A Thriving Jewish Presence: Gaza, like you never knew it - by Nadav Shragai

For modern-day Israelis, Gaza is synonymous with terrorism and alienation. But Gaza has a long history of a thriving Jewish presence, explains researcher Haggai Hoberman.

The Margolins' flour mill 

 Photo: Joseph Margolin's archive

Nadav Shragai..
Israel Hayom..
19 March '20..
Link: https://www.israelhayom.com/2020/03/19/gaza-like-you-never-knew-it/

"Gaza will be like Ponevezh," the famous Israeli tea merchant Ze'ev Kalonymus Wissotzky predicted in the summer of 1885, as he laid out his revolutionary vision of "building urban Jewish neighborhoods in Arab cities like Lod, Nablus, Bethlehem, Tyre, Sidon, and Gaza."

Wissotsky made his proposal after he concluded that the Jewish agricultural settlement that existed in the Land of Israel was insufficient to provide for the new olim coming in from Russia. Wissotzky 's vision began to become a reality a year and a half later. A founding core group arrived from Jaffa under the leadership of Avraham Haim Shlush and Nissim Elkayam. Later, other families from Jerusalem and Hebron joined them, and eventually, the Jewish community increased to 30 families. The Arabs of Gaza, as difficult as it might be to believe, welcomed them.

Journalist and researcher Haggai Hoberman has just published a new book about the venture, titled "A Jewish Community in Gaza," in which he tells the story of the city's Jewish history. If today, "Gaza" is synonymous with terrorism and alienation, a place with a Philistine and Palestinian past, Hoberman's new research tells the unknown story of the Jews who lived there for generations, from the days of the Hasmoneans, during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods, in the Middle Ages, and until the early 20th century.

In our era, Gaza and its religious leaders are seen as demonic. An image bolstered by the TV series Fauda, Hoberman reveals that once, Gaza was home to Islamic religious leaders who were no less devout than those of our time, but different. It almost reads like science fiction. Who would believe that only 110 years ago, then Chief Rabbi of Gaza Nissim Binyamin Ohana, and then mufti of Gaza Sheikh Abdullah al-Alami, co-authored a book?

From a Perspective of Humility: Coronavirus, God, and Science - by Maj. Gen. (res.) Gershon Hacohen

When PM Benjamin Netanyahu said, in a March 21 TV interview, that “with God’s help we’ll get through” the coronavirus crisis, the interviewer interrupted him with these words: “With the help of the Weizmann Institute…The modern Temple of Zionism is at the Weizmann Institute.” This exchange reveals the gap between the modern state’s promise of efficient management even in the face of great adversity and the elements of randomness and surprise that can render the most powerful and advanced states helpless.

Maj. Gen. (res.) Gershon Hacohen..
BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 1,504..
25 March '20..
Link: https://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/coronavirus-god-and-science/

From the outset, the modern state has depended on science and human rationality as the means to a stable and secure future. As the French sociologist Bruno Latour described the modern era: “The laws of nature enabled the first Enlightenment to demolish the groundless pretensions of the ancient human conceptions…All thoughts of the past were rendered foolish or hypothetical…A shining dawn arrived.” Similarly, Theodor Herzl envisioned a modern state that would succeed on the basis of scientific knowledge. As he wrote in his book The Jewish State: “The founding of a Jewish State, as I conceive it, presupposes the application of scientific methods. We cannot journey out of Egypt today in the primitive fashion of ancient times.”

For the devotees of science and human rationality, this is the essence of the promise of stability, prosperity, and security. If something spins completely out of control, it is not—according to the “religion of rationality”—because the promise was overblown but because someone was negligent, did not do his job right, or failed to consult the right expert in time. It is a “foul-up,” a phenomenon that in our era requires an investigation.

The French philosopher Paul Virilio described at length how rational scientific thought strives to achieve control over the world of phenomena, seeking to control even the uncontrollable. In his view, however, this thralldom to the great promise of technology and science may well lead to an “integral accident” that not only will change the human perception of technology but could even bring about the end of the “modern project.”

Virilio was not, of course, hoping for such an “accident,” but warned of it: the crisis would be as deep as the promise was great. Modern humanity’s expectations of science and the state collide again and again with a defiant reality, and the coronavirus crisis is a dramatic example of such a clash.

Kol H'Kvod: In his final act as Knesset Speaker, Edelstein ‘upholds dignity’ of Parliament - by Alex Traiman

...for Edelstein, who has loyally served the State of Israel in numerous capacities, including the last seven years as Knesset Speaker, his last act in his current position may have been finest. By resigning, he is refusing to allow the parliament he ran diligently to become an extension of the judiciary branch under his watch.

Alex Traiman..
JNS.org..
25 March '20..

In the latest chapter in Israel’s political dysfunction, longtime Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein dramatically resigned his post on Wednesday rather than fulfill an overreaching order of the Supreme Court to hold an immediate vote on the assignment of a new speaker.

In Israel’s 72-year history, a vote for a new speaker after an election has never taken place prior to the formation of a new ruling coalition.

Blue and White and its left-wing allies, together with the support of the Joint Arab List have been attempting to wrestle control of the parliament and to replace the speaker in order to pass retroactive and personal legislation specifically designed to make it illegal for Benjamin Netanyahu to form a new government.

According to Knesset bylaws, “The Speaker shall run the affairs of the Knesset, represent it externally, uphold its dignity, maintain order during its sittings, and oversee the observance of its Rules of Procedure. He shall preside over the sittings of the Knesset, and run them, determine the results of votes, and in addition fulfill any task assigned to him by law.”

In between an election and the formation of a new government, Knesset bylaws state that the incumbent Knesset Speaker remains in his role. The bylaws also state explicitly that a new Knesset Speaker does not need to be voted upon until the very same day that a coalition is formed.

When Edelstein refused Blue and White’s call to hold a snap vote for speaker prior to the bylaw’s deadline, the party sent a petition to the Supreme Court.

The High Court could have decided not to accept the petition on the grounds that ruling on legislative bylaws oversteps judicial boundaries.

(Continue to Full Column)

Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work. 

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Surprise? NY Times Backs Cellphones to Fight Virus Everywhere Except Israel - by Ira Stoll

The only thing missing is for the disease to spread to Palestinian-controlled Gaza or areas of the West Bank, or for that matter, in Israel itself, and the Times then to blame Netanyahu for failing to use cellphone data to prevent the spread. It’s a safe bet that whatever Netanyahu does with the coronavirus and cellphones, the Times will find a way to criticize him.

Ira Stoll..
Algemeiner..
24 March '20..

A New York Times news article from Israel is faulting Prime Minister Netanyahu for combating the coronavirus with measures similar to those the Times itself, in a different article published the same day, says experts recommend.

Here’s the side-by-side comparison. The Times article about Israel reports, “Mr. Netanyahu has resorted to emergency regulations to usher in increasingly draconian measures to combat the spread of the virus. Those included authorizing the Shin Bet internal security agency to use cellphone data to track citizens, without any parliamentary oversight.” The language­ — “resorted,” “draconian,” “without any parliamentary oversight” — makes it clear enough that the Times disapproves. Draco, a 7th century BCE Athenian lawgiver, favored the death penalty for anyone who stole a cabbage or an apple, according to Plutarch.

And here’s the front-page New York Times news article from the same day’s newspaper, under the introductory language, “There is a chance to stop the coronavirus … doing so takes intelligent, rapidly adaptive work by health officials. … What follows are the recommendations offered by the experts interviewed by the Times.”

The Times says, “Everyone who is infected in South Korea goes into isolation in government shelters, and phones and credit card data are used to trace their prior movements and find their contacts. Where they walked before they fell ill is broadcast to the cellphones of everyone who was nearby. Anyone even potentially exposed is quarantined at home; a GPS app tells the police if that person goes outside. The fine for doing so is $8,000. British researchers are trying to develop a similar tracking app, albeit one more palatable to citizens in Western democracies.”

The same Times article reports, “China’s strategy is quite intrusive: To use the subway in some cities, citizens must download an app that rates how great a health risk they are. South Korean apps tell users exactly where infected people have traveled.”

So when it’s South Korea, Britain, and China using cellphones to fight Covid-19, the Times basically cheers them on, describing them as expert-recommended. Yet when the Israeli prime minister, Netanyahu, does a version of the same thing, the Times casts shade. It’s a classic Times double standard.

(Continue to Full Column)

Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work. 

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“In Blood and Fire We Will Redeem Sheikh al-Aqsa!”: Sheikh Raed Salah and His Endless Struggle Against Israel - by Lt. Col. (res.) Dr. Shaul Bartal

Sheikh Raed Salah was recently sentenced to 28 months in prison for encouraging and supporting terror attacks by his followers, including the attack at the Temple Mount on July 14, 2017, that killed police officers Haiel Sitawe and Kamil Shnaan. Though Salah has been behind bars for security offenses on multiple occasions, legal verdicts have never prevented him or his illegal Northern Branch from continuing to incite Israeli Arabs against the country in which they live.

Lt. Col. (res.) Dr. Shaul Bartal..
BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 1,496..
22 March '20..
Link: https://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/sheikh-raed-salah-and-his-endless-struggle-against-israel/

In his life story and the attitudes he espouses, Sheikh Raed Salah embodies the radicalization of Muslims in Israel.

Salah (literally “honest pioneer”) was born in the town of Umm al-Fahm in 1954. His father and two brothers served as officers in the Israel Police. After the 1967 Six-Day War, young Israeli Arab Muslims were able to attend religious institutions in the West Bank that were under the sway of the Muslim Brotherhood. Salah, along with Kamel Khatib, became the original nucleus of the Islamic cell at Hebron College (now Hebron University), which eventually turned pro-Hamas. Another member of that cell was Salah Aruri, founder of Hamas’s military wing and now deputy head of its political bureau.

Salah was arrested for the first time in 1981 for joining the Asrat al-Jihad (Family of Jihad) organization, which was set up by Sheikh Abdullah Nimr Darwish, the founder of the Islamic Movement in Israel. Members of this group, including Khatib, were arrested for belonging to an illegal organization, then freed in the 1985 Jibril Deal. After their release, some members of the Islamic Movement appeared to renounce their support for terror and focus instead on the political sphere.

Salah was elected Umm al-Fahm mayor and served from 1989 to 2001. During that period he began to formulate his worldview, which holds that Muslims in Israel must detach completely from governmental institutions and that the Islamic Movement must not take part in elections to the Knesset. That stance led to a division of the Islamic Movement into the Southern Branch, headed by Sheikh Darwish, and the more radical Northern Branch, led by Salah with Khatib as his deputy.

On June 24, 2003, Salah and members of his movement were served with an indictment that revealed the Northern Branch’s ties with Hamas, including use of their Israeli citizenship for purposes of fundraising and support for imprisoned Hamas terrorists and their families. Since the organizational split, and especially since stepping down as mayor of Umm al-Fahm, Salah has frequently come out in favor of anti-Israeli terror and violence.

Salah’s speeches are laced with antisemitism, and for that reason he was barred from entering Britain in 2012 (though he was granted entry after an appeal). His message contains several consistent themes: the Jews aim to destroy the al-Aqsa Mosque, and Muslims are duty-bound to defend it by any means necessary; the struggle between Jews and Muslims is an eternal one that appears in the Qur’an; the Palestinian “nakba” is comparable to the Jewish Holocaust; and “martyrs” are praiseworthy and will only multiply on the path of jihad until victory. In the sheikh’s view, the entire expanse of the Temple Mount, which comprises 36 acres, is sacred and belongs solely to Muslims—not only the al-Aqsa Mosque area. The Jewish enemy, Salah claims, is deliberately planning a gradual takeover of the site, first by taking control of the gates to the mosque and then by building a Jewish temple in place of the “radiant Dome of the Rock.” He asserted as much during a conference he held for members of the Masatab al-Ilm (“Benches of Learning”) organization on November 27, 2013. Masatab al-Ilm eventually spawned the Murabitun and the Murabitat (the “Steadfast Ones,” in their male and female forms), groups that were themselves declared illegal in September 2015.

BDS: Bibi Derangement Syndrome in the Age of Corona - by Victor Rosenthal

If there is one theme that PM Netanyahu’s opponents are banging away at – and that includes not just his political opposition, but most of the mainstream media in Israel and a small army on social media – it is that he is “destroying democracy,” or even trying to turn Israel into a dictatorship. If you don’t believe me, just google “Israel democracy Netanyahu” and you will get pages and pages of the same old … stuff.

Victor Rosenthal..
Abu Yehuda..
22 March '20..
Link: http://abuyehuda.com/2020/03/bibi-derangement-in-the-age-of-corona/

Democracy, in the broadest sense of the term, means that the citizens of a state determine its policies by voting. Usually they vote for representatives to run things according to their understanding of what’s best for everyone, like parliaments or senators and congressmen, prime ministers or presidents. They grant these representatives power for a limited period of time, and then review their performance by holding elections.

Different countries have developed different systems for doing this, and some are better than others. Israel has a system of proportional representation by political party, which has some theoretical advantages but one big disadvantage: it doesn’t work. We have had three elections in about one year and none of them has enabled the formation of a government coalition.

The system is what is preventing us from having a functional democracy, not Bibi Netanyahu. Netanyahu’s Likud party got a plurality of seats in the Knesset, although no one party ever gets a majority. His bloc, which means the Likud plus some religious and right-wing parties is short of a majority, too. So why doesn’t the opposition have a majority? Because it has two parts: the part composed of the Blue and White party and a few other parties on the (more or less) Zionist Left, and the part which is the 15 seats held by anti-Zionist Arab parties.

Not one of the Arab legislators will agree that Israel should be a Jewish state in any sense of the word. The most moderate would prefer it to be a “state of its citizens” like the USA, for example. The slightly less moderate would like it to become a binational state, while the rest are Islamists, or Palestinian or pan-Arab nationalists. I like to think that the political forces that produced them are not an expression of the true attitudes of Israel’s Arab citizens, but I’m not sure.

Most of Blue and White’s leaders could not bring themselves to include the Arab parties in the coalition (would you?), but apparently they are not averse to forming a minority government that depends on their votes. Our system allows a coalition of a minority of the members of the Knesset, as long as they don’t lose a vote of confidence.

This would mean that the Arab parties would have a veto over all the actions of the government. Given their ideologies, that is unacceptable. And at least three members of the opposition agree with me, so this will not happen. There is a law, by the way, that says that someone who “[negates] the existence of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state” can’t sit in the Knesset, but the Supreme Court has prevented its application to Arabs.

The other alternative is to form a unity government in which the leaders of the two major parties would take turns at being Prime Minister. That is the direction we are going now, and they are negotiating terms – who will fill the various ministerial slots, who will be PM first and for how long, and so on.

The key to not panicking in line at the Supersol - by Akiva Gersh

Israelis have done this so many times before. They’ve been called upon to interrupt their self- and family-centered lives time and time again for the sake of the nation.

Akiva Gersh..
JNS.org..
20 March '20..




I moved to Israel in 2004, and since then, there have been events and moments that have reaffirmed the reasons why I did.

One of those moments is right now.

Yes, now, during these challenging and confusing and unsettling days that the world is being held captive by the coronavirus.

Like so many others around the world, we in Israel are confined to our homes, but the few moments a day that I do manage to get out into the world remind me of why I love Israel so much.

It’s the calm I see on people’s faces as I push my shopping cart through the supermarket. It’s their ability to still smile and even laugh with one another as they stand in line waiting for their turn to pay for the items they want to bring back to their families in quarantine. And it’s their ability to still believe that y’hiyeh b’seder … “It’ll be OK.”

And I wonder why is it that Israelis are not entering into hysteria the way people in other countries are, even though their day-to-day lives have been deeply and unexpectedly altered in very much the same exact way? Why are we not stripping the shelves bare of toilet paper and pasta and cold medicines, leaving nothing to find for the people that come after us?

And then it hit me.

I realize that the people I pass on the street, on the road and in the stores have seen hard times before. While recognizing and honoring the unique aspects of this time we’re now in, this is not the first time the people of Israel have been forced to struggle. They’ve done so many times before. They’ve been called upon to interrupt their self- and family-centered lives time and time again for the sake of the nation.

(Continue to Full Column)

Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work. 

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(Excellent!) This is in our hands - by Dr. Nachman Shai

The directives being given to the public are correct. Nothing is overblown when lives are being saved, and they are. The discomfort is temporary, but worth every ounce of effort.

Nachman Shai..
Israel Hayom..
19 March '20..
Link: https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/this-is-in-our-hands/

Israel is going through hard days, along with the rest of the world. This crisis is among the worst in human history. The process we were so proud of – globalization and technology – have risen against their creator. We thought a borderless global village was a wonderful thing. It absolutely isn't. The technologies mobilizing and propping up globalization have become a great enemy. The spread of this virus, the previous one and the one that comes next – are all fed by these wonderful processes. We need technology, but it is also exacting bitter revenge on us now.

In Israel, two crises – national and global – have intertwined. Israel is mired in a severe democratic crisis, which is also unprecedented. Elections that have failed to produce a clear winner have created a leadership crisis. The thought that only the executive branch is functioning is both chilling and terrifying. But the main priority is the personal safety of every man, woman and child.

If I have any advice to give from my experiences in the First Gulf War, which appears vaguely similar to the situation today, it's that we first and foremost protect ourselves. It's in our hands. We are all obligated to this effort as social solidarity has taken on new meaning. I am closely following the actions of the government and the prime minister. They are doing good work. Before anything else, I am judging them on one question: Will we all be able to overcome these frightening times?

The directives being given to the public are correct. Nothing is overblown when lives are being saved, and they are. We now have examples from other countries who are proving this well. Please listen to today's national spokespeople, believe them, heed their advice.The discomfort is temporary, but worth every ounce of effort. Our lives are at stake, as are the lives of our friends and loved ones. Different days will follow. They will be better. We will breathe fresh air, we will go outside. We'll go back to the squabbling we love to do. We will scrutinize the government and its leaders. In the meantime, remember, it's in our hands.

Former MK Dr. Nachman Shai served as head of Knesset lobbies for Israel-US relations and to bolster ties with Diaspora Jewry.

Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work. 

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As the ICC moves to destroy the very international law it was created to uphold - by Evelyn Gordon

All law is based on two fundamental principles: that compliance is possible without leaving yourself or your country vulnerable to destruction; and that compliance protects you from legal trouble. If those two criteria aren’t met, nobody would have any reason to obey the law. The ICC’s decision to prosecute Israel eviscerates both those principles. And as such, it’s liable to destroy the very international law it was created to uphold.

Evelyn Gordon..
JNS.org..
18 March '20..

March 16 was the deadline for filing briefs on whether the International Criminal Court should recognize Palestine as a state. But important though that question is, the ICC prosecutor’s decision to open a criminal investigation against Israel poses a much bigger problem: Contrary to the court’s stated mission of trying to reduce the harm caused by war, it may well result in even higher casualties and more extensive property damage.

Like all Western countries, Israel makes great efforts to uphold customary laws of war, including by trying to minimize civilian casualties. As a group of high-ranking Western military experts wrote in a report on the Hamas-Israel war of 2014, Israel “met and in some respects exceeded the highest standards we set for our own nations’ militaries.” In fact, Israel has historically caused fewer civilian casualties and less property damage than other Western armies.

Many Israelis actually resent this, arguing that the restrictions imposed on the army’s use of force put Israel’s own soldiers and civilians at greater risk. And the Israel Defense Forces’ vehement denials can’t necessarily be taken at face value since it would hardly admit to putting Israelis at risk. Yet even assuming these denials are truthful, the fact that many Israelis believe otherwise means that the army is under constant pressure to be less stringent about using force.

Until now, however, it has had a strong counter-argument: These restrictions aren’t so onerous as to make effective military action impossible, and obeying them keeps our soldiers and politicians out of international legal trouble. Consequently, it’s worth the effort.

But now, ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda has declared that all the IDF’s efforts were worthless:

(Continue to Full Column)

Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work. 

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Clearly there is a right to vote, but not to dismantle the state - by Jonathan S. Tobin

In comparing Arab doctors to Joint List Knesset members, Israel’s critics are exploiting the coronavirus pandemic to promote the lie that Zionism is racism.

Jonathan S. Tobin..
JNS.org..
17 March '20..

It seems like a devastating argument. If Israeli Jews are willing to accept life-saving treatment from Arab doctors, why won’t they give their representatives in the Knesset a seat in the country’s government?

That’s the point The New York Times’ Jerusalem bureau chief David Halbfinger made last week both on Twitter and in an article that made the same point. It’s been echoed elsewhere in features in the Israeli press.

But the premise is false. The idea that objections to giving anti-Zionist Arab parties a role in the government of Israel is racist is more than a cheap shot aimed at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his supporters. The attempt to use the coronavirus pandemic as a way of chipping away at the legitimacy of a Jewish state demonstrates that Israel’s critics consider the catastrophic spread of a deadly disease as merely just another opportunity to take pot shots at Zionism.

It’s important to separate two arguments being made here. One is about the yearlong standoff between Netanyahu and his political opponents as the two sides continue to battle over who will lead the country’s next government, and whether the votes of Knesset members who support Israel’s enemies should be the deciding factor. The other is a more fundamental question about whether Israel can be both a state devoted to protecting the national rights of the Jewish people while granting equal rights to non-Jewish citizens.

Of course, Jews gratefully accept treatment from Arab doctors and nurses working in the country’s hospitals. Arabs—both those who are citizens of Israel and residents of the territories—also accept the care they got from the far larger number of Jewish doctors and nurses that work in the same medical facilities. It should also be pointed out that even the families of hostile Palestinian terror groups based in Gaza or the West Bank have been admitted to Israeli hospitals, where they are treated with the same scrupulous devotion that any Jew gets.

So when Dr. Ahmad Tibi, a physician who also serves as a Knesset member of the Joint Arab List, which won 15 seats in the Knesset earlier this month, claims that Jews who would accept his services as a doctor, but don’t want him deciding who will be prime minister, are racists and hypocrites, he isn’t being honest.

(Continue to Full Column)

Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work. 

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(Important Read) The Struggle for Israel’s Jewish Soul - By Prof. Efraim Karsh and Maj. Gen. (res.) Gershon Hacohen

The possibility of an Israeli minority government that relies on the Joint Arab List underscores the clear and present danger of accommodating political parties and movements that reject the existence of the Jewish state and propagate Israel’s transformation into a Palestinian Arab (Muslim) state.

Prof. Efraim Karsh and Maj. Gen. (res.) Gershon Hacohen..
BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 1,486..
16 March '20..
Link: https://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/israel-jewish-soul/

From its outset, the Zionist movement was committed to full civil and religious equality of the non-Jewish minority in the future Jewish state (as stipulated in the 1917 Balfour Declaration and the League of Nations mandate). According to a draft constitution of the prospective Jewish state, prepared by Ze’ev Jabotinsky in 1934, Arabs and Jews were to share all rights and duties including military and civil service; Hebrew and Arabic were to enjoy the same legal standing; and “in every cabinet where the prime minister is a Jew, the vice-premiership shall be offered to an Arab and vice versa.” Echoing this vision, about a decade later David Ben-Gurion avowed that “one should not even contemplate a Jewish state that lacks full and absolute equality, political, civil, and national, for all of its residents and citizens…. In a Jewish state, an Arab could be elected prime minister or president, if suitable for the post.”

Manifested inter alia by Israel’s Proclamation of Independence (May 14, 1948), which granted “complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex” and urged the nascent state’s Arab citizens “to participate in the upbuilding of the state on the basis of full and equal citizenship and due representation in all its provisional and permanent institutions,” this ultraliberal and inclusive outlook was predicated on the assumption—underpinning the essence of all nation-states—of its citizens’ acceptance of its legitimacy and their abidance by its laws, rules, and regulations. In the case of the Arab-Jewish conflict this meant acquiescence of Israel’s Arab citizens to their minority status in Israel; that is, in the national home of the Jewish people as postulated by the 1922 mandate of the League of Nations—the UN’s predecessor as representative of the will of the international community—which tasked Britain with facilitating the establishment of this national home. In Ben-Gurion’s words: “A Jewish state does not only mean Jewish majority in that state—it also concerns the state’s purpose: it will be a state not only of and for its citizens, but a state whose mission is to ingather the exiles and to concentrate and ensconce them in the homeland.”

By way of attaining this goal, Israel passed the Law of Return, which grants Jews, wherever they are, the right to citizenship should they choose to make Israel their home, as well as specific legislation aimed at safeguarding Israel’s Jewish character, notably Basic Law: The Knesset (Article 7A). It stipulated that:

A candidates’ list shall not participate in elections to the Knesset, and a person shall not be a candidate for election to the Knesset, if the objects or actions of the list or the actions of the person, expressly or by implication, include one of the following:

1. negation of the existence of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state;

2. incitement to racism;

3. support of armed struggle, by a hostile state or a terrorist organization, against the State of Israel.

Indeed, when in 1965 the Central Elections Committee disqualified the Arab Socialist List organized by the irredentist al-Ard movement, which rejected Israel’s very existence, from running for the Knesset, the Supreme Court ratified that measure under the doctrine of “defensive democracy.” As the court stated in a majority opinion: “There can be no doubt that the state of Israel is not only a sovereign, independent state, which cherishes freedom and is characterized by the rule of the people—but also that it was established ‘as a Jewish state in the Land of Israel’.”

Truthfully? No, not all votes are equal - by Martin Sherman

Blue and White persists in an obsessive effort to include the inimical Joint Arab List in determining the fate of the Jewish nation-state.

Am Yisrael Chai?

Martin Sherman..
JNS.org..
14 March '20..

… the right of the Jewish people to establish their State is irrevocable. … This right is the natural right of the Jewish people to be masters of their own fate, like all other nations, in their own sovereign State. … Accordingly, we … hereby declare the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz-Israel, to be known as the State of Israel. … The State of Israel will be open for Jewish immigration. — From Israel’s Declaration of Independence

Why was the First Temple destroyed? Because of three things which prevailed there: idolatry, illicit sexual relations, bloodshed. … But why was the Second Temple destroyed, seeing that in its time they occupied themselves with Torah, mitzvot [religious observance] and acts of charity? Because baseless hatred prevailed. This teaches you that baseless hatred is equal to the three sins of idolatry, illicit sexual relations and murder. — Babylonian Talmud, Yoma 9:B

The election results put us in the position of choosing which election promise to break. In this situation, removing Netanyahu is the main goal. We have no choice but to rely on the Joint List.” — MK Moshe (Bogey) Ya’alon, Blue and White, March 12, 2020

“It would be so nice if something would make sense for a change.” — Alice in “Alice in Wonderland” (The film)

These four excerpts encapsulate concisely, yet precisely, much of the implausible events that transpired in Israel’s political arena over the last few days—from the disturbing departure from the founding ethos of the State of Israel to the pernicious conduct of those, who allow their personal pique to undermine the very foundations of Jewish sovereignty.

A Kafkaesque aura

On March 11, a surreal, almost Kafkaesque, aura descended upon political realities in Israel, shrouding them in a thick swirl of bizarre fog, distorting familiar perspectives and conjuring up outlandish spectacles, previously considered inconceivable, before our very eyes.

Incredibly, and despite fervent assurances to the contrary, official envoys from Blue and White, Knesset members Ofer Shelah and Avi Nissenkorn, unashamedly proceeded to engage the heads of the Joint Arab List in an effort to cajole them into entering a coalition to oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from office, or at least into supporting the establishment of such a coalition.

This, of course, constitutes a breathtaking abandonment of principle by Blue and White—a party headed by three former IDF chiefs of staff, who time and again assured the electorate that any government that their party formed would not rely in any way, neither directly nor indirectly, on the overtly anti-Zionist Joint List.

This was a pledge that appeared eminently plausible. After all, the Joint List, a motley, ad hoc political amalgam of Stalinists, Islamists and Arab ultra-nationalists, united only by an incandescent animosity towards Israel as a Jewish state, is a party that represents the utter negation of everything the leaders of Blue and White have dedicated much of their adult life to defend.

What makes this endeavor even more perverse is the fact that less than a year ago, prominent Joint List members repeatedly accused the heads of Blue and White of war crimes.

(Continue to Full Column)

Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work. 

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The Attempted ‘Rebranding’ of BDS on the African Continent - by Ben Cohen

BDS South Africa’s shameful misrepresentation of Nelson Mandela as a militant anti-Zionist is simply one aspect of its broader campaign of defamation, in which no inaccuracy, half-truth or outright lie is too wild if it helps with the demonization of Israel and Zionism.

Ben Cohen..
JNS.org..
13 March '20..

The BDS movement, whose goal is for rest of the world to quarantine the State of Israel as though it was the coronavirus, is undergoing a “rebranding” in its South African heartland.

Last week, BDS South Africa—an NGO that enjoys significant influence within the ruling African National Congress—announced that it was adopting a new name, a new logo and a new(ish) mission. Henceforward, the group will be known as “Africa for Palestine.” Its understanding of what constitutes “Palestine” is displayed in its logo, which shows a Palestinian keffiyeh carefully folded into a map of the entire territory between the Mediterranean Sea and the River Jordan.

What’s with the organization’s redefined mission? According to a statement last week from BDS South Africa, the newly branded group—whose acronym, AFP, is suspiciously similar to that of Africans for Peace, a local grassroots group that is firmly opposed to the boycott of Israel—“will seek to build alliances and partnerships across the continent, reinforce direct support to Palestine and assist the Palestinian Diaspora.” The main means of achieving this is through “pushing back against Israel’s creeping infiltration into our continent.”

Leaving aside the “creeping” medieval echoes of this latter statement, one is struck by the sheer resentment underlying it. After the Jewish state developed close economic and political ties during the 1950s with African nations newly liberated from the shackles of European colonialism, Arab pressure forced Israel out of the continent for several decades. During this century, however, a combination of creative Israeli diplomacy, cutting-edge Israeli technology and development expertise, and a new determination among African leaders to set relations with Israel on their own terms (as opposed to those of pan-Arab or pan-Islamic organizations) have brought that period of isolation to a decisive end. The Israeli presence has mushroomed across the continent, and Jerusalem now has full diplomatic relations with 41 of the 44 sub-Saharan states.

(Continue to Full Column)

Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work. 

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Temple Mount Vs. Joint Arab List's Chutzpah - by Nadav Shragai

Don't let the boundless appetite of the Joint Arab List to fix what it sees as a historic wrong fool you into allowing Israel to give up one of the few remaining rights Jews have on the Temple Mount.

Nadav Shragai..
Israel Hayom..
11 March '20..
Link: https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/the-joint-arab-lists-chutzpah/

Here it is, earlier than expected. As the country celebrates Purim, the masks have come off: the Joint Arab List is demanding that when Blue and White forms a government, it put an end to Jews visiting the Temple Mount. Or as the Arab Israeli and Palestinian discourse has referred to these visits for years now: "Visit by settler extremists."

That is how they refer to Jews who wear kippahs, who comprise the vast majority of the Jews who visit the Temple Mount in recent years.

The Joint Arab List's appetite and audacity, it seems, knows no bounds. The list is counting its chickens before they're hatched and is seeking to prevent one of the last remaining things the status quo allows Jews to do on the Temple Mount – visit it. This is only the beginning, but what a symbolic beginning it is.

The fact that the Jewish people have risen up in the Land of Israel is like a bone in their throats, and the fact that 53 years ago, Israel liberated holy Jewish sites – first and foremost the Temple Mount - they see as a major accident of history, but one that can be rectified. This is the reason behind the many attempts in recent years to attack Jews who visit the Mount. This also explains the terminology that the Palestinians and some members of the Joint Arab List use: "To save/liberate and redeem the Temple Mount from the hands of the Jews who sully it by their very presence there."

Some of the Joint Arab List MKs talk about the "Israeli people," much like the Palestinians do. They don't recognize Israel as the national homeland of the Jewish people. The idea of tolerating Judaism as a subservient minority religion has been replaced by the idea of "a state of all its citizens," and often this is only the first step of a much longer-term plan.

The idea of a "state of all its citizens" has a handful of blind followers on the far Left, but we need to hope that Blue and White will now open its eyes and see that the Temple Mount is only the first step and that the flag has been raised to erase the "mistake" of a state for the Jewish people.

Don't be confused: The state of Israel, the state of the Jewish people, made its biggest, most incomprehensible decision about the Temple Mount, a concession that is unlike anything any other religion in the world has done. It allowed its most holy site to be left in the hands of a competing religion, Islam, and forewent the rights of Jews to pray there, and only allowed them to visit the Mount.

Question. Have you given up on the Jewish state? - by Dr. Limor Samimian-Darash

The attempt to present opposition to relying on the Joint Arab List as racist – is contemptible. Neither religion nor skin color forms the basis of this opposition, rather an ideology that strives to erase the existence of the Jewish nation-state.

Dr. Limor Samimian-Darash..
Israel Hayom..
11 March '20..
Link: https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/have-you-given-up-on-the-jewish-state/

The past election year presented us with no shortage of important issues, beyond partisan divisions and the question of who Israel's next prime minister will be. The recent election was over the defense of democracy against the courtacracy, the public's trust in the legal system, and also about the application of sovereignty versus the idea of territorial disengagement.

But the uproar to emerge in recent days over Benny Gantz's intention to establish a government with the support of the Joint Arab List, crystallizes the essence of the battle, perhaps the most significant Israeli society is facing. We've again reached a junction where the arrows pointing Left or Right are unclear, leaving us only with the fundamental argument about the very Jewishness of the Jewish state.

What began as slanderous campaigns decrying "religious coercion," which continued with blatant anti-religious propaganda and assurances of a "secular and liberal" government – now appears to be a type of abdication of the country's Jewish character, rather than its supposedly religious character. This is undeniably a fight over the very existence of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people. A democratic state that espouses human and civil rights for all its citizens, but a state whose national identity is singular: Jewish. A country which promotes and ratifies the right of Jews to return to their homeland, encourages their arrival and grants them immigration benefits and support. It is a country whose national flag is with the Star of David and whose national anthem specifies the "Jewish soul" and "an eye toward Zion."

Apparently, what seems natural to so many Israelis is perceived by others as discrimination or racism. Whether we are headed to a fourth election or not, this is a fundamental question that demands an answer: Is Israel a Jewish state or a state of all its citizens? And the question isn't new; for years it served as the basis for various arguments, for example over the policies the country adopted to combat illegal immigration or disqualification of a Knesset candidate or another. This time, however, the question appears as an explicit argument, almost as a blunt accusation against those who support the state's Jewishness. In just one example, political pundit Amnon Abramovich told viewers this week that if we don't include the Joint Arab List in the next government, we are no longer a democratic state. In other words, if we reject a government that rests on anti-Zionist views and opposes Israel's Jewish character, we have reached the end of democracy.

Why the arrest of this Palestinian actually matters - by Stephen M. Flatow

Hussam Khader will languish in a prison cell because he is a symbol of everything that is wrong with the Palestinian Authority.

Stephen M. Flatow..
JNS.org..
10 March '20..

You probably have never heard the name Hussam Khader. But you should. Because what’s happening to him has extremely important ramifications for Israel and for Middle East peace.

Khader, 59, is a leader of Fatah (the main component of the PLO) and an elected member of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC). The council was established as part of the 1993 Oslo accords. Former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin understood that transforming Palestinian Arab society from authoritarianism to democracy was one of the most crucial ingredients for a durable and meaningful peace. So Israel insisted that the Oslo agreement include the establishment of a number of democratic agencies and mechanisms, including a democratically elected legislative council.

Many pundits have strongly criticized the notion that the United States should pursue “regime change” around the world. One can argue that America doesn’t have the resources for such a mission; however, the concept behind “regime change” is sound, and always was. The concept is based on the fact that democracies almost never make war against fellow democracies. Nearly every major war you can think of in modern times was started by a dictator.

Written off by many as just another military man, Rabin recognized that the process of overhauling Palestinian Arab society would be complicated and take a long time. But he also knew that the only way to permit the Palestinian Authority to run its own regime just a few miles from major Israeli cities was to be sure that it would not become yet another aggressive authoritarian entity.

Twenty-seven years have now passed since Rabin began the Oslo experiment. Twenty-seven years is enough time to see the results of the experiment. After 27 years, there should be serious evidence as to whether the P.A. has made meaningful progress towards democratization and entitlement to statehood.

Which brings us back to Palestinian Arab legislator Hussam Khader. Last week, members of the P.A.’s official Preventive Security Services burst into Khader’s home in Nablus (Shechem) in the middle of the night and dragged him off to prison. His crime? He posted a comment on Facebook in which he criticized P.A. chief Mahmoud Abbas for having said that striking Palestinian physicians who are seeking a salary increase are “despicable.”

I have no sympathy for Hussam Khader. He is a veteran terrorist who has served time in Israeli prisons. But his arrest tells us a lot about the nature of the Palestinian Authority.

(Continue to Full Column)

Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work. 

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Who Would've Thought? ‘Palestinian’ Women Resist Israeli ‘Occupation’ in Fake Academia - by Sheri Oz

But what the heck! It looks good to have a source for claims in academic papers and of course nobody expects the reviewers to actually open up the source citations.

Sheri Oz..
Israel Diaries..
09 March '20..

This is Part I of a three-part series critiquing a single article that uses ‘analysis’ of women’s ‘resistance’ as a vehicle by means of which to vilify Israel.

The article is called Middle Eastern Women between Oppression and Resistance: Case Studies of Iraqi, Palestinian and Kurdish Women of Turkey; it was written by Khodary, Salah and Mohsen of Egypt. and was published in the Journal of International Women’s Studies in February 2020. The one good thing I can say about this is that the journal is ranked in only the third quartile and comes 68th out of 131 journals specializing in gender studies. Still, you can be sure that it will be cited in future studies and therein lies its danger.

The article begins by stating the obvious, that war and hostilities affect women negatively. They claim that in some countries life expectancy has gone down since the Arab Spring. This is not surprising, in fact, because violent uprisings lead to the deaths of many people. They cannot make a similar claim for the Arabs in the Palestinian Authority (PA), however, because life expectancy has been increasing steadily over they years, so they have this to say:

The intersectionality and interplay between gender and other identities also intensified the impact wars and conflict had on particular women groups, such as the female Arab population in Israel and the Kurdish women of Turkey, compared to the rest of the population (Na’amnih et al. 2010). (page 204)

Aside from the fact that Khodary et al‘s article is supposed to be about women in the PA and not in Israel, this may sound profound to some. However, when you turn to the paper cited here as support for this statement, you find that it is about the gap in life expectancy between Arabs and Jews in Israel and nothing else (and certainly no mention of Kurdish women or Turkey). Na’amnih et al do not talk at all about intersectionality, nor about war and conflict. All they say is that the gap between Jewish and Arab life expectancy for both men and women decreased between 1975 and 1998 because of improved infant survival rates but that it increased somewhat between 1998-2004; the difference in 2004 was 3.2 years for men and 4 years for women. This time it was mostly related to health problems in those over 65 years of age and issues of smoking, obesity, medical compliance, genetic predisposition and accessibility to health care; none of these were related to the issues addressed by Khodary and her colleagues. But what the heck! It looks good to have a source for claims in academic papers and of course nobody expects the reviewers to actually open up the source citations.

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Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work. 

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Surprise? Guardian op-ed on Israeli elections ignores anti-Zionist elephant in the room - by Adam levick

Wallach’s insistence on framing the complex Arab-Israeli political divide through the facile lens of the Palestinian (progressive) David battling the Israel (far-right) Goliath, rather than engaging in a sober analysis of the ideological fissures which separate Jewish and Arab parties, serves to reinforce Guardian readers’ immense misunderstanding of Israel’s messy but undeniably democratic reality.

Adam Levick..
UK Media Watch..
08 March '20..

Yair Wallach, a senior lecturer in Israeli studies and head of the Centre for Jewish Studies at SOAS, the University of London, published an op-ed in the Guardian on March 5 (“Palestinian voters are the new power brokers in Israel, much to Netanyahu’s chagrin”)

Wallach argues that Arab citizens of Israel who voted for the Joint List helped keep Benjamin Netanyahu from forming a majority in the Israeli elections (Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc has 58 seats, 3 shy of a majority). He also claims that the “refusal to strike an alliance with Palestinian citizens [the four Arab parties which make up the Joint List] remains the primary reason for the failure of the centre-left parties” to form a government, which he characterises as “racist”.

The racist logic of a “Jewish majority” still forms the basis of mainstream politics. As recently as last month, Blue and White pledged not to include the Joint List in its future government, despite its endorsement of Gantz. Some members of Blue and White are ideologically opposed to the inclusion of Palestinians; others are fearful that it would drive Jewish voters away.

However, racism isn’t the reason why Blue and White won’t include Joint List in its future government.

(Continue to Full Post)

Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work. 

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Hot off the press! Palestinians invented the alphabet! - by Elder of Ziyon

Therefore, when Cyrus allowed the Jews to return to Israel, he was being lobbied by Babylonian Jews who were his advisors - just like AIPAC does today!

Elder of Ziyon..
06 March '20..

Palestinian Arabic histories online continue to create fantastic new facts about a people who never existed before the last century.

This article in Al Watan by Ali Oqla Arsan about the history of Jerusalem says that Arabs were in the area from the fourth millennium BC, something that historians would be interested in knowing.

For the purposes of the article, though, everyone in the area had to be Arab because then, if they were between the Mediterranean and the Jordan they could be considered "Palestinians."

As a result, the Jebusites who controlled Jerusalem - who we only know about from the Jewish scriptures - are Palestinians.

In his fantasy retelling of history, the writer says that the native Arabs resisted the invasion of the Jews. Even David wasn't able to wrest control of Jerusalem from the Arabs. During the days of David and Solomon, Jews only had a kind of limited autonomy that was graciously granted by the Arabs of the area.

(Continue to Full Post)

Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work. 

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The UN's Very Selective Outrage on Occupied Territories - by Brenda Shaffer, Svante Cornell and Jonathan Schanzer

In fact, when it issued its blacklist, the UN Human Rights Office may have inadvertently opened the flood gates. In today's interconnected world, aggrieved parties are keenly aware of developments in other protracted conflicts. They will want to know why the world's most prominent multilateral organization is willing to apply sanctions in one protracted conflict, but not others. The UN Human Rights Office must now be prepared to explain why some occupations are inconsequential, but only Israel's control of the West Bank is deserving of a blacklist.

Brenda Shaffer, Svante Cornell and Jonathan Schanzer..
Pundicity.com/Real Clear World..
04 March '20..
Link: http://schanzer.pundicity.com/23885/the-un-selective-outrage-on-occupied-territories

Yesterday during remarks at the AIPAC annual conference, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo referred to the recent publication by the UN Human Rights Office of a database of companies that operate in the West Bank. Pompeo defined the report as "a real threat" that "only serves to facilitate the BDS movement and delegitimize Israel." Pompeo declared that the United States will take actions on behalf of the "members of our business community that are being threatened by this release."

The UN Human Rights Office on Feb. 12 published a database of 112 companies that operate in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The vast majority of the listed companies provide basic goods and services to the people living in these disputed territories.

The database was originally slated to be released in March. However, it appears the United Nations released it early as part of its effort to counter the Trump administration's new Middle East peace plan. The plan seeks to legalize Israel's control over some of the territory it conquered in the 1967 Six Day War and has controlled ever since.

As Pompeo pointed out, the release of the database is also designed to do one more thing: to give a boost to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign that seeks to wage an economic war against Israel. The database is deliberately designed to assist their efforts to deter businesses from working with Israel.

The best evidence that the UN Human Rights Council does not seek to act against foreign occupation of lands, but against Israel, is the fact that the database collects information on activities only in territories controlled by Israel, and not all territories regarded by the United Nations as under occupation. Indeed, the list does not include companies operating in Russia's occupations in five regions in neighboring countries. Nor does it include businesses in Northern Cyprus, Western Sahara, Kashmir, Nagorno-Karabakh, to name just a few. The list immediately lacks credibility because it ignores these conflicts.