Jews Against Secular Jewish Nationalism

Trip to Efrat today. As usual no Arabs in sight. Going through Israel, I have seen so few Arabs. You'll see Arab construction and sanitation workers. They don't live anywhere near where I have visited but like South African blacks come into the Jewish/White areas to work the dirty jobs. But it's so clear that Arabs were just pushed out of this country. They don't live in my town, they don't live in the town where I worked, I have seen very few in Tel Aviv. I have seen a few more in Jerusalem but not many more. I rarely see more than an Arab woman or two on the light-rail or Israel trains. I don't think I have ever been in an intercity bus with Arabs. Other thing to note about Efrat is that the people are paranoid. Their eyes dart around in terror. One is reminded of small town hicks in America who don't take kindly to strangers. Actually as the bus pulled past the gates an aggressive man with big gun jumped on the bus and checked everybody out. I can only im...

Took a trip to Chevron, where frankly there isn't much to see. The site is a Herodian building. So as usual the sites are Roman or Turkish. What's Jewish is from so long ago there's nothing to see. Israeli solders stopped numerous Arabs who were just walking by the street and checked their bags. One was a kid of about 12 who had to empty his plastic bag. One was a petite woman. The solder took her pocket book, took out her purse, and opened her purse. The Arabs looked quite scared and obedient and the solder as cocky and crass as most of them are. He never checked any Jews.

Hours without seeing a single yarmulka of any kind. Finally, at the tourist stores near the Reading Power I saw one or two. I believe they were American tourists.e After hours of walking finally found a kosher restaurant. Didn't see a shul either Totally non-religious. This claim from the Avi Shvat's of the world that high percentages of Israelis keep Pesach or YK or whatever are nonsense or are based on the loosest definitions of observance. These people are everything Chaim Soloveitchik feared, Jews without religion. Also absurd is this notion of Tel Aviv as a modern, lively city. Much of it is pretty beat. There's hardly a tourist attraction, just a few museums for pre-state terrorist groups. There are a few malls which in the US would be minor. There are lots of cafes with smokers, little else. You can probably say the same about Cairo. Hotels, a few by the beach. Hardly any anywhere else. Very primitive.

Al Jazeera World - Gaza: Human Shields

Dr. Steve Pieczenik: Zionism And The Self-Destruction of Israel

Naftali Bennet, Israel’s minister of education was the first public official to come out in support of Elor Azaria, the Israeli soldier who executed Abdel Fatah Alsharif as he lay wounded in Hebron. Bennet was critical of the government of which he is a member for not standing up for the soldier. I was listening to the interview with Bennet on Israeli television where he made the argument that the government and the press judged the soldier harshly and prematurely. Then he said something I never thought I’d hear. “Maybe the soldier did make a mistake; you know I also made a mistake. During Grapes of Wrath, Operation Grapes of Wrath I was apparently mistaken and a very difficult thing happened.”  A very difficult thing happened. Interesting choice of words and interesting timing: It is exactly twenty-years since the massacre in Qana village in Southern Lebanon, a massacre for which Bennet was responsible. He then went on to explain that, “in my case, I received the full backing of t...

" Jaffa was the largest city in historic Palestine during the years of the British mandate, with a population of more than 80,000 Palestinians in addition to the 40,000 persons living in the towns and villages in its immediate vicinity. In the period between the  UN  Partition resolution ( UNGA  181) of 29 November 1947, and the declaration of the establishment of the State of Israel, Zionist military forces displaced 95 percent of Jaffa’s indigenous Arab Palestinian population. Jaffa’s refugees accounted for 15 percent of Palestinian refugees in that fateful year, and today they are dispersed across the globe, still banned from returning by the state responsible for their displacement. Jaffa was the epicenter of the Palestinian economy before the 1948 Nakba. Beginning in the early 19th century, the people of Jaffa had cultivated citrus groves, particularly oranges, on their land. International demand for Jaffa oranges propelled the city onto the world stage, earning the ...

http://ahtribune.com/history/794-deir-yassin.html 68 years ago today - The Deir Yassin Massacre Israel forces murder 200 Palestinians including women and children  Deir Yassin ca7a1 On November 29th, 1947, the UN approved resolution 181, determining that Palestine was to be divided into two states, one for Arabs and one for Jews. The Deir Yassin Massacre which occurred on April 9th, 1948 when 120 fighters from the Zionist Irgun and Haganah paramilitary groups attacked the village and killed more than 200 of its villagers. These deaths and the stories of the atrocities helped trigger the 1948 Palestinian exodus. Deir Yassin, near Jerusalem, was part of the plan of Jerusalem, which was to belong to neither state in the United Nations proposal for the division of Palestine. The Arabs rejected the proposal and war broke out as a result. The Zionists attacked the village for two reasons: They would show the Arabs that they intend to fight for Jerusalem, and because the village posed a t...

http://ahtribune.com/history/203-november-29-1947.html " United Nations resolution 181, accepted on November 29, 1947, not only gave the Zionist movement the permission, but opened the door for Zionists to execute the ethnic cleansing of Palestine and create an apartheid state with exclusive rights for Jewish people, or as some call it, The State of Israel. It should come as no surprise then, that the ethnic cleansing of Palestine began as early as December of 1947, less than one month after the resolution was accepted. These early attack on Palestinians neighborhoods and villages brought about the exodus of some 75,000 Palestinians. [1] In other words, a resolution whose intent was to bring calm to Palestine brought about a catastrophe. As though to bring about a practical, moral and equitable solution to the question of Palestine, the United Nations General Assembly accepted Resolution 181 on November 29, 1947. This resolution called for the partition of Palestine into an Arab s...

Linked post Near the end of his life in 1886, Rav Hirsch wrote to Rabbi Yaakov Lipshitz, personal secretary of Rabbi Yitzchok Elchonon Spector, “I was completely opposed to Rabbi Kalischer on this subject. More than three or four times he wrote to me and sent me his books and pressured me to take a leading role in his movement to settle Eretz Yisroel, until he finally came to me and accused me of delaying the redemption. And I asked him to leave me alone on this matter, for what they consider a great mitzvah is in my eyes no small sin, and therefore it is impossible to reach common ground.” (Shemesh Marpei, p. 216) In his commentary to the Siddur (p. 703), Rav Hirsch speaks about the tragedy of Beitar. The fourth blessing of Birkas Hamazon reads, “He did good to us, He does good to us, He will do good to us; He bestowed upon us, He bestows upon us, He will bestow good upon us forever.” Rav Hirsch explains that this threefold repetition was intended to combat a heretical idea. The bless...

* The right to worship, trespass and kill. Some 4,000 Jews (according to Israel National News), including Knesset members, prayed at Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus from late Thursday night to early Friday morning last week, under heavy military protection (this follows from the rights to Judaize graves, to sanctify stones the way a dog marks his territory, and to prioritize memorializing a dead Jew over the daily routine of live Palestinians). Maj. Elitzur Trabelsi, an officer in the Samaria Brigade’s territorial defense unit, said this unit’s “hard work, before and during the visit” to Joseph’s Tomb “is satisfying when you see the number of people coming here. The Samaria Brigade will continue to enable such visits in accordance with the government’s instructions and work to ensure the visitors’ security.” The brazen locals, who deny the right to sweep them away, demonstrated. The IDF fired live bullets at them. About 10 demonstrators were wounded, including Jamal Dweikat, 20, who was wounde...

THE DIVISION OF THE MANDATE FOR PALESTINE " In 1923 the British "chopped off" 75% of the proposed Jewish Palestinian homeland to form an Arab Palestinian Nation of "Trans-Jordan," meaning "across the Jordan River." The Palestinian Arabs now had THEIR homeland... the remaining 25% of the original Palestinian territory (west of the Jordan River) was to be the Jewish Palestinian homeland. However, sharing was not part of the Arab psychological makeup then or now and they were determined to get ALL of that remaining 25%. Encouraged and incited by growing Arab nationalism throughout the Middle East, the Arabs of that small remaining Palestinian territory launched never-ending murderous attacks upon the Jewish Palestinians in an effort to drive them out. Most terrifying were the Hebron slaughters of 1929 and later the 1936-39 "Arab Revolt." The British, at first tried to maintain order but soon (due to the large oil deposits being discovered throu...

Ya'alon Slams 'Fearmonger' Netanyahu, Vows to Run for Prime Minister read more: http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.725408?utm_content=%24sections%2F1.725408&utm_medium=email&utm_source=smartfocus&utm_campaign=newsletter-daily&utm_term=20160616-16%3A06Former Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon intends to run for prime minister, the recently-ousted defense minister told the Herzliya Conference on Thursday. "I intend to run for the leadership in Israel in the next elections," he said during his speech. Ya'alon lashed out at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, claiming he is trying to scare Israeli citizens about security threats in order to distract them from other problems in Israel. "The Iranian nuclear program, which was put on ice following the signed agreement, does not constitute an imminent existential threat to Israel, which is limited during the period of the agreement, and we have to prepare for future events," said Ya'alon...

Opposition to the modern return to Zion has often based itself upon the now famous Talmudic passage of the Shalosh Shevuot, "The Three Oaths." What are these three oaths? One, that the Jews should not go up (to take the land) by force, and one that G-d made the Jews swear that they would not rebel against the nations of the world, and one that G-d made the nations swear that they would not enslave the Jews too much. In expounding the verse, "I have made you swear, O daughter of Jerusalem," the Gemara relates that the Almighty administered three oaths to the Jewish people. The time and nature of these oaths are not clear, but one of them entailed a commitment on the part of the Jews not to return and conquer Israel by force. Many Gedolim in Europe took this to forbid any attempt at reestablishing the State of Israel before Messianaic times. Rabbi Hershel Schachter, Rosh Yeshiva, RIETS "The Mitzvah of Yishuv Eretz Yisrael" Journal of Halacha and Contemporar...

Israel has become a nation that enjoys killing. it's that simple. Many Israelis like the sight of dead people on the floor. They are not the first. They join the ranks of the Huns, the Romans, the Cossacks - all those wonderful hoards of barbarians. There are exceptions.

Maybe the extremists are ruining everything as usual. One can live in Israel without being a militant or lacking compassion for the local Arabs. One doesn't have to drink the kool aid and buy into the we are right and they are wrong club. There was room for the Jews and the UN did make a partition. And the nearby countries did attack. If you are a sovereign state can you keep land taken in self-defense. Destroying 400 Arab villages is wrong but that was a choice some of the Haganah made. Doesn't eradicate living in the land. Today certainly we are out of control. But '67, Nassar who had attacked before did move troops in. Maybe he didn't mean it but can you take the chance with someone who has attacked you? Question now may be simply, what to do with 2 million people? And certainly the apartheid has to stop and the torture and killing and overreacting. But I don't have to buy into that to live in the land.

A former Israeli solder told me that he was often ordered during checkpoints to enter ID #s of Palestinians into a computer and certain numbers would come up as people he was to hold for questioning by the Shin Beit. He'd tie them up and blindfold them and leave them on the desert ground for up to 6 hours in the hot son. Eventually the Shin Beit would come, talk to them for a minute or so and let them go. This happened repeatedly.

0 Israeli homes  have been demolished by Palestinians and at least  48,488 Palestinian homes  have been demolished by Israel since 1967. ( View Sources & More Information ) http://ifamericansknew.org

Why all these tiresome comparisons of Israelis to Nazis or South African apartheid practitioners. If you want to insult someone, just call them an Israeli. We don't need to look to other examples of cruel, heartless, lying, murderous peoples. Let's say you live in Australia and a politician is calling for cruel treatment of people or a cop is being abusive or violently racist, say that guy is like an Israeli. It's a new word for a bad person.

Road accident rate rises for third year 126 Israelis killed so far in 2016; 1,200 injured on electric bikes. 2 By Tova Dvorin First Publish: 5/23/2016, 8:42 AM Car accident (illustrative) Flash 90 126 Israelis have been killed in road accidents in 2016, data released Monday reveals - the third increase in road fatalities in three years.  Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) data proved that human error is not the sole factor in the accidents, with 40% of drivers involved in road incidents not having committed road offenses. Bituach Leumi (National Insurance Institute) has paid 2.8 billion shekel ($722 million) to victims of road accidents over the past nine years, the data added. 357 died in road accidents in 2015.  Data on electric bicycles has also been published for the first time Monday - with 1,200 people injured so far in accidents from the contraption; one killed; and 60 seriously injured. Regulations earlier this month raised the minimum age for electric bicycles fr...

from wiki: Benny Morris, Ilan Pappé, Avi Shlaim, Tom Segev, Hillel Cohen, Baruch Kimmerling and (retrospectively) Simha Flapan are counted among the "new historians." Initially dismissed by the public, the New Historians eventually gained legitimacy in Israel in 1990s. Avi Shlaim  described the New Historians' differences from what he termed the "official history" in the following terms. [4]  According to Shlaim: The official version said that  Britain  tried to prevent the establishment of a  Jewish state ; the New Historians claimed that it tried to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state The official version said that the  Palestinians  fled their homes of their own free will; the New Historians said that the  refugees were chased out or expelled The official version said that the balance of power was in favour of the Arabs; the New Historians said that Israel had the advantage both in manpower and in arms The official version said th...

If Zionism aims to turn Jews into goyim, is it anti-semitic? Jews are distinguished by Torah observance, by compassion, humility, and modesty. Zionism turns them into just another violent and arrogant nation. It is as anti-Jewish in its opposition to traditional Jewishness as feminism can be anti-female in its opposition to femininity.

The primary cause of death among soldiers serving in the Israel Defense Forces is suicide, according to an analysis of data covering the past three years. In 2011, the most recent year for which official army data is available, 21 soldiers took their own lives – more than the number of soldiers who died as a result of disease, traffic accidents, operational activity or other calamities. In 2011, 15 soldiers died in traffic accidents, two in the course of operational activity and 12 as a result of disease. Six additional soldiers died in accidents that the army describes as “other” – meaning training and similar accidents. In 2010, more soldiers committed suicide than those who died due to other circumstances, including traffic accidents and disease. According to the army’s statistics, 28 soldiers took their lives in 2010, 14 soldiers died in traffic accidents and 10 from disease. In 2009, suicide was the number one reason for death in the IDF: 20 soldiers committed suicide, almost doub...

"All predatory systems of power   seek to mask their ultimate aims. As they become more repressive, they become more deceptive. They silence dissidents and bombard the airwaves with lies. Those who effectively resist have to peel back the layers of deceit to understand the intentions of the elites." Chris Hedges In the middle of the last century an assortment of pseudo-intellectuals in the form of the idle rich, the beatniks, and the hippies imported Eastern religions into the Western world. They didn't bring in these religions in their entirety, rather they plucked out the philosophy and left behind the idolatry that would not have been palatable to Western Judeo-Christian audiences. The idolatry is the main part, the philosophies being thin and quickly consumed. Nevertheless, the Eastern religion importers, in the spirit of Hollywood producers, did their best to make the philosophies seem as substantive and glamorous as possible, sometimes getting rich in the process. I...

Some will tell you to replace everything. But here's what I learned: 1) You can keep your lamps. The wiring is the same. Just get a 220v adapter (not a converter just a little plug switcheroo) and use an Israeli light bulb. You do have to give away your American bulbs. 2) Batteries are the same. 3) Many devices are 220v compatible including your laptop computer, likely your printer, my SONY video recorder, our blow-dryer. Likely your desktop. Look on the wiring. Somewhere it lists compatibility. If it says 220v then what you need it a plug adapter. There are 220v wires that go from the

So what is the bright side of NBN? It's the ubiquitous ads which I would image comprise a large part of their budget. Live the dream and all that nonsense. In other words, the bright side doesn't exist. It's a marketing campaign. I can't say that I hoped for much help from NBN when I got to Israel because they weren't that helpful in America either. They have a website. It contains some information. That's it really. They don't have counselors, not real ones, ones that counsel. They have these spoiled ladies from Teaneck that don't even pretend to care about you. You meet for half an hour and any questions after that result in your being directed to the web site. It's always the web site. NBN certainly doesn't tell you about the downside of aliyah or the dangers. They paint a rosy fantasy because they make a living from you making aliyah. They don't tell you about the young people going off the derech. That's a big omission. Criminal.

This has been a tough week for me. For half a century I have been an admirer of the State of Israel. I saw it as a vibrant democracy with a resourceful and compassionate people who were politically engaged. I saw its leaders as practical and sensible. I was such an admirer that I made aliyah this year. My timing wasn't the best because I arrived in time for the Duma affair: teenage Jewish boys locked in solitary confinement for a month without access to an attorney; allegations of torture that have at least been partially confirmed by one of the cabinet ministers who authorized it; a press that has not only failed to investigate and to provide the oversight of leaders necessary for any democracy but has convicted these boys without a trial, relying only on hearsay and group affiliation. And what about the leaders? They are full of bombast as they try to have us believe that teenage boys are a threat to the survival of the state. Did the pilot make a wrong turn? Am I in Syria or Ira...

Norman Finkelstein - The Coming Breakup of American Zionism, Part 1

Hi, I'm Jewish and live in Israel. I'm looking for solid and informed arguments on this topic but don't seem to be finding them on your site. For example, you write: "In 2000-2001, as part of the negotiations with the Palestinians at Camp David and at Taba, Israel proposed to withdraw from around 97% of the West Bank and Gaza in exchange for peace.   ( See Beyond Images Briefing 21, dated May 2003:   Camp David and Taba: what did Israel offer? ) The Palestinians rejected this offer" According to Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben Ami, the Camp David offer was unreasonable on the part of Israel. He says the Taba offer was reasonable and the Palestinians were close to accepting the Taba offer. However Israel paused the talks for the elections and Sharon canceled them entirely. This is not to say that the Palestinians shouldn't have just accepted what was on the table in view of the fact that they were running out of time. But the portrayal that Israel always...

linked post from http://www.israelnationalnews.com Ethiopian Tasered by Police Sparks Protests Anew "Renewed protests from members of Israel's Ethiopian community against racism and police violence will be held at 4:00 p.m. on Monday outside of the national police headquarters in Jerusalem. Protests from the community began in May following outrage over the beating of Damas Pakada, an Ethiopian Jewish soldier who was brutally assaulted by a police officer in Holon. The protests - which ranged from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv - often turned violent and saw dozens of demonstrators arrested. Jerusalem Police Chief Moshe Edri held a special discussion on Monday morning with the district's top officers ahead of the demonstration. Police are preparing for a scenario in which protestors block major roads in the capital, as well as the possibility of traffic should the protestors indeed block streets and start to riot. The latest demonstration is a response to the police's decision ...