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Palestinian Media Watch Bulletin

February 27, 2006
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PA TV: Mom sad daughter arrested,but not because of bombing attempt

By Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook

A new interview on official Palestinian Authority television offers a chilling twist on the popular TV topic - Palestinian mothers' support for their children's suicide terror missions.
The interview features the mother of Wafa Al-Bas, a 21-year-old Palestinian woman who was arrested at the Erez border crossing in June 2005 with a 20-pound bomb inside her underwear. Her target was the outpatient clinic of Soroka Hospital in Beersheba, where she had been receiving regular treatments for serious burns to 45 per cent of her body from a gas stove explosion in her home.

Her greatest wish, she said later, was to kill 30 to 50 Israelis, including children. The hospital attack would likely have killed or maimed the Israeli doctor who had saved her life.
In last week's PA TV interview with Wafa's parents, her mother says the event was hard for her - not because her daughter was on a suicide mission, but because she was arrested.
The mother says she knew that her daughter had wanted to be a martyr since she was a little girl, but the mother hadn't encouraged her - not because the mother opposed the idea of suicide bombing, but because Wafa was female.
"If it was a boy, I would have supported, but since she is a girl I discouraged."
Once again, the message to Palestinian society from broadcasts like this is that suicide bombing is not wrong. Indeed, it is seen as an honor and a joy to raise a child to be a suicide bomber - at least if that child is a son.

Click here to see this interview
Following the transcript of the interview are a series of examples of Palestinian mothers expressing joy on Palestinian television that their children became suicide terrorists - a popular subject on PA TV for many years.

Transcript of Interview
Interviewer: "How did you receive the news of Wafa's arrest?"
Wafa's mother: "When I received the news, it was hard for me. Hard."
Interviewer: "Excuse me, was the hardship in that she failed in the martyrdom-seeking operation and was arrested, or in the arrest itself?"
Wafa's mother: "The arrest itself. Her wish was martyrdom, Wafa, since she was a little girl."
Interviewer: "Meaning, you hoped she would be a martyr?"
Wafa's mother: "Her wish was to be a martyr."
Interviewer: "Did you encourage her?"
Wafa's mother: "To tell you the truth, I didn't encourage her. I talked to Wafa about the issue, about not agreeing to it because she is a girl. Were it a boy, I would have supported, but since she is a girl, I discouraged."[PA TV, February 20, 2006]

Previous Examples
Mother of suicide terrorist: My son's martyrdom was as a wedding, a time of joy, November 17, 2004
Mother of suicide terrorist: "Mothers make sounds of joy [on their son's martyrdom] because she wants him to reach martyrdom... I wanted the best for him... [it was] honor for us," November 28, 2003
Mother of Suicide Terrorist: He told me to "pray for me that I will be a martyr," December 5, 2002
Mother of suicide terrorist: All the martyrs are my sons, September 24, 2002
More examples of mothers expressing joy, and of Palestinian cultural and religious figures saying how mothers should be happy at news of their sons' martyrdom can be seen on the Palestinian Media Watch website.


[Hamas website, February 21, 2006] -->
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I've translated this Purim article from Hebrew by Israel Eldad.
Briefly, he was the ideological successor of Yair Stern. Following Yair Stern's murder in 1942, Eldad became one of the three men who formed the Lehi's 'Center'. After the state, Eldad became active in publishing a monthly magazine named Sulam. This article is taken from a Sulam magazine.

--Shifra


Masks
How does Purim in which we dress up, wear masks, play Purim games, differ from Pesach in which there are no costumes and no masks and no games?
That Purim was all about dressing up, covering. Esther doesn't tell; dresses up to a Persian lady. And also when her heart was grieving she wore lovely royal garments and beautified herself in order to find favor in the king's eyes, and the fate of her nation depended in the perfection of her make-up and the comeliness of her blue eye shadow. And juxtaposed to her was Mordechai who was covered in sack and ashes as he prayed. She was before a king; he was before the King of Kings.
And now to the feasts? From the beginning until the end – feasts. Here is the origin of the games.
And so many secrets and sly diplomacy. Bigtan and Terash, Achashverosh and Haman, Mordechai and Esther, Esther and Achashverosh. Secrets and conspiracies.
Not so in Pesach.
There everything is revealed.
From Moshe's being revealed as a Hebrew until G-d's revealment to Moshe at the burning bush.
And the much revealed exodus.
And from the beginning until the end all is revealed and known and everything is deeply serious. Without games and feasts.
There is no redemption in costumes.
The redemption is visible.

"To Life"
How does drinking on Purim which is drinking "le chaim", differ from drinking on Pesach in which one does not say "to life"?
Because that is the essence of Purim: the life was saved in the lottery, in fate. There was a decree to kill and the decree was canceled and the Jews of Persia and Madai were left alive.
On Pesach we drink four cups of redemption. In Purim there wasn't redemption at all and only the life, the life alone, the life in its nakedness was given to us.
And hence the drinking "to life".
And in Pesach we drink to redemption.

No Measurement versus Four
How does Purim in which no measurement was set for the amount of drinking, differ from Pesach in which four cups were set?
Because Purim is a matter of a miracle, and the miracle is a thing without measurement, without law. In fact: the miracle is the breaking of law.
But Pesach is a matter of redemption, and redemption has laws and doesn't have chances, it has necessity and doesn't have successes, hence it has rules, and even drinking rules.
Because there is law to redemption.

Gifts
How does Purim in which we were commanded to give Mishloach Manot, differ from Pesach in which we were not commanded thus?
Since on Purim we were given life as a gift. It's a matter of rescuing, and every rescue is a gift whether if from Heaven or from human hands.
But redemption is not a matter of a gift. Redemption is a law.
Which we will take and we will receive not as a gift.
As a law.


Written by Israel Eldad, "Sulam" magazine, Adar 5717.
Translated by Shifra Shomron, 21 Shvat 5766, Nitzan Caravilla.

Arlene Kushner, the writer of "From Jerusalem," has her own site! So, now I won't be posting her "From Jerusalem's" on Blog Free!.

It's a real site and definitely worth checking on a regular basis. I had been nudging her to "blog or something," and I'm really glad that she has done it.

Good luck!

Israel Resource News Agency operates through private contributions offered to IRNA's US tax deductible affiliate, Center for Near East Policy Research, POB 1783, Brookline, Mass 02446-0014 wwwIsraelBehindtheNews.com

The Movie "Munich" Reflects Israeli Reality

By: David Bedein
Bureau Chief, Israel Resource News Agency
President, Center for Near East Policy Research
Beit Agron International Press Center,
37 Hillel Street Jerusalem 94581 Israel www.Ibtn.co.il

When you are wrong you are wrong. On December 19th, 2005, my comments were published by the Jerusalem Post and on numerous web sites, that "the movie Munich, produced by Steven Spielberg, represents the ultimate of moral equivalency, since it equates the 'human interest' story of PLO murderers with the human interest of the unarmed Israeli athletes whom they murdered". These comments relied on reviews of Munich from well meaning friends of Israel abroad. and only now do I realize that their perception of what distorts reality in Israel is far different from the reality that we live here in Israel.

Having seen the movie Munich, now playing in Jerusalem, I can attest to the fact that there is no moral equivalency whatsoever in this movie, and I owe Mr. Spielberg a public apology. "Munich" portrays every PLO members as uncompromising in their zeal to destroy Israel and to justify the murder of anyone who gets in the way of their goal. No moral equivalency here. "Munich" represents a breakthrough of sorts, as it portrays the Israeli soldier with battle fatigue.

Avner, the protagonist of Munich, is an Israeli war hero who risks his life to save fellow countrymen from the clutches of PLO murderers, yet he succumbs to doubts as to the justice of the battle for the Jewish State... Avner represents the epitome of so many Israelis whom I have encountered, in my 36 years here as a student, social worker and journalist, who copes with a crisis of confidence in the very Zionism that pioneered the State of Israel Avner knows his past: the murder of his family at the hands of the Nazis, their rescue and salvation by the creation of Israel, and the price his father paid with a long and painful imprisonment at the hands of the British.

Avner is plagued about his present , as he wanders European capitals, eating pig sausage at every stop, wondering aloud, together with his fellow combatants. as to why they are really killing off the PLO. He and the soldiers serving under him ask questions and, tragically, get no answers and, even worse, none of their commanding officers are ready to give them real answers...

Avner, at the end of the movie, has no future, not as an Israeli and not as a Jew, as he begins a new life with his wife and little girl in a non Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn, detached from his roots in Zion.

A sequel to Munich could be entitled "Brooklyn", with the opening scene of Avner working as a paunchy security guard on a subway platform, playing "shesh besh" at night with other Israelis in exile, while his children intermarried, as he watches his grandson go to church, while he mulls over and always relives those two great years when he pursued the killers of the Israeli Olympics athletes.

Avner reminds me of countless Israeli soldiers whom I have encountered who have the physical capability to fight, yet their moral stamina is conflicted. They are confused about why they are fighting and lack any basics knowledge of whom they are fighting against in active combat. Indeed, it is hard to find any Israeli intelligence officer who has ever seen an official Palestinian Authority newspaper, an official Palestinian Authority textbook or who have ever watched a minute of official PA TV or PA radio which praise the murder of Jews in the struggle to liberate all of Palestine..

"Munich" could easily be used by Israeli Intelligence to train a future generation of crack Israeli troops, to recognize that the Israeli soldier must know and recognize the nature of Israel's adversaries, so that they will have the mental and moral capacity to fight the next battle in the long war for Israeli independence, which is not yet over.

The time has come for Israeli intelligence to cope with the effect of the implosion of the peace process on a generation of Israeli soldiers who thought that Israel and its Arab neighbors were heading for an era of peace and reconciliation, after 13 years of massive "peace preparation" in Israeli society.

It may be troubling for a supporter of Israel abroad to cope with the fact that Israel's fighters can turn into mush and ask hard questions in between battles. My first teacher at Hebrew University, Dr. Michael Rosenak, warned 36 years ago that "Israel's supporters abroad have a tendency to make ideological idealizations out of someone else's reality". It may have troubled many Israel supporters to witness a troubled Avner in "Munich", 2005, rather than a strutting Kirk Douglas ("Cast a Giant Shadow", 1965) fighting for Israel. ..

From Israel
Arlene Kushner
akushner@netvision.net.il

February 21, 2006

Were that I had more positive things to report...

[] A Fatah-Tanzim terrorist cell in Bethlehem had planned to fire mortars into Jerusalem: the Shin Bet yesterday found a 60 mm. mortar launcher (stolen from an Israeli base) with eight shells, aimed at the Gilo neighborhood in the south of Jerusalem. The terrorists were stopped on the very day they had planned to launch the mortars.

The cell worked out of Palestinian Authority buildings in Bethlehem. Anyone who is inclined to think of the "old" PA and Fatah as moderate should remember this.

According to the Jerusalem Post, members of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee said that plans were uncovered, as well, for attacks into central Jerusalem.

"As far as we know, this is the first time high-trajectory weapons aimed at Jerusalem have been located," said Yuval Diskin, Shin Bet chief.

Another Shin Bet official said that "The disengagement from Gaza has shifted the terrorist groups focus to the West Bank [note: precisely as predicted]. They have created a new terroist infrastructure in the West Bank and are constantly trying to obtain new weapons to use against Israel.

[] The IDF began an operation in Nablus in the small hours of Sunday morning, in response to the increased number of warnings of terrorist attacks emenating from the area. This morning, the IDF found an explosives factory, and neutralized the bombs present. There were 40-50 kilograms (88 - 110 pounds) of explosives plus equipment for preparing devices.

[] At a conference in Jerusalem today, sponsored by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, former Chief of Staff Moshe Yaalon (who was fired because of his forthright opinions) said that there was no question about the fact that the "disengagement" strengthened Hamas. Israel's unilateral withdrawal from Gaza, he said, had a huge impact on Palestinian public opinion so that Hamas was credited with forcing Israel to withdraw.

His comments on the impact of the change in the PA (emphasis added) should be noted by everyone:

“Hamas’ victory poses a challenge to those interested in stability in the world and the Middle East, including Israel, the United States, Arabs and Palestinians who favor western democratic values to extremist Islam.
"In Hamas’ victory speech, leader Khaled Mashaal expressed the line of thought and the spirit pervading al-Qaeda, global Jihad, the Islamic movement and the Iranian regime – all of which direct their struggle against the West and its culture. Israel is the first target for occupation and destruction on the way to conquering the west and establishing a Muslim regime across the world.”
Regrettably there are many who still do not understand that we in Israel are the canary in the mine, and that what happens here has direct implications for the Western world. Yaalon makes this clear. He added that Hamas’s victory will strengthen the motivation of Islamic groups in western-friendly Arab countries like Egypt and Jordan to depose the secular regimes.
[] Khaled Masha'al, head of Hamas, has been in Iran, seeking financial support, these last couple of days. There he told the Iranian foreign minister that, "The Ayatollah's regime will have a major role in Palestine."
In a speech he then declared, "Our joining the government does not mean we are abandonning the resistance. There is no such thing as liberation without resistance." (Ynet citing an Iranian news source)
In a meeting with the Ayatollah and President Achmadinejad he said, ""negotiations with Israel are a waste of time until Israeli leaders decide to leave the Palestinian territories." But this is a contradictory statement: According to Hamas as long as we are here at all we are on Palestinian territory; were we to leave all Palestinian territory, we wouldn't be here to hold negotiations. (Orly Halpern of The Jerusalem Post and AP)
[] Ismail Haniyah has now been formally asked by Abbas to form a new PA government. Hamas and Fatah are beginning to talk about a coalition government, but negotiations regarding this have been held up, however, as Israel has closed the Gaza crossings. Islamic Jihad has ruled out entering the new government but the PFLP has expressed definite interest.
In the interim, while the cabinet has not yet been formed, Abbas is attempting to pre-empt Hamas by making certain decisions. Key appointments are the commander of crossing points and borders, and the commander of security. "If Hamas thinks that we're going to give them control over the security forces, they are mistaken," said a PA official. Control of the security forces is power, plain and simple.

The Hamas/ UNRWA Connection
By: David Bedein

Israel Resource News Agency operates through private contributions offered to IRNA's US tax deductible affiliate, Center for Near East Policy Research, POB 1783, Brookline, Mass 02446-0014
wwwIsraelBehindtheNews.com


At a time when the governments of Israel and the US have made a policy decision to cut funds for to pay health, education and social service salaries to the Hamas dominated Palestinian Authority, it has been suggested that Israel and the US simply allocate the funds through UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency that administers 59 refugee camps for Palestinian Arab refugees from 1948 and for their descendent.

All told. UNRWA services about three million Palestinian Arabs, one third of whom actually live in the camps, with the rest of the UNRWA clientele living contiguous to the camps. However, the Hamas connection to UNRWA is pervasive and deep.

Writing about UNRWA during a week that the Israel Defence Forces (The IDF) is engaged in house to house search operations of wanted Hamas terrorists in the UNRWA camp in Balata, near Nablus, the use and the infiltration into UNRWA facilities and UNRWA operations by Hamas and by Hamas-affiliated people who are in the employ of UNRWA is nothing new.

At the memorial ceremony for Sheikh Yassin which as held at the UNRWA boys’ school in that same Balata refugee camp on April 3, 2004, veiled operatives held mock Kassam rockets; the families of “martyrs” were given gifts and certificates of gratitude.

In an earlier incident Hamas convened a conference in a school in the Jabalya refugee camp, in which the school’s administration, teachers and hundreds of students participated was reported on the website of the Israeli prime minister. Saheil Alhinadi, representing the UNRWA Teachers Association, praised UNRWA pupils s who carried out suicide attacks against Israel . That Alhinadi was speaking for the teachers should not be surprising, since Hamas-affiliated officials dominate in the teachers’ union of UNRWA in Gaza, and control its executive committee.

This is particularly worrisome because of the influence on young refugees studying in UNRWA schools. Hamas has influenced the UNRWA schools in yet another way, as well: The Islamic Bloc, which works within the Hamas, , and refers to itself as a “Jihad” organization,. dedicated to the “Islamization” of the Palestinian cause and the necessity of liberating all of the land of Palestine, and it has been charged by Hamas with furthering the goal of Hamas within the schools.

IDF Colonel (ret.) Yoni Fighel, a former IDF intelligence officer, observed that “As long as UNRWA employees are members of Fatah, Hamas, or PFLP, they are going to pursue the interests of their party within the framework of their job…Who’s going to check up on them to see that they don’t? UNRWA? They are UNRWA.”

Meanwhile, Israel’s former UN Ambassador, Dr. Dore Gold, visited the UNRWA camp in Jenin in April 2002 and himself witnessed the presence of shahid (martyr) posters on the walls in the homes of UNRWA workers. “It was clear,” he says, “that UNRWA workers were doubling as Hamas agents.” It should be noted that, for political reasons, adequate vetting of prospective employees in Judea and Samaria is not done by UNRWA, while such vetting of prospective employees for UNRWA does take place in the UNRWA camps in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.

At UNRWA’s international conference that was held in Geneva in June, 2004, I asked Peter Hansen, then the UN Commissioner General for UNRWA, how he could account for the fact that Hamas members were on the payroll of UNRWA. Hansen then admitted that “We do not check the religious affiliation of our staff members”.

A week later, Hansen was interviewed by CBC radio and said that he saw no problem with having Hamas members on his staff. Employee involvement with Hamas should not come as any surprise, since the employees of UNRWA are themselves Palestinian Arab refugees, and the evidence that the refugee population is supportive of and affiliated with Hamas is quite considerable: Indeed, UNRWA has never denied beneficiaries aid or relief because of Hamas (or other terrorist) associations. This is because UNRWA has a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on the matter. Inevitably, then, funds given to UNRWA recipients ends up paying the salaries of Hamas officials.

This week, The Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed UNRWA of its great displeasure with the fact that Hamas officials remain on the payroll of UNRWA. In other words, there is no way to support UNRWA without at some level providing aid and assistance to Hamas at the same time. -----

I'm also one of those who would rather close my eyes than see something unpleasant, but this can very dangerous. One of the reasons that Israel has gotten so tangled up in unrealistic and dangerous philosophies and policies is that the "leaders" aren't taking a good look at what our enemies are saying to themselves. Most Israelis, most Jews and most people including the world's most "professional diplomats" don't like to know what is really going on in the Arab world. If they did, they'd be forced to admit that their opinions are based on lies, on wishful thinking.

We have to be brave, and we have to face the truth. Especially since most of us don't know Arabic, our best source to find out what is going on with the nearby Arabs is the Palestinian Media Watch.

1623 Third Avenue, Suite 205, New York, NY 10128
Tel: 212-82824-24; Fax: 212-828-1717;
E-mail http://us.f538.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=afsi@rcn.com Website; http://www.afsi.org/
Contact: Barry Freedman, Executive Director; February 20, 2006


REMINDER –AFSI CHIZUK MISSION TO ISRAEL
MAY 21-30, 2006

Please join Americans for a Safe Israel on our next Chizuk Mission as Jerusalem enters its 40th year of re-unification. May 26, 2006 will be a day of great significance and AFSI will be there.

In addition to celebrating Yom Yerushalayim-Jerusalem Day- AFSI will re-visit the refugees from the scattered communities of the former Gush Katif, as well as the residents of the threatened communities of Judea, Samaria and east Jerusalem.

Members of Knesset Aryeh Eldad and Effie Eitam, who were seriously injured at Amona, will be among those invited to speak to the group. Leaders of grass roots movements resisting any further expulsions will address the group as well.

TRAVEL INFORMATION

The AFSI Chizuk mission will be departing from the New York area on Sunday, May 21, returning on May 30. The entire cost, including round-trip airfare on El-Al, land accommodations, guides, bullet-proof bus, and most meals, is $2200, not including airport taxes, single supplement fees, and personal changes in the group’s air itinerary. Non-members are charged an additional $100. (Membership in AFSI is only $50, so we urge interested parties to join the organization, thus saving $50 and receiving all the benefits of membership.)

A $200 deposit is necessary to ensure your space. Please send it to the AFSI office, or call 212-828-2424 or 1-800-235-3658 to use the VISA or Mastercard charge.

Helen Freedman and Bruce Rudolph will once again be the tour planners, in coordination with Barry Freedman at the AFSI office. Rabbi Bruce will be handling the travel plans.

PSM TERROR CONFERENCE AT GEORGETOWN - FIRST HAND ACCOUNT!
Date: Mon, 20 Feb 2006 13:35:54 -0700

The Conference: www.palestinesolidaritymovement.org


I and my JDL brothers along with approximately 100 general supporters, Holcaust Survivors, and Russian Refuseniks attended this conference in order to protest, disrupt, and educate the attendees to distinguish between lies and truth about Jewish activity in the Land of Israel and the history of Jews in the Middle East since 1880. We were successful in interfering with several of their seminars, and got the cameras and microphones off the speakers and on us many times. PBS was there filming a documentary which will be shown in about 8-10 months. The rhetoric was vile, and the University behaved horribly toward us. They used excessive force to remove one of us (a 65 year old man with a cane and a heart condition) who demanded a straight yes or no answer on whether the panel would condemn homicide bombers. I was banned from attending press events Sunday even though I had bona fide press credentials because I also had a paid-for participant pass. I was free-lancing for a local paper. The vice-president for communications of the school Eric Smollson refused to explain his decision and brushed me off with a rude “have your publisher call me Monday.” His eyes burned with hatred. I was also banned from sessions Sunday because I was seen distributing Israeli flags to the Survivors and Refuseniks who were so proud and pleased to see Jews standing up to the Wahabist agents. Some had tears in their eyes. A young Jewish female student ran to us crying thanking us for our presence because the Nuturei Karta had been so hateful to her as she merely walked through campus and asked who they were.

To tell you the truth, the University Administration, in its heavy handed and unexplained expulsion of Jewish protestors who merely yelled out remarks, were worse to deal with than the Muslim students. Most of the participants and organizers were outside provocateurs, communists, and anarchists. Palestinian Solidarity of New Jersey had a Palestinian flag with a bloody fist adorning its table. The group was giving away lapel pins which included an AK47, AK47 in a raised hand, and red stars with a hammer and sickle. When I asked the young Caucasian nebbish whether he realized his heroes are happy to die for the cause and whether he was ready to do so as well, given his symbols of death and mayhem, he ignored me and looked at the floor. Nobody would even begin to discuss with me how Israel had been selected for boycotts and divestment efforts for alleged human rights violations over all of the other states who sponsor them such as most Muslim nations which condone honor killings of rape victims, stonings of adulteresses but pats on the backs of adulterers, denying women the right to vote and drive cars, and so on. They were utterly baffled as to why “Palestinians” living in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt as refugees were denied the right to vote in the PA elections. Neither could they explain to me why the Jew is so vile and offensive that he cannot visit much less live in 22 Moslem countries and should be removed from our very holy Judea and Samaria. It was reassuring and not surprising to keep in mind that not a single college or university in the U.S. had been swayed by the divestment efforts over the past few years despite the heart rending but intellectually dishonest comparisons of Israel with apartheid South Africa. Noting that Caterpillar, the manufacturer of tractors used to destroy terrorist hide-outs and the subject of the sponsor’s boycott had a record year in 2005 with its stock skyrocketing. I asked the secondary boycott table to give me a list of the other companies they are boycotting so that I could better invest for my retirement. ISM founder and self-loathing Jew of the year for 2 years running denied his identity with a smirk to avoid conversing with JDL while his and ISM co-founder wife Heidi (Huwaida) Arraf spoke about supporting “Palestinian Resistance to Occupation: Volunteering with the International Solidarity Movement.” Abraham "Abe" Greenhouse, chairman of the central New Jersey branch of "Jews Against the Occupation," had the bad fortune of having his table next to that of the JDL. He was repeatedly informed that it was very bad form to have tossed a pie in the face of Anatoly Sharansky right before he was about to address a crowd of students at Rutgers University a year ago.

Very few people young enough to be undergraduate students were seen anywhere at the event. In fact, at Shabbat dinner, the Hillel students told us that they had a generally good relationship with Muslim students on campus and felt that outside troublemakers had come in to stir things up. They told us that there were no incidents of anti-Semitism or disrespect to Muslims. On the other hand, a strong turnout of George Washington University, American University, and University of Maryland Students were there to protest the Hoya event. I was screamed at by one Caucasian woman of about 30 holding a baby (neither a student) who accused me of being a racist pig and the JDL of being a listed terror organization which had murdered people. As to the personal charges, I calmly complained that she didn’t even know me and should talk with me if she’d like to know what I am. As to the JDL points, I explained that she was misinformed and seemed to be yelling out of an irrational fear or hatred of Jews who have big mouths. I got the same treatment from featured speaker Alison Weir. I asked her if she would dialogue with me or had to lecture me. She insisted that she had to lecture me and then took extreme close-up pictures in my face until I called security. Ms. Weir is a contributing writer to David Duke’s website with a history of spewing Jew and Israel hatred. There was one pathetic youngster of Middle Eastern lineage who complained bitterly in one session that she had been banned from her paper at the University of Cincinnati based on her race. When asked what she had written for them, she proudly announced a very scholarly piece deny the Holocaust. Oy! There was also a session in which attendees were taught how to use the Birthright Israel program (intended to pay for the first trip to Israel of a Jewish youngster) to get free airfare to the Land of Israel and then to break away from the group to join up with the ISM and other Israel haters in terror strongholds in places like Ramallah and Shchem.

The school was in the grips of terror over losing Saudi money to tolerate free speech expressed by Jews. The vice president of communications, vice president for public safety, and vice president for student affairs were constantly shadowing us with a cadre of campus police. Although the event was justified based on values of free speech, Jews were physically prevented from participating. I violated not a single rule of conduct and hadn’t even interrupted a speaker when I was banned for the aforementioned flag distribution. Large, muscle-bound campus security blocked me from entering the building, one of whom had no name tag and would not give me his name. They were twitching to bust heads and had been very poorly prepared to deal with articulate and law abiding protesters. Let’s add another event which should Never Happen Again. Never Again should any educational institution in the U.S. host such an anti-Semitic terror conference.

Matthew S. Finberg

It's well known that, just like a "Spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down," tough and unpleasant messages are easier to handle with a smile. So that's why I'm presenting to you Jackie Mason's Insult Law.

Live From New York
Insult Law
By Jackie Mason & Raoul Felder
Published 2/14/2006 12:08:58 AM

The Muslims have pronounced their verdict. The cartoon man has been found guilty. The real crime is, of course, not being a Muslim. Now that they have established the crime, they have also pronounced the sentence.

Even if you never saw or heard of the cartoon, you deserve to be hit with rocks, your car wrecked, and your embassies destroyed because you are an infidel -- and incidentally, there are no appeals. There was even television coverage of a Muslim religious leader screaming in some unintelligible language. However, on the bottom of the screen the translation appeared. This religious leader was shouting that whoever drew the cartoon should have his hands cut off. This hardly seems for us to be a reasonable penalty for somebody taking a piece of paper, picking up a pen, and drawing something.

Could you picture a Jew doing something like this? Ironically, the cartoonists were not even condemning Islam, they were merely creating a satire of a terrorist. They weren't insulting their religion, they were satirizing a fanatic. But, the Muslims have decided that there are no laws, limits, or boundaries that apply to their behavior. They not only have the right to take your life, they now have the right to rob you of your freedom of expression. Could you picture a Jew killing anybody for such meaningless reasons? If a Jew gets mad he might sneak into your house and steal your lipitor or he would make a deal with your doctor to lie about your cholesterol number, or just when you have fasted a whole day on Yom Kippur when you finally could eat you would find that he snuck into your house and stole all your pastrami sandwiches. I never saw a Jew going into meaningless fights. That is why you seldom see Jewish football players. A Jew is not going to take a chance in spraining his neck or tearing a ligament in his knee or wrinkling his clothes just because he was fighting with somebody about catching a ball. He would rather go to a store and buy another ball and avoid the whole problem. That is why there are also no Jewish hockey players. Hockey players spend all their time hitting each other in the mouth with sticks. When Jews saw how Gentiles played hockey that is how Jews found out that instead of becoming a hockey player they would become dentists, and that way they decided to let other people play the game while they found a way to make a profit from it.

Jews are never known to get into unnecessary physical battles. That is why people are never afraid of being attacked by a Jew. Did you ever hear anybody say, "Don't go into that neighborhood it is very dangerous, there are a lot of Jews there?" Jews have for so long been accustomed to being threatened and persecuted all over the world that they could never dream of creating needless violence anywhere because they would be grateful to even find a place where they are allowed to live in peace. Jews could never dream of threatening innocent people with inexcusable violence. Meanwhile the rest of the world is reacting to the Muslims with an amazing cowardice. Instead of a collective fury, we are pleading for forgiveness, and promising not to offend them with any more cartoons. Could anything be more perverted? The same people who are not offended by suicide bombers and terrorist killings, murder, mayhem, and destruction around the world have now decided that a cartoon... "OY VEY IS THIS TERRIBLE!"

Everyday Muslim and European newspapers insult and degrade Jews as animals and rodents, which is not only insulting but, additionally, encourages the hatred of Jews. But did you ever hear any Jewish authority anywhere demanding that we find any of these cartoonists so that we can choke them to death or cut them up. Did you ever hear of an Israeli death squad searching for a cartoonist? If the Jewish people applied the same insult standard requiring a death sentence no Muslim would be safe now, anywhere in the world. Could you picture a Jew deciding that he has the right to kill but you have no right to draw an insulting picture? Nobody has ever died from a cartoon. If the worst thing the Nazis ever did had been to draw cartoons of death camps instead of putting Jews in them, six million Jews would be alive today. When was the last time any country decided to kill a Muslim anywhere in the world because they felt insulted? But the Muslims have created a new international law called the "insult law." This means they have the right to kill you whenever they please, and you have no right to do anything about it. If a Muslim were walking down a street in Israel with a picture of an insulting cartoon in hand, no Israeli would threaten his life. They would be too busy celebrating the fact that it was a cartoon and not a bomb.

Jackie Mason is a comedian. Raoul Felder is an attorney.

...to do a great Havel Havelim! It's number 58, if you're counting. He started it over a year ago, and other bloggers, including yours truly, usually host it. But periodically Soccer Dad takes over.

This new edition is so filled with posts from Jewish and Israeli blogs from all over. There are many blogs which are new to me. So I highly recommend that you make time to visit.

And I wish to thank him for the reminder to send me links about food, "anything kosher," for the Kosher Cooking Carnival. Please send them to: shilohmuse at yahoo dot com

Thanks and Shavua Tov
Have a wonderful week!

I'd like to salute Noam Rabinovich, a hero for saying "no" to participating in the Amona Pogrom.

Better jail in this world than punishment in the next...

Imagine, if everyone would just say NO!

According to this article, a female soldier was restricted to base for having a conversation with "settlers." Is the army really so insecure that it doesn't trust that its "education techniques" will hold? From the report, the soldier didn't agree with army policy, which may have been what she's being punished for.

Another degradation for Kever Rachel, the tomb where Rachel Imenu, wife of Yaakov, mother of Yosef, is buried. There are buildings in Beit Lechem, which are Jewish owned, and one of them has been used for Torah classes.

But just recently the women arrived to discover something terrible!

I received permission to post this letter.


February 14, 2006

Dear Mr. (Acting) Prime Minister:

It is with a sad heart that I send you Christian-Zionist greetings from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where I’ve had the privilege of pastoring for 29 years. Last evening I returned from Long Beach, California. Night before last I had a two hour meeting with Rabbi Nachum Shifren. This morning I watched the scandalous, lamentable, shameless video of the Amona tragedy.

With all due respect, Sir, the intolerable, out of line brutalizing of “settlers” appears to now be the “chic fashion trend”, which will play well in Tel-Aviv and the Arab villages of the Galilee, whose votes you are after in the upcoming election. Will, Sir, the Kadima election slogan ring “Be nice to Arabs; be tough on Jews?”

ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX, etc., gave credit for Mr. Bush’s election in 2000 and re-election in 2004 to the 40 million Evangelical Christians in America. Our Church happens to be one of almost 8,000 Independent Baptist Church which aligns itself (loosely) in an Organization, entitled ‘Yedidim of Israel’. These churches received news about last summer’s disengagement and were all appalled.
Watching teenagers being whipped, frothed and pounded with women and children being dragged and beaten; seeing the bloody noses, bleeding head wound are disgraceful, reprehensible, odious pictures this morning.

Some of my older brothers fought in the Second World War to keep from happening what this almost 66 year old (veteran himself) watched happening disgustingly, offensively, outrageously the other day with your “crack open the heads” policy towards the so-called “settlers”. Had they witnessed your ‘atrocities’, they would have ‘turned over in graves’ (sic). It would appear that the Olmert Government’s position is “The Settlers are worse than being Hamasniks”.

Watching Women, children, and Knesset members (Eitam, Elon, and Eldad - all of whom I know) horsewhipped, smacked, and whacked up side the head; seeing folks trampled by horses; seeing Hebrews being dragged, and beaten with bloody batons – all, so very much reminds me of the “outpost of tyranny’s home-grown terrorism” Americans observed in September 1963 under Birmingham, (called Bombingham then), Alabama’s Commissioner of Public Safety Theophilus Eugene “Bull” Connor.

With all due respect, Sir, Bull’s name went down in Infamy. The scenes from Amona are very typical of the scenes for which he was the architect! Your Amona scenes so reflect Bull’s insistence in creating a show which demonstrated to the American Public and International Community that he was not afraid to confront Black Residents of Birmingham. Your have, Sir, turned a case of nine homes in a remote Israeli community into a war against the West Bank.

Seeing the 20 year old treated in a barbaric, savage, hellish, Tartarian, Hunnish, Vandalic manner, winding up with a broken elbow and three broken ribs in that ‘unexpected ferocity’ undoubtedly proves the allegation that the police had gotten orders to “crack open the heads”.

The DVD which I watched this morning showing your brutal, pitiless, merciless, heartless, unkind, inhumane, cold, callous, insensitive manhandling of Hebrews by Hebrews reminds me of the bloodbath between David and Abner, the violence between the Hasmoneans and the Hellenizers, or the Zealots and their opponents during the Roman siege of Jerusalem.

The DVD shows Ehud Olmert as the 2006 Rehoboam flogging with whips and scorpions, but the weapons being billy clubs, horses and fierceness. We Christian-Zionist wonder aloud if it might not be the beginning of the end of Israel’s democracy!

Running over MK Effie Eitam with a horse resulting in a head-injury requiring hospitalization is simply, to put it mildly, Sir, unparalleled. The DVD’s brutality has no connection with law enforcement, as I see it, Sir. The DVD shows the policemen starting to use their billy clubs immediately, hitting everyone regardless of who they were, or what they were doing - including Eldad, Eitam and Elon. In a place where MK’s are beaten, democracy no longer exists!

Yourself, Sir, and your Yassamniks’ heinous brutality and humiliation of the ‘settlers’, whom you folks call “Jewish Hamas” is a vituperative issuing forth a clarion call for Hebrews world-wide, and their Yedidim (True Christians) to wake up and voice their outrage and indignation as this latest pogrom-attack on Righteous Hebrews!

Please be advised Mr. Prime Minister, although I may be a voice crying in the wilderness, I’m going to show the DVD to my congregation, make it available to the some 8,000 Other Independent Baptist Congregations in America, and see how many of the Methodist, Presbyterians & Nazarenes I can get to watch and publicize it also.

How long, Sir, do you think it will be until some Hebrew young person reads of the 1946 Fede story of the British Major Hill’s boarding of the ship with British soldiers armed with automatic rifles, offering the ultimatum, “leave the Fede immediately, or my men will drag your people off.”

As the story goes, Arazi stepped forward and explained to the British Major that he too, had a statement to make: “the moment a British soldier laid a hand on a refuge (heading to Eretz Israel), the ship would be blown up. He would kill everyone on board before he allowed his people to be returned to the camps.”

Across the deck, Arazi pointed to broad-shouldered Carmi with a lit match in his hand standing by a pyramid of fuel barrels. Arazi said, “It will take only one match.” Carmi raised the match higher so the British officer could see it. Silence and suspense reigned.

The British Major looked at Carmi, then back at Arazi. Then, He ordered his men off the boat.

How long do you think it will be ‘fore’ some young Jewish Patriot says, “Man, this is the way to stop Olmert and His Yassamniks!” He’ll get a 55 gallon drum of gasoline and let your Yassamniks approach his stone hut, and the TV folks will have a Jewish -Yassamnik fireball to show to the world.

Many, many years ago I worked directly for a Hebrew. He worked for a man named Dwight Eisenhower. He was the smartest man I’ve ever known. I’ve always said that the Hebrew people are very gutsy. Its just a matter or time until some gutsy Young Man puts a stop to your deportation of Jews.

Prime Minister, I know for a fact that Sec. State Powell rammed the Road Map down Mr. Sharon’s throat in the spring of 2003. If I were you, I would tell Mr. Bush to take his Road Map plan and go to... Yesterday, in an eyeball to eyeball conversation with former black Republican Congressman J.C. Watts, he asked, “Pastor, what’s the answer for peace in the Middle East.”

In so many words, Sir, I told him that the Sons and Daughters of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and King David would never have peace with the sons and daughters of the ‘wild-a__’ Ishmael, Esau, Arafat and Abu Mazen. If I were a Hebrew in Israel, I would not let the American President endanger the safety of Israel.

What the Amona Pogrom did (we teach Arabic here at Oklahoma Baptist College) was only embolden the ‘so-called’ Palestinians. Israel best be watching their “SIX”. To put it mildly, and kindly, Sir, your Amona Pogrom got out of hand. There are a great number of Christian-Zionists in America who are appalled at this Amona Pogrom!!!!!!

A Humble Yedid and Chaver of the Hebrews,


JIM VINEYARD, PASTOR

Three Big Events Being Planned at Kever Rachel …
There are three important events being planned for Kever Rachel in the
next two weeks;
- On Wednesday, 22 February, 2006; Atara Gur will be giving a Shiur about Kever Rachel at 11:00 AM.
- On Thursday, 23 February, 2006; Reva Twersky will be giving a Shiur on the Midos of Rachel Imeinu at 11:00 AM.
- On Wednesday, 1 March, 2006; On the second day of Rosh Chodesh Adar, there will be a special leyning at 10:00 AM from the Sefer Torah placed in B'nai Beit Rachel House in July, 2005 by the Sefer Torah Recycling Network and dedicated by Dr. Lee Caplan in memory of his Dad.
These three events are particularly important and crucial in light of the current attempts by the government to encage the Kever Rachel complex by way of walls and fences, thus attempting to obstruct normal, regularly scheduled access to Kever Rachel.
Transportation is available via Autobus #163 which leaves the Jerusalem Central Bus Station at 9:10 AM and 10:10 AM respectively, arriving at the Kever Rachel complex at 10:00 AM and 11:00 AM respectively. The #163 can also be boarded from stops on Malchei Yisrael and Shiftei Yisrael.
Transportation is also available via Shuttle bus from the Machsom, the entance to the road to Kever Rachel.
For more information, please call Evelyn Haies, President of Rachel's Children Reclamation Foundation at cellular # 050-876-3898.

From Israel

Arlene Kushner akushner@netvision.net.il

February 15, 2006

[] Khaled Masha'al, head of Hamas, was in Sudan this week, where he said once again that Hamas would never recognize Israel. In reference to western threats to cut off funds, he said, "we are a nation ready to starve..." Their goal, he explained, is to free Jerusalem. And he knows Allah is on their side.

[] Olmert -- reacting in part to the furor that resulted when he turned over tax funds to the PA the other day -- has said that once the new Legislative Council, which has a Hamas majority, is in place, there will be no more funding provided. That is supposed to happen by Saturday, when the new legislature will be sworn in.

The Quartet, however, said they will continue to provide the PA with money as long as Abbas heads an interim government. The new government -- that is, the new ministers, forming a new cabinet -- will not be chosen until late March.

[] Abbas, for his part, is playing some interesting games that I am not certain he will get away with: He is trying to take power away from Hamas before they've even gotten started. For example, until now, the PA TV and radio were under the jurisdiction of the Information Ministry, but he has now, by "presidential decree," placed the media directly under his direction. A Hamas Information Minister will be powerless if this holds. This may suit various editors -- who have expressed a disinclination to work with Hamas -- very well. But it enrages Hamas people, who are not likely to sit still for it.

Another move he made was to pass a law giving him the right to appoint all judges to the court without legislative approval -- once again circumventing Hamas. This would permit him to appoint all Fatah judges who would be able to overturn Hamas legislation.

Hamas is calling this "immoral," "illegal" and a "coup d'etat." We have not seen the end here.

I am not eager to see Abbas win this power struggle. As much as the world wants to pretend that Hamas is moderating, the leaders of Hamas are making it very hard to do this, with their "in your face" statements. Abbas, however, should he come out on top here, would be hailed as a paragon of moderation and virtue, and pressure on Israel to deal with him and reward him with concessions would be considerable.

Already there are signs of this thinking. In today's Jerusalem Post, Mustafa Barghouti is referred to as a "liberal-minded secular Palestinian leader." He may be secular, but liberal-minded he most certainly is not. This is constructing an artificial black-white dichotomy, with all Hamas bad, and the others some how coming out as "good." In reality, they're all bad guys. As I have pointed out before, the Covenant of Fatah reads very much like the Covenant of Hamas in terms of its celebration of Jihad and promotion of Israel's destruction. The only difference is that Fatah isn't promoting Sharia -- Islamic law. I'd hate to have these guys somehow come out smelling like roses.

[] Barry Rubin had an excellent column in the Post yesterday: "Appeasement Redux." "Is this the 1930s," he asks, "or 2006?" Seems when Hitler came in, there were statements saying that he may have been extreme in the past, but was now showing "indications of moderation." There were pronouncements about how so-called radicals moderate once they have power. Need more be said?

[] Omri Sharon has been sentenced to nine months for his corruption conviction. His sentence is being postponed by half a year because of his father's condition. And I would say, since his sentence is being appealed, that he might not ever see the inside of a jail.

His sentencing has had an effect already, none-the-less, on polls, which are showing a drop for Kadima. Likud is up, and so is a merged National Union - National Religious Party.

[] In an interview given to Aaron Klein of WorldNetDaily, a senior Al Aksa leader, Abu Nasser, said a third Intifada was on the way and it was only a matter of timing. "This will be the hardest and most dangerous one." Why are they planning this? To make it difficult for Hamas to govern, as they deeply resent the election results.

Oh, and there's another reason: Olmert is talking about pulling out from Judea and Samaria, and they want to be able to claim credit, saying he pulled out because of their terrorism.

I read this, sitting here in Jerusalem, and remembering what it was like in 2002, and I have one response, not politic, but honest and highly appropriate: Bomb their heads off before they can get us.

Unfortunately, we don't have a government that would dare do such a thing. They're too busy being politic (and planning more pullouts). In the last 10 days, 12 potential suicide bombers have been stopped!

Al Aksa, you should note, in line with what I wrote above, is a spin-off of Fatah. Better than Hamas? Not by a long shot.

[] The Jordanian gov't has invited Hamas leaders to Amman. This is a reversal of their position, taken in 1999, when Hamas offices in Jordan were closed and leaders arrested or thrown out. Now the Jordanian PM says, "We welcome our Palestinian brethern." Shades of Munich.

Is this Olmert's concept of Education?

Defacto Israeli PM Ehud Olmert's Minister of Education, Meir Shitreet, acted in a crass, childish and embarrassingly boorish way when meeting some young students from Beit El.

This was part of a series of meetings with public officials to help the students recover from the trauma of Amona.

Shitreet should be fired.

Baruch Hashem! I hope you missed me!

It's one of those stories...
A couple of days ago, suddenly there was trouble with "blogger," that's the blogspot I blog from. Such things happen periodically, and usually within a few hours they fix it. While I "patiently" waited, I suddenly noticed that even though I couldn't blog and couldn't comment on blogger blogs, others were commenting on mine and others could blog. I went to sleep on it, and in the morning, yesterday, it still didn't work. I was starting to get annoyed, but I figured that blogger's this big international internet service, and they'll fix it.

Yesterday morning one of my walking buddies mentioned that she couldn't access my blog. She's also a regular reader. Then it hit me! She also uses Netvision for her internet/email. Maybe, since others are blogging and commenting, that the problem is Netvision. I sent out a few queries within the Israeli blogging community and discovered that other Netvision users were having problems. I asked my husband and the other bloggers to complain to Netvision and I went to bed early. If I can't blog, I may as well sleep.

So, this morning I woke up and still couldn't blog. My husband reported that at first Netvision denied that the problem could be with them, but he kept pressing, and techies listen to men, which is why I gave my husband the assignment. Finally he admitted that there may be a problem with Netvision.

But this was hours later and still no blogging, so I called. They told me that the technetium should be arriving in an hour, just the phone crew works 24 hours a day. He asked if I wanted notification when it's fixed. Of course, considering what we've paid all these years. I figured that it would take them a few minutes to change their "settings" or whatever. But no call and no blogging all morning. Then I had to go to work, no call and no message.

When I was in Waadi Charamiya, between Ofra and Shiloh, the phone rang. There's no reception in the valley, so it went dead after I heard: "This is Udi from Netvision." Finally I got home, and there was a message, that all was fine, and I could surf to my heart's delight. Of course, surfing isn't my thing, it's the blogging.

So here I am!

This will be cross-posted on me-ander and Shiloh Musings!

EVENT - Tu Bishvat Planting with the People of Amona

The house of Amona invites you all for an evening of continuation ofbuilding, of thanks and of salute to all those who helped us defendour homes.

The event will take place, please G-d, Sunday, February 12th, 2006.

PROGRAM:
Plantings start at 3:00pm.5:00pm:
Hanachat Even Pina followed by main event together with the wounded in the struggle, Rabbis, public figures and guest artists.

We are waiting for you!!
The House of Amona. Tel. 02-9971605

PS Please dress warmly.
Buses, organized by Amona, will leave Binyanei Hauma at 2:00pm, 3:00pm and 4:00pm.

Here's the site that documents the police brutality at Amona. There are lots of photos and video links. This can only be described as a pogrom.

A very sad and tragic day for the State of Israel

From: Abba Richman
Date: Sun, 05 Feb 2006 07:12:08 +0300
Subject: Brutality

A personal note:

Last wednesday I was doing a shift in MADA (Magen Dovid Adom) in Jerusalem as an ambulance driver. The level of violence was not foreseen by Mada - I suspect it was withheld from them by the security authorities.

Within a half our of the violence starting police teams were ready at all the hospitals to record the names ot the injured police. Mada was put on emergency alert and standard mass casualty emergency procedures were put into action.

By 16.30 there were 215 wounded brought to five Jerusalem hospitals. 59 were police. I transferred the only so called badly injured policeman from Haddasah Har Hatzofim to Ein Karem.

The facts: He was walking, fully conscious, violent - he threatened injured settlers in the emergency room with physical violence. His injury was a bad cut under the eye and he was
transferred because Ein Karem has plastic surgeons and he needed their services.

All the other police injured that I saw had minor cuts and bruises. None had broken bones that I am aware of. All the injured settlers I saw had broken bones, legs and arm injuries, and head wounds. A lot of blood.

The atmosphere was that of a terrorist attack with the prevalent undercurrent that this time the attackers were Jews.

The media of course made a kiddush out of the "badly" wounded policeman - and I witnessed first hand how the media presents the facts - lies, half truths, and disinformation.

It was a very sad day for me and left me with many sleepless hours.

Abba

BS"D
Rally On!

The horrific scenes looked like a frightening remake of a "Planet of the Apes" sci-fi movie. The mounted policemen, donning black protective gear and swinging hard metal clubs, rode their brutal horses into the predominantly religious adolescent protestors. They clubbed and bruised them. Blood streamed from many a clubbed forehead including that of Knesset member Effie Eitam. The police also broke Knesset member Arie Eldad's arm. Our police, with wanton disregard, trampled our faithful, innocent children struggling in Amona. Many young protestors also suffered from head concussions.

Indecision weighed heavily upon me several mornings later, 7 Shvat (Feb. 5th, 2006). A rally calling for an inquiry into police brutality against protestors at Amona, under the slogan "Olmert is bad for the Jews" was organized by the YESHA Council for that evening in Jerusalem. On the one hand, I have no trust in this council suspecting that my Land, my Home may have been sacrificed in order to keep their homes elsewhere in Yehuda and Shomron. Yet the shocking, revolting photographs and videos emerging from the Amona struggle demanded a response; even a demonstration organized by the YESHA council.

So I decided to attend the demonstration. I made inquires about a bus going only to find out that there wasn't a prearranged bus from the Nitzan Caravilla site. Several adults here were indifferent, apathetic, and numb. Certainly understandable considering that they attended many demonstrations, blocked roads, went door-to door explaining the importance of Gush Katif – only to be banished from their beautiful homes which were then reduced to rubble. And our holy synagogues were desecrated and destroyed by savage Arabs.

While I understand my friends, I strongly believe that even from the depths of our despair our voice must still rise in outcry. We mustn't allow this painful edict to silence and destroy us. To do so would be to deny our raison d'etre.

Happily I found a ride up to Jerusalem with friends who were in a local meeting with a SELA representative. Six and -a-half months after our expulsion they, along with their 3 precious children, are still in a Jerusalem hotel trying to secure a Nitzan caravilla. Incredible! This governmental negligence is absolutely inexcusable!

Once at the crowded demonstration, a friend and I managed to maneuver our way to the front near the speakers. High level security/police officers monitored the Jerusalem Zion Square demonstration site. They didn't wear visible name tags. I suspect this was so any mistreatment by such personnel couldn't be reported.

A group of teenage boys standing by me spontaneously broke into songs and lively Hora-like dance steps. For the first time since my expulsion I felt alive! Once again I was acting in accordance with my ideology – and I wasn't alone; purportedly 100,000 people from all over the country attended the demonstration. And amongst this vibrant human flood I was able to find my eldest daughter and wave to her.

Large screens showed grotesque coverage of police brutality against Jewish protestors in Amona. Knesset members Uri Ariel and Effie Eitam spoke as did others including an articulate pretty teenage girl. The former spoke firmly of how acting Prime Minister Olmert wants our blood and we won't let him have it! He said to loud cheers that upcoming elections will see Olmert removed from office. The girl did her best to hold back her tears while she spoke. Many listeners were moved to tears as she recounted how the police maliciously swung hard metal clubs as they entered an Amona house scheduled for demolition in which she and other religious teenage girls peacefully sat. The police repeatedly clubbed them. Painfully she cried out to them: "we are girls!" Her heart wrenching outcry fell on deaf police ears.

The hard evidence is easily accessible and readily available yet acting Crime Minister Ehud Olmert refuses to make an inquiry into the police brutality at Amona. He is prepared for our Jewish Nation to sink into a deep and dangerous abyss. Indeed, "Olmert is bad for the Jews."

May this upcoming election place the leadership reins into strong and capable right-wing religious hands.

Sara Layah Shomron, a former resident of Neve Dekalim, currently resides in the temporary Nitzan Caravilla site.

We're in the latest BOMS! Take a gander!

Amona : What Really Transpired - Call for Commission of Investigation

By David Bedein, Bureau Chief, Israel Resource News Agency
Israel Resource News Agency operates through private contributions offered to IRNA's US tax deductible affiliate, Center for Near East Policy Research, POB 1783, Brookline, Mass 02446-0014
wwwIsraelBehindtheNews.com

Six Israeli Knesset Parliament members of the National Union Party convened a press conference on Thursday evening at the Beit Agron International Press Center in Jerusalem, the day after the Israeli army and Israeli police demolished nine buildings in Amona, adjacent to the Jewish community of Ofra, just north of Jerusalem.

The MK's convening the press conference were Dr. Aryeh Eldad, General Efraim Eitam, Rabbi Benny Alon, Tzvi Hendel, Uri Ariel, and Rabbi Yitzhak Levy. Three of the Knesset Members were present at Amona during the demolition - Eldad, Eitam and Alon. Eldad and Eitam spent the night in Hadassah hospital after being trampled by police horses - Eldad with an arm fracture and Eitam with head injuries.

At their press conference, the National Union MKs announced that they had circulated a petition to all factions of the Knesset in which they called for the Knesset to authorize the creation of an extra-parliamentary commission whose task it would be to establish a non-partisan investigation into the events of Amona, to verify the facts of how and why so much violence occurred, which resulted in more than 200 teenage boys and girls in the hospital, most of whom suffered head wounds after being clubbed in the head while offering no resistance whatsoever.

From the other end of the political spectrum, endorsing the National Union's call for an official investigation was Peace Now leader and Labor MK Dr. Yuli Tamir, who told the NFC.CO.IL news service that she wanted an inquiry as to why there were hardly any casualties during the two month demolition process of the Katif settlements, and asked why there were so many casualties in one day of demolition in Amona. An unexpected call for investigation came from MK Ahmed Tibi, the former advisor to Yassir Arafat who demanded an inquiry into why and how police horses trampled members of the Knesset .

MK Uri Ariel opened the press conference with a demand to know precisely what instructions were given to the elite Israeli commando units who were deployed at Amoneh and also demanded to know what instructions were given to the soldiers and the police by the Head of the IDF Central Command.

MK Ariel provided documentation of negotiations that the National Union MKs conducted with the government, once they understood that they had lost their legal fight to retain the nine buildings on the Amona hill.

MK Ariel provided written evidence that that the National Union MKs, with the cooperation of the Council of Judea and Samaria, had made an offer on Sunday to bring heavy equipment to Amona to move the nine buildings to the nearby community of Ofra, thereby avoiding any violent confrontation. MK Ariel reported that the idea of moving the buildings received the encouragement of President Katzav, Defence Minister Mofaz, and Attorney General Mazuz, all of whom communicated on Monday morning to Acting Prime Minister Olmert that the idea would be legal, and it would stave off any confrontation.

Later that day on Monday, Olmert met with the leaders of the Council of Judea and Samaria, yet stood firm that the buildings would have to be destroyed, saying that he was doubtful that any kind of engineering firm could move the nine buildings.

The Council then dispatched former MK Hanan Porat to meet again with Attorney General Mazuz with the request that it be given one week to move the buildings, and that if they could not move them, then the council itself would demolish them.

On Tuesday, Israel Supreme Court Justice Elyakim Rubenstein issued a restraining order against any destruction of the houses, recommending that the court grant the Council the one week requested to move the buildings. However, Olmert appealed the restraining order to the Israel Supreme Court, which met in special session under a three justice panel on Wednesday morning, when it considered the Council's request to grant a them a week's time to move the building. However, the two justices who sat alongside Rubenstein, both of whom had always been critical of the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, ruled, two to one, with Rubenstein dissenting, at 9:30 AM on Wednesday , to reject the petition for any delay in the demolition of the nine buildings.

MK Eldad reported that, with the decision in hand to demolish the buildings, he determined he would "go to Amona together with MK Alon and MK Eitam, and requested that army and police delay the demolition by a few hours", so that they could "negotiate to get hundreds of people out of the way".

In the words of MK Eitam, "We wanted to do what we did in Gush Katif- to act as responsible mediators between the armed forces and the civilians who were present, so as to avert any unnecessary violence".

However, MK Alon reported, the IDF and the police were not willing to listen, and, instead, immediately dispatched troops and police, many of whom were on horseback, to move in on the hundreds of people in Amona who were inside, outside and on top of each of the nine buildings.

By the time that MK's Eitam, Alon and Eldad arrived on the scene, no commanders were there - only soldiers and police who were beginning to beat teenagers who were in their way. MK Eitam observed that :"in Gush Katif, we had commanders to speak with, and we were in constant touch with the Prime Minister and his cabinet members, to avoid a catastrophe".

This time, Eitam said. "we had no one to speak with. The IDF Commander in Chief and the Commander of the IDF Central Command were not there, and no one was available to speak with at the office of the Prime Minister.

However, as members of Knesset, as democratically elected leaders of this community, we were singled out for attack, with police horses that charged us, and which caused the hundreds of people there to be without any leader and without anyone to calm things down"

In MK Eldad's words, by "the attack on the Knesset leaders early in the day, deprived the people of any factor that could act as a restraining force".

Meanwhile, as the IDF and the police sent more reinforcements to Amona, they indiscriminately attacked Jews walking on the road and pulled tens of young people out of cars and beat them with their batons.

When the police horses arrived, the teenagers sat peaceably, the horses charged them, and police continued to beat everyone in sight, aiming for the heads of demonstrators with their batons. When the police entered the buildings, the people inside all sat down, offering no resistance, and were still beaten. All this was filmed, and Israeli TV Channels One and Ten showed the Israeli police beating young teenagers on the head who offered no resistance.

The MK's did acknowledge that young people responded with chants and did stone the police horses. In the words of MK Ariel, "we condemn anyone in our community who used any kind of violence, and we wonder if and when the Israeli Minister of Internal Security will have anything to say about the wanton brutality of the police officers under his command."

Meanwhile, Nachi Eyal, the secretary of the National Union Party, described how his son was beaten unconscious by a policeman who wore no identification tag, and how he watched tens of young people being clubbed on the head while they were in a kneeling position. Nachi mentioned how his son, Yechiam, stopped breathing in the ambulance that brought him to Hadassah hospital, how Yechiam was near death, and how Yechiam suddenly regained consciousness the next morning,

Why did all this transpire? MK Tzvi Hendel revealed what he had learned as to why Acting PM Olmert had adopted an uncompromising stand in Amona, which could have been resolved with no violence whatsoever. MK Hendel reported that he had received documentation that that Eyal Arad, the PR advisor to the Prime Minister's office, had devised a campaign strategy for Olmert which would promote the notion that residents of Judea and Samaria were "more hated than Hamas", which led Olmert to describe the Jews in Amona as the Jewish Hamas, following Wednesday's confrontation. MK Hendel told the media that Arad had advised Olmert to foster an image as a "leader who stands firm in the face of the settlers", and that this would buttress support for him in the polls, instead of forcing Olmert to address the issue of the Hamas electoral victory and the continuing shower of unanswered missile attacks from Gaza.

It is unprecedented in Israel for the government to destroy a building rather than to reach such a compromise as the one proposed by the residents of Amona. Perhaps for that reason, the MK's from the National Union Party concluded their press conference by announcing that as of this coming week, they would lead a tour of thousands of unauthorized and illegal homes that Israeli Arabs and Israeli Bedouins have constructed in the Negev and the Galilee regions of Israel.

Testimonies: Teenagers Tell How the Police Beat Them
15:05 Feb 02, '06 / 4 Shevat 5766
Arutz 7
By Hillel Fendel

Teenagers all over the country are trying to recover from the mostly unprovoked physical blows they suffered at Amona yesterday, and even more so from the emotional duress they are experiencing.
The banner draped from one of the Amona houses reads, "Every house that is destroyed is a victory for Hamas."Yechiam Eyal, 15, of Psagot, was atop one of the houses slated for destruction, together with many others. When the police arrived - stepping off the shovel of a giant bulldozer that lifted them up and crossing over the barbed wire - the boys on the roof went to one side and sat down. At that point, says Yechiam's brother Yotam, "the police just came over to them and started bashing. One policeman hit my brother three times on the arm, and apparently broke it. Afterwards they smashed him on the head, and that caused his condition to deteriorate. No policeman took the trouble to help him, and they kept on pushing him even after he was bleeding from the head. Once in the ambulance, they gave him something to put him out." Yechiam regained consciousness over the night, and has even begun to speak."The police came with the purpose of killing," another brother, Amotz, concluded. A soldier in the Paratroopers Brigade, Amotz received permission not to take part in the Amona operation. "I give my all to this country, and then it comes and spits in my face," he said.The Amona community leadership asks that everyone who was hit in the head by police clubs be checked medically. The request was issued after it was learned that some teenagers hit in the head yesterday discovered only today the symptoms of a concussion.Avraham Fishman, a photographer from Kedumim, related the following story: "I was sitting inside one of the houses, with some 40-50 others in the living room - yes, it was very crowded, and there were many more in the other rooms - and our plan was that when the police would come in, we would sit in a line and be dragged out... I was photographing, and my video shows that when the police came in, they did not allow us this option; they said quite clearly, 'Either you leave on your own or we beat you' - and they did ... "One policeman is seen hitting someone over and over and over, and I was hit by three policeman. You can see clearly in the pictures how everyone is sitting; no one cursed them or anything."Rivka K., 14, of the Ulpanah in Ofrah: "We were a bunch of girls standing around the 6th house, trying to be a passive force against the police entry into the house. With no warning, the police just rushed us, crushed us, hit us with their clubs... Many of the girls fell down, and then I found myself on the floor, alone, and then two policemen started dragging me away on the rocky ground, and at the same time another one was hitting me, and mocking me: 'Go home, little girl.' Then he stopped, and another one started hitting me. They dragged me to a pole, and continued to mock me. Then they left me... "As I looked around to join my friends, I kept seeing more and more people getting beaten up, and I kept on crying again and again." Rivka was speaking this morning from the site of the destroyed homes in Amona, where she and several dozen others had arrived to clean up the garbage and rubble left behind. She said that some people had already begun "rebuilding" one of the ruins out of doors and bricks. Shlomit T., 13, Beit El: "I was standing with other girls, forming a line around one of the houses. Our goal was to prevent the police from coming in to the building, using passive resistance. We knew, for reasons of modesty and the like, that we would try just to talk with the police when they came, and certainly not to fight. We were standing with our arms locked together when the police came rushing down on us and didn't even give us a chance. They started right away with the clubs, one policeman hit me in the leg, then he pulled me and I said, 'Stop, I can go by myself,' and he threw me down on the ground and then hit me with his club on my face, right near my eye. I was dizzy for a couple of seconds, and then I got up and was able to get away... My face was swollen for a while, but I had an x-ray and I'm much better now."Elazar K., 19, a student in Yeshivat Beit Orot: "We were outside the houses, planning to stand in a line and show passive resistance. We were standing near the two big barriers of bricks and burning tires. Then the policemen came, and started advancing towards us, with their horses, like a big powerful wave. On the level above us we could see horses scattering the girls... "They first came to us and merely touched us, then they went back - without talking to us at all - and then they came again, but this time charging towards us with full force, hitting us also with their clubs. I fell down from the force of a blow, and somehow made my way backwards - and then I felt my head and realized that I was full of blood. I made my way to the medics on the side, where they gave me initial treatment, and then to another station where army medics were treating us. Some of us refused treatment from the army medics, saying, 'First you smash us and then you treat us?' I was in no position to do this, but I showed them the irony of the situation... "In the ambulance with me was someone who had been expelled from Gush Katif, and the medics said he had a broken jaw. Speaking with difficulty, he said that some [special police unit] Yassamnikim had set upon him, even though he wasn't really doing anything, and threw him to the ground and laid into him with blows. Luckily for me, the Yassamnikim didn't attack me; it was only the police... "Once in the hospital, I saw about 30 of 'our' guys come in with bad injuries, in the head, ribs, neck and the like - and only one injured policeman brought in."Elazar A., from Carmel in the South Hevron Hills region, was also standing between the two lines of bricks and burning tires when he was attacked. He told his story shortly after getting his broken finger set: "We were set upon with policemen swinging their clubs. I received many blows to my arms and legs, and one extra sharp one that broke my finger. But then, I got an even bigger one on my head, causing a wound that ended up having to be double-glued... I fell down, and over my body, they kept on hitting other people. Finally someone got me out of there, and later I was taken out on a stretcher... "Once in the hospital, I was sitting there with four others who had been hurt, and there was one Border Guard policeman who was also hurt. When he saw us, he started yelling at us and getting up to throw something at us, until he was restrained by some people there."Naamah G., 15, Beit El: "I was on the roof of the fifth house, and the police came from behind, where we did not expect them. One of the policemen just came over to me, grabbed my ponytail and began twirling me around by my hair. Then he gave me a slap and a few others also hit me very hard, and I ran towards my friends. Then they started dragging us, with one of them choking me very painfully by sticking his finger under my chin...

"Phone and fax numbers of relevant officials:Police Chief Karadi - 02 5308100 fax 02 530 8118President Moshe Katzav - phone: 02 6707211, fax 02 5671314State Comptroller's Office - 02 666 5000, fax 02 666 5204PM's Spokesman - 02 5666920 fax 02 566 9245PM Olmert's personal spokesman - 02 6662301 fax 02 666 4400Chief Rabbi Metzger 02 5377872 Chief Rabbi Amar 02 5371305


Divorce from the State?
12:04 Feb 02, '06 / 4 Shevat 5766
Arutz 7
By Hillel Fendel

Menorah Hazani is a young mother who was among the expellees from Homesh in the Shomron last summer and who was at Amona yesterday. In an article for Ynet today, she wrote:

"It will take me days to recover from what I saw, and I will not forgive the policemen and the Magavnikim (Border Policemen)... I saw the black swarms of policemen walking by me, with no beginning and no end, like a large mass without identity, and something within me cried out a long and bitter cry... "I knew there was no point in talking with them; they are brainwashed and closed, and nothing would move them any longer. They are experienced in expulsion and destruction, and ever since the destruction of Gush Katif and northern Shomron, the craving of the animal of destruction has just grown... "If there was something good in the expulsion, it is the awakening of our [religious-Zionist] public from the unconditional loyalty to the State, and the understanding that an [Israel] without Jewish identity is pointless and faceless...
"The beautiful youth that was there - 'the precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold' - whom I salute for their courage against the wild black animal - has turned into a national enemy. Everyone persecutes them everywhere: in the courts, they treat them with all stringency as if they were dangerous criminals, in the jails they humiliate them mercilessly - undressing them, preventing them from having tefillin and kosher food, putting innocent ulpanah [religious high school] girls together with dangerous and violent criminals - and the media long ago targeted them and makes sure to jab them morning and evening. Even the leaders of the religious-Zionist public, if such a thing still exists, remember to condemn them every once in a while without knowing for what or why."
But truly, why? Everyone knows that this youth has a new message. They are not ashamed of their Jewish identity and their love for Land and Nation. This youth goes with long sidecurls and large yarmulkes, and its beautiful eyes dream dreams that the average Israeli cannot digest. These are scary dreams, because they are of a sober, clear-eyed Jewish nationalistic character. "This youth is the enemy of the 'state of all its citizens' [as opposed to a 'state of the Jews'] that [Chief Justice] Aharon Barak wants to lead. They don't have the apologetics and natural head-bowing toward the generation of their parents. And when there is no leadership and no clear statement - these youths are they who set the tone."

Unbroken, bli eyin haraa!
May they stay strong and proud.
I'm not sure by who photographed this wonderful picture.

Sickening!

This was photographed at Amona yesterday. I'm not sure by whom.

Refuah Shleimah to Yechiam ben Rachel
He was beaten by the police at Amona, and now is fighting for his life.

Read the latest update from Israel Resource News Agency.