JEWS
“For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more: he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee.” (Isa 30:19)
IT IS NOT A TERRITORIAL STRUGGLE
Harvard University Professor Ruth Wisse (Yiddish, comparative literature) is the author of “Jews and Anti-Jews,” published in the Wall Street Journal. Excerpts: “...The attacks of Sept. 11 brought home to [Pres. Bush] similarities between [the U.S. and Israel]... If America is duty-bound to strike the bases of those who threaten its security, no matter how far they are from its shores, then Israel, too, which constitutes the fighting front line in the war against terror, must root out the terrorists within and along its borders.
“Yet the White House still cannot bring itself to admit the true nature of the aggression against Israel. It still tends to treat the regional crisis as ‘a conflict of two people over one land’ that can be resolved by the creation of a Palestinian state. According to this view, since Jews and Arabs both lay claim to the same territory of Israel-Palestine, some division of the territory between them will bring about a peaceful resolution...
“Unfortunately, the Arab war against Israel is no more a territorial conflict than was Al Qaeda’s strike against America, and it can no more be resolved by a ‘road map’ than anti-Americanism could be appeased by ceding part of the U.S. to an Islamist enclave.
“From the moment in 1947 when Jewish leaders accepted and Arab rulers rejected the UN partition plan of Palestine, the Arab-Israeli conflict bore no further likeness to more conventional territorial struggles... Arab rulers did not object to Israel because it rendered the Palestinians homeless. Rather, they ensured that the Palestinians should remain homeless so that they could organize their politics around opposition to Israel... “[In Arab nations] the Arab obsession with Israel grew increasingly destructive not only of its Jewish targets but also of [their own] regimes.
“Attacking Jews consumed energy that should have been directed at alleviating the misery of Arab subjects. Blaming the Jews postponed democratization, which begins with people taking responsibility for them... Anti-Semitism morphed into anti-Americanism, not because America supported Israel but because America represented the same challenges of an open, democratic, competitive society... America did not so much fight on the side of the Jews as find itself forced to tackle the anti-Jews...
“[U]ntil Arab leaders give up the crutch of anti-Semitism, they can make no real progress toward responsible self-government, and it is futile to pretend that obsession with Israel is compatible with Palestinian independence. (Samir) Rantisi greeted the ‘road map’ by organizing major attacks against Israel, which he calls ‘our land, not the land of the Jews.’
“America can’t hope to win its war against terror while ignoring some of its major perpetrators and propagandists.”
ANTI-ZIONISM THE NEW ANTI-SEMITISM
“Anti-Semitism – or Jew-hatred – has been described by Irwin Cotler, former attorney general of Canada, as ‘the discrimination against, denial of or assault upon the rights of Jews to live as equal members of whatever host society they inhabit.’ Jewish authors Dennis Prager and Joseph Telushkin start their classic study Why the Jews? With the statement, ‘Hatred of the Jew has been humanity’s greatest hatred. While hatred of other groups has always existed, no hatred has been as universal, as deep, or as permanent as anti-Semitism.
“This deep-rooted hatred of Jewish people – what has been called by many ‘the longest hatred’ – has now morphed into a ‘new anti-Semitism’ that was perhaps not expected after the Second World War. It was widely thought – and hoped – that after the Holocaust, important lessons had been learned. Following the revelation of the horrors of Nazism, it was hardly appropriate to talk about hating Jewish people. As Rabbi Benjamin Blech puts it succinctly, ‘It’s no longer ‘in’ to attack Jews as Jews or to revile any other religion.’ But tragically nothing really changed.” (Bridges of Peace, November 2010)
ANTI-SEMITISM: DISTURBING TREND
“The result of a recently released report by the Jewish Agency finds that in 2009, there were more reports of anti-Semitism than in any single year since World War II. Furthermore it was revealed that 42 percent of West Europeans believe that ‘Jews exploit the past to extort money’ – a statement that was most widely held in Spain and Poland.
“In France, estimated to have 600,000 Jews and a Muslim population of six million, anti-Semitic outbursts are reportedly rampant. Fueled by Israel’s military campaign in Gaza last year, anti-Semitic acts were said to have directly resulted in eight deaths worldwide in 2009, two of which were in the U.S.: a guard at Washington’s Holocaust Memorial and a female college student in Connecticut were murdered. According to the report, anti-Semitism is a phenomenon of both the political right and the left.” (World Jewry, April 2010)
FOURTH TRY AT A TWO STATE SOLUTION
“Right now there are two Palestinian Muslim mini-states within Israel. That makes it hard to implement a Two State Solution with Three States. Every time there’s trouble in Gaza, it is once again a reminder that it is ruled by Hamas, and the West Bank is ruled by Fatah, two terrorist groups that don’t get along with each other. Naturally every politician who talks about the importance of a Two State Solution completely ignores this minor problem, even though they created it. Or perhaps because they created it…
“Each time the assumption is that if Israel sits down at the table and negotiates with Fatah leader Abbas, and makes enough concessions, there will be a Two State Solution, and the problem will be solved. Which seems easily enough done, when you ignore the fact that Gaza is not only run by Hamas, but that the only reason Hamas isn’t running the West Bank is because the U.S. is propping up Abbas with weapons, and Israel has cut off Gaza from the West Bank. Yet the same people who call for a Two State Solution also demand that Israel stop blockading Gaza ─ when Fatah and their Two State Solution wouldn’t last two weeks if Hamas militias showed up in force in Ramallah.
“As we can see then, there are only one or two or three things standing in the way of a Two State Solution.
1. The fact that it's been repeatedly tried and failed.
2. The fact that there are two Palestinian states already in place and fighting among themselves (not counting Jordan, which was the original Palestinian state, and will join the fight if the Muslim Brotherhood succeeds in taking it over).
3. The fact that Abbas does not want to negotiate.
“Naturally none of this discourages politicians from chanting ‘Two State Solution’ over and over again, or media pundits from suggesting that Israel needs to implement it right now – when the only conceivable way Israel could make that happen is to close the border, throw the keys across the fence, and let anyone who wants to make a Palestinian state fight for it. “But the prospect of turning Hamas and Fatah into part of a state with Israel is about as likely to lead to a united democratic state with protection for anyone’s rights as throwing a hand grenade near a bunch of pots, one of which has a chicken in it, is likely to lead to a chicken in every pot. If the Palestinian Arab Muslims couldn’t form a single united government of their own that respected the rights of even their own Christian minority, or even each other – how exactly would they form one with Israel? Rather than answer the question, proponents will instead blame Israel for that too – which is their answer for absolutely everything. And I do mean absolutely everything.
“Which puts us right back where we started, with an unworkable dilemma for which Israel gets all the blame, because it can’t create peace by waving a magic wand and implementing a Two State Solution, a plan that is about as workable as any decent 99 cent magic wand?” (Excerpts by Daniel Greenfield, Outpost, September 2010)
NO LOVE BOAT
“Hamas is smuggling thousands of Iranian rockets, missiles, and other weaponry – smuggling it into Gaza in order to fire on Israel’s cities… Under international law, and under common sense and common decency, Israel has every right to interdict this weaponry and to inspect the ships that might be transporting them.
“‘This is not a theoretical challenge or a theoretical threat. We have already interdicted vessels bound for Hezbollah, and for Hamas from Iran, containing hundreds of tons of weapons… Israel simply cannot permit the free flow of weapons and war materials to Hamas from the sea. I will go further than that. Israel cannot permit Iran to establish a Mediterranean port a few dozen kilometers from Tel Aviv and from Jerusalem. And I would go beyond that too. I say to the responsible leaders of all the nations: The international community cannot afford an Iranian port in the Mediterranean…
“‘Today I warn of this impending willingness to enable Iran to establish a naval port right next to Israel, right next to Europe. The same countries that are criticizing us today should know that they will be targeted tomorrow. For this and for many other reasons, we have a right to inspect cargo heading into Gaza. And here’s our policy. It’s very simple: Humanitarian and other goods can go in and weapons and war material cannot. “‘…It is very clear to us that the attackers had prepared their violent action in advance. They were members of an extremist group that has supported international terrorist organizations and today support the terrorist organization called Hamas. They brought with them in advance knives, steel rods, [and] other weapons. They chanted battle cries against the Jews. You can hear this on the tapes that have been released.
“‘This was not a love boat. This was a hate boat. These weren’t pacifists. These weren’t peace activists. These were violent supporters of terrorism… Israel regrets the loss of life, but we will never apologize for defending ourselves. Israel has every right to prevent deadly weapons from entering into hostile territory, and Israeli soldiers have every right to defend their lives and their country.’” (By Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Dispatch From Jerusalem, August 2010)
ISRAEL PLEDGES UNDIVIDED JERUSALEM
“Israel’s prime minister pledged to keep Jerusalem undivided despite Palestinian claims to its eastern half, as Israelis celebrated the 43rd anniversary Wednesday of the city’s reunification in the 1967 Mideast War.
“The Jewish section of Jerusalem took on a festive mood Wednesday with parades and speeches by political leaders, touching only lightly on the political explosiveness of the hotly contested city.
“Hundreds of youths, many carrying Israeli flags, marched in the annual Jerusalem Day parade from a main square in Jewish west Jerusalem toward the Old City. Earlier, an extremist Israeli group called the Temple Mount Faithful toted flags and banners through the Old City, demanding that Israel take full control of the hotly disputed holy site where the Al-Aqsa mosque compound sits atop the ruins of the biblical Jewish temples.” (Orlando Sentinel, May 13, 2010)
CRIMINAL ZIONIST REGIME DOOMED?
“The ‘criminal’ state of Israel is doomed, According to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said as he met with senior Palestinian terror figures in Damascus. During his meeting with senior Hamas and Islamic Jihad members ─ including Hamas Politburo Chief Khaled Mashaal and Islamic Jihad Secretary General Ramadan Shallah ─Ahmadinejad warned that any Israeli attack will be met with stiff resistance. ‘If the Zionists want to repeat their mistake again, they must be uprooted from the source.’ he said. ‘This criminal regime is doomed, and the grand victory is imminent.’
“He promised the terror leaders that Iran would remain by their side and support their armed struggle against Israel. The Iranian president also belittled Israel’s power, likening it to an airplane about to crash. ‘The Zionist regime’s plane engine and arrogant rule have been ruined, and there is no force that can propel this plane forward or upward,’ he said.” (Excerpts of an article by Dudi Cohen, Ynetnews, June 2010)
IF ISRAEL GOES DOWN WE ALL GO DOWN
For far too long now it has been unfashionable in Europe to speak up for Israel. In the wake of the recent incident on board a ship full of anti-Israeli activists in the Mediterranean, it is hard to think of a more unpopular cause to champion.
“In an ideal world, the assault by Israeli commandos on the Mavi Marmara would not have ended up with nine dead and a score wounded... In an ideal world, no state, let alone a recent ally of Israel such as Turkey, would have sponsored and organized a flotilla whose sole purpose was to create an impossible situation for Israel: making it choose between giving up its security policy and the naval blockade, and risking the wrath of the world.
“In our dealings with Israel, we must blow away the red mists of anger that too often cloud our judgment. A reasonable and balanced approach should encapsulate the following realities: first, the state of Israel was created by a decision of the UN. Its legitimacy, therefore, should not be in question. Israel is a nation with deeply rooted democratic institutions. It is a dynamic and open society that has repeatedly excelled in culture, science and technology.
“Second, owing to its roots, history, and values, Israel is a fully fledged Western nation. Indeed, it is a normal Western nation, but one confronted by abnormal circumstances.
“Uniquely in the West, it is the only democracy whose very existence has been questioned since its inception. First it was attacked by its neighbors using the conventional weapons of war. Then it faced terrorism culminating in wave after wave of suicide attacks. Now, at the behest of radical Islamists and their sympathizers, it faces a campaign of delegitimisation through international law and diplomacy.
“Sixty-two years after its creation, Israel is still fighting for its very survival. Punished with missiles raining from north and south, threatened with destruction by an Iran aiming to acquire nuclear weapons and pressed upon by friend and foe, Israel, it seems, is never to have a moment’s peace.
“For years, the focus of Western attention has understandably been on the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians...The real threats to regional stability, however, are to be found in the rise of a radical Islamism which sees Israel’s destruction as the fulfillment of its religious destiny and, simultaneously in the case of Iran, as an expression of its ambitions for regional hegemony. Both phenomena are threats that affect not only Israel, but also the wider West and the world at large. The core of the problem lies in the ambiguous and often erroneous manner in which too many Western countries are now reacting to this situation. It is easy to blame Israel for all the evils in the Middle East. Some even act and talk as if a new understanding with the Muslim world could be achieved if only we were prepared to sacrifice the Jewish state on the altar. This would be folly.
“Israel is our first line of defense in a turbulent region that is constantly at risk of descending into chaos; a region vital to our energy security owing to our overdependence on Middle Eastern oil; a region that forms the front line in the fight against extremism. If Israel goes down, we all go down. To defend Israel’s right to exist in peace, within secure borders, requires a degree of moral and strategic clarity that too often seems to have disappeared in Europe. The United States shows worrying signs of heading in the same direction.
“The West is going through a period of confusion over the shape of the world’s future. To a great extent, this confusion is caused by a kind of masochistic self-doubt over our own identity; by the rule of political correctness; by a multiculturalism that forces us to our knees before others; and by a secularism which, irony of ironies blinds us even when we are confronted by jihadis promoting the most fanatical incarnation of their faith. To abandon Israel to its fate, at this moment of all moments, would merely serve to illustrate how far we have sunk and how inexorable our decline now appears.
“This cannot be allowed to happen. Motivated by the need to rebuild our own Western values, expressing deep concern about the wave of aggression against Israel, and mindful that Israel’s strength is our strength and Israel’s weakness is our weakness, I have decided to promote a new Friends of Israel initiative with the help of some prominent people, including David Trimble, Andrew Roberts, John Bolton, Alejandro Toledo (the former President of Peru), Marcello Pera (philosopher and former President of the Italian Senate), Fiamma Nirenstein (the Italian author and politician), the financier Robert Agostinelli and the Catholic intellectual George Weigel.
“What binds us...is our unyielding support for Israel’s right to exist and to defend. For Western countries to side with those who question Israel’s legitimacy, for them to play games in international bodies with Israel’s vital security issues, for them to appease those who oppose Western values rather than robustly to stand up in defense of those values, is not only a grave moral mistake, but a strategic error of the first magnitude.
“Israel is a fundamental part of the West. The West is what it is thanks to its Judeo-Christian roots. If the Jewish element of those roots is upturned and Israel is lost, then we are lost too. Whether we like it or not, our fate is inextricably intertwined.” (Jose M. Aznar was prime minister of Spain. This is slightly edited from his article in the (London) Times of June 17, 2010)
MODERN-DAY ISRAEL
“Is one of the most compelling proofs that God is still active in human history today: His actions is bringing the Jewish people home to Israel in fulfillment of many prophetic Scriptures are a powerful testimony to His character. He is proving over and over again that He is a faithful, covenant-keeping God, remembering His promises to a thousand generations (which in Hebraic thought is like saying forever). A famous story is told of King Louis XIV of France asking Blaise Pascal, the French philosopher, to give him proof of the of the existence of God. Pascal’s response was, ‘Why, the Jews, your Majesty ─ the Jews.’” (Bridges for Peace, September 1, 2010)
KINNERET DROP HAS EXPERTS ALARMED
Experts say the level of water in the Sea of Galilee began to decline this year on May 11, and that it has already dropped some 10.5 cm. This compares with a drop of 7 cm. in the corresponding period of 2009. The lake raised a total of 1.71 m. during the last rainy season.
“The volume of available water in the Kinneret this month was set at around 8 million cubit millimeters, and the volume of water flowing into the lake over the last three months was lower than the supply during the same quarter last year.
“One expert described the situation as ‘a shortage catastrophe.’ Meanwhile, the level of water in the Dead Sea declined by 8 cm. in May, following a drop of 12 cm. in the previous month.” (Jerusalem Post, June 18, 2010)
MILITARY OFFICER DEFENDS IDF
“‘Dark force’ that unfairly criticize the Israeli military and want to harm Israel are often driven by anti-Semitism; so says retired British Army Colonel Richard Kemp. The former senior officer who recently addressed a dinner of the Zionist Federation in London says the international media unfairly single out Israel.
“Noting for example that UK armed forces do not face the same degree of criticism lodged against the IDF, Kemp says that non-governmental organizations and international groups such as the United Nations should know better than to level utter condemnation of Israel. The former commander of forces in Afghanistan praised the Israeli army’s restraint and expertise in providing him with invaluable information on thwarting suicide bombers.” (World Jewry, May 2010)
UNICEF SUPPORTS PALESTINIAN HATE AD
“Donor organizations to the Palestinian authority have been challenged for years to prevent their well-intentioned contributions from being directed towards hate promotion by the PA, its institutions, and it’s Non-Government Organizations (NGO).
“An ad by the Palestinian Youth Association for Leadership and Rights Activation [PYALARA], which is funded by UNICEF, shows an axe destroying a Star of David. The UNICEF logo is right on the ad – another example of the misuses of UN funding. The large Star of David that has been destroyed has on it pictures of stars and stripes, presumably representing the USA and an additional smaller Star of David.
“PYALARA has been funded by UNICEF since the year 2000. ‘PYALARA has been chosen by UNICEF as a major strategic partner in Palestine,’ states the PYALARA Web site. On the axe that destroys the Star of David is the word ‘Boycott!’ in the imperative tense. Youth are invited to watch the PA TV program calling for a boycott of Israel.
“The host acknowledges that they are aware that the boycott is illegal, but they have chosen to ignore this. ‘We know that the Palestinian Authority is tied to a number of agreements that prohibit it from completely boycotting Israel...We call upon all the youth, to all the residents, to all businesses and stores, to completely boycott the Israeli goods in their stores.’
The following is information about PYALARA from its Web site: ‘Since December 2000, PYALARA has produced, with the support of UNICEF and the cooperation of Palestine TV, a weekly two-hour TV program called Speak Up. An average of 300,000 Palestinian children and teenagers watch every episode.’” (By Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik, Palestinian Media Watch)
HARDLY HUMANITARIANS
“It’s baffling to hear such foolishness from academicians (‘Israel attacked ship to stop aid to Gaza.’) Throughout universities across America, there are so-called humanitarians, demanding that Israel end its blockade of Gaza, be held accountable for the deaths of innocent lives and enter into peace negotiations.
“Fact: The Israeli-Egyptian blockade of Gaza has one purpose: preventing the Hamas terrorist regime from acquiring additional weapons from Iran to continue its war against Israeli civilians. For more than five years, Hamas fired about 7,000 rockets into southern Israel, aimed at kindergartens, old-age homes and hospitals.
“Every country has the moral and legal obligation to protect its citizens. Those who call for an end of the blockade know that without it, Hamas would have the military supplies to continue such attacks. Apparently, when it comes to the deaths of innocent Israelis, such humanitarians are not so humanitarian.
“Fact: Israel has long sought peace with the Palestinians. Yet, Hamas has no interest in negotiations. Its goal is to destroy the Jewish state. What is there to negotiate when your adversary wants nothing but your annihilation?
“Fact: Should the blockade be lifted, Iran ─ the world’s greatest exporter of terrorism ─ would have a port in the Mediterranean Sea. Hamas forces in Gaza would then be armed similar to Hezbollah troops in southern Lebanon, where some estimate that 60,000 rockets are now aimed at Israel. Who in their right mind would welcome such a development?
“Fact: Hundreds of thousands of tons of humanitarian supplies enter Gaza through Israel. The provisions aboard the recent flotilla also could have reached Gaza without any violence, had its organizers allowed Israel to search its cargo ensuring the absence of weapons.
“In fact, after the Israeli inspection, Hamas refused to even accept that aid. So who is really denying aid to the Palestinians? Who is indifferent to the sufferings of the residents of Gaza?
“The same people who use their own people as human shields when they launch rockets from civilians’ homes, hospitals and mosques. The same monsters who send teenage children strapped with suicide bombs to carry out terrorist attacks and, then, celebrate their deaths, so long as they managed to kill some Jews alongside themselves.
“People, regardless of their academic credentials, who support measures that would enable a regime to continue such bloodthirsty deeds are no humanitarians. Neither are they supporters of peace. They are just very foolish.” (Rabbi Aaron D. Rublinger, Orlando Sentinel, June 13, 2010)
AHMADINEJAD GETS HERO’S WELCOME
“Beirut Lebanon: Iranian and Lebanese officials tried hard Wednesday to depict the visit of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as a run-of-the-mill diplomatic affair.
“But in Beirut, Ahmadinejad is no typical president. Iran’s ties to Lebanon are hardly ordinary. And Iran’s relationship with the Shiite militia and political organization Hezbollah, which Tehran finances and arms, drowned out the platitudes.
“Officials from the two countries signed trade agreements, praised one other and ate lunch at the palace of Lebanese President Michel Suleiman.
“‘Our message is one of unity and cooperation,’ Ahmadinejad said during a joint news conference with Suleiman.
“During an evening appearance in southern Beirut, he said: ‘Lebanon is a green garden with many flowers from many faiths and religions.’
“But the choreography of Ahmadinejad’s trip overshadowed his carefully chosen words. Emphasis was on Iran’s relationship with Hezbollah, which operates as a state within a state and sometimes eclipses the power of the Lebanese government.
“Upon arrival, the Iranian president declined to take an official helicopter from the airport to the presidential palace. Instead he opted for a convoy of SUVs that waded through huge crowds of roaring spectators who gathered to greet him in Beirut’s mostly Shiite southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold.
“After lunch, Ahmadinejad broke from his official entourage and basked in the adulation of crowds in southern Beirut.
“Referring to Israel, with which Hezbollah fought a war in 2006, he said: ‘The illegitimate Zionist regime is a permanent threat to the region and all the world governments.’
“On Thursday he plans to travel south and give a speech within several miles of the Israeli border. This is a move Israeli officials have denounced as provocative.
“Though Lebanese political leaders of all stripes attended the luncheon in Ahmadinejad’s honor, others not constrained by protocol have described the visit as infringement on Lebanese sovereignty that could aggravate sectarian tensions.” (By Borzou Daragahi and Alexandra Sandels, Tribune Newspapers, October 14, 2010)
SAUDI MONEY
“In the past three decades, Saudi Arabia has spent over U.S, $70 billion on ‘international aid,’ two-thirds of which has financed the infiltration of Western institutions with a message that is inherently anti-Western and anti-Israeli. In addition to building religious schools and funding other Islamic social and cultural infrastructure in non-Muslin countries, a large portion ended up in the coffers of educational institutions to fund Middle Eastern Studies departments and endow chairs across America and around the world. Author Wahlid Phares suggests that these Saudi dollars have made it possible for Middle East studies to be dominated by anti-Western ideology and endowed chairs to be filled by academics known for pro-Palestinian activism rather than scholarship.”
(By Cheryl Hauer, Dispatch From Jerusalem, October 2010)
RECORD TOURISTS, SHEKELS
“Israel’s Tourism Ministry says that in the first six months of 2010, an estimated 1.6 million travelers visited the Jewish state. Figures for January through June of this year show a 39 percent increase over figures for the same period in 2009. This year’s tourist numbers translate to an equivalent U.S. $1.55 billion going into Israel’s economy.
“According to the Ministry, the record numbers are a reflection of a ‘massive investment in marketing activities around the world with significant budgets, especially against the background of the public diplomacy challenges that Israel is facing.’”
(World Jewry, October 2010)
ISRAEL IS THE WEST’S BEST ALLY
“A European statesman, Jose Maria Aznar, is reminding his fellow continentals that ‘if Israel goes down, we all go down.’ Aznar, the former prime minister of Spain (1996 ─ 2004), opining recently in The London Times, says that Israel should not have to be fighting for its very existence, since it is the Middle East’s only reliable ally to be counted on for regional stability – yet it seems destined never to have ‘a moment’s peace.’
“Forming a coalition of European intellectuals and opinion makers called ‘Friends of Israel,’ Aznar says the new group will be dedicated to emphasizing Israel’s legitimacy, it’s right to exist and defend its sovereignty. He reminds Europeans that radical Islam is still a potent threat, that we must never forget our shared Judeo-Christian roots, adding that the fate of Israel is our (the West’s) fate.” (World Jewry, September 2010)
UNITED NATIONS EVICTS BAYEFSKY
“Anne Bayefsky, indomitable critic of the UN's obsessive hunting down of Israel, was ejected by guards from the UN after she used a microphone outside the General Assembly Hall to offer the only pro-Israel commentary on the resolution then being passed by the Assembly endorsing the infamous Goldstone report accusing Israel of “war crimes.” She called the UN a “laughingstock” for singling out Israel and ignoring human rights violations by Hamas. Bayefsky reports that four guards confiscated two UN passes issued to her as director of Touro Law Center’s Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust.
“She is now in what she describes as a Kafkaesque situation with the UN having confiscated her credentials while denying to reporters that her access has been blocked. Her 25 years of monitoring the UN is in jeopardy – in the hands of the Committee on NGOs chaired by the genocidal regime in Sudan.” (By Rael Jean Isaac, Outpost, December 2010)
ISRAEL HATED FOR EXISTING
“Zionism is accepted by Jews worldwide as an integral part of Judaism. According to the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs: ‘The establishment of the State of Israel [in 1948] marked the realization of the Zionist goal of attaining an internationally recognized, legally secured home for the Jewish people in its historic homeland, where Jews would be free from persecution and able to develop their own lives and identity.’ As a movement founded in 1887 by a secular Jew from Vienna, Theodore Herzl, Zionism is essentially, and simply, about the return of the Jewish people to their homeland.
“Natan Kellermann, a clinical psychologist from Israel, wrote in 2005: ‘Now we are hated, not despite the fact that we have a homeland, but because we have it and because of what we do in order to live in it and defend it...This hate of Israel is profoundly anti-Semitic’ [emphasis added]. This hatred is accurately described as anti-Zionism ─ the denial of Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state. Cotler quotes Per Ahlmark, Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden, who said, ‘In the past, the most dangerous anti-Semites were those who wanted to make the world Judenrein, ‘free of Jews.’ Today, the most dangerous anti-Semites might be those who want to make the world Judenstaatrein, ‘free of a Jewish state.’ Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state is affirmed consistently by Israel’s leaders in the light of relentless denials of that right by its enemies. There are some who argue that anti-Zionism does not amount to anti-Semitism, stating that because Jews are neither a nation nor a people, they have no right to the land of Israel. Anti-Zionists who hold this view claim that they are not motivated by hatred of the Jews. Dennis Prager and Joseph Telushkin respond by stating that ‘the consequences of anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism for the Jewish people are the same.’
“It is abundantly clear that anti-Zionism, in advocating the elimination of the state of Israel, is inherently anti-Semitic. Pierre-Andre Taguieff wrote in Rising from tile Muck. ‘Much of what purports to be criticism of Israel and Zionism is demonization, and has led to an international resurgence of attacks on Jew and Jewish symbols and an increased acceptance of anti-Semitic beliefs in public discourse.’” (By Keith Buxton, Bridges for Peace, November 21, 2010
The Divine Promise to Abraham’s Seed
As the very foundation of Israel’s every hope, the mainspring of that people’s courage, the motive power of their energy, their perseverance and their pride, has been the Divine promise made to Abraham, their illustrious ancestor, “the friend of God.” To Abraham, after certain tests of character – obedience, loyalty, and faith – God made a Promise, which constitutes the hope, both of Israel and the rest of mankind. It reads, “In thy Seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” (Gen. 22:18) Abraham’s son Isaac was indicated by the Lord to be the channel through which this blessing should proceed. Later on, Isaac’s son, Jacob, was indicated as a further channel.
His name was changed to Israel, which signifies a prince influential with God – in Divine favor. This name Israel indicative of so much of honor and Divine favor was subsequently applied to the whole nation of Jacob’s descendants, who became known as Israelites, or Children of Israel. At Jacob’s death the Divine blessing passed, by Divine direction, not to a single one of his posterity, but to them all as a whole nation.
It is fitting that the citizens of the modern nation of Israel are known as “Israelis.” The designation “Israelites” indeed, has an entirely different connotation.