Discarding history

The Temple Mount is not in our hands • The Muslim wakf continues to damage antiquities and archeological artifacts as authorities remain helpless to prevent it • Entire Jewish, Muslim and Christian histories are being brutally dumped in garbage sites.

Nadav Shragai

The Temple Mount. Ruins have been disposed of despite a High Court ruling. | Photo credit: Gettyimages

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On a high steel scaffold next to the southern area of the Temple Mount compound’s eastern wall, workers of the Muslim wakf have been working to repair the wall for quite some time. One after another, the stones are removed from the “diseased” area of this wall, which threatened to collapse some years ago, and replaced with new surfacing stones.

The result is an eyesore: a bright spot of relatively new stones, in the eastern wall of the Mount, that stand out from the layers of earlier, darker stone surrounding it. But the aesthetic problem, which may be solved one day, is actually the easy part of the story of the Temple Mount in recent years. This story has many chapters, some that have been told and some that will be. But if the story is to be given a title, it should be “One Transgression Leads to Another.”

The Ultimate `Settlements are not the Problem’ Article

Barry Rubin

It must be a new year. The Washington Post has an editorial explaining that Israeli settlements are not the main problem in the Middle East.

The Post editorial is amazing since such sanity is so rare. It begins:

“Two mistaken but widely held notions regarding Israeli-Palestinian peace are that the settlements are the principal obstacle to a deal and that further construction will make a Palestinian state impossible.”

And then it continues by laying down a detailed, factual case that’s worth repeating:

--“Following the 1993 Oslo accords, Prime Minister Netanyahu's government, like several before it, has limited building almost entirely to areas that both sides expect Israel to annex through territorial swaps in an eventual settlement….”

--Almost all of the Jewish settlers live on only four percent of the West Bank, the sector that Israel has been seeking to annex as part of a peace plan that was first presented twelve years ago.

No Christmas Future for the Middle East?

Frank Gaffney

 

Did you have a Merry Christmas? If so, chances are you are not a Christian in the Middle East or many other parts of the world.
Under the headline "Christianity 'close to extinction' in Middle East," London's Telegraph reported this week on the findings of a shocking new study by a British think tank known as Civitas: the Institute for the Study of Civil Society.
The new study is entitled "Christianophobia: A Faith Under Attack," thereby making the foundational point that - as opposed to the purported problem of "Islamophobia" manufactured by Islamic supremacists to cow and induce Christians and other infidels to submit to their dictates - followers of Christ are truly being persecuted in much of the planet. Civitas puts it this way: "It is generally accepted that many faith-based groups face discrimination or persecution to some degree. A far less widely grasped fact is that Christians are targeted more than any other body of believers."

Feiglin Urges Giving Arabs a $500,000 One-Way Ticket

Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu



Likud Knesset Member candidate Moshe Feiglin, indicted for trying to prostate himself on the Temple Mount, wants to pay each Palestinian Authority Arab $500,000 to leave Israel.



He unveiled the proposal at a “Sovereignty” conference sponsored by the Women in Green and which is discussing ideas for annexing Jewish area in Judea and Samaria as part of Israel and removing it from military control, as Israel did with the Golan Heights and areas in Jerusalem that were under the Jordanian occupation before the Six-Day War in 1967.

“The country pays 10% of its gross national product every year to maintain the ‘two-state solution’ and the Oslo Accords,” Feiglin said.

He explained the money is for the security fences and checkpoints, Iron Dome missile defense systems and guards whom he said are posted “at every café.”

Birth right

Economist.com


Where to be born in 2013

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A QUARTER of a century ago, The World in 1988 light-heartedly ranked 50 countries according to where would be the best place to be born. Then, America came top (see chart on left). Now the Economist Intelligence Unit has more earnestly calculated where would be best to be born in 2013. Its quality-of-life index links the results of subjective life-satisfaction surveys—how happy people say they are—to objective determinants of the quality of life across countries. Being rich helps more than anything else, but it is not all that counts—things like crime and trust in public institutions matter too. In all, the index takes 11 indicators into account. Some are fixed, such as geography; others change only very slowly over time (demography, social and cultural characteristics). See full article.

Jews building settlements in Judea and Samaria is legal

Salomon Benzimra, author of the book: The Jewish People's Rights to the Land of Israel (http://www.amazon.com/Jewish-Peoples-Rights-Israel-ebook/dp/B0065WZM14)

First and foremost, the first five pages of the Levy Report ("Legal Argument") clearly summarizes why Israel is not an occupying power in Judea and Samaria – and East Jerusalem - and, therefore, why the settlements are not illegal. You can find the English version of these 5 pages here:

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.co.il/2012/07/english-translation-of-legal-arguments.html

The following are the points on which this claim rests:

1. The legality of the "settlements" cannot be dissociated from the notion of "occupation." As long as Israel is viewed as an "occupying power," not only the "settlements" can be construed as illegal but the whole of Israel becomes "occupied territory" since there is no difference between land acquired or repossessed - a better term would be "liberated" - in 1967 and 1948-49 respectively.

The Ten Top Anti-Semites of 2012

Jerrold L. Sobel

Every year around this time we're inundated with stories about the top ten people or events of the previous twelve months.  Holding to this tradition, this past Thursday, the Simon Wiesenthal Center listed their top 10 anti-Semites of 2012.

Mind you, the list is highly subjective, and, no doubt, when we speak of anti-Semites and haters of Israel, many of you have your own favorites.  But this group is definitely right up there with the worst.  Unsurprisingly, Europe once again is well-represented, as is the Middle East.  Likewise, nothing unifies both the far left and the far right better than Jew-hating, since both groups are well represented in this year's list.  Without further ado, let's get into it.

Working backwards at number 10 is long-term favorite and anti-Semite extraordinaire Louis Farrakhan.  In October, he came out with his latest accusations: "In Washington right next to the Holocaust museum is the Federal Reserve where they print the money."  He asks, "[I]s that an accident?"  In my opinion, that novel remark alone should have earned him a higher rating, but he must have lost points at Wiesenthal for being unimaginative, repeating the age-old mantra that Jews control the media.

Israel And ‘Palestine:' A Memo To Barack Obama

Louis Rene Beres

The Jewish Press

December 26, 2012 -- Mr. President, some foreign policies need to be carefully thought through a second time. Your "two-state" approach to peace between Israel and “Palestine” wrongly accepts the core argument of an Israeli “occupation.” Even the most cursory look at pertinent world history would reveal compelling legal reasons to now reject this unfounded argument.

Consider, for example, that organized Arab terrorism against Israel began on the very first hour of Israel's independence, in May 1948. This meticulously planned corollary to the Arab world's self-proclaimed "war of annihilation" took place almost twenty years before there were any "occupied territories." Indeed, virulent anti-Jewish terrorism in the British Mandate period had actually taken place many years before Israel's UN-announced statehood.

William Rees-Mogg: a hero of intellectual conservatism

William Rees-Mogg

Lord Rees-Mogg was one of the most influential figures in the great history of the Conservative Party, shaping the party and the nation with his radical, free-market brand of conservatism

Like many, I was saddened to learn of the death of William Rees-Mogg on Saturday morning. Throughout his life, he was a man of great principle and intellect.

He was a life-long conservative and always held true to the principles of British conservatism, even during times when The Conservative Party itself moved away from them.

He was innovative in the way he presented his ideas and how he went about promoting the ideas of others. In 1951, age 23, he, along with Geoffrey Howe, invented the first right-wing think tank, The Bow Group.

He created the group to have free and open debate on policy, and to influence the manifesto of The Conservative Party whilst remaining independent of the party itself.

No to Netanyahu

David Wilder

Following the article I wrote thanking Moshe Feiglin, I received an email asking if I was going to vote for the Likud in the upcoming election. I replied with a question: “What is this, spam? Of course not!”

Why not? There are many answers to that question. A few of them:

No number 1: This morning on IsraelNationalNews (Arutz 7): Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu decided, Monday, that the outline of the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Authority (PA) conflict included in his Bar-Ilan University speech will constitute part of the platform for his campaign ahead of the Knesset election in three weeks… A senior right-wing political source told Arutz Sheva, "During the next term he will uproot communities and no one can say he did not announce it in advance. 

In other words, Netanyahu is dangerous. This is nothing new. Netanyahu, following his election in 1996, divided Hebron and signed the Wye Accords.

CAP report on Islamophobia co-authored by writer sympathetic to antisemites & Muslim Brotherhood

CiF Watch

When I originally wrote about an essay at ‘Comment is Free’ by Wajahat Ali titled, “Fighting the defamation of Muslim Americans“, in August, I wasn’t as aware with the left-wing think tank, Center for American Progress (CAP), which published the report on Islamophobia that Ali co-authored and introduced in his post.

I did note suspicion about the the CAP report, as it included in their list of those guilty of disseminating anti-Muslim bigotry – titled “Fear, Inc. Exposing the Islamophobia Network in America” –  a vast network of institutions which included Fox News, The National Review, and the Washington Times, Middle East Scholar Daniel Pipes, and Terrorism expert Steve Emerson.
But the recent scandal, involving bloggers associated with CAP engaging in antisemitic rhetoric, places Ali’s report, and his contribution to CiF, in a different light.

Why I oppose a Palestinian state

DECEMBER 31, 2012, 5:59 PM

·      

Yair Shamir is an Israeli politician, leading businessman, former military officer and served as the chairman of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) … [More]

·         In Israel-US relations, settlements are entirely beside the point

The idea that a Palestinian state can lead to enduring peace in Israel has become a diplomatic obsession for Israeli and American policy makers. Ironically, it was former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin who was in favor of territorial compromise but opposed a Palestinian state (see his letter below). Despite this, establishing such a state has become the equivalent of a “Messiah” that will bring the long awaited peace to the region. President Shimon Peres declared that there is a majority that supports a two state solution. Such a declaration shows that the president is not updated because a recent poll by Mina Tzemach proves just the opposite namely there is a solid majority in Israel against a Palestinian state.

Palestinian Authority Tortured 96% of its Prisoners

Daniel Greenfield

“And then you throw them in jail on a parole violation, while claiming it had nothing to do with the movie.”

All this is not only paid for with American tax dollars, but those tax dollars paid for two decades of training the Palestinian Authority judiciary and “police” in proper judicial and law enforcement procedures.

An Arab human rights group based in London accused the Palestinian Authority of inhumane practices and human rights violations against Palestinian civilians in a scathing report published on Friday.
The Arab Organization for Human Rights has put the primary blame for the human rights abuses on PA President Mahmoud Abbas and called on the UN, Arab League and Organization of Islamic Cooperation to take urgent action.
AOHR monitored the practices of the PA’s security agencies from January to July 2012 and used information from victims detained by the PA, their families, eye-witnesses and local NGOs in its report.

The "IgNobel" Policy of the European Union on the Middle East

Michael Curtis
December 31, 2012

The Czechs apparently realized that the UN Resolution enabling the Palestinians to be regarded as an observer non-member state was not only a unilateral action by the Palestinians in violation of the Oslo Accords, but also a direct violation of previous commitments — some even to the EU itself — to enter only into bilateral negotiations to determine final status arrangements. Ironically, instead of promoting peace, the Resolution encourages the Palestinian Authority not to negotiate with the Israelis or compromise on a reasonable solution -- in the belief that it can get more from bypassing Israel and going straight to the EU and the UN.

Although the Nobel Prize for Peace, which was awarded to the European Union, the economic and political amalgamation of 27 European states, on December 10, 2012, can be proud of some of its successes -- peace has certainly been kept after centuries of warfare among the European nations; France and Germany have been reconciled after long enmity, and the former Soviet bloc countries in Eastern Europe have been harmoniously integrated into the European structure -- the EU has failed to achieve a genuine economic and monetary union; has been unable to complete its currency union, and it is even more dubious that the EU has contributed to peace in the Middle East in any way that warrants a prestigious award, or that it has been helpful in efforts to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Combatting Europe's serious anti-Semitism problem

This is a domestic issue that cannot be fixed with a magic wand, and blaming the victims of hate crime is an unacceptable solution.

By Joel Braunold / Jewish World blogger | Dec.31, 2012 |

Illustration: Anti-Semitic graffiti. Photo by AP

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Growing up as an active Jew in London I always hated when Americans or Israelis would comment on anti-Semitism in Europe. Always hyperbolic and often boarding on racism, their declarations of doom and destruction of the Jewish community of Europe was as unwelcome as it was uneducated.

Yet looking at the events of the past few years, and from my new home in North America, I can say that Europe has a serious anti-Semitism problem. With the recent advice that it is no longer safe for Jews to openly walk around Copenhagen, the number of safe European capital cities has shrunk to a tiny number. London and Berlin are some of the last holdouts for Jews to feel safe walking around with a kippa on. Europe is definitely going backward.

Going Over Fiscal Cliff Emerges as the Lesser Evil Facing Congress

DAVID MALPASS, Special to the Sun | December 31, 2012
http://www.nysun.com/national/going-over-fiscal-cliffbremerges-as-the-lesser/88128/

President Obama claimed yesterday that all that’s standing in the way of a budget deal is the behavior of Republicans protecting the wealthiest Americans from higher taxes. In reality, there’s much more at stake — including high unemployment and the explosion in government spending and debt. The deal the president wants, whether before or after the January 1 fiscal cliff, would lock in bigger government and a smaller private sector. That’s the issue blocking a “grand bargain.”

Before leaving Washington for a Christmas vacation, Mr. Obama claimed that “our economy is really starting to recover and we’re starting to see optimistic signs.” In fact, the economy remains weak, and the tax-and-spending crisis demands years of strong presidential leadership.
Throughout the process, Mr. Obama has failed to offer any real cuts in government spending. His months-long insistence on raising tax rates for families and small businesses earning more than $250,000 a year would hurt growth without raising much revenue. Even if he grudgingly accepts a deal with a higher targeted income, the results will be much the same.

Habait Hayehudi – Religious Zionism at the Crossroads

Isi Leibler
http://wordfromjerusalem.com/?p=4406

As a lifelong religious Zionist, I was saddened observing the ongoing collapse of the movement which had made a unique and valuable contribution to the welfare of the nation, upholding enlightened Jewish values, striving for unity and promoting tolerance.

So when the national religious Habait Hayehudi was resurrected and polls predicted it may become the third-largest party in the Knesset, should I not enthusiastically greet such a phenomenon?

The answer is yes, but…

It is an incredible tribute to the leadership qualities of charismatic 40-year-old Naftali Bennett that he assumed control of a moribund Habait Hayehudi and infused it overnight with a new lease of life. Bennett graduated from the elite IDF Sayeret Matkal commando unit and in his early thirties sold his start-up company for $145 million. He subsequently became bureau chief of staff to Prime Minister Netanyahu, resigning two years later after falling out with him and then assuming leadership of the settler’s council (Yesha) until he was elected head of Habait Hayehudi.

Poll: 77% of Israelis oppose pre-67 lines with small border adjustments for end of conflict

By Ted Belman. Given this poll what is there to talk about in negotiations. Obama is talking to both sides about restarting negotiations. France wants to hold an international conference. International leaders continue to argue that the region’s unrest make it imperative to make peace. But their arguments are without foundation. The Israelis have it right. Bibi stay strong. Don’t abandon the people.

By GIL HOFFMAN The Jerusalem Post Originally posted June 8/11.
Large majorities recognize importance of keeping J’lem under Israeli sovereignty, oppose transferring Temple Mount to Palestinian control.

Seventy-seven percent of Israelis oppose returning to pre-1967 lines
the poll reads “with minor border adjustments”] even if it would lead to a peace agreement and declarations by Arab states of an end to their conflict with Israel, a poll revealed Monday.

A Dahaf Institute poll of a sample 500 Israelis taken last week was
commissioned by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs to coincide with Monday night’s presentation of Bar-Ilan University¹s Ingeborg Rennert Center for Jerusalem Studies’ Guardian of Zion Award to JCPA’s head, former ambassador to the UN Dore Gold.

Poll: More Israelis Support Settlement Enterprise

By Gil Ronen, INN
A new poll shows a solid majority of Israelis – 64% – supports the continuation of the settlement enterprise in Judea and Samaria. The remaining 36% support a temporary freeze on Jewish construction there or a complete freeze of construction.

While these numbers are unchanged from last year, this year’s poll shows a small increase compared to last year in the percentages of Israelis who think Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria is a “truly Zionist deed” (64%) and that Judea and Samaria are the country’s security belt (57%).

Erian tells Egyptian Jews to leave Israel, return to Egypt

Al-Masry Al-Youm 

AFP

Essam al-Erian, deputy head of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, called on Egyptian Jews to leave Israel to the Palestinians and return to their own homeland.
Their presence in Palestine contributes to the Zionist occupation of Arab lands, and every Egyptian has the right to live in his country — nobody can deny that, Erian said during an interview on the privately operated Dream TV on Thursday.
“Why did Nasser expel them [the Jews] from Egypt?” he asked, claiming that Nasser’s decision contributed to the occupation of other Arab lands.
"Egyptian Jews should refuse to live under a brutal, bloody and racist occupation stained with war crimes against humanity," Erian said.

Obama judge: First Amendment for Muslim convict, not for Christian business owner

December 30, 2012 by creeping
via Hobby Lobby Losing First Amendment Battle Once Won by a Muslim Prisoner | Independent Sentinel.

On December 21st, a federal appeals court stuck down Hobby Lobby’s request for an exemption from providing the morning-after and week-after pill in their health insurance plan as mandated by Obamacare (ACA).

A Court of Appeals in Denver, CO ruled against the arts-and-crafts store chain’s belief that the Christian fundamentalist beliefs of its owners should exempt them from that provision.

Beginning January 1, the Green Family, who own the chain, face $1.3 million a day in fines if they do not violate their core religious beliefs and provide the abortifacients.

Hobby Lobby immediately asked the SCOTUS for an emergency injunction. A Supreme Court injunction would have prevented the company from being forced into implementing the mandate temporarily while it appeals the most recent decision to a lower court.

A Paradox of U.S. Middle East Policy: The Friend Who Acts like an Enemy is an Enemy‏

Barry Rubin

The expression, “With friends like you who needs enemies?” is an apt summary of a major problem for U.S. foreign policy during Obama's second term.

Here’s the issue: a number of supposed allies of the United States don’t act as friends. In fact, they are major headaches, often subverting U.S. goals and interests.  But to avoid conflict and, for Obama, to look successful to the domestic audience, Washington pretends that everything is fine.

Consider, for example, Pakistan. The United States has given billions of dollars to that country in exchange for supposedly helping keeping the lid on Afghanistan—and especially to ensure the Taliban does not return to power—and to fight terrorism, especially al-Qaida.