Not just anti-Semitic: UNESCO rewrites Christian bible
It's been busy and I have not had time to post....
On Thursday, in a blatantly anti-Semitic move, UNESCO 'decided' that the Jewish people have no connection to the Temple Mount. You know - this place:
Incredibly, France, which considers itself an impartial peacemaker, abstained, as did Italy, the home of the leader of Catholicism.
How bad is this? Yair Rosenberg
explains:
The Palestinian-drafted resolution, which
passed 24-6 with 26 abstentions, claims that the site of the two Jewish
Temples is sacred solely to Muslims. It refers to the area only by its
Islamic names: Haram al-Sharif and Al-Aqsa Mosque (the shrine situated
on the site). This is essentially the equivalent of passing a resolution
airbrushing Muslim ties to Mecca, a move which would rightly be deemed
Islamophobic. (Incidentally, in 1925, the Islamic Waqf overseeing the
Temple Mount published
a pamphlet stating that “the identity of the site with Solomon’s Temple
is beyond dispute.” Obviously, the Waqf did not anticipate the
ingenuity of the United Nations.)
Unsurprisingly, the United States, Britain, Germany, Estonia,
Lithuania, and the Netherlands voted against the resolution. Shamefully,
the other three European countries on the UNESCO executive
board—France, Sweden, and Spain—could only bring themselves to abstain
in the face of textbook anti-Jewish bigotry. (They had each previously
voted for a previous incarnation of the same resolution, before realizing how bad it made their countries look.)
Adding to the bitter irony of UNESCO’s anti-Jewish turn is the fact
that yesterday was Yom Kippur. Predictably, the liturgy of Judaism’s
holiest day makes repeated reference to Judaism’s holiest site. One of
the most frequently cited verses in the day’s lengthy prayers is Isaiah 56:7, in which the prophet imagines an interfaith utopia on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount:
וַהֲבִיאוֹתִים אֶל־הַר קָדְשִׁי וְשִׂמַּחְתִּים בְּבֵית
תְּפִלָּתִי עוֹלֹתֵיהֶם וְזִבְחֵיהֶם לְרָצוֹן עַל־מִזְבְּחִי כִּי בֵיתִי
בֵּית־תְּפִלָּה יִקָּרֵא לְכָל־הָעַמִּים׃
I will bring them to my sacred mount and let them rejoice in my house of
prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices shall be welcome on my
altar, for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.
The UNESCO resolution is perfectly in keeping with Isaiah’s ecumenical sentiment, as long as one adds in “except the Jews.”
To be fair, perhaps the resolution’s supporters—which included such
noted experts on Judaism as Iran, Pakistan, Russia, and Qatar—were not
familiar with this particular verse of Isaiah, nor the myriad of other references to the Temple Mount in Judaism, nor the extensive archaeological and other evidence
for the Jewish Temples that stood there. But one would think they’d be
familiar with the famous prophecy of Isaiah carved into the wall outside
the United Nations in New York.
The full prophecy reads:
And
the many peoples shall go and say: “Come, Let us go up to the Mount of
the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may instruct us in
his ways, and that we may walk in his paths.” For instruction shall come
forth from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
Thus he will judge among the nations and arbitrate for the many peoples. And they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not take up sword against nation; they shall never again know war.
Simply beyond belief.
Labels: anti-Semitism, feckless French, France, Italy, Pope Francis I, Temple Mount, UNESCO
Vatican signs treaty with imaginary state of 'Palestine'
And you thought the German Pope was going to be a problem? Argentinean-born Pope Francis I's Vatican has signed a 'treaty' with the 'state' of '
Palestine.'
The Vatican
signed its first treaty with the "State of Palestine" on Friday, calling
for "courageous decisions" to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and
backing a two-state solution.
The
treaty, which made official the Vatican's de facto recognition of
Palestine since 2012, angered Israel, which called it "a hasty step
(that) damages the prospects for advancing a peace agreement".
Israel also said it could have implications on its future diplomatic relations with the Vatican.
The
accord, which concerns the Catholic Church's activities in areas
controlled by the Palestinian Authority, also confirmed the Vatican's
increasingly proactive role in foreign policy under Pope Francis. Last
year, it brokered the historic resumption of ties between the United
States and Cuba.
Archbishop Paul
Gallagher, the Vatican's foreign minister, said at the signing that he
hoped it could be a "stimulus to bringing a definitive end to the
long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which continues to cause
suffering for both parties".
He
called for peace negotiations held directly between Israelis and
Palestinians to resume and lead to a two-state solution. "This certainly
requires courageous decisions, but it will also offer a major
contribution to peace and stability in the region," he said.
To date, the 'Palestinians' have yet to make any 'courageous decisions' or to drop any of their demands. There is no compromising with them. They continue to seek the destruction of the world's only Jewish State, which happens to be
the only state in the Middle East where Christians - including Catholics - are safe, and where their population has grown. Note this disingenuous statement from the article:
There are about 100,000 Catholics of the Roman
and Greek Melkite rites in Israel and the Palestinian territories, most
of them Palestinians.
Actually,
most of them live in Israel, although they may consider themselves '
Palestinians.'
I never bought into this 'infallibility' stuff. I buy it even less today.
Labels: Catholic Church, Christians in Israel, Christians in Muslim countries, Palestinian state RIGHT NOW syndrome, Pope Francis I
Judge Jeanine nails the Pope
Judge Jeanine Pirro, who is a Catholic herself, nails the Pope's inaction to help Christians in the Middle East (Hat Tip:
Bad Blue).
Let's go to the videotape.
I am reasonably sure that Judge Jeanine would say the same thing with respect to helping Christians in Judea, Samaria and Gaza.
Labels: Christians, Christians in Muslim countries, Palestinian Christians, Pope Francis I
What will Netanyahu say?
If only
Netanyahu had the backbone to say "Peres is a delusional moron who doesn't speak for me or for the people of Israel. Peres could not be elected dog catcher, let alone head of his coop board in this country."
But Netanyahu has all the backbone of a pretzel soaked in warm water overnight.
What could go wrong?
Labels: Abu Mazen, Binyamin Netanyahu, Pope Francis I, Shimon Peres
Pope Francis to visit Uman?
Too good to not share. It looks like Pope Francis is
going to Uman.
Labels: humor, Pope Francis I, Uman
Oh my....
Translation:
Pope Francis asks Yair Lapid if the cross he's wearing bothers him. Lapid answers that the yarmulka bothers him more....
The person who sent it asked to remain anonymous.
Labels: humor, Pope Francis I, Yair Lapid
What Netanyahu told the Pope at the terror victims' memorial
On Monday, I reported that Pope Francis I had
visited the terror victims' memorial on Mount Herzl. What was more significant was what Prime Minister Netanyahu - who got this one right - said to the Pope while they were there.
Let's go to the videotape.
And for those who couldn't make out
the words in the video....
At a Jerusalem memorial for terror victims, Netanyahu told the pope,
“When my son was ten years old, his best friend was a girl, a beautiful
Ethiopian girl, who sat next to him in class. One day she didn’t come.
She was blown up in a bus not far from here because there was no fence,
no wall.”
After the pope responded with prayers for peace and a harsh condemnation of terrorism, Netanyahu elaborated further.
“I’m grateful for your words today. Israel wants peace. Here we have a
hospital, Hadassah Hospital. Palestinians come to this hospital. With
the wall, they come. We cannot go to their hospitals, they come to our
hospitals,” he said. “We don’t teach our children to plant bombs. We
teach them peace. But we have to build a wall against those who teach
the other side. But it cannot prevent the incitement to hate and terror
and the destruction of Israel that permeates so much of the society on
the other side of the fence. If that changes, then the walls could come
down and we will have peace.”
Too bad that the media outside of Israel seems to have ignored this part of the visit.
Labels: anti-Israel media bias, Binyamin Netanyahu, Pope Francis I, security fence, terror victims
Pope's 'man of peace' says murdering Jews not a crime
At the same event at which Pope Francis I called '
moderate' '
Palestinian' President
Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen a 'man of peace,' the peaceful man had some choice comments about
murdering Jews. This is from Tom Gross.
(4) There is also concern in Israel that the Pope called Palestinian
Authority Leader Mahmoud Abbas a “man of peace” today at an event where
Abbas, in the Pope’s presence, repeated his demand that any Palestinian
who murders an Israeli must not be punished at all.
Gross also has some comments about the
infamous picture of the Pope praying at the 'security fence.'
But none of the Western media I have seen have drawn attention to the
exact spot that the Pope chose to pray: in front of large graffiti
comparing Bethlehem to the Warsaw Ghetto.
The photo above is from the main EU-funded Palestinian media outlet,
the Maan news agency.
(There is another version of this photo below.)
A few comments:
(1) Comparing Israel with Nazi Germany forms part of the working definition of anti-Semitism formulated by the EU and others.
...
(2) Bethlehem is a relatively prosperous town where restaurants and
juice bars are packed, and BMWs, Mercedes and Humvees compete for
parking spaces in the center or town. By contrast, 400,000 Jews were
herded into the Warsaw Ghetto and those who weren’t beaten or starved to
death there, were taken to be exterminated at nearby camps.
(Yes, there is of course a political problem between Israel and the
Palestinian Authority, and one day, one hopes, the security barrier can
be removed without its removal leading to increased terrorism, but this
has nothing to do with the Warsaw Ghetto. One wonders why the Pope’s
Vatican handlers were eager to choose that spot – or are so insensitive
as to allow the Palestinian Authority to guide the Pontiff to that
spot.)
(3) The Pope represents an organization, the Vatican, which even
today, after seven decades of repeated appeals, is still refusing to
make public its wartime archives detailing the full extent of its
collaboration with the Nazis before, during and after the Holocaust.
Read the whole thing.
Labels: Abu Mazen, Argentina, Bethlehem, escaped Nazis, Holocaust, Nazis, Pope Francis I, security fence, Warsaw Ghetto
The picture that ought to be juxtaposed to the picture of the Pope at the 'security fence'
You will recall that on Sunday, the
mainstream media was kvelling over an unscheduled stop by the Pope to pray at the 'security fence' in Bethlehem.
Although I doubt the media will give it anywhere near as much play, Prime Minister Netanyahu came up with an appropriate counterpoint:
The Pope made an '
unscheduled stop' at the request of PM Netanyahu at the memorial to victims of terrorism on Mt. Herzl.
Waiting for accusations that Netanyahu is politicizing the Pope's visit in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1....
Labels: Pope Francis I, security fence, terror victims
Videos of Brussels terror attack released
Brussels police have released three videos of Saturday's terror attack at the city's Jewish museum. The videos came from security cameras. All three of them are below.
Let's go to the videotapes.
Arutz Sheva
adds:
An Israeli tourist couple and a French woman died from gunshots to
the face and neck after a man apparently acting alone fired two
successive rounds into the museum on Saturday afternoon before escaping
minutes later on foot.
A fourth victim, a Belgian who did volunteer work for the museum, was critically injured and later pronounced dead.
...
Belgian police on Sunday released chilling video footage of the attack. The man, whose face is not clear under a dark baseball cap, can be seen entering the building, taking a Kalashnikov automatic rifle from a bag and opening fire through a door on his victims -- an Israeli couple, a French woman and a young Belgian man.
Police described the man as of medium height and athletic build. He carried out the attack deliberately and unhurriedly, leaving the scene on foot.
French President Francois Hollande, who along with Netanyahu had a
phone conversation with the Belgian premier, said he had no doubt about
the "anti-Semitic character" of the attack.
Netanyahu, welcoming Pope Francis in the Holy Land, hailed the
pontiff for his "determined stance against anti-Semitism, especially in
light of the growing hatred of Jews that we are witness to in these
days."
How does our Prime Minister reconcile that last sentence with the Pope's
warm embrace of '
moderate' '
Palestinian' President
Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen on Sunday?
Labels: Abu Mazen, Belgium, Bethlehem, European anti-Semitism, Islamic terrorism, Palestinian state RIGHT NOW syndrome, Pope Francis I, security fence, two-state solution
King David's tomb now Judenrein, arrested Jews denied legal counsel
Israel Police cleared King David's tomb of Jews on Sunday morning to ensure that there would be no opposition to Pope Francis' visit to the tomb on Monday (
photo credit).
26 Jews were arrested in the expulsion, and they are now being
denied legal counsel to ensure that they will not be able to return to the tomb before Monday.
This is from the second link followed by the third link.
26 people were arrested at the site of David’s Tomb in Jerusalem,
after they formed a stronghold in protest against the police’s decision
to evacuate the area in preparation for Pope Francis’s visit.
Among
those taken into custody was a soldier who threatened an officer with
his weapon, in an attempt to prevent the arrest of someone else.
...
The Haneinu organization claim that the 26 people taken into custody
on Sunday at the site of David’s tomb including many youths as young as
14-years-old and that the arrestees have been denied legal counsel.
The
organization also claims that police officers exerted much violence
against the suspects and even inexplicably broke into a yeshiva (Torah
academy) dormitory located at the site of David’s Tomb.
Don't hold your breath waiting for Slimy Shimon to protest the arrests. He's too busy packing his bags to go
pray at the Vatican. His forebears - who were
Orthodox Jews - must be rolling over in their graves at the prospect.
Labels: Abu Mazen, King David's Tomb, Pope Francis I, prayers, Shimon Peres
The mainstream media is kvelling
A short while ago, Pope Francis prayed at the separation fence near Bethlehem. The mainstream media is kvelling! Here are a couple of samples:
Tomorrow, we will undoubtedly see side-by-side pictures with the Pope praying at that other wall. But the real quid pro quo is supposed to be the Pope laying a wreath at Herzl's grave, something that has infuriated the 'Palestinians.' In the meantime, they're getting about $1 billion worth of free advertising for their cause.
Labels: Bethlehem, Palestinian state RIGHT NOW syndrome, Pope Francis I, security fence, two-state solution
Hope for free expression in Israel?
In an earlier post, I reported that police were attempting to
place two Jewish teenagers under arrest for putting up posters protesting the upcoming visit of Pope Francis I. Early this afternoon, a Jerusalem judge threw out the arrests.
Jerusalem Magistrates' Court Judge Shmuel Herbst rejected early
Friday afternoon a request by police to place two youths under house
arrest for seven days, distance them from Jerusalem and slap them with a
security deposit after they were caught putting up posters hostile to
Pope Francis.
The posters said, among other things, that Christianity is an
“accursed” religion that is complicit in the murder of millions of Jews,
and that its leaders dream of “annihilating the Jewish state.” It
called on the “impure” pope to “get out of our holy land” and “return
the stolen vessels of the Temple.”
Police claimed this was incitement to racism but the judge rejected
this, determining that “theological arguments and disputes between
religions have existed from time immemorial and these arguments do not
constitute a danger to the public.”
The judge added that there is a “very weak” case to be made against
the sentence that says Christians dream of annihilating the Jewish
state, but that it does not constitute racism in any case.
He ruled that the youths are allowed to protest against the pope, but
determined that they may not come within 150 meters of him.
Meanwhile, the police continue to announce administrative detention orders against known activists whom they'd like to keep out of sight while the Pope is here.
Police on Friday announced ten more nationalist activists would have
restraining orders issued against them, bringing the total to 15 ahead
of Pope Francis's visit next Sunday and Monday.
"Yesterday the head of the Jerusalem district mentioned that there
would be a further 10," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP without giving details.
The detentions began Wednesday, when several Jewish youths were put under house arrest in a move justified by concerns they might carry out "provocative acts" during the pope's visit.
This is the Middle East's only 'democracy.' Obama could take lessons from us.
Labels: administrative detention, Barack Hussein Obama, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, incitement, Israel police, Jerusalem, Pope Francis I
Pope's visit to Israel has something to offend just about everyone
If you're a Jerusalemite, you might want to consider making a
schlissel challah for the Sabbath (a challah with a key inside it, traditionally made on the Sabbath after Passover as a sign of an easy time making a living during the upcoming year). The flag above is meant to depict just that.
That flag is all over Jerusalem because the Pope is going to be here Sunday and Monday. In a bid not to offend anyone, the Pope is managing to
offend everyone.
The
pope’s decision to fly straight to Bethlehem from Jordan would be a
symbolic lift to the Palestinians at any time. But its resonance is even
greater given his tremendous popularity, his focus on the downtrodden,
and his timing amid the recent
collapse of peace talks and the Palestine Liberation Organization’s
unity pact with the militant group Hamas.
Francis,
who said on Wednesday that his three-day visit was “purely a religious
trip,” is striving for balance, and so on Monday he plans to become the
first Vatican leader to lay a wreath on the grave of Theodor Herzl, the
founder of Zionism. Paying homage to a man who envisioned the Jewish
state has become standard for leaders visiting Israel, but the plan has
enraged some Palestinians, in another sign of the risks the pope faces
in this charged region.
At
each stop on the orchestrated itinerary, the Vatican’s focus — to
celebrate the 50th anniversary of a historic meeting of Catholic and
Orthodox patriarchs — could be overshadowed as all sides dissect
Francis’ every action. Already, his effort at ecumenical outreach,
traveling with a rabbi and an imam from his native Buenos Aires, has led
to criticism that he is not fully engaging local religious leaders.
...
The
Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said that the Vatican’s
use of “State of Palestine” terminology with regard to the trip
reflected the United Nations General Assembly’s 2012 resolution that upgraded Palestine’s status, and that arriving in Bethlehem by helicopter made pragmatic sense.
Father
Lombardi said that the pope was starting his trip in Jordan partly
because Saturday is the Jewish Sabbath, when a visit to Israel would be
awkward, and that a Mass in Manger Square, the place of Jesus’ birth,
was fitting for Sunday.
...
In
Bethlehem, the pope will meet President Mahmoud Abbas as a peer,
underscoring the Vatican’s support for the United Nations’ upgrade of
Palestine’s status; welcome banners in Manger Square show the two men
and a “State of Palestine” logo.
He
will also meet with families hand-picked to highlight the hardships
Palestinians face under Israeli occupation, and with children from
nearby refugee camps, though he will not enter the camps as predecessors
did.
The
diplomatic dance means that instead of traversing the half-dozen miles
between Bethlehem and the Mount of Olives by motorcade, the pope will
take a helicopter to Ben-Gurion International Airport for a presidential
welcome demanded by Israeli protocol, and then reboard for a flight to
Jerusalem.
In
Israel, which is trying to upgrade diplomatic relations with the
Vatican established two decades ago, the pope will take a whirlwind tour
on Monday, cramming into five hours visits to the Western Wall, Mount
Herzl and the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, as well as meetings with
the president, prime minister, chief rabbis and Grand Mufti of
Jerusalem.
No terror victims will meet with the Pope.... We wouldn't want him to be offended by the prospect of what a 'state of Palestine' might mean for Israel's Jews. And no rightists will meet with him either. Several of the more prominent ones have been handed
administrative orders to keep away from the Pope. Two Jewish youths were arrested in Jerusalem on Friday for
posting signs against the Pope.
Two Jewish youths were arrested in Jerusalem on Friday morning for
posting notices against the pope, which featured sentiments such as
"impure, leave our Holy Land," and "return the stolen Temple tools," a
reference to the tools and treasures stolen from the Second Temple by Rome.
...
A police spokesperson who announced the arrest Friday cited
"intelligence information gathered by the Shabak (General Security
Services) testifying to the extreme right-wing activists' intentions to
disrupt the pope's visit planned for next week, and to take provocative
illegal actions to cause inter-religious tensions ahead of the visit."
"In other to foil these activities, administrative orders were given
to distance the extremist activists for a temporary period of four days,
in order to balance as much as possible security needs with harm to
individual rights," added the police.
Administrative orders are a relic of the British
Mandate-era legal system, allowing the detention or distancing of
individuals without any charges or due process, over suspicion they may
harm public order.
Attorney Itamar Ben-Gvir addressed the recent spate of arrests,
commenting "the time has arrived to teach the police about freedom of
expression and democracy. The Jewish people are allowed to demonstrate
against the pope."
Kind of reminds you of the
college kids in the last post, doesn't it? The Pope can't hear any criticism. And you wonder where the kids get it....
And then, there are the
traffic jams that all Jerusalemites will face.
The police have posted signs on light poles fences and vehicles stating
that from 4 p.m. on Sunday till 1 p.m. on Monday, no vehicles will be
permitted to park on Hanassi or Radak streets, which intersect opposite
the residence of the president. Vehicles of violators of the ban will be
inspected for bombs and then towed to Liberty Bell Park.
...
There will be no English at the ceremony on Monday.
At the
request of the Vatican, there will be only two languages – Hebrew and
Italian, the president’s spokeswoman Ayelet Frish said.
I have yet to see a schedule of where the Pope will be on Monday, but the city is likely to be tied in knots. I'm escaping to Tel Aviv.
Labels: Abu Mazen, administrative detention, City of Jerusalem, Palestinian state RIGHT NOW syndrome, Pope Francis I, Second Temple, Shimon Peres
Pope to drive around Bethlehem in open car, declare himself Che Guevara of 'Palestine'
Does it get crazier than this? Pope Francis is coming to Israel later this month, and he says that he will drive around Bethlehem with no security in an open top car. Rumor also has it that he will declare himself the
Che Guevara of the 'Palestinian Authority.'
Pope Francis apparently feels very at ease over his visit to
Palestinian Authority (PA) controlled areas during his May 24-26 visit
to Israel. The Vatican reported on Thursday that he will ride in
open-top non-bulletproof cars in Bethlehem.
The pope's predecessor, Benedict XVI, rode in a bulletproof "popemobile," an armored car introduced after
the attempted assassination of John Paul II in 1981. The current pope
has in the past shown his preference for non-bulletproof cars.
"It's a program that he (the pope) himself has approved," Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told AFP.
Some may doubt Francis's decision, given the animosity towards Christians in Bethlehem which was on display last week, as Christian Arab residents of a village near the city were savagely attacked by local Muslims with stones as they celebrated a Christian holiday at Saint George’s Monastery. Indeed, most Christians have reportedly been driven out of the city by Muslims.
A possible indicator to the pope's feeling of ease may be found in reports from February by
Rabbi Sergio Bergman, a member of the Argentinian parliament and close
friend of Pope Francis, who said that the pope intends to define himself
as the "Che Guevera of the Palestinians" and support their "struggle and rights" during his visit.
Once upon a time, Bethlehem was overwhelmingly Christian. Not any more. I think he's off his rocker to do this.
Labels: Bethlehem, Christians in Israel, Palestinian Christians, Pope Francis I
Prime Minister Netanyahu meets with the Pope
Prime Minister Netanyahu met with the Pope on Monday....
Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, Pope Francis I
New Pope said to be good to the Jews
Jorge Bergoglio, the Archbishop of Buenos Aires who was elected Pope on Wednesday, is said to have
good relations with Argentina's Jewish community.
Bergoglio has the reputation of a
reformer, and pundits said that the choice of Bergoglio was a shrewd one
on the part of the Cardinals, as the Church now has a symbol that could
reconnect with masses of Catholics who have been disillusioned by the
scandals in the Catholic Church, such as the large numbers of pedophile
charges against priests, as well as the Church's unpopular positions on a
number of personal issues.
Bergoglio is said to have had good
relations with Argentinian Jews. He was praised by local and U.S. Jewish
community leaders for his response to the 1994 bombing of the Argentine
Jewish Mutual Association. In 2005, Bergoglio signed a joint statement
against terrorism together with Jose Adaszko of the Israel Mutual
Association of Argentina, and Omar Helal Massud of the Islamic Center,
with an emphasis on preventing attacks such as the 1994 bombing.
We can hope....
Labels: Argentina, Buenos Aires, Pope Francis I
