nullify the Goldstone Report

There is a greater truth uttered here at the end of the editorial. It is a fight to the death of civilization pitted against the forces of evil (barbarism) always supported by the U.N. and their obvious biases are a never ending concerted effort to darken Israel, soon to be and inhabit the light of the nations.Perverted is truly our world in saying right is wrong and wrong right in the so called butressing of a fabricated right of an ancient evil and perverted lineage that lingers in the modern world camouflaged under the guises of the "Palestinian right to existence". This travesty of the good, of Israel, is so apparent here in the lies and complicit deceit of the U.N. This spiritual/physical lineage began with a simple error of King Saul allowing the children of King Agag (later Haman in the time of Esther) to survive, even though the Prophet Samuel had slain Agag with the sword. Masquerading this lineage spread as the Nazi and Communist menace to extinguish the settlers which became Israel. Note my post on "Oh, those Jews." Part One and the issue of this debilitating war crystallizes.


Lies about Israel must be condemned – Editorial Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is urging the UN to nullify the Goldstone Report. The Obama administration should back this effort in the strongest terms. As we have learned from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, pursuing terrorists means going after them where they live – among civilian populations. The Goldstone Report is nothing less than an attack on civilization’s right of self-defense against barbarians. (Chicago Sun Times) (suntimes.com)

Editorial: Lies about Israel must be condemned Editorials Apr 5, 2011 02:09AM
7ShareE-Mail Print An American politician acquitted of corruption charges years ago asked: “Which office do I go to get my reputation back?” Israel is asking that same question now that a U.N. commission’s report accusing it of war crimes has been retracted by the panel’s leader.
Richard Goldstone, a South African jurist who headed the commission, has disavowed the allegation that Israel intentionally killed civilians during its offensive in the Gaza Strip two years ago. Israel launched the operation to put a stop to thousands of rockets being fired by the Hamas overlords of Gaza into southern Israel.
It was ugly urban warfare. The terrorists, as they always do, hid out among civilians. Despite extensive Israeli efforts to warn civilians with thousands of phone calls and leaflets dropped from planes, civilians were among the 1,400 Palestinians killed during three weeks of fighting.
After it ended, the U.N. Human Rights Council launched a “fact-finding mission.” The council is notorious for devoting its energies to denouncing Israel while giving a pass to the habitual human rights abusers in the Muslim world and in Cuba, China and Russia. Israel refused to cooperate with what it knew would be a kangaroo court and launched its own investigations into messy and tragic aspects of the operation.
Recently another U.N. panel found that “Israel has dedicated significant resources to investigate over 400 allegations of operational misconduct in Gaza” and bring charges against officers guilty of misconduct. These investigations, Goldstone acknowledges, “indicate that civilians were not intentionally targeted as a matter of policy.”
The outlandish charges in the Goldstone Report are discredited, but they will live on to be used by Israel’s enemies. It’s still part of the U.N. record, and Palestinians continue to push the U.N. to condemn Israel for “war crimes.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is urging the United Nations to nullify the Goldstone Report. The Obama administration should back this effort in the strongest terms. As we have learned from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, pursuing terrorists means going after them where they live — among civilian populations. The Goldstone Report is nothing less than an attack on civilization’s right of self-defense against barbarians.

supraterranean essays No posthumous victory for Hitler ..How so? Fackenheim

http://www.supraterranean.com/submission-form/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emil_L._Fackenheim

I can but repond to this Wicki Essay if we obey this 614th command merely to avoid giving the victory to Hitler, the motive will lack purity or lishma for its own sake, To observe any religious bearing must be for just that for its own sake and for the Fear of Heaven . Our motives can be so subliminally tainted and unnoticed and gloosed over by us, and these glossings eventually have a cumulative effect with subtle desrruction of our psyche. We must keep a continuous and vigilant watch over our spiritual selves and fire up our sensitivities at all times.
Emil Fackenheim
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Emil Ludwig Fackenheim
Full name
Emil Ludwig Fackenheim
Born
June 22, 1916Halle, Germany
Died
September 18, 2003(2003-09-18) (aged 87)
Era
20th century
Region
Western Philosophy
Influenced by[show]
Kant, Hegel, Schelling
Emil Ludwig Fackenheim, Ph.D. (June 22, 1916 – September 18, 2003) was a noted Jewish philosopher and Reform rabbi.[1]
Born in Halle, Germany, he was arrested by the Nazis on the night of November 9, 1938, known as Kristallnacht. Briefly interned at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp (1938–1939), he escaped with his younger brother Wolfgang[2] to Great Britain, where his parents later joined him. Emil's older brother Ernst-Alexander,[2] who refused to leave Germany, was killed in the Holocaust.
Held by the British as an enemy alien after the outbreak of World War II, Fackenheim was sent to Canada in 1940, where he was interned at a remote internment camp near Sherbrooke, Quebec.[3] He was freed afterward and served as the Interim Rabbi at Temple Anshe Shalom in Hamilton, Ontario, from 1943 to 1948.[4] After this he enrolled in the graduate Philosophy Department of the University of Toronto and received a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto with a dissertation on Medieval Arabic Philosophy (1945) and became Professor of Philosophy (1948–1984). He was among the original Editorial Advisors of the scholarly journal Dionysius.
Fackenheim researched the relationship of the Jews with God, believing that the Holocaust must be understood as an imperative requiring Jews to carry on Jewish existence and the survival of the State of Israel. He emigrated to Israel in 1984.
"He was always saying that continuing Jewish life and denying Hitler a posthumous victory was the 614th law," referring to the 613 mitzvot given to the Jews in the Torah.[5] See The 614th Commandment.
Contents[hide]
1 Do not give Hitler posthumous victories
1.1 A new moral imperative
1.2 Terminology
1.3 Implications
1.3.1 Zionism
1.3.2 Holocaust remembrance
1.3.3 Caution against anti-Semitism
1.3.4 Conversion to other religions
1.3.5 Intermarriage
1.4 Criticism
1.5 Conclusion
2 See also
3 Notes
4 Bibliography
5 References
6 External links
[edit] Do not give Hitler posthumous victories
Holocaust survivor Emil Fackenheim created this concept and advocated it as what he believed to be the "614th commandment" or "614th mitzvah." The often paraphrased idea behind that name represents an imperative that people must not act in ways that validate Hitler or his beliefs. He asserted that this should be an addition to Jewish Talmudic Law, a claim that meets strong opposition in some quarters. Despite the controversy over this part of Fackenheim's claim, the content of his message is a subject of serious dialogue both within and beyond the Jewish community. Opposition to the goals of Hitler is a moral touchstone that has implications for several sensitive issues.
[edit] A new moral imperative
Traditional Jewish law contains 613 mitzvot (commandments) as compiled by Maimonides. These laws cover all aspects of life. Fackenheim asserted that tradition could not anticipate the Holocaust, so one more law, a 614th Commandment, became necessary. "Thou shalt not hand Hitler posthumous victories. To despair of the God of Israel is to continue Hitler’s work for him."[6] This proposes that people of Jewish heritage have a moral obligation to observe their faith and thus frustrate Hitler's goal of eliminating Judaism from the earth.
Fackenheim came to this conclusion slowly. A professor of philosophy at the University of Toronto and a Reform rabbi, he did not become a Zionist until 1967, when his reaction to the Holocaust and its implications for Jewish law crystallized:
It was at a meeting, just before the Six Day War. It was a meeting in New York, and I had to make a speech. Before that, the Holocaust had never been essential to my ideology. However, when the chairman said, 'You've got to face it,' I had to face it. I said the most important thing I ever said.[7]
In a fuller expression of his sentiment, Fackenheim explains the concept this way:
... we are, first, commanded to survive as Jews, lest the Jewish people perish. We are commanded, secondly, to remember in our very guts and bones the martyrs of the Holocaust, lest their memory perish. We are forbidden, thirdly, to deny or despair of God, however much we may have to contend with him or with belief in him, lest Judaism perish. We are forbidden, finally, to despair of the world as the place which is to become the kingdom of God, lest we help make it a meaningless place in which God is dead or irrelevant and everything is permitted. To abandon any of these imperatives, in response to Hitler's victory at Auschwitz, would be to hand him yet other, posthumous victories.[8]
[edit] Terminology
In dialogue about this subject, choice of words is a sensitive matter. Within the Jewish community, some absolutely reject Fackenheim's assertion that this could be called a commandment. Commandment 580 already forbids adding to the Torah commandments. Wording that expresses this concept in the form of a commandment may also give offense.[9]
This becomes a contentious point because references to a "614th commandment" are not unique to Fackenheim. This concise term has other shortcomings besides the theological objection. To count this as an addition to Jewish law is an implicit statement that it applies only to Jews. Opposition to the goals of Hitler is a universal concept. Gentiles can respect it by studying the Holocaust and opposing anti-Semitism. In Christian contexts this ideal sometimes appears as the "11th commandment." Christians generally recognize 10 commandments. This may give unintentional offense to Jews who recognize a different 11th commandment and may lead to confusion with other unrelated ideas that Christians have called an 11th commandment.
Although there is no single formulation that expresses this concept in terms that avoid controversy, posthumous victories and Hitler appear in most descriptions.
[edit] Implications
[edit] Zionism
Fackenheim applied this reasoning to the state of Israel and its Law of Return as a necessity to prevent a second Holocaust. Had a Jewish state existed in the 1930s, it could have accepted Jewish refugees and rescued large numbers of people.[10] This opinion carries clout with most Jewish people although the specifics of how to apply it in contemporary politics is a subject of debate. Boris Shusteff invokes it in a conservative opposition to Israeli withdrawal from occupied settlements.[11]
Despite the explicit connection to Zionism, few sources mention Hitler and posthumous victories in reference to Islam. Christian Palestinian Sami A. Aldeeb Abu-Sahlieh of the Swiss Institute of Comparative Law in Lausanne paraphrases it ironically in a defense of Palestinian interests.[12] Where a form of it appears in the Asia Times as part of a quote from Robert Novak, the cultural resonance appears to go unnoticed.[13]
[edit] Holocaust remembrance
The concept encounters broad acceptance in connection with Holocaust remembrance. In the late twentieth century, efforts to document the memories of remaining Holocaust survivors echoed the notion that preserving these facts for future generations was a way to keep Hitler and his ideas in the grave. A guide for British primary school teachers gives the concept in a guide for informing children about the Holocaust.[14] Richard A. Cohen of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte cites it in an essay, "The Holocaust is a Christian Issue."[15]
[edit] Caution against anti-Semitism
The phrase finds resonance within Christian communities as a rebuke against anti-Semitism. Methodist minister Rev. Robert A. Hill quotes Fackenheim in a sermon with this context:
...the fact is that Christianity has been pervasively guilty of latent and patent anti-Semitism and the Gospel of John has been one of its sources. We have and can learn from this failure, by carefully monitoring our use of religious language...and our Jewish brothers and sisters can teach us to continue, with Jacob, to wrestle with God.[16]
[edit] Conversion to other religions
Within the broader context of religious tolerance, this concept applies to the sensitive subjects of conversion and intermarriage. Gregory Baum, a German-born Catholic theologian and Professor Emeritus in Religious Studies at McGill University in Montreal, expresses the effect of this concept on Christian views toward conversion. From the perspective of most Christian faiths, whose doctrines normally advocate conversion of nonbelievers, this represents a deep respect for Fackenheim's concept:
After Auschwitz the Christian churches no longer wish to convert the Jews. While they may not be sure of the theological grounds that dispense them from this mission, the churches have become aware that asking the Jews to become Christians is a spiritual way of blotting them out of existence and thus only reinforces the effects of the Holocaust.[17]
Fackenheim's affirmation of his Jewish heritage, although embraced by many other Holocaust survivors, was by no means universal. Physicist Lise Meitner had been born and brought up Jewish. She rejected newspaper attempts to characterize her as a Jew following the bombing of Hiroshima when the press learned that she had been the first scientist to recognize nuclear fission. Decades before Hitler rose to power she had become a Lutheran. Although the Nazis stole her savings and ruined her career she refused to work on the bomb or let Hitler define her identity.[18]
[edit] Intermarriage
Intermarriages between Jews and non-Jews are relatively common in the United States and Canada. Several circumstances complicate these unions from the perspective of the Jewish community. Different movements within Judaism recognize different standards for conversion to Judaism and transmission of their heritage. Social pressure generally falls upon men to marry Jewish women because all movements recognize a Jewish woman's offspring as Jews.
(Note: Starting in the late 1960s, several movements in Judaism ceased recognizing Jewish women's offspring as Jews if the women intermarried. The Reconstructionist movement of the United States, followed by the Reform movement of the U.S. in 1983, declared that they would accept the children of either an intermarried Jewish father or an intermarried Jewish mother as Jews only if the children are raised as Jews. If the children are not raised as Jews, and later wish to join the Reform or Reconstructionist movements in the U.S., they must convert. The Society for Humanistic Judaism in the U.S. will accept the children based on their own self-identification. The Orthodox and Conservative movements in the U.S. still require the conversion of patrilineal [Jewish fathers] children, but accept the children of Jewish mothers, regardless of how they are raised. Jewish Renewal rabbis do not have denominational guidelines, and go on a case-by-case basis.)
The moral ban against giving Hitler posthumous victories can inspire conflict about the juncture of personal choice and shared heritage. Rev. Elizabeth A. Lerner, a Unitarian Universalist minister and the product of a mixed marriage, belongs to a religion that has traditionally not actively sought converts from other belief systems. Her statements express both sympathy with Holocaust victims and rancor against one of the injunction's implications:
My father was descended from a long line of rebbes, and a great grandfather was sacrificed as part of a pogrom…that was what encouraged relatives to leave for this country. While Jewish law would not consider me Jewish, Hitler's law would have put me in the death camps and with those who died. That sense of vulnerability has never left me, and I believe I share this with all Jews everywhere.[19]
A strong advocate of personal choice, she condemns a rabbi's pressure of a Jewish man on the eve of a marriage to a Catholic bride:
They searched long and hard for a rabbi who was willing to perform the wedding...and in the car on the way to the hotel, the rabbi was talking to the groom about his imminent marriage and said to him: 'You are completing Hitler’s work.' This terrible, hateful thing he said is not actually that unusual...Jews actually say this to each other when one of them is leaving, or marrying outside the fold.[20]
A puzzling twist to this controversy is the fact, apparently not well-known, that Prof. Fackenheim himself was intermarried, and the Jewishness of one of his children was rejected by an Israeli Orthodox court, even though that son was converted via Orthodox ritual as a child, and is a citizen of Israel. (See, "Rabbinical Court casts doubt on conversion of son of famed Jewish theologian" in the Jerusalem Post, January 19, 2009).
According to this news article, his wife converted to Judaism some time after the marriage. Jews using Fackenheim's admonition not to give posthumous victories to Hitler as a reason to dissuade people from intermarrying are apparently not aware that Fackenheim was himself intermarried.[21]
[edit] Criticism
Rabbi Toba Spitzer finds this idea compelling yet incomplete. In a Passover essay for SocialAction.com she addresses it sympathetically before embracing the Passover tradition and its Seder ritual as a more meaningful story:
...of a people born in slavery, freed by their God, and taken on a transformational journey. It is the story of the steps taken towards becoming a community bound by a holy covenant, where social relationships are defined by the Godly principles of tzedek and chesed, justice and love.[22]
Rabbi Marc Gellman rejects it outright in a 2005 Newsweek column:
I am Jewish because my mother is Jewish, and, more importantly, because I believe Judaism is loving, just, joyous, hopeful and true. I am not Jewish, and I did not teach my children or my students to be Jewish, just to spite Hitler.[23]
Focusing not on Fackenheim's conception of Jewish identity but on Zionism, renowned scholar Daniel Shoag presents a critique of this view from within the Jewish community in The Harvard Israel Review:
While Fackenheim's sentiments about the need for Jewish self-reliance in the form of a Jewish state are immensely popular, Fackenheim fails to locate a religious or divine source for his moral imperative. For Fackenheim, self-defense, and its manifestation in Zionism, are not religious values but rather things that precede religious value or stand outside of it. Thus Fackenheim locates the significance of the Jewish State in the Holocaust rather than in traditional Judaism...[24]
Perhaps the strongest rejection of Fackenheim's idea of the 614th commandment comes from Rabbi Harold M. Schulweiss:
We abuse the Holocaust when it becomes a cudgel against others who have their claims of suffering. The Shoah must not be misused in the contest of one-downsmanship with other victims of brutality....The Shoah has become our instant raison d'etre, the short-cut answer to the penetrating questions of our children: 'Why should I not marry out of the faith? Why should I join a synagogue? Why should I support Israel? Why should I be Jewish?' We have relied on a singular imperative: 'Thou shalt not give Hitler a posthumous victory.' That answer will not work. To live in spite, to say 'no' to Hitler is a far cry from living 'yes' to Judaism.[25]
Rabbi Michael Goldberg has developed this sort of criticism in his book Why Should the Jews Survive?: Looking Past the Holocaust Toward a Jewish Future.
[edit] Conclusion
During Fackenheim's last interview in 2000 he confronted the question, "Do you think Israel can ever come to the point where it doesn’t have to be in a state of resistance?"
I think it will be a very long time. But I would say this. Will the time ever come when we can say Hitler's shadow is gone? I think, yes, it will come when Israel is accepted in peace with its neighbor states. But it doesn’t look like it will happen soon.[7]
There are few survivors of the Holocaust as of 2005[update], and many feel their memories and opinions deserve respect. The idea that people must not further Hitler's goals has become a meaningful part of public discourse about Judaism, Zionism, and anti-Semitism, but many who discuss it sympathetically do not embrace it wholeheartedly. Some in the newer generations who understand the Holocaust as history feel the injunction to grant Hitler no posthumous victories denies positive interpretations of the subjects it addresses.
The preceding discussion, rich as it is, does not begin to do justice to Fackenheim's achievements and teaching as a professor and scholar of philosophy (in his years as professor of Kantian, Hegelian, and German idealistic philosophy at the University of Toronto) — above all as a scholar of Hegel; nor does it do justice to his oft expressed indebtedness to Leo Strauss, who was for Fackenheim the exemplar of what it means for a Jew to pursue the philosophic vocation in the times in which we live.
For those who are interested in Fackenheim's contribution to the understanding of how strictly rationalist philosophizing can and must be a part of the crown of Jewish existence in our time, worth pondering is Leo Strauss's judgment that Fackenheim's book on Hegel — The Religious Dimension in Hegel's Thought (1967) — is the strongest alternative to Kojeve's atheistic interpretation of Hegel.
[edit] See also
Conversion to Judaism
Who is a Jew?
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
[edit] Notes
^ Obituary, Guardian Unlimited, October 10, 2003.
^ a b Unser Gedenkbuch für die Toten des Holocaust in Halle
^ Chicago Jewish Star, May 9, 2008.
^ CJS, ibid.
^ Article Not Found!
^ A-Z of Jewish Values: C for Commandments[dead link]
^ a b Habitus - Emil Fackenheim: The Last Interview
^ To Mend the World, p. 213.
^ Deuteronomy 13:1
^ Faith in God and Man After Auschwitz: Theological Implications
^ GAMLA: News & Views from Israel ::: The 614th Commandment
^ [1][dead link]
^ Asia Times - Asia's most trusted news source
^ [2][dead link]
^ The Holocaust is a Christian Issue
^ Asbury First United Methodist Church[dead link]
^ Auschwitz: Beginning of a New Era? p. 113.
^ Lise Meitner: A Life in Science
^ UUA News & Events: General Assembly 2004: 3002 Saturday Morning Worship: "The Jew in the Chalice"
^ Unitarian Universalist Church of Silver Spring
^ [3]
^ Torah Teaching - For the week ending April 9, 2004[dead link]
^ Spiritual State: Inhumanity to Jews
^ Harvard Israel Review (HIR)
^ "With What Shall We Enter the New Century?" Remarks by Rabbi Harold M. Schulweiss, Valley Beth Shalom, Encino, CA[dead link]
[edit] Bibliography
Paths To Jewish Belief: A Systematic Introduction (1960)
Metaphysics and Historicity (1961)
The Religious Dimension in Hegel's Thought (1967)
Quest for Past and Future; Essays in Jewish Theology (1968)
God's Presence in History: Jewish Affirmations and Philosophical Reflections (1970)
The Human Condition After Auschwitz: a Jewish Testimony a Generation After (1971)
Encounters Between Judaism and Modern Philosophy: a Preface to Future Jewish Thought (1973)
From Bergen-Belsen to Jerusalem : contemporary implications of the holocaust (1975)
The Jewish return into history: reflections in the age of Auschwitz and a New Jerusalem (1978)
To Mend the World: Foundations of Future Jewish Thought (1982)
The Jewish Thought of Emil Fackenheim: A Reader (1987)
What is Judaism? An Interpretation for the Present Age (1988)
The Jewish Bible After the Holocaust (1991)
Jewish Philosophers and Jewish Philosophy (1996)
The God Within: Kant, Schelling and Historicity (1996)
An Epitaph for German Judaism: From Halle to Jerusalem (Fackenheim's Autobiography) (2007, University of Wisconsin Press)
[edit] References
Ed. Gregory Baum, The Twentieth Century. A Theological Overview, (Orbis Books Maryknoll, New York - G.Chapman, London 1999). ISBN 978-1-57075-282-7
Emil Fackenheim, To Mend the World: Foundations of Future Jewish Thought (New York: Schocken Books, 1994). ISBN 978-0-253-32114-5
Emil Fackenheim, The Jewish Return into History: Reflections in the Age of Auschwitz and a New Jerusalem (New York: Schocken Books, 1978). ISBN 978-0-8052-0649-4
Eva Fleischer, ed., Auschwitz: Beginning of a New Era? (New York: KTAV Publishing, 1977). ISBN 978-0-87068-499-9
Ruth Lewin Sime, Lise Meitner: A Life in Physics (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996). ISBN 978-0-520-08906-8
[edit] External links
Obituary by Anne Bayefsky
Holocaust Teacher Resource Center "Faith in God and Man After Auschwitz: Theological Implications" by Emil Fackenheim
Habitus "Emil Fackenheim: The Last Interview" by Samuel Thrope
National Public Radio interview with Ron Rosenbaum, author of Explaining Hitler: The Search for the Origins of His Evil," (audio).
Gamla "The 614th Commandment"
Unitarian Universalist Church of Silver Spring, Maryland "Another Thing You Didn’t Know or Completing Hitler’s Work"
Newsweek "Inhumanity to Jews" by Rabbi Marc Gellman
SocialAction.com "Torah Teachings for the Week Ending April 9, 2004 (Passover 5762)" by Rabbi Toba Spitzer
"Auschwitz or Sinai" by Rabbi Sholom Stern, New York Board of Rabbis
Jewish Council for Public Affairs "With What Shall We Enter the New Century?" by Rabbi Harold M. Schulweiss
Jewish World Review "Whose Chanukah?" by Lawrence Charap
Jewish-Christian Relations "Judaism After the Holocaust" by Dow Marmur
Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem "No Justice, No Peace for a Canaanite Republic" by Sami A. Aldeeb Abu-Sahlieh
The 614th Commandment Society
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June 22, 1916
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Holocaust Unparalleled Evil

"The Case Against God: A Lawyer Examines the Evidence." by Jack Le Moult Emil L. Fackenheim, in his book, "To Mend the World," THE HOLOCAUST With Passover approaching on April 19, I choose to remember the millions of Jews who died in the Holocaust. As a gentile, the Holocaust has always presented a serious problem for me. How could a modern, culturally rich, Christian nation carry-out such a monstrous act of evil? With all of the crimes of man, including the genocides committed in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, and other places, and the atrocities committed in every war, I still see the Holocaust as a horror unmatched in the history of human evil. It should never be compared to other acts of evil. Emil L. Fackenheim, in his book, "To Mend the World," said: “To link Auschwitz with Hiroshima is not to deepen or widen one’s concern with humanity and its future. It is to evade the import of Auschwitz and Hiroshima alike.” The same can be said of all of the other cataclysms suffered by humanity. Each is a separate occurrence of evil. The history of the Jews, beginning with the conquest of Israel and banishment of Jews by the Romans, is one long sorrowful testament to man’s inhumanity. The Nazis did not invent the genocide of the Jews. They merely took it to new depths of horrendous magnitude. Over the centuries before the Holocaust, the Jews experienced repeated pogroms and persecutions by Europeans and Arabs. Around the time when Columbus was sailing to America, the rulers of Spain were expelling all of the Jews from their realm. Many reasons are given for this massive persecution, but no explanation can begin to justify such evil.One frequently hears people compare things to the Holocaust. The right-wing anti-abortionists like to say that abortion is the same as the Holocaust. Such unthinking speech is morally abhorrent. How can any person compare the elimination of a not-yet-conscious, not-yet-thinking, not-yet-feeling embryo to the deliberate murder of grown, thinking, feeling human beings? At Auschwitz and other camps the Nazis used to save time and trouble by throwing live babies and small children into the ovens without gassing them first. If you cannot identify the distinction between that and abortion, you are morally numb. The excuse given by the Christian Nazis and Fascists for persecution of the Jews was usually that they were: “Christ Killers.” It is a revoltingly stupid claim. Jesus of Nazareth was killed by the Romans, yet nobody has ever wanted to exterminate the Italians. Even if it had been the Jews who killed Jesus (himself a Jew), why blame it on Jewish descendents living thousands of years later? According to the Bible, Jesus had brothers and sisters. We must assume that many of the descendents of these brothers and sisters were Jews, and that millions of Twentieth Century Jews in Europe had the blood of Jesus’ family in them. The Christians who marched Jews into the gas chambers of Auschwitz and other camps were actually murdering the descendents of Joseph, Mary, and the family of Jesus.As a gentile, I am able to find something valuable in the teaching of Emile Fackenheim. He said “To grasp the Holocaust whole-of-horror is not to comprehend or transcend it, but rather, to say no to it, or resist it.” Fackenheim said that 613 commandments were given on Mt. Sinai. He offered a 614th commandment. In effect, he said that if we forget, or minimize, or diminish the importance of the Holocaust, if gentiles engage in anti-Semitism, if Jews give-up their beliefs and culture because of the Holocaust, they will be letting Hitler gain a form of victory. He said that we must not let Hitler win. I may not share the beliefs of religious Jews, but by dedicating my life to tolerance and brotherhood, I can join in the crusade to defeat Hitler and his progeny. Jack LeMoult Gender: Male Occupation: Writer and Retired Lawyer Location: Xenia : Ohio About Me I am a 71-year-old writer and retired lawyer. I practiced law as a litigator for 37 years in New York and Connecticut. I am the author of a book newly published on Kindle entitled: "The Case Against God: A Lawyer Examines the Evidence." It can be read by anybody having a Kindle or Kindle-type device such as iPad, iPhone, Blackberry, Mac phone etc. During the 1980's I wrote a regular column on the law and related subjects for the Greenwich News and other papers in Connecticut and Massachusetts. I then wrote a column in the Westport Minuteman and later wrote a humor column for the Connecticut Law Tribune. In 2001, I moved out to Xenia, Ohio. I worked as a caselaw editor for LexisNexis of Miamisburg Ohio until 2005. In about 2003, I began writing a column for the Xenia Daily Gazette and affiliated newspapers. I created this Blog for the purpose of posting some of my newspaper columns, and my current thoughts. Interests Interests Writing Religion Politics Literature History Philosophy Psychology Law Art Classical Music Favorite Movies The Godfather parts I II and III; Patton; Braveheart; Casablanca; Goodfellas; The Longest Day; Tora Tora Tora; The Bourne Identity; The Bourne Supremacy; The Bourne Ultimatum; Fargo; Gladiator; Shindler's List; Blazing Saddles; Young Frankenstein; Airplane; The Exorcist; The Omen I II and III; Cabaret; The Silence of the Lambs; Amadeus; Gigi; On the Waterfront; Gandhi; The French Connection; Lawrence of Arabia; West Side Story; The Dream Team; The Inlaws; The Sting; Reds; Oliver; The Graduate; Tom Jones; Giant; Doctor Strangelove;The Quiet Man; Gone With the Wind; The Wizard of Oz; Viva Zapata; My Cousin Vinny; Psycho; A Passage to India; Rosemary's Baby; Bonnie and Clyde; others Favorite Music Beethoven's Emperor Concerto-the Slow Movement The Moonlight Sonata The Nine Symphonies; Shubert's Unfinished Symphony Serenade; Vivaldi's Four Seasons Gloria; Debussy Clair de Lune; Dvorak Romance for Violin and Orchestra in F minor The New World Symphony; Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor; Barber Adagio for Strings; Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture Capriccio Italiano Swan Lake Overture to Romeo and Juliet; Juan Crisostomo Arriaga Overture to Los Esclavos Felices; Offenbach The Barcarolle from Tales of Hoffmann; Rossini Overture to The Thieving Magpie The William Tell overture Overture to The Girl from Algiers; Handel "Unto Us a Child is Born " "Hallelujah Chorus" from the Messiah; Water Music Fireworks Music; Grieg Peer Gynt Suite; Puccini "Nessun Dorma" from Turandot; Saint-Saens Violin Concerto No. 3 Danse Macabre Carnival of the Animals; Mozart Symphonies A Little Night Music Piano Concertos Requium other works; Feure Requium; Smetana Ma Vlast (The Moldau); Rimsky-Korsakov Scheherezade; Sibelius Finlandia; Orff Carmina Burana; Johann Strauss II Waltzes Overture to Die Fledermaus: Franz Lehar Waltzes; Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue; Performances by Neil Diamond Elton John Billy Joel Maureen McGovern Katherine McPhee Barbara Streisand John Denver Perry Como Michael Buble Celine Dione Carley Simon Simon and Garfinkle Willie Nelson Waylon Jennings. Also the songs: "Send in the Clowns " "The Rose " "The Music of the Night" from Phantom "Memories" from Cats "Have You Ever Loved a Woman " "Hear the Band " "Lady Let me take a look at you now " "Let Your Love Flow" by Collin Raye and the Bellamy Bros. "Kokomo" by the Beach Boys "Hotel California" by the Eagles; Music from West Side Story Les Misarables Fiddler on the Roof Phantom of the Opera Gigi Showboat Oklahoma Carousel South Pacific Kiss Me Kate Camalot My Fair Lady The Sound of Music many others. Favorite Books I have lists of recommended fiction and nonfiction books which I will post on the blog. The excuse given by the Christian Nazis and Fascists for persecution of the Jews was usually that they were: “Christ Killers.” It is a revoltingly stupid claim. Jesus of Nazareth was killed by the Romans, yet nobody has ever wanted to exterminate the Italians. Even if it had been the Jews who killed Jesus (himself a Jew), why blame it on Jewish descendents living thousands of years later? According to the Bible, Jesus had brothers and sisters. We must assume that many of the descendents of these brothers and sisters were Jews, and that millions of Twentieth Century Jews in Europe had the blood of Jesus’ family in them. The Christians who marched Jews into the gas chambers of Auschwitz and other camps were actually murdering the descendents of Joseph, Mary, and the family of Jesus.As a gentile, I am able to find something valuable in the teaching of Emile Fackenheim. He said “To grasp the Holocaust whole-of-horror is not to comprehend or transcend it, but rather, to say no to it, or resist it.” Fackenheim said that 613 commandments were given on Mt. Sinai. He offered a 614th commandment. In effect, he said that if we forget, or minimize, or diminish the importance of the Holocaust, if gentiles engage in anti-Semitism, if Jews give-up their beliefs and culture because of the Holocaust, they will be letting Hitler gain a form of victory. He said that we must not let Hitler win. Friday, March 11, 2011 The Case Against God My book, "The Case Against God: A Lawyer Examines the Evidence," has now been published by Amazon on Kindle. This means that anybody owning a Kindle or a device with Kindle applications such as iPad, iPhone, PC phone, Mac phone, Blackberry, Android phone, and Windows 7 phone can buy my book for $5.00. The book is a discussion about whether God exists from the point of view of a nonbeliever. In it I have explored The Old Testament, The New Testament, and the teachings of and about Jesus. I have researched all of the leading biblical and theological experts and I present the facts found by them. I also discuss the arguments of philosophers for the existence of God, the dispute between science and religion, the so-called “Intelligent Design” theory, the problem of evil, and the question of why so many people believe in God. Even if you don’t agree with my views about God, I hope that if you have a Kindle-type device, you will get the book and read it. Whether or not you agree, it is very informative and will greatly increase your knowledge of the Bible and religion. Posted by Jack LeMoult at 7:17 AM 0 comments

OH THOSE JEWS,THOSE JEWS II

http://foi.org/default.aspx?p=30083&archive=04-2011 THE FRIENDS OF ISRAEL - Gospel Ministry, Inc. 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The Jewish people were slaves in Egypt, and could not defend themselves from Pharaoh’s armies. Only when they were freed from Egypt, only when they could escape the exploitation, only when they saved themselves, could they reach the Land of Israel and be a sovereign and free nation in their land. Only then was Jewish existence ensured.” Passover begins at sundown Monday, April 18. (jpost.com) Egypt: Hundreds protest outside Israeli consulate in Alexandria Hundreds of Egyptians protested in front of the Israeli consulate in Alexandria on Thursday (14th) and called for the launch of a “third intifada.” Egyptian security forces were deployed to the area. (ynetnews.com) Syria shows protestors as collaborators with Israel The opposition website in Syria published a document on Thursday (14th) which, it claimed, was instructions from the management of Syrian intelligence on how to deal with protests, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MRMRI). One of the instructions was to portray protesters as collaborators with Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United States. Further instructions were to accuse them of extremism with the use of weapons and to promote factional fear by attacking their houses of worship. The document also recommended that the army hold its fire and let snipers fire at demonstrators. Some of the instructions, according to MEMRI, coordinated the activities of state-run Syrian media. (israelnationalnews.com) U.S. will invite Netanyahu to address Congress U.S. House Speaker John Boehner will invite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress during a visit to Washington in May, Boehner’s office announced on Thursday (14th). Boehner will extend the formal invitation once Congress approves a resolution providing for the joint session, Boehner’s office said in a statement. (ynetnews.com) Hamas: Israeli MK Zoabi: Hamas entitled to fire rockets On Al-Qassam website, Arab member of the Israeli parliament, Hamin Zoabi said that Hamas and other Palestinian resistance factions are entitled to fire rockets for the sake of attaining their people’s freedom. The Israeli parliament had withdrawn Zoabi’s diplomatic passport and other privileges after charging her with “betraying Israel” by participating in the Freedom Flotilla last year that was trying to break the blockade on Gaza. (imra.org) Jews demonized, martyrdom praised in PA textbooks – Joshua Hamerman The Palestinian Authority still has a long way to go before textbooks in its schools begin to teach true co-existence with Israel’s Jews, according to a study released Tuesday (12th) by the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-SE). The organization reviewed 118 textbooks currently used in Palestinian schools and 22 teacher guides distributed by the PA Ministry of Education. “There is generally a total denial of the existence of Israel – and if there is an Israeli presence it is usually extremely negative,” said Eldad Pardo, head of IMPACT-SE’s Palestinian textbook research group and a professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In geography textbooks, Israel usually does not appear in maps of the Middle East; instead “Palestine” is shown to encompass Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza. Jewish cities such as Tel Aviv are not shown. One textbook included a map of the Old City of Jerusalem – which did not contain the Jewish Quarter. No Israeli is depicted as a friend or partner, the Oslo accords are rarely mentioned, and political agreements in general are presented as resulting from Arab and Muslim weakness. The bulk of funding for PA textbooks comes from the EU. (jpost.com) Pushed by Goldstone, Israeli army embraces new “smart” warfare – Leslie Susser Despite Israel’s rejection of the Goldstone report on the Gaza war, the international criticism it engendered has led the Israel Defense Forces to make a number of significant changes in policy and doctrine. Among the changes were modifying the way soldiers fight in urban areas, teaching relatively low-level combat officers nuances in the laws of war, attaching humanitarian liaison officers to active forces, and making media relations a priority. Part of the solution lies in technology: using super-accurate munitions that can pinpoint terrorist targets, and pilotless-planes that can identify and attack would-be rocket launchers. The new Iron Dome anti-missile system simultaneously locates rocket launch points, enabling immediate attacks on them. (jta.org) Israel to arm combat soldiers with cameras The Israeli military is studying the wide distribution of cameras to soldiers as a tool to make its case to the world. There has long been a strong feeling in Israel that the world did not understand the difficulty Israel sustains in fighting militants who locate themselves among civilians. (ap.org) The Palestinians’ own goal – Khaled Abu Toameh The recent assassination of Juliano Mer-Khamis, a well-known Israeli Arab actor who moved to the West Bank to help Palestinians establish a theater, has seriously embarrassed the Palestinian Authority. The Western-backed PA chooses to endorse anti-normalization campaigns with Israel, paving the way for threats and violence against well-meaning people like Mer-Khamis, who are trying to promote understanding and tolerance between Arabs and Jews. Mer-Khamis, who was born to a Jewish mother and was a Christian Arab citizen of Israel, was trying to promote cultural activities as an alternative to suicide bombings and terror. In the past, Mer-Khamis received death threats from Palestinians who did not like his activities and mere presence. The theater he managed was firebombed twice and leaflets distributed by Palestinian activists made it clear that he would be liquidated one day. (Hudson institute – New York) (Hudson.org) McCormick stopping spice sales to Iran BALTIMORE – Spice giant McCormick has agreed to stop selling its spices to Iran, following the efforts of a Baltimore Jewish activist. Jay Berstein, an attorney and community activist, read in the New York Times last December that despite sanctions against Iran, the U.S. Treasury was allocating licenses to American companies to conduct business with the Islamic republic. One of those companies, he learned, was the Baltimore-based McCormick & Co., founded by a Jewish immigrant in 1889. In January, Berstein wrote to Freeman Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, and a McCormick board member, asking him to “exert” his influence on the company to “do the right thing and end all business with and in Iran.” Shortly after, he received word that McCormick would “cease such sales as long as Iran is subject to the comprehensive sanctions programs imposed by the U.S. government.” (jpost.com) Taxpayers in Australian town won’t foot $3M Israel boycott bill – Stephanie Gardiner The mayor of Marrickville insists taxpayers will not foot a $3M bill to help it comply with a proposed boycott on products from Israel. The Greens-dominated local council voted for the boycott on Dec. 14, 2010, but the boycott could cost taxpayers $3 million to replace all of the authority’s Hewlett Packard computer systems. The Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement claims that Hewlett Packard technology is used at Israeli military checkpoints. (Sydney Morning Herald-Australia) (smh.com.au) Posted by http://foi.org/profile.aspx?username=webmaster@foi.org at 6:49 AM Thursday, April 14, 2011 Peres visits south – says ‘proud of Iron-Dome’ President Shimon Peres visited Kibbutz Erez, a Gaza vicinity community on Wednesday (13th), and met with the driver of the school bus who was wounded when his bus was hit by a rocket last Thursday (7th). Peres hailed the success of the Iron Dome defense system, saying he was proud of the fact that Israel was the first nation to come up with such a defensive answer to rockets. (ynetnews.com) New Hamas weapon alters strategic balance along Gaza-Israel border – Leland Vittert Hamas’ recent use of a Russian-made, laser-guided anti-tank missile against a school bus marks a clear change in the strategic balance along the Gaza-Israeli border, putting in danger tens of thousands of Israelis who drive on roads with a line-of-sight view from Gaza. Hamas has now shown a willingness to use a next-generation weapon against a civilian target. “Everybody should bear in mind that if this missile would have been fired five minutes before (when the bus was filled with children), we would have been witnessing a full-scale war between Israel and the Gaza Strip today,” said Israeli security expert Ronen Bergman. (foxnews.com) 4 killed in Gaza Strip tunnel collapse Four people were killed Tuesday (12th) and at least five injured in the collapse of a tunnel in southern Gaza, a Palestinian source reported. The accident occurred in Rafah near the Egyptian border in a tunnel that had been bombed by the Israeli army Friday (8th). (Agence French Presse) (afp.com) Fayyad advisor dismisses Palestinian missile attack on school bus – Itamar Marcus and Nan Jaques Zilberdik Political advisor to PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, Omar Al-Ghoul, told PA TV on April 8: “The school bus wasn’t that badly damaged but Israel wants to use the attack on the bus as an excuse for its latest war crimes against our people.” (palwatch.org) Red Cross reportedly asked Hamas to show sign of life from Shalit Red Cross officials have reportedly met with Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal in Damascus and asked him to provide proof that captive IDF soldier Gilad Shalit is alive. Hamas is said to be considering the idea of showing a ‘sign of life’ from Shalit to put pressure on Israel to resume negotiations for the release of Palestinian prisoners. Up to this point the Red Cross has been denied access to Shalit. (iba.org.il) Palestinians seek $5B for 3-year development Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad will brief Western representatives in Brussels this week on his bid for nearly $5B in investment to launch a Palestinian state. The Palestinian Authority’s three-year development plan, obtained by Reuters requires $1.467 billion this year, $1.754 billion in 2012, and $1.596 billion for 2013. (reuters.com) Israel speeds production of Iron-Dome anti-missile defense system – Anshel Pfeffer Israel plans to have a third Iron Dome missile defense system ready for use within six months and three more ready by the end of 2012. Prime Minister Netanyahu announced this week he planned to allocate funding immediately for four more Iron-Dome batteries, rather than waiting for the more than $200 million recently approved by the U.S. Congress for missile defense. The air force estimates that up to 13 anti-missile batteries are needed to provide maximum protection in the north and the south. (haaretz.com) Islamists in Egypt moving toward center stage – Arnaud de Borchgrave In Cairo, the latest conventional wisdom sees a groundswell of Islamist fundamentalism cloaked in moderate colors moving adroitly center stage. Following elections in the fall, the Muslim Brotherhood is expected to deliver about 40% of the vote, possibly even a majority. Behind Cairo’s political stage, says one ranking Egyptian on a private visit to Washington, Iran’s mullahs and Egypt’s Brothers are unobtrusively sidling up. The Obama administration now backs a role for the Brotherhood in a reformed Egyptian government on the condition that it “rejects violence and recognizes democratic goals.” But it would be terminally naïve to expect a friendly bunch of Muslim Brothers on good terms with U.S. diplomats. In one of his weekly sermons last year, Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie displayed his colors: “Arab and Muslin regimes are betraying their people by failing to confront the Muslims’ real enemies, not only Israel, but also the United States. Waging ‘jihad’ against both of these infidels is a commandment of Allah that cannot be disregarded.” He titled his sermon: “The U.S. is Now Experiencing the Beginning of the End.” (washingtontimes.com) Christians begin to flee Egypt A growing number of Egypt’s 8-10 million Coptic Christians are looking for a way to get out of the country as Islamists increasingly take advantage of the nationalist revolution that toppled long-standing dictator Hosni Mubarak in February. Egypt Daily News reported on Tuesday (12th) that “lawyers who specialize in working with Coptic Egyptians say that in the past few weeks they have received hundreds of calls from Copts wanting to leave Egypt.” “They are insisting on leaving because the risks of staying here are too great,” Naguib Gabriel, a Coptic human rights lawyer told the Daily News. “Many Christians are afraid of the future because of the fanatics in the mosques.” At least 20 Christians have been killed in sectarian violence with Muslims since Mubarak’s ouster. (israeltoday.co.il) IDF medical team sent to Belarus The IDF will send a team of three military doctors to Belarus to aid in the aftermath of the deadly metro bombing in Minsk that claimed the lives of at least 12 people, the IDF spokesperson said on Tuesday (12th). The medical team is being sent in response to a request by the Belarus government and will deal primarily with victims suffering from post-traumatic stress. (jpost.com) Posted by http://foi.org/profile.aspx?username=webmaster@foi.org at 6:46 AM Wednesday, April 13, 2011 Condition of teen injured in bus rocket attack worsens Sixteen year old Daniel Wipliech, who was seriously injured in last week’s rocket attack on an Israeli school bus in southern Israel, has taken a turn for the worse. The Soroka Medical center said he is now in critical condition. Wipliech suffered severe head trauma and is presently in a coma with no signs of responsiveness or brain activity. (jta.org) Israel asks UN to condemn rocket attacks – Jordana Horn Israeli Ambassador to the UN Meron Reuben has written to the Security Council and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, expressing “grave concern” over the recent escalation in rocket and mortar attacks by Palestinians and stating that Israel holds Hamas “fully responsible.” Since April 7, terrorists in Gaza have fired 12 Grad missiles, 70 Kassam rockets, and 49 mortars at communities in Israel. “Attacks emanating from the Gaza Strip constitute a clear violation of international law,” he wrote, referencing six previous letters on the topic. (jpost.com) Hamas strategists paying heavy price for miscalculations – Yigal Wait Hamas’ first miscalculation was the failure to estimate Israel’s response to the missile attack on an Israeli school bus Thursday (7th). Gaza terrorists were counting on the “Goldstone effect” to tamper any punishing Israeli strikes on Gaza. What was worse for Hamas was the current round of fighting which coincided with the West’s campaign against Gaddafi. NATO forces have been bombing a foreign country, Libya, in order to prevent murderous attacks on civilians – the same logic behind Israel’s strikes against Gaza terrorists. If the West wishes to adopt the Libya logic in Gaza as well, it will be bombing Hamas. Israel’s incessant strikes on Gaza targets were met with a rather deafening global silence. If all that wasn’t enough, Israel deployed the Iron Dome anti-rocket system earlier than expected, shooting down virtually every Gaza missile threatening Israeli population centers. Hamas’ missiles have largely hit nothing, landing in empty fields or being blown to pieces in midair. During the same time, some 20 terrorists were killed in Gaza, dozens of others were wounded, and assorted targets across the Strip were destroyed. (ynetnews.com) PM’s Office: Shalit deal must not risk Israeli citizens The Israel Prime Minister’s Office issued a statement Tuesday (12th) in response to the press conference held by former security officials who called for immediate release of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit. “The lessons of the past show us that dozens of Israelis were murdered in terror attacks perpetrated by terrorists who were released from prison in similar deals, such as the Jibril agreement. The prime minister insists that any deal reached between the sides poses no risk to the citizens of Israel.” (ynetnews.com) Israeli car hit by gunfire near village of Azun – no injuries An Israeli vehicle was hit by gunfire while traveling outside the village of Azun near Kalkilya. The driver told security forces he thought his vehicle was being hit by rocks, but an investigation revealed that the vehicle was hit by gunshots. No injuries were reported. (israelnationalnews.com) Israel continues supplying Gaza despite missiles Debunking accusations that it is keeping the Gaza Strip under siege, the Israeli army on Monday (11th) published figures regarding the enormous amount of material it permitted to enter Gaza during March, despite escalating terrorist missile fire. During the month of March, 3,656 trucks carrying food, medical supplies and other goods entered Gaza via southern Israel. It should be remember that the people of Gaza are receiving this enormous amount of goods completely free of charge. Unfortunately, much of it is subsequently stolen by Hamas and sold to the local people at extremely high rates to perpetuate the notion that Gazans are living under siege and are in lack of basic needs. (israeltoday.co.il) Iran blames Zionists/West for Syrian protests Anti-government demonstrations in Syria are part of a plot by the West to undermine a government that supports “resistance” in the Middle East, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Tuesday (12th). At his weekly news conference on Tuesday (12th), Iran’s spokesman said the protests in Syria over the last three weeks, in which 200 people died according to a rights group, was not a spontaneous event but the result of foreign interference. Syria is Iran’s closest Arab ally. “What is happening in Syria is a mischievous act of Westerners, particularly Americans and Zionists,” Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters. (reuters.com) Lebanese minister: Israel is the enemy of all Arabs Lebanese Economy and trade Minister Mohammad Safadi said that all of Lebanon considers Israel its enemy, Lebanon’s Daily Star reported on Tuesday (12th). “Lebanese of different political factions unanimously view Israel as the enemy of Lebanon, Palestinians, and Arabs,” Safadi reportedly said to the Palestinian Ambassador to Lebanon, Abdullah Abdullah. Safadi also said that Arab awareness against Israel should be raised. (jpost.com) Report: IHH to delay flotilla until after Turkish elections The Turkish IHH organization has said it will delay its participation in the upcoming flotilla to Gaza scheduled for June, until after elections in Turkey, Israel Radio reported Tuesday (12th). According to the report, the group will wait to see what the outcome of the June elections are before deciding to send the Mavi Marmara ship to Gaza. (jpost.com) Israeli delegation returns from Japan The Israeli army medical team dispatched to Japan in the wake of last month’s mammoth earthquake and tsunami returned home on Tuesday (12th) following two weeks of aiding the local population in the devastated northern region of Japan. During their stay, the Israeli team treated 220 people at a special emergency clinic built especially for the Israelis. The Israeli team left behind the bulk of their medical equipment for local Japanese doctors to use. Japanese authorities honored the Israelis in a farewell ceremony on Sunday evening (10th). The team was highly praised by Japan for its professionalism and ability to rapidly adapt to the local situation. (israeltoday.co.il) Posted by http://foi.org/profile.aspx?username=webmaster@foi.org at 6:00 AM Tuesday, April 12, 2011 World impressed with Iron Dome anti-missile system The head of the Israeli army’s research and development division told Army Radio on Sunday (10th) that there is growing interest worldwide in Israel’s new “Iron Dome” anti-missile system. The first two Iron Dome batteries were deployed in southern Israel late last month amid escalating terrorist missile fire from the Gaza Strip. During a weekend barrage from Gaza, the Iron Dome batteries succeeded in downing all but one of the missiles fired at the coastal city of Ashkelon. The Israeli army and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the performance a resounding success. “The system’s success has spread throughout the world, including in the European countries that I visited,” Netanyahu told his cabinet Sunday (10th). But Israel is not ready to start selling the system just yet, as it must first be perfected to defend Israeli citizens. Netanyahu cautioned on Sunday (10th) that even with additional batteries, the threat of Gaza missiles cannot be completely eliminated. (israeltoday.co.il) Israel claims that Russian missile hit school bus A diplomatic crisis is threatening Israel-Russian relations after the Kornet, a Russian-made anti-tank missile, hit an Israeli school bus driving near Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council last Thursday (7th). Israel protested the fact that a Russian missile found its way to Hamas and was used for a terror attack against the Jewish State, Yediot Ahronot reported. Unlike many other means of warfare the manufacturing of the Kornet is only permitted inside Russia, so any Kornet missile sold outside the country originates from the country’s KBP factory. Israel claims that the anti-tank missile which hit the school bus was sold by the Russians to Syria. At the time, Syria passed its weapons on to Hizbullah, who smuggled them into the Gaza Strip, finally ending up in Hamas hands. (ynetnews.com) Gaza rocket-threat forces fans from two games in Israel – Ori Lewis Israeli police barred spectators from attending two Premier League matches in southern Israel on Saturday (9th) because of a fear of possible rocket strikes by Palestinians in Gaza. The cities of Beersheba (over 18 miles from Gaza), and Ashdod (over 9 miles north of the Strip), have been hit in the past few days by rockets. The games were played in empty stadiums. Residents of southern Israel, close to Gaza, have been instructed to be ready to seek cover in air-raid shelters within seconds of sirens sounding. Two years of periodic, low-level skirmishing on the border escalated suddenly last month when Islamist Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza showered rockets on Israel. (reuters.com) Terrorists firing from cemetery On Friday, (8th) Gaza militants were spotted by Israel Air Force drones in a Gaza cemetery immediately after they fired rockets at Israel. Four mortar shells fired from the cemetery, located in Sajaiya, hit the Israeli community of Nahal Oz. The drones were equipped with cameras and shot footage of the rocket-squad in action. (Israel Defense Forces) (idfspokesperson.com) Egypt stops building anti-smuggling wall on Gaza border – Yaakov Katz Following the revolution in February, Egypt suspended construction of an underground steel wall along the Egypt-Gaza border to stop weapons-smuggling through tunnels into Gaza defense officials said. While smugglers succeeded in breeching the wall in some parts, Israeli officials said the wall had made it more difficult for smugglers to dig tunnels across the border. Israel has urged Cairo to continue taking action to prevent the flow of arms to Gaza. “There is a new relationship between Hamas and Cairo today,” one senior official said. “This is likely connected to the upcoming elections and the understanding in Egypt that the Muslim Brotherhood is a strong player and as a result it is important to maintain contacts with Hamas.” Israel is worried that Cairo’s new relationship with Hamas will come at the expense of its relationship with Israel. It is also concerned that Egypt will turn a blind eye to the movement of weaponry, cash and people across the border. (jpost.com) U.S. Black students demand Arabs stop calling Israel ‘apartheid’ The African-American student organization Vanguard Leadership Group is standing with Israel when it comes to the use of the term ‘apartheid.’ The term is “false and deeply offensive” when applied to Israel, the group said in advertisements published on Thursday (7th). The Vanguard Leadership Group spoke out in response to “apartheid” claims from the group Students for Justice in Palestine. Under an ad titled, “Words Matter,” the group said, “We request that you immediately stop referring to Israel as an apartheid society and to acknowledge that the Arab minority in Israel enjoys full citizenship with voting rights and representation in the government.” “It is highly objectionable to those who know the truth about the Israelis’ record on human rights and how it so clearly contrasts with South Africa’s,” the group said. “Students for Justice in Palestine “has chosen to manipulate rather than inform with this illegitimate analogy,” Vanguard Leadership said. “Decency, justice, and the hope of peace and reconciliation in the Middle East compel us to demand an immediate cessation to the deliberate mischaracterizations of Israel.” Ceasing use of the term “apartheid” when discussing Israel would be a “first step toward raising the level of discourse,” the letter concluded. (israelnationalnews.com) The Fogel murders: A call to combat incitement – David Pollock Incitement to violence has returned to the front burner. On March 11, the Fogel family was massacred in the Jewish settlement of Itamar, prompting large numbers of U.S. senators and congressmen to press senior U.S. officials to take steps to end incitement. Palestinian officials published their own list of Israeli acts of “incitement,” featuring calls by a rabbi and several journalists for a response to, or revenge for the Itamar murders. However, the list lacks examples of any Israeli leader, government official, or government-sponsored publication, advocating or condoning violence against Palestinians. It was the Palestinian Ministry of Information that disseminated an article by a deputy minister claiming that the Jews have no historical connection to the Western Wall. PA television alleges that the Israel Prison Service tortures prisoners with hot irons, amputates limbs, and harvests organs. PA television also perpetuated the libel that the deranged Australian Christian who attempted to set fire to the al-Aqsa Mosque in 1969 was Jewish and supported by the Israeli government. The issue of incitement presents the U.S. with an opportunity. With process on the peace process virtually nonexistent, and the risk for violence increasing, a resumption of the trilateral anti-incitement committee would give Israelis and Palestinians the chance to meet face-to-face and commit to a common cause. Such talks should concentrate narrowly on official incitement by government officials and institutions under government authority or funding. (Washington Institute for Near East Policy) (washingtoninstitute.org) Netanyahu: Iran’s nuclear program has accelerated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday (11th) that Iran’s nuclear program has accelerated recently as it appears Iran feels less international pressure, Israel Radio reported. Netanyahu, speaking to EU ambassadors to Israel, also commented on the recent conflict that has broken out along Israel’s border with Gaza, saying that Hamas deliberately fired a rocket at the school bus that was hit last Thursday (7th), and that it was a criminal act. No country can accept such action and Israel will protect its citizens, the prime minister continued. He also requested the European delegates to do what is possible to prevent nationals from taking part in the flotilla to Gaza scheduled for mid-June. (jpost.com) French Jew attacked outside of synagogue Paris – A 21-year-old student was violently beaten near his synagogue after admitting to his attacker that he was Jewish. After leaving a synagogue in the southern town of Villeurbanne, near Lyon, on April 7, the victim was confronted by two men in their early 20s who insulted him and asked him if he was Jewish. When the victim, whose name has not been released, did not deny his religious affiliation, the two men attacked him in the head and upper body with a pellet gun and a club, according to police reports. The victim was hospitalized and treated for head, stomach, and arm wounds. Police are still searching for the attackers. (jta.org) Ukrainian synagogue vandalized again Vandals struck the synagogue in a northeastern Ukraine city for the fifth time in as many years, recently. Late in the evening on April 4, two cans of red paint were splashed on the walls of the synagogue in Sumy. The synagogue was also attacked three months ago. Alexsander Goron, Chairman of Sumy’s Jewish Community said that “At best the incidents are typical anti-Semitism and dislike of Jews - at worst it’s an ideology – a policy.” (jta.org) Posted by http://foi.org/profile.aspx?username=webmaster@foi.org at 7:11 AM