Amman had no right to summon Israel’s ambassador to Jordan over supposed “violations” on the Temple Mount. The Hashemite Kingdom needs to be reminded that we Jews have worshipped there for over 3,000 years.
Dr. Mordechai Kedar, ISRAEL HAYOM
If I were Israel’s ambassador to Jordan, and I were called in for a dressing down over Israel’s actions on the Temple Mount and over Israelis ascending the site to mourn the destruction of the First and Second temples on the annual Jewish fasting day of Tisha B’Av, I would remind the official doing the dressing down that we Jews worshipped the one God at the temple that was located at the site over 3,000 years ago. Islam is only 1,409 years old.
I would remind the official that in classical Arabic, Jerusalem is referred to as Bayt al-Maqdis, meaning “temple,” and that this is further proof of the falsehood that prevails today among the people of the region, according to which a temple never existed on the site.
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The arguments against a ground operation against Hamas terrorism are understandable, but Israel’s campaign of precision airstrikes following intelligence gathering is not getting the job done.
Prof. Efraim Inbar, ISRAEL HAYOM
The arguments against a widescale military operation in the Gaza Strip are understandable. Hamas is deeply rooted amid the local population, and chances of rooting it out are slim. The fear of wounded and casualties and undertaking a mission that could encounter complications is also understandable, as is the priority currently being given to the strategic challenges Israel faces on its northern front.
For these and other reasons, Israel is currently using limited force against Hamas, even in light of the recent border breach. This tactic is designed to reduce its ability to cause Israel harm. Right now, the IDF’s preferred use of force is “intelligence fire” – combatting the organization by collecting precise intelligence and then executing precision strikes (mostly from the air), with the expectation being that the combination of the two will cause Hamas to change its behavior. This approach also saves Israel casualties.
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By Evelyn Gordon
At first glance, Sunday’s Arab riots on the Temple Mount fit nicely into the media storyline that Israel’s “extremist right-wing nationalist” government is undermining relations between the Jewish majority and the Arab minority. Yet the most notable element of those riots was how many Israeli Arab religious leaders rejected the Jerusalem Waqf’s all-out effort to foment them. In mosque after mosque throughout Israel, imams preferred to send a message of peace, thereby underscoring the true story of the past few years—not a breakdown of Jewish-Arab relations, but growing Arab integration.
The Jerusalem Waqf, which runs the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, isn’t Israeli at all. It’s jointly controlled by Jordan and the Palestinian Authority, and diligently disseminates both countries’ anti-Israel incitement. Hence it’s no surprise that anti-Israel riots periodically erupt there.
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Cabinet ministers discuss approving building plans for Arabs in Area C alongside approving plans for Jews in Judea and Samaria.
By Mordechai Sones, INN – July 29/19
Government ministers discussed approving building plans for Arabs in Area C alongside approving plans for Jewish building in Judea and Samaria.
The sensitive issue that Prime Minister Netanyahu himself wishes to promote was brought to the ministers as a rare case despite the knowledge that it would provoke great opposition.
Indeed, some ministers wondered what the purpose of the construction was and whether it was consistent with the intent and recent orders to expand demolition activity of illegal structures in these areas.
Agreements were not reached at an earlier meeting, and therefore a follow-up meeting was held today, in which the ministers have not yet reached conclusions.
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Long-awaited plan was to have been released in summer, but delayed due to fresh Israeli vote set for September 17
By TOI STAFF
US President Donald Trump speaks with reporters before boarding Air Force One at Morristown Municipal Airport in Morristown, N.J., Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
US President Donald Trump on Sunday confirmed that his administration would likely release its long-delayed peace plan after Israel’s elections in September.
“We will probably wait for the release of the Middle East peace plan until after the Israeli elections,” Trump told reporters, adding that the US might “release small parts of it beforehand.”
The plan was to have been unveiled this summer, but was delayed after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to cobble together a coalition after the April elections and was forced to go to a fresh vote, now scheduled for September 17.
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By Thomas Lifson, AMERICAN THINKER
Americans who get their news from the mainstream media that take their directions from the New York Timesand Washington Post can be forgiven for suspecting the President Trump wants to buy Greenland because its ice cap is melting. Both newspapers reported that Greenland experienced temperature records in June this year.
The Times hyped scares of melting ice and rising sea levels:
With the hot air moving north this week, Greenland was experiencing its own version of a heat wave. On the southwestern coast, Nuuk, the capital, reported temperatures in the high 50s Fahrenheit, about 10 degrees higher than average for this time of year (55 Fahrenheit is the equivalent of roughly 13 Celsius).
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The current rapid illegal build-up is funded by hundreds of millions of euros annually, funneled by the European Union and individual European nations into scores of building and infrastructure projects.
Most observers of the Israeli-Palestinian crisis are accustomed to hearing talk of “illegal Jewish settlements” on slivers of land comprising one to two percent of the ‘West Bank’, mostly near the green line of Israel proper. But, attention now focuses on an explosion of thousands of illegal Palestinian Arab constructions: village clusters, agricultural tracts, water networks, roads, and general infrastructure crisscrossing Area C of the ‘West Bank’.
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“It is clear to any outside observer,” one Saudi commentator wrote, “that these countries lack any legitimacy to speak about peace and security in Syria. In fact, they are part of the problem.”
It’s a quite extraordinary situation, when you think about it. A leading Arab nation is having its future decided by three non-Arab countries. The three states that have seized the fate of Syria into their hands are Russia, Iran and Turkey.
“It is clear to any outside observer,” one Saudi commentator wrote, “that these countries lack any legitimacy to speak about peace and security in Syria. In fact, they are part of the problem.”
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At least 7.6% of 4,981 people living in Hungary who took MyHeritage DNA test found to have 25% or more Ashkenazi Jewish ethnicity
A MyHeritage DNA study has revealed that Hungary’s population has the highest percentage of Jewish ancestry outside of Israel. In total, 100 countries were included in the research.
At least 7.6% of the 4,981 people living in Hungary who took the DNA test were found to have at least 25% or more Ashkenazi Jewish ethnicity.
“This is equivalent to having at least one grandparent who is fully Ashkenazi Jewish,” MyHeritage said. “This is a significantly higher percentage than the 3.5% observed in DNA test-takers living in the USA and 3% in Canada.”
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PLO ‘regrets’ suspension of funding to agency
A Palestinian woman walks with her children near an entrance of the UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency) health center in the Shuafat refugee camp in east Jerusalem October 10, 2018. (photo credit: AMMAR AWAD / REUTERS)
The Palestinian leadership is worried that the mandate of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) may not be renewed next month due to charges of corruption in the agency.
The Palestinians are also concerned about the recent decision of the Netherlands, Switzerland and Belgium to temporarily suspend funding for UNRWA in the aftermath of allegations of graft and sexual misconduct among the its senior management.
PLO Secretary-General Saeb Erekat on Saturday called on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to expedite the completion of the current investigation into suspicions and allegations of corruption in UNRWA before the end of September.
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By David French,NATIONAL REVIEW
Congresswoman Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., July 15, 2019. (Erin Scott/Reuters)
This should be a national scandal.To the extent that I care at all about Israel blocking entry to two U.S. congresswomen who partner with anti-Semites who seek its destruction, I agree with critics who argue that Bibi Netanyahu should not appear to bow to Donald Trump’s tweeted demands and that blocking Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar from visiting Israel handed them a short-term propaganda victory. But that’s not the most important part of the story.
The most important element of the story is the fact that two American congresswomen shunned a bipartisan congressional delegation to Israel to go on an independent trip to Israel sponsored by vicious anti-Semites. Another important element of the story is that, as of today, the mainstream media have whitewashed Omar and Tlaib’s vile associations.
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Amman is furious over Israeli minister’s call for changing the status quo on Temple Mount
BY MOHAMMAD AL-KASSIM/THE MEDIA LINE
Palestinians pray on the first Friday of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, on the compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount, in Jerusalem’s Old City May 10, 2019. . (photo credit: AMMAR AWAD / REUTERS)
The Jordanian government is furious over remarks made by Israel’s Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan calling for a change to the status quo in Jerusalem, so that Jews can pray at the Temple Mount, known to Muslims as the Haram al-Sharif.
The Jordanian Foreign Ministry stressed on Tuesday that “the kingdom’s absolute rejection” of Erdan’s comments, and denounced “any attempt to prejudice the historical and legal status quo and the serious consequences thereof.”
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By Ray DiLorenzo, STAND UP AMERICA
Sit down, focus and read this tale of woe.
Much of what we see happening all across this country began as a spin off of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia that made its way to Germany and then the United States. These German Marxists, or Communists, started a school of social theory called the Frankfurt School; a school that was dedicated to the destruction of Western civilization.
What they taught was ‘Critical Theory.’ Remember that term for it has guided the Left for generations and has been highly successful. It is defined as a philosophical approach to culture that seeks to confront the social and political forces that constrain society. It all sounds very intellectual and deep thinking, but the essence of it is POWER, the gaining and holding of it. It is all that matters. And with that power destroy the culture, values and political institutions that make Western Civilization and America great.
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After hints were dropped that the Israeli government might permit Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar to visit Israel “out of respect for Congress,” Israel has in fact decided that Omar and Tlaib will not be admitted after all, although Tlaib was offered a humanitarian visa to visit her family.
Israel’s barring of the congresswomen was quickly castigated by left-leaning groups such as the Israel Policy Forum, and applauded by pro-Israel groups, including Americans for a Safe Israel.
Characterizing Omar and Tlaib as “clear outliers” in the Democratic Party, Michael J. Koplow, policy director for Israel Policy Forum goes on to prognosticate that:
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At the heart of the breach between Israel and American Jewry is a declining sense of Jewish peoplehood among the latter, as assimilation and widespread intermarriage have created a community that is no longer that interested in Israel or, frankly, the person leading it.
The stage is set for next month’s election, but considering it was only four months ago that voters last went to the polls, their lack of enthusiasm is understandable.
Since April 9, when parties that had pledged to support Benjamin Netanyahu in his continued role as prime minister won 65 out of the 120 seats in the Knesset, a lot has happened. Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beytenu, which won five seats while ostensibly running to be part of the next Likud party-led coalition, decided to insist on the passage of a draft bill that the ultra-Orthodox parties, who also made up part of the last government, wouldn’t accept. The result was a political standoff that led to new elections. Polls indicate that there will be some changes from the April results when the next Knesset is elected on Sept. 17. However, the end result is likely to create another stalemate with the Yisrael Beytenu leader seeking to play kingmaker in what might be the beginning of the post-Netanyahu era in Israeli politics.
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Woman in Gaza, photo via Pixabay
BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 1,256, August 15, 2019
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: In an academic ranking of countries according to happiness level, the “Palestinian Territories” are far from the bottom of the list – something of a surprise, as the never-ending lamentations about the “Israeli occupation” would suggest a different outcome. The real tragedy is Tunisia, which achieved democracy but has not registered expected economic dividends. Its citizens are more discontented than the Palestinians.
It might sound frivolous to attempt to measure happiness. Still, for a Columbia University think tank and two respectable Canadian policy institutes, the measuring of happiness and the ranking of states by happiness score is serious business.
In both democracies and dictatorships, it is getting harder to speak up
In june 22nd there was an alleged coup attempt in Ethiopia. The army chief of staff was murdered, as was the president of Amhara, one of the country’s nine regions. Ordinary Ethiopians were desperate to find out what was going on. And then the government shut down the internet. By midnight some 98% of Ethiopia was offline.
“People were getting distorted news and were getting very confused about what was happening…at that very moment there was no information at all,” recalls Gashaw Fentahun, a journalist at the Amhara Mass Media Agency, a state-owned outlet. He and his colleagues were trying to file a report. Rather than uploading audio and video files digitally, they had to send them to head office by plane, causing a huge delay.
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By HELEN RALEIGH, NATIONAL REVIEW
However the current crisis ends, the city will never be the same, and that’s a tragedy of historic proportions.
The protests in Hong Kong have been going on for more than four months now, and no matter how the current crisis concludes in the coming days or weeks, it will mark the end of Hong Kong as we know it.
The protests started in response to an extradition bill that was proposed by the city’s Beijing-backed chief executive, Carrie Lam, in February. Hong Kongers rightfully feared that should the extradition bill become law, the city would be forced to turn over to China anyone President Xi Jinping’s regime deems a “criminal,” including human-rights activists, political dissidents, and others who pose a threat to the Communist party. Worried that the new extradition bill would enhance Beijing’s ability to crack down on dissent and end the city’s proud tradition of judicial independence, they took to the streets in protest.
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By JASON DELISLE, NATIONAL REVIEW
Students walk at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, N.C., September 20, 2018. (Jonathan Drake/Reuters)
It’s not just higher taxes.The higher-education system in Finland is supposedly every American progressive’s dream. The Finnish government pays 96 percent of the total cost of providing young Finns with a college education; almost all domestic students at Finnish universities pay nothing in tuition. Indeed, Finland subsidizes its universities more than any other country in the developed world. American advocates of free college say that if Finland can do it, so can we. But there’s a catch to the Finnish model, and it’s not just higher taxes. Read more…
Former Google senior engineer reveals how Big Tech will suppress Trump’s base – and the president himself
INFOWARS
A Google engineer has gone public about the ways Google and other Big Tech companies are moving against President Trump ahead of the 2020 election.
