Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

Tuesday, 14 December 2010


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Tuesday, Dec 14 '10, Tevet 7, 5771
Today`s Email Stories:
Indor: Rock Throwing is Terror
Richard Holbrooke Dies
Rabbi's Tombstone Defaced
A Firefighting Force - for Peace
Hareidi Tours for Secular Jews
Hundreds Remember Kahanes
No Apology to Turkey
  More Website News:
PA Building 'Terror Neighborhood
Toughening Up on Terror Lawyers
IDF Launches First NBC Battalion
OU Youth Enjoy "Day at the Bank"
Jordan Races to 'Discover' Sodom
  MP3 Radio Website News Briefs:
Talk: Axing the Axis
Natural Law or Revealed Law?
Music: hebrew
Piyutim




1. ‘Bishara Law’ Passes First Reading
by Elad Benari 
‘Bishara Law’ Passes 1st Reading


The Knesset approved on Monday the first reading of a bill that stops payment of salary, a pension, or other state payments to a serving MK or former MK if he is wanted for questioning for a serious crime that was carried out during his term in office. 

The bill, which was initiated by a group of MKs headed by MK Yisrael Hasson (Kadima) and MK Yariv Levin (Likud), was approved by a majority of 23 to 9. 

It is named the “Bishara Law” after former MK Azmi Bishara, who fled Israel after the ISA questioned him over espionage activity. He has continued to receive money from the state of Israel despite having fled the country after being implicated in espionage for Hizbullah. 

Bishara was under investigation on suspicion of having contacted a Hizbullah agent in the course of the Second Lebanon War and providing information about strategic spots in Israel to fire missiles at. He was also recorded by Shin Bet agents telling the agent what the effect of enlarging the missiles' range beyond Haifa would have. 

The bill, which was approved by the Knesset’s House Committee last month, would also prevent payments to a serving MK or former MK if charges have already been filed against him, or if he has been convicted, and if he has failed to show up for questioning, or for his trial, or for serving out the sentence. The law would apply to an offense which is punishable by five years' imprisonment or more which was committed while in office. 

Currently, an MK can continue to receive payments from the State even if they are wanted for questioning or for trial and have failed to show up, as has been the case with Bishara. The initiators of the bill wrote that “the present situation causes a distortion, and as such a norm should be established by which public servants fulfill their commitment under the law and are subject to law enforcement. Sanctions should be taken against anyone, regardless of religion, race, sex, or nationality, who is suspected of violating the law.” 

MK Yisrael Hasson said: “As far as I’m concerned, submitting this bill is one of my saddest moments as a citizen. An elected official who is a legislator and sets public norms is suspected of an offense punishable by 5 to 10 years in prison and decides not to make himself available for interrogation. He continues to receive benefits from the Knesset. It's a crazy situation, absurd and unacceptable. By what moral right do we face the public if we behave this way and betray the people who elected us? I'm only ashamed that I did not bring up the proposal earlier.” 

Hasson added that Bishara “made cynical use of the law, contrary to what is expected from every legislator. He should be denied any benefit or payment from the Knesset as should any MK who behaves this way. I do not know any country that is in conflict and pays an agent who serves the enemy over 500 thousand NIS.” 

MK Yariv Levin added that he is “determined to bring to an end the situation under which a betrayal of the State of Israel becomes a lucrative business which gives the traitor Azmi Bishara thousands of shekels every month. The absurd which allows Bishara to join terrorist organizations and assist them while receiving ongoing funding from the State of Israel irritates every citizen who is loyal to the state and it is up to us to put an end to this intolerable situation. It is a step that every democracy should take against those who seek to use state resources to destroy it.”

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2. Terror Victim Group:Stop Coddling Rock Throwing Terrorist Youths
by David Lev 
Indor: Rock Throwing is Terror


The allegations in a report by the leftist B'tselem organization released Monday about alleged police abuses against Arab minors who throw rocks at Israeli drivers dominated the Israeli media all day. They may or may not be true, says Meir Indor, chairman of the Almagor terror victims' organization – but the report is irrelevant. “The criteria they use relate to the rights of criminals, but Arab rock-throwing is not an individual crime – it's a nationalistic act of war, and must be treated as such.”



The B'tselem report claimed that Israeli police have been abusing the rights of Arab youths suspected of throwing rocks at Israeli drivers and passerby in several neighborhoods of Jerusalem, especially the City of David neighborhood (Silwan). The report claims that police forcefully invaded the homes of several suspects, rousing them from their beds, and prohibiting their parents from being present during their questioning as required by Israeli law. In addition, the report said that many of the youths had complained that police assaulted them as they were being arrested. 

“We are certainly not for the abrogation of individual rights for criminals,” Indor told Israel National News. “But the rock throwing by Arab youths is far more than criminal – it's nothing less than an act of war. It's become all too common, and it's life threatening.” Indor himself was injured by a large rock thrown at him by Arab youths on the Mt. Of Olives in October.



“Today, when one of these youths is arrested, he is legally permitted to basically sit in an interrogation room and make fun of police,” Indor said. “The youth is required by law to have his father present, so of course no headway is made in the interrogation. And besides, the youths have a whole array of liberal and leftist organizations, like B'tselem, at the ready to defend them, regardless of what they have done.”



In that sense, said Indor, B'tselem is working against Israel's interests – and, rather than be permitted to continue harming Israel's security by defending terrorists, the organization should be brought up on charges of treason. “B'tselem has a huge budget, much of it supplied from abroad. Police know who these people are, but are powerless to stop them.



“We plan to introduce legislation that will change the law and reclassify these kinds of attacks as terror incidents, that will subject these youths to stiffer penalties, and especially to a different process, other than the normal one that applies to criminals,” Indor said. “In a society that suffers from terrorism as Israel does, we accept that it is reasonable for people to stand in line at the mall and be checked by a security agent. In the same way, it should be reasonable to expect that the individual rights of terrorists – no matter how young they are – be suspended to ensure the safety of society.”



3. Holbrooke Dies at 69; He Exposed State Dept. Anti-Semitism
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu 
Richard Holbrooke Dies


Richard Holbrooke, a key U.S. diplomat in Afghanistan who two years ago praised President Harry Truman for recognizing Israel despite State Department opposition, died at the age of 69. 

Holbrooke collapsed at the State Department on Friday, and he died after doctors operated on a torn aorta for more than 20 hours. He was most noted as chief negotiator at the Dayton Peace Accords, which ended the war in Bosnia. 

As President Obama’s special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, his death “leaves the administration with a substantial hole to fill [and] is a significant blow to the Obama administration just days before it is scheduled to announce the latest review of U.S. policy in Afghanistan,” the London Guardian wrote.   

Besides working for U.S. President Barack Obama, Holbrooke also was the American ambassador to the United Nations during the government of President Bill Clinton, who said that Holbrooke "saved lives, secured peace and restored hope for countless people around the world". 

Born to a mother whose family was Jewish, he grew up an atheist but an idealist. He was not prominently involved in American-Israeli relations, but in a column in the Washington Post two years ago, he wrote that President Truman should be admired for having recognized Israel as a state in 1948. 

His article also shed light on the deep animosity of the State Department towards Israel that has plagued Israeli governments ever since. 

“In the celebrations next week surrounding Israel's 60th anniversary, it should not be forgotten that there was an epic struggle in Washington over how to respond to Israel's declaration of independence on May 14, 1948,” Holbrooke wrote. 

“The British planned to leave Palestine at midnight on May 14. At that moment, the Jewish Agency, led by David Ben-Gurion, would proclaim the new (and still unnamed) Jewish state. The neighboring Arab states warned that fighting, which had already begun, would erupt into full-scale war at that moment. 



"The Jewish Agency proposed partitioning Palestine into two parts -- one Jewish, one Arab. But the State and Defense departments backed the British plan to turn Palestine over to the United Nations. In March, Truman {pictured) privately promised Chaim Weizmann, the future president of Israel, that he would support partition -- only to learn the next day that the American ambassador to the United Nations had voted for U.N. trusteeship. Enraged, Truman wrote a private note on his calendar, ‘The State Dept. pulled the rug from under me today. The first I know about it is what I read in the newspapers! Isn't that hell? I'm now in the position of a liar and double-crosser. I've never felt so low in my life. . . .’ 

“To overrule State would mean Truman taking on Marshall, whom he regarded as ‘the greatest living American.’ 

"Beneath the surface lay unspoken but real anti-Semitism on the part of some (but not all) policymakers. The position of those opposing recognition was simple -- oil, numbers and history. ‘There are thirty million Arabs on one side and about 600,000 Jews on the other,’ Defense Secretary Forrestal told [Clark] Clifford. ‘Why don't you face up to the realities?’ 

“On May 12, Truman held a meeting in the Oval Office to decide the issue. Marshall and his universally respected deputy, Robert Lovett, made the case for delaying recognition -- and ‘delay’ really meant ‘deny.’ Truman asked his young aide, Clark Clifford, to present the case for immediate recognition. 

“In the next two days, Clifford looked for ways to get Marshall to accept recognition. Lovett, although still opposed to recognition, finally talked a reluctant Marshall into remaining silent if Truman acted. With only a few hours left until midnight in Tel Aviv, Clifford told the Jewish Agency to request immediate recognition of the new state, which still lacked a name. Truman announced recognition at 6:11 p.m. on May 14 -- 11 minutes after Ben-Gurion's declaration of independence in Tel Aviv. So rapidly was this done that in the official announcement, the typed words "Jewish State" are crossed out, replaced in Clifford's handwriting with "State of Israel." Thus the United States became the first nation to recognize Israel, as Truman and Clifford wanted.” 

Holbrooke added that despite the arguments and political considerations, “Israel was going to come into existence whether or not Washington recognized it. But without American support from the very beginning, Israel's survival would have been at even greater risk…. Truman's decision, although opposed by almost the entire foreign policy establishment, was the right one -- and despite complicated consequences that continue to this day, it is a decision all Americans should recognize and admire.”

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4. Arab Barbarism: Slain Rabbi's Tombstone Defaced for Yarzeit
by Gil Ronen 
Rabbi's Tombstone Defaced


In an act that Jewish officials are terming "barbarian," unknown Arabs defaced a memorial stone for Rabbi Meir Chai just in time for the memorial ceremony marking a year since his murder by terrorists. 

Rabbi Chai of Shavei Shomron, married and a father of seven, was shot dead in his car as he drove home to celebrate his 12-year-old son Elyasaf's birthday. He was a kindergarten teacher by profession. The memorial stands by the side of the road at the place in which he was murdered. 

  

Three senior officials in the Palestinian Authority gunned him down from a passing car. The officials were close to the so-called "moderate leadership" of the PA that includes Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and "Prime Minister" Salam Fayyad. They were subsequently killed by the IDF

  

The memorial service for Rabbi Chai is scheduled for 3:00 PM Tuesday at the Mount of Olives.  

  

Elisheva Chai, Rabbi Meir's widow, said: "The Father of Orphans and Judge of Widows will get revenge upon the heartless wicked ones who hurt our feelings in this way. But I can promise you that acts of this kind will not break us. We celebrated Elyasaf's Bar Mitzvah last night, and we will continue to rejoice, live and build the Land of Israel - not in sadness but in joy, as proud Jews." 

  

"Only barbarians can do horrible things like this," Samaria local authority head Gershon Mesika said Tuesday. "People who can pathologically desecrate a memorial for a murdered man are not worthy of being called humans."



5. PM: Regional Firefighting Force Could Become a Force for Peace
by David Lev 
A Firefighting Force - for Peace


In the wake of the Carmel forest fire, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is seeking to set up a regional firefighting force – a development that could have positive implications for Israel beyond greater efficiency at fighting fires, says MK Ayoub Kara, who is also Deputy Minister for Regional Development in the Galilee, an advocate for regional cooperation – especially with Turkey, which, he says, proved that it could work with Israel effectively on emergencies during the fire. “We saw how the Turks stood side by side with us, and such cooperation can continue,” Kara said.



Last week, Netanyahu spoke with several regional leaders, including the Prime Ministers of Greece, Russia, and Cyprus, King Abdullah of Jordan, and PA chief Mahmoud Abbas, on the idea of pooling resources to deal with natural disasters such as forest fires. “By using our combined efforts we can prepare and effectively respond to natural disasters much more efficiently,” Netanyahu said in a statement. “The cooperation that we saw in fighting the Carmel fire gives hope to all those seeing peace,” Netanyahu said, adding that he was sure that Turkey would want to be a part of the force as well. Netanyahu, speaking to the leaders, suggested setting up a meeting in Athens on getting the force off the ground. 

Kara, who was instrumental in bringing a Turkish contingent to help fight the Carmel fire, agrees that the regional force could pave the way to better relations between all countries in the region. “Even at the height of the tension between Israel and Turkey, I never though that the last word on our relationship with Ankara had been said. The fire gives us an opportunity to go back to our previous good relations. I have no doubt Israel and Turkey can work things out,” and participation in the regional firefighting source will increase good relations between all nations in the region, he said. 

The high cost of each country maintaining enough firefighting airplanes and other state-of-the-art equipment for major fires when the distances between them are so small makes the plan practical as well. 

The idea of a multinational force for fighting fires was also raised by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman during a tour of ambassadors to the carmel area Monday.



6. Secular Jews Tour a Foreign Culture: Hareidi Jews
by Gil Ronen 
Hareidi Tours for Secular Jews


A new internal tourism initiative brings groups of secular Jews to hareidi-religious neighborhoods and homes, smashing stereotypes and creating new bonds among Jewish groups that drifted apart over centuries. 

The tours are conducted as part of a project called "Yerushalyim Shel Ma'ala" - a Talmudic term that means "the Higher Jerusalem" and refers to the reflection of Jerusalem in the spiritual world. In a time of extreme anti-hareidi incitement by the Israeli press, it allows secular Jews to see hareidi life from up close, on the personal level. The tours are largely a Chabad initiative and focus on hassidic communities in Jerusalem. 

  

Tourists expect to see a closed society that disrespects its women, but see something altogether different, as they meet with and get to know both men and women whom they would otherwise never have spoken to. 

  

The secular tourists get to experience a "tisch" - a festive gathering of a hassidic rebbe and his disciples - go to synagogues, enter bakeries, and are guests at hassidic homes. Project manager Ayelet Oren told Arutz Sheva's Hebrew-language news service that there was a "very meaningful" wave of tours during the Chanukah holiday. 

  

Most of the tourists are secular, but not all. Some groups are private, while others are organized: high schools, kibbutzim, Haifa University employees and the governmental firm in charge of Culture, Youth and Sports Clubs (matnasim) have also taken the tours. 

  

How do families react to their homes being turned into virtual museums? Oren said that many families see welcoming the visitors as a true calling. "There are some families that receive groups every evening." In order to overcome resistance from their children, she added, the hareidi parents "explain the purpose of the visits to the children, and tell them these are our brothers, and things work out." 

  

Secular resistance is overcome by touting the visits as a unique opportunity to meet people, and by saying that "some Jewish treasures belong to everyone." 

  

"When the approach is one of love for Israel, that we are all one, when one approaches it humbly, things are accepted," Oren explained. 

  

Hassidim from dynasties other than Chabad also take part in the initiative. At present, the visits focus on neighborhoods like Mekor Baruch, Shaarei Chesed, Ramat Shlomo and others. Mea She'arim is still off limits. 

  

The local residents could have been expected to react negatively to the sight of secular groups in their streets, but refrain from doing so when they see that the group is guided by a hareidi Jew. "We also ask them to come in modest dress. While we do not specify what modest means, they understand. We ask them to give respect and it works."  

  

Female tourists also meet with female hareidi artists and discover a side of hareidi life they did know existed for women. 

  

"In the end, all of the meetings end with an exchange of telephone numbers and a strengthening of the bond between the two sides," Oren said. 

  

Hassidic Jewish dynasties immigrated into Israel from Europe and are largely insulated fom other groups. Secular Jews have lived apart from religious Jews since the "Enlightenment" movement began in Europe. The tours can be seen as a first attempt in centuries to bridge the gaps between the communities, made possible by the fact that both live together in the Land of Israel.



7. Hundreds Come Out to Remember the Young Kahanes
by Elad Benari 
Hundreds Remember Kahanes


Ten years after they were murdered by Arab terrorists, Rabbi Binyamin Ze’ev Kahane and his wife Talya were remembered on Monday evening in a special memorial in Jerusalem. 

Hundreds of family members, friends and supporters gathered at the Heichal David Hall in Jerusalem to tell stories about them and to recall the teachings of Rabbi Kahane. 

Activist Baruch Marzel, who is a family friend, told Israel National News that while the Kahanes may have been murdered, “their way and their legacy is continuing and gaining strength.” Marzel recalled that “25 years ago Rabbi [Meir] Kahane (father of Rabbi Binyamin) was disqualified for saying that land should not be sold or rented to Arabs. Today, hundreds of rabbis are signing a petition that Rabbi Kahane started.” 

Noam Federman, who was a close friend of Rabbi Binyamin Kahane, said: “He was a teacher, a guide, and a friend. He was endlessly devoted to the people of Israel, had a unique writing ability and a unique ability to counter the Arab enemy and the leftists who are plotting against the state and are endangering it.” 

Itamar Ben Gvir said: “Today, ten years after the murder of Rabbi Binyamin and Talya Kahane, while many MKs and public figures in Israel understand that there is a problem, that if there’s no loyalty there can’t be citizenship, that people like Tibi and Zoabi should be thrown out of the Knesset, it’s time to apologize to the Kahane family. It’s time that the Israeli establishment recognizes the huge mistake it made. It’s time to recognize and cherish the devotion of these holy people who fought for the Land of Israel and for the people of Israel.” 

Also speaking at the memorial was Rabbi Yitzchak Shapira, head of the Od Yosef Chai yeshiva in Yitzhar and author of the book Torat Hamelech, and MK Dr. Michael Ben-Ari (National Union). Popular  Israeli singer Ariel Zilber also took part in the evening and performed Jewish and Israeli music.  Rabbi Kahane’s students read Torah thoughts written in his memory. 

Rabbi Binyamin Ze’ev and Talya Kahane were killed in December of 2000 when Arab terrorists fired at their vehicle south of the Samarian community of Ofra, as they were driving from Jerusalem to their home in Kfar Tapuach. 

Yekutiel Ben Yaakov, a close friend of Rabbi Kahane who organized Monday’s event, noted that more and more people attend the memorial each year. “This is actually the first gathering we’ve held in Jerusalem and we’ve organized it because many youths called us and demanded that we organize an event in memory of Rabbi Binyamin Kahane, because they want to know who was this great man who lived among us but whom they did not get to know,” he told Israel National News. 

“Our job, as those who knew Rabbi Binyamin, is to do the best we can to spread his messages and writings,” said Ben Yaakov and added: “Ten years later, I have not yet begun to digest this loss, this pain and sorrow. I haven’t yet begun mourning him. That is how great the loss is.”



8. No Apology to Turkey, Says Netanyahu
by Chana Ya'ar 
No Apology to Turkey


Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu reiterated at a Likud faction meeting on Monday that Israel would not apologize to Turkey over the deaths of nine terror activists aboard the Mavi Marmara flotilla vessel on May 31.     

Meanwhile, a Knesset committee of parliamentary faction leaders, headed by Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin, approved a motion to hold a full plenum hearing regarding Ankara’s demand. 

Netanyahu was responding to a question from MK Danny Danon (Likud) about media rumors that Israel would express regret over the incident in which the terror activists, eight of whom were Turkish nationals, attacked IDF commandos when they boarded the ship to guide it to the port of Ashdod. 

The Turkish-sponsored vessel was one of six in a flotilla that had attempted to break Israel’s maritime blockade of Gaza. 

Turkey’s Prime Minister Tayyip Recep Erdogan demanded after the incident that Israel apologize and compensate the families of the dead. In recent days, there were rumors the Jewish State was reconsidering its refusal to do so, and might also be willing to pay a sum in compensation to the families of the slain terror activists. 

“It is inconceivable that the State of Israel will compensate terrorists who harmed navy commandos,” said Danon. “Such compensation is tantamount to surrendering to terror and will create the motivation for future attacks. I am certain the government’s answer to the motion will be that Israel has no intention of compensating these terrorists.” 

Netanyahu denied the rumors, but noted that the “relationship with Turkey is important.” The prime minister added, “They must recognize the fact that we did not act out of malice, but in self-defense.” 

Israeli and Turkish officials met a week ago in Geneva in an effort to find a way out of the diplomatic quagmire in which the two nations currently find themselves. Turkey sent two firefighting aircraft to assist the Jewish State in response to an appeal by Netanyahu to the international community for assistance when a wildfire struck the northern region more than a week ago, leaving 43 dead and ravaging some 12,500 acres of forest land. 



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