Strange Irregularity in Most Israel Detractors

 

There has been an irregularity present in the complaints which most Western journalists and editorialists have been relatively ignored, well, until this article. As Attorney Stephen M. Flatow points out about Jacob Plitman with his claim that it was the life of the Palestinians in Bethlehem which depicted what is terrible about Israel and its occupation of the Palestinian Arabs. That little problem is that the Palestinian Arabs residing in Bethlehem have been ruled by the Palestinian Authority exclusively since 1995 with absolutely no Israeli interference. Bethlehem is an interesting place to find that Israel could in any way be responsible could only be found if one were to claim that by accepting Christians who were fleeing for their lives due to their business being stolen by their Muslim neighbors and being told their house is not their house but belongs to another family who will be moving in next week with or without their injury, their choice. Of course, this has had a detrimental effect on the Christian population of Bethlehem which has gone from 90% in the early 1990’s steadily downward to 40% in 2000 continuing on to 15% in 2013. These numbers coming from American Thinker article titled Christian Exodus from Bethlehem. This article was a response to a particularly flawed and slanted article in the Washington Post in a big spread in its December 22, 2013, edition under the headline, “What’s missing in Bethlehem? Mayor urges tourists and Christians to return.” The problems are listed of the Washington Post article which, of course, blamed Israel just as did Jacob Plitman using the same flawed illogic. Bethlehem currently has a Christian population which is less than 10% of the total population and will soon be as free of Christians as it is of Israelis, Jews, IDF soldiers or any other Israeli interference or rule. Bethlehem is completely the responsibility of its ruling mayor and council as well as Fatah, the PLO and the Palestinian Authority.

 

Bethlehem is one of the holy places of Christian history and arguably equal to Jerusalem yet the Temple Mount is the holiest place for Jews alone

 

When one reads stories which complain about the Palestinians and their mistreatment by their occupation by the Israeli overlords, there is a problem in that the Israelis have very little if anything to do with these people’s lives. Let us get one group completely out of the entire debate, all the Arabs within Gaza. Since 2005 all Israelis residing within Gaza and the entirety of the IDF and every Jew buried within Gaza were all removed with the dead being re-interred within Israel, the IDF transferred to bases within Israel and the Jews who had lived in Gaza relocated to what was to be temporary residences until new jobs and places to reside and government assistance became available. Some of these Israelis are still seeking new residence and employment. When you ran an operating farm on a sizable plot of land in Gaza, finding applicable work in Israeli is problematic. But, on the average, the Israelis who were relocated from Gaza are doing far better than the Arab Gazans which they had employed. This has nothing to do with Israel. The Palestinian Authority took complete control over Gaza in September of 2005 and in 2007, they were replaced in a violent coup by Hamas. So, why is Gaza suffering with such high unemployment and its economy faltering for the vast majority? Well, much of the reason is probably because their Hamas government takes almost all the tax revenue and uses it for building tunnels and rockets for attacking Israel. Hamas also takes the construction material and used almost all of it to build these tunnels and make bunkers to keep their leadership and arms safe when they press Israel into war. They refuse to use the construction equipment and supplies in order to rebuild people’s apartments or their stores and basically rebuild their lives which were destroyed because Hamas and Islamic Jihad fired their rockets from the rooftops of those buildings. The United Nations and European Union as well as groups of nations and NGOs have provided sufficient building supplies well over three times in sufficient amounts to rebuild the destroyed buildings but instead tunnels were built with the ones dug into Israel under the border were destroyed when detected. Gaza is in ruins because their government would rather attempt to destroy Israel rather than build an economy or repair the war damage resulting from their attacks upon Israel. Israel cannot rebuild these people’s lives because any Israeli entering Gaza would be dead within seconds, thus unless Israel were to reconquer Gaza, it remains under Hamas misrule. Why doesn’t Israel reconquer Gaza? Because the world would come unglued and the European Union and United Nations General Assembly and countless other agencies and NGO’s along with numerous nations would demand that Israel return Gaza to Arab control, which would become Hamas within minutes, that is why.

 

That brings us to the rest of the Palestinian Arabs residing in the Shomron. The Shomron was divided into three regions, Areas A, B and C. Area A is under complete Palestinian Authority control, Area B is under Palestinian Authority control with shared security with Israel and Area C is supposed to be under complete Israeli control though the European Union has decided to ignore the Oslo Accords and claim that Area C belongs to the Palestinian Arabs as well and if they get that accepted we can only wonder what area they will claim for the Palestinian Arabs next. Now, within Area A we find Bethlehem as well as including Tulkarn, Qalkilya, Jenin, Nablus, Ramallah and Jericho. Within these six cities close to 80% of all Palestinian Arabs reside, not counting those residing within Area C (less than 100,000) and Jerusalem (350,000). The Palestinian Arabs residing in Jerusalem have been granted partial Israeli citizenship such that they receive the same healthcare as any other Israeli and have all the other rights of any Israeli including voting in Jerusalem and neighborhood elections but are restricted from voting in national elections, as things currently exist. The ones residing in Area C are mostly residing in illegal communities with a select few residing on their family lands. Many Palestinian Arabs from Areas A and B actually work for Israeli companies right alongside Israeli Jews. Some of these Arabs are in supervisory roles with Israelis working under them. But the fact that these Palestinian Arabs need to pass through a checkpoint is often one of the main reasons that Israel is constantly claimed to be denigrating these Arabs. These Arabs are coming into Israel from a belligerent region from where 90% of the terrorists originate and is ruled by a foreign governance. Israel, believe it or not, is located in the Middle East which, also believe it or not, is not Europe or North America. Borders are very enforced across the Middle East, not just by Israel but by the other nations as well. For the past decade, the border between Egypt and Gaza has been largely closed and guarded by Egyptian soldiers. Israel had been the provider of virtually all the goods which have legally entered Gaza and the only items restricted are those which are or can be used to be made into weapons. Despite this limitation, Israel has permitted numerous miles of pipes which became rockets and launchers and tons of cement, mortar and bricks and lumber most of which was utilized for bunkers and tunnels. During the recent hostilities which were recently suffered through and are continuing at a reduced rate, Israel attempted to provide the needed medical provisions which Hamas and Gazans complained they were running low of and Hamas refused the Israeli medical aid so that they could continue to complain that Israel was not being any help. Many news sources carried that Hamas was running out of medical provisions and Israel was the cause and refused to cover Hamas refusing medical provisions because the IDF delivered the provisions.

 

The United States does not have open borders with nations which desire the destruction of the United States. Further, the United States does not accept employees from most nations which desire the end of the United States. The United States does not allow people from North Korea to come into the United States without their receiving screening. The United States does not permit people from Israel to enter without being checked by customs and security if they perceive or expect a problem. The Palestinian Authority and Hamas are both organizations which desire the demise of Israel. Further, citizens of the Palestinian Authority are actually permitted to work daily in Israel. Granted, Hamas citizens are not allowed to work in Israel though they were permitted to work in Israel until 2007 when Hamas ended their leaving to work in Israel. Gazans are more often than not refused permission by Hamas to seek medical assistance in Israel unless you are a high-level member Hamas leadership or a close relative. Hamas decided that Gazans working inside Israel was counterproductive to their agenda, which is complaining that Israel is denying Gazans their rights to freedom. The Palestinian Authority, in league with the Arab League and other organizations and NGOs, uses a diverse and international propagandas campaign against Israel which is based in many of the old blood libels against Jews. There are many who fault Israel for not combatting this propaganda campaigns but the problem is that Israel has to remain on a wartime footing at all times due to universal threats from almost every border; thusfar the Mediterranean Sea’s natural lifeforms have been largely neutral with exception for the average shark and other carnivorous fishes found there. Another border which is far more perilous to cross than is the Israeli border with the Palestinian Authority is the borders between China and North Korea, as crossing this border without using one of the checkpoints you risk no questions, as you will simply be shot. The border between Russia and China is well protected. Currently, there are a number of eastern European nations who have their borders all but closed as they have been since the influx of, what are called, Asian and North African refugees from entering their country seeking permanent residence. Israel is far from alone in the desire to track and inspect those who enter their nation from abroad.

 

When people wish to claim that Israel is mistreating or responsible for some problem which Arabs are suffering in the regions west of the Jordan River, you need to look into the report and find exactly whom the author is referring to in their article. We hear a lot that the Arabs have not been permitted to vote in an election for President since 2005 in the West Bank. There are so many problems with such a report that where to start is almost difficult. West Bank is a general term for the entirety of the Shomron. The Palestinian Arabs is the group they are referring to in such a report and that is far from an Israeli problem. Israelis, Arab, Jew, Christian or other have not voted for President for even longer as the President is chosen by the Prime Minister and approved by the Knesset and we vote for Knesset which is the Parliament and whichever party forms the ruling coalition chooses the Prime Minister. The problem with the Palestinian Arabs is that Mahmoud Abbas knows that he would lose any election and then would lose the protection of the Presidential guard and might not live long enough to flee the region. Trust that Israel would have nothing to do with letting him leave or not, that would end up being a problem for Jordan should he escape the Palestinian regions. Hamas does not believe in free elections and often simply promotes new leaders from within for Gaza. So, the Palestinian Arabs have not been permitted an election by their own ruling groups, parties and governments and Israel does not interfere with their internal political intricacies. The Arabs of Gaza and the Palestinian Authority rule themselves and have found themselves stuck in two separate and equally economically depressive, financially crippling and embezzling through misappropriation of funds making their lives impoverished. Mahmoud Abbas and Yasser Arafat’s widow are both worth hundreds of millions if not billions while the leadership of Hamas is recognized as billionaires and they all managed this through skimming a large percentage of the generosity of the world in funding their governments. When Israel as much as withholds funds from taxes collected in order to partially ameliorate the difficulties by the utility companies who are not paid for the power, water, natural gas and other provisions they provide for both Gaza and the Palestinian Authority populations, The European Union, many member nations, the United Nations and several agencies and a slew of “human rights” NGOs all protest vehemently. The European Union almost had a hernia once when Israel withheld funds to pay for some of the debt to the utility companies as Israeli companies’ solvency is unimportant and Israel actions must universally be blamed. This is also the attitude that many of these writers take and they are encouraged to do so as that is where the high paychecks lie with news networks and papers which lie mostly on the far left.

 

The left has bought hook-line and sinker into the ‘Israel is the evil one’ and to blame for all the problems within the Middle East and the Arab world. Israel was behind all the wars in the Middle East. Israel forced the United States into Afghanistan and Iraq and now with the leaving of the nuclear agreement with Iran. We have heard that if Israel would make peace with the Palestinian Arabs by simply ceasing to exist or, as Mahmud Ahmadinejad once said, “This is our proposal: give a part of your own land in Europe, the US, Canada or Alaska to them so that the Jews can establish their country.” The left has taken up the Islamist causes and this places Israel outside their narrow range of view. Israel has become the international Jew making anti-Zionism and anti-Israeli positions the internationalizing of anti-Semitism. The left has a history of scapegoating the Jews and this apparently is not about to change; the target is simply a larger Jewish target. The real problem will come when the left decides that the Jews within are all part of the Israel problem because, as was the motto in Europe for over fifteen centuries, you cannot trust the loyalty of a Jew as they stick together and are often disloyal. There was no actual proof of this; it was simply another reason to hate the other. The Jew has always been the other no matter where they have lived or under whose rulership. Now Israel is the other which has been proven by the United Nations and so many other sources which would take longer than we care to list. We have given partial lists of such over the years and those who read here regularly probably have the full list memorized. The one reality which is slowly dawning on Jews across the world is they are becoming very happy that Israel exists as it provides them a place to which they can escape and be received with joy. Never Again will Jews face the dreaded trip from what they had thought was salvation in Cuba only to have to dread the entire trip returning them to Germany on the MS St Louis on what became known as the ship of the damned. Now the Jews have an unsinkable ship which does not need to find an accepting port as this one provides that accepting port, many accepting ports. Let the world hate Israel, it is not fair, but at least it is ours and we can always call her home and with great pride as Israel is the little country that does the impossible despite all the odds.

 

Beyond the Cusp

 

What Difference Do “Days of Rage” Make?

 

Last week, after President Trump recognizing the reality that Jerusalem is the Capital of Israel, though also adding enough qualifiers so as not to actually change anything other than making clear that, at the very least, half of Jerusalem will be the Capital of Israel, the Arabs on all borders and within Israel announced three Days of Rage. Perhaps a little clarity would be of some assistance. Every Friday afternoon the Arabs in Judea and Samaria have demonstrations at specific locations where they act against Israeli security forces, IDF, Border Police and regular police, with varying degrees of violence from shouting curses and spitting to throwing rocks often using slings of the variety with which David slew Goliath or even shooting at the Israeli forces from behind rock throwing children so as to get movies of Israeli security forces firing rubber bullets presumably at the children with the people with the rifles out of frame. So if these outbreaks of violence are almost as regular as clockwork, what is the big deal with announcing Days of Rage? That is simple. Where the regular violence is performed so that the Pallywood cameras can record everything from various angles such that the best editing makes the acts look real to use in Arab propaganda throughout the world to portray the Israelis as savage monsters; the announced Days of Rage are special because that signals the world media to come and record the action for the six o’clock news broadcasts and are aimed largely at the United States media as well as international media such as CNN and the BBC. There will be a less official Day of Rage again this Friday and actually are being carried out in select locations all week for the remaining media who are still hanging around just in case a really good action piece emerges showing Israel in the worst possible light.

 

Three Views of Jerusalem

 

The reality is that there are staged eruptions at the most effective checkpoints often organized by European and other leftist groups some of which include leftist Israelis. Just as are present in the United States, Europe and the rest of the developed world, there are the useful idiots who take the side that their country is a terrible and oppressive nation, as it had not adopted their idea of a socialist utopia. We have them here in Israel as well except here they are far more dangerous as the world, especially in Europe; use these people to demean the government and the security forces which protect them. These are far leftists who would demand for Israel to sacrifice its Jewishness on the altar of a socialist plurality which permitted the entirety of the so-called Palestinian refugees who number closing in on eight-million to become Israelis along with the Arabs in Judea and Samaria giving the Arab Palestinians a majority voice in the government. To them having a Jewish State is an anathema and anachronistic as they argue that no other nation in the world is religiously based. Obviously they have never heard of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iraq or the other nations which claim to be Islamic States, but it is not that Israel has a religiosity, it is that it is Jewish that bothers them. These often are Jews ashamed of their own Jewishness so they argue that everything Jewish must be made less Jewish until nothing is Jewish. For this reason, they side with their enemies believing that their enemies will reward them once Israel as a Jewish State has been destroyed. Should such an event ever occur, Hashem forbid, then they will find out that they are considered as Jewish as every other Jew in Israel and will receive identical treatment.

 

 

Still, with or without any assistance, the Arab Palestinians will protest and riot on a regular basis with checkpoints which are most effective in preventing terrorist attacks targeted in hopes of forcing their being dismantled, on the Temple Mount, and in Bethlehem and other readily recognized locations which will thus garner the greatest amount of media coverage. The media in much of the world has reported that there have been riots in every part of Israel in response to President Trump’s announcement on Jerusalem. That is far from the reality. There were some demonstrations along the Gaza border with a small number of rockets launched into Israel, disruptions on the Temple Mount and in Eastern parts of Jerusalem, in Bethlehem and some other locations in Judea and Samaria. As for most of Israel, life has continued uninterrupted and as peaceful as can be. But a peaceful Israel does not make for breathtaking news alerts on the hour and the half hour, only broad rioting wherever the media can see amounts to making for good news reporting. Ask yourself if you saw coverage of rioting in Tel Aviv, Ashkelon, Ashod, Netanya, Herzliya, Ma’alot, Eilat or Akko. Isn’t it remarkable that there have been no reports of rioting or violence in all of these Israeli cities, some of the most well known and largest in the little country? Perhaps the lack of news about problems in all of these locations is because the violence is limited to the few locations where the news coverage was directed and nowhere else. What is not a very well know fact about Israel is that, even including terrorist acts, you are less likely to have a violent crime committed against your person in Israel than you are in the United States. Part of the reason is that Israel has remarkably low crime and a well-ordered and happy society. This is proven by the World Happiness Report where Israel is the eleventh happiest nation on the planet. That is an eye-opener, is it not?

 

 

Now for the real brain-teaser, we are about to enter the low rioting season. Arab rioting in Israel is seasonal and when it is colder and rainy, there is far less rioting, terror and violence in general. On the other hand, when it gets very hot in the balmy days of summer there is far greater propensity for violence from the Arab Palestinians. This is similar to crime statistics in most major cities where crime increases when it is very hot and drops precipitously when winter arrives. The rioting in Israel is very seasonal peaking in July and August and dropping off in January and February. If the rioting, terrorism and violence really were about the harsh and terrible treatment imposed by Israel, then one would expect there to be an even number of provocations throughout the year and a very steady level of related violence. But that is not the case as it is actually very seasonal with peaks also coming during Jewish holidays, specifically those holidays when Jews are most likely to desire visiting the Temple Mount. This is why during the weeks leading up to Rosh HaShana, Yom Kippur and through Sukkot the rioting on the Temple Mount hits a crescendo forcing the closing of the Temple Mount. What is interesting is this closure of the Temple Mount is more often just imposed on Jews and only when the rioting becomes dangerously damaging that the Temple Mount is completely closed, which leads to greater rioting at the entrances which are barred by Security Forces. Odd that it is during these special holidays that suddenly there erupts violence by the Arabs to close the Temple Mount to all non-Muslims; but when Christmas arrives there is no rioting, instead, there are Arab merchants at the entrances selling seasonal gifts and souvenirs as well as food to the visiting foreigners who have money to spend. Then again coming into and through Passover there oddly enough is no second wave of Temple Mount violence. This would be strange as it is another holiday when Jews desire visiting the Temple Mount. But Passover always corresponds to Easter and that brings those tourists with the money to spend and business takes precedence over preventing the Jews from visiting the Temple Mount. Some things are universal and making money off holiday traffic is one of them.

 

Beyond the Cusp

 

Next Year in Jerusalem on the Temple Mount

 

The people behind the decision not to permit the Birkat Moshe Yeshiva from Ma’ale Adumim to go up on the Temple Mount as they have done the morning before Yom Kippur as part of an annual tradition dating back years, if not decades, should hang their heads in shame. To prevent these students to experience the momentous occasion of ascending to the Temple Mount as they have done for years and many had anticipated the great feelings of holiness which would accompany such a visitation is bordering on criminal. The excuse given was even more of an embarrassment for the State of Israel than anything I can think of in recent history. To tell these students that they are not to be able to observe what for them is a ritual that accompanies their High Holiday traditions because the Muslims have been staging riots and the police are unsure if they could guarantee their safety is ludicrous. The Yeshiva had made all the proper arrangements, they had the official documents permitting their ascension to the Temple Mount and the police had plenty of warning and if they were unprepared, then they should have contacted their supervisors and either gotten additional police or IDF soldiers, whatever it would take for these youths to have the government’s promises kept. This was inexcusable.

 

 

Temple Institute concept for what building the Third Temple in modern day Jerusalem would appear like from a distance with modern buildings of Jerusalem in the background. May their vision and this concept figure become fact and fulfill our desires for unity and a single Temple and House for Hashem in our midst. May this dream be fulfilled before the next Ninth of Av so our lament will be lessened.

 

 

The entire manner in which the government has treated the entire embarrassment where Jews are forbidden to enter the Temple Mount because old women might screech at them, that Jews must be rationed going onto the Temple Mount because there is no manner of security if they were permitted free access and that rioting Muslims can determine the access afforded Israeli citizens regardless of their religion from free access to the holiest ground in all of Israel is the culmination of timidity and an emasculated governance. The time is now to tear up any agreement which places a foreign entity in charge of the Temple Mount. Allowing Jordan to rule the Temple Mount is the same as if Saudi Arabia allowed Tehran to control the Ka’aba in Mecca or the United States to permit the British to control who has access and how many Americans can visit the Washington Mall and all the monuments therein. The Temple Mount is and should always be the holiest monument which must be open and freely accessed by Jews and all others wishing to witness the closeness and holy aura which permeates the grounds. Anything less in a free and democratic state is paramount to dictatorial powers being handed to a foreign sovereign making them the master of these holy grounds and just the latest in the stream of pathetic signs that Israel is so unrighteously worried and fretting over the opinions of those either friend or enemy which seek to commit us to an enslaved mentality unrighteously subservient to the whims and edicts from outside our borders. This embarrassment must be terminated and the agreement placing the Waqf as the rule and sovereign over grounds holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims is positively ludicrous.

 

 

Ka’aba in Mecca is holiest Islamic site in the world definitively holier than Jerusalem and the Temple Mount which is the holiest place for Jews alone.

 

 

What need be done is to make the Waqf responsible and with absolute authority over the Islamic holy places on the Temple Mount, the Christians can also have a committee, body, or whatever they decide as their absolute authority over the Christian places on the Temple Mount and the Rabbinate in charge of the Jewish holy places on the Temple Mount and the areas which are more than ten meters from any holy building are free areas subject to the same restrictions as any other public monument in the world and with final authority belonging to law enforcement or military or whatever force is necessary to guarantee open and free access to the Temple Mount for all people of all or even no faith to visit and marvel at the wonder that is the Temple Mount. Any further building, antiquity recovery, archeology, or other action, digging, erecting or modification outside of those performed within the current structures, this does not permit expanding the footprint or enlarging any building or enclosed areas to be subjected to whatever applicable codes and restriction the Israeli government or Jerusalem government may choose to enforce. Should Israel decide in a democratic manner to approve the building of the Third Temple and decide the site to be upon the Temple Mount, a site which would by name imply it was made for such a structure, then it should be built with whatever footprint is approved and constructed observing all building codes and in any manner which is considered appropriate under one overarching restriction that it not be placed within some predetermined distance which will be imposed upon all religious and other structures raised on the Temple Mount such as to preserve the accessibility, balance of open spaces versus structures and other determinations which would be considered appropriate and acceptable. Obviously, building a structure which is fifty stories tall would not be befitting the Temple Mount as the structures residing on the Temple Mount are religious monuments and not office buildings or sky scrapers.

 

 

Bethlehem is one of the holy places of Christian history and arguably equal to Jerusalem yet the Temple Mount is the holiest place for Jews alone

 

 

As far as access to the Temple Mount and upkeep of entrances, all should be made available to all of the public with universal restrictions limiting all such as having hours of operation and when the Temple Mount is closed for the evening nobody should be permitted to enter the area and all entrances should have guards to enforce the hours of operations. When holy days for each of the religions requiring their use of their places on the Temple Mount should be given preferences within limitations where it does not interfere with the general public’s rights to visit the Temple Mount and if there are requirements for nighttime services or observances, such should be afforded as long as such requests are for special occasions and not simply requests made to attempt to compromise the access by the rest of the public. The three Abrahamic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, must treat each other with the same reverence they wish for the others to afford them. None should be able to raise their control over the Temple Mount such that it becomes dominant over the others and no hierarchy should be permitted. This is the exact opposite as currently exists. That needs to end and end immediately.

 

 

 

 

Order must be enforced at all times and there should be no tolerance of attempts to intimidate, harass, assault, deter or otherwise compromise the freedoms of others to visit, pray, marvel and even visit within the Holy Places with obvious restraints being in place as per the directives of each religion. For example, if the Islamic faith does not permit unbelievers from entering their Mosques on the Temple Mount, then that must be respected just as if the Christians refused to allow unbelievers rights to their Churches or the Jews restricting visitation to the Temple (once it might be built) to just the Priests except for a small public area, then any and all of such restrictions are to be included within the rules governing behavior on the Temple Mount. What cannot be permitted is for any religion to claim that the entirety of the grounds are holy unto them and to them and them alone are free access to be granted as that is totally unacceptable. These changes need to come about as quickly as possible and the current situation which has come to a head where something has to give is the perfect opportunity to alter the entirety of the balance of power regarding the Temple Mount. Make and preserve the Temple Mount a holy place where any and all may experience a holy visit or simply for tourists to take in the ambiance and holy feel of the Temple Mount. The preservation of this special place and the making it a place for all people to come and find their own holy experience or just a feeling of the historical significance of the Temple Mount, a center of religious experience for close to if not over three-thousand-years, should be the singular goal for the Israeli and for Jewish leadership over this first year after the Sabbath Year, the Shmita (Hebrew: שמיטה). Don’t you feel it is time for this to become the holy monument to all for the remainder of time? We know we think it should; and the sooner the better.

 

Beyond the Cusp