The topic of this speech is "My family's story in 1948 - fleeing Jaffa, building a future in Israel."
The speaker is George
Deek, Israel's vice ambassador to Norway, giving a lecture in the House
of Literature in Oslo, during a MIFF event 27 September 2014.
- This is the best speech an Israeli diplomat ever held, was the reaction among several of the listeners.
In Jaffa, 'Arab Israelis' want to 'redeem Palestine'
Here's a video that I was told was shot earlier this evening in Jaffa, which is attached to Tel Aviv (Tel Aviv is officially known as the 'Municipality of Tel Aviv - Jaffa').
Walla! reported the flags had been waving at the site for
several hours, and that despite a number of requests to Tel Aviv police,
officers or Municipality workers had not rushed to take them down.
The flags were put up after Israeli flags at the site were removed;
the whereabouts of those flags and the perpetrators of the switch remain
unknown.
Yafo is home to large numbers of Arab citizens of Israel; in 2011 over 1,000 local Arabs, mostly residents of the Israeli city, protested Israel's existence on "Nakba (catastrophe) Day."
The placement of the flags implies with it a claim of PA rule over
the region, which is clearly not over the 1949 Armistice lines being
used as a basis of peace talks in opposition to the original intent of
the ceasefire lines.
Even if by some miracle we reached an agreement with the 'Palestinians,' I doubt that anyone whose name isn't John FN Kerry believes that the conflict would actually be over.
In both Jerusalem and Ramallah on Thursday, US Secretary of State John FN Kerry called on both Israelis and 'Palestinians' to 'compromise for peace.'
“Our hope is that the leaders in
both Israel and the Palestinian Authority will find a way to compromise,” Kerry
told President Shimon Peres.
...
Kerry
responded, “It’s not me, Mr. President. It’s really a question of whether
Israel and the Palestinians make the choices.”
But the 'Palestinians' gave their answer to Kerry three times in the last two weeks (May 10, May 14 and May 21) - most recently on Tuesday - via this video broadcast on official, government controlled 'Palestinian Authority.' Television.
Each text appeared on the screen with pictures of mostly unidentified
old buildings, implying that they, like Jaffa mentioned in the last
statement, are inside "Palestine" and that the PA is claiming them.
Also significant are the political messages that the PA will neither agree to a truce nor compromise.
Maybe Mr. Kerry thinks that Israeli prosperity is stopping the 'Palestinians' from compromising too.... For the record, Jaffa is part of Tel Aviv....
UPDATE 10:25 AM
Almost forgot to mention this.... When Kerry arrived in Ramallah on Thursday, dozens of 'Palestinians' demonstrated outside Abu Bluff's office protesting US 'bias' in favor of Israel. Rumors that the protests were orchestrated by George Soros and J Street could not be confirmed.
One of the two men who has been arrested in connection with a plot to blow up a Canadian passenger train is the son of a 'Palestinian' who was granted asylum in Canada (Hat Tip: MFS - The Other News via Scaramouche). (Note - the link to the original article in the Toronto Sun does not work).
Mohamed Jaser [the alleged terrorist's dad], who was born in Jaffa City,
in Palestine, on Feb. 1, 1947, stated in his refugee claim in Canada
that his "family was forced to leave their homeland" and moved to the
Gaza Strip when Israel was established in '48.
"Being non-Jewish residents of Palestine, we were not subject to the Law
of Return (favouring Jewish settlement in Palestine) and had to leave
during the time of Jewish migration into the area," Jaser wrote.
"The Israeli army seized our land," and the state "established a policy
of 'religious cleansing,' which promoted and forced the transfer of
non-Jewish citizens and residents from the state of Israel," wrote
Jaser, who lived in Gaza until '66.
What a load of crap. There are still Arabs living in Jaffa today. In fact, it's just about all Arab.
The article then goes on to say that the family moved to the United Arab Emirates where they lived until they were kicked out in January 1991 because the 'Palestinian' leadership backed Saddam in the Gulf War. Then they moved to Canada as refugees. I guess this is how they are showing their appreciation. That doesn't bode well for others who might want to move to Canada in the future.
Christian and Muslim cemeteries vandalized in Jaffa; UPDATED
Jaffa's Christian and Muslim cemeteries were vandalized over Yom Kippur and at least one grave had the words tag mchir (price tag) written on it (picture at the link). Tag mchir is a reference to attacks in response to the destruction of Jewish cities and towns in Judea and Samaria. Given that it was Yom Kippur, it is unlikely that most of Israel's Right would be involved in this, and in fact, Israel Radio says that slogans praising the Maccabi Haifa soccer team were found at the site and that the police believe that teenage vandals are responsible. But that didn't stop YNet from printing a story headlined "'Price tag operation' in the heart of Israel"? I've screen capped the headline below in case they change it.
Some 25 tombstones were vandalized at two Jaffa cemeteries belonging to Muslims and Christians. The messages “Death to Arabs” and “Price tag” were spray painted on the graves.
Police forces arrived at the site and launched an investigation into the incident, but no suspects had been arrested for the time being. The acts prompted Jaffa residents to hold an emotional rally on Jaffa's streets Saturday evening.
President Shimon Peres condemned the vandalism acts at Jaffa’s Christian and Muslim cemeteries, referring to them as “despicable acts that disgrace us and contradict the moral values of Israeli society.”
The president urged law enforcement officials to undertake the utmost efforts in order to nab the vandals.
It's funny how they claim that the law isn't being enforced regarding 'price tag' attacks. The last I heard, the kid who is suspected of setting fire to the mosque last week is still in jail.
UPDATE SUNDAY 12:06 AM
Israel Radio reports that the graffiti has been there for a week, that the police have yet to examine the area in daylight and that there were no gravestones broken.
UPDATE SUNDAY 12:14 AM
A Jaffa synagogue was firebombed on Saturday night in apparent response to the cemetery incident.
Jaffa, is a Palestinian Arab city, which lies in the West central of Palestine, on the Mediterranean Sea. Jaffa is military occupied by Israel since 1948, and is part of the unified city Tel Aviv-Yafo since 1950.
Founded by the Canaanites in the 18 th century B.C.E., Jaffa has been historically important largely because of its port (which was closed in 1965 to merchant shipping, when the port of Ashdod was completed). The small old port is used as a fishing harbour and became an international marina. The Canaanites named the city Jaffa which meant the beautiful.
...
In 1947 and 1948 there was sharp fighting in Jaffa, which was largely inhabited by Arabs, and the adjoining Jewish city of Tel Aviv. On the 13th of May 1948 (A day before the proclamation of the State of Israel), the Arab forces in Jaffa were defeated after long fighting with the Zionist underground Haganah and Irgun Zva’i Leumi forces, and the city was occupied by these Zionist Bands.
Today, Palestinian Arabs constitute about 25,000 inhabitants out of a total of 35,000 people. Jaffa has an old fishing harbour, modern boat docks, and a tourism centre. Jaffa is a major tourist attraction with an exciting combination of old, new and restored buildings.
So which is it? Are they claiming all of the current State of Israel, which contradicts their professed desire for a 'two-state solution'? Or are they trying to go back to the 1947 partition lines, which were rejected by the Arabs?
Tel Aviv lawyer arrested in effort to slander Right, religious Jews
Israel Radio has been reporting all evening about the release for publication of the arrest of an Israeli lawyer named Gor Finkelstein. What it has not been mentioning is that many of the crimes in which Finkelstein and/or his cohorts were involved were intended to defame Right wing and religious Jews.
An alleged Arab Israeli Jaffa crime organization planned to detonate a bomb under the car of a Muslim sheikh last month over a business dispute and then spray paint 'price-tag' graffiti in the area in order to draw blame on the far right, police suspect.
A total of eight suspects have been under arrest since last month, including four brothers from one family and two brothers from another family. They had already assembled a powerful bomb, and were stopped by a police raid on a home in Jaffa in April hours before they planned on planting the device, a law enforcement source said. They had allegedly planned to detonate the device after evening prayers at a Jaffa mosque. Police believe a disastrous outcome was averted thanks to the raid.
...
In an unrelated plot, the suspects were allegedly hired by a lawyer, named as Gor Finkelstein, to harm Shota Hovel, head of the construction oversight department at Tel Aviv Municiaplity, over Hovel's decision to knock down a building in Jaffa owned by Scientologists due to building regulations.
Finkelstein allegedly had a financial interest in preventing the building from being demolished, and was behind a May 9 attempt to detonate a car bomb under Hovel's car in Bat Yam. Hovel escaped from the incident unharmed, but the vehicle was damaged.
In a subsequent assassination attempt, three suspects dressed as police officers stopped Hovel in his car, and attempted to attack him with an electric shocker. That attack failed too, and the suspects fled the scene. Hovel was lightly injured.
Finkelstein eventually concluded that it would be most profitable for him to arrange for the building to be rebuilt elsewhere, police suspect, as he received commission from contractors behind the construction.
He therefore repeatedly ordered the Jaffa suspects to attempt to damage the building, police allege. In one attempt, a truck carrying 300 liters of fuel and a gas balloon was allegedly used in a failed bid to bomb the building. In a second attempt, a suspect allegedly entered the building, poured gasoline inside, and set fire to the place.
The suspects allegedly were dressed up as Orthodox Jews, in the hope that the attack would be blamed on Jewish religious organizations who are opposed to the presence of Scientology in Israel.
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
