For Immediate Release:
Dateline: Bat Ayin,Gush Etzion,
The Hills of Judea
Wednesday, July 8, 2015
Dear Family & Friends I counted wrong. Yesterday July 6th was the 1 year anniversary of the Gaza War 50 days of direct combat. Why do I continue to use the title “Gaza War Diary”? Because it’s not over. The world is still attacking us for defending our country after our civilians being bombarded by Hamas missiles for months – even years. And tunnels being dug under our children’s bedrooms & schools from Gaza into Israel. Most of the European Union countries in the UN voted against Israel to ‘validate’ the Report by the UNHRC (UN Human Rights Council) that Israel did not fight a clean war…when large numbers of military experts said that Israel fought the most moral war any army has ever fought. The photo with the Jerusalem Post story was of 2 disabled IDF soldiers from “Protective Edge” at the memorial wall of flowers. The Gaza War will never end for them or the families of those who died. Let’s live up to them. They deserve our love, honor & appreciation. Lots of good info to read, digest & use as you go forth into the world to defend the Jewish people & the Jewish State of Israel. Have a refreshing night; a sweet day. All the very best, Gail/Geula/Savta/Savta Rabax2/Mom See our Website: WinstonIsraelInsight.com 1.Jordan’s Shameful Record Eli E. Hertz 
2.Destruction of Second Temple by Shmuel Sackett 3.Down and Out on the Temple Mount / Annika Hernroth-Rothstein 4.Identifying and combating the new anti-Semitism 5.Is Obama Supporting a Shiite ISIS? By Daniel Greenfield 6.Beware of stage 1 thinking by Yoram Ettinger 7.Authorities suspect arson in Jerusalem forest fire 8.Ramadan is Month of Violence and Hate By Steven Shamrak 9.Israel: Concessions will pave way to Iranian bomb 10.Who’s to blame for West’s capitulation? by Dr. Haim Shine These two seemingly arbitrary dates help to illustrate the common threat Israel and other Western states such as Britain face today as they come under attack by radical Islamists.Just one day after Israelis gathered on Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl Military Cemetery to mark a year since Operation Protective Edge, Britons held their own memorial service in London on Tuesday to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of a series of terrorist attacks on London’s Tube and bus networks.
These two seemingly arbitrary dates help to illustrate the common threat Israel and other Western states such as Britain face today as they come under attack by radical Islamists. France, Australia, Canada and Belgium have all seen acts of extreme violence that were directly or indirectly inspired by the ideology and aims of a violently reactionary stream of Islam.
A cult of death, a racist hatred of Jews, Hindus, Christians and “unbelievers” and the desire to restore a long-vanished, despotic empire ruled by a medieval Muslim jurisprudence are the common features of the groups that carry out these attacks. In this sense, Hamas and Islamic Jihad are no different than Islamic State, Jabhat al-Nusra or other al-Qaida-affiliated organizations in the Middle East, Europe or elsewhere. It is common for the news media, foreign political leaders and other shapers of world opinion to attempt to “contextualize” the terrorist attacks directed at Israelis by Islamist groups such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah. When Palestinians target civilians in drive-by shootings or ambushes and when they fire rockets and mortar shells at residents of the South, the aggression is framed within the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
For instance, an Agence France-Presse story on the Rosenfeld murder opined that “West Bank settlements are considered illegal under international law and Israelis have been attacked previously in and around them, as well as in annexed east Jerusalem,” as though this somehow explained the reasoning behind it.
But this is a slippery slope. For if we are to buy in to the view that Jewish settlements are the root cause of Palestinian terrorism, or that the creation of a Jewish national homeland on “Muslim land” in the wake of the Holocaust is the Jews’ original sin that justifies Palestinian retaliation, what is to prevent us from making similar causal relations between 7/7 and former British prime minister Tony Blair’s policies in Iraq and Afghanistan or between 9/11 and US imperialism or between the 2004 Madrid train bombings and Spain’s foreign policies? From the point of view of Hamas or Islamic Jihad, the dismantling of settlements in Judea and Samaria and the expulsion of Jews from the West Bank will not resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Only the eradication of the Jewish state will. And even this will not bring about a change in Hamas’s charter, which includes The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
Similarly, there is nothing short of a complete capitulation to Islamists’ dictates – the transformation of Europe into a caliphate, mass conversion, application of Shari’a law – that will appease the terrorists who carried out the attacks in London in 2005 and in Sousse less than two weeks ago.
The only reasonable option is to stand and fight for Western values, whether you find yourself in Jerusalem or London, Paris or Brussels. Those who look for “root causes,” in contrast, will be doomed to make increasingly shameful capitulations.
At the same time, every effort should made to search out and forge ties with any moderate elements in Palestinian society and in Israel’s Arab neighbors who realize the grave threat that Islamic State poses for them. A unified front against extremism is the only way to keep this side of the world safe and minimize the chances of another war in Gaza or another terrorist atrocity abroad. 
Prime Minister speaks at ceremony commemorating the fallen soldiers of Operation Protective Edge.
PM Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at a ceremony commemorating the fallen soldiers of Operation Protective Edge.. (photo credit:GIL YOCHANAN/POOL) “I stand here this evening tearful, with a heavy heart on this sad and silent mountain – Jerusalem’s mountain of loss and longing,” President Reuven Rivlin said on Mount Herzl during Monday’s first annual memorial service for the fallen soldiers of Operation Protective Edge.
“A year has passed since that difficult summer; the summer in which we lost 67 soldiers – the brightest and the best of our fighters – as well as civilians and loved ones,” said the president.
“They are so loved and so greatly missed.” Nonetheless, as he spoke before a crowd of hundreds – including dozens of bereaved families, soldiers, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon – Rivlin made clear that the profound loss was a necessary evil to protect a nation under attack.
“The State of Israel will not accept a situation in which our towns are subjected to repeated and ongoing attacks,” he said.
“When there is no fire at Sderot, Nahal Oz or Ashkelon, there will be no fire at the Gaza Strip… Only the eradication of terrorism will bring an end to the killing of innocents on both sides.”
Rivlin described the violent 50-day war as moral and just, “fitting of a sovereign state called upon to defend its citizens.”
“In the weeks leading up to the operation, each day dozens of rockets were fired at the residents of the South and the towns on the front line,” he said.
Photo: Gil Yochanan\Pool
“Children, women, the elderly and men, were subjected to waves of shock, and the screeching threat of death. Terror tunnels dug underneath kindergartens and cafes, in clearly civilian areas, with the aim of murdering people who simply sought to sow their field, plant an orchard, build a home.”
Invoking the recent spate of rocket fire against communities in the South and wave of terrorist attacks in the West Bank and Jerusalem, Rivlin made clear that the IDF will not hesitate to defend the nation, despite the heavy toll.
“We are not a people of war, but if forced to take up arms to defend our borders and our existence, we will not hesitate to do so,” he said.
“The State of Israel cannot continue to be held hostage by an enemy that operates in the heart of their civilian population. An enemy that does not respect human rights, that does not respect human life – an enemy that scorns international law and democracy.”
Noting that there are still many for whom the war has yet to end – including the families of two missing soldiers, St.-Sgt. Oron Shaul and Lt. Hadar Goldin – Rivlin said, “So, too, the mission of the State of Israel remains incomplete.”
“We are still yet to see the return of two of our sons,” he said. “We shall not rest until we bring them for burial in Israel.”
Indeed, some attendees at the memorial said they have yet to experience closure of any kind.
Zava Shaul, whose son Oron, 20, has been missing in action for nearly a year, was among them.
“I want people to remember my son, and I believe he is alive because I have never gotten him back,” she said. “For me, the war is never finished because my son never came back.”
In the meantime, Batia Weinberg, a coordinator for One Family, an NGO established during the second intifada to support bereaved families, said her organization supports 3,800 families throughout the nation dealing with the trauma of such loss.
“The families should see we are here and support them all year round, but especially today,” said Weinberg, noting that the organization works with 2,000 bereaved families and 1,800 families of wounded soldiers.
Naama and Effy Rahav, whose son Bar, 21, was killed in Gaza shortly after the war began, said they take solace in spending time with other parents who have experienced similar heartbreak.
“It’s the one-year anniversary, and it’s good to meet with the other parents, and we think it’s important for all the people of Israel to take a moment and remember our sons,” said Naama.
“We know that a lot of people remember, but this is one day and one hour that everyone can think of them because we think about them all the time,” she continued, her eyes filling with tears.
“My son had his 22nd birthday last Friday, so it’s a very hard time now.”
Meanwhile, Netanyahu – whose brother Yoni was the lone Israeli soldier killed during Operation Entebbe in Uganda in 1976 – said that while he empathizes with each bereaved family’s pain, he takes solace in knowing that his brother, and all fallen soldiers, saved lives.
“There isn’t any remedy for your pain,” he said. “But with all that pain, you truly understand that your loved ones saved lives… for the sake of Israel.”
Moreover, while Netanyahu said the decision to go to war is never taken lightly and that each fallen soldier is like a son to him, he emphasized that the IDF will “never hesitate to protect our country.”
“We come in peace, but we will protect our children and our future,” he said.
Still, the prime minister ended his speech on a hopeful, if not philosophical, note.
“Life is a flowing river that takes us forward and you will eventually know days of hope and happiness,” he said. “There will always be pain, but your loved ones died as heroes.” 1.Jordan’s Shameful Record Eli E. Hertz 
As recently as the mid-20th century, when Arabs last controlled parts of Jerusalem, they exhibited no respect for the Holy City. In 1948, when Jordan took control of the eastern part of Jerusalem, including the Old City, it divided the city for the first time in its 3,000-year history. Under the 1949 armistice agreement with Israel, Jordan pledged to allow free access to all holy places but failed to honor that commitment. From 1948 until the Six-Day War in 1967, the part of Jerusalem controlled by the Jordanians, again became an isolated and underdeveloped provincial town, with its religious sites the target of religious intolerance. The Old City was rendered void of Jews. Jewish sites such as the Mount of Olives were desecrated. Jordan destroyed more than 50 synagogues, and erased all evidence of a Jewish presence. In addition, all Jews were forced out of the Jewish Quarter of the Old City adjacent to the Western Wall, an area where Jews had lived for generations. For 19 years [1948-1967], Jews and Christians residing in Israel (and even Israeli Muslims) were barred from their holy places, despite Jordan’s pledge to allow free access. Jews, for example, were unable to pray at the Western Wall; Christian Arabs living in Israel were denied access to churches and other religious sites in the Old City and nearby Bethlehem, also under Jordanian control. During Jordan’s reign over eastern Jerusalem, its restrictive laws on Christian institutions led to a dramatic decline in the holy city’s Christian population by more than half – from 25,000 to 11,000 – a pattern that characterized Christian Arabs in other Arab countries throughout the Middle East where religious freedom is not honored. It was only after the Six-Day War that the Jewish Quarter was rebuilt and free access to holy places was reestablished. It is worth noting that after Jordan annexed the West Bank in the 1950s, it too failed to make Jerusalem – a city that Arabs now claim as “the third most holy site of Islam” – its capital. Jordan’s Shameful Record Eli E. Hertz 
Temple Menorah removed 70 CE
2.Destruction of Second Temple by Shmuel Sackett/Manhigut Yehudit Now that the “Three Weeks” have started, I wish to offer you a challenge: From now until the end of Tisha B’av I want you to cry – at least one tear – for the fact that we do not have the Bet Ha’Mikdash in the holy city of Jerusalem. That’s it… just one tear. You think you can do it? I have no doubt that you will be observing all of the laws of the “Three Weeks” and “Nine Days”. Nobody reading this article will host a simcha, attend a concert or do laundry after Rosh Chodesh Av. The question I have, however, is whether these will be real or just robotic? While keeping Halacha is very important, Am Yisrael needs more than that. We need your heart and your emotions and not just some Jew in “Shabbos mode”. We need you to feel the loss of the Bet Ha’Mikdash and what it means to our Nation. Not shaving for three weeks is what is stated in the Shulchan Aruch – and we must be careful to observe that – but our people need you to feel the part… not just look the part. Today, while observance has increased in our community, the feelings and emotions have decreased. Forbidden music has been replaced by acapella so that – Heaven forbid – you won’t go 21 days without listening to Shwekey. Yummy, delicious meat meals have been replaced by yummy, delicious dairy meals so that – Heaven forbid – you won’t go 21 days without eating Chinese food. All we need now is the inventors of the Shabbos lamp and Shabbos toothbrush to invent the Nine Days washing machine and Nine Days swimming pool and Torah life will be complete! What has happened to us? Is this what Hashem wants – to just keep the letter of the law while ignoring the message of what it all means? Haven’t we all heard that the purpose of a fast day, for example, is to arouse one’s heart to teshuva? The fasting is not the actual goal but only a means to the true goal of teshuva. We have all learned that by the people of Ninveh, the passuk says “And Hashem saw their actions” – it does not say “And Hashem saw their fasting!” Therefore, while we fasted on the 17th of Tammuz and will certainly fast on Tisha B’av, we need to do much more than that! This applies not only to the fast days but to these entire three weeks where we mourn millions of Jews and of course, the destruction – to this very day – of Hashem’s house. Do you understand what it means for the Jewish nation not to serve Hashem in the Bet Ha’Mikdash? Can you comprehend that concept? Do you realize how different our religion is today because we do NOT have the Bet Ha’Mikdash? According to the Chofetz Chaim in his “Sefer Ha’Mizvot Ha’katzar” we can only keep today 103 positive mitzvot (instead of 248) and 205 negative mitzvot (instead of 365). These numbers get even worse for those reading this article outside the Land of Israel where the 103 positive number drops to 77 and the negative number drops to 194. This means that outside of Israel, the holiest, frummest Jew can keep a grand total of 271 mitzvot – just 44% of the Torah!! Imagine that; Hashem gives 613 mitzvot and a Jew in Kew Gardens Hills or Teaneck can only keep 271 of them, while a Jew in Hebron or Beersheba can only keep 308 of them… also not great! Dearest readers; do you understand what that means? You are less than half a Jew. We are keeping less than half the Torah!! The King has instructed us to do things and we are doing less than half of it! How terrible is that? How would your boss feel if you did only 44% of what he asked you to do? Now, we can say, “Well, it’s not our fault… we would gladly do all 613 but Hashem took away the Bet Ha’Mikdash so what choice do we have?” Please, please don’t dare say – or even think – something like that because nothing can be more ridiculous. Hashem didn’t take away anything… we lost it on our own! We lost it because we refused to love each other, work together with each other and have Jewish unity. The terrible sin of “sinat chinam” is still alive and well (unfortunately) which is why the Bet Ha’Mikdash has not been rebuilt. How many sects of Chassidim today have two Rebbes, because they can’t stop the in-fighting? How welcoming are the “black-hat” shuls to guys with no jackets and knitted kippot and how warm and accepting are the modern shuls to guys who come to daven wearing a black hat? It works, or should I say – it fails both ways! This applies to the ladies as well. Think about how you would feel if a fellow Jewish woman walked into shul on Shabbat wearing pants. Would you run and embrace her as a long-lost sister returning home or would you give her the look of death? Be honest… This is why we must cry many tears this year. Yes, I challenged you to just shed one but in reality, we should be crying our eyes out every one of these 21 days. We are a broken people who refuse to listen. We can fix our problems – yes, it is in our hands to do it – but we get completely off the topic and instead, focus all our attention on Shabbos Nachamu and when these dreaded “Three Weeks” will end.
I am convinced that Hashem wants the “Three Weeks” to end as well. He hates to see His children suffer. He wants us back home, singing and dancing in the Bet Ha’Mikdash. He wants to see us observing all of the 613 and not just 271 of them. Therefore, this year, put down the tofu burgers and pareve Chinese food, and stop listening all day to happy songs played without instruments and start feeling the pain of what being half a Jew means. And start crying. Cry over the fact that although Hashem has returned Eretz Yisrael to us, over half our people choose to remain outside the land. Cry over all the Jewish blood that has been spilled, especially the most recent ones whose blood has still not dried. Cry over the pain that so many of us are in and that we have no Kohen Gadol, Navi or Melech to turn to. Cry over the fact that we are satisfied with “The Chosen” being a book and movie and fail to live up to our responsibility and unique mission. As you know from previous articles, I am generally an optimistic guy who always focuses on the positive but in these Three Weeks, there’s not much positive to write about. It’s a sad, bad time for our nation and we need to stop the fun and focus on what this all means. Most importantly of all, we need to realize that we have it in our hands to change the situation. Through loving every Jew we can repair the damage and rebuild the House of Hashem. Let’s make it happen… right after we shed that one tear. The Three Weeks Challenge: By Shmuel Sackett The Tower Magazine July 2015 3.Down and Out on the Temple Mount / Annika Hernroth-Rothstein 
Political adviser and journalist based in Sweden A Jewish man looks at the Dome of the Rock atop the Temple Mount. Photo: Sliman Khader / Flash90 
For 1000 years it stood as the pinnacle of sanctity in Judaism, & for 2000 more as the focus of our dreams. So why can’t a Jew even mumble a prayer there? They’ve been in that back room for a while. I’m standing by the door, trying to ascertain what’s going on by the mumblings and the gestures. I feel like a child, trying to coax my superior with an insecure smile. The policeman comes back, eyeing me up and down, holding my passport in his right hand. You’re a journalist, he says. You’re not allowed to enter. I have already been there for almost two hours, waiting to be allowed to ascend, but the line allocated for Jews isn’t moving. The other one is, though. The tourist line is moving bodies as were it the entrance to an amusement park. I had stood in that line, swooshing past security, just a few months earlier. Something shifted in me this past October, after learning about the assassination attempt on Rabbi Yehuda Glick, an activist who campaigns for greater Jewish access to the Temple Mount. The Mount had represented an ache in my heart, but stayed there, as elusive as a dream. Every time I visited The Western Wall, I would feel sadness and loss, knowing that I was so close, yet so far away, but somehow I had accepted the status quo and settled for this state of silent complacency. Then someone drove up on a motorcycle and tried cutting down a man who had kept the dream alive for all of us, and I knew in my heart that this could not stand. The 37 acres of the Temple Mount constitute the most contested piece of religious property in the world. This is a place that has been holy to us Jews for thousands of years—even before creation, according to the Midrash—and it is here we find the Foundation Stone, at the heart of the Dome of the Rock, from where the whole world was created and where the rebuilding of our third Temple one day will take place. It is also the third-holiest site in Islam, where Muslims believe Muhammad’s ascension to heaven took place after his night-journey to Jerusalem. The al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock were constructed on the Temple Mount in 637 CE, after the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem. The mosque faces Mecca on the far-south side of the Mount, with the Dome of the Rock standing on the site of the Holy Temple, directly over the Holiest of Holies. 
The author on the Temple Mount, surrounded by police officers for her own protection. Photo: Annika Hernroth-Rothstein In 1967, at the end of the Six-Day War, the whole city of Jerusalem was reunited under Israeli sovereignty. Israeli authorities faced the question of what to do about the Temple Mount, then under religious management of the Jordanian clerical authority known as the Waqf. According to Jewish religious law dating back to the original Temple of King Solomon, Jews are prohibited from visiting the most sacred parts of the Temple Mount, but a large portion of the area consists of later extensions that were erected under Roman rule and that hold no such limitations. The Israeli government, however, decided to put a broad-stroke policy in place, giving de facto control of the Temple Mount to the Waqf. The Chief Rabbinate echoed this decision by putting up a sign at the entrance, saying that Jews are forbidden to ascend and pray on any portion of the Temple Mount. This policy, driven through by then-Minister of Defense Moshe Dayan, has resulted not only in systematic destruction of the site by Muslim authorities trying to wash away proof of Jewish presence and history on the Temple Mount, but also in Jewish worshippers entering the area without proper rabbinic guidance, at risk of unknowingly violating religious law. The Temple Mount is described as being under a “status quo,” but the reality is something entirely different. In the decades since the end of the Six-Day War, the Waqf and the Muslim authorities have desecrated the Jewish holy site by destroying archeological treasures, using the Israeli government’s fear of disrupting the relative peace to engage in illegal construction. Take, for example, Masjid Al-Marwani, a large underground mosque built in the area known as Solomon’s Stables. The mosque, built in 1996 without permission from the Israeli government and without any archeological supervision, holds approximately 10,000 worshippers. I’m standing on the Kotel Plaza at 7:00 AM, and although I am trying to take in the magic of the light and the familiar bustle before shacharit prayers, my heart is racing a mile a minute. I’ve prepared for weeks, yet I feel unprepared, stepping into a foreign realm that ought to be known. “You look too religious.” My guide gestures to my head-wrap and foot-length skirt. “If you’re not married, uncover your hair. We don’t want any unnecessary trouble.” It takes me less than a minute to get from the plaza to the Temple Mount, and while my guide has a brief conversation with the Waqf authorities in Arabic, I just stand there, taking it all in. I was there, there, at the place I had painted pictures of in my mind. I’m not sure what I had expected, but I know that it was not what I saw. I’m there for three hours, walking alongside my guide in quiet conversation, stopping to take pictures at each and every turn. In the corner of my eye I see them, the religious Jews, moving ever so slowly across the walkway, surrounded by the Waqf, Israeli police, and women covered in heavy black cloth. I hear screams, and I’m not sure which feeling in me is more prevalent—the relief of not being under attack or the shame over the very same. We leave quietly, exciting through the Arab Quarter, and as happy as I am to have come I know I hadn’t really been there. The decision was made before I knew it—I had to come back and be counted. Over the past year, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority have been regularly condemning visits by Jews to the Temple Mount and spreading rumors that the Israeli government plans to storm the Mount and destroy the Muslim holy sites. Some Palestinian groups have been paying women to harass Jewish visitors, the funding for these groups being largely cloaked in mystery. The false rumors of an Israeli coup are, quite ironically, able to persist due to the inaction of the Israeli government on the issue of harassment of and violence toward Jews on the Mount. The government’s unwillingness to intervene increases the appetite of the Muslim side, which notices that their acts of terror go without punishment—and to a large extent, even without notice from the broader public. Initially, Muslim prayer was limited to the al-Aqsa Mosque, but as Jordan and the Waqf have gained more power over the area, Muslim prayer has spread to take place throughout the entire area. And as the Muslim presence has increased, the Israeli police have often chosen to close the Temple Mount to Jews entirely, rather than risk violence and rioting. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly declared that there will be no changes in the status quo, a promise he has repeated to King Abdullah of Jordan and Federica Mogherini, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, who visited Israel after escalations in violence on the Temple Mount. It is Yom Ha’atzmaut, Israeli Independence Day. Once I get through the initial checkpoint, I am left standing with nine other Jews in the secondary waiting area. A policeman tells us what the rules are: No singing, no praying, and no moving of lips in a prayer-like manner. He turns to me and says that I am not allowed to ask any questions while I am up there; I am entering as a private person, not a journalist. Finally, he tells me to remove my Israeli flag pin that I always wear on my lapel, and as I hand it to him he nods, and goes on his way. The waiting area has no roof, no seating, no water, and no shade. A man in our group initiates an ad-hoc d’var Torah and I am thankful to him for picking me up just as I feel myself losing spirit. As he is speaking, I see the tourists pass again, some of them looking at me apologetically. I gave that same look, just a few weeks ago, and suddenly I feel my resolve returning, knowing that I am exactly where I am supposed to be. As we enter, we are immediately surrounded. The chanting is deafening. With our blood and souls we will defend al-Aqsa! With our blood and souls we will defend al-Aqsa! With our blood and souls we will defend al-Aqsa! Initially there are ten women, pointing, getting in our faces, voices loud and shrill. Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! The four Israeli policemen guarding us make a half-hearted attempt of putting some distance between them and our group, putting their hands up, telling them to move back. 
The author and other Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount, surrounded by people shouting and threatening them. Photo: Annika Hernroth-Rothstein And then it happens. The women in black accuse the police of touching them, shrieking and crying at the top of their lungs, and suddenly 40 men come from nowhere, surrounding us on each side. I feel the panic creeping in, and as I watch the faces of the policemen, I see I am not alone in my fear. This situation is unraveling, and we all know that at this point, anything can happen. We are told by the police not to speak to each other at all, but to walk in silence the rest of the way. We comply, but the mob just keeps building, both in numbers and intensity, forcing our little group to move forward at a glacial pace. They are filming us, non-stop, cameras in my face, the women poking my arm, forcing me to meet their gaze. It feels like a warzone. It is Israeli sovereign land, but I feel like I have crossed over into enemy territory and ventured out alone. I look over at my fellow Jews, strangers when this all began, and they smile at me as to say that we will be fine, just do what they say and keep on walking. Once we reach the gates again I ask the police if I can stop for a minute, but they usher us out, and I exit with a mix of exhilaration and emptiness that I had never known before this day. When I got back to my apartment in Abu Tur I broke down and cried. What got to me more than anything was standing in a separate line for Jews, waiting for hours, on the day of our independence. I am in Israel, in our capitol, and yet we have separate lines for Jews and non-Jews as if no lesson has been learned from our past. Is this the independence and the strength that we celebrate? Is it freedom when I cannot pray or even move my lips without being blacklisted or thrown out from this, our holiest site? I am not a woman who scares easily, nor do I tend to cry, but I had never seen hatred like I saw that day. I was shaken. I was angry. I was humiliated and ashamed at my own inaction. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaims that freedom of movement and freedom of prayer are basic rights, yet none of this applies to Jews on the Temple Mount. We were treated as less than human that day, as we are being denied our basic rights every day. Operatives of Hamas, the Islamic Movement in Israel, and Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party are responsible for instigating the recent events on the Temple Mount. Hamas has transferred money to activists of the Islamic Movement as payment for their presence on the Mount, to create disturbances there, and prevent access to Jews. The al-Aqsa Mosque has served as a base for repeated attacks on visitors and on policemen who have tried to protect them. From within the mosque, stones and Molotov cocktails have been thrown directly at policemen and visitors. The mosque itself has become a barricaded storeroom for projectiles and a refuge for rioters. In October 2014, Abbas held a widely broadcasted speech, where he proclaimed that “Settlers must be prevented from entering the Temple Mount—by any means. It is forbidden to let Jews go up to the Temple Mount. We must prevent this in any way possible. The Temple Mount is ours, the al-Aqsa Mosque is ours, and the churches are ours. They do not deserve to enter these places and defile them.” This incitement resulted in violent riots on the Mount. Two weeks later, there was an assassination attempt on Rabbi Yehudah Glick as he was exiting a lecture in Jerusalem. We may speak of the “status quo,” but if one looks closer at the issue one understands that there is no such thing as a status quo on the Temple Mount. The Muslim presence is ever-growing while the Jewish presence is deterred through violence and intimidation. The one rule that seems to be upheld is the prohibition for Jews to pray there, whereas their right for Jews to visit according to the relevant laws is being violated on a daily basis. 
A Muslim boy throws stones at Israeli police during clashes following Friday prayers at Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque, December 6, 2013. Photo: Sliman Khader / Flash90 What Dayan saw as a non-issue while striking the deal on the Mount in 1967 has now become a focal point for the entire conflict and a symbol of Muslim strife in the Middle East. This is not an issue, but the issue. The decision represents not only a historical mistake, but also a possible future calamity. What my visits to the Temple Mount taught me was that this is not merely a religious issue or even an issue of national security. This is at its core a question of basic human rights—a term hijacked by some and too often forgotten by the rest of us. We cannot accept being the “other” here, in our land, in our capital. We cannot cower or look away for the sake of appeasement—this cannot stand and it must not be avoided. They say that the best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity. What I felt before I went up on the Temple Mount, the fear that dwelled in me, was the dream being silenced by the criers on the mountain. And it was, both times, in radically different yet oddly similar ways. First I was made to hide who I am, and then I was terrorized, because of it. I walked in silence, tears burning the back of my throat, my back hunched in humiliation. That is terror, at its core, to make fear so prevalent that we end up thinking that we chose to stay away. To take the dream, inch-by-inch, until we no longer remember what it stood for. 4.Identifying and combating the new anti-Semitism by Isi Leibler Jerusalem Post & Israel HaYom July 7, 2015 | | | | | | 
Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld
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| IIsi | How does one effectively fight anti-Semitism and its newest mutation, anti-Israelism? The first step must be to understand how these phenomena are manifested and who is behind them. Over the past decade as anti-Semitism and anti-Israelism increased exponentially, many books covering the subject have been published. Until now, aside from magisterial works of the late Robert Wistrich and the excellent analysis by Daniel Goldhagen, The Devil That Never Dies: The Rise and Threat of Global Anti-Semitism, there has not been a contemporary review of the global battlefield covering the world’s oldest hatred. There are other valuable studies but they are of limited scope. Now a new study of considerable significance has become available. Manfred Gerstenfeld’s The War of a Million Cuts: The Struggle against the Delegitimization of Israel and the Jews and the Growth of the New Anti-Semitism (click here for Amazon link) is a compelling book that outlines the components of the new anti-Semitism. The seemingly obscure title is explained in the text as referring to an unlimited number of often small hate attacks from a huge number of sources. This differs from the traditional anti-Semitism of concentrated attacks by major players, such as initially the Catholic Church and much later Nazism and its many allies. What is radically new in this book is that it presents a detailed strategy on how to fight the enemy. Dr. Gerstenfeld served for 12 years as the chairman of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Israel’s leading think tank. A former international strategic business consultant to some of the world’s largest multinational corporations, Gerstenfeld would today, after the death of Wistrich, be considered the most qualified analyst of contemporary anti-Semitism with a focus on anti-Israelism. He is a prolific writer and has published 10 books on this subject, including pioneering studies on anti-Semitism on campuses in a variety of countries, the anti-Israelism behind the pseudo-humanitarian mask of the hypocritical Northern European societies, the attitude toward Jews as an indicator of the moral decay of the Netherlands, and the increasingly important role that Holocaust inversion and other distortions have assumed in the efforts to demonize the Jewish state. His new book is a tour de force and undoubtedly represents his magnum opus. It is a readable 500 page volume that provides encyclopedic coverage of the subject. It is probably the first book that reviews the delegitimization of Israel as an entity, identifying the motifs employed, the categories of perpetrators, how the hate themes enter society and the extent of damage incurred by Israel and Jews. Citing a large number of examples from many countries, the central theme of the book highlights the fact that our current struggle is immensely more complex than confronting classical anti-Semitism in which hatred focused on single messages such as the killing of Jesus or genetic inferiority of Jews. Today the onslaught comes from many diverse sources, applies many different motifs and uses a great variety of methods and transmission channels. His opening chapter is a lucid analysis of how anti-Semites have adopted and integrated anti-Israelism as a new mutation of traditional Jew hatred. The successive chapters discuss how ancient hate motifs have been espoused and upgraded by the current enemies of the Jewish people. Gerstenfeld demonstrates how Muslim anti-Semitism today has effectively adopted the role of Nazi anti-Semitism and is at the forefront of the hatred and violence against Jews – which not only emanates from Muslim countries but wherever Muslim migrants have settled. He skillfully illustrates the interfacing and interaction between Muslims in Western countries, politicians, the traditional media, social media activists, nongovernmental organizations, church leaders, academics, trade union leaders, right-wing extremists, social democrats, and above all, those on the extreme Left now bolstered by Jewish self-haters who complete the witches’ brew from which the current onslaught of poisonous anti-Semitism has emerged. Gerstenfeld demonstrates that anti-Semitism and anti-Israelism use the same core motifs. He cites a variety of studies which indicate that over 150 million European Union citizens embrace a satanic view of the Jewish state – where they believe the Israelis behave like Nazis or seek to exterminate the Palestinians. He systematically exposes the shameless, naked anti-Semitism of the majority of U.N. representatives. These include the Europeans who are increasingly inclined to either abstain from or vote in favor of outrageous resolutions, often initiated by rogue states, which apply double standards and single out Israel for censure. Gerstenfeld demonstrates that anti-Semitism is not only part of Europe’s history but also its culture. His depiction of a new criminal Europe warrants serious debate. He also analyzes the impact of the ongoing campaigns of delegitimization on Israel and the ramifications for Diaspora Jews – especially in Europe – who find themselves increasingly discriminated against. Gerstenfeld outlines his plans to organize the fight on behalf of embattled Israel and the Jewish people. He is strongly convinced that the Israeli government has failed to deal with this problem for decades by mistakenly considering it a minor irritant instead of appreciating the immense consequences of losing the war for the world’s public opinion. He sees a desperate need for the Israeli government to set up an advanced, well-staffed and amply funded anti-propaganda agency which will globally refute the loathsome lies and defamation and humiliate and shame those responsible. The first task of this agency would be to deal with research, an important component being the creation and updating of a databank of “enemies of Israel and the Jewish people.” Each new incident of hate-mongering could thus immediately be tracked to their combined past mischief. One would also be able to identify the vulnerabilities of Israel’s enemies. Gerstenfeld states that many enemies of Israel today enjoy a free anti-Semitic lunch. He suggests that we could, for example, identify some of the academically weakest adherents of the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement and expose their professional failures among their university colleagues and in their profession internationally. He claims that it would not even cost much money. As most people are cowards, he believes that many would think twice before joining the BDS movement. The second activity the anti-propaganda agency would deal with would be the monitoring of new developments concerning hatemongering. His suggestion that this should be done in three different categories is commendable. The first would be by activity, e.g., calls for violence, Holocaust inversion, BDS, etc. The second would be by perpetrators, such as Muslim states, Muslims in the Western world, media, politicians, liberal churches, NGOs, academics, social democratic parties, trade unions, etc. The third would monitor developments in various countries. A third department of the proposed anti-propaganda agency would focus on activism, either directly or indirectly. One proposal is that tens of thousands of youngsters willing to defend Israel could be trained to understand how Israel’s enemies work, what lies and fallacies are used and how to expose them. Today the defense of Israel is chaotic. More coordination would enable much more with the same means. The book includes an introduction by former Spanish Prime Minister José Maria Aznar, who describes the book as “an excellent contribution to better understanding the indirect attacks against Israel.” It also contains endorsements and commendations from Czech Culture Minister Daniel Herman, former Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi di Sant’Agata, former Dutch Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal, former Swedish Development Cooperation Minister Alf Svensson, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, and others. This book should be considered a compulsory manual for anyone engaged in public activity to promote the case for Israel or combat anti-Semitism. | | Isi Leibler may be contacted at ileibler@leibler.com | | This column was originally published in the 
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Identifying and combating the new anti-Semitism 5.Is Obama Supporting a Shiite ISIS? By Daniel Greenfield | |
Posted: 22 Jun 2015 10:23 AM PDT Staff Sgt. Ahmed Altaie was the last American soldier to come home from Iraq. His body was turned over by Asaib Ahl al-Haq or The League of the Righteous; a Shiite terrorist group funded and trained by Iran.
Altaie had been kidnapped, held for ransom and then killed.
It was not Asaib Ahl al-Haq’s only kidnapping and murder of an American soldier. A year after Altaie’s kidnapping, its terrorists disguised themselves as Americans and abducted five of our soldiers in Karbala. The soldiers were murdered by their Shiite captors after sustained pursuit by American forces made them realize that they wouldn’t be able to escape with their hostages.
Asaib Ahl al-Haq’s obsession with American hostages was a typically Iranian fixation. Iran’s leaders see the roots of their international influence in the Iran hostage crisis. Its terrorist groups in Lebanon had abducted and horrifically tortured Colonel William R. Higgins and William Francis Buckley.
Higgins had been skinned alive.
Most Americans have never heard of Asaib Ahl al-Haq, sometimes referred to as the Khazali Network after its leader, even though it has claimed credit for over 6,000 attacks on Americans. Its deadliest attacks came when the Democrats & their media allies were desperately scrambling to stop Bush from taking out Iran’s nuclear program. Asaib Ahl al-Haq’s ties to Iran were so blatant that the media could not allow it to receive the kind of coverage that Al Qaeda did for fear that it might hurt Iran.
Obama had campaigned vocally against the Kyl-Lieberman Amendment which designated Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, the hidden force behind Asaib Ahl al-Haq and much of the Shiite terrorist infrastructure, a terrorist organization. He had accused its sponsors of “foolish saber rattling”.
Nancy Pelosi joined the Democratic Party’s pro-Iranian turn, rejected a vote on the amendment and sneered that if the kidnapping and murder of American soldiers was “a problem to us and our troops in Iraq, they should deal with it in Iraq.” Earlier that year, she had visited Syria’s Assad to stand with him against President Bush even while Assad was aiding the terrorists massacring American soldiers.
Once Obama took power, coverage of the war was scaled down so that Americans wouldn’t realize that the rising power of ISIS and Asaib Ahl al-Haq were already making a mockery of his withdrawal plans.
But Asaib Ahl al-Haq was not merely an anti-American terrorist group; it was an arm of the Shiite theocracy. As a Shiite counterpart to what would become ISIS, it had most of the same Islamic goals.
While Obama was patting himself on the back for the end of the Iraq War and gay rights, Asaib Ahl al-Haq was throwing those men and women it suspected of being gay from the tops of buildings.
When buildings weren’t available, it beat them to death with concrete blocks or beheaded them.
Its other targets included shelters for battered women, which the Islamist group deemed brothels, men who had long hair or dressed in dark clothing. And even while its Brigades of Wrath were perpetrating these atrocities, Obama and the Shiite Iraqi government embraced the murderous terrorist group.
Qais al-Khazali, the leader of Asaib Ahl al-Haq, and his brother Laith al-Khazali along with a hundred other members of the terror group were freed during Obama’s first year in office. (But to provide equal aid and comfort to the other side, Obama also freed the future Caliph of ISIS in that same year.)
“We let a very dangerous man go, a man whose hands are stained with US and Iraqi blood. We are going to pay for this in the future,” an unnamed American officer was quoted as saying. “This was a deal signed and sealed in British and American blood.” “We freed all of their leaders and operatives; they executed their hostages and sent them back in body bags.”
The releases were part of Obama’s grand strategy of reconciliation for Iraq. The miserable reality behind the upbeat language was that Obama was handing over Iraq to ISIS, Iran and its Shiite militias. 
Last year, Maliki had made Asaib Ahl al-Haq and other Shiite terror groups into the Sons of Iraq that were to protect and defend Baghdad. Asaib Ahl al-Haq and its leader were now the Iraqi security forces. The Shiite death squads were in charge even while they continued carrying out ISIS-style massacres.
Obama belatedly decided to respond to ISIS, but his war strategy depends on Asaib Ahl al-Haq.
Officially his strategy is to provide training and air support for the Iraqi military. But the Iraqi military’s Shiite officers conduct panicked retreats in the face of ISIS attacks while abandoning cities and equipment. The goal of these retreats is to make Asaib Ahl al-Haq and other Shiite militias into the only alternative to ISIS for the United States. Even though he pays lip service to Sunni and Kurdish resistance to ISIS, Obama shows that he has accepted Iran’s terms by refusing to arm and support them.
While we focused on ISIS, its Shiite counterparts were building their own Islamic State by burrowing from within to hollow out the Iraqi institutions that we had put into place. ISIS is a tool that Iran is using to force international approval of its takeover of Iraq and its own nuclear program.
An Iraqi official last year was quoted as saying that Asaib Ahl al-Haq’s men give orders to the police and military. “Before they were just around, now they are high-ranking officers in the military.”
Some defense experts wonder if the Iraqi military even exists. The bulk of the forces in Tikrit were Shiite Jihadists and they are armed with American weapons that they receive from the Iraqi government. Asaib Ahl al-Haq boss Qais al-Khazali claims that soldiers and Shiite militia members both wear Iraqi military uniforms.
The capture of Tikrit became an opportunity for the Shiite terrorist groups and Qasem Soleimani, their Iranian terror boss, to boast about their victory and loot and terrorize the local Sunni residents.
Obama’s official plan to arm and train the Iraqi military and security forces is a dead end because like the mythical moderate Syrian rebels, they are fronts for moving money and weapons to Jihadists. We are arming ghost armies and funding fake political institutions and the money and weapons end up going to bands of Islamic terrorists, militias and guerrillas that are actually calling the shots.
By aiding Shiite militias in Iraq and Sunni militias in Syria, we’re backing both sides of an Islamic civil war.
Obama turned over Iraq to the Shiites and then backed the Muslim Brotherhood’s efforts to force the Shiites out of power in Syria. The Sunni-Shiite civil wars tearing the region apart were caused by those two decisions. His solution to the wars is to continue backing the same forces responsible for them.
Despite assorted denials, Obama’s real ISIS strategy is to have Iran do the fighting for him in Iraq.
But Obama is backing one ISIS against another ISIS. Why is a Shiite Islamic state that kidnaps and kills Americans, throws gays off buildings and massacres women better than a Sunni Islamic state that does the same things? Not only is the Obama strategy morally dubious, but it’s also proven to be ineffective.
The rise of ISIS has helped Iran tighten its hold on Shiite areas in Iraq and Syria. Iran does not need to beat ISIS. Its interests are best served by maintaining a stalemate in which ISIS consolidates Sunni areas while Iran consolidates Shiite areas. The more Obama aids Iran and its terrorist forces as a counterweight to ISIS, the more Iran sees keeping ISIS around as being vital to its larger strategy.
By aiding Iran, Obama is really aiding ISIS.
Despite depending on our air support, Asaib Ahl al-Haq and its leaders are threatening to attack American planes and soldiers making it clear that they view the fight against ISIS and for Assad as part of a larger struggle for achieving Iran’s apocalyptic Shiite ambitions for the region and the world.
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei recently gave a speech in which he warned that, “We must prepare the country’s conditions, the region’s conditions, and, Allah willing, the world’s conditions for the reappearance [of Imam Mahdi] will spread justice.”
Like ISIS, its Shiite counterparts envision an apocalyptic struggle in which the other branch of Islam will be destroyed, along with all non-Muslims, leading to regional and global supremacy. Iraq is only one of the battlefields on which this war is being fought and Obama’s inept mix of appeasement and regime change, abandoning allied governments while aiding enemy terrorists has helped make it possible. Daniel Greenfield is a New York City based writer and blogger and a Shillman Journalism Fellow of the David Horowitz Freedom Center. Is Obama Supporting a Shiite ISIS? By Daniel Greenfield | | 6.Beware of stage 1 thinking 
by Yoram Ettinger National security and foreign policymakers should study a critical lesson from the medical profession: The failure to think beyond the stage one ?effect of painkillers may solve short-term problems but will trigger long-?term health risks: addiction, organ damage, nausea, headaches, ?dizziness, memory impairment and decreased cognitive performance.? National security and foreign policymakers should also heed the ?following observation by Thomas Sowell: “When most voters do not think ?beyond stage one, many elected officials have no incentive to weigh ?what the consequences will be in later stages. … These reactions would ?lead to consequences much less desirable than those at stage one. … ?Most thinking stops at stage one.” Sowell argues that “basic economics ?is generally misapplied because politicians think only in stage one — the ?immediate result of an action, without determining what happens next. ?Many politicians cannot see beyond stage one because they do not think ?beyond the next election.” ? However, the track record of Western national security and foreign policy?makers documents such shortsightedness: a tendency to sacrifice long-?term considerations, complexity, principles and interests on the altar of ?short-term, stage one convenience and oversimplification. They ignore ?the glaring writing on the wall and lessons of the recent past. ? The late chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Democratic ?Senator Daniel Inouye, detected the shortsightedness and self-?destructive conduct of Israeli and U.S. policymakers regarding the ?Palestinian issue. He lamented his own participation — at the request of ?then-President Bill Clinton — in the September 1993 Oslo ?Accord signing ceremony: “While most participants rejoice the Rabin-Arafat handshake of ?the moment, I fear that in the long run it could lead to a funeral ?procession of the Jewish state.”? Contrary to Inouye, Israeli and U.S. policymakers did not weigh ?the long-term consequences. Israel’s eagerness to conclude the Oslo ?Accord with Palestinian leaders Mahmoud Abbas and Yasser Arafat was a stage one, short-lived ?pain reliever. As predicted by Inouye, the snappy stage one was ?succeeded by a second stage and long-term national security ?predicaments: “organ damage” (unprecedented Palestinian non?compliance, hate education and terrorism), “headaches” (intensified ?international pressure), “dizziness” (eroded posture of deterrence), ??“memory impairment, nausea and decreased cognitive performance” ??(addiction to further sweeping concessions, to the Palestine Liberation Organization and Syria, by ?Prime Ministers Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres, Ehud Barak, Ariel Sharon, Ehud Olmert and Benjamin Netanyahu, as ?well as U.S. Presidents Clinton and Barack Obama), recklessly ignoring the ?thundering Palestinian mission statement, featured prominently in Abbas’ school textbooks, mosques and media: It’s the ?existence — not the size — of Israel! ? “Peace in our time” — and not thinking beyond stage one — has channeled ?U.S. zeal into making a deal with the ayatollahs. ? U.S. policymakers assume that a nuclear Iran would act rationally and ?could be contained. They believe that a constructive agreement can ?be achieved at stage one without a dramatic, long-term transformation of ?the nature of the ayatollahs. They underestimate the deep roots of the ?overtly anti- U.S., apocalyptic, terrorist, subversive, expansionist, ?supremacist, repressive, deceitful and noncompliant ?nature of the ayatollah regime. ? Therefore, they assume that just like the USSR, a nuclear Iran would be ?deterred by mutual assured destruction. However, unlike the ?USSR, the ayatollahs are driven by martyrdom and apocalypse. They are ?enticed — not deterred — by MAD. A conventional Iran is controllable, but ?a threshold Iran would be chaotically uncontrollable. ? U.S. policymakers focus on a stage one agreement with the ayatollahs, ?overlooking the staggering second stage cost to vital U.S. interests of the U.S., ?thereby playing directly into the hands of the ayatollahs. The cost to the U.S. is ?spelled out in the heinous anti-U.S. ?writing, in bold, 40-point letters, written on the Ayatollah Wall, which was erected in 1979. It is reflected ?by the ayatollahs’ track record, domestically, regionally & globally, ?including Death to America Day, observed annually on November 4 & featuring the ?burning of U.S. flags & photographs of U.S. presidents. ? Stage-one-thinking policymaking could yield an uplifting ceremony in ?Lausanne. However, the succeeding stages would transform the ?ayatollahs into a threshold nuclear power, compounding the existing lethal ?threats to global sanity and paving the road to nuclear war. |
Beware of stage 1 thinking by Yoram Ettinger 7.Authorities suspect arson in Jerusalem forest fire |
Police suspect Saturday’s fire near Kibbutz Maaleh Hahamisha was ignited by firebomb thrown from Palestinian village of Qatanna [or Bidu] • 10 acres of natural forest burned in the fire, which was brought under control after three hours. By Efrat Forsher Photo credit: Beit Shemesh Fire and Rescue Services
A firefighting aircraft operates over Kibbutz Maaleh Hahamisha, Saturday |
A forest fire erupted Saturday in near Kibbutz Maaleh Hahamisha in the Jerusalem region. This was the third fire to have taken place in the same area in the past week and Israel Police suspect arsonists from a nearby Palestinian village might be responsible for the series of blazes. Due the high temperatures on Saturday, the fire spread quickly and authorities feared it would reach the kibbutz. Guests were evacuated from the kibbutz’s swimming pool. Firefighters from the Beit Shemesh station and four aircraft were called in the battle the fire. A command center was established in the area. After three hours, the commander of the Beit Shemesh fire station announced that the fire had been brought under control. In total, 17 firefighting crews took part in the operation and several teams remained on the scene to prevent a re-ignition of the fire. Meanwhile, arson investigators arrived at the scene and collected evidence. The initial investigation reinforced suspicions that someone deliberately set the fire. The Harel police station in Mevasseret Zion has opened an investigation. Police suspect the fire broke out as a result of firebombs or fireworks thrown from the nearby Palestinian village of Qatanna, located on the other side of the West Bank security fence. Saturday’s fire destroyed about 10 acres of natural forest. “In the past week, around 300 acres of natural forest have gone up in smoke [in the Jerusalem and Mateh Yehuda regions],” Reuven Yitzhak, commander of the Beit Shemesh fire station, said. “In many cases, the fires were intentionally set with firebombs or various other various means.” Authorities suspect arson in Jerusalem forest fire 8.Ramadan is Month of Violence and Hate By Steven Shamrak ShamrakReport@shamrak.com Middle East expert Dr. David Bokai explained that Ramadan is traditionally a month of violence and is the wrong time to offer any kind of gestures to Muslims. “Look at all of the terror attacks in Kuwait, France and here in Israel ,” he explained. “They carry out terror attacks against all of the enemies of Islam. Ramadan is defined as the month of victory. All of the great victories of Mohammed and the expulsion of the Crusaders took place on that month. That is why Ramadan turns into a month of terror and violence worldwide.” Dr. Bokai noted that Israel makes the same mistake every year, regarding Ramadan. “It’s amazing that we don’t learn, and we make gestures for Ramadan every year,” he said. “It drives me mad and makes me nauseous. This is not a month for making gestures, but for placing limitations. When you offer them gestures, you get terror and violence. In this month one should toughen and harden policy.” The imam’s sermons also inflame the spirits, the expert added. “You see people from the middle class upward who are influenced by the sermons at the mosques during Ramadan. After a 20-minute Friday sermon, they leave with a will to slaughter and kill. That is what characterizes Islam – it’s a religion of murder and not of peace. Its culture says that the entire world must be conquered.” Message from ISIS – “Happy Ramadan!” ISIS “Ramadan operations” left at least 209 dead in France, Tunisia and Mid East. In the popular Tunisian resort town of Sousse gunmen killed at least 37 holidaymakers. At least 24 worshippers were killed and 200 injured after Friday prayer in Kuwait by a suicide bomber. In the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani ISIS forces executed 146 Syrians. Two men waving ISIS flags and shouting Islamist slogans rammed a car triggering a large explosion at an American-owned liquid gas factory near the southern French city of Grenoble . Around 200 people were killed, Egyptian troops, Islamist attackers and civilian, in the fierce ten-hour battle. Muslims Massacred by Boko Haram Boko Haram fighters have gunned down at least 80 Muslims praying in mosques in a northeastern Nigerian town during the holy month of Ramadan. Cancel Ramadan Exemptions Naftali Bennett expressed deep concern over the recent wave of terror attacks against Israelis, sending a message to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he must cancel eased restrictions on Palestinians for the month of Ramadan. When Deadline Becomes Endless ‘Moment of Truth’ “We have our own sense of deadline,” said the US Secretary of State John Kerry. Negotiators here in the Austrian capital are brushing aside the practice of setting hard deadlines in their pursuit of a comprehensive (means fake) nuclear agreement with Iran (two years gone the negotiations – no real progress is made). They have now resolved to stay in Vienna until the deal is done. “We did not set any deadline,” said Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. Food for Thought by Steven Shamrak When national pride and sovereignty is involved, most countries ignore international opinion – China is defying international opinion and accelerating building of its artificial islands; Russia is still occupying Sothern Ossetia and Abkhazia, ignores outcries against annexation of Crimea and is sending arms and military personal to Eastern Ukraine! Only Israel is unable to shake off the ‘galut’ mentality and is conducting probes and investigations after endless and deliberately anti-Semitic international false accusations. It is time to learn how to ignore them and reunite Jewish land, Eretz-Israel. Our enemies are not interested in peace, only in destruction of the Jewish state! Israel Funds Enemies of State! Nationalist activist notes a paradox as national service directorate gives funds to radical leftist NGOs defaming Israel but not defenders of Israel . NGOs such as B’Tselem and Breaking the Silence were found to have been key sources in providing allegedly false claims against the IDF in the UN report. Hamas is Readying for Another War Head of the Israel Security Agency (ISA or Shin Bet/Shabak) Yoram Cohen warned the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that Hamas is already prepared to launch another terror war against Israel, just a year on from last summer’s war with Israel. Gaza will be Part of ISIS Caliphate Salafists in the Gaza Strip plan to officially pledge allegiance to ISIS and openly fight under its banner. The news immediately followed the release of a video from ISIS insurgents in Syria threatening to turn the Gaza Strip into another one of their Middle East territories and accusing Gaza’s Hamas rulers of selling out Islamic values. The Vatican Remains Deeply anti-Semitic After recognizing PA as a ‘state,’ Pope Francis’s supposedly apolitical Vatican signs a treaty, covering the life and activity of the Church in Judea and Samaria, with ‘Palestine’ before it does so with Israel. In contrast to its rush to sign accords with the PA, the Vatican has had diplomatic relations with Israel since 1993 but has yet to conclude an accord on the Church’s rights in the Jewish state which has been under discussion since 1999. Is Bombing Iran still an Option? The US Air Force has conducted at least three trial runs of a bombing campaign against Iran ‘s nuclear facilities last year. That report noted that B-2s carrying the bomb had taken off from an Air Force base in Missouri . President Obama has repeatedly said “all options are on the table” to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. (Does he really mean it?) Erdogan Against Kurdish State in Syria Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey will never allow the establishment of a Kurdish state in Syria. In a strong-worded warning, Erdogan accused the Kurds of ethnically cleansing other communities (Turkey still has not apologized for ethnical cleansing Turkey of Armenians, Greeks and Kurds a hundred years ago!) from land they have taken after pushing back Islamic State forces from the Turkish border. (He supports the creation a state of the fake people, Palestinians, by action or inaction aids ISIS, but is against creation of Kurdistan for the nation of almost 35 million – what a hypocrisy!) Anti-Israel Position of Orange is Clear Now Telecoms giant Orange announced it is ending its presence in Israel , after agreeing to pay the Israeli mobile phone operator Partner Communications approximately $88 million to sever ties between the two companies and take control of its brand in Israel. Tunisia to Shutter 80 Mosques Tunisia plans within a week to close down 80 mosques that remain outside state control for inciting violence, as a countermeasure after the hotel attack that killed dozens. Tunisia, which has been hailed as a model of democratic transition since its 2011 ‘Arab Spring’ uprising, is one of the most secular countries in the Arab world. But the country has also struggled with the rise of Islamist movements (Almost 3,000 Tunisians joined ISIS) as ultra-conservative preachers took advantage of the upheaval and young democracy to take over mosques. (As the first step toward fight against the Islamic State the Western democracies can follow Tunisia and close Islamic hate centres!) Quote of the Week: “The great powers had photographs of the railway routes that the trains took to the concentration camps, like Auschwitz, to kill the Jews, and also the Christians, and also the Roma, also the homosexuals. Tell me, why didn’t they bomb those railroad routes?” – Pope Francis – Jews have been asking this question since the end of WW2. All international anti-Jewish bigots, including USA, were complacent in the genocide. Before the war “the great powers” blocked the escape of Jews from Europe, after the war they facilitated escape of many Nazis from justice! This particular Papal statement was largely ignored or convoluted/hidden by international media . Almost immediately, the Pope recognized Palestine – this is hypocrisy! Good, Bad and Ugly anti-Semites by Steven Shamrak. Dear human beings. It has become apparent that a phenomena of anti-Semitism – in its old and modern forms – is on the rise again. At the same time, according to one of the EU directors there is “a problem with the definition of anti-Semitism” For that reason, I would like to focus on the definition of the people who subscribe, perform and propagate anti-Semitism. They are three types of anti-Semites: 1. Good anti-Semites: They express freely their prejudicial feelings toward Jews. I admire people who have an opinion and openly express it, regardless of their political inclinations. I welcome and respect any opinion, even if it is based on lack of factual knowledge. When an opinion is expressed it is opened for discussion. Discussions facilitate growth and change for the better. 2. Bad anti-Semites: They actually act on their prejudicial belief system. They paint graffiti, smash Jewish tombstones, break windows in Synagogues or even sacrifice themselves in suicide attacks. The rule of law must be indiscriminately applied to any act of violence against individuals, organizations and government institutions regardless of their political, racial or religious affiliation! 3. Ugly anti-Semites: They are the worst kind. Many of them are, seemingly, nice people. They could be beggars or multi-billionaires, your neighbours or Prime Ministers. Most of them are nice, polite and very illusive. They are quiet when their voice must be raised but vocal when it is not. The silence facilitates the rise of any ugly discrimination and prejudice, not just anti-Semitism. Only simple human decency and intolerance to ugly ‘killer silence’ can stop the sickening circle of hate. Dear Friends, the aim of this weekly editorial letter is to present Jewish point of view on Arab-Israel conflict and to motivate Jewish people and our true friends to uphold ideals and inspirations of traditional Zionism – Jewish National independence movement. This editorial is not sponsored by or affiliated with any government, political party or organization. Support Shamrak Report Recommend Reading: Modern History of Palestine in Maps; The Palestinian Mandate – Legalised Robbery; Who are so-called Palestinians?; Arab-Israel Conflict – Forgotten Facts!; Why Israel is Suspicious of United Nations?; The War on Terror – Containment Plan; The Sinai Option: Road to Permanent Peace! Presented by www.shamrak.com 9.Israel: Concessions will pave way to Iranian bomb |
World powers and Iran reportedly draft document of pace and timing of sanctions relief • PM Benjamin Netanyahu: With each passing day, concessions by world powers to Iran are growing • “This is a bad deal, even worse than the North Korea deal,” PM says. Erez Linn, Shlomo Cesana, Israel Hayom Staff and Associated Press 
Photo credit: AP
| Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses his cabinet, Sunday | | | |
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“What’s coming out of the nuclear talks in Vienna is not a breakthrough, it’s a breakdown,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the start of Sunday’s cabinet meeting, amidst concerning reports, citing diplomats involved in the matter, that world powers and Iran have drawn up a draft document on the pace and timing of sanctions relief for Iran in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program. “With each passing day, the concessions from the powers to Iran are growing,” Netanyahu said. “The emerging deal will pave Iran’s path to the production of cores for many atomic bombs. Also, billions of dollars will flow to Iran which it will use to fund its aggression and terror campaign, both in the region and throughout the world. This is a bad deal, worse, in my opinion, than the deal with North Korea, which led to North Korea getting a nuclear arsenal.” Written by technical experts, the sanctions relief document still must be approved by senior officials of the seven nations at the table, including U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and the foreign ministers of the five other countries expected to join Kerry and Zarif in Vienna this weekend for a push to meet a July 7 deadline. The development indicated the sides were moving closer to a comprehensive accord that would set a decade of restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for tens of billions of dollars in economic benefits for Iran. Officials had described sanctions relief as one of the thorniest disagreements between Iran and the United States, which has led the campaign of international pressure against Iran’s economy. The diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly on this past week’s confidential negotiations, said the sanctions annex was completed this week by experts from Iran and the six world powers in the negotiations: the United States, Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia. They did not provide details of the agreement. A senior U.S. official did not dispute the diplomats’ account but said work remained to be done on Annex II before the issue could be described as finalized. And beyond a political agreement that was still in the draft stage, details also needed to be finalized on tough issues contained in four other appendices. They include inspection guidelines, rules governing Iran’s research and development of advanced nuclear technology and the nuts and bolts of reducing the size and output of Iran’s uranium enrichment program. Israel has been watching the ongoing talks between Iran and world powers with a wary eye. On Saturday, an official from the Prime Minister’s Office said the concessions being offered would “pave the way for Iran to get an arsenal of nuclear weapons within a decade — if it keeps to the deal.” If Iran were to violate the terms of the deal, it could get nuclear weapons in even a shorter time period, the official noted. As part of a final deal, the Obama administration also wants Iran to fully cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency’s investigation of allegations that Iran worked secretly on nuclear arms — something Iran vehemently denies. But chances of progress on that issue appear to be dimming. IAEA chief Yukiya Amano told reporters on Saturday that “more work will be needed” to advance the probe, in a statement similar to previous ones from his agency, which has struggled for nearly a decade to resolve its concerns. While saying he could wrap up his investigation by the end of the year, Amano said he needs Iran’s cooperation to do so. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said after Thursday’s meeting in Tehran with Amano that the agency now understands that the “pointless allegations” are “baseless.” Iranian officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have made repeated demands for economic penalties to be lifted shortly after a deal is reached. Washington and its partners have said they’d take action after Iran verifiably complies with restrictions on enrichment and other elements of the nuclear program. Much of the negotiation on the matter has concerned sequencing, so that both sides can legitimately claim to have gotten their way. Several other matters related to sanctions also had posed problems. The Obama administration cannot move too quickly to remove economic penalties because of Congress, which will have a 30-day review period for any agreement during which no sanctions can be waived. American officials also had been struggling to separate the “nuclear-related” sanctions it is prepared to suspend from those it wishes to keep, including measures designed to counteract Iranian ballistic missile efforts, human rights violations and support for U.S.-designated terrorist organizations. And to keep pressure on Iran, world powers had been hoping to finalize a system for snapping suspended sanctions back into force if Iran cheats on the accord. Russia has traditionally opposed any plan that would see them lose their U.N. veto power and a senior Russian negotiator said only this week that his government rejected any automatic “snapback” of sanctions. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential front-runner for 2016, said on Saturday she remained hopeful the U.S. could reach a “strong verifiable deal” to curb Iran’s nuclear weapons program by next week’s deadline. Clinton made the statement at a Fourth of July campaign organizing event at a house party in Glen in northern New Hampshire. “I’m hoping it’s a strong, verifiable deal that will put the lid on Iran’s nuclear weapons ambitions,” Clinton said. “Even if we are successful, however, Iran’s aggressiveness will not end.” As President Barack Obama’s secretary of state from 2009 to 2013, Clinton helped set in motion the talks that are nearing completion in Vienna. The proposal has been assailed by Republican presidential candidates who say it does not go far enough to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, setting up a potential foreign policy clash in the election campaign. Clinton said Iran ramped up its nuclear capabilities during President George W. Bush’s two terms, building covert facilities and intimidating its neighbors. “The Bush administration’s response through diplomacy was somewhat half-hearted,” Clinton said, adding the “only response” was leveling punitive sanctions on Iran. Once Obama entered the White House, “we inherited an Iranian nuclear weapons program and we had to figure out what we were going to do about it,” Clinton said. An agreement, however, would not be a cure-all, she said. “Just because we get the nuclear deal, if we can get it done, doesn’t mean we’re going to be able to be breathing a big sigh of relief,” Clinton said. In a speech at Dartmouth University on Friday, Clinton said that even if a deal is reached, “we will still have major problems from Iran.” “They are the world’s chief sponsor of terrorism,” Clinton said. “They use proxies like Hezbollah to sow discord and to create insurgencies, to destabilize governments. They are taking more and more control of a number of nations in the region and they pose an existential threat to Israel. “So even if we are successful on the nuclear front, we still are going to have to turn our attention to working with our partners to try to rein in and prevent this continuing Iranian aggressiveness.” Israel: Concessions will pave way to Iranian bomb |
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10.Who’s to blame for West’s capitulation? 
by Dr. Haim Shine
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s detractors in the Israeli media are gearing up for a nuclear deal between Iran and world powers. They already know that if such an agreement is signed, it will surely be an “absolute failure” for Netanyahu. They don’t care about the imminent danger to the state of Israel once the West caves. To them there is no significance to the threat such a deal would pose to all of Western civilization. All they care about is licking their fingers in satisfaction while blaming Netanyahu. To Netanyahu’s credit, it is important to keep in mind that he was the first and only leader to recognize the threat of a terrorist state armed with nuclear weapons. He warned about the Iranian danger from every possible stage, in Israel and around the world. Just like many times in the past, world leaders chose to bury their heads in the sand and regard the Iranian bomb as a childish toy. All the while, Israel was ready to confront the Iranian threat by itself. After all, any responsible Israeli leader would have to agree that when Iran declares its wish to destroy Israel with nuclear weapons, its threats must be taken seriously. It was only when the world realized that Israel was serious about stopping Iran that any actual measures were taken. The sanctions that were imposed could have hindered the nuclear race. But unfortunately, toward the end of his second term, U.S. President Barack Obama decided that his legacy and his containment are more important than the risk, and thus began the embarrassing capitulation to Tehran. The U.S. is tired. It no longer has the will or energy to fight. Obama and the representatives of the world powers have decided, as it currently appears, to turn the West into a red Persian carpet, leading the Iranian ayatollahs directly toward a nuclear bomb. The outcome: An agreement of capitulation is about to be signed. The culprit: As always in the Israeli media — Benjamin Netanyahu. How sad that there are leaders in the world who know everything about what will be but lack the basic understanding and perspective of everything that was. Obama’s current capitulation is reminiscent of another embarrassing act of submission on that fateful night of September 30, 1938 when Neville Chamberlain, then the prime minister of Britain, and then-French Prime Minister Édouard Daladier signed the Munich Agreement with Adolf Hitler — an embarrassing settlement permitting Nazi Germany’s annexation of portions of Czechoslovakia. Upon his return to the United Kingdom, Chamberlain gave an impassioned speech to an enthusiastic crowd, waving the agreement and declaring that he had achieved “peace for our time.” Many lauded the agreement, including the American president and the pope. Chamberlain’s popularity skyrocketed. Only Winston Churchill called out from the opposition: “You were given the choice between war and dishonor. You chose dishonor and you will have war.” Attributing the horrible failure inherent in the nuclear agreement with Iran to Netanyahu is like blaming Churchill for the Munich Agreement. In Britain this would never happen. British integrity is also manifested in the British media. It is this type of integrity that the Israeli media so sorely lacks. |
Who is to blame for West’s capitulation? by Dr. Haim Shine | |
11.US surrenders without a fight 
by Dr. Haim Shine
The United States, the strongest power in world history, is lowering its flag and surrendering without a fight to a brutal and vicious Iranian regime. If you look closely, you can see tears falling from the eyes of the Statue of Liberty. The decline of the West is turning into a fait accompli. Western civilization has chosen to eat, drink and reach dubious deals, no matter what the consequences. Human history would never forget the fiasco of U.S. President Barack Obama, Secretary of State John Kerry and their friends signing a deal that enabled a terrorist state to get its hands on nuclear weapons and endanger the peace of the entire world. An unprecedented nightmare would come true if Islamic terror was to machine gun-armed pickup trucks to missiles armed with nuclear warheads. Only complete fools would think real inspections could be conducted at Iranian nuclear facilities. Iran’s deception capabilities are far more sophisticated than inspectors or spy technology. The emerging nuclear deal will permit the Iranians to build a nuclear bomb with world’s backing. No one will be able to get in Iran’s way and any complaints about the damage caused by a nuclear Iran will be forwarded to a friendly retired president relaxing somewhere in the U.S. The sanctions on Iran brought it to the negotiating table and had a decisive impact on its conduct. It would be foolish to lift the sanctions instead of increasing pressure and bringing Iran to its knees. In the current global reality, particularly at the U.N. Security Council, sanctions that are lifted will never be imposed again. Iranian negotiators are laughing out loud at the Americans who have no clue on how to do business at a Middle Eastern bazaar. Lifting the sanctions would allow Iran to send its emissaries around the world into action, including against American and European targets. Billions of dollars will oil the wheels of the Islamic revolution and let it continue to draw the blood of innocent people. It is a given that those who avoid the fight against terrorism will eventually surrender to it. When will the world realize that Islamic terrorism is not just Israel’s problem and that a nuclear Iran would not just endanger the Jews? During this time period when we mourn the destruction of the Jewish temples, it is important to reiterate — never again. Like always, we have no one but ourselves to rely on. And those who believe are not afraid. |
US surrenders without a fight by Dr. Haim Shine test |
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