Hamas War

Thursday, June 30, 2016

Why No Immediate Condemnations After 13 Year Old Girl Murdered in Bed by Arab Terrorist?

This morning, when I called a neighbor to invite her to a Shabbat meal, she asked:
"Did you hear about the pigua (terror attack)?"
"No," I answered. "Where?"
"In Kiryat Arba."
Hallel-Yaffa Ariel, HaYa"D
So I checked the internet, and Arutz 7 gave a summary of what was known at the time and got the awful news. At about 8am an Arab terrorist managed to get through the fence into Kiryat Arba, entered the home of the Ariel Family and began stabbing Hallel Yaffa, 13.
Speaking to reporters earlier Thursday, Hallel's grief-stricken parents told of their anguish, and remembered a talented, happy girl.
"My daughter was just sleeping - tranquil, relaxed, happy - when a terrorist came to her bed in Kiryat Arba and murdered her," mother Rina cried.
"This morning our daughter, 13-and-a-half years old - an incredible girl - was murdered in her sleep," she continued. "Every father and mother should consider their own children and they will feel slightly the pain that we are feeling now." (Arutz 7)
Since I had to cook for Shabbat I turned on the television news to learn more. The only problem was that there was no news on the three Israeli stations. When there was a terror attack in Turkey, the shows were cancelled, and news was on. Not all that long ago, if some tragic thing happened here, and isn't a terror attack murder of a 13 year old horrendous? regular programming would be off and sad music on.

I kept switching between BBC, France-English News and the three Israeli television stations until I had to leave for work just after one. Nobody mentioned the terror attack at all.

We all know that if Jews had been suspected of attacking an Arab, not only would the entire world and many Jews and Israelis condemn us and those Jews, but they wouldn't even wait to find out if was true. So why all the silence when a 13 year old Jewish girl was stabbed to death in her bed?

Guest Post: Refuting the Jew Haters


GUEST POST by Mr. Cohen

Before I begin, please let me make one thing clear:

DO NOT argue or debate with Jew-haters. 

STAY AWAY from them, both in the real world and the internet world.

There are many reasons for this:

First, our obligation as Jews is to serve G_d, not argue with Jew-hating lunatics.

Second, they can be dangerous, and even if you think you are anonymous on the internet, you are not as anonymous as you think you are, and they may find you, G_d forbid. 

Third, many Jew haters are fanatics and/or lunatics, who will never listen to anything you say, or even use your words against Jews in ways you did not anticipate.
__________________________________________________________________

Still, there are rare situations when it helps to know how to refute their accusations against Jews; for example, when a sincere Gentile co-worker or neighbor is influenced by the accusations of the Jew haters.
__________________________________________________________________

One favorite accusation of the Jew-haters is that Jews have been expelled from many countries and cities. Jew haters use this to imply that Jews are bad people.

This accusation can be countered, like this.

When a Medieval king expelled Jews from his country, Jews were usually not able to take their possessions with them, so all the possessions of the Jews became the property of the king, including: land, houses, furniture, gold, silver, jewels, farm animals, etc. 

Even if the Jews had some way to take their money with them (which was far from guaranteed) they could not take their larger possessions with them.  This permitted the kings to increase their wealth quickly with little risk.

Additionally, when Jews were expelled, all debts owed to expelled Jewish creditors became as if they never existed, or were made payable to the king.

“Although King Philip IV had allowed Jews back into Paris, in [year] 1306 [CE] he had cash flow problems. He therefore devised a secret plot to solve the problem. On July 22, the day after Tisha B’Av, some 100,000 Jews were arrested and thrown into prison.
They were informed that they were going to be expelled and could leave with only the clothes on their backs and a small sum of money. The king had confiscated the rest of their possessions. In addition, any money owed to them by Christians would be payable to the king.”

SOURCE: Is French Jewry Headed Toward Its Final Expulsion
by Libi Astaire 2014/11/17, The Jewish Press
www.jewishpress.com/sections/features/feautures-on-jewish-world/bonjour-goodbye-is-french-jewry-headed-toward-its-final-expulsion/2014/11/17/0/

CONCLUSION:
Kings had big financial incentives to expel their Jews, and also lords and dukes.
This explains why Jews were expelled dozens of times in the medieval era.
__________________________________________________________________

Another reason why Jews were expelled many times from Christian countries was that Medieval Christians did not tolerate people whose beliefs disagreed with their own. 

Medieval European Christians also persecuted other Christians whose beliefs differed from their own.
Three very short examples:

EXAMPLE 1: 

In October 1536 CE, William Tyndale was publicly executed because he translated the Bible into English, even though he was Christian.

EXAMPLE 2:

The Thirty Years' War was a series of wars in Central Europe between 1618 CE and 1648 CE.
It was  one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, resulting in millions of casualties. It started as a war between various Protestants and Catholics.

EXAMPLE 3:

“For the rest of his life, [Professor J.R.R.] Tolkien blamed his mother’s death on the financial and emotional stress she suffered as a result of her conversion to Catholicism and her consequent rejection by her family.”

SOURCE: Myth and Middle Earth (chapter 1, page 22) by Leslie Ellen Jones,
2002 CE, Cold Spring Press, Cold Spring Harbor, NY 11724,
JOpenRoad@aol.com, ISBN 1-892975-81-5.
___________________________________________________________
UNFAIR DOUBLE STANDARD:

Have you ever noticed that:
people who want a Jew-free Palestine are called peace-lovers;
but people who want an Arab-free Israel are called racists?
_________________________________________________________
OTHER BLOG POSTS BY MR. COHEN:
 

Ancient Roman historians connected Jews with the Land of Israel and Jerusalem:
https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2017/02/guest-post-josephus-vs-muslim-liars.html
http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/05/guest-post-cornelius-tacticus.html


Rambam Rejected Childless Messiah:

http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/08/rambam-rejected-childless-messiah-by-mr.html

Why Muslims Hate Jews:

https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/12/guest-post-why-muslims-hate-jews.html
https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2017/01/guest-post-moynihan-1982.html


Forgotten Oppression against Jews:

https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2017/01/guest-post-forgotten-oppression.html
https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2017/03/guest-post-forgotten-anti-semitism.html


American anti-Semitism:
https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2017/01/guest-post-seven-times-stronger.html

https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2017/01/guest-post-jewish-nyc-mayor.html
 
How a Reform Rabbi Become Orthodox (true story):
http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/07/how-did-reform-rabbi-become-orthodox-jew.html

Sephardic Jews Reject Reform Judaism:
https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2017/07/sephardim-reject-reform.html
https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2017/08/guest-post-persian-rabbis-decree.html

Greek NYC Jews and Syrian NYC Jews:
http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/03/greek-jews-syrian-jews.html

How to Convict the New York Times:
https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/11/guest-post-how-to-convict-new-york-times.html
https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/11/guest-post-nyt-erases-israel-from-map.html
http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/03/guest-postnyt-vs-israel.html

Why Pray for Tzahal-IDF:
http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/04/guest-post-why-pray-for-idf.html

How to Pray for Tzahal-IDF:
http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/09/how-to-pray-for-tzahal-idf.html

Why Israel’s 1967 Borders are Undefendable:
https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2017/03/guest-post-why-1967-borders-are-suicide.html

Do Palestinians Want a Two-State Solution?
by Daniel Polisar, PhD in Political Science
https://mosaicmagazine.com/essay/2017/04/do-palestinians-want-a-two-state-solution/

Articles Refuting the so-called “Two-State Solution”:
www.algemeiner.com/2017/10/08/the-two-state-solution-is-holding-israel-hostage/
https://mosaicmagazine.com/picks/2017/06/when-it-comes-to-territorial-compromise-israel-doesnt-have-a-choice/
__________________________________________________________________
An Insider’s Guide to the Most Important Story on Earth

by Matti Friedman, 2014/8/26

www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/183033/israel-insider-guide

SUMMARY: This article exposes intentional anti-Israel bias in the news media.
It is still very relevant today, even though it was written in 2014.
__________________________________________________________________

***** PLEASE HELP SUE THE TERRORISTS IN COURT:

www.TheLawFareProject.org

***** THANK YOU!
__________________________________________________________________

Rabbi Steven Pruzansky said:

“In the genocidal war being waged against the Jewish people,
the New York Times is an accomplice.”

SOURCE:
http://rabbipruzansky.com/2015/10/29/a-new-low/

PERSONAL COMMENT:
Please do teshuvah by NOT BUYING the New York Times!
__________________________________________________________________

LEARN HOW TO DEFEND ISRAEL FROM UNFAIR NEWS MEDIA:

www.camera.org                                
www.DanielPipes.org

www.HonestReporting.com              
www.IsraelBehindTheNews.com
www.memri.org
www.memriTV.org                            
www.MideastReporter.com
www.MythsAndFacts.org                 

www.BBCwatch.org             
www.jhrw.com                                  

www.PalWatch.org               
www.UKMediaWatch.org                
www.UNwatch.org
www.aish.com/jw/mo/4-Reasons-Why-the-Media-is-Biased-against-Israel.html

__________________________________________________________________

Havel Havelim: חי 18 Jewish/Israeli Blog Posts

There are so many really good blog posts out there to read, so I figured that today, quite a while since I had last put together a Havel Havelim, round-up of Jewish/Israeli Blog Posts, that today would be the day!


And as as been my practice of late, ever since I found myself as the last surviving/willing HH host, I will just list eighteen 18 חי linked titles of blog posts for your reading pleasure. Bloggers, an intriguing title attracts more readers! Sometimes I callout on facebook (please, join our HH fb group) for suggestions, but this morning, I'll choose them on my own. I hope you don't mind. Of course, if anyone would like to host a Havel Havelim, you're invited. Please let me know, thanks, shilohmuse@gmail.com.

All I ask is that you read/enjoy, comment and share, thanks!

Launching in the Negev
The Danger of Comparative Religion
Jerusalem Light Show, 5776, 2016
Temple Mount Worship Or Desecration?
Schizophrenia and the Narrow Bridge, thoughts for Parshas Shlach Lecha
Serious Water Problems in Shiloh-- Rotten Government Planning!
To Be a Pioneer
Quick Shabbat Cooking with Minimal Water
Igniting Souls
The Jews Are The Indigenous Population of Israel
The Last Day
Now, There's One More Location in Warsaw
06/29 Links Pt1: Why Palestinians Throw Rocks; 10 Britons planned riots at Temple Mount during Ramadan
US Betar Reunion in Israel, June 23, 2016
Jerusalem Craft Beer Fair -- July 20-21
Israeli Debacle in Turkish Agreement!
Moral Oppression
Goodbye and Farewell

Let me know which is your favorite post or two or three, and also let me know which other blogs you like and think should be included. And remember that you don't have to be a blogger to read, comment and share HAVEL HAVELIM!!

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

"Safe" Turkish Airport Explodes in Terror Attack!

NY Times People spoke with friends and family on their cellphones outside the airport.CreditOzan Kose/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Different news sites are reporting various numbers of dead and casualties from last night's bombing of the Turkish Airport.

I guess we won't have the exact numbers immediately.

Three suicide bombers opened fire then blew themselves up in Istanbul's main international airport on Tuesday, killing 36 people and wounding close to 150 in what Turkey's prime minister said appeared to have been an attack by Islamic State militants.
One attacker opened fire in the departures hall with an automatic rifle, sending passengers diving for cover and trying to flee, before all three blew themselves up in or around the arrivals hall a floor below, witnesses and officials said.
The attack on Europe's third-busiest airport was one of the deadliest in a series of suicide bombings in Turkey, which is part of the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State and is struggling to contain the spillover from neighboring Syria's civil war. It is also battling an insurgency by Kurdish militants in its largely Kurdish southeast.
Police fired shots to try to stop two of the attackers just before they reached a security checkpoint at the arrivals hall, but they detonated their explosives, a Turkish official said. (Reuters)
NY Times Bodies lay in the street outside the terminal after the attack at Ataturk airport.CreditIlhas News Agency, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images


On the Israeli TV news last night, the commentators kept repeating that the Turkish airport is considered one of the safest in the world. It begins its luggage inspections at the entrance to the airport (if I followed what he said) and not in the departure lounge. But I think we all know that when terrorists are determined, we must have Gd on our side, willing to lend a Hand, aka siyate d'Shmaya, in order to escape or minimize the damage.

Also, we know perfectly well that Turkey supports Arab terrorism against Israel. That is what the Mavi Marmara Flotilla was all about. Those who harbor and legitimize terrorism against others shouldn't be surprised when terrorists terrorize them, turning them into targets. That is what has been happening in Turkey. All countries that think that they can pacify terrorists by offering them Israel as an accepted target are completely wrong. Look at Europe, France, Belgium etc.

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Since Obama & Soros Opposed Brexit, Must be Good!

thecommentator

As the international LEFTIST media, politicians and policymakers have been racking their brains trying to comprehend how what they had considered impossible actually, surprisingly happened-- the victory of Brexit... They are now finally beginning to discover that it, davka, was the anti-Brexit campaign that created the crucial tipping point, which caused people to vote yes.

All of the threats and doomsday predictions, especially the interference by people like United States President Barack Hussein Obama just strengthened the feelings of ordinary Brits that staying in the European Union would further weaken their national sovereignty. George Soros's unpopularity with many also served to convince people to vote for the bill.

Many pro-Brexit voters admitted to the media that they had actually been on the fence until they actually voted, and the point that pushed them into voting to leave was the campaign to stay. This is proof of how totally disengaged politicians, the media and policy makers are to the feelings and fears of ordinary people. In the United States it can easily be seen in the rise and popularity of Donald Trump. All the anti-Trump campaigns has succeeded in doing is to make him more popular with ordinary Americans.

Remember the "Silent Majority?" Well, obviously those in power don't.

Monday, June 27, 2016

Israeli Debacle in Turkish Agreement!

Simply put:
I am embarrassed to be an Israeli!
Elder of Ziyon

Turkey supported an armed terror ship towards Israel, the Marmara, and now Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu has agreed to pay them as if we're guilty!!!
Netanyahu traveled to Rome on Sunday to meet U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Israeli and Turkish officials were also in the Italian capital to finalize the deal.
Israel, which had already offered its apologies - one of Ankara's three conditions for a deal - for its lethal raid on the Mavi Marmara activist ship, agreed to pay out $20 million to the bereaved and injured, the Israeli official said in a briefing to Israeli reporters traveling with Netanyahu. (Reuters)

I am so disgusted that Bibi is paying off these terrorists and terror supporters. It will just encourage them to kill more Jews.

Sunday, June 26, 2016

Serious Water Problems in Shiloh-- Rotten Government Planning!

Emergency Fresh Drinking Water
Set up near our synagogue
Shiloh, Israel
Those of you who read my other blog, "A Jewish Grandmother" may have noticed a recent post about cooking with minimal water:


I wrote it, because there are major water problems in our area, from the Shomron (Samaria,)  south to Gush Shiloh, the Jewish villages around Shiloh, Eli, Ma'ale Levona and the many smaller hilltop communities. Simply put:
"The infrastructure is kaput!"
I wonder if the bureaucrats/politicians who planned and budgeted for this water piping infrastructure 35-40 years ago are/were at fault. Whether it was accidental bad planning, or did they purposely sabotage the post-1967 Zionist settle the Land undertaking, intentionally underestimating, under-planning the the future population and attractiveness to Jews from all over?

If I had a dollar for all those who had unabashedly asked me why I'm here in Shiloh during the early years we were here, I'd be very rich. Most people were under the impression that we were just playing a game, like a complicated expensive demonstration.

Contrary to all the doomsayers and doubters, the Jewish population of Judea, Samaria, Jordan Valley etc has grown and thrived. We have schools, industries, businesses, stores and even a university. And yes, we're here to stay. There's a second and even a third generation raising their children here and going to the same schools.

Too bad the Israeli Government did such a cruddy shortsighted job in setting up the water system here. Now they will just have to fix it. And this time they must plan properly for a growing vibrant population!


Public Dovening, Kiddush Hashem!

I always get a kick out of seeing Jewish men gather together in all sorts of places to doven/pray, as a minyon, prayer quorum of ten or more. Last week as I was finally making my way back home to Israel, there was quite a large group at JFK International Airport near our gate*:



And then later, even on the very crowded plane, the men were back at it praying together:





B"H At a time when many Jewish men are afraid to wear their kippot in public, this really was wonderful to see.

*Unlike in other airports we, travelers to Israel, weren't fenced in.

The Bible So Timely, Parshat Shlach

For thousands of years, we have had our Tanach/Bible. As my teacher, Dr. Yael Ziegler, Matan, always reminds us:
"The Tanach is not is history book; it's a book of theology."
The Tanach aka Jewish Bible has so many stories that resonate today. Yesterday on Shabbat we read/heard Parshat Shlach שלך לך Send. Bamidbar - Numbers - Chapter 13:
1The Lord spoke to Moses saying,אוַיְדַבֵּר יְהֹוָה אֶל משֶׁה לֵּאמֹר:
2"Send out for yourself men who will scout the Land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel. You shall send one man each for his father's tribe; each one shall be a chieftain in their midst."בשְׁלַח לְךָ אֲנָשִׁים וְיָתֻרוּ אֶת אֶרֶץ כְּנַעַן אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי נֹתֵן לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אִישׁ אֶחָד אִישׁ אֶחָד לְמַטֵּה אֲבֹתָיו תִּשְׁלָחוּ כֹּל נָשִׂיא בָהֶם:
There's a keyword, one (the linguistic root)  that repeats in a variety of forms throughout the parsha, Torah portion, וְיָתֻרוּ yaturu. I do not agree with the accepted translation and meaning as "scout." And also, although this episode is known as the "sin of the spies," "חט המרגלים" I wish to remind you, thanks to Atara Snowbell, that the term does not appear at all in this parsha.

Twelve distinguished men traipsing around together gathering fruit and observing things are "tourists," not spies. Actually their assignment was more like a modern pre-aliyah "pilot trip," in which they were supposed to choose the areas in which they each wanted to live with their tribes, like the Early Americans who would "stake out" boundaries in order to claim land.

When Moses sent them out, he had expected them to each return ready to promote a specific portion, an area of the Promised Land, for his tribe. Unfortunately, only one, Caleb did that. He stated that the area of Hebron, the location of the Ma'arat Hamachpela, Cave of the Patriarchs' Burial Tombs, was what he reserved for his tribe of Yehuda/Judah.

I can just imagine Moses's shock when instead of twelve enthusiastic tribal heads promoting their new homes, ten out of twelve, the majority, insisted that although the Land was nice and the fruit delicious, there was no way that the Jewish People could actually live there. The two in the minority were Caleb and Joshua, who were rewarded for doing the job properly, as the ten naysayers all died during the four extra decades of exile in the Wilderness for the Jewish People.

My husband and I, unlike most of our Zionist friends in New York, made aliyah right after our wedding in 1970. A few followed, but the vast majority ended up staying away. All of us who did make aliyah are happy we did so. We can't imagine living any place else, and we live all over the country today. Many of the friends who stayed in America or other places still try to excuse their lack of aliyah and/or still dream of coming here.

No doubt we're all shaped by our environments. I certainly consider the thirty-five years we've been in Shiloh to be a great influence on who and what I am today. Thank Gd, we now live in an era when individuals can come, and we're not required to follow the majority of Jews.

Saturday, June 25, 2016

Caroline Glick, Michael Oren and Barack Hussein Obama

Michael Oren and the cover of his new book, "Ally."
Credit: Anne Mandlebaum and Random House.
Ever since MK Michael Oren came out with his book based on the time he was Israel's Ambassador to the United States, I've wondered where he really stands on the political spectrum. As far as I know, he's considered a Leftist, because he isn't for Israeli sovereignty and Jewish settlement in Judea/Samaria. But it's pretty clear that he's not naive about the reliability of the United States as a true friend and ally of the State of Israel. Too bad he's so confused.... Oren has aligned himself with the centrist aka Right, sic, but really Left Moshe Kahlon's Kulanu Party and represents them in the Knesset.

I highly suggest reading Caroline Glick's latest article, Obama’s money and Israel’s sovereignty, which mentions them all.

Obama’s money and Israel’s sovereignty
Friday, June 24th, 2016

This week, MK Michael Oren stood up to his boss in the Kulanu party, Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, to the political Left, including hundreds of retired security brass, and to the IDF General Staff. The former ambassador to Washington urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to sign the multi-year security assistance deal that US President Barack Obama demands Israel accept.
The problem isn’t the money. By all accounts, Obama’s multi-year military assistance package is generous.
The problem is that in exchange for the expanded military aid, Obama is demanding that Israel surrender its diplomatic and military independence to the White House.
For more than 40 years, every US administration – including the Obama administration – that has sought to harm Israel in any way has hit up against an unmovable obstacle. Whether the White House wanted to enable the UN Security Council to pass an anti-Israel resolution, place an embargo on military exports or bureaucratically slow them down to force Israel to stand down during wartime; whether the White House wanted block expanded trade deals, crowd out Israel’s military industries, or sell game changing weapons systems to Israel’s enemies, the US Congress has always stopped it in its tracks.
Israel-haters in the US speak endlessly about the supposedly all powerful and malign “Israel lobby,” which controls US foreign affairs. But the simple truth is that it wouldn’t matter all that much if AIPAC were to shut down tomorrow. Even without AIPAC, Israel would enjoy the support of Congress.
It would continue to enjoy that support because the vast majority of Americans support Israel and expect their representatives in Congress to support Israel.
In other words, the “Israel lobby” is none other than the American people.
As Oren warned, Obama’s military assistance package would disenfranchise the American public when it comes to US policy toward Israel. The agreement bars Israel from asking that Congress augment the assistance that Obama has offered and bars Congress from acting. So if a future administration chooses to breach the agreement, or to suspend it, or if conditions change and Israel requires other assistance, Congress would be barred from stepping into the breach. Then there is the assistance agreement’s assault on Israel’s military independence.
Israel’s military industries are the primary guarantor of its independent capacity to fight and win wars.
Successive administrations have sought to restrict the activities of Israel’s military industries and have used the military assistance to achieve their goal.
Israeli critics of US assistance note that Israel’s military industries are the primary casualties of the aid.
Currently, the US allows Israel to use a mere 25 percent of its assistance at home. As a consequence, the main beneficiary of US military assistance to Israel are US defense contractors.
Critics of the US aid argue that if Israel stops receiving military assistance, far from harming the economy, the move would strengthen Israeli industry and expand economic growth. The thousands of jobs at US defense contractors that are created through US military assistance to Israel, will move to Israel, and go to Israelis.
Moreover, whereas Israel gives the US its technology for free as part of the security assistance package, if it stops accepting the assistance, it will be free to sell its technology to other partners such as India, which will eagerly partner with Israel in weapons development and production projects.
Strategically, canceling the US military aid package would massively expand Israel’s military independence of action.
On the other hand, the deal that Obama is now trying to coerce Netanyahu to sign will require Jerusalem to give up the 25 percent of the military assistance it is now allowed to spend at home. Oren noted that such a concession will cost thousands of Israelis their jobs.
But even worse, an Israeli agreement to spend all future US military assistance in the US would be tantamount to an Israeli agreement to concede its military independence to the White House for a fistful of dollars. Without the independent capacity to develop and produce defense systems, spare parts and munitions, Israel will be unable to take military action without White House approval.
Obama’s own record makes clear what Israel would be risking.... continued

Friday, June 24, 2016

Great Britain Reverts to its Island Isolation

From the news reports, it looks like Great Britain is actually going to leave the European Union.

illustration credit

'Leave' scents victory as EU vote divides Britain
With results declared from 206 of 382 voting districts plus parts of Northern Ireland, Leave was ahead by 51.3 percent to 48.7 in the referendum, in which a vote to break with Europe could usher in deep uncertainty over trade and investment and fuel the rise of anti-EU movements across the continent.
Initial results suggested those in favor of quitting the EU were outperforming pollsters' expectations. They scored close to 70 percent of the vote in Hartlepool in northeast England and in Basildon, near London.
It was not clear whether an expected pro-EU vote in the capital and across Scotland would be sufficient to redress the balance. In the London district of Haringey, 76 percent voted to remain. (Reuters)

I'm not really surprised. Great Britain is an island off of Europe and always treasured its independence. That is what saved it from invasions, such as the Nazis less than a century ago. Also, in terms of the demography, cultural/ethnic politics in Britain, this is probably the last chance to get a majority to leave. As in Europe, the open borders have enabled a cultural diversity unprecedented in most of Europe and Great Britain for sure.

Don't forget that the European Union is much larger and more diversified than most people had ever expected it to be. For those who mourn the relatively monochromatic Christian Britain and Europe, they find themselves living in a nightmare, like a Twilight Zone episode.

The vote seems pretty close, so it could change directions, and then Great Britain will remain in the EU, and it will then find itself a totally different country in another couple of decades. And if it leaves, the transformation will just take a bit longer...

Thursday, June 23, 2016

Dangerous All Over! I'm Not a Terrorist!

I just came back from New York, and when I was buying my tickets to go I very seriously mulled over getting much cheaper tickets, but...

But the cheaper ways of going from Israel to New York require changing planes in Europe. And I'm not being crazy paranoid to feel that it's probably not the safest place to be. In addition, around the same time I realized that I had to make the trip, I had heard that there were threats of airport strikes there, or some such thing.

So, I don't know if I did the right thing or wrong thing by getting the more expensive direct flight. Only "Murphy" knows for sure... I did try to save money by traveling to and from the airport as cheaply as possible.

I had barely landed, just gotten home, turned on the television and there was news of another terror attack in Europe:
German police storm movie theater, kill suspected gunman

PHOTO: Police secure area around cinema complex in #Viernheim http://on.rt.com/7ghi

That's right; Europe is not a safe place to be. Neither is America. It's no different than Israel; I guess. I still feel safer here at home. Most people are the same. Wherever home is we feel safer.

With all going on in the world, I'd like to know why I was singled out for a rather unpleasant inspection. I have a feeling it was the same woman who inspected/harassed me for no reason a few years ago. At JFK, they seem to count randomly to make people get the zap inspection. My "zap" wasn't good. The simple lightweight necklace I was wearing was deemed potentially dangerous, as was the zipper on my skirt. So this big black TSA lady told me to turn around or come with her for a more private inspection. I said that I must see my bags at all times. She said that I'd get them when she's finished. She kept yelling at me for turning my head to watch my bags. Then some kid in a "Camp Emma Kaufman" t-shirt touched my bag, and I complained, and she called a supervisor to yell at me. I think she was told to calm down, because she finished quickly and stopped telling me to face away from my bags. There was no reason for the inspection, since I showed her the zipper and could have taken off the necklace.

When I was on line to board the plane, the worker was told to stop just as she had put my boarding pass in the machine. It was pretty clear to me that there was a "traffic jam" trying to get into the plane with all the baby carriages and wheelchairs. The worker was also a large black woman, but we ended up having a great talk. She told me about her family, and I told her about that awful experience, so unlike Israeli security which sees me as a person and profiles. It makes more sense than the 1, 2, 3 sic! which is done in the states.

Yes, now I'm home, thank Gd!

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Ordinary Americans May Like Israel, But...

.... the American State Department never did, nor does POTUS aka Barack Hussein Obama.
In anger, Obama questioned necessity of Israel's qualitative military edge
This has always been a problem, actually since 1947 when the State Department recommended voting against the UN establishment/approval of the State of Israel.

Now with Obama still in the White House, the anti-Israelis have their strongest ally. And don't forget that when Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State, things weren't any better, so I do not want to see her as President of the USA.

Yes I would  prefer Trump though I doubt if he'd be an effective president. JFK never managed to pass bills, and Trump has even less support from Congress. It was LBJ who passed Kennedy's program/legislation. IMHO the USA and the world need a break from the American Democratic Left.

Monday, June 20, 2016

Irving Moskowitz, Doer not Talker

The late Irving Moskowitz, Z"Tz"L, used his money for the good of the Jewish People. He was a giant. He made history and changes.
Moskowitz, who was among the most prominent financial backers of Jewish communities in eastern Jerusalem and across Judea and Samaria, passed away last Thursday at his home in Florida. He was 88 years old.
Rabbi Yaakov Shapira, Rosh Yeshiva of Merkaz HaRav, eulogized Moskowitz.
“He was pure life. We are crestfallen. Much can be said about the man and his work, ‘the man on the wall’ [guarding the city]; the ‘president of Jerusalem,’ as my father called him, now joins the many great people who worked to restore [Jerusalem] to its former greatness.”
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat also spoke at the funeral, remembering Moskowitz as a “pioneer” and “man of vision”.
“Today we lay to rest a pioneer… a man of vision who saw the rebuilding of Jerusalem as his purpose in life. Irving was one of the first to invest and to donate to the development of Jewish settlement in eastern Jerusalem, [something which] came from an understanding of and belief in its importance and a deep sense of public [service].” (Arutz 7)

Through The Moskowitz Foundation, founded in 1968 with his wife, Cherna, Moskowitz donated untold millions of dollars to buy homes and institutions for Jews in eastern Jerusalem’s primarily Arab neighborhoods via Ateret Cohanim and the Ir David Foundation.
“The hundreds of families of the Old City, the old Yemenite village of Shiloach, Ir David, Ma’aleh Hazeitim, Shimon Hatzaddik, Kidmat Zion, Abu Tor, Beit Orot and the future families of Ganei Yitzchak are all ‘his families and homes,’” Executive Director of Ateret Cohanim Daniel Lauria said on Sunday. (Jerusalem Post)

I didn't know him personally, but I like many enjoyed and benefitted from his generosity 

Baruch Dayan Ha'emet
HaMakom Yinachem

Friday, June 17, 2016

There is NO Way to WALL OUT TERRORISM!!

Admittedly, since I'm not home, I haven't read or heard much news. Yesterday someone mentioned to me that my State of Israel had announced they would wall out the terrorists, try to block the Arab terror tunnels by creating some science fiction type of underground wall so the terrorists can't tunnel into Israel.

Duh?!?

I can't imagine anything more ridiculous. When the "greens" protest the damage to the Land, fauna and flora they will have a good  point.

In terms of sheer size land scope it seems totally impossible.

And it won't stop terrorism at all. Again it's like the cutting of the brooms in the animated movie Fantasia.

To stop the Arab terrorism we must get in their mindset and not act so wimpy, apologetic and technological. It's like trying to combine bubbles with staplers, or making a "pile" of water, thinking it's like trash or rubble. You can't sweep water into a corner. Terror is a psychological mindset, a combination of sociopath, ideology, brainwashing.

It is terribly dangerous to project one's own mentality onto the terrorists, thinking that the logic or goodness that would convince you to do something would influence a terrorist. The truth is that it just shows our weakness and makes them stronger and more confident.

A wall is just something to bypass. We must defeat the terrorists militarily, psychologically and politically. Nothing else will do it!!