Good news: Machsom Watch banned from Nablus area checkpoints
The IDF has declared the checkpoints around Nablus and their immediate vicinities closed military zones. The effect is to ban Machsom Watch from harassing the soldiers at the checkpoints.
The IDF on Wednesday banned Israeli civilians from entering checkpoints around Nablus, in a move aimed at ending the presence of Israeli left-wing activists at the sites, who the army says have interfered with soldiers tasked with carrying out security checks.
The move has been slammed as a violation of the Geneva Convention by the Israeli organization Mahsom (Checkpoint) Watch, which is comprised of 400 women volunteers who regularly travel to the checkpoints.
OC Central Command chief Maj.-Gen. Gadi Shamni signed a degree on Wednesday turning the checkpoints of Ma'aravim, Hawara, Awarta and Beit Furik, all situated around Nablus, into closed military zones, and off limits to Israeli civilians.
"In Nablus, the situation has become intolerable," an IDF source told The Jerusalem Post. "The soldiers are unable to proceed with their duties because of interruptions."
The army source stressed that the decrees will apply to all Israelis "irrespective of ideology," adding that security was the central consideration behind the move.
But Raiya Yaron, Spokeswoman of Machsom Watch, told the Post that members of her organization "do not come to the checkpoints to provoke the soldiers."
Let's take a look at a video from Machsom Watch's web site and you can decide whether this 'lady' is trying to harass the soldiers (you won't see her face). This video was filmed at the Beit Furik checkpoint, which is one of the checkpoints affected by today's order, and it was taken in 2008. The blond female soldier you will see in the video (with bulletproof vest and an extra bulletproof covering for her throat) is mostly likely 18-20 years old. Her 'commander' might be 22-23. The Machsom Watch 'activist' is likely an adult. I'll let you judge for yourselves whether the 'activist' is trying to harass the soldiers and prevent them from doing their jobs.
Let's go to the videotape.
This would never have happened with Ehud Olmert in power. As some of you may recall, Olmert's daughter Dana is a member of Machsom Watch.
I've heard rumors for some time now as to Ehud Olmert having abandonned his political pedigree long before this past summer. But today I found a Hebrew web site that spells it all out. For those of you who read Hebrew, it's here.
For those who do not read Hebrew, allow me to introduce you to the Olmert family. You all know Ehud already. His wife Aliza is, according to the web site above, "wife and mother, a painter and a known left-wing activist.
I'll let Sarah Honig fill you in on Ehud's children:
His two sons currently reside abroad. Shaul, an adherent of Yesh Gvul (which refuses beyond-Green-Line military assignments), is now based in New York. Ariel, who never did IDF service, lives in Paris. Olmert, if elected, might soon be exposing other folks' kids-in-uniform to perils his own boys are spared.
His daughter Dana, a Machsom Watch activist, will meanwhile interfere with the duties of soldiers manning checkpoints to prevent terrorist predations.
Sarah is being kind to Machsom Watch. Here is one example of their 'work.'
Mothers of Nachshon Brigade soldiers protested opposite the Bekaot army base against the IDF´s intention to allow women from the left- wing Machsom Watch organization to address the soldiers.
The brigade has been assigned to man security checkpoints in Samaria, and the IDF has decided to allow them to be briefed by the Machsom [checkpoint, in Hebrew] Watch organization. Machsom Watch is a women´s group that has taken upon itself to aggressively monitor soldiers´ behavior towards Arabs at checkpoints in Judea and Samaria. The women often file complaints against soldiers they deem too thorough.
Soldiers learned of the intentions to invite Machsom Watch and registered their protest with their commanders. They asked that they not be compelled to attend the session, but were ignored.
Somehow, many people in this country have not yet woken up to the reality that Ehud Olmert is a leftist.
Some of you may recall that around the time I traveled to the US in August, I did a couple of stories about airport and airline security and how Israel looks for terrorists, while the US, Canada and other countries look for things. Well, if the moonbat organization Machsom Watch gets its way, Israeli airport security may also be conducting random searches for gel deodorant and shaving cream instead profiling for terrorists.
Machsom Watch, a group of moonbat women that harasses Israeli soldiers looking for terrorists at checkpoints throughout Judea and Samaria is upset that Arabs have been getting 'special attention' at the check-in lines at Ben Gurion Airport.
Together with the New Israel Fund [a group that bills itself as "safeguarding civil and human rights, bridging social and economic gaps, and fostering tolerance and religious pluralism," and which is actually the fund-raising arm for every moonbat organization in Israel. CiJ], the group sent a joint letter Monday to Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz and the head of the Israel Airport Authority, Gaby Ofir, in which they declared their desire to supervise security checks and offered to coach airport staff as to appropriate behavior.
On December 4, 2006, the Arab Association for Human Rights and the Center Against Racism, both affiliated with the NIF, published a report on security checks at the airport. The report came after many complaints were sent to the office by Arab citizens about demeaning experiences during the checks. They were a victim of discriminatory behavior by security officials based solely on their outer appearance, accent, or place of residence, they said.
The report concluded that Arabs are treated differently than Jewish passengers.
And to this I can only say "no kidding."
From the moment you enter Ben Gurion Airport (literally - from the checkpoint when you get off the Jerusalem - Tel Aviv highway at the main entrance), they are filtering out the Arabs for special scrutiny. When you drive up to the security barrier at the entrance to the airport, all the guard wants is to hear you speak enough Hebrew (or some other language) to make sure that you don't have an Arabic accent.
When you get to the line for security, Israeli Jews go the right, tourists go in a different line, and Arabs go in a third line. There are lovely hostesses who 'suggest' which line you should use after they see your passport and ticket. Israeli Jews generally (but not always, in my experience) have their bags x-rayed. Tourists will have their bags x-rayed. Arabs will have every item removed from their bags, and if necessary will have their bags taken to a separate room, taken apart, and searched for false bottoms. Given the number of Israeli Jews who have committed terror attacks, the number of tourists who have committed terror attacks and the number of Arabs who have committed terror attacks, the approach is entirely justified. Everyone here knows that a 9/11-type attack originating out of here, God forbid, would not only be a tragedy - it would be the end of Israel's tourist economy.
When asked to comment on the rising number of complaints received by passengers, an airport authority spokesperson said to the Post "the security instructions come from the state, which has nothing to do with the airport authorities directly. Moreover, we have to comply with each country's individual line of security procedures."
The spokesperson, who preferred to remain anonymous, reassured that the airport authorities "work closely with a section in the security department dealing exclusively with passengers from minority groups, coach the security checking officials on their behavior and provide a large amount of material about this delicate matter."
The security at Ben Gurion is the best of any airport in the world. We flew out of London-Heathrow last night. We walked right into the airport unmolested from the Underground, and walked halfway across the departures concourse of Terminal 1 before we started seeing police armed with machine guns (who were apparently only there because of El Al - that was the only counter they seemed to be watching). A terrorist could, God forbid, have walked onto the concourse and started shooting people, and tens might have been killed - including collateral damage from the police machine guns. You won't see any machine guns when you go to check in at Ben Gurion - they've done most of their screening before you ever get to the check-in lines.
We were questioned by El Al's security before we checked our bags. Then we had to go take off our shoes for the Brits. (The El Al passengers were in a separate line - it's not clear to me why).
Machsom Watch is expecting to meet with airport authorities and come to an arrangement in which they will be able to send volunteers to supervise the check themselves.
If I were the airport authorities, I would tell them that if they don't like it, no one is forcing them to fly. I'd rather be safe than sorry, thank you.
On April 17 1986, a pregnant young woman, Anne Murphy, a white, Catholic girl from Dublin, presented herself at London-Heathrow’s Gate 23 for that morning’s El Al flight to Tel Aviv to meet the parents of her fiancé, a Palestinian.
She had cleared the airport’s own security check-in procedures, but to El Al’s security staff something didn’t appear right. A search of her hand luggage revealed 42 grams of semtex and a detonator, hidden in a calculator.
The explosives had been planted by her boyfriend, Nezar Hindawi, a terrorist with links to the Libyan government. The U.K government broke off diplomatic relations with Syria following revelations of official complicity in Hindawi’s plot to blow up the El Al airliner and he was sentenced to 45 years in jail.
...
Back in 1986 Murphy passed through initial screening but, a series of questions alerted the security checkers of El Al that all was not well with the heavily pregnant Murphy.
When El Al security learned she had a Muslim boyfriend not traveling with her, they scrutinized her luggage. Eventually, they emptied it, weighed it, discovered that the weight was incorrect and found the bomb.
Israel cannot afford any mistakes in airline security. Our lives and livelihoods depend on it. We cannot afford to be politically correct like Machsom Watch. Let's hope that the father and husband of two of their prominent members - Prime Minister Ehud K. Olmert - is deposed as Prime Minister before there's ever a meeting with the Airports Authority.
If you have any doubts as to whether Israel's radical Left is simply misguided or outright traitorous, this ought to dispel them. Yaacov Lozowick describes some of the things that have been reported in the Hebrew media (only) about radical Leftist groups Machsom Watch and the Alternative Information Center visiting 'Palestinians' in Awarta whose homes were raided by the IDF searching for the murderers of the Fogel family in nearby Itamar. The woman on the right is the mother of one of the confessed murderers.
Hagit Beck, a member of Machsom Watch, describes on her blog how she and some other women went to visit "the 2 homes which had been ransacked". The second of the two was the home of Hakem Awad. (Isn't in interesting how in spite of all the horror, the reports all seem to focus on the same one or two homes?). The blog-post has been put up also on the Machsom Watch website: they're obviously proud of it. While in the house, Raya Yaron, the Machsom Watch spokeswoman, tried to comfort Shama Awad, mother of suspected murderer Hakem Awad, and wife of one of the men suspected for destroying the evidence. If proven in court, this will mean Shama Awad hid her murderer son from the police for most of a month, knowing fully what he had done. This is the woman Raya Yaron is embracing, and Hagit Beck is celebrating.
In the wee hours of Monday morning, I reported on a demonstration outside the home of Naomi Chazan, a former Knesset member of the Meretz party and the current chair of the New Israel Fund. Here's how the New Israel Fund describes itself:
We fight inequality, injustice and extremism because we understand that justice is the precondition for a successful democracy – and the only lasting road to peace. The New Israel Fund's founders wanted to connect with Israel in a way that reflected their progressive values, and thousands of Israelis and Diaspora Jews have joined with us for that reason. Our supporters love Israel, and see it clearly as striving for an ideal not yet attained. As a vanguard organization that does not shy from difficult challenges, we know that the issues we take on today will become mainstream tomorrow.
The demonstration outside Chazan's home took place because of a report in the Hebrew daily Maariv over the weekend that showed that 92% of the derogatory statements in the Goldstone Report were provided by organizations supported by the New Israel Fund. In other words, the New Israel Fund is the MoveOn.org of Israel. See more details here and here.
The ad below appeared in Maariv over the weekend. For those of you who are Hebrew speakers, you can find the ad - which has changing quotes that I could not capture with my screen capture tool, and which I suggest you look at - here.
Shmuel Rosner - who is much more centrist than I am - discusses the accusations against the New Israel Fund.
1. That NIF has nothing to do with the Goldstone report.
2. That NIF has too many friends supportive of the Goldstone report.
3. That whether one likes it or not - those friends will define NIF's image in the eyes of the Israeli public.
4. That NIF, for too long, had been more concerned with its liberal supporters abroad than with the Israeli public.
5. That NIF supported, during those years, too many questionable projects (You can read an article I wrote in 2007 about NIF and its support of one questionable cause. It was engaged in "verbal acrobatics" three years ago - it is engaged in verbal acrobatics today).
6. That the current campaign against NIF was inevitable.
7. That this campaign is ugly both in tone and content.
8. That NIF attackers should remember that these are good people trying to do good things for Israel.
9. That NIF defenders will better serve their cause by thinking not just about the viciousness of the attacks but also of their own contribution to the atmosphere that made such broad and effective attack possible.
Sorry, but I disagree with 1, 7 and 8 above.
The New Israel Fund and the organizations it supports have much to do with the Goldstone Report. No, they didn't hire Judge Goldstone to write it, nor did they vote in favor of it in the 'Human Rights Council.' But their continuous attacks on the State of Israel have helped fuel an atmosphere that allows anti-Semites to point at Israel and say that even the Jews - and even Israel's own Jews - agree with the attacks on Israel. It's that 'Israel can do no right' atmosphere that gave birth to the Goldstone Report.
If the campaign is ugly in tone and content it's because the campaign is answering ugly and unsubstantiated accusations. Those campaigning against the New Israel Fund have given up on the 'high road.' Western Jewry doesn't know who the New Israel Fund really is. When they see words like "Our supporters love Israel, and see it clearly as striving for an ideal not yet attained," they take those words at face value. The average American Jew is likely clueless about the fact that the New Israel Fund supports groups that seek to destroy the Jewish state. While this campaign is currently only in Israel, it is hoped that stunts like having 'Hamas' demonstrate outside the home of the New Israel Fund's chair will attract attention from abroad and raise awareness of the New Israel Fund's agenda. Obviously, the attempts by academics like Professor Gerald Steinberg to expose that agenda have not been enough.
Rosner is dead wrong that "these are good people trying to do good things for Israel." Here are some of Professor Steinberg's examples - I'm sure you will all agree with me that these are not 'good people trying to do good things for Israel.'
Five grantees – Machsom Watch, Coalition of Women for Peace, Women Against Violence, Social TV, and Mossawa – signed a divestment letter, which was sent to the Norwegian Government Pension Fund.
I've discussed one of those organizations - Machsom Watch - several times on this blog, see here (watch the video of them in action), here and here.
The New Israel Fund and the organizations they support are not nice people and they deserve all of the acrimony that has been heaped on them for the last several days. Someone needs to remind Shmuel Rosner that he no longer writes for Haaretz (he used to), and therefore he no longer has to be politically correct.
US Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff gave an interview to ABC News today, in which he discussed for the first time some of the details of the terror plot affecting US-bound planes from London that was uncovered last summer:
"I think that the plot, in terms of its intent, was looking at devastation on a scale that would have rivaled 9/11," Chertoff told ABC's Pierre Thomas. "If they had succeeded in bringing liquid explosives on seven or eight aircraft, there could have been thousands of lives lost and an enormous economic impact with devastating consequences for international air travel."
Sources tell ABC News that after studying the plot, government officials have concluded that without the tip to British authorities, the suspects could have likely smuggled the bomb components onboard using sports drinks.
The components of that explosives mixture can be bought at any drugstore or supermarket; however, there is some question whether the potential terrorists would have had the skill to properly mix and detonate their explosive cocktails in-flight.
But they can work — scientists at Sandia National Laboratory conducted a test using the formula, and when a small amount of liquid in a container was hit with a tiny burst of electrical current, a large explosion followed. (Click on [this link] to view the video.)
The test results were reviewed today by ABC terrorism consultant Richard Clarke, who said that while frequent travelers are upset by the current limits on liquids in carry-on baggage, "when they see this film, they ought to know it's worth going through those problems."
One official who briefed ABC News said explosives and security experts who examined the plot were "stunned at the extent that the suspects had gamed the system to exploit its weaknesses."
"There's no question that they had given a lot of thought to how they might smuggle containers with liquid explosives onto airplanes," Chertoff said. "Without getting into things that are still classified, they obviously paid attention to the ways in which they thought they might be able to disguise these explosives as very innocent types of everyday articles."
The rest of the article goes on to describe how Homeland Security managed to change travelers' behavior in the space of twelve hours so that liquids are now severely restricted in carry-on bags on flights originating in North America and Europe. But I'll skip that part because that's not my point.
I traveled to Boston (via Vienna and Toronto on the way there and via Toronto on the way back) last summer just after this plot was uncovered. Here's part of a post I wrote on my arrival in Boston:
I'm very nervous about being in the US. Maybe not for the reasons you think. You see, the state of security here in the US is such that you are always chasing yesterday's terrorists. The 9/11 hijackers used box cutters, so you cannot carry sharp objects onto planes. Richard Reid tried to put explosives in hisshoes on a trans-Atlantic flight to the US a few years back, so now you all dutifully remove your shoes when you get to the security check. Suicide bombers walk around with heavy coats in warm weather, so you all take your coats off at the security check. Some belt buckles set off the metal detectors, so you take off your belts at the security check. Do you really think the terrorists are that stupid? Do you think they aren't thinking of new ways to carry out terror attacks?
In Israel, I was warned to check the toothpaste rather than have it in my carry-on bag, "because they will give you a hard time about it in the US." My 'security check' consisted of a trained guard asking me (before they let me get near the counter to check my bags) where I came from in Jerusalem, what neighborhood, who packed my bags, did anyone give me something to take on the plane (and did I know why he was asking me) and what where the names of my children. I didn't have to take off my shoes nor my belt nor my jacket nor my hat. But the Arabs were invited to a side table where they had to open their suitcases and take every single item out. Then the suitcases were taken away and checked for false bottoms and compartments. And you can bet that they were searched before they left that table. That's why there has never been a successful hijacking from Ben Gurion Airport. Bli ayin hara!
What's worse: if a certain type of terror attack hasn't happened outside of Israel, for the most part, no one is prepared for it. So yes, my Red Sox tickets for next week say "No bags or items larger than 16 x 16 x 8, coolers, cans, bottles, flagpoles, firearms or fireworks will be permitted into the ballpark." (So much for the days of the picnic lunch in the bleachers). And the ticket says that you are subject to search: but they'll search my father and me, and they won't search a 21-year old Muslim because that would be 'profiling'. And I will still walk into shopping malls or large stores tomorrow, and no one will search my bags - or anyone else's - because no American shopping mall has ever been attacked by a suicide bomber. No one will search me on my way into a movie theater until the first time someone with a political agenda shoots up a movie theater. And no one will search me going into Sbarros (which I cannot do here because they are not Kosher) or any other restaurant until a suicide bomber blows up a restaurant. In Israel, you cannot walk into an enclosed public space without being searched.
For the record, we now do remove coats and hats while going through security at Ben Gurion. But note that part I bolded in the quote about how the Arabs are searched separately. What makes security work in Israel is exactly what the US won't allow its security people to do: profiling.
Machsom Watch, a group of moonbat women that harasses Israeli soldiers looking for terrorists at checkpoints throughout Judea and Samaria is upset that Arabs have been getting 'special attention' at the check-in lines at Ben Gurion Airport.
Together with the New Israel Fund [a group that bills itself as "safeguarding civil and human rights, bridging social and economic gaps, and fostering tolerance and religious pluralism," and which is actually the fund-raising arm for every moonbat organization in Israel. CiJ], the group sent a joint letter Monday to Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz and the head of the Israel Airport Authority, Gaby Ofir, in which they declared their desire to supervise security checks and offered to coach airport staff as to appropriate behavior.
On December 4, 2006, the Arab Association for Human Rights and the Center Against Racism, both affiliated with the NIF, published a report on security checks at the airport. The report came after many complaints were sent to the office by Arab citizens about demeaning experiences during the checks. They were a victim of discriminatory behavior by security officials based solely on their outer appearance, accent, or place of residence, they said.
The report concluded that Arabs are treated differently than Jewish passengers.
And to this I can only say "no kidding."
I then went on to describe for those of you who have never been here what security is like at Ben Gurion Airport:
From the moment you enter Ben Gurion Airport (literally - from the checkpoint when you get off the Jerusalem - Tel Aviv highway at the main entrance), they are filtering out the Arabs for special scrutiny. When you drive up to the security barrier at the entrance to the airport, all the guard wants is to hear you speak enough Hebrew (or some other language) to make sure that you don't have an Arabic accent.
When you get to the line for security, Israeli Jews go the right, tourists go in a different line, and Arabs go in a third line. There are lovely hostesses who 'suggest' which line you should use after they see your passport and ticket. Israeli Jews generally (but not always, in my experience) have their bags x-rayed. Tourists will have their bags x-rayed. Arabs will have every item removed from their bags, and if necessary will have their bags taken to a separate room, taken apart, and searched for false bottoms. Given the number of Israeli Jews who have committed terror attacks, the number of tourists who have committed terror attacks and the number of Arabs who have committed terror attacks, the approach is entirely justified. Everyone here knows that a 9/11-type attack originating out of here, God forbid, would not only be a tragedy - it would be the end of Israel's tourist economy.
Today, Israel's Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz announced that he has caved in to Machsom Watch and is dumbing down the security.
Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz announced Tuesday that Jewish and Arab citizens traveling abroad will receive the same color stickers for their luggage during security checks at the airport.
Prior to the decision, security personnel at Ben Gurion Airport used different color stickers for each population sector, each color indicating a different security level. From now on, all citizens traveling abroad will receive a white sticker, indicating that they have already gone through the security check.
According to Transportation Ministry spokesman Avner Ovadia, the use of different color stickers left non-Jewish passengers feeling humiliated and discriminated against. The decision to use a single color for all citizens was made in an effort to bridge the gap between different sectors in Israel.
I have to tell you that the stickers were applied discretely enough that I never noticed that anyone else had a color other than pink (after you go through security you rejoin the line together for check-in). I wonder who called it to the Arabs' attention.
Arab Knesset members welcomed Mofaz’s announcement, but nevertheless expressed doubts that the decision would bring about real change.
“If this leads to equality in security checks, it is a step in the right direction. However, if it is only symbolic, it is a small step,” said MK Ahmad Tibi (United Arab List-Ta'al).
“This step shows that Minister Mofaz is aware of the distress and discrimination of Arab citizens during security checks at Ben Gurion Airport – checks that border on prolonged humiliation. At this stage I’m skeptical of these moves. It’s hard for me to believe that the Shin Bet will change its conception of Arab citizens,” Tibi added.
MK Talab El-Sana (United Arab List-Ta'al) called for further steps to be taken towards ending discrimination during security checks. “It’s wonderful that discrimination through the colored stickers has finally been canceled, but it is sad that it took 60 years for a country which calls itself democratic to take this step,” he said.
“I congratulate Minister Mofaz for leading to this move, but we have to see what actually happens, and whether Arab citizens continue to be held up and sent to separate security check lines.”
The day those separate lines stop is the day we need to consider taking a boat to Cyprus and boarding planes there. I'm deadly serious about that. Hamas, Hezbullah, Fatah, al-Qaeda etc. would like nothing more than to God forbid bring down a plane departing from this country.
The connection between Ehud K. Olmert and Neturei Karta
Remember Neturei Karta? They are the despicable crew who attended Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Holocaust denial conference in Tehran in December 2006 (pictured above). You may recall that they were slammed by Jewish organizations across the spectrum (including some anti-Zionist ones) and that it came out after the fact that they are funded by the 'Palestinian Authority.' Over the weekend they should up at a conference in London sponsored by the 'Islamic Human Rights Commission' to deal with the 'suffering' of the 'Palestinian people' on the 60th anniversary of the creation of the State of Israel. Let's go to the videotape and then I want to tell you about one of the other participants.
Did you catch the interview with Yehudit Keshet? Some of you may not know who she is; the video does not give the name of the organization she founded. But she founded an organization called Machsom Watch, which I have discussed on this blog several times. One of Machsom Watch's star 'activists' is one Dana Olmert, the daughter of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud K. Olmert. Ms. Olmert also teaches 'creative writing workshops.' (Please follow that last link and read the rest of her brief Wikipedia bio - it's a doozer, and it may help explain why she fits right in with the two 'gentlemen' at the top).
So to summarize, the founder of a radical leftist organization that seeks to destroy the State of Israel from within, and in which the daughter of Israel's Prime Minister is a prominent 'activist,' attended a conference over the weekend that was dedicated to destroying the Jewish State of Israel with the leading 'activists' of Neturei Karta (who still consider themselves ultra-Orthodox Jews), a group that argues that Zionism and Judaism are incompatible, and which is even willing to engage in Holocaust denial to advance that goal.
Rich, isn't it? And you thought Barack Hussein Obama made some bad choices of associates. He's got nothing on Ehud K. Olmert.
A broad coalition of Israeli women's groups is organizing the first large demonstration against the IDF's counter-terror operation in Gaza, "Cast Lead." The demonstration, which organizers believe will be "huge," will take place in Haifa Friday and will call on Israel to accept the international initiatives for an immediate ceasefire.
The organizers number 18 groups, including the Coalition of Women for Peace (itself a coalition which includes groups like Machsom Watch and Women in Black), Ahoti, Ruach Nashit, Isha L'Isha, Bat Shalom, The Organization for Women's Economic Empowerment, Women's Parliament and other groups.
In a letter to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, the women's groups demanded an immediate cessation of hostilities in Gaza. "The masculine way of killing and destruction must stop and give way to women's language and action for peace and dialogue between nations," they wrote.
Sunday's New York Times included an article by Nicolas Kristof called The Two Israels. As you can probably guess, in Kristof's mind, the two Israels are the 'good Israel' of B'Tselem, Machsom Watch and Akiva Eldar, while the 'bad Israel' is that of the settlersrevenants, the 'checkpoints,' and 'Palestinian' poverty.
The security system that Israel is steadily establishing is nowhere more stifling than here in Hebron, the largest city in the southern part of the West Bank. In the heart of a city with 160,000 Palestinians, Israel maintains a Jewish settlement with 800 people. To protect them, the Israeli military has established a massive system of guard posts, checkpoints and road closures since 2001.
More than 1,800 Palestinian shops have closed, in some cases the doors welded shut, and several thousand people have been driven from their homes. The once flourishing gold market is now blocked with barbed wire and choked with weeds and garbage.
“For years, Israel has severely oppressed Palestinians living in the center of the city,” notes B’Tselem, the Israeli human rights group, in a recent report. The authorities, it adds, “have expropriated the city center from its Palestinian residents and destroyed it economically.”
Rima Abu Aisha, a housewife in Hebron, has the misfortune of living in an area near the settlers. When she went into labor, an ambulance could not get the appropriate permissions in time and the baby died, she said.
Even if the Hebron settlement were not illegal in the eyes of much of the world, it is utterly impractical. The financial cost is mind-boggling, and the diplomatic cost is greater.
Perhaps greatest of all is the cost for any hope of a peaceful settlement: the barriers and checkpoints have undermined Palestinian moderates like President Mahmoud Abbas and have empowered Hamas. Polls show that two-thirds of Palestinians now approve of terror attacks against civilians in Israel, up from 40 percent in 2005.
...
It is here in the Palestinian territories that you see the worst side of Israel: Jewish settlers stealing land from Palestinians (almost one-third of settlement land is actually privately owned by Palestinians); Palestinian women giving birth at checkpoints because Israeli soldiers won’t let them through (four documented cases last year); the diversion of water from Palestinians. (Israelis get almost five times as much water per capita as Palestinians.)
Yet it is also here that you see the very best side of Israel. Israeli human rights groups relentlessly stand up for Palestinians. Israeli women volunteer at checkpoints to help Palestinians through. Israeli courts periodically rule in favor of Palestinians. Israeli scholars have published research that undermines their own nation’s mythologies. Many Israeli journalists have been fair-minded toward Palestinians in a way that Arab journalists have rarely reciprocated.
All told, the most persuasive indictments of Israeli actions come from Israelis themselves. This scrupulous honesty and fairness toward Israel’s historic enemies is a triumph of humanity.
Hebron community leader David Wilder has penned a lengthy response to Kristof, which unfortunately is unlikely to be published in the august pages of the New York Times, but which deserves at least equal prominence (Hat Tip: Israpundit via Memeorandum).
Kristof claims: More than 1,800 Palestinian shops have closed, in some cases the doors welded shut, and several thousand people have been driven from their homes.
The number 1,800 is greatly exaggerated. According to ranking IDF sources the number is closer to nine hundred. (This is one of the problems with foreign journalists who are quick to accept anything and everything given to them by B'tzelem or other left-wing organizations without demanding proof of their statements.)
Why are any stores closed in Hebron? Ten years ago they were all open. However, with the outbreak of the 'Oslo War' (the 2nd Intifada) in October, 2000, Arab terrorist gunman began shooting at the Jewish neighborhoods in Hebron from the very hills transferred to them by Israel as part of the Hebron Accords, implemented in 1997. People were shot at on the streets, and in their cars and homes. An infant was murdered by a sniper [I strongly urge those who have not seen the video at this link to watch it. CiJ], others were wounded and a suicide bomber exploded on the main road, killing the Levy couple from Kiryat Arba. The IDF had no choice but to close stores in Hebron because of the security threat they posed. That threat still exists today. Terrorists are frequently apprehended, admitting that they planned to kill a Jew.
At the same time it must be noted that the Arabs of Hebron have access to about 98% of the entire city, whereas Jews have access to 3% of the city. The "Arab" side of Hebron, under the control of the Palestinian Authority is called "The Safest Place in the territories" by Danny Rubenstein, another Ha'aretz writer.
...
I totally and utterly reject the statement that thousands of Arabs have been driven from their homes. This is totally false. There are Arabs who have left of their own accord, but none have been expelled, as is written in the article.
The Abu Aisha baby story is also a fairy-tale. Did the author request proof, or accept it at face value? There is absolutely no impediment to an Arab ambulance reaching her home. It should also be noted that her home is a five minute walk to the checkpoint leading to the Arab side of the city. She and her neighbors have never had any problems getting to, or leaving their homes. [If any of you don't believe the 'Palestinians' fabricate stories out of air, think of Mohamed Al-Dura. CiJ]
Kristof writes: "Even if the Hebron settlement were not illegal in the eyes of much of the world, it is utterly impractical. The financial cost is mind-boggling, and the diplomatic cost is greater."
Firstly, the Hebron Jewish community was recognized and given legitimacy by Arafat himself, when he signed the Hebron Accords in January, 1997. 2. The claims that Hebron's Jewish community is illegal according to international law are nonsense. Jews lived in Hebron for thousands of years until being expelled in 1929, following the massacre which left 67 Jews murdered and scores wounded. 3. What 'the eyes of the world" think is absolutely irrelevant. The 'eyes of the world' were blind to the annihilation of 6 million Jews 60 years ago. Only yesterday we read that the UN opposes any military strike against the Iranian nuclear plants. What would they prefer: that Israel go up in flames?! 4. The IDF is stationed in Hebron for more than one reason. Of course, they are here to protect the city's residents and over half a million annual visitors. However, they are also in Hebron to prevent the city from becoming a terrorist nest, as was Jenin and other Samaria cities, when the IDF evacuated them. Terrorists from Hebron have perpetrated mass murder in Tel Aviv and other cities in Israel. Only a strong IDF presence in the city can deter such attacks.
I strongly urge you to read Wilder's entire post. The Jewish community in Hebron may be the most unfairly maligned community in the entire Judea and Samaria. And the 'injustices' it allegedly perpetrates are largely the creation of the 'Palestinians' with the help of their friends - like Kristof - in the international media.
By the way, the picture at the top of this post is the Cave of the Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their wives Sara, Rivka and Leah. It is the second holiest site in Judaism and has stood where it stands today for some 3000 years. A bit before Islam ever came into being.
Amid a growing backlash against entertainers who evade IDF service, the Prime Minister's Office is considering publishing a blacklist of such artists so that local councils will know not to hire them for official celebration events.
The prime minister's adviser for social affairs, Vered Swid, told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday she has been urging mayors nationwide "to take affirmative action on behalf of artists who have served their country" and that this suggestion had been accepted by every local council head she had contacted.
She said the initiative was particularly important ahead of the celebrations for Israel's 60th anniversary of independence next spring.
His two sons currently reside abroad. Shaul, an adherent of Yesh Gvul (which refuses beyond-Green-Line military assignments), is now based in New York. Ariel, who never did IDF service, lives in Paris. Olmert, if elected, might soon be exposing other folks' kids-in-uniform to perils his own boys are spared.
His daughter Dana, a Machsom Watch activist, will meanwhile interfere with the duties of soldiers manning checkpoints to prevent terrorist predations.
The IDF stopped two 'Palestinians' driving an explosives-laden car at the Oranit Junction (not pictured) on Highway 5.
The white four-door hatchback with Palestinian plates was stopped at the
Oranit checkpoint on highway 5 northeast of Tel Aviv after it "drew the
suspicion of security guards" according to police. Inside the car, the
Defense Ministry said their security guards found a gas canister hooked
up with electric wires which they say they believe was an explosive
device.
The driver and passenger were taken from the car and arrested, and a bomb sapper robot was sent to dismantle the device.
After the incident, traffic on highway 5 near the scene was stopped in both directions, causing major gridlock.
The Defense Ministry said the driver admitted to planning a bombing and that both suspects are now in custody of police.
Highway 5 runs from Ariel to the coast, and once past the checkpoint (you know, one of the ones that Machsom Watch and their friends would like to close so that the 'poor Palestinians' can bring their bombs into Israel and murder us all) could have reached any point in Central Israel.
The car was stopped for a routine check at the checkpoint on Highway 5
that transverses Samaria from east to west, and leads directly into the
northern outskirts of Tel Aviv.
One of the officers noticed a bag between the driver's legs. Inside
it was a gas balloon, connected ot electric wires. He was taken to
interrogation and admitted, under initial questioning, that he had been
on his way to carry out an attack.
The checkpoint was closed to traffic and Highway 5 blocked in both directions, as sappers handled the bomb.
EXTREMIST ANTI-ISRAEL GROUPS TO MARCH ON JUNE 3 IN CELEBRATE ISRAEL PARADE
UJA-FEDERATION IS PERMITTING ORGANIZATIONS THAT PROMOTE BOYCOTTS, DIVESTMENT AND SANCTIONS AGAINST ISRAEL TO PARTICIPATE.
A coalition of community Jewish organizations urgently calls on all friends of Israel to make their voices heard. The UJA-Federation and Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) have granted permission to extremist anti-Israel organizations to march in the Celebrate Israel Parade on June 3rd in New York. These groups encourage Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel, seeking to delegitimize and economically weaken the Jewish State.
We call on all supporters of Israel to contact the UJA-Federation and JCRC and ask them to reverse their misguided decision.
THESE ARE THE FACTS:
Last year, the New Israel Fund (NIF) was allowed to march in the parade. Other groups marched with the New Israel Fund, displaying their individual banners, including B'Tselem, Partners for Progressive Israel and Rabbis for Human Rights.
This year, New Israel fund is slated to march again, and we expect B'Tselem and the other groups will once again join NIF, displaying their banners.
New Israel Fund finances numerous Israeli NGOs (non-governmental organizations), some of which promote Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel.
Partners for Progressive Israel (also known as Meretz USA) prominently displays on its website, under the heading "boycott these Settlement products sold in the US, "a list of Israeli products that it wants Jews to boycott. These products include Ahava cosmetics, SodaStream products, and wine from nine Israeli vineyards.
The chair of B'Tselem's board, Oren Yiftachel, has publicly called for "effective sanctions" against Israel. B'Tselem is a major grantee of the New Israel Fund.
B'Tselem produced the Video that was shown at the infamous "Israel Apartheid 2012" events held at Universities and Colleges worldwide.
Despite New Israel Funds stated opposition to Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS), their continued funding of these groups shows their actions are not in line with their statements.
ACT NOW
We urge everyone to raise your voices and call the UJA-Federation and the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC). Urge them to stop these groups from marching in the Israel Day Parade and hijacking a pro-Israel event for their anti-Israel purposes. While the JCRC runs the Parade, the UJA-Federation has effective control over the JCRC, as they appoint Board members as a right and contribute the major portion of JCRC funding.
Richard Allen, a member of the Committee for a Pro-Israel Parade and founder of JCCWatch.org stated: "It is not surprising that the UJA-Federation is pushing these bash Israel groups to march in the June 3, 2012 Israel Parade. Published reports show that the UJA-Federation's Chief Executive Officer, John Ruskay, worked with Noam Chomsky in one of the first political bash Israel groups; CONAME (Committee On New Alternatives in The Middle East). The reports stated the group CONAME specialized in attacking Israel. John Ruskay also gave over 1 million ($1,000,000) of UJA-Federation Jewish Charity Dollars to the political George Soros funded group, Jewish Funds for Justice. The community must make its voice heard by calling and writing The UJA-Federation and demand that Jewish community charity funds not be used for these divisive purposes."
PUBLIC CAMPAIGN
CALL OR WRITE TODAY
Tell John Ruskay and Jerry Levin of the UJA-Federation of New York:
NOT ONE DIME to Legitimize the De-Legitimizers of Israel!
STOP groups that work to Delegitimize Israel from Hijacking the Israel Parade!
Call and write the Board of the UJA-Federation of New York
Tell the UJA Federation you do NOT want your Jewish Charity Dollars Going to Support John Ruskay's Political Agenda
Video: 'Palestinian Authority' honors Seder night massacre mastermind
Earlier this week, I posted about 'Palestinian Minister of Prisoner Affairs' Issa Qaraqi accusing Israel of harvesting 'Palestinians' organs. I mentioned some of Qaraqi's past misdeeds, including his honoring Abbas al-Sayid, the planner of the Seder Night massacre in which 30 Israelis were murdered and 140 wounded on the Seder night in 2002.
Now, I have video of Qaraqi's visit to al-Sayid's family. Machsom Watch has nothing on him, except that they're Jewish.
Let's go to the videotape.
Just to emphasize, in case you missed it: Qaraqi is Fatah, not Hamas. He is a member of our 'moderate' 'peace partner's organization. He's Abu Mazen's man.
Olmert family member passed messages from Hamas about Shalit?
London's Sunday Observer reports that a member of the Olmert family passed messages from Hamas to Prime Minister Ehud K. Olmert regarding kidnapped IDF corporal Gilad Shalit. The go-between for the messages (and apparently the source for the article) was Gershom Baskin, a known Israeli leftist.
According to the article, contacts were initiated by Baskin three times since Shalit was kidnapped in June 2006. The first time was shortly after the kidnapping and Israel responded that it did not negotiate with terrorists. The second contact was about a year later, at which time Hamas said that it was not willing to link Shalit's release to a 'cease fire' and an easing of Israel's blockade of Gaza. The third contact was just before the beginning of Operation Cast Lead (which is now being referred to in Israel as Operation Crumbled Lead - it sounds better in Hebrew), and Israel rejected the contact because it had already decided to go to war.
There is no shortage of Olmert family members who could have close contacts with Baskin. Olmert's wife (pictured above with him) is a member in good standing of Women in Black, a group of women that demonstrates against the 'occupation' every Friday outside the Prime Minister's residence. Daughter Dana is a member of Machsom Watch, which harasses IDF soldiers at checkpoints in Judea and Samaria. In 2006, she was part of a demonstration outside the home of then IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz that called Halutz a murderer. Olmert's two sons live in New York and Paris, respectively. Another possibility is Olmert's nephew, Yair Olmert, an attorney who lives in Israel and who was interviewed (not about this) on Israel Radio last week, but who apparently voted for the Likud in the recent election.
For those who want to read this bizarre story, it is here. I suspect that a lot of it has been embellished by Baskin and that it isn't quite what the article stacks it up to be.
Jerusalem-based watchdog NGO Monitor this week released groundbreaking research examining European Union (EU) funding of political NGOs in the Arab-Israeli conflict. The fifty-page report, 'Europe's Hidden Hand' reveals for the first time that between 2005 and 2007, the EU provided tens of millions of Euros from public money to NGOs whose activities directly contradict EU policy. The report also details the severe lack of transparency and accountability in EU funding of NGOs.
The report, titled 'Europe's Hidden Hand' analyzes the process of distributing funds to a variety of NGOs including Christian Aid, Adalah, Machsom Watch and the Israel Committee Against House Demolitions. Many of these groups participated in the infamous Durban Conference in 2001, repeatedly refer to Israel as a 'racist and apartheid state' and promote boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel. In total contradiction to the EU's commitment to the Quartet's road map, which explicitly calls for the peaceful existence of Israel and Palestine, some of these NGOs promote the concept of the elimination of Israel through a 'one state solution'. Disturbingly, these NGOs openly display EU logos on their materials, providing legitimacy to their extremist politics.
In compiling this report, NGO Monitor contacted a number of EU officials. While some were cooperative, they were often unable or unwilling to provide the information necessary to understand funding policies and decision making in this area. Although the EU preaches transparency and accountability, it displays very little of either in funding for NGOs which pursue partisan and political goals. Despite the tens of millions of Euros provided by taxpayers, no uniform framework or central database exists for obtaining NGO funding information - data is often hidden beneath numerous layers of bureaucracy. In addition, only vague funding guidelines exist for NGOs, leaving funding decisions at the mercy of the whims and biases of anonymous and unaccountable European Commission officials.
NGO Monitor's research concludes with recommendations for improvement, which are particularly valuable in the context of preparations for the 2009 Durban Review Conference, in which NGOs are expected to play an important role – Unless the EU changes its policies for funding NGOs, Europe will again be responsible for providing NGOs with the ability to demonize and delegitimize Israel. The EU is also advised to develop practical solutions such as a searchable database of NGO recipients and clear guidelines to preclude the funding of NGOs which promote conflict.
'Europe's Hidden Hand' is the first study to scrutinize EU funding of NGOs systematically, and consequently has already made an impact among experts in advance of its release. A Member of the European Parliament has already utilized the report to press the European Commission to explain the inconsistencies in their NGO funding policy and process.
Following the release of 'Europe's Hidden Hand' at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs' 'Israel at 60' conference on Wednesday 26th March, NGO Monitor's Executive Director Prof Gerald Steinberg said 'For too long, the European Union has hidden the funding for highly divisive Palestinian, European and fringe Israeli NGOs that promote conflict under the façade of peace, dialogue, and human rights. This report challenges the EU to practice the transparency and accountability that it preaches to others, and to insure that the funding of NGOs does not undermine EU values and policies.
An executive summary of the report in English is here [PDF]. The full report is here [PDF].
Some of you may have heard about threats by Pastor John Hagee to cut off his funding of Im Tirtzu, the Zionist group that exposed the connection between the New Israel Fund and the Goldstone Report, and which last week started following up on an ultimatum given to Ben Gurion University to balance their political science faculty. It would be a pity if Hagee were to stop funding Im Tirtzu. Caroline Glick describes some of the good that Im Tirtzu is doing.
As Ma'ariv's Ben Dror Yemini reported this week, at Hebrew University's law school, Prof. Yehuda Shenhav teaches a class called "Bureaucracy, Governance and Human Rights." In the course of their studies, the students are expected to participate in the work of anti-Zionist organizations including Machsom Watch and Yesh Din. At the end of the year, the participants - who will be paid NIS 1,450 for their activism - are expected to write an article describing their experiences which will be turned into a booklet edited by Shenhav and anti-Zionist activists Michael Sfard and Yael Barda and published by their anti-Zionist NGOs.
The situation at Ben-Gurion University's Politics and Government Department is particularly distressing. It is headed by Dr. Neve Gordon, an anti-Zionist activist who has written that Israel is a "proto-fascist state," has castigated it as an "apartheid state" and has signed petitions calling for international academic, scientific, economic and cultural boycotts of the country.
Responding to complaints from students, Im Tirtzu undertook an examination of the Politics and Government Department faculty. It discovered that among the department's 11 tenured instructors, nine are involved in extreme leftist political activity. Led by Gordon, six of the 11 signed a letter supporting soldiers who refuse to serve in the IDF.
Both of the department's research fellows are notorious among their students for their anti-Zionist views. Eight of the department's 19 adjunct lecturers publicly espouse radical leftist views. Three of the department's six doctoral candidates have signed letters in support of Gordon's calls for international boycotts.
AS EREZ Tadmor, Im Tirtzu's research director, noted in a television interview last week, these views represent the politics of but a smattering of the public. And yet, they are the predominant view of the department. In a place where the most radical, dogmatic views - views that reject the state's very right to exist - predominate, it is impossible to imagine that the average student feels comfortable exploring and researching other thought streams. Consequently, it is reasonable to fear that far from educating students, the department engages in wholesale indoctrination of students.
Indeed, as Makor Rishon's Yishai Friedman reported last Friday, the department pays them and gives them academic credit for participation in radical leftist NGOs. As Friedman exposed, students who volunteer at post-Zionist NGOs funded by the New Israel Fund receive academic credit for their efforts and the NIF provides them with generous NIS 7,400 scholarships for their activism.
The Shin Bet said on Sunday that "the organization's recommendation mainly relies upon the need to strengthen the aspect of deterrence among potential terrorists.
"In this case, the general need for deterrence is strengthened by a concrete consideration that stems from the fact that several of the terrorists' family members offered them assistance after the terror attack – by hiding the weapons stolen during the attack and by covering up the act through the destruction of evidence."
The Shin Bet denied that there are legal officials who are opposed to the move and mentioned a number of verdicts from the last decade where it was determined that the demolition of houses was legal and that there was no room, from the High Court's perspective, to intervene in these decisions.
"That was the case in the ruling over the destruction of the house of the terrorist responsible for the Merkaz Ha Rav yeshiva attack in 2005 and the destruction of the home of the terrorist who carried out the terrorist attack in Jerusalem in 2008," Shin Bet officials noted.
A meeting on the matter is set to take place over the next few weeks at the Attorney General's office with IDF and Defense Ministry representatives.
Maybe they ought to also seal the homes of the Machsom Watch traitors who felt it necessary to go comfort the murderers' families.
But yes, the terrorists' homes should be destroyed. Maybe then they won't consider them such heroes.
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
