The fuss about 'pluralistic prayer' at the Kotel (Western Wall)
I am sure that many of you, particularly in the US where the reactions have been shrill, have heard the fuss about the government 'abandoning' an agreement to facilitate 'pluralistic' prayers at the Western Wall. There's a lot of misinformation about this decision in the media. This video, which I found on Facebook last night, does a great job of clarifying what's really going on.
Let's go to the videotape (I included the entire Facebook post):
Another article, that destroys the claims about 'mixed prayers' being policy at the Kotel during the Mandatory (pre-State) period appears
here:
Few seem to recall that the conflict between Arabs and Jews in
British Palestine was directly related to the Kotel and Jewish demands
for prayer rights there. The 1929 riots and pogroms against Jews was due
to a conflict at the site and was referred to as the “Wailing Wall
disturbances” for many
years. According to an article on the subject, “The issue of Jewish
rights of worship at the Wailing Wall flared up as a result of an
incident on 24 September 1928 when the screen separating men and women
at the Wall was removed by a British police officer in the midst of
prayers on Yom Kippur.” Before 1967 Jews were forbidden from bringing
many prayer items to the site. The lack of separation between men and
women was not because Jews didn’t want separation, but because they were
forbidden to change the site, because it was run by the authorities and
Muslim religious leaders saw it as being owned by Muslims. Colonial
authorities ran the Wall.
Let’s read on regarding the 1928 incident: “The ensuing outcry of
world Jewry and the Zionist movement in the wake of the screen incident
was accompanied by an increasing Jewish challenge to the status quo
rights of worship at the Wall, as well as demands for possessing the
Wall and its surrounding area. Indeed, during the 1920s a number of
Zionist and Jewish leaders sought to expand the Jewish standing and
rights of worship at the Wall.”
So at the heart of the Jewish and Zionist demands for increased
rights to the Wall was the demand to separate men and women as in
traditional Orthodox services. Wait a sec. But I thought the “good old
days” back then men and women prayed together? Actually they only prayed
“together” because Jews were forbidden from making any changes to the
site by the British, who were listening to the Islamic Wakf and its
demands for a “status quo.”
Read the whole thing.
Labels: British Mandate, Conservative rabbis, Kotel plaza, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, Union for Reform Judaism, Western Wall, Women of the Wall
Israel bars UNESCO from Hebron
Israel has
barred a UNESCO team that is 'investigating' whether the Cave of the Patriarchs (Me'oras HaMachpeila) should become a 'protected' World Heritage site from visiting the site or the city.
Hebron’s Old City, including the Tomb of the Patriarchs, is one of the
35 sites the World Heritage Committee plans to consider for inscription
on the World Heritage List when it meets in Krakow, Poland from July
2-12.
The Palestinian Authority has fast tracked the inscription process by claiming that the site is endangered.
Since UNESCO recognized Palestine as a member state in 2011, the
Palestinian Authority has similarly fast tracked inscription of two
other sites on the list of World Heritage in Danger. This includes the
Church of the Nativity and the Pilgrimage Route in Bethlehem in 2012 and
the ancient terraces of Battir (2014).
The International Council
on Monuments and Sites, a professional body, which investigates
nomination requests and provides recommendations for inscription on the
list of World Heritage in Danger had recommended that both nominations
go through the normal process after making field visits to both sites.
This
time Israel has rejected its request to make a field visit to Hebron,
this includes a refusal to grant entry visas to Israel for the group,
Shama HaCohen said.
The 21-member World Heritage Committee
rejected the ICOMOS conclusions not to place the Church of the Nativity
and the terrace of Battir on its endangered list, Shama HaCohen said.
Therefore,
it’s “a shame to waste the time and money” of the ICOMOS committee
whose recommendations are otherwise typically adhered to with regard to
the inscription process, Shama HaCohen said.
“Israel won’t take
part in and won’t legitimize any Palestinian political moves under the
guise of culture and heritage,” Shama HaCohen said.
UNESCO - and all UN agencies - should be barred from Israel altogether. The only reason they come here is to try to destroy us.
Labels: Hebron, Machpeila cave, Palestinian Authority, UNESCO, United Nations
Amazon removes its #1 Middle East best seller
Last week, I reported on the
number 1 best seller on Amazon in the category of Israel and 'Palestine' history.
Here's a summary of this 132-page book, which I guarantee you will read in one sitting:
This book is the fruit of many years of research, during which thousands
of sources have been meticulously reviewed in libraries and archives
worldwide. It is no doubt the most comprehensive and extensive review of
some 3,000 years of Palestinian history, with emphasis on the
Palestinian people’s unique contribution to the world and to humanity.
So what's so special about this book? JPost's Joy Bernard explains:
The catch? This lauded historical account that is also available in
Arabic and in Hebrew and was penned by the Israeli writer offers no real
insight, let alone content. Yes, that's right- "History of the
Palestinian People" is a book whose every single page (and there are 120
of them) is a blank.
Unfortunately, if you go to Amazon today and search "History of the Palestinian People + Voll" or "History of the Palestinian People + Assaf Voll" you find
something different (and if you search "History of the Palestinian People + Assaf," you find nothing). But at least it's (seemingly) on the right side. This is from the author's summary.
The secret is that there will never be peace between the Palestinians
and the State of Israel because the Palestinians were formed for a very
specific purpose which is to lead to the destruction of the State of
Israel. This is their sole objective…..at least that of the leaders.
Let's hope Amazon doesn't discover this one.
By the way, if you click on the link in my original post, you get a message from Amazon that they 'can't find that page.' A likely story.....
Labels: history lesson, humor, Palestinian people
Amazon's new best seller: "A History of the Palestinian People from Ancient Times to the Modern Era"
It's only been out ten days, but this book has become the
number 1 best seller on Amazon in its Israel and Palestine History category. Its price has dropped to $6.21 from $7.79 yesterday when I first saw it. It's already garnered 245 reviews. Here's a summary of this 132-page book, which I guarantee you will read in one sitting:
This book is the fruit of many years of research, during which thousands of sources have been meticulously reviewed in libraries and archives worldwide. It is no doubt the most comprehensive and extensive review of some 3,000 years of Palestinian history, with emphasis on the Palestinian people’s unique contribution to the world and to humanity.
So what's so special about this book? JPost's Joy Bernard
explains:
The catch? This lauded historical account that is also available in Arabic and in Hebrew and was penned by the Israeli writer offers no real insight, let alone content. Yes, that's right- "History of the Palestinian People" is a book whose every single page (and there are 120 of them) is a blank.
In other words, we finally have a book that tells the truth about the 'history' of the 'Palestinian people.' It's about time.
Labels: history lesson, humor, Palestinian people
The #FakeNews no one talks about
With all the talk about #FakeNews recently, there's one piece of #FakeNews that's been accepted as truth for the last 24 years, because the Israeli government was foolish enough to accept it. I saw this on Facebook:
Judith Bergman on "fake news"...
"In all the talk about 'fake news'
Israel is missing an opportunity by not calling out the fakest of the
fake news, namely the professed existence of a Palestinian Arab people.
Palestinian Arab officials themselves have admitted that the professed
Palestinian identity is fake, an invention for the political and
tactical purpose of defeating Israel.
In a 1977 interview with Dutch newspaper Trouw, PLO executive committee member Zahir Muhsein said:
“The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian
state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of
Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference
between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for
political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a
Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit
the existence of a distinct ‘Palestinian people’ to oppose Zionism".
Hamas Minister of the Interior and of National Security Fathi Hammad
made it clear that nothing has changed since 1977. This is what Hammad
said when he was interviewed on Al-Hekma TV in March 2012: “Brothers,
half of the Palestinians are Egyptians and the other half are Saudis.
Who are the Palestinians? ... We are Egyptians…”
Why is the world -
and parts of the Israeli establishment - obsessed with establishing a
Palestinian Arab state, funnelling billions of taxpayer dollars into
that enterprise, if the Palestinian Arabs themselves readily admit that
their professed identity is fake? To begin with, the 'Palestine
industry' has become a flourishing business that would put many people
out of business if peace were to actually break out."
The reason the Israeli establishment accepted the existence of a 'Palestinian people' is that in 1993, Israel's Left saw the Messiah of 'Peace' and his name was 'Palestinian.' I've been railing about this stuff for
years.
But most of the Israeli establishment - including our Prime Minister - won't admit this. If they admitted it, they'd also have to admit that there's no 'two state solution' and admitting that would be admitting that everything they've done for the past 24 years has been misguided and wrong. So the #FakeNews continues to be treated as real.
Woe to those who cannot face the truth.
Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, fake news, Fathi Hamad, Palestinian people, Palestinian state, PLO, two-state solution, Zionism
BBC's shameless 'apology' for its biased reporting
I know - it's been a long time since I posted anything. I've been working - pays much better than blogging. But I don't want to let the blog die entirely, and I wanted to share with you what has to be one of the worst media bias stories from Western media in recent years.
I am sure that many of you saw the headline above. On Friday night, an Israeli policewoman, 23-year old Hadas Malka HY"D (May God Avenge her blood) was murdered by three 'Palestinian' terrorists who conducted coordinated attacks in two places along the outside of the Old City's wall. The headline above sat on the BBC's website and in its Twitter feed for many hours. The bias in the headline is obvious - the 'deadly stabbing' didn't happen itself. It was perpetrated by the three 'Palestinians' who were shot. A more appropriate headline would have been 'Israeli policewoman murdered by three Palestinians.' Even Maan's headline was
less biased.
This morning, the Beeb 'apologized' for its headline. No, not really, but they posted a response to outrage in the virtual world that included
Donald Trump Jr., the US President's son. Here's the Beeb's entire '
apology.'
BBC Response: We accept that our original headline did not
appropriately reflect the nature of the events and subsequently changed
it. Whilst there was no intention to mislead our audiences, we regret
any offence caused.
They don't regret the headline. They regret the 'offence caused.' They accept that it didn't appropriately reflect the nature of the events, but they don't apologize for writing it, nor for leaving it up for many hours.
Surreal.
By the way, the
New York Times' headline was not much better (and it's still up):
Makes it sound like there's no connection between the Israeli's death and the 'Palestinian' attackers' assault - they just happened to occur around the same time.
And you wonder about the origins of the #FakeNews epidemic?
Labels: anti-Israel media bias, BBC bias, Jerusalem, New York Times, Old City of Jerusalem, Palestinian terrorism, Ramadamadan
