As murder and mayhem rage across the Middle East, the World Jewish Congress is incensed that the Jewish state has been singled out for a boycott by an academic institution

by the commentator on 16 December 2013

Ronald S. Lauder, President of the New York based World Jewish Congress (WJC), representing Jewish groups in 100 countries, has denounced in the strongest terms a vote by the American Studies Association to boycott Israeli institutions.

Synagogues are full and kosher restaurants abound as liberal immigrants, Orthodox singles, and secular Jews come together

By Suzanne Selengut|December 11, 2013 1

By Toby Perl Freilich

On a typical Friday evening on Tel Aviv’s Ben Yehuda Street, this city known for its vibrant nightlife is in weekend mode. Beachgoers walk home as the sun goes down, sandy and tanned, clutching towels and flip-flops. Elegant couples head out for drinks and dinner. Singles gather at pubs and start to make their late-night plans for the biggest club night of the week.

But nearby, at the same time, a very different scene kicks into gear—one that most people don’t associate with Tel Aviv. Synagogues in the center of the city fill up with young professionals. On Frishman Street, just minutes from the beach, a red carpet fit for a Hollywood awards show marks the entrance to The Tel Aviv International Synagogue. Inside the sanctuary, about a hundred well-heeled men and women sing and clap in a scene reminiscent of synagogues on New York City’s Upper West Side. After services, the young rabbi welcomes everyone in a mix of Hebrew and English and invites them for refreshments in the courtyard, where single men and women flirt over glasses of kosherCava and assorted pastries. Afterward, some head to friends’ homes for a traditional Friday night meal, while others hit their favorite restaurants or bars.
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ObamaCare Should Take Lessons from Israel
By Michael Curtis, AMERICAN THINKER

Speaking in Jerusalem on December 8, 2013, Angel Gurria, Secretary-General of the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) congratulated Israel on its economic growth and stated that, “given the state of affairs in the world, Israel is looking steady, strong, and I think moving in the right direction.” Not perhaps the most ecstatic form of compliment, but very striking coming from this international civil servant, head of the organization of the 34 most developed countries in the world, which Israel joined in 2010.
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Esteemed advocate Alan Dershowitz says that Israel should ignore international law when deciding how to deal with Iran.

International law is “a construct in the mind of a bunch of left wing academics,” he said, in a lecture at the Institute of National Strategic Studies in Tel Aviv last week “There is no basis for international law in any reality. It’s not based on legislation. Much of it is not based on treaty. It is the ultimate exercise in elitist non-democracy.”
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The negotiations are not meant to bring an end to the Israeli-Palestinian clash; all they are intended to achieve is Israel’s withdrawal from the West Bank, while leaving the conflict to fester.

By Moshe Arens, HAARETZ
[It is most surprising that Haaretz published this article]

If you thought the agreement being hammered out by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is meant to bring to an end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, you have another think coming. Nothing of the sort. Even if the agreement is signed and sealed the conflict will continue. Israel will continue to be slandered by the Palestinians and their supporters, who will continue to demand more territorial concessions and the “right of return.” There will be calls for boycott, divestment and sanctions, as well as acts of terror against Israel.
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A Race Against Death is a very well researched story of the efforts of Peter Bergson in America to rescue the Jews of Europe throughout the holocaust. He created The Emergency Committee to save the Jews of Europe to raise funds and support for the the rescue. It placed full page ads in the NYT and other national newspapers calling attention to the ongoing massacre of Jews in Europe.

The following ad is not a full page one but is offered as an indication of the message. Yet people claimed they didn’t know. Members of my father’s family escaped Poland in the thirties so you would think that they were very concerned about their friends and relatives left behind. But they too told me they didn’t know.

Peter Bergson was opposed at every turn by Rabbi Stephen Wise and the Jewish establishment.

Labour leader Herzog: Bill is “narrow-minded, anti-democratic and shuts down any one who dares not emulate her thinking.” “Narrow minded”, that’s a new one. But “anti-democratic” is not. There is nothing contrary to democracy about it. To pass it would be an affirmation of democracy. Democracies have a duty to protect themselves. Nor does it shut down anyone who dares not emulate her thinking. In fact the bill simply taxes the NGO’s on money they receive from foreign governments. This bill does not in any way limit free speech. Such limitations must be found in the criminal code. I approve the bill and suggest a double whammy. Any taxes received due to this bill becoming law, should be given to right-wing NGO’s to create a level playing field. Ted Belman

Moran Azulay, YNET NEWS

Ministers approved the controversial NGO bill proposed by Knesset members Ayelet Shaked (Habayit Hayehudi) and Robert Ilatov (Yisrael Beiteinu) on Sunday. The bill passed a vote of the Ministerial Committee on Legislative Affairs, with the support of ministers from Shaked’s party and from Likud-Beiteinu.

Representatives of the left slammed the proposal, calling it “dangerous and dictatorial,” noting the bill was intended to silence any one who dares to criticize the administration and think differently. Justice Minister Tzipi Livni said she intended to appeal the proposed legislation.
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Bibi’s Ministers approved this. Is this indicative of the Cabinet’s will as a whole? This Bill even prevents negotiating the division. Now that’s how to create a red line. Better still passage would effectively take Jerusalem off the table. Ted Belman

By LAHAV HARKOV, JPOST

A bill requiring a two-thirds majority in the Knesset for negotiations to divide Jerusalem was approved by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation Sunday.

The proposal, by MK Ya’acov Litzman (UTJ), was brought back to a vote after Justice Minister Tzipi Livni appealed it in October.

Litzman’s bill mandates that 80 MKs are necessary to authorize any negotiations with the Palestinians on whether to give up any part of Jerusalem.
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The “End of Jewish History” is not as farfetched as Fukiyama’s predictions for the world. Nor is a repetition of the fate of the Ten Tribes.
By Giulio Meotti, INN

Everybody knows that it is either going to be “settlements” or a “Palestinian State”. Both cannot cohexist side by side.

The fate of Jewish life in Judea and Samaria is the most important single defining issue for the future of the Jewish people.

After Yasser Arafat convinced the Israelis that “delivering” Arabs to the Jews is something his people couldn’t tolerate, Israel has convinced herself that she can deliver many Jews to the Arabs.
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My apologies for this post. I removed the video that I had endorsed in ignorance.

Janet Levy brought this to my attentions and recommended this video that puts the lie to it.

By Seth Mandel, COMMENTARY MAG

The Russian-brokered deal for the West to partner with Bashar al-Assad to start clearing out his chemical weapons seemed to announce what everyone had already figured out: the Obama administration’s goal in Syria was not a rebel victory. Yet in truth the turning point in public perception of President Obama’s approach to Syria probably took place when the Wall Street Journal broke the news that the White House still hadn’t fulfilled its pledge to provide weapons to the moderate opposition.

The reason for the cold feet was calculating–and devastating to the rebels:

The Obama administration doesn’t want to tip the balance in favor of the opposition for fear the outcome may be even worse for U.S. interests than the current stalemate. Read more…

Jonathan S. Tobin, COMMENTARY MAG

Anyone who thinks Iran’s leaders aren’t cognizant of what’s going on in Washington got a reminder this weekend just how closely they follow the Obama administration’s political line. After weeks in which President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry have been communicating their fears about the Iranians breaking off talks if Congress has the temerity to pass new economic sanctions, Tehran decided to make the president’s point. On Thursday, in an effort to prove that they weren’t lying down for the Islamist regime, administration officials announced that it would expand the list of businesses and individuals being targeted for prosecution for doing business with Iran. Contrary to the headline of the New York Times article about the measure, this wasn’t a case of new sanctions but merely a belated effort to enforce existing laws that have often been evaded either by exemptions granted by the Treasury Department or a lack of interest on the part of the U.S. government. This was supposed to demonstrate to a skeptical Congress that Obama and Kerry weren’t fibbing about being serious about keeping sanctions in place.
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Israel’s Good News Newsletter to 15th Dec 2013

“We [Jews] have been to Hell and back – a Hell of your making. What more could you possibly have in your arsenal that could scare us?”

Israel’s letter to the world – 1969

http://cifwatch.com/2010/08/14/israels-letter-to-the-world/

In 2006, at the age of 92, Stanley Goldfoot passed away. Stanley Goldfoot was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. In 1932, at the age of 18, he headed for Palestine where he joined a HaShomer HaTzair kibbutz. After the rebirth of the Jewish State of Israel his main goal, which he eventually realized, was to establish a Zionist English newspaper, “The Times of Israel.” In the first issue of “The Times of Israel”, in 1969, Goldfoot wrote his famous “Letter to the World from Jerusalem.” The article is still remarkably relevant, so I thought I’d share it with you. It’s the thoughts of only one man but, as I read it, it occurred to me that, in many ways it represents the pleas of an entire nation – a people with one small desire:“to be a free people in our land.”
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By Ted Belman

Herb Keinon, writing in the JPOST, makes the point that in present negotiations between Israel and the PA, Sec. Kerry is prepared to concede on most of Netanyahu’s security demands but expects Netanyahu to concede the land demands of the PA supported by Pres Obama. This deal is called “land, with minor swaps, for peace”.

I believe,, and Keinon makes it crystal clear, that if Netanyahu gets the security he wants, even if limited to 10 or 15 years on some issues, that he will settle for the major settlement blocks and would abandon East Jerusalem, Ariel and E1 and the rest of Judea and Samaria.

Kerry is following the blueprint of Carter who achieved a peace treaty between Israel and Egypt in 1979. It was based on 100% withdrawal, i.e. land for peace. To achieve it, Carter insisted that Begin and Sadat be sequestered and silent about negotiations. Furthermore negotiations established two Framework Agreements; one on the terms/framework for Israel-Egypt peace agreement and the other on a framework for regional peace. Kerry is likewise insisting on silence and a framework agreement otherwise known as an agreement in principle. Read more…

By Barry Rubin, PJ MEDIA

War without end. That is what the Obama Administration promises the U.S., Israel, and the Palestinians. If the current Obama-Kerry plan for an Israel-Palestinian deal is implemented, scores of Americans would likely die. This was revealed recently by Secretary of State John Kerry, particularly in a speech at the Saban Forum.

By the way, the Saban Forum Speech was made appropriately on December 7th, the anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The former head of the Saban Center has also been chosen as negotiator.

The Obama Administration plan is very simple, assuming that everything goes smoothly–which of course it will not.
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