Shine - Steel and Silk

Dr. Chaim Shine
Israel Hayom
04 November '11

http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=772

In these days of political and nuclear threats to the very existence of the state of Israel as a Jewish state, as well as serious economic difficulties, I recall a young couple's wedding I recently attended, where I felt encouraged. The groom is an outstanding officer in an elite IDF commando unit. This couple, in its essence, combines steel wire with strands of silk. These wires and strands form the special fabric woven among the Jewish people. This exquisite embroidery has survived years of threats and fear, just as it has also enjoyed days of joy and merriment.

Among the many celebrants at the wedding, a small group of officers and soldiers, the groom's friends and unit comrades, stood out. Though most of them were secular, they danced and bounced around with youthful enthusiasm and excellent combat fitness to the Hasidic band that graced the evening. The bold desire of these friends to please the young couple reminded many of those in attendance of the neighborly values that were once the foundation of the modern movement to return to Zion. "Grant abundant joy to these loving companions," as is said in one of the Seven Blessings of the wedding ceremony, and which was exemplified by these friends in the most simple and natural meaning of the words. True joy that leaps from a full and loving heart.

Excitement filled everyone's hearts when the band played, and the crowd joined in, singing the traditional song from the Passover Haggadah: "In each and every generation they rise up to destroy us." This is the same innocent faith through which we are still here, now and forever. This faith has won out over the deadliest weapons in human history. These soldiers don't even understand how, to our generation, they are the standard bearers of faith in the eternity of Israel. When the band played the song, "Humble ones, humble ones, your salvation has come," the audience understood that the band was singing to those same modest and quiet young people, with and without yarmulkes, who carry the burden of the entire nation on their shoulders as if it were "stretcher exercise" in their army training, filled with ascents and descents. The scene, and its meaning, was part of the Jewish journey, for thousands of years, on the way to redemption.

Ungar - Sohlberg's 'mark of Cain'

Amiel Ungar
Haaretz
04 November '11



http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/sohlberg-s-mark-of-cain-1.393617

The right was allowed to reign, but the left in actuality governed via aggressive judicial intervention and equally aggressive judicial nonintervention.

It was the classic two-step: First you create controversy around a candidate, and then you torpedo his candidacy on the grounds that he is "controversial." That's what Haaretz seems to have been doing in its campaign to block the nomination of Jerusalem District Court Justice Noam Sohlberg to the Supreme Court. In three successive issues we got, first, an article by the paper's legal-affairs reporter Tomer Zarchin surveying Sohlberg's "controversial" decisions, then an editorial, and finally, an anti-Sohlberg philippic from Gideon Levy.

For Levy (writing on October 30 ), the very fact that Judge Sohlberg resides in impeccably bourgeois Alon Shvut and Etzion Regional Council chairman Shaul Goldstein lives in upscale Neveh Daniel (both communities slated for retention by Israel under every peace plan ) is enough to disqualify them, respectively, from the Supreme Court or the chairmanship of the Israel Nature and Parks Authority. Sohlberg and Goldstein are settlers and, according to Levy: "Every settler has this mark of Cain on their brow. Now ask yourselves: Do you really want to live in a country where the heads of this enterprise allocate its lands, plan its nature sites, rule on its laws and are increasingly controlling its lifestyles?"

Compared to Levy, the Haaretz editorial of October 28 is a model of restraint: "Sohlberg's appointment to the Supreme Court, even if it is 'balanced' by the simultaneous appointment of a less conservative judge, ought to worry anyone who fears for the preservation of human and civil rights in Israel. And that is especially true when we are talking about an appointee who is likely to become Supreme Court president someday."

Tobin - Palestinian “Moderates” Praise Terror to Arabic Media; Talk Peace to the West

Jonathan S. Tobin
Commentary/Contentions
03 November '11


http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2011/11/03/palestinian-moderates-praise-terror/

One of the standard talking points for critics of Israel’s government is to cite its unwillingness to bolster moderate Palestinians who wind up being undercut by radicals such as the terrorists of Hamas. But the assumption of the essential moderation of the Palestinian Authority and its leader Mahmoud Abbas is one that can only be maintained by ignoring virtually everything the PA does and says. The latest examples are the statements by Abbas and his aide Jibril Rajoub in which they praised the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit by Hamas. Abbas told an interviewer the crime was a “good thing” while Rajoub saluted all those involved with Shalit’s abduction.

The key point here is to understand that Abbas sends very different messages when broadcasting to his own people than when he is speaking to Western or Israeli audiences. So while some peace process cheerleaders were quick to jump on Abbas statement last week that he now accepted the United Nations 1947 partition plan that was made in an interview with an Israeli television station, the comments made by him and Rajoub about Shalit were said in Arabic and broadcast on Arab media.

The ability of Palestinian leaders to portray themselves as moderate peace seekers to the West while reassuring their own constituency that they mean nothing of the kind is key to understanding the naïveté of many Europeans and Americans who keep insisting that Israel has a credible peace partner. But thanks to organizations such as Memri.org (which provided the Abbas clip) and Palestinian Media Watch — palwatch.org (which found the Rajoub broadcast as well as similar statements from other Palestinian officials), the veil of deceit is lifted from this disinformation campaign. Their translations have made it clear to all who wish to know the truth that the official Palestinian media run by Abbas and his government is a font of incitement against Israel and Jews.

Fresnozionism - Is the US on the same moral level as Hamas?

Jonathan Pollard, in better days

Fresnozionism.org
03 November '11

http://fresnozionism.org/2011/11/is-the-us-on-the-same-moral-level-as-hamas/

If this report is true, then the behavior of my government is worse than despicable:

Following reports that Israel and the U.S. are engaged in advanced negotiations over the release of convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard, the Shas ultra-Orthodox newspaper Yom l’Yom [Day to Day] reported Thursday morning that disputes have arisen between the two sides over the details of the deal.

According to the Shas newspaper, the U.S. said it will agree to release Pollard only under condition that he continue to be imprisoned in Israel. The Israelis, however, demand Pollard’s full and permanent release. The report said that despite their disagreements the two sides are trying to come to a compromise.

Last week, a local Jerusalem newspaper reported that Pollard, who is serving a life sentence for espionage in a North Carolina prison, could be released in exchange for Israel agreeing to a settlement freeze.

I have discussed the Pollard case in numerous posts. Here’s some of what I said the last time:

Kushner - From Israel: Yes or No?

Arlene Kushner
Arlene from Israel
03 November '11

Binyamin Netanyahu deserves credit for having sounded the alarm at an early date on the dangers of Iran, and sounding it often since. This is not political opportunism for him. It's real, and it's a pity that he hasn't been heeded more seriously. The situation, which has been permitted to deteriorate so dangerously, is just one mark of how obtuse and down right stupid world "leaders" are -- how narrow in their scope and how self-absorbed.

Very soon a major report will be released by the IAEA on Iran's nuclear development, which is expected to be damning in a way that no previous report has been. The window of opportunity for stopping Iran is closing. This is both because of the rate of nuclear development, and with regard to Iran moves to place everything far underground.

And so now the media is focused on this issue, and in recent days the question being asked is this: Has Prime Minister Netanyahu, in consultation with his military advisors, decided that Israel should attack Iran imminently?

The only certainty I have is that I am not in possession of -- could not possibly be in possession of -- the answer here. No one has chosen to whisper in my ear, nor should anyone, considering the enormity of this issue.

~~~~~~~~~~

In the last several days, there has been a spate of media reports about this.

Last week Yediot Achronot and then Haaretz ran stories regarding claims that the prime minister and the defense minister were trying to convince the cabinet to approve an attack.

Two days ago, Moshe Ya'alon, Minister of Strategic Affairs and former IDF Chief of Staff came out with a statement on Army Radio in which he declared that Israel cannot depend on outside help in dealing with Iran: "We must aspire to a situation in which the righteous work will be done by others, but act as if, 'if not me, who?'"

Ya'alon is no light-weight in these matters and runs a ministry for which I have the greatest respect. What was he saying?

At the same time, the JPost ran an analytic article, "What may be involved in an Israeli strike on Iran." May be. This, of course, is not authoritative, in spite of the picture of jets refueling in air credited to the IDF:

This piece indicated that Israel is capable of pulling off a hit. I, with my own limited information, have understood this for some time. The hit would not destroy Iran's nuclear development program, but rather set it back some years. But here we had some startlingly specific information, regarding drones, paths that planes might take, that capability to refuel in the air, use of bunker busters, the need to first neutralize Iran's defense capabilities, and more.

What to make of this?

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said yesterday that while media reports had "no relation to the truth" with 99% of them false, they had caused "tremendous damage."

Minister Benny Begin declared with anger that, "There has never been a breakdown of responsibility and a campaign of recklessness like there is today."

Levick - Israel, Likudniks & their enablers:

The Guardian’s Ian Williams takes a brave stand against Zionism!

Adam Levick
CiF Watch
02 November '11

If Ian Williams didn’t exist we’d very much have to invent him, as his musings about the villainy of Israel and her Jewish supporters – and America’s craven submission to the wishes of “the Lobby” – represent the Guardian Left’s bigotries in all of its pseudo-progressive glory.

Like any Guardianista in good standing, Williams - who once praised, in a 2010 Guardian essay, late Hezbollah spiritual leader, and Holocaust denier, Hussein Fadhallah, as, yes, a “liberal” – is continually outraged by the reactionary forces of the American pro-Israel community, an anger he expressed in the following witticism, in a Jan. 2011 CiF anti-Israel polemic:

“Obama…must face not only a rabidly pro-Israeli Republican party but also a majority of his own party that would sign up to a resolution declaring the moon to be made of blue cheese if the Israeli lobby demanded it.”

Williams’ quote, seriously suggesting that Israel is shielded from its fair share of critical scrutiny, brought to mind a quote by Israel’s former UN Ambassador, Abba Eban, who dryly observed that “If Algeria introduced a resolution declaring that the earth was flat and that Israel had flattened it, it would pass by a vote of 164 to 13 with 26 abstentions” – the dairy-free moral inverse of Williams’ grave concerns about Zionist influence.

Williams January CiF piece also included the careful observation that American supporters of Netanyahu are obviously all anti-Muslim racists, while also evoking antisemitic stereotypes of the ruthless, money-grubbing Jew.

[Zionists such as] Irving Moskowitz…[who] recycles the proceeds of inner-city gambling in the US to buy and demolish property in East Jerusalem, such as the Shepherd Hotel….”

In fairness, only an “edgy” and truly pithy Brit, such as Williams, can impute greed, racism and Zionist colonialism to an American Jew in so few words.

(Read full "Israel, Likudniks & their enablers: The Guardian’s Ian Williams takes a brave stand against Zionism!")

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Benson - What Passes for “Progress” at the LA Times

Pesach Benson
Honest Reporting/Backspin
02 November '11

http://honestreporting.com/what-passes-for-progress-at-the-la-times/


A really dumb LA Times staff-ed praises Palestinian unilateralism because their statehood strategy doesn’t hinge on blowing up Israelis.

In past decades, Palestinian nationalists thought they had to hijack planes or blow up Israeli civilians in order to attract international attention. Some still do, but moderate leaders are lately discovering that the path to recognition might lie instead through the United Nations . . . the Palestinian switch to a diplomatic strategy represents progress.

Oh really? While UNESCO gave the Palestinians a thumbs up, half of the PA not governed by Mahmoud Abbas was firing rockets at Israel. That’s a story even the LA Times covered in reports one and two.

More than 60 rockets have been fired in the past week. Ashkelon’s the next Sderot. And no amount of goodwill from UNESCO the PA, or the LA Times news room will bring back Moshe Ami, who was killed in one barrage.

And the Times calls this progress?

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Gordon - The Times’ Anti-Israel Smear Campaign

Evelyn Gordon
Commentary/Contentions
03 November '11



http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2011/11/03/times-smear-israel/#more-773227

Reading the New York Times op-ed pages recently, one can’t help thinking the paper has launched a deliberate smear campaign against Israel. Consider just two examples:

This week, it published a piece called “In Israel, Press Freedom Is Under Attack” by Israeli journalist Dimi Reider. Reider lambastes the 4.5-year sentence a court just imposed on Anat Kamm, claiming the former soldier has been punished “for leaking documents containing evidence of what she suspected might be war crimes committed by her commanders.” Since journalists worldwide rely on whistleblowers, he charged, this undermines press freedom:

The verdict sends several chilling messages. To young soldiers it says: shut up, even if you suspect your commanders of violating the law; they will go unpunished and you will go to jail if you leak. To the source it says: no one will protect you; don’t be a self-sacrificing fool. And to the journalist it says: know your place; cover what we tell you to cover, print our news releases, and keep within your bounds.

But here’s what the court said actually happened, as reported by the very newspaper to which Kamm gave the documents: Over the course of her army service, Kamm betrayed her oath as a soldier by “systematically” stealing everything she could get her hands on – 2,085 documents in all, including “plans for military operations, information on troop deployments, summaries of various internal discussions, military targets and intelligence assessments.” For similar crimes in America, WikiLeaks source Pfc. Bradley Manning now faces life in jail.

Medad - Lipman Seethes Wrongly

Yisrael Medad
My Right Word
03 November '11



http://myrightword.blogspot.com/2011/11/lipman-seethes-wrongly.html

Some persons just do not know the facts.

Take this lady, Jennifer Lipman, who writes:

...As always, my shul's mid-afternoon Question and Answer session was packed with hungry but engaged congregants. One query in particular prompted a lengthy response from the rabbi. In it, he referred to British Mandate Palestine and those Jews whose fight for statehood saw them join the militant Irgun group. "They weren't terrorists," went his argument. "It was a different time and they were fighting for their freedom."

Really? I thought, my blood boiling (never good on a fast day). Oh yes, I'm sure their cause and the context would have been of great comfort to the families of the 91 people who died in 1946 when the Irgun bombed the King David Hotel.

More to the point, doesn't that argument sound familiar? Isn't it essentially the defence used today by extremist groups after a blast on a bus in Israel or a random attack in the West Bank? If we condemn it now, we cannot excuse it in history.

I left the session seething with anger and disbelief but, most of all, with disappointment. Was it intentional moral relativism or just a short memory? I can't speak for the rabbi - perhaps he simply said the first thing that came to mind- but it makes little difference. It is irresponsible, not to mention dangerous and counter-productive, to use the bully pulpit to spread a limited or even false view of events. That is always true, but it is especially so with a subject as sensitive as the Israeli-Arab conflict...

Since any simple Google-search could have provided the lady with the facts, allow me to be short and to the point as this issue comes up a dozen times a year if not more and it is so terrible that Jews fall for Arab propaganda when they should know better (unless, of course, they are radical leftwing bolshie progressives who are anti-Zionist to begin with - no pun there - which I do not think the lady is).

Fresnozionism - YAMAM — the best in the world at what they do

Fresnozionism.org
02 November '11

http://fresnozionism.org/2011/11/yamam-the-best-in-the-world-at-what-they-do/


During the Second Intifada, the Israel Police counter-terrorism unit (YAMAM) saved countless Israeli lives, driving and flying from one end of the country to the other to intercept tens of suicide bombers and other terrorists as they tried to enter Israeli population centers from the territories. Sometimes they were arrested, sometimes they tried to shoot it out and sometimes they just blew themselves up. But most of the time, the terrorists did not carry out their missions (unfortunately, some of the arrested ones were released in the recent ‘prisoner exchange’).

Now, for the second year in a row, the YAMAM took first place in the international Urban Shield competition for SWAT teams right here (well, almost right here) in Oakland, California:

During the internationally acclaimed competition [organized by the US Dept. of Homeland Security], combat teams were tested in a variety of anti-terrorist, extreme crime, hostage rescue, and tactical combat scenarios. An FBI team and a team of royal Jordanian guards were also among the participants.

The national emergency drill was created in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, with the aim of testing the preparedness of emergency services and anti-terrorist units should another terrorist attack occur.

Although this marked the competition’s sixth consecutive year, Israel only began participating two years ago. It has now taken first place in both attempts.

Israel’s Counterterrorism Unit is an elite unit in the Border Police, comparable to such global crime-fighting groups as U.S. SWAT teams, the French GIGN, and the German GSG-9, which was established after 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team were murdered at the 1972 Olympic games in Munich.

The Counterterrorism Unit is tasked with handling a number of security and civilian-related situations, and its members are trained in various types of drills and simulations — some secret — mainly focusing on terrorist attacks and hostage crisis situations.

The Counterterrorism Unit is one of Israel’s most in-demand security units. Its members take on complex and dangerous missions, sometimes working in tandem with the Internal Security Agency. They arrest crime bosses and take on missions in some of the nation’s most high-risk areas. The unit employs advanced hi-tech equipment and unique methods of operation, some of which were developed especially for the unit.

In September, the same Israeli team won first place in a handgun shooting competition for special IDF and police units. Other participants in that competition were the National Police Undercover Unit, the Border Police Undercover Unit, and several elite IDF units. — Israel Hayom

These guys are the best in the world at what they do. Period. I have the good fortune to know some of them.

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Weinberg - Methinks thou doth protest too much

David M. Weinberg
A Citadel Defending Zion
03 November '11

http://davidmweinberg.com/2011/11/03/methinks-thou-doth-protest-too-much/


Reading the Israeli or foreign press these days, one could get the impression that Israeli households are uniformly collapsing under the weight of the government’s tightfisted capitalist policies, and that everybody is out protesting for “social justice” on the streets of Tel Aviv.

Except that it isn’t so.

It’s not so because the public does not homogeneously lay the blame for the high cost of housing, food, water and electricity on the current government. Polls indicate that most Israelis, despite their desire for structural reforms in pricing and welfare, understand that Prime Minister Netanyahu is a steady hand at the economic till during turbulent times; and that without him, the situation would be much worse.

Nor do Israelis have a unitary vision of “social justice.” Very few Israelis truly want to bring back socialism, or chuck the free market philosophy that has helped catapult Israel into the OECD. Obviously, the extreme concentration of industrial, financial and natural resources in the hands of a few very wealthy Israeli family conglomerates needs to be rolled-back. But a return to Labor Party cronyism and the Big Labor dictatorship of Israel’s early decades isn’t all that attractive.

Moreover, mainstream Israelis are now avoiding participation in the increasingly partisan (and consequently dwindling) street protests. The militant socialist demands of Daphni Leef and her colleagues raise fears that the protest movement has a hidden hard-left-wing agenda, one that is blatantly anti-democratic, even Marxist. The Trachtenberg Committee recommendations, which already have been partially adopted by the government, may not provide the instant solutions that Daphni is demanding – but they are great step forward.

Yet Daphni and the hard-left NGOs behind her have rejected Trachtenberg outright.

Levin - Reuters Cites Fringe Voices on UNESCO

Andrea Levin
CAMERA Media Analysis
01 November '11

http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=2&x_outlet=36&x_article=2141

As CAMERA has noted frequently, the tendency of reporters to invoke the views of fringe commentators critical of Israel as though they represent mainstream positions can dramatically distort the framing, even the essence, of a story.

Basic journalistic ethics call for accurately identifying sources. For instance, Reuters standards state: "Always hold accuracy sacrosanct" and "Always strive for balance and freedom from bias"

Yet a November 1, 2011 Reuters report by Susan Cornwell on the vote by UNESCO to allow the Palestinians full status as a state in the U.N. organization lapsed into this same pattern of invoking fringe Jewish commentators unrepresentative of the mainstream even though the article otherwise presented a factual account of events. ("U.S. stops UNESCO funding over Palestinian vote")

Cornwell quotes U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland saying: "The United States ... remains strongly committed to robust, multilateral engagement across the U.N. system. However, Palestinian membership as a state in UNESCO triggers long-standing legislative restrictions which will compel the United States to refrain from making contributions to UNESCO." The reporter, likewise, offers relevant factual background to the controversy.

But when she includes comment from the Jewish community about the Palestinian move and the US response the commentary is not from a mainstream source, such as a statement by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations applauding U.S. action, but from two far-left organizations deploring the action of the United States. She quotes Americans for Peace Now lamenting that: "The language was intended to pre-emptively block normalization of Palestinian relations and activities in the international community." Cornwell then turns to the controversial J Street organization whose spokesman likewise deplores the action take by America in opposition to the Palestinian action. She writes:

Kushner - From Israel: The Silver Lining

Arlene Kushner
Arlene from Israel
02 November '11




Shouldn't be quite this way. We should be doing what we have a right to do, just because we have we have a right. But hey! I say Baruch Hashem for what is:

Netanyahu's Inner Cabinet held a lengthy meeting last Israel and his office then officially declared intention of accelerating Jewish construction over the Green Line. Planning is for 1,650 units in Jewish neighborhoods in eastern Jerusalem (which, are unclear), 277 in Efrat and 50 in Ma’aleh Adumim. This is not exactly earth-shattering with regard to where the building will be done. Eastern Jerusalem is simply part of the united capital of Israel. While Efrat and Ma'aleh Adumim are very "establishment" communities; they are on the periphery of Jerusalem and would never be relinquished by Israel in any event.

The significance here is the "in your face" announcement by the prime minister. It took the PA action with UNESCO to push him in this direction, finally. So, instead of simply giving the go-ahead quietly and allowing approvals to be announced routinely, the word about acceleration came from his office. Let it continue!

All units were already in the planning stages and were awaiting final approval. Now they have that approval, a "green light," as one official said..

"You cannot demand from the Israeli public continued restraint when the Palestinian leadership continues to slam doors in their faces.

"They refuse to condemn the rocket attacks that killed an Israeli citizen. They praised the kidnapping of Gilad Schalit and have refused to conduct peace negotiations while going for unilateral moves at the United Nations."

Shapira - Hizbullah Discusses Its Operational Plan for War with Israel:

Missile Fire on Tel Aviv and Conquest of the Galilee

Dr. Shimon Shapira
Jerusalem Center for Public Action
Vol. 11, No. 18
2 November 2011


(An interesting look into the delusional world-view of Hizbullah. As goes Iran, so it seems our Shiite to the North wish to join them, resolving many problems at one time. Y.)

Click here for original link.

- In recent weeks Hizbullah leader Hasan Nasrallah held a series of meetings with his top-level military command as well as field commanders responsible for preparing for war with Israel. According to a source close to Hizbullah, Nasrallah's operational directive was that in the next military conflict with Israel, Hizbullah will hit Tel Aviv with missiles at the outset of the war, while also dispatching forces to conquer the Galilee.

- Hizbullah forces are being trained to fire at least ten thousand missiles, right at the war's outset, at military and strategic targets such as airfields, military camps, and vital facilities including maritime ones, followed by the firing of rockets from launch sites whose location will come as a surprise to Israel.

- The operational plan was formulated in tandem with senior Iranian strategic experts and will include a force of five thousand fighters who have recently trained in Iran, tasked with taking over designated zones in northern Israel including Nahariya, Shlomi, and Carmiel.

- It was said that engineering units of the Iranian army had mined areas in the eastern Bekaa Valley that were seen as possible landing sites for Israeli special forces, and that Hizbullah had equipped itself with "smart" Iranian anti-tank missiles that can disrupt the defensive systems of Israel's Merkava tanks.

- Nasrallah's recent escalation of public statements stems from heightened fear in Hizbullah that an Israeli and/or American attack on Iran is drawing nearer. As a strategic arm of Iran, Hizbullah sees itself as Iran's first line of defense against Israel.

On 27 October 2011 the Lebanese newspaper Al Joumhouria reported that in recent weeks the leader of Hizbullah, Hasan Nasrallah, held a series of meetings with the organization's highest level military command, as well as field commanders and operational-level commanders responsible for preparing Hizbullah's military force for war with Israel. Nasrallah updated his commanders on regional developments, the situation in Lebanon, and on Hizbullah's internal and organizational affairs. Nasrallah emphasized the supreme importance of maintaining the organization's field security, given U.S. and Israeli intelligence organizations' successes in penetrating Hizbullah and recruiting individuals holding sensitive posts. The exposure of agents within Hizbullah was profoundly unsettling to Nasrallah and the other leaders.

Stern - How You Salute

Paula R. Stern
A Soldier's Mother
02 November '11

http://israelisoldiersmother.blogspot.com/2011/11/how-you-salute.html

I've never considered this before, but maybe I should have. How you salute seems to tell a lot about who you are, what you are, what you dream of being. This salute has haunted me for days. I stare at the picture, at the people in it.

It is the moment that Gilad Shalit stepped out of the helicopter to find Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu waiting to greet him. Like a president or most honored visitor, Bibi is there. I don't know if everyone can tell, or if you have to know the contours of Bibi's face, but you can see, there on the right side, the line of his cheeks.

You know he is smiling, almost grinning with happiness and relief. There, the man behind Gilad, there too, there is such joy, such relief, such happiness.

And there is Gilad. Quiet. Hesitant. Not quite believing he is home. His eyes are slightly lowered but the movement is clear. A salute to the prime minister of Israel. His Commander in Chief. The movement is voluntary and a recognition that Netanyahu is the leader of his country.

Today, I saw another salute. I don't know where the picture came from - it was one someone's Facebook page. I followed the link but didn't come to a real site. Maybe it isn't real. I can hope it is Photoshopped. Not real. It seems to be a unit of Palestinians and they seem to be saluting...the very same salute the Nazis used.

I hope someone can tell me this is false. That Palestinians don't salute this way. That is the Palestinian flag on the uniform, I believe. What more can I say...a salute tells so much.

Last night, again, Israel was hit with rockets and today, our foreign minister announced we were donating 30 boats, 187 life vests and 1,000 sets of medical supplies to Thailand to help with the devastating floods there. I would rather live in a land that saluted as Gilad did, than in a land that would fire rockets and salute as the Palestinians are saluting in this picture. Any day, every day, for the rest of my life.

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Fresnozionism - Palestine is a State like night is day

Fresnozionism.org
31 October '11



http://fresnozionism.org/2011/10/palestine-is-a-state-like-night-is-day/

Earlier today, I discussed the admission of ‘Palestine’ to the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). I argued that ‘Palestine’ is not actually eligible for membership, because it does not meet the criteria in the UNESCO Constitution.

In particular, ‘Palestine’ is not a State.

Of course, the Palestinian Authority claims that it is. Let’s see what it means to be a State and whether ‘Palestine’ is one. Here are the criteria, according to geographer Matt Rosenberg. I’ve interspersed my comments (italicized).

An independent State:

Has space or territory which has internationally recognized boundaries (boundary disputes are OK).

No. The lack of defined boundaries go beyond a ‘boundary dispute’. In fact, the PA’s application for admission to the UN that it presented to Ban Ki-Moon does not even specify boundaries, except insofar as it refers to the 1947 partition resolution, UNGA 181, which was never implemented. It could be argued that the PA’s continued publication of maps and other materials that show ‘Palestine’ as occupying all of the land between the Jordan and the Mediterranean indicate that its claims to defined boundaries are frivolous at best.

Regev - An irresponsible debate

Amos Regev
Israel Hayom
02 November '11

http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=760

Fleet Admiral William Daniel Leahy was a respected naval officer. Five gold stars adorned his uniform -- the most senior rank in the American military. His wisdom and experience conferred upon him a certain reputation; so much so, that in the midst of the darkest days of World War II, Roosevelt brought him back from civilian life and appointed him chief of staff to the commander in chief, essentially making him the supreme commander of the armed forces. By virtue of his personality, he also become the president's most trusted military adviser, and served as the link between the president and the army's top brass.

When Roosevelt died in April 1945, with war still raging in Europe and in the Far East, Leahy continued in the role under the new president, Harry Truman, who until then had served as vice president. One of the first things about which the new president was briefed was the greatest secret of all: the development of the American atomic bomb. Yes, even as vice president, Truman had not been aware of the existence of the Manhattan Project. That is how state secrets are kept. The only ones who know are those who need to know. Even the vice president was out of the picture until he became president and commander-in-chief.

"Mister President," Admirial Leahy, the senior military adviser, told him, "This is the biggest fool thing we have ever done. The bomb will never go off, and I speak as an expert in explosives."

The rest is history.

The decision to drop the atomic bomb was President Truman's, the U.S. army's official history asserts.

"The decision to use the atomic bomb was made by President Truman," writes military historian Louis Morton. "There was never any doubt of that, and despite the rising tide of criticism, Mr. Truman took full responsibility for his action ... Mr. Truman leaned heavily on the advice of his senior and most trusted advisers on the question of the bomb. But the final decision was his and his alone." Some of those advisers supported the attack as the surest way to bring about a quick end to the war, thus saving millions of lives, both American and Japanese. Others objected, among them Admiral Leahy, who not only thought the bomb would not work, but also believed that the use of atomic weapons was immoral.

Silverman - A New Player in Gaza's Rocket War Against Israel

Islamic Jihad Steps Up Rocket War Against Israel Civilians

Photo: Anav Silverman
Ashkelon resident, Liz Sheetrit stands

in front of the rocket-damaged home.

Anav Silverman
Sderot Media Center
01 November '11

http://www.sderotmedia.org.il/bin/content.cgi?ID=851&q=3

Sixteen-year-old Liz Sheetrit and her family stand in their homes with shell-shocked expressions as they point to their burnt front yard and shattered kitchen window. "I can't believe this happened to us,"  Liz exclaims. A Grad rocket fired from Gaza struck the family's street this past Saturday night, damaging four homes in their neighborhood, leaving a splattering of shrapnel holes, shattered glass, and pieces of metal stuck in the housing exterior.

Liz says she feels only slightly lucky. She and her family were thankfully not home at the time of the explosion but her dog, which was home at the time of the explosion, harbored some marks from the attack.

The Sheetrit family and the other neighborhood families are lucky for another reason too. They live in relatively new homes, all of which have bomb shelters. "Our neighbors entered their shelter as soon as the alarm went off. If they had been anywhere near the kitchen or living room, someone could have been seriously injured," Liz's father said.

More than fifty percent of Ashkelon's residents live in older buildings that were built without shelters, according to a municipal spokesperson, Yossi Assoulin.

"But thanks to the Iron Dome, residents here, even during Grad rocket attacks from Gaza, haven't lost their sense of security," explains Assoulin.

The Iron Dome is a mobile air defensive system that was developed in Israel to intercept incoming Palestinian rockets through a special radar detecting system. Although the system has been criticized for its steep operating costs, it has become an important tool in defending Israeli civilians by successfully shooting down countless rockets. Israel plans to invest $1 billion in the Iron Dome missile defense system in coming years, of which the US Congress has approved to provide $205 million.

However, the defense system offers no guarantees.

On the same day that the Sheetrit family's home was struck by rocket shrapnel, an Ashkelon man, Moshe Ami, a father of four, was killed in a rocket attack on his way home. The air raid siren, which gives Ashkelon residents about 25 seconds to find cover, went off as Ami was driving home in the heart of the city along Rabin Road. Unable to make it to the shelter in time, a piece of shrapnel from the rocket explosion mortally struck Ami and he later died of his wounds in Ashkelon's Barzilai Medical Center.

Millière - The UN Sham Pampers The Palestinian Sham

Guy Millière
Hudson New York
01 November '11

http://www.hudson-ny.org/2550/un-palestinian-sham

In his speech to the UN General Assembly last month, Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, spoke of the United Nations as the house of lies and the theater of the absurd. One could go farther and state the whole truth: The United Nations has become a sham.

The new United Nations Human Rights Council is composed overwhelmingly of countries in perpetual violation of human rights, and should more accurately be called the Council against Human Rights and for the Promotion of Global Anti-Semitism.

The General Assembly is a place where dictators and tyrants have an automatic majority to pass absurd motions and obscene texts, such as the one that defines Zionism as racism, adopted in 1975, and repealed only sixteen years later with the greatest difficulty, thanks to U.S. Ambassador John Bolton. The US veto in the UN Security Council is the sole obstacle to the enactment of equally racist decisions.

Originally intended to foster peace on earth and to end totalitarian regimes, the UN has become a place where Western democracies are hostages to brutal, barbaric regimes. No one has yet even been fired for  the biggest heist in history , over $117 billion, the Oil-for-Food scandal of 2004, in which the UN set up a program supposedly to provide food for impoverished Iraqis under the regime of Saddam Hussein, but instead accepted kickbacks from the Iraqi regime while the food never reached the people. Supposed UN peacekeepers in Africa still continue to distribute goods to underage children in exchange for sex.

The tribune from which Benjamin Netanyahu spoke is the same from which other world leaders also spoke. The President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, uttered genocidal recommendations to cheers. The Prime Minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was acclaimed as he accused Israel of using « excessive force » against a Turkish flotilla's attempt to break a perfectly legal naval blockade.

But, as UN recognition of a Palestinian state, or at least an upgrade from which to continue making Israel's existence as unpleasant as possible, was the featured act this year, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addressed the General Assembly with lies -- about everything from who was responsible for stalling negotiations for the past two years (the Israelis had agreed to a requested construction freeze, after which the Palestinians still refused to come to the table until few weeks before the deadline, and then demanded another construction freeze) -- to who had failed to fulfill its side of the Oslo accords (the Palestinians had agreed to stop incitement, but, among other violations since day one, never even tried). Abbas descended from the podium to sanctimonious applause.

Wehner - The Chilling Candor of Mahmoud Abbas

Peter Wehner
Commentary/Contentions
01 November '11



http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2011/11/01/the-chilling-candor-of-mahmoud-abbas/

Thanks to the invaluable work of MEMRI, we can watch Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas declare, in an October 23 interview with Egyptian television, a clarifying statement: “I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again,” Abbas said. “I will never recognize the Jewishness of the state, or a ‘Jewish state.’”

We’re repeatedly told that the issues surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are enormously complicated, solvable only by diplomats of unusual skill and ability, and that Israel, always Israel, must take a “chance for peace.” But in its most important respects this conflict, at its core, is quite simple: the Palestinians have yet to make their own inner peace with the existence of a Jewish state. Every failed effort at peace, beginning before Oslo and to this very day, can be traced back to this fundamental truth. Because it is an unpleasant one, many people in the West have simply refused to accept it. It is too unsettling to their premises and presuppositions. And so they proceed in self-deception, demanding that Israel make concessions with a “peace partner” that is, in fact, an implacable and lethal enemy.

Tactically “we may win or lose,” Faisal Husseini, a supposedly moderate figure in Yasir Arafat’s Palestinian Authority, said a decade ago. “But our yes will continue to aspire to the strategic goal, namely, to Palestine from the [Jordan] rive to the [Mediterranean] sea.”

“Whatever we get now,” he added, “cannot make us forget this supreme truth.”

That remains, now as ever, the “supreme truth” guiding the Palestinian leadership. As long as it does–as long as the malignant and murderous pathologies that afflict the Palestinian and Arab world remain–it is folly to pretend real peace is possible. Illusions, even soothing illusions, are never a substitute for reality. We have seen time and time again that basing diplomatic hopes on false assumptions is not a road to peace; it is, rather, the surest road to failure, to tragedy, and to war. I understand that this is an unpopular thing to say; but that doesn’t make it any less true or any less obvious.

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(Video) Blame Israel!

TheLandofIsrael.com
01 November '11

UNESCO has accepted the Palestinian Authority (PA) as an official member. Pressure on Israel is mounting, fingers are pointing at the Jewish State, and the layers of the blame are those who should be our greatest allies. Wach this video to decide for yourself who's to blame in the Middle East conflict.



Israelis and the Palestinians have been embroiled in negotiations for years. Some of Israel's most hard line leaders have made unprecedented sacrifices for peace, while throughout the entire process, the Arab leadership in Gaza, Judea & Samaria (the West Bank) and Jerusalem have never compromised on any issue. With regards to israel, The differences between Hamas, Fatah (PLO), Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah have become nuanced at best. Can any rational person blame Israel for the lack of peace when their so called "partner" in negotiation has never made even one concession or compromise?

See more Israel Inspired Media at www.thelandofisrael.com.

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Israel Matzav - The education of R*I*C*H*A*R*D* G*O*L*D*S*T*O*N*E

Carl
Israel Matzav
01 November '11

The Jewish community is very small and the word is that Richard Goldstone is trying to make amends for his pernicious Goldstone Report due to his virtual excommunication from the Jewish community. The latest effort is an op-ed in the New York Times, in which Goldstone defends Israel from charges of apartheid. This passage made me wonder whether he gets it yet.

The situation in the West Bank is more complex. But here too there is no intent to maintain “an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group.” This is a critical distinction, even if Israel acts oppressively toward Palestinians there. South Africa’s enforced racial separation was intended to permanently benefit the white minority, to the detriment of other races. By contrast, Israel has agreed in concept to the existence of a Palestinian state in Gaza and almost all of the West Bank, and is calling for the Palestinians to negotiate the parameters.

(Read full "The education of R*I*C*H*A*R*D* G*O*L*D*S*T*O*N*E")

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Meotti - The West loves terrorists

Giullio Meotti
Israel Opinion/Ynet
01 November '11

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4142218,00.html



Marwan Barghouti hailed as a hero, ‘Palestinian Mandela’ in West

The Palestinian Authority demands that the Quartet pressure Israel to release Marwan Barghouti, based on a pledge made by former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Meanwhile, Knesset Member Ahmed Tibi visited Barghouti in prison and called for his release.

Barghouti is respected by the Arabs not because he’s a “Nelson Mandela,” but because he’s sitting in an Israeli jail and murdered Jews. Previously he called Israel "the worst and most abominable enemy known to humanity and modern history."

Barghouti was openly responsible for shootings and suicide bomb attacks on Israeli civilians and was - until his capture, trial and imprisonment - one of the world’s most wanted criminals. But what catapulted Barghouti to the status of a revered international hero were not only his deadly orders, but Western worshipping of Palestinian terrorism.

“The Question of Barghouti: Is he a Mandela or an Arafat?” asked Time magazine in a summer issue. It’s natural that Barghouti thinks of himself as a heroic “liberator.” The Western media’s effort to give him the aura of a pop star is also beyond doubt.

Daphne Anson - The Irish Eyes Not Smiling On Israel

Those of Old Anti-American Warhorse Michael D. Higgins

Daphne Anson
31 October '11

http://daphneanson.blogspot.com/2011/10/irish-eyes-not-smiling-on-israel-those.html

Michael D. Higgins, veteran Irish leftist politician and poet, who's now, unexpectedly, President of Eire, could never be mistaken for a warm supporter Israel. (Be sure to look here, which is where I obtained this photo.) Known for his vehement criticism of the United States as well as of Israel, he first visited Gaza in the 1980s, and in 2004 paid a fulsome tribute to Arafat following the latter's death, attending a candlelit vigil organised by the Ireland-Palestine Soldarity Campaign. He objects to the description of Hamas as a "terrorist" organisation, and in 2007 shared a platform with Hezbollah.

Although his office is largely a ceremonial one, lacking real powers, he's obviously well-positioned to influence public opinion - in a country whose Palestine Solidarity movement is widely considered to be the most virulently anti-Israel in the entire British Isles.

The following speech that he delivered in the Irish Parliament in June 2010, in which he condemns Operation Cast Lead, asserts that he's "sick and tired" of hearing that supplies are getting into Gaza, abhors the proscription of Hamas, and rails against Israel's attack on the Mavi Marmara, captures something of his attitude - albeit in a deceptively low-key way. He is good enough (unlike some of Israel's leftist detractors) to denounce rocket attacks on Sderot - but his voice becomes unmistakably ever more indignant against Israel as the speech proceeds.



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Dann - Beinisch’s bombshell

Moshe Dann
Op-Ed Contributor
JPost
01 November '11



http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-EdContributors/Article.aspx?id=243935

Claims that Jews have stolen and built on “private Palestinian land” should not be decided by politically motivated individuals and advocacy groups.

Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch’s decision on September 12 broke sharply with traditional interpretations of law, yet the media largely ignored it.

In a case brought by Peace Now against the Binyamin neighborhoods (“outposts”) of Hayovel – where Maj. Eliraz Peretz’s widow and children live – in Eli, and Harisha, in the Talmonim bloc, Beinisch directed the state – i.e., the Civil Administration for Judea and Samaria – to determine what constitutes state land. According to her ruling, all land not specifically designated as “state land” would henceforth be considered “private [Palestinian] land.”

She also gave the state 60 days to provide a schedule for destroying all (Jewish) building on “private land,” with the exception of the Peretz home. Peretz was killed in a battle with Hamas terrorists in March 2010.

This ruling radically shifts the burden of proof with regard to property disputes in Judea and Samaria. Up until now, Arabs who claimed that their land was taken illegally have been required to prove the veracity of that claim. Now, Jewish communities that claim the land is not privately owned and is thus available for settlement will be required to back up their claims. Since Beinisch’s decision cannot be appealed, the ruling will stand as law unless the Knesset acts to legislate otherwise.

ALTHOUGH THE Supreme Court president may have sought to clarify and simplify questions of land ownership, her decision overrides important distinctions and categories of land established by prior administrations and accepted by the courts. Her ruling redefines which lands are to be considered “disputed” and seems to accept at face value unverified Arab claims to land that Arabs have simply expropriated illegally.

Moreover, since Israel has not declared sovereignty or annexed land beyond the 1949 armistice lines (except for eastern Jerusalem and the Golan Heights) Beinisch’s ruling could apply to many other areas in Judea and Samaria as well.

Not only are “hilltop” communities like Migron, Amona, Givat Assaf and Gilad Farm now at risk, but large parts of established towns like Ofra, Beit El, Eli, Elon Moreh and others could now be targets for destruction.

Tobin - Rockets Still Flying From the Real Palestinian State

Jonathan S. Tobin
Commentary/Contentions
31 October '11

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2011/10/31/rockets-hamas-gaza-palestinian-state/#more-772844

The Palestinian Authority scored a major victory today in its campaign to secure international recognition as the government of an independent “Palestine” when UNESCO voted to admit it as a member state. But the actual Palestinian state — the one in Gaza where the Hamas terrorist group exercises virtually untrammeled sovereignty — gave the world another reminder of what such statehood actually means this weekend when it showered southern Israel with a barrage of missiles. One Israeli, 56-year-old Moshe Ami of Ashkelon was murdered in one of the attacks.

Ami’s death and the ongoing missile fire from Hamas and allied Islamist groups such as Islamic Jihad is being treated as just another one of those boring “cycle of violence” stories in most of the mainstream media in which the lead is as often as not about Israeli retaliation strikes aimed at silencing the missile fire. The focus of international diplomacy is, as always, the restoration of a meaningless cease-fire between Hamas and Israel that will last until the next time the rulers of Gaza feel like sending a message to Jerusalem. But the real message here is one that few are heeding. Palestinian independence in Gaza has only meant one thing: the right of terrorists to shoot at Jews with impunity.

Dayan - Defense isn't enough

Uzi Dayan
Israel Hayom
30 October '11

http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=739

We are not talking about an "escalation" or "crossing a red line," but rather war: a terrorist rocket war. Its method is to accumulate simple rockets in the heart of densely populated civilian areas, using the civilians as human shields while launching rockets in spurts and then waves on Israelis. These rockets cannot quite threaten Israel's existence, but they do kill, maim and disrupt the daily lives of Israeli civilians, and sow fear.

The number of civilians affected by these rockets is increasing, and we cannot continue with these rounds of tit-for-tat fighting. First off, the calm is one-sided. There is never calm in Israel because there is always some "splinter group" operating or "sporadic shooting" despite cease-fire agreements. Second, this calm is exploited by terrorist organizations, with active assistance from Iran and Syria, to increase the number of rockets they possess and to improve their accuracy and range. Initially, the terrorist rockets threatened a few thousand. Now they can reach hundreds of thousands; next time, when their range can reach Gush Dan [central Israel including Tel Aviv], it will threaten millions of Israelis. Rocket terror is becoming a strategic weapon.

CAMERA - Anachronistic Ha'aretz Editorial Misreports Gaza Blockade

TS
CAMERA/Snapshots
31 October '11


http://blog.camera.org/archives/2011/10/anachronistic_haaretz_editoria.html

Ha'aretz editorial writers are apparently not up-to-date with developments of the last year and a half concerning the blockade of Gaza, even though those developments have been reported repeatedly in their own news pages. Today's editorial, "End the Gaza Blockade," avers:

Like any political power seeking to shore itself up, Hamas is interested in improving the living standards of the inhabitants of Gaza. To that end, it should bring about the lifting of Israel's continuing blockade, which among other things includes arbitrary restrictions on the entry of consumer goods, and a situation of being almost totally cutoff from the outside world - even from the Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. (Emphasis added.)

In fact, as reported by Ha'aretz's own Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff:

The distress faced by Gaza residents remains acute, however, although the idiotic Israeli prohibition on the entry of goods - which included rigorous monitoring of certain types of products - was rescinded over a year ago. . . .

The gradual change began in January 2010. Maj. Gen. Eitan Dangot, coordinator of government activities in the territories, decided to reverse procedures: Instead of a short list of goods permissible for entry to Gaza, Israel drafted another list of products that have possible dual uses (that is, civilian goods that can also be used for military use, such as in the construction of bunkers ) and are not allowed into Gaza.

The international criticism leveled against Israel following the Gaza flotilla incident of 2010 led to a government decision whose effective meaning on the ground was tantamount to the lifting of the siege. The hubris that characterized the attempt to impose economic sanctions on the Strip eventually began to fade.

In a little over a year, Israel authorized the import to Gaza of construction materials for 163 projects, funded partly by international organizations. "Top Hamas officials go around all day long with scissors, cutting ribbons to dedicate clinics, water-purification stations, and large factories," explains one senior IDF officer, Lieut. Col. "Kobi," who works with the branch responsible for the coordination of government policy in the territories.

In other words, the Ha'aretz feature demonstrates that contrary to the Ha'aretz editorial, there has not been any "arbitrary restrictions on the entry of consumer goods" for over a year.

Even Amira Hass, who can hardly be considered sympathetic to Israeli policy vis-a-vis Gaza, confirmed that the "arbitrary restrictions on the entry of consumer goods" has been abolished. In September, she wrote:

Kushner - From Israel: Heating Up Again

Arlene Kushner
Arlene from Israel
31 October '11

It's Gaza. Again. Last Wednesday, Grad Katyusha rockets were fired into southern Israel from Gaza. On Saturday afternoon, the Israel Air Force hit a terrorist squad in Gaza that was preparing to launch additional long-range rockets. Reportedly, it was the same squad that had launched the rockets on Wednesday. Among those killed were Islamic Jihad commander Ahmed al-Sheikh Khalil and four of the group's munitions experts.

From that point on, the heat increased, as Islamic Jihad continued to launch those rockets. Ashdod was hit the hardest, but areas of Be'ersheva, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Kiryat Malachai, Gan Yavne and the Shaar Hanegev Regional Council were under fire from more than 20 projectiles -- Grads, Kassams and mortars -- through Saturday.

A rocket that landed in a residential area of Ashkelon on Saturday evening badly wounded Moshe Ami, 56, who later died on the operating table. He was the father of four.

In all, four other Israelis were wounded in the barrage of rockets and considerable damage was done to buildings. Needless to say, the IAF was in the air and continued to target terrorists and relevant sites in Gaza. Saturday night, according to an IAF release: "Three rocket launching sites and one terror tunnel were targeted in the northern Gaza Strip, and in the southern Gaza Strip two terror activity sites were targeted...Hits were confirmed." I am reading at this point that some 11 terrorists have been taken out.

~~~~~~~~~~

Yesterday, late in the day, a "cease fire" -- arranged via Egypt -- was announced that lasted about 30 minutes, excuse me, "several hours." Shortly after the "cease fire" was announced, at least three additional rockets were launched by Islamic Jihad. School children in the area were kept at home yesterday, and again today.

Today the word is that the Chief of Staff Gantz, with political approval, has given orders to prepare for an escalated response to the rocket fire. This would include pinpoint strikes at terrorist infrastructure. Talk of a cease fire is viewed dubiously in Israel at this point. A Grad missile hit south of Ashkelon, just a short while ago; no injuries or infrastructure damage were reported. By now some 40 projectiles have been launched.