Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, April 18, 2018

04/18 Links Pt2: Pres Rivlin: Israel at 70 inspires the world, and the people of Israel inspire me; Alleged Hamas agent says he met Dutch officials at event organized by Oxfam

From Ian:

President Reuven Rivlin: Israel at 70 inspires the world, and the people of Israel inspire me

To all the readers of the Times of Israel, in Israel and around the world.

I want to start by wishing you all a very happy Independence Day. As I have said clearly, I believe that Israel’s special milestone is a celebration for the whole world. Because, today, we are not just marking the dream of restoring Jewish independence in our ancestral homeland, and we are not just celebrating all the great achievements of the last 70 years. Today, we celebrate 70 years of freedom and democracy in the Middle East. For seven decades, Israel has held high the torch of freedom and democracy in a difficult region. Surrounded by enemies and against all odds, we have been — and continue to be — guided by these values as the world’s only Jewish and democratic state.

But we know that we could never have done all this without our friends, both Jews and non-Jews, all around the world, who have dedicated their lives to building the State of Israel. We are grateful today especially for all those who stand up for Israel every day.

And of course, we owe an immeasurable debt of gratitude, to those who have lost their lives in the defense of our freedom. As we conclude Yom HaZikaron, we dry our tears, and hold close the memory of those who paid the ultimate price fighting to defend the land of Israel, and the people of Israel. They are with us always, and to all the bereaved families, we send our love and prayers.

During the last year, I have traveled all across Israel, and I have met Israelis from all our communities: Jews and Arabs, religious and secular. I have met teachers and doctors, farmers and entrepreneurs. I have sat with students in schools and universities. I have visited our soldiers and police who keep us safe, day and night. I have met with organizations and volunteers who give of themselves unwaveringly, for the sake of those less fortunate. They all have one thing in common — namely, their hope for Israel to flourish. They may have different views and opinions on any and every matter, but their argument is one “for the sake of Heaven” — for the well-being and prosperity of this country and its people.

On 70th anniversary, Trump says US has ‘no better friends anywhere’ than Israel

The United States has “no better friends anywhere” than Israel, US President Donald Trump said Wednesday while congratulating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israelis on the country’s 70th anniversary.

“Best wishes to Prime Minister @Netanyahu and all of the people of Israel on the 70th Anniversary of your Great Independence,” Trump tweeted. “We have no better friends anywhere. Looking forward to moving our Embassy to Jerusalem next month!”

On Wednesday evening, Israel began to celebrate the 70th anniversary of its founding on May 14, 1948. An annual tradition, Independence Day falls on Thursday, the 5th of Iyar on the Hebrew calendar.

Trump vowed to move the US embassy to the holy city last December, when he also formally recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. In January, he announced that the process would be expedited and a new facility would open in May, deliberately coinciding with Israel’s birthday.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony is being planned for mid-May. Trump has, as yet, not committed to attending the inauguration. The Times of Israel has learned that his senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Kushner’s wife, White House adviser Ivanka Trump, are considering traveling to Israel next month to attend.

Man attacked in Berlin for wearing kippa is Israeli Arab

An Israeli man who was beaten in an anti-Semitic attack while wearing a traditional Jewish skullcap in Berlin told German television on Wednesday night that he was not Jewish but wanted to find out whether it was safe to walk in the street dressed as a Jew.

“I am not Jewish, I am an Israeli and I grew up in Israel in an Arab family,” Adam Armush, 21, told broadcaster Deutsche Welle. “It was an experience for me to wear the skullcap and go out into the street yesterday.”

He said he filmed the attack on him and a second man as evidence “for the police and for the German people and even the world to see how terrible it is these days as a Jew to go through Berlin streets.”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned the attack. “This is absolutely a terrible incident and we must act,” she said. “The fight against such anti-Semitic acts must be won, the reputation of our state is at stake, and we are committed to it with all our strength.”

Justice Minister Katarina Barley condemned the incident as a “disgrace” for German democracy after the brief video surfaced on news websites and went viral.

“It is unbearable that Jews in Germany are attacked on the open street in the middle of Berlin,” Barley tweeted.

Antisemitischer Angriff in #Berlin – ein Mann schlägt mit einem Gürtel auf einen Mann ein und bezeichnet ihn wiederholt als "Yahudi" (arabisch für "Jude"). #Antisemitismus pic.twitter.com/YCHVgCF1ox
— Jüdisches Forum (@JFDA_eV) April 17, 2018

Saying Kaddish for dead Hamas terrorists? How low can you get? Are such left-wing “Jews” even human?

These were the sort of remarks made after reports came out that New York Jews belonging to the Reform Movement had said Kaddish, the Jewish mourners’ prayer, for dead Hamas terrorists. The dead whom they hoped to memorialize had attacked Israeli soldiers; rushed Israel’s borders, and threatened the lives of Jewish Israelis. In saying Kaddish for terrorists who threatened Israel and the Jewish people, these Jews had made a clear statement in favor of antisemitic terror and against their own people, their own land.

One week later, a copycat Kaddish for terrorists was held by IfNotNow, another group of leftist Jews, this time next to the offices of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles. News of this memorial service evoked similar expressions of umbrage from the pro-Israel Jewish community. The Kaddish-sayers, they said, were (choose one):

Vile garbage

Vermin

Useful idiots

Inhuman

Not Jewish

Some further expressed the hope that the leftist Jews might meet an end similar to that of those they mourned, preferably after bumping into some live Hamas terrorists in a dark alley.

But if you think about it, all they did, those leftist Jews, was praise God, express yearning for the Messianic era, and pray for peace in Israel and for the Jewish people at large.

Because that’s what Kaddish is. There’s not one word about mourning or death in the entire prayer—and certainly nothing about dead Hamas terrorists or an imaginary second state in the Holy Land. See for yourself—here’s an English translation of the traditional Aramaic:

Glorified and sanctified be God’s great name throughout the world
which He has created according to His will.
May He establish His kingdom in your lifetime and during your days,
and within the life of the entire House of Israel, speedily and soon;
and say, Amen.
May His great name be blessed forever and to all eternity.
Blessed and praised, glorified and exalted, extolled and honored,
adored and lauded be the name of the Holy One, blessed be He,
beyond all the blessings and hymns, praises and consolations that
are ever spoken in the world; and say, Amen.
May there be abundant peace from heaven, and life, for us
and for all Israel; and say, Amen.
He who creates peace in His celestial heights,
may He create peace for us and for all Israel;
and say, Amen.

What this brings to mind, these leftist Jews who would come to mourn and memorialize terrorists and instead praise God, is the story of Balak and Balaam. That’s the bible story in which Balak, king of Moab, orders Balaam, a famed non-Jewish magician, to curse the Jews. When Balaam opens his mouth, alas, only praises come out.

Here is where these Jews go wrong: they think that all death is bad, no matter who it is that is doing the dying. And since IDF soldiers ended these particular lives, it makes Israel evil in their eyes, the terrorists the victims. To them it does not matter that the terrorists were killed while attempting to commit murder—the murder of Jews. To them it is meritorious to die a martyr while to kill your would-be murderer is evil.

It is a stupid construct. They are unable to see the difference between attacking others and defending one's self and one's country. If everyone felt as they did, believed as they do, evil would triumph. They themselves, the "peaceful" ones, would all be dead, the world left to the murderers.

There would be no Jews left to say Kaddish, a primary goal of Radical Islam.

And so, if the death of Hamas terrorists at the hands of righteous IDF soldiers causes leftist New York and Los Angeles Reform Jews to praise God, pray for the Messiah, and beg for peace on Israel and the Jewish people—and moreover elicit in response a chorus of amens—then the deaths of these wannabe murderers of God’s Chosen People are more meaningful than any one of us might have possibly guessed.

via GIPHY

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High Court Issues Stay On Joshua's Demolition Of Jericho Walls (PreOccupied Territory)

Our weekly column from the humor site PreOccupied Territory.

Check out their Facebook page.

Jericho, April 18 - Israel's supreme court ordered the divinely-ordered operation against this oasis city-state overlooking the Jordan River to halt Wednesday, a move that casts doubt on the Israelites' ability to continue their campaign to inhabit the land promised to their forefathers.

The court ruled 5-2 that the Israelites must refrain from marching around Jericho once per day, blasting ram horns, and seven times on the seventh day, steps that would lead to the city's defensive walls sinking into the ground. Court President Miriam Hayut authored the majority decision, and suggested the entire effort to bring the divine will into earthly manifestation will have to be abandoned, as it threatens to infringe on the rights of non-Israelites.

Most Israelite leaders now argue for a legislative act to overrule the court's self-declared right to assert supremacy, while a vocal minority defend the court as the last bastion of civilization in a society that can descend into fascism at any moment.

Few of the court's defenders, however, were willing to speak on record in favor of abandoning the enterprise of settling the Promised Land and driving out its immoral, idolatrous inhabitants. A Benjaminite speaking on background referred to an episode thirty-nine years ago in which opposition to reaching and settling in Canaan led to several decades of stasis as an entire generation of men died out.

Critics of the court, on the other hand, wasted no time in calling for measures to limit the body's power. "A small cadre of left-wing elitists thinks it can control all of us," charged Caleb ben-Yefuneh, one of only two grown men to live through the generational purge. "It's the same problem all over again as with the spies - people in positions of influence who feel those positions threatened by impending or ongoing changes in society, and sabotage the eternal mission of Israel in the world just to preserve their political or social status. That's not what we're called upon to do here."

Competing proposals for a law to restrain such judicial activism have been put forth by different Israelite factions. A more conservative version favored by most tribal princes would impose restrictions on the court only in the case of Jericho. Some, however, notably those in the House of Judah faction, aim to set limits on High Court authority across the board, as they anticipate similar instances over the expected seven-year process of assuming control over the land.

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04/18 Links Pt1: Dore Gold: Israel at 70: Flourishing against All Odds; Hamas "Press Office": Truth Finishes Last

From Ian:

Dore Gold: Israel at 70: Flourishing against All Odds

The rebirth of Israel is nothing short of a miracle. It involved dedication and commitment of a national movement that began with the establishment of Zionism, which is the national liberation movement of the Jewish people. That movement brought the energies of a people back together and allowed for the Declaration of Independence by David Ben-Gurion in 1948.

At its birth, Israel was attacked by multiple Arab armies around it. Territorially, Israel is a country with little or no strategic depth. It takes only four minutes for a jet fighter to cross from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, giving Israel very little early warning time. Ten thousand square miles. You could drop Israel into the Great Lakes, and you wouldn't even hear the splash. Our Arab neighbors have 650 times the amount of territory. That gives them a distinct strategic advantage.

That's the miracle that Israelis will think about when they consider what the meaning is of the country being 70 years old. There was this extraordinary commitment to innovation. Every time our adversaries threw at us another strategic challenge, we had an answer.

Recently, we've been facing this threat of rocket fire from Lebanon and Gaza. So Israel develops the first really working rocket defense system. To replace the rockets, our adversaries develop tunnels to allow terrorists to come in their hundreds into Israeli territory and kill innocent civilians. So Israel makes the first anti-tunnel system in the world.

Israel also developed a formula for integrating diverse immigrants into our society - people from backgrounds like the Soviet Union, Ethiopia, Germany, the United States, India, Great Britain - and despite many flavors of Israeli society we became one. That determination, that commitment to making the Zionist experiment work, gave us enormous strength for facing every challenge that was hurled against us.

People like to ask, is Israel closer to being a Sparta, a military powerhouse, or an Athens, a country with art, poetry, and excellent universities? Frankly, Israel has to be both. You can't have an Athens in a dangerous Middle East unless you have some qualities of being a Sparta, which is able to defend itself. Since the days of its founding in 1948, Israel developed a doctrine that it must defend itself by itself.

Hamas "Press Office": Truth Finishes Last

In this regard, the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS), a body dominated by Hamas's rivals in Fatah, seems fully to agree with Hamas. In a statement published in Ramallah, the PJS accused Israeli journalists of being "complicit in crimes and killings." It also claimed that Israeli journalists were part of the Israeli army's propaganda machine.

Such incitement against Israeli journalists should be taken with utmost seriousness. It endangers the lives of reporters who cover Palestinian issues and often travel to Palestinian cities and villages.

Hamas's incitement against Israeli journalists is predictable. But when the incitement originates from a Fatah-affiliated institution in the West Bank, and controlled by President Mahmoud Abbas's loyalists, it gives pause. Isn't Fatah supposed to be the "moderate" Palestinian faction that ostensibly believes in the two-state solution and peace with Israel? Isn't Mahmoud Abbas supposed to be the "moderate" and "pragmatic" Palestinian leader with whom Israel is supposed to make peace? Aren't Fatah and Abbas receiving financial aid from the US and EU because of their presumed support for a peace process with Israel? Why should the Americans and Europeans be supporting a Palestinian faction whose journalists openly incite against their Israeli colleagues?

The incitement by Fatah and Hamas is an attempt to intimidate and silence not only Palestinian journalists, but their Israeli colleagues as well. It is an attempt to force Israeli journalists to toe the line and endorse the Hamas and Fatah narrative not only regarding the "March of Return," but also the entire Palestinian cause. Apparently in agreement with Hamas and Fatah, international human rights organizations and advocates of free media around the world do not seem bothered at all by the life-threatening attacks on Israeli journalists.

Finally, the Hamas "Press Office" instructed Palestinian journalists to focus on the "humanization" of the stories of the Palestinians who are killed or injured during the mass demonstrations. The journalists are required to highlight the "various personal and social aspects" of the Palestinian victims. Translation: If the "victim" is a Hamas terrorist, the journalists are to avoid mentioning that and instead report about his having been a beloved husband, father, and community member.

Again, this is part of Hamas's effort to lie to the world and present the Palestinians killed and injured during the riots as unarmed innocent civilians. The truth, however, is that Hamas has sent hundreds of its militiamen to take part in the demonstrations disguised as civilians.

MEMRI: Column In Jordanian Daily: Trump And Netanyahu Are Worse Than Hitler; It's Possible That Some Of The Deeds Attributed To Hitler Never Actually Took Place

In his January 1, 2017 column in the Al-Ghad daily, headed "How Are Trump and Netanyahu Any Different from Hitler?" Jihad Al-Mansi claimed that "the behavior of [U.S. President] Trump and [Israel Prime Minister] Netanyahu is much worse than anything done by Hitler." He writes that some claims about Hitler's actions may be untrue, or else exaggerated in order to win world sympathy. Al-Mansi adds that if Hitler had won World War II, the world wouldn't have called him a Nazi or a fascist, but would have respected him while remaining silent about the burning of the Jews.

The following are translated excerpts from his column:[1]
"The U.S. sees itself as the leader when it comes to humanitarian values and tolerance based on freedom, justice, and equality, and the denunciation of hatred. But when its president [Donald Trump], speaks in a racist, fascist manner about countries in Central America and Africa, and views them as 'shitholes,' and when he is the one who has declared in the past that Muslims will be denied entry to the U.S., that many will be deported, that a wall will be built along the border with Mexico, and that women who have abortions will be punished, why, these types of statements surpass the racism and fascism of Hitler and Mussolini...

"And what about the racist declarations by Benjamin Netanyahu, the head of the oppressive Zionist entity, who said that the murder of any person by a Jew cannot be compared to the murder of a Jew by a non-Jew, or who, for example, described the UN as 'a house of lies' when the General Assembly was set to vote on a draft resolution calling on the U.S. to withdraw its recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, and who said that Israel is totally opposed to this vote and that Jerusalem is the capital of the oppressive entity, despite all the international decisions that oppose this, in other words, in defiance of the UN and the entire world? Such statements are not very different from Hitler's ideology that the world later referred to as Nazi, extremist, and racist.

"The enlightened world, devoid of racism and fascism, did not call Hitler a Nazi, a racist, or other terrible names just because he burned the Jews, but also because of the horrifying deeds that he perpetrated in Paris and in other countries [sic], and because of his hostile declarations about the peoples of the world. Therefore, I insist that the deeds of Trump and Netanyahu are far graver than the deeds committed by Hitler, some of which may have happened, but others perhaps never occurred, [or else] have been exaggerated so as to garner world sympathy for some cause or another. Why, burning [people] is not very different from the collective slaughter perpetrated against the Palestinian people by Zionism over the years, starting with Deir Yassin, Qibya and Al-Dawayima, continuing with Bahr el-Baqar, Sabra and Shatila, and Qana, and dozens of other barbaric massacres in which the number of women and children killed is much higher than the number of men. And if we count the number of martyrs who fell at the hands of Zionist terror gangs, it is possible that their number is higher than the number [of people] that were allegedly burned by Hitler – especially since the number of those burned is not known and there is no clear number, and since some claim that it was actually a very limited number that was inflated for various unknown reasons. Others say that the number is slightly higher, and there are those who totally doubt the veracity of these stories.

Somehow, Chinese tourists manage to display Israeli flag at the Dome of the Rock

Breaking Israel News reports on a post at the StandwithUs Facebook page (I couldn't find the original.)

Yosef Rabin writes, “An Israeli Flag has not flown on the Temple Mount since the 1967 War. Today Chinese tourists brought an Israeli Flag up to the Temple Mount. I am not sure how they got the flag past security and how the Waqf [Jordanian Islamic security that controls the Temple Mount] or police did not notice, but this sets a massive precedent – I hope.

This is truly remarkable, since the Waqf has stopped people from wearing Israeli flag buttons.

In 2013, a small group of Jews unfurled an Israeli flag and were immediately escorted off the site by Muslim and Israeli police.

In 2015, a Christian tourist was beaten for waving an Israeli flag near the Dome of the Rock.

In 2016, an Israeli who photoshopped himself waving a flag on the Temple Mount was briefly arrested by Israeli police who thought he really did it.

So this photo is quite surprising.

Arab media, of course, are claiming that this group of Chinese tourists are Jewish "settlers."

(h/t Steven)

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The world moves on - but Palestinian Arab leaders want their people to remain in limbo forever

As the Palestinians continue to insist on no compromise in their demand for a state, let's look at what progress has been seen in the world since 2000, when they rejected the chance for statehood at Camp David.

Palestinians reject statehood offer at Camp David (2000)
Playstation 2 (2000)
USB Flash Drive (2000)

Palestinians reject statehood offer at Taba (2001)
iPod (2001)
Wikipedia (2001)
Skype (2003)
YouTube (2005)
Facebook (open to the public in 2006)
Twitter (2006)
iPhone (2007)

Palestinians reject peace offer and statehood offer from Olmert (2008)
Google Chrome (2008)
Palestinians reject statehood offer from
WhatsApp (2009)
Instagram (2010)
Kickstarter (2010)
Snapchat (2012)

Palestinians reject Obama framework for peace (2014)
Xbox One (2014)
Playstation 4 (2014)
Windows 10 (2015)
Oculus Rift (2016)
iPhone X (2017)
Tesla Model 3 (2017)

The world moves on. But Palestinians stay exactly the same - adding demands, rejecting peace, rejecting a state.

In 2050, this list will be longer, and Palestinian Arabs will be exactly where they were in 2000. Despite billions of dollars invested in them from governments and NGOs, they haven't progressed.

Because they don't want to create a state. If they did, they would have done it, and had years to build it.

They only want to destroy one.

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Yesterday I showed how enthusiastic J-Street members were in applauding Palestinian intransigence.

Compare that to this speech by Hawaii senator Brian Schatz, where the applause for pro-Israel positions like supporting Israel's right to exist and maintaining Israel's military edge were muted or nonexistent, but supporting the Iran deal and demanding that the US take in Syrian refugees were greeted rapturously.

Altogether, the representative of a terror organization received far more adulation than a Jewish senator who supports Israel's right to exist.

(You might argue that Schatz didn't pause enough after saying his pro-Israel positions so the audience couldn't applaud as much. Perhaps, but I would argue that he knew his audience - he is a professional politician and knows how to elicit applause with a pause, and he didn't want to risk an awkward silence.)

Schatz also made a pro-J-Street argument, claiming falsely that the Zionist crowd is unwilling to engage in debate and that this is undemocratic. No, we are happy to engage in debate - of all J-Street was doing was asking for debate there would be no shortage of people willing to argue for Israel against it. But J-Street is actively trying to undermine Israel's democracy while pro-Israel organizations support it. That's the issue.

Which he knows is true, because AIPAC always supported the Israeli government, left or right. It is J-Street that is manifestly undemocratic.

J-Street isn't a pro-Israel organization. It is simply a leftist group that is trying to split the American Jewish community to oppose Israeli policies.

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04/17 Links Pt2: Israel prepares to remember 23,646 fallen soldiers and 3,134 terror victims; Pro-Palestinian Students Protest During Holocaust Remembrance; 1,400-year-old menorah lamp, rare coin found Israel’s 70th trail

From Ian:

IDF Blog: What is Yom HaZikaron and how does Israel observe it?

Yom HaZikaron is the day of national remembrance in Israel to commemorate all the soldiers and people who lost their lives during the struggle to defend the State of Israel. On this day we mourn and remember our fallen soldiers and all lives lost by terror. Yom HaZikaron, which goes by the Jewish calendar, begins with a siren at 8:00 in the evening. As soon as the siren is heard, Israeli citizens stop whatever they’re doing, wherever they are, and stand firm to honor those they’ve lost. People driving on highways stop their cars in the middle of the road to get out and stand in remembrance. A whole office will stop working and a family having dinner will stop eating in order to spend a minute in respectful silence.

After the first siren, the State Memorial Ceremony begins at the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem. The Prime Minister, the Minister of Defense, the Chief of the General Staff of the IDF, and the President take part in this ceremony. The next day, there’s another two-minute siren at 11:00 in the morning. This siren marks the beginning of private memorial ceremonies that take place in cemeteries or schools.

At night, the final ceremony is held at Mount Herzl National Cemetery. This ceremony ends Yom HaZikaron and marks the beginning of Israel's Independence Day.

Generally, in other countries, the Remembrance Day (Yom HaZikaron) of fallen soldiers and the Independence Day occur in two separate days of the year. In Israel, it was decided in accordance with the law that the Independence Day needs to begin the moment that Remembrance Day ends. This is because the State of Israel wouldn’t be able to celebrate its existence if it weren’t for those who gave their lives for it. We wouldn’t be able to have one of those days without the other one. We honor their memory and everything they fought for, so that today, we can celebrate our independence.

Israel prepares to remember 23,646 fallen soldiers and 3,134 terror victims

Israelis will bow their heads at 8 p.m. Tuesday for a minute of silence as sirens sound in remembrance the country’s fallen soldiers and terror victims.

In all, 71 new names were added over the past year to the roster of 23,646 who died defending the country. Thirty of those were disabled veterans who passed away due to complications from injuries sustained during their service.

Twelve names were also added to the list of terror victims who perished in attacks, bringing the total to 3,134.

The nationwide ceremonies for Israel’s Memorial Day, which begins at sundown, started in the afternoon with a commemoration event at the Yad Lebanim memorial for fallen soldiers in Jerusalem.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein took part in the ceremony, as well as top army brass and families of fallen soldiers.

“We bow our heads in memory of our loved ones whose blood has been spilled in our homeland,” Netanyahu, who lost his brother Yoni during the 1976 Entebbe Operation, said at the ceremony. “There is never a true remedy to that — to every family its own grief and its own courage.”

The prime minister mentioned the two Israeli soldiers who were declared dead after the 2014 Gaza war and whose bodies are held by the Hamas terror group, as well as an Israeli civilian who went missing after entering the Strip of his own accord.

“We don’t forget our missing [soldiers], Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul, even for a single moment, and are committed to returning the boys home as well as Avera Mengistu.

“We don’t forget our wounded even for a moment and lovingly send them wishes for recovery,” he added. “The message left by the fallen is sharp and clear: Our lives may be too short, but we have guaranteed the life of the nation forever,” Netanyahu said. “And they have indeed given us the ability to live. It is thanks to them and their successors that we are here.”

Memorial for Fallen Israeli Soldiers Opened to the Public

From its unimposing exterior, one might be surprised to learn that what lies underground at the site of the new Memorial Hall of Israel’s Fallen is an architectural masterpiece. The emotionally impactful memorial, set atop the historic Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, was designed and constructed by Kimmel Eshkolot Architects to commemorate members of Israel’s security services killed in the line of duty.

The hall, commissioned by Israel’s Department of Families, Commemoration and Heritage, was inaugurated in late 2017 upon completion but it wasn’t open to the public until recently. Now, visitors can experience the memorial with public tours and follow along with a video app that takes them through the stories of the fallen and the uniquely designed site.

At the center of the memorial, intended to be both a collective and personal experience, is a 250-meter “Wall of Names” composed of 23,000 commemorative bricks, each individually engraved with the name of a fallen soldier and date of death.

A computerized system, custom built for the memorial in collaboration with ETH’s ROB Technologies, illuminates each engraved brick on the anniversary of the person’s death.

The continuous, spiraling wall wraps around a central commemoration hall, where an undulating funnel-shaped formation of bricks opens to the sky.

“The special shape of the funnel is like a vortex – a natural phenomenon – playing with the daylight falling into the hall, making the daylight a ‘building material,’” Etan Kimmel, cofounder of Kimmel Eshkolot Architects, told Dezeen.

Major Egyptian news site asks "How do Jews think?" Answer: Jews are liars.

Youm7, a major Egyptian newspaper, has a column that asks "How do the Jews think ... and how do they achieve their goals?"

The article is helpfully illustrated with a picture of a Jewish family on an outing in a park.

I'm not quite sure what goals the "Jews" have, but I think it has to do with world domination.

The question is answered:

.... Over the years, the Jews became increasingly deceptive and despotic, in addition to their tyranny and domination over the Palestinian state.

But despite the passage of all those years we did not think .. What is the secret of the superiority of the Jews?

Is it because of Western support for them? , Or perhaps their minds are full of deception? Or that there are other reasons and elements that are the reason for their superiority and strength?

The answer to this question may not be easy, but we have seen over the years that allows us to understand what the secret of their strength and they own [the unity] that is missing some Arab countries, for example, "Zionist lobby" knows its goal and did not differ whatever their motives and personal conflicts, Their main goal is to establish a Jewish state and the goal after its establishment is to preserve and expand it, and this is why they are currently seeking to control Palestinian Jerusalem.

...It is also known that Jews follow all dirty means to reach their goals.

Also it is known that the Jews resort to political and physical liquidation if they do not find what they are looking for according to their interests .. Just as they did with Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him and tried to assassinate him, and try to kill Jesus peace be upon him...they are working to bring down any politician or employee in an intelligence service who is not a supporter of the Jewish state, as they did with Jewish nuclear expert Vanunu who was kidnapped, tried and imprisoned for leaking the secrets of the Jewish nuclear program with a British newspaper.

Thus, the Jews use all illegitimate methods or twisted dirty tricks to reach their goals and rely on lies and deception in their dealings. ,This is not like the Arabs, but will we remain steadfast in front of their tricks.

Nah, nothing antisemitic about this. Move on.

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I did not watch “Seven Days in Entebbe” and I don’t intend to.

When the trailer came out my first reaction was excitement. This story is one of the best, breathtaking, exciting, moving, against-all-odds, adventure stories I have ever heard and, best of all – it’s real. And it’s OURS.

My second reaction to the trailer was concern. Would the producers tell the story correctly or would it be distorted into something else? Would they tell of the heroism of the Israelis who flew to the edge of the world to rescue their own, knowing that the lives of Jews can never be left to the mercy of others? Or would this extraordinary story be twisted into something different, some morally-relative political distortion of reality that could even turn into some type of anti-Israel propaganda?

And then the movie came out and I began to hear the reviews.

To my revulsion, I heard that my concerns had become reality. The producers, in their desire to “tell all sides of the story as realistically as possible” had, in essence, made the terrorist hijackers, the heroes and reduced Yoni Netanyahu to a shadow of who he was. I heard survivors of the hijacking express their dismay at how their story was perverted.

What really caught my attention was an interview with one of the Israeli actors featured in the movie. Lior Ashkenazi, plays Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin in the movie. Like most of Israel’s actors, Ashkenazi is known to belong to the political left. In the past he has played leading roles in controversial movies that depicted Israel and particularly the IDF in a negative light. While Ashkenazi adamantly defended his role in the movie “Foxtrot,” declaring that the depiction of the IDF was intended as an allegory and not truly negative, his response to “Seven Days in Entebbe” was hair-raising. When asked to respond to the accusations that the movie turned the terrorists into heroes and diminished the legacy of Yoni Netanyahu, Asheknazi’s response was: “You know, when you are an actor and get sent an international screenplay, what you do is flip through it and see how many lines your character has… You know, there’s the story in the script, the story in the filming and the story in the editing...”

I watched the television interview in amazement. I fully expected the actor to adamantly defend the film but instead this normally eloquent man was squirming, stuttering and stumbling over his words. The best he could do was explain was that the movie was created by people with a different perspective that is not an Israeli perspective.

Various Israeli reporters (who all tend to be left-leaning) have discussed the movie and everyone I heard described feelings ranging between discomfort and anger at what they saw.

The more I thought about it, the more upset I became. The stories of Israel are powerful. From the beginning of our Nation, our stories have affected, influenced and changed the world for the better. Now our stories are being appropriated, turned inside out and upside-down, creating a completely different and terribly distorted reality.

It is becoming common to see miraculous Israel presented as a mistake or even an evil. Heroic survivors are being turned into the new-Nazis and one of the most daring rescue operations in history is now being presented as the result of an understandable hijacking by “freedom fighters” - like the rape victim who “had it coming” because she wore a short skirt in a dark alley.

My history, the history of my people, is being rewritten in order to steal our future.

Dehumanize, delegitimize, destroy.

This is dangerous and very wrong. But what could I do? Seven Days in Entebbe was produced and released. A generation of movie-goers will believe that what they see is “the truth” about the Rescue at Entebbe.

My rebellion was to delve into history and watch Operation Thunderbolt, the original, Israeli film made about the rescue at Entebbe in 1977.

Old, obviously produced with a low budget and including some funny casting choices, this film has no Hollywood sleekness and ALL of the Israeli spirit. This is what Israel is like. These are what Israel’s elite soldiers are like – not muscular Rambos, they often don’t look like anything special. The best of them are notoriously rumpled looking and casual - they are too good to have to adhere to rules and regulations of how soldiers are supposed to present themselves. Most of all, they have a bond of friendship that stretches beyond comradery into the realm of brotherly love.

I don’t think people who live elsewhere understand the Israeli ideal that comes from Psalms 66:12 of following a leader through fire and water. This is the ideal for IDF Officers, to be the type of leader soldiers will follow, through fire and water, not because they were commanded to do so but because their love of that leader and trust in him compelled them to do so.

Note that this means that the leader goes first. “Achari! After me!” is what the IDF Officer calls out to his soldiers. This is the ideal of Israeli leadership.

Like Yoni Netanyahu.

When Yoni Netanyahu told his soldiers, they were flying in the middle of the night, to Africa, on a secret and extremely dangerous mission to rescue Israeli hostages and that they would succeed – they believed him.

The movie “Operation Thunderbolt” makes it very clear why they were going – to save Jews, because they are Jews. Because if they don’t, no one else will save them.

That is what NEVER AGAIN means. Jews, some of them with the memories of concentration camps still very vivid in their memory and tattooed on their arms were hijacked by German terrorists collaborating with the Arab enemy. This time, unlike the last time, the sons of Israel would swoop in and rescue them.

The raid at Entebbe, first named “Operation Thunderbolt” was later renamed “Operation Yonatan” because Yoni Netanyahu was killed during the mission.

It is not his death that made him a hero, it was the way he lived his life, the countless known and unknown missions that he completed for the country, to protect his people. It was his leadership and vision that made the rescue at Entebbe possible. It was his spirit that gave the other soldiers the strength and courage to do their part to make the rescue a success. A combination of skill, courage, teamwork and a series of miracles made it possible for them to pull off one of the most daring rescues in history.

Yoni’s death knocked the wind out of his soldiers.

On the way back to Israel, the soldiers were exultant in their success. They knew that Yoni had been hurt but not that he had died:

“On the plane there had been endless chatter,” recalls Shlomo, everyone telling what happened to him. It seemed that everything was going great, that we’d succeeded. And then someone came in and said that Yoni had died, and all at once, it seemed as if someone had turned off the entire plane. Everybody was silent… We were hit heard, and each of us withdrew into himself.”

Matan Vilnai, the head of the paratrooper contingent in the raid went over to the hostages’ plane. “I saw Yoni’s body lying in the plane, wrapped in one of those awful aluminum blankets the doctors use,” says Matan. “I saw the hostages completely stunned, shadows of men. They were very depressed. And what hit me then was a kind of feeling that was, for an army man like myself, totally illogical: that if Yoni was dead, then the whole thing wasn’t worth it.”

~excerpts from “Self portrait of a hero” from the letters of Jonathan Netanyahu, notes and afterword by his brothers Iddo and Benjamin Netanyahu

Many Israelis who knew and loved Yoni named their children after him. As did others who had never met Yoni. It was his death that set his brother, Benjamin Netanyahu on the path of politics and ultimately becoming Israel’s Prime Minister.

After I watched Operation Thunderbolt I watched the actual footage of the planes landing with the rescued hostages. I watched the hostages come off the plane. I saw Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin let out an enormous sigh as he waited for them to bring Yoni’s body out. I listened as he and then Defense Minister Shimon Peres talked to Captain Michel Bacos, the French pilot who bravely insisted that he and his crew were staying with the Israeli hostages after they were separated from the other passengers.

When asked if he was surprised to see the IDF rescue team arrive in Entebbe his answer was a calm: “No sir.”

To me, that says it all.

At that time the difference between right and wrong was very obvious. Rescuers were heroes, hijackers were terrorists and NEVER AGAIN meant something.

It is this legacy of heroism, leadership and love that is being turned upside-down. It is the concept of NEVER AGAIN that is being diminished and destroyed.

There is one thing we can do to make sure truth does not die with us. Watch the movie, the ISRAELI movie. Read the book of Yoni’s letters. Learn about the kind of person he was from his words, not those of other people. Teach your children.

It is up to us protect our past, to insure our future.

This is the film, with subtitles in English:

This is the book on Amazon: Self-Portrait of a Hero: From the Letters of Jonathan Netanyahu:

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.

04/17 Links Pt1: Israel Sent a Clear Message to Iran in Syria; Hamas' Dirty War Against Israel; Iran Would Destroy Syria to Get Vengeance on Israel

From Ian:

BESA: Hamas' Dirty War Against Israel

Throughout all the military confrontations Hamas initiated against Israel in 2008-09, 2012, and 2014, as well as in the recent "March of Return," it has systematically disseminated outright fabrications and distortions and manipulated Western and social media. Hamas presented the march as a peaceful demonstration initiated by suffering citizens to protest their awful economic and social conditions. Hamas also accused Israel of committing war crimes by intentionally shooting and killing demonstrators. The truth is exactly the opposite.

The march was initiated and organized by Hamas, not by oppressed citizens. Hamas invested millions of dollars in building an infrastructure for the demonstrators, and called for breaking the border fence and infiltration into Israeli territory. If Hamas had been permitted to accomplish this goal, the life and property of Israeli citizens living a few meters from the fence would have been in danger. These were not peaceful demonstrations.

Hamas deployed operatives among the demonstrators and ordered them to throw firebombs, shoot at Israeli soldiers, put explosives on the fence, cross into Israel's territory, and, if possible, kill or kidnap soldiers and citizens. They also wanted as many Palestinians as possible to be killed, including women and children, in order to obtain favorable media coverage.

Hamas is lying and cheating about the reasons for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. It annually spends hundreds of millions of dollars on operatives, rockets, attack tunnels, and violence. If Hamas had spent that money on economic and social development, Gazans would now live in a better economic environment. The recent deterioration in the Gazan economy resulted from a bitter feud between Hamas and the PA, not from any Israeli action.

The media in the U.S. and Europe, including the elite press of the New York Times, Washington Post, Guardian, CNN, and BBC, largely accepted the manipulations, lies, and fabrications of Hamas without much questioning or reservation. They conveniently removed any reference to Hamas' motivation, aggression, war crimes, and manipulations.

Iran Would Destroy Syria to Get Vengeance on Israel

Tehran's steadfast support for Syria's Assad is not driven by the geopolitical or financial interests of the Iranian nation, nor the religious convictions of the Islamic Republic, but by a visceral and seemingly inextinguishable hatred for the State of Israel. As senior Iranian officials like Ali Akbar Velayati, a close adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have said, "The chain of Resistance against Israel by Iran, Syria, Hizbullah, the new Iraqi government and Hamas passes through the Syrian highway."

Though Israel has virtually no direct impact on the daily lives of Iranians, opposition to the Jewish state has been the most enduring pillar of Iranian revolutionary ideology. Whether Khamenei is giving a speech about agriculture or education, he invariably returns to the evils of Zionism.

The number of Syrian deaths since 2011 is many times greater than the number of Palestinians killed in the last 70 years of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, while many more Syrians than Palestinians have been displaced. Indeed, since 2011 far more Palestinians have been killed by Assad (nearly 3,700) than by Israel.
"Syria is occupied by the Iranian regime," said former Syrian Prime Minister Riad Hijab. "The person who runs the country is not Bashar al-Assad but [Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps commander] Qassem Suleimani."

Pragmatic: relating to matters of fact or practical affairs often to the exclusion of intellectual or artistic matters : practical as opposed to idealistic.
Merriam-Webster

To be a pragmatist is to be a realist, someone who understands that there are times that one's idealism or ideology has to give way to different means, even if contrary to that ideology, if one is going to achieve a successful end.

And that is what the new philosophy of Hamas is all about - at least that is what The New York Times believes.

This week, David Halbfinger - who took over last year as the new Jerusalem Bureau Chief for The New York Times - reported that Hamas Sees Gaza Protests as Peaceful — and as a ‘Deadly Weapon’. Halbfinger went on to write approvingly of the Gazan riots controlled by the Hamas terrorists:

Its experiment with popular resistance may or may not be wholehearted, but it is indisputably pragmatic. [emphasis added]

Pragmatic?

Hamas logo

Now keep in mind that when Halbfinger started his new position, Times International Editor Michael Slackman and Deputy International Editor Greg Winter wrote of him in their announcement of Halbfinger’s appointment that

He has written hard-hitting investigations of corrupt public officials and businessmen, murderous prison guards, law-breaking Hollywood moguls...

No one would claim Halbfinger's writing of Hamas to be hard-hitting or as particularly 'investigative' for that matter.

In his article about the riots last week, Halbfinger described the "protest" as "generally nonviolent." He also summed up that a riot replete with throwing stones and Molotov cocktails, tire burning, explosives and attempts to infiltrate the fence separating the rioters from nearby Israeli communities was "for Gazans, even a tentative experiment with nonviolent protest is a significant step" -- even while granting that Hamas "seeks Israel’s destruction, has always advocated armed struggle."

Getting back to Halbfinger's description of Hamas as "pragmatic," a search of the New York Times website for articles containing both the words "Hamas" and "pragmatic" turned up 247 hits - not exactly scientific, but here are some of the articles that came up:

For 2017 three articles come up on the first page or two of results:

New Hamas Charter Would Name ‘Occupiers,’ Not ‘Jews,’ as the Enemy
Ian Fisher and Majd Al Waheidi, March 9, 2017

Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group that has governed the Gaza Strip for a decade, is drafting a new platform to present a more pragmatic and cooperative face to the world, Hamas officials confirmed on Thursday. [emphasis added]

Actually, the Hamas charter did not change, Hamas still vows to destroy Israel and continues to encourage terrorist attacks against civilians. Yet the word "pragmatic" is not used sarcastically.

In Palestinian Power Struggle, Hamas Moderates Talk on Israel
Ian Fisher, May 1, 2017

Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, said the group had to move beyond its original charter to achieve its goals. “The document gives us a chance to connect with the outside world,” he said. “To the world, our message is: Hamas is not radical. We are a pragmatic and civilized movement. We do not hate the Jews. We only fight who occupies our lands and kills our people.” [emphasis added]

Again, the article does present both sides on the Hamas claim of pragmatism, but the idea is not directly challenged.

Hamas Offer Reflects Pressure From Egypt and Fatah
David M. Halbfinger, September 19, 2017

Mr. Abbas’s quick and positive reply on Monday — he spoke by telephone with Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas political director, and promised to follow up after returning from the United Nations gathering in New York — prompted some to ask whether renewed Egyptian diplomatic assertiveness and pragmatic new Hamas leadership had managed to turn a page on the long-running rivalry.

Here, Halbfinger goes so far as to present Hamas pragmatism as fact, for which there is precedent 11 years earlier:

Pragmatic Hamas Figure Is Likely to Be Next Premier
Greg Myre, February 17, 2006

Hamas plans to nominate Ismail Haniya, viewed as one of its less radical leaders, for prime minister, The Associated Press reported, citing a Hamas official in Damascus.

Does anyone today consider Haniya "pragmatic" or a "moderate"?

Ismail Haniya. Source: Haniya

Maybe claims of Hamas pragmatism are the stubborn insistence that the predicted moderation of Hamas upon assuming power is finally beginning to materialize. But if so, it will take more than praising Hamas terrorists as pragmatists.

Mark Twain once described pragmatism like this:

The man who sets out to grab a cat by its tail learns something that will always be useful.

Mark Twain. Photographer: A.F. Bradley. Public domain

Hamas has had several useful lessons after having been repulsed by Israel on multiple occasions and to a degree neutralized, being pressured by Egypt and after having failed to get the international support and recognition that its fellow terrorist group, Hezbollah, has achieved.

No doubt Hamas has learned a lesson, but what The New York Times and Mr. Halbfinger have failed to do when referring to Hamas as pragmatic is to make clear whether Hamas is in fact being pragmatic in its ends - moderating its declared goal of the destruction of Israel - or whether it is merely being pragmatic in the means to achieve that goal.

Over and over, what self-confident journalists call pragmatism in Hamas is what with hindsight is just deception.

But what about The New York Times description of Israel?

When referring to Israel as pragmatic, The New York Times has - on occasion - used the term sarcastically, critical of whether there is a sincere change of heart.

That is especially true when describing Netanyahu:

What Does Netanyahu Really Want?
Gal Beckerman, December 8, 2016 - Review of "The Resistible Rise of Benjamin Netanyahu" by Neill Lochery

Pragmatism doesn’t tell us much. Every successful politician is pragmatic, if this simply means reading and responding to your public. What Lochery fails to explore are the consequences of Bibi’s “pragmatism” in a place like Israel. Because, in practice, pragmatism for Netanyahu means twisting every which way to avoid confronting the problems of the occupation. [emphasis added]

Benjamin Netanyahu. Credit: State Department photo/ Public Domain

Netanyahu Names Avigdor Lieberman Israeli Defense Minister as Party Joins Coalition
Isabel Kershner, May 25, 2016

For all of Mr. Lieberman’s bluster, many Israeli analysts predict that he will become more pragmatic once he takes office. [emphasis added]

Hamas disproved those who predicted political responsibility would soften their ideology and rhetoric, but that did not stop the pundits who predicted that Lieberman would soften his views.

When Netanyahu won in 2009, there were those who insisted that if pragmatism was not inherent in the newly elected leadership, perhaps it could be chemically induced, especially if Western values could somehow rub off on the Palestinian Arabs:

Netanyahu to Form New Israel Government
Isabel Kershner, February 20, 2009

A broad government joined by the center and left would likely promote a more pragmatic agenda and avoid friction with Israel’s most important ally, the United States...
Ms. Livni has staked her political career on promoting negotiations with the more pragmatic, Western-backed Palestinian leadership for a two-state solution.

Tzipi Livni. Public domain

But on the same day:

Netanyahu, Once Hawkish, Now Touts Pragmatism
Ethan Bronner, February 20, 2009

To many here, it is increasingly likely that Mr. Netanyahu’s government will consist exclusively of parties from the right, which oppose a Palestinian state and favor expanding Israeli settlements in the West Bank, making it much harder for him to exercise his pragmatic penchant.

Whatever Bronner's feelings about Netanyahu's "pragmatism," the editor who wrote the headline would have nothing of it.

But 11 years earlier, during Netanyahu's first term in office, there was no sarcasm:

Without Joy, Netanyahu Wins Vote to Adopt Peace Agreement
Deborah Sontag, November 18, 1998

The Israeli Parliament approved the American-brokered peace plan today by a significant majority, reflecting the widespread, pragmatic acceptance here of partitioning the Land of Israel. [emphasis added]

and a few weeks earlier:

Returning Home, Netanyahu Faces The Real Battle
Deborah Sontag, October 26, 1998

At the airport in Tel Aviv, despite the chilly reception from the settlers, Mr. Netanyahu received not only a formal brass-band welcome but also a genuinely enthusiastic one from Cabinet ministers and from the rank and file of his Likud Party. This suggested that he has successfully moved his political camp onto new ideological terrain where territorial compromise with the Palestinians, long anathema, has been accepted as a pragmatic reality. [emphasis added]

Yet there may have always been a wariness of Netanyahu's polemical prowess:

Israel's Likud Passes Torch, Naming Netanyahu Leader
Clyde Haberman, March 26, 1993

No modern politician here has logged more time on American television than Mr. Netanyahu, explaining in idiomatic English Israel's positions on international terrorism and the Persian Gulf war. And no Israeli politician has adopted a more American campaign style, from his crafted sound bites to his cross-country barnstorming by bus.

So successful is he at reducing his pragmatically hawkish opinions to manageable television proportions that some in Likud -- allies as well as foes -- worry that he is prey to accusations that he is not a deep thinker. One task before him now, these Israelis say, is to prove that he is more than glib.

Similarly, Rabin's electoral victory, ending 15 years of Likud governing was a victory for...pragmatism:

Israel's Likud Passes Torch, Naming Netanyahu Leader
Clyde Haberman, June 28, 1992

Forget for a moment about which parties landed on top and which on the bottom in Israel's national election last week. The real winner was pragmatism and the big loser uncompromising ideology. [emphasis added]

Haberman went so far as to see

...the complex combination of events behind the upheaval that ended 15 years of Likud governance, threatening that party's stability and dashing the conventional wisdom that Israel's political drift is inexorably rightward.

Yitzhak Rabin, Source: Israel Defense Forces. Public domain

So much for that idea.

One can appreciate the frustration of The New York Times.

(Maybe they are the ones who need to be more...pragmatic.)

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