Last Monday night, I was in Boston and listened to part of the Monday night football game on the radio and heard this punt return by the Atlanta Falcons' Devin Hester which broke an all time record for touchdown returns (it was Hester's 20th - mostly with the Chicago Bears.
Let's go to the videotape.
Hester's team was penalized 15 yards on the ensuing kickoff for that little display of unsportsmanlike conduct at the end. The broadcasters thought that was a bit unfair because it was a record-breaking run, but the penalty stood and there was no real discussion about it in the morning.
Last night, the Kansas City Chiefs' Husain Abdullah intercepted my team's quarterback Tom Brady, and returned the interception for a touchdown.
Let's go to the videotape.
Abdullah's team was penalized 15 yards on the ensuing kickoff for that
little display of unsportsmanlike conduct at the end. I was in Israel and this happened while I was in synagogue this morning, so I did not hear what the broadcasters thought about it, but the penalty
stood. But there was a lot of discussion about it in the morning. Abdullah is a Muslim. And the NFL was forced to apologize (Hat Tip: Memeorandum).
His celebration drew a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, but
the NFL said Tuesday that Abdullah should not have been penalized.
The
league’s rule book prohibits players from celebrating while on the
ground, but spokesman Michael Signora wrote in an email Tuesday that
“the officiating mechanic in this situation is not to flag a player who
goes to the ground as part of religious expression, and as a result,
there should have been no penalty on the play.”
Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/sports/nfl/kansas-city-chiefs/article2324330.html#storylink=cpy
Huh? Never heard that exception before. Hester's high-step wasn't religious enough? Oh wait, Hester didn't have the backing of CAIR.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a civil liberties and
advocacy organization, issued a statement early Tuesday asking that the
NFL take steps in response to the penalty.
“To prevent the
appearance of a double standard, we urge league officials to clarify the
policy on prayer and recognize that the official made a mistake in this
case,” CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said.
Actually, I think the penalty prevented the appearance of a double standard. Abdullah did something remarkably similar to what Hester did. Both were penalized. Sounds fair to me. Sounds fair to Abduallh's coach too.
Game officials didn’t say anything to Abdullah after the play, but
Chiefs coach Andy Reid did when Abdullah came to the sideline.
“He said, ‘You can’t slide,’” Abdullah said.
Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/sports/nfl/kansas-city-chiefs/article2324330.html#storylink=cpy
Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/sports/nfl/kansas-city-chiefs/article2324330.html#storylink=cp
But Abdullah is allowed to slide... and to bow in the end zone. Maybe the next time, he can keep his prayer rug on the back of his pants.
Sorry but that penalty was earned. I have no problem with it.
'Palestinians' call for death penalty for broker of seven buildings sold to Jews in 'east' Jerusalem
One night in the summer of 1964, we came home and found a delegation of neighbors on the doorstep of our Natick, Massachusetts home. I was a little kid at the time, but I heard afterward what had happened. Our family was moving to Newton - another Boston suburb which is closer in - and my parents had sold our house to a black family. The neighbors were furious and wanted to buy the house to keep the neighborhood lily white. Yes, in Blue Massachusetts. My father z"l (of blessed memory) told them where to get off.
I think of that story every time I hear a story like this one.
Under police guard, Jewish families moved into seven buildings in the 'east' Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan - right outside the Old City - on Tuesday, as the former owners of the building and the broker who sold them fled, and a 'Palestinian Authority' official called for the death penalty for the broker.
In the latest case, all of the homes were purchased legally by Elad via
intermediaries, usually Palestinian brokers who buy the properties from
local families at inflated prices.
At one house, Khaled Karaeen,
62 and a father of six, sat with his head in his hands in the courtyard
of his home, edgily flicking worry beads, unable to believe what had
happened.
Relatives said one of Karaeen's sons had sold a
dwelling inside the grounds of the family home to a Palestinian broker
about a year ago for 1.2 million shekels ($300,000), around twice as
much as the property was probably worth.
Karaeen refused to
speak to visitors on Tuesday, with family members saying he was too
ashamed by what his son had done. Karaeen's brother said he had spoken
by phone to the son, who had fled to the north of Israel.
In the past, Palestinians found to have sold their homes to settler organizations have been killed.
The
broker had then sold the apartment to Elad, which then rented it out to
the Jewish residents, who moved in during the early hours of Tuesday
morning with the help of Israeli police.
The Jewish family, which
declined to be interviewed, had barricaded themselves inside, blocking a
yellow door that opens onto Karaeen's courtyard. Karaeen sat three
meters (10 feet) away.
I was going to make a sarcastic remark about how giving the 'Palestinians' a 'state' would make them more willing to live among Jews. Alas, even that remark is out of place.
"They want to make a joke of us," said Fadi Maragha, a local
representative of the Palestinian political party Fatah, who said he had
come to offer support to the family.
"They think they can drive
us out. But we are the landowners. We were here and we will be here
until we have all of Palestine without any Jewish people in it," he
said.
Asked what would happen to the son and the broker to whom
he had sold the property, Maragha said he felt they should die, but he
did not expect that to happen.
"We know who the broker is. He's
living in a town south of Jerusalem," he said. "But he's rich and he's
protected, including by the Israelis."
Funny. I once owned a home in New Jersey and I sold it 23 years ago. Does that mean I'm not the landowner there anymore? Or would the 'Palestinians' still consider me the landowner? Hmmm.
Jerusalem Light Rail CEO says he was ordered not to report 'Palestinian' terrorism
The CEO of Jerusalem's light rail system and a housing ministry official say that Jerusalem police and the Housing Ministry have been attempting to cover up 'Palestinian' terrorism in the 'eastern part' of the city.
Police requested that CityPass not report rock
throwing attacks against the light rail because it harms police and
encourages the offenders, CityPass CEO Yaron Ravid told Israel Radio,
which reported Tuesday that there have been no reports to the media by
police or CityPass of violent attacks against the light rail over the
last two weeks even though numerous incidents have occurred. Throughout
the day Tuesday, the train was attacked by rock throwers three times.
When contacted for a response, police
acknowledged that there had been 13 instances of attackers throwing
rocks at the train and two arrests, one of which resulted in an
indictment. In addition, police said, 75 people have been arrested on
suspicion of rioting.
“Ongoing efforts require patience and
persistence and are already proving themselves,” the police said in a
statement. “Jerusalem Police will continue its operation against
rioters, which will lead to a decrease in incidents and quiet in the
area.”
The alleged directive against reporting
violent incidents has not been limited to the light rail, according to
an official from the Housing Ministry, who was quoted by Israel Radio as
saying that guards employed by the ministry have been instructed not to
report rock throwing incidents in East Jerusalem in order not to
discourage Jews from living in mixed neighborhoods.
When Iranian scientist Dr. Ardeshir Hosseinpour was killed in February
2007, the cause of death was reported to be “gassing” and most presumed
the act was carried out by Israel. That belief stood, largely because of
Iranian accusations to that effect; and because of Israeli policy to
neither confirm nor deny such acts. But now, seven years later,
Mahboobeh Hosseinpour has come forward with the claim that the IRI was
behind her brother’s death because of his refusal to be involved in
Iran’s nuclear enrichment program whose use was for atomic purposes.
If Hosseinpour’s account can be confirmed, it could have impact on the
next round of between Iran and the P5+1 -- the five permanent members of
the U.N. Security Council and Germany.
Speaking to The Media Line from Turkey via Skype in a conversation
arranged by the Iranian opposition group The New Iran, 52-year old
Mahboobeh Hosseinpour said that she learned through her sister-in-law,
Sara Araghi, of her brother’s secret research, and particularly about a
DVD which contained research and formulas for building an atomic bomb 12
times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb and methods for
neutralizing it.
Mahmoobeh Hosseinpour learned that her brother was contacted in
November 2004 by three special agents of IRI’s Defense Department with a
personal message from IRI’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,
enlisting him to work on increasing IRI’s uranium enrichment
capabilities for the purpose of building atomic weapons; and with a
secondary goal of teaching and supervising Russian and North Korean
scientists in order to accelerate the project. Speaking about her
brother, Hosseinpour said that “he was offered a two star rank in the
revolutionary guard and ownership of factories,” if he agreed.
Mrs. Hossenpour told The Media Line that Israel did not kill her
brother but the IRI did, allegedly because he would not co-operate with
them, claiming those projects would result in serious financial damage
for the people of the Iran as well as the international community.
Read the whole thing. It's been clear all along that Iran is after nuclear weapons. This makes it even clearer.
This is rich: Hillel, J Street University and Students for 'Justice' in 'Palestine' sponsor an event together
And you thought that Hillel would have nothing to do with Students for 'Justice' in 'Palestine' and other anti-Zionist groups, and that's why 'Open Hillel' was started. And you also thought that 'pro-Israel, pro-peace' J Street wouldn't partner with groups that promote BDS. Well, you were wrong. And what started on the east coast has now come to the west coast.
Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), a club new to
Occidental this year, collaborated with Hillel and J Street last
Wednesdayto co-host a candlelight vigil mourning the
lives lost in the most recent Gaza-Israel conflict. Approximately 30
members of the Occidental community gathered in the middle of the Quad
in remembrance of those killed, and also in a stand of solidarity.
The Gaza-Israel war has left many like-minded students
shaken and questioning the cyclical, systematic nature of the violence,
prompting the idea for the on-campus vigil.
“Yes, we need to remember lives of the people that were
lost, but [the vigil] is also to draw in people and give them the sense
that this has got to stop,” Beebe Sanders (senior) said.
Testimonials read aloud at the vigil gave the gathering a
closer view of the horrors that have become Israelis’ and Palestinians’
reality. One such account was from the perspective of a father, who
witnessed the bombing of his house while his children were inside.
“Our main goals were that people walk away with a sense
of togetherness, with a sense that as Americans, as all people, we have
some investment in this conflict,” J Street Co-Chair Ben Poor (senior)
said. “I hope people felt that they had a chance to mourn and to reflect
on the events of this summer as a campus community.”
The collaborative event served as an introduction to SJP,
which was established by Sanders, seniors Janan Burni and Robert
Rodriguez-Donoso and Yasmine Dabbah (sophomore). SJP is a national
organization established in 2001 with more than 80 chapters, the purpose
of which is to advocate for human rights and a peaceful resolution to
the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“We wanted to start SJP because we felt there was a lack
of voice for Palestine on issues such as human rights and advocating for
an end to the occupation,” Sanders said.
You American Jews keep blindly donating money to Federation to support this, okay? But at least call Hillel to register a protest!?!?!
Video: 'Palestinian' terrorists attack Jewish day care center in Jerusalem
This video was shot earlier today near the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. The apartment at which these 'Palestinian' terrorists are throwing stones serves as a day care center for Jewish infants and children who live in the area.
Let's go to the videotape.
More here (link in Hebrew). Fortunately, it seems that no one was hurt.
There is a protest at the Ger section of the Mount of Olives cemetery at 4:00 pm today.
Prime Minister Netanyahu has a veal chop with Sheldon Adelson
The New York Post reports that after his speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Monday, Prime Minister Netanyahu had lunch with Sheldon Adelson (Hat Tip: Kikar Shabbat (link in Hebrew)).
Spies tell us that Bibi arrived at the small lunch hosted by Las Vegas casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson
for five people, for which “every single customer at the restaurant had
to go through a metal detector,” as the leader was flanked by Israeli
and American guards.
“The entire block was closed,” the spy said, adding, “There were even Secret Service men on the roof.”
We hear that Netanyahu opted for a veal chop as he held court.
The restaurant at which they ate was not a pricey midtown Manhattan Kosher restaurant. It's called Fresco by Scotto and it's on East 52nd Street. Here's a link to the lunch menu. You will note that it includes items like Meat and Cheese Antipasto, Fresco Crab Cake Gnudi and a couple of lobster dishes. The Meat and Cheese Antipasto includes something called capicola. I had to look that one up with Mr. Google, but Capicola, or coppa, is a traditional Neapolitan Italian cold cut (salume) made from pork shoulder or neck and dry-cured whole.
The average non-religious Israeli who might eat dairy products or fish (not those kinds of fish) in non-Kosher restaurants would likely not be caught dead in such a restaurant except with a sealed Kosher airline meal. Was Netanyahu's veal chop provided by El Al?
Non-religious Israelis in general are much less willing to abandon traditional Judaism than are their American counterparts.
I like Adelson's politics. I don't like his choice in restaurants. There are several Kosher restaurants in Manhattan (and in the midtown area) that are at least as upscale as this one. Here's one I've been to several times and here's another I'm still waiting to be treated to. The second one is four city blocks from where Netanyahu and Adelson ate.
Prime Ministers in Israel have fallen for less. Hmmm.
Turkey's lax border policies have enabled ISIS to finance and arm its
fighters in Syria; ISIS cells are now operating throughout Turkey.
And Turkey also helped Iran, a state sponsor of terror, evade
sanctions to the tune of billions of dollars in 2012 and 2013. Yet this
week, Turkey chaired the Global Counter-Terrorism Forum in New York.
It could be an item from The Onion — except it's not satire.
Launched in 2011 after the failure of previous multilateral groups to
tackle terrorism, the 30-country GCTF has itself become a farce — not
least because Turkey is the co-chair, along with the United States.
Turkey holds this honor because of its rare qualities: It is a Muslim country that is a trusted US and NATO ally.
But it has also become a hub for terrorist recruiting and support —
most definitely including ISIS recruiting and support, as The New York
Times has reported.
Yet the GCTF promotes Turkey as part of the solution, rather than a core part of the problem.
Nor are the problems new. In 2012, Turkey blocked Israel from joining
the GCTF, though the Jewish state has vast anti-terrorist experience and
intelligence.
Equally absurd, GCTF members include Qatar, Saudi Arabia and
Pakistan, all three of which help fund or otherwise sponsor terrorism.
What's amazing about this is not the positions that Turkey has taken (they're actually quite consistent), but rather the fact that both the US Congress and the media have mostly been silent about it.
Jewish construction worker murdered by 'Palestinian' co-worker who cut his rope
It took two weeks, but police now suspect that Jewish construction worker Netanel Arami HY"D (May God Avenge his blood) was murdered when a 'Palestinian' co-worker cut the rope from which he was suspended, sending him plunging 11 stories to his death.
This is from the original report from two weeks ago (the second link).
The few details known about the event so far, according to Walla! News,
hint that Arami's fall may not have been accidental. Armi worked at the
site along with fellow worker Liron Ovadiah in the hours before the
fall, according to the daily, and was first noticed to have been missing
after he did not show up for a planned ride home. One worker returned
to the construction site to search for him and found him laying dead on
the ground.
Both Arami and Ovadiah were to close the vent caps of the security
rooms spread along the length of the building, which is being built on
Shraga Naftali Street. Due to the complexity in assembling the
building's scaffolding, contractors have asked the workers to put up the
structure using abseiling, or a form of rappelling along the outside of
the building.
For several hours they worked on the site, and were due to end at
5:00 pm. At that time, Arami - hanging from cables on the 11th floor via
a harness - asked his employees to prepare for the end of the day and
pack up.
After the fall, and after he was was found lifeless on the ground,
Arami's colleagues called an ambulance, but the Portable Intensive Care
Unit at the scene pronounced him dead shortly thereafter.
The police now know a lot more. This is from the first link.
Police investigators think an Arab co-worker at the site cut the rope
that Arami was connected to as he rapelled down the side of the
building.
Arami, 27, owned a small rapelling business which he had been running for several years.
MK Moshe Feiglin (Likud), who visited the grieving Arami family
shortly after Netanel's death, was convinced from the outset that he was
murdered. “For five hours, Netanel lay crushed on the ground,”
wrote. His mother learned of the accident from news site Ynet,” he
wrote on Facebook. Netanel's co-worker “arrived there with the police.
They went up to the roof and found the slashed rope, heard the Arabs
laughing. A rapelling rope that has been cut looks completely different
from one that was worn out. And there are two of them – one main rope
and one for security.”
Feiglin hinted broadly that the gag order placed on details of
the investigation was unjustified. “What is there to hide here except
the wish to block, to cover the eyes of the public?”
There's much more: The police handling of this entire case was apparently grossly negligent. Read the whole thing.
One of the best letters to the editor you will ever see was written to the New York Times in response to its editorial in favor of 'The Death of Klinghoffer.' It was written by Judea Pearl, the father of murdered Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl HY"D (May God Avenge his blood).
In
joining protesters of the New York Metropolitan Opera’s production of
“The Death of Klinghoffer,” I echo the silenced voice of our son, Daniel
Pearl, and the silenced voices of other victims of terror who were
murdered, maimed or left heartbroken by the new menace of our
generation, a savagery that the Met has decided to elevate to a
normative, two-sided status worthy of artistic expression.
We are told that the composer tried to understand the hijackers, their motivations and their grievances.
I
submit that there has never been a crime in human history lacking
grievance and motivation. The 9/11 lunatics had profound motivations,
and the murderers of our son, Daniel Pearl, had very compelling
“grievances.”
In
the last few weeks we have seen with our own eyes that Hamas and the
Islamic State have grievances, too. There is nothing more enticing to a
would-be terrorist than the prospect of broadcasting his “grievances” in
Lincoln Center, the icon of American culture.
Yet
civilized society has learned to protect itself by codifying right from
wrong, separating the holy from the profane, distinguishing that which
deserves the sound of orchestras from that which commands our
unconditional revulsion. The Met has trashed this distinction and thus
betrayed its contract with society.
Oh my... Haaretz op-ed admits that the Left is free to speak in Israel but cannot make a case
An op-ed in Haaretz debunks an op-ed in the New York Times that claims that the Left in Israel has been terrorized into silence.
As I write this, the most-emailed post on the New York Times website is a short piece called “How Israel Silences Dissent,” by Mairav Zonszein who, like me, moved to Israel from America where she was born. And like me, she is a leftist and a political activist. Zonszein describes a small group of thugs who mixed it up with Tel Aviv peace demonstrators at the start of the Gaza war, a death threat phoned into a theater against a renowned 75 year old stage actress, Gila Almagor, after a newspaper reported that the grotesque murder and immolation of a Palestinian teen in Jerusalem left her embarrassed to be an Israeli, the cancelling of an endorsement deal for a gifted comedian, Orna Banai, after she expressed sympathy for Gazan kids, and threats against a Haaretz journalist, Gideon Levy, who described Israeli pilots as war criminals. All these, Zonszein wrote, demonstrate “the aggressive silencing of anyone who voices disapproval of Israeli policies or expresses empathy with Palestinians.”
The thing is, they don’t.
Don’t get me wrong; they’re terrible.... My stomach churned when I watched, heard and read all these things, just as Zonszein’s did.
But then, that’s the point: I watched, heard and read all these things. The criticisms reached me. The criticisms of the criticisms reached me. Discussion of the criticism and of the criticisms of the criticisms reached me. No one was silenced. The week after thugs punched three demonstrators, there was another demonstration, this one larger, and protected by more police. The actress, the comedian and the journalist received hours of airtime and hundreds of column inches. The murder of the Palestinian kid in Jerusalem was condemned by multitudes, including the parents of the three Israeli boys who were murdered weeks earlier.
Although most Israelis supported the war in Gaza, especially at the start, there were voices of dissent in all media and especially on the internet....
The simple fact is, a lot of the media, and a lot of academia, and a lot of NGOs and civil society in Israel lean left, and sometimes far left. We have ways of expressing ourselves, and we did express ourselves. I was not intimidated. The thugs did not keep me away from the demonstrations, and did not make me too fearful to bring my kids along. If we’re honest, the dozen right-wing bullies shouting threats infuriated lots of us, but they intimidated no one. Leftist Israelis may not have shown as much anguish or empathy as Zonszein thinks we should have. But that was not because we were aggressively silenced. Perhaps we were too silent, but not because we were silenced.
...
But we haven’t been silenced. We’ve just failed to make our case. For a dozen years, we have failed to win a majority in the Knesset. We have failed to convince other Israelis that the cost of holding onto the occupied territories is greater than the dangers of relinquishing them. In Zonszein’s analysis, this is because a right-wing cabal has shut us up, and there’s little we can do about it.
The truth is, we’ve failed because we’ve failed, and there is a lot we can do about it. Rather than whine in the New York Times about how we’ve been silenced, we need to figure out how to speak to other Israelis so that they will listen. The answer is not to convince readers of the New York Times that Israel is no longer a democracy. The answer is to accept that Israel is a democracy, and that democracy demands that we speak to our fellow citizens and listen to them, that we persuade them rather than dismiss them. Zonszein argues that democratic politics in Israel are hopeless. The fact is, it is in Israeli democracy that our greatest hope lies.
The writer, Noah Efron doesn't seem to acknowledge the possibility that maybe the Left has failed because most Israelis have realized that its ideas are not workable. Ideas don't just fail because they're not well presented - sometimes they fail because they're just plain wrong. But at least he recognizes that the Left has had the opportunity to present its ideas. Maybe one day others on the Left will reach the same epiphany.
U.S.-led air strikes hit grain silos and other targets in Islamic State-controlled territory in northern and eastern Syria overnight, killing civilians and wounding militants, a group monitoring the war said on Monday.
The
aircraft may have mistaken the mills and grain storage areas in the
northern Syrian town of Manbij for an Islamic State base, said the
Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. There was no
immediate comment from Washington.
...
The strikes in Manbij appeared to have killed only civilians, not
fighters, said Rami Abdulrahman, who runs the Observatory which gathers
information from sources in Syria.
"These
were the workers at the silos. They provide food for the people," he
said. He could not give a number of casualties and it was not
immediately possible to verify the information.
...
In eastern Syria, U.S.-led forces bombed a gas plant controlled by
the Islamic State outside Deir al-Zor city, wounding several of the
militant group's fighters, the Observatory said.
The
United States has said it wants strikes to target oil facilities held
by Islamic State to try to stem a source of revenues for the group.
The
raid hit Kuniko gas plant, which feeds a power station in Homs that
provides several provinces with electricity and powers oil fields
generators, the Observatory said.
I want to make it clear that I have no problem with classifying grain silos or gas plants as military targets. Depending on how they're being used, that classification could well be accurate. In fact, there's something to be said for targeting an opposing army's sources of fuel and food.
But it's hypocritical for Obama to condemn Israel for doing the exact same thing in Gaza. And it's not the first time Obama has done it.
Let's go to the videotape. Make sure to check out Scott Shane around the five-minute mark. Obama was very unhappy when Israel claimed that all of the male casualties between the ages of 18 and 40 in Gaza were probably terrorists.
Must see video interview of Israeli reporter who regularly travels the Arab world
Just before leaving for Syria, Jerusalem reporter Jonathan Spyer tells Voice of Israel's Eve Harow why a local recently told him, 'Suria Rach,' or 'Syria
is gone.' A must listen for anyone interested in the current chaotic
state of the Levant.
This video is the first of two parts. The second one will follow below.
This could be big - really big. On the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly on Sunday night, Prime Minister Netanyahu met with Indian Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. This is from Modi's website.
The two leaders reviewed the robust relationship, and rapidly growing
trade. They also discussed how ties could be further expanded. The
Israeli side briefed the Prime Minister on their perception of the
situation in West Asia.
Defence ties and cooperation in the field of computer software, and cyber security were also discussed.
Issues of water management and agriculture in arid areas came up for
discussion, with Israel offering to share its technology in this regard.
The Prime Minister also outlined his vision of waste water management
and solid waste management in 500 towns across India.
The Israeli Prime Minister extended an invitation to Shri Narendra Modi to visit Israel.
A sign of the ties between India and Israel becoming closer is the
refusal of the Modi government to condemn Israel in parliament for its
actions in the Gaza as demanded by the Congress and some other parties.
This led to a walkout from the Lok Sabha by the Congress and two other
parties. Modi has not held meetings with Palestinian or other West Asian
leaders during his visit here.
In discussing defence relations, Modi told Netanyahu about his "Make
in India" program and pointed out that 49 percent investment was
possible in defence industries, Syed Akbaruddin, the External Affairs
Ministry spokesman said. Cooperation in cybersecurity was also
discussed.
Modi made a pitch for Israeli investments and they discussed boosting
bilateral trade that now stands at about 6 billion US dollars.
...
While discussing cooperation in the fields of software and computers,
Netanyahu mentioned that when he had worked in areas relating to
technology he found in California that a large number of workers were
Indians or Israelis.
...
Modi told him - and an earlier delegation of Jewish leaders from the
American Jewish Congress - that India is proud of its tradition of
tolerance towards Jews and and absence of discrimination against them.
Netanyahu and the Jewish leaders acknowledged that anti-Semitism was
never in India.
This could be huge - both economically and politically. As Netanyahu said, the sky's the limit. Keep an eye on this one.
By the way, lately I have noticed that I have several new Twitter followers from India. Hmmm.
In a JPost op-ed, Mordechai Kremnitzer, vice president of research at the Israel Democracy Institute and
former dean of the Law Faculty at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, explains how the commission of inquiry into Operation Protective Edge established by the UN's 'human rights council' (sorry guys - I cannot type that terms without scare quotes and lower case - it's just such a farce), headed by the implacably biased William Schabas, is betraying the cause of international criminal law.
The body that established a committee to investigate suspected war
crimes – the UN Human Rights Council – has a reputation for singling out
Israel. The committee it appointed is suspected in advance of not
having the pursuit of truth as its goal. What is more, even the
resolution that set up the committee was worded in a way that suggests
“sentence first, verdict afterwards.”
This suspicion is only
augmented by the fact that its members do not include a single citizen
of the country whose military conduct is the focus of its inquiry - even
though Israel has no shortage of retired judges and jurists of
international repute. The damage to the inquiry is redoubled when its
chair has already declared his desire to see the prime minister of
Israel in the dock at the International Court of Justice - that is, the
committee’s chair has already formed a negative judgment about the head
of the political system that oversees the military whose conduct is to
be investigated. He cannot be perceived as an unbiased investigator.
These
circumstances guarantee that Israel will find it very difficult to
cooperate with a committee that can by no means be seen as objective and
fair minded. Even Israeli civil rights organizations - whose role is to be critical
of and a check on Israeli government actions - will not be able to see
the committee as anything but a kangaroo court. The result is that the
inquiry will rely on the narrative of only one side - Hamas.
The
partiality of the inquiry will inevitably lead to biased findings
devoid of real value. The conclusions based on these findings, too, will
necessarily be worthless, as happened with the Goldstone Commission.
Such a report will only undermine the credibility of international
criminal law.
The committee’s chair has stated that Israel would
have been against it even were his place taken by the web-slinging
superhero Spiderman.
Hong Kong riot police fired teargas, pepper spray for the first time
since 2005 to disperse pro-democracy demonstrators during clashes after
thousands of protesters blocked the main street to the financial Central
district on September 28.
'Peaceful' Mavi Marmara activist killed fighting for al-Qaeda in Syria
One of the 'peaceful' passengers on the Mavi Marmara, who tried to murder Israeli soldiers in May 2010, was killed in a US airstrike in Syria last week, while fighting for al-Qaeda's local affiliate against the Islamist State.
40-year-old Bulent Alniak was killed in a US airstrike in Idlib,
northwestern Syria, on a target identified as belonging to the "Islamic
State" terrorist group (IS, also known as ISIS or ISIL), according to
the Turkish World Bulletin website.
According to that report, Alniak was carrying out "aid work" ahead of the upcoming Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha.
But other sources have suggested a somewhat less peaceful motive. Another Turkish outlet, T24,
claimed Alniak was in Syria fighting alongside the Nusra Front - Al
Qaeda's official branch in Syria. It said he had arrived in Syria over
the past summer, on the second day of Ramadan, and also claimed he was
killed in Idlib.
Significantly, the Turkish Islamist group behind the Mavi Marmara
flotilla which Alniak was an active member of - the Humanitarian Relief
Foundation (IHH) - is suspected of having close ties to Al Qaeda.
And in case you're trying to keep score at home....
Nusra and Islamic State have been at loggerheads since the latter broke
away from Al Qaeda earlier this year, but both share a vehemently
anti-western ideology, and western security analysts fear a terror plot
by returning foreign fighters from either group could be just a matter
of time.
A curse on both their houses. I hope someone wraps his body in pig lard.
The Dutch government withdrew the passports of 49 people identified
as suspected jihadists, Minister of Justice Ivo Opstelten said. Speaking
on television show WNL, Opstelten said 41 of those were believed to be
planning to fight in Syria or Iraq, while the other eight had their
passports invalidated to prevent them from re-entering the Netherlands.
The government also froze all assets of twelve of the suspects, and
stopped paying benefits to thirty. Another thirty are also being
investigated criminally.
Assets may be frozen only when there is an extraordinary amount of evidence linking a suspect to terrorism.
Roughly 140 people have lost their Dutch passports since the Netherlands began using the punishment to clamp down on domestic jihadism. Two of the 140 are in custody, while more than thirty have been deported, broadcaster NOS reported.
So there are at least 108 jihadis (give or take a few) alive and well in the Netherlands without their passports and probably thousands more jihadis in the Netherlands with their passports. What could go wrong?
Thousands protest terror glorifying 'Death of Leon Klinghoffer'
It was rather crowded outside Lincoln Center late Monday afternoon. While yours truly was at Kennedy Airport waiting to return to Israel for Rosh HaShanna, several thousand people gathered outside Lincoln Center to protest the Metropolitan Opera's glorification of a terror attack that took place nearly 30 years ago.
There's an extensive report with over an hour and a half of video and many pictures and slides here, and I urge you all to check it out. But I want to share one quote with you that really caught me eye.
And finally, from writer, Jack Kemp:
“One of the lines in this anti-semitic opera is: “wherever poor people are gathered they can find Jews getting fat. America is one big Jew.” So who is this “exploiter Jew,” the one that Peter Gelb,
the director of the Metropolitan Opera and himself a Jew whose father
was a New York Times Managing Editor, allows to be denigrated on his
stage?
.
Leon Klinghoffer was born a poor Jew from the Lower East Side, a man who
invented an electric mini-grill you could also wash in your sink, an
early predecessor of the current George Forman Grill. I recall one of
these mini-grills in my home as a child in the 1950s. From this, Mr. Klinghoffer was able to create jobs for a number of people in manufacturing and sales and to support his family.
“John
Adams can work his clunky, chunky music to his heart’s content. And so I
suppose can Alice Goodman work her poetry. Ms. Goodman was born a Jew.
She is now an Anglican priest, serving the Church of England, first as
chaplain at Trinity College, Cambridge, latterly at a group of parishes
near the university. The truth is that it is not Mr. Adams’ music that
is at the core of the controversy. It is Ms. Goodman’s words. She is no
free spirit in this church, which has been fighting with the Jewish
nation and the British Jewish community for decades. “
This
so-called opera is actually a sophisticated attack by wealthy,
cosmopolitan Jews on a self-made New York Jew with limited education who
had the audacity to make something of his life.”
Leon Klinghoffer had more integrity and American entrepreneurial spirit in his little finger than Peter Gelb has produced in his entire miserable life. And that's the truth.
Earlier in the afternoon, a security alert had been issued in the area when signs of an infiltration from Gaza were recognized at the border fence. A large number of forces were deployed to search the area, leading to the eventual arrest of the Palestinian youth who was armed with a knife.
The security officer of Shokeda, a community in the Sdot Negev Regional Council, carried out the arrest. An initial investigation into the incident determined that the Palestinian youth infiltrated from Gaza near Nahal Oz and from there made his way toward Shokeda, just a short distance from the Gaza border fence.
The security officer and an Israel Lands Authority employee noticed the suspect east of Shokeda after they had been alerted of the possible security breach. The suspect surrendered, dropping to his knees and raising his hands in submission after realizing he had been identified.
The security forces that had been combing the area were called to the scene, whereupon the suspect was searched and the knife, as well as another sharp weapon, were discovered.
Haaretz reporter Amira Hass was barred from a conference at Bir Zeit University because - wait for it - she's an Israeli Joooo. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! (Hat Tip: Gershon D).
Hass attempted to attend the "Alternatives to Neo-Liberal
Development in the Occupied Palestinian Territories – Critical
Perspectives" conference at the university, which is located near
Ramallah where she lives.
But she was ejected from the hall by the organizers, Hass
claimed, after students at the admission desk noted she worked for the
Israeli publication and alerted security authorities to intervene.
...
Her colleagues and professors told her that she was being ejected on
the one hand "for her own protection" and also to give the students "a
safe space" free of Jews.
Meanwhile, the University has officially denied that there was a problem.
"The administration has no objection to the presence of the
journalist [Amira] Hass," it insisted, in an official statement. "The
University distinguishes between friends of the Palestinian people and
its enemies ... and works with every person and institution who opposes
the occupation."
But Hass - who is well-known in Arab and leftist circles for her aggressive anti-Zionism, and provoked outrage last year for justifying rock-throwing attacks against Jews - angrily noted that she was "not told" about the policy and that "Palestinian
citizens of Israel [i.e. Israeli Arabs - ed.] who teach at Israeli
universities are not subject to the same policy."
Gee, maybe Hass ought to rethink who is democratic and who is not....
Hamas forging travel documents for 'Palestinians' to emigrate to Europe
Not only is Hamas accepting bribes from 'Palestinians' seeking to emigrate to Europe: They're also giving them forged travel documents to get them into Europe... if they survive that long. This is from the first link.
According to various reports, some 13,000 Palestinians have already
fled the Gaza Strip to Europe with the help of the gangsters. Most left
through Hamas's smuggling tunnels or by bribing its security officials
at the Rafah terminal.
Another 25,000 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip have applied to various European countries for immigration.
Although Hamas has denied any connection to the mass exodus,
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip revealed that the Islamist movement had
set up special offices to register those wishing to start a new life in
Europe. They said that Hamas officials are providing the emigrants with
forged visas and travel documents to enable them to enter Europe.
Hamas said this week that its security forces have arrested several
suspects in connection with the illegal immigration. But the movement
refused to say whether the suspects were members of Hamas.
A Palestinian journalist in Gaza City said that Hamas has also used
mosques to encourage Palestinians to immigrate to Europe. At one of the
mosques in the southern Gaza Strip, a leading Hamas preacher told
worshippers: "Those who are not happy can always emigrate to Europe. We
do not force anyone to stay here."
Most of the immigrants left the Gaza Strip through a two-kilometer
tunnel belonging to a senior Hamas operative. Survivors told a
Palestinian Authority Commission of Inquiry that when they reached the
Egyptian side of the border, Egyptian gangsters intercepted them and
robbed them of their money.
"Hamas gangsters worked in cooperation with gangsters on the Egyptian
side of the border," said a senior Palestinian Authority official
involved with the inquiry commission. "They operated like a real mafia,
exploiting the predicament of the people, especially young men who were
hoping to find jobs and better lives in Italy and other European
countries."
Palestinians say that the emigration began long before the last
military confrontation between Hamas and Israel. But the trend has
witnessed a dramatic increase since the end of the fighting in late
August.
Save this one: Within the next five years 'Palestinian' terrorists traveling on European passports (so they don't need visas) will commit mass terror attacks in the United States, and maybe in Israel too. May God Save us all.
If you're an Orthodox Jew like I am, you may have missed President Hussein Obama's speech to the United Nations on Wednesday, the eve of Rosh HaShanna. Here's a recap.
Obama in his remarks offered praise to controversial cleric Sheikh Abdallah Bin Bayyah
and referred to him as a moderate Muslim leader who can help combat the
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’s (ISIL or ISIS) radical ideology.
However, Bin Bayyah himself has long been engulfed in controversy for many of his views, including the reported backing of a 2004 fatwa that advocated violent resistance against Americans fighting in Iraq.
...
“The ideology of ISIL or al Qaeda or Boko Haram will wilt and die if
it is consistently exposed, confronted, and refuted in the light of
day,” Obama said before the U.N., according to a White House transcript
of his remarks.
“Look at the new Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies—Sheikh
bin Bayyah described its purpose: ‘We must declare war on war, so the
outcome will be peace upon peace,’” Obama said, quoting the
controversial cleric.
Concern over the administration’s relationship with Bin Bayyah started as early as 2013, when outrage ensued after he was reported to have met with Obama’s National Security Council staff at the White House.
While Bin Bayyah has condemned the actions of groups such as Boko
Haram and ISIL, he also has taken controversial positions against
Israel.
He issued in 2009 a fatwa “barring ‘all forms of normalization’ with
Israel,” according to a Fox report on the White House meeting.
Additionally, the notorious 2004 fatwa permitting armed resistance
against U.S. military personnel in Iraq reportedly stated that
“resisting occupation troops” is a “duty” for all Muslims, according to reports about the edict.
And then Obama dropped the other shoe. After spending fifteen minutes
blabbering about the glories and wonders of Islam, even as he decried
extremism and sectarianism, Obama proceeded to blame Israel for conflict
in the Middle East:
Leadership
will also be necessary to address the conflict between Palestinians and
Israelis. As bleak as the landscape appears, America will never give up
the pursuit of peace. The situation in Iraq, Syria and Libya should cure
anyone of the illusion that this conflict is the main source of
problems in the region; for far too long, it has been used in part as a
way to distract people from problems at home. And the violence engulfing
the region today has made too many Israelis ready to abandon the hard
work of peace. But let’s be clear: the status quo in the West Bank and
Gaza is not sustainable. We cannot afford to turn away from this effort –
not when rockets are fired at innocent Israelis, or the lives of so
many Palestinian children are taken from us in Gaza. So long as I am
President, we will stand up for the principle that Israelis,
Palestinians, the region, and the world will be more just with two
states living side by side, in peace and security.
The Israelis may not be the “main source of problems in the region,”
but by pressuring Israel before the entire world just weeks after Hamas
continuously fired rockets into Israel and shielded its own rockets with
children, Obama demonstrates his distaste for the Jewish State, and his
desire to cast them as a bleeding abscess leading to more violence. The
moral equivalence here was stunning, unjustifiable, and purely
disgusting.
Over the weekend, my children asked how much longer would be in power. One of the older ones helpfully figured out that the next election is in 2016. I told them that may not help. Hillary Clinton is as bad as Obama, and Elizabeth Warren could be worse.
A reminder of the difference between the 'Palestinians' and Israel
Isn't it a pity that the New York Post chose to depict this mass adulation of terrorists as showing the difference between Israel and Hamas... as if Abu Bluff's 'Palestinian Authority' doesn't also regard the two terrorist murderers who were buried last week as 'martyrs.'
As The Jerusalem Post reports, thousands of mourners marched Tuesday
in honor of two men who were the lead suspects in the murder of three
Israeli teens.
The two dead men, Marwan Kawasme and Amar Abu Aysha, were both
affiliated with Hamas, and were killed during a gun battle with Israeli
troops. Mourners waved Hamas and Palestinian flags as they carried the
two bodies through Hebron.
We’re talking about two men whose victims were not soldiers but three Israeli students.
Now compare this to the Israeli response to the horrific, retaliatory
killing of 16-year-old Palestinian Mohammed Abu Khudair. Israeli
authorities pulled all stops to hunt down and arrest those suspected in
the killing.
Three Israelis have now been indicted for the killing of this
innocent Arab boy. Two of these suspects also face charges of trying to
commit other crimes against Arabs.
Israel is not perfect. But in the clash between the Jewish state and
its enemies, it helps to remember that one side uses all its might to
bring to justice those who target innocent life — while the other too
often celebrates this deadly work so long as the target is a Jew.
Yes, but that 'clash' is not just between Israel and Hamas. It's between Israel and the 'Palestinians.'
Hamas and the 'Palestinian Authority' (Fatah) only differ on tactics. They don't differ on goals. Nearly all 'Palestinians' regard those two terrorists as heroes. It's time to stop pretending that it's 'only' Hamas that hates us.
With the end of the holiday and the Sabbath here in Israel, it's become clear that 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President Mahmoud AbbasAbu Mazen's United Nations General Assembly speech was quite a success... but not quite for the reasons he wanted. Abu Mazen has managed to unite Israeli politicians across the board in blasting him for his hatred.
"Mahmoud Abbas has again proved his only expertise is spreading lies
and incitement against Israel," Communications Minister Gilad Erdan
(Likud) slammed Saturday night. "He has denied the Holocaust in the past and now, in this surreal speech at the UN, he has accused us of 'genocide.'"
"This is not how a 'peace partner' talks, and certainly not anyone
who wants for 'reconciliation between peoples," Erdan continued. "Now it
is clear why he insists on partnering with the Hamas terrorist
organization, with whom he shares the 'struggle against Israel' and will
promote our delegitimization through false propaganda."
"Mahmoud Abbas always finds a soft spot for murderers, rocket
launchers, and our enemies in general," Jewish Home Chairman and
Economics Minister Naftali Bennett added. "We saw missiles launched at
Ben Gurion Airport two months ago, and it's good to know these launchers
are members of Mahmoud Abbas's 'Palestinian state.'"
"Now Israel must find new and creative ways to allow us to just
survive here," Bennett fumed. "A Palestinian state west of the Jordan
River is not one of them."
Even the extreme left took issue with Abbas's speech.
"While Israel has acted harshly in Gaza and made things difficult
[for the Palestinians], you cannot call it 'genocide," Meretz Chairman
Zahava Gal-On stated Saturday. Gal-On - who did not explicitly condemn
Abbas - did add, however, that Abbas's words were "serious and grave." [But see below. CiJ]
"These are false and outrageous statements," MK Eitan Cabel (Labor),
added. "It would have been better if they had not spoken, and these
words are worthy of condemnation from all who truly love peace."
Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon had some more biting remarks.
"Through his speech at the UN, Mahmoud Abbas proves for the umpteenth
time: this is not a leader who wants peace and the advancement of his
people's lives, but a person who distributes lies, incitement, and hate
speech against Israel," Ya'alon stated Saturday. "Mahmoud Abbas is not a
man of peace, and is not really interested in an agreement with Israel,
which means recognition of the Jewish national homeland."
"Time after time, Mahmoud Abbas goes on to deceive the international
community, to throw at Israel false and racist accusations out of the
hope that threats, pressure, and lies will scare us and make us
acquiesce [to his demands]," Ya'alon continued.
Ya'alon implied that Abbas's speech was particularly grave, and may have jettisoned future plans to renew peace talks.
"He has no partner for a political agreement - which is essential to
end the conflict - and we will therefore not compromise the security of
Israeli citizens," Ya'alon said, referencing plans to make a Palestinian
state in Judea and Samaria. "In every situation, we are responsible for
our own destiny and our own security, and we will be in the future."
Ya'alon concluded by blasting Abbas for "not really coming to terms
with our own existence" and added that the claims "are detached from
reality."
Prime Minister Netanyahu is on his way to the United States to counter Abu Mazen's (and Iranian President Hassan Rohani's) 'slander and lies.'
But despite the quotation above, Meretz leader Zehava Gal-On actually backed Abu Mazen.
“Meretz supports Abbas’s international efforts to bring the end of the occupation and to get international recognition as a [Palestinian] state and member of the UN before and as a corridor to reaching peace in bilateral negotiations between equals,” the party leader said.
The speech reflected Abbas’s total distrust of Netanyahu as a partner for peace, Gal-On said.
According to Gal-On, “Netanyahu refused to negotiate for five years and the talks under American sponsorship led nowhere and wild construction continued in the settlements. Now Netanyahu wants to continue ‘managing the conflict’ instead of solving it,” she lamented.
Gal-On proves the prophet Isaiah right once again. Isaiah warned that those who would destroy us would spring forth from among us. What could go wrong?
Shavua tov v'Shana tova u'Gmar Chatima Tova (a good week and a good year and a good seal - i.e. in the book of life).
Senator Ted Cruz (R-Tx) released a statement on Thursday blasting 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President Mahmoud AbbasAbu Mazen's speech to the United Nations General Assembly. This is from the first link.
“Israel's action in Gaza was the just self-defense of a sovereign nation
against relentless attacks by radical Islamic terrorists," Sen. Cruz
said. “The United States would and should do the same under those
circumstances. Rather than bandying baseless accusations against Israel
in the United Nations, the Palestinian Authority would do better to
expose Hamas' vicious use of civilians as human shields, which is an
actual war crime.”
I could not agree more. But then, why would anyone expect the 'Palestinian Authority' to do otherwise?
New Year's greetings from Housing Minister Uri Ariel on the Temple Mount go awry
Housing Minister Uri Ariel ascended the Temple Mount on Wednesday to give New Year's greetings. This was after the riots about which I reported on in an earlier post.
Let's go to the videotape.
I'll bet that even those of you who speak Hebrew couldn't hear a word he was saying. Here's why:
Ariel uploaded a video greeting from the holiest site in Judaism, but
his words were somewhat muffled by the background sounds of explosions
and Arab protesters shouting, in epithets targeting him and those
accompanying him.
During his visit, dozens of Arab rioters renewed their fusillade of
fireworks at police forces at the Mughrabi Gate, the sole entrance for
Jews to the site that is under the de facto control of the Jordanian
Waqf (Islamic trust).
"The sovereignty over the Temple Mount is in our hands and we must
strengthen it," said Ariel from the site. "It cannot be that rioters
will time and again take advantage of the sanctity of the site for
riots, disorder and attacks on Jews."
"I wish us that in the coming year - may it be a good year - the
state of Israel will know to strengthen the sovereignty on the Temple
Mount, to prevent the Arab rioting and chaos, and allow free entry to
Jews and all those interested in doing so," added Ariel.
There's a slightly more audible version of the greeting here.
Touring Jerusalem's Old City and Jewish Quarter, Aharonovich
praised the police for dealing with the riots while allowing Jews to
continue accessing the holiest site in Judaism.
"It was important to open the Temple Mount to Jewish traffic.
The Jerusalem district police did everything to allow that, and in truth
many worshippers have arrived," said Aharonovich.
He neglected to note that two Jewish youths were arrested for
prostrating themselves in prayer at the site against the directives of
the de facto ruler of the site, the Jordanian Waqf (Islamic trust),
which contradict Israeli laws on religious freedom.
Aharonovich went on to claim "there has been a great effort by the
district police, they've arrested hundreds of people and there is a 30%
drop in rock throwing, and molotov cocktail throwing has completely
stopped."
The claim is puzzling given that just last Monday five Arab children aged 12 to 13 were arrested for hurling molotov cocktails at Jews in the the mixed Jewish and Arab neighborhood of Abu Tor; they told police they did so because they "hate Jews."
Just last week, a friend in the US told me about another friend who posted to a mailing list that he used Waze to get around Jerusalem in his rented car and that it directed him through an Arab neighborhood in 'east' Jerusalem.
An older man in a white pickup truck suddenly pulled out of his curbside parking spot and stopped his car directly in front of me to block my escape. Just then, An Arab boy in his teens knocked on my window and looked to see if I had a yarmulke and realized I was Jewish. Seconds after I was attacked by a mob of teenagers with boulders the size of bricks (pictures attached).
I'm not sure how the path opened up around the pickup truck but I managed to escape without injury ברוך ה׳ and drove frantically until I saw the walls of הר ציון and called police. The police took pictures of the car (below), made a report (attached), and fingerprinted the entire vehicle.
I have no doubt that if they would have succeeded in breaking the front window, that they would have pounded me personally with stones.
Here are two of the images my friend posted of his car. More after the images.
I posted somewhere else that people who use Waze in Israel should be aware that there is a setting to avoid Arab roads. Someone pointed out - correctly - that setting is not foolproof because it only completely avoids roads in Area A where Israelis are not supposed to go under any circumstances. On the other hand, I have found that my Waze - on which I use that setting - has a marked preference for Route 1 (the main Jerusalem - Tel Aviv highway that does not go through any Arab areas) over Route 443.
In any event, all is very definitely not quiet, although I would not say that all hell has broken loose either as was the case 12-13 years ago. At least outside of the 'all Jewish' areas of the city, you really should be careful.
It's come to this: Obama assures Iran he won't strike Assad
And you were worried about the Obama administration backing the (Islamist) Syrian rebels? This might be even worse.... Obama has assured Tehran that US forces will not hit Bashar al-Assad's troops.
The communication, confirmed in part by a senior US State Department official, may signal the estranged foes are inching toward a level of contacts rarely seen in over three decades since the 1979 Islamic revolution when a hostage crisis prompted Washington to sever ties with Tehran.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the senior Iranian official said Tehran had voiced concern for Assad, its closest regional ally and the recipient of Iranian military support during a Syrian civil war now in its fourth year.
"Iran was concerned about Assad's position and his government being weakened in case of any action against IS (Islamic State) in Syria and brought this issue up in meetings with Americans," the senior Iranian official said.
"This issue was first discussed in Geneva and then was discussed thoroughly in New York where Iran was assured that Assad and his government will not be targeted in case of any military action against Daesh (Islamic State) in Syria."
The Iranian official said Iran was informed separately in advance of the airstrikes launched by Washington and Arab allies against Islamic State positions in Syria for the first time.
Asked about the assurance that Syrian government forces would not be targeted, the senior US State Department official told Reuters: "We communicated our intentions, but not specific timing or targets, to the Iranians. As we've said, we won't be coordinating military action with Iran. And of course we won't be sharing intelligence with Iran either."
The US won't be 'coordinating' with Iran and won't share intelligence with them either. That's just so reassuring /sarc. What could go wrong?
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
I want one of these. Any of you want to 
