A Former Radical
Speak Out - Israel/Palestine
conflict
Dr. Tawfik
Hamid (a muslim reformist)
Who Has a Right
to Jerusalem ?
Professor Sheikh
Abdul Hadi palazzi interview
Both the Bible and the Quran :
The land was promised to the
children of ISRAEL . Therefore ,
The Arabs In the land go against
Allah (SWT). There is no
such thing as "Palestinian
people".
Jerusalem is not
mentioned in the Quran not even
once. Palestine is not mentioned
in the Quran not even once.
Its a Jewish holy site where the
2 Temples used to stand and the
3rd Temple will be built. The
Palestinians in the land are
Kuffar , they go against Allah
SWT
Israel to build
world's biggest
seawater desalination plant
Israel is
planning to build the world's
largest seawater desalination
plant, Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu has said.
The
300,000-sq-metre Sorek
desalination facility, to be
constructed near the coastal
city of Ashkelon, will supply
150 million cubic metres
annually, a quarter of the
country's needs, Xinhua reported
citing a statement released by
Netanyahu's office Sunday.
The Israeli
cabinet discussed the
desalination plant and related
infrastructure projects,
including connecting Israeli
army bases to a wastewater
treatment network, the statement
said.
Israel
inaugurated a reverse osmosis
facility located near Hadera
city in May, which could supply
drinking water to a million
people.
Jerusalem Reunited! (on Yahoo Weather Maps)
Jerusalem has been reunited without gunfire, 43 years after the Six Day War -- this time, by Yahoo!
Angering the international Jewish community, the Internet search giant recently enacted its own two-state solution by dividing Jerusalem into “East” and “West” on its Weather iPhone app.
But the holy city became one again this weekend, after pressures from the Israeli government and the Simon Wiesenthal Center, according to Rabbi Meyer H. May, executive director of the Center.
“We are gratified that Yahoo! recognized its mistake and moved so quickly to correct its weather site and app,” he said.
In mid-May, the Jerusalem weather information suddenly became blank, deferring to alternatives “West Jerusalem, Yerushalayim” and “East Jerusalem, West Bank.”
“Yahoo! does not have the authority to divide Jerusalem,” said social media expert Dr. Andre Oboler. “Facebook found that moving locations between Israel and Palestine caused a huge user backlash, and in the end they settled to let users choose where they were.”
50,000
ultra-Orthodox
rally in Israel
JERUSALEM —
Around
50,000
ultra-Orthodox
Jews on
Thursday
rallied in
Jerusalem
and Bnei
Brak, police
said, in a
show of mass
defiance
over a
school
integration
ruling by
Israel's
highest
court.
"There
are 30,000
in Jerusalem
and 20,000
in Bnei Brak,"
near Tel
Aviv,
spokesman
Micky
Rosenfeld
told AFP.
"Streets in
the
immediate
vicinity of
the
demonstrations
are closed
to traffic."
The
incident
began when
the supreme
court
intervened
in a dispute
at an
Orthodox
school in
the Immanuel
Jewish
settlement
in the
northern
West Bank,
where
parents from
the strictly
observant
Slonim
Hassidic
sect of
Ashkenazi
Jewry
refused to
let their
girls go to
school with
girls of
Sephardi
descent.
The court
had given
the parents
until
Wednesday to
send their
children
back to
school or
face jail
for contempt
of court.
The parents
refused.
Although
the ruling
effectively
pitted the
ultra-Orthodox
Ashkenazis
against the
Sephardis,
both
communities
have come
together for
a mass
protest
against what
they see as
the
intolerable
intervention
of the
secular
state in
their
religious
affairs.
The
Slonim
parents say
their
objections
are not
racist but
are based on
differences
in religious
observance
between the
Ashkenazi
and Sephardi
traditions.
In
Jerusalem,
thousands of
protesters
massed in a
celebratory
atmosphere
near the
western
entrance to
the city,
the vast
majority men
dressed in
the
traditional
black of the
ultra-Orthodox.
The
dispute was
described by
the liberal
Haaretz
daily as
"the most
dramatic
state-religion
clash to
break out
here."
PA Continues to
Violate All
Conditions set
by the US
Itamar
Marcus, Nan
Jacques
Zilberdik and
Barbara Crook -
PMW.org.il, June
8th, 2010
US State
Department:
“After
completing
the first
round of
proximity
talks with
Israeli and
Palestinian
leaders,
both parties
are taking
some steps
to help
create an
atmosphere
that is
conducive to
successful
talks,
including
President
Abbas's
statement
that he will
work against
incitement
of any sort…”
[Washington
D.C., May 9,
2010]
Introduction
The start of
the
proximity
talks in May
2010 created
hope for the
renewal of
the Israeli
–
Palestinian
peace
process.
Palestinian
Authority
(PA)
Chairman and
Fatah leader
Mahmoud
Abbas
declared
that the PA
would
fulfill its
commitments,
with special
focus on
their
stopping
incitement.
Findings
However, an
examination
of the
Palestinian
Authority
leaders'
statements,
official
media,
children's
programs and
PA-controlled
events
creates a
pessimistic
picture:
Every
condition,
principle
and
expectation
set by the
US and the
Quartet for
accepting
the
Palestinian
Authority as
a partner in
the peace
process
continues to
be violated
by the
Palestinian
Authority in
the first
month of
talks.
Contrasting
its moderate
statements
to Western
powers in
English with
its own
people in
Arabic the
Palestinian
Authority,
the Fatah
leaders and
the Abbas-controlled
official PA
media
continue to
deny
Israel's
existence,
deny
Israel's
right to
exist,
define the
conflict
with Israel
as an
uncompromising
religious
war for
Allah,
promote
hatred
through
demonization
slander and
libel, and
glorify
terror and
violence.
Stand For
Israel Can
One Person Make a Difference?
Margy
Pezdirtz
describes events in Oklahoma
City last Friday afternoon:
" It was a quiet Friday, one in
which I wanted to study and
prepare for the coming
Shabbat, when my phone rang.
Renee said, "Did you get the
flyer? The one about the
anti-Israel rally this afternoon
at 4:30? I thought you might
want to do something about it."
"No, I didn’t get the flyer.
What’s happening."
And thus began the end of a
quiet afternoon. CAIR -
The Council on American-Islamic
Relations - was sponsoring a
rally from 4:30 p.m to 6:00 p.m
to "to decry Israel’s attack on
humanitarian aid ship share."
I quickly forwarded the article
on to my email list asking
anyone and everyone that could
to join me at 4:00 p.m at the
intersection. I called people
whom I knew wouldn’t receive the
e-mail prior to getting home and
told them of our intentions and
asked them to call as many
people as they could and to
please join us.
My sister was across town with
her daughter who is due to have
a baby any day now. I called
her and said, "Is the baby
coming?" "No," she responded.
"Then I have something more
important for you to do." I gave
her instructions and was happy
when she said, "OK." I wasn’t
sure I would leave my daughter
in that situation, but she is as
committed to Israel as I am and
she knew I wouldn’t be calling
if it wasn’t significant.
I grabbed a box of Israeli
window flags from my garage and
threw them in the car along with
a generous supply of ice water.
I donned white pants and my
blue tee that showed crossed
Israeli and America flags and
said, "United We Stand...Divided
We Fall" and backed out of the
driveway. My heart and head were
racing, and I wondered if I was
walking into trouble. My
granddaughter and I prayed as we
drove towards the site of the
rally where my son would pick
her up. Rushing toward the
freeway, I explained words to
her like ‘flotilla’,
‘humanitarian’ and once again,
"God’s love for the land and
people of Israel."
In the beginning, my friend
Renee and I were the only ones
at the intersection where the
rally was supposed to be held.
We took our stand across the
street from the anti-Israel
bunch and began waving Israeli
flags at passers by.
At her suggestion, I called the
local talk radio show, a
conservative station, and told
host Lee Matthews what we were
doing. He put it on the air and
soon, cars were passing by and
honking in agreement with the
two of us. I had told Lee that I
had Israeli flags I would give
out to anyone who pulled over
and asked for one.
A man in a white pickup truck
was stopped at the traffic light
going in the opposite
direction. He sat watching us as
he waited for the light and I
hollered, "Would you like a
flag?" He nodded yes and I ran
one across two traffic lanes to
him. He took the flag and said,
"I’m going to park and come help
you." His name was David.
Every fifteen minutes, the radio
station called for a report on
what was happening. I was
delighted to tell them people
were listening and responding
to us. He wanted to know how
many there were at the CAIR site
and I told him I could see
seven, which later turned to
eleven. As we talked on the
radio, I continued to wave flags
and smile at people.
Others came and joined us. One
couple, Mike and Betty, said
they were sitting on their
porch in El Reno - a town
approximately thirty miles away,
when they heard on the radio
about the anti-anti-Israel
rally. Mike looked at his wife
and said, "We better get down
there." Another couple heard
about it on the radio as they
were driving home from work and
they detoured to our location to
join us.
A beautifully dressed young
woman who lives in Northwest
Oklahoma City heard about it on
the radio, pulled into the
Walgreen’s parking lot across
the street and waited for the
very long light to change so she
could literally run across the
street to join us. She grabbed a
flag and began standing watch
with us. And they continued to
come. They were individuals.
They were couples. Some were on
their way home from work. Some
were just driving by. Others
heard about it on the radio and
were moved to action.
They were Christians and they
knew this was late on a Friday
afternoon when Jews were
preparing for Shabbat and most
likely wouldn’t be able to come
join in the rally, so they
responded to the invitation
and stood on the hot corner,
waving flags and shouting
"support Israel."
My spirits were lifted. I was
thrilled to see the response and
to hear the conversations of the
people who joined us.
They cheerfully pulled flags out
of the bag and started waving
them and giving them out and
when we ran out, I ran back to
the car and brought all I had.
We had a sign that said, "Honk
for Israel" and people put the
flags on their car windows and
drove around the block two,
three and four times honking for
Israel. When the anti-Israel
CAIR bunch mimicked our sign
with one that said, "honk for
Islam," people on our side of
the street honked even louder
and longer.
Our group had grown
considerably. There were
suddenly twelve and then twenty
and more came as some left. One
woman, riding on a large
motorbike flying an American
flag pulled into the
intersection, parked the bike
and said, "I came to join you."
I laughed and said, "Welcome,
Biker Babe" and we continued to
wave flags, hold up signs
supporting Israel. I couldn’t
help but give praise to God that
the response from those joining
us and those passing by with
honking horns, were so
supportive.
Finally, at 6:30, the CAIR crowd
had diminished to one person
against our dozen or so
remaining. We waited and watched
as they packed up their last
person, their signs and flags
into a vehicle and drove off.
Only then, did we call an end
to our rally. One person in our
group was determined to stay on
the corner until he had given
out his last flag and we left
him there waving his flag and
showing determination to all,
reaffirming his – and our –
solidarity with Israel."
Israel unearths
3,500-year-old religious
artifacts
JERUSALEM – Archaeologists
have unearthed a cache of rare,
35-century-old religious
artifacts once used in pagan
rituals, Israeli officials said
Monday.
The items were found during
an excavation ordered by the
Israel Antiquities Authority
along the route of a new gas
line in the country's north.
Excavating a rock hollow,
archeologists found more than
100 intact artifacts, including
a vessel for burning incense and
the sculpted face of a woman
that was part of a cup used in a
pagan religious ceremony.
"This is my 42nd excavation
in 15 years and the first time
I've found more than shards,"
said Edwin van den Brink, the
archaeologist who directed the
excavation. He said he expected
to find artifacts, but not the
amount or quality they
uncovered.
Some of the small vessels
were used to carry precious
liquids from Cyprus and Mycenae,
Greece, 3,500 years ago. These
vessels were replicated by
people in those areas,
illustrating a link between the
regions, van den Brink said.
Van den Brink said they might have been used in a nearby temple. They
were deposited in the hole
either to be preserved from
a fire that swept through
the region at the end of the
Late Bronze Age, or they
were buried because they
were no longer in use.
Yossi Garfinkel, a professor of archaeology at The Hebrew University of
Jerusalem who was not
involved in the dig, said
holy articles could not be
thrown out and were buried
instead.
"It is quite possible
that these artifacts were
used in the cultic area and
in the temple and they
accumulated, and when they
ran out of space or they
became old, a pit was made
to bury them," Garfinkel
said.
The Antiquities Authority
plans to exhibit the
artifacts in the coming
year.
Israel
set to become gas
exporter
Consortium finds enough gas to
secure energy needs for 50 - 70
years.
A consortium led by billionaire
Yitzhak Tshuva announced on
Thursday that it has struck
natural gas in a field called
'Leviathan' off the coast of
Israel.
The field is estimated to
contain 15 trillion cubic feet
of gas and is the second large
scale gas find in a month. Last
month's find, in a field called
'Tamar', is thought to contain
enough gas to supply Israel for
the next twenty years.
Speaking to Channel 2 news, Uzi
Landau, Minister of National
Infrastructure said that "we
have enough gas to supply all
our needs for the next 50 to 70
years".
Mr Yitzhak Tshuva is the owner
of the Delek Group and a major
player in the consortium which
made the latest find. Other
partners include Noble Energy
and Razio.
Noble Energy are based in
Houston, Texas and say the
neighboring Tamar field probably
contains more than
previously estimated:
about 8.4 trillion cubic feet, a
33 percent increase in the
earlier estimate.
Tshuva also says there may be an
oil field beneath the gas.
Rabbis:
Flotilla Clash Similar
to
Gog and Magog Prophecy
The Rabbinical Council of
Judea and Samaria issued
a statement Thursday in which it
said that the results of the
incident in which Israel
intercepted a flotilla trying to
break the naval blockade of
Gaza seem like the Biblical
description of "the beginning of
the Gog and Magog process where
the world is against us, but
which ends with the third and
final redemption."
The statement explained that
while secular Zionism always
wants Israel to be beloved by
other nations, “the legitimacy
of our people is not derived
from the nations of the world
and their poisonous traditions,
rather from the Torah of Israel
which teaches us that [Israel]
'is a people that shall dwell
alone, and shall not be reckoned
among the nations'" (Numbers
23:9). They emphasized that
there is no reason to be alarmed
by the world's condemnation as
it is a predicted result of fear
of Israel's success.
The Council blessed the
soldiers of the IDF and called
for the formation of an
emergency unity government that
will lead the nation from a
position of strength.
The Council was formed by
Rabbi Zalman Melamed of Beit El
and includes leading religious
Zionist rabbis who are the
spiritual leaders of communities
in Judea and Samaria.
'Gog and Magog' is a
reference is to chapters 38 and
39 in the book of Ezekiel, a
part of which is read on the
intermediate Sabbath of Sukkot
(Tabernacles). These chapters
describe a vision of a war where
the world is united against
Israel that will precede the
final redemption of Israel and
the world. The prophecy's
symbolism involves a prince
called Gog of Magog, leader of
Rosh, Meshech and Tubal, who
leads a coalition that includes
Persia (Iran), Cush, Phut, Gomer,
and Beit Togarmah against
Israel. There are various
opinions regarding the modern
identity of these nations.
As a sampling of passages
from Ezekiel 39 shows, the
prophesy predicts that the
coalition will be defeated by
Israel, at a time following
Israel's gathering from its
exile:
And
thou,
son of
man,
prophesy
against
Gog, and
say:
Thus
saith
the Lord
G-d:
Behold,
I am
against
thee, O
Gog,
chief
prince
of
Meshech
and
Tubal;
and I
will
turn
thee
about
and lead
thee on,
and will
cause
thee to
come up
from the
uttermost
parts of
the
north;
and I
will
bring
thee
upon the
mountains
of
Israel;
and I
will
smite
thy bow
out of
thy left
hand,
and will
cause
thine
arrows
to fall
out of
thy
right
hand.
Thou
shalt
fall
upon the
mountains
of
Israel,
thou,
and all
thy
bands,
and the
peoples
that are
with
thee; I
will
give
thee
unto the
ravenous
birds of
every
sort and
to the
beasts
of the
field,
to be
devoured.
(...)
Therefore
thus
saith
the Lord
G-d: Now
will I
bring
back the
captivity
of
Jacob,
and have
compassion
upon the
whole
house of
Israel;
and I
will be
jealous
for My
holy
name.
And they
shall
bear
their
shame,
and all
their
breach
of faith
which
they
have
committed
against
Me, when
they
shall
dwell
safely
in their
land,
and none
shall
make
them
afraid;
when I
have
brought
them
back
from the
peoples,
and
gathered
them out
of their
enemies'
lands,
and am
sanctified
in them
in the
sight of
many
nations.
And they
shall
know
that I
am the
Lord
their
G-d, in
that I
caused
them to
go into
captivity
among
the
nations,
and have
gathered
them
unto
their
own
land;
and I
will
leave
none of
them any
more
there;
neither
will I
hide My
face any
more
from
them;
for I
have
poured
out My
spirit
upon the
house of
Israel,
saith
the Lord
G-d.'
The dramatic flotilla
incident and the international
reactions to it have sparked
intense emotion, and unusual
unity, among the Jewish public
in Israel.
GUSH KATIF
FARMERS
EXPELLED,
UNEMPLOYED
AND SUED BY
THEIR ARAB
WORKERS!!!
One could
have thought
that after
the
uprooting
from Gush
Katif, the
destruction
of the
greenhouses,
the
hardships to
restore
their farms
(only 25%
have
returned to
work), the
poor
compensations
and the foot
dragging in
the
reconstruction
of their
homes, the
farmers of
Gush Katif
had suffered
enough and
they do not
need any
more
challenges.
NO, as it
seems this
is not
enough! The
latest issue
is so ironic
that if it
weren't true
it would be
funny.
The Gazan
workers who
once made a
living and
sustained
their
families
from their
work in the
Gush Katif
farms, who
learnt from
their
Israeli
employers
the secrets
of the most
advanced
agriculture
in the world
decided with
the gracious
help of
Israeli
lawyers
(apparently
funded by
anti-israeli
organizations)
to file a
law suit
against
their former
employers,
claiming
dismissal
indemnities
and other
employees
benefits
following
the
implementation
of the
disengagement
plan.
Yes!!! The
law suits
are filed
against the
same farmers
who are
themselves
unemployed
and who are
striving for
the past 5
years to
restore what
has been
vandalized,
desecrated
and
destroyed at
the blink of
an eye,
instead of
suing the
Israeli
government
who took the
decision of
the
'disengagement'.
"The
government
threw us out
of our home
and our
farms", says
Aharon Hazut,
coordinator
of the Gush
Katif
Farmers'
Lobby. "We
were not the
ones to
dismiss our
workers, the
government
did! And
fired me
together
with them!
The
situation of
my workers
is even
better than
mine - they
at least
still live
in their
homes
whereas, I
have been
living for
the last
five years
in a
'transit
camp'. To
those who
think that
this
dismissal is
unfair, I
say one
thing, let
us go back
to Gush
Katif and we
will
immediately
put them
back to
work."
What started
several
months ago
as a couple
of 'test
case'
lawsuits
against a
handful of
farmers, has
grown to a
deluge of
over 80
lawsuits
totaling
claims of
hundreds of
million
shekels.
The Gush
Katif
Committee
and the Gush
Katif
Farmers'
lobby in the
Knesset have
decided to
fight back.
Aharon
Hazut: "We
are in the
midst of an
immense
turmoil
among the
farmers who
for many
years
developed
and nurtured
the Land of
Israel, they
have been
workless for
5 years now,
the few that
have
restored
their farms
are striving
to make a
decent
living
despite the
poor
compensations."
"We
requested
the Israeli
government
to find
proper
solutions
for this
issue and
bear the
responsibility
for the
consequences
of the
dismissal of
Arab labor
following
the
expulsion.
In the
meantime,
the farmers
are required
to respond
to the
plaintiffs
complains
within
weeks. They
need to
appoint
lawyers,
file a
countersuit.
this is a
costy
endeavor and
we
desperately
need
immediately
NIS 250,000
to help pay
part of the
Gush Katif
farmers'
huge
expenses to
lawyers!!
The Gush
Katif
committee in
cooperation
with the
Lobby for
Gush Katif
farmers is
launching an
emergency
campaign for
the farmers
in order to
assist the
people who
have lost
all their
lifework.
