Tuesday, January 10, 2017
Dear Family & Friends,
Aside from the ‘funny’ but meaningful cartoon above, this GW Diary has very serious, helpful materiel for your verbal ammunition in your advocacy & Public Diplomacy for Israel (formerly called “Hasbara” in Hebrew).
“Since when did the Palestinians become entitled to a state?” By Ted Belman is a very deep analysis by, also very easy to understand & to explain to others as you write & speak about the dastardly dangers the US under the Lame Duck & his Side-Kickshave created for the Jewish people the world over & the Jewish State of Israel.
Followed by the only rational response we must employ to battle this new attack on our State’s Sovereignty, Security & Peace: We must push for Sovereignty Now as never before. We need to build the bulwarks to defend our small but mighty Jewish State.
Ma’ale Adumim is a good start but, must be accepted as only the beginning. We could then declare independence for the whole of Area C – without giving the Arabs the national vote. They should vote in Jordan where there is a Palestinian majority…even though they would be only 1% of our Jewish population, they still vow to replace us with a Muslim/Arab State. They don’t even accord us the good will of including us on their maps. No, their so-called State of Palestine covers over all of Israel in all their maps & what they teach their children to hate & kill Jews in their schools, military summer camps, TV, radio, newspapers & especially in their social media.
Dig into the exposé of Transcripts Show Obama Team Conspired with Abbas, Erekat, on Anti-Israel UN Vote with a video.[Hebrew] – If someone has a URL or You-Tube link to this IN ENGLISH, please forward: winston@winstonglobal.org.
Cold, sunny with clouds & light rain today. All the best, Gail/Geula/Savta/Savta Rabat x 2/Mom
Our Website with Loads of Manny Winston’s prescient articles:
US President-elect Donald Trump (AP/Carlos Osorio)
Trump’s team is reportedly in contact with the Palestinians but has set a new tone regarding negotiations with Israel.
President-elect Donald Trump’s transitional team has recently been in contact with the Palestinians on how to proceed with diplomatic negotiations.
Israel Radio, in a report on Tuesday, quoted sources within Trump’s team & among Palestinian Authority officials who affirmed that the contacts were taking place.
In the report, an unnamed “senior official” working for Trump is said to have asked a senior Palestinian official why they would object to moving the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to western Jerusalem.
The official replied that there should be a parallel move, that Washington should establish a US embassy for “Palestine” in eastern Jerusalem and one for Israel in the west side of the city.
The Palestinians envision the eastern side of Israel’s capital as its own. Moving the embassy to Jerusalem would be the final death blow to the failed peace negotiations, the Palestinians have threatened.
The Trump official reported replied “there is no Palestine, & Jerusalem is not your capital. If you stop the incitement to terror, put in place full economic transparency, stop acting unilaterally at UN bodies & accept a US embassy in west Jerusalem, we (the US) would consider a US diplomatic mission in Ramallah & call upon the Israelis to enter serious negotiations with you on a long-term relationship.”
The Palestinian official then demanded that Israel stop construction in Judea & Samaria, as well as in eastern Jerusalem, adding that negotiations for a two-state solution based on the pre-1967 borders should promptly commence.
According to sources from both sides, the two senior officials agreed to stay in touch, while no final commitments were made. By: World Israel News Staff
1A.Trump’s team to PA:There is no Palestine, Jerusalem is not your capital’
1.Since when did the Palestinians become entitled to a state? By Ted Belman 2.Bennett Promising Ma’ale Adumim Sovereignty Bill by Month’s End 3.’Apply sovereignty now or face a terrorist state’ 4.Exposed: Transcripts Show Obama Team Conspired with Abbas, Erekat, on Anti-Israel UN Vote
5.Bennett to JPost: Two-state solution ‘messianic’ By Herb Keinon 6.Netanyahu to Attend Trump’s Inauguration 7.Israel Is Not the Occupier by Alan Clemmons 1/1/17 8.Senator Cotton: Jews building in Judea is not the problem 9.‘For the first time in 50 years, Israel will decide for Itself’ By Marc Zell 10.Huckabee: Defund the UN & give the money to veterans 11.Khaled Abu Toameh: Abbas Wants to Work with Trump; 64% of PA Arabs Want Abbas Out 12.Former Justice Minister Ya’akov Ne’eman died after long fight with a “difficult illness” at 77 13.Netanyahu: I Grieve at the Passing Of My Cherished Friend, Ya’akov Ne’eman 14.John Kerry with popcorn By Jack Engelhard, 31/12/16
15.Philly Jewish Museum Posts Huge Sign Reminding Americans of Freedom of Religion
1.Since when did the Palestinians become entitled to a state? By Ted Belman AMERICAN THINKER
Ted Belman
In 2011, Newt Gingrich said “The Palestinians are an invented people.” He was right. So why are they entitled to a state?
In 1964, the Palestine Liberation Organization was formed to liberate Palestine through armed struggle. But it took years for the notion of a Palestinian people to crystalize. In 1967, they were not recognized as such, nor were they considered a party to the conflict. Security Council Resolution 242 passed after the ’67 war, made no mention of them.
In 1978, when the peace treaty with Egypt was being finalized, Pres Carter pushed PM Begin to agree to create a Palestinian state in five years. Begin refused but did agree to give them autonomy only.
Pres Reagan, who followed Carter, continued the pressure on Israel to create a Palestinian state. Jewish Virtual Library reports on the Reagan Plan (1982):
“Unknown to Israel, the Reagan administration was preparing a new diplomatic initiative for the Middle East, designed to renew the peace process, deal with the Palestinian issue, improve Israel-Egypt relations & provide impetus for Jordan to join the peace process. It was also aimed at pleasing those Arab states who had accepted P. L. 0. evacuees from Beirut & signaling them that the U.S. was not satisfied solely with their departure from Beirut, but was seeking an overall solution.”
When PM Begin finally heard of the plan he said, “It is the saddest day of my life”.
The Reagan plan called for direct negotiations, an interim period of self-government & then ultimately an alliance with Jordan rather than a Palestinian State. He also called for an immediate freeze on settlement construction & for an undivided Jerusalem, the fate for which to be decided by negotiations.
The US as a matter of policy, promoted the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people & forced Israel to accept them in peace discussions at the Madrid Conference in 1991.
Israel wanted to deal only with the Arabs in the territories but the US kept insisting that the PLO be involved because she wanted a voice for the Arab refugees outside of the territories. This pressure led Israel to come forward with her own Plan namely the Oslo Accords. She wanted it to apply only to the local Arabs but Pres Clinton insisted that the PLO be involved & that Israel accept back 50,000 of their terrorists & their leadership who has been rescued from Beirut by Reagan & deposited in Tunisia for safe keeping.
In 1993, Israel signed, along with them, the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements (Oslo I) and in 1995 the Interim Agreement on the West Bank (Oslo II), but these Accords made no mention of giving them a state.
Surprisingly, President George W. Bush gave it an official nod for the first time in his vision speech of 2002. This speech came about in response to enormous pressure from Saudi Arabia which was demanding the creation of such a state. Even so, it was conditioned on the Palestinians fighting terror, not aiding it or abetting it. In fact, there were many other pre-conditions to the creation of the state. But the US & the world quickly forgot about the preconditions & went forward with the idea that the Palestinians were entitled to a state.
Then in 2004, Bush gave a very important letter of assurances to PM Sharon in order to support his plans for disengagement.
“The United States will do its utmost to prevent any attempt by anyone to impose any other plan. Under the roadmap, Palestinians must undertake an immediate cessation of armed activity & all acts of violence against Israelis anywhere & all official Palestinian institutions must end incitement against Israel. The Palestinian leadership must act decisively against terror, including sustained, targeted & effective operations to stop terrorism & dismantle terrorist capabilities & infrastructure. Palestinians must undertake a comprehensive & fundamental political reform that includes a strong parliamentary democracy & an empowered prime minister.
“Second, there will be no security for Israelis or Palestinians until they & all states, in the region & beyond, join together to fight terrorism & dismantle terrorist organizations. The United States reiterates its steadfast commitment to Israel’s security, including secure, defensible borders, and to preserve and strengthen Israel’s capability to deter and defend itself, by itself, against any threat or possible combination of threats.[..]
“As part of a final peace settlement, Israel must have secure and recognized borders, which should emerge from negotiations between the parties in accordance with UNSC Resolutions 242 and 338.”
In this letter, which amounted to a contract, Bush committed the US to prevent any other plan being imposed. He also committed the US to Israel’s security and reiterated Israel’s right to defensible borders. By affirming Res 242, he was affirming that Israel need not vacate 100% of the land. The Arabs were livid.
Within a couple of months of his inauguration in 2009, Pres Obama repudiated this contract. In response to this & other indicators, I wrote that Obama intended to impose a solution on Israel in 2009. I explained that he had to repudiate it because the contract, if allowed to stand, committed the US to oppose imposition of any other plan.
Obama then forced Netanyahu to recognize a Palestinian right to a state in his Bar Ilan Speech in June 2009 in which Netanyahu said:
“In my vision of peace, in this small land of ours, two peoples live freely, side-by-side, in amity & mutual respect. Each will have its own flag, its own national anthem, its own government. Neither will threaten the security or survival of the other.”
He went on to stipulate two demands or preconditions: namely the new state must be demilitarized & must recognize Israel as the State of the Jewish people. This was the first time Netanyahu or his party embraced the two state solution. Obama was satisfied even with all the pre-conditions & stipulations. He got what he wanted. He would ignore the stipulations. This resolution does just that.
Next, he backed the Arab Peace Initiative, which called for 100% withdrawal, contrary to Res 242, albeit with mutually agreed swaps.
Then he demanded a complete building freeze, even in Jerusalem. Even so he could not get any concessions from either the Arab League or from the PA as compensation. Having no other choice, he backed the PA’s demand that, as the price of the PA entering negotiations, Israel should release over 100 Arab prisoners with blood on their hands. Israel agreed, though no one had any expectations that the PA would compromise. This prisoner release was in effect another freebie for them.
After strenuous efforts to achieve an agreement, Obama backed off but demanded a continued freeze & nothing be done to make untenable the 2-state solution.
But he hadn’t given up. By engineering the passage of Security Council Resolution 2334 declaring “establishment by Israel of settlements in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, has no legal validity” & demanding 100% withdrawal, he, in effect, was getting the Security Council to back his parameters for a peace agreement, namely ’67 lines plus swaps, with a divided Jerusalem.
This, in other words, is a demand by the international community that all lands east of the ’67 lines be free of Jews (judenrein, as the Nazis used to put it). That would include the Jewish neighborhoods in the eastern part of Jerusalem. Thus, the lands east of the ’67 lines must be ethnically cleansed of the 900,000 Jews that live there, a majority of which were Jews born there.
The Security Council underlined “that it will not recognize any changes to the 4 June 1967 lines, including with regard to Jerusalem, other than those agreed by the parties through negotiations….” Thus the Jews were denied the Temple Mount, the Old City, including the Jewish Quarter, the Holy Basin & the Western Wall, otherwise known as the Kotel.
This resolution completely overturned Res 242, which was passed 50 years ago and which was the cornerstone of all subsequent initiatives like the Oslo Accords, the Roadmap and the Bush letter of ’04. Throughout this entire period, all US presidents stressed the need for direct negotiations to settle all disputes. Any concessions that Israel made along the way were conditioned on the basis of direct negotiations to come.
This resolution removed from such negotiations, ultimate borders, the fate of the settlements, the requirement that the borders be defensible & whether to create a state.
In the Oslo Accords, Israel made major concessions to the Palestine Liberation Organization representing the Arabs by inviting them into the territories & granting them autonomy in Areas A & B as demarcated by the Accords, believing that all Israeli safeguards in the Accords would protect her. Keep in mind that the Accords did not promise the Arabs a state nor did they proscribe settlement activity.
Prior to signing these Oslo Accords, Israel insisted that the PLO accept Res 242 as binding. This was important to Israel because it stipulated that Israel need only withdraw to “recognized and secure” borders. This new resolution negates all Israeli safeguards but not the concessions made by Israel. To do so is unconscionable.
On the one hand, the UN continually accuses Israel of violating international law and declares the settlements illegal by international law; yet, on the other hand, it ignores salient facts & binding contracts. The resolution thus violates the international legal order itself. The UN should be governed by law not by caprice.
Another example of invoking a law that doesn’t exist is the clause which cites “the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force”. Howard Adelman makes short shrift of this proposition. There is no such law.
This resolution is built upon the proposition that the settlements are illegal by international law. But what if they aren’t? The UN holds that the lands in question are subject to the Fourth Geneva Convention, which applies whenever a High Contracting Party (HCP) i.e., a country which signed the convention, belligerently occupies the land of another HCP. But in this case the lands in question were not the land of a HCP but were unallocated land under the Palestine Mandate.
PM Netanyahu appointed a commission consisting of one retired High Court Judge and two senior lawyers to study the matter. In 2014, it issued the Levy Report, which concluded that the FGC does not apply. But even if it does apply, it doesn’t prevent Jews from voluntarily settling on the lands. And keep in mind that the Palestine Mandate gave Jews the right of close settlement on these lands, which right has never been terminated, nor can it be.
This matter has never been determined by a court of competent jurisdiction and thus the UN has no right to treat it as settled law.
To use the vernacular, Israel is being railroaded into creating a Palestinian state on all the territories captured 50 years ago, contrary to law, the facts, and existing agreements. Everything is twisted to label Israel a violator of law, when in fact it is the UN that is the violator. All this on behalf of an invented people who didn’t exist 50 years ago.
Since when did the Palestinians become entitled to a state? By Ted Belman
2.Bennett Promising Ma’ale Adumim Sovereignty Bill by Month’s End
By: David Israel Jewish Press.com Published: January 1st, 20174
MA’ALE ADUMIM Photo Credit: Ron Almog
Habayit Hayehudi Chairman Naftali Bennett Tweeted Sunday morning: “By the end of January we, along with all the coalition factions, will submit to the government a bill calling for applying Israeli law in Ma’aleh Adumim. I expect all the members of government to support it.”
The Knesset Constitution Committee is scheduled to debate a plan to apply Israeli sovereignty in Ma’aleh Adumim on Monday. The debate, initiate by the Land of Israel Lobby in the Knesset, will review the legal aspects of applying Israeli law in Ma’aleh Adumim, an urban Israeli in Judea, 4.3 miles from Jerusalem. Ma’ale Adumim achieved city status in 1991 & in 2015 its population stood at 37,525. Located along Highway 1, which connects it to Jerusalem & the Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area, Ma’ale Adumim is one of the most prominent well established Jewish cities in the 1967 liberated territories.
MKs Yoav Kisch (Likud) & Bezalel Smotrich (Habayit Hayehudi) are expected to participate in the committee debate plus Ma’aleh Adumim Mayor Benny Kashriel & his deputies. The committee will hear from the city’s residents share the daily difficulties they run into because they live, in effect, under martial law & not under Israeli civil law.
Kisch & Smotrich last August submitted a bill to bring Ma’aleh Adumim into Israel proper, which has received endorsement of the majority of coalition members, other than Haredi United Torah Judaism. The bill reads, simply:“The state’s judicial & administrative rule will take effect in the territory of Ma’aleh Adumim.” The bill notes that this de facto annexation will not essentially change Israel’s demographic balance – meaning that, since the added city does not have a significant number of non-Jews, there should be no concern for the “ticking demographic time bomb” that is a major concern of Israeli politicians who oppose annexation.
According to Walla, some in the Land of Israel Lobby wanted to submit the bill officially now, in response to the UN Security Council anti-settlement resolution, but MK Kisch objected, preferring instead to wait until after President Trump’s 1/20 inauguration.
David Israel writes news at JewishPress.com
Bennett Promising Ma’ale Adumim Sovereignty Bill by Month’s End
3.’Apply sovereignty now or face a terrorist state’
Jewish Home leader calls for application of Israeli law to Ma’ale Adumim & other areas, or a terrorist state will be forced on Israel.
By Hezki Baruch, Arutz Sheva 02/01/17 16:18
Jewish Home faction meeting in Ma’ale Adumim – Hezki Baruch
Education Minister Naftali Bennett announced his intention to submit a bill in the Knesset to apply Israeli law to parts of Judea & Samaria at a Jewish Home faction meeting in the city of Ma’ale Adumim Monday.
“We are continuing today in the footsteps of Levi Eshkol, who applied [Israeli] law to Jerusalem, of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who founded Ma’ale Adumim & of Menachem Begin, who applied [Israeli] sovereignty to the Golan. Today we continue in Ma’ale Adumim & then to other parts of the country.” Bennett said.
“Bennett called for an end to military rule & the application of full sovereignty in its place. After 50 years we are here & it is time to end military rule. So by the end of the month a law will be available to apply [Israeli] law to Ma’aleh Adumim, together with all coalition factions. I expect that Cabinet members will lend a hand towards this path.
The nationalist government has no other option. We have to overcome all obstacles to sovereignty.”
“Israeli citizens have paid with thousands of casualties, tens of thousands of rockets, & countless condemnations for that failed messianic policy of a Palestinian state. The [logical] conclusion is to stop buying into the folly of a Palestinian state & start applying Israeli law in Ma’ale Adumim, the Jordan Valley, Ariel & all of Area C as soon as possible. That is how we’ll win.” he declared.
“We need to understand that we have a small window of opportunity, this one final chance before the world imposes on us a terrorist state on Route 6. It is sovereignty or Palestine. If there is no sovereignty, there will be Palestine. There is no other option.” Bennett stressed.
In response to an Arutz Sheva reporter’s question as to whether Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu should resign in light of the investigation against him Bennett replied: “The investigation may end with nothing. There are things which are very important to the stability of the Israeli government & that is good governance.”
‘Apply sovereignty now or face a terrorist state’
4.Exposed: Transcripts Show Obama Team Conspired with Abbas, Erekat, on Anti-Israel UN Vote
By: David Israel JewishPress.com Pub: December 28th, 2016 [If someone has a link in English to these transcripts please forward URL to winston@winstonglobal.org. I could only find the Hebrew broadcast.]
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Secretary Kerry conspiring with Susan Rice Photo Credit: Courtesy US Dept of State via Wikipedia
Israel’s Channel 1 News’ Mid East correspondent Oded Granot on Tuesday night cited a secret protocol published by Egyptian media with “smoking gun” evidence showing the UN Security Council resolution against Israel was composed in a meeting of Sec. of State John Kerry, National Security Adviser Susan Rice, PA Chief Negotiator Saeb Erekat & PA UN envoy Ryad Mansour.
According to Granot, Egyptian media published the secret protocol of the clandestine meeting that took place in Washington Dec. 15, which provides irrefutable proof the anti-Israel resolution was concocted by Kerry, Rice, Erekat & Mansour.
According to the Egyptian report, Kerry & Rice told Erekat & Mansour that President Obama would support a “balanced” Palestinian resolution at the Security Council. They also assured them that Prime Minister Netanyahu had no intention to live up to his commitment regarding a two-state solution.
Kerry advised Erekat the PA should ask for parameters to a forced permanent solution, after discussion with the Saudis, who a few years ago had advanced a two-state based Middle East peace resolution. Rice objected, because, she said, President Trump would kill such a resolution.
“The Trump administration is dangerous,” Rice warned the two senior PA officials, adding that “Trump’s opinions about Israel & the Palestinians would be different from all previous administrations.”
The four officials then discussed Trump’s intentions to move the US embassy to Jerusalem. Rice asked Erekat how the PA would react should President Trump move the US embassy to Jerusalem. Erekat told her the PLO would withdraw its official recognition of the State of Israel, dismantle the Palestinian Authority & demand that Israel go back to ruling it directly. He also suggested the PA might demand that Arab states retaliate by cutting their relations with the US.
That last quote, unrealistic as it is, shows the level of grandiose thinking in the PLO leadership, no doubt a measure of their despair.
Both Rice & Kerry advised against any move that would irritate & provoke President Trump, especially returning to suicide attacks on Israel, dismantling the PA, or suing Israel for “war crimes” at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. They said the PA should avoid steps that would “harm the Palestinian cause.”
Of course, if they knew how to do it they’d have had their own state years ago.
Both Rice & Kerry also stressed the content of their discussion be kept a secret. But, apparently, that didn’t happen.
Israeli ambassador to Washington Ron Dermer told US Media this week that his government had evidence showing the Obama administration had orchestrated the anti-Israeli UNSC resolution. He said Israel planned to pass on the information to the incoming Trump Administration to disclose or keep it a secret.
But the General el-Sisi regime refused to wait, according to Granot, & published the secret protocol of the meeting Tuesday evening, probably because they were angry at President Obama for making them look bad in the eyes of the Arab world. You’ll recall that last Wednesday night, the Egyptian UN delegation withdrew its own version of the anti-settlements resolution following the personal intervention of President-Elect Trump with President el-Sisi. Now they appeared like Israeli collaborators, as the US & other USC members managed to push the resolution through behind Egypt’s back.
Granot cautioned that the Obama Administration might still use the weeks ahead before Trump’s inauguration to inflict some more damage on Israel, to prepare more measures against Israel. Indeed, Secretary of State John Kerry has announced Tuesday that he would deliver “remarks on Middle East peace” Wednesday, at 11:00 AM, at Foggy Bottom’s Dean Acheson Auditorium.
David Israel writes news at JewishPress.com
Obama Team Conspired with Abbas, Erekat, on Anti-Israel UN Vote
5.Bennett to JPost: Two-state solution ‘messianic’ By Herb Keinon, JPOST
Continuing a push for a two-state solution to the Israeli- Palestinian conflict is “messianic behavior,” at a time when what is needed is “opening our thoughts” to new diplomatic approaches, Education Minister Naftali Bennett said on Monday.
Bennett, in a 90-minute meeting with The Jerusalem Post editorial staff, stressed that one thing he does not want to see is a “second Palestinian state.”
“I do not believe in a second Palestinian state beyond what we have in Gaza,” the Bayit Yehudi head said.
Bennett maintained that the four central trappings of statehood are clear borders, an effective governing body, military power & foreign relations.
Gaza, he said, has three-and-a half of those four criteria. The Palestinian Authority does not, he said, lacking clear borders and an effective government.
So rather than establish a second Palestinian state between the Jordan River & the Mediterranean Sea, Bennett proposed gradually ending military rule in Area C, applying Israeli law & offering full Israeli citizenship to the 80,000 Palestinians living there. He wants to start by incorporating Ma’aleh Adumim into Israel.
The guiding principle behind Bennett’s plan is to incorporate into Israel 100% of the Jews in Judea & Samaria, while minimizing the number of Palestinians that would be drawn into the state’s borders. A country of more than eight million people, he said, is not endangered demographically by granting citizenship to 80,000 people, which would account for less than 1%.
Along with extending Israeli law to Area C, Bennett wants to significantly strengthen Palestinian autonomy in Areas A & B.
“This would be less than a state, but [it would still be] a lot,” he said. “They would have a central government with elections, if they so choose.”
Under this plan, the Palestinians would effectively manage their own lives: pay their own taxes; handle their own education; collect their own garbage.
He envisioned a situation where there would be complete freedom of movement, without roadblocks.
Borrowing the name of US efforts to rebuild Western Europe after World War II, he said this would be accompanied by what he described as a “Marshall Plan” for the PA: massive economic investment in the infrastructure in the areas, including a land port in Jenin with connection to Haifa, a significant upgrade of roads & a free tourist zone connecting Nazareth with Nablus, Jerusalem & Bethlehem.
“Whatever they need to thrive,” he said.
Still, this area would be less than a state, because it would be demilitarized. And secondly, it would not be able to accept into its territories “six million descendants of Palestinian refugees,” because those refugees would inevitably demand to be settled not in Jenin & Nablus, but to go “home” to pre-1948 Israel.
Bennett said this was more realistic than the current talk of a two-state solution, because the failure of the diplomatic process over the past 23 years – since the Oslo Accords – has shown that there is no deal to be made & that the most an Israeli government is willing to offer does not meet the Palestinians’ minimal requirements.
Bennett to JPost: Two-state solution ‘messianic’
6.Netanyahu to Attend Trump’s Inauguration
By: JNi.Media JewishPress.com Published: January 1st, 2017
Netanyahu meets with Trump in New York. Photo Credit: Kobi Gideon/GPO
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is likely to be invited to attend President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremonies, if the Trump Transition team leaders, such as son-in-law Jared Kushner, have their way. A source inside the Transition team has told the NY Post that Kushner has been “aggressively courting” Netanyahu, to get him to come to the Jan. 20 celebrations.
Apparently, according to the same source, Trump’s team wants to arrange a meeting of the two leaders even before the swearing-in ceremony.
“There’s a plan for Trump to meet with Netanyahu,” the source told the NY Post. “They’re talking all the time. And Netanyahu is talking about possibly going to the inauguration.”
President-elect Donald Trump last week expressed his complete rejection the UN Security Council vote to condemn Israeli settlements, as well as Sec. Of State John Kerry’s vehemently anti-settlements speech that followed.
NY Times pundit [LTF- Little Tommy Friedman] Thomas L. Friedman, in an irate op-ed last week, titled “Bibi Netanyahu Makes Trump His Chump,” lamented the fact that Trump is “letting himself get totally manipulated by right-wing extremists.” Tom Friedman, representing the essence of US Jewish Leftwing anxiety & contempt about the next president, stressed, citing a global-politics kind of reverse psychology, that “Trump also has no idea how much he is being manipulated into helping Iran and ISIS. What is Iran’s top goal when it comes to Israel? That Israel never leaves the West Bank & that it implants Jewish settlers everywhere there,” which would “keep Israel in permanent conflict with Palestinians & the Muslim world, as well as many Western democracies & their college campuses.”
“One day Trump will wake up & discover that he was manipulated into becoming the co-father, with Netanyahu, of an Israel that is either no longer Jewish or no longer democratic. He will discover that he was Bibi’s chump,” T. Friedman warned.
So, while the Left has so far dubbed the next US president the chump of both Russian President Putin & Israeli PM Netanyahu, the rest of the world will be watching Trump trying to put out the raging fires started by outgoing President Obama’s “Arab Spring” campaign in the Middle East, a campaign the Left continued to praise even as the dead bodies continued to pile up in so many Arab countries.
JNi.Media provides editors & publishers with high quality Jewish-focused content for their publications.
Report: Netanyahu to Attend Trump’s Inauguration
7.Israel Is Not the Occupier by Alan Clemmons 1/1/17
by Alan Clemmons 1/1/17
The settlement bloc of Ariel in the West Bank (Judea-Samaria). Photo: Wikipedia.
This past summer, the section of the Republican Party’s platform on Israel included a key statement made in anticipation of President Obama’s betrayal of our great ally: “We reject the false notion that Israel is an occupier.”
The United Nations Security Council’s passage of Resolution 2334, an outrageous act of hostility personally engineered by President Barack Obama against the State of Israel, has rightly evoked great anger across all parts of the American political spectrum.
Given the anticipated effects of Resolution 2334, this policy statement is critical as it represents the central tenet of what will now unquestionably be the policy of the Trump administration & the pro-Israel community.
“Occupier” is nothing more than a polite way of calling Israel a thief, suggesting that Jewish invaders colonized territory belonging to the Arabs — territory that therefore must be restored to its rightful, victimized owners. The term is intentionally misused against Israel in order to shape negative misperceptions of its history and legitimacy, while perpetuating a sense of Palestinian-Arab victimhood. To suggest that the Jews are occupiers in a region that has been known as Judea for over 3,000-plus years is no less ridiculous than to suggest that Arabs are occupiers in Arabia.
“Occupier” is a legal term whose definition does not apply to Israel under the law. Israel’s legal title & rights to all of its present territory stem directly from an act of international law made in the post-World War I San Remo Agreement, which was then further recognized & incorporated in subsequent binding acts — from the Covenant of the League of Nations all the way through Article 80 of the United Nations’ charter. None of the national & political rights recognized as inherent to the Jewish people have ever been revoked, nullified or superseded by a subsequent act of international law.
The lie of occupation has become essential to anti-Israel forces in the Mideast & around the world, as they persist in efforts to deny & undermine the rights — & indeed the very existence — of the Jewish national home. It is no coincidence, therefore, that Resolution 2334 was entirely predicated on this vicious lie.
The lie of occupation also gives Israel’s enemies a basis to justify terrorism as merely “resistance to occupation.” The anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions Movement (BDS) uses the word as often as possible in its messaging, all the while carrying out acts of political & economic warfare upon Israel as well as her supporters.
It is clear that promoting the common misrepresentation of the Jewish state as an occupier in the land of Israel has become the primary anti-Semitic canard of the present generation. This lie whitewashes violence against Israeli Jews & leads directly to anti-Semitic, delegitimization & demonization of & application of double standards to, Israel.
The peace process aimed at ending the Arab war on Israel was originally motivated by the basic idea that 2 incompatible peoples have unfortunately found themselves residing in the same space & that it is desirable to see them disengaged for the sake of peace. This was the intention of President George W. Bush & those Israeli prime ministers who chose the path of proposing a 2-state solution.
Those who listen carefully find hostile actors have emerged who exploit support for the peace process in order to promote the lie of occupation. This is the tactic of J Street, President Obama & most member-states of the U.N., all of whom regularly speak of Israel as an occupier & wrongly refer to parts of Israel as territorially illegitimate.
The forwarding of the 2-state solution by those who support the lie of occupation, like Barack Obama, simultaneously signals an inherent indictment of Israel as a criminally guilty party.
Donald Trump rejects the false notion that Israel is an occupier & wholeheartedly helped lead the important expression of policy made by the Republican Party platform on the matter. He has repeatedly made the promise that, as president, he will recognize Jerusalem as the eternal & indivisible capital of Israel.
Among the top priorities of President-elect Trump in his first 100 days will be passage of a major bill attacking commercial discrimination aimed at Israel & her territories, which will follow the lead of 15 states that have already done so. The new administration is clearly prepared to prevent financial engagement with parties who would inflict economic harm upon Israeli and American businesses via discrimination promoted by the likes of Resolution 2334 & the BDS movement.
The most immediate means of disarming the malicious intent of President Obama’s Resolution 2334 is to support President-elect Trump & the incoming Congress’ efforts to pass such legislation with overwhelming bipartisan support. Israel & many of our other democratic allies around the world, who are counting on us.
Alan Clemmons is a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives. He was the primary author of the current GOP Platform section regarding Israel. In 2015, he was the originating sponsor of the country’s first state anti-BDS legislation. A version of this article was originally published by The Jerusalem Post.
Israel Is Not the Occupier by Alan Clemmons 1/1/17
8.Senator Cotton: Jews building in Judea is not the problem
Arkansas Senator slams Obama administration over treatment of Israel at UN, says Palestinian Authority to blame for conflict.
By David Rosenberg, Arutz Sheva 01/01/17 22:19 Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton (Rep.) doubled down on his criticism of the Obama administration’s handling of the US-Israel relationship, condemning on Sunday the White House’s decision to abstain on United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334 targeting Israel.
Cotton, Arkansas’ junior senator who strongly opposed the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, lambasted the Obama administration’s tacit support for the recently passed UNSC resolution which labeled Jewish communities in Judea & Samaria as illegal.
Speaking on Fox News on Sunday, Cotton reiterated earlier attacks on the administration, calling the administration’s inaction at the UNSC “a fitting punctuation mark on eight years of Barack Obama’s presidency.”
“First he abstained at the U.N.in the same way he abstained from leadership in the world for 8 years. Second, he was much harsher on his allies than his adversaries.”
The senator also decried Secretary of State John Kerry’s 72-minute speech justifying abstention, during which he ripped Israel & Netanyahu over construction in Judea & Samaria, while only briefly referencing Arab terrorism & anti-Semitic incitement.
“At root, the problem that we face in the Holy Land is not Israelites building new neighborhoods around Jerusalem,” said Cotton. “It’s the Palestinians refusal to acknowledge Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state in the Holy Land. Until they do that, there won’t be a peace agreement between the two peoples.”
Following the UNSC vote, Cotton blasted the Obama administration as the “most anti-Israel” in US history.
“This cowardly disgraceful action cements President Obama’s richly deserved legacy as the most anti-Israel president in American history.”
Senator Cotton: Jews building in Judea is not the problem
‘For the first time in 50 years, Israel will decide for Itself’ By Marc Zell
Chairman of Republicans Overseas Israel says Trump administration represents unprecedented opportunity for Israel. By Hezki Baruch, 01/01/17 21:30
As tensions between Israel & the Obama administration escalate following the US abstention in the United Nations Security Council & a 72-minute long speech by Secretary of State John Kerry haranguing Israeli policy & the government of Israel, attorney Marc Zell is confident US-Israel relations will not only recover, but become stronger than ever before.
With less than three weeks until President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20th, Zell spoke with Arutz Sheva during a visit to the Gush Katif Museum in Jerusalem.
“Every time I come here I relive the extraordinary experience that I had living in Gush Katif in the last three months to a month before the deportation of the residents of Gush Katif & the destruction of the beautiful villages they had there,” said Zell, who chairs the Republicans Overseas Israel organization.
Zell opined that with Trump’s inauguration, Israel would for the first time be allowed to pursue its own interests vis-à-vis Judea, Samaria & the capital. But with this new freedom, Zell added, the Israeli government would be obliged to create a coherent long-term policy for the areas under its control, something successive coalitions have never been in a position to do.
“It’s important to be reminded of the lessons of Gush Katif, especially at this critical time in history when we’re on the cusp of perhaps a new age with the incoming Trump administration. I think one of the greatest things that the election of Donald Trump and Mike Pence means for the State of Israel, is that probably for the first time in 50 years we’ll have an American administration that will truly back the decisions and the will of the people of Israel and the State of Israel.”
“That means, conversely, that the State of Israel & the government of Israel must decide for the first time what its interests are for Judea, Samaria, east Jerusalem & the Golan Heights. There’s no more room for pussyfooting around here. Israel must decide. What Israel decides is in its interests, the American government that will take office, with God’s help, on January 20th will support.”
‘For the first time in 50 years, Israel will decide for itself’
FREEMAN CENTER BROADCAST – December 30, 2016
For Zion’s sake I will not hold my peace & for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest.” Isaiah 62.
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10.Huckabee: Defund the UN & give the money to veterans
Former Arkansas Governor blasts Kerry’s “ridiculous” speech, calls for the United States to pull its portion of the UN’s funding. By Elad Benari, 29/12/16 23:20
Mike Huckabee Flash 90
Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee suggested on Thursday that, in the aftermath of the United Nations resolution condemning Israeli presence in Judea & Samaria, that the United States pull its portion of the international body’s funding.
Speaking on Fox News, Huckabee said the hundreds of millions to billions of dollars could be better allocated to serve American veterans.
Huckabee also said that Sec. of State John Kerry’s speech on Wednesday, in which he accused Israeli “settlements” of being an obstacle to peace, was “ridiculous” & a “betrayal” of Israel.
“Israel has 1,640th of the land mass of all those Muslim countries [that surround it]. In John Kerry’s fantasy, Israel is supposed to give up land & give it to people who could get it from those who have 640 times the amount of land that Israel has. Explain why that makes sense,” he told the interviewer, Eric Bolling.
The anti-Israel resolution passed by the Security Council, gives the Palestinian Arabs “validity on terrorism they have sponsored & celebrated,” continued Huckabee.
“They pay people a monthly salary if they kill a Jew. They name streets after people who kill Jews. They do not include Israel on their maps…any form of Israel… because they don’t believe it should exist. Israel has offered — back in 1995 Ehud Barak offered basically 95 percent of the Israeli land to get peace with Arafat,” he pointed out.
“Arafat turned it down. Look, the Palestinians don’t want peace. They want to destroy Israel. Golda Meir said it best back in 1972, there will be peace in the Middle East when Palestinian mothers love their own children more than they hate Jewish children. Eric, this is not going to be resolved. There is no such thing as a 2-state solution if the second state is lying on top of the land that has been the land of the Jews since the time of Abraham 3,000 years ago,” said Huckabee.
For Kerry to defend the United States’ abstention in the vote on the resolution “is a betrayal of our ally,” he stressed.
“Israel is the only democracy between Africa & Asia. It’s the only country that gives women total full rights as men have. Why doesn’t John Kerry put a little pressure on the nations who subjugate women to a lack of education, won’t let them drive? I mean, look at the differences here.
“The Israelis protect the holy sites of Jews, Christians and Muslims. Can you name me one Muslim country that welcomes Christians to build & protect churches? No, you can’t, because there isn’t one. To say the so-called Palestinians (which by the way, didn’t exist until 1962 when Arafat coined the term) took it away from what had been. Everybody who lived in that area was a Palestinian,” said Huckabee.
When Bolling pointed out that American funding accounts for about 22% of the UN’s budget, Huckabee said “we should eliminate it”
“We ought to take that money that’s going to the UN & make it available to veterans who have served under the U.S. flag to insure they’ll get the benefits they need.
We are getting zero benefits. We are getting embarrassed by the actions of the UN. That’s money that ought to be spent on American servicemen & servicewomen & I hope Donald Trump makes it one of the first acts of his presidency,” he added.
In the wake of the anti-Israel resolution, several American lawmakers have called for the U.S. to stop funding to the UN until the resolution is reversed.
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) announced last weekend he will propose a measure to pull U.S. funding for the UN unless the UN Security Council repeals the resolution it passed.
Huckabee: Defund the UN & give the money to veterans
11.Khaled Abu Toameh: Abbas Wants to Work with Trump, but 64% of PA Arabs Want Abbas Out By: David Israel JewishPress.com Published: January 1st, 2017
Mahmoud Abbas, March 28, 2016 Photo Credit: Hadas Parush/Flash90
Israeli Arab journalist Khaled Abu Toameh on Saturday night twitted a flurry of notes regarding Arab public opinion & the state of affairs in Judea, Samaria & Gaza, including a report that PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has declared he is ready to work with the Trump Administration to achieve peace on the basis of a 2-state solution & the Arab Peace Initiative – meaning Israel gives back every last stitch of land it liberated in 1967 in return for recognition by the Arab states.
At the same time, according to Abu Toameh, 64% of Palestinians want Abbas to resign. Though his tweets about the poll results are unsourced, Abu Toameh is considered a reliable journalist, who is remarkably unbiased. In the 2009 UN World Conference Against Racism (WCAR), a.k.a. Durban II, Toameh criticized Israeli Arab MKs for supporting extremism & calling Israel a “state of apartheid” rather than fighting for the rights of Arab citizens of Israel. Abu Toameh says he is routinely subject to condemnations & is often threatened, more often than not by sources outside the Middle East that don’t deny that he is telling the truth, they just want him to “shut up.”
Also according to Abu Toameh, the same poll found that 65% of PA Arabs believe the 2-state solution is no longer practical. 62% are in favor of abandoning the Oslo Accords; and 53% support an armed intifada against Israel.
Similarly, according Abu Toameh, 37% of PA Arabs believe an armed action (against Israel ) is most effective, while 33% favor negotiations to establish a state.
Abu Toameh on Saturday night also twitted an English translation of a Quds Press report saying 11 have been wounded in a clash between the Abbas PLO forces & Mohammed Dahlan supporters in Gaza.
Perhaps they should decide first who should run the PLO, before they launch an armed intifada against Israel?
David Israel writes news at JewishPress.com.
Khaled Abu Toameh: Abbas Wants to Work with Trump, but 64% of PA Arabs Want Abbas Out
Baruch Dayan HaEmet.
12.Former Justice Minister Ya’akov Ne’eman has passed away after a long fight with a “difficult illness” at 77. By: Hana Levi Julian JewishPress.com Published: 1/1/17
Then-Justice Minister Ya’akov Ne’eman during a State Control Committee Israeli government – Conclusions regarding Attorney General strike at Israeli Knesset 12/14/19
Photo Credit: Abir Sultan / Flash 90 Former Israeli Justice Minister Ya’akov Ne’eman has passed away at the age of 77 after struggling with a long illness.
Deputy Defense Minister Eli Ben Dahan described the former minister as a philanthropist & a man of compassion. He told the Hebrew-language 0404 website, “A monumental expert in the field of law, Ya’akov Ne’eman was a man of chesed (compassion) who helped & donated to public organizations in Israel.
“He was the co-chair of the public committee evaluating the issue of conversion for immigrants from the former Soviet Union. This required great sensitivity on one hand, & on the other, the deepest respect for preservation of Jewish law & for the Chief Rabbinate of Israel. May his memory be for a blessing.”
The former Justice Minister was born to a religious Zionist family in Tel Aviv during the Mandate era & maintained an observant Jewish lifestyle his entire life.
He served in the Golani Brigade during his years in the IDF & then went on to study law at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, earning a LL.B. in 1964. One year later, he earned a LL.M. from New York University & in 1968, a LL.D. at NYU as well.
Upon his return to Israel in 1972 he opened his own law firm together with Chaim Herzog, Israel’s future president.
In 1979, Attorney Ne’eman was appointed director-general of the Finance Ministry, serving until 1981. In 1996, he was appointed Minister of Justice by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but resigned two months later in the face of allegations that he had tried to suborn a witness in the trial of a Knesset member. He was eventually cleared of all charges & returned to the cabinet in July 1997, where he remained as Finance Minister until the end of the Netanyahu leadership in 1999. He once again was called to serve as Justice Minister in March 2009.
Ya’akov Ne’eman is survived by his wife & six children; the family home is in the Talbiyeh neighborhood of Jerusalem.
Hana Levi Julian is a Middle East news analyst with a degree in Mass Communication & Journalism from Southern Connecticut State University. A past columnist with The Jewish Press & senior editor at Arutz 7, Ms. Julian has written for Babble.com, Chabad.org & other media outlets, in addition to her years working in broadcast journalism.
Former Justice Minister Ya’akov Ne’eman died after a long fight with a “difficult illness” at 77.
13.Netanyahu: I Grieve at the Passing Of My Cherished Friend, Ya’akov Ne’eman
PM Netanyahu and his wife Sara send their deepest condolences to the wife of former Justice Minister Ya’akov Ne’eman, z’l, close friends of the couple.
By: Hana Levi Julian JewishPress.com Published: January 1st, 2017
Then-Justice Minister Ya’akov Ne’eman speaks before the Knesset plenum, Israel’ parliament in Jerusalem, on 12/8/09. Photo Credit: Kobi Gideon / Flash 90
A spokesperson for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released this statement Sunday evening in response to the passing of former Justice Minister Ya’akov Ne’eman:
“I grieve at the passing of one of our beloved & one of my cherished friends, Ya’akov Ne’eman.
“Ya’akov Ne’eman was a leading jurist in this country, with a sharp mind & a warm Jewish heart, a man of strong nationalist positions.
“With that, he always sought the way of compromise & dialogue, as he did when he led the Ne’eman Committee & with sensitivity & wisdom, dealt with the issue of conversion.
“Ya’akov entered public service as the director-general of the Ministry of Finance; he became the Minister of Finance & Minister of Justice.
“I found in him a wonderful partner in public activism. As Finance Minister he led * & supported important reforms, primarily in the foreign exchange market that made a huge change in the Israeli economy.
“My wife & I send his wife Hadassah, his children & his grandchildren, condolences from the bottom of our hearts.”
The former minister made his home in the Talbiyeh neighborhood of Jerusalem. He is survived by his wife Hadassah & their six children.
Hana Levi Julian is a Mid East news analyst with a degree in Mass Communication & Journalism from Southern Connecticut State University. A past columnist with Jewish Press & senior editor at Arutz 7, Ms. Julian has written for Babble.com, Chabad.org & other media outlets, in addition to her years working in broadcast journalism.
PM Netanyahu: “I Grieve at the Passing Of My Cherished Friend, Ya’akov Ne’eman.”
14.John Kerry with popcorn By Jack Engelhard, 31/12/16 18:32 What to do with all those Hollywood movies based on the Bible & history that have no Palestinians?
Hollywood sign Thinkstock Jack Engelhard
I suppose Cecil B. DeMille’s “The Ten Commandments” will have to be re-spooled. So will a hundred more Bible-themed films.
With a simple abstention on the part of Samantha Power at the UN, the history of the world has been rewritten.
Jewish & Christian cultures have been cleansed out of existence…& will remain so until Donald Trump fixes this & brings the United States back to its senses.
Apparently the Bible got it all wrong & so did Hollywood, according to Barack Obama, John Kerry & Security Council Resolution 2334, which denies Jewish rights to Judea/Samaria & Jerusalem & instead hands all of it over to the Palestinian Arabs (who were invented in 1964, by the way).
So as of Friday, December 23, when that maneuver was passed by the UN, no Jews fit the picture. Only Arabs may answer the casting call as stars & extras.
DeMille made two versions of the Biblical Exodus, the first in 1923 & then again in 1956. Both times, using Jewish & Christian theologians as technical advisers, he used the Hebrew Bible as a blueprint – and both times those were Hebrews emerging from slavery in Egypt onward toward the Promised Land that was first Canaan & finally Judea/Israel.
The heroes were Jews. No Palestinian Arabs in sight.
So what’s to be done when we watch those films again? By which I mean Otto Preminger’s 1960s “Exodus” & Melville Shavelson’s 1966 “Cast A Giant Shadow” where now it’s about modern Israel being re-captured & still the heroes are Jews, principally played by Paul Newman & Kirk Douglas.
Can we still cheer? Can we still be entertained? Can we still learn? How – when everything has been turned upside down?
To moviegoers, is Moses still a hero? Is King David still a hero, as depicted in the 1951 film “David & Bathsheba,” starring Gregory Peck & Susan Hayward.
Again, no Palestinians in sight & no demands for a 2-state solution from either the Bible or Hollywood.
Are we to root for Yasser Arafat & Mahmoud Abbas when that movie comes out?
Arab terrorists — who last month tried to burn Israel to the ground — are the world’s heroes.
That’s where we are today, as Sci-Fi writer Richard Matheson imagined a world taken over by mutants.
So buy your popcorn & watch Yasser Arafat deliver the Sermon on the Mount, & behold Mahmoud Abbas divide the Red Sea.
There were no Palestinians anywhere near Jerusalem for King Vidor’s 1959 epic “Solomon & Sheba” starring Yul Brynner & Gina Lollobrigida. Solomon builds a Jewish Temple, in Jerusalem, to fulfill the oath from his father David & according to the measurements provided by Hebrew Scriptures.
Well, that will have to be revised & rewritten, won’t it, to please Obama, Kerry, Article 2334, & the 14 nations that voted to expunge Jerusalem from Jewish sovereignty going back to the Bible. Hollywood often goes back to the Bible & now Christianity has likewise been expunged.
In movies such as “Ben-Hur” & “The Robe” & “King of Kings” & “The Greatest Story Ever Told” – still no Palestinians.
All the action takes place in & around Jerusalem, which was ruled by the Romans but populated by the Jews.
But there were no Jews in Jerusalem, if you ask John Kerry…or even if you ask the entire United Nations.
Our story, as told through Hollywood for Christians & Jews, must now be told from a far different point of view.
Plus the old reliable classics, if they are ever to be shown again, will never be seen with the same eyes.
So buy your popcorn & watch Yasser Arafat deliver the Sermon on the Mount & behold Mahmoud Abbas divide the Red Sea.
The victors, as we know, write the history. The victors also write the screenplay.
But there are many more pages to go & do not bet on them having the final word.
The first & last Tycoon will not be found at MGM or Paramount Pictures or at the UN. He is keeping score & He has other plans.
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New York-based bestselling American novelist Jack Engelhard writes a regular column for Arutz Sheva. New from the novelist: “News Anchor Sweetheart,” a novelist’s version of Fox News and Megyn Kelly. Engelhard is the author of the international bestseller “Indecent Proposal.” He is the recipient of the Ben Hecht Award for Literary Excellence. His award-winning post-Holocaust Montreal memoir Escape from Mount Moriah, plus Slot Attendant: A Novel About A Novelist. His website: www.jackengelhard.com
John Kerry with popcorn By Jack Engelhard
15.Philly Jewish Museum Posts Huge Sign Reminding Americans of Freedom of Religion By: JNi.Media JewishPress.com Published: January 1st, 2017
Jewish Museum’s sign in Philadelphia’s Independence Mall.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of NMAJH
The National Museum of American Jewish History (NMAJH), located on historic Independence Mall in Philadelphia, has installed new building signage asserting George Washington’s promise of religious liberty to the people of the United States.
Quoting Washington’s iconic letter to the Hebrew Congregation of Newport, Rhode Island in 1790, the enormous banner reads:
“Happily the Government of the United States … gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance.”
The Museum—a safe, open space for all—displays this text as a timely reminder of the ideals of inclusiveness on which this nation was founded.
Facing Independence Mall as it does, in the heart of historic Philadelphia, the Museum’s signage refers to one of the most significant documents in American history. George Washington’s letter, currently on view at NMAJH, was composed in August 1790 in response to a letter from the Jewish community of Newport. In it, Washington affirmed rights denied to Jews for millennia and underscored the nation’s commitment to respecting religious liberty and equality for people of all faiths. Washington described his vision of a country in which “every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree & there shall be none to make him afraid.”
“George Washington’s call for religious pluralism is especially powerful today, given the rise in expressions of bigotry and exclusion in recent months,” states Ivy Barsky, NMAJH’s CEO & Gwen Goodman Director. “Just as Washington fervently promised to preserve this nation’s acceptance of all people, the National Museum of American Jewish History remains committed as ever to our mission of inspiring a greater appreciation for the diversity of the American experience & the invaluable contributions to this country by immigrants.”
JNi.Media provides editors & publishers with high quality Jewish-focused content for their publications.
Philly Jewish Museum Posts Huge Sign Reminding Americans of Freedom of Religion
16.UN-Democratic, UN-Just, UN-Worthy The United Nations was a bust from the beginning. By Lloyd Billingsley January 2, 2017
On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry explained that American abstention from a vote to condemn Israel was “about preserving the two-state solution.” On the other hand, as Carol Morello of the Washington Post noted, “the United Nations has a history of considering resolutions critical of Israel, even more than have been applied to rogue states like North Korea.” Indeed, any international body concerned with democracy & human rights would be all over North Korea around the clock.
As Washington Post writer Blaine Harden explained in Escape from Camp 14, North Korea’s forced labor camps “have now existed twice as long as the Soviet Gulag & about twelve times longer than the Nazi concentration camps.” In the view of Kim Il Sung, who with Stalin’s blessing invaded South Korea in 1950, those designated class enemies must be eliminated through three generations. The policy continued under Kim Jong Il, who deployed the camps to eliminate the ‘evil seed’.
Little if anything has changed under Kim Jong-un, whose regime deploys nuclear weapons and has recently threatened to turn South Korea, a key U.S. ally, into “ashes.” The regime also aids terrorist groups & kidnaps foreign nationals. Even so, the UN appears unable to distinguish between free but imperfect democracies & a Communist regime of fathomless depravity. On that score, North Korea is hardly alone.
One of the first orders of business for China’s Communist regime was the invasion of Tibet in 1949. Chinese totalitarian rule led to an uprising in 1959 & the Dalai Lama fled to India. By 1965, the UN General Assembly had passed three resolutions condemning Communist China for human rights violations & calling for China to recognize Tibet’s right to self-determination. The Chinese Communists ignored the UN & their occupation of Tibet has outlasted the dictatorship of Fidel Castro, another UN favorite. The liberation of Tibet has not been a priority for the President of the US or for the UN, which also goes easy on Russia.
Communist Russia contributed nothing to the war in the Pacific but after Japan surrendered in 1945 Stalin invaded & occupied the Kuril Islands, including Shikotan, the most southerly island in the chain. The invading Soviets seized all the land & property of the Japanese residents & in 1947 evicted all Japanese from Shikotan. Since 1992, the Japanese may visit the islands without a visa, but Russia still rules the roost. Japan is a US ally but Russian occupation of the Kuriles has not been a priority of the President of the United States or the UN. That body was also slow in its response to genocide.
As John Barron and Anthony Paul documented in Murder of a Gentle Land: The Untold Story of Communist Genocide in Cambodia, from 1975-1979 the Khmer Rouge murdered nearly two million people, approximately one-fourth of the population. The Khmer Rouge murdered thousands of babies by smashing their heads against a tree & forced prisoners to dig their own graves before killing them with clubs to save bullets. The UN dithered until 1988 before condemning the Khmer Rouge & failed utterly at establishing any kind of tribunal for genocide. In 1999 when Kofi Annan was UN boss, most of the perpetrators still enjoyed complete impunity. Many are still out there but that is of little concern to the UN & the outgoing US President.
As Barry Rubin noted in Silent Revolution, the president has been uncritical of Communist governments & Marxist revolutionary movements. The outgoing president has also been a strong supporter of the UN, slanted to the Soviets from the start.
One of UN’s key architects was Alger Hiss, a key Stalinist spy in the U.S. State Department. After Yalta, Hiss’ primary mission was establishing the UN, and Hiss was duly appointed acting Secretary General at the founding UN conference in 1945. So from the start the Soviets had their man & Hiss was also involved in selecting some 250 UN employees. Those realities seldom surface, even on “UN Day,” October 24. It has also been largely forgotten that that from 1972 to 1982 the Secretary General of the UN was a Nazi war criminal.
As the New York Times noted, at age 19 Kurt Waldheim joined the National Socialist German Students League. This was after the Anschluss & in November 1938 Waldheim enrolled in the SA, the Nazi storm trooper organization. During World War II Waldheim served in units “that executed thousands of Yugoslav partisans & civilians & deported thousands of Greek Jews to death camps from 1942 to 1944.” Waldheim lied about his record & the UN looked the other way.
In similar style, few today recall that from 1974 to 1987 the head of the UN Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was Amabou-Mahtar M’Bow of Senegal, a Muslim & co-author of Islam & Muslims in the American Continent. One of M’Bow’s major causes was preserving the “Islamic heritage” of Jerusalem but he also had a taste for the good life. M’Bow spent 80 percent of the UNESCO budget at the organization’s Paris headquarters & ran the organization in lavish & authoritarian style.
On M’Bow’s watch UNESCO funded the PLO & violent Marxist movements around the world. UNESCO served as cover for a dozen of the 47 KGB spies expelled by France in 1983. True to form, UNESCO promoted the “New World Information & Communication Order,” a Soviet-style effort to quash free expression & repress journalists. When the French L’Express described M’Bow as a “megalomaniac despot,” the UNESCO boss sued the publication. All told, M’Bow’s excesses prompted U.S. President Ronald Reagan to pull the United States out of UNESCO in 1984.
Nothing like that has ever occurred to the outgoing President of the United States, who doesn’t care that the UN is tougher on Israel than genocidal Communist dictatorships such as North Korea. The outgoing president has always been harder on America’s friends than its enemies & he finds the UN a convenient forum for that purpose.
Incoming president Donald Trump, on the other hand, does not suffer from Waldheimer’s Disease.
This widespread affliction makes people forget the UN was once headed by a Nazi war criminal & harbored megalomaniac despots like Amabou-Mahtar M’Bow. The incoming president seems to recognize the UN is wasteful, unaccountable & hostile to the US, which pays a lion’s share of the bills.
As the current tangle confirms, the UN also remains hostile to America’s democratic friends & allies such as Israel. So if the new president wants to take the US out of the UN, he certainly has good grounds to do so!
Lloyd Billingsley is the author of Barack ‘em Up: A Literary Investigation, and Bill of Writes: Dispatches from the Political Correctness Battlefield.
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UN-Democratic, UN-Just, UN-Worthy The UN was a bust from the beginning. By Lloyd Billingsley