 |
||
 |
        |
 |
|
||
| MP3 Radio | Website News Briefs: | |||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
 |
 |
1. Circumcision Ban Fight Turns Ugly with Anti-Semitic Comics
by Elad Benari
The controversy on banning circumcision in San Francisco moved on to stereotypic anti-Semitism as a promoter of the ban distributed a technologically modern, but all-too reminiscent of medieval, Nazi and Tsarist Jew-hatred, comic that seeks to delegitimize the circumcision procedure.
The comic is entitled “Foreskin Man” and its hero is shown as he attempts to stop circumcisions from taking place. He is described as “an 'intactivist' superhero who rescues innocent boys from the clutches of the world’s cleverest and most dangerous circumcisers.”
Its second issue features an anti-Semitic story in which Foreskin Man attempts to stop a “Monster Mohel” from performing a circumcision during a Brit Mila ceremony.
Circumcision is a Torah commandment which says that Jewish fathers must circumcize their male infants on the eighth day after birth. Circumcision is postponed if a baby is underweight, has high bilirubin count or any other medical problem, but is a basic sign of the covenant between G-d and the Jews, the Torah says. It has always been the symbol of belonging to the Jewish people, often called the People of the Covenant.
The Foreskin Man comic was produced and put out by Matthew Hess, who is one of the central backers of the anti-circumcision measures.
A few weeks ago it was reported that the backers secured enough signatures to force a referendum on banning circumcision in the city. The central activist, Lloyd Schofield, is calling his proposed referendum the “Male Genital Mutilation bill.”
It takes only 7,168 people to force a referendum vote in the city of San Francisco, whose population is more than 750,000. If Schofield’s initiative is passed, it would forbid circumcision among males under the age of 18, and anyone found violating the law would face a fine of $1,000 or a year in jail.
The move was met with criticism by rabbis, doctors, and others who oppose the idea to ban circumcision, with the doctors citing its benefits in preventing infection and the spread of AIDS.
“For a city that’s renowned for being progressive and open-minded, to even have to consider such an intolerant proposition ... it sets a dangerous precedent for all cities and states,” Rabbi Gil Yosef Leeds of Berkeley told The New York Times.
The newspaper quoted Dr. Laurence Baskin, chief of pediatric urology at San Francisco’s Benioff Children's Hospital, as saying that the referendum proposal “is a bunch of nonsense” and ”would never pass the First Amendment test,” guaranteeing basic freedoms, including that of religion.
Meanwhile, The Jewish Journal reported on Wednesday that Jewish Congressman Brad Sherman has announced he is preparing to introduce a bill in congress that would prevent municipalities nationwide from enacting laws banning circumcision.
Sherman’s bill, called the Religious and Parental Rights Defense Act of 2011, will ensure that Jewish and Muslim families will be able to enjoy the free exercise of their religious beliefs.
Sherman was quoted as saying, “This could happen in any city. This ought to be stopped statewide and it ought to be stopped nationwide.”
The Journal also reported that California State Assemblyman Mike Gatto will begin the process of introducing similar legislation in Sacramento. According to the report, it was a conversation with Sherman which caused Gatto, who has represented the Los Angeles-area 43rd district for just over a year, to join the fray over circumcision at the state level and attempt to prevent cities in California from banning the practice.
Gatto, who is Christian, told The Journal that “there are a lot of Christians, too, who believe that circumcision dates back to the origins of our faith.”
Both Sherman and Gatto commented on the Foreskin Man comic, with Gatto saying, “I had to rub my eyes and tell myself that it was 2011, and tell myself that this was not something being put out in 1905.”
Sherman was quoted as calling the comic “outrageous”.
Meanwhile, the Committee for Parental Choice and Religious Freedom, a new coalition spearheaded by the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) in the San Francisco Bay Area, is ramping up its efforts to convince San Francisco voters to reject the proposed ban.
All 11 members of San Francisco’s City and County Board of Supervisors have joined the coalition, reported The Journal, as well as two dozen prominent doctors and many local and national civic and religious leaders.
One official who joined the coalition is the mayor of Santa Monica where, according to a report by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, an attempt to put a circumcision ban on the ballot has been dropped.
Banning circumcision has been a much-attempted anti-Jewish measure throughout Jewish history, with the most well known example going back to the Greeks, glorifiers of the human body, and possibly the first "intactivists". It was King Antiochus of Greece whose legislation against circumcision and other Jewish laws inspired the Maccabean revolt leading to the Hannukah victory. More recently, Communist Russia outlawed circumcision and many Jews carried out the commandment in secret at great risk, with others asking to undergo circumcisions as adults when Communism fell and they arrived in Israel.
Comment on this story
by Elad Benari
The controversy on banning circumcision in San Francisco moved on to stereotypic anti-Semitism as a promoter of the ban distributed a technologically modern, but all-too reminiscent of medieval, Nazi and Tsarist Jew-hatred, comic that seeks to delegitimize the circumcision procedure.
The comic is entitled “Foreskin Man” and its hero is shown as he attempts to stop circumcisions from taking place. He is described as “an 'intactivist' superhero who rescues innocent boys from the clutches of the world’s cleverest and most dangerous circumcisers.”
Its second issue features an anti-Semitic story in which Foreskin Man attempts to stop a “Monster Mohel” from performing a circumcision during a Brit Mila ceremony.
Circumcision is a Torah commandment which says that Jewish fathers must circumcize their male infants on the eighth day after birth. Circumcision is postponed if a baby is underweight, has high bilirubin count or any other medical problem, but is a basic sign of the covenant between G-d and the Jews, the Torah says. It has always been the symbol of belonging to the Jewish people, often called the People of the Covenant.
The Foreskin Man comic was produced and put out by Matthew Hess, who is one of the central backers of the anti-circumcision measures.
A few weeks ago it was reported that the backers secured enough signatures to force a referendum on banning circumcision in the city. The central activist, Lloyd Schofield, is calling his proposed referendum the “Male Genital Mutilation bill.”
It takes only 7,168 people to force a referendum vote in the city of San Francisco, whose population is more than 750,000. If Schofield’s initiative is passed, it would forbid circumcision among males under the age of 18, and anyone found violating the law would face a fine of $1,000 or a year in jail.
The move was met with criticism by rabbis, doctors, and others who oppose the idea to ban circumcision, with the doctors citing its benefits in preventing infection and the spread of AIDS.
“For a city that’s renowned for being progressive and open-minded, to even have to consider such an intolerant proposition ... it sets a dangerous precedent for all cities and states,” Rabbi Gil Yosef Leeds of Berkeley told The New York Times.
The newspaper quoted Dr. Laurence Baskin, chief of pediatric urology at San Francisco’s Benioff Children's Hospital, as saying that the referendum proposal “is a bunch of nonsense” and ”would never pass the First Amendment test,” guaranteeing basic freedoms, including that of religion.
Meanwhile, The Jewish Journal reported on Wednesday that Jewish Congressman Brad Sherman has announced he is preparing to introduce a bill in congress that would prevent municipalities nationwide from enacting laws banning circumcision.
Sherman’s bill, called the Religious and Parental Rights Defense Act of 2011, will ensure that Jewish and Muslim families will be able to enjoy the free exercise of their religious beliefs.
Sherman was quoted as saying, “This could happen in any city. This ought to be stopped statewide and it ought to be stopped nationwide.”
The Journal also reported that California State Assemblyman Mike Gatto will begin the process of introducing similar legislation in Sacramento. According to the report, it was a conversation with Sherman which caused Gatto, who has represented the Los Angeles-area 43rd district for just over a year, to join the fray over circumcision at the state level and attempt to prevent cities in California from banning the practice.
Gatto, who is Christian, told The Journal that “there are a lot of Christians, too, who believe that circumcision dates back to the origins of our faith.”
Both Sherman and Gatto commented on the Foreskin Man comic, with Gatto saying, “I had to rub my eyes and tell myself that it was 2011, and tell myself that this was not something being put out in 1905.”
Sherman was quoted as calling the comic “outrageous”.
Meanwhile, the Committee for Parental Choice and Religious Freedom, a new coalition spearheaded by the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) in the San Francisco Bay Area, is ramping up its efforts to convince San Francisco voters to reject the proposed ban.
All 11 members of San Francisco’s City and County Board of Supervisors have joined the coalition, reported The Journal, as well as two dozen prominent doctors and many local and national civic and religious leaders.
One official who joined the coalition is the mayor of Santa Monica where, according to a report by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, an attempt to put a circumcision ban on the ballot has been dropped.
Banning circumcision has been a much-attempted anti-Jewish measure throughout Jewish history, with the most well known example going back to the Greeks, glorifiers of the human body, and possibly the first "intactivists". It was King Antiochus of Greece whose legislation against circumcision and other Jewish laws inspired the Maccabean revolt leading to the Hannukah victory. More recently, Communist Russia outlawed circumcision and many Jews carried out the commandment in secret at great risk, with others asking to undergo circumcisions as adults when Communism fell and they arrived in Israel.
Comment on this story
2. Dutch Parliament Raises Knife Against Ritual Slaughter
by Hillel Fendel
A controversial vote is set to take place in Holland’s parliament this month which could determine the future of Dutch Jewry. Marianne Thieme, leader of the small Party for the Animals, has proposed that religious slaughter without stunning the animal first be outlawed.
A Dutch parliamentary commission has agreed to hear a Jewish and a Muslim delegation this Thursday on the issue. UK Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks will take part in the meeting, having been invited by the representatives of the local Jewish community.
Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld, Director of the Institute for Global Jewish Affairs, has written an open letter to the MPs of the Dutch parliament, decrying the faulty research that was cited to “prove” that Jewish ritual slaughter – known as shechita (sh’khitah) – is less humane than electro-shocking, which has a significant 5-8% failure rate at first try, causing pain and suffering to the animals. Over 12 million pigs are killed by electro-shock in Holland each year, meaning approximately 500,000 failures, but only 3000 kosher animals are ritually slaughtered.
Gerstenfeld, who is also the Chairman of the Board of Fellows at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, writes that the placing the burden of proof upon the Jewish community to show that existing kosher slaughter is as humane as regular “stunning” slaughter “only fits a non-democratic state.”
The open letter was published on a major Dutch website, and within an hour, Volkskrant, one of the largest national dailies, put it on its website.
In a rare move, the Anti Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee, B’nai B’rith International, the Orthodox Union, the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the World Jewish Congress wrote a joint letter to Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte about this issue. They criticized the proposed law for its limitations of freedom of religion, and condemned the unscientific attacks on kosher slaughter.
The Party for Animals cited a report by Wagerningen University against kosher slaughter. However, Prof. Joe Regenstein of Cornell University, who studied the Wageningen report, has noted its “mistakes, misjudgments and other serious shortcomings,” and is supported in his criticism by international expert Prof. Temple Grandin of Colorado State University. TNO, a respected Dutch scientific research organization, joined the critics of the report.
Gerstenfeld has also written an op-ed for IsraelNationalNews on the topic, noting that the joint letter by the American Jewish organization “politely recalled the lengthy historical link between banning kosher slaughter and anti-Semitism and the similarities with the proposed Dutch law. One can only wonder why the authors have expressed their concerns so courteously in view of the way the Party for the Animals unhesitatingly whipped up emotions via a video totally irrelevant to Dutch kosher slaughter, based itself on critically challenged science, and released false citations attributed to rabbis.”
Comment on this story
by Hillel Fendel
A controversial vote is set to take place in Holland’s parliament this month which could determine the future of Dutch Jewry. Marianne Thieme, leader of the small Party for the Animals, has proposed that religious slaughter without stunning the animal first be outlawed.
A Dutch parliamentary commission has agreed to hear a Jewish and a Muslim delegation this Thursday on the issue. UK Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks will take part in the meeting, having been invited by the representatives of the local Jewish community.
Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld, Director of the Institute for Global Jewish Affairs, has written an open letter to the MPs of the Dutch parliament, decrying the faulty research that was cited to “prove” that Jewish ritual slaughter – known as shechita (sh’khitah) – is less humane than electro-shocking, which has a significant 5-8% failure rate at first try, causing pain and suffering to the animals. Over 12 million pigs are killed by electro-shock in Holland each year, meaning approximately 500,000 failures, but only 3000 kosher animals are ritually slaughtered.
Gerstenfeld, who is also the Chairman of the Board of Fellows at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, writes that the placing the burden of proof upon the Jewish community to show that existing kosher slaughter is as humane as regular “stunning” slaughter “only fits a non-democratic state.”
The open letter was published on a major Dutch website, and within an hour, Volkskrant, one of the largest national dailies, put it on its website.
In a rare move, the Anti Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee, B’nai B’rith International, the Orthodox Union, the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the World Jewish Congress wrote a joint letter to Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte about this issue. They criticized the proposed law for its limitations of freedom of religion, and condemned the unscientific attacks on kosher slaughter.
The Party for Animals cited a report by Wagerningen University against kosher slaughter. However, Prof. Joe Regenstein of Cornell University, who studied the Wageningen report, has noted its “mistakes, misjudgments and other serious shortcomings,” and is supported in his criticism by international expert Prof. Temple Grandin of Colorado State University. TNO, a respected Dutch scientific research organization, joined the critics of the report.
Gerstenfeld has also written an op-ed for IsraelNationalNews on the topic, noting that the joint letter by the American Jewish organization “politely recalled the lengthy historical link between banning kosher slaughter and anti-Semitism and the similarities with the proposed Dutch law. One can only wonder why the authors have expressed their concerns so courteously in view of the way the Party for the Animals unhesitatingly whipped up emotions via a video totally irrelevant to Dutch kosher slaughter, based itself on critically challenged science, and released false citations attributed to rabbis.”
Comment on this story
3. Arab MK Praises Hizbullah, Calls for Caliphate
by Hillel Fendel
Ibrahim Sarsour, an Israeli-Arab Knesset Member, calls to establish Islamic Caliphate centered in Jerusalem and praises Hizbullah for defeating Israel.
Israeli-Arab MKs have long been accused of spouting anti-Israel rhetoric, but it appears that Sarsour, a seemingly mild-mannered Knesset Member and leader of the Ra’am-Ta’al United Arab List party, has now gone further than most.
In a recent speech – in Arabic – at Abdul Rahman’s club in Israel, Sarsour actually lauded Hizbullah, a Lebanese terrorist organization bent on vanquishing Israel, for having “defeated” Israel in the Second Lebanon War in 2006. He also encouraged Hizbullah to continue working to this end in the future.
The speech was reported on and translated into English by Walid Shoebat, a former PLO member who converted to Christianity and is a strong critic of militant Islam.
Shoebat says that MK Sarsour also called in his speech for the establishment of an Islamic Caliphate centered in Jerusalem.
Praise for Hizbullah
Regarding Hizbullah, Sarsour said: “Yes, there is a force in Southern Lebanon that proudly raised its head to challenge American and Israeli supremacy - with a project that carries the seeds of dignity. [It] is based on Islamic pillars and foundations, and has a vision to manage the war with the enemy [Israel]. Its internal management is well designed to benefit the Umma [Islamic nation].”
Referring to the 2006 War, Sarsour said, “Then came the blow that ended in the humiliation, through these fighters grinding the nose in the dirt of the number-one power in the Middle East, that is Israel. This defeat caused an earthquake measuring 10 on the Richter scale and on the political scale in Israel. The aftershocks continue from this great earthquake of 2006 until today. There was none left [without humiliation] from the Defense Minister, Interior Minister and Prime Minister!"
“Keep in mind,” Sarsour continued, “there is strength and strategic insight and presence locally and regionally for Hizbullah... They are thinking how to return this fear to Israel and how to destroy Israel's deterrence, which is the pillar of Israel's continuation. And if this happens, this means that the line will begin to point extremely downwards for Israel’s deterrence.”
Shoebat: Kahane No, Sarsour Yes?
In an article on Sarsour, Shoebat asks, “If the Kach or Kahane Chai parties are considered by the State of Israel to be… a ‘danger to the state’ and are barred from the Knesset, then why is Ibrahim Sarsour of the Ra'am-Ta'al party allowed to keep his seat? Ra'am-Ta'al is a seditious Arab political party that spouts more rhetoric then any other extremist group in Israel.”
In another instance, Shoebat reports, Sarsour all but called for Israel’s annihilation: “[The West] planted this foreign object [Israel] which does not fit in an eastern Islamic environment, planted it in its heart as to remain as a thorn in their side and a thorn in their throat in order to prevent their [Muslim] unity so as to stop this Islamic giant to take its [historic] position.”
And on the Other Side of His Mouth...
To Israelis, Sarsour speaks differently: “They [Israeli Jews] should be thinking about me not as a fifth column, but as an integral part of the country who might contribute a lot for the building of this state and might contribute a certain bridge between Israeli Jews and the Arab and Muslim world.”
Sarsour heads the southern branch of Israel’s Islamic Movement – whose banner can be seen in another video in which kindergarten children in an Arab school enthusiastically take part in prayer services with slogans such as: “O Allah, slaughter them. O Allah, make widows of Jewish women… make orphans of their children… disperse their families, give a dark day for all the Arabs that collaborate with them, O Allah do not lift a banner for the Jews and do not fulfill their goals…”
“How far will Israel go in allowing Islamists to help run the country?” Shoebat asks. “In pluralistic Israel, apparently even a jihadist can be a public servant.”
Comment on this story
by Hillel Fendel
Ibrahim Sarsour, an Israeli-Arab Knesset Member, calls to establish Islamic Caliphate centered in Jerusalem and praises Hizbullah for defeating Israel.
Israeli-Arab MKs have long been accused of spouting anti-Israel rhetoric, but it appears that Sarsour, a seemingly mild-mannered Knesset Member and leader of the Ra’am-Ta’al United Arab List party, has now gone further than most.
In a recent speech – in Arabic – at Abdul Rahman’s club in Israel, Sarsour actually lauded Hizbullah, a Lebanese terrorist organization bent on vanquishing Israel, for having “defeated” Israel in the Second Lebanon War in 2006. He also encouraged Hizbullah to continue working to this end in the future.
The speech was reported on and translated into English by Walid Shoebat, a former PLO member who converted to Christianity and is a strong critic of militant Islam.
Shoebat says that MK Sarsour also called in his speech for the establishment of an Islamic Caliphate centered in Jerusalem.
Praise for Hizbullah
Regarding Hizbullah, Sarsour said: “Yes, there is a force in Southern Lebanon that proudly raised its head to challenge American and Israeli supremacy - with a project that carries the seeds of dignity. [It] is based on Islamic pillars and foundations, and has a vision to manage the war with the enemy [Israel]. Its internal management is well designed to benefit the Umma [Islamic nation].”
Referring to the 2006 War, Sarsour said, “Then came the blow that ended in the humiliation, through these fighters grinding the nose in the dirt of the number-one power in the Middle East, that is Israel. This defeat caused an earthquake measuring 10 on the Richter scale and on the political scale in Israel. The aftershocks continue from this great earthquake of 2006 until today. There was none left [without humiliation] from the Defense Minister, Interior Minister and Prime Minister!"
“Keep in mind,” Sarsour continued, “there is strength and strategic insight and presence locally and regionally for Hizbullah... They are thinking how to return this fear to Israel and how to destroy Israel's deterrence, which is the pillar of Israel's continuation. And if this happens, this means that the line will begin to point extremely downwards for Israel’s deterrence.”
Shoebat: Kahane No, Sarsour Yes?
In an article on Sarsour, Shoebat asks, “If the Kach or Kahane Chai parties are considered by the State of Israel to be… a ‘danger to the state’ and are barred from the Knesset, then why is Ibrahim Sarsour of the Ra'am-Ta'al party allowed to keep his seat? Ra'am-Ta'al is a seditious Arab political party that spouts more rhetoric then any other extremist group in Israel.”
In another instance, Shoebat reports, Sarsour all but called for Israel’s annihilation: “[The West] planted this foreign object [Israel] which does not fit in an eastern Islamic environment, planted it in its heart as to remain as a thorn in their side and a thorn in their throat in order to prevent their [Muslim] unity so as to stop this Islamic giant to take its [historic] position.”
And on the Other Side of His Mouth...
To Israelis, Sarsour speaks differently: “They [Israeli Jews] should be thinking about me not as a fifth column, but as an integral part of the country who might contribute a lot for the building of this state and might contribute a certain bridge between Israeli Jews and the Arab and Muslim world.”
Sarsour heads the southern branch of Israel’s Islamic Movement – whose banner can be seen in another video in which kindergarten children in an Arab school enthusiastically take part in prayer services with slogans such as: “O Allah, slaughter them. O Allah, make widows of Jewish women… make orphans of their children… disperse their families, give a dark day for all the Arabs that collaborate with them, O Allah do not lift a banner for the Jews and do not fulfill their goals…”
“How far will Israel go in allowing Islamists to help run the country?” Shoebat asks. “In pluralistic Israel, apparently even a jihadist can be a public servant.”
Comment on this story
4. Dead Sea Secular Kibbutz Welcomes its First Torah Scroll
by Hillel Fendel
37 years after it became a kibbutz, Kalia welcomed its first very own Torah scroll into its gates this week, celebrated together by Hassidim, bare-headed Jews and others (see below).
Kalia is a kibbutz overlooking the northwestern edge of the Dead Sea. Its name is actually an acronym for four Hebrew words meaning “the Sea of Death comes to life” (kam l’tychiya yam hamavet). Its members are traditional or secular – except for the Yinon family, which became observant ten years ago. Prof. Amos Yinon, who runs the local “synagogue” – as well as the Internal and Infective Diseases Department in Shaar Zedek Medical Center – has lived in Kibbutz Kalia for many years, and organized the festive Torah installation ceremony.
“We established our synagogue about six years ago in the local school,” Prof. Yinon told Arutz-7, “and we borrowed two Torah scrolls from the Mitzpeh Yericho [a religious-Zionist Yesha community about 20 minutes away – ed.]. Over the past year we decided that the time had come for our own Torah scroll, and so we ordered one to be written in memory of my father-in-law, a mathematics professor in Holland.”
Though the kibbutz is not religious, “many of the members have strong ties with tradition. Every Friday night they recite Kiddush in the dining room, and Yom Kippur services are held every year with the help of friends from Mitzpeh Yericho. The dining room is kosher, and many religious people come to enjoy our vacation village.”
Yinon says that his return to observant Judaism was significantly connected with his work in the hospital: “The experiences that I had and watched in the framework of my work,” he said in an interview two years ago, “helped me realize that most healing is dependent upon the patient’s ability to rise above his biological parts… Even when I talk to my student interns about our ability to heal, I emphasize that most of our strength lies in our ability to bring the patient to connect with his spiritual side.”
He said that when he first began to wear a kippah (yarmulke) in public, thus showing his change of lifestyle, “there was some estrangement between us and the other members… But this pass over time, and now, as we don’t have small children for whom I have to worry about a religious school, I would not consider moving somewhere else. We can see Mt. Nevo from here, and we feel that we are living where our forefathers lived. The air is very clean, and my wife, who suffers from asthma, has no need to take medicines.”
No synagogue has yet been built in the kibbutz, and none is foreseen for the immediate future. As of now, Yinon and others wheel the portable Torah ark, tables, benches and prayerbooks into a school room every Friday for Sabbath services, and wheel them back out again on Saturday night.
The Sunday night ‘s festive event was very moving, Yinon said: “It was a tremendous Kiddush Hashem [sanctification of G-d’s Name]. Everyone danced and sang together – hareidim, Hassidim, knitted skullcaps [religious Zionist], and of course the Kibbutz members with no yarmulke. Everyone danced together with the Torah scroll which united all of us.”
Comment on this story
by Hillel Fendel
37 years after it became a kibbutz, Kalia welcomed its first very own Torah scroll into its gates this week, celebrated together by Hassidim, bare-headed Jews and others (see below).
Kalia is a kibbutz overlooking the northwestern edge of the Dead Sea. Its name is actually an acronym for four Hebrew words meaning “the Sea of Death comes to life” (kam l’tychiya yam hamavet). Its members are traditional or secular – except for the Yinon family, which became observant ten years ago. Prof. Amos Yinon, who runs the local “synagogue” – as well as the Internal and Infective Diseases Department in Shaar Zedek Medical Center – has lived in Kibbutz Kalia for many years, and organized the festive Torah installation ceremony.
“We established our synagogue about six years ago in the local school,” Prof. Yinon told Arutz-7, “and we borrowed two Torah scrolls from the Mitzpeh Yericho [a religious-Zionist Yesha community about 20 minutes away – ed.]. Over the past year we decided that the time had come for our own Torah scroll, and so we ordered one to be written in memory of my father-in-law, a mathematics professor in Holland.”
Though the kibbutz is not religious, “many of the members have strong ties with tradition. Every Friday night they recite Kiddush in the dining room, and Yom Kippur services are held every year with the help of friends from Mitzpeh Yericho. The dining room is kosher, and many religious people come to enjoy our vacation village.”
Yinon says that his return to observant Judaism was significantly connected with his work in the hospital: “The experiences that I had and watched in the framework of my work,” he said in an interview two years ago, “helped me realize that most healing is dependent upon the patient’s ability to rise above his biological parts… Even when I talk to my student interns about our ability to heal, I emphasize that most of our strength lies in our ability to bring the patient to connect with his spiritual side.”
He said that when he first began to wear a kippah (yarmulke) in public, thus showing his change of lifestyle, “there was some estrangement between us and the other members… But this pass over time, and now, as we don’t have small children for whom I have to worry about a religious school, I would not consider moving somewhere else. We can see Mt. Nevo from here, and we feel that we are living where our forefathers lived. The air is very clean, and my wife, who suffers from asthma, has no need to take medicines.”
No synagogue has yet been built in the kibbutz, and none is foreseen for the immediate future. As of now, Yinon and others wheel the portable Torah ark, tables, benches and prayerbooks into a school room every Friday for Sabbath services, and wheel them back out again on Saturday night.
The Sunday night ‘s festive event was very moving, Yinon said: “It was a tremendous Kiddush Hashem [sanctification of G-d’s Name]. Everyone danced and sang together – hareidim, Hassidim, knitted skullcaps [religious Zionist], and of course the Kibbutz members with no yarmulke. Everyone danced together with the Torah scroll which united all of us.”
Comment on this story
5. Who's Playing Whom in Yemen?
by Gavriel Queenann
The Obama administration says it has been working for months in concert with Yemen's Gulf neighbors to persuade Yemen's Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down from power, even as that move puts its counter-terror efforts on the line.
Saleh, who was evacuated for emergency medical treatment in Saudi Arabia after being wounded by bombs planted in the presidential mosque more than a week ago, is slated to return to Yemen when he is sufficiently recovered, according to Saudi officials.
While the US continues to press for Saleh to step down, in the hope that a political solution could preempt any plan by the Yemeni leader of 33 years to return, it has not openly opposed Saleh's return to Yemen.
US State Department counter-terror coordinator Daniel Benjamin said he is hopeful that counter-terror efforts will continue in Yemen "as the political transition moves along and a new government takes hold".
But other US officials say Yemeni opposition groups have voiced strong criticism of the US counter-terror program in Yemen and vowed to stop it if they come to power, leading to speculation the US may fear the future in Yemen without the very same man they say they want out.
Since 2009, Saleh has allowed JSOC to employ a mixture of armed and unarmed drones, ship-fired missiles, small special operations teams working with Yemenis, and occasional war plane bombing runs, according to US and Yemeni officials. Permission was on a case-by-case basis, and waxed and waned depending on the mood of the mercurial Yemeni president.
Some observers suggest the US saying it wants Saleh out, while not opposing his return and not moving to oust him, may be a way for the US to force Saleh or his successors to give them a freer hand in exchange for US support.
With Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) essentially in control of large swathes of Yemen, the Yemeni government is now increasingly reliant on hopes that the US will will be forced to remove some of the enemies threatening the Saleh's regime.
That new target-at-will attitude was reinforced after the attempt on Saleh's life, both US and Yemeni officials say. US forces are also taking advantage of the fact that more al-Qaeda operatives are exposing themselves, as they move from their hideouts across the country to command troops challenging the government.
But the US makes a full court press against AQAP if it finds itself officially seeking the abdication of a man whose government supports anti-terror operations, knowing full well many in the opposition do not - and is planning for a worst-case scenario of its own making.
"We believe fighting terror is in Yemen's national interests and not just about one man", Benjamin told the press on Tuesday.
But the 33-year-survivor Saleh knows full well that if he goes, his government goes with him - and with it support for the American counter-terror campaign in Yemen.
Unless the US removes his opponents for him, that is.
Comment on this story
by Gavriel Queenann
The Obama administration says it has been working for months in concert with Yemen's Gulf neighbors to persuade Yemen's Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down from power, even as that move puts its counter-terror efforts on the line.
Saleh, who was evacuated for emergency medical treatment in Saudi Arabia after being wounded by bombs planted in the presidential mosque more than a week ago, is slated to return to Yemen when he is sufficiently recovered, according to Saudi officials.
While the US continues to press for Saleh to step down, in the hope that a political solution could preempt any plan by the Yemeni leader of 33 years to return, it has not openly opposed Saleh's return to Yemen.
US State Department counter-terror coordinator Daniel Benjamin said he is hopeful that counter-terror efforts will continue in Yemen "as the political transition moves along and a new government takes hold".
But other US officials say Yemeni opposition groups have voiced strong criticism of the US counter-terror program in Yemen and vowed to stop it if they come to power, leading to speculation the US may fear the future in Yemen without the very same man they say they want out.
Since 2009, Saleh has allowed JSOC to employ a mixture of armed and unarmed drones, ship-fired missiles, small special operations teams working with Yemenis, and occasional war plane bombing runs, according to US and Yemeni officials. Permission was on a case-by-case basis, and waxed and waned depending on the mood of the mercurial Yemeni president.
Some observers suggest the US saying it wants Saleh out, while not opposing his return and not moving to oust him, may be a way for the US to force Saleh or his successors to give them a freer hand in exchange for US support.
With Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) essentially in control of large swathes of Yemen, the Yemeni government is now increasingly reliant on hopes that the US will will be forced to remove some of the enemies threatening the Saleh's regime.
That new target-at-will attitude was reinforced after the attempt on Saleh's life, both US and Yemeni officials say. US forces are also taking advantage of the fact that more al-Qaeda operatives are exposing themselves, as they move from their hideouts across the country to command troops challenging the government.
But the US makes a full court press against AQAP if it finds itself officially seeking the abdication of a man whose government supports anti-terror operations, knowing full well many in the opposition do not - and is planning for a worst-case scenario of its own making.
"We believe fighting terror is in Yemen's national interests and not just about one man", Benjamin told the press on Tuesday.
But the 33-year-survivor Saleh knows full well that if he goes, his government goes with him - and with it support for the American counter-terror campaign in Yemen.
Unless the US removes his opponents for him, that is.
Comment on this story
6. Economic Report: All Systems Up - Including Housing Prices
by Hillel Fendel
The Bank of Israel has released a report on progress in the Israeli economy between January and April of this year. Bottom line: Economy continues to grow, housing prices still on the rise.
The main points of the report were these: The Israeli economy continued to grow in the review period - January to April 2011. Specifically, investment, private consumption, imports and exports all grew rapidly. The unemployment rate fell to 6%, among the lowest in the past 25 years, and the employment situation continued to improve. Demand for apartments and activity in the construction industry continued to grow. The steps taken to reduce the demand and increase the supply of houses have still not made a sufficient impact, and house prices continued to increase rapidly, although at a slower pace than in 2010. Inflation exceeded the target throughout the review period, particularly due to prices of housing, transportation, and food.During the period January-April 2011, the GDP gap was positive, the economy approached full employment, and imports, exports, and investment rose rapidly. GDP grew rapidly in the first quarter as a result of rising demand, which encompassed investment and consumption of both current and durable goods.
The unemployment rate was 6 percent in the first quarter, a similar level to that prevailing prior to the outbreak of the economic crisis, and among the lowest in recent decades. The continuing improvement in employment was also reflected in an increase in the number of full-time positions and a decrease in the number of part-time positions. The participation rate in the labor force decreased slightly in the first quarter, but remained high.The demand for apartments and activity in the construction sector continued to expand in the review period. The number of mortgages increased, apartment prices grew more rapidly than rental prices, and the number of apartments demanded grew. The number of building starts and investment in residential building increased.
At the same time, the shortage of skilled workers in the construction industry continued, and building completions slowed down. The steps taken to reduce the demand and increase the supply of apartments have still not made a sufficient impact, but it appears that the rise in the interest rate has reduced the demand for apartments for investment purposes. Housing prices increased by 14% over the past year, as opposed to 20% for 2010 as a whole.
Inflation in the review period continued to be high, and exceeded the inflation target throughout the period. Inflation expectations were also high, but approached the inflation target after the Bank of Israel raised the interest rate in April by a surprising 0.5 percent. The high inflation rate was impacted mainly by the rise in prices of privately owned apartments, transportation and communications, food, and fruits/vegetables.
Outside Israel, the economy of the European Union grew during the review period, particularly in the wake of rapid growth in Germany, but the unemployment rate remained high. The United States economy grew at a slower rate, as its employment difficulties continued, and no solution seems in sight for the burgeoning budgetary deficit. The debt crisis in European countries continued to cloud the European recovery; the government in Portugal fell and the country has requested assistance from the European rescue fund, and fears of bankruptcy of the Greek government have increased.
Comment on this story
by Hillel Fendel
The Bank of Israel has released a report on progress in the Israeli economy between January and April of this year. Bottom line: Economy continues to grow, housing prices still on the rise.
The main points of the report were these: The Israeli economy continued to grow in the review period - January to April 2011. Specifically, investment, private consumption, imports and exports all grew rapidly. The unemployment rate fell to 6%, among the lowest in the past 25 years, and the employment situation continued to improve. Demand for apartments and activity in the construction industry continued to grow. The steps taken to reduce the demand and increase the supply of houses have still not made a sufficient impact, and house prices continued to increase rapidly, although at a slower pace than in 2010. Inflation exceeded the target throughout the review period, particularly due to prices of housing, transportation, and food.During the period January-April 2011, the GDP gap was positive, the economy approached full employment, and imports, exports, and investment rose rapidly. GDP grew rapidly in the first quarter as a result of rising demand, which encompassed investment and consumption of both current and durable goods.
The unemployment rate was 6 percent in the first quarter, a similar level to that prevailing prior to the outbreak of the economic crisis, and among the lowest in recent decades. The continuing improvement in employment was also reflected in an increase in the number of full-time positions and a decrease in the number of part-time positions. The participation rate in the labor force decreased slightly in the first quarter, but remained high.The demand for apartments and activity in the construction sector continued to expand in the review period. The number of mortgages increased, apartment prices grew more rapidly than rental prices, and the number of apartments demanded grew. The number of building starts and investment in residential building increased.
At the same time, the shortage of skilled workers in the construction industry continued, and building completions slowed down. The steps taken to reduce the demand and increase the supply of apartments have still not made a sufficient impact, but it appears that the rise in the interest rate has reduced the demand for apartments for investment purposes. Housing prices increased by 14% over the past year, as opposed to 20% for 2010 as a whole.
Inflation in the review period continued to be high, and exceeded the inflation target throughout the period. Inflation expectations were also high, but approached the inflation target after the Bank of Israel raised the interest rate in April by a surprising 0.5 percent. The high inflation rate was impacted mainly by the rise in prices of privately owned apartments, transportation and communications, food, and fruits/vegetables.
Outside Israel, the economy of the European Union grew during the review period, particularly in the wake of rapid growth in Germany, but the unemployment rate remained high. The United States economy grew at a slower rate, as its employment difficulties continued, and no solution seems in sight for the burgeoning budgetary deficit. The debt crisis in European countries continued to cloud the European recovery; the government in Portugal fell and the country has requested assistance from the European rescue fund, and fears of bankruptcy of the Greek government have increased.
Comment on this story
7. Police Acknowledge Shooting in Self-Defense, then Arrest Shooter
by Hillel Fendel
Police agents without search warrants raided a home in Alon Shvut (Gush Etzion) this morning, and ultimately arrested M., 27, for a self-defense shooting of an Arab attacker six months ago.
The police burst into various rooms of the house, including where females were sleeping, searching for M. He was not home, but they returned three hours later – this time with a search warrant – and confiscated his passport.
The police then phoned M. and instructed him to come to the police station - and there he learned that he stands accused of killing an Arab near Yitzhar in the Shomron.
The shooting took place six months ago, at which time it was reported that both the police and IDF agreed that it was carried out in necessary self-defense. Despite this, over the ensuring months the police invested great resources in finding the shooter – and their efforts were crowned with success this morning.
As can be seen in this video, taken by an IDF surveillance camera and released by the IDF, two Arabs attacked M., who was alone, with rocks from very close range. After his warning shots in the air failed to deter them, and after he tried to run from them, he was forced to shoot one of the attackers.
The Arabs later reported that the attacker was killed.
Immediately after the incident, both the IDF and the police announced that the Jew had clearly been under attack and that his response was one of necessary self-defense. Nevertheless, the police made many arrests over the past few months and confiscated many Jewish-owned guns in the hope of finding the shooter.
After finally hitting paydirt, the police informed M.’s legal counsel, Atty. Ariel Atari that they would request an extension of his custody for several days. However, in the event, the police agreed to his release to house arrest until Sunday morning. M. also received legal counsel from the Honenu civil rights organization.
Responses
“The police announced at the time,” Atari said before M.'s release, “that this was a case of self-defense, as the video shows, and therefore this arrest is peculiar and totally unjustified.”
Honenu issued this statement: “Nearly every day we encounter incidents in which soldiers and civilians find themselves under [Arab] attack or otherwise in danger. Unfortunately, this is not the first time in which Jews who were attacked are interrogated and arrested, even though they clearly acted out of self-defense.”
MK Michael Ben-Ari (National Union) said, “Instead of giving him a medal for deterring terrorists, they arrest and harass him – even though if he wouldn’t have fired, we would have had to go to his funeral.”
Comment on this story
by Hillel Fendel
Police agents without search warrants raided a home in Alon Shvut (Gush Etzion) this morning, and ultimately arrested M., 27, for a self-defense shooting of an Arab attacker six months ago.
The police burst into various rooms of the house, including where females were sleeping, searching for M. He was not home, but they returned three hours later – this time with a search warrant – and confiscated his passport.
The police then phoned M. and instructed him to come to the police station - and there he learned that he stands accused of killing an Arab near Yitzhar in the Shomron.
The shooting took place six months ago, at which time it was reported that both the police and IDF agreed that it was carried out in necessary self-defense. Despite this, over the ensuring months the police invested great resources in finding the shooter – and their efforts were crowned with success this morning.
As can be seen in this video, taken by an IDF surveillance camera and released by the IDF, two Arabs attacked M., who was alone, with rocks from very close range. After his warning shots in the air failed to deter them, and after he tried to run from them, he was forced to shoot one of the attackers.
The Arabs later reported that the attacker was killed.
Immediately after the incident, both the IDF and the police announced that the Jew had clearly been under attack and that his response was one of necessary self-defense. Nevertheless, the police made many arrests over the past few months and confiscated many Jewish-owned guns in the hope of finding the shooter.
After finally hitting paydirt, the police informed M.’s legal counsel, Atty. Ariel Atari that they would request an extension of his custody for several days. However, in the event, the police agreed to his release to house arrest until Sunday morning. M. also received legal counsel from the Honenu civil rights organization.
Responses
“The police announced at the time,” Atari said before M.'s release, “that this was a case of self-defense, as the video shows, and therefore this arrest is peculiar and totally unjustified.”
Honenu issued this statement: “Nearly every day we encounter incidents in which soldiers and civilians find themselves under [Arab] attack or otherwise in danger. Unfortunately, this is not the first time in which Jews who were attacked are interrogated and arrested, even though they clearly acted out of self-defense.”
MK Michael Ben-Ari (National Union) said, “Instead of giving him a medal for deterring terrorists, they arrest and harass him – even though if he wouldn’t have fired, we would have had to go to his funeral.”
Comment on this story
8. Activists Arrested After Being Attacked By Arabs
by Gavriel Queenann
Women in Green head Nadia Matar was detained Wednesday by Civil Administration oficials after a violent confrontation initiated by Arabs near Netzer.
Matar's saga began Tuesday night when Women in Green planted several large olive trees on state-owned land near Netzer on a hill connecting the Jewish communities of Elazer and Alon Shvut to stop Arab encroachment.
"Arabs had started planting vines there, squatting on state owned land. Then they started fencing it in and we knew we had to step in. We ordered a huge truck and came in the night. We planted many large olive trees and hooked up irrigation pipes for them. Then we posted a guard because, when we've done this in the past, the Arabs try to uproot the trees," Matar told Israel National News.
Wednesday morning Matar said she received a phone call from the sentry telling her local Arab farmers with saws were cutting the trees down. Matar, her partner Yehudit Katzover, and their supporters rushed to the scene where they were violently confronted by the Arabs.
"When we came we saw the Arabs cutting the trees with saws. They had already uprooted the irrigation pipes. They threatened us, pushed and attacked us," Matar related. "We started putting the irrigation pipes back together and they started striking us. Of course we immediately called for the army to come."
Shortly after the initial confrontation Civil Admininistration officials, along with police and army officers, arrived to investigate the incident and took Nadia and Yehudit into custody for questioning after the Arabs accused them of being the aggressors.
"This is a time-honored tradition among the Arabs: to attack you and then claim to be the vicitms. As soon as we called the Army one of the Arab women there told her son to lie down and showed him how to pretend he was hurt. The performance he put on would have won him an award in any theater. He played the perfect victim. So the police arrested us, Yehudit and I, as well as the Arabs," Matar said.
Matar and Katzover were held and interrogated by police until four in the afternoon before being released. The two thanked lawyer Adi Keidar of Honenu for his efforts on their behalf.
"The police held me for a very long time. They were very angry. They yelled at me and demanded we name the other Jews who were present. I refused. I told them I was there to complain about the Arabs planting on state-owned land and attacking us and would talk about nothing else," Matar related.
"I told them the other Jews did not want to be involved because they know that whenerver a Jew files a complaint against an Arab they become the accused. When my interrogator heard that, he threatened me with obstruction charges. I told him he was proving my point. Finally, when Yehudit was released, she was able to get me out," Matar related.
Matar, who cited the incident as a victory, said she and the Arabs were issued a restraining order forbidding them from going to the Netzer site for fifteen days while the Army investigated who owned the land.
"If you call and complain Arabs are stealing state-owned land, nothing happens. They will only intervene if their is a confrontation. So, by doing this, we forced the army to come. Now they will review the maps and be forced to make a decision on the land's status," Matar explained.
"We always research first," Matar said. "We always have maps and survey the areas we patrol. We know what the army will find. They say no one will be allowed in until a decision is made, but we will continue our patrols. Sometimes confrontation is the only way to force the authorties to stand up for Jewish rights."
Matar was charged with obstruction and tresspassing before being released on bail. Israel Police spokesperson Mickey Rosenthal said Matar was obligated to cooperate with investigators.
"As the spokesperson I can't comment on the exact tone or what have you of Ms. Matar's interview - we expect officers to be cool and collected as there is normally no need for elevated emotions in an interview - but she is obligated to cooperate and provide investigators with any information relevant to their investigation. Its her duty," Rosenthal said.
The IDF had not responded to queries for information by the time this article was published.
Comment on this story
by Gavriel Queenann
Women in Green head Nadia Matar was detained Wednesday by Civil Administration oficials after a violent confrontation initiated by Arabs near Netzer.
Matar's saga began Tuesday night when Women in Green planted several large olive trees on state-owned land near Netzer on a hill connecting the Jewish communities of Elazer and Alon Shvut to stop Arab encroachment.
"Arabs had started planting vines there, squatting on state owned land. Then they started fencing it in and we knew we had to step in. We ordered a huge truck and came in the night. We planted many large olive trees and hooked up irrigation pipes for them. Then we posted a guard because, when we've done this in the past, the Arabs try to uproot the trees," Matar told Israel National News.
Wednesday morning Matar said she received a phone call from the sentry telling her local Arab farmers with saws were cutting the trees down. Matar, her partner Yehudit Katzover, and their supporters rushed to the scene where they were violently confronted by the Arabs.
"When we came we saw the Arabs cutting the trees with saws. They had already uprooted the irrigation pipes. They threatened us, pushed and attacked us," Matar related. "We started putting the irrigation pipes back together and they started striking us. Of course we immediately called for the army to come."
Shortly after the initial confrontation Civil Admininistration officials, along with police and army officers, arrived to investigate the incident and took Nadia and Yehudit into custody for questioning after the Arabs accused them of being the aggressors.
"This is a time-honored tradition among the Arabs: to attack you and then claim to be the vicitms. As soon as we called the Army one of the Arab women there told her son to lie down and showed him how to pretend he was hurt. The performance he put on would have won him an award in any theater. He played the perfect victim. So the police arrested us, Yehudit and I, as well as the Arabs," Matar said.
Matar and Katzover were held and interrogated by police until four in the afternoon before being released. The two thanked lawyer Adi Keidar of Honenu for his efforts on their behalf.
"The police held me for a very long time. They were very angry. They yelled at me and demanded we name the other Jews who were present. I refused. I told them I was there to complain about the Arabs planting on state-owned land and attacking us and would talk about nothing else," Matar related.
"I told them the other Jews did not want to be involved because they know that whenerver a Jew files a complaint against an Arab they become the accused. When my interrogator heard that, he threatened me with obstruction charges. I told him he was proving my point. Finally, when Yehudit was released, she was able to get me out," Matar related.
Matar, who cited the incident as a victory, said she and the Arabs were issued a restraining order forbidding them from going to the Netzer site for fifteen days while the Army investigated who owned the land.
"If you call and complain Arabs are stealing state-owned land, nothing happens. They will only intervene if their is a confrontation. So, by doing this, we forced the army to come. Now they will review the maps and be forced to make a decision on the land's status," Matar explained.
"We always research first," Matar said. "We always have maps and survey the areas we patrol. We know what the army will find. They say no one will be allowed in until a decision is made, but we will continue our patrols. Sometimes confrontation is the only way to force the authorties to stand up for Jewish rights."
Matar was charged with obstruction and tresspassing before being released on bail. Israel Police spokesperson Mickey Rosenthal said Matar was obligated to cooperate with investigators.
"As the spokesperson I can't comment on the exact tone or what have you of Ms. Matar's interview - we expect officers to be cool and collected as there is normally no need for elevated emotions in an interview - but she is obligated to cooperate and provide investigators with any information relevant to their investigation. Its her duty," Rosenthal said.
The IDF had not responded to queries for information by the time this article was published.
Comment on this story
More Website News:
 |
CIA Building 'Secret' Gulf Air Base  |
|
Iran Launches Second Satellite Into Orbit |
|
‘Nonviolent’ Arabs and Leftists Break Soldier’s Leg |
|
Daat Mikra Editor, Yehuda Kil, Passes Away |
|
Family Reunited Six Years After Expulsion |
