Singing the Kadish in Bais Liska on Chal Hamoed! pic.twitter.com/43yi64dY3C
— Ezra Friedlander (@EzraFriedlander) October 14, 2022
“I don’t speak because I have the power to speak; I speak because I don’t have the power to remain silent.” Rav Kook z"l
Singing the Kadish in Bais Liska on Chal Hamoed! pic.twitter.com/43yi64dY3C
— Ezra Friedlander (@EzraFriedlander) October 14, 2022
This person uses ghost/ghostself pronouns because gender feels like a ghost pic.twitter.com/mUdqMVbKXl
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) October 13, 2022
In a conversation with Kan News, the soldier recounted the moments of horror in the incident that happened on Wednesday. "I was standing at the station, before the bus arrived there were some haredim who cursed and threatened me. When the bus arrived they threatened the driver that they would burn his bus if he took me on," she said.
The soldier, who stopped to change bus lines on her way to her base, told journalist Carmela Menashe how the incident soon developed into a violent riot, when a mob chased her, cursed her and threw things at her: "I moved away and started walking, and they chased me. Suddenly, hundreds of children, boys and adults started coming out of the houses, shouting at me 'shiksa' and throwing stones and cans at me. I felt surrounded and helpless."
At one point she met three girls and begged them to help her escape: "I asked three girls I saw there to help me and they told me we'll hide you." The girls led her to their home where they hid her when the crowd was closing in on the house and trying to break the lock of the apartment. The soldier called the police and after a while the police arrived in an undercover car, and not in a police car, for fear of another flare-up and the fear of the family that was guarding her that they might be thought of as collaborators
The soldier was dressed in a skirt given to her by the girls of the house and taken out of the place, but even after that, the disturbances and the confrontations with the police continued for some time. "The crowds stood outside and the police made a way. While leaving, the haredim snatched the policeman's radio and threw it to the crowd standing outside. It was shocking. The whole incident lasted from ten o'clock at night until early morning," said the soldier, who was injured by the objects thrown at her. "If it wasn't for the family that hid me, I don't know how it would have ended," she said.
The police said: "The police were called to the scene and rescued the female soldier while the force was also under attack. Beit Shemesh police officers arrested two suspects red-handed who were throwing stones. The investigation to locate all those involved continues.'
The spokeswoman of the Beit Shemesh municipality said:
"Mayor Dr. Aliza strongly condemns the attack on the female soldier and views the case very seriously. "The mayor spoke with the female soldier personally and strengthened her. She also spoke with the police chief of Beit Shemesh and asked, as expected, to investigate the incident to the end and to act with the full extent of the law. The mayor of Beit Shemesh, Dr. Aliza Bloch, emphasizes that on the days of 'you shall be joyous on your holidays', when tens of thousands celebrate at the cultural events in the city, this unusual event is certainly not evidenced by the atmosphere in the city and calls on everyone not to give space in the conversation to extreme acts."
בחג המצות pic.twitter.com/eXIKAvYL9i
— Hasidic (@hasidic_1) October 13, 2022
Betraying the Family’s Mesorah For a Rabbinical Position in Jerusalem
US Ambassador to Israel Thomas Richard Nides, September 11, 2022. Ambassador Tom Nides told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in an exclusive interview last Friday he was enamored with Prime Minister Yair Lapid for “his brave comments on the importance of the two-state solution” in Lapid’s recent speech before the United Nations General Assembly.
“We are under no illusions here that I will be standing in the Rose Garden receiving the Nobel Peace Prize for getting the two-state solution, but it’s important that we create the conditions on the ground for a two-state solution,” Nides said, adding: “And that includes helping the Palestinian people.”
And, naturally, while helping those nice “Palestinian people,” Nides reiterated the Biden administration’s policy on Jewish communities on the same lands, saying, “We do not support settlement growth. Period. I work every day behind the scenes, with the Israelis, to try and eliminate, slow down, or avoid that.”
He defended his right to meddle in Israel’s affairs, saying, “We can’t dictate to them what they can or can’t do, but I can put as much pressure as I can to make sure they understand our position.”
The ambassador also defended Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez’s right to warn Benjamin Netanyahu that should he include Ben-Gvir in his future government it would damage Israel’s relations with the US. Nides stressed that he “won’t get involved in the politics of Israel before an election,” but insisted that American politicians have the right to voice their opinions on anything and anyone.
“We are free to articulate our anxieties or concerns vis-a-vis making sure that the values that we state are played out here in Israel as well as we believe they should be,” Nides said.
Otzma Yehudit, MK Itamar Ben Gvir appeared on Channel 13 News and Ynet and accused Prime Minister Yair Lapid of enlisting US officials to prevent Ben Gvir’s inclusion in the next government. He insisted that this is a dangerous precedent when a prime minister invites the Americans to interfere in the elections in Israel. He also invited Lapid to file a defamation suit against him – Ben Gvir is ready to drop his Knesset immunity.
On Tuesday, Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Ca), a pro-Israel good guy, urged Israeli politicians to “ostracize” Ben-Gvir, declaring that Ben-Gvir’s “outrageous views run contrary to Israel’s core principles of a democratic and Jewish state.” Sherman insisted that “these extremists undermine Israel’s interests and the US-Israel relationship, which I and my colleagues have worked to strengthen.”
Of course, I would be astonished if Menendez or Sherman were familiar with Ben Gvir’s political agenda before the calls from Lapid’s people.
Finally, another takeaway from Nide’s JTA interview, to set us straight both about the ambassador and the news outlet: “Nides, who grew up in Minnesota as a liberal Reform Jew and went to synagogue only during the High Holidays, is a firm believer in equality at the Western Wall in Jerusalem,” writes JTA’s Jotam Confino. He quotes the ambassador who declares: “I have no tolerance for anyone being hurt or attacked for doing what they believe is their religious belief at the Western Wall. Both on the Orthodox and Reform sides, and for women and men. I think everyone should use this religious site for their own spirituality.”
Go to the interview and plug in the words “Temple Mount.” I did, looking to see if Nides feels similarly about the religious rights of Jews, 20 meters or so above the Kotel. Nothing. Nada. Gurnisht. Crickets.
Folks, we once had a friend in the US embassy. We no longer do.
BLACK LIVES MATTER 🤷🏾♀️ pic.twitter.com/RkFXsgDGR1
— Lavern Spicer 🇺🇸 (@lavern_spicer) October 12, 2022