Elder of Ziyon Daily Digest |
- Some links to read while I am out
- An open letter to Leonard Nimoy
- Crazy Egyptian plans to have cage fight with a lion - that symbolizes Israel
- Chag Sameach!
- Photos of weapons on Mavi Marmara - a year late
- Abbas proven a liar again
- Third day in a row: Rafah crossing still closed - by Hamas
- Where are the amateur videos of the Golan riots?
- Saudi cleric sees sex at Jedda airport
| Some links to read while I am out Posted: 07 Jun 2011 03:27 PM PDT Researcher says Iran can build a nuke in 2 months Yale's latest gift to anti-semitism NGOs promoting "Right to Return" Michael Oren on the Six Day War and why Israel can't go back to 49 armistice lines Video of Jerusalem right after the Six Day war Michael Totten on Ottoman Fantasies Some interesting historical parallels to the GCC Dealing with "Apartheid Week" at York Lawfare against the flotillas Interesting old post about ownership of the Golan JCPA's ground rules for upcoming flotillas See you guys Thursday night....and chag sameach! (h/t CHA, Silke, Zvi, MP, Joel, Zach N., Dan) 
         | ||
| An open letter to Leonard Nimoy Posted: 07 Jun 2011 10:04 AM PDT Dear Mr. Nimoy, I am a fan of your work (well, most of it) and as such I read your letter of support for Peace Now with sadness. It appears that you have not researched the issues as thoroughly as one would hope. Americans for Peace Now, the organization you are asking everyone to donate to, is not quite what it appears. Peace Now is now a marginal organization in Israel. It is not mainstream and its positions do not reflect what most of the Israeli public wants. That is not to say that Israelis are warmongers; far from it. Every Jew in Israel yearns for peace. Most Israelis support a two-state solution. In fact, even the current Israeli government publicly supports a two-state solution. The difference is that most Israelis want to ensure that the solution will truly promote peace. They do not want to barrel headfirst into an agreement that could jeopardize their security; they want to ensure that any Palestinian Arab state will not one day turn into an Iranian satellite the way we saw Gaza and southern Lebanon become. Gaza is instructive. Israel withdrew from the entire territory, yet it did not bring peace. On the contrary, it led to a war, and tens of thousands of Israeli citizens had to live under constant threat of rocket attack. Moreover, thousands of Israelis were uprooted from their homes in order to even bring a chance for peace. At the time of the withdrawal, Gaza was ruled by the very same Palestinian Authority that Peace Now wants to force Israel to make an agreement "now" with. Yet they could not even control their own territory and Hamas violently took over Gaza. The Gaza model is exactly what Peace Now demands from Israel, today. They have not learned a thing from that huge failure. Fortunately, the rest of the Israeli public learned the lesson that eludes Peace Now, and Israelis are now far more careful before jumping into any further concessions. It is not like the Israeli leadership needs outside help in giving up concrete assets for peace. Here you can see how much Israeli governments - especially the "hawkish, far right" Likud - have given up in the often vain hope for peace:  Americans for Peace Now want America to pressure Israel to make concessions that the people are not ready to make, with a partner who is not willing to compromise and which even today routinely refers to Israel as "the enemy." This cynical use of American politics, and their recruiting of spokespeople like you, indicate that they have failed to get their agenda taken seriously by the Israeli people and are instead trying to use outside pressure to convince Israelis "what is really good for them." This is not showing a love of Israel; it instead shows that they do not respect the Israeli public. It is not as if there isn't robust debate in Israel itself on how a peace plan would work and what compromises are necessary - the subject is a national obsession. The idea that an American actor, no matter how respected, should be used to convince Americans to give money to a movement that cannot gain any traction in the free-wheeling world of Israeli politics is, frankly, insulting to the intelligence of Israelis. There are other problems with the organization you have chosen to identify with. For example, Peace Now supports the division of Jerusalem, something that is simply not tenable and would increase the misery of Jew and Arab alike. Moreover, no organization has worked harder to demonize a significant percentage of the Israeli population than Peace Now. I am speaking about the so-called "settlers" who Peace Now believes are the biggest single impediment to peace. In fact, the Jews who choose to return to the Biblical Land of Israel are among the most patriotic members of Israeli society, serving with pride in the IDF and showing a love of Israel that is difficult to match. Peace Now, however, spends a huge amount of time and money specifically to battle their fellow Israelis who live on the "wrong" side of a mythical line that was never, ever a border between two countries, and was never even meant to be one. It is legitimate to question the tactics and life choices of the Jews who live in Judea and Samaria, as it is legitimate to criticize any group of people out of love. Peace Now, however, has spent the bulk of its time treating their fellow Jews as the enemy. I think you could agree, Mr. Nimoy, that there are few enough Jews as it is that we cannot afford the baseless hatred that Peace Now exhibits towards those they disagree with. Most Israelis agree that a great majority of these communities across the Green Line will remain a part of Israel, yet this is simply not compatible with how Peace Now acts towards these people. Peace Now actually encourages boycotts and other sanctions against their fellow Israelis and against the wishes of most Israelis altogether. This year on Jerusalem Day, a remarkable thing happened. For the first time since Israel reunified Jerusalem, Kohanim ascended to the Temple Mount and blessed the Jews who visited their holiest site. They positioned their hands in a way you are most familiar with, as it is the one that you copied as the Vulcan greeting in Star Trek. Jews must have free access to their holiest places - not only in Jerusalem but in Bethlehem, Hebron and elsewhere. Peace Now is against this. It should not be unusual for Jews to be able to ascend to their holiest spot and to be able to pray freely there. Your letter refers a number of times to Star Trek, the television show that made you famous. If I may, I would like to mention something else from that show - the Prime Directive. As you no doubt know, this was the most important order that your character and his coworkers had to adhere to - the rule not to interfere in other cultures, even for the best of reasons. Israel is not a banana republic, and Israelis are well aware of the dangers they face as well as the necessity for peace. When famous actors deign to tell Israelis what is best for them it is not only a violation of this rule, but it is an insult to the entire country, implying that somehow a person in Hollywood knows better than Israelis do of how they should think and act. I hope that you come to realize the wisdom in the mythical Starfleet General Order #1, and show your love for Israel by supporting everyone who is honorable enough to live there, not by supporting division and hate. May we all live long and prosper. Elder of Ziyon 
    | ||
| Crazy Egyptian plans to have cage fight with a lion - that symbolizes Israel Posted: 07 Jun 2011 08:39 AM PDT From Al Masry al-Youm (English): Given the current state of the economy, it comes as no surprise that many Egyptians are doing all that they can to revive international interest in their country. What is surprising, though, is that one man has somehow managed to convince himself - and a few others - that he can single-handedly "boost tourism in Egypt" by fighting a full-grown African lion in direct hand-to-paw combat, in front of the Pyramids at Giza.Believe it or not, the interview gets even nuttier. 
    | ||
| Posted: 07 Jun 2011 07:51 AM PDT I would like to wish my readers a chag sameach, a wonderful Shavuot holiday. (I'll still be blogging for a few hours more but I wanted to make sure my Israeli readers get the message!)
    | ||
| Photos of weapons on Mavi Marmara - a year late Posted: 07 Jun 2011 06:57 AM PDT Last week it was reported that the Israeli Navy had photos of IHH terrorists on the Mavi Marmara wielding weapons. Photos recently obtained by the Navy show a weapon hanging off the shoulder of one of the IHH members. Another photo shows a gun. It is as yet unclear who took the photos. One of the images allegedly shows MK Hanin Zoabi, who took part in the flotilla, standing next to an armed activist.Today, the photos have finally been published - only in the print edition of Yediot. Here they are, courtesy of IMRA:    
    | ||
| Posted: 07 Jun 2011 05:55 AM PDT From MEMRI: Following are excerpts from an interview with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, which aired on Palestinian Authority TV on June 2, 2011:Abbas is trying to imply that the "Jewish state" demand was initiated by Netanyahu only within the last year. Was the demand to be recognized as a Jewish state only brought up in 2010? No. Ehud Olmert actually demanded it at Annapolis in 2007, and the negotiations beforehand showed that the Israelis were pushing for that phrase to be used at Annapolis, while the Palestinian Arabs adamantly refused - and even refused to admit that there is any such thing as a "Jewish people." Once again, Abbas is proven to be a liar. But people insist Israel to make an agreement with a congenital liar - because the alternatives are supposedly worse. So it is better for Israel to make an agreement with someone who cannot be trusted at all? 
    | ||
| Third day in a row: Rafah crossing still closed - by Hamas Posted: 07 Jun 2011 04:59 AM PDT Hamas' siege on Gaza continues. For the third consecutive day, Hamas has not opened the Rafah crossings because of a disagreement with Egypt on logistics. Egypt closed the crossings on Saturday morning for "administrative and technical" reasons, causing anger from the Gazans waiting to go to Egypt. But since Sunday, Hamas has closed the crossing. It appears that one major reason Hamas is unhappy is that Egypt maintains a list of thousands of Gazans who are not allowed to enter Egypt. Hamas wants this list, which no doubt includes many of its members, to be discarded. Notably, the crossing is open from the Egyptian side, and Gazans returning home from Egypt are being allowed through. 
    | ||
| Where are the amateur videos of the Golan riots? Posted: 07 Jun 2011 03:19 AM PDT YouTube is filled with amateur video of Syrian demonstrators and of Syrian funerals. Scores of such videos are uploaded daily. Everyone now has video cameras in their phones so it is easy to take such videos (even as it might be somewhat difficult to upload them from Syria at times.) Yet I cannot find a single amateur video of the riots in the Golan Heights on Sunday, "Naksa Day." No videos of people being shot, or of life threatening injuries. I tried multiple search terms in Arabic, but the best I can find is Al Jazeera coverage or people posting Israeli TV coverage (cropping out the Hebrew, but obviously from the Israeli side.) Isn't that interesting? Hundreds of young people come ostensibly to protest Israel, many fully expecting (and some actively hoping) to be shot and "martyred" by the hated Zionist enemy, yet no videos have surfaced of this supposed massacre? The only explanation I can think of is that the Syrian authorities who transported them to the demonstration confiscated every single phone and camera before allowing them to arrive. The Syrian authorities clearly wanted their story of the demonstration to be the only one. And as is increasingly clear, it is only a story. 
    | ||
| Saudi cleric sees sex at Jedda airport Posted: 07 Jun 2011 02:02 AM PDT Jedda Inter Too funny, from MEMRI: Following are excerpts from a video featuring Saudi cleric Dr. Ali Baqna, posted on the Internet (June 1, 2011):If the Saudis are censoring real p0rn from their Internet, then this must be the next-best thing. (h/t Israellycool) 
    |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Elder of Ziyon To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
אין תגובות:
הוסף רשומת תגובה