Dear Family & Friends,

All the very best, G’mar Hatima Tova! Gail/Geula/Savta/Savta Raba x 2/Mom

Another reminder of tonight’s special

Inauguration of the National Kupah.

BS”D

Inauguration of the National Kupah

You are cordially invited to participate in the renewal of an old-new path which will engage every single Jew in Israel and the world by virtue of their donations to the National Kupah. Like the JNF’s Little Blue Box from the last century, our “Little Box” will serve as a tool that will unify the nation in its redemption of the Land of Israel.

The event will take place B”H this Monday, 8 Tishrei, September 21 at 18:30 at the Ganei Yerushalayim Hotel, #4 Zeev Vilnai, Kiryat Moshe, Jerusalem.

(Adjacent to the Renaissance Hotel)

With the participation of

Yisrael Katz, Minister of Transportation

Uri Ariel, Minister of Agriculture

Rabbis, MKs, Public Figures, and members of the Youth Movements

On the evening we will together call for a national mobilization to redeem Eretz Yisrael. To redeem lands and houses, to establish new communities, to pursue large-scale hasbara, and to educate a new generation of pioneers.

With Blessings – AlohNa’Aleh

1.The era of ‘Secular’ Israeli Jews is over By Dov Lipman

2. Netanyahu on Jerusalem: We’ll Harm Whomever Tries to Harm Us

3.ADL: UN Turns Blind Eye to Arab Violence in Jerusalem Holy Sites

4. Arlene Kushner “A Howl of Fury” September 20, 2015

5.Israel: UN is ‘ignoring Palestinian violence’ on Temple Mount

1.The era of ‘Secular’ Israeli Jews is over By Dov Lipman, TOI

Eran Zahavi

Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer team took the field at the famed Stamford Bridge Stadium in London to play Chelsea. I was excited to see an Israeli team playing in the Champions League for the first time in many years but was even more intrigued to see an Israeli team on the field in London with a few thousand Maccabi fans waving Israel flags sitting in the same stadium with England’s famed soccer fanatics.

I was not in any way prepared for what transpired seconds before the match began. The camera feed was not especially geared for Israeli consumption but was, rather, the primary feed provided by the football association. It zoomed in on Maccabi’s star player Eran Zahavi who placed his left hand on top of his head, his right hand over his eyes, and very clearly recited the “Shema” prayer.
That’s right. Standing at midfield in front of 26,000 British fans, 4,000 Maccabi fans, and hundreds of thousands more on television, the best Israeli player on the field said “Hear oh Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.”

It shook me to the core and reminded me, once again, that despite the divisions that exist between the religious and secular populations in Israel, there is so much that unites us.

Even more significantly, it reminded me of the lesson I have repeatedly learned since becoming involved in politics and, especially, since joining the Yesh Atid party – that the term “secular Jew” is a real misnomer and it is time to stop using it for the majority of Israelis who may not strive to observe all the commandments. They don’t necessarily lead lives that are as ritually committed as in the religious community but they are far from being secular.

There is an entire population in Israel that lights candles on Friday night, sanctifies the Sabbath day with the recital of Kiddush over a cup of wine, fasts on Yom Kippur, holds a Seder and does not eat leavened bread on Passover, and much more – including reciting the Shema prayer before a soccer match.

This lesson was on full display last Sunday in a banquet hall tucked away in the industrial zone of Hefer Valley in the Sharon region of central Israel. In that hall, more than 100 “secular” Israelis volunteered to serve a Rosh Hashanah meal to 300 Holocaust survivors who have no family nor the wherewithal to enjoy a festive holiday meal.

These “secular” Jews, members of the Yesh Atid party’s Young Adult Branch, thought of the idea, raised the money, and organized the event — including all the complicated transportation logistics — to provide a few hours of happiness and Jewish New Year joy for these senior citizens who have suffered so greatly in their lives. Secular? Can there be a more religious act than this?

I will never forget the moment when the most “secular” member of the Bet Shemesh city council who was fighting for cultural attractions to be open on Friday night in the city told me that we can meet as early in the morning as I want during the month of September because he woke up at 4:00 a.m. every day to recite the Selichot special prayers that are recited leading up to the High Holidays. The city’s religious city council members bash him for being secular and for his secular agenda. But he wakes up at 4:00 a.m. every morning for an entire month to pray to God for forgiveness and a good new year.

I will never forget the moment when at a social gathering of Yesh Atid Knesset members, our host, former Finance Minister MK Yair Lapid, asked us all to stand in a circle and invited a well-known musician to the middle of the circle, and we stood there as a group and sang “Adon Olam” – the prayer which declares God as Master of the World and the only force we can ultimately rely upon for assistance. The ultra-Orthodox leaders and media bash Yair Lapid and the Yesh Atid party for being secular and for what they call the party’s “anti-religious” agenda. And there the party stood singing and proclaiming the majesty of God.

It is clear that with the exception of a very small minority of non-believers, most “secular” Israelis hold to traditional Jewish beliefs and practice a traditional form of Judaism. The era of “secular” Israeli Jews is over and recognizing this will help us take the crucial first step towards the fulfillment of what should be our ultimate goal: an Israel in which levels of religious observance and piety are between each person and God, and in which we don’t have a compulsion to identify what type of Jew we are but can simply be “Jews.”

Police arrest a suspect in Jabel Mukaber, on Friday, September 18, 2015 Photo Credit: Hadas Parush/Flash90

(JNi.media) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu On Sunday convened a special discussion regarding the continued tensions in Jerusalem. At the outset, Netanyahu said that “stones and Molotov cocktails are lethal weapons, they kill and they have killed, so in recent days we have changed the rules of engagement for police in Jerusalem.” According to the Prime Minister, “This weekend, security forces have already used the new measures under the new directives, and struck the stone throwers and Molotov cocktail throwers.” Netanyahu added that “today we will allow further expansion of the ability of police to act in foiling the throwing of stones and Molotov cocktails. Whomever tries to harm us, we’ll hit him.”

Overnight Police arrested four Palestinians, including two minors, on suspicion of disturbances in Jerusalem. In total, 27 Arabs suspected of throwing stones and petrol bombs in the capital have been arrested.

Late Saturday night, Israeli forces fractured the skull of a stone-throwing 13-year-old Arab with a rubber-coated steel bullet in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of al-Issawiya, medics at al-Maqasid hospital told Ma’an. Witnesses told Ma’an the clashes broke out when police entered the neighborhood with arrest warrants, picking up two young Arabs. Five more Arabs were arrested, including two minors.

An Israeli police spokesperson Micky Rosenfeld tweeted on Saturday evening: “Police units continue patrolling neighborhoods in Jerusalem to prevent incidents. In Isawiah stones thrown at officers, 7 suspects arrested.”

An IDF officer was injured on Sunday, during stone-throwing riots on the road connecting Tjoa and Har Homa in Gush Etzion, just outside Jerusalem. The officer was evacuated to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem with a possible fracture.

An Arab woman was arrested for questioning Sunday after she attacked police and tried to attack an Israeli civilian near the Chain Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem. At the same time, an Israeli citizen was detained for violating the rules concerning visiting the Temple Mount. Jerusalem District Police said that some 500 visitors have entered the Temple Mount, including 350 tourists.

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and top ministers expected to instate harsher penalties, approve use of live fire against rock throwers and firebombers • Culture minister proposes stripping rock throwers and their parents of state benefits. By Shlomo Cesana, Gideon Allon & Israel Hayom Staff

Ahead of a meeting in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his top ministers were expected to approve using live fire to deter rock throwing and firebombs, the prime minister said, “Rocks and firebombs are lethal weapons. They kill, and have killed. That is why in recent days we have changed the police’s rules of engagement in Jerusalem.”

Speaking at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu went on to say that the use of live fire had already been implemented in certain parts of Jerusalem, where violence has flared up over recent days. “Over the weekend, the police used new tools and abided by new directives, hitting rock throwers and firebombers,” he said.

“We will further expand the police’s freedom of conduct to prevent rock throwing and firebombing, and we will deploy more forces under the simple principle that we uphold within our borders: We will hurt anyone who tries to hurt us,” he declared.

“We have begun to expedite legislation to impose fines on the parents of minors who throw rocks and firebombs,” he added.

Netanyahu also mentioned the proposal to instate minimum sentences, saying, “We cannot accept the fact that in Jerusalem, our capital, or in any part of the State of Israel, people organize popular terrorism and throw rocks and firebombs on passing vehicles. This norm will not be permitted to take hold here. We will instate the opposite norm — we will stop you while you attack; we will punish you to the fullest extent of the law after you attack. This is the norm that we will provide to all the citizens, residents and judges in Israel. With all due respect to the courts, it is our right and our duty to determine this norm, the way we did with sexual offenses.”

Following the cabinet meeting, the prime minister was scheduled to meet with the defense, public security and justice ministers as well as representatives of the attorney general’s office and the security forces to discuss the new deterrence measures.

In previous meetings on the topic, the attorney general approved the use of Ruger sniper rifles in Jerusalem. The use of the rifles has already been implemented in specific areas where a threat to human life was determined.

The Ruger rifle is well suited to quell violence because it causes less damage than other live fire weapons. But after the riots in 2000, its use was discontinued outside Judea and Samaria. In Sunday’s meeting, the ministers were expected to rework the existing rules of engagement involving live fire, allowing more leeway.

Under the new regulations, police officers will be allowed to use live fire in situations that pose a threat to civilians. Rock throwing and firebombs will now officially fall under the category of “threat” thereby permitting the use of live fire in situations where rocks or firebombs are used.

In another initiative, the ministers wish to impose hefty fines on the parents of minors apprehended while throwing rocks. Another memorandum proposes heavy minimum sentences for such crimes.

Meanwhile, as both the Jewish Yom Kippur holiday and the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday approach, the Israel Police deployed operational units across Jerusalem and boosted its presence in volatile neighborhoods in the city. A joint police-Shin Bet security agency task force has been established for the purpose of gathering intelligence and conducting interrogations.

Culture minister proposes stripping benefits from rock throwers

Culture Minister Miri Regev plans to promote legislation that would strip Arabs caught throwing rocks or firebombs of their national insurance stipends. Regev, who was expected to present her proposal to Netanyahu and senior ministers on Sunday, also seeks to revoke the benefits of the culprits’ parents in the event of the conviction of a minor.

“The situation in Jerusalem has become very serious and dangerous,” Regev said Saturday. “Terrorism compromises the safety of the city’s residents as well as their sense of security. This must be stopped by way of harsh deterrence measures. Most of the rock throwers and firebombers today are minors who are indoctrinated. The existing penalties for minors are very limited, and they take advantage of that. From now on, the parents will take responsibility for the terrorist actions of their children.

“On the eve of the [Rosh Hashanah] holiday, we were painfully reminded that rocks can kill. It is unfathomable that murderers and their families receive national insurance benefits from the state. The government of Israel needs to promise the family of Alexander Levlovich that their tax money isn’t funding the families of rock-throwing terrorists. It is time to put an end to this farce. People who hurt Israel and its citizens in any way will not get any kind of support. I plan to present this legislation to the cabinet, to all the relevant ministries, as quickly as possible. I expect the Zionist parties in the opposition to vote in favor of this law.”

3.ADL: UN Turns Blind Eye to Arab Violence in Jerusalem Holy Sites

By: JNi.Media

Published: September 20th, 2015

Israeli Border Guard Police officer injured by Arabs hurling rocks, bottles, and other weapons at the Temple Mount. (July 2015)

(JNi.media) The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on Saturday said it was appalled by a blatantly one-sided statement of the UN Security Council regarding recent tensions around the Temple Mount compound, which ignored the holiness of the site to Jews and “turned a blind eye” to Muslim violence and the anti-Semitic invective from Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

The September 18 UNSC statement refers to the site only by its Muslim name, the Haram Al-Sharif, and says that Muslim worshippers must “be allowed to worship in peace, free from violence, threats and provocation.” The does not mention the religious significance of the site to Jews and, according to the ADL, ignores the violence and provocation being perpetrated by Arabs against Israeli security forces and Jewish and other non-Muslim visitors, including the stockpiling of pipe bombs and stones inside the Muslim compound.

According to the ADL, the PA leadership has exacerbated tensions for years regarding the Temple Mount, inciting violence, falsely alleging Israeli conspiracies, and all the while diminishing or denying the Jewish connection to Jerusalem. The ADL statement recalled that only last week, Chairman Abbas said, “Al-Aksa is ours and so is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. They have no right to desecrate them with their filthy feet. We won’t allow them to do so and we will do whatever we can to defend Jerusalem.”

“We are greatly concerned by increasing tensions in Jerusalem on the Temple Mount/Noble Sanctuary site, holy to Jews and Muslims, and support the continued efforts of Israel’s political and religious leadership to appeal for calm and ensure that the ‘status quo’ – which accommodates both Jews and Muslims and has been in place since 1967 – be maintained,” said Jonathan A. Greenblatt, ADL National Director.

“The UN Security Council had the opportunity to address the reality of this difficult and potentially explosive situation, including through directly appealing for an end to the blatant Palestinian incitement and violence, but instead, the Council turned a blind eye by disregarding the context and presented this complex issue as one directed only at Muslim worshippers at a Muslim holy site. We fear that unfortunately this will serve to encourage not just one-sided narratives, but also anti-Jewish and anti-Israel incitement and action on this most sensitive and holy space.”

Greenblatt added. “We urge the United States and responsible voices in the international community to condemn the violence and call for an end to the incendiary statements by President Abbas and others which is tinged with anti-Semitism.”

4. Arlene Kushner “A Howl of Fury” September 20, 2015

Nothing less will do…

Five days since the end of Rosh Hashana – which had been for me a time of spiritual high, offering a sense of my place in the world. How badly I had wanted to hold on to that high.

I knew, of course, that there was violence on Har Habayit (the Temple Mount) over Rosh Hashana, violence that had actually begun before Rosh Hashana and then quickly spread to Muslim areas of the Old City of Jerusalem.

The violence was sparked when a decision was made by Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon to block entry to the Mount by the Murabitun and Murabatat: male and female Islamist, which gathered on the Mount daily to intimidate and shout at Jewish visitors. They have been paid by Hamas to do this.

Here is a video from last year that provides a particularly painful illustration of what has been going on. Jewish fathers peacefully guiding their children, set upon by screeching Arabs and needing the protection of Israeli police at every step:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04gsDf8qTAI

Know! Please, that this obscenity, this outrage, had been occurring – not only regularly, but with increasing frequency and growing intensity.

The statement from Ya’alon’s office stated that he was convinced that barring these troublemakers was necessary to protect national security and public order. The Islamist groups’ activities “create a central component in the creation of tension and violence on the Temple Mount in particular, and Jerusalem in general.”
Ya’alon described the radicals as engaging in “dangerous incitement” against tourists, visitors and worshipers on the Temple Mount, which leads to violence and could put lives at risk.
“The Murabitun and Murabatat’s goal is to undermine Israeli sovereignty on the Temple Mount, change the reality and the existing arrangements, and harm freedom of worship. They are linked to hostile Islamist organizations and are directed by them.” (Emphasis added)

http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Riots-breaks-out-on-Jerusalems-Temple-Mount-for-third-straight-day-416198

Many of us breathed a sigh of relief when this announcement was made, for the harassment had gone on all too long.

I want to emphasize the importance of what is playing out here. You do not have to be a fervently religious Jew who believes there will be a Third Temple on the Mount one day in order to grasp the deep significance of what it taking place: The challenge to Jews on the Temple Mount is meant to delegitimize Israel’s presence, to deny Jewish historical rights to their most sacred place. Drive Jews off of the Mount, and you have weakened Israel’s position.

Radical groups have long used invented threats to the al Aksa mosque on the Mount as a way of inciting Arabs against Jews. It is a flash point.

And so, when these particular radical groups were banned, equally radical masked Muslim young men began to stockpile rocks, fireworks and pipe bombs in their precious al Aksa mosque, intent on making trouble on the Jewish holiday. Their goal was to prevent Jews from coming up to the Mount over Rosh Hashana.

Credit: Ammar Awad/Reuters

They made trouble, indeed. Even border police were attacked. But it was contained: police used non-lethal methods and drove the rioters back into the mosque, where they were blocked in. And so, Jews were permitted up over the holiday. I was glad to learn this, when the holiday was over and I was again accessing the news (no radio, no TV, no computer over the holiday).

I think it’s particularly important to make sure that everyone understands that while the Muslims proclaim their religious devotion to the site, they are ready to use it for purposes of violence. Said Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan (Likud), the rioters have turned the compound into a “warehouse of terror.”

Credit: Flash 90

What is more, charged Erdan, “I deeply regret the incitement and lies that the PA [headed by Mahmoud Abbas] and Arab MKs have spread about the Temple Mount.”

Note this: Arab members of our own Knesset participate in the lies. No surprise to those in the know about the political situation – but it must be pointed out.

The violent mayhem resulted in one Jewish death late Sunday night. Alexander Levlovitz, returning from a Rosh Hashana dinner, was bombarded by rocks thrown at his car in the East Talpiot neighborhood of Jerusalem. He lost control of his vehicle, which ran into a ditch and hit a pole. He died of his injuries in the hospital early Monday morning.

Credit: Arik Abulof/ Jerusalem Fire & Rescue Services/Courtesy

On Tuesday night, after the close of Rosh Hashana, Prime Minister Netanyahu called a security meeting in his office. On Wednesday, speaking of a new level of deterrence, he announced:

“We are changing policy. The existing situation is unacceptable and we intend to give the tools – to both soldiers and policemen – to take very severe action against the rock throwers and fire bomb throwers.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/200708#.Vf7wHpsVjIW

That process has begun, but is not yet fully in place, particularly with respect to when live fire may be used against those throwing rocks and firebombs. The greatest concern is with regard to firebombs or rocks deliberately thrown at moving cars. It must be considered that when this is done, the perpetrator had an intent to kill.

The violence continued through the end of last week, with “day of rage” in Jerusalem called by Arab radicals on Friday.

A number of steps were taken by Israeli security in anticipation of this – including the calling up of 800 Border Police reservists. And still there was violence, with three police officers wounded. I believe an expanded contingent of Border Police will be retained in Jerusalem.

Today, according to Twitter, a rock (more like a boulder) was thrown through the window of a car, barely missing the baby within: [Picture missing]

I have no additional information.

There is a great deal being said about the “status quo” on the Temple Mount, with the Arabs claiming that Israel wants to change it and permit Jewish prayer, while Netanyahu insists that he will retain it.

This requires clarification.

The “status quo,” my friends, is grossly unfair to Jews (and other non-Muslims): Muslims have entry to the Mount all of the time (unless that entry is curtailed because of a security threat). Non-Muslims (Jews, Christians and others) have very limited access – Mon. through Thursday, three hours in the morning, one in the afternoon. Muslims have 10 gates by which to enter, non-Muslims have only the Mughrabi gate. Besides stockpiling stones, and playing soccer (I am not joking), Muslims can freely pray on the Mount. Jews and Christians cannot. They come only as “tourists.”

Talk about a howl of fury!

Now the Arabs are afraid Jews might start praying on the Mount. In point of fact, the High Court of Israel said Jews do have the right to pray there, but with a proviso. If the police determine that their praying might cause a security risk, they have the right to forbid it.

And so, the police forbid it routinely, because it is guaranteed that there will be “unrest” if the Arabs see Jews praying. Easier to deprive Jews of the right to pray at their holiest site, than to cope with a riot.

I have long wished that once the High Court had delivered its ruling it would have been put into practice: Jews should have been permitted to pray, and whatever was needed to control the riot that would have ensued should have been done. They would have gotten the message.

But that’s not what we have now, and our prime minister says he will retain that current policy – he insists that Jews, while not praying, be allowed to go up.

This week, Mahmoud Abbas said that Muslim blood shed for the Temple Mount is “pure”:

”…we are all here for the sake of Jerusalem, and I tell you frankly, a Palestinian state without Jerusalem will never be. The Palestinian state must have holy East Jerusalem as its capital, its capital which was occupied in 1967. All their steps, all these divisions – we will not allow them. Al-Aqsa is ours, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is ours, it is all ours. They [Jews] have no right to defile them with their filthy feet, and we will not allow them.”

http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=68442

Dore Gold, Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, responded thus:

”Today the world is divided between those trying to undermine religious coexistence and those trying to protect it. By saying that the ‘filthy feet’ of Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount desecrate it, Mahmoud Abbas has now clarified on which side he stands.”

His point is of major significance: There are those, frightened by the violence, who claim we have to give the Muslims who are rioting “hope,” via negotiations for a “two state solution.”

Garbage.

Mark it well: They do not want to share with us, they want us gone.

There have been multiple suggestions regarding building of a synagogue on one corner of the Mount, which is very large. Or alternating hours, with Jews up some times and Muslims others. There is a model for this at the Machpelah (Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hevron). But they will have none of it because they want us gone.

It is to be expected, of course, but it is an unacceptable state of affairs none-the-less: Agents and governments in many quarters take that familiar ‘even-handed’ approach, advising both parties to “avoid escalating tensions.” As if actions to quell violence are on a par with the violence itself. As if there is no reason to call out the raging Muslims on their behavior, or to defend the rights of Jews.

In some cases fingers are pointed at the Israelis. The king of Jordan is especially good at this along with the PA.

Such is the world. A world in which we are required to stand very very strong.

Yom Kippur, our day of greatest sanctity, begins at sundown on Tuesday. I do not know if I will post again before that. The days between Rosh Hashana are meant for contemplation and meditation and prayer.

Tomorrow I will be attending classes in preparation for Yom Kippur with two of my favorite teachers.

I took the time to write this because it is necessary to set the record straight. Please, share the information in this posting broadly.

To all, I wish a tzom kal – an easy fast. May we and all of Israel be sealed for a good year.

© 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 and 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

“I call on you to publicly condemn the Islamic groups responsible for this campaign of violence, and to affirm your support for maintaining the status quo,” Ambassador Ron Prosor says in letter to secretary-general and Security Council. By Shlomo Cesana, Dan Lavie & Israel Hayom Staff

Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations’ Ron Prosor over the weekend lambasted recent comments by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas that Jews were desecrating the Temple Mount, and he condemned the U.N. Security Council’s response to the recent rioting on the Temple Mount, which “completely ignores” both Palestinian violence and Jewish history at the holy site.

The Security Council on Friday expressed “grave concern,” saying Muslims at the site “must be allowed to worship in peace, free from violence, threats and provocations” and that “visitors should be without fear of violence or intimidation.”

The statement also called for the “exercise of restraint, refraining from provocative actions and rhetoric, and upholding unchanged the historic status quo” at the compound “in word and in practice.”

“This statement,” according to Prosor, “which only uses the Arabic name for the Temple Mount, affirms the right of Muslims to be present and to pray at the compound, but completely ignores the Palestinian violence, the deep connection of the Jewish people to the Temple Mount, and the right of all to visit the site. Instead of calming tensions, the Council sides with those who are trying to set the region on fire. When the Palestinians set the Temple Mount ablaze, Mahmoud Abbas fuels the fire, and the Security Council fans the flames; it is a recipe for a regional explosion.”

According to Prosor, Abbas was encouraging and cultivating violence by employing anti-Semitic rhetoric. As recently as Saturday Abbas declared that “the dirty feet of the Jews must not be allowed to desecrate Al-Aqsa.”

“This rhetoric is repugnant and dangerous,” said Prosor. “The last time Abbas incited against Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount, a Jew was shot by a Palestinian terrorist.”

In a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council on Thursday Prosor said, “Israel is determined to safeguard the holy sites of the three monotheistic faiths in Jerusalem. Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu has repeatedly declared that the Government of Israel is committed to maintaining the status quo on the Temple Mount and will oppose any attempt to change it by force. The status quo protects the right of Muslims to pray in the mosque, as well as the freedom of all people, whether Muslims, Christians, Jews or others, to visit the Temple Mount.

“This is a matter of great urgency, and it is imperative that you clearly and publicly call this three-day campaign of violence for what it is: an unprovoked and premeditated attempt to instigate violence and prevent access to the Temple Mount. Any attempt to equivocate or avoid a clear statement denouncing those responsible will only empower these violent groups, encourage further destabilizing activities, and further inflame an already dangerous situation.

“The situation is too volatile for your usual call for both sides to show restraint. In order to prevent further violence and possible escalation, you must identify those responsible by name. I call on you to publicly condemn the Islamic groups responsible for this campaign of violence, and to affirm your support for maintaining the status quo.”

6.Anti-Semitism on Campus: part 1 by Jerrold L. Sobel 9/21/2015

As Jews and friends of the Jewish people we tend to concentrate on events in the Middle East and acts of anti-Semitism in the homeland of Jewish hatred, Europe. No doubt today as never before since the Holocaust, anti-Semitism is alive and well in these hotspots. But make no mistake there is an insidious anti-Semitism now underway, increasingly violent, and a lot closer to home.
Our college and university campuses are awash with left wing, Muslim student organizations; many of which are funded by the likes of the Muslim Brotherhood, as well as such lovelies as Hamas, Hezbollah, and even our good friends the Saudis. These groups, in unity with other radicals and under the guise of opposition to Israel have made it abundantly clear, their hatred is more so for Jews than for Israel. To the surprise of some but not to all, far too many of these participants call themselves Jews.
According to The Washington Free Beacon more than half of Jewish students claimed they have witnessed or been subjected to some form of anti-Jewish harassment on campuses throughout the United States. A nationwide survey conducted by Trinity College and the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law found the following: 1,157 self-identified Jewish students at 55 U.S. colleges, found that 54 percent experienced or witnessed “anti-Semitism on campus during the first six months of the 2013-2014 academic year.”
In a telling interview taken by the survey, a Jewish university student is quoted saying: “The divestment campaign and other anti-Israel campaigns on this campus are intertwined with rampant anti-Semitism….“After a widespread anti-Israel/anti-Semitic attack earlier this year the University issued a weak response. Jewish students want to know that our University stands by us.” And that’s the rub, the tepid response to acts of harassment and confrontation by Administrators at these schools.
In reality it’s not surprising given that most provosts are of leftist persuasion to begin with, both they and their professors are decidedly anti-Israel and acquiesce to the behavior of those that are true Jew haters. Most disturbing, Jewish kids are being beaten down in more than one way for the mere fact they are Jewish. Common to these incidents are kids waking up and finding swastikas painted on their dorms; or having to pass thru mock “check points;” most daunting is suffering through innumerable anti-Apartheid week demonetization of Israel. They’re shouted down and intimidated when they respond. What other culture, gender, or ethnicity in today’s society would be asked tolerate such treatment?

One can only imagine the outcry and reaction of the African American community if their students awoke to Jim Crowe epithets scrawled on their walls and being harassed for the sin of being an African American and speaking up for his/her beliefs. The FBI and the Justice Department would be on it faster than you could say, Black lives matter. The most vociferous Israel/Jew haters on campus would lead the charge condemning this “racism” and as he’s done many times over the past 6 years, the president would publicly comment with an assured invitation to the White House for the alleged victims. But Jewish lives don’t matter much when they don’t fit the left wing agenda.
But outright violence and intimidation are not the only form of anti-Semitism being practiced on campus. “A Jewish woman student applicant for the Student Council’s Judicial Board was initially rejected after being asked: “Given that you are a Jewish student and very active in the Jewish community, how do you see yourself being able to maintain an unbiased view?” It belies comprehension such a biased, hurtful question could be asked by a student government. It further belies comprehension that it was asked under the nose of a school Administration and without reprimand.
Back in February last year at another University of California campus, Jewish students opposed to a Student Council resolution advocating a boycott of Israel were heckled by cries of “Allahu Akbar” as a Jewish fraternity house was daubed with a swastikas. When asked for his reaction, Chancellor Gene Block’s dubbed it as a “teachable moment.”
Longtime friend, and lecturer in Hebrew at the University of California Santa Cruz campus, Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, has been fighting a tireless battle within the University of California system, the hotbed of campus anti-Semitism in America. Along with several other Professors, she created AMCHA Initiative. AMCHA is a Hebrew word that stands for, “your people.” Their mission statement reads:
“To investigate, document, educate about, and combat antisemitic behavior on college and university campuses in America and the institutional structures that legitimize it and allow it to flourish.” Not exactly a threatening, incendiary call to arms manifesto.
In an Op-Ed written for the San Jose Mercury News, Professor Benjamin had this to say: “It’s not hard to connect the dots. On campuses where anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) campaigns have been promoted, anti-Semitism has increased and Jewish students report feeling emotionally and physically harassed, threatened, unsafe, and targeted for anti-Jewish bigotry.” She goes on to break down some recent incidents on the various campuses.
At UC Berkley: messages such as: “Zionists should be sent to the gas chamber” was found scrawled on a bathroom wall.
UC Davis: The university’s Hillel House was defaced with “grout out the Jews.” Two days later swastikas were spray-painted on a UC Davis Jewish fraternity.
UC Santa Barbara: At UC Santa Barbara, after three years of divisive anti-Israel divestment campaigns, large flyers blaming Jews for 9/11 were posted on campus.
This is just one sampling of one university in one state. These acts of coordinated anti-Jewish antagonism can now be found on college and university campuses throughout the United States.

7.Germany: Migrants’ Rape Epidemic by Soeren Kern
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/6527/migrants-rape-germany September 18, 2015 at 5:00 am

A growing number of women and young girls housed in refugee shelters in Germany are being raped, sexually assaulted and even forced into prostitution by male asylum seekers, according to German social work organizations with first-hand knowledge of the situation.

Many of the rapes are occurring in mixed-gender shelters, where, due to a lack of space, German authorities are forcing thousands of male and female migrants to share the same sleeping areas and restroom facilities.

Conditions for women and girls at some shelters are so perilous that females are being described as “wild game” fighting off Muslim male predators. But many victims, fearing reprisals, are keeping silent, social workers say.

At the same time, growing numbers of German women in towns and cities across the country are being raped by asylum seekers from Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Many of the crimes are being downplayed by German authorities and the national media, apparently to avoid fueling anti-immigration sentiments.

On August 18, a coalition of four social work organizations and women’s rights groups sent a two-page letter to the leaders of the political parties in the regional parliament in Hesse, a state in west-central Germany, warning them of the worsening situation for women and children in the refugee shelters. The letter said:

“The ever-increasing influx of refugees has complicated the situation for women and girls at the receiving center in Giessen (HEAE) and its subsidiaries.

“The practice of providing accommodations in large tents, the lack of gender-separate sanitary facilities, premises that cannot be locked, the lack of safe havens for women and girls — to name just a few spatial factors — increases the vulnerability of women and children within the HEAE. This situation plays into the hands of those men who assign women a subordinate role and treat women traveling alone as ‘wild game’.

“The consequences are numerous rapes and sexual assaults. We are also receiving an increasing number of reports of forced prostitution. It must be stressed: these are not isolated cases.

“Women report that they, as well as children, have been raped or subjected to sexual assault. As a result, many women sleep in their street clothes. Women regularly report that they do not use the toilet at night because of the danger of rape and robbery on the way to the sanitary facilities. Even during daylight, passing through the camp is a frightful situation for many women.

“Many women — in addition to fleeing wars or civil wars — are also on the run for gender-related reasons, including the threat of forced marriage or genital mutilation. These women who face special risks, especially when they are on the run alone or with their children. Even if they are accompanied by male relatives or acquaintances, this does not always ensure protection against violence because it can also lead to specific dependencies and sexual exploitation.

“Most female refugees have experienced a variety of traumatizing experiences in their country of origin and while on the run. They are victims of violence, kidnappings, torture, rape and extortion — sometimes over periods of several years.

“The feeling to have arrived here — in safety — and to be able to move without fear, is a gift for many women…. We therefore ask you…to join our call for the immediate establishment of protected premises (locked apartments or houses) for women and children who are travelling alone….

“These facilities must be equipped so that men do not have access to the premises of the women, with the exception of emergency workers and security personnel. In addition bedrooms, lounges, kitchens and sanitary facilities must be interconnected so that they form a self-contained unit — and thus can only be reached via lockable and monitored access to the house or the apartment.”

After several blogs (here, here and here) drew attention to the letter, the LandesFrauenRat (LFR) Hessen, a women’s lobbying group that originally uploaded the politically incorrect document to its website, abruptly removed it on September 14, without explanation.

The problem of rapes and sexual assaults in German refugee shelters is a nationwide problem.

In Bavaria, women and girls housed at a refugee shelter in Bayernkaserne, a former military base in Munich, are subject to rape and forced prostitution on a daily basis, according to women’s rights groups. Although the facility has separate dorm rooms for women, the doors cannot be locked and men control access to the sanitary facilities.

Approximately 80% of the refugees/migrants at the shelter are male, according to Bavarian Broadcasting (Bayerischer Rundfunk), which reports that the price for sex with female asylum seekers is ten euros. A social worker described the facility this way: “We are the biggest brothel in Munich.”

Police insist they have no proof that the rapes are taking place, although a police raid on the facility found that guards hired to provide security at the site were trafficking drugs and weapons and were turning a blind eye to the prostitution.

On August 28, a 22-year-old Eritrean asylum seeker was sentenced to one year and eight months in prison for attempting to rape a 30-year-old Iraqi-Kurdish woman at a refugee shelter in the Bavarian town of Höchstädt. The reduced sentence was thanks to the efforts of the defense attorney, who persuaded the judge that the defendant’s situation at the shelter was hopeless: “For a year now he sits around and thinks about — about nothingness.”

On August 26, a 34-year-old asylum seeker attempted to rape a 34-year-old woman in the laundry room of a refugee facility in Stralsund, a city near the Baltic Sea.

On August 6, police revealed that a 13-year-old Muslim girl was raped by another asylum seeker at a refugee facility in Detmold, a city in west-central Germany. The girl and her mother reportedly fled their homeland to escape a culture of sexual violence; as it turns out, the man who raped the girl is from their country.

Although the rape took place in June, police kept silent about it for nearly three months, until local media published a story about the crime. According to an editorial comment in the newspaper Westfalen-Blatt, police are refusing to go public about crimes involving refugees and migrants because they do not want to give legitimacy to critics of mass migration.

Police chief Bernd Flake countered that the silence was aimed at protecting the victim. “We will continue with this policy [of not informing the public] whenever crimes are committed in refugee facilities,” he said.

Over the weekend of June 12-14, a 15-year-old girl housed at a refugee shelter in Habenhausen, a district in the northern city of Bremen, was repeatedly raped by two other asylum seekers. The facility has been has been described as a “house of horrors” due to the spiraling violence perpetrated by rival gangs of youth from Africa and Kosovo. A total of 247 asylum seekers are staying at the shelter, which has a capacity for 180 and a cafeteria with seating for 53.

Meanwhile, the raping of German women by asylum seekers is becoming commonplace. Following are a few select cases just from 2015:

On September 11, a 16-year-old girl was raped by an unidentified “dark-skinned man speaking broken German” close to a refugee shelter in the Bavarian town of Mering. The attack occurred while the girl was walking home from the train station.

On August 13, police arrested two Iraqi asylum seekers, aged 23 and 19, for raping an 18-year-old German woman behind a schoolyard in Hamm, a city in North Rhine-Westphalia.

On July 26, a 14-year-old boy was sexually assaulted inside the bathroom of a regional train in Heilbronn, a city in southwestern Germany. Police are looking for a “dark skinned” man between the ages of 30 and 40 who has an “Arab appearance.” Also on July 26, a 21-year-old Tunisian asylum seeker raped a 20-year-old woman in the Dornwaldsiedlung district of Karlsruhe. Police kept the crime secret until August 14, when a local paper went public with the story.

On June 9, two Somali asylum seekers, aged 20 and 18, were sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison for raping a 21-year-old German woman in Bad Kreuznach, a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, on December 13, 2014.

On June 5, a 30-year-old Somali asylum seeker called “Ali S” was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison for attempting to rape a 20-year-old woman in Munich. Ali had previously served a seven-year sentence for rape, and had been out of prison for only five months before he attacked again. In an effort to protect the identity of Ali S, a Munich newspaper referred to him by the more politically correct “Joseph T.”

On May 22, a 30-year-old Moroccan man was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison for attempting to rape a 55-year-old woman in Dresden. On May 20, a 25-year-old Senegalese asylum seeker was arrested after he attempted to rape a 21-year-old German woman at the Stachus, a large square in central Munich.

On April 16, a 21-year-old asylum seeker from Iraq was sentenced to three years and ten months in prison for raping a 17-year-old girl at festival in the Bavarian town of Straubing in August 2014. On April 7, a 29-year-old asylum seeker was arrested for the attempted rape of a 14-year-old girl in the town of Alzenau.

On March 17, two Afghan asylum seekers aged 19 and 20 were sentenced to five years in prison for the “particularly abhorrent” rape of a 21-year-old German woman in Kirchheim, a town near Stuttgart, on August 17, 2014.

On February 11, a 28-year-old asylum seeker from Eritrea was sentenced to four years in prison for raping a 25-year-old German woman in Stralsund, along the Baltic Sea, in October 2014.

On February 1, a 27-year-old asylum seeker from Somalia was arrested after attempting to rape women in the Bavarian town of Reisbach.

On January 16, a 24-year-old Moroccan immigrant raped a 29-year-old woman inDresden.

Dozens of other cases of rape and attempted rape — cases in which police are specifically looking for foreign perpetrators (German police often refer to them as Südländer, or “southerners”) — remain unresolved. Following is a partial list just for August 2015:

On August 23, a “dark skinned” man attempted to rape a 35-year-old woman in Dortmund. On August 17, three male “southerners” attempted to rape a 42-year-old woman in Ansbach. On August 16, a male “southerner” raped a woman in Hanau.

On August 12, a male “southerner” attempted to rape a 17-year-old woman in Hannover. Also on August 12, a male “southerner” exposed himself to a 31-year-old woman in Kassel. Police say a similar incident occurred in the same area on August 11.

On August 10, five men of “Turkish origin” attempted to rape a girl in Mönchengladbach. Also on August 10, a male “southerner” raped a 15-year-old girl in Rinteln. On August 8, a male “southerner” attempted to rape a 20-year-old woman in Siegen.

On August 3, a “North African” raped a seven-year-old girl in broad daylight in a park in Chemnitz, a city in eastern Germany. On August 1, a male “southerner” attempted to rape a 27-year-old woman in downtown Stuttgart.

Meanwhile, parents are being warned to look after their daughters. Police in the Bavarian town of Mering, where a 16-year-old-girl was raped on September 11, have issued a warning to parents not to allow their children to go outside unaccompanied. They have also advised women not to walk to or from the train station alone because of its proximity to a refugee shelter.

In the Bavarian town of Pocking, administrators of the Wilhelm-Diess-Gymnasium have warned parents not to let their daughters wear revealing clothing in order to avoid “misunderstandings” with the 200 Muslim refugees housed in emergency accommodations in a building next to the school. The letter said:

“The Syrian citizens are mainly Muslim and speak Arabic. The refugees have their own culture. Because our school is directly next to where they are staying, modest clothing should be worn in order to avoid disagreements. Revealing tops or blouses, short shorts or miniskirts could lead to misunderstandings.”

A local politician quoted by Die Welt newspaper said:

“When Muslim teenage boys go to open air swimming pools, they are overwhelmed when they see girls in bikinis. These boys, who come from a culture where for women it is frowned upon to show naked skin, will follow girls and bother them without their realizing it. Naturally, this generates fear.”

The increase in sex crimes in Germany is being fueled by the preponderance of Muslim males among the mix of refugees/migrants entering the country.

A record 104,460 asylum seekers arrived in Germany in August, bringing the cumulative total for the first eight months of 2015 to 413,535. Germany expects to receive a total of 800,000 refugees and migrants this year, a four-fold increase over 2014.

At least 80% of the incoming refugees/migrants are Muslim, according to a recent estimate by the Central Council of Muslims in Germany (Zentralrat der Muslime in Deutschland, ZMD), a Muslim umbrella group based in Cologne.

The asylum seekers are also overwhelmingly male. Of the 411,567 refugees/migrants who have entered the European Union by sea so far this year, 72% have been male, 13% women and 15% children, according to calculations by the United Nations Refugee Agency. Information about the gender of those arriving by land remains unavailable.

Of the asylum seekers arriving in Germany in 2014, 71.5% of those between ages 16 and 18 were male; 77.5% in the 18-25 age group were male; as were 73.5% of those between 25 and 30, according to German migration statistics. Data for 2015 is not yet available.

Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute. He is also Senior Fellow for European Politics at the Madrid-based Grupo de Estudios Estratégicos / Strategic Studies Group. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter.