| Hamas nervous about Herzog visit to Turkeynoreply@blogger.com (Unknown), 10 Mar 05:45 AM Israel's President Isaac Herzog met Turkish President Recep | |  |
Israel's President Isaac Herzog met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday afternoon. Erdogan told the media that he believed that "this historic visit will be a turning point in relations between Turkey and Israel. Strengthening relations with the State of Israel has great value for our country."
Predictably, Islamic Jihad issued a statement saying that they "strongly condemned the reception of the head of the Zionist entity, Isaac Herzog, in Turkey."
Hamas' condemnation didn't mention Turkey, though. They merely said thsat Hamas "followed with great concern the visits of officials and leaders of the Zionist entity to a number of Arab and Islamic countries, the most recent of which was the visits of the President of the Zionist entity, Isaac Herzog to a number of countries in the region."
Echoing the Elder of Zion myth, Hamas called on regional Muslim countries into "not giving the Zionist entity the opportunity to penetrate the region and tamper with the interests of its people." Hamas is very nervous. If Turkey desires closer relations with...Read More |
From Ian: The case for a Palestinian state is based on flawed moral logic Consequently, the moral argument for Palestinian self-determination and statehood compete with moral arguments for Israel's existence. If the moralists are correct, Israel's crime was not in winning the war against Arab aggression in 1967, but its survival and victory in 1949. As long as Palestinians are unwilling to renounce their intent to destroy Israel and reject reciprocity, why should Israel continue to make concessions? Opponents of settlements have led us into the trap of believing that creating another Arab Palestinian state in Judea, Samaria and Gaza will satisfy Arab demands for Israel's elimination. Moreover, using moral arguments masks an even more confused belief that Israel and Jews are guilty for alleged crimes against the Palestinian people when the State of Israel was established, ensuing war and dislocation, Arab refugees and the failures of Palestinianism. The UN and the media transformed the image of the PLO from a terrorist organization into a national liberation movement and a moral imperative. "One man's terrorist is another's freedom fighter" and "justice for Palestinians" became incantations of moral sophistry. Arguments for a Palestinian state should be made on its merits, not on guilt-feelings, apologies for Israel's existence and scorning Jews who live over the Green Line. Fear-mongering by some Diaspora-minded...Read More |
Ukraine and the bravery of the Ukrainian people are on our minds, and the topic of seemingly every news story. Everyone knows that Putin is evil, full stop. We are all aware that this ex-KGB man is committing war crimes, for instance hitting evacuation crossing points, murdering innocent civilians even as they attempt to flee. Ordinary Ukrainian citizens refuse to fold, resisting and hitting back however they can. Still, as the inexorable invasion of Ukraine winds on, this pervasive hero worship of the underdog Ukraine has left some Jews discomfited. Some of the Jews made uncomfortable by the elevation of Ukrainians to hero status, grew up Jewish in Ukraine, or had relatives who did. Others tell bloodcurdling family stories of relatives murdered during bloodthirsty Ukrainian pogroms and massacres. We applaud the courage of the modern Ukrainian, but we remember the history, both old and new, of Jews in Ukraine. There is Babi Yar, for example, that happened only 81 years ago. Some of us may have parents or grandparents who were alive when the massacre occurred. Others may be named for the kedoshim—the holy ones—who were murdered there. But there is newer history even than Babi Yar. Katarina Matlin, a woman in her thirties, left Ukraine for the United States not so very long ago. Matlin can attest to the fact that Ukrainian antisemitism is still alive and kicking, both from personal...Read More |
By RealJerusalemStreets In the opening Author's Note, Andrew Lawton begins "Under Jerusalem: The Buried History of the World's Most Contested City" with a quote from author Simon Sebag Montefiore; "Writing about Jerusalem was very stressful; every word counts." Lawton adds, "Which word to select is part of that trial."
I read carefully through the 355 pages of text which included impressive old and new photos. The extensive acknowledgments, endnotes, and index are extremely well done and a valuable resource I plan to keep to use in the future.
The Ark of the Covenant was the object of searches over a century before the 1981 "The Raiders of the Lost Ark" by Steven Spielberg starring Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones. The early chapters on the beginnings of archeology in the Holy Land, in the mid 19th century, led by Christian Zionists, Charles Wilson (Wilson's Arch), Charles Warren, British Royal engineers, Edward Robinson (Robinson's Arch), French explorer Louis-Felicien Joseph Caignart de Saulcy and German Conrad Schick are extremely well documented and informative. Lawton presents a vast amount of material in an interesting and engaging way. He is an excellent writer who has done extensive research on archeology and history. The work shared over centuries under the Jerusalem streets is seen in an engrossing manner to draw the reader along. However, on two specific points, I must take exception. In the timeline, 1948 CE "The British withdraw, Israel is created, and war breaks...Read More |
From Ian: 'Another Jewish Community Ceases to Exist': Ukrainian Chief Rabbi Condemns Russian Advance, Attacks on Civilians One of Ukraine's leading rabbis has excoriated the Russian troops invading the country for driving out the historic Jewish communities that were painstakingly revived in recent decades. Chief Rabbi Yaakov Bleich on Wednesday shared an amateur video that showed a group of elderly Jews sitting on a bus as they waited to be evacuated from Bila Tserkva, 60 miles south of the capital Kyiv. The city has been hit on multiple occasions by cruise missiles aimed at Kyiv by Russian forces. Russian air strikes against Bila Tserkva on Tuesday ripped through residential areas, leaving several apartment buildings destroyed. Commenting on the departure of Bila Tserkva's Jews, Bleich wrote: "Another Jewish community ceases to exist in Ukraine, losing everything they have gained over a lifetime, thanks to the 'liberators' from Russia." The image of scared, elderly Jews fleeing from a Ukrainian city was reminiscent of the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, Bleich remarked. "When you watch this video, the first thought that comes to mind is that this is 1941 and the Jews are fleeing from advancing Wehrmacht units," he wrote. "But it is not! This is the year 2022. Jewish grandparents from the Ukrainian...Read More |
Weekly column by Vic Rosenthal Who's Intolerant? The refugee crisis in Ukraine has illuminated a deep moral divide among Israelis, which I think reflects a similar division in the moral consciousness of humans everywhere. On one side we have Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked, who announced yesterday that Israel would accept all Jewish refugees – that is, all of those, according to the Law of Return, who have at least one Jewish grandparent – but that only up to 5,000 non-Jewish Ukrainian refugees would be accepted, and those would have to agree to leave after three months. There are 20,000 non-Jewish Ukrainians who are already living in Israel illegally, after overstaying tourist visas, and they will also be allowed to stay temporarily. On the other side, we find Ha'aretz writer Zvi Bar'el who argues – in a remarkably sarcastic article – that Israel's concern for the Jewish people is racist, and that true morality calls for us to open our doors equally to all who suffer. And that not only includes Ukrainians, but also the Eritrean and Sudanese illegal immigrants who found life hard and dangerous under kleptocratic and brutal regimes. The Supreme Court, apparently sharing Bar'el's point of view, threw a series...Read More |
The Jerusalem Post reported this morning: The free-trade agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates is set to be signed by the end of March, Emirati Ambassador to Israel Mohamed Al Khaja said in a Wednesday morning tweet. Talks for establishing the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) began last November between Economy Minister Orna Barbivai and her Emirati counterpart Abdulla bin Touq Al Mari. CEPA will "serve as an accelerator for significant economic prosperity" between the two nations, the ambassador wrote. The UAE has recently signed a similar agreement with India and is expected to sign one with Indonesia this month as well. Mohamed Al Khaja, the UAE's ambassador to Israel, tweeted, "After India and Indonesia, the #UAE and #Israel are looking forward to conclude the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement "CEPA" before the end of the month. The UAE remains confident that the CEPA with Israel will serve as a catalyst for even greater economic prosperity...Read More |
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