Jews in Arab Lands: Then and Now

                                                                          

                            Ofrah Hazah, singer from Yemen

At one time there were 100,000 Jews living in Iran. Persia, as it was called, was the home of Queen Esther or Hadassah, who was married to King Ahashuaros. It was she who saved her people by telling her husband of the plot of Haman to kill all the Jews. She had to expose herself to her husband who did not know that she was Jewish in order to do this. The brave woman readied herself on a diet of seeds and nuts for three days in order to approach him on this delicate subject, no doubt to fit into that special dress. 

   My favorite singer in Israel from Yemen, Ofrah Hazah

Today there are about 11,000 Jews left in Iran. In my own family, a cousin's husband escaped from Iran on a camel in order to leave the country.

Algeria had 140,000 Jews and now less than 100 remain.

Egypt had 75,000. I taught in the same school as an Egyptian Jewish gal in Israel. She was teaching English. Today there are less than 100.

Iraq had 150,000 Jews, much to my surprise, although Ur is in Iraq. This is the ancient city where Abraham was born and had left. By 2009 there were about 35 Jews remaining there.

Lebanon had 20,000 Jews. Now it has less than 100.

Libya had 38,000 but now has none.

Morocco had a whopping 265,000 Jews. The heads of our English Department in Safed were from Morocco. Michelle loved Paris and had clothes from her mother from there. Many Moroccans lived in Safed. Today there are about 5,500 Jews there.

Syria had 30,000 Jews. Today they have less than 100.

Tunisia had 105,000 Jews. Today they have about 1,500.

Yemen was the home of 55,000. Today there are about 200 left. I believe this had been the home of my favorite Israeli female singer, Ofrah Hazah. She became very famous in Israel, and fell upon sad times by dying from drug overdose. I was heartbroken. She was such a wonderful and young singer.

Israel declared itself a state in May 1948 with the blessing of the U.N. Immediately war broke out causing 800,000 Jews to be forced to leave Arab countries where they had been living for two millennia. They moved to their new country of Israel, ready or not, as their native country had turned against them.

Living in Israel was not easy for them. These Jews had to compete with Ashkenazi Jews, many of which were more educated. The army duty was a place where all were treated the same and became a place of integration. Many of the towns these Jews came from were quite primitive, so they had cultural changes. Now we see that this new melting pot is doing quite well.

Resource: Stand With Us's Pocket Facts of Israel

Baghdad: One Day Away From Jerusalem

                  The Cradle of Humanity

Nadene Goldfoot                                      Babylon-Babylonia 

                                                                                       

                             ISIS Terrorists Ready to Attack Baghdad

You know what's happening to Baghdad, capital of Iraq right now.  ISIS Sunni terrorists are approaching like a hoard of locusts, killing everyone in their path brutally.  CNN just showed them forcing a father and his two sons to dig their own graves, and the father pleaded for their lives, but they were all shot while in or near their graves.  They do a lot of beheading.  The aim of ISIS is to create an Islamic state across Sunni areas of Iraq and in Syria and they are doing it as brutally as possible.  It's causing soldiers to run and leave their weapons, weapons that were given to them by the USA.  

If we go back far enough, the land was also known in the bible as the land of Shinar or of the Kasdim (Chaldees).  It's the cradle of humanity and the scene of the Tower of Babel.  Abraham was born in Ur of the Chaldeans.  To the prophets, Babylon was the symbol of insolent pagan tyranny.  It was home to Nebuchadnezzar II (604-561 BCE) who attacked the Jewish kingdom of Judah. We read in the Torah, "By.the waters, Of Babylon. We lay down and wept, And wept, For thee Zion. We remember, Thee ..."    Zion was another name for Jerusalem.  They had been captured and taken to Babylon for slave labor.

Babylon became Iraq which became independent in 1932 when they then turned on the Jews and persecuted them. From 1932 to 1934 there were 5 governments. In 1939 there were 80,000 Jews living in Baghdad.    In 1941 when Nazi thought permeated the Middle East , there were violent acts against Jews in Baghdad.  A pogrom against Jews was from the Muslims there.  This was called the Farhud, a riot, and they killed about 180 Jews and is attributed to the hateful attitude Arabs kept towards Jews from then on.  This was during the revolt of Rashid Ali.  The population was led by Haj Amin al-Husseini, the Sharif of Jerusalem, called the Grand Mufti.  About 1/3 of Baghdad at that time was populated by Jews.  There are probably Muslims who carry genes of their Jewish ancestors today.

Iraq soldiers attacked Israel in 1948 a few minutes after Israel announced its statehood.  Iraqis lost but refused to signed an armistice agreement with Israel.  So 123,500 Jews left Iraq then for Israel in Operation Ezra and Nehemiah.  Their property was confiscated by Iraq.  For those that didn't leave, they were given severe restrictions, especially after the Six Day War of 1967 when they had attacked Israel again with Syria, Egypt and Jordan.  Their treatment was so bad that it aroused international protests.  By 1991, the Jewish population was 150 living in Baghdad where one synagogue still continued to operate.

In 1981 Israel bombed the Osirak  nuclear reactor the French had built for Iraq.  It is the world's first air strike against a nuclear plant. The reactor was 18 miles south of Baghdad.  "The 70-megawatt uranium-powered reactor was near completion but had not been stocked with nuclear fuel so there was no danger of a leak, according to sources in the French atomic industry."  The atomic bombs from this "would be of the Hiroshima size. Thus a mortal danger to the people of Israel progressively arose."

It acted then because it believed the reactor would be completed shortly - either at the beginning of July or the beginning of September 1981."

 Jews had been living in Babylon way before Islam ever came into existence in 637.    The Babylonians had attacked Jerusalem in 597 BCE and had carted off all the best Jewish men and again in 586 BCE.  They took them to their home and made them slaves, so sold them to neighbors for a high price.

Speaking of neighbors, Aleppo, Lebanon had an ancient Jewish community also.  Jews had been praying there in their Great Synagogue since the 400s CE.  Jews had been in that city since 300 BCE and were the oldest native sect in the city.  They were there first.  If a car leaves Jerusalem in the morning they will arrive in Aleppo by mid-afternoon today.  Baghdad is only a day's drive from Jerusalem, but the borders will cause it to take a little longer.

Iraq used to be called Mesopotamia.  When the Muslims conquered the city in 637 and converted everyone, the Jews were happy, hoping they would be delivered from the cruelty of the Sassanid persecution.  Jews had come there from Kufa who had been expelled from Saudi Arabia a few years before.  It was a famous Jewish center where the Exilarch, head of the Jewish community and the Gaon were thought of as the most knowledgeable Jews in the land and who came to them for matters that needed to be decided upon.  Benjamin of Tudela in 1170 said that 40,000 Jews were living in Baghdad when he visited there.  Many were distinguished scholars. Among the Jews were poets, physicians and talmudists.    Under Mongol rule from 1258, Jews fared well.  Some even reached high administrative positions.  A massacre happened in 1291.  Then Tamerland captured Babylon in 1300 and the Jews fled.  The Ottoman Empire counted Baghdad as a conquest in 1534 and held it until 1917 when they lost WWI to the Western Allies.

Today Iraq is the 11th largest Muslim majority country with 31,234,000 population before fighting.  97% are Muslims, who are both 27% Shi'a and 70% Sunni.  The state is listed as secular.  As a state, they have 254,418 active troops.  "Mainstream Sunnism has been said to be "about" Sharia, sacred law.   In contrast, the Shia also follow Islamic law with great "vigilance", but their belief is added with Ijtihad "Research" in the light of teachings of the Quran."

So this was the cradle of civilization.  It has been working on  becoming  the cemetery of civilization at this rate.  The leader of ISIS, a PhD, is Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi.   He even served four years in a U.S. prison camp for insurgents, at Bucca in southern Iraq -- a time in which he almost certainly developed a network of contacts and honed his ideology.   He was released in 2009 and went to work.

Resource:http://mosaicmagazine.com/essay/2014/06/mizrahi-nation/
 The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/293631/Iraq/22903/Independence-1932-39
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_Iraq
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shia%E2%80%93Sunni_relations
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ijtihad
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/7/newsid_3014000/3014623.stm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six-Day_War
http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/12/world/meast/who-is-the-isis/

Netanyahu's Next Move To Protect Israel

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                      

                            Palestinians  of Fatah-Hamas Government: Ismail Haniyah of Hamas in front 

                            Hamas is a terrorist organization..  Palestine is to have no Jews in it, just like Saudi Arabia.

Area C and Ariel 

Evidently the USA in no longer regarding the Oslo Accords as having any merit, for they are allowing the Palestinians, in planning their Palestine, to have a terrorist led government.  Area A was to be exclusively Arab, no Jews.  Area B was to be all Arab.  Area C was to have "full Israeli civil and security control" and the plan was for Israel to withdraw from 13% of it, but they only were able to withdraw from 2% and the actions of the Arabs caused them to perform Operation Defensive Shield, meaning the Arabs had attacked more than could be tolerated which showed no peaceful intent.  Hamas really brought this on themselves.  Israel retains 61% of Judea-Samaria.  The Palestinians also have Gaza as part of their state which has 141 square miles.  

Area C in Judea-Samaria, scene of Israel's ancient history of Israel and Judah found in the Bible ,  is now threatened by the USA being first to recognize an unsettled Palestine with a Fatah-Hamas government patterned after Lebanon's that will not have any Jews living in it.  Area C was allowed to have Jews in the Oslo Accords.  It amounts to 375,000 Jews who live there as of  2013, probably a few more today.  The city of Ariel is the capital of  this Judea-Samaria district. The 3 other cities are Betar Illit, Ma'ale Adumim and Modi'in Illit that house Jews.   When the Assyrians attacked Israel in 720 BCE, the northern Kingdom fell and was renamed Shomron (Samaria).  Judah was created after King Solomon had died in 920 BCE and his son, Rehoboam,  became king.  At the time of 722 BCE, Ahaz was king.  The area of the Judea and Samaria district covers only 2,270 square miles which is but a portion of the ancient lands of Judah and Samaria. 
                                                                            

                                               Ariel
"In July 2012, a government-commissioned report by the Levy committee asserted, based on a number of reasons, that there is no legal basis under international law to refer to Judea and Samaria as "occupied territory". Article 43 of the Fourth Hague Convention of 1907 is the basis of the Levy Committee's opinion. Its opinion may be found on the Internet with an English translation"  "The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law,"  They call them "occupied territories."  Israel calls them "disputed territories."  

Obama  just settled the dispute by recognizing them as  Palestine, state for the "Palestinian" Arabs, recent immigrants who left their homes at the creation of Israel and instead of returning when the fighting was over, remained in refugee camps where most remain today, taken care of by the UN.  

Israel was willing to go along with a 2-state solution, not wanting to change the nature of Israel as a Zionist state, refuge for Jews who were suffering from anti-Semitism, but can't accept a terrorist state bent on their destruction.  Kerry didn't manage to change their minds about that, which was understood being they refuse to change their charter of Hamas nor their goal to destroy Israel lying in their hearts.

There must be an international law that a state cannot be created that has a terrorist government intent on destroying its neighbor.  This is what the UN was created for, to keep such things from happening.  The UN is not living up to its original charter.  It's not all over yet.  So far the USA was the first to recognize this state and we haven't heard from the Western states as yet.  

First off, the PA violated the Oslo Accords by taking unilateral action and applying for membership in 15 different international organization for statehood.  This went against the peace process and caused the halt to it, yet Kerry blames Israel.   To top that off, the USA has hurried to be the first country to recognize a state of Palestine, a Palestine that will have a ruling government of Hamas terrorists just like Lebanon's Hezbollah government plan.  

Israeli MK Bennett came up with an idea that Israel should have sovereignty over Area C of Judea and Samaria back in 2010, but the USA crushed that idea quickly.  Now, with the threat of having an honest to goodness terrorist state in their back yard, Netanyahu has to come up with a plan B as to what to do.  He threw out the idea of the need to separate from the Palestinians, which is going to be some trick being they are so close.  They did this once in Gaza and it was a complete mistake.  A poll was taken and 60% of Jews opposed a unilateral withdrawal from the area.  20% of Israel's citizens are Arabs and 2/3 of them support withdrawal.  

What is the USA suggesting now that they have  started the wartime atmosphere, something not expected in a peace process?  They have the wait and see attitude like they had with Syria and Ukraine.  Before recognizing Palestine they failed to get any written guarantees about peaceful behaviors from the Palestinians who are still dropping rockets on southern Israel.  In fact it just happened today again and a rocket was shot into southern Israel, the 108th since the first of 2014.  .  Now, Israel can expect more terrorism to come from Judea and Samaria on the east side as well and continued shelling from the west from Gaza.  Well, they said that they'll be watching all of that very carefully to ensure that that doesn't happen.  Watching doesn't stop anything.  It's been going on since 2001 from Gaza already and I haven't seen anyone try to stop the terrorists except Israel.  So now they'll do the same thing and watch some more.  USA is not about to get involved.  They'll following the adage, "We don't mix in."  

 Isn't this all prophesied in the Bible?  Some great big blowout is expected to happen against Israel.  I think John Kerry and Obama are not wasting any time getting the bombfire lit.  
Update: 6/12/14 at 10:51am from Breaking Israel News:  

Congress Questions Obama, Kerry Violating Law by Supporting Hamas Government

Hamas: Bullets and Bombs Are Music to Our Ears

Hamas Interior Minister Fathi Hammad urged members of Fatah to join jihad and told them that “this is no time to back down” from destroying Israel.

Resource: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Bank_Areas_in_the_Oslo_II_Accord
http://www.timesofisrael.com/sirens-wail-in-south-as-rocket-fired-from-gaza/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
http://unitedwithisrael.org/the-jewish-connection-to-judea-samaria/
http://www.algemeiner.com/2014/06/06/israeli-official-netanyahu-seeking-unilateral-move-to-separate-from-palestinians/
http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=2676
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/181451#.U5OYYNJdU8o
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariel_(city)

Past Action of Hezbollah Towards Jews Doesn't Deter Kerry

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                       

                   Nabih Berri, Speaker of Hezbollah dominated Lebanese parliament

In 1985, the year I flew back to Oregon from Israel, there was a TWA airline that I didn't take, thank goodness,  that flew on Friday, June 14th from Cairo to San Diego and onto Athens, Rome, Boston and finally Los Angeles.   It was Flight 847 and after going from Athens to Rome it was hijacked by Shia terrorists belonging to Hezbollah and the Islamic Jihad, Shiite allies of Hezbollah and Amal.
                                                                             

They did this so they could demand that Shia prisoners being held in Kuwait, Israel and Spain would be released. Israel was holding 700 Shiite terrorists. Over several weeks, Israel did release over 700 prisoners but said it wasn't related to the hijacking.   They forced the plane to fly to Beirut, Lebanon and there they released 19 passengers before flying on to Algiers where they released 22 more.  Then it went back to Beirut.   One of the passengers remaining was a USA Navy diver, Robert Dean Stethem, and they beat him and shot him in the right temple  on June 15th.  It was plain murder for no reason other than he was a US serviceman.   They threw his body on the tarmac.
                                                                             

      Robert Dean Stethem, diver for US Navy Murdered  June 15, 1985 by Hijackers of TWA 847

Their demands were in in German as they spoke poor English.  :

• the release of the "Kuwait 17," those involved in the 1983 bombing of the U.S. embassy in Kuwait
• the release of all 766 mainly Lebanese Shias transferred to Israel in conjunction with Israel's immediate withdrawal from Lebanon; (a pullout had been underway since January and was already virtually complete)
• international condemnation of Israel and the United States^[
• condemnation of the 8 March 1985, car bombing in the Beirut suburb of Bir al Abed earlier that year.

                                                                   

Both the remaining passengers and crew had to endure a 3 day ordeal.  Some were threatened and beaten.  If their names sounded Jewish, they were separated from the others.  Then they were taken off the jet by Hezbollah and kept in Beirut.  All this was going on in the middle of Lebanon's Civil War.  

About 12 men from the Amal movement joined the hijackers on the jet and the pilot had to fly to Algiers again where 60 more were freed. Amal is a secular movement made up of Shiites who hold one seat more than Hezbollah in Lebanon's parliament.   The next day the jet returned to Beirut with 32 remaining passengers.  About 200 Lebanese Army soldiers left the area so that only the Hezbollah was in charge and had free reign.  They were afraid that the USA was planning a rescue of these passengers, so Hezbollah moved them off of the jet and kept them in different groups throughout Beirut.  Both terrorist groups mined the runways at the airport to stop any rescue attempt.  

By June 17th, the 3rd day,  Nabih Berri, Lebanese Minister of Justice and THE Amal leader took responsibility for the safety of the hostages and agreed to be the mediators.  Berri's men were holding most of the hostages and controlled the jet, so he freed them. 

Berri was a hero to his relatives who were living in the USA.  They were all in Dearborn, Michigan, USA or Dearbornistan, as he may have called it.  It's now known as Little Lebanon where he had more than 1,000 relatives, quite an extended family.  In the USA they've spelled their surname as Berry and had started immigrating in the 1920's from the village of Tibbnen in southern Lebanon.  They say that Berri's former wife, Lila, and 6 of his children live in Dearborn.

Nabih Berri is a French educated lawyer who is head of the Amal movement and is the leading spokesman for Lebanon's 1 million Shiites.  Lebanon has about 4,196,453 population and the others are 60% Sunni Muslims and Christians.  Nabih gave the order for the remaining hostages to be taken from the plane at Beirut and hidden around the city, so he is certainly a 2-faced individual, playing the hero while being part of the plot of hijacking.  
                                                                              

                                                           Dearborn, Michigan Mosque

Such a nice man.  Every 2 years he visits Dearborn with a green card which lets him live permanently in the USA if he wants.  Flight attendant Uli Derickson was widely credited with calming the hijackers and saving the lives of many passengers. She spoke German so could communicate with the hijackers.   She also hid the passports of Jewish passengers so they could not be singled out.  If she hadn't done that, you can bet they would all have met the same fate as the navy serviceman; murder.  

Now, guess who John Kerry, Secretary of the USA enjoyed the company of in a recent meeting on June 4th  and had quite a chat with?  His friend, Nabih Berri, still head of the Amal Movement and who is in the Hezbollah parliament.  Kerry had flown to Lebanon to supposedly tell their government to pick a president quickly, but most of the pundits feel it was to give a message to Israel by doing so of "See what is happening because you wouldn't listen to me?"  The USA is the first to recognize Palestine as a state under raunchy conditions without any guarantees of peaceful intentions to Israel.  Netanyahu is pleading with European nations not to follow suit.    

I haven't mentioned Sunni Islam in Lebanon.  One third of the Muslims are Sunnis.  I haven't seen them mentioned as belonging to the terrorists.  The government of Lebanon, once known as the Paris of the Middle East, had a unique makeup.  "Since resolved, Lebanon’s fragile peace is dependent on a sectarian governmental structure, where the President is a MaroniteChristian, the Prime Minister a Sunni Muslim, and the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies a Shia Muslim.  However, we all known that today the Hezbollah rules and this is the type of government that Kerry is okaying for Palestine who is using them as a model.  In Palestine, they will not have any Jews, however.  It is to be Judenrein.  Their model is being used to accommodate Fatah and Hamas terrorist politics.  

Yet, international law proves that Israel is in the right about living in Judea and Samaria and east Jerusalem, but nobody will accept it as it interferes with their global plans.  Kerry had this plan in mind, instead.  

Resource: https://www.flickr.com/photos/statephotos/14159616550/
 http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/kerry-chats-wterrorist-leader-in-twa-flight-847-hijacking/#.U5I98SO5Lzo.twitter
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TWA_Flight_847
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amal_Movement
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hezbollah
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Jihad_Organization

Palestine Copying Hezbollah-Run Lebanon Government

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                    

                                            Hezbollah, who run Lebanon today

Kerry went to Beirut, Lebanon yesterday to tell that country to pick a president and end their stalemate.  They haven't been able to do this because Hezbollah is in charge of the country.   Hezbollah (Party of God) came into power in 1982 when Israel let Major Hadad of Lebanon to go it alone and go to stop the PLO in their camp.  They had been fighting against Hadad and attacking Israel.  Hadad and his men were Christians, and the country, according to Lebanese law, needed a Maronite Christian to be the President of this Muslim majority  state.  Hadad was helping Israel to guard its northern border.

According to Wikipedia, Lebanon has a president who is Tammam Salam born 1945 and who started his term in office on May 25, 2014.  He is the incumbent of the Independent Party.  He had to step in because they hadn't been able to choose a Maronite Christian.  "This agreement had to be suspended three times, when two Muslims, the former Prime Ministers had to step in as Acting Presidents, Selim Hoss in 1988, Fouad Siniora in 2007 and Tammam Salam in 2014"  Since this isn't the first time they have had problems in picking a Maronite Christian but had solved the problem, did they really need Kerry to tell them to get with it and  end their political stalemate?  

Now, this united Hamas-Fatah government of Palestine that the USA is already accepting (PUG) is based on Hezbollah's model in Lebanon.  The deal is this:
1. Hezbollah terrorists are a part of the government
2. They  get to run their own large and independent army.
Conclusion:  Hezbollah controls most of Lebanon.  Lebanon is in an official state of war with Israel.

Hezbollah fought a guerrilla campaign against Israel in southern Lebanon until Israel withdrew in 2000.  Then they emerged as a leading political party in post-civil war Lebanon.  On July 12, 2006, Hezbollah launched a military operation against Israel and killed Israeli soldiers and abducted 2 as prisoners of war.  This caused Israel into having a major military offensive against Hezbollah. This 2nd Lebanon War ended on August 14, 2006.   The war lasted 34 days and 1,000 Lebanese were said to be dead from it in Lebanon.  1,000,000 were displaced. It was a stalemate.   This was seen as Lebanon coming out of it as heroes.  This helped them to topple Lebanon's government.  It looks like they are still in the driver's seat.  It was Iran who backed and supported Lebanon during the war and probably afterwards, too.  .

Hezbollah dominates the country's domestic and foreign policy and their military machine is better than the national army.  It makes the final say on appointments.  Hezbollah subscribes to the Iranian paradigm of wilayat al-faqih. The doctrine of Wilayat al-Faqih forms the central axis of contemporary Shi’a political thought. It advocates a guardianship-based political system, which relies upon a just and capable jurist (faqih) to assume the leadership of the government in the absence of an infallible Imam. However, although the guardianship of a high-ranking religious scholar is universally accepted amongst all Shi’a theories of governance, any disagreement is focused on the details such as the role of the jurist and the scope of his authority.  

 Ahmad al-Asaad, leader of the Shiite party, believes that "we must get rid of Hezbollah in order to build a viable state. Washington is funding the Lebanese Armed Forces which everybody knows is under Hezbollah control.
                                                                           

                                              Hamas Terrorists will have free reign.

Aren't we thrilled that Palestine is copying the Hezbollah terrorists' model for government?  Hamas will be just like them. They will run much of the show behind the scenes and also keep its independent army of terrorists and weapons.  Lee Smith, author of " THE STRONG HORSE, Power, politics, and the clash of Arab civilizations"  notes that their independent military organization will engage in terrorism.  The PA is only a legitimate cover while they wage war against Israel.  No doubt Washington will be funding the PA because Kerry is calling the Hezbollah terrorists a legitimate player when speaking in Lebanon and Syria.

Why bother labeling groups as terrorists when they are still involved and accepted by the USA?

Some are talking about the reason Kerry went to Lebanon, and don't think it was just for pushing for stability by electing a Maronite Christian as president.  It was to send a message to Israel.  Since Israel didn't bend in Kerry's running of a peace table, this could be quite vindictive of Kerry.  The USA is accepting a Palestine that has terrorists running the government, just like Lebanon has, and thus the USA will then be able to work with them.

Resource:  http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/john-kerry-visits-hezbollahs-lebanon-sends-message-to-israel/2014/06/05/
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/264741/Hezbollah
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Presidents_of_Lebanon
http://www.al-islam.org/shia-political-thought-ahmed-vaezi/what-wilayat-al-faqih
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Lebanon_War

America's Prize Was Lebanon and What Happened to It?

Nadene Goldfoot
                                                   

Prof. Moshe Sharon            Major General  Ariel Sharon with troops 1970 photo. Sharon was born in February 27, 1928 in Kfar Malal, Palestine and died Saturday, January 11, 2014 at the age of 85 in Tel Aviv, Israel. .  He has been in a coma for the past 8 years.   Ariel Sharon was  born in what was then Palestine under the British mandate. "His parents, Shmuel and Devorah Scheinerman, had been Jewish immigrants from Russia after World War I."  The PLO was in Lebanon in 1982 and were constantly firing on Israel's border, placing people in Kiriat Shimona and the whole border of Israel with Lebanon in bomb shelters for long durations.  Sharon had enough of that and wanted to stop it.  The PLO were a security threat.  

...One may ask whether the American delegation in Beirut during the Sabra and Shatilla massacre was not responsible for the exaggerated new reports that emerged. This happened when Major Haddad asked Major General Ariel Sharon if they shouldn't be the ones to go into the PLO camps in an attack.  Sharon said yes and got the blame for what transpired next.  He later stated that he had no idea of what the Christians were planning on doing.  The Christians in the Lebanese Christain Militia were angrier than Sharon had realized at the PLOs.  They wiped them out in a very quiet manner.

In 1984 Professor Moshe Sharon wrote an article that I mailed to my mother when I lived in Israel.  He explained the situation then so well about Lebanon and the PLOs.  In it he said that,

 "To put the matter in the clearest terms, whichever way one looks at it, the Israeli operation in Lebanon has been one big prize for the Americans.  Militarily, it was the triumph of American arms over Soviet arms.  Two Soviet clients and allies, the PLO and the Syrians, were severely beaten or militarily destroyed.  Politically, the Soviet Union has been badly discredited in the Middle East, and is now having to reconsider its military build-up against NATO in view of the poor performance of its missile systems in Syria.  In addition, Lebanon is on the way to freedom from the terror that tore it to pieces for so many years;  and Beirut which the PLO used as a base to spread the venom of terror all over the world, is now a free, open city.

Most important, the door was opened by Israel for the U.S. to establish in Lebanon a strong, permanent military and political base, an achievement which nobody in America could even have dreamt about before June 1982.

How is Israel repaid by the United States?  It is not even left alone to pursue, unhindered, peace negotiations with Lebanon.  On the contrary, pushed by their Saudi mentors, the American policy-makers from the president downwards are doing everything possible to strip Israel of its gains in this war.  While the war was still in progress, President Reagan came out with a plan which, although it bears his name, is in this writer's view nothing but an American version of "the Fahd plan."  In the long run it aims to establish a Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria and re-divide Jerusalem.  In other words, reduce Israel to what the Arabs call its "natural size,"  which would make it an easy prey.

The mere presentation of Reagan's plan as the official U.S. solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict has dealt a death blow to the possibility of peace in the Middle East.  furthermore, the credibility of the U.S. has been almost completely destroyed for the plan undermines the Camp David Accords and the "peace" treaty with Egypt.  It also legitimizes Egypt's backing out of most of its responsibilities as stated in the peace treaty.  first and foremost among these is the commitment to carry on talks with Israel concerning Arab autonomy in Judea and Samaria."

One may also ask if the same delegation was not responsible for sending to the camps representatives of the American and world media who were already pumped-up against Israel.  Who, one may ask, was responsible for spreading like wildfire through the world press the exaggerated and imaginative claim that thousands of women and children were killed in the camps?  But more than that, who is hindering the Lebanese government from arriving at a clear-cut, quick and simple peace agreement with Israel?  "

The answer to this question was the United States.   "The American delegation headed by Morris Draper convinced the Lebanese president that he does not have to worry about Israel---it will be dealt with by the Americans.  They told him to mend his fences with the Arab world, with the Syrians and possibly even with the PLO.  In other words, the U.S. is intentionally hindering a peace treaty between Israel and Lebanon, which most Lebanese are yearning for."

He tells the reader that this is a Saudi policy and the outcome is that the Egyptian peace treaty was in shambles with the Egyptians being armed by the US.  In Lebanon pressure was put on Israel and it was possible that the Syrians and the PLO would not leave the Lebanon.  "This is nothing but a sure recipe for a new war."

This piece written in 1984 by Sharon, year of "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley and the book 1984 by George Orwell , was 30 years ago.  I am appalled at how on the target Moshe Sharon was.   My country of the USA is still bungling when it comes to doing the right thing in the Middle East.  Obama was not the first president to not back Israel.  Israel must remember that the USA will always put America first, Israel last.  We were lucky to have had President Truman at the time of Israel's re-birth.

The writer, Professor Moshe Sharon was born in Haifa in 1937.  He graduated from Hebrew University and  U. of London.  He did research in Oxford, Paris and Dublin.  Sharon was the chairman of the Dept. of History of Islamic Countries in the Hebrew U and a former adviser to the prime minister  on Arab Affairs. Fatah is today's former PLO terrorists.

Resource:  http://www.asmeascholars.org/professor-moshe-sharon/
Jerusalem Post, 1984, No friend of Israel by Moshe Sharon
http://www.wbur.org/npr/5132166/reports-ariel-sharon-whose-life-and-career-shaped-israeli-history-dies
http://www.biography.com/people/ariel-sharon-9480655

Breaking USA Rules: Hezbollah and USA in Secret Talks

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                    

Hezbollah is an Iranian sponsored terrorist organization originating from Lebanon made up of Shiites who are fighting to destroy Israel.  They have 50,000 to 70,000 Iranian-supplied missiles sitting in civilian areas in southern Lebanon that are all aimed at Israel.  Their troops are fighting on the side of Assad in Syria and have helped to killed over 120,000 Syrian civilians and other rebel terrorist groups.
                                                                             

The USA has a law that prohibits the Administration from speaking with a group like Hezbollah who have political and military wings, but that isn't stopping our administration. 

 They are involved in secret indirect talks through London.  The talks supposedly are about fighting against the other main terror group, al Qaida.  What the USA is doing, they say, is hearing the views of this party and warming up to a direct relationship in the future.    Iran backs Hezbollah.  It's interesting that Rouhani, the Iranian president, spoke to David Cameron, the British Prime Minister, last week and then placed the talks in the context of the ongoing negotiations between the West and Tehran.  This makes Washington seem very willing to have diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic.  Britain and Iran's relations fell after the Iranians stormed the British embassy in Tehran in November 2011.  The odd thing is that a month before this happened, in October, Britain and Iran had renewed diplomatic relations and Britain named a new charge d'affaires to Iran. " The British Embassy in Tehran is closed following an attack on the Embassy on 29th November 2011. Sweden now represents British interests in Iran through a British interests section at the Swedish Embassy in Tehran. The UK has not cut diplomatic ties with Iran, although they remain at the lowest level consistent with the maintenance of diplomatic relations."  
                                                                       

Obama's administration is that of the Democratic party.  The Republicans are about a 180 reversal of what they are trying to do.  Senator Marco Rubio, Republican from Florida is opposed to the nuclear deal with Iran.  He calls Iran a "rogue state," and has pointed out that Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei will oversee implementation of the agreement and was calling Israel a "rabid dog" and accusing the USA of war crimes.   It must be remembered that Khamenei is their supreme leader and the country's head of state and holds more power than the President does.  It is Khamenei who is in charge of Iran's foreign policy which includes the nuclear agreement.  Some of the things Khamenei is throwing into the face of the USA are crimes in Iraq, drones in Pakistan, more drone crimes, Afghanistan's bombing, torture, killing, the Guantanamo prison, etc.  So he doesn't like the USA much less than he hates Israel.
                                                             

The USA most likely is talking with Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah which started in 1985.  Hezbollah is in the government of Lebanon, and is called a state within a state.  They call Israel the Zionist Entity when they are feeling nice.  He has said many quoted statements, but one was that "if Israel attacks Lebanon, Iran, Syria or Gaza, they will be met with a fierce response. "   Israel doesn't initiate attacks, only engages in defensive attacks after being hit or to squelch an oncoming attack.  He also refuses to believe that there is a legal state of Israel.  I guess news hasn't gotten to Iran in the past 65 years.

Al Qaeda is the terrorist group that Osama Ben Laden formed which is a global Sunni group out for all to follow the Sharia Law.  It came from Peshawar, Pakistan.  So we have Sunni against Shi'a terrorists, both all for Sharia Law but obvious competitors where both have been trying to take over Syria.  .

Resource:  http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Report-London-is-mediating-indirect-secret-talks-between-US-and-Hezbollah-333245 by Ariel Ben Solomon
Oregonian newspaper, December 1, 2013, page A2, politiFact.com Rubio calls out Iranian leader for referring to Israel as a "rabid dog".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hezbollah
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/h/hassan_nasrallah.html
http://abcnews.go.com/International/hezbollah-al-qaeda-fighters-edging-closer-confrontation/story?id=19144119
http://abcnews.go.com/International/hezbollah-al-qaeda-fighters-edging-closer-confrontation/story?id=19144119
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/10471509/Iran-and-the-US-learned-the-lessons-of-failure.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_diplomats_of_the_United_Kingdom_to_Iran

Russian Intervention in Syria Signals A Big Fight

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                       

                       Russian warships gather in the Mediterranean

Russia is sending several ships that will arrive in a few days in the Mediterranean to protect their interests in Syria.  Two Russian warships and a missile cruiser are coming to strengthen their fleet.  Russia is one of the big FIVE who would not vote for an  intervention attack against Syria since they are Syria's main backer.

In the meantime, talk is discussing back and forth about  a date for the USA to punish Assad and tell him he can't use chemicals while Britain has had second thoughts and is still bantering the matter in their parliament.  Actually, so is the USA, but Obama has already spoken and has said that the USA would take action even without the backing of allies or the UN.  What he had chastised Bush about, he  is now facing a very similar situation.

Obama has meetings in Sweden and Russia to attend.  He's leaving on Tuesday, so it is thought that something might happen before then.  Are we going to hit and then have our Commander in Chief leave when all fireworks can start?

If anyone attacks Syria, their promise is to attack Israel, who is prepared for that.  They of course will immediately answer an attack, and they have been trying to stay out of the Syrian devastation.   Syria's Civil War has been so close that some missiles had even landed in The Golan, which looks down on Syria.  When you live among lions, it's difficult at best to get into the middle of a roaring and fighting  pride.   Assad has threatened Israel with a deadly attack  from Lebanon, Iraq, Iran and what is left of their military and a surprise element of devastation.  What?  Atomic rockets from Iran?  More chemicals, no doubt.  Meanwhile, Assad has had time to leave Damascus and is safely hid out in Iran.

Israel is ready with gas masks for any surprise in Assad's retaliation against their tiny nation.  Psalms 108: 13-14 says it all.  "Give us help against the adversary:  for vain is the help of man.  Through G-d we shall do valiantly:  for He it is that will tread down our adversaries."   Israeli's warriors know they cannot run and hide anywhere.  They have nowhere to go.  This is a fight of the likes of the 300 Spartans,  only Israel feels they have help from their outer space guardian.

Thousands of Syrians have already fled to nearby Lebanon to get out of the way of the West's attack.  Not only did they have to worry about a crazed government with chemicals to use on them willy nilly, but now the West's answer to this use of chemicals which is not in the book of allowed war weapons.  The signal these people had of their eventual fate was in how their government treated the Jewish population in their country.  Confined on "Jew Street" and held as captives in a worse condition of any of the other dhimmis of the Middle East, the last remaining ones  were finally rescued by Israel in 1994.  As a country treats its Jewish population, so will the rest eventually wind up as the next scapegoat.  The Christians of Egypt have found that out already with the Muslim Brotherhood's first reprisal being their churches and people.

The Mediterranean will be full of Israeli, American, and Russian ships ready to fire missiles somewhere.  The British might be in the mix as well. At this point, the USA is not sure what the target is to be as the Syrians have been busy moving their arms to high ground surrounding Damascus.

Starting September 4th in the evening and going on into September 5th is the Birthday of the World, Rosh Hashanna, the start of a 10 day period of Jewish High Holidays ending with Yom Kippur, a day they were attacked on October 6, 1973 when everyone was in a synagogue asking for forgiveness from G-d of any sins they might be guilty of.  It is a day of fasting and is the most serious day of the year.  Unfortunately, the whole beginning of this  New Year is now colored with threats from a neighbor of all their lives once again.

On the sidelines of this stage are many Middle Easterners who are chomping on their bits at the thought of taking over Jerusalem.  I say that G-d has been on Israel's side through thick and thin for 65 years since May 14, 1948.  Israelis have been threatened when the odds were completely against them.  What makes the haters of Zionism  think that G-d's protection and direction has evaporated?  It is even miraculous that as a people Jews have continued to exist from the days when Judah, 4th son of  Jacob  and Leah, was born.  King David was from this tribe.  Of all the ancient people, it is only the Jews who have been able to survive, even with Hitler's determination to do Jews in.  The creation of their state once again has been prophesied to the amazement of all people. Just look into the "Old Testament.,"  It takes a lot more than plain luck to live that long in  a world  constantly against them.

Resource:  http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/israel-continues-to-prepare-for-worst-as-russian-warships-set-to-move-in/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=israel-continues-to-prepare-for-worst-as-russian-warships-set-to-move-in
Oregonian newspaper, 8/29/13/ Front page, Evidence, allies slow for strike on Syria, by Deb Riechmann and Kimberly dozier, AP, also page A5

Why Hezbollah is a Terrorist Organization

Nadene Goldfoot
Hezbollah is not a part of Lebanon's government.  They are supported by Iran and Syria.  After 1982 when Israel had to go into Lebanon to stop the PLO who were stationed there and had been blasting Northern Israel with rockets, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards stepped in and took these Shi'a Islamic militants that wanted to fight and trained them. Hezbollah has pretty much  taken over Lebanon, however.

In 2006, Hezbollah shot 4,000 rockets into Israel when they had a war that lasted for a month.  They had the range of 45 miles.  More than 24 cities were hit.  900 rockets landed in urban areas.  43 Israeli citizens were killed and 2,015 were injured.  Haifa suffered from 54 rockets that hit causing 16 deaths.  Karmiel, which is settled mainly by American Jews, suffered from 176 rockets. Kiryat Shmona, the city I drove to from Safed because they had a department store that reminded me of Meir & Frank, was hit by over 1,000 rockets.They were close to the border.   My city of Safed (Tzfat), which is on top of a mountain,  was hit by 471 rockets and Nitzan Rubin died from it.   July 13: Nitzan Rubin, 33, died from wounds sustained during the  Hezbollah rocket attack.  Tiberias, which is below the mountain,  was hit with 81 rockets.   The UN brought out a peacekeeping force, but it is thought that Hezbollah had stockpiled more, possibly 28,000 rockets since then.

By 2008 they were shooting Iranian rockets with the range of 185 miles, which would be able to hit Dimona.  This has all been done with the backing of Iran. By "early March, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reported Israeli claims that Hezbollah's arsenal includes 10,000 long-range rockets and 20,000 short-range rockets in southern Lebanon."  At the same time, Hamas from Gaza was raining down rockets and by 2008 had killed 13 Israelis that way.  Hamas even then had strong ties with Iran.

The Lebanese army has been working against Hezbollah.  On December 11, 2011 a rocket was shot only 6 miles from the border towards Israel but hit a Lebanese home in Hula and injured the woman inside. The next year on November 20, 2012, "A Lebanese army patrol discovered two ready-to-launch 107mm Grad rockets between the villages of Halta and Mari, about 2 miles from the Israeli border. The forces defused the rockets. IDF official Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai said Palestinian factions in Lebanon were probably behind the plot."  It's figured they were Hezbollahs being they were in Lebanon.  The next day "Two rockets fired from Lebanon at Israel landed within Lebanon, according to Beirut officials." The terrorists didn't give up.  The very next day "The Lebanese army disarmed an additional rocket aimed at Israel, in Marjayoun, again, about 6 miles or 10 kilometers from the border."  

Last July,  5 Israeli tourists were killed in a bus that was bombed in Burgas, Bulgaria, a Black Sea resort.  It was Hezbollah who were the terrorists.  They had a suicide bomber planted on that bus.  The bus driver was also killed in the explosion.

Tel Aviv was threatened by Lebanon's Shiek Hassan Nasrallah in 2012's battle with Gaza after a cease fire was declared.   Hezbollah had fired a Fajr-5 rocket then, and the threat is of thousands of them landing on Tel Aviv.  He was speaking to a crowd of thousands "attending an annual Shiite commemoration of the 7th-century death of Imam Hussein, the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson." Lebanon is populated by half Sunni and half Shi'a Muslims..  Hezbollah also threatens to invade Israel's Galilee since they sit on the border. This would be the cities of  Haifa, Acre, Safed, Tiberias and Nazareth  while at other times have threatened cities from Kiryat Shimona to Eilat, which is the whole length of Israel.  The message is that if Israel hits Iran's site where they are making uranium for atomic weaponry, Hezbollah will hit Israel with about 60,000 missiles and rockets and can now reach the whole country.

Israel has repeatedly asked countries to brand Hezbollah a terror organization.  The US and Canada have agreed.  The European Union has not  and they have taken no action to do so.  Evidently it takes more for the Europeans to learn about the true character of Hezbollah.

 Israel is not going to attack Hezbollah for the Bulgarian bus attack of last summer.  "When Israel acts, it is in order to prevent a security threat, to prevent a concrete attack.  It is not in order to punish," said Boaz Ganor, Israel's counter-terrorism expert.

Resource: Oregonian newspaper, 2/6/13,  page A5, report blames Hezbollah for bombing.
 http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-03-27-israel-hezbollah_N.htm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/israel-seen-unlikely-to-respond-militarily-after-bulgaria-implicates-hezbollah-in-attack/2013/02/05/0d7bce2e-6fd6-11e2-b3f3-b263d708ca37_story.html
http://www.theisraelproject.org/site/c.hsJPK0PIJpH/b.2905175/k.B69E/Background_Israeli_Cities_Affected_by_Rocket_Attacks.htm
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2012/11/25/thousands-of-rockets-will-fall-on-tel-aviv-hezbollah-issues-chilling-warning-to-israel/
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2012/10/02/hezbollah-threatens-to-invade-israel%e2%80%99s-galilee-and-offers-interactive-infographic-on-how-it-plans-to-do-it/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hezbollah

Who's Fighting Against Hizbullah in Lebanon?

                                                                               A Cedar Tree Growing in Lebanon                 
Nadene Goldfoot
Hizbullah is an Iranian army proxy and tool used by the Iranian mullahs to carry out their expansionism in the act of building their sectarian empire in Lebanon.  The Lebanese state is helpless in fighting against them with officials that are merely puppets.  Politicians and clergy are corrupt and the judiciary has broken down. Iran gives them about $200 million every year for their terrorism.  It is also the political and military force of Lebanon today.

Lebanon, the other country north of Israel referred to in the Torah as famed for their cedars that King Solomon used for the Temple.  It held an ancient Jewish population at one time in Beirut, Tripoli, Tyre and Sidon. Jewish men were involved in commerce. All 35 Jewish families in Beirut were slaughtered by the Crusaders. The Spanish Inquisition of 1492 brought in Spanish Jews.  This was when Jews had to convert to Catholicism or leave.  Many could not leave and didn't want to convert so became hidden Jews.  There could be  from a handful to about 40 old Jews left in Lebanon today in Beirut from a population of 17,000 in the 60's.  .  .

Like in other countries in the Ottoman Empire, Jews were treated as dhimmis in about 634 to 1917  when Muhammed died and Islam was spreading.  Jews had to pay for protection in the form of a poll tax.  There were again 55 Jewish families in 1826 until the blood libel charges were made in 1824 in Beirut and in 1834 in Tripoli.  Jews followed the Kosher laws which meant that they did not eat any blood nor would they touch it, but were constantly being accused of doing so by the people around them in the form of somebody's missing son.  .

In the 20th century the French occupied the land.  With them around, life was better in that they only were attacked a few times in the 30's.  On November 22, 1943  Lebanon became independent from the French Mandate, and then 12 Jews were murdered in Tripoli. On December 31, 1946, the French left.   After the 1947 partition of Palestine, houses and synagogues were attacked by Muslims.  In 1948 a Beirut Jew was murdered.  In 1950 a Jewish school was bombed and the director killed by Muslim groups.  Jews were extorted money as "contributions" which was used to finance Arab Palestinian sabotage. When the state was created, the government was by the Maronite Christians, who were a minority group.  When Israel was created, 100,000 Palestinians, so they say, ran to Lebanon and were refugees, upsetting the balance, making Muslims the majority.

Lebanon had been ruled by a Christian who was assassinated.  A Christina militia remained under Major Saad Hadad who was a friend of Israel.  He patrolled the border between Israel and Lebanon from Palestinian terrorists.  In 1982 Israel went into Lebanon after being hit too often by the terrorists.  Israel had to do this before in 1978 and cleared out the PLO strongholds.  This time Hadad asked Sharon if he and his men could go in to do the job and there was a massacre at Sabra and Shatila.  From 763 to 3,500 civilians were killed by the militia's hands, but Sharon took the blame.

"Hezbollah first came to notice outside of Lebanon in 1983, when it was blamed for the bombing of a U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, killing 240 soldiers. Now it has an armed militia more powerful than the Lebanese Army and a sprawling infrastructure that delivers welfare to its Shiite constituency, Lebanon’s largest community."  They're even into the cocaine trade and money laundering. There now exists a class distinction between Hezbollah and the rest of the Lebanese community.  The bad guys have taken over and have destroyed any human rights that may have existed by invading homes, selling weapons, stealing and killing, braking all laws, assassinating and intimidating and humiliating any opposers.  They even kidnap their own citizens and act like the Mafiosos.   Beirut used to be the Paris of the Middle East but has turned into a nightmare.

Hizbullah assassinated Pierre Gemayal, the 5th anti-Syrian/anti Hizbullah  killed in Lebanon  within a 2 year period in 2006.  He was 34 years old.  "Gemayel, Lebanon’s industry minister and a member of the Phalange Party, had just left a church and was traveling through Jdeideh when a vehicle in front of him slammed to a stop, causing his car to ram it, security officials said. Witnesses said Gemayel’s car was also struck from behind. 3 gunmen then stepped out and shot him dead.  Another of his family, Bachir Gemayel, who was president, was also assassinated on Sept 14, 1982 with 26 others when a bomb went off in their Phalange headquarters.  He was also only 34 years old.  Hizbullah was attacking Israel also, and was known to have been supported by Syria, Iran, Russia and China.

Lebanon is the 35th Muslim majority country with 4,196,453 people of which 60% are either Sunni or Shi'a. They are smaller than Israel with only 4,500 square miles.    Now they are flooded with an unknown number of Hezbollah terrorists and evidently can't fight them off.  .

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanese_Independence_Day
From Time Immemorial by Joan Peters page 65-66.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/wap/Item.aspx?type=1&item=12820 Hizbullah Ego Trip-Cancer
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/h/hezbollah/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Lebanon
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3292543,00.html
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/15829846/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanese_Civil_War
http://www.lebanonembassyus.org/country_lebanon/overview.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Beirut_-_Lebanon_-_The_Paris_of_the_East!_-_November_2008_-_Downtown_Beirut_is_re-constructed_mostly_thanks_to_Rafik_Hariri_--