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B"H
What is so disgusting about this whole thing is the deafening silence of the Israeli media. We have to turn to a Xtian newspaper to get the story, and have it put in Biblical persepective?
How much pressure is Olmert exerting on the press? Nothing about this, the atrocities at the synagogue destruction, or the thousands of people out of their homes because of the "Peace Nazi" group has been mentioned in most of the major newspapers.
M
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With hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in illegal outposts, PM directs forces against 2 families
Posted: August 3, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56981
By Aaron Klein
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
JERUSALEM – Fresh from ordering security forces to destroy a synagogue built by Jews to pray near Joseph's Tomb, Judaism's third holiest site, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert now has directed his forces to forcibly evict two families that moved into a market in Jewish sections of Hebron, the oldest Jewish community in the world.
The evictions are scheduled for Monday. Israel says the occupation of market by the two families is illegal since their arrival wasn't coordinated with the Israeli military.
The market in question, now converted to small, two-story apartments, was built in 1929 after Arab riots temporarily forced Jews from Hebron – the first time the city was without a Jewish presence in over 2,500 years. For more than 30 years, a sign was posted on the market boasting in Arabic that the structure was built on stolen Jewish property.
Arab merchants illegally set up shop at the market but were asked by the Israel Defense Forces to leave after a series of clashes broke out in the mid-1990s. Even though the market was stolen by the Arabs, Hebron's Jewish community purchased the market from its original Arab occupants in 2001.
(Story continues below)
In January 2006, Jewish families took up occupancy to strengthen Jewish ties to the area following the murder of an infant by a Palestinian sniper, yards away from the market.
The market, integrated within the Hebron Jewish community, is adjacent to several Jewish apartments and Jewish municipal buildings. It is not located in an Arab neighborhood. It doesn't require any original additional protection from IDF soldiers already patrolling the area.
Despite the original property owners' recent signing over of the market to Hebron's Jewish community, as well as Israel's Supreme Court ruling that the structure was Jewish-owned, the government considers the occupancy of the marketplace illegal, saying families living inside did not negotiate their arrival with the IDF.
Following a standoff with the army last year, the Jews who had moved into the market decided to leave, reportedly after receiving promises from military officials they could return a few months later, after the court systems – which deemed the property Jewish – worked with the IDF to verify the legality of the Jewish residence.
But Israel's attorney general overturned the Supreme Court decision and declared the residents cannot move in.
Still, two Jewish families recently moved back in, and Olmert's government immediately ordered that they be evacuated by Monday, even threatening that the families may need to reimburse the IDF for the costs of their evacuation.
Shlomit Bar-Kochba, who was among those who agreed to vacate in January 2006, moved back into the market with her husband and eight children. She told the Jerusalem Post she was shocked by the interest of the Olmert government in her move.
"We didn't think it would interest anyone that we returned," she said. "I thought it doesn't interfere with anyone. We came back very quietly. We didn't make noise or celebrate."
"The agreement was that we would leave in January, and shortly they would allow us to return," she said, explaining that when the agreement didn't come to fruition months later, her family decided not to wait anymore.
It seemed illogical to her, she told the Post, that the government was upset by their presence some 10 months later, explaining no additional security was required and that her home sits on land owned by Jews.
Hebron is home to the Tomb of the Patriarchs, believed to be the resting place of biblical patriarchs and matriarchs. Jews lived in Hebron for thousands of years. There are accounts of the trials of the city's Jewish community throughout the Byzantine, Arab, Mameluke and Ottoman periods.
In 1929, as a result of an Arab pogrom in which 67 Jews were murdered, the entire Jewish community fled the city, with Hebron – including the market – becoming temporarily devoid of Jews.
Olmert's decision to single out for evacuation two Jewish families living in Jewish sections of Hebron has been called into question by religious leaders here.
While Jewish construction projects deemed illegal in Jewish cities in the West Bank are regularly bulldozed or evacuated by the government, Olmert's office has taken no action against hundreds of thousands of Palestinians living in illegal outposts in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
WND previously exposed the Israeli government has allowed Palestinians and the United Nations to build illegally on hundreds of acres of Jewish-owned lands in Jerusalem purchased by the Jewish National Fund, a U.S.-based Jewish organization, using Jewish donors funds solicited for the purpose of Jewish settlement. Tens of thousands of Palestinians live on the Jewish-owned Jerusalem land, which was recently isolated from Jewish sections of Jerusalem by Israel's security barrier.
WND also previously reported the city of Jerusalem, under orders from Olmert, deleted files documenting hundreds of illegal Arab building projects throughout eastern sections of Jerusalem housing tens of thousands of Palestinians, according to a report by the Jerusalem Forum, which promotes Jewish construction in the city.
Aryeh King, chairman of the Jerusalem Forum, said Jerusalem municipal workers told him they were instructed by Olmert's office to ignore illegal Palestinian construction in Jerusalem.
"Ehud Olmert gave the order not to deal with the problem and not to put Israeli security forces to the duty of taking down the illegal Arab complexes," said King. "Senior municipal workers told me Olmert said not to bother with the illegal Arab homes because eventually eastern Jerusalem would be given to the Palestinian Authority."
Joseph's Tomb synagogue destroyed by Israeli forces
Olmert's ordering of the two families to be forced from the Hebron Jewish market comes just days after the prime minister ordered his security forces to destroy a synagogue used by Jews to worship near Joseph's Tomb, Judaism's third holiest site and the believed burial place of the biblical patriarch Joseph – the son of Jacob who was sold by his brothers into slavery and later became the viceroy of Egypt.
Under the 1993 Oslo Accords, which granted nearby strategic territory to the Palestinians, Joseph's Tomb was supposed to be accessible to Jews and Christians. But following repeated attacks against Jewish worshippers at the holy site by gunmen associated with then-PLO leader Yasser Arafat's militias, Prime Minister Ehud Barak in October 2000 ordered an Israeli unilateral retreat from the area.
The tomb is located near the modern day West Bank city of Nablus, or biblical Shechem.
Currently, Jewish pilgrimage to Joseph's Tomb is legal only several times per year in convoys protected by the Israel Defense Forces. Still, some Jews regularly attempt clandestine visits to the holy site.
Jewish students last year built a structure on the West Bank's Mount Gerizim, which is just outside the tomb area. The structure was used as a synagogue and was constructed on the Mount so Jews can pray and study Torah as close to the tomb site as possible. Dozens of Jewish students congregated daily at the makeshift synagogue.
But Olmert's office and Israeli government officials deemed the structure – which they refused to call a synagogue – illegal since it was built without a government permit.
On Monday, under direct orders from Olmert, the Israel Civil Lands Administration destroyed the structure.
The Torah describes how Jacob purchased a land plot in Shechem, which was given as inheritance to his sons and was used to re-inter Joseph, whose bones were taken out of Egypt during the Jewish exodus. Joseph's sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, are also said to be buried at the site.
As detailed in the Torah, shortly before his death, Joseph asked the Israelites to vow they would resettle his bones in the land of Canaan – biblical Israel. That oath was fulfilled when, according to the Torah, Joseph's remains were taken by the Jews from Egypt and reburied at the plot of land Jacob had earlier purchased in Shechem, believed to be the site of the tomb. Modern archeologists confirm Nablus is the biblical city of Shechem
Yehuda Leibman, who until the Israeli retreat from Joseph's Tomb in 2000 was director of a yeshiva constructed there, explained, "The sages tell us that there are three places which the world cannot claim were stolen by the Jewish people: the Temple Mount, the Cave of the Patriarchs and Joseph's Tomb."
There is evidence suggesting for more than 1,000 years Jews of various origins worshipped at Joseph's Tomb. The Samaritans, a local tribe that follow a religion based on the Torah, say they trace their lineage back to Joseph himself and that they worshipped at the tomb site for more than 1,700 years.
Israel first gained control of Nablus and the neighboring site of Joseph's Tomb in the 1967 Six-Day War. The Oslo Accords signed by Arafat and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin called for the area surrounding the tomb site to be placed under Palestinian jurisdiction but allowed for continued Jewish visits to the site and the construction of an Israeli military outpost at the tomb to ensure secure Jewish access.
Following the transfer of control of Nablus and the general area encompassing the tomb to the Palestinians in the early 1990s, there were a series of outbreaks of violence in which Arab rioters and gunmen from Arafat's Fatah militias shot at Jewish worshipers and the tomb's military outpost.
Six Israeli soldiers were killed and many others, including yeshiva students, were wounded in September 1996 when Palestinian rioters and Fatah gunmen attempted to over take the tomb. Eventually, Israeli soldiers regained control of the site.
The Palestinians continued to attack Joseph's Tomb with regular shootings and the lobbing of firebombs and Molotov cocktails. Security for Jews at the site increasingly became more difficult to maintain. Rumors circulated in 2000 that Barak would evacuate the Israeli military outpost and give the tomb to Arafat as a "peacemaking gesture."
In early 2000, the Israeli army began denying Jewish visits to the tomb on certain days due to prospects of Arab violence.
Following U.S. mediated peace talks at Camp David in September 2000, Arafat returned to the West Bank and initiated his intifada.
During one bloody week in October 2000, Fatah gunmen attacked the tomb repeatedly, killing two and injuring dozens, prompting Barak to order a complete evacuation of Judaism's third holiest site on Oct. 6.
Within less than an hour of the Israeli retreat, Palestinian rioters overtook Joseph's Tomb and reportedly began to ransack the site. Palestinian mobs reportedly tore apart books, destroying prayer stands and grinding out stone carvings in the Tomb's interior.
Palestinians hoisted a Muslim flag over the tomb. Amin Maqbul, an official from Arafat's office, visited the tomb to deliver a speech declaring, "Today was the first step to liberate (Jerusalem)."
One BBC reporter described the scene: "The site was reduced to smoldering rubble – festooned with Palestinian and Islamic flags – cheering Arab crowd. …"
Palestinians on Oct. 10 began construction of a mosque on the rubble of the tomb's adjacent yeshiva compound. Workers painted the dome of the compound green, the Islamic color.
In a WND exclusive interview, Tariq Tarawi, a Fatah lawmaker who in 2000 served as chief of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group in the vicinity of the tomb, said the Palestinians would "never" allow Israel to rebuild a yeshiva or synagogue at Joseph's Tomb. The Brigades carried out most of the attacks against the tomb site.
"A yeshiva is an institution," said Tarawi. "An institution can be the beginning of claiming rights and these claims can bring once again the Israeli army to establish a base in the place, and we can not accept this. If the Jews try to build a yeshiva, we will shoot at them."
Friday, August 3, 2007
Dead Sea Keeps Missing Boy Alive
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B”H
Truly held in the arms of Hashm. May the boy feel this blessing all his life.
M
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http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/123273
by Hana Levi Julian and Hillel Fendel
(IsraelNN.com) A massive manhunt and rescue operation ended in joy around midnight between Thursday and Friday, after a missing child was found alive, floating in the Dead Sea. The high salt and mineral content of the water, while extremely dangerous to ingest, kept the child afloat.
Eight-year-old Schneur Zalman Friedman disappeared within minutes on Thursday after he entered the water at 5:00 p.m. with his father and brother. It is known that high winds often blow through the Dead Sea area towards evening, cooling off the heat of the day, but in this case, they caused the tide to carry him away. The family, residents of the Mea Shearim neighborhood in Jerusalem, immediately raised the alarm when they could not find him.
Helicopters and small planes were brought in to search from the air as police, IDF soldiers, Hatzoloh Israel and Zaka rescue volunteers combed the beach area on foot.
The Jordanian government was notified in order to avoid misunderstandings about the purpose of the lights and flares used to track down the youngster. The opposite shore of the Dead Sea belongs to Jordan.
The IDF officially called off the search at 10:00 p.m., some reports said, but Hatzoloh workers insisted on continuing their efforts. Their persistence paid off before midnight. The boy was finally spotted by rescue workers at 11:45 p.m., floating in the water at the Ein Gedi beach, some three kilometers south of where he entered the water. Rescue workers said the boy was in good condition, though somewhat exhausted, when they pulled him from the water. He later said he knew he had to keep his head above water, though he fell asleep briefly at one point.
The rescue workers, both religious and not, broke out into spontaneous dance upon finding the boy. The words "miracle from Heaven" were a constant refrain. The boy's family thanked the many volunteers and security personnel who took part in the search.
B”H
Truly held in the arms of Hashm. May the boy feel this blessing all his life.
M
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http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/123273
by Hana Levi Julian and Hillel Fendel
(IsraelNN.com) A massive manhunt and rescue operation ended in joy around midnight between Thursday and Friday, after a missing child was found alive, floating in the Dead Sea. The high salt and mineral content of the water, while extremely dangerous to ingest, kept the child afloat.
Eight-year-old Schneur Zalman Friedman disappeared within minutes on Thursday after he entered the water at 5:00 p.m. with his father and brother. It is known that high winds often blow through the Dead Sea area towards evening, cooling off the heat of the day, but in this case, they caused the tide to carry him away. The family, residents of the Mea Shearim neighborhood in Jerusalem, immediately raised the alarm when they could not find him.
Helicopters and small planes were brought in to search from the air as police, IDF soldiers, Hatzoloh Israel and Zaka rescue volunteers combed the beach area on foot.
The Jordanian government was notified in order to avoid misunderstandings about the purpose of the lights and flares used to track down the youngster. The opposite shore of the Dead Sea belongs to Jordan.
The IDF officially called off the search at 10:00 p.m., some reports said, but Hatzoloh workers insisted on continuing their efforts. Their persistence paid off before midnight. The boy was finally spotted by rescue workers at 11:45 p.m., floating in the water at the Ein Gedi beach, some three kilometers south of where he entered the water. Rescue workers said the boy was in good condition, though somewhat exhausted, when they pulled him from the water. He later said he knew he had to keep his head above water, though he fell asleep briefly at one point.
The rescue workers, both religious and not, broke out into spontaneous dance upon finding the boy. The words "miracle from Heaven" were a constant refrain. The boy's family thanked the many volunteers and security personnel who took part in the search.
Jewish Prisoners' Saga: Shlomi Barred from Brother's Wedding
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The Israeli "justice" system is so twisted at this point, I'm not sure it can be salvaged.
M
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http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/123274
by Hillel Fendel
(IsraelNN.com) Hundreds of Arab terrorist prisoners are home free, but 25 Jewish security inmates remain in jail. One of them was even banned from his brother's wedding last night.
Shlomi Dvir was sentenced in 2002 to 15 years in prison for his role in a failed bombing of an Arab school. He and his two co-defendants claimed the bomb was never meant to go off, but the court, in its role as arbiter of intentions, ruled that this was only an oversight on their part. "The court entered the realm of 'intentions' by saying this [placing an empty battery] was done accidentally," their lawyer claimed at the time.
For his crime, Dvir has been allowed to leave prison only one time in the past five years - a few-hour leave when his baby daughter was born. The Dvirs have four other children.
Shlomi's request to attend his younger brother's wedding Thursday night was advanced by several Knesset Members, but the Prison Service refused to even respond until Thursday morning.
The Council of Families of Jewish Security Prisoners stated, "Thursday morning, the day of the wedding itself, Shlomi received an official letter from the Minister of Public Security, Avi Dichter, in which Dichter forbids his release for his brother's wedding for unclear 'security reasons.'"
Council sources say that over the past few days, family members and MKs tried to intervene on Shlomi's behalf, but to no avail. It is of import to know that Shlomi's brother Shachar, who is also in prison on similar but lesser charges, was permitted to attend the wedding.
Shlomi is imprisoned together with Ofer Gamliel, father of seven who was also sentenced to 15 years, and Yarden Morag, father of four who was sentenced to 12 years. They are all residents of Bat Ayin in Gush Etzion.
Demand: Release Jewish Prisoners
The Council continues to reiterate its demand that "Minister Dichter and the Israeli government act to release the 25 Jewish nationalist prisoners who acted out of a security crisis." Some 450 people were murdered by Palestinian terrorists in the year 2002 alone.
"And until they are released," the Council states, "they must be afforded at least the most elementary rights such as vacations, regular visitations, permission to go to weddings and the like that are given with no disruption to the other prisoners."
The Almagor Terror Victims Association notes that in the past weeks, four Jordanian terrorist murderers have been released to Jordan, 255 Palestinian terrorists have been freed, dozens of wanted Fatah terrorists were allowed to find "refuge" from Hamas in Ramallah, and another 178 have been removed from Israel's wanted lists (conditional on their cessation of terrorism).
"Palestinian terrorists should not be freed before their sentences are over," Almagor says, "but if they have been released, then Jews should be freed to. There are only 25 Jewish prisoners... Experience has shown that 0% of Jewish security prisoners return to terrorism when freed, compared with 80% of Arab terrorists... Former President Ezer Weizmann set a precedent nearly 10 years ago when he accepted a list of Jewish prisoners submitted by the Honenu legal-rights organization and agreed that just because they do not have supporters who kidnap soldiers for ransom purposes doesn't mean they don't deserve the same consideration Palestinian terrorists get."
The Israeli "justice" system is so twisted at this point, I'm not sure it can be salvaged.
M
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http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/123274
by Hillel Fendel
(IsraelNN.com) Hundreds of Arab terrorist prisoners are home free, but 25 Jewish security inmates remain in jail. One of them was even banned from his brother's wedding last night.
Shlomi Dvir was sentenced in 2002 to 15 years in prison for his role in a failed bombing of an Arab school. He and his two co-defendants claimed the bomb was never meant to go off, but the court, in its role as arbiter of intentions, ruled that this was only an oversight on their part. "The court entered the realm of 'intentions' by saying this [placing an empty battery] was done accidentally," their lawyer claimed at the time.
For his crime, Dvir has been allowed to leave prison only one time in the past five years - a few-hour leave when his baby daughter was born. The Dvirs have four other children.
Shlomi's request to attend his younger brother's wedding Thursday night was advanced by several Knesset Members, but the Prison Service refused to even respond until Thursday morning.
The Council of Families of Jewish Security Prisoners stated, "Thursday morning, the day of the wedding itself, Shlomi received an official letter from the Minister of Public Security, Avi Dichter, in which Dichter forbids his release for his brother's wedding for unclear 'security reasons.'"
Council sources say that over the past few days, family members and MKs tried to intervene on Shlomi's behalf, but to no avail. It is of import to know that Shlomi's brother Shachar, who is also in prison on similar but lesser charges, was permitted to attend the wedding.
Shlomi is imprisoned together with Ofer Gamliel, father of seven who was also sentenced to 15 years, and Yarden Morag, father of four who was sentenced to 12 years. They are all residents of Bat Ayin in Gush Etzion.
Demand: Release Jewish Prisoners
The Council continues to reiterate its demand that "Minister Dichter and the Israeli government act to release the 25 Jewish nationalist prisoners who acted out of a security crisis." Some 450 people were murdered by Palestinian terrorists in the year 2002 alone.
"And until they are released," the Council states, "they must be afforded at least the most elementary rights such as vacations, regular visitations, permission to go to weddings and the like that are given with no disruption to the other prisoners."
The Almagor Terror Victims Association notes that in the past weeks, four Jordanian terrorist murderers have been released to Jordan, 255 Palestinian terrorists have been freed, dozens of wanted Fatah terrorists were allowed to find "refuge" from Hamas in Ramallah, and another 178 have been removed from Israel's wanted lists (conditional on their cessation of terrorism).
"Palestinian terrorists should not be freed before their sentences are over," Almagor says, "but if they have been released, then Jews should be freed to. There are only 25 Jewish prisoners... Experience has shown that 0% of Jewish security prisoners return to terrorism when freed, compared with 80% of Arab terrorists... Former President Ezer Weizmann set a precedent nearly 10 years ago when he accepted a list of Jewish prisoners submitted by the Honenu legal-rights organization and agreed that just because they do not have supporters who kidnap soldiers for ransom purposes doesn't mean they don't deserve the same consideration Palestinian terrorists get."
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Jews Attempt to Salvage Their Homes From Floundering Company
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B”H
OK, now we get the full story about how this happened.
It is the “Peace Now” Nazis and their court buddies.
It’s about time that we started to hit them back. I think everyone who is losing their homes need to turn around and sue "Peace Now." The companies who were forced into bankruptcy should sue "Peace Now."
Then everyone who lost someone to a terrorist because "Peace Now" didn’t want the fence should sue.
Then everyone whose loved ones were killed by terrorists who committed crimes after “Peace Now” lawsuits allowed them to have access to land should sue.
Then everyone in Hevron should sue. Then everyone from Gush Katif should sue. And everyone who has had their trees and their crops and their orchards uprooted should sue.
And they shouldn’t just sue the organization. They need to sue individual protestors, activists, and administrators PERSONALLY. Start taking names, people! Let them know they can't hide behind their Nazi organization any longer and let them know what it is to be thrown from your home and have your parnassah destroyed.
We need injunctions, personal injury lawsuits, pain and suffering lawsuits, criminal cases filed against them for giving material support to terrorists, etc. Then lets start lobbying in the US and Israel to have their name included on the list of terrorist organizations so we can dry up their assets and destroy their lives as they have destroyed the lives of so many Jews. After all, they affiliate themselves with terrorists and terrorist sympathizers and work to deny land to Jews and give it to our enemies. Also, they target Jews and only Jews, so they are clearly an anti-Semitic organization, a hate group.
Stop taking this from these unwashed masses and their suit-coated lawyers! Let’s get them on the run.Just because they are "organized" doesn't mean they aren't the same ilk as their brothers who hide behind white bedsheets and swastikas and shave their heads and wear hobnailed boots.
They are bullies, and they need to be bullied back.
M
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http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/123267
by Hillel Fendel
(IsraelNN.com) The Heftzibah Construction Company suddenly faces bankruptcy, one of its top executives tried to commit suicide, and hundreds of home-owners may find themselves on the street. But Peace Now is interested in only one thing: "Get those Jews out of there!"
The reference, in this case, is to hundreds of hareidi-religious families that, over the course of Wednesday night, broke into the apartments they paid for, but may lose if the builders go bankrupt.
How it All Began
Among the many financial problems facing the Heftzibah Construction Company is a series of recent Supreme Court rulings, instigated by the radical left-wing Peace Now organization, that forbid continued construction on a very large housing project between Modiin and the Green Line dividing pre-1967 Israel from Judea/Samaria.
The new project, in Matityahu East, was supposed to be for 3,000 units, but after only 500 were sold - and with 430 of those 500 still empty - a Peace Now suit led the Court to order a halt to all activity. Thus, 430 families that had paid were unable to move in to their new homes - and the 70 families already living there were forced to live under frozen construction-site conditions. This has been the situation for a year and a half now.
The suit brought by Peace Now - an organization that is dedicated to eradicating Jewish presence from Judea and Samaria - showed that various technical/legal glitches plagued the process of receiving the construction permits. For instance, a zoning change was publicized in Hebrew newspapers, but not in Arabic ones.
As Jewish land rights activist Betzalel Smutrich told B'Sheva's Ofrah Lax last month, "The Supreme Court is supposed to protect citizens from the authorities that stick to the dry law and procedure. But the Supreme Court has long forgotten its function... The Arabs were not even hurt here; the original plan was legally approved, and the revised plan did not change the area being built. So why all the hubbub?"
Another source close to the case said, "True, the buildings weren't built at the same angle called for by the plan that was originally approved - but to say that this means there were severe construction violations? If there's a problem with 10% of the buildings, then at least approve the other 90%!" But the Supreme Court, at Peace Now's behest, did not do so.
After a year and a half of legal troubles, it appeared that the families' plight was nearing a legal solution - and then came the news that Heftzibah, the builders, might be facing bankruptcy. Over the course of Wednesday night and Thursday morning, many families from various locations besieged the company's Jerusalem offices - while many others made their way to the Matityahu East apartments they had long ago paid for and to which they were denied entry, and broke in. Their goal: to establish their rights at the possibly soon-to-be-contested properties.
The mass take-over was apparently organized in advance. Apartments built by Heftzibah but not yet fully approved for occupancy were also taken over by their owners in Beit Shemesh, Beitar Illit, and elsewhere.
Heftzibah has not filed any police complaints against the squatters, and the police have not taken action against them. Peace Now, however, is very concerned at the taking of the law into private hands, and the organization's Secretary Yariv Oppenheimer had this to say about the situation: "The police must evict the squatters from the [Matityahu] apartments now, even before the Sabbath."
B”H
OK, now we get the full story about how this happened.
It is the “Peace Now” Nazis and their court buddies.
It’s about time that we started to hit them back. I think everyone who is losing their homes need to turn around and sue "Peace Now." The companies who were forced into bankruptcy should sue "Peace Now."
Then everyone who lost someone to a terrorist because "Peace Now" didn’t want the fence should sue.
Then everyone whose loved ones were killed by terrorists who committed crimes after “Peace Now” lawsuits allowed them to have access to land should sue.
Then everyone in Hevron should sue. Then everyone from Gush Katif should sue. And everyone who has had their trees and their crops and their orchards uprooted should sue.
And they shouldn’t just sue the organization. They need to sue individual protestors, activists, and administrators PERSONALLY. Start taking names, people! Let them know they can't hide behind their Nazi organization any longer and let them know what it is to be thrown from your home and have your parnassah destroyed.
We need injunctions, personal injury lawsuits, pain and suffering lawsuits, criminal cases filed against them for giving material support to terrorists, etc. Then lets start lobbying in the US and Israel to have their name included on the list of terrorist organizations so we can dry up their assets and destroy their lives as they have destroyed the lives of so many Jews. After all, they affiliate themselves with terrorists and terrorist sympathizers and work to deny land to Jews and give it to our enemies. Also, they target Jews and only Jews, so they are clearly an anti-Semitic organization, a hate group.
Stop taking this from these unwashed masses and their suit-coated lawyers! Let’s get them on the run.Just because they are "organized" doesn't mean they aren't the same ilk as their brothers who hide behind white bedsheets and swastikas and shave their heads and wear hobnailed boots.
They are bullies, and they need to be bullied back.
M
-----
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/123267
by Hillel Fendel
(IsraelNN.com) The Heftzibah Construction Company suddenly faces bankruptcy, one of its top executives tried to commit suicide, and hundreds of home-owners may find themselves on the street. But Peace Now is interested in only one thing: "Get those Jews out of there!"
The reference, in this case, is to hundreds of hareidi-religious families that, over the course of Wednesday night, broke into the apartments they paid for, but may lose if the builders go bankrupt.
How it All Began
Among the many financial problems facing the Heftzibah Construction Company is a series of recent Supreme Court rulings, instigated by the radical left-wing Peace Now organization, that forbid continued construction on a very large housing project between Modiin and the Green Line dividing pre-1967 Israel from Judea/Samaria.
The new project, in Matityahu East, was supposed to be for 3,000 units, but after only 500 were sold - and with 430 of those 500 still empty - a Peace Now suit led the Court to order a halt to all activity. Thus, 430 families that had paid were unable to move in to their new homes - and the 70 families already living there were forced to live under frozen construction-site conditions. This has been the situation for a year and a half now.
The suit brought by Peace Now - an organization that is dedicated to eradicating Jewish presence from Judea and Samaria - showed that various technical/legal glitches plagued the process of receiving the construction permits. For instance, a zoning change was publicized in Hebrew newspapers, but not in Arabic ones.
As Jewish land rights activist Betzalel Smutrich told B'Sheva's Ofrah Lax last month, "The Supreme Court is supposed to protect citizens from the authorities that stick to the dry law and procedure. But the Supreme Court has long forgotten its function... The Arabs were not even hurt here; the original plan was legally approved, and the revised plan did not change the area being built. So why all the hubbub?"
Another source close to the case said, "True, the buildings weren't built at the same angle called for by the plan that was originally approved - but to say that this means there were severe construction violations? If there's a problem with 10% of the buildings, then at least approve the other 90%!" But the Supreme Court, at Peace Now's behest, did not do so.
After a year and a half of legal troubles, it appeared that the families' plight was nearing a legal solution - and then came the news that Heftzibah, the builders, might be facing bankruptcy. Over the course of Wednesday night and Thursday morning, many families from various locations besieged the company's Jerusalem offices - while many others made their way to the Matityahu East apartments they had long ago paid for and to which they were denied entry, and broke in. Their goal: to establish their rights at the possibly soon-to-be-contested properties.
The mass take-over was apparently organized in advance. Apartments built by Heftzibah but not yet fully approved for occupancy were also taken over by their owners in Beit Shemesh, Beitar Illit, and elsewhere.
Heftzibah has not filed any police complaints against the squatters, and the police have not taken action against them. Peace Now, however, is very concerned at the taking of the law into private hands, and the organization's Secretary Yariv Oppenheimer had this to say about the situation: "The police must evict the squatters from the [Matityahu] apartments now, even before the Sabbath."
The struggle for the shuk has begun
August 02, 2007
Today, the 78th anniversary of the 1929 riots and massacre in Hebron, which left 67 dead and the surviving population expelled from the city, Defense Minister Ehud Barak personally decided to expel two more families from the city, from their homes in the Shalhevet neighborhood (the shuk).
The Hebron Community council expresses deep pain and protest at the desecration of the memories of the 1929 victims and the continuation of forced expulsion, this time not by Arabs, rather by Jews, expelling their brothers.
According to information received by the community, about 1,000 police, riot squad forces and soldiers will execute the expulsion late Sunday night - early Monday morning. The community calls on anyone to whom Hebron and Eretz Yisrael are important to, to flock to Hebron as early as this coming Saturday night, following Shabbat, in order to take an active role in the protest and struggle. Most likely Israeli security forces will close all roads leading to Hebron sometime Monday, so it is important to arrive as early as possible.
comments
The Jewish Community of Hebron
POB 105 , Kiryat Arba-Hebron 90100 hebron@hebron.org.il
Tour Hebron: Tel 972-52-431-7055 or write:
tour@hebron.com The Hebron Fund
1760 Ocean Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11230
hebronfund@aol.com
718-677-6886
Web: www.hebron.com
Gift shop: www.hebrongifts.com
You too can Help Hebron - https://pro29.abac.com/hebron/english/donate.php
To subscribe or unsubscribe to the Hebron list, simply email:
hebron.mail-subscribe@hebron.org.il
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The Jewish Community of Hebron
P.O. Box 105, Kiryat Arba 90100 Israel
Tel: 972-2-9965333; Fax: 972-2-9965304
info@hebron.com Developed by Binamica
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Today, the 78th anniversary of the 1929 riots and massacre in Hebron, which left 67 dead and the surviving population expelled from the city, Defense Minister Ehud Barak personally decided to expel two more families from the city, from their homes in the Shalhevet neighborhood (the shuk).
The Hebron Community council expresses deep pain and protest at the desecration of the memories of the 1929 victims and the continuation of forced expulsion, this time not by Arabs, rather by Jews, expelling their brothers.
According to information received by the community, about 1,000 police, riot squad forces and soldiers will execute the expulsion late Sunday night - early Monday morning. The community calls on anyone to whom Hebron and Eretz Yisrael are important to, to flock to Hebron as early as this coming Saturday night, following Shabbat, in order to take an active role in the protest and struggle. Most likely Israeli security forces will close all roads leading to Hebron sometime Monday, so it is important to arrive as early as possible.
comments
The Jewish Community of Hebron
POB 105 , Kiryat Arba-Hebron 90100 hebron@hebron.org.il
Tour Hebron: Tel 972-52-431-7055 or write:
tour@hebron.com
1760 Ocean Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11230
hebronfund@aol.com
718-677-6886
Web: www.hebron.com
Gift shop: www.hebrongifts.com
You too can Help Hebron - https://pro29.abac.com/hebron/english/donate.php
To subscribe or unsubscribe to the Hebron list, simply email:
hebron.mail-subscribe@hebron.org.il
hebron.mail-unsubscribe@hebron.org.il
The Jewish Community of Hebron
P.O. Box 105, Kiryat Arba 90100 Israel
Tel: 972-2-9965333; Fax: 972-2-9965304
info@hebron.com
Web Design in Israel
Arab Demographic threat? Nonsense
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B”H
I’m glad to see that the “demographic threat” argument is being shifted away from the arabs, and our religious Jews are starting to say, “Hey, wait! We ARE becoming the majority!”
Wake up, Israel!!
M
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David Rubin, THE JERUSALEM POST Aug. 1, 2007
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1185893692483&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter
'Anyone who believes that Israel can maintain its current hold on all the West Bank is living in a dream." These confident words were spoken by embattled yet defiant Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, as he addressed a recent gathering of Jordan Valley farmers. One might think that with the obvious Iranian and Hizbullah threats hanging over Israel's head and the ominous warnings of a senior IDF officer regarding the Hamas buildup in Gaza, Olmert would be placing his focus elsewhere. Nonetheless, the issue of the demographic threat to Israel caused by its presence in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) has returned to the front pages.
In order to judge this issue rationally, avoiding the emotional diatribes frequently launched by those on both sides of the issue, it is crucial to examine the facts. As Olmert rightly emphasizes, "Everyone understands that the State of Israel can't exist without a Jewish majority."
His convergence/realignment plan for unilateral withdrawal from Judea and Samaria was based specifically on this perception, the problematic reality of a tiny Jewish population living among a large and rapidly rising Palestinian Arab population. Only by relinquishing control of these territories would Israel be able to maintain its Jewish majority. This has been the widely accepted solution to the demographic threat to Israel, having massive support, almost across the political spectrum. The problem, however, is that this view is usually accepted with very little questioning and far less analysis.
The demographic argument of those who advocate Israeli withdrawal from Judea and Samaria, whether unilateral or negotiated with our peace-loving neighbors, ignores both the steady high birthrates of the Jewish population in Judea and Samaria and the ongoing and increasing emigration of the Arab population from those areas. Furthermore, the media rarely notes that the reports of massive Arab population growth have been deliberately exaggerated to serve Arab/Muslim political interests. By closing our eyes to these simultaneous trends, we are simply supporting Hamas/Fatah propaganda and lies, intended to destroy the Jewish state.
YORAM ETTINGER, who headed the Israeli research team in a major demographic study carried out in 2005, has pointed out that Israel is not losing the demographic race and emphasized that "there is no need to retreat from Jewish geography in order to secure Jewish demography." Furthermore, the true demographic threat for Israel is not in Judea and Samaria, but in regions like the Galilee, with its large and growing Arab majority, or in secular Tel Aviv, where large families are unfortunately not the norm. As Prof. Dan Meyerstein, president of Ariel College, has pointed out, the birthrate in Judea and Samaria is "crazily higher than the rest of Israel" - 4.4 children, as opposed to the national average of 2.8.
No, the real demographic threat for Israel lies not in the "West Bank," but within pre-1967 Israel, and it is there that Prime Minister Olmert should be focusing his attention. The optimistic and idealistic Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria don't need the encouragement of government subsidies to have large families, and the many Jews who emigrate from Israel every year are greatly underrepresented in their numbers. In their large and growing population, they express their belief in both the Jewish past and future by settling the historic heartland of Israel, despite the current overwhelming political pressures to do the opposite.
According to the Council of Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria, there are now over 260,000 tax-paying Jewish residents in the region. Anyone who lives in these areas knows that the demand for homes, especially among young couples, is much greater than the supply, and the persistent reports of foolish Israeli withdrawal plans have limited building projects in these areas. But Jews continue to arrive from all parts of Israel, as well as from abroad, seeking homes in places such as Shiloh, Bet El, and Hebron, and many of those who have grown up there continue stay on after they marry, in whatever housing is available, raising large families and building for the future in those disputed areas.
This is the reality on the ground.
Yes, Zionism is alive and well in the Biblical heartland of Israel, both idealistically and demographically. It's okay for Mr. Olmert to debate differences based on facts, but the persistent mantra of the demographic threat in Judea and Samaria is based on an illusion.
The writer, a long-time resident of Shiloh, is the author of God, Israel, and Shiloh: Returning to the Land.
B”H
I’m glad to see that the “demographic threat” argument is being shifted away from the arabs, and our religious Jews are starting to say, “Hey, wait! We ARE becoming the majority!”
Wake up, Israel!!
M
-----
David Rubin, THE JERUSALEM POST Aug. 1, 2007
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1185893692483&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter
'Anyone who believes that Israel can maintain its current hold on all the West Bank is living in a dream." These confident words were spoken by embattled yet defiant Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, as he addressed a recent gathering of Jordan Valley farmers. One might think that with the obvious Iranian and Hizbullah threats hanging over Israel's head and the ominous warnings of a senior IDF officer regarding the Hamas buildup in Gaza, Olmert would be placing his focus elsewhere. Nonetheless, the issue of the demographic threat to Israel caused by its presence in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) has returned to the front pages.
In order to judge this issue rationally, avoiding the emotional diatribes frequently launched by those on both sides of the issue, it is crucial to examine the facts. As Olmert rightly emphasizes, "Everyone understands that the State of Israel can't exist without a Jewish majority."
His convergence/realignment plan for unilateral withdrawal from Judea and Samaria was based specifically on this perception, the problematic reality of a tiny Jewish population living among a large and rapidly rising Palestinian Arab population. Only by relinquishing control of these territories would Israel be able to maintain its Jewish majority. This has been the widely accepted solution to the demographic threat to Israel, having massive support, almost across the political spectrum. The problem, however, is that this view is usually accepted with very little questioning and far less analysis.
The demographic argument of those who advocate Israeli withdrawal from Judea and Samaria, whether unilateral or negotiated with our peace-loving neighbors, ignores both the steady high birthrates of the Jewish population in Judea and Samaria and the ongoing and increasing emigration of the Arab population from those areas. Furthermore, the media rarely notes that the reports of massive Arab population growth have been deliberately exaggerated to serve Arab/Muslim political interests. By closing our eyes to these simultaneous trends, we are simply supporting Hamas/Fatah propaganda and lies, intended to destroy the Jewish state.
YORAM ETTINGER, who headed the Israeli research team in a major demographic study carried out in 2005, has pointed out that Israel is not losing the demographic race and emphasized that "there is no need to retreat from Jewish geography in order to secure Jewish demography." Furthermore, the true demographic threat for Israel is not in Judea and Samaria, but in regions like the Galilee, with its large and growing Arab majority, or in secular Tel Aviv, where large families are unfortunately not the norm. As Prof. Dan Meyerstein, president of Ariel College, has pointed out, the birthrate in Judea and Samaria is "crazily higher than the rest of Israel" - 4.4 children, as opposed to the national average of 2.8.
No, the real demographic threat for Israel lies not in the "West Bank," but within pre-1967 Israel, and it is there that Prime Minister Olmert should be focusing his attention. The optimistic and idealistic Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria don't need the encouragement of government subsidies to have large families, and the many Jews who emigrate from Israel every year are greatly underrepresented in their numbers. In their large and growing population, they express their belief in both the Jewish past and future by settling the historic heartland of Israel, despite the current overwhelming political pressures to do the opposite.
According to the Council of Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria, there are now over 260,000 tax-paying Jewish residents in the region. Anyone who lives in these areas knows that the demand for homes, especially among young couples, is much greater than the supply, and the persistent reports of foolish Israeli withdrawal plans have limited building projects in these areas. But Jews continue to arrive from all parts of Israel, as well as from abroad, seeking homes in places such as Shiloh, Bet El, and Hebron, and many of those who have grown up there continue stay on after they marry, in whatever housing is available, raising large families and building for the future in those disputed areas.
This is the reality on the ground.
Yes, Zionism is alive and well in the Biblical heartland of Israel, both idealistically and demographically. It's okay for Mr. Olmert to debate differences based on facts, but the persistent mantra of the demographic threat in Judea and Samaria is based on an illusion.
The writer, a long-time resident of Shiloh, is the author of God, Israel, and Shiloh: Returning to the Land.
US moves closer to Arabs, further from Israel
By Stan Goodenough
August 01, 2007
http://www.jnewswire.com/article/2085
The United States of America Tuesday put its official stamp on the Saudi Arabian plan that calls for Israel's surrender for all time of the land returned to Jewish rule in 1967.
According to a report in Haaretz, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice wrote her signature alongside those of Egypt, Jordan and six Persian Gulf states endorsing the 2002 plan as a foundation for Middle East peace.
With the move, the Bush administration gave Israel yet another shove down the road towards completing its severance from its biblical heartland and the cradle of Jewish nationhood.
The Saudi Plan offers full normalization of relations between Israel and the Arab world in exchange for Israel's withdrawal from Judea, Samaria and the Golan Heights.
(Gaza was included in the original draft, but Israel in 2005 already abandoned that strip of land to the Palestinian Arabs who, instead of starting to build themselves a state there, turned it into a haven for terrorists and a launching pad for increased terrorism.)
Rice's signature moved her country a few steps nearer to Saudi Arabia and the Arab world, and a few steps further away from Israel.
On Monday evening, upon her arrival in Jeddah at the start of a regional tour, she spoke warmly about the Arab states who have so long hated and worked to destroy Israel.
"These are our longstanding and close friends and allies. These are strategic relationships that go back decades. And we are really determined to signal our commitment and to provide for the security of our allies. It goes to the stability and prosperity of the Gulf region, which is of great interest to the United States and great interest to our friends."
Newsweek columnist Michael Hirsh_ chief US correspondent Samuel Rosner, compared Rice's statement with one she had made a year ago when she said:
"What you had in the Middle East before was American policies - bipartisan, by the way; it had been pursued by Democratic presidents and by Republican presidents - that engaged in so-called Middle East exceptionalism [in other words, democracy won't work with the Arabs] and was pursuing stability at the expense of democracy."
Concluded Hirsh: "The Bush team seems to have gone from condemning the decades-old US policy of backing the Arab regimes to championing precisely that course."
August 01, 2007
http://www.jnewswire.com/article/2085
The United States of America Tuesday put its official stamp on the Saudi Arabian plan that calls for Israel's surrender for all time of the land returned to Jewish rule in 1967.
According to a report in Haaretz, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice wrote her signature alongside those of Egypt, Jordan and six Persian Gulf states endorsing the 2002 plan as a foundation for Middle East peace.
With the move, the Bush administration gave Israel yet another shove down the road towards completing its severance from its biblical heartland and the cradle of Jewish nationhood.
The Saudi Plan offers full normalization of relations between Israel and the Arab world in exchange for Israel's withdrawal from Judea, Samaria and the Golan Heights.
(Gaza was included in the original draft, but Israel in 2005 already abandoned that strip of land to the Palestinian Arabs who, instead of starting to build themselves a state there, turned it into a haven for terrorists and a launching pad for increased terrorism.)
Rice's signature moved her country a few steps nearer to Saudi Arabia and the Arab world, and a few steps further away from Israel.
On Monday evening, upon her arrival in Jeddah at the start of a regional tour, she spoke warmly about the Arab states who have so long hated and worked to destroy Israel.
"These are our longstanding and close friends and allies. These are strategic relationships that go back decades. And we are really determined to signal our commitment and to provide for the security of our allies. It goes to the stability and prosperity of the Gulf region, which is of great interest to the United States and great interest to our friends."
Newsweek columnist Michael Hirsh_ chief US correspondent Samuel Rosner, compared Rice's statement with one she had made a year ago when she said:
"What you had in the Middle East before was American policies - bipartisan, by the way; it had been pursued by Democratic presidents and by Republican presidents - that engaged in so-called Middle East exceptionalism [in other words, democracy won't work with the Arabs] and was pursuing stability at the expense of democracy."
Concluded Hirsh: "The Bush team seems to have gone from condemning the decades-old US policy of backing the Arab regimes to championing precisely that course."
Three of four Jewish births in UK are haredi
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B"H
Exactly how are they defining "ultra-Orthodox" in this article? I want to know. It seems that in many articles, if the father wears a kippah, the family keeps Shabbat, and the mother covers her hair, they are considered "Haredi" when they might just be regular religious people.
This said, it appears that Israel's "panic" in discovering that their population is increasingly religious can now be shared across the Jewish world.
It is only a matter of time before our major Jewish organizations will have to start taking religious Jews seriously. :)
M
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Aug. 1, 2007 21:41 | Updated Aug. 2, 2007 7:44
By JONNY PAUL
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1185893692739&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Haredim are set to account for a majority of Jews in the UK and US by the second half of the century, according to new research by a British academic.
University of Manchester historian Dr. Yaakov Wise says the increase in Britain's ultra-religious Jewry has now reversed the decline in the overall Jewish population, which he says has been shrinking by 1 to 2 percent per year since the 1950s.
According to Wise, Europe's haredi population is growing more rapidly than at any time since before WWII. Almost three out of every four British Jewish births, he says, are ultra-Orthodox, and the community now accounts for around 45,500, or 17 percent, of a total UK Jewish population of around 275,000.
"If current trends continue there is going to be a profound cultural and political change among British and American Jews, and it's already well on the way," Wise says. "This is in spite of demographic studies which show that the non-ultra-Orthodox Jewish population is flat or falling."
"My work, and that of Prof. Sergio Della Pergola [of the Hebrew University], reveal a similar picture in Israel. By the year 2020, the ultra-Orthodox population of Israel will double to one million and make up 17% of the total population. A recent Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics report also found that a third of all Jewish students will be studying at haredi schools by 2012, prompting emergency meetings at the Education Ministry," Wise says.
Wise's study shows that in Greater Manchester, approximately half of all Jewish children under five years old are haredi. The numbers are also growing in Greater London, where the ultra-Orthodox community now accounts for 18% of Jews, up from less than 10% in the early 1990s.
"You can see evidence for this in communities across the UK. In Greater Manchester, for example, the ultra-Orthodox number 8,500, which is almost a third of the 28,000 Jews in the region. This is up from around one-quarter 10 years ago," he says.
The same pattern holds for the US, Wise says.
"In America, too, where the Jewish population is stable or declining, ultra-Orthodox Jewish numbers are growing rapidly. Prof. Joshua Comenetz at the University of Florida says the ultra-Orthodox population doubles every 20 years, which he says may make the Jewish community not only more religiously observant but more politically conservative," Wise says.
Comenetz estimated the US haredi population in 2000 at about 360,000, 7.2% of the approximately five million Jews in the country. As of 2006, demographers estimate that this number had grown to 468,000, or 9.4% of the Jewish population, Wise says.
The UK figures were based on census data and regular monitoring of Jewish births by academics in both Manchester and Leeds.
B"H
Exactly how are they defining "ultra-Orthodox" in this article? I want to know. It seems that in many articles, if the father wears a kippah, the family keeps Shabbat, and the mother covers her hair, they are considered "Haredi" when they might just be regular religious people.
This said, it appears that Israel's "panic" in discovering that their population is increasingly religious can now be shared across the Jewish world.
It is only a matter of time before our major Jewish organizations will have to start taking religious Jews seriously. :)
M
-----
Aug. 1, 2007 21:41 | Updated Aug. 2, 2007 7:44
By JONNY PAUL
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1185893692739&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Haredim are set to account for a majority of Jews in the UK and US by the second half of the century, according to new research by a British academic.
University of Manchester historian Dr. Yaakov Wise says the increase in Britain's ultra-religious Jewry has now reversed the decline in the overall Jewish population, which he says has been shrinking by 1 to 2 percent per year since the 1950s.
According to Wise, Europe's haredi population is growing more rapidly than at any time since before WWII. Almost three out of every four British Jewish births, he says, are ultra-Orthodox, and the community now accounts for around 45,500, or 17 percent, of a total UK Jewish population of around 275,000.
"If current trends continue there is going to be a profound cultural and political change among British and American Jews, and it's already well on the way," Wise says. "This is in spite of demographic studies which show that the non-ultra-Orthodox Jewish population is flat or falling."
"My work, and that of Prof. Sergio Della Pergola [of the Hebrew University], reveal a similar picture in Israel. By the year 2020, the ultra-Orthodox population of Israel will double to one million and make up 17% of the total population. A recent Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics report also found that a third of all Jewish students will be studying at haredi schools by 2012, prompting emergency meetings at the Education Ministry," Wise says.
Wise's study shows that in Greater Manchester, approximately half of all Jewish children under five years old are haredi. The numbers are also growing in Greater London, where the ultra-Orthodox community now accounts for 18% of Jews, up from less than 10% in the early 1990s.
"You can see evidence for this in communities across the UK. In Greater Manchester, for example, the ultra-Orthodox number 8,500, which is almost a third of the 28,000 Jews in the region. This is up from around one-quarter 10 years ago," he says.
The same pattern holds for the US, Wise says.
"In America, too, where the Jewish population is stable or declining, ultra-Orthodox Jewish numbers are growing rapidly. Prof. Joshua Comenetz at the University of Florida says the ultra-Orthodox population doubles every 20 years, which he says may make the Jewish community not only more religiously observant but more politically conservative," Wise says.
Comenetz estimated the US haredi population in 2000 at about 360,000, 7.2% of the approximately five million Jews in the country. As of 2006, demographers estimate that this number had grown to 468,000, or 9.4% of the Jewish population, Wise says.
The UK figures were based on census data and regular monitoring of Jewish births by academics in both Manchester and Leeds.
Wanted Fatah Terrorists Not Complying With Amnesty Deal
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B”H
I am simply aghast! They aren’t complying with their promise not to continue terrorist activities??? It’s hard to believe!! Will wonders never cease??
M
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http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/131010
(IsraelNN.com) Wanted terrorists that the Olmert government agreed not to pursue if they give up terrorism are already violating the deal.
Many of the terrorists refuse to give up their arms and Fatah continues to try to add additional terrorists to the list.
The terrorists are supposed to be allowed to join the PA security forces, but not to be armed. Due to disagreement on the affair, the entire deal is poised to fall through, Fatah officials told Yediot Acharonot.
B”H
I am simply aghast! They aren’t complying with their promise not to continue terrorist activities??? It’s hard to believe!! Will wonders never cease??
M
-----
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/131010
(IsraelNN.com) Wanted terrorists that the Olmert government agreed not to pursue if they give up terrorism are already violating the deal.
Many of the terrorists refuse to give up their arms and Fatah continues to try to add additional terrorists to the list.
The terrorists are supposed to be allowed to join the PA security forces, but not to be armed. Due to disagreement on the affair, the entire deal is poised to fall through, Fatah officials told Yediot Acharonot.
Soldiers Banish Missionaries From Army Base
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/123260
by Hillel Fendel
(IsraelNN.com) The soldiers of the dusty Nachal Oz army base in southern Israel were happy to see a group of orange-clad Israeli-flag-waving youths with musical instruments appear at their gates one day last month. Religious and not religious soldiers gathered around them, singing and dancing - and only when the music quieted down did the visitors begin to spread their real message.
"We believe in him, we call him Jesus," they said. "He was Jewish, not Christian. We are here to say thank you and we are sorry, and may the Lord protect you."
At that point, the soldiers realized they had been tricked. One of them contacted the rabbi of the base, who apparently was not there at the time, and banished the unwelcome visitors. "The missionaries then looked for other prey in the base," the soldier told Nitzan Keidar of HaTzofeh, "but I followed them and made sure they left the base altogether."
The soldiers also contacted the Yad L'Achim [Hand to Brothers] anti-missionary organization about the event. Yad L'Achim says that missionaries have long targeted the army, and have even published a page of instructions headlined with the Hebrew acronym for the IDF - Tz.H.L. - but standing for something else: "Listen Today to the Lord" (Tzaytu hayom la'adon). The rest of the sheet contains the following tips to missionary soldiers: "The army is one of the best places to spread the message. When you're stuck for ten hours in a jeep in the streets of Ramallah, conversations about G-d, death and other spiritual matters have to come up. I want to encourage you: Use these opportunities that the army gives you, on guard duty, long trips, and the like."
Missionaries Attack in Netanya
Both missionary and anti-missionary work continue apace throughout Israel, and two incidents of missionaries attacking anti-missionaries in Netanya were recently reported. Two female Yad L'Achim volunteers were attacked by missionaries as they were distributing anti-missionary literature from door-to-door, and a male was attacked under similar circumstances the next day. The incidents occurred at 5 Dr. Skop St. and 9 Motzkin St. In both cases, the police were called and arrested or detained the attackers.
Rabbi Shalom Dov Lifshitz, the Chairman of Yad L'Achim, said afterwards, "Our success in using their own method of house-to-house visits stops their activities time after time - and has apparently also revealed their true face as being violent and totally unrestrained... In many places, our volunteers have argued with the missionaries and caused them to leave in disgrace. Our response to these two incidents is to increase our house visits to fight the missionaries."
by Hillel Fendel
(IsraelNN.com) The soldiers of the dusty Nachal Oz army base in southern Israel were happy to see a group of orange-clad Israeli-flag-waving youths with musical instruments appear at their gates one day last month. Religious and not religious soldiers gathered around them, singing and dancing - and only when the music quieted down did the visitors begin to spread their real message.
"We believe in him, we call him Jesus," they said. "He was Jewish, not Christian. We are here to say thank you and we are sorry, and may the Lord protect you."
At that point, the soldiers realized they had been tricked. One of them contacted the rabbi of the base, who apparently was not there at the time, and banished the unwelcome visitors. "The missionaries then looked for other prey in the base," the soldier told Nitzan Keidar of HaTzofeh, "but I followed them and made sure they left the base altogether."
The soldiers also contacted the Yad L'Achim [Hand to Brothers] anti-missionary organization about the event. Yad L'Achim says that missionaries have long targeted the army, and have even published a page of instructions headlined with the Hebrew acronym for the IDF - Tz.H.L. - but standing for something else: "Listen Today to the Lord" (Tzaytu hayom la'adon). The rest of the sheet contains the following tips to missionary soldiers: "The army is one of the best places to spread the message. When you're stuck for ten hours in a jeep in the streets of Ramallah, conversations about G-d, death and other spiritual matters have to come up. I want to encourage you: Use these opportunities that the army gives you, on guard duty, long trips, and the like."
Missionaries Attack in Netanya
Both missionary and anti-missionary work continue apace throughout Israel, and two incidents of missionaries attacking anti-missionaries in Netanya were recently reported. Two female Yad L'Achim volunteers were attacked by missionaries as they were distributing anti-missionary literature from door-to-door, and a male was attacked under similar circumstances the next day. The incidents occurred at 5 Dr. Skop St. and 9 Motzkin St. In both cases, the police were called and arrested or detained the attackers.
Rabbi Shalom Dov Lifshitz, the Chairman of Yad L'Achim, said afterwards, "Our success in using their own method of house-to-house visits stops their activities time after time - and has apparently also revealed their true face as being violent and totally unrestrained... In many places, our volunteers have argued with the missionaries and caused them to leave in disgrace. Our response to these two incidents is to increase our house visits to fight the missionaries."
Global campaign encourages breast-feeding
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B”H
This will never succeed until they can get rid of the outmoded (and, frankly, well-purchased) ideas of many of the pediatricians and family practice doctors in the world.
I have always nursed my children, but have had to fight off scores of pediatricians who informed me that “the baby will need vitamins because breast feeding doesn’t provide them with enough nutrients,” and “you can’t breastfeed after your child has teeth, they will all rot out of his head!” and “you are keeping your child from developing independent behaviors” etc. etc. etc.
I can’t tell you how many doctors I have “sacked” because of this attitude, how many times I have cried when the doctors went to my husband and complained that I was nursing the children “too long,” and how many times I have been discouraged by medical professionals at every turn.
The formula companies have bought and paid for the education and allegiance of these doctors—and if I hadn’t been a very well informed mother with a lot of confidence, a higher degree, and a healthy dose of mistrust of doctors, I don’t think I could have withstood the pressure all these years.
Young, uninformed, under-educated women who have been taught to listen to their doctors don’t have a chance—and neither do their babies.
M
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Aug. 1, 2007 22:01 | Updated Aug. 1, 2007 23:50
By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1185893693020&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
The United Nations Children's Fund has opened a worldwide campaign this week to encourage breast-feeding to reduce infant mortality.
Evie Adams, a breast-feeding adviser and a member of UNICEF-Israel, said that if all babies were nursed from birth until they were six months old, 13 percent of all deaths under the age of five could be prevented.
Running from August 1 to 7, the event is being held in cooperation with the World Health Organization and the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action.
Breastfeeding reduces by half the risk of a child developing type 1 diabetes and recurrent ear infections, according to the campaign organizers. Babies who are not breast-fed are at a 25% higher risk of becoming overweight and are 250% more likely to develop asthma and respiratory infections. In addition, breast-feeding during the first six months of life cuts the risk of diarrhea by half and significantly reduces the danger of sudden infant death syndrome. Nursing babies also are less likely to suffer from urinary infections.
The campaign is stressing the importance of mothers' beginning to nurse within an hour of delivery, as immediate breast-feeding increases the likelihood that the baby will develop healthy nursing habits and breast-feed exclusively during his or her first six months of life.
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B”H
This will never succeed until they can get rid of the outmoded (and, frankly, well-purchased) ideas of many of the pediatricians and family practice doctors in the world.
I have always nursed my children, but have had to fight off scores of pediatricians who informed me that “the baby will need vitamins because breast feeding doesn’t provide them with enough nutrients,” and “you can’t breastfeed after your child has teeth, they will all rot out of his head!” and “you are keeping your child from developing independent behaviors” etc. etc. etc.
I can’t tell you how many doctors I have “sacked” because of this attitude, how many times I have cried when the doctors went to my husband and complained that I was nursing the children “too long,” and how many times I have been discouraged by medical professionals at every turn.
The formula companies have bought and paid for the education and allegiance of these doctors—and if I hadn’t been a very well informed mother with a lot of confidence, a higher degree, and a healthy dose of mistrust of doctors, I don’t think I could have withstood the pressure all these years.
Young, uninformed, under-educated women who have been taught to listen to their doctors don’t have a chance—and neither do their babies.
M
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Aug. 1, 2007 22:01 | Updated Aug. 1, 2007 23:50
By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1185893693020&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
The United Nations Children's Fund has opened a worldwide campaign this week to encourage breast-feeding to reduce infant mortality.
Evie Adams, a breast-feeding adviser and a member of UNICEF-Israel, said that if all babies were nursed from birth until they were six months old, 13 percent of all deaths under the age of five could be prevented.
Running from August 1 to 7, the event is being held in cooperation with the World Health Organization and the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action.
Breastfeeding reduces by half the risk of a child developing type 1 diabetes and recurrent ear infections, according to the campaign organizers. Babies who are not breast-fed are at a 25% higher risk of becoming overweight and are 250% more likely to develop asthma and respiratory infections. In addition, breast-feeding during the first six months of life cuts the risk of diarrhea by half and significantly reduces the danger of sudden infant death syndrome. Nursing babies also are less likely to suffer from urinary infections.
The campaign is stressing the importance of mothers' beginning to nurse within an hour of delivery, as immediate breast-feeding increases the likelihood that the baby will develop healthy nursing habits and breast-feed exclusively during his or her first six months of life.
Print Subscribe
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Nahal Haredi soldiers demand IDF reserve duty
-----
B”H
The IDF complains that they have no one to draft, then they try to paint religious soldiers as the culprits—but they don’t use the religious soldiers they have!
M
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Jul. 31, 2007 22:54 | Updated Aug. 1, 2007 10:25
By MATTHEW WAGNER
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1185893684372&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
A group of about 100 Nahal Haredi infantrymen who have completed their mandatory army service, unhappy that they have not yet been summoned for reserve duty, sent a letter to the IDF on Sunday demanding that they be called up immediately.
"We want to serve our country," said Haim Galbstein, who finished his active duty in 2004 and has yet to receive a call to perform reserve duty. "I am not learning in yeshiva right now so I have an obligation to defend my people."
Galbstein said that for him military service was a mitzva. "I must not stand by idly and watch while my brothers and sisters are in danger," he said.
The soldiers' initiative comes a day after Defense Minister Ehud Barak complained "the IDF is gradually turning into an army of only half the people" and that those who did serve were being made to feel like "suckers."
The initiative also comes just over a week after the IDF released data showing that one out of four Jewish Israelis born in 1989 evaded this summer's draft by obtaining medical or religious exemptions or because they had a criminal record or lived overseas.
Eleven percent were haredim whose Torah studies exempted them from military service.
The Hahal Haredi infantry unit, established seven years ago, provides young men from ultra-Orthodox backgrounds an opportunity to perform army service in a religious, male-only environment.
The vast majority of haredi young men choose to indefinitely delay their army service while they devote themselves to Torah study. Many oppose army service not only because it precludes Torah study but also because of the coed arrangements. A minority oppose army service because they believe it is forbidden to use force against non-Jews before the coming of the Messiah.
Nevertheless, despite social pressure not to join the IDF, 2,000 Nahal Haredi soldiers have served so far, most in combat positions in the Jordan Valley
Like orthodox Zionist soldiers who enlist within the framework of pre-military academies and hesder yeshivot, Nahal Haredi soldiers tend to be enthusiastic about their army service and to see it as a mitzva.
There are 1,400 Nahal Haredi soldiers who have completed a two-year army stint and who are eligible to do reserve duty. However, very few have been called up.
Netzah Yehudah, the organization that runs the Nahal Haredi program, said, "We are in advanced talks with IDF officials to arrange for a special reserve brigade that could duplicate the religious environment that the Nahal Haredi soldiers have grown accustomed to.
"And, of course, we are very proud of our soldiers' patriotism."
The IDF said Netzah Yehuda soldiers were an integral part of the IDF's regular and reserve combat forces. Integrating them in the reserve forces is being made possible as their numbers grow. The IDF is currently creating an organic framework for them."
B”H
The IDF complains that they have no one to draft, then they try to paint religious soldiers as the culprits—but they don’t use the religious soldiers they have!
M
-----
Jul. 31, 2007 22:54 | Updated Aug. 1, 2007 10:25
By MATTHEW WAGNER
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1185893684372&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
A group of about 100 Nahal Haredi infantrymen who have completed their mandatory army service, unhappy that they have not yet been summoned for reserve duty, sent a letter to the IDF on Sunday demanding that they be called up immediately.
"We want to serve our country," said Haim Galbstein, who finished his active duty in 2004 and has yet to receive a call to perform reserve duty. "I am not learning in yeshiva right now so I have an obligation to defend my people."
Galbstein said that for him military service was a mitzva. "I must not stand by idly and watch while my brothers and sisters are in danger," he said.
The soldiers' initiative comes a day after Defense Minister Ehud Barak complained "the IDF is gradually turning into an army of only half the people" and that those who did serve were being made to feel like "suckers."
The initiative also comes just over a week after the IDF released data showing that one out of four Jewish Israelis born in 1989 evaded this summer's draft by obtaining medical or religious exemptions or because they had a criminal record or lived overseas.
Eleven percent were haredim whose Torah studies exempted them from military service.
The Hahal Haredi infantry unit, established seven years ago, provides young men from ultra-Orthodox backgrounds an opportunity to perform army service in a religious, male-only environment.
The vast majority of haredi young men choose to indefinitely delay their army service while they devote themselves to Torah study. Many oppose army service not only because it precludes Torah study but also because of the coed arrangements. A minority oppose army service because they believe it is forbidden to use force against non-Jews before the coming of the Messiah.
Nevertheless, despite social pressure not to join the IDF, 2,000 Nahal Haredi soldiers have served so far, most in combat positions in the Jordan Valley
Like orthodox Zionist soldiers who enlist within the framework of pre-military academies and hesder yeshivot, Nahal Haredi soldiers tend to be enthusiastic about their army service and to see it as a mitzva.
There are 1,400 Nahal Haredi soldiers who have completed a two-year army stint and who are eligible to do reserve duty. However, very few have been called up.
Netzah Yehudah, the organization that runs the Nahal Haredi program, said, "We are in advanced talks with IDF officials to arrange for a special reserve brigade that could duplicate the religious environment that the Nahal Haredi soldiers have grown accustomed to.
"And, of course, we are very proud of our soldiers' patriotism."
The IDF said Netzah Yehuda soldiers were an integral part of the IDF's regular and reserve combat forces. Integrating them in the reserve forces is being made possible as their numbers grow. The IDF is currently creating an organic framework for them."
The looming haredi disaster
-----
B”H
Every Jew should know Torah, Talmud, and how to properly use a gun.
Every Jew should have Parnassah and know about the world.
I understand that there are great Torah scholars who should be learning and not fighting, but not every Jew who sits in front of an open book is a great Torah scholar. How about putting a number on the exceptions at each Yeshiva? For example, lets say that each Rosh Yeshivah picks the top ten percent of each graduating class to be exempt from the draft. Then there is more competition for those spots, the boys study harder and work more diligently, and the country is rewarded in two ways—better Yeshiva students and more soldiers.
As far as education goes, great Torah scholars must know the world as well as the Torah. Having no foundation in the basic principles of science, mathematics, art, and language does not help anyone achieve greatness in their studies (Our great Torah scholars were men of the world: Maimonides, Rashi, etc. etc. etc.).
How about requiring secular subjects for all students at least until Bar Mitzvah age—then having two tracks—one with a minimum of secular and a max of Torah, one with a minimum of Torah and a max of secular. Lets call them the “Issachar” and “Zebulun” tracks—in order for everyone to remember that we need both types of people to support the land of Israel, and there is a Torah precedent for either track.
M
-----
isi leibler, THE JERUSALEM POST Jul. 31, 2007
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1185893683587&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter
There is now a long-overdue recognition: the erosion of Jewish identity in the curriculum of the dominant secular school system is having disastrous repercussions. In their frenetic zeal to promote universalism, secular educators have diluted Jewish heritage to a minimum. Even the Bible, which once occupied a central place in secular Zionist education, has largely disappeared. Combined with growing hedonism and consumerism this has begun to undermine the faith of some youngsters in the sacred values of the nation.
This phenomenon manifests itself in the increasing brain drain of young Israelis emigrating to greener pastures. It is also reflected by a number of popular entertainers who shamelessly boast of having evaded the draft.
In spite of our minister of education who is besotted with post-modernism, many Israeli leaders are now conscious of the urgent need to restore Jewish and Zionist values in the school system.
BUT REGRETTABLY this problem among the secular is now being dwarfed by a more immediate crisis arising from the demographically exploding haredi sector, whose political leverage peaked simultaneously with a failed government willing to virtually sacrifice anything to retain power.
This was evidenced in the passage of recent legislation obligating municipalities to provide equal funding to haredi schools, including those affiliated with movements even more extreme than Shas and Aguda, who brazenly exclude obligatory secular core curriculum subjects. Nobody seems unduly concerned that the state is effectively financing the molding of citizens destined for a life of impoverishment and total dependence on welfare.
Paradoxically, the children of ultra-Orthodox Jews in Western countries are obliged and do take part in secular core curriculum studies prescribed by their governments.
The statistics relating to this problem signal an even more alarming phenomenon. Currently the high haredi birth rates (considered a boon for Israel) have created a situation in which children from haredi families today comprise 22% of all first Israeli first-graders. This is virtually double the proportion which prevailed 10 to 15 years ago. No society in which almost a quarter of its members are destined to become parasitical burdens and impoverish the majority can indefinitely sustain itself.
NEVER IN the history of the Jewish people has such a bizarre situation prevailed. In the past, exceptionally gifted Torah scholars were funded by philanthropists to lead a life of learning. But even in the shtetl, where poverty was endemic, religious Jews accepted earning a livelihood as a prerequisite to their well-being and dignity.
There is an equally frightening parallel to this. In 1948, in what was subsequently proven to be one of his greatest blunders, David Ben-Gurion agreed with Rabbi Avraham Yeshaye Karelitz - known as the Chazon Ish - to exempt all yeshiva students from conscription.
At the time only 400 were involved. This year that number - which obviously includes many who could never be considered serious students - has mushroomed to well in excess of 50,000 and will continue to rise.
The Tal Law was introduced with the laudable objective of reducing haredi draft evasion and encouraging participation in the work force. It failed abysmally. Over a four-year period only about 500 yeshiva students were drafted and minimal numbers opted for legal employment. Yet the government once again buried its head in the sand and without weighing the consequences, extended the law for another five years.
BUT THE worst has yet to come. Currently haredim account for 11 percent of draft exemptions. However, unless the system changes, when today's haredi first-graders turn 18, they will comprise nearly a quarter of the entire draft.
Should that happen, aside from the additional physical burden on those drafted, the psychological implications for the nation will be devastating. Instead of representing a badge of honor, military service will be regarded as applicable only to hapless freiers or "lower-class people."
What is now a marginal but growing phenomenon among secular elites, celebrity draft-dodging, could become infectious and lead to widespread efforts to evade the draft. That would surely be disastrous for the Zionist vision.
Who is responsible, and what can be done?
Setting aside a miserable political system which encourages politicians to prostitute themselves in order to retain office, the principal responsibility rests with haredi rabbis and heads of yeshivot. Many of them have yet to reconcile themselves with the obligations of living in a Jewish state.
There are no genuine halachic grounds to justify draft evasion. Far from promoting pacifism, Judaism is in fact explicit concerning the obligation to support a righteous war. Maimonides proclaims that even a groom at his wedding banquet is obliged to participate in defense of the nation.
BUT THE PRIMARY reason that haredi rabbis so vehemently oppose the draft is a fear of exposing their followers to the outside world. They even have the gall to proclaim that the role of haredim is to "pray for the nation" - a none too subtle attempt to rationalize why non-observant Israelis and religious Zionists (who also pray) should fight and die for them. Their attitude is reminiscent of the ultra-Orthodox European rabbis before the Shoah who urged their followers not to leave Europe. Their attitude today could ultimately bring about an historical disaster of equal magnitude.
The negative attitude toward earning a livelihood is equally bizarre. Our sages from the time of the Mishna consistently upheld the virtues of labor and maintaining a family livelihood.
There is of course a substantial minority of haredim who do earn livelihoods and a number who also serve in the IDF. Some of them initiated efforts to create training centers and colleges for training haredim for employment in the computer and electronics industry. Regrettably, few rabbis encouraged their followers to take advantage of such opportunities.
Moderate religious Zionists, who in the past served as bridges to secular Israelis, should assume a leading role in this matter. Their children all serve in the IDF, are highly motivated and renowned for exemplary conduct and contribute - far out of proportion to their numbers - in combat units and as officers.
In leading the campaign, they can demonstrate that far from conflicting with Halacha, army service and contribution to the defense of the nation is a mitzva. They can relate to the haredi Nahal unit, which has performed admirably and provide reassurances that the IDF will ensure that religious observance is respected.
They will avoid the haredi-bashing of bigoted anti-religious parties, like the now-defunct Shinui, and be constructive, even highlighting the positive aspects of haredi life which secular Israelis could emulate.
Hopefully they will also gain the support of the hitherto silent haredim who are fully aware of the catastrophe that will inevitably impact on them and the entire nation unless these trends are reversed.
The writer chairs the Diaspora-Israel relations committee of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and is a veteran international Jewish leader.
B”H
Every Jew should know Torah, Talmud, and how to properly use a gun.
Every Jew should have Parnassah and know about the world.
I understand that there are great Torah scholars who should be learning and not fighting, but not every Jew who sits in front of an open book is a great Torah scholar. How about putting a number on the exceptions at each Yeshiva? For example, lets say that each Rosh Yeshivah picks the top ten percent of each graduating class to be exempt from the draft. Then there is more competition for those spots, the boys study harder and work more diligently, and the country is rewarded in two ways—better Yeshiva students and more soldiers.
As far as education goes, great Torah scholars must know the world as well as the Torah. Having no foundation in the basic principles of science, mathematics, art, and language does not help anyone achieve greatness in their studies (Our great Torah scholars were men of the world: Maimonides, Rashi, etc. etc. etc.).
How about requiring secular subjects for all students at least until Bar Mitzvah age—then having two tracks—one with a minimum of secular and a max of Torah, one with a minimum of Torah and a max of secular. Lets call them the “Issachar” and “Zebulun” tracks—in order for everyone to remember that we need both types of people to support the land of Israel, and there is a Torah precedent for either track.
M
-----
isi leibler, THE JERUSALEM POST Jul. 31, 2007
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1185893683587&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter
There is now a long-overdue recognition: the erosion of Jewish identity in the curriculum of the dominant secular school system is having disastrous repercussions. In their frenetic zeal to promote universalism, secular educators have diluted Jewish heritage to a minimum. Even the Bible, which once occupied a central place in secular Zionist education, has largely disappeared. Combined with growing hedonism and consumerism this has begun to undermine the faith of some youngsters in the sacred values of the nation.
This phenomenon manifests itself in the increasing brain drain of young Israelis emigrating to greener pastures. It is also reflected by a number of popular entertainers who shamelessly boast of having evaded the draft.
In spite of our minister of education who is besotted with post-modernism, many Israeli leaders are now conscious of the urgent need to restore Jewish and Zionist values in the school system.
BUT REGRETTABLY this problem among the secular is now being dwarfed by a more immediate crisis arising from the demographically exploding haredi sector, whose political leverage peaked simultaneously with a failed government willing to virtually sacrifice anything to retain power.
This was evidenced in the passage of recent legislation obligating municipalities to provide equal funding to haredi schools, including those affiliated with movements even more extreme than Shas and Aguda, who brazenly exclude obligatory secular core curriculum subjects. Nobody seems unduly concerned that the state is effectively financing the molding of citizens destined for a life of impoverishment and total dependence on welfare.
Paradoxically, the children of ultra-Orthodox Jews in Western countries are obliged and do take part in secular core curriculum studies prescribed by their governments.
The statistics relating to this problem signal an even more alarming phenomenon. Currently the high haredi birth rates (considered a boon for Israel) have created a situation in which children from haredi families today comprise 22% of all first Israeli first-graders. This is virtually double the proportion which prevailed 10 to 15 years ago. No society in which almost a quarter of its members are destined to become parasitical burdens and impoverish the majority can indefinitely sustain itself.
NEVER IN the history of the Jewish people has such a bizarre situation prevailed. In the past, exceptionally gifted Torah scholars were funded by philanthropists to lead a life of learning. But even in the shtetl, where poverty was endemic, religious Jews accepted earning a livelihood as a prerequisite to their well-being and dignity.
There is an equally frightening parallel to this. In 1948, in what was subsequently proven to be one of his greatest blunders, David Ben-Gurion agreed with Rabbi Avraham Yeshaye Karelitz - known as the Chazon Ish - to exempt all yeshiva students from conscription.
At the time only 400 were involved. This year that number - which obviously includes many who could never be considered serious students - has mushroomed to well in excess of 50,000 and will continue to rise.
The Tal Law was introduced with the laudable objective of reducing haredi draft evasion and encouraging participation in the work force. It failed abysmally. Over a four-year period only about 500 yeshiva students were drafted and minimal numbers opted for legal employment. Yet the government once again buried its head in the sand and without weighing the consequences, extended the law for another five years.
BUT THE worst has yet to come. Currently haredim account for 11 percent of draft exemptions. However, unless the system changes, when today's haredi first-graders turn 18, they will comprise nearly a quarter of the entire draft.
Should that happen, aside from the additional physical burden on those drafted, the psychological implications for the nation will be devastating. Instead of representing a badge of honor, military service will be regarded as applicable only to hapless freiers or "lower-class people."
What is now a marginal but growing phenomenon among secular elites, celebrity draft-dodging, could become infectious and lead to widespread efforts to evade the draft. That would surely be disastrous for the Zionist vision.
Who is responsible, and what can be done?
Setting aside a miserable political system which encourages politicians to prostitute themselves in order to retain office, the principal responsibility rests with haredi rabbis and heads of yeshivot. Many of them have yet to reconcile themselves with the obligations of living in a Jewish state.
There are no genuine halachic grounds to justify draft evasion. Far from promoting pacifism, Judaism is in fact explicit concerning the obligation to support a righteous war. Maimonides proclaims that even a groom at his wedding banquet is obliged to participate in defense of the nation.
BUT THE PRIMARY reason that haredi rabbis so vehemently oppose the draft is a fear of exposing their followers to the outside world. They even have the gall to proclaim that the role of haredim is to "pray for the nation" - a none too subtle attempt to rationalize why non-observant Israelis and religious Zionists (who also pray) should fight and die for them. Their attitude is reminiscent of the ultra-Orthodox European rabbis before the Shoah who urged their followers not to leave Europe. Their attitude today could ultimately bring about an historical disaster of equal magnitude.
The negative attitude toward earning a livelihood is equally bizarre. Our sages from the time of the Mishna consistently upheld the virtues of labor and maintaining a family livelihood.
There is of course a substantial minority of haredim who do earn livelihoods and a number who also serve in the IDF. Some of them initiated efforts to create training centers and colleges for training haredim for employment in the computer and electronics industry. Regrettably, few rabbis encouraged their followers to take advantage of such opportunities.
Moderate religious Zionists, who in the past served as bridges to secular Israelis, should assume a leading role in this matter. Their children all serve in the IDF, are highly motivated and renowned for exemplary conduct and contribute - far out of proportion to their numbers - in combat units and as officers.
In leading the campaign, they can demonstrate that far from conflicting with Halacha, army service and contribution to the defense of the nation is a mitzva. They can relate to the haredi Nahal unit, which has performed admirably and provide reassurances that the IDF will ensure that religious observance is respected.
They will avoid the haredi-bashing of bigoted anti-religious parties, like the now-defunct Shinui, and be constructive, even highlighting the positive aspects of haredi life which secular Israelis could emulate.
Hopefully they will also gain the support of the hitherto silent haredim who are fully aware of the catastrophe that will inevitably impact on them and the entire nation unless these trends are reversed.
The writer chairs the Diaspora-Israel relations committee of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and is a veteran international Jewish leader.
'Draft dodgers would lose right to vote'
B”H
The left never fails in their creativity when it involves destroying the lives of religious people.
Now, their panic and paranoia stemming from the realization that they will soon be outnumbered by religious Jews and arabs has spawned this bit of legislation: Don’t let religious Jews and arabs, who are exempted from service, vote if they won’t be part of the army. Oh, and I’m sure that also includes those who are disabled, mentally ill, and those arrested for the unforgivable crime of protesting against Olmert and Sharon’s pogrom in Yesha.
Now lets look where this might lead, shall we?
Arabs will sue to fight in the IDF so that they can still vote and get welfare—and we will have an army made up of those who pray and work daily for our destruction. Nice. Forget about any IDF activities to protect the homeland from the terrorists—every order will be broadcast to Al Jazeera.
Haredim will sue to completely separate the genders in order to serve, and also make sure there are no IDF activities on Shabbat and Yom Tovim (which would be an improvement, actually). The leftest courts will deny their claims, demanding that they sit in foxholes with secular women dressed in next to nothing, and desecrate our holy days--or go without a vote and welfare. This will lead to months of bloody protest in the streets where the new arab army, trained by our government, will be allowed to attack our unarmed (because they didn’t serve in the army) religious citizens without restraint, probably on Shabbat and Yom Tovim.
The US and Europe will maintain silence on the issue, suggesting it is an internal Israeli matter (even though NOTHING has ever escaped their commentary before).
Then will come the military Coup d’etat, where arabs will take over the government, and the terrorists will begin pouring over the borders in triumph.
But, this is OK. That’s what the left wants anyway, right?
Too bad they will be wrong about the arabs giving them any help and letting them live because they are their “friends.” They will die with the rest of us—maybe even before us—because, as one of my sons said yesterday, there is nothing in the world the gentiles despise more than a Jew trying to act like a gentile.
M
----
Aug. 1, 2007 16:15 | Updated Aug. 1, 2007 16:26
By ELIE LESHEM
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1185893690559&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
The recent debate over statistics showing a marked rise in draft dodging amongst Israeli youths has sparked a new initiative that would make national service mandatory, even amongst those who currently receive exemptions from army service.
According to the proposed law, which would also apply to Arabs and haredim, those who opt not to pay their debt to society would lose their right to vote and receive welfare from the state. Within the framework of national service, young conscripts could work with organizations such as Magen David Adom and ZAKA, or fulfill tasks on the home front.
The initiative is being championed by former chief of the Women's Corps in the IDF MK Amira Dotan (Kadima,) and has reportedly received the endorsement of academics from Israeli universities and colleges.
"I am in favor of compulsory service for everybody for the same amount of time," Dotan said on Tuesday. "Whether it is in the IDF or in national service, you have to do your share of duty to the country for two full years."
"This legislation addresses our needs as a state," Dotan's spokesman told The Jerusalem Post. "We wish to spark a public debate about rights and duties."
The spokesman also told the Post that there would be no exceptions to the law and no exemptions given. He added that every sector could provide conscripts with posts that would answer the special needs of that community. For example, he said, Arab citizens could lend assistance in educational institutions.
When asked if the new bill could "institutionalize draft dodging" by creating a socially acceptable alternative to serving in the IDF, the spokesman demurred, saying that "draft evasion [amongst Israelis who are not haredim or Arabs] has been and always will be a phenomenon."
He hinted that the new law could perhaps achieve the opposite by providing those who could previously evade the IDF without significant ramifications with another, more pressing incentive to serve. "There will be those who will say: 'I don't want to volunteer in a hospital - I want to serve in the military,'" he said.
"The army has its own parameters to decide who is fit to serve and people will be redirected to national service according to those parameters," the spokesman told the Post.
Yaffi Spodek contributed to this article
The left never fails in their creativity when it involves destroying the lives of religious people.
Now, their panic and paranoia stemming from the realization that they will soon be outnumbered by religious Jews and arabs has spawned this bit of legislation: Don’t let religious Jews and arabs, who are exempted from service, vote if they won’t be part of the army. Oh, and I’m sure that also includes those who are disabled, mentally ill, and those arrested for the unforgivable crime of protesting against Olmert and Sharon’s pogrom in Yesha.
Now lets look where this might lead, shall we?
Arabs will sue to fight in the IDF so that they can still vote and get welfare—and we will have an army made up of those who pray and work daily for our destruction. Nice. Forget about any IDF activities to protect the homeland from the terrorists—every order will be broadcast to Al Jazeera.
Haredim will sue to completely separate the genders in order to serve, and also make sure there are no IDF activities on Shabbat and Yom Tovim (which would be an improvement, actually). The leftest courts will deny their claims, demanding that they sit in foxholes with secular women dressed in next to nothing, and desecrate our holy days--or go without a vote and welfare. This will lead to months of bloody protest in the streets where the new arab army, trained by our government, will be allowed to attack our unarmed (because they didn’t serve in the army) religious citizens without restraint, probably on Shabbat and Yom Tovim.
The US and Europe will maintain silence on the issue, suggesting it is an internal Israeli matter (even though NOTHING has ever escaped their commentary before).
Then will come the military Coup d’etat, where arabs will take over the government, and the terrorists will begin pouring over the borders in triumph.
But, this is OK. That’s what the left wants anyway, right?
Too bad they will be wrong about the arabs giving them any help and letting them live because they are their “friends.” They will die with the rest of us—maybe even before us—because, as one of my sons said yesterday, there is nothing in the world the gentiles despise more than a Jew trying to act like a gentile.
M
----
Aug. 1, 2007 16:15 | Updated Aug. 1, 2007 16:26
By ELIE LESHEM
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1185893690559&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
The recent debate over statistics showing a marked rise in draft dodging amongst Israeli youths has sparked a new initiative that would make national service mandatory, even amongst those who currently receive exemptions from army service.
According to the proposed law, which would also apply to Arabs and haredim, those who opt not to pay their debt to society would lose their right to vote and receive welfare from the state. Within the framework of national service, young conscripts could work with organizations such as Magen David Adom and ZAKA, or fulfill tasks on the home front.
The initiative is being championed by former chief of the Women's Corps in the IDF MK Amira Dotan (Kadima,) and has reportedly received the endorsement of academics from Israeli universities and colleges.
"I am in favor of compulsory service for everybody for the same amount of time," Dotan said on Tuesday. "Whether it is in the IDF or in national service, you have to do your share of duty to the country for two full years."
"This legislation addresses our needs as a state," Dotan's spokesman told The Jerusalem Post. "We wish to spark a public debate about rights and duties."
The spokesman also told the Post that there would be no exceptions to the law and no exemptions given. He added that every sector could provide conscripts with posts that would answer the special needs of that community. For example, he said, Arab citizens could lend assistance in educational institutions.
When asked if the new bill could "institutionalize draft dodging" by creating a socially acceptable alternative to serving in the IDF, the spokesman demurred, saying that "draft evasion [amongst Israelis who are not haredim or Arabs] has been and always will be a phenomenon."
He hinted that the new law could perhaps achieve the opposite by providing those who could previously evade the IDF without significant ramifications with another, more pressing incentive to serve. "There will be those who will say: 'I don't want to volunteer in a hospital - I want to serve in the military,'" he said.
"The army has its own parameters to decide who is fit to serve and people will be redirected to national service according to those parameters," the spokesman told the Post.
Yaffi Spodek contributed to this article
Rabbinical "Ban" on Hassidic Music Concerts
-----
B”H
Now repeat after me: “Fun is evil! Judiasm is only about solemn study, study, study. No FUN! (Did you hear me??? I SAID NO FUN!) I don’t care what you read in Torah or Gemorrah or in the Prophets! All of those books are wrong!!!
We must all dress like we are attending a funeral in 18th century Poland, we must not be polite or kind, and we must not, under any circumstances, have anything to do with music, dancing, joking, laughing, or other unsanctioned activities involving levity or happiness—even if that involves destroying the parnassah of good Jewish artists—especially while accompanied by your family and friends!”
OK, you all clear on that? Good.
M
-----
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/123256
by Hillel Fendel
(IsraelNN.com) Hassidic music stars Avraham Fried and Yaakov Shwekey are to perform in Jerusalem before over 10,000 Thursday night - but Rabbi Elyashiv, the Gerrer Rebbe and others say it's forbidden to participate or attend events of that nature.
Flashy posters all over Jerusalem and elsewhere advertise a high-powered Hassidic music concert scheduled for Thursday evening at Teddy Stadium. It features two of the genre's greatest stars, Fried and Shwekey, as well as guest appearances by Aharon Razel and the up-and-coming Elad Shaar. Called "L'Chaim in Jerusalem," the event commemorates the 40th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem, and will feature an extra-large orchestra.
A damper was placed on the event, however, in the form of a grave rabbinic ban appearing in the hareidi-religious press. The ban is signed by leading rabbis including Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, the Gerrer and Bezler Rabbis, Rabbi Aharon Leib Shteinman, Rabbi Shmuel HaLevy Vozner, Rabbi Chaim Pinchas Sheinberg, and more. .
The ads state: "We trembled at hearing about the terrible breach in our camp of 'music evenings' and 'concerts' in which musicians sing before men and women sitting together, Heaven forefend, and even not together. All Torah leaders have in the past clearly forbidden these events, even when men and women are separate."
The rabbis say the ban applies to men, women and children and of course the performers. Newspapers are not permitted to advertise these events, according to the ad, and musicians who sing "in front of men and women together" must not be invited to sing at other events.
A source close to one of the above rabbis told Arutz-7 he was unsure of the grounds for the ban. He opined that it could be because of the mixing of the genders outside the event, but added, "This is very puzzling, because why then is there a difference between performers - who are penalized only if they sing before a mixed crowd - and the general public, which is forbidden to attend under all circumstances?" Another source said that it was possibly the rock-and-roll atmosphere prevalent at events of this nature that might be the problem, though this was not mentioned in the ban.
One source said he believes one of the rabbis signed this ban several years ago, and that it wast not presented to him again. Others expressed a lack of confidence in the entire system of "signed rabbinic decisions," in that it is not clear how the situation was presented to the rabbis. There have even been cases of rabbis who said their names were "signed" on various announcements without their permission.
"It is known that Rabbi Moshe Feinstein [the pre-eminent Torah authority in the U.S. in the 20th century - ed.] permitted events of this nature if the proceeds were for charity," a source close to one of the rabbis said, "as is the case in Thursday's concert, so I'm not sure how to understand this."
Producer Moshe Ben-Zimra told the NRG website in response: "Men and women will be totally separated at the event, including separate entrances, and everything is taking place under the supervision of great rabbis. I greatly respect the rabbis who signed the ban, but they were misled by their underlings whose purpose is simply to liquidate Hassidic music in Israel. The rabbis don't realize that this event is kosher and maintains the laws of modesty. Over 10,000 people have already bought tickets, and they can rely upon the Torah rabbis who support separate and modest events of this nature."
B”H
Now repeat after me: “Fun is evil! Judiasm is only about solemn study, study, study. No FUN! (Did you hear me??? I SAID NO FUN!) I don’t care what you read in Torah or Gemorrah or in the Prophets! All of those books are wrong!!!
We must all dress like we are attending a funeral in 18th century Poland, we must not be polite or kind, and we must not, under any circumstances, have anything to do with music, dancing, joking, laughing, or other unsanctioned activities involving levity or happiness—even if that involves destroying the parnassah of good Jewish artists—especially while accompanied by your family and friends!”
OK, you all clear on that? Good.
M
-----
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/123256
by Hillel Fendel
(IsraelNN.com) Hassidic music stars Avraham Fried and Yaakov Shwekey are to perform in Jerusalem before over 10,000 Thursday night - but Rabbi Elyashiv, the Gerrer Rebbe and others say it's forbidden to participate or attend events of that nature.
Flashy posters all over Jerusalem and elsewhere advertise a high-powered Hassidic music concert scheduled for Thursday evening at Teddy Stadium. It features two of the genre's greatest stars, Fried and Shwekey, as well as guest appearances by Aharon Razel and the up-and-coming Elad Shaar. Called "L'Chaim in Jerusalem," the event commemorates the 40th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem, and will feature an extra-large orchestra.
A damper was placed on the event, however, in the form of a grave rabbinic ban appearing in the hareidi-religious press. The ban is signed by leading rabbis including Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, the Gerrer and Bezler Rabbis, Rabbi Aharon Leib Shteinman, Rabbi Shmuel HaLevy Vozner, Rabbi Chaim Pinchas Sheinberg, and more. .
The ads state: "We trembled at hearing about the terrible breach in our camp of 'music evenings' and 'concerts' in which musicians sing before men and women sitting together, Heaven forefend, and even not together. All Torah leaders have in the past clearly forbidden these events, even when men and women are separate."
The rabbis say the ban applies to men, women and children and of course the performers. Newspapers are not permitted to advertise these events, according to the ad, and musicians who sing "in front of men and women together" must not be invited to sing at other events.
A source close to one of the above rabbis told Arutz-7 he was unsure of the grounds for the ban. He opined that it could be because of the mixing of the genders outside the event, but added, "This is very puzzling, because why then is there a difference between performers - who are penalized only if they sing before a mixed crowd - and the general public, which is forbidden to attend under all circumstances?" Another source said that it was possibly the rock-and-roll atmosphere prevalent at events of this nature that might be the problem, though this was not mentioned in the ban.
One source said he believes one of the rabbis signed this ban several years ago, and that it wast not presented to him again. Others expressed a lack of confidence in the entire system of "signed rabbinic decisions," in that it is not clear how the situation was presented to the rabbis. There have even been cases of rabbis who said their names were "signed" on various announcements without their permission.
"It is known that Rabbi Moshe Feinstein [the pre-eminent Torah authority in the U.S. in the 20th century - ed.] permitted events of this nature if the proceeds were for charity," a source close to one of the rabbis said, "as is the case in Thursday's concert, so I'm not sure how to understand this."
Producer Moshe Ben-Zimra told the NRG website in response: "Men and women will be totally separated at the event, including separate entrances, and everything is taking place under the supervision of great rabbis. I greatly respect the rabbis who signed the ban, but they were misled by their underlings whose purpose is simply to liquidate Hassidic music in Israel. The rabbis don't realize that this event is kosher and maintains the laws of modesty. Over 10,000 people have already bought tickets, and they can rely upon the Torah rabbis who support separate and modest events of this nature."
Israel Negotiates With Hamas in Tel Aviv
-----
B”H
Clearly, if Olmert were PM 50 years ago, he would have wanted to meet with and negotiate with Nazi war criminals rather than arrest and prosecute them.
M
-----
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/123254
by Hillel Fendel
(IsraelNN.com) Sources described as "reliable" have been quoted by the Palestinian Authority news agency Quds Press saying a Hamas official made a secret trip to Tel Aviv last week to discuss the border crossings into Gaza. The reports say that just over a week ago, Abd al-Salah, who oversees economic affairs in the office of Hamas Authority prime minister Ismail Haniyeh, came secretly to Tel Aviv to meet with economic officials.
Al-Salah arrived with a proposal to transfer control of the Gaza crossings to private Palestinian Authority hands, under European supervision. He also raised the issue of the economic dependence of Gaza upon Israel.
The sources emphasized that the meeting was approved by both Israel and Hamas. Israel has said that it would not negotiate with or recognize Hamas, which calls for the destruction of all of Israel and its total replacement by an Arab state. Hamas, on the other hand, never ruled out talks with Israel on day-to-day issues in order to promote Hamas interests.
In other Hamas news, Russia and Hamas appear to disagree regarding their diplomatic relations. Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister said on Tuesday that his country would reduce the level of its contacts with Hamas. On Wednesday, however, a Hamas parliament member said that exiled Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal, and other Hamas officials, have been invited to Moscow for an official visit.
Meanwhile, visiting U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice is about to begin her meetings with Israeli and Palestinian Authority officials. Following her meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh with Gulf state leaders, she said that Hamas must get used to the idea of "two states," i.e., a PA state alongside Israel.
It was originally reported that Secretary Rice feels such a PA state can be formed even before Fatah and Hamas reunite. However, what she in fact said was, "We hope that at some point in time, when the two-state solution arrives, it will be a uniting force for all the Palestinians who want a state, and it will be a point of time at which people will have to choose if they are out of that consensus."
Rice is expected to meet in Israel with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and, later, President Shimon Peres. On Thursday, Rice will meet in Ramallah with Fatah chief Mahmoud Abbas and PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. Her trip, together with US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, has been described as a "maintenance visit." She was last here four months ago.
B”H
Clearly, if Olmert were PM 50 years ago, he would have wanted to meet with and negotiate with Nazi war criminals rather than arrest and prosecute them.
M
-----
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/123254
by Hillel Fendel
(IsraelNN.com) Sources described as "reliable" have been quoted by the Palestinian Authority news agency Quds Press saying a Hamas official made a secret trip to Tel Aviv last week to discuss the border crossings into Gaza. The reports say that just over a week ago, Abd al-Salah, who oversees economic affairs in the office of Hamas Authority prime minister Ismail Haniyeh, came secretly to Tel Aviv to meet with economic officials.
Al-Salah arrived with a proposal to transfer control of the Gaza crossings to private Palestinian Authority hands, under European supervision. He also raised the issue of the economic dependence of Gaza upon Israel.
The sources emphasized that the meeting was approved by both Israel and Hamas. Israel has said that it would not negotiate with or recognize Hamas, which calls for the destruction of all of Israel and its total replacement by an Arab state. Hamas, on the other hand, never ruled out talks with Israel on day-to-day issues in order to promote Hamas interests.
In other Hamas news, Russia and Hamas appear to disagree regarding their diplomatic relations. Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister said on Tuesday that his country would reduce the level of its contacts with Hamas. On Wednesday, however, a Hamas parliament member said that exiled Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal, and other Hamas officials, have been invited to Moscow for an official visit.
Meanwhile, visiting U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice is about to begin her meetings with Israeli and Palestinian Authority officials. Following her meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh with Gulf state leaders, she said that Hamas must get used to the idea of "two states," i.e., a PA state alongside Israel.
It was originally reported that Secretary Rice feels such a PA state can be formed even before Fatah and Hamas reunite. However, what she in fact said was, "We hope that at some point in time, when the two-state solution arrives, it will be a uniting force for all the Palestinians who want a state, and it will be a point of time at which people will have to choose if they are out of that consensus."
Rice is expected to meet in Israel with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and, later, President Shimon Peres. On Thursday, Rice will meet in Ramallah with Fatah chief Mahmoud Abbas and PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. Her trip, together with US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, has been described as a "maintenance visit." She was last here four months ago.
The Hidden Basis for Hostility to Israel -and America
By Michael Medved
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
http://www.townhall.com/Columnists/MichaelMedved/2007/08/01/the_hidden_basis_for_hostility_to_israel_-and_america?page=full&comments=true
On Saturday in Jerusalem, I participated in a moving religious service to honor one of Israel’s most celebrated heroes from last summer’s war against the Hezbollah terrorists.
Lieutenant Eli Kahn, 23, led a unit of elite Paratrooper Commandos advancing against heavily defended Hezbollah positions in the Southern Lebanon town of Maroun al-Ras in the early days of the fighting. The Israelis, hoping to knock out Katyusha rockets that had already taken a bloody toll on civilian targets, drew unexpectedly intense fire from the enemy and sustained heavy casualties.
An Israeli tank guards in front of Erez crossing in the northern Gaza strip July 29, 2007. Israel allowed around 100 Palestinians stranded for weeks in Egypt to return to the Hamas-held Gaza Strip through the Jewish state on Sunday, the first of some 600 expected to return home in the coming days. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA)
Related Media:
VIDEO: Two Palestinian Militants Killed on Gaza Border
VIDEO: Israel Shoots Gaza Militants
Middle East Update
Condemned Man Gets Serious
While tending to one of his wounded paratroopers, Lt. Kahn saw a terrorist run toward them and throw a grenade that landed at their feet. Rather than jumping out of the way and abandoning his comrade to certain death, Lt. Kahn immediately picked up the grenade and threw it directly back at the Hezbollah fighter --- killing the terrorist and turning the tide of battle. For his leadership and quick thinking, he received the Medal of Valor – Israel’s equivalent of America’s Medal of Honor. The young hero’s father, Howie Kahn, remembered that his boy played Little League before the family immigrated to Israel from the United States and suggested that his skills as a slick-fielding shortstop paid off with that one fateful and well-aimed toss on the field of battle.
Hearing the story of Eli Kahn, most Americans would feel gratified and inspired but the service I attended at the lieutenant’s Orthodox synagogue nonetheless serves to highlight the deeper, unspoken reasons that Israel provokes such visceral hostility from the international left.
The Middle East’s only democracy has recently enjoyed spectacular economic progress and unprecedented success in blocking and deterring terror attacks from its many Islamo-Nazi adversaries. Why, then, the increasingly shrill demands from politically correct activists throughout Western Europe and from college campuses in the United States for boycotts, UN condemnation, sanctions and diplomatic isolation aimed at punishing the Jewish state?
Why does the death of a few dozen Palestinians (mostly gunmen or racketeers from Hamas and Islamic Jihad) provoke more international indignation than the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of innocents in Darfur, or the butchery of additional thousands by Muslim terrorists in Pakistan, Indonesia, India, Algeria, Yemen, the Philippines and even Thailand?
The common explanations for singling out Israel for international denunciation make no sense when placed in any reasonably well-informed historical context.
For instance, leftist critics like to suggest that Israel deserves the world’s hostility because of its long-term “occupation” of lands captured in defensive wars. But the Jewish state has already withdrawn from the overwhelming majority of the disputed territory it ever controlled, hoping to demonstrate its eagerness to trade land for peace—abandoning the vast area of the Sinai Peninsula in 1978, its South Lebanon “Security Zone” in 2000, and all the Gaza Strip in 2005. Moreover, in the remaining zone of “occupation” in the West Bank, the results of Israeli rule can hardly count as brutal: according to UN figures, by all measures of economic prosperity, public health, and standards of living before the Second Intifada broke out in the Fall of 2000, West Bankers did better than their fellow Arabs in neighboring countries like Syria, Egypt and Jordan.
The historical record makes clear that Arab fury against Jews in the Middle East bears no connection to any occupation policy or to the plight of refugees, since this murderous rage claimed countless victims long before Israel occupied a single square inch or territory and before a single Palestinian had fled his home.
A brief history of the early conflict (published by the indispensable Israel Pocket Library) offers a necessary reminder of Palestinian terrorism as long ago as 1929. In that year, the bitterly anti-Semitic Grand Mufti of Jerusalem (who later traveled to Berlin and spent most of the war years at Hitler’s side) claimed that the largely unarmed and loosely organized Jewish community harbored secret “designs” on Muslim holy places, and launched bloody attacks on the Jews of Jerusalem. As the grim story unfolded, “The violence spread to other parts of the country. On Sabbath, August 24, the Arabs of Hebron fell upon the small, defenseless Jewish community in the town and slaughtered some 70 men and women. Old people and infants were butchered; the survivors, numbering several hundred, being evacuated to Jerusalem.
Attacks on Tel Aviv and the Jewish quarter in Haifa were repulsed, but on the fifth day of the riots an Arab mob killed 18 Jews and wounded many more before the Jews could take refuge in the police headquarters while the mob ransacked and burned the historic Jewish quarter. In Be’er Toviyah all the settlers held out in a cowshed while the mob plundered and destroyed the village. Huldah, too, was destroyed after the Jewish defenders held out for many hours against thousands of Arabs and were evacuated by a British army patrol.”
A mere eight years later, in 1937, unprovoked Palestinian violence broke out once again with even bloodier results: “415 Jews were killed by the terrorists in the period 1937-39, over half of them between July and October 1938.”
The most striking revelation in these all-but-forgotten chapters of Middle East history involves the brutal, determined, vicious nature of Palestinian terrorism before Israel occupied any territory whatever, or caused the departure of any refugees (the Palestinian population went up sharply – never declining for even a single year – as Jewish return to the ancient homeland intensified). As a matter of fact, the devastating riots of 1929 and 1937-39 (not to mention other deadly attacks in 1921, 1926 and 1936) occurred long before the state of Israel even existed—making clear that Palestinian violence against their Jewish neighbors arose from fanatical Jew-hatred, not any objection to the specific policies of a non-existent state.
Clearly, the same deep-seated anti-Semitic instincts help to explain some of the hostility to the Jewish state today, especially among purportedly enlightened Europeans.
There’s also the undeniable factor of worldwide anti-Americanism – Israel earns contempt as one of the closest, most reliable allies of the Superpower labeled by many leftists (including Michael Moore in his previous America-bashing film, “The Big One”) as “the real Evil Empire.” But other nations (like Britain, Canada and Australia, most obviously) align themselves equally closely with the United States and even more enthusiastically embrace America’s reviled culture, without provoking the animus that faces Israel in many corners of the globe.
One of the secrets of the world-wide suspicion and resentment toward the Jewish state involves the unmistakably prominent, even dominant, Israeli role for two institutions loathed by leftists everywhere: religion and the military.
While two-thirds of Israelis describe themselves as secular, the increasing popularity and influence of Orthodox religiosity remains an undeniable factor in Israeli society. Meanwhile, even the state’s famously agnostic and atheist founders made regular reference to Bible in urging their compatriots to return to Zion. The fact that Israel counts as the “Holy Land” to the world’s more than two billion Christians also provides a religious flavor and perspective to the nation’s existence that makes secular purists distinctly uncomfortable.
Meanwhile, the military continues to play a huge and necessary part in the life of the perpetually embattled nation. Some 75% of young people still do three full years of military service after their high school graduation, and continue with yearly reserve duty for 25 years after that. Even the leader of Israel’s leading party on the left (former Prime Minister Ehud Barak) is a one-time war hero and the most decorated soldier in the country’s history.
In other words, for trendy liberals who feel profound, instinctive distaste for the influence of armies and organized faith in human life, it’s only natural to feel somewhat uncomfortable with Israel.
The same attitudes, by the way, help to explain some of the fashionable anti-Americanism that’s taken hold among European and other international elites. Religion remains a vastly more potent force in the US than in any other Western nation, and our military remains far larger, more potent and more revered than the armies of other major nations. Those who love to denounce the impact of militarism and organized faith will inevitably find much to dislike about America – and about our close ally in the Middle East.
This US and Israeli devotion to both armed forces and religious institutions brings me back to the synagogue celebration I witnessed for Lt. Eli Kahn. Called to the Torah before a clapping, singing, admiring congregation, the young war hero chanted the weekly “Haftorah” (a passage from Isaiah) and received a good-natured pelting of candy tossed at him from all directions by his friends and neighbors. This treatment had little to do with his battlefield exploits of exactly one year earlier, but actually reflected his status as the community’s next bridegroom: in Jewish tradition, all young men receive similar honor on the Sabbath before their weddings. (Lt. Kahn stands under the wedding canopy with his bride tomorrow night, Thursday).
In Israeli eyes, there’s no contradiction between love of God and admiration of the military – between celebrating the beginning of a loving new family along with the courage and dedication of a battle-hardened soldier. Both religious and military institutions exist to promote life, not death; to facilitate peaceful communities and growing families, not bloodshed and martyrdom.
Americans and Israelis understand the connection between our soldiers and our survival, between faith in a compassionate God and the maintenance of military strength that allows decency and kindness to flourish. And of course, much of the rest of the world that believes that they’ve already moved on beyond such outmoded relics as organized religion and mighty armies, hates us for our decidedly different perspective.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
http://www.townhall.com/Columnists/MichaelMedved/2007/08/01/the_hidden_basis_for_hostility_to_israel_-and_america?page=full&comments=true
On Saturday in Jerusalem, I participated in a moving religious service to honor one of Israel’s most celebrated heroes from last summer’s war against the Hezbollah terrorists.
Lieutenant Eli Kahn, 23, led a unit of elite Paratrooper Commandos advancing against heavily defended Hezbollah positions in the Southern Lebanon town of Maroun al-Ras in the early days of the fighting. The Israelis, hoping to knock out Katyusha rockets that had already taken a bloody toll on civilian targets, drew unexpectedly intense fire from the enemy and sustained heavy casualties.
An Israeli tank guards in front of Erez crossing in the northern Gaza strip July 29, 2007. Israel allowed around 100 Palestinians stranded for weeks in Egypt to return to the Hamas-held Gaza Strip through the Jewish state on Sunday, the first of some 600 expected to return home in the coming days. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA)
Related Media:
VIDEO: Two Palestinian Militants Killed on Gaza Border
VIDEO: Israel Shoots Gaza Militants
Middle East Update
Condemned Man Gets Serious
While tending to one of his wounded paratroopers, Lt. Kahn saw a terrorist run toward them and throw a grenade that landed at their feet. Rather than jumping out of the way and abandoning his comrade to certain death, Lt. Kahn immediately picked up the grenade and threw it directly back at the Hezbollah fighter --- killing the terrorist and turning the tide of battle. For his leadership and quick thinking, he received the Medal of Valor – Israel’s equivalent of America’s Medal of Honor. The young hero’s father, Howie Kahn, remembered that his boy played Little League before the family immigrated to Israel from the United States and suggested that his skills as a slick-fielding shortstop paid off with that one fateful and well-aimed toss on the field of battle.
Hearing the story of Eli Kahn, most Americans would feel gratified and inspired but the service I attended at the lieutenant’s Orthodox synagogue nonetheless serves to highlight the deeper, unspoken reasons that Israel provokes such visceral hostility from the international left.
The Middle East’s only democracy has recently enjoyed spectacular economic progress and unprecedented success in blocking and deterring terror attacks from its many Islamo-Nazi adversaries. Why, then, the increasingly shrill demands from politically correct activists throughout Western Europe and from college campuses in the United States for boycotts, UN condemnation, sanctions and diplomatic isolation aimed at punishing the Jewish state?
Why does the death of a few dozen Palestinians (mostly gunmen or racketeers from Hamas and Islamic Jihad) provoke more international indignation than the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of innocents in Darfur, or the butchery of additional thousands by Muslim terrorists in Pakistan, Indonesia, India, Algeria, Yemen, the Philippines and even Thailand?
The common explanations for singling out Israel for international denunciation make no sense when placed in any reasonably well-informed historical context.
For instance, leftist critics like to suggest that Israel deserves the world’s hostility because of its long-term “occupation” of lands captured in defensive wars. But the Jewish state has already withdrawn from the overwhelming majority of the disputed territory it ever controlled, hoping to demonstrate its eagerness to trade land for peace—abandoning the vast area of the Sinai Peninsula in 1978, its South Lebanon “Security Zone” in 2000, and all the Gaza Strip in 2005. Moreover, in the remaining zone of “occupation” in the West Bank, the results of Israeli rule can hardly count as brutal: according to UN figures, by all measures of economic prosperity, public health, and standards of living before the Second Intifada broke out in the Fall of 2000, West Bankers did better than their fellow Arabs in neighboring countries like Syria, Egypt and Jordan.
The historical record makes clear that Arab fury against Jews in the Middle East bears no connection to any occupation policy or to the plight of refugees, since this murderous rage claimed countless victims long before Israel occupied a single square inch or territory and before a single Palestinian had fled his home.
A brief history of the early conflict (published by the indispensable Israel Pocket Library) offers a necessary reminder of Palestinian terrorism as long ago as 1929. In that year, the bitterly anti-Semitic Grand Mufti of Jerusalem (who later traveled to Berlin and spent most of the war years at Hitler’s side) claimed that the largely unarmed and loosely organized Jewish community harbored secret “designs” on Muslim holy places, and launched bloody attacks on the Jews of Jerusalem. As the grim story unfolded, “The violence spread to other parts of the country. On Sabbath, August 24, the Arabs of Hebron fell upon the small, defenseless Jewish community in the town and slaughtered some 70 men and women. Old people and infants were butchered; the survivors, numbering several hundred, being evacuated to Jerusalem.
Attacks on Tel Aviv and the Jewish quarter in Haifa were repulsed, but on the fifth day of the riots an Arab mob killed 18 Jews and wounded many more before the Jews could take refuge in the police headquarters while the mob ransacked and burned the historic Jewish quarter. In Be’er Toviyah all the settlers held out in a cowshed while the mob plundered and destroyed the village. Huldah, too, was destroyed after the Jewish defenders held out for many hours against thousands of Arabs and were evacuated by a British army patrol.”
A mere eight years later, in 1937, unprovoked Palestinian violence broke out once again with even bloodier results: “415 Jews were killed by the terrorists in the period 1937-39, over half of them between July and October 1938.”
The most striking revelation in these all-but-forgotten chapters of Middle East history involves the brutal, determined, vicious nature of Palestinian terrorism before Israel occupied any territory whatever, or caused the departure of any refugees (the Palestinian population went up sharply – never declining for even a single year – as Jewish return to the ancient homeland intensified). As a matter of fact, the devastating riots of 1929 and 1937-39 (not to mention other deadly attacks in 1921, 1926 and 1936) occurred long before the state of Israel even existed—making clear that Palestinian violence against their Jewish neighbors arose from fanatical Jew-hatred, not any objection to the specific policies of a non-existent state.
Clearly, the same deep-seated anti-Semitic instincts help to explain some of the hostility to the Jewish state today, especially among purportedly enlightened Europeans.
There’s also the undeniable factor of worldwide anti-Americanism – Israel earns contempt as one of the closest, most reliable allies of the Superpower labeled by many leftists (including Michael Moore in his previous America-bashing film, “The Big One”) as “the real Evil Empire.” But other nations (like Britain, Canada and Australia, most obviously) align themselves equally closely with the United States and even more enthusiastically embrace America’s reviled culture, without provoking the animus that faces Israel in many corners of the globe.
One of the secrets of the world-wide suspicion and resentment toward the Jewish state involves the unmistakably prominent, even dominant, Israeli role for two institutions loathed by leftists everywhere: religion and the military.
While two-thirds of Israelis describe themselves as secular, the increasing popularity and influence of Orthodox religiosity remains an undeniable factor in Israeli society. Meanwhile, even the state’s famously agnostic and atheist founders made regular reference to Bible in urging their compatriots to return to Zion. The fact that Israel counts as the “Holy Land” to the world’s more than two billion Christians also provides a religious flavor and perspective to the nation’s existence that makes secular purists distinctly uncomfortable.
Meanwhile, the military continues to play a huge and necessary part in the life of the perpetually embattled nation. Some 75% of young people still do three full years of military service after their high school graduation, and continue with yearly reserve duty for 25 years after that. Even the leader of Israel’s leading party on the left (former Prime Minister Ehud Barak) is a one-time war hero and the most decorated soldier in the country’s history.
In other words, for trendy liberals who feel profound, instinctive distaste for the influence of armies and organized faith in human life, it’s only natural to feel somewhat uncomfortable with Israel.
The same attitudes, by the way, help to explain some of the fashionable anti-Americanism that’s taken hold among European and other international elites. Religion remains a vastly more potent force in the US than in any other Western nation, and our military remains far larger, more potent and more revered than the armies of other major nations. Those who love to denounce the impact of militarism and organized faith will inevitably find much to dislike about America – and about our close ally in the Middle East.
This US and Israeli devotion to both armed forces and religious institutions brings me back to the synagogue celebration I witnessed for Lt. Eli Kahn. Called to the Torah before a clapping, singing, admiring congregation, the young war hero chanted the weekly “Haftorah” (a passage from Isaiah) and received a good-natured pelting of candy tossed at him from all directions by his friends and neighbors. This treatment had little to do with his battlefield exploits of exactly one year earlier, but actually reflected his status as the community’s next bridegroom: in Jewish tradition, all young men receive similar honor on the Sabbath before their weddings. (Lt. Kahn stands under the wedding canopy with his bride tomorrow night, Thursday).
In Israeli eyes, there’s no contradiction between love of God and admiration of the military – between celebrating the beginning of a loving new family along with the courage and dedication of a battle-hardened soldier. Both religious and military institutions exist to promote life, not death; to facilitate peaceful communities and growing families, not bloodshed and martyrdom.
Americans and Israelis understand the connection between our soldiers and our survival, between faith in a compassionate God and the maintenance of military strength that allows decency and kindness to flourish. And of course, much of the rest of the world that believes that they’ve already moved on beyond such outmoded relics as organized religion and mighty armies, hates us for our decidedly different perspective.
MITZVAH FOR INJURED COP
By PATRICK GALLAHUE
http://www.nypost.com/seven/08012007/news/regionalnews/mitzvah_for_injured_cop_regionalnews_.htm
August 1, 2007 -- Call it matzo ball.
A team from the Hatzolah Jewish volunteer ambulance corps took on NYPD officers in a charity softball game at KeySpan Park in Brooklyn yesterday.
The Hatzolah and NYPD Highway 2 squads met to raise funds for Officer Scot Abrams, a highway cop who has been in a wheelchair since a motorcycle crash last year.
Hatzolah manager Moishe Wulliger said his team came out because they work closely with the cops.
"We usually meet only during tough [emergency] calls," he said. "So it's nice to come here and just play a game."
"Highway 2's going to win," Abrams told the crowd before the game.
He then cheered his team on to a 6-5 victory.
"We'll get 'em next year," vowed Hatzolah's Raphael Treitel.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/08012007/news/regionalnews/mitzvah_for_injured_cop_regionalnews_.htm
August 1, 2007 -- Call it matzo ball.
A team from the Hatzolah Jewish volunteer ambulance corps took on NYPD officers in a charity softball game at KeySpan Park in Brooklyn yesterday.
The Hatzolah and NYPD Highway 2 squads met to raise funds for Officer Scot Abrams, a highway cop who has been in a wheelchair since a motorcycle crash last year.
Hatzolah manager Moishe Wulliger said his team came out because they work closely with the cops.
"We usually meet only during tough [emergency] calls," he said. "So it's nice to come here and just play a game."
"Highway 2's going to win," Abrams told the crowd before the game.
He then cheered his team on to a 6-5 victory.
"We'll get 'em next year," vowed Hatzolah's Raphael Treitel.
Uploading Jewish history onto the Internet
By Ronit Roccas
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/888015.html
The Kurdish girl in the 1953 film "The Carpet" is glad to marry the boy her father has chosen for her. She does not know about the conditions the two fathers have agreed upon. However, under the wedding canopy, when the groom tries to step on her left foot to ensure his control in the home, she moves her foot away. "I don't believe in those magical charms," she is heard saying in the background. The groom does not give up and tries to step on her foot yet again, but she refuses to concede and moves her foot once more. By his third attempt she has nowhere left to escape. The place is crowded and the two of them are too close to one another. She pulls her foot out of her shoe and lets the groom step on the empty shoe, so he will have the illusion of being in control.
"The Carpet," directed by Arieh (Leopold) Lahola, is being screened in full (it is 15 minutes long) at the Web site of the Spielberg Jewish Film Archive's virtual film project, located at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. The project was completed some two weeks ago, when about 400 films that depict the history of the Jewish people during the period before the Holocaust were uploaded. All the films can be viewed, for free, at www.spielbergfilmarchive.org.il/kv/index.html.
The film archive was founded in the 1960s by Professor Moshe Davis and other history professors from the Hebrew University. In 1973 the World Zionist Organization declared the collection its official film archive. Over the years the annals became known by the name of their first donor, Avraham Farhad, a businessman of Iranian origin. However, in 1987, director Steven Spielberg made a generous donation to the archive and it was decided to name it after him.
The archive's virtual film project was launched in earnest five years ago, even though a modest site had already existed in the mid-1990s. When the process of uploading the films to the Internet began, not many people had a high-speed connection and it was very difficult to view them. Today the films are loaded quickly, the site's search feature has been improved and one can choose films from an alphabetized list.
Wendy Luterman, a senior librarian at the Spielberg Jewish Film Archive, who has been responsible for the site since 1998, relates that the site's 400 films were chosen from among the archive's approximately 20,000 clips. Luterman adds that although, officially, the project has been completed, "Our ultimate aim is to post 500 films." According to her, "The films are divided into five categories: Jewish communities, the Holocaust and World War II, films from the period preceding the establishment of the state and films about the Hebrew University."
How did you obtain the films?
Luterman: "The archive is the official deposit of several national institutions: the Jewish National Fund, the United Israel Appeal, the Jewish Federations and of course the World Zionist Organization. We receive their official films, in addition to other movies that we get from private producers and from Hadassah (The Women's Zionist Organization of America)." Among the most noteworthy films are five that were shot in the summer of 1939 in Poland. "The aim of these rare films was to reassure," Luterman relates, "to show that the European Jewish community still existed and was flourishing. This in effect constitutes the last visual documentation of Polish Jewry before the Holocaust." The institutional films, especially those that were produced after the establishment of the State of Israel, often reflect a dogmatic position that is difficult to digest and therefore also fascinating. For example, the 1973 film "Education is for Life," which depicts the promising education system in Israel, includes scenes in which young people of what the film alludes to as Muslim origin, are seen lounging around on the street, smoking cigarettes. The movie hints that they have relinquished their studies and are not contributing to the country, "because they don't know otherwise," as the narrator says.
At the moment the project is in English. Do you plan to upload it in Hebrew as well?
"A modest interface in Hebrew does exist - it includes 11 films. We are now in the process of negotiations to upload an interface in Hebrew as well. That is the next phase."
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