Absurdly Arrogant

The article pretty much speaks for itself.Though the United States needs to pursue its national interests to the exclusion of any other consideration. Acting in self interest is critical a country's survival. However when acting in national self interest involves bullying allies not just to get on board with the larger ally's policies but to engage in acts that are simply humilating. Similarly it is unacceptable for the larger ally to deny its freind the dignity of its own soverginty.

It is ibad enough that Washington refuses to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Indeed there is opinion that U.S policy denies the notion of there being a conpect of Jewish peoplehood. Further US State Department personnel are regularly deployed throughout Judea Samaria and Jerusalem to monitor Jewish construction. Ut us dusheartening to think American diplomats are being assigned the duties of a suburban code enforcement officer within another country.

Now to ask Israel to apologize to Turkey for defending itself against the armed persons aboard the infamous flotila borders on the absurd and is akin to the German government billing the Jewish community for the clean up after the debris caused by Kristalnacht. Asking Israel to apologize under the circumstances is insulting, demeaning and an expression of unbriddled arrogance that is inappropriate in international relations.
Shame on Washington for making the request Shame on Israel if they aquiese.



Washington - US to Israel: Apologize to Turkey, or Else; But Netanyahu Says No -- VosIzNeias.com

SEEING MAN TO MAN

The subtle often belies the fundamental. Paying attention to nuance leads to compelling differences that distinguish otherwise equally valid points of view. Concerning the Land of Israel many objective observers conclude the best approach to the problem is compromise, a two state solution, a state for the Jews and a State for the Arabs within the Land of Israel.
Recently there were two videos offering two Jewish perspectives on Arabs.

The first was an observation by Ms. Malkah Fleischer who acknowledged her admiration of Arabs and their culture. However she cannot be friends with Arabs because they intend violence to her and her family either through compelling her husband to once again don his uniform and go to war, because of a threat through rockets, missiles or personal violence to lives of those she loves or their designs on her home and community she cannot be friends with Arabs.

The other video came from the Israeli version of "What Would You Do?"observed what happened when an Arab woman was refused service at a coffee Sop in the Israeli city of Holon. The Arab lady, actress would order a coffee and the counterman also an actor would refuse her declaring " we do not serve Arabs here!" Nearly every Israeli was indignant how can you deny her humanity? What makes her any different that you or I?, She is as much a person as anyone!?

These videos complement each other. Those people who stepped up to defend an Arab woman's right to purchase coffee would not necessarily tolerate belligerent acts that place Israel's population at risk.

Passionately defending the right of Jews to return, reclaim,settle and populate the length and breath of The Land of Israel does not come at the price of dehumanizing the Arabs. Israel generally and faithful Jews in particular teach return and redemption and defense.

Those living under Fatah or Hamas or their fellow travelers make the same claim?

How can anyone doubt who occupies the Moral high ground? Can there be any doubt who is the the true heir of Abraham's legacy both spiritual and physical"

EVIL IS REAL , EVIL MUST NEVER BE EXCUSED

The 6th of Adar II will remain seared in the conscience of all who possess a soul. During that Shabbat evening the community of Itamar became a murder scene so gruesome in its violence language is inadequate to fully convey its scope. Five members of the Fogel were murdered in their home some while they slept or in bed.

Glenn Beck whose style is to indulge in over the top hyperbole was indeed spot on when describing the carnage as being beyond the twisted visions of Charles Manson. The images Mr. Beck referenced to are truly too intense, too horrific, too chilling to be shown even to those well acquainted with death.

Mr. Aaron Klein during his March 6, 2011 WABC radio broadcast interviewed a Fatah spokesman who focused on the Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria as being an usurpation of Arab lands that “ . . . they didn’t even pay for . . . .” apparently as justification for the attack. The ordinarily reserved Mr. Klein could not contain himself at this callously absurd assertion.

Prime Minister Netanyahu has approved the building of some 500 new housing units in Judea and Samaria in response. Further the Prime Minister in a statement noted how quick world opinion condemns Jewish building projects and how slowly world opinion responds to the loss of five Jewish lives in manner that belies the murderers’ brutish, soullessness.

Mr. Abbas sort of expressed a condemnation of the murders in a Saturday night phone call to PM Netanyahu and made a further condemnation of the murders in Arabic during an interview carried by Israeli radio. However as reported in the March 14, 2011 edition The New York Times reported that despite these words by Mr. Abbas the attitude expressed through the actions of his administration towards anti Israel incitement and the esteem in which terrorist are held and from whose ranks terrorists emerge belie something quite the opposite.

Secretary of State Clinton and echoed by the Quartet condemned the murders as Ms. Clinton’s press statement concludes “The murderers must be found and brought to justice. Israeli security forces have launched a thorough investigation and we look to the Palestinian authorities to assist in every way possible.”

Ms. Clinton, in Gaza Arabs were celebrating by distributing candies. Mr. Abbas’ office issues a statement that ““ . . . stressed his rejection and condemnation of all violence directed against civilians, regardless of who was behind it or the reason for it.” Ms. Clinton, Mr. Abbas seems to equate the accidental death of civilians amid the fog of war or as the victims as terrorists’ human shields to a murder that lies beyond Helter Skelter. Madame Secretary, the notion that the perpetrators be treated like criminals and not like combatants engaged in an act of war exposes a worldview based on a worldview absent of absolutes where good and evil become relative terms and lose any serious meaning. Ms. Clinton, when engaging in negotiations a shared sense of good faith and fair dealing between the parties is essential how then can Mr. Abbas be seen as any type of peace partner let alone a serious and sincere one?

As to any criticism about Jewish settlement in places like Itamar understand if Jews have no business in Itamar the where do the Jews belong? Should the Jews return to Europe? to Poland? Hungry? France? Iraq? or Yemen?, as suggested by Ms. Helen Thomas. If one claims that Jews do not belong in Itamar then on what basis do Jews belong in Jerusalem, Paris, London, Brooklyn or Lakewood New Jersey?

The danger is the Itamar atrocity in its psychotic levels of violence may be lost as an aberration and not as symptomatic of an underlying evil that deserves no recognition or tolerance among civilized persons.
”
Maybe time for words has ended. Maybe time has come to call out evil for what it is and stop its advance.

Throwing Rocks in a Glass House

Check out this link

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/hillary-clinton-israeli-settlements-illegitimate/story?id=12952834

It is wonderful Obama/ Clinton vetoed the Security Council mption agaisnt Israel---But Sec. Clinton declaring the return of Jews to Biblical lands as Illegitimate slaps each of my ancestors and every Jew in the face. Madame Secretary before saying anything to Israel speak with the Sioux, Lakota and Cherokee about how legitimate are the settelments of Boston , New York, Detroit, Chicago, Denver and Los Angeles???????

WHEN IDEOLOGY OVERTAKES REALITY.

From ISRAEL NATIONAL NEWS- ARUTZ 7


White House Fudges on Whether it Would Save Israel

by Gil Ronen
Follow Israel news on and .


White House Spokesman Robin Gibbs would not pledge to guarantee Israel's security if its existence is in danger, in a Wednesday press briefing. In reference to recent Middle East turmoil, he was asked: "If Israel is threatened by any of these new governments or Hamas and Hizbullah, if its existence is in danger, would the US come to its assistance?

Gibbs answered: "Regardless of the situation facing any government in the region, our friendship, our partnership and our alliance with Israel is unchanged."

Gibbs also said the Administration could not force a peace settlement on Israel and the PA. "The president has been involved from day one in seeking a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians," he said, but added that "We cannot force those two into steps that they are unwilling to take steps to do themselves."

Press Secratery Gibbs expressed a firm committment by the United States to Israel, yet there was no mention of doing anything more then sending good wishes. How reassuring!
Now what Mr. Gibbs said in conclusion;

"We cannot force those two into steps that they are unwilling to take steps to do themselves."

First, of all it is encouraging that the Administration is not going to impose a settlement upon Israel and Fatah/Hamas. However what is disturbing and what colors Mr. Gibbs' prior statement of support for Israel is how he equated both sides almost making it sound like the unwillingness to reach an agreement is mutual.

To review how Israel has made concession after concession either through Territory, or through prisoner release of terrorists et. al. is so well known that reciting the list would be unnecessary. The list of concessions made by the other side is what? Maybe for the time being, not to send suicide bombers? The balance sheet is completely sckewed yet in the eyes of the Obama Aministration the parties are equally responsible for the lack of agreement. Outrageous.

Yet, on the other hand is Israel's desire to reach an agreementin its best interest?
Not that any rational person would endorse a state of hostility over a state of peace. However a nation must act in their own best interest. A desire for peace cannot be a death wish.

Aside from any historic, religious or cultural considerations that make relinquishing any part of the Land of Israel, Eretz Yisrael offensive and repugnat there all more practical concerns.

First there is the issue of relocating the roughly quater of a million Jews who live in Judea and Sumaria. Even Five years plus after the Disengagement from Gaza not all the Eight and Half Thousand Jews who lived in Gaza have been fully restored. Indeed for the sake of peace tens if not hundreds of lives were irrepaily altered.
Further a new state within the borders of Eretz Yisrael would place potential enemies with ever closer range to essential aspects of Israeli infrastructure and security.

Additionally the situation in the surrounding countries is of concern. Many countires have aging despotic leadership and a dissatisfied, middle class along with a wink and nod from the United States create the conditions for a perfect storm for revolt. Though it is unclear who controls those in rebellion, what is clear an organization dedicated to creating an Islamic megastate, a caliphate is the best organized and best poised to fill a power vacum in the wake of regieme change. The Obama or any Aministration failing to understand this means either the public is clueless or the Administration is oblivious to the obvious.

Mr. Gibb's comments reflects a profound failure of perception ,to the extant that it belies what could be best described as an inability to grasp reality.

READ THIS AND BE VERY SCARED

This is particularly scary not just because this is being directed against Jews but the IRS exists to collect taxes not to enforce political orthodoxy.

Sure because the story is Jewish/Zionist related I am posting the article below BUT consider how much of our liberties and constitutional rights have been bulldoized since January 2009? THIS cannot continue and America as we know it, as we were taught to believe in can continue. Please look past party affiliation and look to principle

In the meantime as Chanukah approaches one wonders if lighting the Menorah will be an unwelcome declaration of Judaizing the Holy Land and the Temple Mount.



http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/1110/IRS_to_Jewish_group_Does_your_organization_support_the_existence_of_the_land_of_Israel.html

TIME TO BELIEVE

Recently synod of Catholic Clergy from the middle East asserted that Israel[i.e. Jews] cannot cite Biblical texts confirming the D-vine promise of the Land of Israel to the Jewish people. Indeed the Jews should cease their occupation of lands claimed by Arabs..

OK, maybe these men needed to make such a statement because their position in their home countries is precarious, yet, the Vatican seemed to echo the synod’s opinion.

UNESCO has called upon the State of Israel to remove the Cave of the Patriarchs and Rachel’s Tomb from the list of Jewish Heritage Sites. UNESCO endorsed the notion both sites are claimed exclusively as Mosques. UNESCO’s action was so outrageous that is prompted Israel to formally declare it was suspending its cooperation with the UN agency.

One’s initial reaction would be somewhere between “ . . . . and where do the @#$%ing Vatican and UNSECO think Jews do belong? ” Or ’ This is so outrageous !!!! To @#$% with them.!!!!” However neither reaction is useful.

Yet ignoring these developments would be a missed opportunity. Why deny the legitimacy of using Jewish sacred texts as the basis of Jewish claim to the Promised Land? Implied in the admonition is an acknowledgement however begrudging in the enduring truth of the D-vine promises. Similarly, why claim the burial sites of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs as Mosques and beyond a legitimate Jewish claim also implies a need to shout down the truth that is stated in Scripture.

An obvious conclusion can be drawn. Those who are hostile to the Jewish people particularly the presence of Jews in the Land of Israel in fulfillment of prophecy and as part of the national history and heritage feel the need to de-legitimatize that connection. If they believe why shouldn’t the Jews? Maybe this is how G-D through Jewry’s opponents compels a spiritual awakening. An awakening to embrace Jewish history and Heritage as the exclusive basis to assert Jewish values and identity.

It is time to believe in the Jewish nation and narrative.

POLICY PARADOX

It has been too long since the last posting but the story still has not changed all that much. It boggles the mind that State Department employees are deployed to Judea and Samaria to essentially act like suburban code enforcement officers checking to make sure there is no Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria and I guess Jerusalem as well.

Consider the arrogance such a policy entails. How does any sovereign country tolerate such paternalistic domination? Indeed the notion that in the Jewish state there is any place a Jew is not welcome is just wrong.

What is even more bewildering is the rights of an Imam to build a Mosque at 51 Park where wreckage from the airliners turned WMDs fell on 9/11/01. It does not seem consistent that rights of religious freedom and expression should trump the provocative aspect s of the venture. The rule is generally your rights end at the tip of my nose. Simply put, there are two aspects to balance regarding the Ground Zero Mosque; I s it merely a cultural and religious center standing for peace moderation and tolerance or as statement of triumph not unlike a Roman victory arch or a street gang marking its turf with graffiti ?

A hallmark of American democracy is the extent to which the majority will protect the civil rights of the minority even the ones who are unpopular. Even so if a few persons’ speech/expression offends Millions does it remain protected?

The general rule articulated by the US Supreme Court the treedom of speech/expression is limited to the right to put out the speech or expression to the public but there is no requirement that anyone listen to the message.The Court's reasoning make's sense when addressing a neo-nazi rally or seasonal displays reflecting religious themes. However something permenent like the Ground Zero Mosque is a message that cannot be ignored by the public and should be proscribed against as a form of fighting words which are not protected speech.

Yet both Mayor Bloomberg and President Obama endorsed the right to build an in your face monument celebrating terrorism- no matter how it may be sold to the public that project is just that in-your-face that its meaning is unmistakable.

But G-D forbid some Jew living in Efrat or Ma’aleh Adumim or Kiryat Araba wanted to build a deck or install a swing set in one’s backyard that right is not recognized and indeed such subversive behavior is an impediment to peace posing a threat greater than a nuclear device from Iran. That is just so wrong.

The paradox is stark maybe it is time to review and reacess so that the United States continue to champion freedom and human rights. Human Rights that build to make a bright future and not to celebrate conauest and death.
.

SPARKS

Occasionally, an otherwise irrelevant story carries on its back an element of significance. The discussions following Chelsea Clinton’s wedding to Marc Mezvinsky in of itself is newsworthy only because the bride is the daughter of a former President and the present Secretary of State. However in the Jewish world there is a strange dual image.

On the one hand the notion that the American version of royalty accepts a Jew in its midst represents a piercing of a glass ceiling. Especially as the groom came under the wedding canopy clad with a Kipa and Talit draped over his designer suit.

On the other hand a Jewish boy was marrying outside the faith. Not only was this an intermarriage, all the groom’s expressions of Jewish identity were made on Shabbat itself. Strictly speaking from the perspective of Jewish Law once one decides not to marry Jewish the Jewish elements employed in the ceremony including the participation of Jewish clergy is an affront before G-D, which is only magnified by the event occurring on Shabbat.

Others see amid the unarguably negative aspects of Clinton Mezvinsky nuptials there is a dim but bright light of the groom unabashed assertion of Jewish Identity.

Recently, two Orthodox Rabbis one a Black Hatter the other a Modern Orthodox Rav each essentially argued the positions outlined above. As the reader [thank you for stopping by] might have guessed there is another dimension under which this event can be analyzed.

The Jewish experience in the modern era especially in America is represented in microcosm by Marc Mezvinsky’s wedding. Many times the theme plays itself out in historically and in popular culture Jews wish to assimilate, participate, succeed and be accepted by the general society while believing one can remain fully engaged as Jews.

No matter what learned discourse emerges from Hebrew Union College or the Jewish Theological Seminary and the myriad University Jewish/Judaic Studies departments defending a variety of observance streams that depart from an allegiance to the centrality of the belief in G-D’s authority is revealed through the oral and written Torah. In all candor the acceptance by many Jews of contortions of Judaism rather than abandon all identity has nothing to do any learned treatise. Rather there is something in the Jewish psyche that resist complete assimilation. The cantor’s son in the Jazz Singer can no longer identify with his old world parents and their outmoded traditions is yet pulled back by both family and history to the synagogue to lead services on Yom Kippur.

Hollywood during WWII wanted to let everyone know Jews were doing their part, watch any number of era movies and see how often a couple lines of Yiddish are thrown in to convey the message Jews serve as well. Jewish identity by Hank Greenberg and Sandy Kofax not playing on High Holidays inspired pride An observation made during the 2000 American Presidential race that Democratic Vice –Presidential candidate Sen. Joseph Lieberman being an observant Jew was a non-issue underscored how well Jew were accepted in American society.. [Unlike President Kennedy’s Catholicism in 1960 or more recently Mitt Romney’s Mormonism or Mike Huckabee’s credentials as a minister]

The point is Jews are reluctant to completely estrange themselves from their identity and heritage. Unfortunately the expressions of Jewish Identity like Mr. Mezvinsky’s take a contradictory effect. Mr. Mezvinsky effort to identify with Jewish tradition and identity ignore the more far-reaching effect of precluding from his children a Jewish continuity and future. The conundrum’s absurdity is so stark that it drifts past parody to the pathetic.

However not to recognize a spark no matter how small that wishes to remain steadfastly part of the Jewish nation is even sadder. Failing to recognize a spark no matter how small that wishes to remain steadfastly part of the Jewish nation means to fail to recognize that the little spark can be fanned in to a full flame.

As the High Holidays Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur approach maybe the lesson for every Jew especially those who live and breathe the axiom that Torah is “ . . .our life and the measure of our days .. . .” is to not hesitate to speak honestly about Judaism and Jewish law and values and still finding the positive no matter how slight .

WHICH WAS THE REAL DEAL?

Prime Minister Natanyahu met again with President Obama this time with all the bell snd wistles. So of course which reception truly reflects the Presidents' views this time or last time when PM Netanyahu was left alone while the President went to have diner with his daugthers?

However it is telling that there is an on going effort by the President to make nice after the earlier gaff. However this may be more in response to buyer's remorse on the part of American Jews who voted for the President but would reluctant to do so again as well as a nod to the Democratic Congress that has overwhelmingly pro-Israel.

Improoving relations with the Islamic world is a good thing and in American's interest. However the way to made new friends is not by abandoning the old ones nor by losing one's own identity and values to satisfy the other. Without saying more it is possible that the President's international background and out-of -the-mainstream mentors may have brought him to a place where he does not have an American identity or at least not one as strong as his predecessors in office.

Alack of national self esteem can be made for Mr, Netanyahu as well however before condeming totally one must account for whatever strongarm tactics were used on him, even so he too must step up to assert Jewish National interests against Mr. Obama and his minions. One must be who they are destined to be a Jew must be a Jew no matter how badly he may want otherwise. Faith and strength are what matter once one knows who one is then a worldview and desicions can be competently made.