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1. 'Z Street' Crosses J Street-Hillel University Campaign
by Hana Levi Julian
The Hillel Jewish student organization will welcome the strongly pro-Palestinian Authority ''J Street' lobby, which calls itself "pro Israel' into its building at the University of Pennsylvania campus to launch a new grassroots campaign next month. J Street executive director Jeremy Ben-Ami will broadcast a speech during the event, which will take place on February 4 at Steinhardt Hall, where the U Penn Hillel is located, in Philadelphia.
The J Street announcement is promoting the event as a “call to action live to thousands of supporters at local gatherings across the United States.” The announcement added, “Attendees will have the opportunity to learn more about J Street Philadelphia and join brainstorming groups to move forward our common pro-Israel, pro-peace agenda.”
The event is vehemently opposed by counter-protest groups, among them an organization calling itself “Z Street,” which noted that one member of the J Street Philly Host Committee “compared Israel's treatment of Gaza with the genocide in Sudan." Another Host Committee member is involved with ICAHD, a radical group which interferes with Israeli efforts to stop terrorism and which advocates "Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel.”
J Street strongly criticized the Jewish State for the counterterrorist Operation Cast Lead in Gaza last year that largely stilled the constant rocket and mortar fire which for eight years had rained down on civilians in southern Israel. It supported the Goldstone Report.
Israel's Ambassador the U.S., Michael Oren, has characterized the group as one that “not only opposes one policy of one Israeli government, it [al opposes all policies of all Israeli governments. It is significantly out of the mainstream.” He refused an invitation to speak at the J Street convention several months ago.
'Z Street' added pointedly in an Internet posting, “If the local people associated with J Street have such extreme positions against Israel, what do you think college students will learn from J Street? Do we want Jewish college students to associate Hillel with J Street?”
The Hillel organization, known as The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, promotes itself as the largest Jewish campus organization in the world and for decades has enjoyed a reputation as "the" address for Jewish students to turn to. On its website, the organization states that its mission is to help students "find a balance in being distinctively Jewish and universally human by encouraging them to pursue tzedek (social justice), tikkun olam (repairing the world) and Jewish learning, and to support Israel and global Jewish peoplehood."
Visitors to the Z Street site were encouraged to contact Hillel to express their views about the matter. An email address (halpert@pobox.upenn.edu) proved to be inaccessible when tried by Israel National News, but both the phone number (215-989-8265) and fax numbers (215-898-8259) were viable.
Hillel director Rabbi Howard Alpert has not replied to Israel National News after a message was left on his voice mail.
2. Islamic Terrorists 'Made in Britain'
by Dalit HaLevy and Hillel Fendel
A Hamas website proudly reports on two young British citizens who have moved to Gaza to join the jihad against Israel.
The website did not provide many details on the two. One of them, known as Ibrahim al-Majersi, is reported to have “left his home in order to the join the jihad in Gaza,” and was scheduled to deliver a lecture in the famous Large Mosque of Gaza. He apparently met with Hamas and Al-Kassam Brigades terrorists.
The other, known only as Mustafa, is reported to have served in the British Army in Iraq.
Muslim terrorists apparently find Great Britain a convenient place to study and grow in their dedication to the cause. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who attempted to blow up a Northwest Airline flight from Nigeria to Detroit via Amsterdam last month, studied at University College London for three years, graduating in 2008 with a degree in mechanical engineering. Though he was always known to be religious, family members claimed that the terrorist had been “recruited” to a more militant form of Islam in London. He spent his elementary school days at the British School in Togo, West Africa.
In addition, British courts recently sentenced seven English citizens to long prison sentences – three of them for life – for their involvement in the 2006 terrorist plot to blow up several airliners flying from Britain to North America. At least one of them had strong ties with Al-Qaeda, the extent of whose involvement in the plot remains unclear – though the planned attacks resemble several other Al Qaeda plots targeting American airlines.
Two British-citizen terrorists carried out a suicide attack in Tel Aviv in April 2003, murdering the guard at the Mike’s Place restaurant and two others. The two were equipped with explosives vests in Gaza. The explosives worn by one of the terrorists did not detonate, and he escaped from the scene; his body was found several weeks later off the Tel Aviv shore.
The student unions of two British colleges - the London School of Economics and University of London’s Queen Mary College – have recently decided to forge an alliance with the Islamic University in Gaza, a political and military bastion of Hamas.
3. Somali Pirates Negotiating Release of 2 Israeli-Owned Ships
by Hillel Fendel
Somali pirates are negotiating the release of two cargo vessels owned by Israeli brothers Sammy and Yehuda (Yuli) Ofer. The two ships - the St. James Park and the Asian Glory – belong to Zodiac Maritime Agencies, which is part of the Ofer financial empire.
Globes reports that the ships and their crews – with no Israelis among them – have been held by the pirates in Somalia since the beginning of the month. The St. James Park, carrying a crew of 26, is a chemicals bulk carrier that was seized in the Gulf of Aden on its way from Spain to Thailand at the end of December. The ship put out a distress call on the night of December 28-29, and since then all connection with her has been lost.
The second captured ship is the Asian Glory, a car transporter with a crew of eight, seized on Jan. 2 roughly 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) east of Somalia, on the eastern tip of Africa - outside the area safeguarded by EU warships. Both ships sail under the British flag.
Somali pirates, who currently hold at least 10 ships and 228 seamen, recently released a ship of similar size to the St. James Park after receiving a $4 million ransom.
Sammy and Yuli Ofer also own Zim Lines (officially, Zim Integrated Shipping Services), have a 16.5% stake in the second-largest cruise ship in the world (the Royal Caribbean) and in Tanker Pacific (which boasts 40 oil tankers) and a 26% share of Bank HaMizrachi, and more.
Last April, private Israeli security forces aboard an Italian cruise ship, with 1,500 people on board, fended off a Somali pirate attack in an exchange of fire. Earlier that same month, Somali gunmen unsuccessfully attacked an Israeli ship sailing 700 kilometers off the coast of Somalia.
4. Netanyahu Digs In on Gush Etzion with Tree Planting
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu planted a tree in Gush Etzion, south of Jerusalem, Sunday afternoon, a symbolic move that firmly dug into place a message to the United States that large centers of Jewish population in Judea and Samaria will remain part of the State of Israel.
The ceremony took place several hours after the Prime Minister met with U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell, whose efforts to bridge the deep gaps between Israel and the PA have failed, leaving American officials publicly pessimistic for the first time in the 19 years since it pressured then-Prime Minister Yitzchak Shamir to debate Yasser Arafat in Madrid.
"Today's tree planting reinforces this international position,” the Prime Minister said. “Our message is clear. This [tree plantin is significant for making it clear that Gush Etzion is inseparable from the State of Israel forever. This is the first stop, and from here we will plant in Maaleh Adumin and Ariel.” The tree planting was staged several days before Jews celebrate Tu B'Shvat, the “New Year for Trees," which falls on this year on the Sabbath when planting is forbidden.
He added that Israel also will build in these areas, where he has clamped a 10-month temporary building freeze on new construction of Jews in a goodwill gesture to the Obama administration’s attempts to coax the PA to resume talks with Israel. PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has rejected American overtures and insists that Israel answer U.S. President Barack Obama’s call last year for a total and permanent freeze on Jewish building in eastern Jerusalem as well as in Judea and Samaria.
Prime Minister Netanyahu said at the tree planting ceremony, “There is a national consensus regarding this issue in Israel, and this recognition is slowly permeating the international arena.”.
The PA ridiculed Prime Minister Netanyahu’s tree planting Sunday as an “unacceptable act that destroys all the efforts being exerted by Senator Mitchell.”
5. Officers Who Destroyed Outpost Will Pay
by Hillel Fendel
IDF officers have been ordered to pay court costs from their own pockets after being sued for violating a Supreme Court order and destroying a civilian outpost. The defendants have not filed a defense, and the plaintiffs now expect that the Court will rule in their favor and award them the full amount of damages: more than 430,000 shekels ($115,000).
The story began in 1991, when a resident of the southern Shomron-Binyamin community of Dolev, Ya’ir Mendelson, was murdered by Palestinian terrorists. His neighbors wished to establish a community on the site of the murder, in keeping with the long-standing tradition of "a suitable Zionist response to terrorism.” It was ultimately decided to establish a military base there, named Yad Ya’ir, and in the coming years, a park, synagogue, and play center were also built on the site – under the watchful eyes of the army and at the initiative and dedication of residents of nearby Dolev and Talmon.
“For years,” said Meir Goldmintz, one of the prime forces in the cause, “the Yad Ya’ir group worked on building up a vibrant Jewish presence there: prayers, Torah classes, activities. A monument to Ya’ir was erected, as were a playground for children, a plaza, and a synagogue. Cakes and other foodstuffs were given out to soldiers on Purim and other occasions, and we lit Chanukah candles there. The high point was our yearly springtime event, in which hundreds of people would take part."
The army abandoned the site circa 2004, Goldmintz said, “after which began a period of constant Arab vandalism, which the army did not 'manage' to prevent. Over the course of time, the electric grid was destroyed, the synagogue was looted, the monument was defaced, and the synagogue was set ablaze no fewer than three times.
"Finally, after a group of radical leftists and Arabs set fire to the synagogue and even replaced the Israeli flags with PLO flags, we realized that we would have to do something - and we decided to start our own town there.” Meir, his wife Chana and their four children moved to the site, together with a group of students from Yeshivat Nachliel. “It required great self-sacrifice, as well as financial resources. The yeshiva helped out and held classes there, and nearby communities helped with fuel for the generator, guards and food for the yeshiva students. But we still had to deal with problems such as minimal housing conditions and getting back and forth to work and school”
After the army left, Meir emphasized, “we purchased the land from the Arab owners. It is our private property.”
Arab vandalism continued, however, and ultimately, in September 2008, IDF Division Commander Brig.-Gen. Noam Tivon ordered the site’s destruction. It took the IDF two days to do so, because the first time the army arrived, it called off the plans when it saw the size of the crowd standing ready to protect the town - some 300 Jews from nearby Jewish towns. Two days later, the army arrived in larger numbers and did the deed - even though word of a Supreme Court ruling to delay the action until 4 p.m. that day had already been received.
The army later claimed that the fax machine didn't work and that the order was not received until it was too late.
“Let’s assume this is true,” Goldmintz said. “So what? They knew that no demolition orders had ever been issued for my ‘house,’ and therefore it was illegal to destroy it; I had been there for well over the required 30-day period. In addition, there were some structures for which demolition orders had been issued – but we were promised a pre-destruction hearing, and the officers knew that no hearing had been held, so they knew that they were acting illegally.”
Furthermore, there exist recordings of phone conversations showing that the officers knew of the Supreme Court order not to destroy the site, but yet made every effort not to “receive” it – and continued their destruction even after it was officially received.
The plaintiffs also aver that much of their property could have been saved after the destruction: "The officers did not allow the Jews to enter the site and recover it, but did allow Arab marauders to loot and steal."
No Defense, Pay Court Costs
Goldmintz and others sued the army officers for the damage they caused, but Tivon and the others did not submit a defense. Finally, after four delays caused by the officers’ failure to respond to the suit, the court has now ordered each of them to pay 1,500 shekels in court costs.
Goldmintz now hopes and expects that they will be awarded the full sum of 430,000 shekels in damages for which they have sued. “The officers know why they didn’t submit a defense,” Goldmintz said, “because their actions are indefensible. They were in clear violation of the law.”
Soldiers Must Pay on Their Own
The IDF Spokesman announced, “It goes without saying that no officer will be forced to pay out of his own pocket because of the ruling.” It was not clear if this refers to the current ruling regarding the court costs, or to future rulings on the damages. If the latter, Mendelson says, “the army would be in violation of the law by paying for the damages. In general, IDF soldiers need not pay for their army actions if they were within the law – but this was not the case here, when they were clearly acting illegally, and therefore they must pay out of their own pockets.”
No announcement has been made as to the scheduling of the next court date for the trial.
6. Quran Cited on Jewish Links to Land of Israel
by Hillel Fendel
Land of Israel activists sought to educate Arabs regarding the Quran's teachings on the bonds between the Land and Nation of Israel, and handed out flyers in Arabic with the relevant verses.
The Jewish activists were responding to a recent leftist-anarchist provocation of spray-painted graffiti in the former IDF army camp base of Shdema, between Jerusalem and Gush Etzion. After it was learned of the intention to allow the Palestinian Authority to take over the area, even though it is totally inside Area C - under complete Israeli control, according to the Oslo Accords - Jewish activists have waged an active campaign to keep the area Jewish. Their weekly presence atop the hill in question has even come under IDF protection.
At the same time, however, Arabs have built a large complex on the lower part of the Shdema hill. Though it was carried out with the assistance of USAID funds, the construction is officially illegal - but the outstanding demolition orders issued by the Civil Administration have not been enforced.
Taking a break from painting over the wall-scrawls this past Friday, the activists went down the hill to the illegal Arab compound and distributed the flyers with the Quran verses. They also posted some of the flyers on the concrete barriers at the entrance to the road leading to Shdema. Last week, the activists spray-painted some of the illegal Arab structures nearby.
The verses were taken from Sura 5:20-21, Sura 7:136-137, and Sura 17:103-104. The first selection reads: “Recall that Moses said to his people, "O my people, remember G-d’s blessings upon you: He appointed prophets from among you, made you kings, and granted you what He never granted any other people. O my people, enter the holy land that G-d has decreed for you, and do not rebel…”The second selection: “We let the oppressed people inherit the land, east and west, and we blessed it. The blessed commands of your Lord were thus fulfilled for the Children of Israel, to reward them for their steadfastness, and we annihilated the works of Pharaoh and his people and everything they harvested.” The third selection: “And we said to the Children of Israel afterwards, "Go live into this land. When the final prophecy comes to pass, we will summon you all in one group." The distribution of the flyers followed the weekly Shdema lecture, which was given this time by Dr. Hagi Ben-Artzi on the meaning of Tu B’Shvat (Jewish Arbor Day) in Kabbalistic literature.
This coming Friday, January 29, the eve of Tu B’Shvat, a convoy will make its way held from the Jerusalem neighborhood of Har Homa to Shdema, culminating with traditional tree-plantings Shdema. Greetings will be offered by Rabbi Yaron Durani, rabbi of the eastern Gush Etzion community of Nokdim; MK Uri Uriel (National Union); Shaul Goldstein, head of the Gush Etzion Regional Council; and Herzl Yechekzel, chairman of the Har Homa neighborhood administration. Adam Tzahi will perform songs by Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach
To see photos of the recent event, click here.
7. Professor Warns of Phony Darfur Refugees
by Avi Yellin
Professor Arnon Sofer, chaiman of Geo-Strategy at Haifa University and vice-chairman of its Center for National Security Studies, has claimed that many Africans seeking asylum in the Jewish state are pretending to be refugees from Darfur in order to gain entry into the State of Israel.
While acknowledging the need for Israel to aid refugees fleeing for their lives, Sofer maintains that Israel must take demographic factors into consideration and not allow itself to be taken advantage of.
Attorney Ofra Klinger, Director of the Population for Prison Services, the first body that comes into contact with the African immigrants, has supported Sofer’s claims, saying that out of 4,420 immigrants from Africa in 2008, only 23 of them actually maintained to be from Darfur and 702 refused to disclose their country of origin.
According to the IDF, the percentage of women among the Africans immigrating to Israel is 15 percent less than men, indicating that these immigrants are not coming with their families, which would most likely be the case with refugees fleeing persecution. Sofer uses these statistics to strengthen his argument by pointing out that typical behavior for migrant workers is to establish themselves financially and then later send for their families.
Sofer argues that the main reasons why the Africans come to Israel is because European countries have refused them entry. Additionally, many human rights groups in Israel have lobbied for Israel to provide shelter to the immigrants without properly investigating whether or not they are actually refugees. Professor Sofer ultimately fears that the influx of migrant workers will hurt the weaker sectors of Israel’s population and also the migrants themselves as they will be pushed towards society’s social margins.
