 | ||
 |         |  |
 | ||
| MP3 Radio | Website News Briefs: | |||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
 |  |
1. ‘Stopping US Donations for Eastern Jerusalem Jews Will Backfire
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Attempts by the Arab League to convince U.S. President Barack Obama to prevent American citizens from donating for reclaiming Jewish homes in eastern Jerusalem will backfire against Arabs, nationalist activist Aryeh King told Arutz Sheva. He said that if the Arab move succeeds, the Arabs “are the ones who will have to worry.”
King explained that groups, ranging from the American government’s USAID project to non-profit organizations in Saudi Arabia, are using tax-deductible donations and American tax money to try to “Islamize” eastern Jerusalem. USAID gave millions of dollars to Arabs in attempt to build illegal homes for Arabs at Shdema, next to Bethlehem and located immediately south of Jerusalem (but Israeli activists, headed by Nadia Matar, have succeeded in maintaining a Jewish presence in the area to stop the project).
“There are Saudi Arabian non-profits that work in Jerusalem to Islamize the State of Israel.” he added. “Money also arrives from Arabs for building in Yafo (Jaffa),” adjacent to Tel Aviv.
King has asked National Union Knesset Member Aryeh Eldad to introduce a bill that would prohibit Arabs “from having it both ways” concerning building. Most Arab countries as well as the Palestinian Authority prohibit Arabs from selling property to Jews. King wants a law that would prohibit the same Arabs from buying land or buildings from Jews.
"Just like you and I cannot buy a house in Syria or Egypt, it is impossible to understand why Arabs from those countries should be allowed to buy houses in Israel," King declared.
He also suggested to Jews in the Diaspora that it would be a lot more effective for them to buy homes in eastern Jerusalem for themselves and their children and grandchildren instead of contributing money for purchases by others. King also recalled the four-year-old sale by Hebrew University of 24 acres of land to Arabs to build homes in eastern Jerusalem.
The sale of the university land in eastern Jerusalem, which was given to the university as a donation from the Jewish owner, is “a disgrace to Hebrew University and to the State of Israel,” stated King, who is in the forefront of efforts to return Jews to eastern Jerusalem, where many buildings are owned by Jews who were expelled during the British Mandate and where hundreds fled marauding Arabs during the War of Independence in 1948.
2. Hamas Teaches Children: English the Language of the Enemy
by IsraelNN Staff
Hamas’s educational television now includes a new program teaching little children that it is a good idea to learn English because “we also want to study the language of our enemies, to know how to have contacts with them, and so that we can convey the message of Palestinian children..." The program was translated by Palestinian Media Watch.
[weJe
Email readers, please click here to view the video.
Hebrew is referred to as “the Zionist enemy’s language.”
Hamas is the de facto government in Gaza, but Israeli intelligence has reported that is regaining influence in Judea and Samaria.
3. India: Supports Goldstone Report, Ambassador Visits Wall
by Zalman Nelson
A day after India voted to support the findings of the Goldstone report of alleged Israeli war crimes during the anti-terror Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, India’s ambassador paid a visit to the Kotel (Western Wall) and said he was moved by the location’s profound Jewish bond.
Navtej Singh Sarna, Indian Ambassador to Israel, and his wife visited the Kotel and its tunnels on Sunday. Following the tour, Sarna met with the Kotel Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitz, and told him that he was deeply moved by the Jewish people’s connection to the holy site.
However, Sarna said, the work to reveal the past, should take place in the area surrounding the wall and not on the Temple Mount.
Sarna revealed that he had wanted to visit the Kotel as soon as he arrived to assume the post of ambassador a year ago, but was prevented by the Mombai terrorist attacks in which the city’s Chabad center, its directors, and patrons were targeted. Coping with the disaster postponed the visit, he said.
In honor of soon completing one year as ambassador, Sarna said he requested to visit the holy site.
Disappointed with India
On Saturday, Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon voiced disappointed with India, as well as with Russia and China, for their support of the Goldstone Report at the recent U.N. Human Rights Council meeting on the subject.
"Israel is disappointed that Russia, India and China supported the report. They should have acted with greater discretion, as this unprofessional and distorted report, which denies democracies the right of self-defense, will harm them as well," said Ayalon in Holon. Israel intends to act through diplomatic channels to clarify the vote of these countries in the Human Rights Council, he added.
The Deputy Foreign Minister addressed a question about Israel's cooperation with Goldstone, saying said that, "although Israel did not officially cooperate with Goldstone, there was indirect cooperation in that Israel did not prevent the residents of Sderot from testifying before the mission. However, their testimony, as expected, was not included in the report."
4. 'Ambulance of Wishes' Makes Dreams Come True
by Gil Ronen
Israel's primary emergency ambulance service, Magen David Adom (MDA), revealed the "Ambulance of Wishes" Monday. The ambulance is a humanitarian project that will have one purpose: to help fulfill terminal patients' wishes and dreams. It will cater to patients who are bedridden, or limited in their mobility and in their motions, and will make it possible for them to visit a place that is dear to their hearts.
Bought and equipped at a cost of NIS 1,200,000, the special ambulance was contributed by the Friends of Magen David Adom in Sweden. The project was initiated by Yael Gera and led by MDA Director Eli Bin.
The ambulance was inaugurated during the annual convention of IMDAC – the international conference of friends of Magen David Adom – at the Western Wall Plaza. In attendance were Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman, donors from abroad, and MDA employees and volunteers.
Visits to Historic and Religious Sites
The ambulance will take patients to historic and religious sites, to sports and cultural events, to unique nature sites, to the seashore and to other places of their choosing. Rides on the "Ambulance of Wishes" will be carefully planned with the assistance of the doctor treating the patient, and at no cost whatsover. The ambulance is specially fitted to ensure a smooth and bump-free ride. A sophisticated camera on the roof allows the patient to see the sights along the route on a plasma screen.
The ambulance also includes an advanced cinema system, refrigerators for food and medicine, an advanced respiration system, a highly maneuverable wheelchair with extra-large tires which can used on a sandy beach, and room for specially-trained paramedics who accompany the patient.
A similar project is already in existence in Holland, where it is in high demand.
5. Abbas Slams Hamas, but Seeks Reconciliation
by Maayana Miskin
Palestinian Authority Chairman and Fatah terrorist group head Mahmoud Abbas has harshly criticized the rival Hamas terrorist group in recent months. However, he has also continued to release Hamas terrorists from prison and to seek reconciliation with the group.
Last week, Abbas twice accused Hamas leaders of fleeing Gaza in ambulances as Israel began the Cast Lead counterterror offensive in December, 2008. His remarks were picked up by PA media, and caused rage among top members of Hamas, who said they planned to respond with a slander suit.
Abbas has also accused Hamas of bringing Operation Cast Lead on itself and upon the residents of Gaza by refusing to come to a ceasefire agreement with Israel.
However, despite his harsh criticism, Abbas has continued to seek reconciliation with Hamas, which until mid-2007 shared control over the PA with Fatah. The two organizations are engaged in ongoing negotiations, mediated by Egypt, with the goal of resuming joint control of the PA. During negotiations, Abbas has taken the step of releasing Hamas terrorists from PA prisons on multiple occasions.
Hamas leaders have insisted that any reconciliation deal with Fatah include a clause requiring PA troops to respect the “right to resistance” -- that is, PA Arabs' “right” to carry out terrorist attacks targeting Israelis.
6. Encouraging Jewish Ties to Temple Mount
by Hillel Fendel
A large-scale gathering will take place in central Jerusalem next week featuring rabbis and public figures calling on the Jewish public to visit the Temple Mount “in purity.”
The event will be held on Sunday, the 7th of Cheshvan, a day after the anniversary of Maimonides’ visit to the Temple Mount in 1166. Maimonides, the renowned Torah giant known as the Rambam, later wrote of his pilgrimage to the Holy Land, "We left Acco for Jerusalem under perilous conditions. I entered into 'the great and holy house' [the Temple Moun and prayed there on the sixth day of the month of Cheshvan.”
The Rambam further wrote that he visited the Machpelah Cave on the 9th of Cheshvan, and that he vowed to make both those dates “a special holiday [to mark the occasion on which I will rejoice with prayer, food and drink.”
The event is being held on the backdrop of the closure of the holy site to all Jews throughout the weeklong Sukkot holiday, when many had planned on visiting. The police explained that they had no choice but to close it because of the Arab riots in the area. Hundreds of Jews visited the site after the holiday.
The rabbis and public figures will also protest the “invasive and humiliating” police checks that leading rabbis have recently been forced to undergo when they wish to ascend to the Mount – checks to which non-religious Jews and other visitors are not subject.
So far, the list of participating rabbis includes Rabbi Nachum Rabinovitch, head of the Birkat Moshe hesder yeshiva in Maaleh Adumim, Rabbis Dov Lior, Re’em HaCohen, Yuval Cherlow, YIsrael Ariel, and others. MKs Uri Ariel, Aryeh Eldad, Uri Orbach, Michael Ben-Ari and Otniel Shneller will also be on hand.
Some opinions say that Maimonides did not actually ascend to the Temple Mount, but rather prayed in a synagogue adjoining the Mount. In fact, Jews have long held that entry to the Mount is forbidden by severe Biblical injunction, due to our Jewish-legal impure state.
In recent years, however, a growing number of rabbis feel that this ban can be limited only to the holiest areas of the Temple Mount. This is due to recent research showing conclusively that much of the Mount was not part of the original Temple and can therefore, under certain circumstances, be visited. Ritual immersion in a mikveh is one of the prerequisites.
Rambam Visited a Shtiebl?!
Rabbi Chaim Richman of the Temple Institute in Jerusalem is adamantly in favor of taking the proper precautions and visiting the Mount. "It is very frustrating that there are people that go to the extent of even doubting that the Rambam visited the Mount," Rabbi Richman told Arutz-7. "He writes that he entered the 'great and holy house,' a term used in all our prayers to refer to the Temple, and he is exceedingly emotional in his writing on the experience, something that is very rare for the rationalist rabbi, whose works are known for their exacting language. Do they expect us to believe that he risked his life to visit a shtiebl [makeshift synago nearby? Some people are so stuck in the thinking of 'we don't go there' that they can't accept that he went there. But anyone who reads the text can clearly see what his stance was."Organizer Yehuda Glick said, “We will declare with a loud and clear voice that closing the Temple Mount to Jews because of Arab violence is clearly not acceptable in a Jewish and democratic state.”
7. Coming Soon: 26-Week Maternity Leave
by Maayana Miskin
Israeli women will soon have the right to take 26 weeks off from work following the birth of a child. The first 14 weeks will be paid for by the National Insurance Institute, while a law will be passed explicitly stating that the NII is not responsible to pay for the final 12 weeks.
The law allowing women to take six months of leave won government support Sunday. The bill was backed by MK Dalia Itzik of Kadima and MK Tzipi Hotovely of Likud.
Itzik said Sunday that winning support for the bill was “the beginning of a revolution in which we will bring Israel closer to the enlightened Western world.” Many European countries give several months or more of maternity leave following the birth of each child.
The 26-week leave is “a first, important, step,” Itzik said, but added that other proposals were already in the works. Activists are planning “a variety of activities, including legislative, to promote women's status and encourage them to work while feeling secure as mothers.”
Hotovely said the new legislation would allow women to “realize their motherhood without being rushed back to work.” Lengthening the legal maternity leave is a crucial step in diminishing tension between career and family, she added.
Currently, women in Israel are entitled to 14 weeks of maternity leave, during which they are paid by the NII in accordance with their average monthly salary.
