| 04/05 Links Pt2: Caroline Glick: The Challenges of Freedom on the Eve of Passover; HRW Leads NGO Campaign against Consensus IHRA Definition of Antisem | | From Ian: How Court Reform Will Strengthen Israeli Democracy Opponents turn every accepted concept of democratic and liberal government on its head in order to claim that Israel must retain the Barak-era judicial aristocracy. They argue, for instance, that there can be no liberty if any organ of the state has unlimited power, and, therefore, the Israeli judiciary must continue to enjoy unlimited power. Likewise, they argue that Israel needs checks and balances among its institutions, and therefore the Knesset must be deprived of all power to check the courts. But to a much greater degree than arguments of substance, the opposition to judicial reform must be seen as an artifact of Israeli democracy. The opposition opposes judicial reform because it is a centerpiece policy of the current government, no matter what its content. Israeli politics have always been hyperbolic, and the opponents' rhetoric upholds this dubious tradition. Thus, opponents describe judicial reform not simply as a policy to be opposed, but rather as the transformation of Israel into a fascist dictatorship, a theocratic autocracy, and an exit from the family of democratic states. To a large degree, the debate has been ad hominem, with opponents rejecting reform on the grounds that reform politicians' motives are largely political, although, naturally, opponent politicians' motives are also largely...Read More |
Chag sameach!
noreply@blogger.com (Unknown), 05 Apr 03:00 PM Wishing my readers a chag kosher v'sameach! Have a wonderful Passover! I will not be back online until Saturday night/Sunday morning.
(Which is as good a reason for aliyah as any!) * * * * * * Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon! Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424. Read all about it here! ...Read More |
As I have been reporting (and has been ignored by the mainstream media), the Jerusalem Waqf had - at Jordan's direction - written a memo saying that Muslims are not to stay overnight for the "i'tikaaf" custom at Al Aqsa Mosque. This was agreed during the Aqaba and Sharm el Sheikh summits between Israel and various Arab countries to tamp down tensions at the holy spot. There was much Palestinian anger over this revelation. The "shabab," the youth who prefer violence to calm, said that the Waqf had no right to do that. The Waqf responded to the criticism earlier this week: Local reports quoted the director of the Jerusalem Waqf Department, Sheikh Azzam al-Khatib, as saying that the Al-Aqsa Mosque is run by a "responsible institution." He notes that there are 22 members of the Endowment Council, and says that these members are all scholars and Jerusalemite personalities, and they appreciate the conditions in the city of Jerusalem and the circumstances of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, knowing that some of them have services for more than 50 years in Jerusalem. He explained that the Waqf appreciates every movement in Jerusalem and in all aspects, and that since 1967, there has been i'tikaaf in the last ten days of Ramadan, in addition to Thursdays and...Read More |
From Ian: Shin Bet chief: Over 200 'significant' terror attacks foiled so far this year Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar on Tuesday said that security forces have foiled more than 200 terror attacks since the start of 2023. Speaking at a pre-Passover toast alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Bar said that "only three months have passed, and this year more than 200 significant attacks have been thwarted, including about 150 shooting attacks, 20 bomb attacks, rammings, kidnappings and others." According to Bar, an elite unit that he described as "the last answer" to preventing impending attacks has been called up 14 times so far in 2023. Bar also said that Israel is facing "a challenging time, both at home and abroad," in a possible reference to the highly contentious debate surrounding the judicial overhaul. Netanyahu vowed that "eventually we will get to every terrorist" and said "Iran is responsible for 95% of the security threats against us." "Those who come to harm us should know they will have their blood on their own head," the premier said. Tensions have spiked in the region over the past year as Israeli forces have ratcheted up arrest raids and other counterterror efforts in the West Bank following a series of terror attacks. Palestinian terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank in recent months have left 15 Israelis dead and several more seriously...Read More |
This video of Israeli police pushing worshipers away from the front of Al Aqsa Mosque this morning makes Israel look really bad, doesn't it? The worshippers aren't acting aggressively. What could possibly justify this?
Here's why. Have you ever seen Muslims worship at that place before? The mosque has been reopened since the events of this morning, there are people inside. So why are they worshipping and setting up their prayer rugs outside at that specific spot?
Because they aren't interested in prayer. They want to be human roadblocks.
Religious Jews who visit the Temple Mount must circumnavigate the entire area. They can only walk in areas where they are certain that the holiest parts of the Temple could not have been, according to Jewish law.
There is no way for them to visit the site without passing in front of the Al Aqsa mosque. And if there are people in the way, they cannot walk around them without coming unacceptably close to the place of the actual Temples. These aren't worshippers. They are "Mourabitoun," meaning "sentinels," whose entire job is to stop Jews from visiting the site. They are paid by Islamist groups, including Hamas, to do what they can to frustrate any Jewish visitors.
In the past...Read More |
This morning's New York Times article about the clashes at Al Aqsa mosque, written by Raja Abdulrahim and Patrick Kingsley, is filled with anti-Israel bias. And it does not mention the single most important fact that would change the entire complexion of the article. The Israeli police raided the most prominent holy site in Jerusalem early on Wednesday to detain scores of Palestinians who had barricaded themselves inside, prompting armed groups in Gaza to fire rockets into Israeli airspace and the Israeli Air Force to respond with strikes on military sites in Gaza. The phrase "prompting armed groups in Gaza to fire rockets into Israeli airspace" is incredible. Israel doesn't "prompt" deadly rocket fire. That decision is made solely by terror groups, and they will always have an excuse. But the "Newspaper of Record" shares the logic of terror groups that shooting rockets into the south of Israel is a "natural response" to events in Jerusalem. And note the wording, "into Israeli airspace." Were they firing balloons? While some of the rockets were intercepted by Iron Dome, others hit the ground (a factory was damaged and others fell harmlessly in unpopulated areas.) Why couldn't the NYT say that rockets were fired into Israel or towards Israeli residential areas - phrases which would be far more straightforward and accurate? Because that might make readers a little sympathetic to the...Read More |
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