coalition. Those who take part in the elections want to be in the Knesset to disrupt, protest and shout “Discrimination!”

Of course, that’s good – opposition is necessary in every democratic parliament. Another reason for underrepresentation is that the militant groups urge Arabs not to vote – they say that the Arab voting de facto legitimizes Israel and their main purpose should be its destruction and establishing of an Arab state.

Again – it is important to stress the fact that we are witnessing a shift from a security-oriented to socially-oriented society.

In the future we may see an increase in the popularity of the religious parties, because of demographics. Compared to the secularists, the religious people in Israel have many more children.

Dr. Kedar also mentioned the threat of Iran as seen by the people in Israel. Many of them are against its public discussion – they acknowledge the threat, but think that it is an issue, which should be dealt with by the army and the security forces behind the scenes. The constant open discussion of the Iranian nuclear threat destroys the element of surprise that is necessary when handling such issues. They are actually saying: “Deal with it and let us know when it’s done.” Besides, the general public doesn’t have enough data to form a credible opinion about the nuclear capabilities of Iran.

During the Q&A session the listeners asked quite a few questions, some of which were out of the scope of the lecture.

Asked who is going to be a member of the new government coalition, Dr. Kedar replied that it was impossible to predict, because nobody is a prophet. The forming of a coalition is a complicated psychological warfare between the parties in the Knesset, complete with secret dealings and deceiving moves, but that’s how the political culture in Israel works.

Of course, somebody asked the question, which is on the mind of so many people – what is the situation with the two-state solution in Israel and who is promoting it?

That was a complex question, so Dr. Kedar’s answer was long. He bluntly stated that no reputable Israeli politician wants to get engaged with that issue – the people in Israel saw what happened after the “peace initiative” in Gaza. After winning elections and a war with PLO, Hamas took complete control and now is a major threat. Doing the same in Judea and Samaria would almost certainly produce the same result. Nobody in the world is capable of preventing a repetition of what happened in Gaza.

No Israel would take the risk and see the same thing happening. Hamas control over Judea and Samaria would mean that the whole territory of Israel could be attacked by the terrorists’ rockets. And if the things go that way, none of the promoters of the two-state solution around the world is going to help Israel. The only person taking this seriously is Shimon Peres, who still thinks that Abu Mazen is going to put the people of Hamas in jail.

Nobody has a viable solution – even annexation for one-state solution is not good.

Dr. Kedar has proposed his own solution, based on the nature of the Arab society, which he explains on the website http://PalestinianEmirates.com

His point is that the Arab societies are tribal. All Arab countries are artificial creations, most of which have been established by the colonial powers. The population there thinks first and foremost from the point of view of the clan – people trust or mistrust each other depending on the clan or tribe they belong to. Belonging to a nation is a secondary consideration (if ever considered). This is a very basic element of the Arab culture, including among the people under the Palestinian Authority.

The “Palestinian nation” is an artificial construct, in fact those Arabs are divided into clans. The only viable solution is to establish emirates in the West Bank, which will unite the Arabs from the same clans living in the urban areas. There are 8 such clans, which will provide the basis for that new structure. Then Israel can provide security to the people who live outside of those emirates.

Another important question was about the relations between Obama and Netanyahu.

Dr. Kedar answered that although they are not as cozy as the relations between Ariel Sharon and George W. Bush were, the Obama administration has no other choice but to face the reality of the Middle East, so the differences are not always that deep. During the last two years the White House figured out how incorrectly they evaluated and handled the situation in the area. When the demonstrations in Egypt started, Dr. Kedar was contacted by people from the State Department asking what the best way to handle Mubarak is. He told them that whether they support him or not, it will not make any difference, because the people are against him for their own reasons and the position of the USA is not going to change anything. It has been a while since the USA has lost its positions there and is considered just a paper tiger.

 

© 2013 Blogwrath.com

 

It was reported that Moshe Feiglin, the Likud politician, often described by the press as controversial and extreme, has been arrested by the police on Temple Mount for disorderly conduct. It’s hard to imagine that such type of a charge, usually reserved for drunken college students, could be applied to a Feiglin’s action. He is far from being a disorderly person and looks more like a school principal.

And that’s true – the charge is unimaginable, because he was arrested for praying. Not for throwing things or offending people… It is difficult to understand how a man could be arrested for praying in the capital of his own country, but that gets clear (but not much more comprehensible) when you delve deeper into the regulations enforced at the holiest of all Jewish places.

Jews are not allowed to pray in the area where once the Second Temple stood.

The article describes what happened at the time of his arrest:

According to police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby, Feiglin, who is No. 23 on the joint Likud Beytenu list, prostrated himself in the plaza and tried to pray out loud. Praying aloud, going through ritual motions or using any type of traditional prayer objects such as tefillin, tallitot or prayer books, are forbidden for Jews at Judaism’s holiest site due to tensions with Muslim worshipers at the Aksa Mosque.

Feiglin wrote on his Facebook page that he goes to the Temple Mount on the 19th of every Jewish month and that he bothered no one other than the undercover policeman who followed him and had him arrested.

The author is correct that this was not the first brush with the law that Feiglin had while visiting Temple Mount. When we met him in Tel Aviv last November, he said that when he was walking there the previous month he was followed by the police, who stared intently into his face, ready to arrest him if he started to move his lips (assuming he was praying).

This time he was arrested along with other people:

Police arrested a total of five people in the incident: Feiglin and another Jewish worshiper, as well as three Muslim worshipers, who surrounded Feiglin’s group and started yelling “Allahu Akbar” (God is great). One of the Arabs was carrying a concealed knife, which is illegal on the Temple Mount.

In the October incident, Feiglin refused to sign the police restraining order prohibiting him from visiting the Temple Mount and was brought for a hearing at the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court. The judge released him without any conditions.

Now the police may claim that they protected him, because the Arabs carrying knives are very much willing to use them, especially when you consider the fact that most people in Israel know very well who Feiglin is.

The whole incident looks bizarre and surreal and an outsider would have a hard time figuring out why the police would take such excessive measures against a praying man. That’s because the Israeli laws that rule the Second Temple area are bizarre and surreal.

After the Jewish uprising the Romans destroyed the Temple and expelled most of the Jews from their country. Although after that Jews always had a presence in Jerusalem, they usually were at the mercy of different empires and rulers (both Muslim and Christian).

The changing authorities had one thing in common – they equally disrespected the Jewish holy site. Building churches, which were consequently demolished or turned into mosques, was a process, which continued for nearly 2,000 years. At many points in history Jews were not allowed any access at all to the Temple Mount.

In 1948, after the Arab aggression, the Jews lost again that part of Jerusalem. The Jordanians were especially harsh in their treatment of the Jewish heritage – many synagogues were purposely desecrated or demolished; the Jewish graves in the area destroyed.

In 1967, after another Arab attack with the purpose to destroy the Jewish state, Israel finally managed to unite Jerusalem. The Jews regained full control over their Temple for the first time since Roman times.

And here comes the bizarre part. The initial joy of the return was dashed by a strange decision – very soon after the victory celebration Moshe Dayan handed the control over Temple Mount to the Muslim authorities of Jerusalem. And that’s after witnessing all the destruction that the Muslims caused! I am not sure how the socialist brains of Gen. Dayan and Prime Minister Eshkol worked to come up with that solution, but I can guess that the desire to show that we all are brothers and sisters, who have only “minor” cultural differences, played a major role.

To understand the absurdity of the situation, let’s imagine that Rome is conquered by the Muslims (the way things are working now in Europe, that’s not that far-fetched). Then the Italians unite and kick them out – however, they let the Muslims rule over the St. Peter’s Cathedral, which they have converted into a mosque. That’s beyond inconceivable. Yet that’s exactly what the Israeli government did for the tormentors of its own people.

The prohibition of prayer is not that different from what happened in Constantinople. After it was taken by the Turkish hordes in 1453 and most of its inhabitants slaughtered, the Turks desecrated the magnificent Orthodox Cathedral St. Sophia, turning it into a mosque. Now, if a Christian tries to pray there, he or she will be arrested (in earlier times even killed).

So we have a very similar situation, but in Constantinople the invaders took full control and exterminated the Christian population. In Jerusalem the Jews are the majority; it is the capital of Israel and it is ruled by the Israeli Government. Yet that government prevents its own citizens from praying at their holiest site, limiting their access only to the Kotel. It’s hard to imagine anything more bizarre…

Obviously, this is the situation, which Moshe Feiglin wants to change. What he does is not a whim or eccentricity – it’s a way to bring attention to an injustice.

After he was brought to the police, he explained very well what he wanted:

“When I was questioned, I said I would provide any information requested, but I would not cooperate in any way with the police’s unfortunate policy of harming the liberties of those questioned unnecessarily,” Feiglin wrote. “This was a big victory in the battle for human rights in Israel. It did not surprise me that our right to the Temple Mount led to the good news about the liberties of Israeli citizens.”

Indeed, Jerusalem has been a Jewish city for thousands of years.  It is ridiculous that its Jewish citizens can’t get the same rights over their holy site. The claim Muslims have over Temple Mount is based on the delirious ramblings of their “prophet”. He imagined that he travelled there in his dream. Normally, a delusion is not a sufficient reason to claim somebody else’s property, but in Islam’s case everything is conquered and stolen with brute force, as it happened with most of the churches in Constantinople.

Apparently, Islam has the same right to be present in Jerusalem as any other kooky cult, which had been attracted to the mystique of the old city. The “Jerusalem syndrome”, which makes many people think that they are prophets or saviours has already been recognized as a legitimate mental condition.

The delirium of Muhammad is not very different from that. He has as much credibility as Canada’s own contribution to the world of cults – Rael. Claude Vorilhon, the founder of the Raelian Movement was allegedly abducted by aliens, who appointed him to be their messenger; they even let him meet Muhammad. Rael, who also sees himself as a prophet sent to prepare the world for the advent of the “Elohim”, has pestered the Israeli government for years to build an “embassy” in Jerusalem to accept them.

The Raelians have exactly the same justification to be in Jerusalem as the Muslim do, i.e. none. But at least the followers of Rael don’t want to take over the Second Temple. Then why should Muslims keep it?

They are free to do whatever they want (as long as they don’t harass or kill anybody), but taking over the local temple is way over the top. Maybe it’s time to go. The mosques that now occupy the Temple Mount can be moved to a more suitable place, where they are not going to desecrate the Temple anymore. They could be rebuilt elsewhere after providing a proper compensation (although the Arabs never provided Jews with any compensation after destroying their graves and holy places).

Taking back the site in a decisive way is something that should be considered seriously. The problem of the Arabs is that they will always whine and grumble against anything that Israel does, whether it’s good or bad.

Isn’t it time for the Israeli government to take a full control of its own capital and provide the Jews with the right to worship like everyone else in it?

 

© 2013 Blogwrath.com

 

Although a Jewish state, Israel has been forced by the circumstances to be “multicultural”. The country has a sizable “Israeli Arab” minority and they have complete rights – they are full citizens of Israel and Arabic is even the second official language. That doesn’t make the situation any better, because with regard to their behaviour, the difference between the “Palestinians” in Gaza and Samaria and the “Israeli Arabs” is like between snakes that live in your back yard and snakes under the couch in your living room.

I want to start this instalment of my writings about Israel with the recent Gaza conflict. In addition to the hundreds of rockets shot out of that terrorist hub, a bus was blown up in Tel Aviv. That reminded everybody about the grim days of the early 2000’s. The terrorist act was actually done by an Israeli Arab – it looks like there are sleeping cells ready to strike. Despite all the rights and privileges those people have, they are more than willing to bite the hand that feeds them.

Solzhenitsyn’s novel One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich shows the horror of Stalin’s Gulag by describing a normal day in the life of an inmate, in which nothing substantial (from his point of view) happens. This article also covers an ordinary day among the Jerusalem Arabs – I wasn’t beaten, I didn’t witness terrorism, but the true nature of those people transpired in the way they acted that day. And I can confidently say that watching those Arabs in their everyday environment gives you much more information than a riot.

I visited the old Muslim Quarter in Jerusalem on a Saturday. That’s the Jewish Sabbath and in Israel’s capital, where people are more observant, almost every business operated by Jews is closed. The staff of our kosher hotel was replaced by Arabs overnight. The only taxis operating were the Arab ones with drivers, who were as cocky (because of their one day monopoly) as they were ignorant of the city’s streets.

The entrance to the Muslim Quarter is through the Damascus Gate. On the way you can see across the wall surrounding the city a Che Guevara store – first sign of the impossibly messed up Arab mind, which combines radical Islam with equally radical leftism (united in the name of Jew-hatred).

 

The gate entrance combines different realities – you can see Arab merchant women sitting on the pavement selling dried fruits and spices, and in the same area there are armed Israeli policemen. Due to bitter experiences in the past, more of them are sent to patrol the area on Saturday.

 

Many Jews, especially the orthodox ones, who don’t live that far, use the Damascus Gate to go to the Western Wall for their Sabbath prayer. They have to cross the Muslim Quarter, preferably in a group, because the Arab verbal abuse and fights are not uncommon. I didn’t witness a fight, but saw a few Orthodox Jews walking alone being taunted by Arabs.

Once you go inside, you see very old narrow lanes with little stores and cafes on both sides. It is obviously a place that has survived for many centuries. Yet the place is not very clean – there is garbage to be seen around.

The stores sell all kinds of religious and other junk, probably locally made, because the merchandise didn’t carry the proud “Made in China” stamp, except for the knock-off shoes and watches. There were also other provocative “artifacts” (more about them later).

 

A word about the Muslim merchants – if you are not a Muslim, you’re a fair mark to be deceived or cheated. There are no price tags, so when you ask about the price, you’re always quoted something outrageous and since in the West bargaining is a foreign concept, many tourists pay too much for a piece of junk.

That reminded me of my sad experiences in other Muslim countries, like my trip to Turkey in the 1990’s. In Istanbul I took a taxi and after we reached the place, I tried to pay. It was inflation time, so I handed the driver a 20,000,000 Turkish Lira bill. He said he didn’t have change but we could go to a store to break the bill. We made a few steps when the driver turned around, ran into the taxi, and quickly disappeared with my money. I was left to hold the bag (my bag that is) in disbelief. And don’t get me started on the street vendors of Johor Bahru in Malaysia where I went for a short trip when I visited Singapore.

Anyway, the interesting thing in Jerusalem is that you can see traditional Arabs – almost all women wear hijabs, although the full face covering is rare. Some older men wear the white or checkered cloth on their heads supported by big rings to achieve the charming Arafat look. Grease is popular with the younger Arabs, which gives them that nostalgic disco style. The mullet is stubbornly refusing to leave the heads of the Muslims in Jerusalem. It appeared that the head was the only part of the body they took care of, because the clothes they wore didn’t look or smell that clean.

The Orthodox Jews were not the only ones taunted by the Arabs. The tourists, especially the younger women were routinely scoffed at, booed and ridiculed by the Arab men and their bearded ladies.

As if that’s not enough, the tourists are constantly approached by Arabs, who offer scammy services, often with a mysterious whisper: “I can help you!” If it wasn’t for the hoarse Arab accent, that could’ve sounded like the desperate seductive call of a Thai hooker in Bangkok’s Soi Cowboy district.

One of those, a young man with permed hair and a dirty shirt collar, stopped us and offered to take us to a secret place from where we could oversee the Western Wall square. I carelessly silenced the voice of my negative experience with Muslims and followed him. He took us to a terrace, known to everybody , where we were about an hour before that. The whole walk took less than 2 minutes. I politely thanked him, but he asked: “Will you give me something for the job?”

I gave him a 20-shekel bill (about $6), then he made his best Palliwood victim face and said: “Give me something better!” Me: “What do you want for a 2-minute job?!” Then his expression slowly changed to rage and he made a step forward. I am sure under normal circumstances he would’ve helped himself to a larger bill from my wallet, but the fact that many people stood around us and that down the stairs there was a pair of armed to the teeth Israeli policemen, made him change his mind. He turned around and ran away like a little girl, cursing me in Arabic. Then I saw him with his buddies at a café near the end of the stairs (waiting for another victim), they all laughed and yelled at us in Arabic.

Another Arab leech from that “helping” crowd got us in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. In a whispering voice he said that he was a professional tour guide ready to show us everything for a small fee. I had absolutely no intention to pay that pest, but for the sake of fun told him that I would give him 20 shekels. He acted offended and said that was unreasonable. After some pressure, he revealed that a reasonable fee will be 500 shekels (about $135). Needless to say, we toured the church without him and we learned quite a lot from the countless Nigerian, Russian, and Armenian pilgrims visiting the church at the time, most of whom were very knowledgeable.

 

The third time we were taken, was later that day when we tried to get to the Tomb of Mother of God (that’s Mary’s Tomb for non-Orthodox Christians). Looking at our map for the best route, we heard the ominous “I can help you!” coming from the mouth of an old Arab storekeeper. He said that we couldn’t go there from within the old city, because the gate (the Lion Gate) was closed on Saturday. We had to go back, exit through the Damascus Gate and walk around the old city’s wall. We did that and it took us over an hour to reach the Tomb (where we were pestered again by greedy Arabs). Then it was a real surprise to see that the Lion Gate was open – we went to the old city again, and it took us less than 10 minutes to go to the Damascus Gate. So the old Muslim scumbag just lied to us.

That illustrates very well the nature of Islam, where lies and deception are the normal way non-Muslims are treated. The Jerusalem Muslims even have their own “Center for Jerusalem Studies”, part of “Al-Quds University”. You can imagine what kinds of studies are conducted there, considering the fact that the Muslims oppose all archaeological research in the city (they know very well what the results would be). Below you can see the entrance sign, which includes the whole Jerusalem next to Saudi places.

 

But the true hostility of those people toward Israel was revealed in the merchandise they were allowed to sell there.

Before I went to Israel, I was told that in the shops of the Muslim quarter they were selling photos and posters of Palestinian terrorists and suicide bombers. Naturally, that was the first thing I looked for, hoping to take pictures. In two stores I saw small pictures of scary looking Arab guys (the size of playing cards). Answering my question about them, the first owner said they were “Palestinian heroes” and nothing more.  The second one refused to answer. When I tried to take pictures the answer was “No pictures! No pictures!” yelled at me.

Although more “innocent” Pally propaganda junk was displayed outside of the most stores, the owners still didn’t like anybody photographing it. Of course, I managed to take pictures.

The unifying motif of all that junk was to ridicule Israel or show that it doesn’t exist. Boxes like those in the picture are common – notice how the whole country is called “Palestine” and the territory is covered completely with the PLO flag.

 

Just like in the West, the t-shirt appears to be a favourite tool to convey the Arab message. Of course the Jerusalem Arabs are still infatuated enough with the undying charm of their super terrorist Arafat and you can see his camel face everywhere.

 

Barry Hussein Obama was also present, but it didn’t look like the “Israeli Arabs” held him in high regard.

 

They didn’t miss Che Guevara either. The world’s best t-shirt salesman (as some call him) and inspiration to all Palestinian terrorists was prominently displayed. They even fantasized how he was endorsing “free Palestine”.

 

The goal, in most cases, is to ridicule or demonize Israel and at the same time show that “Palestine” is the only reality there. It looks like they are laughing at the possibility of peace:

 

The defense wall, which has saved many Israeli lives, but is still the favourite prop of the Israeli apartheid crowd, has been used in the t-shirt “art” as well. Here the three wise men on their way to Jesus are stopped by it (I had no idea it existed back then):

 

The same wall is featured on an invitation to visit “Palestine” (which of course includes everything in Israel), to make sure that we don’t miss the message, we see on the wall the silhouette of a little girl (presumably Arab) innocently playing with her balloons. Behind her an evil Jew, who for some reason looks like a Fiddler on the Roof character, is about to through at her either a bomb or a Molotov cocktail. (Then he’ll probably eat her.)

 

Then we see a Google search for “Israel” to which Google suggests: “Did you mean: Palestine?” Must be “Google Hamas”…

But of course, the call to free “Palestine” and eliminate Israel from the map was the most often used idea:

 

 

 

It was interesting to see that persistent call to demolish Israel repeated time after time in the capital of the country. A country, which supposedly doesn’t allow any freedoms to the Muslims, let them express in the open hostilities that few other countries would tolerate…

When we returned to the hotel after that tiring day, I watched TV. On the Russian channel I saw an interview with a Jerusalem resident. Victor Chernovsky’s cars had been torched by his Arab neighbours. He caught that on video and they showed it.

It wasn’t an isolated incident, the same happened to him last year. And that’s just a part of the problem he and the other Jewish neighbours have. It is common that the Arab kids pelt them with rocks from the surrounding hills. (According to the leftard logic of the Westerners, nothing should be done, since they are just kids.) The Arabs also deliberately use powerful loudspeakers on their mosque to harass the Jewish neighbours. (And I experienced that myself in Jaffa while shopping at a Jewish store – the wailing coming from the nearby mosque resembled the last call of a dying Chihuahua). Late at night they also like to set off fireworks.

It all started when a few Arab families bought houses in the predominantly Jewish neighbourhood, their presence attracted even more Arabs from the neighbouring villages. Chernovsky complained that even though the police are there, they do very little to protect the residents, because they are either afraid or unwilling to go to the Arab villages.

So this was my day among the Muslims of Jerusalem. As I said, nothing extraordinary happened – I wasn’t shot at, robbed or mugged, but the whole experience left me with an uneasy feeling.

I couldn’t imagine spending any time among those savages, who have all the opportunities a developed country offers, yet they have chosen hatred as their modus operandi and excel only in finding more and more ways to sabotage Israel. They are oblivious to the fact that if they succeed, the new country will turn into the same shithole that most Muslim countries are now.

It’s not easy to live with savages…

 

© 2012 Blogwrath.com

 

On my way to an exhibition at City Hall this afternoon, I stumbled upon a small rally of angry Egyptians, who protested against their president Morsi’s decree that gave him practically absolute power.

 

Their signs were quite clear about the positions they took:

“USA R U supporting Egypt or Muslim Brotherhood coz it differs!”

“USA enough U R double faced policy”

“Obama stop supporting Morsi!”

“USA & MB are destroying Egyptian identity”

 

 

It was nice to see that those people so enthusiastically opposed the Muslim fanatics in Egypt. After all, they were the educated ones, who immigrated to Canada (and other Western countries) and created the illusion that the rebellion in Egypt is going to turn the country into a true democracy.

I talked briefly with one of the protesters (the guy who holds the Morsi portrait). He was convinced that this struggle was not about religion but democracy. When I asked him if he is worried that the Muslim Brotherhood president had so many supporters, who rallied in his support, he replied optimistically that the country is divided, but the people will eventually understand that democracy is best for them.

I wish he was right…

 

As usual, an Arab rally of any kind, no matter how well intentioned, can’t happen without some kind of attack against the Jews or the West. I saw a woman holding high a sign saying:

“Harper, Baird, Israel – Palestine in the UN, if you didn’t hear”

That looked out of place at an anti-Morsi rally. After all, he was one of the people who so passionately wanted to establish that “country” as a tool to destroy Israel, that he supported wholeheartedly Hamas in its provocations against Israel.

So we had today a gathering of supposedly educated people supporting a half-baked country, which resembles more the Frankenstein monster than a normally functioning society. And on top of that, the villain they are protesting against supports the same strange entity.

Is it any wonder that the Arab world is so dysfunctional?

 

© 2012 Blogwrath.com

 

In my previous article about our trip to Israel I wrote about how the Jews are treated at their second holiest place – the Tomb of the Patriarchs. However, there is a group, which is treated even worse. I am talking about the settlers – people who are blackmailed and vilified to different degrees by almost everybody.

In Hebron we met Elisheva Federman, a brave woman, who has managed to preserve her sanity, despite the tribulations that befell on her and her family. When you google her name, as a number one in the results comes up an article which among other things tells us that she is:

“… the wife of extreme right-wing terrorist Noam Federman. Sunday January 09, 20051, Elisheva Federman, and her extremists friends, Yifat Vinograd and Miriam Fleishman were handed suspended sentences of between two and five months, conditional prison terms, having been convicted of ‘child neglect’ and ‘causing a police officer to fail in performing his duty…

She is constantly involved in harassment, street blockades, land theft, break-ins, house occupations and other acts of violence and vandalism against Palestinians.”

Wow, that woman must be worse than O.J. Simpson! And she lived to the ripe old age of over 18,000 years! At least that’s what the semi-literate author of the piece wants us to think. The website belongs to Kawther Salam, a Palestinian “journalist”, who made her career out of slandering and blackmailing IDF and the Jews of Hebron. That PLO piece of garbage used her activities as her meal ticket to the West – in 2002 she managed to get political asylum in Austria (even though what she needs more is a mental asylum).

Austria is a country, where the critics of Islam are persecuted – Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff was dragged through the courts because she dared criticize the Muslim fanaticism. On the other hand, a scumbag like Salam is free to spew her disinformation, fully supported by welfare payments that come out of the pockets of the European taxpayers.

The real Elisheva is quite different from the picture presented by the pathological liar Kawther Salam.

She is a polite, soft-spoken and rational woman. With her modest and conservative clothes she looks like she came out of a Dutch Renaissance painting. She has 10 children. Her husband is also a friendly, quiet, and soft-spoken man. English is not his first language, and sometimes he struggles to find the right words.

I met her first at a political event in Jerusalem, where she was one of the speakers. She told her story about how their house had been demolished 6 times by the Israeli government. That sounded shocking to me, especially considering the fact that I have never heard of her before.

I talked briefly to her after the event, asking if she knew other people treated the same way – she referred me to the murder in the Uzeri family and said that I could find information online. That was difficult, because very few traces of that tragedy remain available online. However, it is important to tell something about it, because that provides very enlightening information about Elisheva’s court conviction, which Kawther was so quick to mention.

It happened in early 2001 when, at the urge of their raped-camel-faced leader Arafat, the Arabs in Israel through bombs and shootings were expressing their gratitude for Ehud Barak’s generous land offer. One of their stops was the home of the Uzeri family at the outskirts of Kiryat Arba (the Hebron Jewish quarter). The Uzeris were having their Shabbat dinner on a Friday night when somebody knocked on the door.

Nati Uzeri, the father, opened it to be met with massive gunfire, which killed him instantly. The Arab terrorists kept shooting hoping to kill everybody else in the house. Fortunately, two unarmed men present at the dinner managed to escape through a back door, face the terrorists and eliminate them.

Under normal circumstances, the family would’ve received the government’s support for their loss and all the encouragement for dealing with the horrible situation. Not so in Israel – only a few months later, on March 24, 2001, the area around the house was swamped by a large number of soldiers and police. They cut off all communications and closed the roads. The area was declared a “closed military zone” – not because there was any attack against Israel, they just needed some peace to demolish the Uzeri house.

Please note that this was not something like a house in Gaza, which serves as a launching pad for missiles or an entrance to weapons-smuggling tunnels. This was an Israeli house, where a few months earlier an Israeli citizen was killed by Arab terrorists.

Things turned bizarre, because it was midnight of a cold rainy night – unlike most of the Israel, the Hebron area is high in the hills and it is really cold at night most of the year.

The Israeli forces kicked out of their home Livnat (Nati’s widow), her children and everybody else who lived in the area. They were sleeping at the time, so when the soldiers arrived, they were removed from the house in their pajamas, not allowed to change their clothes. Then the bulldozers flattened the house with all possessions still in it. The most traumatizing part was that all the keepsakes from their murdered father were flattened and destroyed as well.

The torn stained picture below, showing Nati with one of his sons, was one of the few things they managed to salvage from the mud and the debris of the house.

 

 

This may provide extra fuel to the anti-Semitic insanity, but looking at this picture I can’t help but think – wasn’t a torn picture like this one everything that remained after a pogrom in Russia or Ukraine or after a Nazi raid? Isn’t it a disgraceful to get the same result from the Israeli authorities?

The next chapter in this tragedy shows Elisheva’s character.

A day after the disgraceful event, a group of people showed up to protest, despite the fact that the place was still a “military zone”. As it often happens, women were the most dedicated to the protest. The three women, whom Kawther the terrorist lover mentioned – Elisheva, Yifat and Miriam – were the bravest.

They came with some of their children (as it is usual the case in area like this where daycare is a luxury), then refused to live and locked themselves in an abandoned car. The authorities dragged them out of the car and arrested them. Then they were charged with “child neglect”.

To understand the extreme humiliation of that charge, one must understand that children are the most prized possession for any Jewish woman. Unlike the Arabs, who are happy to see their children blowing themselves up to kill non-Muslims, the Jews think how to protect their children and see them grow up as successful people.

Thus the three women received their suspended sentences based on the phony charges of endangering their children.

For Elisheva that was just the beginning of her ordeal. There were much worse things that she was going to face with her family. We got the further details of what happened when we saw her for the second time.

The second time we met her was at the Tomb of the Patriarchs, where we had the chance to talk to her longer.

 

Inside the building she explained to us the restrictions and told us how the Jews handled the situation.

 

Then she invited us to visit her house. Since the place was neglected by the government and there was no road suitable for a bus, she offered to drive a few of our women in her car. For the record – that was a beat-up car that most Arabs would never drive. As soon as she left, the rest of us hopped on our bulletproof bus and went to the settlement where she lived. We really had to walk downhill to reach the place.

The place where the Federmans live is known as the “Federman Farm” – it’s not a term they invented or even liked, it was given by the Arabs and the lefties, who didn’t like them. On our way we passed the other “houses” of this settler neighbourhood. You can often read in the Western press that the settlers get the best agricultural land for their settlements.

Well, I don’t know if the Jews are able to hide land, but what we saw were trailers (old and worn) placed on a few rocks, which excluded any possibility of agriculture.

 

 

I’ll leave it to you to compare the Jewish settlers’ “houses” with the mansions in the Hebron Palestinian refugee camp…

After a 5-minute walk, we reached the notorious Federman Farm. It didn’t look much better than the trailer neighbourhood. It was the same type of land that I saw for the first time in Armenia – a few patches of soil covered with grass with tons of rocks scattered in between, which makes questionable any agricultural activity.

 

 

On our way downhill we saw the ruins of a house showing what you can expect when your government doesn’t like you (more on that in a minute).

 

Elisheva was already waiting for us with the women around her. The “extreme right-wing terrorist” Noam (her husband) had already joined them. Still wearing his stained and worn work clothes and his awkward smile, he didn’t look like a born silver-tongued speaker.

 

Yet despite the fact that he had to stop from time to time to think about the proper English word to use, he was able to tell us the terrifying story about the life on the “Federman Farm”.

Over 60 years ago, the inhospitable piece of land where the family lives, was owned by an Arab who is now gone. Neither he, nor his heirs ever returned to claim the land. However, the Israeli government still treats it as an “absentee owner’s” land.

Noam told us that just like in the Uzeri case in 2008 a big unit of several hundred soldiers and policemen descended in the middle of the night on their house and ordered them to leave. Everybody, including the children, was thrown out. Noam tried to resist, but his hands were not a match to the weapons – beaten and handcuffed, he was taken into custody, while Elisheva and the kids had to fend for themselves. The house meanwhile was demolished and flattened with their property in it.

Released and then arrested again, Noam was dragged through courts for many months until eventually a sympathetic conservative judge agreed with him and said that settlers like the Federmans are at the outer edge of the Israeli state and they are the buffer that would provide the warning to the country when they are attacked and killed by the enemy. Although Noam didn’t find the arguments very comforting, he was grateful that somebody from the government agreed that he had rights.

Unfortunately, that decision didn’t make their lives easier – since 2008 their house has been destroyed five more times. The last time was 2 years ago – since then they have lived in relative peace.

They never know when the government would strike again and that insecurity has left its mark on their lives. The current house was built as a temporary structure, which they started to improve gradually.

 

Nevertheless, they managed to raise 10 kids on that property. Many of them are still there and look well fed and happy. Other than a trampoline and a playground, they also have a climbing wall.

 

Regardless of how you see them, they are definitely poor, in stark contrast with the claims of the leftist propaganda that the settlers occupy the best lands in the country. However, from the family closeness they show, you can see that the expression “having each other” in their case is not an empty phrase.

Noam works in the “farm” taking care of the animals – a horse and a few goats.

 

Even that is not easy – their goats have been stolen several times by Arabs over the last few years. The last time the noise outside woke up one of their sons, who went out and chased away the Arabs (most of whom are cowards anyway).

Despite the constant danger, the government had repeatedly refused the Federmans a permit to carry weapons, even though they qualify. What a revenge coming from the bureaucrats! (Wait a minute – wasn’t every settler supposed to be armed to the teeth according to the Arab mythology?)

Finally, we go into the house. The small rooms are not able to accommodate our group.

 

There are shelves with books and sparce furniture. In one of the chairs sits the little daughter of the Federmans’ lovingly petting her guinea pig, who responds in the same way. She is too shy – when she sees us, she carefully puts the guinea pig back into his cage and runs away to another room. (So far the Arabs haven’t managed to steal her pets.)

 

I ask Elisheva if she has problems with her children at school because of the way the family was treated. She says that she drives them every day to the Jewish school nearby and she doesn’t have problems. About six months ago her eldest daughter got married.

Since now they don’t have a baby in the house, she can finally get a complete grip on the household. She contributes by working as a full-time English teacher. Things are easier now, because children have grown up. After the demolitions, they have received some support, but they had always relied mostly on themselves.

By that time we notice that it is getting dark outside (it’s November) and it’s already cold. Our guide keeps nagging us that we should get on the bus before it gets dark, because you never know what may happen in Hebron after dark. Probably out of place, but that reminds me of the Fogel family, who were killed last year by Arab terrorists and I pray that nothing like that ever happens to the Federmans.

On our way back to Tel Aviv we are stopped at a checkpoint and the soldiers want us to confirm that everybody on the bus is a Jew…

The next day we decided to go to the Ha Carmel Market. In the taxi one of our group asked me if I agree with the way the Federman kids were raised – they live in a hostile place, full of debris, which may harm them. I wasn’t sure what to say, so I started answering slowly, but another person in the car interrupted me, saying that there was nothing wrong with that – that’s how the pioneers of Israel lived. Maybe both of them are right.

Maybe that’s something that helped the Jews survive under seemingly impossible circumstances – living constantly under hatred that is nearly impossible to fight, because it is totally irrational, and having only your abilities and self-confidence to fight it, is not an easy task to accomplish.

The settlers are the bearers of that spirit. They go to places in the land of Israel, where few others dare to go. Even the most extreme anti-Semites, who see greed as the only motivator among Jews, would have hard time proving that the Federmans and other people like them had benefited in any way from living in those almost impossible conditions. The only real beneficiary is Israel, because the presence of the settlers marks the land of that country.

Ironically, the institution, which is supposed to protect the interests of all Israelis, doesn’t see things this way. Making people victims of its political schemes, it sees those pioneers as pawns in its game of “land for peace”, in which everybody is a loser.

The illusion that if you kick out a few Jews and demolish their houses, you will get lasting peace with the Arabs, has been beaten up by the reality more often than a nerd in a bikers’ bar. Yet the government insists on making the same mistakes all over again.

Encouraged by his “success” in his fight against the settlers in Judea and Samaria, Ariel Sharon decided to show good will on a massive scale by removing all Jewish presence from Gaza in 2005. The enthusiasm was so high that the government decided to leave all the sophisticated facilities for growing vegetables to the Arabs. As far as I remember, they were bought for millions of dollars by do-gooders (one of whom was the chairman of either the IMF or the World Bank). It was a naïve gesture – within hours, the Arabs stole the computers and everything else they could sell and destroyed the rest. There is nothing strange in that – with billions of dollars of UN welfare who needs to work? In their world the old maxim “teach a man to fish and you’ll feed him for a lifetime” actually sounds as: “give me a free fish every day or I’ll shoot rockets at you”. And that was just the beginning – the “free” Arabs in Gaza brought to power the bloodthirsty regime of Hamas.

There is one consolation for the Federmans – people like them, resilient, confident and sure of their values, have always survived. The governments with their petty games designed to please the Arab terrorists or any other enemy of the day, often come and go without leaving a trace. Sure, it is often tempting to compromise and get rich by selling your principles, but let me finish with a saying from Jesus, which sums up the situation: “And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?” (Matthew 16:26)

 

© 2012 Blogwrath.com

 

 

Yesterday the ragtag crowd of anti-Semites and Israel-haters gathered again in front of the Israeli Consulate in Toronto to make their opinions heard. Frankly, I expected many more people, but it looked like about 100 showed up. It was the usual mess of people with totally incompatible views united by their common hatred for the “Zionists”.

The messy spirit apparently affected some of those who covered the event, because Toronto Sun erroneously attributed an anti-Israeli speech to Bernie Farber (the former chief of the CJC). It turned out he wasn’t there and somebody looking like him was to blame for the mishap.

JDL-Canada organized a counter-rally on the opposite side. Unlike the hysterical supporters of the Arab terrorism, which displayed only Palestinian and other Muslims countries’ flags, the other group proudly waved Canadian flags along with those of Israel.

 

The most popular sign among the pro-Hamas crowd was the anti-Semitic poster of Latuff, which they recycle for almost every event.

 

Years ago they used the same poster for the Israeli Apartheid Week going back to at least 2009 (from where I got my copy shown below). Isn’t it time to become more creative?

Actually, some of the participants in the hate fest tried to be creative, bringing signs and posters they made themselves. With the good intention to document their creativity, I crossed the street to take a few pictures. I didn’t go too far, because that idiot Ali Mallah, who was obviously one of the organizers, approached me with one of his assistants (dressed like a roadside worker) and told me in no uncertain terms that my place is not here and I must leave immediately.

Looks like I have bad reputation among that crowd. I didn’t want to get into a discussion about freedom of speech and assembly, so I left, taking only one picture:

 

I also managed to get a leaflet with a declaration of the “Central Executive Committee of the Communist Party of Canada” condemning the “bombardment of Gaza”. It brought fond memories of my old country, where people like Mallah and his commies were in power, deciding who would live and who would die. I’ll never forget how after every Israel war we had to gather in the school gym to condemn the “Zionists” and vote for sending a vitriolic telegram to the Knesset and the Israeli Prime Minister…

Unbeknownst to Old Ali, there was another person who crossed the street with me and since he didn’t know her, she managed to sneak in. Ilana took several pictures and kindly allowed me to use them in this post. All the people with signs proudly posed for her. She took the picture at the top, and here are three more. Somebody tried to equate the Holocaust with the Palestinian question:

 

Then there was another somber girl with hijab telling us with two swastikas that Israel and the Nazis are one and the same (This looks like Hebrew, does anybody of the readers know what the sign means?):

 

And no anti-Israeli rally is complete without the obligatory embarrassed Jewish individual:

 

They also had jihadi signs, which matched beautifully with the swastikas and the Latuff poster:

 

At certain point the organizational genius of Ali Mallah figured out that walking around with swastikas won’t make a good case for the “liberation of Palestine”, so the signs were quickly “fixed”.

 

Another curious artifact was the call for both Israel and Assad to stop “targeting children”. How you can compare the self-defense of Israel with the deliberate murder by Assad’s troops of over 20,000 people (mostly Muslims) is nearly impossible to understand. However, rational thinking has never been a part of the worldview of the idiots who go to those events.

 

The anti-Israeli crowd had every imaginable flag, except the Canadian. You could see Turkish, Iranian, new Libyan, Azerbaijani, and of course Palestinian flags.

 

A curious addition were the Saudi flags, which I haven’t seen before at such events.

 

How the communists and socialists at the rally could co-exist with the citadel of Muslim barbarism, which treats women like animals, is beyond comprehension. The most hilarious moment of the rally was to see the blonde Jewish girl standing with her sign next to the veiled woman holding the Saudi flag:

 

Nothing says more loudly “I am a dumb self-hating Jew” than standing calmly next to the flag of a country, which was the first to exterminate its Jews and into which no Jew is ever allowed.

At the same level of monumental stupidity were the homosexual activists, who showed up to condemn the “Israeli apartheid”, although they wouldn’t last ten minutes in any of the Muslim countries whose flags we saw at the rally, including Gaza and the PLO areas.

Another funny episode was to see the Turkish flag carried by a veiled gargoyle. About 100 years ago Mustafa Kemal Ataturk risked his life to free the country from the backward Muslim barbarism and banned those ridiculous outfits. Now they are back under the fanatical clown Erdogan. And the Canadian government is more than willing to bring those fanatics here.

The other side was well organized, even though fewer people attended the counter-protest. Unlike the Saudi commies, they had a simple and coherent message, telling everybody that Israel is a country, which is there to stay and has no intention to self-destruct for the pleasure of the psychopaths, who hate it.

 

 

A big hit among the participants became the signs that Mark Vandermaas brought (the founder of the Israel Truth Week). After going through the news reports and videos about the Gaza clashes, he designed signs, which exposed the lies that the other side was more than willing to sell as truth.

 

 

 

So that was it – in a few hours the odd crowd of Jew haters slowly started to walk out of the space in front of the museum, still shouting obscenities at us. They were preparing for some kind of a march, which we didn’t follow.

Was it worth it to confront those idiots? I would say yes. At the CIJR conference last week (where Tarek Fatah distinguished himself in a peculiar way) one of the attendees said that such counter-protests don’t make sense because they are embarrassing. I think they are important – no matter how absurd the position of the anti-Semites is, it should be confronted, otherwise they will win, following the old maxim that if a lie is repeated many times many people will believe it.

© 2012 Blogwrath.com

 

Many people showed up last night to support Israel in its struggle against the Arab terrorism. The crowd, which gathered in front of the Israeli Consulate in Toronto, included representatives of several Jewish organizations, Christians, students from the University of Toronto and York University, citizens of Israel studying or working in Canada, people from the “Israel Truth Week” and many other supporters.

 

 

Many people expressed their support in short speeches. A woman shared a touching story – how 40 years ago she lived in a town near Gaza and she had to hide from the rockets in a bomb shelter with her 1-year old baby. Today, that baby, already a grown man, has to do the same with his two teen-aged children.

 

There was a lot of singing – “O, Canada”, “Hatikva” and a few lively Jewish songs. (Oddly enough, the regular assortment of Muslims and lefties didn’t show up to boo the National Anthem.)

The signs, the flags, and the balloons made it clear where the participants stood on the issue of peace.

 

 

 

Of course, all calls for peace and mutual understanding will fall on death years, because the other side’s idea of peace is the total destruction of the country.

However, the important part is that rallies like this one show that the Jewish people have no intentions to lie low and accept whatever fate their enemies have prepared for them. Standing tall and strong is the only way to confront your enemies and inspire your supporters.

 

© 2012 Blogwrath.com

 

This is another article from the series about the life in Israel, based on my impressions from the recent trip. As I mentioned before, I am not covering the events in chronological order. Earlier today I heard the news about an explosion on a bus in Tel Aviv. Tel Aviv, where we spent several days, is a laid back city with ubiquitous fresh juice stands, populated by friendly artsy types, who don’t seem to think too much about the dangers facing Israel, yet the long arm of the Muslim barbarism reached them again.

If you don’t live there, it is difficult to understand a country where an ordinary bus ride may turn into a death trip. And this is not a dysfunctional third-world place, where the everyday madness is a norm. Israel is a country, which tries to balance its democratic openness with the necessity to protect itself from its enemies. All this creates a reality, where the good intentions often backfire.

Our trip to Hebron earlier this month illustrates my point very well. The first unusual thing about the trip was that we had to get a bulletproof bus. Despite the 6 peaceful years, the tourist safety required it. On the outside it looks like an ordinary bus, but its windows are somewhat smaller.

The details that our guide Era provided reminded us of the grim reality with which the Israelis must cope every day. First of all, such a bus is very expensive – it costs about 1.5 million shekels. It is heavy and consumes roughly 1 litre of gas per kilometre (with gas prices much higher than those in Canada).

Those buses are mandatory for transporting children in the risky areas (in fact, the first assignment of our driver for the day was to drive kids to their school). That’s why it looks (and feels) like the seats are smaller. All parts of the bus, including the top, the floor and the tires are designed to withstand an assault.  That includes the windows, made from special double glass, which should be kept free from scratches to avoid cracks when hit. That’s why the glass is covered with plastic on the both sides (it made taking pictures from the inside more difficult).

 

 

Like almost everywhere in Israel, every inch of the land is linked to some episode of the Jewish history. We passed an area related to the Biblical times, where Samson was buried. Further on, we took a road, which was essential during the Independence War in 1948. It was the road, which a group of 35 Israeli soldiers tried to use to deliver help to the besieged areas.  They were seen by two Arab women, whom the soldiers let go despite the danger. The women alerted the Arab military, which attacked the group and killed everybody. Not only that, but the soldiers’ corpses were hacked with axes and knives beyond recognition.

Another reminder of the current reality is a set of giant satellite dishes we pass. They are used for collecting intelligence.

While approaching Hebron through a winding road, which leads us uphill, we see the Arab areas.

 

We pass by a Palestinian refugee camp, which looks more like a well-maintained suburban area. This all is a product of the billions of dollars provided by UNWRA, the UN Palestinian welfare agency, to people who do very little work. Since the UN doesn’t earn its money, these are funds provided by the USA, Canada, Japan, Germany and a few other suckers.

 

Nobody knows the actual number of the Arabs living there. Since UNWRA gives away money based of the number of the people, most deaths are not reported. As a result, there are “refugees” in the records, who are over 130 years old.

 

Before the “peace process” started, many of the Arabs living in the areas used to work in Israeli businesses and farms. The path of hostility and destruction, taken by the PLO after that, made that almost impossible. However, it looks like (just like in the USA) they can live quite comfortably on international welfare money.

We finally reach Hebron. That’s an old Jewish town, which many centuries ago was King David’s capital. After over 700 years of Muslim control, its population now is almost 90% Arab. There is still a thriving Jewish community of about 8,000, but the Arabs have never hidden their intention to eradicate it.

We approach the Jewish quarter through the only safe road. Our first stop is the Tomb of the Patriarchs (Ma’arat HaMachpela). After the Temple Mount, this is the second holiest Jewish site. According to the Bible, this was the place, which Abraham chose as a burial place for Sarah. It was a cave with the land around it, for which Abraham paid 400 silver sheqalim, and enormous amount of money for its time. Later Abraham himself was buried here, along with Isaac, Jacob, Rebecca (Rivka) and Leah.

And just like at the Temple Mount, you can still see here the bitter consequences of the Muslim domination.

 

The Tomb became accessible to the Jews only after 1967. Now it is heavily guarded, there is a checkpoint you can see above. The building is on the left and behind it there are Arab houses.

 

About 2,000 years ago, in the times of Herod, the structure at the Tomb was replaced by a large stone building. However, the centuries of Muslim domination left their ugly trace at the site. For starters, they raised two minarets at the corners, which make the Tomb look like a mosque. The Muslims also divided the hall inside the building into many rooms, placing ugly tiles with quotes from the Koran on the walls.

However, the despicable part was how the Jews were treated at the site during the Muslim occupation. As I mentioned, they had no access to the interior. They were allowed only to a small area at the wall, at the seventh step of a staircase that led to one of the entrances (thus the place is still called “The Seventh Step”).

 

The place is still marked with a sign, but the staircase was demolished in 1967 after the liberation. One may think that the things changed then, but the Jews didn’t gain much from the government control over the holy site.

Like in the case with Temple Mount, the Israeli Government, probably trying to look open-minded and accommodating, gave up most of the control of the Tomb of the Patriarchs to the very people who persecuted the Jews in the area – the Muslim authorities.

As a result, the Jews are humiliated again. Now they have access to only 20% of the building. In practical terms, this means two relatively small rooms, which could hardly accommodate all worshippers. We visited the site on a weekday and it was crammed with people, I can imagine what it looks like on the shabbath.

 

Of course, there are armed soldiers at the entrance and the visitors must pass a metal detector. Then they go through a wide hallway to the two rooms.

 

 

 

As you can see, the second room, which still has those horrible koranic tiles on the walls, is really tiny. That’s not the only problem – the Muslims are still allowed to impose all kinds of humiliating restrictions. They have prohibited the Jews from making any changes; even the archeological exploration has been banned. That’s a shame, because during secret archeological work a few years back, the actual cave with several levels and artifacts from the First Temple period were discovered, but for now that promising research has been halted.

Limited areas of the other parts of the building are accessible by Jews only for a few days each year.

There are thousands of Jews heading every Friday to Hebron to worship at the Tomb of the Patriarchs, but the limited accommodations in the Jewish quarter force them to rent rooms where many people have to spend the night on mattresses. During the summer they even sleep in tents. We saw people driving with mattresses on the roofs of their cars, preparing for the shabbath. Of course, you can always look for a room in the Arab part of the town, but you must be suicidal to do so.

That’s what we saw at the Tomb of the Patriarch. Again, it was another case, where the Israeli reality looks very different from the way it is pictured in the foreign media.

Can you imagine another country, where the government restricts its citizens (both sharing the same religion) from access to their holiest site? And all that in the name of accommodating an ethnic group, whose main purpose is to destroy the country…

But that’s exactly what the supposedly “genocidal Zionist” government does to please its enemies.

While we were at the Tomb of the Patriarchs, we met a remarkable Jewish woman – Elisheva Federman. She invited us to her home and later that afternoon we visited it – the “notorious” “Federman Farm” – where we saw how the dreaded Jewish settlers live. But that is going to be a topic of another article…

 

© 2012 Blogwrath.com

Last Sunday I attended a conference on combating the delegitimation of Israel organized by the Canadian Institute for Jewish Research (CIJR). I am going to write about it in detail later, but in this post I just want to talk about the strange appearance of Mr. Tarek Fatah (he received at the conference the “Lion of Judah” award).

I have covered many events involving Tarek Fatah and I respect him. His decisive stand against Muslim fanaticism, which has brought him many threats, is more than admirable. I have never paid too much attention to his claim to be a “secular Muslim” (an oxymoronic term) or to his socialist worldview. However, his speech at the conference and the confrontation with one of the participants, Mark Vandermaas, that followed it, left me puzzled (to say the least).

Let’s see what exactly happened (the quotes were transcribed from the actual recordings):

Tarek Fatah started:

“Look at the people of Thailand where Obama is now. There is a state for the people of Burma, there is not a single person who says that the Burmese people don’t deserve a state of their own. And all the Jews do is quote me the Bible… I am telling you your case is so simple, you’re a people and you deserve a state! That’s got nothing to do with Judaism. I don’t have to tell you that most of your founders were atheists – I have been inspired by communists, who were all Jews, I didn’t know they were Jews, I just knew they were Marxist… Shlomo Avineri, I didn’t even know that was a Jewish name. When I was 16 years old I was stealing a book by him from the library, then I found out he was at the Israeli Foreign Ministry… There is not one guy amongst you who is talking to those who you have to be friend [with]. You’re talking to friends, you’re talking amidst yourselves. I urge you to take your kids out of private school and put them in public school. And even when you do so, all of you kids are in neighbourhood schools, 80% of them are Jewish… “

After talking more about the public education, he unleashed his wrath against the right-wingers:

“You are less than 1% of world’s population. You see that you have 195 countries to convince. You have been able to convince them when the General Assembly vote took place in 1947 – from Paraguay, the Philippines, Liberia… There were three rounds of voting. You managed that. Why? You were with the United States and Europe on the left. Now you got the Republicans to support you. Do you know that the fact that a Republicans support you is your undoing? The same person who is against abortion, the same person who thinks that the immigrants should be thrown out to Mexico, the same guy who doesn’t want black people to come in, the same guys who want gated communities, the same guys who are against the civil rights movement, are supporting you! That’s a kiss of death!”

After that he jumped to the issue of who the real threat to Israel is, saying that Iran is overrated – they are idiots, who haven’t been able to develop a simple missile for ten years. The real danger comes from Pakistan, which has a large nuclear arsenal and even sells nuclear materials on the black market. It has also trained most of the terrorists in the world. Then he returned to the Jewish question:

“You are not fighting any of the fights you can win. You basically have to win the war of truth over lies, it’s as simple as that! I’m standing here, I’m a strong defender of the Palestinian right of statehood, and defend that because every Israeli prime minister has defended it whether it is Olmert, Ehud Barak who I admire greatly. I am the Labor Party supporter, I am left of centre and I am proud to be a socialist. That’s why as long as the right supports you, you don’t have a case in the rest of the world, because 99% of the people are struggling to make ends meet. As long as the Polish in Warsaw supported you, you stood up with dignity, you stood up to the Nazis as left-wing Jews. You show me one right-wing Jew in Nazi Germany! Show me one! Give me a name! Every Jew was respected because they were fighting for the working class! Today, today you have the Republican Party, the guy who said he doesn’t give a damn about 47% of the people, who said I lost because I didn’t give tips to the black people, that’s the guy supporting you?

“You better get out of that! You better get inside the Democratic Party and the NDP. I am telling you that originally NDP, in 1967 when you won the war, the NDP had a convention, and the entire council of the NDP celebrated, standing applause for the great victory of Israel over Egypt. You come back to just 3 years ago, one member of the parliament from the NDP stood up and she was booed. That was the woman with the complicated last Polish name. She was not allowed to speak! And this is the same party from over 35 years – have you accomplished anything or have you lost something? Don’t deceive yourselves – you lost out on the NDP that was the single biggest supporter of the state of Israel and the Jewish community… I have argued with people who don’t like that I learned from the Jews…

“You are being supported by right wing Nazis for crying out loud! This is a problem; we cannot accept that, you cannot get somebody from the religious right. You have to get back to the roots that created you. People who created [Mark leaves; noise] [inaudible]… I am saying this as a friend, there are people like for example Ateek who was mentioned here, I have known him for 20 years, he is outspoken, he has been for the Jewish state and has told so to the Palestinian students. Please don’t offend your friends. Thank you very much!”

Although the second part of the speech was met with whispers of disapproval and Mark Vandermaas left outraged, there were people who clapped at Tarek’s words. When the Q&A session was announced, Mark was the second person to ask a question:

Mark: “This is for Mr. Fatah. I grew up in a non-Jewish household; my parents lived under the Nazi occupation during the Holocaust. I served in the Middle East as a UN peacekeeper. Recently, in 2011 I conducted a 28-day vigil outside of a mosque in London to protest their direct support for the boat to Gaza. In 2012, in response to students being intimidated at the Western Ontario University, I created the first Israel Truth Week Conference [applause], also, after the conference the Canadian Society of Yad Vashem suggested to me that if I get 50 people together, they’ll provide a bus to take Christians to the national Holocaust ceremony, where I received the honour of my life being asked to participate in the candlelight ceremony. And I came here today from London, which is two hours drive, hopefully to hook up with members of CIJR to talk if they can help me produce the next Israel Truth Conference in 2013, which will be in one of the largest Christian churches in Hamilton. My parents were very active in the NDP. Throughout my entire adult life I voted conservative, and I hold conservative values today, and if I were in the United States, I would vote for Romney and Ryan [applause] and my question to you is: we don’t know each other and you don’t know anything about me, am I a Nazi, Sir? Am I a Nazi?”

Tarek: [inaudible]

Moderator: He asked if he is a Nazi.

Tarek: That’s obviously a question in extremely bad faith and manners and it reflects a lot of your hostility. I would be very dishonest, if I said that you asked this question in good faith.

Mark: Sir, I asked this question at the urging of the CIJR Chair Mr. Kincler as I was standing by the door, after asking what I should do, but please don’t accuse me of dishonesty.

Tarek: [yelling] Don’t bully me! I am no one’s patsy and I am not taking bullying from anyone, you understand that? I have had my family fight for the Jews, don’t give me that crap! How dare you play games with me! You think you can bully me? That’s why the Republicans… you support the Republicans and the people become anti-Israeli, because bullies like YOU who try to intimidate ME and then support… [booing]

Moderator: [moves to another question]

Obviously, Tarek was following the principle “it’s my way or no way”. Otherwise it would be difficult to explain the rude emotional outburst with which he reacted to the calmly asked question. This was supposed to be a scholarly conference and he could’ve used the opportunity to clarify his position in the answer, but his behaviour was at odds with the atmosphere of the event.

I’ll get back to his extreme leftist position – he invoked the Occupy Movement terminology. 99% of the people struggling to make ends meet? That sounded like a phrase from the mouth of somebody who crawled out of an Occupy Wall Street tent.

Let me say something about Mark’s character. I have known him for a while – he is an open, honest and straightforward person. Everything he said in his question was true. He may not be a TV personality like Tarek, but he has made significant contributions to the cause of Israel in Canada. And he definitely doesn’t belong to the mythical 1% and hasn’t made any money with his activism. It was horrible to see him being viciously attacked by Mr. Fatah. Many of the participants, who came to Mark to shake his hand and congratulate him after that, thought the same way.

No matter how hard Mr. Fatah tries, he can’t separate anti-Semitism from Marxism. Marx had clearly defined anti-Jewish views. As a convert, he tried hard to prove that he was just like the other Germans. In his article “The Jewish Question” (quoted from “Karl Marx: A World without Jews”, Philosophical Library, New York, 1959) he wrote:

“What is stated as theory in Jewish religion, namely, contempt for theory, art, history and man as an end in himself, is an actual and conscious point of view, held to be virtuous by the man of money. Even the relations between the sexes, between man and woman become an object of commerce. The woman is auctioned off…

The law of the Jew, lacking all solid foundation, is only a religious caricature of morality and of law of general, but it provides the formal rites in which the world of property clothes its transactions…

The social emancipation of Jewry is the emancipation of society from Jewry.”

Not much new here – Marx simply perpetuates the stereotype of the evil money lender, who sits in his dark chambers thinking how to enslave mankind. That was not that different from the position Hitler took. Hitler didn’t invent anti-Semitism, he expanded it and found eager supporters among the progressives, including the peasants and the working class, who voted him into power. But of course, that’s a phenomenon that the narrow-minded Marxist “class analysis”, cherished by Mr. Fatah, is not able to explain.

I agree with Mr. Fatah that we can’t name any right-wing Jews in Hitler’s Germany. That’s because there were no Jews, neither left-, nor right-wing. For the luckiest few, who were still useful, Hitler found a loophole declaring them “Honorary Aryans” (like Herbert von Karajan’s wife). The less lucky ones managed to escape, often with just the clothes on their backs. And we all know where the rest ended up and why so few of them came back… As of Germany before Hitler, there were Jews in many different positions in the government, culture, science, etc., it’s laughable to claim that they all were left-wing.

Jews haven’t done well even in places where the “progressive Jews” have been in charge. When Lenin’s gang took over Russia, the large number of Jews in the government – like Trotsky, Sverdlov, Kamenev, Zinoviev, Radek, etc. – other than feed the conspiracy theories about the Jewish worldwide takeover, did very little to improve the plight of the Russian Jews. The truth is that they were faithful followers of Marx in trying to “emancipate the society from Jewry” – they stopped the pogroms, but destroyed Judaism along with the other religions and the well-off Jewish peasants and merchants were persecuted just like all other “class enemies”. Under Stalin, when the repressions expanded tremendously, the Jews became targets of the spy trials along with millions of others, although Jews like Yagoda and Kaganovich were part of the repressive apparatus. Thousands of Jewish actors, artists, writers and ordinary peasants and workers perished or languished for years in the camps. The last large purge, which happened just a few months before Stalin’s death, targeted specifically the Jews.

The NDP (that’s short for New Democratic Party) itself has been anti-Israeli for decades, in addition to bringing financial ruin to every province, where it formed a government. Sure, there were lefty Jews among its supporters, who were more than willing to accuse Israel of every sin under the sun. At the last year’s opening night of the Israeli Apartheid Week, the far-left Jewish activist Judy Rebick proudly called Israel a “shitty country”. But the presence of such hostile Jews still hasn’t changed the situation. In a notorious interview from 2010 Libby Davies, deputy leader of NDP, said that Israel’s occupation started in 1948, thus wiping the country from the map.

I wonder if this is the party that the Jews have to get into…

Even the socialists in Sweden and Norway are hostile toward the Jews and Israel. Painting the Republicans as a gang of Nazi villains is beyond stupid – I wonder how an educated man like Mr. Fatah could justify it. At the same time he ignores the welfare underclass, which is the powerbase of Obama.

As of Naim Ateek, whom Mr. Fatah mentioned in the end of his speech as a great friend of Israel, he was discussed in the presentation of Prof. Paul Merkley on the Christ-killer motif in some churches. Ateek is a founder of the “Palestinian Liberation theology” and a virulent critic of Israel. When Mr. Fatah’s favourite Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak offered to the Palestinians everything they wanted, including Jerusalem, the “grateful” old terrorist Arafat unleashed one of the largest waves of Arab terrorism. Instead of condemning it, Ateek used the opportunity to blackmail Israel for defending itself, comparing the country with the “baby killer” Herod and the Palestinians to the crucified Jesus.

How can you call him a friend? With the friends that Mr. Fatah recommends, Israel doesn’t need enemies.

Other than the distortion of reality caused by the Marxist lens through which Mr. Fatah observes the world, there is another important issue, which is not limited to him.

I call it “boxing of the Jews” (like putting them in a confined space). The problem is that so many different people are trying to put the Jews in a box to fit their own agenda – for people like Marx and Hitler Jews epitomize the pure greed (an old anti-Semitic image). For well-meaning progressives like Mr. Fatah, all misfortunes of the Jews and Israel come from the fact that they are not left-wing enough.

Despite having different agenda, both attitudes display the same flaw – they paint the Jews like a class of kindergarten kids, who must behave in a certain way to be liked. In both cases they are expected to lose their specific individuality.

It never occurs to them (or they simply don’t want to admit it) that the Jews are a people like every other people – there are smart Jews and stupid Jews…

Educated Jews and ignorant Jews…

There are Jewish bankers and Jews on welfare…

The fighters in the Warsaw ghetto were Jews and many of the police guarding it were Jews as well…

Albert Einstein was a Jew and so was Bernie Madoff…

Ayn Rand was Jewish just like Abbie Hoffman…

Presenting the Jews as a monolithic group, which would solve all of its problems by going to the NDP or the Democratic Party (or any other ideological flavour of the day) is beyond ridiculous. But that’s how the socialists, communists and the followers of every other ideology, which tries to “solve” mankind’s problems once and for all, see the world. There are no individualities, but little cogwheels, which must follow the imaginary laws of the theory.

Mr. Fatah might get offended if I call his “advice” to the Jews patronizing, but that’s what it is. The Jews are not a flock of sheep, which could be pushed from one political party to another. During the last 2,000 years they have proven that they could survive under almost impossible circumstances (unfortunately paying a hefty price).

Living at the mercy of enemies and do-gooders is not a sustainable way of life. If you, like Blanche DuBois, always “depend on the kindness of strangers”, you won’t go very far.

That’s why the existence of the state of Israel is so important – that is the place where the Jews can live and support any party, conservative or progressive (and, boy, didn’t they come up with such diverse political parties), regardless of what Mr. Fatah and his friends prescribe as best for them.

It is also important to be a Jewish state, “a national home for the Jewish people” as the Balfour Declaration stated, not some kind of a federation, where the Jews would have to once again depend on the imaginary kindness of the Arabs.

A Jewish state is the only real insurance that nothing of what happened before would be repeated. Many of those who see Jews as stereotypes have a hard time reconciling the yeshiva student with the IDF soldier, but they are two sides of the same coin – education and spirituality are worth very little if you don’t possess the force to defend them.

Jews don’t need to justify their existence or be lectured about what side they have to take. Just like everybody else, they are making their own decisions.

There is one statement of Mr. Fatah I agree with: “Please don’t offend your friends!” But first the Jews must decide who their friends are.

© 2012 Blogwrath.com

 

The video above gives you a glimpse into the bizarre event I attended last night. The weird rabbis who were calling for the destruction of Israel were just one of the attractions. The anti-Israeli rally in Toronto gathered all the people, who despite their ideological differences, are united by their hatred. The noisy rabble varied from orthodox Jews through the people of the occupy and BDS crowd and of course there were many Muslims.

 

The Trotsky boys from the Fourth International didn’t miss the event either.

 

 

And as I already mentioned, quite a few self-hating Jews, both religious and secular, found it necessary to bash the country that ensured the survival of millions of their fellow Jews.

 

Our old friend Ali Mallah didn’t miss the chance to show up among a few despicable fellows, who wanted to give away the whole land of Israel to the Arabs:

 

The signs those people brought showed the high level of their sophistication in masterpieces like “Fuck human rights” or “Canada has blood on its hands.”

 

 

 

They were not ashamed to parade even the portrait of the killed terrorist, who masterminded the attacks against Israel:

 

The anti-Semites didn’t mind to have a guy from Magyar Garda among them. For those who are not familiar with the European politics I need to mention that this is a Hungarian organization, which is nearly fascist and definitely anti-Semitic. He was a perfect match for their event. It took the Muslims and the socialists quite a while to figure out that the Magyar Garda member could make them look bad – then they asked him to live.

 

 

On the few occasions when I crossed the street to take pictures of that insanity, a creepy Muslim followed me with a camera, filming everything I was doing:

 

At the time of the event, JDL-Canada was having a counter protest right in front of the Israeli Consulate across the street. Many Muslims tried their best to cross the street and provoke a confrontation. Fortunately, the police handled them quite well.

 

The turnout for the JDL event was quite good – despite the short notice (the event was announced less than 24 hours ago) many people showed up. Along with the members of JDL many supporters attended as well. There was also a large group of students.

 

 

 

 

Even the signs of the protest were more decent than those of the terrorist fans:

 

We even had some mighty dog power to help us (too bad the owner of the dog didn’t cross the street to visit the Muslims).

 

The good thing was that the supporters of Israel showed clearly their position and were not afraid to state it openly on the street. I wish more people were at the protest, because the way Israel is treated threatens all of us. The bad part is that this is just the beginning – the inevitable war against Israel would encourage the Muslim savages, lefties, traitors, fascists and anti-Semites to become even more brutal.

We must show them that we are not going to surrender…

 

© 2012 Blogwrath.com

With all the disturbing military news coming from Israel, this one doesn’t look that important, because it’s just a map problem. However, it shows once again that Israel is treated very differently (in the bad sense of the word) from the rest countries in the world.

In a recently published article it was reported that the Israeli photographer Giora Pinhasi discovered something unusual on flickr. Flickr, which is owned by Yahoo, is one of the largest photo sharing sites. They also provide a map service. Pinhasi found out that the old maps of Israel on the site completely disappeared (he says that although old, they showed the country). In their place flickr put almost completely blank maps, which show only three cities – Jerusalem, Haifa and Tel Aviv. In contrast, in the maps of all other neighbouring countries the towns and the cities are shown correctly.

After I read that, I went to flickr to check out the maps and it turned out Pinhasi was right. Here is a today’s screenshot of the northern part of Israel (please click on the pictures to enlarge them):

 

And here is the south:

 

As you can see for yourself, none of the hundreds of towns, villages and kibbutzes made it – all of them miraculously disappeared. Compare this with the neighbouring Jordan, where all towns were marked. Israel looks more bare even than the sparsely populated Sinai:

 

To be fair, I should state that our Muslim friends from Gaza and Judea and Samaria were treated the same way – those territories look as empty as the whole state of Israel.

I wonder what’s behind that – it’s hard to believe that such glaring omission could be a result of negligence when the rest of the world’s areas are shown correctly.

Is flickr trying to show us what will remain of Israel after an Iranian strike – when both the Jews and the Arabs would be wiped out? I don’t know, because my request for an explanation still remains unanswered at this point.

Whatever the reason, it is always enlightening to see how Israel is treated by the “progressive” community. Yahoo is already distorting the rising tensions in Gaza, presenting them as a sudden escalation caused by Israel while ignoring the Hamas terrorism. It gets more and more difficult to find that attitude surprising…

© 2012 Blogwrath.com

Today JDL-Canada is going to confront in Toronto the supporters of the Arab terrorists from Gaza, who are organizing a terror “love-in” in front of the Israeli Consulate:

“JOIN THE JEWISH DEFENCE LEAGUE COUNTER PROTEST AT THE ISRAELI CONSULATE IN TORONTO

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 15TH, 6:00 PM

180 BLOOR STREET WEST

 

ANTI ISRAEL HAMAS SUPPORTERS ARE HAVING A PRO HAMAS PROTEST AT THE ISRAELI CONSULATE IN TORONTO, WE ASK SUPPORTERS OF ISRAEL TO BRING ISRAELI AND CANADIAN FLAGS

FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL JDL AT 416-736-7000

http://jdlcanada.wordpress.com/2012/11/14/operation-amud-anan-pillar-of-cloud-launched-to-punish-gazan-terror/

Comment by Blog Administrator: January 2009, “Cast Lead”, was Israel’s response to thousands of rockets launched into Israel by muslims in Gaza.  JDL was the only Jewish Organization that counter-protested against the 10,000 JEW HATERS who came to Dundas Square  who marched through down town Toronto saying “slaughter the Jews” and giving Heil Hitler Salutes.

Please, DO NOT BE COMPLACENT.  Stand with Israel and publicly make your voice heard.  “THEY” come to Canada and live among us and today may be another opportunity to bear witness to the truth of who is your bank manager, co-worker, variety store owner, fellow student, barber, professor, nurse, taxi cab driver, politician ….

Recently, several articles have been posted on the JDL Blog in regards to Muslims who live in Canada who have defaced and dishonoured our Remembrance Day Memorials. “

This is not the first time the anti-Israeli forces had shown their full support for the murderers from Hamas. In January 2009 in Toronto over 10.000 Muslim fanatics and their lefty doormats marched through downtown saying “slaughter the Jews” and giving the Heil Hitler Salute.

And of course the usual suspects are involved in sponsoring and endorsing the Jew-hate fest:

“This demonstration has been endorsed so far by:

Faculty for Palestine, International Solidarity Committee – Greater Toronto Workers Assembly, Latin American and Caribbean Solidarity Network, Toronto Students for Justice in Palestine, Canadian Muslim Union, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network – Canada, Women in Solidarity with Palestine, Students Against Israeli Apartheid UTM, No One Is Illegal – Toronto, Queers Against Israeli Apartheid, Gaza’s Ark, Students Against Israeli Apartheid – UofT.”

The most entertaining part is that the anti-Israeli queers are involved again, supporting the Muslim savages, who would gladly kill them. It’s strange, because the homosexuals go out of their way to sell themselves as clever and educated people, yet they can’t recognize who is on their side.

On my recent trip to Israel I used the Lonely Planet guide to Israel. Despite their lefty bias, its writers report correctly many important facts that are essential to your safety. One of those facts (on page 430):

“Gay culture is extremely hidden in the Palestinian Territories, and hundreds of gay Palestinians have fled to Israel for their own safety (although this has become increasingly difficult with tight border controls).”

At the same time, the homosexual flag can be seen displayed in many places in Tel Aviv. However, for the anti-Semitic trannies and queers the facts mean nothing.

The rest of us can’t afford to live in such self-destructive delusion. Let’s raise our voices in defense of Israel!

 

© 2012 Blogwrath.com

 

As I am writing this, the tensions at the borders of Israel have increased. Over the last few days, more than 100 rockets had been launched from Gaza. Some of them wounded four soldiers, there are also reports about injured civilians. That all is the combined result of the “Arab Spring” sponsored by Barry Hussein Obama and the actions of the previous Israeli governments, which were duped into thinking that giving to the Arabs complete control over Gaza would result in peace.

Despite the recent turmoil, the last few years had been peaceful for Israel. Unfortunately, it was not because of the Arab “humanitarians” who are more than willing to continue their path of destruction. All the credit for the peace goes to the boys and girls from the Israeli Defense Forces and the police. They are getting better and better trained to identify dangerous people and situation and resolve the issues quickly and efficiently.

 

 

IDF is one of the most vilified institutions in the world. If you listen to the mainstream media in the West, you’ll remain with the impression that the army consists of bloodthirsty sadists, who kill people for fun and attack the innocent Arabs for no reason.

Like most things in the Middle East, this one is also quite different from the picture painted by the lefty propaganda. First of all, I expected to see many soldiers all over Israel. However, this was not the case – other than the very noticeable presence in the old city of Jerusalem, there are not that many of them elsewhere.

 

Most of the soldiers are in the army because of the compulsory military service (three years for men and two for women), so the majority you see are very young. All of those that I met spoke English (to a different degree) and were quite polite and helpful.

Those who serve in the “hot spots”, like near the borders and in Judea and Samaria are more cautious and could be as rough as the ubiquitous armed security guards, whom you see everywhere in Israel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In a democracy like Israel, where so many parties compete for power and the government policies change quickly, IDF remains the rock, which guarantees the stability in the country. It looks like the political correctness still hasn’t affected the army and that situation allows them to operate in a way that makes them efficient. The burning questions that haunt the Canadian Army, like what type of dresses or skirts the military trannies should wear, still seem to be foreign to IDF.

Let’s hope they keep things the way they are now…

 

© 2012 Blogwarth.com

 

No visit to Jerusalem is complete without seeing the Western Wall. This relic from the Second Temple known as Kotel in Hebrew or the Wailing Wall (term Jews don’t like very much) is the most sacred Jewish place of worship. Actually, that should apply to the whole area around it, but most of it is still occupied by the Muslims. The place where the Temple stood (Temple Mount) has been taken by the Al-Aqsa mosque and the Jews are not allowed to pray there.

The struggle for Jewish access to the wall has been going on for centuries. While the Jews have a legitimate claim to the whole area, backed by archaeology, the Muslims’ assertion is based on the delirium of the “prophet” Mo who “visited” the area flying on his winged horse.

That line of strange reasoning has been used for centuries to deny the Jews access. As late as 2010 the old terrorist Mahmoud Abbas and his henchmen claimed again that the wall has no religious significance for the Jews. The scandalous situation, in which the Jews are not allowed on the site of their own Temple, is to some degree caused by the Israeli government. When in 1967 the army liberated Jerusalem, Moshe Dayan handed the control over to the Jerusalem Muslim authorities, who made sure Jews are kept away.

To understand the absurdity of the situation, imagine that the Muslims take over Rome, demolish the St. Peter Basilica and ban Christians from visiting the site. Then the city is liberated, but the Italians still leave the Muslims in charge of the Vatican. That was the situation after Jordan took over that part of Jerusalem in 1948 – the Jews were prohibited from visiting, toilets were attached to the wall, old Jewish graves were used as urinals. And yet, after the victory the Muslims remained in charge.

 

 

Using their advantage, the Arabs had tried for years to disrupt the Jewish worship at the Western wall. They had often hurled rocks from the mosque area.

The wall is accessible from several entrances in the Jewish quarter. As in the most important sites in Israel, every entrance is heavily guarded and the visitors must pass through metal detectors.

 

 

The access to the Temple Mount is under strict control and the Jews are prohibited from praying there. Sometimes they can’t even go there at all – over a week ago, we tried to go there on Shabbat, but the police stopped as (while allowing Arabs in and out).

 

It is said that the huge plaza in front of the wall can accommodate 400,000 people. All the surrounding buildings host synagogues and different Jewish organizations.

 

 

The flow of people coming to the wall never stops. On the Shabbat the security becomes even stricter and it is prohibited to take pictures.

 

 

The religious authorities that control the access to the Western Wall are even stricter. Even though everybody is allowed there, they have rules that should be obeyed. Otherwise you you’ll be scolded by the elderly orthodox Jewish women, who watch you like hawks and immediately tell you what you have done wrong.

 

On Saturday you can hear them yelling every other minute “No pictures! No pictures!” to the tourists who had somehow missed the signs. However, their main concern are the women who show too much skin (again, almost all of them are tourists). Shorts, mini-skirts or sleeveless shirts are not allowed. The guardian women have a huge supply of pieces of fabrics, which can be used as shawls or long skirts. As soon as they notice a modesty transgression, they run to cover up the “violator”.

 

Talking of women, there’s another issue that concerns the sexes at the Western Wall. Men and women, who go very close to the wall to pray, are segregated. About two thirds of the wall is reserved for men and behind a separation fence is the women’s part.

 

Ironically, weekdays you can see more women than men at the wall. There are some reformist sects in Judaism, which demand an abolishment of the separation. Some of them are arrested from time to time for disorderly behaviour. While we were in Jerusalem, one of the leaders of such a movement (a woman from the USA) was detained. A similar situation at a mosque would most likely be resolved in the typical humane Muslim may – with clubs, sticks, bullets and stones.

On Friday night, just after the Shabbat begins, thousands of Jews head to the Western Wall to pray. And that’s how far they can go; the holiest of the holy, Temple Mount is still closed to them, courtesy of their own government…

 

© 2012 Blogwrath.com

 

 

 

Last week in Jerusalem we attended an anti-Israeli protest, which was supposed to bring attention to the “occupation”. Before going into details, I should mention that I was anxious to cover a pro-“Palestinian” protest in Israel. My trusty Lonely Planet guide to Israel and the Territories warns me not to attend any protests, because they could quickly turn violent (which made them even more attractive).

Alas, the reality is much more boring than that. It looks like few people in Israel care about the issue. We finally caught a glimpse of a protest – I saw it from a taxi on our way to the Jerusalem market. Then we had to walk back for nearly 10 minutes to see it.

It was a rather depressing picture – we didn’t see any signs; there was no chanting and not a single Arab was to be seen (although there are plenty of them in the city). It was a dull event, with mostly older women dressed as badly as they were during their rebellious hippy youth.

 

 

The whole event had a striking resemblance with the mini-demonstrations in front of the Israeli Consulate in Toronto every Friday night – the same ancient hippies, who don’t want to admit even to themselves that their revolutionary days are long gone. At least in Toronto they are able to get a token Arab to stand with them and carry a sign.

They were confronted on the other side of the street by a group of students with Israeli flags.

 

However, despite the potential of a clash, the police were nowhere to be seen. Judging from the fact how cautious the Israeli police are to prevent terrorist acts or riots, it was obvious that those protesters didn’t have enough fire in them.

Our group was the only one to show any interest in their cause. We started to talk with them, but quickly found out that they expected us to speak their language of clichés, limited to “oppression”, “struggle”, and “liberation”. Every question requiring a rational answer was met with high-pitched cries of indignation, which resembled the screeches of a drunken squirrel.

In the top picture our friend Roberta (from JDL-UK) “suffers” the consequences of asking when the name “Palestinian” was used for the first time to describe the Arabs in the area. Not only didn’t the woman know, but she accepted it as a personal insult and was ready to get into a physical fight. That didn’t scare Roberta, who is a veteran of the fights with the Muslim fanatics and their lefty doormats. Later she told me that in England many colleges had prayer rooms, supposed to be “multi-faith”, but actually controlled by Muslims. Once she appeared at a college dressed like a Satanist and demanded access to the prayer room. After being refused, she threatened to sue them for equal access and only then she was allowed to perform her mock Satanic “ritual” under the hateful stares of the Muslims.

 

Zaza also tried to make his point, but his arguments were met with the same tired clichés, which should’ve died and been buried with the terrorist Arafat.

All in all, it was a boring event. It made me miss the Toronto protests, where those revolutionary leftovers have a little bit more adrenalin in them and with the police almost always near them, they feel as if they still matter…

 

© 2012 Blogwrath.com

 

On November 3 we attended the annual dinner in memory of Rabbi Meir Kahane. It took place at the Yeshiva of the Jewish Idea (Yeshivat Ha’Raayon Ha’Yehudi) in Jerusalem. This religious institution was founded by the Rabbi in 1987, three years before his murder by an Al-Qaida terrorist.

 

Here is the place to say a few words about Rabbi Kahane. Without any doubt, he was a controversial leader, equally hated by the anti-Semites and the Jewish establishment. Many didn’t agree with his tactics and found them unusual and controversial. But the problem is that almost everything related to the Jews is unusual and controversial – anti-Semitism is an irrational hatred, which simply cannot be confronted with reasoning. Explaining the logical fallacies of that “doctrine” to those who practice it has saved very few Jewish lives (nothing illustrates that fact better than the Holocaust).

Rabbi Kahane changed the image of the Western Jew from a meek weakling to a tough fighter, who is not afraid to confront his enemies. His Jewish Defense League successfully confronted the black anti-Semitism in the inner cities in the 1970’s (yes, even if it is not politically correct to say it, the Black Panthers were quite a nasty bunch of racists). Later, after moving to Israel, he confronted in the same way the Arab terrorism.

The central idea in his teachings and practical work was the survival of the Jews as a tightly knit community based on the principles of the Torah. Despite his death, the idea still lives on, and a testimony to that was the presence of so many people at the dinner.

All of the speakers at the event emphasized the need of protecting Israel as a Jewish state, which was the initial idea that the international community supported when it was decided to restore Israel. A few of the speakers were rabbis, but we also heard people, who confronted the problems daily in person. A fascinating woman shared her story about how the Israeli authorities persecuted Jews to accommodate the Arabs. Her family home in the territories had been demolished six times over the last few years (in addition to Arab attacks).

Another prominent guest was Michael Ben Arie, a Member of the Knesset from the National Union Party. His work in defense of the Jewish state didn’t bring him many perks either.

 

He has been arrested for confronting the Arab extremists.  A passionate and outspoken person, he discussed his work for stopping the illegal immigration to Israel. For the last few years, thousands of African immigrants (mostly Sudanese Muslims) had been smuggled illegally into Israel. In a way similar to the USA, many leftists and “progressive” people and organizations had fought against their deportation.

To show their hypocrisy, he did a public stunt, which caught the attention of the national television. Ben Arie went to an upscale swimming pool frequented by well-off leftists, and then he offered a few Sudanese immigrants free swimsuits and paid their entrance fee. It was very entertaining to watch how the lefties, who otherwise wanted all illegals to stay in Israel, go ballistic over seeing Africans swim in their pool.

After all the speeches ended, the yeshiva honoured the Director of JDL-Canada Meir Weinstein with a special award in recognition of his contributions in the struggle against anti-Semitism in North America.

 

The award was presented by Garth Kravath, who served as a head of the JDL security in the early 1970’s.

 

In his short speech Meir Weinstein shared his impressions from the meetings with Rabbi Kahane. He also mentioned an important fact – according to the statistics, the Jewish population of Israel would reach 6 million within the next few weeks. That is equal to the number of the Jews, who perished in the Holocaust. The number is symbolic, because due to the Iran threat and the threats from other countries, the Israeli Jews are in a similar danger, but this time they can rely on their own strength and achievements to confront their enemies.

The great food contributed to the good mood of everybody who attended.

 

The good mood also spilled over naturally into music and dances.

 

 

Notice the gun carried by one of the men in the picture. He was a rabbi from the yeshiva. It is a sign of the tense reality in the country – many ordinary Israelis are licensed to carry guns. Almost all security guards at hotels, malls, schools, etc. are armed. The vigilance and the realistic approach of the Israeli authorities to the Arab terrorism have paid off – there haven’t been terrorist acts for years in the most parts of Israel.

It was almost midnight when the event finished.

Next I will cover the Old City of Jerusalem. It is so rich in history that I’ll probably need several posts to cover everything…

 

© 2012 Blogwrath.com

 

One of the fascinating sites to see in Israel’s capital Jerusalem is the national parliament, the Knesset. The building is open for visits by the public and many people take advantage of the opportunity. Due to the coming elections, the Knesset is not in session, but as usual, hundreds of people, both adults and school children could be seen touring inside.

The present building of the Knesset was built in 1966. It is a large structure, with several levels and numerous halls. Its internal architecture is simple, without many decorations.

 

 

The decorations are limited to replicas of ancient Jewish artifacts and a few modern paintings.

 

One of the halls contains an exhibition of photographs showing the history of the Israeli parliamentary life. You can see in it the most memorable moments of the new Israeli history.

 

 

The only exception from the modesty that rules in the building is the Chagall Hall located on the fourth floor. It is decorated with three magnificent tapestries designed by Marc Chagall. In his typical style, which is not very easy to understand, he has depicted the past, the present and the future of the Jewish people.

 

This is the hall, where most official ceremonies of the Knesset and the Israeli government are held. Here the foreign delegations and dignitaries are greeted. In one of the corners, behind a glass, is the Israeli Declaration of Independence. Until recently, that was the original parchment signed by the members of the Knesset in 1948. However, the parchment started to deteriorate and it had to be moved to the national archives. What we see now behind the glass is an exact replica of the declaration.

 

Well, after seeing what’s inside the building, let’s see how the “Zionist entity” is being run from that building. If you listen to the “Palestinian” terrorists and professional recipients of international welfare and their leftist friends, you’ll get the impression that the Knesset is inhabited by evil Jews, whose only purpose is to hatch sinister plots for enslaving the world and especially the innocent Muslims.

Nothing could be further from the truth. The Knesset is a complex body, which represents all citizens of Israel. Since in the country there are so many people with totally different opinions, that complicated reality is reflected in the parliament.

Unlike many other countries, Israel has a very low election threshold – a political party needs only 2% of the national vote to get a seat. Thus, the Knesset always includes numerous parties, large and small (there were 12 in the latest one), which often have diametrically opposing views. The voters cast their ballots not for personalities, but for party lists. That situation makes the forming of a government difficult and prevents one party from dominating the Knesset.

That it is the most interesting feature of the Israeli politics. One may expect from a country, which is surrounded by Muslim fanatics, who would gladly destroy it (and they attempted it many times), to have some kind of a military dictatorship as a form of government. Instead, Israel is the only functioning democracy in the Middle East, while all other countries are dysfunctional “democracies” or dictatorships.

The Israeli government is always kept on its toes by the Knesset – the members hold a confidence vote every Monday. All the sessions of the Knesset, as well as its committees’ meetings (with the exception of the national security committee) are broadcast live on a specifically designated TV channel (number 99). The meetings can be attended by the public – with an appointment for the committees meetings (due to limited space) and without appointment for the general sessions of the Knesset. In the central hall (the Plenum) the public sits behind a bulletproof window.

 

The name of the Israeli Parliament and the number of its members (120) were determined by the political body, which existed in ancient Israel after the exodus of the Jews from Egypt. At the podium in the middle, in front of the Israeli flag, is the place where the Speaker of the Knesset sits and from where the members and the foreign visitors give their speeches. In front of the Speakers seat you can see a table, around which the prime minister and the cabinet ministers sit. To the left of the government table are the chairs of the members of the ruling coalition. To the right are the seats of the official opposition. Behind the table are the seats of the representatives of the smaller parties.

No matter what you may think about Israel, the country is a democracy, where no politician could forget his or her voters. What a sharp contrast with the “Palestinian” government! Both in Gaza and the territories the mandate of the leaders of Hamas and the presidency of Abbas had expired long time ago, yet that fact doesn’t seem to bother the Arabs and their lefty backers.

© 2012 Blogwrath.com

 

 

There was no time to rest on the first day of our stay in Israel. JDL-Canada had a meeting with the Likud party politician Moshe Feiglin, scheduled for the evening.

It is election time in Israel. Prime Minister Netanyahu already dissolved the Knesset and national elections had been scheduled for the beginning of the next year. The low threshold – a political party needs to get only 2% of the votes to get a seat in the Knesset – had created a complex political reality, in which compromises are essential to form a government (more on the Israeli political system – in my post about the Knesset).

The fierce fights for votes among different parties, from radical leftists and communists to ultra-conservative religious formations, create a tense election campaign. Recently the press reported that Olmert and Livni from Kadima claimed that the “Palestinian” president Mahmoud Abbas told both of them that the PA had given up the demand for the right to return of the refugees. Then they accused Netanyahu that he strengthened Hamas and weakened the “peace-loving” PA.

Later it turned out that Abbas’ statement was only a personal opinion that he would never be able to return to his village in Galilee and not a change in the PA policies. After that Avigdor Liberman called Abbas a liar who supports terrorism.

When you deal with such difficult reality, it is always interesting to have a conversation with people, who are directly involved in it. Such an opportunity provided the meeting with Moshe Feiglin and Shmuel Sackett. Our group met them at a kosher restaurant and we talked for over two hours.

Both of them are the type of politicians, whom the mainstream press would call conservative hardliners. Sackett is the co-founder of Manhigut Yehudit, an Israeli nationalist movement. Moshe Feiglin is a fascinating figure, who had made a significant impact on the Israeli politics during the last 20 years.

 

Leader of Manhigut Yehudit and a veteran from the Lebanese War in 1982, he decisively opposed the Oslo accords and his civil disobedience cost him 6 months in jail in 1997. His political career had been marked by his rivalry with Benjamin Netanyahu – he ran several times against him in the leadership elections. The latest controversy involved his visit to Temple Mount, where he was carefully observed by the security forces if he was moving his lips. If he did, he could’ve been arrested for praying – it is odd, but Jews are not allowed to pray at the holiest place in their country, where Solomon’s Temple once stood.

The most important feature of Feiglin’s political position is his passionate defense of the Jewish character of the State of Israel.

He started his talk with a story about the recent interview he gave to Al-Jazeera. After years of hostility, they finally decided to interview him. He asked the Arab journalists about their identities. Are they Egyptians, Jordanians or other? He wanted to know why they allowed the British, white colonialists from Europe, who came after World War I and decided with maps and rulers who was Egyptian, Jordanian or Iraqi, to determine their identity. He also told them that they were those who had to decide who they were. They belong to the great Arab nation (and they agreed with him).

The same applies to the “Palestinians” – there is no Palestinian history, those people are also Arabs. We have to stop lying about that – what we actually have is Jews and Arabs. Next he asked them about the original Arab name for Jerusalem – it included the word “temple”. What temple was that? Mohammed’s? No, it has always been King Solomon’s Temple. When the Muslims pray on Temple Mount they face Mecca, that is the important spot for them, not Jerusalem.

He talked next about the Israeli politics. A few days earlier they had talks with Liberman about combining forces. That is important in turbulent times. In 1996 Netanyahu defeated Peres against all odds after Rabin’s assassination. The success was a result of the common efforts of several political groups. After that election Peres was asked who won. He replied that the Jews won, then the reporter asked him who lost. “Israel lost,” replied Peres. Feiglin interpreted that as a peculiar admission of the fact that Netanyahu won on the premise that Jewishness is the basis of the Israeli identity.

That’s why it is so important to combine the efforts of those who support the Jewish idea. He hopes that not only Liberman would join, but also other parties as a block. Without the Jewish idea, the State of Israel is losing its meaning and as a result is also losing its right to exist in the eyes of the world.

The right to exist is a big question – it came to prominence only recently, years ago it wasn’t such a big issue. The answer of that is simple – while Israel is turning away from its Jewish identity, the world is turning against it. The Israelis are seen as people, who can live anywhere and can go back to Europe, USA, or other places from where their ancestors came. Upon its creation, Israel was expected to bring some excitement and new experiences – like a spiritual rebirth of the Jews. When that fails, the world is turning its back on Israel.

The solution is simple – in addition to not giving away any land, the Jews must answer the question why they are here and what is their direction. The current turmoil in the Middle East could make them stronger.

Our guests answered a few questions. When asked what he thinks about the impact of the US presidential elections on Israel, he said that the result shouldn’t matter – the policies of Israel shouldn’t be determined in Washington, but in Jerusalem. Without economic and political independence Israel would never become confident in its own strength.

I asked Shmuel Sackett about the possible impact of the unilateral declaration of Palestinian independence. He replied that despite what the Western analysts say, that won’t be a big issue and Israel would be able to cope with that. The real important issues that must be addressed by all means are Hamas and Iran.

© 2012 Blogwrath.com

 

 

It has been almost a week since we left Toronto to visit Israel (an event organized by JDL-Canada). I am starting to write about it now – the delay was caused by two reasons. From the first day, the schedule was very busy, with several daily meetings and events, which didn’t leave much time for writing. The second reason was that the reality of Israel was quite different from what the Western media choose to write about the country. I needed some time to digest the avalanche of impressions and present what I saw. I started a new category for this trip, but this is not going to be a chronological description of all that happened.

The first thing that an unprejudiced visitor notices is that Israel is a country like any other country, with its normal everyday life, friendly people (at least most of them), and great infrastructure.  This observation may seem trivial, but it looked like a revelation to me, because that reality never finds its way into the North American papers and TV, which see Israel as a constant battleground, where Jews and Arabs fight and Israeli companies desperately try to cope with the “devastating” consequences of a boycott led by the world’s “progressive forces”.

I don’t want to underestimate the impact of the hostility against Israel (after all anti-Semitism is one of the oldest and deadliest prejudices in the world), but despite all that the Jewish people managed to turn a desert and wilderness into a thriving land, a process started long before the State of Israel was established.

 

That required a lot of dedication and perseverance from many generations, because frankly the landscape is depressing – along with the large desert you can see many hills littered with rocks and stones where only grass can grow (that reminded me of the landscape I saw in Armenia).

But let’s start from the beginning.

We took the El Al flight from Toronto. There was a slight difference in the boarding process compared to other airlines – first we had to answer a few questions of Israeli security officers, who were standing right in front of the ticket counters. According to my Lonely Planet guide, that could turn into a nasty experience, because if you look suspicious, the security could grill you for hours, trying to find contradictions in your answers. Apparently, we didn’t fit that profile, because after a few questions about the purpose of the trip they let us go.

The flight itself was uneventful, but the different people on the plane gave us the taste of the complexity of the cultures and religions, which are linked to Israel. There were secular Jews, speaking different languages. Two Orthodox rabbis got up early in the morning, a few hours before reaching Israel, put on their elaborate garments, and then prayed for hours. A large group of pilgrims from a Toronto church kept reading their Bibles and computer printouts on what to see in the Holy Land.

At the immigration counter after landing, our passports were processed quickly, without the scrutiny that Lonely Planet warned about.

 

After taking a taxi, we reached our hotel. The problem was that it wasn’t really our hotel – the driver made a mistake and we had to walk a couple of blocks to find the place. Here I want to make a remark that may cause an orgasmic pleasure among the BDS and “apartheid Israel” folks, but it’s true – many Israeli cab drivers suck. Some don’t know their cities – on a few occasions some of them drove in circles unable to find the place, others had to call their office for instructions (not always successful).

On the other hand, the food in Israel is excellent. In most hotels in Canada, a breakfast is considered a tableful of muffins and jam, but at an Israeli hotel you get a choice of over 20 items – several types of cheese and spreads, eggs, fish (at least three types), vegetables (raw and cooked), fruits, salads, several types of desserts, etc.

We spent the first day in Tel Aviv. As a relatively new city, which grew tremendously during the last few decades, it doesn’t have the Middle Eastern appearance one may expect here. The downtown area is dominated by older houses and low-rise apartment buildings.

Most buildings’ roofs are equipped with containers for collecting rain water and solar panels. The solar energy is big here – since the weather most of the year is sunny and hot, it makes sense to use that energy successfully.

 

Many apartment buildings look neglected and some Israelis complain that the government doesn’t provide enough funds for maintaining the city. On the other hand, you can see construction sites all over the city – the older building are demolished and their place is taken by high-rises.

Despite the fact that Tel Aviv looks like most other cities, the traces of a gruesome past are still visible. On the road you can see the remains of military equipment left from the war for independence in 1948.

 

Not far from our hotel there is a small strip of stores and cafes. In the early 2000’s a Muslim suicide bomber blew himself up in one of the cafes, killing many people. The place is still closed, but a plate marks the tragedy and people regularly leave flowers at the site.

 

It was interesting to face the contradictions and problems of Israel on the very first day of our stay. As we travelled around, meeting different people, our fascination with Israel only grew stronger, but that will be covered in another post…

 

© 2012 Blogwrath.com

Last week I wrote about the Al-Quds rally, which took place right in fron of the Ontario legislature in Toronto. There were quite a few pictures in the post, but, as always, a video gives you a much better idea about what happened. Watch and listen – and decide for yourself whther those people can ever adjust to Canada and its values: