Dear Family & Friends,

Blessed rain but cold. Beautiful clouds. We are filling our Lake Kinneret & our vital fresh water resources, our aquifers deep under our mountains of Judea, Samaria (Yehuda & Shomron in Hebrew), the Golan Heights & the coastal aquifer. Israel’s percentile of useful recycled water is extremely high & valuable. To conserve & reuse waste water in Israel, we use amazing technological innovations which we also teach to surrounding arid states. We are also working very hard to prevent exploitation by our cousins of many shallow wells which could draw down the aquifers dangerously & to purify their waste water to prevent contamination of the water resources which serve to liquefy all of us. This coordination, cooperation & sharing of crucial resources is our best road to Peace Forever – Shalom Tamid.

Sha’i Ben Tekoa’s facts on the TSS illegal TwoStateSolution should set the boundaries on any future attempts by the world to force us in Israel to give away any of our legal, moral State – or to Ban, Delegitimize, or Sanction Israel – or to bring false accusations into the United Nations to Under-Mine its purported fairness & neutrality. As y’all know, my mantra is: SOVEREIGNTY FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA FOR THE JEWISH STATE OF ISRAEL & restitution for victims of Arab & Muslim Terror and/or victims of expropriation of property & expulsion from their Arab countries of origin.

I agree with Arlene Kushner: We can only cry for Adelle Biton & her family to be comforted among the builders on Zion. We can only pray that our government institutes stronger deterrence against the radical Islamic Terror in our periphery & our midst.

All who can should get a gun license, be trained how to use it effectively & safely. All who can must learn self-defense techniques to enable our minds & bodies to defend ourselves, our loved ones & our country.

Have a peaceful, warm night & coming day. Snow is forecast for Thursday.

All the very best, Gail/Geula/Savta/Savta Raba/Mom

1.The Two-State Solution Is Plainly Illegal By Sha’i ben-Tekoa

2.PM Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the annual Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations Feb. 16, 2015

3.“The Stuff of Heartbreak” by Arlene Kushner Feb. 17, 2015

4.The controversy of ‘From Time Immemorial’ by Joan Peters

Nadav Shragai in Yisrael Hayom about Joan Peters

5.Jerusalem 1948 – The Jewish Naqba Posted by Joe Settler 

6.from RABBI RACHAMIM PAULI

7.Finally: Strong Pushback Against Islamic Pressure to Shut Down Freedom of Speech

1.The Two-State Solution Is Plainly Illegal By: Sha’i ben-Tekoa THE JEWISH PRESS.COM Feb. 17, 2015 Latest update: Feb. 16, 2015

The so-called Two-State Solution (TSS) directly contradicts the two most important documents in history regarding the Arab war against Israel: the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine of 1922 & United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 of 1967, & it is time Israel’s leaders & Israel’s supporters worldwide say this loudly & clearly.

The TSS calls for, as the Barack Administration wants, a “Palestinian” state in Judea & Samaria based on the pre-June 1967 lines, when UNSC Res. 242 signed five months later did not call for a return to them. On the contrary, the text called for “Withdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict.” By implication, there would be new lines, not a return to the old ones.

Moreover, while “every State in the area” had a “right to live in peace within secure & recognized boundaries,” there was no demand for the creation of a new state for “Palestinians.”

In fact, not until 1970 did the word “Palestinians” appear in any UN Security Council or General Assembly resolution. Until then, legally speaking, there were no “Palestinians” as a party to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

The TSS also violates the even older League of Nations Mandate for Palestine that was later embedded in Article 80 of the new UN Charter of 1945 & is therefore still legally binding. The Mandate foresaw the creation of a country called Palestine that had not existed before the First World War & the birth of the League. Not for fourteen centuries of Muslim rule was there ever such a jurisdiction, so the League had to create it. And the Mandate explicitly intended it for the a Jewish homeland.

The League also — initially — envisioned a map of Palestine that did not depict the Jordan River as a national boundary & that is because the maps found in all the encyclopedias published before the First World War relied on the classic, Biblical lines in which the Jordan River is not its eastern boundary but located near to the center.

So the League, pressured by Britain, France, the United States, the Zionist organization under Dr. Chaim Weizmann & Prince Faisal of Mecca created a new map of Palestine much larger than its historic boundaries, though amputated was its northern tier. That was awarded to France that ultimately divided it between the newly created states of Lebanon & Syria.

The League then decided to make the Jordan River a border between peoples; the Arabs on the east bank & the Jews on the west.

Thus, the new country called Palestine would be created as the Jewish homeland but not over all historic Palestine. The River would become a border between the vast Arab nation & the tiny Jewish nation. Historically, rivers have served as national borders & thus it seemed the rational, natural thing to do.

The decision was in fact foreshadowed before the Peace Conference even opened for business in Paris January 1919 when the month before in London Chaim Weizmann, successor to Theodor Herzl as head of the Zionist Organization, signed an agreement with Prince Faisal, the two of them envisioning two states, one called “The Arab State,” the other called “Palestine.”

Faisal obviously had no objection to the use of Palestine as the name of for a projected Jewish state. Faisal was a man cut from very different cloth than most Arabs today. He did not deny the historic connection between the Jewish people & their ancient homeland. Never in history had Arabs called it Palestine; he had no attachment to it. The name appears nowhere in the Koran. The Arabs’ traditional name for the region was always Bilad a-Sham or “Damascus Territory.” They use Falastin today but that is a very late development.

In sum, the League Mandate also called for a “two-state solution” but not today’s TSS. The League foresaw one state for Arabs on one side of the Jordan River, one for Jews on the other, not one Arab state on one side, & another Arab state on the other.

Moreover, in 1948, when Israel declared independence & Jordan’s King Abdallah sent his army across the River, he had no authorization from the United Nations to do that, let alone conquer Jerusalem & expel all of its Jews who had been the largest community in it from time immemorial.

Jordan also overran & annexed Samaria to the north & the hills of Judea to the south & remained in place for the next 19 years during which time neither King Abdallah nor his successor King Hussein ever considered the Arabs west of the River to be “Palestinians” with a separate national identity & a right to their own state. Jordan’s kings are direct descendants of Muhammad, & if they never saw in the Arabs in Judea & Samaria a separate nationality deserving of an independent state, why should Israel?

Why is Israel obligated to honor the arguably delusional notion that today’s “Palestinians” & “Jordanians” are two separate nationalities when there is not an ounce of difference in national characteristics between them. How are they different? In language? Cuisine? Religion or religious sect?

Instead of employing Prime Minister Netanyahu’s tactic of recognizing a “Palestinian” nation with a right to independence in the heart of the Land of Israel (albeit with impossible conditions attached), Israel might stop trying to “make nice” to its enemies & the world & start demanding its right to keep Judea & Samaria as authorized by

1) the League of Nations &

2) the natural right of victors to annex the spoils of war, especially when the victors had been the victims of their neighbor’s aggression.

The denial of Israel’s right to keep these spoils – to exact punitive damages — is nothing but age-old anti-Semitism in modern dress.

It is time for Israel to demand its rights & stop trying to satisfy the demands of a putatively Paleolithic, phantom “Palestinian” people.

About the Author: Sha’i ben-Tekoa’s articles on the Arab-Israeli conflict, terrorism & Islamic fundamentalism have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, National Review, Midstream, Congress Monthly & other publications. He has appeared on American Public Broadcasting’s The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. Formerly the lead commentator for Israel National News (Arutz 7), he is a graduate of Columbia University in Comparative Religion who continued his studies at the University of Chicago & Hebrew University. A traveler in Arab lands, he served in the Yom Kippur War effort of 1973. Ben Tekoa is also the author of “Phantom Nation: Inventing the “Palestinians” as the Obstacle to Peace” Jan. 2013 Available at Amazon.Com, as a 3 volume paperback or on Kindle. & Sha’i ‘webcasts’ 3 times a week by subscription at http://www.deprogramprogram.com/webcasts.

The Two-State Solution Is Plainly Illegal By:

2.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the annual Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations Feb. 16, 2015

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the annual Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations on Monday, during which he explained his reasons for accepting an invitation to go to Congress to defend Israel against a bad Iran deal. Following is the text of his address: Feb. 17, 2015

My Friends,

Tonight I want to address some important questions that have undoubtedly been on your minds. First, why am I going to Washington? I’m going to Washington because as Prime Minister of Israel, it’s my obligation to do everything in my power to prevent the conclusion of a bad deal that could threaten the survival of the State of Israel. The current proposal to Iran would endanger Israel. It would enable Iran to breakout to its first nuclear device within an unacceptably short time. & it would allow Iran to build an industrial capability to enrich uranium that could provide the fuel for many bombs in the coming years.

A regime that openly calls for Israel’s destruction would thus have finally the means to realize its genocidal aims. Now mind you, I’m not opposed to any deal with Iran. I’m opposed to a bad deal with Iran. & I believe this is a very bad deal. I’m certainly not opposed to negotiations. On the contrary – no country has a greater interest, a greater stake, in the peaceful resolution of the Iranian nuclear question than does Israel.

But the current proposal will not solve the problem. It will perpetuate & aggravate the problem. It would provide a path for Iran to become a nuclear power. & therefore it’s very important that I speak about this in Washington.

Second question: Why am I going to Congress? Because Israel has been offered the opportunity to make its case on this crucial issue before the world’s most important parliament; because a speech before Congress allows Israel to present its position to the elected representatives of the American people & to a worldwide audience; because Congress has played a critical role in applying pressure to the Iranian regime – the very pressure that has brought the ayatollahs to the negotiating table in the first place; & because Congress may very well have a say on the parameters of any final deal with Iran. That’s why I’m going to Congress.

I think the real question that should be asked is how could any responsible Israeli prime minister refuse to speak to Congress on a matter so important to Israel’s survival? How could anyone refuse an invitation to speak on a matter that could affect our very existence when such an invitation is offered?

Why go now? The deadline for reaching an agreement with Iran is March 24th. That’s the date that drives the speech. Now is the time for Israel to make its case – now before it’s too late. Would it be better to complain about a deal that threatens the security of Israel after it’s signed? I believe it’s more responsible to speak out now to try to influence the negotiations while they’re still ongoing.

I think the whole point of Zionism is that the Jewish people would no longer be spectators to the decision-making that determines our fate. Remember, we were once powerless. We were once voiceless. We couldn’t even speak on our own behalf. Well, we can & we do now.

The answer to all three questions are the same. Why Congress? Why Washington? Why now? Because of the grave dangers posed by the deal that is on the table right now.

I don’t see this issue in partisan terms. The survival of Israel is not a partisan issue. It concerns everyone, all the supporters of Israel from every political stripe. The fight against militant Islamic terrorism is not a partisan issue. The battle against the Islamic State, which just beheaded 21 Christians, is not a partisan issue. & the effort to prevent the Islamic Republic from building nuclear weapons, that’s not a partisan issue either.

I think the pursuit of nuclear weapons by Iran is the most urgent security challenge facing the world. I think the greatest danger facing humanity is the possibility that any movement or any regime of militant Islam will arm itself with the weapons of mass destruction.

Everything that we see in our region now will pale by comparison. Everything that we see in Europe will pale by comparison.

When a militant Islamic regime that is rampaging through the region right now – that’s what Iran is doing, it’s conducting a rampage through the region – when such a regime has nuclear weapons, the whole world will be in peril. Look at what Iran is doing now without nuclear weapons.

States are collapsing. & Iran is plunging forward. It’s already controlling four capitals. It’s controlling now through its Houthi proxies the Bab-el-Mandeb Straits. It’s trying to envelop Israel with three terrorist tentacles – Lebanon, Hezbollah, Hamas in Gaza & now it’s trying to build with its Hezbollah proxies a third front in the Golan. Such a regime with nuclear weapons would be infinitely more dangerous to everyone, not only to Israel.

Now can I guarantee that my speech in Congress will prevent a dangerous deal with Iran from being signed? Honestly, I don’t know. No one knows.

But I do know this – it’s my sacred duty as Prime Minister of Israel to make Israel’s case. On March 3rd, I’ll fulfill that duty, representing all the citizens of Israel before the two houses of Congress. & I will make the best case for Israel that I can, knowing that our case is just, that our case is sound, & that our case offers the best hope to resolve this issue peacefully.

Thank you. CLICK ON YELLOW URL TO SEE PHOTOS OF THIS SPEECH

http://unitedwithisrael.org/netanyahu-i-must-go-to-congress-to-defend-israels-very-existence/?utm_source=MadMimi&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Netanyahu%3A+I+Must+Go+to+Washington+to+Defend+Israel%27s+Very+Existence&utm_campaign=20150218_m124468402_Netanyahu%3A+I+Must+Go+to+Washington+to+Defend+Israel%27s+Very+Existence&utm_term=Netanyahu_3A+I+Must+Go+to+Washington+to+Defend+Israel_E2_80_99s+Very+Existence

3.“The Stuff of Heartbreak” by Arlene Kushner Feb. 17, 2015

It is just short of two years ago that Adelle Biton, then two years of age, was driving in the Shomron with her mother & two older sisters, when Arabs threw rocks at their car, causing it to spin out of control & collide with an oncoming truck. Her mother & sisters were moderately injured. Adelle, however, incurred severe brain injury. She spent a long time in a hospital & then time in a rehab center, before she was brought home, still severely disabled, to continue therapies.

Adva, her mother, was remarkable for her constant devotion & her optimism.

Credit: Yoni Kempinsky

Today, Adelle Biton succumbed to pneumonia.

On learning the news, I cried. Such a painful & unnecessary loss of tender young life. Such anguish for the family.

And so, Baruch Dayan HaEmet. The Almighty has taken Adelle. May He grant healing for the hearts of Adva & her husband, Rafi, & other members of the family.

As to those who throw such stones (or firebombs or firecrackers), may He allow them no peace.

An occurrence such as this brings us upright, & sharpens our perspective. There are issues that truly, truly matter. & others that are imbued with nonsense & pettiness & self-interest. & I say honestly today that I have precious little patience for the constant flow of nonsense & pettiness & self-interest that passes for “news” these days.

Sadly, there is yet one more death I must report: Minister Uri Ohrbach, 54, passed away yesterday after a battle with an unnamed blood disease. He had worked as a journalist & author for years, before joining a new Habayit Hayehudi & entering the Knesset.

He is being widely saluted as a man of exceptional sincerity, gentleness & wit. What is clear is that this was a man who was greatly loved.

Credit: Alex Kolomoisky

So, let us look at some of the news that does matter (if only people would pay attention):

Just a week ago, the IDF & the Shin Bet launched raids in the area southwest of Jenin, uncovering large quantities of firearms, ammunition & knives – sufficient to “strengthen [Hamas’s] grip on the territory.” Hamas does not intend to stop trying, folks. Let us not forget this.

The IDF has warned the government that the PA could collapse at any time.

“In one of the scenarios that the IDF presented, a small localized security incident, like an altercation between settlers & Palestinians, or the throwing of a Molotov cocktail could quickly escalate to rioting in the Galilee & the Triangle area. With the weakened Palestinian Authority a situation like this is liable to lead to terrorist organizations taking control of the West Bank.”

http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/IDF-security-assessment-The-Palestinian-Authority-can-collapse-at-any-moment-390934

Repeatedly, it has been the case that rumors spread by Palestinian Authority “leaders” regarding alleged Israeli threats to the Al Aqsa Mosque have served as incitement – whipping up the populace to fury & violence.

Now we learn from the Palestinian Media Watch that the PA is renewing this incitement:

For example, on February 5, the PA Minister of Religious Affairs Sheikh Yusuf Ida’is warned that since January, Israel has made “over a hundred attacks & incidents of desecration of the Al-Aqsa Mosque & the Ibrahimi Mosque (i.e., Cave of the Patriarchs)” & that “the Al-Aqsa Mosque is in grave & direct danger & that with every sunrise this danger grows.”

Similar statements are being made by others.

http://www.palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=14016

Defense Minister Bogie Ya’alon, for his part, has leveled another sort of charge at the PA. In a taped address to the annual conference of the INSS – the Institute for National Security Studies, he said: “We tried after [Operation] Protective Edge, with Egyptian agreement, to facilitate the entry of the PA into the Strip, but they didn’t want it,…it was clear that the only way to allow the more open transfer of goods & people in & out of Gaza to Israel & Egypt would be through the stationing of PA troops at the border crossings.

“We created a three-way mechanism – the [Israeli] Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, the Palestinian prime minister, & the UN representative Robert Serry. What’s left of that today? The coordinator & Robert Serry. The Palestinians ran away! They are good at accusing us at the UN & the Security Council & the ICC. But when it comes time to take responsibility, they are nowhere, & this was not the first time.” http://www.timesofisrael.com/yaalon-lambastes-pa-for-bailing-out-on-plan-to-ease-gaza-blockade In sharing this accusation by Ya’alon, I am not endorsing the idea of PA officers at the Gaza crossing. My intent, rather, is to point a finger directly at the PA & to be certain that people understand precisely what we are dealing with. With the focus on Iran, I hadn’t mentioned Abbas or the PA for several days. Martin Indyk, who consistently works against Israel’s best interests, has just made a statement regarding what’s going to happen after the elections. There will be increased pressure on Israel to go back to negotiations, he warned, including via a Security Council resolution.

And my inclination is to tell him, & all of his ilk, to stuff it. We are supposed to make “peace” with these guys? They are going to administer a secure & responsible & peaceful state? Of course neither Martin or others who think as he does believe a peaceful “two-state solution” is really around the corner. But hey, if Israel can be weakened…

The lesson. We have to be on our guard in all quarters.

Of course, there is also the occasional politician on the far left here in Israel who says it’s time for us to withdraw unilaterally from Judea & Samaria since negotiations don’t work. Great idea! I believe they have oatmeal between their ears in place of brains.

Yesterday, Lt.-Gen. Gadi Eisenkot was sworn in as IDF Chief of Staff, replacing Benny Gantz. Eisenkot is described as “cool & calculated, someone who will strike hard & fast – but only if he has to.” He served in the vaunted Golani Brigade.

We can only pray for General Eisenkot’s wisdom & bravery & cool head, as he faces incredible challenges in the weeks & months ahead.

Credit: Israel Defense

The Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations is meeting here in Jerusalem this week. I close today by sharing a video of the remarks of Prime Minister Netanyahu to this group. His focus, of course, was his up-coming speech in the Congress on Iran. Worth a listen.

http://www.voiceofisrael.com/netanyahu-conference-presidents-sacred-duty-make-israels-case/?utm_source=ZohoCampaigns&utm_campaign=Feb+16%2C+2015_2015-02-16&utm_medium=email

© Arlene Kushner. This material is produced by Arlene Kushner, functioning as an independent journalist. Permission is granted for it to be reproduced only with proper attribution. If it is reproduced & emphasis is added, the fact that it has been added must be noted. See my website at www.arlenefromisrael.info Contact Arlene at akushner18@gmail.com

4.The controversy of ‘From Time Immemorial’ by Joan Peters

Nadav Shragai in Yisrael Hayom about Joan Peters: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=23511&r=1

Ms. Peters, a pro-Palestinian researcher, drastically changed her political views while writing her opus “From Time Immemorial: The Origins of the Arab-Jewish Conflict Over Palestine” • I seek to shed light

Joan Peters in 1984

Astonishingly enough, this is a true story, though it took place in another era. It happened at a time when the administration in power — also Democratic — was about as friendly as the current administration. It happened during the presidency of Jimmy Carter. Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin was in power at the time, & Benjamin Netanyahu was making his initial foray into Israeli politics.Imagine, if you will, the following scenario: An Obama administration official quits his job & devotes seven years of his life to writing a well-researched book that pulls the rug out from underneath his former boss regarding the Iranian issue. Then imagine that the book offers a sympathetic view of Israel that is factually based & that reveals information that was not previously known. U.S. President Barack Obama can only express anger, bewilderment, & frustration in response. This leaves the Democrats with a dilemma. Do they remain true to the facts or loyal to their president?

Joan Peters, a journalist, television producer, & political commentator, was a pro-Palestinian human rights activist during those years. She had even made frequent visits to the Middle East. Something unusual happened to her, though — she gradually changed her views. Peters had been working as a special adviser to the Carter administration. Her area of expertise was the Israeli-Arab Conflict.

She signed a contract to write a book about the conflict in the Middle East, even getting a handsome advance for it. As she started her research, however, she discovered startling new facts about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that did not sit well with her employers. At that point, Peters gave back the advance & freed herself from any contractual obligations that were originally agreed upon with the book publisher. After seven years of research, which included long hours in long-forgotten archives & interviews with hundreds of people, Peters wrote a book titled “From Time Immemorial: The Origins of the Arab-Jewish Conflict Over Palestine.” The release of the book in 1984 ignited controversy.

Published by Harper & Row, the book became a best-seller. It also earned Peters the National Jewish Book Award. She slaughtered the sacred cow known as “the Palestinian refugee problem” by revealing just how the United Nations altered the criteria for gaining refugee status in order to exacerbate the problem well beyond its proper dimensions. Peters discovered that the U.N.’s changing requirements for being listed as a Palestinian refugee essentially turned them into something else, something far different from other refugees in distant crises.

Peters even offered proof that many of the Palestinian refugees that earned special status in the eyes of the U.N. were never even residents of pre-state Israel “from time immemorial,” contradicting a long-standing Palestinian claim. Instead, these were immigrants who had only arrived quite recently.

There were many who followed in Peters’ footsteps. They backed up her facts, but she was the first to bring them to light. Peters was the first to challenge the underlying assumptions of Palestinian wretchedness & refugee status. She also didn’t hesitate to criticize “the Jewish victim,” though the criticism wasn’t what one would expect. She quoted Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi propaganda minister who once famously said that a lie repeated often enough for an extended period of time eventually is recognized as a truism. Peters noted that Goebbels forgot to mention that the victim of that lie (in this case, the Jews) is also liable to believe it as true.

A few weeks ago, Peters died in Chicago at the age of 77. The news garnered scant coverage in the press. During her lifetime, however, she was a woman who paid a dear price for her opus. Prominent left-wing figures, including in the Israeli Left, attacked her, claiming that there were inaccuracies in her work. On the other hand, she was bolstered by an impressive array of luminaries who offered their support, among them authors Elie Wiesel, Barbara Tuchman, & Robert St. John. St. John was the author of 23 books, most of them about the Middle East conflict. He endorsed From Time Immemorial as a book “for anyone who prefers facts over propaganda & logic over illogic.”

Tuchman, the author of “The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam”, called the book “a historic event that uncovers facts that were until that point pushed off to the darkness.” She called the campaign to discredit Peters “scornful.”

Palestinians are immigrants.

The debate that was sparked by Peters’ book has never been more relevant since it laid the foundations for later works of research on the subject of refugee status. Prior to the “birth” of the Palestinian matter, the customary definition of refugee was an individual who was forced to leave their residence from time immemorial due to war, hostile actions, or expulsion.

The U.N.’s alternate definition of refugee, which was applied solely to the Palestinians, states that a refugee is anyone who lived in the area that currently encompasses the State of Israel for a period of two years prior to the founding of the state in 1948. The Arab League, which was the driving force behind the newly reconfigured definition, managed to significantly inflate the number of refugees. Indeed, many of the refugees who fled or were expelled from the country were immigrants to pre-state Israel during the British Mandate period.

Ze’ev Galili, a veteran Israeli journalist, often used his newspaper column to cite Peters’ work. He even had a hand in the reissuance of her book in the early part of the previous decade.

“Not only did Peters expose the bluff of the criteria for refugee status,” he said, “but she also exposed the big lie which tells of a ‘Zionist invasion’ of a supposedly Arab country, even though it is known that the First Aliyah consisted of Jews coming to an empty country, while a very significant percentage of the Arab population in 1948 were immigrants who came here after the advent of Zionism.”

David Bedein, who met Peters, notes that her book was the first academic work of research that detailed the manner in which the United Nations Relief & Works Agency has perpetuated the refugee status of Arabs who were uprooted or who chose to flee their homes during the War of Independence. She also shined a light on how UNRWA, a topic that Bedein has also researched thoroughly, keeps the problem in place rather than solves it by effectively preventing the refugees’ resettlement.

Peters’ book made significant waves. One publication that provided a platform for debate on the topic was Commentary, an influential monthly American journal that tackles politics, Judaism, culture, & society. Dr. Daniel Pipes, the historian & author, engaged in a literary sparring match over Peters’ book with Professor Yehoshua Porath, the Middle East scholar.

Porath was of the opinion that the numbers cited by Peters are erroneous & that her overall work was delinquent & unprofessional. Pipes noted that Peters divided the territory that came to be known as Palestine under the British Mandate into three parts. The first section had no Jewish settlement; its non-Jewish population grew by 116 percent during the period between 1893 & 1947. The second part — areas sparsely settled by Jews — saw its non-Jewish population grow by 185 percent. The third area — the part of the country with the densest Jewish population — saw its non-Jewish population grow from 92,000 in 1893 to 462,000 in 1947, an increase of 401 percent.

Peters found that the Arab population grew in proportion to the rising Jewish presence in the country. Indeed, the economic prosperity generated by the budding Zionist enterprise, particularly in the latter stages of the 19th century, spurred internal Arab migration from Transjordan & the highlands (the traditional areas of Arab settlement in Palestine). It also invited illegal Arab immigration from all over the Middle East. Arabs settled along the coastal plain & the Shfela region, both areas that were inhabited primarily by Jews.

Peters’ conclusion was clear: Most of the Palestinian refugees of 1948 who fled the coastal area were not, as the Palestinians claim, inhabitants of the land “from time immemorial,” but instead were recent newcomers. They were not refugees. Instead, they were economic migrants who eventually would return to their original homes after the founding of the state.

Archival shock

Peters’ work of research is imbued with romanticism & a tenacity of which few could boast. She spent endless days & nights at the Public Record Office in the Kew Gardens section of London. It was there that she found piles of crates & boxes filled with documents detailing Jewish immigration to Palestine.

When she asked the archivist who had worked there 30 years to help locate documents detailing Arab immigration, he looked at her as if she was from Mars. “‘There was never such a thing,’ he replied to me without equivocation,” she said. That did not deter her.

Peters showed the cocksure British archivist a number of quotes that she had catalogued from Syrian, Egyptian, & British sources which supported her argument. He was totally taken aback. Then she enlisted his help in pouring over the personal memos & secret documents written by British Mandate officials. These papers proved that not only were British officials were well aware of the scope of illegal Arab immigration to Palestine, but they also acted as accomplices. Urgent written orders from licensing authorities showed that the British permitted the entry of Syrians, Lebanese, & Palestinians to pre-state Israel without a passport or entry visa.

The appendage to one memo found by Peters shows that in May 1936, Arabs from Nigeria, Sudan, & Somalia came to Palestine “with the British army” by way of Egypt. There were also immigrant arrivals from Syria & the Hijaz. Many of them came with the Transjordanian “frontier force” while a few of them were pilgrims. Some traveled on camel.

The number of documents that Peters unearthed was tremendous. Her prolific research was also a source of confusion. Some disagreed with the numbers she cited in her research, but even her critics had a difficult time contradicting what was painfully obvious — hundreds of thousands of Arabs had settled in the heart of Jewish-populated areas. When they were expelled, they were given the status of refugees, even though they had not been here “from time immemorial.”

Peters on ISIS

Peters challenged the underpinnings of the Palestinian ethos which has been accepted by global audiences — and, at times, even in Israel — as fact. She hoped that the State of Israel would incorporate her findings as instructional material to be taught at schools. When this did not materialize, she was disappointed. A year prior to her death, she gave a rare interview to a journal called Ribonut, which is published by the Women in Green movement. In the interview, she recalled that in her past she was not a Zionist.

“I was always a strong activist for human rights,” she said. “I helped African Americans exercise their right to vote, & I used the little knowledge that I had at the time in order to make an analogy between the Arabs in Israel & the scandal of slavery & then the racism that set in the southern United States.”

“With time, I discovered that this comparison was ridiculous & inaccurate, & that if anything there were similarities between blacks & the Jews of Palestine,” Peters said. “It was the Jews of the land of Israel from time immemorial, & the blacks of America, two groups of people who were victims of comparable oppression.”

She bitterly attacked UNRWA, which she accuses of perpetrating a fraud not only against the Jewish people but the entire world ever since it was founded as a refugee aid organization that exclusively serves one refugee population — the Arab refugees “who fled or were uprooted during the War of Independence.”

“They were a small group compared to the hundreds of millions of people who were forced to escape as a result of wars worldwide,” Peters said. “And the number of Arabs who were uprooted was far less than the number of Jewish refugees born in Arab countries & who were forced to escape from them.”

Just prior to her death, Peters commented on the phenomenon sweeping the Middle East known as Islamic State. She compared the movement to Hamas, failing to understand why the Palestinian Islamist group was receiving sympathy — even immunity — from some nations while ISIS is perceived as a global threat. Peters also believed that it was incumbent upon Israel to completely annex Judea & Samaria.

In that same interview, she said that the idea of a Palestinian declaration of independence “would be no less ridiculous” than if the German terrorist Baader-Meinhof Gang had declared a state in the area of Berlin & its suburbs.

Genuine roots?

A year ago, Israel Hayom ran a piece bearing this author’s byline titled “The fabricated Palestinian history.” The article quoted experts who attested to the fact that this country was barren & devoid of Arab residents in the 19th century, & that the Palestinian population was essentially made up of immigrants who came from Syria, Jordan, Egypt, & the Arab peninsula.

All of a sudden, Peters’ documents & statistics were being manifested in real life. Take, for example, the case of Salma Fayumi, a resident of Kafr Qasim who demonstrated her cooking prowess on the hit show “Master Chef.” Fayumi certainly did not intend to stick her head into the tumultuous debate of where Palestinians originated, but she may have unwittingly done so by proudly showing off her Kushari dish that she prepared, “Egyptian cuisine made of rice & lentil.”

“My family came from Egypt, from Faiyum, & I am Salma Fayumi from Faiyum,” the cook from Kafr Qasim said.

Fathi Hamad, the interior minister in the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip, who cried out for Egyptian assistance during the IDF’s operations in the area in March 2012, is another one who certainly had no intention of debunking Palestinian theories of Canaanite-based land claims. Yet, there can be no misinterpreting his recent statements.

“When we ask for your help, it is so that we can continue the jihad,” he said. “Praise God, we all have Arab roots & every Palestinian in Gaza & all over Palestine can prove their Arab roots, whether they be in Saudi Arabia & Yemen, or anywhere else. We have blood ties.”

“Speaking personally, half of my family is Egyptian,” he said. “Where is your mercy? There are over 30 families in the Gaza Strip with the surname Al-Masri, ‘Egyptian.’ Brothers, half of the Palestinians are Egyptian, & the other half are Saudi. Who are the Palestinians? We have many families called Al-Masri whose roots are Egyptian! They come from Alexandria, Cairo, & Aswan. We are Egyptians. We are Arabs. We are Muslims.”

The one who most urgently sought to drive a nail into the coffin of the debate over the Palestinians’ Canaanite origins is the former MK Azmi Bishara, the Israeli Arab Christian founder of the Balad party. He fled Israel after he was suspected of spying & assisting Hezb’Allah. In the preface to Benedict Anderson’s famous work “Imagined Communities,” Bishara writes, “Modern Arab nationalism makes it seem like the fact that it was created in the 19th century, like other national movements, subtracts from its worth or its justness.”

“It feels obligated to nationalize the history of Arab-speaking peoples & to make it into a national history that goes back to before the time of Islam all the way to contemporary times,” he wrote.

“Acting out of a need to compete with Zionism, the Palestinian national movement has anchored its origins with those of the Canaanites,” Bishara wrote. “In doing so, it achieves its own, unique start-off point in the past that precedes that of the Hebrew tribes, which Zionism claims as its natural descendants.”

More blunt statements were made by Walid Shoebat, a former Muslim & Fatah activist who converted to Christianity & became an ardent & vocal supporter & advocate for Israel & Christianity. Shoebat, who immigrated to the United States from Jordan, claims that everyone he met in Palestine “knew to trace the roots of their families to the country from which their great-grandfathers came.”

“We knew full well that our origin was not Canaanite, despite what they tried to teach us,” he said.

“My grandfather would often remind us that our village, Beit Sahour, near Bethlehem, was empty when his father arrived there with six other families. Today, there are over 30,000 residents in the village.”

In the preface to the Hebrew translation of her book, translated by Aharon Amir & published by Hakibbutz Hameuchad in 1988, Peters wrote: “I am hopeful that those who find value in this book will differentiate between the fateful & historical events described here & the fierce disagreements of domestic Israeli politics. I have no links to any party. My goal is to shed light on those same facts & relationships that were hidden from me, & to give this book to others who made the same mistakes that I did.”

5.Jerusalem 1948 – The Jewish Naqba Posted by Joe Settler

Everyone talks about the Nakba, but no one ever stops to think about what the Jews of Jerusalem went through when 5 Arab states & the local Arabs attacked the fledgling Jewish state to destroy it. Jerusalem was divided. Jews were kicked out of their homes with nothing more than what they could carry on their backs.
The Jews of Jerusalem became refugees.
I received an email today from Hadar-Israel with reprints of old Life Magazine photographs taken by John Phillips in May & June 1948. I share them with you. (Life Magazine’s Pictures of Jerusalem 1948 – all photos by John Phillips © Time Inc., Courtesy of LIFE.com)

Jerusalem Girl Fleeing from the Arab onslaught

Jerusalem Jews evacuating their homes in 1948 – not to be able to return until 1967.

Not everyone could escape the Arabs in refugees forced time & were forced to surrender.

The Red Cross helping Jewish to flee from the Arab occupation of Jerusalem

A Jewish refugee from the Old City after the Arabs occupied it

Jews fleeing their home through Zion Gate.

Photo of Jews waiting to be evacuated

What the Arabs did to the Jewish homes & neighborhood after the Jews were evacuated from their homes in the Old City.

6.from RABBI RACHAMIM PAULI Rachamim47@aol.com

War makes strange allies. Suddenly we find ourselves in the same camp as Egypt half of Libya, Jordan, Saudi, & some of the Gulf States against both ISIS & Iran. I recommend glancing at least at all the articles on these countries. I took a few articles out of over 70 from Gail Winston. I start off with the news from yesterday & today & then some of the internal news from Israel.

Note to members of Chevruta & other groups that don’t read or receive my weekly Torah, stories & news updates they are on www.rabbipauli.blogspot.com

Israel has a bunker mentality which is perhaps good for civilians but not good for the army. How to minimize time in the bunkers is being developed: http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Security-and-Defense-Revolutionizing-rocket-warnings-390900 But an ex-general talking big as a politician mentions bring the war to the enemy instead of sitting in bunkers: I don’t think it was the Defense Minister but the Prime Minister who lacked the guts: http://www.jpost.com/Israel-Elections/Israels-would-be-defense-ministers-slam-Yaalon-for-not-defeating-Hamas-391019

IAF Chief Major General Eshel we may have to send planes to Iran tomorrow. http://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-air-force-chief-we-may-have-to-send-planes-to-iran-tomorrow/

From Jerome: What do you expect from an Indonesian Madrassa? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xO8qZP_iU9I

The negotiations in Munich aka Neville Chamberlain Obama-Israel will not be another Czechoslovakia. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/191341#.VOBO3039nIU

Thanks to Gail: Why are they converting to Islam by Dr. Mordechai Kedar: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/16461#.VOBWey5Rf2U

Also from Gail an article by L. Liebovitz: Last week, I had some unkind words for the New York Times, whose account of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress had to be amended to reflect the fact that Bibi accepted the invitation after the White House was informed, not before. No sooner had the piece run than friends, colleagues, & assorted observers began to frantically assail me with the idea that while the Times had issued a correction, the question of whether Bibi accepted the invitation before or after wasn’t important after all. The real issue, they scolded me, in increasingly exasperated & acrimonious language, was & remains Bibi’s flaunting of the established rules of respectful behavior.

In the Calvin & Hobbes comics, Calvin enjoyed playing a very special game called Calvinball, in which he made up the rules as he went along to make sure he was always winning. Reading the continuous coverage of Bibi’s visit in the last few days makes you feel that the White House & its supporters are now playing their own version of Calvinball; let’s call it “protocol,” which is the official-sounding scare-word they use to imply that Bibi’s behavior was thoroughly out-of-bounds. … March 24 is the deadline for the framework agreement in the ongoing negotiations with Iran. As Michael Doran, a former U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense & senior policy director in charge of the Middle East at the National Security Council, has shown in his factually grounded analysis of Obama’s Iran policy, when it comes to negotiating with the Islamic Republic, the Obama Administration is committed to keeping everyone in the dark. Unaware that he was being recorded, Benjamin Rhodes, a key Obama national security adviser, told a gathering of Democratic activists last year that Obama is hoping to keep Congress out of the loop as much as possible. “We’re already kind of thinking through, how do we structure a deal so we don’t necessarily require legislative action right away,” Rhodes said. …

Bibi forswore an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities because of the stated commitment of the past two U.S. administrations to U.N.-approved sanctions whose stated goal was to eliminate Iran’s capacity to build nuclear weapons. Now, it seems, American policy has swung 180 degrees in the opposite direction—toward embracing the idea of an unreconstructed Iran as a key U.S. ally in Iraq, Yemen, Syria, & beyond. Instead of eliminating Iran’s nuclear weapons capabilities, the Iranians will be able to retain a large proportion of their centrifuges & facilities, while sanctions will be lifted—strengthening the current regime, & allowing the Iranians to buy more of whatever they want to buy.

The whole article is available at: http://tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/188940/new-york-times-protocol

Anatomy of a Bad Iran Deal: A Preliminary Assessment by Dore Gold

The lead editorial of the Washington Post on February 5, 2015, expressed the growing concern in elite circles with the contours of the emerging nuclear accord between Iran & the P5+1 (the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France & Germany).¹ Part of the concern emanates from the change in the goals of Western negotiators: rather than eliminate Iran’s potential to build nuclear weapons, they now want to restrict Iranian capabilities, which would leave Tehran in a position to break out of any restrictions in the future.²

The best way to evaluate the impending nuclear agreement is to look at the statements of high-levels officials who have been involved in the negotiations. While not all of the details of the agreement have been made public, elements have been disclosed in the international media that are deeply worrying.

For example, there is the issue of the number of centrifuges that Iran will be allowed to retain. A centrifuge is a machine that separates uranium gas into two isotopes: U-238, which does not release nuclear energy, & U-235, which, when split, can release the energy for either a nuclear reactor or an atomic bomb. The enrichment process involves producing uranium with increasing percentages of U-235. At 90 percent purity, the uranium is characterized as weapons-grade.

Iran currently has 19,000 centrifuges, 9,000 of which are running & 10,000 that are installed but not operating. Israel’s position is that Iran should have zero centrifuges. The reason is that if Iran truly needs enriched uranium for civilian purposes, it could import enriched uranium as do roughly 15 other countries, such as Canada, Mexico, & Spain. The Israeli position is in line with six UN Security Council resolutions that were adopted between 2006 & 2010, with the support of Russia & China. If Iran eliminated all of its centrifuges & then chose to build new centrifuges, the process would take four to five years. There would be ample time to detect Iran’s efforts to enrich uranium beyond what is needed for civilian purposes & to organize an international response.

According to Gary Samore, President Obama’s former non-proliferation adviser, at the beginning of the current round of negotiations, the United States was demanding that Iran significantly reduce its stock of centrifuges to 1,500, but in doing so dropped the longstanding U.S. policy that Iran eliminate its centrifuges completely.³

The numbers are important. In a scenario of “breakout,” in which the Iranians race to produce enough weapons-grade uranium for their first atomic bomb, the number of centrifuges largely determines the amount of time the Iranians will need to accomplish this goal.

In addition to the number of centrifuges that Iran has, there is also the issue of the amount of enriched uranium that Iran has already stockpiled. With enough low-enriched uranium, Iran can make a final push to weapons-grade uranium for an atomic bomb. Robert Einhorn, the former special advisor for nonproliferation & arms control during the Obama administration, has calculated that if Iran uses 1,500 kilograms of low-enriched uranium & inserts it into 2,000 centrifuges, Iran will have one bomb’s worth of weapons-grade uranium in 12 to 14 months.⁴

But from what we know today about the impending nuclear deal, Iran will need much less time to “breakout” to a bomb. According to multiple press reports, Western negotiators have raised the ceiling for the number of centrifuges that Iran will be allowed to have: they have gone from 1,500 to 4,500, & they now appear to be ready to let the Iranians have 6,000 centrifuges.⁵ According to Einhorn’s calculations mentioned above, with 1,500 kilograms of enriched uranium & 6,000 centrifuges, Iran can produce enough weapons-grade uranium for an atomic bomb in six months.⁶

David Albright, formerly with the International Atomic Energy Agency, has estimated that with just 2,000-4,000 centrifuges Iran could achieve “breakout” in six months.⁷ Others suggest that the breakout timeline is even less than six months. For example, Congressman Ed Royce, Chairman of the HouseForeign AffairsCommittee, has warned that on the basis of expert testimony given to his committee, should Iran be permitted to keep just 4,000 centrifuges, it would have a breakout time of only three months.⁸

There are other factors that can shorten this breakout time even more. Iran has second-generation IR-2 centrifuges that are more sophisticated & powerful which have not been activated yet. The IR-5, with an even higher rate of enrichment, is in advanced stages of research & was already tested last fall.⁹ If these advanced centrifuges are activated, the Iranian breakout time will be cut precipitously.

Albright concluded that a six-month breakout time would be the minimum needed to allow for an effective international response – presumably U.S.-led – to an Iranian violation. Thus, the 6,000 centrifuge limit that the P5+1 negotiators are presently proposing will not allow sufficient time to respond to an Iranian breakout.

However, if the Obama administration decides to proceed, countries in the Middle East are likely to conclude that under these conditions, the United States has reached a bad agreement with Iran. The evaluation here is largely based on the number of centrifuges the agreement allows.

There are other dimensions to the nuclear deal with Iran that are no less important. Dennis Ross, who also served in the Obama administration & worked on the Iran file, co-authored an article on Jan. 23 expressing similar concerns. “During the course of the nuclear negotiations over the past year, Iran has been the beneficiary of a generous catalogue of concessions from the West,” Ross wrote. “The 5-plus-1 has conceded to Iranian enrichment, agreed that Tehran need not scale back the number of its centrifuges significantly or dismantle any facilities & could have an industrial-size program after passage of a period of time.”¹⁰

Undoubtedly, other countries in the Middle East will react to these concessions by accelerating their own nuclear programs. It was not surprising to see the news report on Feb. 10 that Egypt was to procure a new nuclear reactor from Russia.¹¹ Nuclear proliferation is likely to spread to Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Turkey, & others. A multi-polar Middle East, which is currently facing a radical Islamist wave, will have none of the stability of the East-West balance during the Cold War. A bad agreement with Iran, in short, will leave the world a much more dangerous place.

The Danes arrest two more suspected terrorist: http://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Report-Danish-police-raid-Internet-cafe-arrest-2-in-terror-attacks-investigation-391088

US has stopped updating Israel: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/191374#.VOD2Mk39nIU

From Shona: This is an ex-marine talking about the fall of Yemen: http://allenbwest.com/2015/02/marines-ordered-destroy-weapons-fleeing-us-embassy-yemen-obama-broadcasts-everything-hes-not-going-isis/

From Gail an article by Caroline Glick: US President Barack Obama is mainstreaming anti-Semitism in America.
This week, apropos of seemingly nothing, in an interview with Mathew Yglesias from the Vox.com website, Obama was asked about terrorism. In his answer the president said the terrorism threat is overrated. & that was far from the most disturbing statement he made.
Moving from the general to the specific, Obama referred to the jihadists who committed last month’s massacres in Paris as “a bunch of violent vicious zealots,” who “randomly shot a bunch of folks in a deli in Paris.”
In other words, Ahmedy Coulibaly, the terrorist at Hyper Cacher, the kosher supermarket he targeted, was just some zealot. The Jews he murdered while they were shopping for Shabbat were just “a bunch of folks in a deli,” presumably shot down while ordering their turkey & cheese sandwiches.
No matter that Coulibaly called a French TV station from the kosher supermarket & said he was an al-Qaida terrorist & that he chose the kosher supermarket because he wanted to kill Jews.
As far as the leader of the free world is concerned, his massacre of four Jews at the market can teach us nothing about anything other than that some random people are mean & some random people are unlucky.
& anyway, Obama explained, we’re only talking about this random act of senseless violence because as he said, “If it bleeds, it leads.” The media, desperate for an audience, inflates the significance of these acts of random violence, for ratings.
Obama’s statement about the massacre of Jews in Paris is notable first & foremost for what it reveals about his comfort level with anti-Semitism.
By de-Judaizing the victims, who were targets only because they were Jews, Obama denied the uniqueness of the threat jihadist Islam & its adherents pose to Jews. By pretending that Jews are not specifically targeted for murder simply because they are Jews, he dismissed the legitimate concerns Jews harbor for their safety, whether in Diaspora communities or in Israel.
If nothing distinguished Coulibaly’s massacre at Hyper Cacher from a mugging or an armed robbery gone bad, then Jews have no right to receive unique consideration – whether for their community’s security in London or Paris, or San Francisco – or for Israel’s security.
As subsequent statements from administration spokespeople made clear, Obama’s statement was not a gaffe. When questioned about his remarks, both White House spokesman Josh Earnest & State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki doubled down on Obama’s denial of the anti-Semitic nature of the massacre at Hyper Cacher. Earnest said that the Jews who were murdered were people who just “randomly happened to be” at the supermarket.
Psaki said that the victims didn’t share a common background or nationality, pretending away the bothersome fact that they were all Jews.
Just as bad as their denials of the anti-Jewish nature of the attack on Hyper Cacher, were Psaki’s & Earnest’s belated revisions of their remarks. After coming under a storm of criticism from American Jews & from the conservative media, both Psaki & Earnest turned to their Twitter accounts to walk back their remarks & admit that indeed, the massacre at Hyper Cacher was an anti-Semitic assault.
Their walk back was no better than their initial denial of the anti-Jewish nature of the Islamist attack, because it amplified the very anti-Semitism they previously promoted.
As many Obama supporters no doubt interpreted their behavior, first Obama & his flaks stood strong in their conviction that Jews are not specifically targeted. Then after they were excoriated for their statements by Jews & conservatives, they changed their tune.
The subtext is clear. The same Jews who are targeted no more than anyone else, are so powerful & all controlling that they forced the poor Obama administration to bow to their will & parrot their false & self-serving narrative of victimization.
The administration’s denial of the unique threat Jews face from jihadists is not limited to its anti-Semitic characterizations of the attack at Hyper Cacher.
It runs as well through Obama’s treatment of Israel & its actions to defend itself against its jihadist enemies from Hamas to Hezb’Allah to Iran.
Today, the most outstanding example of Obama’s exploitation of anti-Semitic tropes to diminish US support for Israel is his campaign to delegitimize Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu ahead of his scheduled speech before the joint houses of Congress on March 3.
As we belatedly learned from a small correction at the bottom of a New York Times article on January 30, contrary to the White House’s claim, Netanyahu did not blindside Obama when he accepted Speaker of the House John Boehner’s invitation to address the Congress. He informed the White House of his intention to accept Boehner’s offer before he accepted it.
Netanyahu did not breach White House protocol.
He did not behave rudely or disrespectfully toward Obama.
The only one that behaved disrespectfully & rudely was Obama in his shabby & slanderous treatment of Netanyahu. It was Obama who peddled the lie that Netanyahu was using the speech not to legitimately present Israel’s concerns regarding the prospect of a nuclear armed Iran, but to selfishly advance his political fortunes on the back of America’s national security interests & the independence of its foreign policy.
It was Obama & Vice President Joe Biden who spearheaded efforts to coerce Democratic lawmakers to boycott Netanyahu’s speech by announcing that they would refuse to meet with the leader of the US’s closest ally in the Middle East during his stay in Washington.
So far only 15 members of the House & three Senators have announced their intention to boycott Netanyahu’s speech. But even if all the other Democratic lawmakers do attend his speech, the impact of Obama’s campaign to defame Netanyahu will long be felt.
First of all, if all goes as he hopes, the media & his party members will use his demonization of Netanyahu’s character as a means to dismiss the warnings that Netanyahu will clearly sound in his address.
Second, by boycotting Netanyahu & encouraging Democrats to do the same, Obama is mainstreaming the anti-Semitic boycott, divestment & sanctions movement to isolate Israel.
Moreover, he is mobilizing Democratic pressure groups like J Street & MoveOn.org to make it costly for Democratic politicians to continue to support Israel.
There is another aspect of the Hyper Cacher massacre, which was similarly ignored by the White House & that bears a direct relationship to Obama’s attempt to destroy the credibility of Netanyahu’s warnings about his Iran policy.
Whereas the journalists murdered at Charlie Hebdo magazine were killed because their illustrations of Muhammad offended Muslim fascists, the Jews murdered at Hyper Cacher were targeted for murder because they were Jews. In other words, the Islamist hatred of Jews is inherently genocidal, not situational.
If Islamists have the capacity to annihilate the Jews, they will do so. & this brings us back to Obama’s statement to Vox.com. As is his habit, Obama refused to use the term Islamic to describe the “violent, vicious zealots” who randomly targeted Jews at the Hyper Cacher.
Since the outset of his presidency, Obama has vigilantly denied the connection between Islamism & terrorism & has mischaracterized jihad as peaceful self-reflection, along the lines of psychotherapy. Last week his denial of the Islamist nature of jihadist assaults worldwide rose to new heights when in his remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast he compared today’s jihadists to the Crusaders from a thousand years ago. & whereas he identified the Crusaders as Christians, he refused to acknowledge that today’s mass murdering zealots act in the name of Islam.
Obama’s stubborn, absurd & dangerous refusal to mention the word Islam in connection with the war being waged worldwide by millions in its name, coupled with his eagerness to always compare this unnamed scourge to the past evils of Western societies, indicates that his defense of Islamic supremacism is not merely a policy preference but rather reflects a deeper ideological commitment. The perception that Obama either does not oppose or embraces Islamic extremism is strengthened when coupled with his appalling attempts to ignore the fact of Islamic Jew-hatred & its genocidal nature & his moves to demonize Netanyahu for daring to oppose his policy toward Iran.
It is in this policy & in Obama’s wider Middle East strategy that we find the real world consequences of Obama’s denial of the unique victimization & targeting of Jews & the Jewish state by Islamic terrorists & Islamist regimes.
Loopholes in Obama’s interim nuclear framework deal with Iran from November 2013 have allowed Iran to make significant advances in its nuclear weapons program while still formally abiding by its commitments under the agreement. Iran has stopped enriching uranium to 20 percent purity levels, & sufficed with enriching uranium to 3.5% purity. But at the same time it has developed & begun using advanced centrifuges that enrich so quickly that the distinction between 3.5% & 20% enrichment levels becomes irrelevant. Iran has made significant advances in its ballistic missile program, including in its development of intercontinental ballistic missiles designed to carry nuclear warheads. It has continued its development of nuclear bombs, & it has enriched sufficient quantities of uranium to produce one to two nuclear bombs.
According to leaked reports, the permanent nuclear deal that Obama seeks to convince Iran to sign would further facilitate Iran’s ascension to the nuclear club. Among other things, the deal will place a time limit on the already ineffective inspections regime, thus blinding the world entirely to Iran’s nuclear activities.
At the same time that Obama is facilitating Iran’s emergence as a nuclear power, he is doing nothing to stop its regional empowerment. Today Iran controls Syria, Iraq & Yemen & holds sway over Lebanon & Gaza. It threatens Saudi Arabia, & its Muslim Brotherhood allies threaten Egypt & Jordan.
As for Obama’s allied campaign against Islamic State in Syria & Iraq, the largest beneficiary to date of the US-led campaign has been Iran. Since the US-led campaign began last fall, Iran has achieved all but public US support for its control over the Iraqi military & for the survival of the Assad regime in Syria.
The trajectory of Obama’s policies is obvious. He is clearing the path for a nuclear armed Iran that controls large swathes of the Arab world through its proxies.
It is also clear that Iran intends to use its nuclear arsenal in the same way that Coulibaly used his Kalashnikov – to kill Jews, as many Jews as possible.
Perhaps Obama is acting out of anti-Semitism, perhaps he acts out of sympathy for Islamic fascism.
Whatever the case may be, what is required from Israel, & from Netanyahu, is clear. Speaking to Congress may be a necessary precondition for that action, but it is not the action itself. www.CarolineGlick.com

Egypt does not play games with ISIS like the USA they like Jordan bomb them. After the beheading of the Copts, Egypt tares them apart: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4627037,00.html

Iran is apocalyptic in its vision: http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Yaalon-Iran-has-apocalyptic-messianic-ambition-391169

Over 1000 Hezb’Allah troops & countless Iranians on the Golan trying to get close to Israel’s border: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/191366#.VOG-tU39nIU

This time it was not Debka who said that Herzog-Netanyahu have a pact to have a government & leave most of the other parties out of it. This time it came from Lieberman. Netanyahu has avoided at all cost having a narrower loyal right of center government but prefers either Labor or Livni but not the right. May I ask why? It is obvious to me that he is not right of center in fact he is more center-left in his building freeze in the Shomron which continues. He makes a lot of political declarations before the elections & then switches over afterwards. We have seen this now 3 times & this will be the 4^th is the alternative to voting more for the right over the Likud worse? Surely not!

Obama, Labor & the proxies overplayed their hand against Netanyahu & is backfired on them: http://debka.com/article/24401/Netanyahu’s-Facebook-act-goes-viral-vaults-Likud-over-rival-campaigns

Denmark gets a taste of terror: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/191329#.VN-MrE39nIU

From the pictures you get the idea what ISIS & Islam did to the Kurdish Cities & Villages: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4626469,00.html

Bibi, Barak, Boehner & Bomb an Ed-Op: http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Into-the-Fray-Bibi-Boehner-and-Barack-and-oh-yes-the-bomb-390891

From David M. L. The truth is out there: http://www.examiner.com/article/kayla-mueller-exposed-martyr-was-propagandist-for-gaza-islamists

Gail’s Ed-Op: Dear Family & Friends, “A bad deal is worse than no deal”.

The current ‘deal’ for Iran really smells bad. OK, it stinks. It’s not a polite exchange of opinions. It could too easily lead to a vicious exchange of Nukes – by Iran’s ICBMs with Nukes against America & Europe. Or, like in Tom Clancy’s “Sum of All Fears”, a dirty bomb hidden in a vending machine that takes out Baltimore & the President’s plane with an EMP, Electro-Magnetic Pulse that downs all airplanes by shocking all computers & electrical devices – sending us back to the Stone Age.

Who’s afraid of the big bad wolf? Well, we all should be sufficiently afraid to take the proper defensive stance. Remember: “Whether tis nobler in the mind to accept the slings & arrows of outrageous fortune or by taking up arms, end them.” (Thank you Will Shakespeare.)

Shabbat is a coming in with a wild rain storm here in Jerusalem, washing away the dust & mud from 2-3 days of a vicious duststorm. No time for the Index & spell-checking. Have a wonderful night, sweet day. Shabbat Shalom

All the very best, Gail/Geula/Savta/Savta Raba x 2/Mom Why is Yemen so important to Israel? When the Houti Rebels captured control of Yemen’s capital Sana’a, the Iranians who support, sponsor & control the Houtis now can control & close at will the Bab El Mandab Straits which are a true bottleneck to shipping for the Suez Canal, as well as Israel’s Eilat & Mediterranean Ports.

Copenhagen Synagogue attacked at midnight: gunman eventually shot dead. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4626584,00.html

Remember Brian Williams saying that he was escorted in a helicopter over Israel with a four star general? Well guess what our Chiefs of Staff are no more than three stars as we have a change of the guard. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/191390#.VOHB_k39nIU

Most of Israel approaches the average rainfall with more rain due this week. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/191378#.VOG5tE39nIU

Having heard tapes about the Beis Din Shell Maalah & the bringing back of clinically dead Jews this is no surprise to me: http://www.aol.com/article/2015/02/09/boy-came-back-to-life-after-icy-death/21140777/?icid=maing-grid7%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl22%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D610530

ISIS & Iraqi Govt. destroying Jewish Graves: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/191306#.VN-Itk39nIU

Secret political deal makes Regev ill: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/191312#.VN4RDi5Rf2U

The fight for votes between the Likud & the National Union is knocking people into the Lapid Camp: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/191307#.VN288E39nIU

From Joel: The craters are different on the other side of the moon: http://go.nasa.gov/1KcDj1C & www.nasa.gov/lro

Lapid’s Party one member likes bread on Pessach: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/191211#.VNtq4E39nIU

Latest Public Opinion Poll: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/191303#.VN27x039nIU

From Dennis why Hitler wished he could have had Jihadists with him. http://www.wsj.com/articles/book-review-ataturk-in-the-nazi-imagination-by-stefan-ihrig-and-islam-and-nazi-germanys-war-by-david-motadel-1421441724

This week the worst sand storm in Israel in 5 years brought pollution to 20 to 40 times the normal level & in Arad to 60 times with its large Asthmatic Community it must have been horrible. Magen David Adom treated more breathing problems than it normally does. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4625804,00.html

Rabbi

The White House has repeatedly sought to undermine & embarrass Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before his scheduled address to Congress on March 3rd. Democrats & the Obama administration have tried shaming Netanyahu into canceling his visit – citing everything from it being too close to the elections in Israel to the invitation not following diplomatic protocol.

All of this is just a distraction from the only thing that matters – a nuclear Iran. & before Obama makes a bad deal with the mullahs in Tehran, Bibi wants to make his case to the American public & the world one final time. The United States – as Israel’s strongest ally – & our elected officials in Washington should welcome the opportunity to hear from Netanyahu.

Sign our “Stand with Bibi” petition to show your support for the Prime Minister & Israel. http://www.rjchq.org/stand_with_bibi?utm_campaign=bibi_petition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=rjchq

The choice is clear for Members of Congress – attend Bibi’s address to Congress & stand with Israel against a nuclear Iran or decide not to attend, thereby putting partisan politics ahead of principle. We hope Members of Congress will choose principle & refuse to stand with President Obama, J Street & the liberal base of their party.

The RJC is committed to making sure the Jewish community knows what’s at stake with this speech & Iran. But we need your help. Please circulate our “Stand with Bibi” petition to your friends & join the RJC in standing side-by-side with Israel & standing up to Iran.

Stand with Bibi. Click here to add your signature.

- Matt Brooks
RJC Executive Director

P.S. You can follow live updates of which Democrats are planning to skip Netayahu’s address to Congress here. http://thehill.com/homenews/house/232160-whip-list-dems-skipping-netanyahu-speech

Yeshai, we will not sit in a government that expels Jews or endangers Kfar Saba or Ranaana with rockets. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/191205#.VNuZKU39nIU

From Satmar to the IDF: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4625076,00.html

I knew whom he was before he became Chief Rabbi. Politicians elected him Chief Rabbi not Rabbis. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4625057,00.html

Many thousands of Jews were slaughtered by Islam & the Crusades here is a bit of history with an active map. We can skip the bottom of Yeshu vs. Mohammed as we have nothing to do with either of them except one was a Jew turned into a god-like character. Received from Shona: http://religiopoliticaltalk.com/the-crusades-vs-the-three-caliphates-moral-equivalence/

One Jordanian Pilot burned & it enraged a nation we stood silent for generations of abuse in France, Spain & eastern Europe this was not the only burning of Jews. From Chabad.org Today in Jewish History viewed on line 20^th Shevat?:

Jews of Basel Burned Alive (1349): With the Black Death raging throughout Switzerland, poison was reported to have been found in the wells at Zofingen. Some Jews were put to the “Dümeln” (thumbscrews) test, whereupon they “admitted” their guilt of the charges brought against them. This discovery was then communicated to the people of Basel, Zurich, Freiburg-im-Breisgau, & even Cologne. The Jews of Basel were burned on an island in the Rhine on January 9, 1349, in wooden huts that were especially built for the occasion. Their children, who were spared, were taken & forcibly baptized.