Should Israel go for a decisive or partial victory?

Rabbi Eliezer Melamed

The writer is Head of Yeshivat Har Bracha and a prolific author on Jewish Law, whose works include the series on Jewish law "Pininei Halacha" and a popular weekly column "Revivim" in the Besheva newspaper. His books "The Laws of Prayer" "The Laws of Passover" and "Nation, Land, Army" are presently being translated into English. Other articles by Rabbi Melamed can be viewed at: www.yhb.org.il/1

How to Win the Struggle

Israel can emerge from the current struggle victorious, provided we thoroughly understand the ambition and goal of our enemies. The merciful among our enemies are willing to settle for the destruction of Israel, killing the Jews who oppose them, while leaving the remaining ones to be humiliated dhimmis forced to pay high taxes to the Muslim rulership – according to the tradition of moderate Islam.

\The cruel ones hope to murder most of the Jews, according to the militant Islamic tradition. That’s what the leading Sunni and Shiite leaders in the world are saying, including the Muslim Brotherhood, ISIS, Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Iranian rulers. They have no reason to lie, so it can be inferred that they speak the truth.

In contrast to honest and candid Muslim leaders, Palestinian Authority leaders do not speak about abolishing the State of Israel because they fear that if they reveal their cards too early they will lose their status in Israel and the world. But this truth crops up in their statements from time to time.

The War on Faith and the Land

Clearly, from our enemies’ point of view, the war is not about one piece of territory or another, but over the very existence of a Jewish state in the Land of Israel, a reality radically opposed to the fundamentals of their faith. Therefore, anything weakening the State of Israel is considered a victory for them and defeat for us; anything strengthening the sovereignty and Jewish identity of Israel is considered a defeat for them, and a victory for us.

Strengthening the Jewish Identity of the State

Today, the majority of the elected representatives of Israeli Arab citizens are conducting a war of incitement and provocation against Israel and gnawing at its strength. If as a result of the wave of terror, the government changes the situation in which Israeli Arabs have rights without obligations; if it denies the residency status of over 100,000 Arabs who infiltrated the State of Israel under the cover of the law of ‘Family Reunification’; if it encourages the emigration of those hostile to the State of Israel – then, the results of the current struggle will be a great victory, transmitting a clear message to all our enemies that we are the victors and becoming stronger.

The War is Over Sovereignty

If out of this struggle the government of Israel approves plans for expansion of Jewish communities in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria, and annexes the territories on which Jewish towns exist in Judea and Samaria - it will be clear to all the Arabs that the war against us led them to defeat, and their urge to fight us will diminish.

Political Commentators and Analysts

Political commentators and analysts and their mentors in academia, are confident that mankind’s sole ambitions are democracy, freedom, and economic prosperity. Thus, in their opinion, the motive for terrorism is the "occupation" the Arabs are subjected to, and the despair gripping them in the absence of a political process that will bring an end to the "occupation".

Surprise! Each additional hint of sovereignty given to the Arabs only increases their hatred and assaults against us. The “experts” are confident that the more money and education the Arabs have, the less they will want to engage in terrorism and wars. But once again – surprise! The majority of the current and past killers do not come from poor and uneducated families – on the contrary! Bin Laden was not a poor and uneducated person either.

It is no wonder that all the predictions of the “experts” were proven false. They fail to understand what a nation is all about, what religious belief is all about – and in fact – what human beings are all about. That's how they plunged the United States and Europe into a mistaken Middle East policy, as well as causing European countries to accept Muslim immigrants without integrating them and in consequence, leading their countries to disaster.

The Weakness of the Government and the Courage of the Public

Unfortunately, since the government and its leader lack the faith and determination required to act boldly to strengthen Israel’s sovereignty and settlement, it is difficult to expect a clear victory. But with God's help, we may be able to take comfort in a partial victory – thanks only to the devotion and determination of men of faith and action within our midst.

Our nation has a weak government with good intentions. The same holds true for the majority of the public, who indeed would prefer that all of Judea and Samaria remain in our hands, and who side with the settlers in their hearts, but lack the faith and courage to demand an outright victory over our Arab enemies.

It could be said that in their worldview, the public and government are captive to the erroneous assumptions of the majority of academics and political analysts, namely, that if we compromise and don’t offend the Arabs’ feelings we will achieve peace, security, and a good life. On the other hand, in their hearts they aspire to victory, the expansion of settlements, sovereignty and Jewish identity, and feel that no compromise will bring peace.

The public, bearing no responsibility, is willing to express patriotic and faith-based positions, whereas the leadership, which does bear responsibility and is exposed to international pressures, does not dare give expression to these views, because it lacks an alternative policy to present to the world rationally, confidently, and with conviction. Only at election times is the country’s leadership more attuned to the mood of the public, for example, the Prime Ministers’ pledge before the elections to amend the law of citizenship and expand "settlements".

The Struggle Can Go Either Way

The struggle can go either way – for better, or for worse. If we listen to the failed political commentators and world leaders – we will decide to withdraw and bring a catastrophe upon ourselves, as we did with the tragic Oslo Accords. If we follow our instincts – we will press forward, settle the Land, and achieve victory.

A Cautious Evaluation: Partial Victory

Since the Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria already number hundreds of thousands and in the words of the Left "is stuck like a bone in [Israel's] throat" hindering plans of further withdrawal, it is difficult to promise the Arabs further withdrawals. Even the freezing of settlements is difficult, because the life-force within the communities pulsates so strongly. Our own bodies are obstructing the “throat of the devil” who wishes to swallow us.

Since ordinary citizens are unwilling to give-in to terrorism and demand the government retaliate, it is difficult for the government to appease the Arabs with money or further erosion of Jewish identity in the State of Israel. 

The only remaining option for the government is to mobilize the police and the army, strike the terrorists and their infrastructure, and weaken the ability of our enemies.

And since many Arabs support the terrorists, there is no choice but to exercise caution and suspicion towards the entire Arab population – within the “Green Line” and beyond it – a measure that embitters the lives of the good Arabs and the bad ones alike, and in practice, encourages the continuation of Arab emigration abroad.

People of Faith and Deeds

The believers and men and women of action – the rabbis and educators who strengthen Jewish identity, the settlers of Judea and Samaria, and the various dedicated security personnel who refuse to surrender to terrorism – they are the determining factor. Thanks to them, we will hopefully continue defeating our enemies, expand settlement in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem, our holy and glorious city – specifically in the areas surrounding the Temple Mount, where “the precious sons of Zion, as precious as fine gold” reside – men of faith and action alike.

Through the steadfastness of all the good Jews from the left and the right, who advance the State of Israel both morally, socially, and economically, the State of Israel marches forward and new immigrants continue to knock at her doors - nearly 30,000 last year.

Jewish immigrants from prosperous Western countries bend down on the tarmac of the airport and kiss the ground of Israel, and thus, the words of the Prophet are realized: "I will also allow the House of Israel to ask me to do this for them: that I increase them like a human flock.  Like the holy flock, like the flock of Jerusalem at its festivals…Then they will know that I am the Lord" (Ezekiel 36: 37-38).

Therefore, strengthening of the Torah and Jewish faith, building and settling the land, strengthening of society, the army, economy, sciences and arts related to Jewish culture, draws us closer to victory over our enemies.

Optimistic Fertility Figures

This is the time to share the important summation of the notable researcher, Yoram Ettinger, regarding our demographic state of affairs.

By the grace of God, the Jewish fertility rate in Israel is rising from year to year. Fifteen years ago it stood at 2.6 children per woman, and is now 3.11. This rate is far higher than the fertility rate in all developed countries. It is also higher than all Arab countries, except for three.

In contrast, the fertility rate among Muslim women who have Israeli citizenship is steadily declining. Fifteen years ago it was approximately 4.5 per woman, and last year declined to 3.15.

The Arab fertility rate in Judea and Samaria dropped to 2.76 births compared to 5.0 births fifteen years ago (according to the annual report of the C.I.A.).

The reason for the high birth rate among Israeli Arabs as compared to Arabs of Judea and Samaria are the child allowances and other social benefits that Israeli Arabs receive from the state – not that they show any gratefulness for these benefits, quite the contrary

.

The Status of the Population

The Arab population in Judea and Samaria numbers approximately 1,700,000 and the number of Arab citizens of Israel is also 1,700,000 – though the Palestinian Authority publishes false demographics, for example, counting people who were born 170 years ago, and more than 400,000 people who emigrated abroad.

In conclusion, 6.6 million Jews currently reside in Israel, alongside 1.7 million Arabs within the “Green Line”, and 1.7 million Arabs in Judea and Samaria - a majority of 66%, also benefiting from the impetus of new births and immigration.

The Aging of the Arab Population opposed to Jewish Rejuvenation

The future continues to bode well for the nation of Israel. In contrast to the Jewish population which is getting younger on account of increased fertility and the absorption of many young immigrants, Arab society in Judea and Samaria is aging rapidly: the average age rose to 22.7, compared with 17.0  fifteen years ago (C.I.A. annual report).

The average age is rising because in addition to a decline in fertility, there is a constant negative emigration of Arabs from Judea and Samaria abroad (20,000 in 2013, 25,000 in 2014, etc.). The waves of terror resulting in the closure and blockade of cities and villages and the other I.D.F. actions that follow in their wake, continue to encourage emigration. Since the majority of those emigrating abroad are young, the Arab population in Judea and Samaria will continue to age and decrease.

The Present Leadership

The Prime Minister and the majority of his administration are aware of these optimistic facts. From their point of view therefore, as long as we continue progressing, the situation is acceptable. However, if we had a leadership that could generate a substantial victory from this struggle, we would spare ourselves a lot of blood, sweat and tears, and the State of Israel would progress and flourish spiritually, demographically, socially and economically at an even faster pace.

This article appears in the ‘Besheva’ newspaper, and was translated from Hebrew. Other interesting articles by Rabbi Melamed, and all of his highly acclaimed books in the ‘Peninei Halakha’ series of Jewish Law and Thought (in Hebrew, and in the meantime, a few in English) can be found at: http://en.yhb.org.il/

Killing Israelis – Music to the ears of NYT and CNN

Jack Engelhard

Jack Engelhard’s classic international bestselling novel Indecent Proposal, which later became a worldwide hit movie, has been republished to meet readers’ demands. His other major works include Compulsive: A Novel, his award-winning post-Holocaust Montreal memoir Escape from Mount Moriah, plus Slot Attendant: A Novel About A Novelist. His website: www.jackengelhard.com

It keeps getting better for The New York Times and for killers everywhere.

This morning’s paper offers a cheerful report about Palestinians who’ve put their “anger” to music – soundtracks to harmonize their knifing spree.

The Times, always in tune with the Palestinians and their “anger,” sings along with what it calls “political songs as a way to make the Palestinian people get up and resist.” Plainly, killing Jews is music to the ears of Palestinian “teenagers” and to the reporters and editors ofThe New York Times.

A group of these Palestinian “teenagers” – burly men of rock-throwing age – have compiled a list of their top 10 knifings accompanied by bloodcurdling lyrics, so let’s dance, says the Times…let’s rock, says the Times, let’s roll, says the Times, let’s glorify the knifing, the stabbing, the firebombing of any and all Israelis, says the Times.

Clap hands with Times’ reporters Jodi Rudoren and Rami Nazzal who call it “inspirational,” namely, say, such hits as “Stab, Stab,” not to mention the ever popular “Stab the Zionist and say god is great.” Not quite Gershwin.

Other melodies like that have the full support of the Times, which quotes this satisfied Palestinian customer:

“The thrumming score has helped PUMP HIM UP for near-daily demonstrations where he hurls rocks at Israeli soldiers.”

Beautiful, in the eyes of The New York Times.

Wonderful, in the eyes of The New York Times.

Good going, says the Times.

More, more Jewish blood, says the Times.

That is the way to bring up kids. Rocks,knives, guns, stab, hate, kill – terrific way to inspire the next generation.

This is “the paper of record,” my son, read by millions, so do not be astonished that the world is going to hell in a handbasket.

Do not be amazed that no Jew, or Christian, can feel safe anywhere and that no Arab can be trusted any place.

The news media have turned the world upside down, yes, sweet is bitter, bitter is sweet, day is night, night is day.

Lest we forget CNN, “The Most Trusted Name In News.” 

Okay, now TRUST this headline from last night:

“Palestinians Shot Boarding Kids’ Bus.”

Oh those poor Palestinians…oh but wait, because here’s the real story. These were Hamas terrorists preparing to shoot up Jewish kids on the bus.

Truth? Honesty? Integrity? Are you kidding?

Guess what? He’s right. Hamas warlord Ismail Haniyeh says that the Palestinian Arabs have won the media war as to the current Palestinian Arab temper tantrum. He says so sneeringly, menacingly and pridefully. He’s got the proof. He’s got the evidence. He’s got the news media in his pocket.

His pride. Our shame.

In the newsroom thriller “The Bathsheba Deadline” the question arises as to whether to use the courtesy title Mr. for Mahmoud Abbas, hence Mr. Abbas. Everybody else says yes. Editor Jay Garfield says no. Garfield says that the minute you give even the slightest honor to such evil men you dishonor the entire world and launch chaos.

“But,” someone says, “The Times used Mr. for Arafat and even for Adolph Hitler.”

“Precisely my point.”

New York-based author and bestselling novelist Jack Engelhard writes a regular column for Arutz Sheva. He is the author of the international classic “Indecent Proposal” now followed by the newsroom thriller “The Bathsheba Deadline.” Engelhard is the recipient of the Ben Hecht Award for Excellence in Journalism. Website: www.jackengelhard.com

Netanyahu outfoxes the media: The world now knows Jerusalem’s Mufti was Nazi war criminal

Mufti inspecting Nazi troops

In correcting Netanyahu’s ‘history lesson’, what has been made clear is the 1st ‘Palestinian’ leader, Jerusalem’s Mufti, Haj Amin al-Husseini, started the lies  [still being used today] as an excuse to murder Jews with impunity, and as a Nazi war criminal, the many similarities seen in Palestinian culture now make sense.

By CAROLINE B. GLICK

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is crazy like a fox.

Netanyahu’s assertion on Tuesday before the World Zionist Congress that the founder of the Palestinian people, Haj Amin al-Husseini, convinced Adolf Hitler to eradicate rather than expel the Jews of Europe was an overstatement of Husseini’s role.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers an address to the World Zionist Congress. – Photo: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)

No, the Holocaust was not Husseini’s idea.

But he was a partner in perpetrating and promoting it. He also made it inevitable.

As I detailed in my book The Israeli Solution: A One-State Plan for Peace in the Middle East, during the course of Husseini’s meeting with Hitler in Berlin in November 1941, Hitler told the Arab leader of his plan to eradicate European Jewry.

Husseini told Hitler that he would support the Nazis, and rally the Arab world to their side, if Hitler agreed to two conditions: that Hitler support his bid to rule over a postwar Arab state comprised of present-day Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Israel; and that Hitler support the genocide of Middle Eastern Jewry.

As both the official Nazi record and Husseini’s summary of the meeting in his diary report, Hitler accepted Husseini’s demands.

And it makes sense that he did.

Husseini proved his loyalty to the Nazis long before he arrived in Berlin. His romance with them began with Hitler’s election victory in 1933. From then on, Husseini’s followers in Mandatory Palestine greeted one another with the Nazi salute. Swastikas festooned their towns. The Nazis began directly funding Husseini’s terror war against the Jews of Israel and British Mandatory officials in 1937.

In 1937, the British forced Husseini to flee the country. In 1941, he organized and incited a pro-Nazi military coup in Iraq. The British were forced to invade Iraq in response to the coup.

Husseini then fled to Rome where he met with Mussolini and went on the Berlin, where he remained for the duration of the war.

As the grand mufti of Jerusalem, Husseini invented and shaped the Palestinian national ethos in a manner that aligned with his pathological hatred of the Jews. Rather than providing the Palestinian Arabs with a positive vision of a future state that would safeguard and cultivate them as a distinct Arab nation, he shaped Palestinian society as a wholly negative phenomenon. It was seeded in a hybrid hatred of Jews that fused Koranic hostility to Jews with racism-based annihilationist European anti-Semitism rooted in The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which Husseini translated and published in Arabic.

The goal of Husseini’s nationalist drive was not to form a Palestinian Arab state, but to prevent the establishment of a Jewish state and to annihilate all aspects of the Jewish national liberation movement through a campaign a terror and political warfare.

Husseini’s goal of leading an Arab state that encompassed Iraq and the entire Levant shows that the founding father of the Palestinian national project did not view “Palestine” as a distinct territorial entity.

After Hitler agreed to both of Husseini’s conditions, Husseini began his active collaboration in the Nazi war effort. He participated in the Holocaust directly. In 1943, he formed the SS Handschar Division comprised of Bosnian Muslims. His troops exterminated 90 percent of Bosnia’s 14,000-member Jewish community.

Husseini used his position as well to scuttle British attempts to trade German prisoners of war for Jews. In one such documented episode, in 1943 Husseini appealed to SS commander Heinrich Himmler to cancel a deal to exchange 4,500 Jewish children and 500 Jewish adults from Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria to cancel the deal and send the Jews to Auschwitz.

Himmler bowed to his appeal. The Jews were sent to the gas chambers.

Husseini contributed to the Holocaust indirectly.

Palestinian Leader Farouk Qaddumi: We Supported the Nazis in WWII

Beginning shortly after his meeting with Hitler and extending through the end of the war, Husseini broadcast regular programs to the Arab world on Nazi short wave radio in Arabic. In those broadcasts he engendered support for the Nazis and the extermination of world Jewry. Using the mix of Islamic Jew-hatred and European annihilationist anti-Semitism he had developed in Jerusalem, Husseini cultivated a culture of support for the annihilation of Jews and the destruction of the Jewish (then nascent) state in the Land of Israel. That culture, bred through those broadcasts heard regularly by millions throughout the entire Arab world, still holds today.

Husseini was indicted as a war criminal in Nuremberg. Rather than try him, the allies allowed him to flee to Egypt in 1946. There he was greeted as a war hero by King Farouk.

It is true that Hitler didn’t need Husseini to convince him to annihilate European Jewry. By the time Husseini arrived in Germany, the Nazis had already murdered a million Jews.

But Netanyahu’s claim that Husseini made it impossible for Hitler to suffice with expelling the Jews from Europe is true. The only place that wanted the Jews of Europe was the nascent Jewish state in the Land of Israel.

Through his terror war against the Jews and the British Mandatory authorities, and through his incitement of pro-Nazi sentiment in Egypt, Iraq and the Levant, Husseini convinced the British to betray their legal obligation to allow free Jewish immigration to the Land of Israel and so closed off the Jews’ last avenue of escape from Nazi-dominated Europe.

As Netanyahu said, Husseini is revered and glorified by the Palestinians. Yasser Arafat claimed that he was Husseini’s political heir and blood relative as a means of legitimizing his claim to leadership over the Palestinians.

Hamas as well has invoked Husseini as its ideological founding father.

History in hand, it is time to return to Netanyahu, and his overstatement of Husseini’s role in the Holocaust.

From the time of Husseini till today, propaganda and terror have been the Palestinians’ weapons of choice in their war against the Jews. Internally lies are spread of nonexistent Jewish plots and imaginary acts of aggression, to incite and solicit the murder of Jews. Propaganda and lies are then used to glorify the murderers as heroes and martyrs.

Externally, the Palestinians spread lies about Palestinian victimhood at the hands of bloodthirsty Jewish settlers and security forces who seek to drive the Arabs from their homes. By casting themselves as victims to the outside world, the Palestinians ensure that Israeli responses to their acts of aggression are perceived as acts of aggression, which they are fully justified in attempting to defy through murderous rampages against Jews.

The Palestinians recognize that for their terror to be acceptable to the West, they must portray themselves as guileless victims. Hence, they repeatedly insist the absurd claim that terrorists who deliberately kill Jews by running them over, are really merely victims involved in traffic accidents. The Palestinian teenage girl who this week sought to infiltrate the community of Yitzhar with a carving knife, suffers from “sleepwalking.”

These ridiculous lies are only credible in a world devoid of any historical knowledge of the Palestinians’ 95-year history of aggression against the Jews. And so the Palestinians have invented a false history of their war against Israel in which thousands of years of Jewish history is blotted out, and thousands of years of Palestinian history have been invented out of whole cloth.

In this revised version of events, Husseini has been erased from history. His role in the Holocaust has been deleted. The fact that the goal of the Palestinian national movement from its inception has been to annihilate the Jewish state and that the annihilation of Israel remains its goal still today has similarly been washed out of the history books and the news pages.

To maintain this fictional account of current and historical events, the Palestinians depend on the collaboration of the Western media.

And with each passing year, that collaboration has grown more open, expansive and shameless.

Western reporting on the events of the day now are almost entirely devoid of any relationship to reality.

Consider just a few recent examples. CNN’s report of the Palestinian arson assault on Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus on October 16 contained no mention of the fact that the fire at the holy Jewish site was set by Palestinians. In the same report, the network stated, “In the past month, eight Israelis died in 30 attacks involving knives and other weapons.”

As if fires set themselves and angry knives wander the streets.

MSNBC’s reporter Ayman Mohyeldin was caught lying two weeks ago as he claimed that the knife-wielding Palestinian terrorist in the Old City of Jerusalem who was lunging toward security personnel as they killed him, was an unarmed, innocent bystander. As Mohyeldin spewed his lies, the video of the assault that clearly showed the terrorist wielding a knife was being broadcast to his viewers.

That embarrassment didn’t stop MSNBC from maintaining the myth of Israeli aggression, however.

The next week, the network posted a graphic of British Mandatory Palestine from 1946 which it claimed was the State of Palestine in 1946. The graphic them purported to show how the Jews stole ever more Palestinian land in the years that followed. Although the network was forced to broadcast a retraction, the lie that Palestine once existed had already been told.

Then of course there was The New York Times with its stunning “background” piece purporting to provide its readers with historical context regarding the competing Israeli and Palestinian claims regarding the Temple Mount. The Times reported as fact the false claim that there is a debate among respected academics regarding whether the Jewish temples were actually located on the Temple Mount.

In other words, the Times unabashedly participated in the Palestinian project of rewriting history in a manner that erases Jewish history from the Jewish homeland.

Netanyahu recognizes that the media have sided with the Palestinians in their war to destroy Israel through a mix of terror and propaganda.

He knows that the only stories they will report on are stories with an anti-Israel angle. It is reasonable then to assume that he decided to use their embrace of every possible angle of attack as a means to get the truth out about the nature of the war.

By exaggerating Husseini’s importance in the Holocaust, Netanyahu gave the media a means of attacking him. But by doing so, he forced the Times to report on the Palestinians’ founding father’s role in destroying European Jewry and his desire to carry out the Final Solution in the Middle East. They would have ignored the issue if Netanyahu had not exaggerated his actual role.

Due to his “gaffe,” every Western media outlet reported on Husseini’s actions. Some even mentioned that in his PhD dissertation, current Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said the Holocaust was both a myth and a joint Zionist-Nazi project. For most Westerners, this is the first they’ve heard of the fact that the Palestinian’s George Washington was a Nazi war criminal.

Like I said, crazy as a fox.

Facebook Finally Moves Against Hamas in West Bank

Facebook has shut down Hamas’ accounts and groups on the social media site amid worsening unrest as Palestinian youths target Israelis in a wave of attacks.

“Facebook has closed, over the past two days, a large number of pages run by and close to the Hamas movement’s media in the occupied West Bank,” the Islamist group said in a statement issued Wednesday.

Hamas said the closures came after a “wide-ranging and organized complaint campaign” that it said was supported by direct pressure applied by the Israeli Telecommunications and Foreign ministries on Facebook’s administration.

The statement added that the closed Facebook pages had “played a key large role in supporting the Al-Quds intifada,” in reference to the spate of protests, riots and violent attacks against Israelis in the West Bank and Israel proper since early October.

“Today and yesterday, [Hamas] pages [based] in Ramallah, Galilee, Nablus, Bethlehem, Qalqilya, Salfit, Tubas and Jenin were closed, as well as the page of Muslim Youth League in the West Bank,” Hamas announced.

It added that Facebook also “launched a campaign against Islamic Bloc pages [based] in West Bank universities, closing the Bloc’s An-Najah, Galilee and Palestine Polytechnic pages.”

“At the same time as the closure of these pages, Facebook has closed and frozen the accounts of dozens of publishers and administrators who run [them].”

Hamas also announced that the page of its official spokesperson, Husam Badran, had been shut down.

A number of Facebook pages close to the Palestinian group have been shut down, including Nabdh Adh-Dhuffah [Pulse of the West Bank] and Kulluna Muqawama [We are All Resistance].

“Before this [Facebook] closed one of the most prominent interactive pages supporting the resistance — Sharik [Participate], which is part of Shabakat Quds Al-Ikhbariya [Quds News Network],” Hamas said.

The social media restrictions on Hamas come amid worsening violence in the West Bank and Israel proper that has left 9 Israelis and 48 Palestinians dead, with many fearing the unrest could portend a third intifada, or uprising.

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh on October 9 threw his support behind a new Palestinian uprising against the Israelis, saying it is “the only path that will lead to liberation.”

On October 21, a senior Hamas official called on the party’s Palestinian rivals, the Fatah Movement that controls the West Bank, to join the “popular uprising.”

American Jews Must Confront the Obama Administration on Israel

It is now evident that, by and large, the Jewish establishment has adopted a policy of deafening silence in relation to condemning or protesting against the virulent one-sided political attacks and sins of omission by the Obama administration concerning our barbaric adversaries.

 It is only the outspoken Zionist Organization of America and minor fringe groups that have been directly speaking out against the Obama administration’s intensified anti-Israel rhetoric.

Until now, I had a nagging suspicion that the failure of American Jewish leaders to confront the biased Obama administration attacks on Israel was not merely a reasoned strategic approach. But aware of their devotion to Israel and having witnessed their former stalwart defense of Jewish interests, I was reluctant to conclude that fear was their primary consideration.

But the ongoing silence by the Jewish establishment in relation to the current disgraceful behavior of the Obama administration, its secretary of state, and State Department spokesmen, is incomprehensible.

Today Israeli Jews are confronted by frenzied psychotic young Arabs who have been brainwashed into believing that murdering innocent Jews will deliver them directly to paradise and transform them into glorious martyrs. This barbarism, inculcated by hideous indoctrination from kindergarten and subsequently nurtured in the mosques and throughout Palestinian social media, is creating monsters. It is publicly sanctified by Abbas, who has whipped up a frenzy on the insanely false allegation that Israel is bent on destroying Al-Aqsa mosque and building a Jewish temple on its ruins.

The demonic madness is fortified by the heroic profile the Palestinian Authority adopts in relation to the killing sprees and which Abbas refuses to condemn. The perpetrators are also aware that if they survive, the P.A. will pay them generous salaries in prison and provide pensions for their families.

Under such circumstances, one would surely expect leaders of the civilized world to condemn these Arab murders of innocents. But aside from lip service condemning “violence,” world leaders and global organizations have, at best, adopted a sickening morally relativist position in which Jewish victims are equated with their murderers.

Until now, the United States took pride in defending Israel and proclaiming its shared values and common democratic Judeo-Christian heritage. Even though there were occasional policy differences between the countries, Israel considered itself a true ally of the U.S., irrespective of whether a Democrat or Republican occupied the Oval Office.

Since Barack Obama was elected president, in his obsession to build bridges between the U.S. and Islam, he sought to demonstrate that there is daylight between Israel and America. His Third World outlook also led to his abandoning long-term U.S. allies and groveling to Islamic fundamentalist terrorist states like Iran, mistakenly believing that by appeasing them, they will become more moderate.

Over the past month, we have witnessed the climax of the U.S. political abandonment of Israel. Obama, who repeatedly condemned Netanyahu for remarks made in the heat of an election, even after he had clarified and withdrawn them, has emboldened the Palestinian extremists by failing to utter a single condemnation of Mahmoud Abbas for his vicious ongoing incitement and calls for Jewish blood.

Worse still was Secretary of State John Kerry, frequently referred to as an unguided missile, who made a series of inexcusable demented remarks. He refused to apportion the blame for the killings, and even hinted that the Israelis had brought the violence upon themselves. He related to “violence on both sides.” Both sides?

He claimed that the Palestinian killings had been ignited by Palestinian “frustration” over the failure to negotiate a two-state solution and the “massive increase of settlements over the course of the last few years.” This bears no relevance to the facts, as settlement building in the last few years has been dramatically reduced. The frenzied killers are unquestionably motivated by the incitement and lies being promoted insisting that Jews plan to destroy Al-Aqsa.

Kerry also demanded that the status quo at the Temple Mount be upheld “in word and deed,” knowing fully well that this has constantly been the policy of the Netanyahu government. Such ambiguous statements gives credence to the Palestinian lies.

State Department spokesman John Kirby even accused Israel of violating the status quo on the Temple Mount – and thus effectively also fanning the inflammatory Al Aqsa frenzy and called on “both leaders” to combat the incitement which leads to a “cycle of violence.” He was subsequently forced to retract, but the damage could not be undone. He also stated that the U.S. had “seen some reports of security activity that could indicate the potential excessive use of force” against the psychotic killers.

To top off these outrageous outbursts, Obama made a statement assiduously avoiding use of the term terrorist and patronizingly endorsed Israel’s right to “protect its citizens from knife attacks” from “random violence (sic).” He then spat in our faces by effectively blaming both Netanyahu and Abbas for the incitement.

For Israel’s one true ally to descend to such Orwellian depths as to place the Israelis in the same category as religious fanatics operating a killing spree is utterly contemptible, encourages the barbarians to accelerate their murderous activity and thus assumes a share of responsibility for the innocent Jews murdered in the days to come.

To compound matters, the White House critiques also serve as a green light for Europe to pressure Israel into making further unilateral concessions which would undermine its security.

Under diplomatic constraints, Netanyahu has instructed ministers not to respond to the shameful remarks by the administration and its spokesmen.

But such restraints do not apply to American Jewish leaders. In the face of such a reprehensible attitude by the Obama administration to Israel at a time when psychotic murderers have been programmed to kill Jews in the streets, one would have expected the American Jewish community’s leadership to condemn their government and launch public protests.

American Jews continuously stress that in the U.S. they can speak out as Jews without fear. Yet when it comes to criticizing Obama, despite the fact that the majority of the nation and both houses of Congress support Israel, a deafening silence envelops the Jewish leadership.

I make these remarks in my capacity as a former Diaspora Jewish leader rather than an Israeli. I was head of the Australian Jewish community and chairman of the Governing Board of the World Jewish Congress, and have personally experienced the enormous pressures which can be exerted against a leader to be politically correct and avoid confronting his government when it adopts positions which lack moral compass and harm the interests of the Jewish people.

But there is a time when leaders must speak out or be damned. The U.S. refuses to pressure Abbas to cease calling for the murder of Jews and instead engages in moral equivalency, holding victims and perpetrators equally responsible for the violence. No American administration has ever behaved in such an appalling manner toward Israel.

Yet the sole response of the Jewish establishment, as manifested by the major Jewish religious movements in conjunction with the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, is to observe a “Sabbath of Jewish Solidarity.” This reflects the solidarity of American Jews with Israel during these difficult times, but it is certainly is not an acceptable response to the administration’s lies and distortions.

Unless American leaders speak up now, they will be justly accused of following in the footsteps of the American Jewish leader the late Rabbi Stephen Wise, who in 1944, under pressure from Roosevelt, remained silent when Jews were being murdered by the Nazis.

It would be outrageous if a response is being withheld out of a desperate desire to maintain consensus at the lowest common denominator. Likewise, if the motivation is not to distress deluded Jewish liberal contributors or a concern about coveted access to the White House, these factors are simply irrelevant under the current circumstances.

Principled Jewish supporters of Israel must speak out and protest now, even if this means dividing the community.

If Jews remain silent in the face of the libels directed against the Jewish state by the administration, aside from failing to provide an example for their children, they will be betraying their responsibility as Jewish leaders.

Isi Leibler may be contacted at ileibler@leibler.com

This article was originally published by The Jerusalem Post and Israel Hayom. 

Mr. Stanley Goldstein z”l, Owner of Bencraft Hatters

It is with great sadness that we report the passing of Mr. Shloime Elimelech Goldstein, owner of the renowned hat store chain Bencraft Hatters.

He was 83.

Stanley was known to frum Jews around New York and the world as the owner of the Bencraft hat store in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg area that was established in 1949 by his father, Ben Goldstein.

Stanley joined the business in 1954, which soon expanded to a second location on 13th Avenue in Boro Park, Brooklyn.

Chassidim of all types have been purchasing their hats from Goldstein for generations, which were sold with his unique personality and charm.

“He was a very charming, personable and generous person,” Bencraft employee Yitzi Feigenson told COLlive.com. “He had a smile that really struck you. He was a true gentleman.”

A resident of Kew Gardens Hills, Queens, Goldstein, along with his son Steven, are generous supporters of a number of causes.

“He was a legend,” said long-time employee in the Boro Park store Asher Bitton. “He was a ba’al Tzedaka to so many people and organizations. People had no idea of the extent of his kindess.”

The levaya will take place tomorrow, Friday at 11:00 am at Sinai Chapels, 162-05 Horace Harding Expy, Fresh Meadows, NY 11365.

Chutzpah: After Holocaust remark, White House warns Netanyahu against incitement

The sheer madness and chutzpah of the White House ... read the following  then read below:

Comments made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier in the week, which implicated the former grand mufti of Jerusalem in the decision to proceed with the Holocaust, amount to inflammatory rhetoric stoking tensions on the ground between Israel and the Palestinians, the White House said on Thursday.

In a speech on Tuesday, Netanyahu said that Palestinian Haj Amin al-Husseini was directly responsible for encouraging Adolf Hitler not just to expel Jews from Europe, but to exterminate them. Netanyahu has since clarified that he had no intention of absolving Hitler for responsibility for the Holocaust.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters the Obama administration has no doubt who was responsible for the genocide, which involved the systematic murder of six million Jews.

"The inflammatory rhetoric needs to stop," Earnest said. 

On Wednesday, the State Department declined to characterize Netanyahu's specific remarks as incitement, but added: "Scholarly evidence does not support that position," referring to the prime minister's historical account.

Earnest's comments come just hours after Netanyahu met with Secretary of State John Kerry in Berlin to discuss the violence across Israel and the West Bank in recent weeks.

The Holocaust:
The Mufti and the Führer

(November 1941)

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Holocaust: Table of Contents | Concentration Camps | Jewish Persecution

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In 1941, Haj Amin al-Husseini fled to Germany and met with Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, Joachim Von Ribbentropand other Nazi leaders. He wanted to persuade them to extend the Nazis’ anti-Jewish program to the Arab world.

The Mufti sent Hitler 15 drafts of declarations he wantedGermany and Italy to make concerning the Middle East. One called on the two countries to declare the illegality of the Jewish home in Palestine. Furthermore, “they accord to Palestine and to other Arab countries the right to solve the problem of the Jewish elements in Palestine and other Arab countries, in accordance with the interest of the Arabs and, by the same method, that the question is now being settled in the Axis countries.”¹

In November 1941, the Mufti met with Hitler, who told him the Jews were his foremost enemy. The Nazi dictator rebuffed the Mufti's requests for a declaration in support of the Arabs, however, telling him the time was not right. The Mufti offered Hitler his “thanks for the sympathy which he had always shown for the Arab and especially Palestinian cause, and to which he had given clear expression in his public speeches....The Arabs were Germany's natural friends because they had the same enemies as had Germany, namely....the Jews....” Hitler replied:

Germany stood for uncompromising war against the Jews. That naturally included active opposition to the Jewish national home in Palestine....Germany would furnish positive and practical aid to the Arabs involved in the same struggle....Germany's objective [is]...solely the destruction of the Jewish element residing in the Arab sphere....In that hour the Mufti would be the most authoritative spokesman for the Arab world. The Mufti thanked Hitler profusely.²

In 1945, Yugoslavia sought to indict the Mufti as a war criminal for his role in recruiting 20,000 Muslim volunteers for theSS, who participated in the killing of Jews in Croatia and Hungary. He escaped from French detention in 1946, however, and continued his fight against the Jews from Cairo and later Beirut. He died in 1974.

Read more about the conversation between Hitler and the Mufti, CLICK HERE.

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Sources:
¹ “Grand Mufti Plotted To Do Away With All Jews In Mideast,” Response, (Fall 1991), pp. 2-3.
² Record of the Conversation Between the Fuhrer and the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem on November 28, 1941, in the Presence of Reich Foreign Minister and Minister Grobba in Berlin, Documents on German Foreign Policy, 1918-1945, Series D, Vol. XIII, London, 1964, p. 881ff in Walter Lacquer and Barry Rubin, The Israel-Arab Reader, (NY: Facts on File, 1984), pp. 79-84.