Saturday, May 11, 2013

Beyond the Giants

Robert Nicholson 
Over 3,000 years ago, a band of Hebrew scouts left their dusty Sinai outpost and trekked deep into the heart of Canaan to survey it and see what kind of country it was. These 12 men had heard much about a land flowing with milk and honey, but they had never seen it with their own eyes. Forty days later they returned crestfallen and hopeless. The land was indeed a paradise, they told the Israelite congregation, but it was occupied by giants. Despite God’s inflated promises, Israel had no future there. Joshua and Caleb dissented, but the majority carried the day.
Fast forward a few millennia. I’m sitting on a plane at JFK about to embark on my own investigative mission to Canaan. My goal is research, not conquest, and my point of departure is New York, not Sinai. But on this, my very first trip to Israel, I feel just as exhilarated and anxious as those 12 spies must have felt.
I know a great deal about Israel. As a Christian, I have read through the Hebrew scriptures many times; as a student of Middle Eastern history I’ve examined the region extensively from an academic perspective. Yet I have never seen the land in person. As my plane leaves the tarmac, I suddenly wonder if I too will be disappointed by what I find.
The trip goes by in a blur and three weeks later I return. Friends and family immediately bombard me with questions: What is Israel like? How are the people? Is the country in which they dwell good or bad? My Israeli friends are especially interested to hear my thoughts. Was Israel what I expected?
Israel is a paradise, I tell them. The immense Jerusalem sky, the ancient hills, and the sun-washed shores of the Mediterranean are beyond breathtaking. I ramble on about the aromatic food, the endearing people, and the surprising array of cultures. I try my best to impart some sense of Israel’s spiritual energy, struggling to convey what it’s like to walk in the cool confines of the Garden Tomb, pray at the Western Wall, and stand before the Golden Gate at twilight listening to the cry of the muezzin inside Al-Aqsa.
My listeners nod and smile, mildly amused. They are probing for something deeper, something more substantial. Based on what I saw, they ask, is there any future in Canaan?
Here my voice softens a bit. I can’t lie—I saw some giants.
Towering over all the rest was the giant of fear. I felt its presence inside the claustrophobic halls of Yad Vashem. I saw it at a checkpoint in the faces of two Israeli soldiers when I rapidly and mistakenly approached their guard shack on foot. I heard it in the voices of two Arab men in East Jerusalem who wanted to know who I was and why I was photographing their neighborhood, suspecting that I worked for Shin Bet. I sensed it in the eyes of Palestinian day laborers as they returned home, gazing out the window of their bus at the ever-thriving Jewish state around them.
After fear, there is hopelessness. On a windswept peak in Samaria I met a settler raising his family in a trailer because his house had been bulldozed a stone’s throw away. When I asked about the future, he could only manage a melancholy shrug. One Palestinian man in Bethlehem brought me onto his balcony and pointed despairingly to the red-roofed Jewish settlements on a nearby ridgeline. When will it end? he asked me. When President Obama landed in Israel hoping, perhaps, to reboot the peace process, I asked my half-Jewish, half-Arab cabbie if he was optimistic about the future. “Jews are crazy, Arabs are crazy,” he said. “Things will never change here.”
Finally, there is desperation. Everywhere I went I found people brooding, seething, waiting to explode. Around the corner from my hotel, in the midst of a busy thoroughfare, I found a plaque commemorating eight Jews who had been killed in a bus bombing in 2004. One morning after exploring Hezekiah’s Tunnel I surfaced to find the Temple Mount in turmoil as Palestinian rioters hurled stones and Molotov cocktails at Israeli police, injuring nine.
Giants do live in the land of Canaan. I saw them. But even so, I refuse to give a bad report. What country is not plagued by some measure of fear, hopelessness, and desperation? What state is not beset by problems? Where do people live in perfect harmony? Giants like the ones I saw are not confined to Israel but lurk at all times in every corner of the globe.
Strange as it may sound, my idea of Israel did match reality. I’ve never imagined it to be some spotless utopia where life is serene and everybody knows your name. It is a land haunted by terror and tragedy, fear and doubt. And yet it’s the land where God has chosen to reveal Himself to man. All through history God has worked through adversity to make His power known in this place. Over and over He has turned sorrow into joy, exile into redemption, and hopelessness into hope for all the world to see.
Israel is an exceeding good land filled with wonderful people and incredible potential. The giants that remain are far less mighty than some may think, especially in the face of supernatural power. Some may find this Deus ex machina approach unsatisfying, but for me it’s the only approach to take. Putting one’s faith solely in material factors and solutions—things that one’s eyes can see—is, I think, a mistake.
There is a future in the land of Canaan, a future despite the giants. Joshua and Caleb saw it. I saw it more recently. My hope is that others will see it too, abandoning their fears and moving ahead with the confidence of those who know the future is there to possess.
Robert Nicholson is a 2012-13 Tikvah Fellow.

The lies we tell ourselves about moderate Islam

creeping
via The lies we tell ourselves about moderate Islam.
As commentator Charles Krauthammer recently pointed out, Obama “won’t use any words that might imply a connection between radical Islam and terrorism, which anyone over the age of nine knows is the single greatest cause of terror in the world today. This matters because you have to be clear with your own people about who the enemy is.”
Making matters worse is the fact that we like to lie to ourselves and stress repeatedly that moderation prevails in the Muslim world and that only a small band of Islamic extremists support the use of violence.
If only that were the case! But the facts most assuredly indicate otherwise.
On April 30, the Pew Research Center issued the results of a wide-ranging survey, “The World’s Muslims: Religion, Politics and Society,” which entailed more than 38,000 face-to-face interviews conducted in over 80 languages with Muslims on four continents.

Glenn Greenwald and the Islamists

 The Warped Mirror
If you are keeping up with news and views about Israel, you will likely know that the very popular and very opinionated blogger Glenn Greenwald has a well-deserved reputation for his intense dislike of Israel and its supporters. Jeffrey Goldberg once called it “ostentatious anti-Israelism,” noting that Greenwald “evinces toward Israel a disdain that is quite breathtaking. He holds Israel to a standard he doesn't hold any other country, except the U.S.”

Similarly, Adam Levick argued in a commentary on Greenwald’s move from Salon to The Guardian last summer:
 
“Greenwald […] advances a brand of anti-imperialism […] informed by a palpable loathing of America, a nation he sees as a dangerous force of evil in the world. Greenwald’s anti-Americanism is so intense he once compared the US overthrow of Saddam Hussein to the Nazi conquest of Europe.
 
As is often the case with Guardian-brand commentators, Greenwald’s anti-imperialist ideological package includes a vicious anti-Zionism, and a corresponding belief in the injurious influence of organized US Jewry on American foreign policy in the Middle East.”

Friday, May 10, 2013

Why Didn't the 1967 Borders Bring Peace?




The constant refrain of Israel’s critics in the last few decades has been the need for the Jewish state to withdraw from every inch of territory it won in the Six-Day War and to return to what they erroneously refer to as the “1967 borders.” But as Israelis celebrate the 46th anniversary of the re-unification of their capital city today that was made possible by that war, it’s appropriate to ask why peace did not reign in the Middle East on June 4, 1967 prior to the beginning of the “occupation.”

Netanyahu: Hawking Needs to Study Facts about Israel

By HERB KEINON, JONNY PAUL

Post’ catalyst for Cambridge retraction over Peres parley pullout.

Stephen Hawking
Stephen Hawking Photo: REUTERS/Valentin Flauraud
BEIJING/LONDON – Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu slammed Prof. Stephen Hawking for joining the boycott against Israel and cancelling plans to attend President Shimon Peres’s conference next month, saying the celebrated physicist should “study the facts.”
Asked by The Jerusalem Post about Hawking’s boycott at a press briefing, Netanyahu said, “He should investigate the truth, he is a scientist. He should study the facts and draw the necessary conclusions: Israel is an island of reason, moderation and a desire for peace.”
Netanyahu said that Hawking knows that there are many false theories in science. “There are also false theories in politics, and this [the slandering of Israel] is one of them, maybe the foremost among them,” he said. “There is no state that yearns for peace more than Israel, nor any state that has done more for peace than Israel.”
One official in the prime minister’s entourage went even further, comparing Hawking to Shakespeare and Voltaire, both of whom held anti-Semitic sentiments.

Who does Abbas represent?

Guy Bechor


"Political leaders will not take risks if the people do not demand that they do. You must create the change that you want to see," American President Barack Obama preached to us during his speech in Jerusalem, and he was most certainly right. But at the same time he calls on Israel to negotiate with Mahmoud Abbas.

Who exactly does Abbas represent, apart from himself? He was elected in the Palestinian elections organized by Israel in January 2005, and years have passed since, for all intents and purposes, his term ended. In January 2006 a Palestinian parliament was elected, but it was dissolved by Abbas because Hamas won the elections.

Thursday, May 09, 2013

Hamas Schools Teaching Children How to Kill Israelis–with Real Guns

Commentary Magazine

May 1, 2013 -- Having complained frequently about the media’s failure to report anything that might detract from their preferred narrative of Israel-as-villain, I’m delighted to discover that one British paper is bucking this trend. The Telegraph ran two articles this week describing the miserable situation in Hamas-run Gaza. And as reporter Phoebe Greenwood makes clear, the culprit isn’t Israel, but the elected Hamas government.

The first describes how Hamas has introduced military training into the curriculum of Gaza high schools–after having previously excised sports from said curriculum on the grounds that there wasn’t time for it. The mandatory weekly classes include learning how to shoot a Kalashnikov rifle; students who so choose can learn more advanced skills, like throwing grenades, at optional two-week camps. The article also includes video footage of Hamas militants demonstrating their skills for the students on a school playground: They carry out a mock raid on an Israel Defense Forces outpost, killing one soldier and capturing another, then demolish the outpost with a rocket-propelled grenade.

Needless to say, educating schoolchildren to view Israelis solely through the sights of a rifle doesn’t contribute to peaceful coexistence. And as Samar Zakout of the Gaza-based human rights groups Al Mezan noted, it also willfully endangers the students: If Hamas is using schools as military training bases, they could become targets for Israeli airstrikes in a future conflict.

But Hamas also engages in more direct forms of abuse, as Greenwood’s second article makes clear. It describes the victims of Hamas’s modesty patrols. In April alone, police arrested “at least 41 men” for crimes such as wearing low-slung pants or putting gel in their hair. Most were brutally beaten; they also had their heads forcibly shaved. One victim described being dragged into a police station and seeing “a mountain of hair, it looked like it had been shaved from 300 heads.” Another described being beaten on the soles of his feet with a plastic rod “for at least five minutes. I was crying and screaming with agony. It was the worst pain I’ve ever felt.”

Yet Greenwood’s articles, unsparing though they are, still leave out one crucial point: The situation isn’t much better in the Palestinian Authority-controlled West Bank. There, too, Palestinians are subject to arbitrary arrest for such crimes as insulting PA President Mahmoud Abbas on Facebook. There, too, Palestinian schoolchildren are taught to view all of Israel, even in the pre-1967 lines, as “stolen” Palestinian land that must be reclaimed someday. There, too, murderers of Israelis, like the one who killed a father of five this week, are glorified as “heroes”; the PA even gave the honor of launching its UN statehood campaign to the proud mother of four sons who are serving a combined 18 life sentences for murdering Israelis. It’s no wonder that, according to a new Pew poll, Palestinians are the biggest supporters of suicide bombings in the Islamic world.

Assad vows 'strategic revenge' on Israel, modeled on Hezbollah

Assad's comments, published by Al-Akhbar, appeared intended to refute any suggestion that last week's reported Israeli raids on Syrian targets would halt assistance to the Shiite group Hezbollah in Lebanon • Assad: Syria will "give Hezbollah everything."

Syria could "easily" respond and fire rockets into Israel, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
|
Photo credit: AP

B’TSELEM ACKNOWLEDGES INABILITY TO ASSESS PALESTINIAN ALLEGATIONS


NGO MonitorMay 09, 2013
http://www.ngo-monitor.org/article/b_tselem_acknowledges_inability_to_assess_palestinian_allegations

Condemnation of IDF in Press Release Not Supported by Accompanying Report

On May 9, 2013, the Israeli organization B’Tselem issued a 30-page report headlined “Human Rights Violations during Operation Pillar of Defense 14-21 November 2012.” This publication immediately received widespread coverage in the Israeli media, apparently based largely on an accompanying press release.
However, the claims in the press release are inconsistent with the actual report, creating false perceptions in the media. The press statement claims that the “report raises suspicions that the military violated International Humanitarian Law (IHL).” But these allegations are not demonstrated in the report; at best, they are the result of conjecture, as B’Tselem itself acknowledges in the report. Additionally, the claim to distinguish between civilian and combat deaths in this report, as in past B’Tselem statements, is based on manipulated definitions and speculation, and the application of existing legal standards would result in very different conclusions.

Wednesday, May 08, 2013

Senior PA official praises murderer and another official swears: "If we had a nuke, we'd have used it this very morning"

Senior PA official Sultan Abu Al-Einein about murderer
who stabbed Israeli to death last week:
 "We salute the heroic fighter...
[who] went against the settler and killed him.
Blessings to the breast that nursed [him]"
Senior PA official Jibril Rajoub:
"I swear that if we had a nuke,
we'd have used it this very morning"
by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
Two senior Palestinian Authority officials praised the use of violence against Israel last week.

Senior PA official Sultan Abu Al-Einein expressed his open support for the murderer who killed Evyatar Borovsky, an Israeli who was stabbed to death by Palestinian terrorist Salam Al-Zaghal while he was waiting for a ride.

Abu Al-Einein, who was until recently an advisor holding the rank of minister to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and who was subsequently appointed Head of the Palestinian Council for NGO Affairs by Abbas, honored the murderer:

"We salute the heroic fighter, the self-sacrificing Salam Al-Zaghal."
Abu Al-Einein also praised the murderer and his killing with the words:

"He insisted on defending his honor, so he went against the settler and killed him. Blessings to the breast that nursed Salam Al-Zaghal."
The audience applauded and whistled at this statement.

Click to view

"The Eternal City"

Jerusalem.  And today we are celebrating Yom Yerushalayim -- Jerusalem Day -- the anniversary of the liberation by Israeli troops of eastern (historic Jewish) Jerusalem, in 1967.  
 
Credit: JerusalemShots
 
May we never forget the blessing that has been restored to us.  This is a time for prayers of gratitude for the gift of this city, which truly is the soul of the Jewish people.
 
The Jerusalem Day parade leads people through the streets of the city and into the Old City for dancing with flags at the Kotel:

Tuesday, May 07, 2013

Bayit Yehudi: Choosing Religious Moderation or Extremism

Isi Leibler
May 6, 2013
http://wordfromjerusalem.com/?p=4608

 
Naftali Bennett represents one of the most successful of the new generation of Israeli politicians to have emerged from the recent Knesset elections.
The charismatic 41 year old religious Zionist has rejuvenated the moribund Bayit Yehudi which was on the verge of extinction. Bennett graduated from the elite IDF Sayeret Matkal commando unit and in his 30s was a co- founder of a startup company which was sold for $145 million. He subsequently served as bureau chief of staff to Prime Minister Netanyahu and after personal differences with him was appointed Director General of the Council of Settlements of Judea and Samaria (Yesha). Less than a year after resigning that post, he was elected head of Bayit Yehudi.

Monday, May 06, 2013

"We Mean It"And thank Heaven that we do... Israel officials -- government and military -- have repeatedly said that we will not permit a situation in Syria in which "game changing" weaponry -- whether WMD or missiles -- is passed to terrorist forces. And we have shown, again and again that we do mean what we say and are willing to act on it. In the last few days, we've apparently (shall we say, "allegedly") demonstrated this not once, but twice. Because -- as would be expected! -- there is no official report from Israeli sources, I cannot provide precise information on what was (allegedly) entailed. Along with everyone else, I am relying on secondary sources -- US and other foreign media -- which secure their information in a variety of ways; and an unnamed Israeli official speaking off the record, after the news broke in foreign media. Many of these sources are referenced in Israeli media. Not all agree on particulars. However, while it cannot be confirmed, that we have hit in Syria seems fairly certain. ~~~~~~~~~~ The first hit came very late Thursday night or early Friday morning. It was reportedly accomplished from Lebanese airspace, it is believed without entry into Syrian airspace. According to Israel National News, pairs of Israeli planes entered Lebanese airspace three times, each time remaining for two to three hours. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/167698 According to Reuters, as reported by YNet, Israel's air force possesses so-called "standoff" missiles that, once fired, are able to coast dozens of kilometers across ground to their targets. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4375921,00.html For more information on Israel's standoff missiles, see Haaretz here: http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/the-israel-air-force-s-popeye-and-spice-missiles-a-primer.premium-1.519290/ ~~~~~~~~~~ The most specific information -- which was cited extensively elsewhere -- came from yesterday's NYTimes, which reported that what was hit were Iranian surface-to-surface missiles -- Fateh 110 missiles, which carry a 600 kg. warhead, have considerable accuracy, and can reach most of Israel from southern Lebanon -- that were being stored at the airport in Damascus and were likely due to be transferred to Hezbollah; the warehouse where they were held was believed to be under the control of Hezbollah and Iran's Quds forces. ~~~~~~~~~~ Citing foreign sources, who received information from Syrian rebel intelligence, YNet today also reported that a convoy that was in the process of transferring weapons to Hezbollah was hit on the road between Damascus and Beirut -- in three separate strikes by Israeli F-16s, pictured below. Again, it is thought that these attacks were initiated from Lebanese airspace. And it may well be that the reference by Israel National News to sets of planes entering Lebanese airspace refers to these attacks, as well as the attack on the airport in Damascus. We might call these two prongs of one attack. Credit: AFP/Jack Guez There was some thought that what was hit in the convoy were anti-aircraft missiles, but the best estimate seems to be that in this attack, as well, it was surface-to-surface missiles that were taken out. ~~~~~~~~~~ Now very early this morning, there were media reports of major explosions near Damascus, as a military research center in Jamraya was attacked by rockets, with possible hits on two nearby sites as well -- an ammunition depot and Republican Guard battalions. At Jamraya, also, it is believed that Iranian missiles were targeted, but it seems less clear at the moment whether Israeli jets may have entered Syrian airspace. If the name Jamraya rings a bell it's because Israel hit there in January of this year. Referred to as a "scientific research center," this is a site of major military significance, where research is done and weapons are stored; its location near the Lebanese border makes transfer of weaponry easier. For more on Jamraya: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22421732 ~~~~~~~~~~ Last night a Cabinet meeting was called to discuss the situation, and for the first time there was official comment of sorts: In a couple of different venues, Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon said, "The State of Israel is protecting its interests and will continue doing so. I am not confirming or denying the reports...We have said on various occasions in the past that we will do everything anywhere in order to protect those interests." http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/live-blog-israel-launches-second-syria-strike-in-two-days-sources-say-1.519250 Another Security Cabinet meeting was held this afternoon. ~~~~~~~~~~ In the end, the precise process by which we accomplished the attacks, and the precise armaments that have been destroyed, are less important than the fact that we did act, and successfully. The message being sent to Syria and Hezbollah, and by extension to Iran, is considerable. In fact, the most important message is to Iran, with regard to our meaning it when we speak about Red Lines. At first, I read disclaimers by Syria and Iran saying they had no information on an Israeli attack. That's one way to attempt to handle matters. No need to respond if nothing happened. But in more recent hours there have been threats from both quarters: Syrian Information Minister Omran Zoabi says Israeli air strikes against targets outside of Damascus "opens the door to all possibilities." And Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al Mekdad told CNN that the attack on a Syrian facility near Damascus is a "declaration of war." While Lebanese media quoted Seyed Hassan Firouzabadi, the chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces, as saying: "Resistance forces will respond to the Israeli aggression… Iran will not allow to Israel destabilize the region." The IAF is carefully monitoring our northern skies, which have been closed to civilian air traffic, and we are on alert more broadly. But as far as Syria is concerned, I do not believe there will be a direct attack. Assad may be ruthless and amoral, but he's not irrational or stupid. His resources are sorely depleted, and if he wants his regime to survive, he will not take on a new battle with a stronger enemy. ~~~~~~~~~~ Nor do I believe that Iran would attempt to hit Israel directly now. But in this instance, use of its proxy Hezbollah is a possibility (the threat by the Iranian chief of staff did come via Lebanon) -- although I suspect there is only a small possibility with regard to a direct missile attack. Here, too, we are looking at an entity that is somewhat weakened and depleted. Hezbollah forces are in Syria fighting, and Shia/Sunni tensions have generated a downward spiral for Hezbollah. See: http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/blog/michael-j-totten/beginning-end-hezbollah . More on Hezbollah soon. ~~~~~~~~~~ President Obama, while saying that it is not his position to verify whether it was Israel that hit in Syria, was quick to say that Israel has a right to act to ensure that sophisticated weapons don't reach Hezbollah. My own guess is that this man who prefers not to act himself, and still hasn't even decided whether to send arms to the Free Syrian Army, is delighted that Israel is acting. ~~~~~~~~~~ True to form, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, who should be shipped out permanently, has taken his standard line: He is "gravely concerned" about the news of possible Israeli strikes in Syria, and he urges respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity. The head of the international agency that has turned a blind eye to the deaths of 70,000 Syrians has nothing to say with regard to what Israel does. What both fascinates and bewilders me (it shouldn't, I know) is that criticizing Israel is so politically correct in certain Muslim/Arab circles that it proceeds even when doing so is counterintuitive. Rebel forces have come out with criticism, when they should be delighted at anything that weakens Assad. But welcome an attack by Israel and appear to be -- shock! -- on the same side? Never. The Arab League has issued a condemnation of Israel's actions -- and specifically, it should be noted, have Egypt and Turkey, both supporters of Syrian rebel forces, done so. ~~~~~~~~~~ After a delay of some hours generated by the situation with Syria, PM Netanyahu has flown to China, where there will be discussions regarding Iranian issues and economic ones. A visit with major implications. In his stead, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon is acting prime minister. ~~~~~~~~~~ © Arlene Kushner. This material is produced by Arlene Kushner, functioning as an independent journalist. Permission is granted for it to be reproduced only with proper attribution. If it is reproduced and emphasis is added, the fact that it has been added must be noted. See my website at www.arlenefromisrael.info Contact Arlene at akushner18@gmail.com This material is transmitted by Arlene only to persons who have requested it or agreed to receive it. If you are on the list and wish to be removed, contact Arlene and include your name in the text of the message. © 2013 Microsoft Terms Privacy Developers English (United States)

And thank Heaven that we do...
Israel officials -- government and military -- have repeatedly said that we will not permit a situation in Syria in which "game changing" weaponry -- whether WMD or missiles -- is passed to terrorist forces.  And we have shown, again and again that we do mean what we say and are willing to act on it.  In the last few days, we've apparently (shall we say, "allegedly") demonstrated this not once, but twice.

The Boston Bombings and Understanding the Islamic Worldview

Interview with Mark Durie

Christian Worldview Radio

David Wheaton: Perhaps you watched the Boston Marathon bombings that killed four people and injured more than 200 others and wondered, "Why would two young Muslim men, who were granted political asylum in America years ago, educated in our schools, and received financial aid from U.S. taxpayers, set off two bombs in order to murder and maim as many Americans as possible?"
It's a very good question. It has been said that, "All Muslims are not terrorists … but almost all terrorist attacks against America are committed by Muslims."
Why is this? What is it about Islam — or perhaps about America? — that leads two young Muslims to murder the people that have actually taken them in?
Mark Durie, an Australian pastor and author of three books on Islam joins us from Australia The Christian Worldview all the way from Australia.

Silencing Speech on Islam

Andrew E. Harrod
American Thinker


Bavaria's Interior Ministry announced April 12, 2013, that the provincial Office of Constitutional Protection (Verfassungsschutz) will monitor local chapters of the website Politically Incorrect (PI) and the small conservative Freedom Party (Die Freiheit). As reported in the media, Bavaria is the first province in Germany to take this step, an important German milestone in ostracizing criticism and/or condemnation of Islam.
As the ministry website explains, the Federal Republic of Germany is a "militant democracy [wehrhafteDemokratie]." The Verfassungsschutz hereby functions as an "early warning system" against threats to a free society. Verfassungsschutz offices at the federal and provincial levels "observe anti-constitutional efforts" (including with secret surveillance) across the political spectrum and report to authorities and the public.

Sunday, May 05, 2013

Stoning Returns as Punishment


 If this is how the Iranian government treats its own we should not wonder about their willingness to treat 'infidels' according to their threats. 
 
C.
 
The controversial “Islamic Punishment” law that was rejected by the Guardians Council returned and eventually was passed last week. To the disappointment of human rights activists and the promises of some Majlis representatives, not only stoning is not negated in the law, it is in fact emphasized.
Hamid-Reza Tabatabai, the vice-chairman of Majlis’s judiciary committee told the press, “Stoning is not negated in the new “Islamic Punishment” law. Its execution has been modified. This was requested by the Guardians Council. According to the law stones do not have to be used to implement the law and hanging, or other innovative methods by the judiciary, can be used to accomplish the same goal.”

“Our Children Love Martyrdom”: Hamas Photo Glorifies Child Soldier Deaths

 TheTower.org Staff
In an extensive expose published late last month, The Telegraph documented the extent to which Hamas is training Palestinian schoolboys to use assault-style weapons and battle Israel. The outlet documented how the Iran-backed terror group has introduced into the local curriculum military training for 37,000 Palestinian boys aged 15-17. The children are trained to attack Israeli positions and kill Israeli soldiers:
A YouTube clip showing a military demonstration in a Gaza school also appears to contradict the Hamas official line. Posted on April 5, the video shows a mock Israeli military post erected in a school playground, where Palestinian militants enact a mock battle during which a faux Israeli soldier is killed and another captured. A shoulder-held rocket launcher is then fired at the military post, the force of the blast leaving only a smoking metal frame and a billowing Israeli flag.

Anger as Pro-PA Singer Chosen for Jerusalem Day

Jerusalem hires Achinoam Nini, who has called to split Jerusalem with the PA, to sing at official celebration in the city on Jerusalem Day.

Achinoam Nini
Achinoam Nini
Israel news photo: Flash 90
The city of Jerusalem is in the final stages of preparations for Jerusalem Day, which celebrates the reunification of the city in 1967 after 19 years in which the eastern half was under Jordanian rule and Jews and Christians were not allowed to visit its holy sites.
One of the main attractions during festivities in the capital will be an evening of classic Israeli music at Safra Square (Kikar Safra), the site of the municipality, in downtown Jerusalem.
The festivities may be marred this year by organizers’ controversial choice of singer – Achinoam Nini, a famed Israeli singer with far-left views who has called for Jerusalem to be divided a second time. Nini believes the parts of the city that were formerly under Jordanian rule should be given to the PA - including the Western Wall and the Temple Mount - which seeks to make eastern Jerusalem the capital of a new Arab state.
Some Jerusalem residents are calling to boycott the official celebration due to Nini’s views. “She has taken part in pro-Palestinian protests where they called to divide Jerusalem and return to the 1967 borders,” noted Chen Rosen, who is taking part in the boycott.