Israel Needing New Leaders with New Validating Justifications

Israeli leadership are finally realizing that the old arguments and the old reasoning for supporting Israel have been corrupted and turned on their heads as a result of decades of propaganda. The spreading of half-truths, utter falsehoods, and other fronts of agitprop has turned Israel from the underdog facing overwhelming odds defending against the entire Arab World into an oppressor which uses means and oppressions against the nearly defenseless Palestinians which are reminiscent of the Nazi crimes against humanity thus corrupted the memory of the Holocaust turning it into a liability instead of an event of horror that must be remembered if it is to be avoided in the future. With the Palestinians stealing the Jewish history and claiming it as their own, Israel needs to reestablish their legitimacy and disprove the Palestinian house of lies which the world has eagerly adopted in order to facilitate and validate their hatreds of Israel and Jews in general. The spreading of anti-Semitism, which has broken out attaining unprecedented heights with the promise that the steep increase is just the beginning, is simply the tip of the iceberg of cold hatreds and calculated threats to eradicate Israel and the Jews.

So, what is required for Israel to turn the tides of abrogation of the Jewish State by supplanting it with a Palestinian binational state or a two state solution which will render Israel indefensible? Some of the initial steps would be to state in simple but firm language the positions which Israel is prepared to defend and not bend or surrender their positions any further. The sacrifices of territories Israel has made from the agreement by the early Zionists, who ceded all of the Mandate Lands east of the Jordan River in return for a promise by the British and the countries of the League of Nations that all of the remaining Mandate Lands west of the Jordan River would remain as the Jewish State in perpetuity free of any future partitions, was a huge gift of seventy-eight percent of the promised Mandate lands for the purpose of establishing a Palestinian Arab state to guarantee a peaceful future. Display the White Paper treaties which frame this guarantee which established what is owed Israel under International Laws. Remind the world that Israel liberated Judea and Samaria in a defensive war which would allow the Israeli retention of all or parts of the lands gained from the hostilities in 1967 and 1973 under International Law and the Geneva Conventions in particular. Israel needs to remind the world which claims Israel has made no concessions for peace and demands that Israel surrender land for peace in order to establish yet another state for the Arab population which mostly immigrated subsequent to the initial return of Jews from the Diaspora during the Nineteenth Century. One such claim was the surrender of the entirety of the Sinai Peninsula back to Egyptian control in exchange for a peace with Egypt and in that treaty the Egyptians ceded any claims to the Gaza Strip. Point out that the treaty made with Jordan that the areas west of the Jordan River which had been illegally occupied by Jordan was returned to the previous owners of these lands under numerous treaties and conventions back to Israel fulfilling the obligations made by the League of Nations and acknowledged in Article 80 of the United Nations Carter.

But Israeli and Jewish leadership must go beyond the dry facts of treaties, conferences, proclamations, and edicts of governments and men and reassert the expressions of the inspirations, dreams and aspirations of the Zionists and their love and desire to reestablish and rebuild their historic homeland. The Zionists and Israelis must reclaim the emotional front and thus personalize their claims to their Biblical homelands and the establishment of the dream of an Israel that would be a light unto the nations through exemplary conduct, establishing a just state, and leading development in all fields dedicated to the betterment of the human existence. Israel must proclaim the good they have presented to the world and the potentials of future miracles, scientific developments, agricultural inventiveness, medical discoveries, and general improvements in countless fields of human endeavors complimenting and furthering knowledge and accomplishments. Above all of these arguments must be accompanied by the human emotions and inspirations which tie Eretz Yisroel and the Children of Israel and attach the modern return to the first return out from Egypt and away from Pharaoh. The Biblical establishment of the claim to the land must become a driving force and validation just as it drove the Zionists to expend their energies in reestablishing the State of Israel with the blessings and cooperation of not solely Europe and the United States but also with the blessings of King Faisal bin Hussein bin Ali al-Hashemi who signed numerous treaties, conventions, and conference agreements as the reigning Arab leadership in setting aside lands for the establishment of a Jewish State. The real histories which prove that the initial investments of the world towards the establishing of Israel were committed beginning at the end of World War I and had nothing to do with the Holocaust. The agreements to found a Jewish State in the Middle East was an idea that has its roots in the mid to late Eighteen-Hundreds and the returning of the Jews to the area which would become Israel began even earlier. It must be expressed and displayed that there has been a Jewish presence in the areas which now constitute Israel with an emphasis on the facts that a Jewish presence and historical relationship has existed for over three-thousand years with large presence of Jewish communities in cities such as Jerusalem, Hevron, Tiberius, Shechem (Ramallah), and among many other towns and villages throughout the lands.

The need for an update of the arguments used to validate the Jewish presence in the Middle East may require an entire change of the leadership with a passing of the torch to a new generation. The old leadership which are still steeped in the old arguments and who dream of a return to the times when Israel was loved by most of the world believing that is possible to rekindle must be supplanted by those who are ready to establish new and uncorrupted by Arab propaganda arguments and validations of the correctness and promise of Israel as the Jewish State. New arguments which reveal the perfidy of the lies which the Arabs utilize to steal the legitimacy of Israel being established for the Jews and are making every effort to corrupt and adapt the Jewish history and rights into a falsified collection of arguments establishing a Jewish Israel to establish an Arab replacement must be revealed and the truth reestablished. They must no longer present the apologetic appearance which begs for favor and recognition all the time presenting a meekness which is unbecoming and undermines their arguments. This is the time for rekindling the fire of Zionism in the souls of the Israeli leadership. The Jewishness of Israel and the right of the Jews to their eternal homeland must be presented forcefully, beaming with pride and challenging any who might choose to deny these truths. The old ‘if I may’ attitude should be relegated to the scrapheap of history and a new, inspired, reinvented Zionism needs to be presented the world, the same Zionism which burned hot and bright resulting in the Balfour Declaration and the ensuing documents which laid the foundations for the current state of Israel. Inspired presentations of the truth in an unapologetic manner even to the point of arrogance rather than meekness is necessitated due to the surrender of the preeminent claims to the lands being perceived to stand with the invented entities of the invented peoples, the Palestinians, who are simply Arabs who before immigrating to what is today is Israel since the late nineteenth century were simply Syrians, Egyptians, Jordanians, Iraqis and other native Arabs from neighboring lands. The time for polite discourse passed decades ago and, as was predicted, the only arguments and reasoning that will be heard by the rest of the world are those presented with a forcefulness with which truths must be presented. The phrases which need be adopted by all the Jews of Israel and the Diaspora are those of the late Meir Kahane, “Never Again” and “Am Yisroel Chai.”

Beyond the Cusp

Israeli Elections and the Need for so Many Parties

One question often asked about Parliamentary systems of governments is why the countries who have them need to have so many parties while the opposite is asked of the American where people wonder how they can be represented by significantly only two parties. There are of course as many answers to these two queries as there likely are parties in Parliamentary elections. Actually the American elections have numerous parties but the vast number of the so-called third parties never seems to end up making much of a showing with very few historical exceptions. The reason is in countries with parliamentary systems there are many political parties which center themselves on serving a reasonably significant segment of the society and the central issues, sometimes a single issue, which more or less serves only those people. Then there are usually two, or on rare occasions as in the United States three, parties which run on a general platform aimed at the population as a whole. The result is which party will eventually form the governing coalition out of those two main general issues parties and how many, as well as which, of the minor parties will they need to give guarantees to form their coalition. In this manner the people who are loyal to the smaller parties will each be an instrumental part of the ruling coalition and through that membership has an ability to sway, or actually more like force, the major party to pay a price and thus assure their members have their issues addressed. Where in many parliamentary systems one or the other of the main parties will actually manage to gather the necessary seats on their own therefore not finding a coalition necessary, in Israel that has proven quite impossible in recent history and that, I believe, is the uniqueness of the Israeli political landscape which might need some investigation.

The most likely reason that Israel has so many parties which regularly hold what results in being sufficiently significant numbers of supporters in election after election likely has to do with much of the Israeli population having come from such diverse areas, cultures and other determining backgrounds. It might also have to do with the diverse issues confronting Israeli society and the effects it has on the various sectors of the society. Perhaps a couple of examples would shed some light on what I mean. The Green Party in Israel, as in numerous other places, directly addresses largely issues concerning the ecology and issues of sustainability and harmony of life when concerned with pollution and other environmental issues while Shas serves the Sephardic Hasidic sector of the society. The coming Israeli elections will actually witness a passing of one party from its temporary position of prominence and the rise of the next party rising to challenge the perennial top vote getters, Labor and Likud. The party passing back into the background is Kadima which had figured prominently in recent years since its founding but appears to now be fading as it faced some leadership challenges and may be splintering with many of its members returning to their origins. Taking its shot at entering the significant polling parties appears to be the Jewish Home Party. Time will tell if its rise will end up being the passing of the torch on the nationalist side and their becoming a perennial power or if this is simply another political party taking its turn in the limelight. But the real story behind the coming Israeli election is the story that usually is behind them, who will be the heartbreakers who will hold the coalition leading party to slowly roast as they grill them to pay the piper or suffer another election. And that is the one advantage the plethora of smaller parties has in Parliamentary systems, election and campaigning tends to cost them far less so they fear dissolving government less. That may be their true power.

The one oddity that arises on somewhat rare occasions is the unity government where the two main parties decide that for the good of the country they will make an agreement to share ruling the country. These governments give the vision of a balanced, strong government but often it proves to be just an illusion as where in love opposites attract, in politics, not so much. Some of the intrigues in Israeli politics does not revolve around the election or even its results but upon the decision made by a politician who has been chosen to chair the Presidency, a presumably apolitical position currently so politically filled by Simon Peres. This will especially be interesting at the back end of the coming elections as everybody will actually not be assured whether President Peres will give the nod to the leading vote getter or once again allow the second place, or third place should Jewish Home finish their rally ahead of the Labor Party, and give Shelly Yachimovich the first shot at forming a coalition. The one guarantee we can likely count on is that Naftali Bennett will not be asked, short of a decree from above, to form the next coalition. It is not like President Peres doesn’t have a history of allowing the second largest party from making the coalition over the party actually garnering the most seats. The other question which may have a strong bearing on the future of Israel is will the Jewish Home Party garner sufficient seats to make Benyamin Netanyahu’s only possible choice to form a coalition be to include Naftali Bennett in a lead position or include the Labor as well as Yair Lapid, Tzipi Livni and Shas Party and then figure how to ride such a multi-headed monstrosity.

In a strictly serious last peek, what would make this election surprising?  It would be astonishing if the merged Likud-Beyteinu Party collapsed sufficiently to not lead the next government. What would not be as surprising is should Labor break twenty seats in the Knesset that they would be allowed to try and form a coalition before giving Netanyahu, what he and others likely would believe, the first chance to form a coalition as head of the leading vote getting party. President Peres would likely claim that Bibi was only leader of Likud and that it only received about twenty seats as well as Lieberman’s Beyteinu Party corralled the remainder. In a metaphysical way that would be karma payback for Netanyahu forming a coalition over Tzipi Livni when Kadima led Likud in the votes department. Anybody think that may have been the lynchpin which once pulled drove her over the edge and her making destroying Netanyahu seemingly her life’s singular goal in life. Then it is anybody’s guess which side Shas would prefer to have leading the coalition they join but one can be assured they will likely be providing the deciding numbers for the next governing coalition. And lastly, is it possible that Benyamin Netanyahu has made a deal to lead the next coalition by promising to not allow Bennett and Jewish Home be included and instead include Yair Lapid, and by some miracle, Tzipi Livni along with Shas and whatever other parties are needed to reach sixty-one members in the coalition. And lastly, would Shelly Yachimovich be able to swallow hard and join in a unity government for the sake of allowing Israel to make the difficult choices which will likely confront the next government. The most puzzling thing is trying to figure out exactly why any practical and sane human being would actually seek to be responsible for what Israel may possibly face in the near future. Whoever is chosen and leads the next Israeli government, though initially believing they have attained a great goal in life, I pray they are still of the same mind by the end of their term as Prime Minister. I do not envy the choices they will need to decide and can only hope their decisions are wise and for the best for Eretz Yisroel going into the future and may that future hold all the promise which we dream about in our prayers. Well, this will definitely be an interesting week, in Jerusalem and in Washington. Washington’s reactions may prove to be the most intriguing and interesting when all is done.

Beyond the Cusp

May We Choose to Liberate the Holy Land for All Religions this Christmas

Today is Christmas and in the city of Jesus’s birth, Bethlehem again this year has even less Christians calling it home while the percentage of Muslims continues to creep closer to 100%. Bethlehem has no Jewish presence as it is completely under the control of the Palestinian Authority. This has been the case since the beginning of the Oslo Accords which spelled the death of Christian rights to a normal life with freedom of worship and free from fear of persecution. Twice a year the city of Bethlehem relaxes its Islamic stranglehold and allows Christians to return as it is during the two holidays, Christmas and Easter, provide the lifeblood for the economy of the shops, stores, restaurants, and inns which have very little business the rest of the year. During these Christian holy days the streets fill with merchants selling Christian themed trinkets and other wares which are displayed solely on these two holiday times. This is the sad truth about Bethlehem today where what used to be a majority Christian city with 80% Christian population has now seen the Christian population dwindle to about 15% and continues to drop every year.

From 1948 through 1966 Bethlehem was closed to Christians while it was under Jordanian rule. It was not until the Six Day War and Bethlehem being liberated by Israel that Christians were free to travel to Bethlehem, one of the holiest places for Christians. After the June liberation in 1967 Bethlehem’s Christians entered a golden age where they were free to live in safety and peace and practice their religion free of fears. During the Christian holidays Bethlehem teemed with Christians making the annual pilgrimage to celebrate in the city of Jesus’s birth. This all came to an abrupt end with the enactment of the Oslo accords which turned the rule and security responsibilities for Bethlehem over to the Palestinian Liberation Organization, the PLO, under arch-terrorist Yasser Arafat. Since then the Christian presence and flavor of Bethlehem has been stifled and slowly the city has become an Islamic city where Christians are treated as second class humans and often are victims of persecutions, forced marriages, stores stolen or looted, and houses destroyed or stolen. Should this continue within a decade Bethlehem will become totally devoid of Christians and all references to Jesus or Christianity will have completely disappeared possibly never to return should the Palestinian Authority ever be granted total rule and ownership over Bethlehem.

If this news makes you feel as if there has been a great miscarriage of Justice, welcome to the world of the Jews who have witnessed their holy sites which are found in areas under Palestinian control and rule be destroyed repeatedly and requiring IDF security forces escort Jews to visit such sites stealing in and out under the darkness of night to avoid riots. Kever Rachel and Kever Yoseph (Tomb of Rachel and Tomb of Joseph) have been repeatedly burned to the ground with the holy objects smashed, and if made of valuable materials, stolen with Palestinian Arabs rioting and celebrating the defacement. This will soon become the fate of the Christian churches and other holy sites which will be within areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority.

The propaganda which comes to the fore at this time of year and around Easter is always the same lies that it is the Jews who are destroying the Christian societies in Bethlehem and other Christian cities and towns. How this can be believed is beyond any logical thought as Jews are not permitted to enter Area A of the West Bank within which Bethlehem stands. Any Jew who would be caught in Bethlehem would suffer the same fate as <a href=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/969778.stm target=blank> two Israeli reservists who took a wrong turn and ended up in Ramallah and were gruesomely lynched in October of 2000.</a> There are numerous Christian members of the clergy or officers of churches who echo the condemnations of Israel and the Jews blaming them for the plight of the unfortunate Christians who find themselves under Palestinian rule or in Muslim majority towns such as Nazareth has become. The easiest way to find the truth is to simply search and find the population figures for Christians in a number of countries throughout the Middle East and Northern Africa. In every case where there existed a sizeable Christian population in 1950 you will find the Christian population has dramatically decreased over the years in an ever increasing speed with one exception, Israel. The Christian population of Israel within the Green Line has grown steadily over the entire period from 1950 to the present. The few examples within Israel where Christian populations have fallen, such as in Nazareth, you will find that the area has a definitive Muslim majority population and that the Jewish population has declined in similar numbers as have the Christians.

While the Christian numbers have grown within Israel, the Christian populations in Egypt, Libya, Syria, Iraq, and most especially in Lebanon have fallen and fallen until their numbers are now a mere fraction. What has also escaped mention in the world press is that since the United States “liberated” Iraq its Christian population has begun to flee from increasing Muslim persecution. The Arab Winter (Spring) has also led to drops in the numbers of Christians in each country which has presumably been freed from the horrible rule of their several dictators. These dictators may have had their evils but they had protected the minorities under their rules as they were secular and not Islamist as are the governments being voted into office to replace them. The awakening of Islam throughout the Middle East and North Africa has had a devastating effect on Christians leading to the slow death of their populations. Likely the most devastated Christian population has been Lebanon where once there existed a majority Christian population. The ever increasing disappearance of the Lebanese Christian community began with the civil war which was instigated by Yasser Arafat and his Palestinian Liberation Organization terrorists who fled to Lebanon after being routed and discharged from Jordan after the Black September coup which failed to overthrow the Jordanian monarchy. The disappearing Christian population in Lebanon has increased in speed since the takeover of Lebanon by Hezballah with their Syrian and Iranian influence.

This begs what is the future of Christians in the Middle East? If the Christians desire to continue to have any presence in the Middle East and to have access to their holy sites in and around Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth and the rest of Biblical Israel, their only choice is to pray that Israelis retain all of the lands from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. Only under the Jewish Israeli rule have the Christian holy sites been open year round to Christian visitors. Should the world force the existence of a Palestinian State which has control over any of the Christian and Jewish Holy Sites they will either be torn asunder or transformed into Mosques and be recognized by the United Nations as Muslim holy sites and they will be lost to the Christians and Jews. Already the Palestinian Authority has petitioned UNESCO to grant them sole possession and control over the Great Mosque in Bethlehem, the one Christians might have thought was the Church of the Nativity. The Palestinians have similar plans for the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem on the Temple Mount, which they are also claiming is actually a mosque, the whole Temple Mount they are claiming as a Mosque. The same fate of the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople is awaiting every holy site which the Palestinians and their allies can place claim upon and they are sure that there is nothing in this world that can prevent their eventual possession of all of Biblical Israel. The only saving grace for both the Jews and the Christians is the salvation and liberation of all of Biblical Israel under Israeli and Jewish control as only in this manner will all three religions be allowed to access their holy sites. That will actually include the Muslims as well as Christians and Jews while if these sites fall under Islam they will be lost forever.

Beyond the Cusp