Thursday, November 29, 2007

Facts and Fiction

Today is the 60th anniversary of the UN vote for the Jews to gain a state in Israel. On November 29, 1947, the United Nations General Assembly approved, 33 to 13, Resolution 181, a partition plan that would have created two states, one Jewish and the other Arab, in what was then the British-controlled Palestine Mandate. According to the resolution, Jerusalem was to be a separate, international city, under UN jurisdiction. The November 29 decision was also a rare instance of the Soviet Union and the United States voting on the same side of a major foreign policy issue, which allowed their satellite nations to vote in favor of partition as well.

The Jews, even after the final state that they were to be given was much less than than originally promised them by the League of Nations and the Balfour Declaration since Jordan had been given to the Arabs and a second Arab state was supposed to be created on the western bank of the Jordan, danced in celebration. The Arabs, however, in typical fashion, marched out of the UN in a huff and prepared for war. The Jews were promised by the UN a greatly reduced state that had 40% of its population Arabs but nonetheless they rejoiced. The Arabs, of course, went to war. Having defeated over a million Arab troops determined to massacre the Jews, Israel's borders were increased and hundreds of thousands of Arabs fled, reducing their percentage of the population.

After Israel's War of Independece, Jordan conquered Judea and Samaria and Egypt conquered the Gaza Strip. Neither nation offered to create a "Palestinian" state (the "Palestinians" didn't even exist before '67) on these lands, even banning "Palestinian" national groups. Not that the Arabs really protested- the need for a "Palestinian" state only came after the Jews liberated the area in 1967 after defeating the Arab onslaught during the Sinx Day War.

Now, Zionist readers, arm yourselves with facts and go out and challenge the army of rabid anti-semitic lies. The Jews did not steal "Palestine" from anybody. Would you like to know the origin of the word "Palestine"? The term "Palestine" came from the name that the conquering Roman Empire gave the ancient Land of Israel in an attempt to obliterate and de-legitimize the Jewish presence in the Holy Land. The name "Palestine" was invented in the year 135 C.E. Before it was known as Judea, which was the southern kingdom of ancient Israel. The Roman Procurator was enraged at how the Jews refused to accept Roman rule and insisted on revolting, clinging desperately to their land. In a bid to dejudaize Israel, the Procurator named the land for Israel's biblical enemies, the Philistines. Thus, the Procurator declared that Land of Israel would from then forward be called "Philistia" [further bastardized into "Palaistina"] to dishonor the Jews and obliterate their history. Hence the name "Palestine." "Palestine" is only an attempt to erase the Jewish connection to Israel.

In honour of the 60th anniversary of the UN resolution and the holiday of Hannukah when the Jews rose up and cleansed the land of Hellenistic influences, Jews are preparing to build 3 more outposts in Judea and Samaria. Land of Israel activists in Judea and Samaria said Thursday that they planned to establish three new Jewish communities in the region during Chanukah. In addition, activists plan to return to five communities that were originally built this past Sukkot but which police have repeatedly torn down. The activists said they will build the new communities on the fifth day of Chanukah, Sunday, December 9. One will be located near Beit El, and will be called Givat HaOr, “The Hill of Light.” The second new community, Maoz Ester (“Ester’s Fortress”), will be built near Kochav Yaakov just north of the capital and a third town will be built near the Jerusalem suburb of Maaleh Adumim. (From Arutz-7)

Just for your musical pleasure, here is Harel Moyal, the winner (or runner-up, I'm not sure) of Israel's version of American Idol, Cochav Nolad (A Star is Born) singing Simanim.



And Balbeli Oto by Kobi Peretz:

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

BK's going on the March!


This is a personal post so scroll down for news. I was just accepted on the March of the Living! It is a trip of a lifetime. There are three contingents, High School, young adult and adult and during this trip you spend a week in Polan touring the remnants of pre-War Jewish life, the synagogues, cemetaries and you visit all of the death camps. The climax is the actual March of the Living, a silent march from Auschwitz to Birkenau on Yom HaShoah, Holocaust memorial day, wrapped in Israeli flags. After seeing the death and horror that is Poland, we travel to Israel where we will spend a week touring the beautiful country, and we will be there for Yom HaZikaron, IDF Memorial Day and Yom HaAtzmaut, Independence Day. On Yom HaAtzmaut, there is a parallel march through the streets of Jerusalem to the Kotel.

I am soo excited. We leave right after Passover and most of my grade is going. I have heard people describing the trip as one of the most defining experiences in their lives. Just for you all to know... ;)

Olmertistan



Jews of the world, you've been misled. The land of Israel belongs to Ehud Olmert and he is free to dispose of it or divide it up according to his whims and schemes, or so he believes. What chutzpah

From Arutz-7:

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert informed American Jewish leaders Monday that Jews outside of Israel have no right to intervene in any decision regarding the status of Jerusalem.

Olmert declared at a news conference Monday following his meeting with leaders of U.S. Jewish communities that "the government of Israel has a sovereign right to negotiate anything on behalf of Israel," making it clear that Jews outside of Israel had no right to participate in decisions about the future of Jerusalem. The prime minister told reporters that the issue had "been determined long ago."


Did you catch that last part, how the government of Israel ie. Ehud Olmert and his corrupt cronies have a right to negotiate anything for Israel and the Israeli people or world Jewry have no say in the matter! Yeah, what business of world Jewry is it that their most holy city and eternal capital is being negotiated away to murderers? Who cares if I pray three times a day that G-d rebuild Jerusalem or I end my Passover seder with the words 'Next Year in Jerusalem'? The land belongs to Olmert!

Everything that goes on in Israel directly affects the safety of Jews in the Diaspora. Don't pretend for a second that everybody simply loves the Jews but they don't dare start up due to a strong Israel. A strong Israel means secure Jews, not to mention the fact that I don't take well to the idea of thousands of Jews being uprooted, synagogues destroyed and Jewish rights restricted in Jerusalem all to appease a bunch of bloodthirsty Jew-hating thugs.

Fine, if you want Diaspora Jews to butt out, why don't you test this idea with a referendum over Jerusalem in Israel? That's because Olie is little more than an enlightened dictator. Majority opinion is strongly opposed to nay concessions over Jerusalem. Over 25 000 people showed up at a prayer protest at the Western Wall led by the Chief Rabbis of Israel. MK Uri Ariel (National Union party), among those who initiated the prayer service, said, "It is critical for us to offer prayer to our Father in Heaven when the Prime Minister wants to sell our national homeland. We are here [at the Wall] to say that we trust in G-d, and that Olmert has no mandate to give up Jerusalem." On Monday night, thousands of people protested opposite Olmert's residence in Paris square, Jerusalem and was even attended by members of the governing coalition from Kadima, Shas and Yisrael Beiteinu.

Let's get this straight Olmert: Jerusalem and Israel does not belong to you but was given by G-d to the Jewish people on loan, as an inheritance. It is the property of each and every individual Jew around the world and you cannot give up what does not belong to you. Even should this generation (G-d forbid) abandon Jerusalem, we have no right to forfeit the future generations rights to this holy city.

Cross-posted to the Barnyard

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Christianity and the Noahide Laws


I've been having a fantastic debate with Evangelical Christians over the past little while and I would love to continue it. Just to briefly state what the Jewish view of Christianity's purpose is, here are the words of the Rambam (Mainmonides) in his Laws of Kings, Chapter 11:4 :

"Even Jesus the Notzri, who thought he was the Messiah... was the subject of a prophesy in the Book of Daniel (11, 14): "...also the renegades of your people will exalt themselves to fulfill the vision - but they will stumble." Could there be a greater stumbling block than this [Jesus]? For all the prophets spoke of the Messiah who will redeem and save Israel, who will ingather all its exiles, and who will strengthen them in the fulfillment of the Torah's commandments - while he [Jesus] caused Israel to be killed by the sword, their remnants to be dispersed and humiliated, the Torah to be switched for something else, and most of the world to worship a G-d other than the G-d of Israel! But - the thoughts of G-d cannot be fathomed by human minds. For our ways are not like His, and our thoughts are not like His. All these activities of Jesus the Notzri, and the Ishmaelite [Muhammad] who came after him, are all for the purpose of paving the way for the true King Messiah, and preparing the entire world to worship G-d together, as is written (Tzefaniah 3,9): 'For then I will convert the nations to a pure language, that they may all call in the name of G-d and serve Him together.'

"How will this work? For by then, the world will already be filled with the idea of Messiah, and Torah, and commandments, even in far-off islands and in closed-hearted nations, where they engage in discussions on the Torah's commandments: some say that the Torah's commandments are true but are no longer binding in these times, while others say that there are hidden, deep meanings to them, and that the Messiah has come and revealed their hidden secrets. But when the true King Messiah arrives, and will succeed and will raise them up, all the peoples will immediately realize that they had been taught lies by their forefathers, and that their ancestors and prophets had misled them."


Christianity and Islam serve to bring Biblical stories, concepts and ideas to a largely pagan world. Today, over half of the world's inhabitants follow an Abrahamic religion. These two religions are tools through which G-d will bring the true messiah.

The Torah is not just for Jews but for non-Jews as well. Jews were given 613 commandments and non-Jews 7 commandments to follow. They are:

1) DO NOT COMMIT BLASPHEMY

2) DO NOT WORSHIP IDOLS

3) DO NOT COMMIT THEFT

4) DO NOT COMMIT MURDER

5) DO NOT COMMIT SEXUAL IMMORALITY

6) ESTABLISH COURTS OF JUSTICE

7) DO NOT EAT THE FLESH OF A LIVING ANIMAL

To learn more about these laws, visit Noahide Nations, Christianity Revealed or Ask Noah.

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Inverted Values



I got the idea for this post from Batya Medad's excellent post SAVED!! but I want to share it in my own words, with my own spin.

A Dutch court has ruled that the chestnut tree that stood outside the cellar where Ann Frank and her family hid, will not be felled. The suggestion that the 150 year-old tree which gave Ann Frank comfort during her hiding should be felled was met with protests. The tree is old and weak and there is a danger that it could fall into a building or injure someone but conservationists insist that the tree is stable and that it would be a tragedy to felle it. The head of the movement to save the tree said, "the worldwide attention for this tree shows how important this tree of Anne Frank is."

At the same time as protests where under way to save an 150-year old rotting tree, PM Olmert is preparing to travel to Annapolis and carve up Jerusalem. Unable to wait until he has the chance to hand chunks of Israel over to the Arabs, Olmert has just released 400 Palestinian terrorists and handed over millions of dollars and weapons over to Fatah. Head of the Manhigut Yehudit faction of the Likud, Moshe Feilgin issued this press release: He suggests that it would be much more efficient for Olmert to simply shoot a number of Jews every day. "Why bother with all the bureaucracy?" he asked.

The Prime Minister of Israel is prepared to spend billions of dollars to uproot 200 000 Jews from Judea and Samaria, to put Israel into an extremely indefensible position and to return to the pre-67 borders, or the 'Auschwitz Line' as it is known. And who are our wonderful peace partners, the "moderates"? Why of course the same Fatah whose charter states that: "Armed struggle is a strategy and not a tactic, and the Palestinian Arab People's armed revolution is a decisive factor in the liberation fight and in uprooting the Zionist existence, and this struggle will not cease unless the Zionist state is demolished and Palestine is completely liberated." (Article 19) Or what about Article 25: "Convincing concerned countries in the world to prevent Jewish immigration to Palestine as a method of solving the problem." And the Hamas charter which says that "Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it." Seems like great peace partners!

Come to think of it, I do recall somebody about 60 years ago who wanted the 'obliteration' of Israel, the Jewish Nation, and I also do remember that many Jews could not escape his evil grasp because "concerned countries" were convinced to "prevent Jewish immigration to Palestine as a method of solving the problem". Nah! That couldn't happen again! Look at how people protested the felling of Ann Frank's tree!

It couldn't happen? Has the world really changed? I don't see any huge protests to stop Israel from being chopped up or "wiped off the map". Actually, I'm sure that the people who were most instrumental in saving Ann Frank's tree at most will shrug about the plan to initiate a Final Solution to the Zionist Problem, if not wholeheartedly support the 'liberation of Occupied Palestine'-- ***cough,cough*** Somehow, people seem to be willing to contribute money to build big Holocaust monuments or to make Holocaust studies part of the curriculum but are awfully apathetic about the prospect of a second one.

The world's favourite Jew is Ann Frank, the suffering, weak Jew. The only good Jew isn't necessarily a dead one; only a week one. But for the fighting, free Jews in Israel, the world has no patience. A Jew is acceptable as long as he stays quiet, keeps his head down and doesn't make much noise; in other words, returns to the ghetto. That's why the same people who contribute huge sums to Holocaust education will indulge in all the ridiculous slander about 'Zio-Nazis' and the 'Palestinian Holocaust' and every other vile libel that aims at delegitimizing the Jewish State. The anti-semitism of the past has morphed into a fierce anti-Zionism. Instead of the Jews plotting to take over the world, the US went to war for Israel. Instead of the Jews using Christian blood for matzot, Israel kills Arab babies for fun. Instead of the Jews being a debased race, witnesses to the suffering of those who reject G-d, Israel is an illegimate colonialist state and has no right to exist.

The way for Germany and the world as a whole to make ammends for the Holocaust is not to apologize since words are meaningless. It is not to fill Europe with monuments to the destroyed communities but to resolve to fight the modern day Nazis, those who wish for the Jews 'to be pushed into the sea'. We don't want ammends, reparations or memorials but for the world to stand in support of our right to live in our own land. Unfortunately, just like during the Holocaust, the world will most likely remain silent.

Monday, November 19, 2007

Bring Our Boys Home



I just came back from a solidarity rally for the 3 kidnapped Israeli soldiers, Gilad Shalit, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev. Their families came to talk at the local synagogue and there were easily over a thousand people there, members of Parliament, local Jewish leaders, rabbis... I was on the verge of tears when I heard the parents of the soldiers describing their pain at the disappearance of their sons and the rabbi's stiring closing words about how when our ancestor Avraham heard that his nephew Lot had been captured, he went off to war and did everything that he could to bring him home and only them did G-d make the Covenant between the Parts with him. Our covenant with G-d is conditional on our concern for our fellow Jews. These soldiers were kidnapped over 2 years ago, Gilad by Hamas and Eldad and Ehud by Hizbullah. Even though the UN resolution 1701 which put an end to the Second Lebanon War called for the immediate release of the soldiers, they are still missing and Hizbullah even denied them Red Cross access, which is a violation of the Geneva Convention and of basic human rights.

I beg all of you to please write letters to Congress, to the Senate, to the Parliament, to your representatives, to the heads of the UN and the EU, to never let anybody forget about Gilad, Ehud and Eldad. Please donate to The Keren Maor Foundation dedicated to bringing them home, give some money to tzedaka in their merit, pray for Gilad ben Aviva Shalit, Ehud ben Malka Goldwasser and Eldad ben Tova Regev and recite Psalm 70, 13, 142 and 126 and then this prayer.

"Thus saith the LORD: A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children; she refuseth to be comforted for her children, because they are not. Thus saith the LORD: Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears; for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the LORD; and they shall come back from the land of the enemy. And there is hope for thy future, saith the LORD; and thy children shall return to their own border." (Jeremiah 31:14-16)

Don't give up hope. See my previous post and we must not despair because they too shall again see light.



Cross-posted to Goat's Barnyard

It Should Again See Light

It is the month of Kislev, the month of Channukah! I was actually born on Erev Channukah, the 25th of Kislev. Since Chanukkah will be in a few weeks, I want to repost one of my favourite Chanukkah stories which I found on Chabad.org. I've heard this story many times before but it makes me tingle every time I hear it. (An amazing anthology of Chanukkah stories can be found here) The world is just too crazy and unfortunately, the Israel of today is ruled bu the same Hellenized Jews as in the time of Channukah. I pray that Hashem send us true Maccabees today and that the light of Torah shine through and overcome the darkness of secularism, assimilation and ignorance. Enjoy!



It Should Again See Light

By Dr. Blair P. Grubb


Several years ago, a physician from southern France contacted me. His granddaughter had taken ill with a disease that baffled the physicians there. He called after reading several of my articles on disorders of the autonomic nervous system. His granddaughter's symptoms seemed to match those I had described, and he asked me if I could help. I readily agreed, and for many months, I collaborated with the child's French physicians by telephone and by fax, directing their diagnostic testing. At last we came to a diagnosis, and I prescribed a course of therapy. During the next several weeks, the child made a seemingly miraculous recovery. Her grandparents expressed their heartfelt thanks and told me to let them know should I ever come to France.

In the summer of 1996, I was invited to speak at a large international scientific meeting that was held in Nice, France. I sent word to the physician I had helped years before. Upon my arrival at the hotel, I received a message to contact him. I called him, and we arranged a night to meet for dinner.

On the appointed day we met and then drove north to his home in the beautiful southern French countryside. It was humbling to learn his home was older than the United States. During the drive he told me that his wife had metastatic breast cancer and was not well, but she insisted upon meeting me. When introduced to her, I saw that despite her severe illness, she was still a beautiful woman with a noble bearing.

After dinner, we sat in a 17th-century salon, sipping cognac and chatting. Our conversation must have seemed odd to the young man and woman who served us because it came out in a free-flowing mixture of English, French, and Spanish.

After a time the woman asked, "My husband tells me you are Jewish, no?" "Yes," I said, "I am a Jew." They asked me to tell them about Judaism, especially the holidays. I did my best to explain and was astounded by how little they knew of Judaism. She seemed to be particularly interested in Chanukah. Once I had finished answering her questions, she suddenly looked me in the eye and said, "I have something I want to give to you."

She disappeared and returned several moments later with a package wrapped in cloth. She sat, her tired eyes looking into mine, and she began to speak slowly.

"When I was a little girl of 8 years, during the Second World War, the authorities came to our village to round up all the Jews. My best friend at that time was a girl of my age named Jeanette. One morning when I came to play, I saw her family being forced at gunpoint into a truck. I ran home and told my mother what had happened and asked where Jeanette was going. 'Don't worry,' she said, 'Jeanette will be back soon.'

"I ran back to Jeanette's house only to find that she was gone and that the other villagers were looting her home of valuables, except for the Judaic items, which were thrown into the street. As I approached, I saw an item from her house lying in the dirt. I picked it up and recognized it as an object that Jeanette and her family would light around Christmas time. In my little girl's mind I said 'I will take this home and keep it for Jeanette, till she comes back,' but she and her family never returned."

She paused and took a slow sip of brandy. "Since that time I have kept it. I hid it from my parents and didn't tell a soul of its existence. Indeed, over the last 50 years the only person who knew of it was my husband. When I found out what really happened to the Jews, and how many of the people I knew had collaborated with the Nazis, I could not bear to look at it. Yet I kept it, hidden, waiting for something, although I wasn't sure what. Now I know what I was waiting for. It was for you, a Jew, who helped cure our granddaughter, and it is to you I entrust this."

Her trembling hands set the package on my lap. I slowly unwrapped the cloth from around it. Inside was a menorah, but one unlike any I had seen before. Made of solid brass, it had eight cups for holding oil and wicks and a ninth cup centered above the others. It had a ring attached to the top, and the woman mentioned that she remembered that Jeanette's family would hang it in the hallway of their home.

It looked quite old to me; later, several people told me that it is probably at least 100 years old. As I held it and thought about what it represented, I began to cry. All I could manage to say was a garbled "merci." As I left, her last words to me were Il faudra voir la lumiere encore une fois -- "it should once again see light."

I later learned that she died less than a month after our meeting. This Chanukah, the menorah will once again see light. And as I and my family light it, we will say a special prayer in honor of those whose memories it represents. We will not let its lights go out again.

Saturday, November 17, 2007

My Heart in in the East


"My heart is in the East, and I am at the ends of the West;
How can I taste what I eat and how could it be pleasing to me?
How shall I render my vows and my bonds, while yet
Zion lies beneath the fetter of Edom, and I am in the chains of Arabia?
It would be easy for me to leave all the bounty of Spain --
As it is precious for me to behold the dust of the desolate sanctuary."


These words were written by the great 11th century Jewish poet Rabbi Yehuda HaLevi. According to legend, at the end of his life he decide to realize his dreams of Israel and when he landed in the Holy Land, as he bent down to kiss the sacred soil, he was trampeled by an Arab horseman. If only our leaders had the same love of Israel as Rabbi Yehuda HaLevi...

Flashback in Jewish History: Jordanian Desecration of Jerusalem 1947-1967


Hussein, King of Jordan, in a speech in Beirut on 24, August 1967, claimed "the right faithfully to guard the Holy Places that our Arab band has known how to guard these thousand years and more." This is nothing more than a mockery of the facts of the Jordanian desecration of Jewish and Christian holy sites.

Before the UN passed its resolution 29 in 1947 supporting the establishment of the State of Israel, the Arab Legion of Jordan launched an attack on Jerusalem and tried to besiege the Jewish majority by cutting of its supply of water, food and by blocking all roads. The Jordanians bombarded the city and Egyptian and Iraqi troops advanced from the south to mmet with the Jordanians for the final offensive.

The brave Jewish warriors managed to repel the Iraqi and Egyptian forces but the Old City fell to superiour Jordanian firepower. Once the Jordanians had conquered the Jewish Quarter, it annexed the city, expelled the ancient Jewish population and set out to destroy every last vestige of the long and proud Jewish connection to Jerusalem. The Jordanian forces desecrated 34 out of 35 Jewish houses of worship including the 16th century Hurva synagogue of Rabbi Yehuda He-Hasid and the Yochanan ben Zakai synagogue. For the first time in centuries, not one Jew lived in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem. The Jordanians ignobly burned hundreds of ancient Torah scrolls, thousands of holy books, razed tens of syangogues or used them as stables, coops or latrines and paved a highway through the millenial-old Mount of Olives cemetary, using centuries old tombstones as pavement. During these 19 long years, Jews were forbidden from going to pray at the Western Wall and had to climb the Mount of Olives just to get a glimpse of the holy site. Nor were Jews the only victims. Very limited numbers of Christians were allowed to make pilgrimages to their holy sites during Easter and Christmas. There were severe restrictions on the building of Christian schools and the Qur'an was required to be taught in all of them. The number of Christians in Jerusalem declined from 25,000 in 1949 to less than 13,000 in June 1967.

This travesty came to an end with the liberation of Jerusalem in 1967. After 2000 years of closing every Passover seder and Yom Kippur fast with the words 'Next Year in Jerusalem!', Israel's leaders plan to divide Jerusalem up. The last time that Jerusalem was in non-Jewish hands, it was desecrated. The Pali. Arabs have a very bad track record themselves on protecting the holy sites of other faiths. When Israel handed over Joseph's Tomb to the Palestinian Authority, it was torn apart and the holy books inside burned. The Islamic wakf is engaging in illegal excavation on the Temple Mount and destroying priceless archaeological evidence. Tens of churches were bombed this year. Think! There are absolutely no Jews living in any Arab-majority city in Judea and Samaria. There is no Jewish presence in the Shechem, now known as Nablus, the site of Joseph's Tomb. The Jewish community of Hebron where the Tomb of the Patriarchs is numbers in the hundreds and lives under intense security.

Those who fail to heed the past are condemned to repeat it.

Cross-posted to Goat's Barnyard

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Save us from our 'brother', from Esau


Upon returning to Eretz Yisrael and discovering that Esau was coming to meet him with an armed band of 400 troops, Yaakov pleaded with G-d, "Please save me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau" (Genesis 32:12). Why this redundancy? Simply asking G-d to save him from Esau or from his brother would have sufficed. The Torah is notoriously concise and cryptic so if it goes to length to add extra words, it must have a purpose and a lesson to teach.

Sometimes, the yetzer harah (evil inclination) or outside forces conspire to prevent us from keeping the Torah outright. Think Antiochus's infamous decress against practicing Judaism or the Spanish Inquisition. Other times, the yetzer is far more cunning and pretends to be our brother so that we will let our guard down. In this relaxed environment, it is much more difficult to stand up for our beliefs or even to sense the spiritual danger.

From Arutz-7:

Increased pro-Jesus missionary activity has been initiated in Kassam-besieged Sderot over the past two weeks, local residents say.

On the backdrop of Kassams exploding into the small city of Sderot, the mostly working-class population is now facing yet another danger: missionary activity. Local residents say, "They are taking advantage of the difficulties here and trying to convert us to their beliefs."

Herzl Shayubi, who served until recently as Deputy Mayor of Sderot, told Arutz-7, "You can see that they have become very active here of late, with large signs about repentance and door-to-door activity with their Bibles and materials... In one case, I physically stopped one of them when I saw what he was giving out."

Moshe Malka, an activist of the Yad L'Achim anti-missionary organization who has family living in Sderot, said, "The missionaries - most of them 'Messianic Jews' - often show up to the weekly market day, marketing their destructive wares... Many of the residents say that the missionaries are taking advantage of their difficult situation to try to entice them to join their services - and it really appears that they have targeted Sderot. For instance, around the country they give out cheap editions of the New Testament, but here in Sderot they have been giving out a very fancy edition, with a very beautiful gold and black binding and gold-edged pages. I went into some houses to show them the book and ask if they've ever seen one like it - and they say, 'Sure, someone once gave us this' and they pull it out of their libraries. The missionaries simply prey on the ignorant and the weak."


Of course, this isn't the first time that this has happened. All too often, missionaries in Israel target vulnerable Jews such as the elderly, lonely Russian immigrants or teenagers with family problems. There have been cases of elementary students bring used to missionize to their friends, missionaries dressing as charedim and infiltrating schools and missionaries have even used violence to stop anti-missionary organizations like Yad LeAchim from foiling their dastardly deeds. In July, the Chief Rabbi of Arad, Harav Ben Zion Lipsker, was brutally attacked by a missionary when the Rabbi tried to stop him from hawking his materials at the city market.

"They have two houses here in Sderot, one on Natan Elbaz Street and one on Shivat Tzion [Return to Zion] Street In one of them, they have a weekly class in Russian on Friday evenings, and in the other they have Sabbath prayer services - featuring Jesus, of course... We have found that a 60-year-old man named Peter from nearby Bror Hayil comes and gives out literature."

Malka says the plight of the residents is very much in evidence: "For instance, on the weekly market day, there used to be four or five rows of people selling their stuff, and now there's only one row. On every street you see many houses for rent or for sale. It looks like a ghost town."

Yad L'Achim has stepped up its anti-missionary activity in Sderot, Malka says: "We have been going door-to-door ourselves, and we're in contact with the yeshivat hesder there, and with the local Beit Chabad, and we stand at intersections, etc. We would like to hold a public session in some protected building in order to explain the dangers..."

Avi Ben-Abu, a local grocery store owner, told Yad L'Achim, "It is unacceptable for missionaries to take advantage of our difficult plight and put salt on our wounds by leading innocent Jews astray."


We are happy about Christian support for Israel but not at the cost of selling our souls. If this is the price, we will not co-operate with anyone who attempts to missionize to us. The Torah is clear that our security depends on our adherence to G-d's commandments.

Here's another story from Arutz-7 that gets me angry. Despite the former Pope's attempts to improve Catholic-Jewish relations, ties are still strained in many cases. It certainly didn't help that the current Pope reinstitued last year the Latin mass that calls for G-d to open up the eyes of the 'perfidous Jews' who are lost in 'darkness.'

Fourteen Austrian Catholic bishops visiting Jerusalem last week were barred from approaching the Old City's Western Wall (the Kotel) after refusing to remove crucifixes they were wearing as part of their formal attire. Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch, responsible for the Western Wall and other Jewish holy sites, explained to the bishops that they were welcome to pray at the Kotel, but had to remove their crosses in order not to offend the sensitivities of Jews there.

The bishops, including the Archbishop of Vienna, opted to remain outside the barrier separating the prayer area from the rest of the Western Wall Plaza rather than remove their crosses

The group subsequently canceled a planned meeting with Rabbi Rabinovitch, responsible
for the Western Wall and other Jewish holy sites, explained to the bishops that they were welcome to pray at the Kotel, but had to remove their crosses in order not to offend the sensitivities of Jews there.

The bishops, including the Archbishop of Vienna, opted to remain outside the barrier separating the prayer area from the rest of the Western Wall Plaza rather than remove their crosses. The group subsequently canceled a planned meeting with Rabbi Rabinovitch that was to take place in his Jerusalem office. Austrian officials said that the ban on crosses at the Wall was not made known to the Catholic delegation ahead of their arrival for the Austrian Bishops Conference, which was held in Israel for the first time last week.

Speaking with the Israeli Maariv newspaper, Rabbi Rabinovitch said, "Appearing like that at the Wall and to a meeting with me is insulting and provocative." Rabinovitch claimed that previous Catholic delegations, including that of Pope John Paul II in 2000, refrained from displaying the cross while at the Kotel. While official government publications describing appropriate dress and conduct for the Western Wall area do not include any mention of a ban on crucifixes, Christian pilgrimage tour leaders have in the past suggested that those wearing crosses place them inside their shirts to avoid unnecessary confrontation.


I remember when I visited Israel two summers ago that while I was at the Wall, an Orthodox priest carrying a huge cross approached the Wall and was angrily turned away by a group of chareidim. While the prophet Isaiah (56:7) says that the Temple is a "house for all nations" and King Solomon asks for G-d to hear the prayer of non-Jews in the Temple (1-Kings 8:41-43), it is completely innapropriate for the crucifix to be displayed at the Kotel. The crucifix throughout history was a sign of death and destructio for Jews. During the Crusades, Jews went to their deaths rather than accept baptism under the shadow of the crucifix.

A popular Christian hyman goes like this: “Onward, Christians Soldiers marching as to war, with the cross of J going on before! C, the royal Master, leads against the foe; forward into battle. See His banners go!” Think about the words. This hymn is adopted from the theme of the Crusades- the banners and crosses of JC and his worshippers demanding of the Jews 'convert of die, C-killers!'.



My heart is truely saddened over all of the Jews who have been led astray and away from Judaism- it truely pity them. They have traded in their birthright for a bowl of lentils. True Torah- True beauty.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Blog Readability Test

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Click on the picture to take the test yourselves. Enjoy!

Comedy



Hat Tip to Angel:

Monday, November 12, 2007

Apocalyptic Trigger


Throughout history, the Jewish yardstick for measuring events or world developpments was 'but is it good for the Jews?'. Now that the world is about to decide a very harsh and bad decree for the Jews, namely the division of Jerusalem, it is time for the West to ask itself 'but is it good for the West?'.

As we all know, the West is locked in a life and death struggle with the Islamic world. There are literally hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions, of jihadist Muslims in Europe, Canada and the United States who are ready to fulfill Muhammad's command to fight 'until all men say that there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is His prophet'. These people hate Western civilization and are ready to conquer to world for Allah. Could giving up half of Jerusalem to be a 'Palestinian' capital possibly diffuse their rage and frustration towards the US as some American policy-makers believe?

Jerusalem had little significance in early Islam and many imams and Islamic leaders warned against giving Jerusalem special status as this would be bid'ah, innovation, which is forbidden in Islam. Controversial Islamic jurist Tadiqq al-Din ibn Taymiyya whose views still inspire Wahabbi groups like al-Qaeda and was very influential in matters of jihad wrote: "And in Jersualem, there is not a palce one calls sacred and the same holds true for the tombs of Hebron". However, in later Islamic apocalyptic tradition, Sunni and Shia, Jerusalem gained an important position as either the capital of the Mahdi (Islamic messiah), or a necessary city to capture before his coming.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, president of Iran, is associated with a Shiite sect which views Jerusalem as essential for the coming of the Mahdi. Ahmainejad's famous 'Israel must be wiped off the map' speech was given on Oct. 26, 2005. He also declared that 'we are now in the process of an historical war between the World of Arrogance (ie. the West) and the Islamic world. Clearly, a connection exists for him between the destruction of Israel, the Islamic conquest of Jerusalem and the eventual defeat of the West by the Mahdi. According to certain Shiite doctrine, the Mahdi will appear in Mecca, move to Karbala and eventually conquer Jerusalem which will serve as his capital and as the base for the Mahdi's global jihad.

Such views are not unique to Shiism and are very widespread in Wahabbi and Salafi jihadist websites. "Rasulullah [Muhammad] said: "Armies carrying black flags will come from Khurasan. No power will be able to stop them and they will finally reach Eela (Baitul Maqdas in Jerusalem) where they will erect their flags." (Tirmidhi as quoted by Mohammed Ali Ibn Zubair Ali, Signs of Qiyamah) The Mahdis armies will march to Jerusalem and conquer the Baitul Maqdas (Beit Hamikdash, Temple Mount), conquer Israel and eventually the world. In a particularly venomous manner, Egyptian authors, Muhammad ibn Izzat and Muhammd ‘Arif comment on the above tradition:

The Mahdi will be victorious and eradicate those pigs and dogs and the idols of this time so that there will once more be a caliphate based on prophethood as the hadith states… Jerusalem will be the location of the rightly guided caliphate and the center of Islamic rule, which will be headed by Imam al-Mahdi… That will abolish the leadership of the Jews… and put an end to the domination of the Satans who spit evil into people and cause corruption in the earth, making them slaves of false idols and ruling the world by laws other than the Shari’a [Islamic Law] of the Lord of the worlds.

Every single concession in the face of Islam has been met with more terror and violence. Suicide bombigns only started after the Oslo Accords. Rockets began falling on Sderot after the Gaza Disengagement. The Israeli withdrawal from Southern Lebanon led to the Second Lebanon War in 2006. This alone should serve as testimony to why Islam must be answered with strength and not retreat but besides this, Islamic control over Jerusalem will embolden jihadists and prove to them that their struggle is successful. When the millions of jihadist Muslims in Europe hear of Islamic control over Jerusalem and have their faith in the appearance of the Mahdi vindicated, there will be riots in the streets, bombs, explosions and attempts to greet the Mahdi with a subjugated Europe under sharia. In short, Jerusalem will become a powder keg for an emboldened jihadist movement which will gain strength in Iraq, Afghanistan, Europe and all over the Islamic world. The Bush Administration, while trying to supress Islamic terror in Iraq and Afghanistan, will create an umbearable situation all over the world.

Another portent of the 'Hour', the time of the Mahdi's coming, is the massacre of the Jews. Allah's Apostle said, "The Hour will not be established until you fight with the Jews, and the stone behind which a Jew will be hiding will say. "O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, so kill him." (Sahi Bukhari Volume 4, Book 52, Number 178). When jihadists take over Jerusalem, no Jew worldwide will be safe. The already besieged Jews of Europe will most likely be attacked by Muslim hordes and a weakened Israel will not be able to protect them. Pogroms will happen through the streets of Europe. This is not far-fetched at all. Look at the evil barbarism committed to Ilan Halimi, a French Jew who was abducted by a Muslim gang and tortured for over a month and eventually set on fire. His captors repeatedly called his parents and read them Qur'anic verses and demanded money from the local synagogue.

Jerusalem will be the trigger for a worldwide Islamic attack on Jews, on Europe, on the United States. The West must think clearly and not cede one inch to Islam, especially in such a vulnerable place as Jerusalem. Instead of extinguishing the flames of radical Islam, they will be ignited into a fiery inferno that will consume Israel, the Jewish people, and the West.


Cross-posted to Goat's Barnyard

See Heidianne's amazing post also.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Remembrance Day



November 11th is Remembrance Day, the day when the Germans, on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, unconditionally surrendered, thus ending the Great War. After four long years of fighting, over 66 000 Canadian soldiers had been killed in the trenches of Europe. On this day, we remember all of the brave Canadian soldiers who fell, over 108 000, in the Great War, the Second World War, the Korean War, UN peacekeeping missions and continue to fight and die in Afghanistan today, for their country, for our rights and freedoms.

The poppy is the symbol of remembrance. It comes form the famous poem In Flanders Field written by medic John McCrae in 1915 during the battle of Ypres and this poem has come to symbolize all of those who have fallen in service of Canada.

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch, be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields




We cannot fathom 108 000 lost lives, killed in defense of our country but we can remember one soldier. Today, I will honour Corporal Nathan Hornburg, 24, from Calgary Alberta of the King's Own Calgary Regiment, Alberta, killed September 24, 2007 in a mortar attack, Panjwayi District, Kandahar Province, Afghanistan.

May his memory and the memory of all the Canadian fallen be for a blessing.

Yehi Zichram Baruch

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Behold the Dreamer comes

Around the Jewish and right-wing blogosphere, I've been criticized for my belief in the divine right of the Jewish people to Israel, for 'naively' basing my support for Israel on a fairy tale called the Torah. I have to be 'realist' and I should know better, that the US and the rest of the world would never "let" Israel expel the hostile Arabs from its borders. I am simply a lunatic, a fool for believing in something as intangible as G-d. Don't I know that Israel's right to exist comes from the Balfour Declaration, or the League of Nations Mandate or the UN vote?

Realism- that's one of my favourite lines. Binyamin Zeev (Theodore) Herzl, founder of Zionism, who conceived of the ludicrous idea of a Jewish state in Israel, was no realist. His motto was 'Im Tirzu Ein Zo Agada, 'If you will it, it is no dream'. How could Herzl have been so foolish not to realize that such a thing was impossible? It had been over 2000 years since the last independent Jewish state in Israel and according to all common logic, the return to Zion was a fantasy. It was standard Church doctrine that the Jews would never return to Israel since they were the rejected people, and many Jews came to believe this themselves. 'Dream and deed are not as different as many think. All the deeds of men are dreams at first, and become dreams in the end', he said (The Israelis : Founders and Sons (1971) by Amos Elon, p. 57). Realism dictates that the Jewish people be extinct, that they have disappeared along with every other people of Antiquity. It is beyond logic or understanding that the nation of Israel survive expulsion, oppression, pogroms, Inquisitions and Holocausts or that they return to Israel. But as the Talmud says (Shabbat 156a) ein mazal leYisrael, 'Israel is not controlled by the Zodiac'- logic or realism has no effect on the Eternal People. Every single Israeli living in Israel in a certain sense rejects realism since what sane person would cling to a narrow strip of land along the Mediterranean surrounded by 7 Arab nations and millions of sworn enemies, with the entire world opposed to his dwellings. If we wanted realism, the Jewish state would be in NY or Uganda!
Our connection to Israel far predates Lord Balfour, the League of Nations or the UN. ''Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art, northward and southward and eastward and westward; 15 for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.' (Genesis 13:14)- this is our claim. If we believe that our only right to the land is the permission or opinion of 100 non-Jews 60 years ago, what happens if 1000 non-Jews retract said permission today? Israel was not meant to be a state like any other state but a Jewish homeland, a 'light unto the nations'. We didn't return from a 2000 year-old dispersion to fill the land with discoteques, non-kosher restaurants or Gay Pride parades. If Israel becomes (G-d forbid) a multicultural secular state, a California along the Mediterranean, why should an Israeli remain there when faced with terrorism and war when he could easily live in the real California, in safety and security. Only if we believe with utmost conviction that G-d Almighty gave this land to us will we brave all danger, all adversity and stubbornly cling to our heritage. Israel cannot survive divorced from Judaism! A million Israelis have made yerida and now live in the Galut, being unwilling to overcome the potential hardships involved with living in Israel. How many of these people believe in the Torah's promise? 'The Land of Israel is the heart of the nation' (Or Ne’erav 5:4)! We cannot exist without Israel, without our land which G-d promised unto us. Without this promise, we cannot maintain the Land, cannot support our claim. We lived there 3000 years ago, so what? The Native Americans lived in America for thousands of years and were displaced but they don't demand that entire continent. Only by G-d's word do we exist! 'G-d said: The Land is Mine, and the People of Israel is Mine. I will give My Land to My People' (Tanchumah, Bamidbar 34).

Israel is no ones vassal and does not have to seek permission to defend itself from the United States or anybody else. Let the United States keep its aid! Every state has the right to expel from its borders those who seek to undermine its sovereingty and to harm it. This may be according to international law but the law of survival, the law that mandates that you preserve your own life, supercedes it. Israel's enemies don't abide by international law so international law is only a hinderance and a handicap. The world would gladly stand by while the Arabs massacred the Jews of Israel, as the world stood silently during the Holocaust. Jewish blood comes cheap and we only have our nation to stand on. 'In the day that thou didst stand aloof, in the day that strangers carried away his substance, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them. But thou shouldest not have gazed on the day of thy brother in the day of his disaster, neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress. Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of My people in the day of their calamity; yea, thou shouldest not have gazed on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity. Neither shouldest thou have stood in the crossway, to cut off those of his that escape; neither shouldest thou have delivered up those of his that did remain in the day of distress. (Obadiah 1:11-14) The nations of the world would prefer that Israel be destroyed and we must not let our decision for our survival be dictated to us by anti-semites.



The Jewish people are beyond logic, beyond reason, beyond realism. Our only reality is the Supreme Reality, the ineffable word of G-d that promised to our father Abraham that we should inherit the land of Israel and be an eternal people. We were returned for a purpose, to fulfill the Jewish destiny. Israel has the moral responsibily to protect its citizens and to expel those who hate the state, who proudly display hands convered in the blood of Jews to reporters.

Realism? No thanks, I am a Jew.

Save Jerusalem

The United Coalition for Jerusalem
Emergency Campaign to Save Israel !

“If I Forget Thee O Jerusalem”
By capitulating to foreign interests and to the tiny but powerful anti-Zionist Left in Israel, the government is shattering the social contract that is the source of its right to govern. By violating the foundational principles and norms of the Jewish State, this government has delegitimized itself.
At the “Munich Conference” in Annapolis, the prime minister intends:
-To establish an Arab terrorist state to be called Palestine;
-To divide Jerusalem and give the Temple Mount to the Muslims;
-To cede all of Judea and Samaria;
-To give the enemy control of the mountain ridge overlooking “little Israel,” placing all the large population centers within range of Katusha rockets;
-To expel hundreds of thousands of Jews from their homes and to destroy their communities.

THEY MUST BE STOPPED.

This is not an “Israeli” issue; it is a Jewish issue.
Jerusalem is the birthright of every Jew.
Jerusalem was the capital of the Jewish People for 3,000 years.
By their failure to assert Jewish rights in our city and our holy sites, Israeli governments have set the stage for the ongoing destruction of our 3000 year old heritage. This government has forsaken the State of Israel’s duty to protect our Jewish birthright. If successful, they will sever the Jewish People’s ties to their history, land, and heritage. They will, in effect, deny the very basis of the right of a Jewish State to exist in the Land of Israel.
To divide Jerusalem is to commit national suicide.
To thwart this threat, we have established a coalition dedicated to saving Jerusalem and the Eretz Israel, the United Coalition for Jerusalem, encompassing organizations and groups in countries all over the world. Uniting us is the belief in the centrality of Jerusalem for Jews and Christians alike.
The Israeli wing of the coalition is composed of a long and growing list of extra-parliamentary organizations, Members of Knesset, military leaders, activists, media personalities and, of course, religious leaders. The hallmark of this effort is our inclusiveness. The members come from a wide spectrum of Israeli society: any group or individual opposed to the division of Jerusalem is invited to join.
Short Terms Goals:
To isolate Olmert and his government, and to expose the fact that they are acting against the will of the people and without their support.
To send out a clear and resounding message to the world that Jerusalem belongs to the Jews, now and forever.
To make it clear to Olmert that his government will fall if he proceeds as planned.
Stage One: Building a coalition of forces.

We aim to build as broad a coalition as possible. Everyone who opposes the abandonment of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount is welcome.
Stage Two: Gathering forces.

We envision the active participation of representatives from a wide spectrum of Israeli society, the Jewish world, and Evangelical Christians in conveying the campaign’s message.
The different organizations will operate under the United Coalition for Jerusalem, but will undertake the tasks that they do best. Lobbying the Knesset and Congress, mobilizing Evangelical Christian support, education and public relations in Israel and among world Jewry, and obtaining international support are of utmost importance. The minimum required budget will be $1 million and will include dozens of pinpoint campaigns.
Stage Three: Arousing public outrage and rebellion against the government.
“If I Forget Thee O Jerusalem…” is a non-sectarian, inclusive campaign.
Given a Knesset whose prime motivation is to cling to their seats, our immediate goal is to threaten the stability of the government coalition by arousing a level of public anger and unrest that can’t be ignored. This shall be achieved by worldwide pressure on PM Olmert and his government.
We will organize a massive demonstrations in Israel and in the USA as a show of strength demonstrating a readiness to do whatever it takes to defend Jerusalem.
Our activities will intensify, moving into non-violent civil disobedience, until the government backs down.
This national disaster, which will place Israel’s continued existence in jeopardy, is being orchestrated by a self-serving and corrupt political clique bent on trading the nation’s most sacred and vital interests for a reprieve from their legal problems.
We, therefore, declare that:
We do not recognize the government’s right to cede the Land of the Bible and to blithely discard the Jewish People’s unique heritage of thousands of years. Nor do we recognize its attempt to reverse the Biblical prophecies of return to Zion that were fulfilled in our era at such tremendous human cost.
We do not recognize the right of the government to tear our land into pieces, to destroy cities, towns, and communities, to make hundreds of thousands of Jews into homeless refugees and to steal their property, as was done to the loyal citizens of Gush Katif.
We do not recognize the authority of the government to use the state as a tool to deny our right to the Land of Zion and to nullify the Zionism that built the state on the strength of 2,000 years of Jewish yearning for Zion.
We do not recognize the government’s right to give our homeland to a fake people to establish a fake state.
When a government becomes a cancer, destroying all that it is charged with protecting, the people must cease obeying its suicidal decrees and oppose the destruction.
The Jewish People in Israel and throughout the world will not be bound by the criminal concessions made by this government: it severs any and all connection with its immoral acts.
The Jewish People in Israel and abroad will do whatever it takes to save the nation and land of Israel from its degenerate leaders.
We truly believe that the tremendous power embodied in shivat tzion, the return of the Jewish people to their homeland, is dormant but not dead. A tremendous battle lies ahead, but
“Let us ascend and we shall gain possession of it, for we can surely do it!” (Numbers 13; 30)
We can’t do this alone. We Need Your Help! -
Donations
Make checks out to the Central Fund of Israel, Re: L’Eretz Yisrael HaShleima.
Mail checks to:
Central Fund of Israel.
c/o Marcus Brothers Textiles
980 6th Ave
New York NY 10018
Tax ID number: 13-2992985
Telephone numbers:
US: Jeff (212)519-0207
Israel: Jay Marcus: 054-699 8155
Tsafrir Ronen - (Israel coordinator) - 972-52-235 8440

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Former Messianic Missionary Speaks Out

I wrote a post a few weeks ago about the Sinai Revelation and the Truth of the Torah. I just saw on Rabbi Lazer Brody's website two videos of a discussion about the truth of the Torah by a Yemenite rabbi, Rabbi Yitzchak Amnon. Enjoy these videos:





I also got quite a reaction in response to my post about 'Messianic' Judaism, from calling me a paranoid lunatic, hateful, sympathy... Let me reiterate, this isn't about being hateful or mocking anybody's religion or faith. This is about emet, the absolute truth of the Torah. Coincidentally (or maybe Divine Providence) I found an interview with Yoel Keren, a former Messianic Christian missionary cum Orthodox Jew living in Israel. They are extremely interesting and informative and whether you agree or not with what he has to say, I suggest that you listen to the interviews.
- Yoel's Intro
- Yoel talks about his journey as an Orthodox Jew, about the real Jesus (or 'Yeshua') Isaiah 53 and the Suffering Servant and the 7 Noahide Laws.

"Hashem, my strength, and my stronghold, and my refuge, in the day of affliction, unto Thee shall the nations come from the ends of the earth, and shall say: 'Our fathers have inherited nought but lies, vanity and things wherein there is no profit.' Shall a man make unto himself gods, and they are no gods? Therefore, behold, I will cause them to know, this once will I cause them to know My hand and My might; and they shall know that My name is the Hashem." (Jeremiah 16:19-21)

May Hashem bless you all and lead you all to emet.

Saturday, November 3, 2007

Turn off the lights in Gaza!


In the past couple months, thousands of Kassam rockets have landed on Sderot and its surroundings (don't forget that Sderot is inside the Green Line). Kassams have been falling non-stop on schools, hospitals and homes since the Israel government disengaged form Gaza in the summer of 2005. For two years, the Arabs of Gaza have been free from any Israeli occupation and were even given originally a built-in economy: the famrs and greehouses left behind by the expelled inhabitants of Gush Katif and the other Jewish towns of Gaza. Immediately after Israel pulled out, Arab hordes desecrated the synagogues that were left behind, smashed the greenhouses instead of using them and using the farms as terrorist training camps, apparently getting the whole 'beating their swords into plowshares' wrong. Instead of working to improve the conditions of their suffering people, Hamas and Fatah set out training terrorists, even allowing the streets to overflow with sewage since the pipes were used to make rockets. With this colossal Arab failure to build a normal society in mind, think about the dangers of handing over Judea, Samaria and half of Jerusalem to these same people. Remember the desecration of Joseph's tomb and the illegal destruction on the Temple Mount and think again about giving the Palestinians control over key Jewish and Christian holy sites.

Despite the constant dangers for the people of Sderot, Israel is still hesitant to shut off the energy in Gaza, which comes from Israel, along with water, food, TV and radio, the very country that Hamas and Fatah want to destroy (!). Israel is worried that turning off the elctricity in Gaza is a form of collective punishment, which of course is immoral. The opposite of collective punishment is targeted killings, something which Israel has carried out against many terrorist leaders like Sheikh Ahmed Yassin (may his name be accursed), which is of course also immoral. Collective punishment and targeted killings are immoral- I'm starting to think that its the part about Jews defending themselves that the world thinks is immoral.

Imagine that your neighbour is constantly firing a machine gun at your house; would you even hesitate for a second to turn off his lights? And yet this is what the people of Sderot have to endure every single day. We were told that the Palestinian people elected Hamas democratically and therefore we should recognize the will of the people, no matter how much we disagree. Fine, they chose Hamas, chose rockets, chose murder and mayhem and Israel should repay them in kind. They made their bed and now must be forced to sleep in it. Shut off electricity, water, don't let any food go into Gaza, force them out, stop the TV and radio signals, bring Gaza to its knees until Hamas surrenders and the missile attacks stop. Collective punishment may be against international law but we needn't worry if we know that there is a higher law than that: basic law. The law that mandates that you survive and defend yourself supercedes any foolish notion that Israel must take every Kassam attack and turn the other cheek.

Collective punishment didn't seem so bad when the Allies destroyed Dresden, liquified Tokyo and bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki out of existence. And yet, this is the kind of existential threat that Israel is facing. It is every state's responsibility to guarantee the safety and security of its citizens, something that Olmert and his corrupt cronies have neglected to do. Call in the jets- warn Gaza's population that they have 48 hours to stop the rocket attacks or leave and if they don't stop, turn Gaza into a parking lot. Expel all the inhabitants of every village that is used as a base for rocket attacks. 'I am my brother's keeper'- if you don't want to face the consequences, prevent your home form being used as a terrorist launch site or leave. The time for mercy has passed. Israel must retaliate and retaliate harshly. 'Measure for measure', 'eye for an eye'. Force is the only language that is understood in the Middle-East and force is the language that we must learn. Turn off the lights! Let them sit in the dark until Israelis don't have to be constantly ready to run to the miklatim, shelters. If not, carpet-bomb Gaza. Anything, as long as Sderot will no longer be bombarded.

Cross-posted to Goat's Barnyard