Jewish Facts From Portland

How Sabeel Movement is Harming Israel

2012-01-30T14:34:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
The Sabeel movement is a Christian organization of Christian liberation theology. It is based in Jerusalem, founded by a Palestinian Anglican priest, Rev. Naim Ateck, former Canon of St. George's Cathedral in Jerusalem. They are partners of the Presbyterian Church.

The problem is that they are promoting an anti- Israel agenda of divestment from Israel. They are also accused of using anti-semitic rhetoric and have been saying that Israel's policies of occupying East Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria (West Bank) are wrong. They are going along with the UN's take on the situation, and I think they are all wrong!

When all the surrounding states had the gall to gang up and attack little Israel in 1967, they most likely all thought that would be curtains for Israel, but they were wrong. Such greedy people. They couldn't allow a teeny little Jewish state to exist! To the amazement of all, Israel won against such an onslaught. You'd think that perhaps G-d was helping them! Needless to say, when a country is attacked and wins, they usually take over the land involved, and Israel did in fact liberate East Jerusalem, connecting it to the rest of the city making it whole once again. Judea and Samaria in the Bible days did belong to Israel, and lying next to Israel became part in that we have religious people settling there once again.

Sabeel is advocating a two-state solution as long evidently as Israel kicks out every last Jew in Judea and Samaria and East Jerusalem while not being able to trade at all with the rest of the world. Such nice people. They have the chutzpah to say that they are not anti-semitic but condemn such acts! Besides trying to break Israel's back with such an attitude, what are they doing to help promote peace between the two peoples?

They also complain about "the wall." I suppose they'd rather not have a wall which keeps terrorists from coming into Israel and killing innocent civilians. They want to bring an end to Israel's illegal and immoral behavior! Talk about chutzpah! Israel has a religion and a legal system highly developed in the acts of legality and morality. We've even been criticized for having it in the past. I think we invented it! They should be talking about the illegal and immoral acts of the Palestinian terrorists who haven't stopped shelling Israel or sneaking into the tiny state and murdering people for being Jewish.

The group, founded through Nelson Mandela and then to Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, is still admonishing Israel for being apartheid. Israel just happens to be the most non-apartheid state in the whole world. I suggest they go pick on the Palestinians who want a state free of all Jews, just like the Nazis advocated. They should have learned by now that Israel is made up of over one million Arabs, a lot of which are Christians. They have all the rights that Jews have as well. These South Africans still think that all states were like theirs and need liberating.

They believe that divestment plans are neither anti-Semitic or anti-Israel. How can they possibly believe such a notion? If you try to prevent any country from doing business with another, you are out to stop their progress and perhaps even make food a scarcity in order to change them. I for one feel they are being very anti-semitic for the very fact that Israel is the only Jewish country in the world, populated by Jews who came from horrible pogroms in Russia as well as survivors from the Holocaust of the 2nd WW. They are picking on the scapegoats of the world who have turned out to be warriors protecting what scrap of land they have been given in order to continue surviving in a hostile environment. By coming down on Israelis, they are also coming down hard on Jews.

Whatever good intentions these people may have are marred by the fact that they put so much dependency on the United Nations, a group that has crumbled in upholding laws. Today they are topheavy with Muslims who wish to destroy Israel and their voting reflects this. Up to now the USA has been our friend and has vetoed actions against Israel. To uphold International law as the final say so is rejecting what is fair and right in the world. If the UN doesn't straighten out they may go the way of the League of Nations.

Sabeel's group claims to be called by G-d to work for justice and by Christ to work for peace. I suggest they stop siding with their Arab Muslim brothers and actually think peacefully. When a showdown comes and G-d forbid if Israel is harmed, they are next for being in harm's way.

Reference: http://www.fosna.org/print/5563
http://www.sabeel.org/pdfs/mri.htm 8 printed pages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabeel

13 Year Old Mishel Cohen of Israel Sings

2012-01-25T13:27:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
The first season of the schools in Israel's junior talent show competition found a winner in Dimona. It was 13 year old Mishel Cohen. If he doesn't stir your heartstrings, nothing will. In one clip below he shares the stage with Eyal Golan, Israeli's superstar singer. They sing "Barcelona, which was the winning song for Mishal in the Beit Sefer L'Musica talent contest.

Dimona is a city in the Negev desert, 22 miles from Beersheba. It was populated by northern Africans in 1953 but Russian immigrants have joined them now as well as other Jews. Summers are hot as you can imagine with August being 91.4 F, but in a dry climate that isn't so bad.

Something I loved was the singing that I heard on Israel's TV stations. It has such a unique Middle East quality being so much is in the minor key . I miss hearing our best in the Eurovision contest which takes in singers from all the countries. I remember that Israel won with "Hora" in 1982 sung by Avi Toledano (see below) . It's wonderful that notice is being given to children today. This is the glue that keeps Israel together.

Mishal is at the age of Bar Mitzva when a boy becomes a man in our religion and can take on responsibilities in the synagogue. Can you imagine what a wonderful Bar Mitzva he had with such a voice? We Jews sing our prayers,in the synagogue, at least most all of them, and each has a beautiful melody. A Cantor leads us in this singing.

Resource: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=GMM5hE59E6U winning solo

http://www.gruntig.net/2012/01/eyal-golan-with-mishel-cohen-sings-jo.html with Eyal Golan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbBtkArRdGw Eyal Golan singing Hallelujah
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qh7vKNsnfA 1982's Avi Toledano singing Hora
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pc54OKvroEY&feature=related Ofra Haza in 1983 "Chai" (To Life)

The Failed Peace Talks in Jordan Between PLO and Israel

2012-01-25T12:03:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
The PLO has refused to meet anymore with Israeli representative Yitzchak Molcho or anyone else. They did get something out of the meetings, though. Erekat, a Fatah member, negotiated the release of all PA terrorist prisoners who are being held in Israel. He managed to argue for this but neglected to come back to discussing the core issues relating to PA statehood.

They have made it quite clear that the only reason they have attended at all was in regards to Jordan's King Abdullah II's request. What they want are issues decided in their favor first before they sit down to discuss anything and Israel isn't going along with this. For instance, they now want Israel to recognize the planned border of Palestine first as well as stop"occupying " Jerusalem. They want East Jerusalem as their capital for their state and their state is going to be made up only of Muslims. They have been referring to building going on by Israel in Jerusalem. Therefore they use this subtrafuge to blame Israel for not making any progress in these preliminary talks. Israel has continually said, no preconditions. The Quartet has been in agreement with this.

Israel believes they will continue as the Quartet has been putting a lot of pressure on them to do so. Actually, the PA said they will talk to Abdullah and the Arab monitoring commmittee about returning.

Resource: news@israelnationalnews.com Arutz Sheva
http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=255113
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/10/world/middleeast/israelis-and-palestinians-discuss-peace-talks-in-jordan.html

Bringing in the Mashiach ( Messiah)

2012-01-24T11:00:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
When I moved to Israel in September 1980 I was met with the fact that many people were talking about the Mashiach who was soon to come. Classes were going on that talked about it. Students in schools were getting anxious to have it happen. I was stunned! Was that why I had the compulsion to move to Israel at this time?

Come to find out, the Christians are also expecting the Messiah to come again. Something was going on, here. Now that I'm not in Israel, I have had a chance to talk to more Christians and we can compare notes. When is he coming, do you think, and is it right to figure out a time for the happening? Actually, Judaism frowns on it. This has led to false messiahs appearing at times of impending doom.

The earliest I have found out is that it won't be for a couple hundred more years, according to Jewish thought. However, it's sooner than that for the Christians.

Now I learn that the Muslims are also expecting their Messiah as well. What are we all doing to bring him here?

I look back in history to the caves where the "Dead Sea Scrolls" were found by a sheepherder in 1947, 7.5 miles from Jericho. They disclosed that a group of males were living in these caves trying to live an exemplary life of abstinence and perfection who lived there until 68 CE. Jerusalem fell 2 years later. It was a time in Jewish history where there were many many different groups of Jews or different Jewish denominations, each with a variety of ideas as to how to behave, and they were thinking that things were so bad for them that surely it was time for the Messiah to arrive. Each were doing what they thought was expected of them to bring the Messiah to them. One scroll spoke of the plan of the struggle of "the sons of light" against "the sons of darkness." which was to begin with the conquest of Palestine and to end 40 years later with the conquest of the whole world. Israel has built "The Shrine of the Book" in the Israel Museum to house them.

Today, again we see that things couldn't be worse. We have Israel threatened to be totally destroyed by atomic warfare coming from Iran, our old nemesis from the days of Purim with Queen Esther saving us. The Muslim Brotherhood, with their doctrine to kill all Jews, has taken over Egypt's politics. The Arabs called "Palestinians" are demanding their own state out of part of the tiniest state in the area, Israel, without any sign of wanting peace, and the whole world seems to be against Israel as shown in the politics of the UN.   It's time for the Mashiach!

The Muslims are teaching that their Hadith (Islamic tradition from Mohammad of sayings or acts) says that "the hour of Resurrection will not come until you fight the Jews. The Jew will hide behind stones or trees and the stones or trees will call: "Oh Muslim, servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him." Their way of bringing in the Messiah is to kill all of us Jews. With a fatwa stated by their "Pope" of Islamic thought, Qaradawi, who has called for the killing of all Jews, I am thinking that this is their idea today of bringing it on and why he is professing such a terrible act.

Islam has two branches of thought; Sunni (Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia) and Shi'a (Iran. some Iraqis,) Qaradawi is the Sunni leader but has been touted by Iran as well! Their tradition has several Hadiths for their reference. The Messiah or Mahdi is the redeemer of Israel who will rule for either 7, 9, or 19 years, depending, before the Day of Judgement. He will rule alongside Jesus and will rid the world of wrong doing, injustice and tyranny.

Shi'a Islam holds the central religious idea to the 12th Imam, Muhammad al-Mahal. He will be an ordinary man. The world will not come to an end until the Arabs are ruled by a man from his family and he will establish a moral system where all superstitious faiths are eliminated. The Unbelieveers will believe.

Revelations in the Christian tradition tells of times such as what we are starting to experience which is the start of the end of the world as we know it. This will climax with most all Jews dying who are left on earth as you have to believe that Jesus is the Messiah while some stories tell about a rapture that will take up the blessed ones into a spaceship where they will find refuge while others just say they will meet the Messiah in the the heavens. Since Christians believe that Jesus is the Messiah, they are waiting for his 2nd coming. This is thought to happen instantaneously and will be known worldwide. It will be visible to all with a sign in heaven as well as with audible trumpet sounds.   Before he comes, the antichrist will be ministring on earth. Jesus's return on earth will usher in 1,000 years of peace bringing in the New Jerusalem through resurrection.

Pastor John Hagee, Evangelical leader with Christians United For Israel or CUFI, certainly believes that Jesus is the Messiah and is also awaiting his 2nd coming. At the same time he supports Israel. He doesn't believe in a Replacement theology. He writes that scripture plainly indicates that the church (spiritual Israel) and national Israel exist side by side, and neither replaces the other-ever!" He goes on to explain to people that spiritual Israel is the church and has the blessings of a physical Israel, but it does not replace physical Israel . Replacement theologians in the USA are preaching "that if Christians will quit supporting Israel and will economically boycott the Christ-rejecting Jews, they will accept Jesus Christ. So this is where all the Christian groups boycotting Israel get their ideas from!

We Jews are not as imaginative. To us the Messiah, the annointed one (what happened to become a king was to be annointed with oil) , the ultimate deliverer, is a living human, a king or leader who has received Divine sanction and "unique inviolability of status".  He is not a "savior." He would be from the house of David (King David) who would break" the alien yoke "and establish a golden age. He would be a great political leader as discussed in Jeremiah 23-5. He will be well versed in Jewish law, will be observant of its commandments and will be charismatic. The Messiah will be a great military leader and will win battles for Israel as well as be a great judge.

Predictions as to when the Messiah would come have been based on the book of Daniel and other biblical passages. Jews revolted in 115-117 CE , ending with a huge battle in 133-135 CE with Bar Kokhba, who some thought to be the Messiah. We have found out since than that there have been many false messiahs during times of stress. Of course many Jews had thought that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah and this started the movement of Christianity which has survived.

It is said that in every generation there is someone who has the potential of being the Messiah, and he will come about in the Messianic Age. The conduct of mankind will be the decisive factor of when he arrives. It will be when he is most needed.

Today I see that certain orthodox groups in Israel have become so over-zealous in their practice that they have had to be reprimanded by the Chief Sephardic Rabbi and the government of Israel. They are striving for such perfection, possibly to bring the messiah, that they have overstepped logical bounds. They have been practicing separation of sexes on buses. This leads to behavior that is unacceptable as far as the rights of women are concerned, such as being most rude to women trying to sit among men, and so have had to be reminded that this is not an accepted practice in Judaism at all. I see it as a fear that grows with the advent of such psychological pressure of being hated and the fear of being killed in an unwanted war. They have been trying to be so good that this act can keep all their loved ones safe and secure. It is for the reason of bringing the Messiah to them.

Muslims have Qatarawi with his fatwa to kill Jews. He even wants to do it himself, though he is in a wheel chair. Following his advice is the PA's religious leader calling for the same thing, to kill the Jews. The Palestinians show no signs of signing any peace agreement with Israel now. Could this be the reason why? They expect the Mahdi to come?

To make matters more appalling, the Mayan Calendar ends on December 21, 2012. Since they were Indians in Central America, they had no such ideas as a messiah. It's just eerie that their calendar stops on this date. It has to do with a line-up of heavenly bodies for a first time. They were quite the astronomers. Nostradamus has made hard to decipher notations that the end will come about then as well, depending on the people interpreting his quatrains. The findings of mathematician Eliahu Ripps in Israel who has developed a "Bible Code" has led the journalist, Michael Drosnin to write about the results in that something is to also happen around this same time frame that might be a calamity as well, and here we are, in the year of 2012!

Reference:
http://www.jewfaq.org/mashiach.htm
Michael Drosnins, "The Bible Code,; Bible Code II-The Countdown, and Bible Code III Saving the World
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Coming_of_Christ
http://www.mfa.gov.il/PopeinIsrael/Background_Information/Image_of_Messiah_in_Judaism_and_Christianity.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahdi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadith
http://www.cufi.org/site/PageServer?pagename=learn_teachings#special_message
Book: In Defense of Israel by Pastor John Hagee
http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/5h1cPdbdZfw?rel=0 Songs in Hebrew by Russians; note the song about the Moshiach.

Importance of Jerusalem, Zion, or the City of David to Jews

2012-01-23T14:07:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
Over 3,000 years ago from 1,000 BCE to 960 BCE (Jewish Calendar from 2884 to 2924) King David lived and built Jerusalem which was the capital of Judea. To Jews only, this city has been the focus of national and religious aspirations. It's been Israel's capital since 1948 with a population of over 600,000. It was also our capital of our Jewish nation between 1,000 BCE and 586 BCE and also from 516 BCE and 70 CE. You can read about it in the "Old Testament."

The Bible, Psalms, 122,3, refers to: Jerusalem, which is bound firmly together. I take it to mean that it must not be divided, which is what the Muslims are demanding. They want east Jerusalem as their future capital. Psalms was written by King David.

The Bible, Zechariah, 8, 3, refers to: Jerusalem shall be called the city of truth. Let's be honest. The only reason that the Muslims want east Jerusalem is that it has been unified with the western section and is now a part of Israel. They have no G-dly reason to make it their capital.

The Talmud, Berakhot, 58, refers to: Eternity means Jerusalem. written after 200 CE, from Babylonian and Palestinian Talmuds, all before Islam when Mohammed lived from 570 CE to 630 CE. Little did the scholars realize that Jerusalem would play a world-wide part in politics in 2012. They were right; it is an eternal city.

Avot Derabbi Nathan, Talmudic Commentary: There is no beauty like the beauty of Jerusalem. Does anyone doubt the love Jews have for Jerusalem?

Jerusalem has been under many foreign rulers, but only with Jews was it a capital with its people living in the land. Jews of Jerusalem are the longest living people with an unbroken historical association. It is where the President of Israel lives and where the Knesset, the Government, the Supreme Court, the Chief Rabbinate, the Hebrew University and the Israel Museum reside. Yet the UN refuses to count it as our capital.

To us it is the most holy city and contains the Western Wall, or Wailing Wall as some know it which dates back to the time of our 2nd Temple. Christians hold it dear with Jesus of Nazareth and the story of his life and death, with a holy place being the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Muslims consider it their 3rd holy place after Mecca and Medina. Their holy shrine in Jerusalem is the mosque of Al Aqsa on the Temple Mount.

Between 1948 and 1967, Jerusalem was divided in two-between Israel and Jordan, who had illegally occupied the eastern part. The two parts were separated by barbed wire and concrete walls. Jordan forbid movement of people from east to west.

After the Six Day War of June 5-11, 1967 Jerusalem was reunified on June 29th and barriers were removed. Jordanian troops in east Jerusalem had bombarded the rest of the city. The IDF came in and in 2 days the entire city came under Israel control. The first thing they all did was go to the Western Wall, which had been denied access to Jews for 20 years.

The population of east Jerusalem at the time included 139,000 Muslims and Christians, so that by 1990 the population of Jerusalem was 493,500. Today it is 693,217 with 464,527 being Jews. Today it is a thriving city holding members of the 3 faiths with their religious and secular living. It has many problems indeed with 12% of families having 7 or more children. 39% of the population are school age, and there has been a serious housing shortage. Israel had a large building program in all parts of the city, Arab and Jewish. Kiryat Yovel was the largest project. Just to give you an idea, Portland, Oregon's population is 583,766.

The Jerusalem Law of 1980 put Israel's sovereignty over the entire city. Israel has suffered from sabotage which were encouraged by outside elements , especially after the beginning of the intifada in 1987. Some Arabs such as Hamas terrorists have wanted to go back to the 1967 situation.

On October 34, 1995, the USA's 104th congress passed a law to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital but has yet to do it. They have since withheld recognition until the Palestinian-Israel peace is completed. Israel has had Jerusalem as its capital for 44 years anyway.

Ofra Haza, originally coming from Yemen, sings Yerusahalayim Shel Zahav, or Jerusalem, City of Gold so well. When the sun hits Jerusalem, it looks like it's made of gold, and the way countries have coveted it, you'd think it was truly made of gold. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRijgRZmqvI
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographic_history_of_Jerusalem
http://www.hebrewsongs.com/song-yerushalayimshelzahav.htm

Mufti Muhammad Hussein: Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire

2012-01-23T11:47:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
On the 18th of January I wrote a blog about the PA's religious leader, the Mufti Muhammad Hussein calling a fatwa against all Jews. Now he's denying it. His speech was recorded on TV and translated by the Palestinian Media Watch. Hussein was calling for the slaughter of all Jews everywhere, and is no doubt following in the footsteps of an even greater Islamist in Qatar, Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi, great friend of Qatar's Emir Shaikh Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani.   Obama chose Qaradawi to mediate peace talks with the Taliban, a terrorist group. Qaradawi would be on the USA terrorist list, but the Emir, who helps out the USA, has him protected.

Hussein is copping a plea saying that "sentences were cut from his speech. He also mentioned that Islam calls for respect of all human beings. Why is it then that these religious Islamists call Jews "Pigs'? Are we not humans? As he copped a plea about his deed, he forgets that he is already taped saying it all in a speech 2 weeks ago..

Where does all this hatred come from for Jews, many might wonder? It's fairly simple. Jews would not convert to the new ideas of Mohammad which were called "Islam." They refused his request and many Jewish tribes were answered with the sword. Either convert or die was their choice. Some did convert while others didn't even get a chance to think about it. They were slaughtered. That's why you find such hatred in the Muslim teachings against Jews, like look behind a rock, find a Jew and kill him. It turns out to be a directive in hatred and killing instead of inspiration, unless that's their inspiration to take over the world.

Jews have lived in Arab countries since before Mohammad, but since Islam, had been treated as 2nd or 3rd class citizens as dhimmis. Life was quite deplorable, but they were allowed to live, at least, which at times was a contrast compared to how Jews were treated in Eastern European countries or even in England. It wasn't until 1948 when Israel was born that Muslims decided they didn't want to lose any possibilities of land to such low-life as these dhimmis who had lived in their lands in dhimmitude! It was an affront to their manliness!

The Muslim Brotherhood, of which Qaradawi holds top leadership and just lectured to over a million Egyptians in their Tahrir Square in Cairo, has in its charter to kill Jews and to destroy Israel. The USA calls the Brotherhood "Moderates." They have won the seats in Egypt along with the Salafis who are even stricter in their Islam. Qaradawi in 2009 said that Allah has imposed upon the Jews people who would punish them for their corruption, the last punishment being by Adolf Hitler..".Oh Allah, count their numbers and kill them, down to the very last one." So they intend to finish what Hitler almost did, annihilate all Jews.  It looks like the Christians in Egypt are also getting axed as they have been attacked by Muslims recently, being there aren't that many Jews there anymore.

The Arabs were on the Axis side in the 2nd World War. Mein Kampf is a favorite book of many Islamists after the Koran. Their hatred of Jews feeds into the teachings of Mein Kampf, so they want to believe it. If the Muslim Brotherhood controls the government, they will no doubt do away with the peace treaty with Israel which Israel has had since the 1967 War where Egypt along with other Arab nations attacked Israel with a surprising outcome; tiny Israel not only survived but won! Sadat rethought his goals and came to Israel joining them in peace. He was loved and respected for that. It made him a mentch in my eyes.  His change of heart caused Israel give back the Sinai and their pact held. Even Mubarak honored the peace, though it might not have been his choice. He also held the Muslim Brotherhood as an outlawed group! He knew what would happen.

Resource: http://jewishfactsfromportland.blogspot.com/2012/01/pa-killing-their-own-people-and-their.html
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0112/jkelly012312.php3?printer_friendly

Jerusalem, Undivided

2012-01-22T11:21:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
"Israel occupied east Jerusalem in 1967 and annexed it later in a move never recognised by the international community. It considers the entire city its "eternal, indivisible capital." (AFP-European Union says Israeli settlements are "worrying."-reference below.)

After being attacked by all the surrounding Arab states, Israel miraculously won the battle and in doing so, gained back east Jerusalem, which had been held by Jordan in an illegal move of occupation without permission. Now Jerusalem is one again and enjoying the fruits of unification.

The European Union, forever not wanting to affront their Arab pals, is saying that Israeli "settlements", which are now becoming old villages, towns and cities, are a "worrying" development. At least they are for a 2 state solution. They also state that the legitimacy of Israel must never be called into question.

Where I question is "the right of Palestinins to achieve statehood. Why? I ask. They were never a state of their own. Jews have had to wait since 70CE to regain their own land, and at that they have but a drop in the bucket compared to their original land tract. The Arabs have been given the opportunity to have their own state ever since 1948 when Israel was pronounced a state among the nations and they have refused, wanting the whole piece instead of their slice of the pie. Instead, they answer Israel's pleas with bombing and killing. So what is their right in getting their own state which is more demanding than other entities in the world who seem to be more deserving.

Where does it say that Jerusalem is so important to the Arabs? It's not a religious center at all. At best, east Jerusalem does have many Arabs living there, but this is not reason to take it over as the capital of "Palestine." The Koran does not address Jerusalem. East Jerusalem contains Arabs because Jordan had taken it in the War of Independence illegally; thus there are still Arabs living there. Israel did not force them out. Israel is trying to get along with its neighbors, and has hired them for work, not attacked them.

Israel has been begging the Palestinians to "demonstrate their commitment to a peaceful solution" but instead, Fatah has joined Hamas; a terrorist group connecting with an even more evil terrorist group. That's how they have demonstrated their "right to a state."

The EU accuses Israel of "systematically undermining the Palestinian presence in Jerusalem through the continued expansion of settlements." Israel has dismantled cities that had developed with the results of having the areas become Muslim centers for attack. Look at Gaza. If the "Palestinians won't come to the peace talks and be serious about making friends with Israel, then why should Israel hold back in building needed homes for its people. When they get serious about their attitude, decisions can be made about building.

Right now there are several fatwas out to kill all Jews everywhere and destroy Israel from Hamas itself as well as Qaradawi, the religious leader who has gained prominence through Qatar's Emir. He had been thrown out of Egypt by Mubarak for his outlandish attitude, but he has gained prominence and just spoke in Egypt to over a million Islamists. This is not the climate that creates peace between Israel and the Hamas-led Palestinians.

Face it, European Union. The "Palestinians want east Jerusalem simply because it means so much to Jews. If they ever picked up the "Old Testament" and read it, they'd see how Jerusalem plays a prominent role to us. It goes back to Kings David and Solomon. Hamas's own leader, Khaled Meshal, who chooses to live in Damascus, Syria instead of Gaza, is resigning but may do another term anyway as he is in demand. This man has Jordanian citizenship and could return there if he gives up all political aspirations. He will only be 56 in May, and is quite too young to retire.

Israel was led to believe that they would receive a fair size of their old land back in the Balfour Declaration of 1917. Their high aspirations dwindled before their eyes but they accepted the token piece they were offered in the end. If Hamas is serious about wanting their own state, they could easily choose another site for their capital being that they have a great deal of land already. East Jerusalem is a subject that was to be discussed in peace talks that the EU seems to want decided before the discussion. Can it be that Hamas knows they can't come up with rational answers? The international community favors their Arab friends, owners of oil wells. What sort of community is it that cannot see the logic of east Jerusalem remaining a united section of the rest of Jerusalem?

Resource: http://news.yahoo.com/eu-says-israeli-settlements-worrying-192124301.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khaled_Mashal
Oregonian newspaper, 1/22/12; page A10, Hamas leader won't seek re-election by Fares Akram NY Times

January 25th Peace Meeting of Israel/Palestine May Be Last

2012-01-20T16:50:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
The "Palestinians", so called Arabs whose ancestors were originally in Palestine along with the Jews before 1948 and up to then, want all of Israel and the death of Jews, but are going through the motions of coming to a few peace talks with Israel as ordered by the United Nations.

A senior Palestinian official has been quoted as saying that there is to be only one more meeting on January 25th. Then either they will schedule meetings involving negotiations or decide it has been a failure.

Saturday was the day of a meeting between Saeb Muhammad Salih Erekat, former chief Jordanian- born Palestinian negotiator at Oslo Accords from 1995 to 2003 who resigned in protest from the PA but was later reinstated and now a member of the Israel-Fatah peace accords and Yitzhak Molcho, Israeli lawyer and chief negotiator for Israel of which representatives from Jordan and the Quartet (US, EU, UN and Russia) did not attend. What were they doing meeting on Shabbat? Maybe they were just talking. Hopefully they were alone.

The fact is that PA President Mahmoud Abbas is in the process of getting international help in putting pressure on Israel to freeze construction in the "settlements" (towns and cities) in Judea and Samaria and east Jerusalem. This building and the towns and cities are at the core of the Palestinian offensive stated a Palestinian official. They think they undermine the foundations of the two-state solution.

After reading Alan Dershowitz's 2005 "The Case For Peace; how the Arab-Israeli conflict can be resolved", I agree that this is a better plan than a one state solution where Israel would be swallowed up, but he presented his ideas before the present day situation of the Muslim Brotherhood's presence ,deadly threats and constant bombardment into this year of 2012, seven years after his book was published. It isn't that the settlements are the end-all to the problem. They are the result of the problem of the Muslims never making peace in the first place. The more they fight and bomb, all the more reason why Israel shouldn't continue with working on these landmarks. (I have a friend who said that everytime the Gazans bomb Israel, Israel should take another foot of land in Judea and Samaria.) Well, they haven't done that, but they are trying to keep up appearances in the towns that they have. The Palestinians want "settlements" to be settled on their side without any negotiations with Israel. They've been attacking Israelis since the birth of Israel in 1948 when there were no settlements to argue about.

Rumor is that the USA and some EU people were putting heavy pressure on Abbas to keep talking. The PA is arguing about the deadline not being in March, which is a date used by the Quartet. They're also saying that it's the Israelis who are not serious about going forward with peace talks and are using the coming general elections in Israel as a reason for stalling. I ask how Israel can move forward when the PA won't until Israel is forced to end control in the towns and cities in Judea and Samaria? They want the cart to pull the horse! To put it plainly, why should Israel give up towns and cities they developed on land they received after being attacked by many countries in which they came out the winner? Since when do winners lay down their arms and become losers? Attack Israel and you lose! Live in peace with Israel and you will be a winner. Plain and simple. That's what I would tell them.

Dershowitz's plan started with Israel withdrawing from all of the Gaza Strip which they did. It turned into a shooting ground making it easier to hit southern Israel, and this had been a withdrawal made in good faith as a step to peace.

Then Israel, seeing that the withdrawal from Gaza was successful (Ha ha) would "withdraw from nearly all of the "West Bank" a name I hate given by Jordan for Judea and Samaria, with territorial adjustments consistant with Security Council Resolution 242 and the existing realities on the ground." The realities on the ground are worse, far worse than they were in 2005. I'm wondering what this would get for Israel after the fiasco with Gaza. And there we are. Stuck.

However, others don't see it as I do. Jordan's King Adullah is behind the times and still is touting that Israel is practicing apartheid and he has the chutzpah to ask about democracy-he-a king! Some democracy that is!

Then Britain's Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg told Israel that the settlements are deliberate vandalism. I have no idea how he comes up with such adjectives that are completely off the subject. Does he know where he is right now? Somebody should buy that man a history book. This is the atmosphere that Israel is in where they are trying to make some sense out of facts. It's like being in Chelm, plus, it's one against the many all over again. I wonder if he knows about the British White Paper where Britain's original plan for the Jewish Home was to be the land of Judea and Samaria as well before they realized that they had also promised it to the Arabs and messed up the whole deal in the first place? It was another case of "Whoops, we need oil more than we need Jews!" Britain was spread so far all over the earth that they couldn't keep their deals straight with people.

Update: 1/25/12: The PLO refuses to continue with the talks after today's 5th meeting.
Arutz Sheva news@israelnationalnews.com
Resource: http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=253727
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saeb_Erekat
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yitzhak_Molcho
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/jordan-s-abdullah-israel-realizes-need-to-revive-mideast-peace-talks-immediately-1.407769
http://articles.cnn.com/2012-01-17/middleeast/world_meast_jordan-abdullah-obama-meeting_1_jordan-s-king-abdullah-peace-talks-israeli-negotiators?_s=PM:MIDDLEEAST
book: The Case for Peace by Alan Dershowitz

Divided Sexes on Buses in Israel Not Jewish Law

2012-01-19T18:01:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
Israel's greatest problem right now is one with Iran's threat of extinction. To live under such a black cloud as knowing that your neighbors are constantly planning your demise is harrowing. Israelis have already lived under chemical threats when everyone was issued gas masks and told how to seal a room for protection. Southern Israel has been living with bombardment of mortars, rockets and missles for years. It's taking its toll on some of the northern community, expecially the ultra orthodox, in my opinion.

They do not speak for the whole of Israel, but are mostly found in parts of Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria. They have started such things as overdoing expectations of behavior in order to be perfect, in my estimation. The idea that they must be perfect in order to attain the assistance of Ha Shem (G-d), I think is the cause of some of their latest actions. If only all of Israel would follow the Torah, they would be under G-d's protection. They are setting the example, but are doing more than Jewish Law expects.

I am speaking about such things as sitting in buses with separated genders. Men sitting in front, women in back and using the back door. Both Judaism and Islam pay particular attention to the sexual attraction issue and do their best to prevent it, in this case overzealously. Both religious groups have the women cover their hair with a scarf, and Jewish women might wear a wig, the style determined by the religious group. This is because men are attracted to a woman's hair, as I understand it, and thus a married woman covers her hair. It used to be that Jewish women living in a foreign country was the victim of rape by the landowner, who loved to take a girl just before her marriage. To make this advance unwanted, it became a custom for a woman to shave her head just before she married so that she would be ugly in the eyes of this landowner. Then the scarf was a necessity.

In 2010 this became an issue when it was found that the Haredi (ultra orthodox) population centers were using Mehadrin ( ultra kosher) bus lines where their laws could be enforced. These are buses, usually cheaper to use than the regular ones, who adhere to the expectations of this religious community where women dress modestly, do not carry radios with secular music, and have ads censored in the buses. There were 56 such buses in 28 cities. By 2011, when the government found out about it, the whole thing was abolished. Update from Wall Street Journal: 1/20/12 Evidently the secularism has been practiced for the past 14 years, getting more stringent. The government has given the buses a one year probation on a voluntary basis. .
Public Annoucement from Egged Bus : http://www.egged.co.il/eng/main.asp?lngCategoryID=4136

14.12.11 According to the High Court of Justice order (HCJ 746/07) that discussed the cancelation of gender-separation arrangement, every passenger may sit wherever he/she chooses (except seats designated for disabled persons). Harassing a passenger on this matter may constitute a criminal offense. This applies to all routes aside from those where seats are reserved in advance.

The Chief Sephardi Rabbi Shlomo Amar spoke about this after Hillary Clinton made the international newspapers admonishing Israel for such practices as men and women being segregated on a bus. He explained that this is not in Jewish law and is not a part of Israel's Jewish law. It was being done by certain groups on their own.

It's unfortunate to me that Hillary came along at the crux of this issue and it became international derogatory news for Israel. She compared this situation to the Jim Crow South of forcing Blacks to sit apart from whites. This is so different. It is the people themselves that wanted to sit this way. They weren't being forced. Any woman who rebelled at this could have left the Haradi group she was living with. If the bus stopped and I, a non Haradi woman, chose to board it, I would understand what I was getting into and would simply sit with the women. After all, I was not forced to board and did it out of expediency or the cheap fare, whichever came first. Then later I could contact my Rabbi and ask about it, being this is a situation not practiced from 1980 to end of 1985 when I lived in Israel.

I don't feel that anyone living in the states has to get all uptight about this. We're sitting in our homes in very safe conditions and have no idea of the stress that Israelis are living under. Israelis are most intelligent and have already taken care of this problem so that Hillary Clinton and others do not have to act on it or to give any lessons to anyone involved. Rabbi Shlomo already interceded, and that's as it should be. All of Israel's problems should be this easy to solve.

Resource: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=2086
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mehadrin_bus_lines
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Backchannels/2011/1205/Hillary-Clinton-compares-parts-of-Israel-to-Jim-Crow-south
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haredi_Judaism
http://kosherfood.about.com/od/glossaryofkosherterms/g/mehadrin.htm
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/top-israeli-rabbi-gender-segregated-buses-go-against-jewish-law-1.404200
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/israeli-female-soldier-accosted-for-rebuffing-haredi-bus-segregation-1.404158
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204368104577136253309226604.html
http://www.egged.co.il/eng/main.asp?lngCategoryID=4136

Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi Visits Egypt Espousing Genocide of Jews

2012-01-19T11:15:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
The mentor of the Muslim Brotherhood, Sunni Islamic scholar Dr. Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a man kept off of the US Terror list by his friend, the Emir of Qatar, has had a meeting with our USA administration. This 86 year old man is promoting the destruction of Israel and is one who wants to kill Jews with his bare hands from his position in a wheelchair. Washington approached him to moderate secret negotiations between the USA and the Taliban.

He is an Egyptian, but was kicked out by Mubarak as he was too extreme. His popularity is enhanced by his TV program from Qatar, al-Jazeera TV's Sharia and Life. He was promoting the end of Israel and the killing of Jews when Egypt was following the peace accord set by Sadat previously. Qaradawi found a welcomed home in Qatar, and has just gone back to Egypt and was warmly welcomed being the Muslim Brotherhood is now in power. He held a prayer meeting in the square for over 1 million adherants.

Qaradawi is turning the Arab Spring into a Caliphate Spring. He is not just interested in the deaths of Israeli Jews but Jews worldwide, according to his speeches. This is genocide that he is promoting. Yet, he is touted by our administration as a "moderate," even though he had touted the killing of American troops in Iraq in 2003. He is considered the most influencial Islamic religionist in the world.

The video below from the Radical Islam website took a long time to load, and I almost thought something was wrong, but it finally came into view. I had a feeling that the main religious leader talked about would be Qaradawi, and it was.

Resource: http://www.defenddemocracy.org/media-hit/obama-recruits-qaradawi/
Radical Islam site:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RL08EubD3bQ from Pat Robertson
http://www.radicalislam.org/videos/first-stop-egypt-plans-worldwide-islamic-super-state?utm_source=MadMimi&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Recent+Assassinations%3A+Work+of+a+Desperate+Iran%3F&utm_campaign=RI+Newsletter+59&utm_term=_22First+Stop+Egypt_22+Plans+for+Worldwide+Islamic+Super+State+
+Islamic+Super+State+
http://dailycaller.com/2011/02/18/yusuf-al-qaradawi-the-muslim-brotherhoods-spiritual-leader-returns-to-cairo/
http://www.onislam.net/english/shariah/contemporary-issues/interviews-reviews-and-events/451341-the-tahrir-square-sermon-of-sheikh-al-qaradawi.html?Events=

PA Killing Their Own People and Their Fatwa on Jews

2012-01-18T14:07:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
A PA religious leader, Mufti Muhammad Hussein , joins other Muslim religious leaders such as Qaradawi of Qatar in issuing a fatwa on Jews. He is saying that it is a religious Islamic goal and so they should murder Jews. He cited the Hadith and said, "The Hour of Resurrection will not come until you fight the Jews. The Jew will hide behind stone or trees. Then the stones or trees will call: O Muslim, servant of Allah (G-d) there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him." The moderator of the program where this was said, the 47th anniversary of the PA's Fatah faction, also told another Islamic belief--that the Jews are descendants of apes and pigs. A video of this program was made and was on youtube, but has been taken down.

In 2010, this same Hussein gave a sermon in Jerusalem at the Al Aqsa Mosque telling people that Jews are "enemies of Allah." It has been found that 73% of Palestinian Arabs believe the Hadith that Jews are to be murdered. This isn't a war over land. The moderator said it is a war of religion and faith.

We don't have anything in our philosophy to kill Muslims,. We've been trying for almost 64 years to convince them that we can live in peace in the same neighborhood. Perhaps what the Muslim leaders are afraid of is that they will see the freedom of speech and the Democratic values practiced in Israel and that this would give their people ideas.

Such a stupid statement in this day and age of being related to apes and pigs just shows how little the speaker knows about science and dna. He'd be surprised to know who his relatives were. That type of thinking dates his beliefs immensely-they come from the Dark Ages.

What a terrorist group Hamas is! Truly, they have also been terrorizing their own Arab people. One man tried to expose Hamas's behavior towards their own people by using them as human shields, which Israel has been trying to tell people. A man told about how some are tortured , abused and are not allowed freedom of speech, but is having a hard time getting the UN to pay attention. So Mahmud Abu Rahma was stabbed in the back, leg and shoulders for trying to get the truth out.

The UN has many resources in place supposedly to protect "Palestinians" but they do not pay attention to the violation of human rights of Hamas. Israel has told the UN many times of the military training sites in places close to neighborhoods and schools where they fire rockets at Israel. Live fire from training sites injure their own people. One man has lost an eye and children are often hurt. Beit Lahiya has a training site where an explosion took place on Sept 20, 2011 which threatens the lives of people there.. Such explosions are a common occurance in densely-populated areas where children are most often the victim.

If granted statehood, are the "Palestinians" prepared to create a democratic state where people have rights of freedom of speech? Or is it going to be another Syria where people are taken away and killed for speaking out? Why hasn't UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon done something about this? Syria is still on the UN membership in committees dealing with human rights! This is appalling!

I doubt if the terrorists are going to find any Jewish person hiding behind boulders, stones or trees in today's world. Civilians, who are men, women and children will be in bomb shelters in any attacks, but the rest of the population is a trained army, both men and women, ready at a moment's notice to protect their people. Jews love life and intend to live. Our mantra is L'Chaim! To Life! We don't have any such notions that if we die in battle we go to a heaven with 72 virgins at our disposal. So you can bet that our creative juices will be to work on staying alive.

Resource: http://unitedwithisrael.org/muslims-obligated-to-kill-jews.
UN watch-briefing@unwatch.org Gaza Activist Stabbed After Exposing Hamas Use of Human Shields

What Qatar's Qaradawi of Muslim Brotherhood Told Syria and Other Countries

2012-01-17T14:57:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
A problem exists in the Muslim world in Syria, which is supported by Iran, a Shi'a country. It's like reading about the Catholic-Protestant War in Ireland.    President Bashar al-Assad, the leader, is not about to let go of his realm in this Arab Spring. In holding onto his country, over 3,000  of his people, mostly Sunnis, were killed in their rebellion. Even the Arab League is apalled by this and have not been able to stop him. They entered the country wearing orange jackets and have the Arab League logo on their cars. They have been ineffectual in stopping deaths. Assad said he has been fighting against the Muslim Brotherhood, which is Sunni, since 1950 and said this a war between Islamism and Pan Arabism. He has warned the West against any intervention, which the UN and China have considered.

Sheikh Yousef al-Qaradawi, Muslim Brotherhood's top religious leader living in Qatar, told Syria's Assad that he and his politicians were heretical. He told Assad's soldiers that they are obligated to defect to the Free Syria Army. "If you want the welfare of your people and intend to go to paradise after death, join the Free Syria Army," he preached. He even had said that that it was permissible for the UN led intervention to take place. The Syrian Muslim Brotherhood said it was impressed with Turkey's governance and does not want to follow in Iran's footsteps.

If that was not enough advise, the Libyan government sent an Islamist militia leader to help the Free Syria Army with advise. Libya's Islamic fighting group has sent fighters to Syria.

Hamas in Gaza belongs to the Muslim Brotherhood, which is fighting Assad. What is this group to do when they have been supported by Assad and Iran? Their political bureau is even based in Damascus, Syria. They have worked on suppressing anti-Asad protests in Gaza but that didn't make Iran happy enough, who demand that pro-Assad rallies be staged in its place. So Hamas has been moving out of Damascus and is going into Egypt, Gaza, Sudan, Jordan and Qatar in breaking up their relationship with Assad of Syria.

At one point, Syria and Iran were buddies along with Turkey, who had joined the duo. Iran even produced a documentary showing the rise of the Muslim brotherhood as the fulfillment of their prophecy.  Now they see Hamas trying to leave Syria, which angers Iran. Therefore, Iran has threatened to end all their support for Hamas if it does, forcing Khaled Mashaal, chief of the Damascus office to stay with a reduced staff. He finally endorsed Assad in December because he had supported the Palestinian resistance and the Palestinian people in every way. That doesn't mean that he doesn't support democracy and "the rights of the peoples,' though, he clarified.

Hamas joins Israel in fearing Iran's nuclear ambitions.  One senior Hamas official privately hopes that Israel stops Iran from getting nuclear weapons. They're even thinking of not retaliating if Iran is attacked by Israel. A sad note is that the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group is still Iran's side-kick.

In September, Ahmadinejad said that the Assad regime should end its crackdown, knowing that a military solution is never right. He told him to make some reforms to end the crisis. Then Iran reached out to the national Coordination Committee, who are dead set against foreign intervention and they rejected Iran's help. Iran was trying to get Assad to deal with the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood. By October Iran tried to get the Muslim Brotherhood to support Assad, but was turned down.

Bahrain is a different story. Sheikh Qaradawi endorsed the Bahraini Royal Family. This is because the uprising there it is the Shiite population demanding change. Qaradawi said this is not a people's revolution here, only a sectarian one. He said that Iran and Hezbollah were causing the rebellion.

In Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafists, an even more extreme group, are the ruling party. The Salafists are outraged that the Brotherhood supported a Coptic Christian candidate over a Salafist. The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood argued with the Turkish PM Erdogan when he visited Cairo when he became too pushy. A leader of the Brotherhood, Essam el-Erian, said "We do not think he or Turkey should be leading the area or drawing up its future. Qaradawi complimented Erdogan's party as an "excellent" model that "won over secularism calmly."

Qaradawi calls on Muslims to fight on the side of Iran if it is attacked, even though he and the Muslim Brotherhood are   Sunni and Iran is 98% Shi'a. The reality is that the different groups of Islamist forces may compete to the point of killing each other in many causes, like Qaradawi calling Shiites "heretics," but will always be willing to join together against the infidel. No matter who is top dog, we know that heretics are Jews and Americans.

Resource: FrontPage, Cracks in the Islamist Bloc by Ryan Mauro
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15508630
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/syrian-protesters-welcome-arab-league-monitors-warn-of-danger-from-assad-forces/2012/01/17/gIQAO3ty5P_story.html
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/neighbors-muslim-brotherhood-discovers-the-u-s-1.407723

April 2012 Drill Called Off by Israel with USA

2012-01-17T12:53:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
Everyone has been worried about Iran's nuclear weapon program. The USA has been hesitant with the sanctions on Iran by penalizing their central bank which is meant to stop this development. The bill was passed but fixed so that nothing happened with it except in slow stages throughout a whole year. Several of Israel's leaders, such as Moshe Yaalon, said that the USA was "hesitant" about doing this, and Avigdor Lieberman felt the USA should "move from words to deeds". Israel feels that given another 6 months being free of penalities, Iran will be able to have a nuclear weapon program at a dangerous and irreversible level. It's too late then for any sanctions. Obama has given them too much time to work on it.

What is disappointing to Israel is that Washington hasn't done a thing since Iran captured the RQ-170 stealth drone on December 4th, even after Obama's demand on Dec. 12th. This has given Tehran ammunition to be demanding. They have circulated a new computer game called "Down the RQ-170." It's a game where players assemble the drone and then launch it for attacks on the USA.

Now Iran has started a 20% grade uranium enrichment at the underground Fordo facility near Qom which was the Jan. 9th news. Israel had warned the USA last November 17th and 22nd that as soon as the Fordo went on stream, Iran would hide its work in underground bunkers Barak told the USA that Israel could not abide with this development.

On January 3, General Ataollah Salehi, Iran's Army chief, said that the aircraft carrier USS Stennis and other ships would be barred from the Strait of Hormuz. None has tested this threat, so Iran is now boasting about their success.

This joint military exercise of the USA and Israel has been called off by Netanyahu. I note that the news comes after the USA sent a top General to Israel to calm them down about Iran's nuclear abilities. Of course Israel is more concerned about Iran's capabilities than the USA seems to be. If Iran gets atomic weapons, and Israel is fighting Lebanon's Hezbollah terrorists as well as Gaza's Hamas terrorists, these two groups are backed by Iran and will receive such weaponry. Syria has massive chemical weapons which could be used against Israel. Hezbollah terrorists are also there, and if Assad falls, which could be soon, such chemical and atomic weapons will be in their hands.

Iran's procurement of atomic weapons will set off an atomic arms race. The world will become a global nuclear jungle.

Who has any real plans to stop Iran? It appears that only Israel is taking the threat seriously. Iran is not a country like France or England or Canada. The leaders are filled with hatred for the West and for Jews in particular. They're immersed in Nazi literature that teaches this hatred. That's why, when a country gains such lethal power, the sane countries must come together and act on such a threat. This is not a time to think like Herbert Hoover and "not mix in," for at this rate there will soon come a day when all the science fiction of a holocaust war will come true. We have a very small window to stop this evil that is building in Iran.

Reference: http://www.debka.com/article/21656/
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57360246/israel-nuclear-iran-could-limit-military-action/

Who Killed Iran's Mustafa Ahmadi Roshan, a Nuclear Missile Scientist?

2012-01-16T12:08:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
The London Times has already reported that Israel's Mossad assassinated the Iranian nuclear scientist working on missile development at the Natanz Nuclear Center without Israel's comment about it, reports Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu. Israel has said that it knows nothing about it. The only truth here is that Israel, with 80% Jewish citizens, has received a fatwa from Iran's Ahmadinejad and religious leaders in Gaza well as Qatar's religious leader, Qaradawi, who call for the genocide of Jews! The PA has now joined Iran in presesnting the killing of Jews by Muslims as their religious Islamic goal. So if anyone has a reason to stop the development of Iran's nuclear power, Israel is high on the list.

There are others that are alarmed by their speed in developing nuclear power. The USA is #2 on the list, for they have also been threatened by Iran, and now have a situation in the Strait of Hormuz that might lead to further problems. The USA has highly skilled computer techs who could create viruses. The European Union is also alarmed at this point, mainly over the Strait of Hormuz and receiving their oil shipments. Nobody is in favor of Iran developing a nuclear bomb.

In fact, the USA is so alarmed, that she sent General Martin Dempsey to calm down Israel. He is the head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff and went to Israel on Thursday to change what they assume is Israel's increasing readiness to attack Iran. The question is asked as why a highly regarded General and why not the Ambassador who is already there? Generals give orders. Ambassadors can palaver. Israel is a friend, not an underling in his army. She should be treated like a valued friend. Most of the world is frightened by Iran getting an A bomb and are expecting Israel to bail them out by hitting their nuclear base; like expecting Superman to come to the rescue, whether Israel feels they are up to this hit or not. Just because they succeeded once in Iraq doesn't mean this situation is the same.

The London Times reported by blaming the Mossad, and seemed to know so much about it and the movements of this scientist, Mustafa Ahmadi Roshan, that the reporters must have been right there watching it all.

The best thing that can happen is if Iran's continued nuclear development is highjacked somehow either by the viruses in their computers or by hit men doing in the nuclear scientists creating deadly bombs and weapons. Iran has developed into an evil empire wanting to kill innocent people. How can we not try to stop them from their goals?

The only other choice for Israel is to wait and be hit with a nuclear bomb! When someone tells you that they want you dead and send hit men out to do the job, you don't continue to eat your porridge and read your paper. Also, one thing about Islam, they have the reputation for warning people first before they kill you in order to give you a chance to either convert to Islam or whatever. The thing is-they usually mean what they say. We can't take them as just a big bad bluff!

Resource: Arutz Sheva newspaper; PA official publicly calls for genocide of Jews.
The London Times-as reported by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu: Expose: Mossad worked for months to kill Iranian nuke scientist.
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/282412/20120116/iran-nuclear-weapons-oil-strait-hormuz.htm

Terrific Lebanon Flash Mob Dancing

2012-01-12T10:30:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
Now I know why King Solomon was friendly with his northern neighbor, Lebanon, land of Cedar trees. They also must have had wonderful dancers for entertainment. I just watched the youtube presentation listed below of their dancing in an airport in flash mob dancing and was really enjoying it. I loved the tempo and the steps of the dancers. It was terrific! King Solomon was known for his wisdom. He had a good deal going with Lebanon. He bought cedar wood and they had an income. It was a great trade. They also enjoyed peace!

It's just so sad that terrorists have taken over so much of Lebanon and are threatening Israel all the time. Gone are the days of Major Sa'd Haddad who used to patrol the border and help keep Israel safe. He and his Christian Maronite Phalange militia were remarkable. That is a tiny country where the ruling party had been Christian but were in the minority, and it didn't work out. Bachir Gemayel, 35 year old good looking member of the Christian Phalange Party and newly elected president on August 23, 1982 was assassinated on September 14, 1982 in a bomb attack that also took out others in Beirut. The PLO had taken over southern Lebanon and used it as they are Gaza today, a staging ground for attacks. At the time I was living in Safed, very close to the border and saw some of his group in our restaurants on the R&R time and was so grateful to them for their protection. I was there in 1982 when Israel went in to stop the PLO, but the job had been turned over to Haddad and it was botched and turned into something unworthy of them.

We even used to have ancient Jewish communities living in Lebanon. Beirut was a center, and even longer ago there were communities in Tripoli, Tyre and Sidon. Their occupations were in commerce, as most of our past ancestors were engaged in this.

In 1948 Lebanese forces invaded Israel and Jews living in Lebanon had some discriminatory regulations put on them which were later removed. after the fighting stopped. In 1944 there were 6,261 Jews living in Lebanon. In 1948 Jews fled to Lebanon from Syria and by 1964 there were 5 to 7,000 Jews there. After 1967 the communities became almost extinct. By 1975 there were 1,000 Jews there during their Civil War and by 1990 there were less than 100 remaining. I'd be surprised if any lived there today.

We can't forget that terrorism in Lebanon took the lives of 241 marines in Beirut on October 23, 2008, either. They weren't there to assist Israel in any way, but the USA had a base there. The Islamic Jihad terrorists, the same ones who attack Israel, were responsible for this attack. Today's Lebanese terrorists are Hezbollah, supported financially and politically by Iran and Syria. They took over Lebanon. after 1982.

Gosh, it would be so nice if Lebanon and Israel would make peace. I could see dance programs being shared between the two states. Israel has been involved in the European Music Festival where all the countries compete for the best song, etc. I'd love to see something like that in dancing where the Middle East could strut their stuff.

There's so much culture being wasted. I grew up practicing on the piano and remember one of my favorite pieces, 'In a Persian Market". Persia, or Iran today has a lot to offer other than a madman at the helm who wants to destroy Israel and the United States. This brings to mind the news today of another Atomic scientist being the object of a hit. Israel is being blamed, but Ahmadinejad is forgetting that there were a lot of Iranians demonstrating outside against his regime. Perhaps they don't want to be involved in an atomic battle. Israel is only one of several that want to stop this madman from getting atomic weapons.

Reference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEp29GS1VXI&feature=share WATCH THIS ONE
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/terror.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Beirut_barracks_bombing
http://www.meforum.org/352/israels-south-lebanon-imbroglio excellent
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachir_Gemayel
Nathan Fendrich for heads up on the dance video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2lANtTxKYw In a Persian Market-beautiful !

Brain Washing by Palestinian's PA TV

2012-01-11T10:30:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
Arabs living in Gaza, Judea and Samaria as well as all the camps in surrounding areas will never know the facts about their history due to their Palestinian Authority TV. They keep brain-washing their followers in denying that there was ever an Israel or their right to exist today. Their whole argument is that Israel does not have a right to exist and the PA has no intentions of coming to a peace agreement. Right now they are just going through the motions in Jordan in order to pacify the UN and Jordan, who is hosting peace talks.

One way they brain-wash is with repetative songs of music videos. One such song is "On the way to Jerusalem", broadcast at least 7 times and identifies numerous cities all over Israel as being "Palestinian."

First of all, the cities are in Israel. Second, there never was a Palestine! Palestine was simply land that had been in the Jewish kingdoms of Judea and Israel and Samaria that had been renamed by the Romans around 135 CE after they had attacked and taken over Jerusalem in 70 CE. As for a country of Palestine, it never happened. Their premise is wrong to start with.

They sing: "Jaffa, Acre, Haifa, and Nazareth are ours. Muhammad, sing about the Galilee and the Golan (Heights). Jaffa, Acre, Haifa and Nazareth are ours.....From Bethlehem to Jenin is Palestinian, Ramle, Lod and Sakhnin are Palestinian. Nowhere is more beautiful than Jerusalem....From Safed to Al-Badhan (near Nablus) is Palestinian, Tiberias and Ashkelon are Palestinian."

How can we deal with such people in peace talks when they stand for such lies? We're palavering with Arabs right now in Jordan who are not working with a full deck. The Arabs actually are trying to gain full recognition as a state through the UN, which is topheavy with Muslim allies. They're resisting direct negotiations with Israel by crying that the environment is not condusive with Israel building in the "settlements," their terminology for towns and cities. They demand that before they talk they want Israel to freeze all "settlement" activitiy. This is putting the cart before the horse. Since they want the whole enchillada, they can't stand seeing what is Israeli property becoming even more secure with continued upgrades.

After 60 years of trying to deal with a people who won't come to peace with them, Israel most likely feels that it'll take another 100 years to come to fruition, so why not make repairs now? With such brain-washing going on, which is just one of many things that they do to show a non-compliance, who can take them seriously? Their 2nd meeting was held Monday, the 9th of January with the next one to be on the 26th. The more Abbas of the PA goes to the UN to get their own way, the more Israel will find reasons to put people to work on construction.

Resource: http://palwatch.org/site/modules/print/preview.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=6095&section=all
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/10/world/middleeast/israelis-and-palestinians-discuss-peace-talks-in-jordan.html
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/jordan-s-abdullah-talks-mideast-peace-process-with-abbas-blair-1.406569
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4173563,00.html

Israel's Future War Outlook

2012-01-10T16:26:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
Israel does not think war will erupt this year, but unless the Moshiach comes before 2017, thinks it could happen by then. With the ability of the Palestinians to procure arms, they are looking at a prospect of 15,000 rockets and missiles in a war with Iran-backed Hezbollah and Syria, and those are not all home-made short ranged rockets that Ron Paul scoffs at.

Meanwhile, Israel is suffering under the same economics as the USA and has also had to cut its defense budget for 2012. They had had social protests regarding the need for housing, so their defense plans for 2012-2017 needed alterations and cuts.

If this horrible possibility comes about, it will cause much devastation and many casualites. They figure that 5,500 rockets will have a long range over 70 km or at the minimum, 43.50 miles. Israel is only 290 miles long (470 km) and at the widest width is only 85 miles (135 km). It has had a waistline of only about 6 miles in width, and the joke was that if you poked your head out of the train window it would be in Judea.

The weaponry of the Arabs is increasing in every way. Syria, Hezbollah and Iran will have close to 1,000 rockets with accuracy in their aim. However, they have never been interested in who they kill; they just hope to do so to a civilian district. Already Hezbollah has an arsenal of about 4,000 Russian-made anti-tank missiles with 11,500 in Syria and hundreds in Gaza. People like Ron Paul and his group just think they lob over some hand-made weak rocket and that Israel has no reason to have the USA as a friend.

With the cut in defense spending, this may mean that Israel cannot get more Iron Dome batteries for protection from short-range missiles on the borders or David's sling to combat medium-range rockets and Arrow 2 and 3 for long-range ballistic missiles.

Israel's defense budget makes up 14% of the state's annual budget. In 1992 it was 24%.

In 2010 the USA was the #1 spender of defense of $687,105,000,000 which was 4.7% of their GDP. . Iran's website announced that they are cutting out $450 billion this year. Israel was listed as the 18th high spender with $13,001,000,000 which was 6.3% of their GDP, and that was much higher than other countries.

Of course Israel lives under the threat of an atomic rocket shot from Iran as they have stepped up their nuclear goals way over the top needed for medical needs. Everyone is aware of this, but they continue the farce of saying that they're not going to make such things.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has had close relations with the USA since 1967 and have had cooperation in development of defense. They have united on the F-151 jet, THEL laser defense system and the Arrow missile defense system.

Ehud Barak, former 10th Prime Minister and now Minister of Defense in Israel, who is facing his 70th birthday in February, just says good things about the relationship with Obama. Ehud, a true politician, always sees the glass being half-full. He was formerly a member of the Labor Party and has recently created a new one called Independence. Netanyahu, the Prime Minister today, who will be 63, is a Likud Party member. In Israel the politicians find they have to work with opposing members of other parties and do so far more than they do in the USA of late. Sadly, the only people they simply cannot sit down and talk with have been the Palestinians who refuse to do so.

Israel has 14 political parties that fill the 120 seats in the Knesset. This includes some Arab parties as well. For a little tiny state smaller than a Texas ranch and only about 7 million people, that's a lot to wade through. We can hardly stand a 2 party system, but then we don't form coalitions. Israelis have to work together when it comes to life and death situations regarding defense.

Reference: http://www.jpost.com/LandedPages/PrintArticle.aspx?id=252034#
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Facts+About+Israel/Israel+in+Brief/ISRAEL+IN+BRIEF.htm?DisplayMode=print
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_expenditures
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_Defense_Forces
http://www.jewishjournal.com/nation/article/israels_barak_boosts_obama_amid_us_threats_on_iran_2011122
http://www.chacha.com/question/what-is-the-name-of-ehud-barak%27s-new-party
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Netanyahu
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_parties_in_Israel

Ron Paul Favors Cutting Ties With Israel

2012-01-10T10:57:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
On an Iranian state TV interview, Ron Paul, fast becoming a contender in the Republican race for president and a 76 year old geezer, let it be known to Jews that he has no idea of what he's talking about when it comes to Israel and Gaza and the Arabs involved in today's situation.

I don't believe he has actually ever visited Israel to attain facts after listening to the interview below. He states that Gaza is an atrocious tragedy and massacre. Pictures are on the web showing the bustling full open air markets there as well as other shots of a beautiful land. He think that because they make home-made bombs shows how little the balance is of power. He doesn't really gather information to know that they are also using sophisticated weaponry with long distance reaches.

He stated that 5 million Palestinians are "trapped" in Gaza. The CIA information shows that there are 1,657,155 Palestinian Arabs living in Gaza. That's a big stretch of the truth. Doesn't he realize that there are already 21 Arab states in the land? It's too bad that some of them, who have gigantic spaces of land similar to Texas can't offer to take them out of their "misery." He seems to forget Bush's remark that Israel isn't even as big as some Texas ranches!

He can't see why Israel doesn't talk to the Arab League to solve their problem and thinks it's because the USA just always backs them anyway, so why bother. This just leaves me flabbergasted! The Arab League is anxious to dispose of Israel any way they can. They haven't learned to accept a stranger in their midst, even a cousin, and Jews and Arabs are supposed to be sharing a few segments of their genes as 1,000th cousins 100 times removed!

He favors cutting relations with Israel! His idea of being president is changing the USA foreign policy. He just wants the USA to mind its own business and stay out of everything.

I can see that young people are clamoring after Ron Paul. Of course they don't want to have to go into wars that seem to be so disconnected to the threats of the USA. I have news for them. In this case, an enemy of Israel will also put a hit on the USA not because they have been friends, but because they share the same values, which our enemies do not share. Israel may be hit first, but the USA had better prepare, for they are the next target.

Paul is becoming the rising star and was number 2 in the Iowa and New Hampshire race and favored in other places as well. This is very disturbing to me as what he is doing vocally and would in practice, throw Israel under the bus.

The fact that America backed Israel's existence in 1948 doesn't matter a hoot to him. He wouldn't have done it. The fact that morally it is a great good deed on America's part to have backed Israel seems to curdle his heart. Israel has never needed one soldier in Israel to help them. This little country has handled it's battles themselves against odds that Paul couldn't imagine. What Israel has needed the USA for is financial assistance to buy arms to protect themselves, and they have paid the USA back for this assistance. In fact, its been a two way street. Israel has needed at least this one friend in a world of anti-semitism, demonstrated at the UN, and now Paul has shown that he certainly is not one of them.

The fact that people do go for his philosophy is most scary to me. Friendship and morality are unimportant to so many of these voters. They're all becoming the isolationists that Ron Paul preaches. The problem here is that some of his ideas hold merit. The whole package of Ron Paul, however, is appalling! He's really a Libertarian, not a Republican.

I saw Jay Leno last night whose best part of his show was a segment with a briliant little boy, Jack Taylor, who was a 2nd grader. He analyzed the 6 Republican contenders and gave his opinion with a chart as to how he graded them. Newt Gingrich was his favorite, and his thoughts on Paul were precious. Paul got a zero! My sentiments exactly. I think this little boy is bound to be a future political analyst! As a retired teacher who has spent many years teaching 2nd graders, I was awed by his vocabulary and thoughts. Cudos to his parents!

One thing this child notices was Paul's age. I'm one year older than Paul, and I know I'm not physically capable of being a president. I've noticed many times that Paul doesn't remember things he had said, which were things I had carefully noted as they were in complete opposition to my feelings. He keeps doing that. He blames his staff and in his laxity in checking over things. Doesn't this country ever pay attention to a person they are prepared to give the highest job in the land ? The wrong man can bring down the country! McCain, born August 29, 1936, was dropped out because he was too old, and Paul, born August 20, 1935, is even older.

Resource: http://blog.standforisrael.org/articles/ron-paul-gaza-is-like-a-concentration-camp?s_src=SFIEN&s_subsrc=EN11201XXEXXA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Paul
http://www.indexmundi.com/gaza_strip/demographics_profile.html from CIA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaza_Strip
http://www.nbc.com/the-tonight-show/video/jack-decision-2012-part-1-1-9
recent-12/1377821recenthttp://www.nbc.com/the-tonight-show/video/jack-decision-2012-part-1-1-9-12/1377821recenthttp://www.nbc.com/the-tonight-show/video/jack-decision-2012-part-2-1912/1377820/
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/01/10/EDD11MLS33.DTL&feed=rss.opinion

Aparteid Practiced by Arab States Against Palestinian Arabs

2012-01-09T13:32:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
Some 300,000 Palestinian refugees live in Lebanon in UNRWA camps. They are there because their country wanted to keep them in this predicament in a chess game against Israel. They've been there for over 60 years. They live as a people without any citizenship in any country. It started in 1948 when Israel was announced statehood and Arab leaders of surrounding countries told them to leave their homes since they all were going to attack Israel. When the dust settled these Arabs could move into Jewish homes and upgrade themselves. The dust settled but the Jews won and so the next advice was from these same leaders; go into camps. It's their next ammunition against Jews.

In 1959 the Arab League made a resolution of this to keep them in camps and how they were to be treated. They realize too late that they have no rights, no citizenship, no chance for jobs. They're on the dole from UNRWA. Their numbers have grown immensely though they can't get health insurance such as citizens in Lebanon have. In 1950 there were 914,000 displaced persons. By 2009 the number was 4.6 million. There are 59 such camps found in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Judea and Samaria and even in Gaza, all run by UNWRA.

This is the same story in how they are being treated in Syria and Egypt. Those Palestinian Arabs that did not flee at the onset of the 1948 war but stayed are enjoying a democratic life as Israeli citizens. There are 1.4 million of them. In this group one finds Christian Arabs as well as Beduins.

Occasionally one hears about traitors against Israel who are working with Hamas, but not often. One such group I've heard about in Portland has been the DAM hip-hop trio who came here singing about how bad Israel was. Perhaps they'd like to trade places with the people on the video below living in a camp in Lebanon. It was Qatar who sponsored an Arabic teacher who was the one who brought this group into Lincoln High for a little brain-washing. Their repertoire did not include a lot of English sung songs; and Arabic wasn't understood, but some students left saying how they hated Israel after listening to them.

"The UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) defines a Palestine refugee as: "Palestine refugees are persons whose normal place of residence was Palestine between June 1946 and May 1948, who lost both their homes and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War." They neglected to be specific about how they came to lose their homes and that Jews had begged them to not leave. It's quite a lesson for the greedy. By coveting what belonged to their Jewish neighbors, they lost their own homes forever, for the people in the camps are most likely the descendants of the original population that left. How long is going to go on?

Many of the people living in Qatar are not native to the tiny state. They have brought in many workers from surrounding states. Wouldn't they like to take in some of these Arab Palestinians and let them become Qataris?

It isn't Israel that is practicing Aparteid like the enemies of Israel keep telling people. It's they themselves that do it on purpose to hold against Israel's head as something to complain about. As PT Barnam always said, "There's a sucker born every minute," and only anti-semitic suckers would believe such a thing in the first place.

Resource: from Stand With Us: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlrYVB8XzQQ&feature=youtu.be&mid=575494
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestine_refugee_camps
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There's_a_sucker_born_every_minute

Ahmadinejad's Best Buddy, Venezuela's Hugo Chavez

2012-01-09T10:22:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
Iran has started uranium enrichment in an underground site called Fordow, safe from airstrikes. They have stated that they will close the Strait of Hormuz if their petroleum exports are blocked. Their reaction is not to allow a drop of oil to pass through it, either. Our American sanctions won't kick in for 6 months. Right now there are ill feelings between the West and Iran over their nuclear goals.

While this challenge at the OK corral is going on, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has begun a 4-nation Latin American tour. He will visit Venezuela for the 5th time as well as fitting in visits to Nicaragua, Cuba and Ecuador. Why the interest in Venezuela? It's so close to the USA, for one reason.

We know that Ahmadinejad has it in for Jews, and wants to destroy Israel, take it over for the Muslims, and while he's at it, kill as many Jews as he can. Venezuela has 12,000 Jews out of a population of 29,044,000, or 1% of their population. Ahmadinejad has kinship with Hugo Chavez, the present President/Dictator, as he also is terribly anti-semitic and has caused riots and killings against Jews. Chavez works with terrorist groups like FARC, and has aligned himself with Libya and Syria as well as Iran. He supports Hizbollah (Iran backed) and defends Iran's right to pursue nuclear technology, and is even willing to finance it, so that may be one reason that Ahmadinejad is visiting again.

Before WWII when Nazis were out to kill Jews, German Jews tried to flee to other countries, but found that they couldn't get into any South American country because they weren't baptized Christians. However, there were Jews already living in Venezuela who first came in the 17th century and were called Marranos, or baptized Jews from the Inquisition days after 1492, when Jews had to become baptized or practice in secret. By 1850 there was a Jewish establishment. In the 1920's and 30's, Jews entered the country from North Africa and Eastern Europe, then from central Europe due to anti-semitism that had started up there. After 1934 Venezuela put on restrictions. 1939 Nazi Germany was in power and that caused more anti-semitism in the country. By 1950 there were 6,000 Jews living there. After the Six Day War of 1967 immigrants from Morocco came soaring the population to 45,000.

Hugo Chavez came into power and one-fifth immigrated to other places. He has an obsession against Jews and their supposed power, especially Jews in his country. He brought in much anti-semitism and attacks on Jews and Jewish sites such as synaogues. By November 2010 half of the Jews left as Chavez was the official anti-semitic leader. He won the presidency again in December 1998 and acts more like a dictator. He calls the USA the nastiest country in the world.

Venezuela has large amounts of oil and say they have 100 billion barrels of reserve, the largest of any country in the Western hemisphere. Their oil revenues make at least $250 million daily. So when we see that Ahmadinejad is going to Venezuela, it isn't to see the sites, unless they are oil fields. Both presidents love to read "Protocals of the Elders of Zion", old Nazi anti semitic literature made up of complete lies. It looks like Ahmadinejad has a partner in crime.

Reference: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/jewpop.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Venezuela
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/article/hugo-chavezs-jewish-problem/
Oregonian newspaper, page A3, Iran says new site handles nuke work, South America Trip
http://www.jpost.com/

Differences Between 21 Arab Nations and 1 Israel

2012-01-08T20:56:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
By 1300 BCE, 2,000 years before Islam was created by Mohammed, Israel became a Jewish nation.
"Israel is the very embodiment of Jewish continuity: It is the only nation on earth that inhabits the same land, bears the same name, speaks the same language, and worships the same God that it did 3,000 years ago. You dig the soil and you find pottery from Davidic times, coins from Bar Kokhba, and 2,000-year-old scrolls written in a script remarkably like the one that today advertises ice cream at the corner candy store."
Palestinian Arabs have been actively trying to delete any evidence of Jews ever living in the land as they have been at war with Israel from Gaza and possibly again now from Judea and Samaria.

Arab countries are mostly monarchies though 7 are Republics, 2 are Military Regimes, Libya was a dictatorship, and then there are the emirates. What Iraq will be is questionable. Israel is the only Democracy.
Twenty-one separate countries make up the Arab world in the Middle East. Let's look at one:

Qatar                        11,437 square km and 769,152 population    $15.10 billion GDP

Israel                         20,770 square km and 5,938.09 population:    $18,000 billion GDP

21 Arab Countries
Total                        13,486,861 square km and 292,400,267 population $1,195.49 billion GDP

Many of the 21 nations have an abundance of oil that they use for their revenue. Israel has had none, but are beginning to find deposits.

Both believe in one G-d, but that G-d seems to give different messages along with the similar ones, causing Muslims following Qatar's religious leader, Qaradawai and others like him to want to drive Israel into the sea. Israel just wants to live and let live. Moses was the leader of Jews around 1300 BCE while Mohammad was the creator of Islam. around 630 CE. Both came from Abraham but from different mothers. Israel has over 1 million Arabs living as citizens in their population, but the Arab countries do not have Jews today in their population. When there were Jews living in their country before 1948, they were 2nd class citizens only. The future state of Palestine is to have no Jews at all, even though many Jews are living in Judea and Samaria right now. This is one of the problems between Israel and the PA.
As for Jerusalem, "In the Jewish Bible, Jerusalem is mentioned over 669 times and Zion (which usually means Jerusalem, sometimes the Land of Israel) 154 times, or 823 times. The Christian Bible mentions Jerusalem 154 times and Zion 7 times. Jerusalem is not mentioned once in the Koran. Jerusalem is also not mentioned in the Palestinian Covenant. " Jerusalem is central to Judaism, and not important at all in Islam. The only main reference they have to it is that Mohammed rose to the heavens while on his white horse in Jerusalem, but is not in the Koran. The most wonderful thing that happened out of the terrible 1967 Six Day War was that Israel was then in a postion to liberate East Jerusalem from Jordan and unite the city once again.

During 1940's through 1950's nearly ALL the Jews had to flee from Arab countries to avoid persecution and pogroms. The number of Jewish refugees from Arab countries is estimated to be a million. This number is greater than the number of Arab refugees who left Israel in 1948, estimated as 343,000 (see Peters' book cited below). Arabs who left at the advice of their leaders are still living in camps supported through the UN and are the longest living group of displaced people in the world doing this. Jews, who were considered dhminnis (2nd class citizens) living in Arab countries moved to Israel and found housing and work. None are in any camps. It turned out to be a wonderful way to unite Ashkenazie and Sephardi and Mizrachi Jews as they intermarried.

Resource: http://www.science.co.il/arab-israeli-conflict.asp
Charles Krauhammer in 1998's quote.

Can Pashtun Tribe of Afghanistan Have Jewish Roots? What DNA Says

2012-01-07T20:52:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
Israel is planning to finance a rare genetic study to see if there is a link between the lost tribes of Israel and the Pashtun tribe who has become the Taliban in Afghanistan. Shalva Weil, anthropologist is a senior researcher at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and tells us this. However, interest in this is lessening. The Pashtuns are not interested in it, and Israelis are also losing interest.

The theory of Pashtun descent from Israelites is being studied by Navras Aafreedi and Shahnaz Ali of India. They tell us that the "Pathans, or Pashtuns, are the only ones in the world possibly descended from the lost tribes of Israel. The evidence is mentioned from the 10th century to today, written by Jewish, Christian and Muslim writers, both religious and secularists. A Muslim, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, wrote a book titled "Jesus in India" in which says that Afghans, Pashtuns and Pathans are descended from the Tribes of Israel. His proof is that Kish had 5 sons, of which one was Irmia Jeremia,. Afghana had descended from him. Qais Abdur Rasheed was a descendant of King Saul whose original name was Kish. He had met Muhammad and became Muslim. All of the tribes in Afghanistan are descendants of him.

It all started with Jacob who was renamed as "Israel." His first son was Joseph from Rachel, who had 2 sons, Ephraim and Menashe. Through Jacob's 2 wives and 2 concubines, he also had Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Naphitali, Gad, Asher, and Joseph's full brother, Benjamin. When land was divided between the tribes, Levi was to be a tribe of teachers and were given no land, but Ephraim and Menashe got shares. All should have the same Ydna. Through time, there will be mutations, but scientists should be able to connect them to the present descendants. The Telegraph comments that they may be from the tribe of Ephriam, captured and taken away in around 700 BCE.

The Pashtuns or Pathans, as they are called, live in Northern Pakistan and Afghanistan. They are made up of 60 Pushto-speaking tribes numbering 8 million in Afghanistan and 10 million in Pakistan. If they are the remnant of 10 Tribes, they seem to have multiplied very well without suffering from any discrimination such as the tribes of Judea and Israel did.

The 2nd President of Israel, Itzhak Ben-Zvi wrote "The Exiled and the Redeemed" in 1957. He stated that Hebrew migrations into Afghanistan began with a few exiles from Samaria transplanted there by the King of Assyria, Shalmaneser, in 719 BC. There are references in the "Book of Esther" to the 127 dominions of King Ahasuerus of Persia, and that eastern Afghanistan could have been one of them. Though they are Muslim today, they still have the tradition of descending from the 10 Tribes. " Josephus, the Jewish-Roman historian of the first century CE, describes Israelite Tribes living beyond the Euphrates river in inaccessible lands to the East."

"A genetic study concluded from Y-chromosome analysis (male line) that Samaritans descend from the Israelites (including Kohanim, or priests), and mitochondrial DNA (female line) analysis shows descent from Assyrians and other foreign women, effectively validating both local and foreign origins for the Samaritans." Judea and Samaria lie in what Jordanians have named as "The West Bank", being it is land west of the Jordan River.

Afghan tribes are Muslim but have biblical names that are seen in the Torah. A variation of DNA between Afghans and Jewish groups of Iranians, Arabs, Iraqis and even Ashkenazi is seen as mingling their DNA with local non semitic groups of peoples.

Dr. Aafreedi, Indian historian, did a genetic study on the Afridi clan of Pashtuns in Malihabad, India. It was found that 650 out of the 1,500 members had dna similar to genetic dna found in Jews. That's less than half of the members were connected to Jews. The Ydna haplogroup G2C has been found in 7% of Ashkenazi Jews and in the Pashuns. Tudor Pafitt also did tests on Pashuns in India.

Research shows a relationship between Afghan (Pashun) and Jewish (Ashkenazi, Sephardic, Mizrahi) DNA and also that Afghan DNA is 2nd closest (68.1) to Ashkenazi DNA after Irani and Iraq Jews (67.9). Most of this research used Yusufzai, Afridi or Khattak samples from Pakistan and India. Scientists can draw inferences about Afghan DNA in general from this.

Rare genetic disease shows a common origin. Inclusion body myopathy has been found among Afghans (Pashtuns), Iranian Jews and Ashkenazis. This indicates a common founder mutation. This is a disease in which muscular weakness is a rare genetic disorder which is localized to Jewish populations. Most known patients are Iranian Jews, with a few originating from Pashtuns of Afghanistan. The high frequency is due to a founder mutation (GNE, M712T) from Nature Genet 29:83-87, 2001. Another genetic disease common to both Pashtuns and Jews is the disease Glucose 6 Phosphate Dehydrogenase deficiency. "G6PDH is common to Jews from Kurdistan, Iraq, Iran, Yemen and in Afghans/Pashtuns."

After over 3,000 years, we see the irony that Pathans are the ones who would reject Israel most ferociously. They have said that they want to be the ones doing the test, or a 3rd party. Probably most Jews would scream, "Oy vey" at the discovery as well. When you think about it, though, the 10 Lost Tribes had to go somewhere, but not too far. This group has the oral history of the connection, and DNA is showing that they indeed have a connection to Jews. Israelis are saying, Oy, vah, ah, voy! Such cousins!

Resource: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_Pashtun_descent_from_Israelites
http://www.yespakistan.com/hdf/Mardan/pathans.asp
http://www.cohen-levi.org/the_tribe/tribes_of_israel.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Lost_Tribes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samaria
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/6967224/Taliban-may-be-descended-from-Jews.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haplogroup_G2c_(Y-DNA)
http://www.councilforresponsiblegenetics.org/GeneWatch/GeneWatchPage.aspx?pageId=237 Most interesting

Have Jews Lived in Pakistan?

2012-01-06T15:06:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
In the days of Alexander the Great, the Greeks camped out in Sindh, near today's city of Karachi, and prepared their fleet for Babylonia.

Pakistan was created from the fighting between Muslims and Hindus in India. A lot of Muslims finally moved out into their own state called Pakistan. In the 1960's I met a PhD from U of Oregon who was a molecular biologist from India that was Muslim, and he told me about raids from Hindus on their compound. I believe he was very glad to be in Eugene. Dr. Asad Ahmed told me that he had an uncle that was Jewish.

Pakistan had been created out of the East and West portions of British India and was established 14 August 1947. By 1956 they declared it an Islamic Republic and was ruled from 1972-1977 by Zulfikar Bhutto. In 2008 Asif ali Zardari became President. He was the husband of Benazir Bhutto, who had been Prime Minister two times previously Zardari took over from Pervez Musharraf. Pervez Musharraf, born 1943 was chief of the army and took power ousting PM Nawaz Sharif and took over. He promised democracy, law and order. Ten years later he had to resign. Now he lives in London, but had allied Pakistan with the USA and was against the Taliban after our 9/11 attack in New York.

He has been planning to establish ties with Israel, and has even wanted to be the mediator between the Palestinians and Israelis. The problem is that the Pakistanis are on the side of the Palestinians, being both are Muslims. However, he says he now realizes that Israel is a fait accompli and he is a realist. He sees a benefit for Pakistan from a good relationship.

Pakistan has the 2nd highest Muslim population in the world with 172,800,000 of which 97% are Muslims that are Sunni/Shi'a. It is an Islamic state. Even so, in 1947 there were about 1,500 Jews living there that were tradesmen, artisans, poets, philosophers and civil servants. Many moved to Israel after May 1948 as there has always been anti-semitism in the land, but then it became anti-Israel quickly.

In 1881 there were 153 Jews living in the Sindh province, and by the early 1900's there were 1,000 living in Karachi. In 1919 there were 650. Peshanoar was home to a smaller group. Most were Baghdadi Jews. Bukhareans and Mizrahi Jews were from Central Asia, Iran and Afghanistan. Bene Israel Jews were from India and lived in Karachi. I had met some of these Bene Israel Jews in Israel, and the gal I had met was absolutely beautiful.

Karachi was the capital from 1947 to about 1958, but then with the influx of Indian Muslims, Islamabad was chosen.

The reasoning to get closer to Israel for one is the connection Israel has with India. They are friendly. He feels that Israel influences many against Pakistan. In the meantime, Taliban terrorists executed 15 security soldiers by shooting that had been kidnapped and dumped on a hilltop in NW Pakistan on Thursday. This was a retaliation killing of a militant commander by government forces. They did that after promising not to attack the Pakistani military.

Once can remember that Osama bin Laden was captured in Abbottabad, Pakistan on May 1, 2011. The president hadn't seemed to be very cooperative with the USA to capture him when he was living only a few blocks away from an army base.

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Pakistan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Pakistan
http://www.haaretz.com/misc/article-print-page/relations-with-israel-could-help-pakistan-sa
Oregonian newspaper page A7, Taliban execute captive soldiers-from Islamabad
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Who_is_the_President_of_Pakistan_in_2011
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11_attacks

One Lone Jew Left in Afghanistan with the Taliban: Can They Be Related?

2012-01-04T12:10:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
After a 2,500 year history of living in Afghanistan, we have one Jew left there. All that were there have emigrated, mostly to Israel, Pakistan and the USA. Zablon Simintov, b: ca1920 has remained and cares for the run-down synagogue in the capital of Kabul. Sympathetic Muslims and Jews around the world send him aid. I'm glad to see that there are kind Muslims with the Taliban operating from there. This is a hot spot, as of yesterday, the USA has had 1,740 soldiers die there since the Afghanistan War that started October 7, 2001.

Zablon had a Jewish friend, Isaac Levy, also born ca. 1920 until he died in January 2005. Simentov is alone amongst 30 million Afghanis. He's trying to recover a confiscated Torah. A man, a Taliban member, had stolen it, now in US custody in Guantanamo Bay. His wife and 2 daughters live in Israel. Simentov ran a store selling carpets and jewelry until 2001. He and Levy had lived in opposite ends of the synagogue and didn't like each other, winding up in Taliban jails.

The Taliban are fundamental Sunni Muslims made up mostly of the tribe of Pashtun. They dominate much of Pakistan by terrorism and want a puritanical caliphate. They don't like democracies and feel they are an offensse against Islam. Their brand of religion is close to Saudi Arabia's form of Wahhabism, though differs. They are even stricter in following their Sharia law. Al Qaeda supported them by importing fighters to help their cause. They were the ruling political party in Afghanistan but have been replaced by Operation Enduring Freedom in 2004 with President Hamid Karzai who has been influenced more by the USA.

The Taliban are opening a political office/mission in Qatar in order to negotiate over the endgame in the Afghan war. Karzai agreed to this a week ago. Karzai is interested in talking about reducing tensions rather than a comorehensive solution to the war. Qatar's religious leader, Qaradawi, hates Jews. He's the main leader of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Emir of Qatar's great friend. Both men have been doing a lot to reach out and be most friendly and influential with groups in the USA.

It is believed by many Muslim and some Jewish scholars that the exiled Lost Tribes of Israel had settled here. They made up the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan, now the 2nd largest in Pakistan. This would be the Pashtuns. This theory was written in 1612 The History of the Afghans by Nimat Allah al-Harawi. I'd love to see them take dna tests through familytreedna so we could find out their deep history.

How can the Pashtun tribe who is now the Taliban have a Jewish history and have become the most strict of all Islamists? This is indeed wild. They are a wild terrorist group that think nothing of killing. The USA entered a war on 7 October 2001 and 1,742 soldiers have died. USA has soldiers in NATO, and out of 566 troops who died, 418 were Americans. 8 NATO troops just died in 3 attacks in southern Afghanistan on the 5th and 6th and 4 of them were Americans The US-led NATO command is slowly handing over responsibillities to the Afghan government. The Taliban is still strong in the south, like in Kandahar, where trouble began in the 1990's. Roadside bombs are the usual method of killing soldiers.

At any rate, Jewish history can be traced back to the Babylonian Exile and Persian conquest with records of a Jewish population going back to the 7th century (when Islam started) with the Tahqat-i-Nasiri that mentioned people called Bani Israel settling in Ghor.

It is claimed that "Kabul" is deried from Cain and Abel and the name "Afghanistan" from Afghana, a grandson of King Saul. Historians V. Minorsky, W.K. Frazier Tyler and MC Gillet say that "afghan" appears in a 982CE book called Hudud-al-Alam, with this reference.

Saul, a pleasant village on a mountain has Afghans living in it. This village probably was near Gardez, east of Ghazni in afghanistan. The book tells about a village near modern Jalalabad where the local king had many Hindu, Muslim and Afghan wives.

Benjam in Tudela in the 12th century counted 80,000 Jews living there and in 1080, Moses ibn Ezra mentioned 40,000 Jews paying tribute to Ghazni. Then Genghis Khan invaded in 1222 and reduced the Jewish communities to isolated groups. In 1839, the population increased by receiving refugees from Persia and had a population of 40,000 again.

By 1948, 5,000 Jews lived in Afghanistan, and were allowed to emigrate in 1951. By 1969, 300 Jews remained but left after the Soviet invasion of 1979, leaviing only 10 Afghan Jews there in 1996, just enough for a minion in Kabul. Probably there are 10,000 Jews residing in Israel with Afghan descent. More than 200 families live in New York City. However, Zablon is in no hurry to leave.

Resource: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_afghanistan
http://middleeast.about.com/od/afghanistan/ss/me080914a.htm
Oregonian newspaper page A3; Taliban's Qatar move may signal peace talks
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/talking/79_Qaradawi.html and all my references on Qaradawi in this jewishfactsfromportland.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taliban
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Afghanistan.html
http://www.jpost.com/LandedPages/PrintArticle.aspx?id =251913 Scrolls raise questions as to Afghan Jewish history by Gil Shefer
Oregonian newspaper 1/7/12 page A5 8 coalition troops killed in 3 attacks

Our Temple in Jerusalem-Destroyed by Babylonia's Nebuchadnezzar

2012-01-03T19:48:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
In 422 BCE, Jerusalem was placed under siege by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar (modern day Iraq). Interestingly, Abraham had come from Ur, which would be the area of Iraq.

This resulted in the destruction of our First Temple 3 weeks later built by the Jewish King Solomon, who built it in 832 BCE. It stood on top of Mt. Moriah where Abraham had followed G-d's command concerning his son to be used as a sacrifice. Building this temple had taken 7 years and had put tens of thousands of men to work. The Ark of the Covenant was brought there. It had stood for 410 years.

The USA is only 236 years old, born in 1776. It's no wonder that we remember this calamity concerning our Temple with a fast day on Thursday, January 5th, which was when Jerusalem came under seige. Jews really teach their history to their children and themselves by remembering so many events such as this by connecting events to food. This particular fast begins at 6:15am and ends at 5:18pm.

The siege shouldn't have come as a surprise, for in 463 BCE the prophet Jeremiah kept warning his people to shape up and do right. Jews had depended on having the Temple and felt G-d was with them and the Temple was that reminder. It is said that many miracle happened constantly during this period. Then Jews were taken into exile to Babylonia. When Babylonians attacked, they took away 10,000 of the best and brightest of men.

"If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember you, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy." (Psalms 137:1-6)

Resource: http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/144569/jewish/The-First-Temple.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylonia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solomon's_Temple
http://www.simpletoremember.com/articles/a/Jewish_History/
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/138323

Italians of Today Could Have Jewish Ancestors

2012-01-03T16:49:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
Jewish settlement in Italy had started over 2,000 years ago from the Roman period to today. Prisoners of war and slaves during the Roman-Jewish wars in Judea from 63 BCE -135 CE were brought to Rome. In 70 CE Titus destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem and had brought many Jews as slaves along with their Menorah which the Romans had stolen from the Temple. Jews already living in Rome paid a ransom to liberate them. At that time there were 10 synagogues in Rome that the Jews had built. Judah Maccabee sent ambassadors to Rome in 161 BCE and they signed a treaty with the Roman Senate. So Jews were in Italy from before the Christian era to today. Jews were first settled there in the 2nd century BCE in Rome and were there to greet the Jewish ambassadors. They were there afterwards in the southern ports and along the trade routes. Jews were known to live there in at least 40 places before the close of the Classical Period.

Catacombs give us evidence of their way of life and the high degree of cultural assimilation. Their lives deteriorated with the Christianization of the Roman Empire in the 4th century (300's). They were protected by the Popes against the worst excesses and their fundamental rights were maintained.

In the Dark Ages (500-1100) , the great center of Jewish life was in the south, in Bari, etc. These places played a great part in bringing talmudic scholarship to Northern Europe. The southern Italian communities were mainly involved in wholesale trade, but eliminated by the Venetians later, and in handicrafts like dyeing and silkweaving. Bari was the 2nd most important economic center of mainland southern Italy after Naples. It was a city that came under Roman rule in the 3rd century BCE. Their port for eastward trade was mentioned in 181 BCE and was the center of the fishery business.

In Sicily, there was a large proletarian community of manual laborers. At the end of the 13th century, persecution in the kingdom of Naples drove large numbers of Jews to Christianity. During this period, Jewish loan-bankers began to be invited for the public convenience into the towns of central and northern Italy. This was the origin of the famous communities of Florence, Venice, Mantua, Ferrara, etc.

In 1492 the Spanish authorities expelled Jews from Sicily and in 1541, from the kingdom of Naples where they never again returned. During this period Jews in other areas lived well and comfortable and were influenced by the Renaissance of 1400-1600.

The Counter-Reformation with Pope Paul IV's bull cum nimis absurdum of 1555, their life deteriorated. This is when the Italians created the GHETTO and oppression in Rome and the Papal States with this horrible policy which was later copied all over the country. The GHETTO PERIOD lasted until the end of the 18th century (1555-1799). Ghettos were started in Venice where Jews were segregated in 1517. The concept of living in a quarter where only Jews could live behind locked gates, such as the ghettos were, started from the Lateran councils of 1179 and 1215 which forbade Jews and Christians to live together in close contact. From the 15th century, the friars in Italy began to press for the effective segregation of the Jews so that Pope Paul IV ordered that Jews in the Papal States should be forced to live in separate quarters. This was carried into effect in Rome and became the rule throughout Italy into the next generation. They were overcrowed but not allowed to expand and frequently had fires because of this. This was often accompanied by forced baptism and the wearing of the Jewish badge, ssermons to convert and occupational restrictions. It was abolished in Italy in the French Revolutionary Period of 1789-99 but reintroduced locally in the 19th century and came to an end when Rome united with the kingdom of Italy in 1870.

Most Jews were found to be living in Ancona from 1300 CE on, Livorno from 1577, Roma, Venezia and Sicily in the south.

Emancipation came at the time of the French Revolutionary Wars of 1796-97 but was canceled on the fall of Napoleon in 1814 and was reestablished with the consolidation of united Italy in 1840-70. In the next generations, Jewish emancipation was more complete in Italy than in any other country of Europe. Jewish positions on the whole was maintained in the early years of Fascism in 1922, but it 1938, after Mussolini ended an alliance with Nazi Germany, a thoroughgoing anti-Semitic policy was adopted. Jews were removed from office and many emigrated from Italy.

Italy did not practice the Nazi brutality, but during the German occupation of northern Italy in 1943-45, violent persecution began and some thousands of Italian Jews were deported to the death camps. Some 3,000 Italian Jews have settled in Israel. The Jewish population in 1990 in Italy showed 34,500, of whom 15,000 live in Rome and 10,000 in Milan. There must be many Gentile Italians with Jewish ancestors as well.

Reference: The Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bari
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Italy
http://www.italian-family-history.com/jewish/genealogy.html excellent information
I Maccabees in Bible

The Wandering Jew in the Diaspora and Why

2012-01-03T10:54:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
Jews lost their land of Judea in 70 CE when the Romans overpowered them and took Jerusalem. Since then the remaining Jews were forced to live in the Diaspora, which proved to bring insecurity to their lives. They have suffered persecution, forced conversions, massacres and expulsions from wherever they had found refuge. Jews had been blamed for killing the son of G-d of the newly created Christians. I don't think that the people of the world thought kindly of them for this reason. After 2,000 years, Jews have felt that they must regain their own Eretz Israel again or perish for sure. Some 600,000 Jews entered Canaan and settled there from the Exodus from Egypt. Israel's state started off on May 14, 1948 with a populaton of 650,000. 3 million Jews returned when Israel was then created as a state so on May 1972 had 3,164,000. 35% in 1948 were Sabras (native born). Today over 70% are Sabras. 5,874,000 Jews live in Israel in a total population of 7,797,400.

In 115 Jews were expulsed from Cyprus.

This was followed by a descendant of King David, Bar Kokhba and his uprising in Jerusalem against the Romans, a last stand to take Judea back in 132 where he and his men were slaughtered. 135 Romans rename the land as "Palestine." Revolt of 3 years caused by Romans stopping circumcision, rebuilding Jerusalem as Roman colony, managed to recapture Jerusalem. 580,000 died and more from hunger and disease.

640, 721, 873 those Jews living under the Byzantine Empire were forcibly converted to Christianity. In West (Balkans, Asia Minor, eastern shores of Mediterranean, Egypt, part of N. Africa, Constantinople) of eastern Orthodox Christianity speaking Greek,

1096 The German Crusade (part of the Crusaders that went to Jerusalem to take it back from the Muslims) massacred Jews while going through European towns.

1099 The Crusaders massacred the Jewish community remaining in Jerusalem.
1146-1391 Jews living in Spain forcibly converted to Christianity.
1290 Jews living in England were expulsed.
1306 Jews living in France were expulsed.
1348 900 Jews burned alive in Strasbourg accused of causing the plague (Black Death)
1349-60 Jews living in Hungary were expelled.
1355 A mob in Toledo, Spain massacred 12,000 Jews.
1396 100,000 Jews living in France expelled.

1420-1421 Jews living in Toulouse, France were annihilated;Thousands of Jews living in Austria expelled, fled to Poland.
1492 180,000 Jews living in Spain expulsed and 50,000 converted to Christianity in order to remain there. The Italian Christopher Columbus sailed to find the New World. Wrote letters to his son in Hebrew.
1495 Jews living in Lithuania expelled.
1497 Jews living in Sicily, Sardinia and Portugal expulsed.

A Quarter of a million Sephardic Jews had been forcibly converted at the end of this 15th Century.

1502 Jews living in Rhodes forced to convert or were expelled or taken into slavery.
1541 Jews living in the Kingdom of Naples "Italy" were expelled.

Martin Luther (1483-1546) and the Protestant Reformation's teachings reflected intolerance towards Jews causing the decimation of many Jewish communities.

1648-56 100,000 Jews living in Chmielnick, Poland were massacred.
1727, 1747 Jews living in Russia were expelled.
1838 Jews living in Meshed, Persia (today Iran) forced to convert to Islam.
1871-1921 Jews living in towns of Russia suffered from anti-Jewish pogroms. My paternal grandfather was born in 1871 in Lithuania (part of the Pale of Settlement) and immigrated to the USA sometime around 1900 as many did.
1882-1890 750,000 Jews living in Russia forced to re-settle in the "Pale of Settlement."
1891 Jews living in Moscow and St. Petersburg expelled.
1917 to today Jews in Soviet Union denied right of national identity; Judaism persecuted (no religion for all)
1939-45 Holocaust, 6 million Jews murdered by German Nazis and European collaborators
1941 Jews living in Baghdad attacked by mobs: 180 dead
1948 to today: Jews living in Arab countries, persecuted, mass expulsions
May 14, 1948: Announcement of Israel's birth through United Nations' Approval.

Jews had been living in the Diaspora (living outside of Eretz Israel) in the First Temple period. When Judah, in 6th Century BCE fell, large-scale deportations were carried out by the Babylonian conquerors. Many did not return to their place of birth and were later scattered throughout 127 provinces of the Persian Empire. A Jewish colony in Egypt was found in the 5th century BCE. Alexander the Great unified various cultures. Romans brought Jews into the Latin circle. There were many Jewish settlements in Italy.

Reference: Facts About Israel from Divison of Information, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Jerusalem
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Jews
The Standard Jewish Encylopedia
http://www.jewishamerica.com/ja/timeline/protesta.cfm
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Society_&_Culture/newpop.html

Why Rabin's Promise to Stop Settlements in Judea and Samaria Wasn't Kept

2012-01-03T00:24:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
Peace efforts from Israel were sincere from 1948, Israel's birth, and afterwards. 1967 saw Israel attacked by all the Arab states and to their shock, Israel won. Israel accepted UN Resolution 242 calling for the Arabs to make peace, recognize Israel's right to exist and to negotiate with Israel to create "secure borders." Then Israel would withdraw from some of the territory it had captured in the 67 War. The Arab states rejected the formula in their Khartoum Resolution with its 3 NOs. No Peace, No negotiations and NO recognition of the Jewish State.

By September 13, 1993 Yitzhak Rabin spoke from the White House Lawn and said, " We, who have come from a land where parents bury their children...say to you today in a loud and clear voice: Enough of blood and tears. Enough."

He shook hands with Yasser Arafat and both signed the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government arrangements (DoP). This laid out gradual Israeli withdrawals from most of the Territories (Judea and Samaria) and grant self government to the Palestinians, with the PLO to stop all incitement and violence, dismantle terrorist groups and take out clauses in its Charter calling for the destruction of Israel. They were to accept Israel's right to exist in peace as a Jewish State within secure borders.

The Oslo Accords were in the making created with President Bill Clinton and MidEast Envoy Dennis Ross and promised to end decades of warfare to make the Palestinians, led by PLO chairman Yasser Arafat happy in their aspirations as the West saw them and ensure Israel's security. There were very difficult issues over Jerusalem, refugees, final borders, settlements and security that were to be negotiated later when Israel was assured that this enemy was sincere in renouncing violence and its goal of destroying Israel. After all, their ideology was that armed stuggle was the only way to "liberate" Palestine. They stated that the state was illegally created. They disregarded all of the Jewish history of religious and historical ties with Palestine as it didn't fit their objectives.

At this time King Hussein of Jordan and Israel had many working arrangements, but Hussein didn't publicize them because the Arab states were pressuring him. After the Oslo Accords were signed, they could publicly formalize their peaceful relations.

May 4, 1994 was the date that the Palestinian authority (PA) was established to govern the Arabs in the Gaza-Jericho Agreement. Israel turned over the job of administration to the Pa and withdrew from Jericho and the Gaza Strip.

July 1, 1994 was when Arafat was able to return with his PLO terrorist friends from their exile in Tunis and went to the Gaza Strip.

October 14, 1994 saw Prime MinisterYitzhak Rabin, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat get the Nobel Peace Prize.

September 28, 1995's Oslo II Agreement, Israel was scheduled to withdraw from Palestinian population centers, which would then be governed by the PA. Judea-Samaria and Gaza were divided into Areas A, B and C. A and B included Palestinian population centers. Israel withdrew in December 1995. This agreement also allowed a Palestinian police force of 30,000 men to keep order and control militant factions of which Israel was to provide arms for them. The Palestinians agreed to keep their agreements and guarantee respect for Jewish holy sites in its territory.

Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated on November 4, 1995 by an Israeli extremist, Yigal Amir, who was against any concessions to the Palestinians. Shimon Peres then became Prime Minister.

During Peres's period as Prime Minister, he attempted many times to dismantle new towns that had been recently built, but the population was very much against this. Judea and Samaria were very important to our history and there were holy sites that needed protecting as well. This along with non-stop violence from the Arabs seemed to distract from the need of dismantling at this time. "Since Yasser Arafat "renounced" violence in the Oslo Peace Accords on September 13, 1993, at least 53 Americans have been murdered and at least another 83 Americans have been injured by Palestinian terrorism."

December 1995 Israel started a building project in eastern Jerusalem at Har Homa. After all, 1967's attack on Israel by all the Arab states resulted in the Arab's defeat and Israel had united all of Jerusalem, which had always been a Jewish capital. Israel had been trying to make peace with the Arabs for 28 years and they had refused to sign anything. Yet the UN's General Assembly, decidedly unsympathetic, passed Resolution 50/222 by a vote of 133 to 1, saying that Israel's sovereignty was null and void and wouldn't allow their diplomatic missions to move to Jerusalem. Only Israel voted against this, with the USA being one of 13 nations that abstained. Their excuse was that according to Oslo, Jerusalem was to be decided on in the final status.

Yasser Arafat spoke to an Arab audience in Stockholm, Sweden on January 30, 1996, saying, "You understand that we plan to eliminate the State of Israel and establish a purely Palestinian State. We will make life unbearable for Jews by psychological warfare and population explosion...I have no use for Jews; they are and remain Jews." We now see that Arafat said one thing in English to Westerners but another to his Arab audience. He had no intention of finally making peace with Israel. It was just another stall.

April 1996 The Arabs did not keep their promise of peaceful behavior. Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon had been firing Katyusha rockets into northern Israel and hit a UN base in Qana, killing 100. Israel got blamed by the UN's General Assembly and demanded that Israel pay reparations and withdraw from all Lebanese territory. No remarks were ever made about the continuing Hezbollah aggression against Israel or the damage they had caused in northern Israel. This was pure anti-semitism. For all I know, it was a first where someone is attacked and then receives the blame. I don't think Israel felt they were dealing with people who were dealing in good faith. They were getting the shaft. Final status was not attemped again till 2000.

Resource: Booklet: Israel 101 produced by StandWithUs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yitzhak_Rabin
http://www.adl.org/international/Israel_un_1995_2000.asp?m_flipmode=5
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4162044,00.html
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Terrorism/usvictims.html Americans killed by terrorists
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Har_Homa

Obama Signed Bill Penalizing Iran

2012-01-02T10:18:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
Obama, while on his Christmas vacation in Hawaii, signed the bill congress had passed of tougher sanctions on Iran. It was done on Saturday, but made more flexible with some waivers of penalties for certain groups. This bill is to penalize Iran by having sanctions on anybody dealing with Iran's Central Bank because of their nuclear research which most likely is aimed to develop nuclear weapons. Iran has constantly threatened both Israel and the USA. In reaction to any meddling into their nuclear developments, Iran has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, but at the same time also put out comments that they are ready to talk about it. Some feel that this is just a stall tactic while they continue.

They now have shown the world that they have created their own uranium fuel rods and are using them in their power plants. They have tested radar-evading medium-range missiles already while having a 10 day Gulf exercise. What they call long distance we call medium. On Sunday and Monday they tested missiles with a range of 200 km. or 124.27 miles, called the Mehrab ( Altar) and Nour. Ghader (Capable) , a ground to sea missile was fired on Monday. Earlier ranges of their missiles was 124 miles and they could travel at low altitudes. In a few days they will test some long-range missiles in another drill, ranges that will be able to reach Israel and US bases in the Middle East. They hope to scare the European Union from joining the sanctions.

1/3 of sea oil trade goes through the Strait of Hormuz. This means that from 13 to 15 supertankers sail every day to Japan, South Korea, India and China. If they close the Strait they will also be hurting themselves.

Iran is the 4th biggest producer of crude oil in the world 60% of their economy comes from this money. Already their food prices have jumped 40%. Right now $1.00 equals 17,000 reals which has weakened by 11%. They are buying up dollars as the reals are becoming worthless. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's economic and foreign policies are blamed for this as they have faced increasing isolation.

Shain Sodden Hossein, Economy Minister of Iran, and Iran’s navy chief Adm. Habibollah Sayyari reported that the Straits of Hormuz is completely in their control. Supposedly it is international waters. Their exercize ends Tuesday. Ghader, just tested, is said to be able to destroy war ships. Rear Adm. Mahmoud Mousavi, a spokesman for the drill, said Ghader is an upgraded version.

The distance between Tehran, Iran and Jerusalem, Israel is 967 miles or 1556 km. I think Israel is still safe from this attack. However, the distance from Iran to Qatar is 254 miles or 408 km. This is where the USA has a naval base. Unless their "long range missiles" really have the capabilities of our long range missiles, both places are safe for now. At least it cannot be said that every possible measure hasn't been taken before force, which is still on the table, isn't taken.

1/6/12: Debka said the exercise was to show that Shahab 3 ballistic missile has the range of 1,600 km. That far a range could hit Israel if this is possible. Or, from central Iran they could hit Hormuz Strait, therefore threatening any ships.
Resource: http://news.yahoo.com/iran-fires-radar-beating-missile-during-gulf-drill-125706609.html
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7e1c60a8-3558-11e1-84b9-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1iK5DHFOo
http://news.yahoo.com/iran-test-fires-advanced-anti-ship-missile-straits-165705245.html
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/01/02/iran-successfully-test-fires-long-range-missile-report-says/
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_distance_between_Iran_and_Israel
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/distances.html?n=8
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/200_kilometers_equals_how_many_miles
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/151307 by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204720204577132923798499772.html

Anti-Semitism Once Again in Europe

2011-12-30T12:18:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
Europe never changes, as Victor Davis Hanson put it today in his article, Face it, Europe never changes. He points out some interesting facts about Jews, who have always been discriminated against there. People thought we were too clannish in our creed. We didn't have any ancestral land-holding lineages or any aristocratic status. Europeans seem to have forgotten that it was they who kept us from being able to own land in the first place. Clannish? Well, we didn't attend their churches, if that's what they meant. We attended our synagogues. As for our creed, it is shared with everyone in what Gentiles call "The Old Testament." Russia kept us in the area known as "The Pale of Settlement." We weren't allowed in Russia proper unless we had a special pass, but our children were old enough at about 12 to serve in their army for life. Europe kept us clannish, as they did in the USA till about the 1960's by not allowing us into their fraternal organizations or country clubs. So it's been an uphill battle for us wherever we have lived.

Hanson points out that Jews are beginning to feel as unwelcome in Europe as they did in the 1930's. That's when Hitler rose in power and started his campaign against Jews. My uncle was the only one in his family that was able to get out of Boppard, Germany in May 1939. The Germans then closed the door and the rest of his family was trapped and eventually sentenced to the gas chambers.

The writer also mentioned what happened to Jews in 1543 when Martin Luther wrote his "On the Jews and Their Lies." That was a time when Luther was courting Jews, thinking he could easily convert us to Christianity, and we did not comply to his wishes. That made him so angry that he turned on us all, condemming us to the trash heap, so to speak. Suddenly we were liars among other things to him. Actually, the same thing happened to us with Muhammed around 622 CE. He thought he could convert us as well, and turned on us violently when we didn't. That's where the part in their Koran comes up with kill Jews when you find them. However, in Muhammed's case, he did manage to convert whole Jewish tribes by using his sword. It was die or convert and the Jews living there chose life.

Today Jewish academics in Europe are sometimes shunned at international conferences. Some suburbs in Paris or Rotterdam are no longer safe for Jews to walk about. Europe is largely anti-Israel and probably always will be. I know that there is a city in Sweden that had been populated by some Jewish refugees from WWII, but have been driven out by recent Muslims who settled there today.

This may soon be 2012, but we still have to be wary of Europe's value system. Jews are not a high priority of worth there. Beware. It's the 1930's once again throughout much of Europe.

Resource: Oregonian Newspaper, 12/30/11 page B9 Victor Davis Hanson's European Union Essay
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_and_dependent_territories_in_Europe

Is Appeasement Really the Way to Peace? Ron Paul Thinks So.

2011-12-29T16:01:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
Autumn, 1938, when Germany was busy getting rid of Jews with Kristallnacht pogroms in November, the British and French governments agreed to Hitler's seizure of the German-speaking Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia. The world must have been aware of the Nazi's "Final solution of the Jewish Problem" and not trusted them. By 1935 they were busy stripping Jews of any citizenship rights as well as their economic and political rights. It should have been shocking and a warning to all of the Nazi intention towards all of mankind. Here they were acting also against Czechoslovakia. This was done at the Munich Conference on September 29-30, 1938. Hitler then signed a brief paper prepared by Neville Chamberlain agreeing to Germany and Britain's desire...never to go to war with one another again. This was the famous "peace for our time" communique from Neville. So much for an evil entity's promise.

Hoover wasn't 100% sure it would last but concluded that some strains have been appeased and that war is today more remote. If war should come, he explained, the US should not join in. He wanted a free economic life that wasn't built on war. He thought that would turn the country into a Fascist govenment with restraints on our personal liberties that couldn't be lifted for generations. I wonder how he thought a good economic life could be carried on without getting involved in a major war or how they were going to keep it away from their shores. That's an isolationist for you.

A few months later Chamberlain had to eat his words and tried to block Hitler's "Drang nach Osten". On March 15, 1939, the armies of Nazi Germany invaded what remained of Czechoslovakia after they seized Sudetenland in October. Czechs did not resist as they were stunned; not prepared for the inevitable. Did they think they were immune to the Nazi hatred of Jews and that it couldn't happen to them? Old Hoover just said, oh, it's a shameless and immoral action! Someday it would be righted and the Czech "race" would emerge again from bondage. He certainly didn't want to be the one to help them at any time.

He might have thought; Let the French do it. Hitler then turned against Poland, since this had been so easy, but Britain and France felt bound to help them. They pledged to go to war against Germany if Germany attacked Poland. Hoover's thoughts were "If the world is to keep the peace, then we must keep peace with dictatorships as well as with popular government. The forms of government which other people pass through in working out their destinies is not our business. We can never herd the world into the paths of righteousness with the dogs of war."

Hoover was shocked. He thought they would let Hitler go East if he wanted to. He thought that a European "debacle" was happening and thought that Britain's skills could keep the USA out of it all. However, Roosevelt, a Democrat was now president and on January 4, 1939, talked of the coming storm signals and said," the "God-fearing democracies of the world cannot forever let pass, without effective protest, acts of aggression against sister nations--acts which automatically undermine all of us."

Of course, none of Roosevelt's good thoughts helped the Jews of the world Six million perished in the Holocaust which, it looks like, Hoover didn't give a hoot about. The world gave the Nazis an inch and they took far more than a foot. Is this going to happen today with Iran?

Ron Paul was asked what he would have done in the 2nd WW if he were president, and he replied that "he wouldn't risk American lives to end the Holocaust", said like a true follower of Hoover.
Hoover was the "I don't mix in" man. He could be standing next to an an attack on a woman and probably wouldn't have interferred. There was nothing in his philosophy of helping a neighbor, only taking care of himself. It's something that is not commendable to me at all. How can such a person hope for help if they were ever in need? It goes back to the "Golden Rule". Fate helped us out with somebody much better, Roosevelt. He wasn't perfect, but he was a step in a better direction.

Resource: Book: "Freedom Betrayed"-Herbert Hoover's Secret History of the 2nd WW and its Aftermath, George H. Nash, edited and introduced by.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristallnacht
http://frank.mtsu.edu/~baustin/emigrate.html
http://biggovernment.com/jsshapiro/2011/12/26/exclusive-ron-paul-in-2009-i-wouldnt-risk-american-lives-to-end-the-holocaust/
http://blog.standforisrael.org/articles/ron-paul-gaza-is-like-a-concentration-camp?s_src=SFIEN&s_subsrc=EN11201XXEXXA

Iran's Plan to Drive Israel Into the Sea

2011-12-29T12:23:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
Israel and the USA and its allies feel that Iran is using its civilian nuclear program of peaceful and medical goals as a cover to develop nuclear weapons that they will use on Israel first. This is because of the threats it has already made on Israel by Ahmedinejad. He frequently tells his people that Israel must be wiped off the map. Isn't it rather worrisome that the huge country of Iran, almost drowning itself with its oil wells, needs nuclear energy as well? Needless to say, what a combination of oil and atomic energy that could be if something goes wrong like it did in Japan with their atomic plant. It could be as dangerous as a meth operation that blows itself up.

The US congress has passed a bill banning dealing with the Iran Central Bank, and President Barack Obama hasn't signed it yet but is set to sign it.

Netanyahu of Israel said that he didn't know whether such "crippling" sanctions would stop Iran's nuclear program, but thought that they would make things difficult enough for the Iranian government that it would have to reconsider its actions.

If these sanctions are not imposed, it would be interpreted by the Iranians as a sign that the West did not have the will or intent to stop Iran. If Iran gets the bomb, we will be living in a completely different world. I think most people can understand this, except Ron Paul, who is running for president of the USA, as he would just like to leave Iran alone to do what they wish.

Yesterday the USA warned Iran against closing the Strait of Hormuz if the USA imposes sanctions targeting the country's crude oil exports. This waterway carries 1/6 of the world's oil supply. It would affect the oil prices to levels that could hurt the global economy. This was Iran's 2nd warning in the past 2 days. George Little, Pentagon news secretary said that interference with ships through the Strait will not be tolerated.

What can the USA do if it is closed? We have the 5th Fleet in Bahrain, and they are ready to ensure freedom of navigation. They are there to safeguard the vital links to the international community. Iran is the 4th largest oil producer in the world. Right now Iran's navy is in the Sea of Oman in the midst of a 10-day exercise in international waters near the strategic oil route through the Strait of Hormuz. No wonder they are so brave. The situation is like a boil ready to pop. Right now just before New Year's Eve we are on a precipice; the brink of disaster. If we back down we are giving into Iran in more than this one challenge, and it's not a rational country to deal with.

Resource: Embassy of Israel paffairs!@washington.mfa.gov.il
Oregonian newspaper, page A5, Iran threatens to block oil passage12/29/2011
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmoud_Ahmadinejad_and_Israel
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2011/Dec-29/158272-mossad-hints-nuclear-iran-not-existential-threat-to-israel-report.ashx#axzz1hxNvwqI9
http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?id=251348
http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/29/opinion/nasr-iran-oil-hormuz/index.html
http://www.jewishjournal.com/iranianamericanjews/item/obama_refuses_to_sign_tougher_sanctions_on_irans_central_bank/
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20111215-716586.html
http://www.cnbc.com/id/45806878

Arabs' Plot to Squash Israel Since 1967

2011-12-29T11:11:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
In 1967, all the Arab countries surrounding Israel attacked her and lost, much to their shock. After all, the odds were that they would win for sure. How could this tiny Jewish state win such an attack as theirs? To add insult to their injury, Israel won the war in 6 days!

On May 15, 1967, Israel's Independence Day, Egyptian troops had begun moving into the Sinai and massed near the Israeli border. By May 18th, Syrian troops were prepared for battle along the Golan Heights. Then Nasser ordered the UN Emergency Force to withdraw on May 16th and they did. It was Secretary-General U Thant that obeyed Nasser without bringing the situation to the attention of the General Assembly as his predecessor had promised. On May 22, Egypt closed the Straits of Tiran to all Israelis and to ships bound for Eilat, Israel. He was ready for war against Israel, he thought. He challenged Israel daily. "Our basic objective will be the destruction of Israel." he was quoted. In 1956 the USA gave Israel assurances that it recognized Israel's right to the Straits of Tiran's access. In 1957, 17 maritime powers said at the UN that Israel had a right to use the Strait. The blockade violated the Convention on the Territorial Sea and Contiguous Zone, adopted by the UN on the Law of the Sea on April 27, 1958. This closure was the casus belli in 1967. Israel's attack was a reaction to this Egyptian first strike. President Johnson acknowledged this after the war on June 19, 1967.

The armies of Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon were poised on the borders of Israel...to face the challenge, and standing behind them were the armies of Iraq, Algeria, Kuwait, Sudan and the whole Arab nation.   President Abdur Rahman Aref of Iraq joined in the war of words: "The existence of Israel is an error which must be rectified. This is our opportunity to wipe out the ignominy which has been with us since 1948. Our goal is clear: to wipe Israel off the map." On June 4, Iraq joined the alliance with Egypt, Jordan and Syria. Approximately 250,000 troops (nearly half in Sinai), more than 2,000 tanks and 700 aircraft ringed Israel.

Israel was prepared and had been on alert for 2 weeks. The country was mobilized. June 5th, Israel launched a preemptive strike against Egypt. Israel asked King Hussein of Jordan not to attack saying Israel would not unless he did first, but he went ahead anyway and ordered the shelling of West Jerusalem.

At the end of the 6 days, Israel conquered enough territory to triple the size of the area it controlled, from 8,000 to 26,000 square miles. Israel won the Sinai, Golan Heights, Gaza Strip and West Bank (Judea and Samaria) and allowed Israel to unify Jerusalem. It cost Israel the lives of 777 young men with 2,586 wounded. This was like the USA's loss in 8 years of fighting in Vietnam by proportion.

In August 1967, the Arab leaders met in Khartoum at their Summit Conference and produced four goals to rid themselves of Israel.
1. No peace with Israel.
2. No negotiations with Israel.
3. No recognition of Israel.
4. Insistence on rights of "Palestinian people in their own country."

Since then they have had the goal of causing Israel to:
1. Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines without negotitating with Israel
2. Get Great Powers to pressure Israel.
3. Use UN security Council resolution 242 (from 22 Nov 1967) to impose a settlement.
       a. Resolution calls for "a just and lasting peace, in which every state in the area can live in security."
       b. Calls for "the withdrawal of IDF from territories occupied in the recent conflict."
          ("withdrawal from all the territories" had been deliberately omitted from the resolution by its sponsors. Interpreted by Arabs as though it required a complete Israeli withdrawal.)

Israel has had to insist that it makes no prior conditions, and that everything will be open for discussion in the negotiations. It is obvious that Israel has a few positions on where the secure borders ought to be. In fact, Israel has returned most of the Sinai to Egypt but must remain in control of Sharm el -Sheikh so as to prevent Egypt from closing the Gulf of Eilat for a 3rd time and that it also be linked territorially to Israel. Sinai must be demilitarized.  Since February 2011 Israel has had to sign an agreement for a limited period with Egypt to allow two Egyptian battalians (hundreds of soldiers and officers) there to guard the gas pipe lines which bring gas to Israel and Jordan which have been attacked 8 times already by Beduins.

Israel left Gaza completely, lock, stock and barrel only to see it turn into an aggressor's dream-the staging ground for attacking Israel constantly with missiles, mortars and rockets. Where it could make peace with Egypt before the Arab Spring, it did not happen with the Arabs.

Israel needs peace within secure borders that are defensible. The pre-1967 lines seemed to constitute a temptation to a potential aggressor. Israel has offered to negotiate with the Arab Governments a true peace.

This is why Netanyahu took time to explain to Obama why going back to 1967 lines was going against Israel's acceptance. There has been much deviance against Israel using this type of rhetoric. He needed to understand the past problems that it invoked. Also, one can see that the goals of the Arab nations have not changed since 1967 or before that period. In fact, with the Muslim Brotherhood's muscles, they have become worse. The fatwa (religious edict) out by their leader, Qaradawi, an Egyptian Islamic theologian now living in Qatar, is to kill all Jews. What gives him credence is that he is one of the Islamic world's leading Sunni clerics. In other words, he is no "small potatoes." He has the ability to instill manic behavior in his followers.

Resource: Myths and Facts-a concise record of the Arab-Israeli conflict by Dr. Mitchell G. Bard and Joel Himelfarb
Facts About Israel from Division of Information, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Jerusalem
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2011/02/16/Egyptian-army-to-guard-Sinai-gas-line/UPI-86321297864236/

Judea-Samaria Planned Attacks and Syrian Hot Spots

2011-12-28T12:21:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
The Emir of Qatar had been involved in the overthrow of Libya's Muammar Qaddafi, and saw that that endeavor was a success, so now he's involved in another section of Muslim uprising.

He has established an army called the Sunni Arab Intervention Force which is training in Turkey. It is made up of what they call the Free Syrian Army of 20,000 islamist terrorists and is all funded by the Emir. They are to drive out the Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Being that Syria is next door to Israel, this is frightening as they can just jump over the border and attack Israelis as well.

This along with Abbas giving into Hamas's Khaled Meshaal in a situation that can bring Hamas into Judea and Samaria is also alarming. Nidal Dokhan, Military Intelligence Chief Major General , is replacing a fired former Fatah personnel who will help carry out an anti-Israel resistance campaign. They plan mass demonstrations and will try to smash through any barriers, and thus break into Jewish towns and villages in Judea and Samaria. Of course Abbas has not informed the USA of his new plans.
I believe they are striving for a 3rd Intifada.
Resource: http://www.debka.com/article/21602/
http://www.debka.com/

Jews & Qatar: That Small Fishing Village and What Oil Has Done For It

2011-12-27T14:15:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
Qatar and its Emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, has made the news in Portland by supplying Lincoln High with a teacher of Arabic. It's one of only 5 schools in the USA thus endowed. One of the important facts is that the Emir of Qatar has established many educational sites throughout the USA. His religious leader, Qaradawi, is a major leader of the Muslim Brotherhood. With that in mind, I personally hope that the textbooks used to learn reading stick to bland subjects and do not bring in political issues.

Qatar was just a little fishing and pearling village and sea port at Doha after WWI.   At the end of WWI it was ruled by the al-Thani family. When oil was discovered in 1950 , this shaykhdom changed dramatically. At that time their population was about 30,000. Of those people, at least 20,000 were related to, or in the service of the al-Thani family.   With this discovery, the population increased eightfold. By 1981 it was 250,000 with a per capita income of $29,000. Their oil revenues accounted for 90% of its GNP. Food must be imported. Trading partners have been Britain, Japan, Western Europe and the USA. It is not a part of the United Arab Emirates. That's because its geographical position and their history is with Bahrayn, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. A large number of immigrant workers are mostly from Iran and Pakistan.

In February 1972, Shaykh Khalifa, deputy ruler and prime minister, deposed his cousin, Shaykh Ahmad and took the throne. Qatar had announced that by 1970, a Basic Law that included a bill of rights. It has not gone very far as yet. Shaykh Kalifa's reign has used the oil revenues in petroleum and gas-related industries, infrastructure projects, building, social services and light industry.

By 1977 it set up the Qatar General Petroleum Corporation to regulate and control the oil industry. They went into a number of joint ventures with foreign firms and expanded the port at Doha and industrial and port facilities of Umm Said. It also bought into the Gulf Aluminum Rolling Mill Company in 1982 as a 10% shareholder.

In 1995 the present Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani deposed his own father in a bloodless palace coup. He is all for the Muslim Brotherhood which has exerted a profound influence on the conservative Bedouin society of Qatar.  That's because the Emir is so impresssed by their piety and morality so that he gave them his trust and let them carry out a wide range of religious and cultural activities. (One of their goals is to kill all Jews and drive Israel into the sea.) They helped to set up the Ministry of Education and Culture as well as an institute of religious studies; two institutions that the emirate lacked.

Qatar is active on the Gulf cooperation council, the Arab League, OAPEC, OPEC, and the UN. today they have a population of 547,761 of which are 100% Muslims. It wound up sharing many of the economic and political problems of Bahrayn as well. It is worth mentioning that Bahrayn has been under the control of the al-Khalifa family since the late 18th century. Bahrayn or Bahrain has 590,042 population and they are also 100% Muslims.

With the typical Muslim attitude toward Jews, they present us with their anti-semitic stereotypes in their newspapers. The ADL has protested. The USA has an air force base in Qatar, and of course we have Jews in the air force. During Passover two seders were served there for the Jewish servicemen.

Strangely, on January 10, 2004, a US-Islamic Forum was held in Doha sponsosred by a Project on US Policy Towards Islamic World which is funded by the Saban Center. Haim Saban is an Egyptian born American Israeli entertainment mogul. He attended as a USA representative. One Israeli attended, Martin Kramer, the editor of the Middle East Quarterly.

By 2010, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in Qatar's Education City and was introduced by Sheikh Abdallah al-Thani, who commented that there are now 6 universities from the USA that have branches in Qatar. Their Education City is just a short walk from the Al-Qaradawi Center for Research in Moderate Thought, named for Sheikh Yousef al-Qaradawi who is barred from entering the US as he has called for the destruction of America and for the annihilation of the Jews. I wonder what they consider as "moderate thought."

Resource: http://www.jcpa.org/JCPA/Templates/ShowPage.asp?DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=111&...
Textbook: MiddleEast Past &I Present by Yahya Armajani, Thomas M. Ricks 1970, 2nd edition
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Qatar
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/billionaire-israeli-donor-obama-is-not-anti-israel/2011/03/03/AG8k2DMH_blog.html
MEMRI Sheikh al-Qaradawi & Qatar's Education City HOsting American University Branches

A Light to the Nations Lives On: The Chanukah Lights

2011-12-23T11:02:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
The Jewish people know that they are an eternal people. Right now they are fighting to exist against odds that would stop other people in their tracks. Israel is giving Panetta a headache, most likely. Panetta's gruff order of "Just get to the damned table" should have been addressed to Fatah, but now it is too late. Fatah and Hamas are reuniting again. The melding of two terrorist groups' plans has started.

"Jews are a people whose message of values was destined to last forever and have a world-shaping impact. A tiny and ill-equipped people was prepared to take on the superpower of its day, all because they believed in the potential of Jewish destiny. They believed that no matter how dire things looked, there exists within the Jewish soul, the ability to vanquish the mightiest of foes and fulfill their own mission of being "A light unto the nations.""

Israel has to repeat that task of taking on the superpowers of this day by taking on Hamas and Fatah and all the Middle East factions who are against them. Not only that, but at times they also have to take on their ally, the USA, when expectations get out of hand and push comes to shove.

On Kislev 25-Tevet 3 or 168 BCE , a Jew named Judah the Maccabee, son of Mattathias and Hannah, had had it with Antiochus IV Epiphanes and this man who started guerilla fighting, and was also called the "Hammerer", dared to attack the whole occupying Greek army in his revolt against Syria in 168 BCE.

Starting around 311 BCE there were 13 Greek kings of the House of Seleucus who ruled Syria in the Hellenistic Period by the name of Antiochus. Antiochus IV, ruler between 175-163 BCE, was turned back by Rome on his 2nd expedition against Egypt, and occupied Jerusalem in 168 BCE. There he plundered the Temple treasure and endeavored to hellenize Judea by force because he wanted to change it into a reliable frontier-province. The Jews didn't like it and rose up against it. His army was very cruel in the suppression and thousands of Jews were killed and many sold into slavery. Then Antiochus brought in genile settlers into Jerusalem and fortified Acra as a stronghold of the Hellenizers to dominate the city. The Seleucids ruled until 65 BCE.

A religious persecution began against the remaining Jews, forbidding circumcision and observing the Sabbath as well as desecrating the Temple altar. He even set up pagan altars in the towns on the outskirts and compelled Jews to participate in pagan ceremonies. His excesses caused the Hasmonean uprising of Judas Maccabee and his family. This has turned out to be a lesson for all religions. Judaism was almost stamped out, but for one man, who kept it alive. We see that Christianity might have developed differently if Judaism did not continue to exist.

The story that continues is not that everyone lived happily forever afterwards. Antiochus IV had a son, Antiochus V, reigning from 164-162 BCE who continued the war against the Jews till 163BCE when he granted them religious and some political autonomy in return for the accepting his rule. Then Antiochus VII Sidetes reigned from 138-128 BCE and reasserted the Seleucid claims on Judea. He then invaded Judea and took Jerusalem in 135-4 BCE.

John Hyureanus surrendered, destroyed the walls of Jerusalem and ceded his conquests outside Judea and paid tribute. Antiochus VII died in 129 BCE. Antiochus IX Cyzicenkus reigned from 125-95 BCE and was defeated in 107 BCE when assisting Samaria which was under siege by a Jewish army. (Judea and Samaria are now called "The West Bank", named by the Jordanians who had seized it illegally. The Arabs like this naming as it erases the reference to the land having been in the hands of the Jews. I'm afraid that the rest of the world just goes along with this "easier to read" name, not caring about its political implications.

The puzzle is why the Jews and the Greeks just couldn't get along. The Greeks were such great universalists, open to new ideas from wherever. They were spreading knowlege and understanding all through the Mediterranean. They could have taken Jewish values to the world, but it seemed that accepting one G-d was something they just could not tolerate.

Resource: http://www.virtualjerusalem.com/blogs.php?Itemid=5480
               http://www.virtualjerusalem.com/blogs.php?Itemid=5551
               The Standard Jewish Encyclopedia-Dr. Geoffrey Wigoder, D. Phil, Editor in Chief
               https://www.google.com/search?q=seleucid+definition&sourceid=ie7&rls=com.microsoft:en-US&ie=utf8&oe=utf8
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seleucid_Empire
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seleucid_dynasty

Kiss Peace Talks Goodbye: Fatah and Hamas are Uniting Again

2011-12-23T09:38:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
Fatah is the modern PLO, which had been run by Arafat. Hamas was an outgrowth of that before 1987, and had taken on the Muslim Brotherhood goals of never accepting Israel or Jews into the Middle East. They are the extreme terrorists of the terrorists. They had even driven Abbas out to Judaea and Samaria (West Bank).

Thursday while in Cairo, Egypt, the two groups had a reconciliation where they announced plans for Hamas to join the umbrella group. For twenty years Fatah has had on-and-off talks with Israel about possible peace. Fatah has accomplished less terrorism than Hamas due to this leadership.

The problem with this joint effort is that Hamas opposes peace talks vehemently and rejects Israel's right to exist. Actually, this is where the peace effort has been sitting anyway, since at least the year 2000. There has been no hope with the raining of rockets, missiles and mortars coming into southern Israel all this time. It's not a show of the intention of peaceful cohabitation. What this actually means is that Hamas will be listened to more, as they will have a stronger voice in the group, which may also mean a stronger leadership.

According to this new agreement, Khaled Mashaal of Hamas will join a committee that will prepare for elections of the PLO's parliament in exile and will serve right along with Abbas. As Fatah negotiator, Azzam al-Ahmed has said, this reconciliation has started but might take some time. An election might be years away as the PLO group speaks for all Palestinians. They intend to include so called Palestinians who live all over the world, including refugees in camps in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.

Being there never was a state of Palestine, only the re-naming of the land that Jews had lived in, Arabs had come from all 4 corners of the Middle East to find work from the Jews who were re-building the land. Therefore, I wonder if it isn't possible for any Arab to call themself a "Palestinian" if they have proof of living there before 1948 even for a few months.

The goal of Hamas and Fatah is to gain a "Law of Return" for all Palestinians and thus drive all the Jews out.
This is one of the points that Netanyahu has to be strong about not allowing to happen. By going through with this uniting of terrorist factions, I see that there is no possible hope of ever coming to a peaceful accord between the terrorists and the Jews. No wonder Israel has reacted with alarm to this agreement.

Reference: Oregonian 12/23/11 Rivals move toward reconciliation page A7. AP
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/22/palestinian-factions-agree-unified-government
http://www.adl.org/main_israel/hamas_facts.htm

Judaea-Samaria's Turn to Terrorism with Arafat

2011-12-20T22:26:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot

Jews always lived in 'Palestine". In the 1920's and 30's there was an Arab who hated Jews. He was the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Muhammed Amin al-Husseini, who was the one who instigated and led the massacre of Jews. He was a collaborator with Adolph Hitler. Arabs attacked Jews in 1947 when the British were getting ready to leave and turn the country over to the Jews in 1948.

Judaea and Samaria (West Bank of the Jordan) was a territory until 1948 and also part of the British Mandate of Palestine. Between 1948 and 1967 it was ruled by Jordan, which annexed it in 1950 illegally.  They just took it over. It was not a British decision.

I:n 1967 the massed Arab armies that menaced Israel's frontiers attacked but again lost the war. The territories came under Israel's administration because of this defeat, and were in 4 different areas.

By 1972 almot 640,600 Arabs lived in Judaea and Samaria which covered 2,270 Sq mi. Until a peace settlement was attained, Israel's policy tried to achieve certain objectives which were:
   1. Have security for both Israelis and Arabs
   2. Inhabitants to live normal lives without losing contact with Arabs in other countries
3. Rapid economic development
4. Encourage co-existence and cooperation between Arabs of the areas and Israelis as an example for relations to come between the two peoples.

At the time the administered areas were tranquil and thriving. Local affairs were administered by local population. There were open bridges on the Jordan to allow movement in either direction between the areas and the Arab states. Arabs and Israelis up to 1967 lived in mutual separation and estrangement, but were then enjoying the beginnings of a peacful and fruitful co-existence. The hope was that this would transform Arab-Israeli relations from conflict into cooperation.

There were 23 municipalities and 31 rural councils in Judaea and Samaria. Israeli laison officers from the Ministry of Interior approved their budgets, arranged to lend them funds at low interest, and audit their finances and administration.

Municipal elections were held in 1972 according to Jordanian law. They had a lively election campaign and candidates were on TV. 75% of the voters turned out to vote. The result was that about 1/2 the mayors were replaced with new ones.

Since 1967 Israel instituted an Open Bridges policy allowing movement of people and goods between the areas and Arab countries. From having a stagnanat economy with high unemployment, they were transformed into one of growing prosperity as they had been suffering 11% unemployment. By 1972 less than 2% were unemployed of a force of 134,000. At first work came from schemes of public undertakings like road building and afforestation. Later, they found employment in Israel and labour exchanges were opened.

517,500 acres were under cultivation in Judaea and Samaria with only 4% irrigated. In September 1967 over 40% of homes, half of the total population, were engaged in farming which meant that an average of 30,000 men and 13,000 women. In March 1971Israel brought in a staff to improve yields which did improve from 50% yields to 100%.

In all, life was improving from 1967-1972 after Israel became the administrators instead of Jordan. The PLO changed the people's attitudes.

After 1967's defeat, the Arabs turned to Yasser Arafat. This man became chairman of the PLO terrorists, who was born in Egypt but did live in Jerusalem with his uncle. Yasser's real name was Abd al-Rahman abd al-Rauf Arafat al-Qud al-Husseini. He was a close kinsman of that hateful man, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem !

He managed to increase membership of the PLO and wreck havoc on the Israelis. All that Israel was trying to accomplish seemed to go by the wayside because of this group. The PLO today are Fatah, run by Abbas. They are still a group of terrorists.

Resource: Facts about Israel-book, Division of information, ministry for foreign affairs, Jerusalem
http://www.scottishfriendsofisrael.org/arafat_plo.htm

Newt Gingrich Echos Golda Meier's Words on so called "Palestinians"

2011-12-20T10:29:00.000-08:00

BY VICTOR SHARPE—

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Nothing could attest to that fact more than the Israel-Arab conflict, which in reality is the Israel-Islamist conflict.

This is not a territorial dispute between Israel and those Arabs who call themselves Palestinians, though it is framed as such. No, the stark reality of the Muslim war against the Jewish state is rooted in one fundamental fact; namely the unchangeable refusal by Muslims to ever accept a non-Islamic nation in territory once conquered in the name of Allah, even if that nation – the Jewish nation – precedes Islam by millennia.

Peace overtures and endless territorial concessions by tiny Israel to the giant Muslim and Arab world have been, and are, as worthless as a thirsty soul in the desert staggering towards an inviting but delusional mirage.

Back in 1976, Prime Minister Golda Meir visited Britain and was asked what needed most to be done for her country in combatting the relentless challenge to Israel’ survival by a hostile media. Her answer was: “Tell the people the basic facts about Israel and Israel’s case over and over again.” She also said, “There are no such people as Palestinian Arabs.”

Speaker Newton “Newt” Gingrich bravely and forthrightly echoed Golda Meir’s words, albeit 35 years later; but better late than never. It was crucial in Golda Meir’s time to pronounce the truth about the invented Arab people who call themselves Palestinians, but even more vital today. The world must be told the facts – not the myths – for it is fast succumbing to a veritable anti-Israel propaganda blitzkrieg, believed in by legions of the confused and gullible who worship at the false altar of moral equivalence and liberal kumbaya.

Those who see clearly accept that Israel’s Muslim neighbors will never be able to reconcile themselves with a non-Muslim state unless Islam reforms itself, and it cannot do that without self-imploding.

Since 1973, when the same Muslim-Arab world attacked Israel on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, members of the “religion of peace” have sensed a growing opportunity to destroy Israel, root and branch. Even now, Iran’s mullahs and the devil-clown, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, call not only for the destruction of the embattled Jewish state but for the extermination of Jews worldwide.

In this they echo the same call by Gaza’s Hamas rulers; the junior partner of the Muslim Brotherhood. For such words not to be condemned utterly by nation states reveal the moral decay so prevalent in the world today; just 66 years since the Holocaust ended.

Entire books have been written about the basic facts of Israel’s place in the family of nations as both a state and a people. Their purpose has been to explain why Israel and its people claim the right to an independent state in a small corner of the Middle East; roughly one quarter of the geographical area known as Palestine and a territory that has never been an independent state by that name in all of recorded history; certainly never an Arab state.

Newt Gingrich finally and bravely set the proverbial cat amongst the pigeons when he showed that historical correctness trumps the world’s pathetic obsession with so-called political correctness. He said it right: “The Palestinians are an invented people.”

It is Judea and Samaria (known by its Jordanian Arab name, the West Bank) which now a hostile world wishes to snatch from Israel and give to those Arabs who fraudulently call themselves Palestinians. This will create an anti-Israel terror state within the ancient Jewish patrimony and biblical heartland.

It is passing strange that the world calls the tiny territory by its Jordanian Arab name, the West Bank, even though the Jordanian Arab Legion illegally occupied it for a mere 19 years from 1948 until 1967. And the same world now ignores that immense Jewish history stretching over millennia when it was known as Judea and Samaria, preferring to use an artificial Arab description of the western bank of the River Jordan. This is clearly an anti-Jewish bias by a sick world.

If a terror entity called Palestine emerges, Israel will be reduced to less than 10,000 square miles – much less than one hundredth of the surrounding Arab world which enjoys a land mass of some 5,000,000 square miles – and that does not include the vast territory of the non-Arab Muslim world, including Iran, Turkey, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia.

The basic facts, which should be self-evident, need to be repeated again and again as Golda Meir urged nearly 40 years ago. Perhaps the following is the most basic and pernicious falsehood leveled at the reconstituted Jewish state. It is predictably made by a hostile Muslim and Arab world but it is echoed by their useful idiot supporters in the West.

The charge is this:

After the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 AD, the Jews lost their country and forfeited any right to it by going into exile for nearly 2,000 years.

The answer:

Indeed, the destruction of Jerusalem and the Holy Temple ended with appalling loss of life. But the Jews maintained a continuous presence in their homeland and it is this continuity which gives them an absolute, inalienable right of self-determination, historically, spiritually and politically in the reconstituted Jewish state.

In AD 132, the charismatic Jewish hero, Simon Bar Kochba, rallied his countrymen against continued Roman persecution and another war of liberation – the second Jewish uprising – was launched against Rome. His Jewish warriors freed large areas of the homeland from the Roman yoke, just as Jewish fighters under Judah Maccabee had similarly freed the homeland from Greco-Syrian occupation in 165 BC, liberating Jerusalem and the Holy Temple and giving the world the festival of lights, Hanukah, which every year falls on the 25th day of the Hebrew month of Kislev.

Bar Kochba (known as Son of the Star) also liberated Jerusalem but the Roman Emperor, Hadrian, who wanted to build a giant temple to the god, Jupiter, in place of the Holy Temple, sent an army of 35,000 soldiers against the Jewish warriors. After a three year desperate struggle, the Jewish resistance ended at the fortress of Betar. It is estimated that in the ensuing Roman repression some 500,000 Jews were either killed or sent into slavery throughout the Empire.

Even after this second catastrophe, the Jews nevertheless remained an absolute majority in the land up until the 5th century AD and they were the most important single community up until the Arab conquest under the new banner of Islam in the 7th century.

In 1099 the Crusaders arrived outside Jerusalem, having massacred thousands of Jews along their way from Flanders, through the Rhineland, and on to the Holy Land where both Jews and Muslims were killed. They had come to wrest control of Jerusalem from the Muslims. On July 15th, 1099, after enduring a six week siege, the “Franks” broke into the city and the entire Jewish population of Jerusalem was forced into the chief synagogue, the building set on fire, while the Crusaders marched around it singing, “Christ we adore thee,” in a diabolical accompaniment to the screams of the men, women and children burning alive. The bloodbath temporarily ended when Emperor Henry 1V protested to Pope Clement 111 at the abhorrent behavior of those irregular bands of crusaders who had committed the atrocities.

In the ensuing centuries, during which the land was invaded by successive alien conquerors, the Jews maintained themselves in whatever numbers they could sustain. In fact they re-founded the holy Jewish city of Tiberius in Galilee three separate times. In the 16th century, some 15,000 Jews lived in another holy Jewish city, Safed, in Upper Galilee; a center of Jewish mysticism known as kabbalah.

Throughout the dark centuries of exile, Jewish pilgrims and refugees returned again and again to restore the ancestral Jewish homeland. Jewish prayers and festivals recited and celebrated in synagogues throughout the Diaspora, then as now, are based in large part upon the agricultural cycle of ancient Israel: Another testament to the inextricable links to the Land of Israel within the Jewish faith.

In the 1850s the first Jewish agricultural villages were established in what was then largely barren, neglected and empty territory under Turkish Ottoman occupation. By 1844 the Jews constituted the largest community in their eternal Jewish capital, Jerusalem.

In that year, according to the Prussian Consul, there were 7,120 Jews, 5,000 Muslims, and 3,390 Christians in Jerusalem. Even before the State of Israel was re-established in 1948, Jerusalem was primarily a Jewish city with 100,000 Jews out of a total population of 165,000. Many of the non-Jews were not Arabs at all but Europeans, Americans, Ethiopians and other Christians.

The assertion that Jewish ties to the ancestral homeland came to an end in 70 AD is utterly without foundation. It has remained unbroken since Abraham, the first Jew, came to Hebron, the other Jewish holy city, and purchased a burial plot for his wife, Sarah and for his son, Isaac, his grandson, Jacob and their wives: the Patriarchs and Matriarchs of the Jewish people, most of whom are buried in Hebron.

The truth then is that Jews always maintained a continuous presence in their own land despite the depredations of a succession of alien occupiers. There is an absolute continuity between the Israel of the Bible and the Israel of today.

It is the same land, the same people, the same language, the same God, the same prophets, the same holy Book. There has never been a time in the last 35 centuries when there haven’t been Jews living in Israel, sometimes as a sovereign nation, sometimes as isolated enclaves occupied by an enemy power.

And when Jews have been few in number inside Israel itself, they have nevertheless continued to pray for its welfare daily, to pray daily for their return to nationhood, to recount the Biblical promises, and to pray for a quick return.

This is continuity par excellence. This is a basic fact and Newt Gingrich, to his credit, articulated it for all to hear. Why is this important? Because part of the Big Lie of today is to deny Jewish continuity in its ancestral, aboriginal, and biblical homeland and to falsely consider the Jews illegitimate newcomers to the land who can legitimately be pushed out.

Victor Sharpe is a freelance writer and author of the trilogy, Politicide: The attempted murder of the Jewish state.
http://www.lulu.com/

Palestinians: Guilty of Identity Theft

2011-12-19T09:43:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
“How can you grant the Palestinians full membership without protesting the remarks of their President before the General Assembly when he said, ‘I come before you today from the Holy Land, the land of Palestine, the land of divine messages, ascension of the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him and the birthplace of Jesus Christ peace be upon him, to speak on behalf of the Palestinian people…’?”

Excluding any connection of the Jews to the Land of Israel? No Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, no Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel. I told them that, “Usually identity theft takes place without the victim’s knowledge, but Abbas robbed Jews of their heritage before millions in broad daylight -- and no one protested!”

All people have to do is come to Israel to see what archaeology has uncovered. Finds at Hazor, Megiddo, Gezer, Jerusalem, Beersheba, Ashdod and Dan have uncovered the settlement of the Israelites on their return from Egypt towards the end of the 2nd millennium BC, and particularly after the establishemts of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, providing many details about the daily life, architecture, arts and forms of religious worship.

Fantastic remains from the time of the 2nd Temple in the Hasmonaean period through the Jewish revolt against the Romans in the 1st century CE were unearthed in Jerusalem, Caesarea, Beit-She'an, Tiberias and Jaffa. Relics of fortresses in the Judean Desert like Masada and Herodion, bases for a revolt in 70CE are of major importance and are in use today. From this time the history ended with the devastation of the land being void of many Jewish citizens and its conversion into a Roman province.

I just read this UN announcement on the Simon Wiesenthal website and am sickened. This is what is happening today in the textbooks used by the Palestinians in Judea and Samaria as well. I know that they used to read in a most terrible way, such as-if there are 6 Jews and 3 are shot, how many are left? Today they simply leave out any mention of Israel, or if they do it is done in a very negative way, such as not mentioning the historic Jewish presence in the region. They rarely ever mention "Peace." Texts for religious school openly glorify martyrdom, which means giving up one's life to kill Jews. Their books give the impression of implicit denial of Israel's legitimacy.

Israel is not listed in the countries of the Levant. Hebrew writing was removed in a picture of a stamp from the British Mandate rule of Palestine. Their books tell of hardships of life under occupation and a Palestinian Authority official explained to researchers that this is just a difference in views.

The same thing has been happening in Judea and Samaria at Jewish holy places. The Jewish identity is being erased as well as preventing Jews from being there to visit. Israel felt back in 1973 that it is impossible to disregard the attachment of Jews to their holy shrines in areas beyond the bounds of pre-1967 Israel. No Israelis, even those who would give up land in the administeered areas, would not accept any arrangement that banned Jews from living in places that are of religious and historical significance. 4,200 Jews had settled in the administered areas since 1967 to 1973. (Facts About Israel) a government book.)

Chanukah is the time to set out our Chanukiah in a window to show that we are still around after 3,000 years. We have not been swept under the rugs of Ali Baba. We're here and proud of it. The Syrian Greeks tried to get rid of us, and it didn't work. Abbas would like to pretend to the UN that we not around, but he still has to contend with us. Too bad he hasn't heard of the saying we have: "What is hateful to you, do not do unto another." From the moment Israel was declared a state, the Palestinians have been attacking with the goal to drive us into the sea. It looks like that goal hasn't changed in 63 years.

Between 1967 and 1972, Israel, in an administration position, established only 6 towns in Judaea and Samaria. There are 3 types of communities.
1. Nahal villages were established by the IDF where military training is combined with farm work. They are military points. If Israel wasn't attacked by the Palestinians, it wouldn't be necessary.
2. Civilian villages are in areas that Israel hopes to be in its jurisdiction through peace treaties, but Israel has felt that in peace talks, everything will be negotiable.
3. Communities where the political future is not covered by Israel's position. We have Arab communities right in Israel. Why couldn't the Arabs in a peace agreement accept a Jewish community?

For our distant semitic cousins who hate us so, it sure is amazing that they covet everything of ours that is so Jewish.

Reference: Oregonian newspaper, Sunday, December 18, 2011 GOP debate draws focus to Palestinian textbooks, page A20
Simon Wiesenthal Center, Insidious Revisionism Against the Jewish People by Rabbi Marvin Hier
Facts About Israel page 158, Archaeology in Israel; main themes. page 180 Israeli Settlement in the Administered Areas.

Gingrich Is Not Zany-But Has Chutzpah!

2011-12-15T12:56:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
Romney and Gingrich are running for the presidency as Republicans and it's getting very competitive between these two sharp men. Romney is now calling Gingrich his "zany" rival.

Zany's definition is: fantastically or irrationally ludicrous, a traditional masked clown, a subordinate clown or acrobat in old comedies who mimics ludicrously the tricks of his principal, a slavish follower, toady, one who acts the buffoon to amuse others. That's not Gingrich at all!

I would say that Gingrich has chutzpah! We need a leader with chutzpah, and he uses it in the right places. He comes back from an attack with a zinger that others might blanch at saying. His latest was in speaking about the fact that the Palestinians were an "invented people". Finally, someone in a high place had the chutzpah to come out and tell others what he knew about the history of these Arab people who had been living in "Palestine." He also said the peace process was delusional. Yoram Ettinger, former ambassador, also has come out with a detailed article on the history of the people that Israel has been trying to make peace with. My friends and I have also been reading these same facts and writing about them.

Let's face it. Newt Gingrich knows how to get attention when he needs it. He was fairly quiet in the beginning of the debates, listening to what others had to say and learning about the depth of their knowledge. Now, the history professor in him is speaking out. He's even advocating that the entire city of Jerusalem be recognized as the capital of Israel, and I bet that he will act on that statement which none of the other past presidents have done if elected.

During the previous election, I had figured Mitt Romney to be weakest of the contenders on Israel. Others made lots of statements and promises and I see that none have been fulfilled. Promises can be made just to get votes. Who has the audacity to carry out such promises? The chutzpadik-Gingrich, is my bet today.

Someone mentioned on Fox TV news that he can come up with more ideas than anyone. His mind is going a mile a minute. That might be worrisome to a few people. Along with that fantastic memory of his, the man is just brilliant and I think others are just plain jealous of his knowledge. He has a clear vision of history. With his chutzpah, he'll go where other presidents didn't dare, not wanting to rock the boat, but he'll steer us straight into the type of America that we all want and need.

You can tell that I'm impressed. He actually knows the history of Israel and its struggles. I bet he's even read a book on my desk, "From Time Immemorial" by Joan Peters.

Reference: Oregonian 12/15/11 page A3: Romney readies for slog against resurgent Gingrich by Jeff Zeleny, Michael Barbaro and Ashley Parker-NY Times
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/09/gingrich-calls-palestinians-an-invented-people/
http://jewishfactsfromportland.blogspot.com/2011/12/true-facts-who-palestinians-are-by.html by Yoram Ettinger

True Facts: Who the Palestinians Are-by Ambassador Yoram Ettinger

2011-12-14T10:26:00.000-08:00

"Israel Hayom” Newsletter, December 14, 2011 Who are the Palestinians? Ambassador (ret.) Yoram ettinger, "Second Thought"

Contrary to political correctness, Palestinian Arabs have not been in the
area west of the Jordan River from time immemorial; no Palestinian state
ever existed, no Palestinian People was ever robbed of its land and there is
no basis for the Palestinian "claim of return.”

Most Palestinian Arabs are descendants of the 1845-1947 Muslim migrants from
the Sudan, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, as well as from Iraq, Saudi Arabia,
Bahrain, Yemen, Libya, Morocco, Bosnia, the Caucasus, Turkmenistan,
Kurdistan, India, Afghanistan and Balochistan.

Arab migrant workers were imported by the Ottoman Empire and by the British
Mandate (which defeated the Ottomans in 1917) for infrastructure projects:
The port of Haifa, the Haifa-Qantara, Haifa-Edrei, Haifa-Nablus and
Jerusalem-Jaffa railroads, military installations, roads, quarries,
reclamation of wetlands, etc. Illegal Arab laborers were also attracted by
the relative economic boom, stimulated by Jewish immigration.

According to a 1937 report by the British Peel Commission (Palestine
Betrayed, Prof. Efraim Karsh, Yale University Press, 2010, p. 12), "The
increase in the Arab population is most marked in urban areas, affected by
Jewish development. A comparison of the census returns in 1922 and 1931
shows that, six years ago, the increase percent in Haifa was 86, in Jaffa
62, in Jerusalem 37, while in purely Arab towns such as Nablus and Hebron it
was only 7, and at Gaza there was a decrease of 2 percent.”

As a result of the substantial 1880-1947Arab immigration – and despite Arab
emigration caused by domestic chaos and intra-Arab violence - the Arab
population of Jaffa, Haifa and Ramla grew 17, 12 and 5 times.

The (1831-1840) conquest, by Egypt's Mohammed Ali, was solidified by a flow
of Egyptian migrants settling empty spaces between Gaza and Tul-Karem up to
the Hula Valley. They followed in the footsteps of thousands of Egyptian
draft dodgers, who fled Egypt before 1831 and settled in Acre. The British
traveler, H.B. Tristram, identified, in his 1865 The Land of Israel: a
journal of travels in Palestine (p. 495), Egyptian migrants in the
Beit-Shean Valley, Acre, Hadera, Netanya and Jaffa.

The British Palestine Exploration Fund documented that Egyptian
neighborhoods proliferated in the Jaffa area: Saknet el-Mussariya, Abu
Kebir, Abu Derwish, Sumeil, Sheikh Muwanis, Salame', Fejja, etc. In 1917,
the Arabs of Jaffa represented at least 25 nationalities, including
Persians, Afghanis, Hindus and Balochis. Hundreds of Egyptian families
settled in Ara' Arara', Kafer Qassem, Taiyiba and Qalansawa.

Many of the Arabs who fled in 1948, reunited with their families in Egypt
and other neighboring countries.

"30,000-36,000 Syrian migrants (Huranis) entered Palestine during the last
few months alone" reported "La Syrie" daily on August 12, 1934. Az-ed-Din
el-Qassam, the role-model of Hamas terrorism, which terrorized Jews in
British Mandate Palestine, was Syrian, as were Said el-A'az, a leader of the
1936-38 anti-Jewish pogroms and Kaukji, the commander-in-chief of the Arab
mercenaries terrorizing Jews in the 1930s and 1940s.

Libyan migrants settled in Gedera, south of Tel Aviv. Algerian refugees
(Mugrabis) escaped the French conquest of 1830 and settled in Safed
(alongside Syrians and Jordanian Bedouins), Tiberias and other parts of the
Galilee. Circassian refugees, fleeing Russian oppression (1878) and Moslems
from Bosnia, Turkmenistan, and Yemen (1908) diversified the Arab demography
west of the Jordan River.

Mark Twain wrote in Innocents Abroad (American Publishing Company, 1969):
"Of all the lands there are for dismal scenery, Palestine must be the
prince…. Palestine is desolate and unlovely.” Analyzing Mark Twain's book,
John Haynes Holmes, the pacifist Unitarian priest, the co-founder of the
American Civil Liberties Union and the author of Palestine Today and
Tomorrow – a Gentile's Survey of Zionism (McMillan, 1929) wrote: "This is
the country to which the Jews have come to rebuild their ancient homeland….
On all the surface of this earth there is no home for the Jew save in the
mountains and the well-springs of his ancient kingdom…. Everywhere else the
Jews is in exile…. But, Palestine is his…. Scratch Palestine anywhere and
you'll find Israel…. There is not a spot which is not stamped with the
footprint of some ancient [Jewish] tribesman…. Not a road, a spring, a
mountain, a village, which does not awaken the name of some great [Jewish]
king, or echo with the voice of some great [Jewish] prophet…. [The Jew] has
a higher, nobler motive in Palestine than the economic…. This mission is to
restore Zion; and Zion is Palestine.”

The Arab attempt to gain the moral high ground and to delegitimize the
Jewish State - by employing the immoral reinvention of history and
recreation of identity - was exposed by Arieh Avneri's The Claim of
Dispossession (Herzl Press, 1982) and Joan Peters' From Time Immemorial
(Harper & Row, 1986), which provide the aforementioned – and much more –
data.

Reference: Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger, "Second Thought: US-Israel Initiative"
http://www.theettingerreport.com/
You may disseminate as widely as possible.

Judea Samaria Frustrations Over Demolition of Communities

2011-12-14T09:59:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
300,000 Jewish settlers live in Judea Samaria (West Bank) along with 2.5 million Arabs. 200,000 Jews also live in east Jerusalem. Both places came into Israel's hands in 1967's war when Israel was attacked by all the surrounding Arab states. With such a large force, the Arabs were sure they would win, but they lost.

Jordan had illegally occupied Judea Samaria in the first place, so lost that land in the 1967 war. This was a very special area as it was the orginal homeland of the Jewish nation of biblical days. Jews were from Judea and Samaria. Israeli citizens who were very religious moved to this area as it held so many places of our religious holy sites that had been unattainable before 1967. Jewish people who live there are peace loving, wanting to live a religious life.

However, though Israel gained back Jerusalem, the rest of the world is still unable to be moved by our 2,000 year old plight and has been unmoved by our reclaiming it as our capital once again or our taking back Judea and Samaria, which was in the original plan created by Britain in the Balfour Doctrine. So we have had a difference of opinion as to what should be accepted as a part of Israel.

Because of this united world pressure, Israel has had to decide which parts of Judea Samaria must be given up to fall into Arab hands as they protest loudly that they also want a state of their own. After all, there are only 48 Muslim majority countries in the world! They think it only fair to chip off a nice chunk off the tiny piece that as become the world's only Jewish state and call it theirs.

The land has been demarked as part A, B and C by Israel. I believe it is the C parts that are considered to be given to the Arabs. Naturally, people who have built up these towns are fighting for survival and do not wish to be removed from their land they have been on since 1967 or thereabouts. With the Arab Spring protests as well as the USA protesters have come the Israeli Judea Samaria protesters.

The Oregonian's article, without naming names of towns, tell of protesters who have taken over an abandoned building near the Jordan border that was in a closed military zone, and another group who had gone into an army base on Tuesday and lit fires, damaged vehicles and threw stones at a senior officer who was not hurt. They of course were protesting the planned evacuations.

The Israeli news mentioned Migron in the Binyamin region was one slated for destruction. Kesha residents were protesting. Those residents went to the knesset to protest the demolition of their town. I fear that Itamar is also slated for destruction. This is the site of the slaughter of the Fogel family of 5 by Arab terrorists in March 2011. Itamar has found a special place in our hearts due to the bravery of these people to overcome adversity and to live peacefully with Torah as their guide. It was started in 1984 and has 1,032 residents. It sits 28 km (17 miles and 701.1 yds) from the Green Line in the Samarian mountains and is only 5 km (3 miles 188 yds) SE of the city of Nablus. (The Green Line is not an international law or permanent border.) Being in part C, they are under the full Israel civil and security control, but this didn't help to stop the butchery of the Fogel family while in their beds. The residents grow organic crops, raise sheep and goats and make and sell cheese and olive oil.

The Arabs have been stirred up as well by world wide protesters but were also backed by Israeli leftists called "Peace Now." Their unchecked theory has been that these homes were built on private lands, but that isn't turning out to be the case. Lawyers have looked into this claim and are finidng that those Arabs calling for this in fact have no proof of ownership. Also, these homes in Jewish neighborhoods were built in good faith, and that is a clause that may save them from destruction by the IDF.

I remember when PM Begin was all for homesteading in Judea Samaria and encouraged it. After all, it was wrong in the first place for Arabs to attack Jews in 1948 when Israel was declared an official state in the eyes of the world. They kept attacking in successive wars and losing to Israel and never coming to any peaceful conclusion. All the time they were offered their own state and refused it, wishing only to attack and kill Israelis and wanting to take over all of the land, not parts of it. The 1967 war was an important one in that Israel was able to receive Judea and Samaria, original important Jewish sites.

We've given back all of Gaza to the Arabs, which was also in Israel's hands from wars only to find it is being used as a staging ground to attack Israel with missiles, mortars and rockets. Of course, Israel sits right on the border with Gaza. Judea and Samaria, a mixture of Jews and Arab communities is a cushion between Israel and Jordan. From the north, Israel is right on the border with Lebanon. It would be deplorable if all the Jews living in Judea Samaria were forced out. You can imagine what that area would become; another staging ground for attacks on Israel.

Being American as well as Israeli, it's hard for me to imagine an area that is not settled by a fair mix of people, but the future Palestine is to be devoid of all Jews. My understanding is that this carries over to their neighbors also being devoid of Jews as well. They just don't want any Jews in the total Middle East!

Israel has to bend to some demands but is holding out against demolishing the larger Jewish communities in Judea Samaria. That's what politics is all about, conceding, demanding, etc, trying to keep the majority happy. Also, they have the problem of defense, and can't spread the army over all the hot spots, and there are many.

I understand the Judeans and Samarians frustrations and am proud of them for not taking lives, but showing their frustrations in other ways. Perhaps the way to help will be the lawyers working on the legalities of their cases. After all, Israel is a very legalistic and fair country, but its cup runneth over with problems right now. Also, it couldn't hurt to add lots of prayers for these people. They need all the help they can get.

Resource: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/150723 Judea Samaria demolition
Oregonian newspaper, 12/14/11- page A8 settlers clash with Israeli protectors in West Bank by Matti Friedman AP
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itamar_attack
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Line_(Israel)
http://www.friendsofitamar.org/news.html#link

Declaration of War from Hamas over Fixing Mughrabi Bridge

2011-12-13T14:35:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
The Muslim Brotherhood's main leader, Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi, is a Theologian against Jews. He can't wait to take over "Al Aqsa" in Jerusalem. This is the mosque that Muslims have built over the Temple Mount which was an important part of our Jewish history. This has happened in other parts of the world as well. They build over some aspect of the conquered culture to say that it now belongs to them.

There is a temporary wooden walkway called the Mughrabi Bridge that Israel has wanted to close temporarily to repair it, or there are going to be injuries involved. Hamas is having a fit over it. They have warned that if Israel closes this to the Temple Mount it is tantamount to a "declaration of war" on all Muslim holy sites. They neglect to tell whoever is listening that they have already been doing just such a thing to Jewish holy sites that I have been writing about.

"This is a serious step that shows the Zionist scheme of aggression against al-Aksa mosque," Fawzi Barhum of Hamas said. Israel closed it on Sunday for these safety issues. The original ramp was made of earth which led to the Mughrabi Gate. It collapsed in 2004 in a snowstorm, which is fairly rare in Jerusalem. The bridge is also highly flammable. This situation is bringing protests from Egypt. I guess they'd rather see it collapse with people on it. Netanyahu has postponed this decision but cannot any longer. It's imperative that it be fixed now.

"The dispute over the bridge has now become a key issue in Egypt's elections. The Muslim Brotherhood's spiritual leader, Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi, called last week on Jordanian King Abdullah to dissuade Israel from replacing the ramp."

Update: 7pm Yahoo added that it will be repaired in a few days time. It's the only access for non-Muslims, which would be Jews and tourists. The ramp starts at the plaza by the Western Wall. There are other ways to enter besides this one. "Amman has frequently spoken out against removal of the ramp, which is one of the 15 gates leading into the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, 10 of which are in use. Amman, Jordan, who has the responsibility for Muslim holy sites' upkeep, has often spoken out about this gate's removal. It is one of 15 gates, 10 of which are in use. I don't know why all the ballyhoo about this particular one.

Update: 12/14/11 http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/150708 by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu-Chelm or Jerusalem? Read it and laugh: A Fire Truck deicision

Resource: dailyalert@list-dailyalert.org from Jerusalem Post.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/jerusalem-closes-mughrabi-bridge-leading-to-temple-mount-1.400975
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_Mount
http://news.yahoo.com/israel-reinforce-reopen-al-aqsa-access-ramp-214435874.html

Islam: Religion of Peace? Why This American is Concerned

2011-12-13T11:44:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
Our government tells us that Islam is a religion of peace, but after reading the Koran, I had my doubts, especially after reading about their attitude towards Jews, of which I am. Jews do have a problem thinking ill of others' religions since we have been persecuted for maintaining our faith for over 2,000 years under a lot of pressure, but it's time to face the facts here in the states that I believe Israel has been facing. We're facing a possible religious war.

What makes Islam different from other religions? Granted, there are good parts, borrowed and altered from Judaism and Christianity as well, but there are bad parts which do not teach the same fundamental goals of peaceful living that are found in Judaism and Christianity, Buddaism and other religions. The ones that scare me are the parts that say to kill Jews even if they are under a rock or behind something. There is a mad-on towards Jews, no doubt added on when Mohammed found out that Jews were not ready to convert willingly. Jews that lived in Muslim countries were not treated as full citizens ever, but as 2nd class ones with penalties attached called a dhimmini status. They were barely tolerated.

Since 9/11, many Americans are wary of Muslims since it was Saudi Arabians who flew into the Twin Towers and killed 2,998 civilian people of 90 countries. The USA had been involved in the Gulf War, and had been backers of Israel, so I think we all figured that there was something here that ticked these Saudi pilots off.

When the Japanese struck Pearl Harbor, it put us in the "we have to join the world war club" and we found ourselves declaring WWII. We were attacked by planes then as well, and lost 3,581 military people and 103 civilians in that attack. That definitely wasn't a religious war. It was very political. We had interferred with Japan's oil resources and they felt threatened.

Our president Bush reacted pretty much the same way when we were attacked in 2001 and with the help of our intelligence service, attacked Iraq, which happened to be another Muslim country. That was touchy business being Saudi Arabia's king was a good friend of Pres. Bush, so it had to be an Iraq inspired attack.

All the surrounding Muslim Arab states of Israel had attacked her in 1948 and had been doing so in successive wars; 1947-1949, 1956, 1967, 1968-1970, 1973, 1982, and then there was the Gulf War of 1991 which was a real threat of destruction to Israel as well as the 2nd Lebanon war of 2006. It was in 91 that all Israeli citizens had to be issued gas masks because of the threat.

Today we have the Emirs and heads of state of these Arab nations falling with the Arab Spring. Our government is excited about that being they think that Democracy will step in, but the best organized group is the Muslim Brotherhood which is able to change its goals to keep its popularity and stay in power for the time being. Their goals are to kill all Jews everywhere and take over Israel.
The religious leader in Qatar, Qaradawi, who is a main man in the Muslim Brotherhood has put out a fatwa of just that. He's the spiritual guide for Hamas, the main terrorist group of Gazans and supports suicide bombings against Israeli citizens. This head of the "Union of Good", a group of charities-for terrorist organizations like Hamas, is free to do his thing as the US has not touched him. He has protectia from the Emir of Qatar, who with his Qatar Foundation, is one of the most influential people in the Muslim world. They've already given out a lot of money to main USA Universities such as the Mellon Institute and have outreach centers in Qatar because of it.

The Muslim Brotherhood is the heart of hatred for people that are not Muslims. They've won in Egypt. The Salafist group is even harsher and they received 20% of the vote, so the twosome will be the wheeler-dealers. Their fundamental concepts is to establish an Islamic state and world domination under Islam. They believe and carry out the personal religious duty of military Jihad and are working on its timing. Qaradawi should be so happy to see what has happened to Egypt, where he had been ousted by Mubarak for his religious ideas. Qaradawi can't wait to see this happen as well to Jerusalem with a conquered " Al Aqsa", where they have built a mosque over the Temple Mount of the Jews.

Still and all, Muslims have been getting a bad rap in the states. This is where Unity Production Foundation has stepped in. Led by Bill McCarthy, Kenneth Pollack and Alexander Kronemer, Executive Producers, They have been creating films or videos to replace our negative perceptions of Muslims to positive ones. There is even a program on TV showing the simple life of Muslim Americans to prove that they are just like us. (from the producers mind to G-d's in that I only wish this is so.)

Getting back to Qatar, they have given our Lincoln High school $70,000 and a teacher of Arabic studies to make this school special, as there are only 5 in the whole United States that have been thus rewarded with such a program. Otherwise, the school could not have afforded this program. The plan of Qatar is to increase this number 5 times over by 2020. Soon many of our students will be studying from Qatar sources and reading and speaking Arabic. This brings in the culture, such as DAM, a hip-hop trio of Palestinian Arab Israeli citizens who are now unfullfilled and presenting a program of their discontent which advocates the end of Israel, actually. They've already turned a few students into Israel-haters at Lincoln. This is the part of the program that many of us are upset about.

I don't know about the necessity of learning Arabic, but Chinese would have been nice to incorporate in our public schools, being we owe so much money to China already. Chinese students have had to be like Jewish students, go to their special schools after public school hours. Jewish students need Hebrew to be bar-mitzvahed at age 13, so study that besides their daily studies.

Muslims are not shy. They are pushing their Sharia law wherever they go. Since Jews were treated like pariahs, we have never been able to pull such a thing off, nor have we ever tried. The problem is that Sharia law is not the same as our democratic values in many sections. For instance, a head of Islam, Sec Gen Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, is meeting with Sec of State Hillary Clinton wanting to bring about suits against people who say something offensive to a Muslim. This man wants to do away with Freedom of Speech by criminalizing criticism of Islam, which is something that makes the USA so special.

I think Americans could just look at Europe and the Islamization that has been going on there to see where Sharia law could go. These are great times when American are far more open-minded than they were in the 30's, and have the ability to incorporate many new social ideas, but must not become too naive. The question is about how good are Muslims not to become enveloped into the Muslim Brotherhood philosophy? We've already seen a few in our own states jump into that quagmire. They weren't all poor, either. Economic status is not the decisive factor; religious ideology is.

Resource: http://www.historyguy.com/battle_of_pearl_harbor.html
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/History/Modern+History/Israel+wars/
MEMRI Sheikh Al-Qaradawi & Qatar's Education City Hosting American University Branches
http://www.adl.org/NR/exeres/788C5421-70E3-4E4D-BFF4-9BE14E4A2E58,DB7611A...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Aqsa_Mosque
http://www.jewishmag.com/57mag/dhimmi/dhimmi.htm
http://www.jcpa.org/JCPA/Templates/ShowPage.asp?DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=111&... on Al Jazeera and Qatar-The Muslim Brothers' Dark Empire?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_September_11_attacks
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudi_Arabia

Hadassah's Chanukah Fair in Portland

2011-12-12T11:29:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
The Chanukah Fair put on by Hadassah was a big hit yesterday from 9am to 4pm at Neveh Shalom Synagogue.

Portland-Ashkelon Sister City Ass had a wine tasting event at their table with 5 red and 2 white kosher wines from Israel's Galilee region. That was a big hit.

Very close to their table was Jewish Genealogical Society of Oregon's table with books out to look up surnames, mainly from Russia and Poland to whet the appetite of many getting interested in their genealogy. The group, which I belong to, has wonderful monthly meetings involving great speakers that give us more information about the period our ancestors lived in as well as how to find more information about them.

Near the entrance and exit was the Hadassah bake sale with so many goodies that it was hard to decide which to buy. I did settle on a dozen cookies in a bag that looked yummy. Before I got out the door, Debby Korman's father had such an interesting jewlery display, similar to the pennant that she was wearing yesterday, that I bought a different one for my daughter, Debby to go with her red hair.

There were many tables out with so many interesting items that it was hard to select things, but I did order 3 bottles of that wine. Looking forward to picking those up.

Wine Tasting with wines from the Galilee of Israel

James Autrey is telling an interested lady about Ashkelon

Richard Johnson telling Tani Zarelli about Israeli wines from Galilee

Michelle Suffian-Childton, Hadassah ladies happy about bake sales

Gingrich Tells Truth About "Palestinians: Shocks Everyone

2011-12-11T08:36:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
Newt Gingrich shocked news pundits when he was being interviewed with "The Jewish Channel." He was describing the Middle East peace process, and being the historian he is, commented that Palestinians were an "invented" people. He even had the chutzpa to comment that they were Arabs. The news of his statement made it into Saturday night's Republican debate of 6 people.

Palestinian officials reacted furiously to his assertions, accusing him of incitement and staging a "cheap stunt" to court the Jewish vote. What he said simply let them know that he was aware of their history and problem in attaining a peace accord with terrorists Hamas and Fatah (originally PLO).

"Enough lying about the Middle East", said Gingrich emphatically on television!" which was just aired again. "Remember there was no Palestine as a state. It was part of the Ottoman Empire, and I think that we've had an invented Palestinian people, who are in fact Arabs, and were historically part of the Arab community," he had told the Jewish TV.

Others in the debate jumped on him saying that it was really up to Israel to say such things. I guess that they haven't noticed that many of us Israelis and Israeli supporters have been saying just that. Gingrich is the first person I've noticed to have the gumption and daring to also say it. I think it is because he's more of a historian than a politician so is more interested in the truth. I cheered for him.

Even Ron Paul finally commented that this is a true fact when asked about it. The Ottoman Empire lost the war and England had the mandate. What they neglected to continue to say was that the Jews had formerly, albeit long ago, two states, as a matter of fact right where Israel lies today. It was much much larger and included Jordan, among other places. It was Judah and Israel, broken in two when King Solomon died. Ever since 70 CE Jews have been homeless and have suffered because of that for over 2,000 years. This is why England had decided to make the swampy mosquito filled wasteland that was treated like a pariah by all but the Jews the Jewish Home. It was because of Chaim Weizman who invented dynamite which did the trick to win the 1st world war in the first place that the Jews were promised a homeland back in their old original home.

Newt knows these facts, and others may also. It's terrible that only he has brought these facts up finally. It doesn't change the fact that both he and Israel agree on a 2 state solution, which means taking the fractional piece of land that is Israel and giving a goodly part of it to the Arabs that continue to call themselves Palestinians, swallowing the false story that it was they that once had a state, which they of course didn't.

The way the facts lie today is that they are unwilling to even talk about forming their own state, wanting all of the land which is Israel. This is something that our government has not considered,but instead has been putting pressure on Israel to make peace. Gingrich at least realizes how impossible this is. They're put the onus on the wrong people.

The Arab were offered their own state back in 1947 when Israel was in the process of being formed. They've been offered their own state over and over since then. They always hold out for the whole section of land. They've held out that long keeping "Palestinian" Arabs who followed their lead in detention camps, ever since then for the past almost 65 years now.

Reference: Oregonian 12/11/12 Gingrich says peace lies with Palestinians by Thomas Beaumont and Daniel Estrin-AP
Atlas Shrugs
Book: "From Time Immemorial" by Joan Peters

Freedom of Speech in Peril in USA?

2011-12-09T16:02:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
One thing that sets the United States of America apart from many other nations is our freedom of speech. Slander is another thing. One can be sued for that. Our country is for some reason or other concerned about Sharia law, which states that slander is anything concerning a Muslim that he would dislike.

That brings to mind many years ago in American Jewish communities where holocaust survivors has settled, and Nazis were marching through their neighborhoods, like Skokie, Illinois. It brought terror to these people, but the ACLU said that it was freedom of speech and they had a right. "The challengers argued that the injunction violated the First Amendment rights of the marchers to express themselves freely". I wasn't happy with their decision, but that's the way it was decided.

I was shocked at this display of speech, being Nazis were outlawed in Germany after the 2nd world war. All of a sudden Islam has a lot of power here.

Possibly that's because 56 (and I thought there were only 48 Muslim majority countries counted by Wikipedia) Muslim countries plus the Palestinians are organized in a group larger than the UN, called the OIC. They speak with authority and have the Cairo Declaration, exempting all Muslim countries from compliance with the UN declaration on Human rights and replacing it with their Islamic Shariah law.

But this is America, right? The OIC has met to counter Islamophobia and even want this to go through the UN. Now, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is going to host the OIC Secretary Genral Elmeleddin Ihsanoglu in Washington DC very soon this month and talk about how the US can implement their agenda to criminalize criticism of Islam.

Does that mean that I cannot warn my friends that the Muslim Brotherhood's top leader in Qatar, Qaradawi, has put out a fatwa on all Jews everywhere to be killed? Or should we be able to separate Muslim politics from the Muslim religion where Qaradawi, a religious Muslim leader in the Muslim Brotherhood has been calling for the Muslim world to damage the US economy by boycotting American products, and who has appeared on Arab TV channels inciting Muslims by calling for Islam's conquest of Rome, warning the US to change their policies or face "collapse," and calling for another Holocaust against the Jews but this time at the hands of the Muslims. In 2009 he told his Al-Jazeera audience "Oh Allah, do not spare a single one of them (Jews). Oh Allah, count their numbers, and kill them, down to the very last one." The Koran has other sections also telling readers to look under rocks or behind bushes to kill Jews. That actually happened when Islam was first created as there were Jewish tribes living in Saudi Arabia who were massacred unless they converted to Islam. Jews felt that Islam was converting by the sword. That's one reason why Jews do not try to go out to convert people. We ourselves have had terrible experiences with people trying to convert us. They don't call us stiff-necked for nothing. We're not ready subjects. So now Islam's religion is just ready to kill us all and skip the conversion part.

Iran has joined the bandwagon and has gone from "Destroy Israel!" to "Destroy all the Jews!" They wish to annihilate Jews worldwide instead of their previous goal of wiping Israel off the map. These people read the ever-popular book, Elders of Zion and base their philosophy on that. They've come out with their own book "How Israel should be destroyed", basing a lot on the Elders book.

This thought of attacking our freedom of speech is coming at a bad time. In Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood wants to re-evaluate their peace treaty with Israel now that they are creating a new parliament. They think it's been a long time since the Camp David accord was signed and needs the review, reported Mahmoud Hussein, the new secretary-general. He added that "Generally, Israel does not honor the agreement." So you know where he is going with his re-evaluations. The Brotherhood has a political wing, "The Freedom and Justice Party", which got 36.5% of the vote. After reading their declarations concerning Israel and Jews, I doubt strongly if this new group will follow in Mubarak's footsteps in wanting peace with Israel.

To top it off, Hillary is getting women of Israel and the Muslim countries mixed up in her mind. Rabbi Shlomo Amar, a chief rabbi in Israel, said her knowledge on the subject was incomplete. Separate gender seating on buses is not required by Jewish law. Israel is a country where the IDF couldn't do without their female sergeants who help train young soldiers. They're tough, I've been told. Israe's rabbis and women are most vocal and will take care of any misunderstandings themselves. Don't worry. The fact that in Mea She'arim there were women sitting apart was their choice, not Judaism's. If she wants to help women, she should look into what's going on with Muslim women in other countries.

When we returned from Israel the tail end of 1985, we found an upstairs apartment in SW Portland. Below us, to my great surprise, was a Muslim fellow. At Passover I opened the door for Elijiah and wondered if he could hear us. We got along fine. Up the street from the pre-school I was working at was a Mosque. Gosh, I was beginning to feel like I was back in Israel again. To be sure, there are hopefully many Muslims who do not follow the Muslim Brotherhood's dictums that are living here in the USA. But that does not mean that there aren't some that do, or that such a belief is not growing throughout the world.

Little things happen, like bringing DAM, a hip-hop 3 man Palestinian Israeli group to Lincoln High and the next thing heard was a student saying how she hated Israel. Israeli Jews live here as well in this city. None of us want to hear lies about ourselves, our religion or Israel. We also love freedom of speech, so certainly are not looking forward to losing that one special right in the United States.

When Israel is picked on and attacked by Muslim countries, one winds up feeling that there is something wrong between Jews and Muslims, and that this is a religious war. That's confirmed by putting out a fatwa against all Jews everywhere. Yet people aren't going to be able to say anything about Muslims? This outrageous thought of passing such an idea hasn't got a leg to stand on. I hope Hillary has the gumption to tell Elmeleddin Ihsanoglu a thing or two about what America is all about. What a great teaching moment she has in her hands.

Reference: Sheikh Al-Qaradawi & Qatar's Education City Hosting American University Branches, from Memri
Family Security Matters by Clare M. Lopez
AIPAC Update: update@aipac.org
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Socialist_Party_of_America_v._Village_of_Skokie
http://www.thejc.com/news/israel-news/59853/hillary-clinton-enters-israel-gender-dispute

More Missile Attacks from Gaza on Southern Israel

2011-12-09T10:50:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
Five rockets were fired from Gaza into southern Israel Thursday, Israel time, which would be Wednesday our time. They were the far reaching kind which exploded in and near Ashkelon, Portland's sister city, which is much farther away from the border. One struck near Be'er Sheva.

A rocket struck the general area of Sderot, Israel from Gaza terrorists on Friday morning, Israel time. Since Israel is about 10 hours ahead of us in the future, that would have happened by our time Thursday night.

Israel has warned constantly that anytime they are attacked to expect a retaliation. You'd think that would halt their attacks, but it hasn't. "The IDF will not stand any attempt to hurt the citizens of Israel and IDF soldiers and will continue to take resolute and forceful action against any attacks that employs terror against the state of Israel. Terror organization Hamas is the address that bears the responsibility."

The IDF reportedly struck 3 different targets; Hamas training camps in Gaza. Its aircraft hit sites of terror activity in southern Gaza and another terrorist site in northen Gaza, and that accurate hits on target were reported. Then a spokesman for Hamas blamed Israel for "the escalation in the region."

Two terrorists were killed in the targeted IDF strikes Thursday morning. Arabs said that 20 civilians were also hurt in the overnight IDF raids. IDF said that "additional explosions were caused because of weapons stores near the terror activity sites that were hit." IDF regrets casualties among uninvolved persons but once again, the responsibility rests with Hamas. It's they who choose to operate from within the civilian population. What they are doing is using civilians as human shields.

Terrorists from Gaza fire rockets, missiles and mortars to kill, maim, destroy and frighten. Whether they are successful with each firing or not in killing, their first goal, is not a consideration in retaliation. Israel is not playing a game of: " you killed one of ours so we'll kill one of yours." They do damage and disrupt the mental and physical lives of the people. They know what the consequences of attacking Israel means. They make their own choices.

12/9/11 4:11pm "Barrage of Rockets Fired from Gaza into Southern Israel
from embassy of Israel
13 rockets fired from Gaza hit southern Israel in last 24 hours, threatening the lives of more than a million Israelis.

Residents of Southern Israel have remained on high alert since the attacks began on Thursday. A "Code Red" alarm has been sounded throughout the region.

The rockets have mostly fallen on the outskirts of towns, causing no damage or injuries at this time. The Iron Dome missile defense system has also been successfully deployed.

Resource: Artuz Sheva news@israelnationalnews.com by Gil Ronen "Gaza Arabs: 1 killed, 20 hurt in overnight air raids."
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/10/world/middleeast/israeli-planes-attack-gaza-targets.html

Logic Has No Hold in the Middle East : Anti-Semitism Practiced by Semite- Arabs

2011-12-08T21:12:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
Right now there are 48 Muslim majority countries in the world with over 1 billion people living in an area 672 times the size of Israel. These same Muslims are having a fit over the creation of the only Jewish state in the world that happens to be in their neighborhood. They are more than intolerant-they are anti-semitic!

1.4 million Arabs are citizens of Israel, but the planned Palestine will have no Jews at all. Arabs in Israel have the same citizenship as Jews do, even their own political parties and are voted into the knesset. Yet Jews are not allowed in Arab countries today. The recent earthquake in Iran called for all people to come help them except the Jews.

Over 3,300 years ago Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people. This biblical kingdom was first ruled by Saul in 1020 BCE. King David ruled from 1004-965BCE and his son, King Solomon ruled from 965-930 BCE. When Solomon died the kingdom was split into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. Then the Romans conquered the area in 70 CE and it was renamed as Palestine in 135 CE to eradicate the Jewish presence. To the Jews who never left, it has always been known as Eretz Israel. Though much of the land was decimated and prisoners were taken or killed, some did remain. We have always managed to have a Jewish presence in the land.

The first Arabs arrived as conquerors in the 7th century, 2,500 years after the Jews had been there. Jewish tribes were living in Saudi Arabia but were either killed or converted by Muhammed and his followers when Islam stormed the area.

Jews started returning to Eretz Israel in the late 1800's and created the kibbutz. They bought land legitimately, drained swamps, killed mosquitoes and started communities. They had been caught in pogroms in Russia and had endured anti-semitism in Europe. They felt they needed their own homeland and remembered Jerusalem in their prayers every day for 2,000 years. This caused them to form zionist congresses and confer with Arab leaders. They bought land from Arab landowners who were living in Europe, and paid the extreme high prices because the unkept, deserted, swampy barren land was precious only to them because of their history with it. After all, it was G-d who told them to live there. We are eternally tied to this land.

In 1917 after WWI, Britain was given the task of supervising Palestine. Jews had fought with the British and Arabs had fought with the Germans. Chaim Weisman, Jewish, developed dynamite for the British and Jews were rewarded the homeland they had strived for. Our promised homeland consisted of both present day Jordan, Israel, and the administered territories. This was all written up in the Balfour Declaration.

Yet the British also made promises to the Arabs, so in 1922, Britain transferred 2/3 of the mandated Palestine to the Hashemite Bedouins who were driven out of Saudi Arabia by a rival clan. That became Jordan and no Jews were allowed to live inside it, even today. Yet Israel allowed Jordanians to come across the bridge to work in Israel. Jordan and the Palestinian Arabs had a war, and somewhere along the way the king married a Palestinian lady. Now it is made up mostly of Arabs who called themselves Palestinians. They have stated that they do not want any more Palestinians living in Jordan!

The Holocaust in Europe took the lives of 6 million Jews. Those that lived tried to get to Palestine, but the British fought against that, causing many to return to gas chambers or die in the ocean. Some managed to get into the holy land. They hit the ground off of ships only to be given a gun to fight Arabs who were attacking Jews. Was there no place that Jews could find refuge?

The Arabs that are citizens in Israel today are the ones whose ancestors, about 160,000 of them, stayed instead of leaving when all the Arab countries attacked Israel. 200,000 had fled upon the warnings of their leaders. Many successful Palestinian Arabs are the Christians who live in Haifa. Arab incomes in Israel are higher than others in the rest of the Arab world. They have freedoms that others can't even begin to understand.

Ironically, 700,000 Jews had been living in Arab countries, but when Israel was created, they were forced out. Yemen is a good example. They came to Israel and were found homes. Ofra Haza, our famous singer, was from this group of Yemenites. So just about the same number of Arabs left to become displaced people from then till now living in camps run by the U.N, while the same number of Jews were forced out of their homes by Arabs and were able to be integrated into a European-Ashkenazi community. Jews living in Arab lands were treated as 2nd class citizens, but they weren't subjected to acts like pogroms.

Russia was the vilest of all the European countries in keeping Jews on the Pale of Settlement, an area where they were allowed to live. They couldn't come into Russia proper. They were kept poor in shtetles for the most part. France was showing lots of anti-semitic qualities with the Dryfuss affair where a French soldier was treated differently because he was Jewish. England had periods of keeping all Jews out of the country.

Despite all the hardships, Jews kept their faith, and Judaism did not die. Being the first monotheistic faith, that is quite a feat to continue for almost 4,000 years.

Israel's Delusional Anti-Semitic Neighbors: A Jewish Turkey?

2011-12-08T12:57:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
Syria swears that Turkey today is ruled by Jews! Anyone that the Muslims don't agree with must be Jewish in their minds, evidently. This is wild.It was said by the state-run "Tishreen" newspaper on Tuesday in their op-ed article. Turkey, 7th largest majority Muslim country with 73,722,988 Sunni/Shi'a, with the most powerful military power besides Iran and Pakistan. They have 514,850 active troops while Iran has 545,000 and Pakistan has 612,000. . The United States of America has as of 2010-1,430,895.

Today the Oregonian newspaper ran an editorial by David Ignatius, "US-Turkey partnership plays key role in region," telling about the new friendship between Obama and Erdogan, Turkey's Prime Minister. Even though Obama saw the Turks undermining our US policy and attack Israel in 2010 by trying to run a blockade with armed men on board, they have been able to make an alliance.

Turkey used to be fairly friendly with Israel until the blockade incident, which brought out the fact that Islam has been playing a bigger part in their politics lately. Erdogan has demanded that Israel apologize for trying to protect their own men when they boarded their ship and wound up killing a few of them in defense when attacked. He knows they had to search for weapons as that's how terrorists can get them to use against Israel, but made a big show of it by demanding such outragousness that Netanyahu would not go along with. Now Israel is more uneasy than ever with this White House, quotes Ignatius.

Erdogan was once the closest ally of President Bashar Assad of Syria., but is now a foe-thus a Jew. Erdogan has agreed to deploy a forward-based radar system that is part of a NATO missile defense plan aimed at Iran. Iran and Turkey share their border.

One thing I see is that Erdogan and Obama are together in planning joint efforts against terrorist groups like the Kurdish PKK. The Kurds, mostly Sunni Muslims who live in Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria have been through so much suffering and really deserve their own state more than the Palestinians do in my mind. I see that they have also been attacking Christian groups, though, which isn't okay. Oh, how all the religions are getting into the act.

Resource: Oregonian newspaper page C6 Editorials, Obama and Erdogan-US-Turkey partnership plays key role in region.
Daily Alert http://www.dailyalert.org/
http://israelkurdistannetwork.blogspot.com/
http://www.kurdistanica.com/?q=node/95
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/31/opinion/a-war-crime-or-an-act-of-war.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/kurds1.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Muslim-majority_countries
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Armed_Forces

Nuclear Threats Bubble Up From Iran While Dabbling with Nuclear Arms Program

2011-12-07T14:19:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
The biggest threat today for Americans, and especially for Israel is the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran. Iran has constantly threatened Israel's existence as well as all Jews in the past few years. Persia almost got away with it when Queen Esther lived so long ago by the evil doings of Haman, and now we have Ahmadinejad in just about the same role and mind-set. The beautiful Jewish Queen Esther didn't sit around pondering what to do: she came clean and told her husband, King Ahashueros that she was one of the Jews that Hamen wanted to kill, and so Hamen and his sons got it instead when all were hung. At that time Persia wasn't a Muslim country, either. Islam came into existence in the 600's CE.

Persia must have been a nice place to live in in those days. What has happened to it being "Iran" now is that the Muslim Brotherhood has gained a foothold which promotes the fullfillment of the Nazi regime in killing all Jews, especially those in Israel. After all, they can't abide having a Jewish state amongst all the Muslim ones, can they?

Obama said on November 30th that "we don't compromise when it comes to Israel's security." He should have told the Defense Secretary, Leon Panetta what he would be saying, because Leon also made a speech to the Brookings Institute where he stated some demands on Israel.

1. Israel is to abstain from attacking Iran and rely on the USA in the following points.
a. USA only will negotiate with the Palestinians
b. USA will reach out to Egypt, Turkey and Jordan
2. Israel is to pursue only the goals shared with the USA

This reads like the Israeli opposition platform, unfortunately. Panetta gives mixed messages, depending on whom he is addressing. He told a Washington forum that the biggest threat to security and prosperity of the Middle East is nuclear-armed Iran. He also said that Obama has not ruled out using military force.

What Panetta is afraid of if Israel goes it alone is that Iran will retaliate against the USA, who is the big Satan in their book while Israel is the little Satan. Israel was successful back in the 1980's of destroying Iraq's Osirak Nuclear Research Facility when negotiations didn't work out. They flew over and bombed it and returned to cheering in Israel but condemnation from the rest of the world. Later, in the Persian Gulf War, they received praise for having done this after finding out about the stockpile of ammunition that Iraq had squirrelled away. (I wrote about it in the week of June 14, 1981 in my book. While at my teacher's home, a neighbor came over to tell us about Israel bombing the Iraq atomic plant which was a surprise to us all. My comment was that France shouldn't have supplied Iraq with such deadly things. We stayed for dinner and discussed it.)
One bland force that has kept Iran back from its timetable has been the computer virus called "Stuxnet" that keeps plaguing them. Israel has been blamed for that deed, but there is no proof. It could easily also have been the USA. We have great computer experts in both countries who could have come up with it. It's a great way to slow up their efforts without shedding any blood. November 14th of this year told of the Duqu supervirus that also hit their program. I hope it continues to plague them.

If the USA tries to blockade Iran's Strait of Hormuz and cause an embargo, Iran will force oil prices to soar to $250 a barrel. It looks like Iran has the USA and Israel in a vise.

In the meantime, we have Howard Gutman, our US Ambassador to Belgium, taking the Chutzpa cake. He had the gall to tell Jews at a meeting that it was their fault that Muslims are anti-semitic and violent towards them. David Harris, head of AJC wrote him a letter afterwards telling him a thing or two about the relationship between Islam and Jews. Good grief, where have these people been living? Better yet, what do they spend their time reading? Or, just what TV news channels do they watch to get such weird ideas?

What could be called "famous last words" are Muslim advisors who tell us that Iran would never hit Israel with nuclear arms. After all, they would also kill Arab Muslims as well. I don't think that would bother them at all. Weighing their goal against lives would be nothing for them. For us it would be, but they follow a different path of reasoning.

Did the USA have any idea that Pearl Harbor would be bombed by the Japanese? Germany in WWII wasn't going to invade Europe, either and many believed that to be true. It was the Prime Minister of England, Neville Chamberlain who spoke of peace in our time on September 30, 1938 and said it " in his speech concerning the Munich Agreement and the Anglo-German Declaration. The phrase echoed Benjamin Disraeli, who upon returning from the Congress of Berlin in 1878 stated "I have returned from Germany with peace in our time." It is primarily remembered for its ironic value, as the German occupation of the Sudetenland began on the following day. So promises really aren't worth their weight if the conditions show differently.

Resource: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dH3u79h5G7A Osirak Nuclear Research Facility video
Israel News Daily http://www.israelnewsdaily.com/
http://www.sacbee.com/2011/12/07/4106114/ajc-criticizes-ambassador-gutmans.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/8888967/Iran-claims-defence-computer-systems-hit-by-another-supervirus.html

Qatar's Dealings With Hamas

2011-12-05T11:34:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
Senator John Kerry had "voiced concerns about alleged Qatari government and private support to Hamas, saying in April 2009 that "Qatar....can't continue to be an American ally on Monday that sends money to Hamas on Tuesday."

"August 2009 saw Qatar offer $10 million in cash payments via the Hamas Administration in Gaza to support thousands of unemployed Palestinians". Most are employed in the government. The "Palestinians" are the longest achieving people to be on the dole with the U.N. as a displaced people. The $10 million included fishermen facing difficulty because of Israel's blockade of Gaza's coastal waters. This came about because of ships trying to bring in ammunition used to attack Israel.

Qatar makes more money than any other Arab country in the Middle East. Qatar supports the Arab League position backing indirect negotiations between the Palestinian Authority and Israel. Just in April of this year, the Emir Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani visited the White House and said that "the most important issue for us in the region is that Palestine-Israeli conflict and how to find a way to establish a Palestinian state."

He said then that he supported Obama's goal of the existence of two states living peacefully side by side. Being his good friend, Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi, seemingly Qatar's chief Theologian, is a main leader in the Muslim Brotherhood, I doubt his sincerity to Obama. The Muslim Brotherhood is for the murder of all Jews and the destruction of Israel according to their charter. For starters, he's all for the destruction of Jerusalem. Qaradawi believes this so strongly that he has issued a fatwa stating all this.

Qatari leaders have criticized Israel's decisions on Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria and in additional upkeep building in Jerusalem. Their mixed signals are reflected in Qatar's position about boycotting Israel. In September 1994 their decision by the GCC was to terminate enforcement of the indirect boycotts, but maintaining in theory the primary boycott. There actually had been an Israeli trade office in the capital, Doha, but it was closed by the Qatari government in response to the January 2009 Gaza war and hasn't been reopened.

Qatar has been supportive of Hamas in recent years and indirectly supportive of Iran and Syria. They tell others that it's a policy of engaging all sides in the interests of peace. In October 2006 they were doing some diplomacy to resolve the differences between Palestinian factions and trying to release the kidnapped Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit by Hamas captors. They even offered $50 million to the Hamas-led PA government and has hosted Hamas leaders for many talks since January 2006. Tzipi Livni, Israel's then Foreign Minister declined their invitation in Doha in October 2006 because Hamas people would be there. However, an Israeli delegation did go. Shimon Peres visited Qatar in February 2007 and declined the Emir's reported suggestion that Israel negotiate directly with Hamas.

Qater kept working on Hamas and Fatah to speak to each other and they came to an agreement in May 2011. They may even find offices for themselves in Doha because of unrest in Syria. After all, Khaled Meshaal and other Hamas leaders visited Doha in April and December 2010, meeting with Emir Al Thani and Prime Minister Jabr Al Thani.

Qatar and Israel do not have formal diplomatic ties. The Emir of Qatar gave refuge to Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi, considered a theologian of terror for Jews, who was kicked out of Egypt because of leadership in the Muslim Brotherhood. That was when Mubarak was head of Egypt. Today the Muslim Brotherhood has gained leadership there, but Qaradawi is settled nicely in Qatar. One must think of why Egypt couldn't tolerate his religious leadership back then and what it stood for that Mubarak realized. Hamas has sworn to destroy Israel. This gives cause to worry about Qatar's connections.

Our government continues to be Qatar's ally. They were allowed to use Qatar as a a major military base. Qatar founded Al Jazeera, the first all news Arabic language satellite TV network in 1995 used to brainwash many into hating Israel along with their news. Some Americans question the possible support for Al Qaeda terrorists including members of the ruling Qatar family.

Resource: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RL31718.pdf
http://www.jcpa.org/JCPA/Templates/ShowPage.asp?DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=111&FID=442&PID=0&IID=2971 from Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs

BRIEF FACTS ON THE ISRAELI CONFLICT TODAY

2011-12-03T20:34:00.000-08:00

…(It takes just 1.5 minutes to read!)...maybe 2 minutes with my comments. .
(from British TV interview with Netanyahu during retliation against Hamas's shelling of Israel, from Colorado. Compiled by a Christian University Professor. Comments from me in italics. Many of these facts I've heard before from other sources.

It makes sense and it’s not slanted. Jewand non-Jew — it doesn’t matter.

1. Nationhood and Jerusalem – Israel became a nation in 1312 BCE, Two thousand years before the rise of Islam. (Saul was 1st king in 11th century BCE, son of Kish of tribe of Benjamin. Selected by prophet Samuel, prophet. Philistines and Ammonites were threatening. King David was successor, also chosen by Samuel. King Solomon was David's son. Israel's king Jeroboam 933-912 BCE. Larger than Judah, existed for 210 years, had 19 kings of 9 dynastics. Ended with Samaria's capture by Sargon in 721BCE) (Kingdom of Judah, southerly of Israel and Judah, was divided from Israel in 933 BCE after death of Solomon) (Mohammad born 570CE in Mecca, age 40 had visitation from angel Gabriel, revelation from Allah, preached in 613, night journey in 620, 624 Battle of Badr, attack Jewish Qaynuqa tribe, exile them from Medina, etc., died June 8, 632CE.)

2. Arab refugees in Israel began identifying themselves as part of a Palestinian people in 1967, two decades after the establishment of the modern State of Israel. (after 1967 Six Day War-Israel won)

3. Since the Jewish conquest in 1272 BCE, the Jews have had dominion over the land for one thousand years with a continuous presence in the land for the past 3,300 years. (Joshua took over for Moses, went into the Promised Land.)

4. The only Arab dominion since the conquest in 635 CE lasted no more than 22 years.

5. For over 3,300 years, Jerusalem has been the Jewish capital. Jerusalem has never been the capital of any Arab or Muslim entity. Even when the Jordanians occupied Jerusalem , they never sought to make it their capital, and Arab leaders did not come to visit.

6. Jerusalem is mentioned over 700 times in Tanach, the Jewish Holy Scriptures. Jerusalem is not mentioned once in the Koran.

7. King David founded the city of Jerusalem . Mohammed never came to Jerusalem .
(Islam's Sura 17 , Al -Isra, and in the Hadith, tell of one night in 621 CE where Mohammed took a spiritual/physical ride on his steed, Buraq to "the farthest mosque", where he led other prophets in prayer, and also ascended to heaven on this magical horse and spoke to G-d who gave him instructions on how to pray. Muslims now claim the farthest mosque was the Jewish Temple Mount in Jerusalem where they have built a Mosque over the Jewish Temple)

8. Jews pray facing Jerusalem . Muslims pray with their backs toward Jerusalem .

9. Arab and Jewish Refugees: in 1948: the Arab refugees were encouraged to leave Israel by Arab leaders promising to purge the land of Jews . Sixty-eight percent left without ever seeing an Israeli soldier.

10. The Jewish refugees were forced to flee from Arab lands due to Arab brutality, persecution and pogroms. (Creation of Israel in 1948 caused Arab countries to kick out Jews).

11. The number of Arab refugees who left Israel in 1948 is estimated to be around 630,000. The number of Jewish refugees from Arab lands is estimated to be the same.

12. Arab refugees were INTENTIONALLY not absorbed or integrated into the Arab lands to which they fled, despite the vast Arab territory. Out of the 100,000,000 refugees since World War II, theirs is the only refugee group in the world that has never been absorbed or integrated into their own people’s lands. Jewish refugees were completely absorbed into Israel , a country no larger than the state of New Jersey ..

13. The Arab-Israeli Conflict: the Arabs are represented by eight separate nations, not including the Palestinians. There is only one Jewish nation. The Arab nations initiated all five wars and lost. Israel defended itself each time and won.

14. The PLO’s Charter still calls for the destruction of the State of Israel. Israel has given the Palestinians most of the West Bank land, autonomy under the Palestinian Authority, and has supplied them.(Israel left Gaza for the PLO and they turned it into a staging ground to shoot missiles into Southern Israel-Hamas took it over from PLO in fight) (Muslim Brotherhood Charter called for all Jews to be killed and destruction of Israel)

15. Under Jordanian rule, (up to 1967) Jewish holy sites were desecrated and the Jews were denied access to places of worship. Under Israeli rule, all Muslim and Christian sites have been preserved and made accessible to people of all faiths. Sites now in danger-being taken over in Arab places, Jews denied access.-Blame UN's siding of accepting Palestine.

16. The UN Record on Israel and the Arabs: of the 175 Security Council resolutions passed before 1990, 97 were directed against Israel .

17. Of the 690 General Assembly resolutions voted on before 1990, 429 were directed against Israel .

18. The UN was silent while 58 Jerusalem Synagogues were destroyed by the Jordanians. (UN still silent when Israel is being bombarded by missiles from Gaza, Lebanon)

19. The UN was silent while the Jordanians systematically desecrated the ancient Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives (before 1967)

20. The UN was silent while the Jordanians enforced an apartheid-like a policy of preventing Jews from visiting the Temple Mount and the Western Wall. (from 1948-1967)

Israel is the center of Bible Prophecy, and God Blesses those who Bless Israel – Genesis 12:3

Resource: Original email from friend Nathan Fendrich
http://terri0729.wordpress.com/2011/11/07/british-television-interview-with-netanyahu-during-the-retaliation-against-hamas-shelling-of-israel-from-colorado/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isra_and_Mi'raj
Nadene Goldfoot's comments in italics
The Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
The Truth about Muhammad by Robert Spencer

Opinions of an Angry Jewish Grandmother: Wanting to Protect Israel

2011-12-02T08:45:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
I'm not a rabbi, only a teacher of secular studies, but have studied about our religion of Judaism, and am in awe of the intelligence behind it and what it tries to do to shape our outlook on life. It is so rational, so sensible, so fair. It was able to reshape a wild group of people 4,000 years ago who had been slaves for 4oo years into the most tolerable of people who were even considerate of animals to the utmost levels of humanity. That's one of the best parts, I think. If we consider animals' feelings, do we not consider all people's? Thanks to Moses with Ha-Shem's guidance, we've come a long way from the Early Bronze Age.

Knowing what has been so taught for all these years, I have had the faith of our fathers to trust in the good of Israel, created on the ethics of Judaism. How can our own people not trust that the knesset is doing their best job and work diligently to preserve the lives of their own and their enemies. It's gone from left to right, and now is the time for the man who is the bravest to do the best for Israel. The people have voted. They know. They live there; we don't. It's their lives that are on the line. It's their sons and daughters who are on the front lines, sometimes right along with them. They see the future. Why can't our Americans?

I feel for all the people in Israel when Netanyahu has had to dismantle a town/s in Judea or Samaria. I've known it was coming for some time. The non-caring pressures from the world has forced the decision. I just pray that the rest of Israel can be saved, for that is the ongoing battle. With G-d's help, it will be the right thing for all of Israelis at this time. I say this with sadness, as I wanted them to remain.

To understand Israel's motives, Jews must understand their own religion and be proud of it. I am appalled with some of our own rabbis who are not in tune with this. That is my greatest disappointment.

We have a group in the USA who are supported by one of the world's richest but twisted men who work against AIPAC as a competitor. They try to decide for Israel what to do whereas AIPAC supports the democratic decisions of Israel and bothers to understand the decisions and situation. I feel that people who join up with this group are not educating themselves at all, but naively go along with the popular mores in their socio-economic class, led like a lamb to the slaughter, pretending to be so much more interested in being fair. They're being so fair that they're sacrificing their own people on the altar. They side with the enemy who shoots at our people constantly. If we don't speak up and care about ourselves, what are we? I'm a lady who is terribly worried about the future of Israel when surrounded by people who don't give a hoot. They just go on with their lives and football on TV and pretend that there are no problems in the world.

With the grace of Ha Shem, we find people of the same mind in the Christians United For Israel or CUFI. People of several Christian denominations have come together with the work of Pastor John Hagee to support Israel. He has even written a book for his own flock, "In Defense of Israel." They're combatting these ridiculous BDS movements causing people to think the worst about our only Jewish state by being non-supportive in boycotting stores with Israeli products. There are battlefields of all sorts that Israel has to combat, and they're not all in the field. There are even movements of Christians that are studying the Torah and finding the extraordinary meaning and teaching in it that we value. They have a respect and awe of the Torah, which our ancestors have held for 4,000 years.

If this life is a test to see how faithful we are to our covenant, I think we are winning, but it's a heavy test, for sure, very similar to Job's. 6,000,000 of us were either shot or burned alive and still we have a remnant who care about our value to this planet. At least I see the people in Israel combatting the thought to not follow the covenant we agreed to so long ago and just give up, but I think that many Jews of the USA need to shape up and learn about their history, past and present, ASAP, before it's too late.

Resource: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Near_East
My experiences and thoughts

"Kristallnacht" in Highland Park, New Jersey - Anti-Semitism Act from Nazi Days

2011-12-01T13:08:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
A resurgence of "Kristallnacht" happened on Tuesday night where 5 Jewish stores were hit; two kosher restaurants, two Judaica stores and a hardware store owned by a Jew without identifiable Jewish symbols on the building. The fact must have been known that the owner was Jewish. Also that night the city experienced smashed windows on Rutgers U campus at Hillel House.

One man was held responsible and was sent for psychiatric evaluation, a Richard Green of New Brunswick. He was charged with criminal mischief with a penalty possibly of 18 months in prison and a fine of $10,000.

Before the big hit, a local falafel shop was threatened earlier with a "2nd Kristallnacht." Kristallnacht happened in Germany on November 10, 1938 which means the night of broken glass, and was an actual pogrom. Thousands of Jewish stores and synagogues were destroyed in it. This was the start of the Nazi Holocaust in Germany. Anti-semitic events happened from 1933 to 1945.

David Lev points out that this Kristallnacht took place on Tuesday, November 29, the anniversary of the 1947 U.N. Partition vote making Israel a state. Therefore, I realize that this hatred for Jews is instigated by a hatred for Israel by the Palestinians who are raining down missiles in southern Israel from Gaza. Green may not be member of Hamas, but he certainly is a meshugana sympathizer with them. There is so much material out on the web and in books against Israel, that I see boycotting and divestment groups, such as the Socialists for one, and some Christian denominations in the USA working against Israel. Therefore, this is really not a surprise. It's a terrible disappointment, but not a surprise. The Palestinian Authority (PA) knows that Israel exists but rejects its right to exist.

Unlike the first Kristallnacht, this one will not be allowed to continue, for this is still the United States. One kook will not spoil our land, but it would be good if police would be more aware of this episode now.
Reference: Arutz Sheva news@israelnationalnews.com Arrest Made in Highland Park "Kristallnacht" by David Lev
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristallnacht

Doha, Qatar's Art Expert Makes Portland's News With Art Show

2011-11-30T10:43:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
Our Portland Art Museum will be hosting a major exhibit on Islamic art over the next two years called, "Beauty and Belief: Crossing Bridges With the Arts of Islamic Culture. It will cover items from the 7th Century to the present. The Quran manuscript is part of the display with a page framed showing two sections.

Maribeth Graybill, our curator of Asian art, says the definition of Islamic art is a little hazy in that "a strict definition would be "objects made to fulfill a specifically Islamic religious function." Brian Ferriso is the Portland museum's executive director, and says the show to come will include both high and low examples of art; from paintings to items such as drinking vessels. He said that he hopes "Beauty" will initiate further discussion and interest in it.

The show, which will run here from June 15, 2013 to Sept 8, 2013, is created by the efforts of Dr. Sabiha al Khemir, an artist in New York and Islamic art expert, He's the show's "driving force." Khemir was the founding director of the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar from 2006-2008.

The museum, in the shape of a ziggurat, is the vision and commitment of the state of Qatar, which would be the Emir, Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani's brainchild. He has carried on the work of relative Saud bin Mohammed al Thani, Qatari prince, and possibly grandson to the Emir, who was dismissed as the country's art Acquisition chief in 2005. The reason for the dismissal was of fears in the family that he was buying more art pieces for his own personal collection than for the nation's museums. He had been the former president of the National Council for Culture, Arts and Heritage. This large family provides the leadership for every type of organization in Qatar, it seems like.

40 collections residing in nine countries such as Kuwait and Morocco will be presented. Doha, the capital, built the museum on an island of 64 acres, designed by architect I.M. Pei and had its opening December 8, 2008. They have the goal of using it as a cultural force in the region. Qatar is to be the center for academic research and wishes to be the bridge between the East and the West.

This display is organized by the Brigham Young Museum under al Khemir's direction. Funding comes from private donors, the National Endowment for the Arts (federal funding), and the Institue of Museum and Library Services. Others who have signed on to view the display are the Indianapolis Museum of Art and the Newark Museum. Lucky us-we will be one of 4 museums to host this exhibit.

Reference: Oregonian Newspaper November 30, 2011 page C-Living, Portland will get Islamic art exhibit by D.K. Row
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8K92BFolFyk
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_of_Islamic_Art,_Doha
http://www1.hays.com/jobs/mia/index.html
http://middleeast.about.com/od/qatar/f/Museum-Of-Islamic-Art.htm excellent source
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saud_bin_Muhammed_Al_Thani
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Thani including immense family tree of Thani
http://www.arcspace.com/architects/freed/mia/mia.html about IM Pei, architect

Christians United For Israel Program at Portland State U.

2011-11-30T00:51:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
CUFI met at Portland State U tonight with a marvelous program. They had Colonel (Res) Bentzi Gruber of the Israel Defense Force (IDF) speak on the Ethics of War.   Israel abides by these rules which make them feel much better about what they might have to do.

First we heard about the growth and accomplishments of CUFI, which is only seven years old. Their last visit to Washington D.C. had from between 800,00 to 900,000 people visit there who made presentations in favor of Israel. The reason they understand and help Israel is because they study the "Old Testament" and quoted Genesis 12: I will bless those who bless you,, and him who curses you I will curse; and all the families of the earth shall bless themselves by you.." The speaker also mentioned Chapter 17 which says: and I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojourns--the whole of the land of Canaan---as an everlasting possession; and I shall be a G-d to them.

They are a group of religious Christians who see that the Jewish people are again under attack and that Jewish towns and villages throughout Israel are being assaulted by terrorist missiles and suicide bombers. Thousands of Jews have been killed in cold blood with more attacks in the horizen. Once again most of the world is standing idly by as they are attacked. This group is outraged while so many are apathetic. They are standing up and being counted and have openly declared their support. I might add that they have done their homework. They are an educated group of people who are not afraid to read about the history and the current events of what is happening to Israel and why. They are not about to be swayed by inuendos and false facts spread of anti-semites. I'm so proud to know them and count them as dear friends.

I learned that 70% of people in the USA have a positive attitude towards Israel, but this is not true in the campuses of our universities. They celebrate a week with an irrational idea that Israel is an apartheid state with their Apartheid Week campaign on their walls in posters. CUFI 's young members have now created at least 300 campus centers and are making inroads in educating students about Israel. If there's one thing that Israel is not-it's being an apartheid state.    Speaking of that later, the Colonel answered a question and said that the Goldstone Report from the UN, so falsely accusing Isreal of things that were untrue, even though it was edited and changed later by Goldstone himself, had made matters so bad for Israel. Everyone is still believing his original report. For a Jew to cause such a calamity to our only Jewish nation in the world is a grave sin. Spreading lies is even in our ten commandments, and he did just that. Goldstone had taken the false words of others and figured that was good enough. Colonel Gruber read all the pages of this report in English, which was a feat for this Hebrew speaker. He was so disgusted.

I was so engrossed in what Colonel Gruber had to say about how Israel goes out of it's way and even expects their soldiers to put themselves in harm's way many times in order not to cause civilian collateral. They don't want to harm civilians. He pointed out that in a regular war you know who you are fighting against because they wear uniforms, but terrorists don't. It's not because they are too poor, but because this makes it harder to tell who they are. They have the habit of standing amongst other unarmed people and know that Israel won't hit at a crowd of people.

Not only does the IDF value human life, despite what rumors our enemies have been creating, but they know that harming children and pregnant women, for example, will cause your conscience to tear you apart. They avoid causing reasons for suicides after going home from a war by trying to do the ethical thing. This is war but they remember to avoid the collateral damage. Don't take a life unless you have to.

Judaism is a very ethical religion. The law of kashrut even considers the feelings of animals. One of the laws that really impress me is the one where we don't mix meat with dairy products when we eat. That means, acording to the kashrut law, we wouldn't eat a cheese hamburger and drink a chocolate milkshake with it.   The reason for that is that a cow gives milk to its baby. G-d forbid that we eat from an animal and then drink it's mother's milk. This would make the milk cow feel so bad to see this happen.   We eat meat but not the blood of the animal. It's salted to take the blood out after lots of soaking and rinsing. Even at that we don't eat the parts with a large vein, so it comes down to eating tougher cuts. This makes ordering a TBone steak rare is just not kosher. As I see it, the laws pertaining to food are to create a very sensitive non animalistic person who cares about ethics. It's a conditioning process to become considerate of others, their feelings, their rights, and their life. It behooves me how people can think that we are a bad people knowing how much we care even for animals. It's a requirement to feed our animals first before we eat. And so our IDF has a list of ethics that must be met which all the soldiers know and follow. I'm very proud of these men who put their life on the line all the time.

He was telling us that it's rough carrying a 60 lbs sack on your back when you go out into the field, and then putting on a helmet doesn't help. I can imagine. Israel is usually a very hot country. As a soldier, you have 8 seconds to decide on what to do when alarmed. We saw from the video just what can happen in 8 seconds. It's like the blink of an eye.

Before Israel shoots at a target, they call into headquarters to get the okay. Also, ammunition is extremely expensive and cannot be wasted.  One lazer packed rocket costs a lot of money and can't be wasted. Ha! When I did Civil Guard duty in Israel, I was given but one bullet. I had my German shepherd dog with me in the police van and figured that if we met some terrorists, she was going to have to protect me. I did a lot of praying.

I understand that Reuters and CNN can set up situations for the notoriety. We can't always trust our news. The camera guy has to be a Palestinian for these agencies as he is the only one who can enter some villages safely. A UN ambulence most often leads a group of terrorists. It's there filled with their ammunition, and not for the injured. They know that Israel does not fire on ambulences. When Hamas won over Abbas's Fatah and kicked them out of Gaza, they took over all the ambulences for this purpose and fired 600 ambulence drivers so they could take them over.

Gaza is about 24 miles long and 5 miles wide. Underneath lie at least 650 huge tunnels big enough to hold jeeps and trucks to drive through from Rafa to Egypt. This is how they have been bringing in ammunition to use against Israel. My concept of a tunnel had been something you could crawl through on your hands and knees. Who knew?

When Israel had to attack a central target, they dropped leaflets to warn the people when they would come. That wasn't all. They made phone calls, and follow-up phone calls. They texted. All this to avoid collateral damage. It's not a usual matter for a people to warn their enemy when they're coming, but they do all this because of the unusual circumstance of having to defend themselves in fighting terrorists who do not abide by any ethical rules at all.

Israel has sustained 351 rocket hits in November. The terrorists try to hit Israeli civilians on purpose. This is the difference between terrorists and freedom fighters.

And good gosh and Lord almighty! Israel's army is not in the business of selling organs of people! How people can create such ugly vomit-wretching lies I'll never know. Colonel Gruber can't understand how people can be so gullible, either. Anyone would see right away if they used their brains that any organ used for transplant has to be handled with care and kept in some cold pack container and rushed to a patient. That's not going to happen from the front lines in Israel. No! What our IDF are watching out for is kidnappers of solders like what happened to Shalit.

This country that so many college campuses have defamed has no death penalty except in very extreme cases, as with the convicted Nazi war criminal, Adolf Eichmann. The strictest penalties are prison and exile, which apply to those directly involved in carrying out, planning, assisting or supporting terrorists or terrorist activities. Our Oregon governor would not have any problems with such a law at all, would he.

                                                 CUFI Meeting at Portland State U. tonight

Resource: Israel 101 produced by StandWithUs for CUFI

Just Who is Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Emir of Qatar?

2011-11-29T13:37:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
Qatar, perhaps the richest state in the Middle East is one of the smallest. Lying in the Persian Gulf next door to Saudi Arabia, it has a population of 744,029 and is the 44th out of 48 largest Muslim majority countries. 77.5% are Sunni Muslims, which is the state religion. They are ruled by an Emir, who was a Sheikh, and is an absolute monarchy, but they haven't taken part in the "Arab Spring" of discontent. Their GDP per capita is the highest with 80,870 in $ whereas Afghanistan's is 724. Saudi Arabia's is only 23,243 with all their oil profits.

Emir Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani is the 7th in a line of Emirs in Qatar and is a member of the Al-Thani dynasty of Qatar, founded in 1868 by Muhammad bin Thani. They descend from the Banu Tamim; one of the largest tribes in the Arabian Peninsula. This goes back to Abbad bin Athussayen bin Abbad, a knight in the Umayyid dynasty. Millions of Arabs claim descent in Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Egypt, and "Palestine." I wouldn't be surprised that the Emir is related to Qaradawi. One thing they respect and care about is keeping a genealogy of their tribes.

Mohammed bin Thani reigned from 1868 to 1878; Jassim bin Mohammed al Thani from 1878 to 17 July 1913; Abdullah bin Jassim al Thani from that date to 20 August 1949 and then abdicated (relinquished power) , dying on 31 August 1974; Ahmad bin Ali al Thani from 24 October 1960 to 22 February 1972 and was deposed (put down, removed from the throne) by his cousin Khalifa and died 25 November 1977; Khalifa bin Hamad al Thani b: January 1, 1952 in Doha, Qatar, from 22 February 1972 to 27 June 1995 and was deposed by his son in a palace coup, the present Emir, Hamad. That's when he took over in 27 June 1995.

He was also declared as Minister of Defense. For starters he led the Supreme Planning Council in the early 1980's, deciding the state's basic economic and social policies. He'd been running the country since 1992, involved with the development of their oil and natural gas resources.

His eduation was in Qater but later attended Sandhurst Military Academy in England and graduated in 1971, commissioned as a Lt. Colonel in the Qatari armed forces and commanded the 1stt Mobile Battalion, now called the "Hamad Mobile Battalion" in his honor. Later he was promoted to Major General and appointed commander in chief of the Armed forces. He modernized the military, increased manpower, created new units, updated weapons and improved training. "He is also promoting Islamist (like the Muslim Brotherhood) parties in Libya, Syria and "Palestine." which would be today-Judea and Samaria and Gaza, as there is no more "Palestine, " being a term created by the Romans around 132 ACE when Judea fell and with the establishment of Israel in 1948, is a defunct term.

He touts himself as a moderate and is considered to be progressive among Muslim leaders. His 3rd wife, Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser al Missned has been an advocate for education and children's causes. She now chairs the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, estabished in 1995.

Under his rule his government helped to fund the Al Jazeera news network, and funded it with an emiri decree. Hugh Miles analysed this TV station and claimed that diplomats from other countries know he is the real power behind it but network spokesmen deny this accusation. Sheik Hamad is a distant cousin of the network chairman, Hamad bin Thamer al Thani, who was the Minister of Information in the government. The USA was given a $137 million dollar grant from Emir Al-Thani, so Al Jazeera had the goal to become self-suffieienct through advertising by 2001. This failed, so the Emir agreed to several loans; $30 million in 2004. Colin Powell in a October 3, 2001 press conference, tried to persuade Sheik Hamad to shut down Al Jazeera while the NY based organization "Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting" commented that in those efforts, " Powell and other US officials were upset by the channel re-airing old interviews with bin Laden and guests too critical of the US on its program. By 2005 Sheik Hamad was under pressure to privatize it.

The Emir has 3 wives and 24 children of which 11 are sons and 13 daughters. His first wife is the daughter of his first cousin. They have 2 sons and 6 daughters. His 2nd wife is the daughter of Nasser bin Abdullah al Missned and they have 5 sons and 2 daughters. The 3rd wife, daughter of Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad al Thani, past Minister of the Interior and they have 4 sons and 5 daughters.

Considering that his buddy, Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, one of the ruling religious leaders in the Muslim Brotherhood, has put out a fatwa against Jews, telling his people to kill all Jews everywhere, I am surprised to read that he met with an Israeli stateswoman. He has created this progressive statesman reputation, so did  actually meet with Israeli minister Tzipi Livni in New York on September 25, 2007. Other Persian Gulf leaders carry the belief of anti-Israel sentiment within the Arab world, to say the least. This marks the first real attempt by any leader in the area to pursue dialogue with Israel. Tzipi is from Israel's Kadima party, the opposition leader to Netanyahu and is trying to take his place. Qaradawi had found refuge in Qatar in 1961 and has been bosom buddies with the Emir ever since, with many buildings and organizations named for him in his honor.

Qatar Foundation has been creating satellites in their own country of universties from the USA like Carnegie Mellon. They've also established Arab language classes in 5 high schools in the USA as well. They gave $70,000 to our Lincoln High in Portland to do this. In the 2nd year program, the teacher has brought in a hip-hop group of 3 disgruntled Arab Israelis, DAM, who tell a most slanted view of living in Israel, instigating the ruination of Israel and that the land should not be in Israel's hands. This has caused much consternation in the Jewish community. So far, the issue remains unresolved, though "Christians United for Israel" have voiced their disapproval of this act very strongly with the school board after a presentation of 7 Jewish high schoolers.

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamad_bin_Khalifa_Al_Thani
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_emir_of_Qatar
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Muslim_majority_countries
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3453593,00.html

November 29, 1947 Monumental Answer to Our Prayers

2011-11-29T10:36:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
Sixty-four years ago on this day of November 29th and also on a Tuesday, the world Zionist Organization saw the answer to their and our prayers with the United Nations recognizing our tiny state of Israel.

As what happens in many American communities on the anniversary of their birth, Israel is staging a re-enactment in Jerusalem, our capital.

The vote in the UN gave the British Empire one year to leave the country it had occupied since 1917 when they were given the mandate. The Ottoman Empire, who had a hold on "Palestine", had sided with the axis which means Germany in WWI and lost this holding when Germany lost the war.

It's a happy celebration for Jews. There will be speeches, live entertainment and street performers. For Abbas, leader of the Palestinian authority of Judea and Samaria, his people consider this day a catastrope long with Israel's birthday of May 15th which is Israel's Independence Day. MK Danon is trying to counter their incitement with a law proclaiming it "National Zionism Day." That most likly will rankle them considerably. They seem to blanch at the word, "Zionism."

The USA had a war between Mexico and the newly formed USA, and the USA won. We had our battlescars with the battle at the Alamo before the major war when our heros were slaughtered. The Mexican-USA War had the Battle of Chupultpec Heights in September 1847. I've never seen any of my adult Mexican language students hold a grudge or react with hatred about losing the war. Canada didn't get to have our Pacific Northwest, either. We are terrific neighbors. We have things in common that make good neighbors. The religions involved teach the same credo.

Many of our adults do not remember a time when there hasn't been a state of Israel, being born after the fact. There were no TV, cell phones, or decent washing machines in that day. I was 13 years old and remember the rejoicing and elation when this happened. It was a ness; a miracle for us. After all, we had gone through plenty after 2,,000 years of losing our country in the first place. Our ancestors suffered from slavery, anti-semitism, pogroms (surprise attacks of usually drunken cossaks raping and taking lives and causing destruction) culminated with the Holocaust during this eon-like period. If we had been able to flee to "Palestine", we might not have lost 6 million of our people.

It's a whole different psyche involved between the Muslim Arabs and Jews in Israel. Our history of difficulties go back to bible days and still are not resolved. Jacob and Esau, the twins, are but one example. Now the Muslim Brotherhood, so popular in Egypt at present, is teaching the killing of all Jews everywhere along with the destruction of Israel. Israeli Jews have been honed through centuries of anti-semitism to be able to withstand the challenges of living in Israel with the hope that there is light at the end of the tunnel. It's where we were meant to live in the beginning. We're not looking forward to any death but to the continuation of our lives. L'Chaim.

Reference: Arutz Sheva news@israelnatonalnews.com re-enactment on Tuesday of UN Recognition of Israel by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Nathan Fendrich, Historian, on Mexican War

Buy During Israel Week and After-Hadassah Chanukah Fair December 11th

2011-11-28T10:22:00.000-08:00

Nadene Goldfoot
Buy Israel week from November 28th to December 4th is countering the efforts of BDS people who sponsor Boycott Israel, which comes on the heels of Black Friday. There are many in the BDS movement who think they can control or bring down Israel by not buying any products from there.

"There are those who work to undermine Israel’s right to exist. One of the ways they do it is by boycotting Israeli products. You counteract this movement when you buy Israel, and urge others to do the same. Not everyone can shape decisions made at the United Nations or on Capitol Hill, but anyone can make a conscious decision to support the only democratic nation in the Middle East, Israel, when shopping."

The BDS movement against Israel (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) are efforts to delegitimize Israel worldwide. The Palestinians have put much effort into gaining United Nations membership for the very reason to enable them to delegitimize Israel. Israel was created in May 1948 legitimately through the UN. They shouldn't have to defend their right to exist anymore than Portland, Oregon does. Unfortunately, some of our American church groups have stepped in as leaders of this poisonous movement, which I think is very anti-semitic of them even more than being anti-democratic. .

I'm troubled by these people who want to punish the citizens of Israel. They are propagandists and anti-semites fighting Israel with this movement. We can counter it by buying Israel.

We need to buy Israeli products at any time we can. Hadassah's Fair at Neveh Shalom is on the 11th of December and is featuring an Israeli Wine Tasting of 7 delicious wines. Be sure to stop by at the table of Portland-Ashkelon from 11am on that day and see which ones you enjoy. Hanukah starts on the 20th of December, so this is a chance to buy all Israeli presents. A major part of Hadassah's profits go to the Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem.

References: http://www.buyisraelweek.com/
http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/63435/buy-israel-week-is-a-call-to-action-we-can-easily-answer/
United With Israel
http://www.standwithus.com/app/inews/view_n.asp?ID=2095
http://www.jpost.com/Features/InThespotlight/Article.aspx?id=247018&R=R44
The Jewish Week http://www.thejewishweek.com/