Israel Exists. Deal with it!

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Pink Floyd Co-Founder Roger Waters: I Can’t Be an Anti-Semite, My Father Fought Nazis

NOTE: This has been tough. Think of all those hours spent listenting to Atom Heart Mother... Will I ever be able to turn them on again? Right now I think not. What is wrong with people?

from the Algemeiner 3/12/14

In a strongly-worded open letter published Tuesday by The Telegraph, Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters once again denied being an anti-Semite, this time invoking his Nazi-fighting father.

The communique was addressed to British philanthropist Gerald Ronson, chairman of the Jewish Community Security Trust charity, in response to a speech Ronson gave last week in which he singled out Waters as being anti-Israel.

At a London dinner held by the charity, Ronson alluded to the controversial inflatable pig, emblazoned with a Star of David, that Waters floated during recent concerts. In a video from one of the concerts, the pig’s hind quarters also appear to feature a silhouette of a man giving a Nazi salute.

“He insists that he is only anti-Israel, and he isn’t, of course, anti-Semitic,” Ronson said to the audience, among which were politicians Ed Miliband, Dominic Grieve and Ed Balls, and Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis.

Waters, who has long been an advocate of the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, and has called on his fellow artists to boycott the Jewish state, did not take kindly to Ronson’s comments. KEEP READING

Whitewashing BDS and antisemitism in the New York Times

NOTE: Worth a re-read. Thanks again, Warped! From the Warped Mirror Blog

READ HERE

Israeli aircraft strike Gaza Strip after rocket attack Read more: Israeli aircraft strike Gaza Strip after rocket attack

Times of Israel 3/12/14 BREAKING #BREAKING

Islamic Jihad bases targeted; State Department calls heavy barrage ‘reprehensible,’ says Israel has the right to defend itself

The Israeli Air Force launched airstrikes in the Gaza Strip shortly after 10 p.m. on Wednesday in retaliation for a massive rocket barrage earlier in the day, the largest of its kind since 2012

Israeli planes struck at least five strategic points in the coastal enclave, primarily in areas around the cities of Khan Younis and Rafah.

“If there is no quiet in our south, no quiet for the residents of Israel, there will be noise, lots of noise in Gaza,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a joint press conference with his British counterpart, David Cameron.

The US State Department decried the barrage of rockets from the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, referring to it as “reprehensible,” and stressing that Israel reserves the right to protect its citizens.

“The United States condemns in the strongest terms today’s rocket attacks into Israel by terrorists from the Gaza Strip,” read a statement from spokeswoman Jen Psaki.

“There is no justification for such attacks. We call for these terrorist attacks to cease immediately. Israel, like any nation, has a right to defend itself.” READ HERE

Open Hillels’ Across Country Are Burglarized

from the Jewish Week 3/12/14

In the latest sign of increased crime sweeping college campuses, a string of Hillel Houses that have adopted an “Open Hillel” policy have been robbed.

Swarthmore and Vassar Hillels were reported to have been the latest to find their facilities missing many of their basic “tenants:” wisdom, integrity and purpose, after instituting their new policy.

The Open Hillel policy, which relates to providing a platform even to anti-Israel speakers, was taken too literally by the progressive Hillel leaders on these campuses and they instead left the door open, police officials said.

Among the items found missing, authorities said, were: Tradition, history, a sense of Jewish peoplehood and back copies of The Jewish Weak. READ HERE

(caution; its Purim Week... Sarcasm Alert?)

Op-Ed: Beating back the assault on Israel’s legitimacy

from JTA 3/11/14

NEW YORK (JTA) — Leaders of the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement say they are protesting Israel’s policies in the West Bank. They are doing far more than that.

BDS advocates routinely oppose a two-state solution and seek to delegitimize the sovereign, Jewish State of Israel. In some cases, BDS becomes the latest form of anti-Semitism.

The BDS movement aims to isolate and punish Israel, using the same techniques applied to apartheid South Africa. Not hesitating to misrepresent facts and ignore context, these Israel bashers take advantage of ignorance and naïveté within civil society circles, mostly in Western Europe, to advance their anti-Israel agenda.

BDS advocates view the situation in the West Bank through a one-way lens, seeing only a single perspective. They cite, for example, the security checkpoints that make life difficult for Palestinians but conveniently overlook the reasons for those checkpoints. They ignore the fact that hurting Israel’s economy would also hurt Palestinians who earn their livelihoods from Israeli-owned businesses.

BDS backers don’t bother to protest the many countries that have horrific human rights records, instead singling out the world’s only Jewish state, often based on false or misrepresented information. KEEP READING

A SHORT FIVE THOUSAND YEAR HISTORY OF PURIM, PERSIA AND WINE

From VINEPAIR.COM
3/12/14

NOTE: Great piece on Wine and Purim. Shiraz?

As any Talmudic scholar will tell you, talking about Purim without talking about wine just isn’t possible. It’s not like we need an excuse to talk about wine, but a specific prompt is something we always enjoy, as it allows us to dive into a particular aspect of wine we might never have explored.Yesterday we looked at the history of Manischewitz, the world’s most popular kosher wine. Today we look at the history of wine in Persia, from ancient history to Purim, all the way to the present day.

The Reason People Drink Wine When Celebrating Purim.....READ HERE

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Open Hillel Isn’t Actually Open‎

"It is deeply saddening to see misguided students identify with organizations and speakers dedicated to the destruction of the Jewish State and the end of Zionism."

"Every organization draws a line as to what is acceptable discourse for that organization. Hillel is no different – nor should it be. Events or speakers in favor of Hamas, Hezbollah, or BDS should obviously not be sponsored, funded, encouraged, or enabled by Hillel. The center for Jewish life on campus shouldn’t invite intolerant speakers who advocate the advancement of the Iranian genocidal nuclear program. In fact, Hillel should actively condemn such hatred." READ THE ARTICLE HERE

Taken from the Algemeiner 3/11/14

PCUSA and BDS: The Israel Palestine Mission Network (IPMN)

From DIVEST THIS 3/10/14

Whenever some story emerges having to do with PCUSA’s obsession with Israel, with the relentless drive to get divestment back on organization’s agenda (no matter how many times it’s rejected), with attempts to denigrate and even demonize the Jewish state, its inhabitants and supporters, all roads seem to lead to the Israel-Palestine Mission Network (IPMN).

We saw this most recently when the organization decided the most important way to promote their (real) agenda was to drop all pretenses of peace-making and instead invest their time and resources into creating “Zionism Unsettled,” a “study document” designed to educate the flock regarding Zionism as the font of all evil (making it clear that the sooner an entity built on such a hateful ideology ceases to be, the better). Keep Reading Here

Pro-Israel Festival in New Orleans this Spring. Click on the link below ...

Monday, March 10, 2014

Joan Nathan's Chosen Food: Yemenite Chicken Soup

7 reasons why the Palestinian crisis & the Black struggle for freedom are absolutely nothing alike

From the TIMES OF ISRAEL MARCH 8, 2014

NOTE: Not sure how I missed this. This is extremely well written with points worth highlighting and using in your discussions with doubters (or haters). Please take a moment to read. Let me know what your thoughts are, too.

The “parallels” between the Palestinian plight and that of African-Americans have been made for decades, and this has always been spurious. Sadly, the exercise continues and seems to be growing as anti-Israel sentiment including global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) inexplicably gain credibility

So, here are seven reasons why the Palestinian analogy to the Black historical struggle for freedom is hopelessly flawed (and down right offensive).
1. UNRWA

Beginning operations on May 1, 1950, the United Nations Relief Works Agency for the Palestinian people is the only UN relief agency that exists exclusively for one group — the Palestinians. At the time of its founding there were some 720,000 Palestinian refugees. Many of these people became refugees after refusing the offer to become Israeli citizens, and choosing to await the great victory over the Jews promised to them by the leaders of the Arab states.

Black Americans from slavery to Jim Crow to the civil rights era never had anything that vaguely resembled UNRWA or any type of international relief agency. We were also unsuccessful at being declared refugees — which surely would have led to reparations for 400 years of forced servitude.

2. INTERNATIONAL AID CONTINUE READING HERE

Can we be any clearer?

Later today:

Netanyahu blasts ‘hypocrisy’ of the West on Iranian arms cache

Surrounded by a cache of missiles, part of an alleged Iranian arms shipment to the Gaza Strip seized on board the Klos-C last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu harshly rebuked the international community Monday for clinging to what he said was the illusion of a changed Iran, even after an Israeli raid to intercept the ship uncovered the cache of advanced arms

Before making his statement, Netanyahu was briefed by military officials among the rows of weapons, marked with Iranian seals, neatly arrayed at the port. The arms, the officials said, included M-302 missiles with a range of up to 160-kilometers (100 miles). The officials said the Iranian-shipped, Syrian-made missiles were capable of causing more damage than the Iranian-made M-75 or Fajr-5 missiles used by Hamas against Israel in the past. KEEP READING HERE

Read more: Netanyahu blasts 'hypocrisy' of the West on Iranian arms cache | The Times of Israel http://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-blasts-western-hypocrisy-on-iranian-arms-cache/#ixzz2vauWGpMp
Follow us: @timesofisrael on Twitter | timesofisrael on Facebook

Brooklyn College Apologizes for Ejection of Jewish Students at Anti-Israel Event

"LDB President Kenneth L. Marcus said, “This apology reflects the fact that the university violated the constitutional and civil rights of our clients at a public event. This was a shameful incident, and we are pleased that the university has accepted responsibility.”"

READ THE ARTICLE HERE

Watch MATZOH!

The truth behind the Palestinian water libels

NOTE: VERY important read, especially in light of the upcoming VASSAR STUDENT'S misguided trip to the West Bank concerning the "water crisis". Pass this along to those who do not know the truth.

Times of Israel February 25,2014

A significant public debate has been sparked by the assertion of European Parliament President Martin Schulz that the amount of water available to the average Israeli unfairly overwhelms the amount of water available to the average Palestinian. The main issue that should be discussed – and has not been sufficiently analyzed – is: What are the causes of Palestinian water supply problems

The discussion must be informed by the following basic facts:

1. The Oslo agreements grant the Palestinians the right to draw 70 million cubic meters from the Eastern Mountain Aquifer (ground water reservoir). Yet this water resource is not currently being capitalized on by the Palestinians; the waters spill untapped underground into the Dead Sea. As per the Israeli-Palestinian agreement, some 40 sites were identified for drilling into this aquifer in the eastern Hebron hills region, and permits were granted to the Palestinians by the Israel-PA Joint Water Committee. Nevertheless, over the past 20 years, the Palestinians have drilled at just one-third of these sites, despite the fact that the international community has offered to finance the drilling of all sites. If the Palestinians were to drill and develop all these wells, they could have completely solved the existing water shortage in the Hebron hills region. But the Palestinians have preferred to drill wells on the Western Mountain Aquifer, the basin that provides groundwater to the State of Israel. Instead of solving the problem they have chosen to squabble with Israel. CONTINUE HERE

Read more: The truth behind the Palestinian water libels | Haim Gvirtzman | Ops & Blogs | The Times of Israel http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-truth-behind-the-palestinian-water-libels/#ixzz2va6c9yoS
Follow us: @timesofisrael on Twitter | timesofisrael on Facebook

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