Advocating For Israel

NSW Greens drop BDS

2011-12-05T09:31:00.001+08:00

THE Greens in NSW have backed away from the policy on Israel that was widely seen as costing them a seat at the state election.

At the party’s state conference yesterday, delegates rescinded a motion passed last year that committed the NSW Greens to the boycotts, divestments and sanctions campaign intended to isolate Israel over its treatment of the Palestinians.

This has been replaced by a motion that “recognises the legitimacy of the BDS as a political tactic and also recognises there is a diversity of views in the community and the Greens”. [...]

Senator Rhiannon said last night: “Greens NSW affirmed its support for non-violent community actions designed to pressure the Israeli state to respect international law and human rights norms with the aim of ending the occupation of the West Bank and the blockade of Gaza, finding a just solution for Palestinian refugees and ending discrimination against Arab citizens in Israel.”

November 29 1947 UN votes of the Jewish State

2011-12-01T04:17:00.001+08:00

The 29th of November 29 is one of the most important days in modern Jewish History. It is the day the UN reconised the Jewish people as a nation. On November 29 1947 the United Nations voted to partition then British-Mandate Palestine into two states: one Jewish, one Arab. Two states for two peoples. Thus acknowledging the Jewish people's historical and everlasting connection to Israel, the land that the Jewish people have prayed and fought for, for over 2000 years. On the 29th of November 2011 the Jewish connection to the Land of Israel is still being questioned. Amb Prosor Prosor addresses the UN General Assembly (UN webcast)addressing this very point. "The basic question underlying our conflict for 64 years has not changed. That question is: has the Arab world - and particularly the Palestinians - internalized that Israel is here to stay and will remain the nation-state of the Jewish people? It is still unclear whether they are inspired by the promise of building a new state, or the goal of destroying an existing one." Read and watch the speech here. UN Webcast Mr. President, A great Jewish sage once wrote, "The truth can hurt like a thorn, at first; but in the end it blossoms like a rose." His words came to my mind today. His insight could really benefit many in this hall. It takes a well of truth to water the seeds of peace. Yet, we continue to witness a drought of candor in this body's discussion of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. On this historic day, real facts in the General Assembly remain few and far between. For any who have been here on November 29th before, today is déjà vu. Some of you may have noticed that some minor changes have been taking place in the Middle East lately, but any changes in this body's resolutions condemning Israel are very, very rare. Indeed, it didn't take a creative writer to craft the language in these resolutions. The exact same text is copied and pasted, year after year - much of it dating back five decades. The account we heard today is one-sided. It is unilateral. It is unjust. And it is unhelpful. It presents a distorted and impartial version of history. It transforms the cause of Palestinian self-determination into a deliberate attempt to denigrate, defame, and delegitimize the State of Israel. The political dynamics in this body are sadly predictable. Every November, the leaves change color in New York, but the automatic anti-Israel majority never changes its votes. Each and every responsible member of the international community that affixes its seal of approval on this exact same set of resolutions - which are irrelevant at best, and damaging at worst - should do a little soul searching. Is this the message that you want the General Assembly to send to the world? Mr. President, Let me take a moment to remind this Assembly about what actually occurred on this day 64 years ago - and in the days that followed. On November 29, 1947, the United Nations voted to partition then British-Mandate Palestine into two states: one Jewish, one Arab. Two states for two peoples. The Jewish population accepted that plan and declared a new state in its ancient homeland. It reflected the Zionist conviction that it was both necessary and possible to live in peace with our neighbors in the land of our forefathers. The Arab inhabitants rejected the plan and launched a war of annihilation against the new Jewish state, joined by the armies of five Arab members of the United Nations. One percent of Israel's population died during this assault by five armies. Think about that price. It would be the equivalent of 650,000 dying in France today, or 3 million dying in the United States, or 13 million dying in China. As a result of the war, there were Arabs who became refugees. A similar number of Jews, who lived in Arab countries, were forced to flee their homes as well. They, too, became refugees. The difference between these two distinct populations was - and still is - that Israel absorbed the refugees into our society. Our neighbors did not. Refugee camps in Israel gave birth to thriving towns and cities. Refugee camps in Arab countries gave birth to more Palestinian refugees. We unlocked our new immigrants' vast potential. The Arab world knowingly and intentionally kept their Palestinian populations in the second class status of permanent refugees. In Lebanon for many years and still today, the law prohibits Palestinians from owning land - and from working in the public sector or as doctors and lawyers. Palestinians are banned from these professions. In Kuwait, the once significant Palestinian population was forcibly expelled from the country in 1991. Few remain. In Syria, thousands of Palestinians had to flee refugee camps in Latakia last August when President Assad shelled their homes with naval gunboats. In the vast majority of Arab countries, Palestinians have no rights of citizenship. It is no coincidence that the Arab world's responsibilities for the "inalienable rights" of these Palestinians never appear in the resolutions before you. Mr. President, The basic question underlying our conflict for 64 years has not changed. That question is: has the Arab world - and particularly the Palestinians - internalized that Israel is here to stay and will remain the nation-state of the Jewish people? It is still unclear whether they are inspired by the promise of building a new state, or the goal of destroying an existing one. Two months ago, President Abbas stood at the podium in this very hall and tried to erase the unbroken and unbreakable connection between the Jewish people and the Land of Israel. He said the following: "I come before you today from the Holy Land, the land of Palestine, the land of divine messages, ascension of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the birthplace of Jesus Christ (peace be upon him)." This was not an oversight. It was not a slip of the tongue. It was yet another deliberate attempt to deny and erase more than 3,000 years of Jewish history. The Arab leaders from those two nations that sought peace have offered a different message. For example, in 1995, King Hussein came to the United States and said (quote): "For our part, we shall continue to work for the new dawn when all the Children of Abraham and their descendants are living together in the birthplace of their three great monotheistic religions." In 1977, President Sadat came to Israel's Knesset and quoted this verse from the Koran: "We believe in God and in what has been revealed to us and what was revealed to Abraham, Ismail, Isaac, Jacob, and the tribes and in the books given to Moses, Jesus, and the prophets from their lord." President Sadat and King Hussein spoke of THREE monotheistic religions, not ONE or TWO. Mr. President, The resolution that gives the 29th of November significance - General Assembly resolution 181 - speaks of the creation of a "Jewish State" no less than 25 times. We still do not hear Palestinian leaders utter the term. The Palestinian leadership refuses to acknowledge Israel's character as a Jewish state. You will never hear them say "two states for two peoples". If you ever hear a Palestinian leader say "two states for two peoples", please phone me immediately. My office has set up the equivalent of a 9/11 number in the event of such an unprecedented occurrence. Palestinian leaders call for an independent Palestinian state, but insist that the Palestinian people return to the Jewish state. This is a proposition that no one who believes in the right of Israel to exist could ever accept. The idea that Israel will be flooded with millions of Palestinians is a non-starter. The international community knows it. The Palestinian leadership knows it. But the Palestinian people aren't hearing it. At this very moment, the gap between their perception and reality remains the major obstacle to peace. Let me repeat that: the so-called right of return is and will remain the major obstacle to peace. It is not settlements. It is not the laundry list of baseless accusations launched against Israel in today's resolutions. I'll repeat it again: the so-called right of return is the major obstacle to peace. Everyone knows it. Yet, all of those who were so vocal today in telling Israel what is has to do for peace - mumbled, stuttered and conveniently lost their voices when it came to telling the Palestinians that the so-called right of return is a non-starter. For decades, this body has rubberstamped nearly every Palestinian whim, no matter how counter-factual or counter-productive. What has this accomplished? The lip service of this body has only done a disservice for peace. Mr. President, True friends of the Palestinians have a responsibility to tell them the truth. They will stop promoting the distorted version of history that characterizes this day, and start delivering the real lessons of history that the Palestinian leadership now refuses to heed. These lessons are clear: bilateral negotiations are the only route to two states, for two peoples - living side-by-side in peace and security; negotiations that resolve the outstanding concerns of both sides. While bypass maneuvers may work for heart surgery and highway construction, they will not bring peace or security to our region. Direct negotiations were the way of President Sadat and Prime Minister Begin, the way of Prime Minister Rabin and King Hussein. It has been the framework for advancing peace between Israel and the Palestinians for the past two decades. Time and again, we have extended our hand in peace to the Palestinians. Prime Minister Netanyahu stood in this very hall last September and declared his commitment to the cause of Palestinian self-determination - and his vision for establishing a Palestinian state, alongside the Jewish State of Israel - two states for two peoples. Yet, today we wait for the Palestinians to give up the false idol of unilateralism - and get back to the real hard work of direct negotiations. And - as they continue to run away from the negotiating table, the Palestinian leadership continues to move closer into their embrace of Hamas - an internationally recognized terrorist organization dedicated to the destruction of Israel. This development brings to my mind Groucho Marx's famous line: "Those are my principles, and if you don't like them … well, I have others." The Quartet has long applied three principles that Hamas must adopt. It must renounce violence, recognize Israel and abide by prior agreements. At no point has Hamas satisfied these conditions - or indicated any intention to do so. Those who advocate recognizing a government that includes Hamas are urging a Groucho-Marxist policy in a complex, unstable region. If Hamas is too extreme to accept these principles, they argue, we must tailor our principles to match Hamas's extremism. The bar has been set very low. On these basic requirements for peace, there can be no adjustments. There can be no bargaining. There can be no Holiday Season discounts - in this hall or anywhere else. Mr. President, Even more than the words spoken in the speeches here today - or the words in the resolutions before you - it is the words not spoken that speak volumes. This Assembly has made clear that it does not stand in solidarity with many people in our region today. In this hall, I hear no solidarity with the one million Israeli men, women and children who live under the constant rain rockets, mortars and missiles from the Gaza Strip. I hear no solidarity with the 16-year old boy who was killed last April when a Hamas anti-tank missile struck his school bus. Or the thousands of other Israeli civilians who have been killed and injured. I hear no solidarity with the Israeli children who learn the alphabet at the same time that they learn the names Kassam, Grad, and Katyusha - the rockets that keep them out of school for weeks at a time. I hear no solidarity with the Palestinians who are victims of brutal Hamas rule - with the political opponents who are tortured, the women who are subjugated, or the children who are used as suicide bombers and human shields. And - Mr. President, today I hear no solidarity with the many people in the Middle East who are being repressed and slaughtered every single day for demanding their freedom. From Syria to Iran to Yemen, these people are no longer content with their leader's explanations that Israel is to blame for all the problems of the Middle East - a fiction that is advanced through resolutions like those before us today. Today the people of the Middle East demand real answers for their plight. I also heard no discussion today about the incitement that continues to fill the West Bank and Gaza, where the next generation of Palestinian children is being taught that suicide bombers are heroes, that Jews have no connection to the Holy Land, and that they must seek to annihilate the State of Israel. From cradles to kindergarten classrooms; from the grounds of summer camps to the stands of football stadiums; from the names of public squares to the public pronouncements of Palestinian leaders, these messages are everywhere. Just last month, President Abbas declared that the Palestinian Authority would provide a grant of up to $5,000 to every terrorist released in exchange for Gilad Shalit, Israel's kidnapped soldier. These are people like Ibrahim Shammasina, who helped to murder four Israelis, including two teenagers. People like Walid Anajas, who planned bombings in the heart of Jerusalem and Rishon Lezion, which killed 32. People like Wafa-al Bis, who unsuccessfully tried to blow herself up in an Israeli hospital. Washed in the blood of innocents, these terrorists are being held up as role models for the next generation of Palestinian children. Palestinian Authority television broadcast President Abbas' remarks to these released terrorists last October. He said, "You are people of struggle and Jihad fighters for Allah and the homeland... Your sacrifice and your effort and your actions were not in vain." Mr. President, Sustainable peace must take root in homes, schools, and media that teach tolerance and understanding so that it can grow in hearts and minds. It must come from a Palestinian leadership willing to tell its people about the difficult compromises that they will have to make for statehood. It will come through the hard work of state-building, not the old habit of state-bashing. Today none of these truths have been spoken. Today I hear no solidarity with the principles of peace. I know that the truth can be a burden. I know that old habits die-hard. I know that the convenience of the moment sometimes weighs heavy on the interests of the future. Yet, only the truth will set us free. After years of darkness, I call on this Assembly to bring new light to this debate. I call on each and every delegate in this hall to embrace pragmatic solutions, not automatic resolutions; to speak with candor, and not slander; to grapple for a new vision, and not old divisions. I call on this Assembly to finally glean truth from this historic day, nourishing the seeds of peace in our region that can blossom into a brighter future. Thank you, Mr. President.

Jewish Pride

2011-11-29T08:46:00.001+08:00

Saturday the 19th of November was a night to remember. I was so proud of all the people who attended and were part of the first ever Jewish Pride float at the Perth Pride Parade. In my 24 year existence this was one of my proudest Jewish moments. Around 40 of us turned out kitted with signs, Israeli flags and banners. We marched down William and James street (Perth City) with 1000s upon 1000s of onlookers. Every step taken we received an overwhelming applause from the onlooking crowd. To cap things off we were award the trophy for being the best walking group. We beet the Greens who had won it the last 2 years running.

We ended the night with a moving Havadallah service in the James Street Park where 2 ministers and other non-Jewish marches took part. It was a truly uplifting experience.

We only had one sour moment where a member of the Socialist Alliance, on their megaphone felt the need to shout out JEWS CAN'T RUN JEWS CAN'T HIDE JEWS SUPPORT GENOCIDE. He was very quickly was silenced by members of the onlooking crowd and the festivities continued. No one from our group engaged with this idiot. But it does demonstrate the underlining anti-antisemitism in the left-wing socialist leadership.

As a member of the Youth it was our opportunity to put the Jewish community and Israel on the map, Demonstrating that we are a progressive people that are tolerant and excepting of all.

Ashkelon Man Dies after Hamas Rocket Fire

2011-10-31T09:04:00.001+08:00

On Saturday Moshe Ami was man killed by a Grad rocket fired from the Gaza Strip. He was laid to rest in Ashkelon on Sunday in front of 1000s of morners. The 56-year-old was on his way home to his family when the an air raid siren went off, warning of an incoming rocket.

In a residential neighborhood in Ashkelon, he left his vehicle and ran for cover, but was mortally injured by shrapnel flying from the rocket.

Magen David Adom paramedics rushed the rocket victim to Barzilai Medical Center in the city, but doctors were unable to save his life.

Before being evacuated to the hospital by MDA paramedics, Ami managed to answer a telephone call from his concerned wife and told her that he had been injured.

A list Of Some Of The Terrorists Released

2011-10-19T12:55:00.001+08:00

Aad Abu Sharah (19 life sentences), Majdi Amro (19 life sentences) and Fadi Muhammad al-Jabaa (18 life sentences) – responsible for the attack on bus No. 37 in Haifa in 2002.

Abdel Aziz Salha – participant in the 2000 Ramallah lynching who was iconically photographed displaying his blood-stained hands to the Palestinian mob after having beaten an Israeli soldier to death.

Abdel Hadi Ghneim – the surviving perpetrator of the Tel Aviv Jerusalem bus 405 suicide attack in which Ghneim seized the steering wheel of a crowded Egged commuter bus line No. 405 and managed to pull the bus into a ravine in the area of Qiryat Ye'arim. 16 civilians were killed in the attack.

Abed Amro – took part in the execution of the Café Hillel bombing (2003).

Ahmed Mustafa al-Najar – led a militant squad that killed 3 Israelis in shootings attacks.

Amar Sarhan – killed three Israelis with a knife in 1990.

Bassam Abu Sneina and Riyad Asila – murdered the yeshiva student Chaim Kerman.

Fahad Schludi – took part in the kidnapping and murder of the Israeli soldier Yaron Chen.

Farouk Aramin – murdered 15-year-old Israeli schoolgirl Helena Rapp in 1992.

Husam Badran – the former head of Hamas' military wing in the West Bank, who orchestrated the Dolphinarium discotheque suicide bombing (2001), Sbarro restaurant suicide bombing (2001) and in the Passover massacre (2002).

Ibrahim Shamasneh – took part in the murder of the boys Ronen Kramni and Lior Tuboul, the taxi driver Rafi Doron and the soldier Yehushua Friedberg.

Idris Rajabi – carried out attacks in which 22 Israelis died.

Jihad Yaghmur – took part in the murder of Nachshon Waxman. Originally sentenced to life imprisonment.

Mohammed Aton, Moussa Akawi and Majed Abu Katish – militants that murdered the Israeli policeman Nissim Toledano in 1992.

Mona Jaud Awana – lured over the Internet the 16-year-old Israeli high school student Ofir Rahum, pretending to be a young American tourist, managed to drive him to a remote area in the outskirts of Ramallah where three Palestinian gunmen showed up and shot Rahum at close range.

Muhammad Douglas – took part in the execution of the Sbarro restaurant suicide bombing in Jerusalem (2001).

Muhammad Jose – responsible for the murder of the three Dickstein family members and the Israeli soldier Eliezer Lebowitz.

Muhammad Karem – directly involved in the planning and execution of a bus attack in Haifa in which 15 Israelis were killed.

Mohammed Youssef al-Sharatha – head of the militant squad that kidnapped and murdered the Israeli soldiers Ilan Saadon and Avi Sasportas during the first intifada. Originally sentenced to three consecutive life sentences.

Mohamed (Nihad) Zakout – Tel Aviv construction worker who stabbed three Israelis, murdering two, on the holiday of Purim, 21 March 1989.

Nasser Yataima – convicted of planning the Passover massacre (2002) in which 30 civilians were killed and 140 were wounded.

Tamimi Ahlam – Assisted in the execution of the Sbarro restaurant suicide bombing (2001).

Tariq Hassin – carried out the shooting attack on Highway 6 in June 2003, in which the 7-year-old girl Noam Leibowitz was killed.

Walid Anajas – took part in the execution of the Café Moment bombing (2002), the Hebrew University bombing (2002) and the Rishon LeZion bombing (2002). Originally sentenced to 26 consecutive life sentences.

Yehiye al-Sinwar – took part in the kidnapping and murder of Nachshon Wachsman. Founder of the Hamas security apparatus in Gaza. His brother organized of the abduction of Gilad Shalit in 2006. Originally sentenced to four life sentences.

WA state Parliament Opposes the Vile BDS campaign

2011-10-15T18:21:00.000+08:00

Mr Hyde, said that both he and other Labor members of the Parliamentary Friends of Israel, such as Hon Kate Doust MLC, believed that the WA Parliament should be standing up for Israel and countering misinformation being spread from the anti-Israel boycott, divestments and sanctions (BSD) campaign.

“WA doesn’t even have a Max Brenner store, yet people are using the BSD campaign locally to run an anti-Israel agenda,” said Mr Hyde.

“I hope that the Barnett Government will allocate us full debating time so we can pass this legislation I have introduced.

“The Australian Senate and the NSW Parliament have passed similar legislation and I believe it is important that WA’s voice on anti-Semitism and misinformation is heard.”

Mr Hyde’s motion, introduced on September 29, 2011, states:

That this House:
(a) notes with concern the anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions [BDS] campaign against legitimate businesses operating in Australia which provide jobs to hundreds of Australians,

(b) calls on all members to condemn the targeting of Max Brenner Chocolate Cafes and other businesses by anti-Israel protestors,

(c) notes that some of the rhetoric used by proponents of the BDS campaign has descended into anti-Semitism, and

(d) condemns anti-Semitism in all its forms.

Hon Christopher Pyne MP - Gilad Shalit is coming Home

2011-10-15T18:14:00.001+08:00

Liberal MP Christopher Pyne speaks about Gilad Shalit's possible release

2011-10-13T09:17:00.001+08:00

Christopher said this yesterday

Mr PYNE (Sturt—Manager of Opposition Business) (13:45): I am delighted in this 90-second statement to welcome news that I have just heard, that Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier who has been incarcerated by Hamas in the Gaza Strip since 2006 is to be released within days. This has been an horrific period for the Shalit family and for the state of Israel. I think it is a shame that in order to secure the release of Gilad Shalit, about whom I have commented before in this place, the Israeli government needed to negotiate with an organisation like Hamas and to release up to 1,000 convicted terrorists and criminals from their jails.

But I do fully understand and accept the importance of the decision that Prime Minister Netanyahu and his government have made. I think it is a very welcome development for Gilad Shalit's family: Aviv and Noam, his brother Yoel, sister Hadas and grandfather's Zvi and for the entire Israeli population. I look forward to watching the coverage of his release, which will be sooner rather than later. I hope that Hamas learns that the path of terror is an infamous path and that instead they should pursue a path of peace.

Shana Tova

2011-09-28T23:22:00.001+08:00

Shana Tova all my speakup4israel readers.

Fresh split in Greens

2011-09-14T18:40:00.000+08:00

From SMH, September 9, 2011, Sean Nicholls, Josephine Tovey

THE NSW Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham has spoken out against the targeting of Max Brenner chocolate stores as part of an anti-Israel boycott, deepening the split within the Greens over the issue.
Mr Buckingham argued that the campaign was ''counter-productive to the cause of peace and human rights in the Middle East''. He has also joined the Parliamentary Friends of Israel, as well as the equivalent Palestinian friendship group.
The boycott of the Israeli-owned Max Brenner stores has been a controversial part of the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign in support of Palestinian rights.

....Mr Buckingham's criticism is likely to deepen the split within the Greens over support for the campaign, which derailed the party's bid to take the seat of Marrickville at March's state election.

The Greens senator Lee Rhiannon has publicly supported the Max Brenner boycott and the campaign in comments that are at odds with the federal Greens Leader, Bob Brown.

''There are a variety of ways to express concern about the abuse of Palestinian human rights and to push for a just peace between Israelis and Palestinians,'' Mr Buckingham said yesterday.
''I am concerned that the tone and the public perception of the Max Brenner protests may be counter-productive to the cause of peace and human rights in the Middle East''.
Max Phillips, a Greens councillor on Mr Buckingham's staff, helped overturn Marrickville council's support for the Israel boycott earlier this year.
Cr Phillips was one of two Greens on the council who changed their vote and sided with Labor and independents against the mayor, Fiona Byrne, to scrap the policy. The NSW Greens are reviewing their support for the international campaign.

Terrorist Gets Five Life Sentences for Butchering the Fogel Family

2011-09-14T18:26:00.001+08:00

Yesterday the Samaria District Military Court sentenced 18-year-old Hakim Awad to five life sentences for the murder of five members of the Fogel family earlier this year.

Awad had confessed to the charges brought against him and was convicted of murdering Udi and Ruth Fogel and three of their children.

“I don’t regret what I did, and would do it again,” Amjad Awad told reporters in May.

Victoria stands up against BDS.

2011-09-06T12:53:00.000+08:00

The message was clear from Federal and State MPs, they will not stand ideally by while these vile anti-Semitic campaigns go on. They will not tolerate any individuals that target Australian own and run businesses.

Scottish boycott of Israel.

2011-09-06T05:27:00.001+08:00

A Scottish professor responds to campus boycott. The Edinburgh Student's Association made a motion to boycott all things Israeli since they claim Israel is under an apartheid regime. Dr. Denis Maceoin (a non-Jew) is an expert in Middle Eastern affairs. Here is his letter to those students.
Dr. Denis MacEoin is a senior editor of the Middle East Quarterly.

TO: The Committee Edinburgh University Student Association.

May I be permitted to say a few words to members of the EUSA? I am an Edinburgh graduate (MA 1975) who studied Persian, Arabic and Islamic History in Buccleuch Place under William Montgomery Watt and Laurence Elwell Sutton, two of Britain's great Middle East experts in their day.

I later went on to do a PhD at Cambridge and to teach Arabic and Islamic Studies at Newcastle University. Naturally, I am the author of several books and hundreds of articles in this field. I say all that to show that I am well informed in Middle Eastern affairs and that, for that reason, I am shocked and disheartened by the EUSA motion and vote. I am shocked for a simple reason: there is not and has never been a system of apartheid in Israel. That is not my opinion, that is fact that can be tested against reality by any Edinburgh student, should he or she choose to visit Israel to see for themselves. Let me spell this out, since I have the impression that those members of EUSA who voted for this motion are absolutely clueless in matters concerning Israel, and that they are, in all likelihood, the victims of extremely biased propaganda coming from the anti-Israel lobby.

Being anti-Israel is not in itself objectionable. But I'm not talking about ordinary criticism of Israel. I'm speaking of a hatred that permits itself no boundaries in the lies and myths it pours out. Thus, Israel is repeatedly referred to as a "Nazi" state. In what sense is this true, even as a metaphor? Where are the Israeli concentration camps? The SS? The Nuremberg Laws? The Final Solution? None of these things nor anything remotely resembling them exists in Israel, precisely because the Jews, more than anyone on earth, understand what Nazism stood for.

It is claimed that there has been an Israeli Holocaust in Gaza (or elsewhere). Where? When? No honest historian would treat that claim with anything but the contempt it deserves. But calling Jews Nazis and saying they have committed a Holocaust is as basic a way to subvert historical fact as anything I can think of.

Likewise apartheid. For apartheid to exist, there would have to be a situation that closely resembled how things were in South Africa under the apartheid regime. Unfortunately for those who believe this, a weekend in any part of Israel would be enough to show how ridiculous the claim is.

That a body of university students actually fell for this and voted on it is a sad comment on the state of modern education. The most obvious focus for apartheid would be the country's 20% Arab population. Under Israeli law, Arab Israelis have exactly the same rights as Jews or anyone else; Muslims have the same rights as Jews or Christians; Baha'is, severely persecuted in Iran, flourish in Israel, where they have their world center; Ahmadi Muslims, severely persecuted in Pakistan and elsewhere, are kept safe by Israel; the holy places of all religions are protected under a specific Israeli law. Arabs form 20% of the university population (an exact echo of their percentage in the general population).

In Iran, the Bahai's (the largest religious minority) are forbidden to study in any university or to run their own universities: why aren't your members boycotting Iran? Arabs in Israel can go anywhere they want, unlike blacks in apartheid South Africa. They use public transport, they eat in restaurants, they go to swimming pools, they use libraries, they go to cinemas alongside Jews - something no blacks were able to do in South Africa. Israeli hospitals not only treat Jews and Arabs, they also treat Palestinians from Gaza or the West Bank. On the same wards, in the same operating theatres.

In Israel, women have the same rights as men: there is no gender apartheid. Gay men and women face no restrictions, and Palestinian gays often escape into Israel, knowing they may be killed at home.

It seems bizarre to me that LGBT groups call for a boycott of Israel and say nothing about countries like Iran, where gay men are hanged or stoned to death. That illustrates a mindset that beggars belief.

Intelligent students thinking it's better to be silent about regimes that kill gay people, but good to condemn the only country in the Middle East that rescues and protects gay people. Is that supposed to be a sick joke?
University is supposed to be about learning to use your brain, to think rationally, to examine evidence, to reach conclusions based on solid evidence, to compare sources, to weigh up one view against one or more others. If the best Edinburgh can now produce are students who have no idea how to do any of these things, then the future is bleak.

I do not object to well-documented criticism of Israel. I do object when supposedly intelligent people single the Jewish state out above states that are horrific in their treatment of their populations. We are going through the biggest upheaval in the Middle East since the 7th and 8th centuries, and it's clear that Arabs and Iranians are rebelling against terrifying regimes that fight back by killing their own citizens.

Israeli citizens, Jews and Arabs alike, do not rebel (though they are free to protest). Yet Edinburgh students mount no demonstrations and call for no boycotts against Libya, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Iran. They prefer to make false accusations against one of the world's freest countries, the only country in the Middle East that has taken in Darfur refugees, the only country in the Middle East that gives refuge to gay men and women, the only country in the Middle East that protects the Bahai's.... Need I go on?

The imbalance is perceptible, and it sheds no credit on anyone who voted for this boycott. I ask you to show some common sense. Get information from the Israeli embassy. Ask for some speakers. Listen to more than one side. Do not make your minds up until you have given a fair hearing to both parties. You have a duty to your students, and that is to protect them from one-sided argument.

They are not at university to be propagandized. And they are certainly not there to be tricked into anti-Semitism by punishing one country among all the countries of the world, which happens to be the only Jewish state. If there had been a single Jewish state in the 1930's (which, sadly, there was not), don't you think Adolf Hitler would have decided to boycott it?

Your generation has a duty to ensure that the perennial racism of anti-Semitism never sets down roots among you. Today, however, there are clear signs that it has done so and is putting down more. You have a chance to avert a very great evil, simply by using reason and a sense of fair play. Please tell me that this makes sense. I have given you some of the evidence. It's up to you to find out more.

Yours sincerely,
Denis MacEoin

450 000 Arabs, Christians and Israelis march together

2011-09-05T13:25:00.001+08:00

Over the weekend, more than 450,000 Israelis, Jews and Arabs of all ages, from a broad spectrum of backgrounds, political persuasions, both religious and secular, took part in peaceful protests across the country to demand a change in the country's priorities. There is a lesson in tolerance and co-existence to be learned from how Israelis have conducted these protests.

Daphne Leef's speech September 3rd 2011 in front of the 450 000 people.

Something massive, something huge happened this summer. Summer 2011 is the big summer of the new Israeli hope. This hope was born, like many hopes, out of a feeling of despair, alienation, inequalities that became impossible for all of us, inequalities that almost became impossible to overcome.

The Israeli society that stands here – and also, it’s important to note, also the Israeli society that chose to stay home this evening – reached its red line. And then it stood up and said: Enough! No more! You can cheat some of the people some of the time, but you can’t cheat everyone all the time. This summer we woke up and refused to keep walking with our eyes shut towards the abyss.

We are choosing to live. We are not invisible. If they only understand numbers, let us remind them that there are more than 7 million people here, and every one of these people has a heart. There was a sign on Rothschild that said: “Every heart is a revolutionary cell.” It’s true. Every one of us is the protest headquarters of one person.

This summer was a wonderful obstacle course. What hurdles didn’t they put before us? What didn’t they say about us? How they tried to break us up. The first thing they said about us was: spoiled brats. Sushi and nargilas. From this we learned that the automatic response of the publicly elected is to give not respect to our actions. Their first priority was to say – it’s nothing, zero, just a group of kids. At that point there was only the tent camp on Rothschild Boulevard. They called us vague and deluded. The result: tent camps began to be set up throughout the country. They had no choice but to understand that this was something bigger, something of our own.

My generation grew up with the feeling that we were alone in the world. It’s us versus the TV screen. That the other is our enemy, that he is our competitor. We grew up with the feeling that we are in living in a race we have no chance of winning, that we mustn’t rely on anyone else. They taught us that it’s either you or him. That’s capitalism – unending competition. The fact that this generation – the loneliest and withdrawn generation – stood up and did something is nothing short of a miracle. The miracle of the summer of 2011. There you have it – everything that we thought, all they taught us – was wrong! What happened here was exactly what needed to happen.

We were closed up each of us in his own cycle, a cycle of dissatisfaction, of a feeling of absurdity. And suddenly we began to talk, and more importantly: We began to listen.

So they called us the extreme left. They tried to define us. How on earth do they know who I am? How do they know who you are? Where do they get the chutzpah? The best answer to their assertions came not from me of from my friends, it came from the tent camps that sprang up in Hatikva neighborhood, in Jesse Cohen, in Kiryat Gat, Kiryat Shmona, Modiin, Rahat, Kalansawa, Jerusalem, Haifa, Bet Shean, Yerucham, and in tens of other places. All of us, the whole country, realized that there is no right or left – we are all servants/we all serve.

They told us – go to the periphery towns. What a terrible and condescending thing to say. What is that – “go to the periphery”? It’s something you say as if – there, there are no people. That there is a wasteland. Silence. And you know what? How lucky it is that they sent us to the periphery. Because we discovered there what we already knew – that this country is full of beating hearts. I went there and found friends for life.

And anyway – what is that – “go to the periphery”? The State of Israel screwed over and continues to screw over its periphery systematically and methodically from the moment it was established. In education, health, infrastructure, housing, welfare, culture – to say “go to the periphery” is unprecedented hypocrisy. To talk of ‘periphery’ is to perpetuate the old discourse that cuts out human beings, that tells them: You are put aside. You are remote. Your needs are less important and your demands are worth less. This summer we proved to everyone that there is no such thing as periphery – we are all central! Every single one of us! We reduced the physical distance between us and we found out that it’s good that way, that we want to remain close. That they will no longer manage to distance us and to divide us.

And then came the security escalation. But even the missiles that fell did not ruin this protest. The opposite – they showed how strong and true it is. The fact that we didn’t fold then was, I’ve already said this, the most moving aspect of this protest. The time has come for the concept “Security Situation” to stop being a value and return to being what it is – a situation. And a situation that must change.

Missiles fell, and we were silent for a few days. We marched in silence. And then what did they say? They said that the protest was fading out. Instead of recognizing that it pained us that a million Israelis were living under the threat of missiles, that we were hurting for the people injured, killed, and whose houses were ruined. But instead of appreciated that we were with them, instead of seeing how our silence came from love, they said “the protest is fading out”. They tried to turn our solidarity into retreat.

The truth is, it was sad. How on earth does the government of Israel dare to make such an attempt of divide and rule? A government that abandoned its residents; that abandoned its elderly, its sick, its immigrants, its weak. How can is now come to us with such an assertion? Israeli governments have divided us for years, and when finally we come together, when we showed that we are not willing to carry on sitting in front of the TV, they said that we are not showing solidarity. We don’t show solidarity? Look at what’s going on here!

When they talk about security they come to protect human lives – how does that line up with the Israeli government’s policy of recklessness?

I’m 25 years old. What are my biggest memories of this country: the 2nd Lebanon War, the period of terrorism, friends who were killed then, the assassination of Rabin, Gilad Shalit. And that’s even without going into that I’m 3rd generation Holocaust survivor. This was my consciousness. Moments and memories laced with death, loss, pain, fear, and the feeling that everything is temporary.

At the demonstration in Afula I saw a sign: “For 31 days I have been proud to be Israeli”. I stand before you and I am now proud to be an Israeli for 7 weeks. I feel we are together building here our self-worth as a society. To say “I deserve” means that someone else also deserves, that we deserve. This summer brought with it many good moments and memories – of hope, of change, fraternity, listening.

A discourse of life has been created. It’s the most important awakening there has been here. We are not here just to survive, we are here in order to live. We are not here just because we have nowhere else. We are here because we want to be here. We choose to be here, we choose to be in a good place, in a just society, we want to live in society as a society – not as a collection of lonely individuals who each sit in front of one box, the TV, and once every four years put a slip in another box – the polling box.

We are here, not because we have no other land. We are here because this is the land we want. Without our even noticing, people have begun to return from abroad, suddenly there’s a feeling that something’s happening here that mustn’t be missed.

We’ve created a new discourse here. This is the new discourse: We’ve replaced the word pity with the word compassion. We’ve replace the word charity with the word justice. We’ve replaced the word donation with the word welfare. We’ve replaced the word consumer with the word citizen. We’ve replaced the verb ‘to wait’ with the verb ‘to change’. We’ve replaced the word alone with the word together. This is the greatest thing that we’ve done this summer. I don’t know about you, friends, but it’s already irreversible. We’ll not agree to go backwards! We are striding forwards, to a better future, to a more just country. Social Justice!

We’re all of us imprisoned somehow in our social status, in our neighborhoods, in our religion, our gender. And then I realized that we’re not imprisoned – it’s that we’re imprisoning us! We all have an overdraft, but the overdraft is in the interest of the banks, it’s in the interest of the entire financial system of the state. They want to keep us constantly at a certain level of distress. Because where there is distress there is no hope, and where there is no hope there is no chance of change, and where there is no chance for change there is nothing to live for. But this summer, day after day, week after week, we went out to the streets and clarified not just to the government, but also to ourselves, that there is something to live for! The moment we realized this, the moment we began to think about a shared tomorrow, we all set out to freedom!

What will tomorrow bring? We’re all asking what tomorrow will bring. What will happen to the tents, what is happening with the protest, where next and what to do and all that. All this demand for the fateful day, for the victory photo, for the decisive moment – there’s no such thing, my friends. Was there one fateful day when the social gaps became unbearable? Did swinish capitalism mark a particular moment of victory? Can we put our finger on that one privatization too many? There was no such moment. There was a process. Likewise now there is no moment – there’s a process. This process of ours is just beginning now. We have demands of the government and its head because things must change.

If you are a resident of Yerucham – things must change.
If you are a child whose parents have no money to pay for your school trip – things must change.
If you are a pensioner or holocaust survivor – things must change
If you are a Gaza evacuee – things must change
If you are Bedouin – things must change.

40% of us are defined as “financially fragile”. That means that 40% of us can’t cope with an unexpected outlay: dental care for the kid, a burst drain, injury. We are all living on the edge, by the skin of our teeth, pushed to take out another loan, to need more, to save less. Our lives have become a financial war of survival, while the state abandoned our pensions to games on the stock market, and privatized more and more of the basic services.

You know what’s the worst phrase? The small citizen. There are laws against insulting a public servant, but there are no laws against insulting the citizens. And they’ve insulted us enough over the past few years. They’ve pushed us towards poverty, played with us, split us from each other. Don’t know about you, but I don’t like it when they laugh at me, and I don’t like it when they play me along.

The citizen is not small! The citizen is the largest there is! To be a citizen, a large citizen, and to understand this, is the greatest challenge that stands before us. The demands of this protest are exactly based on the understanding that we are not willing to be small citizens any more, consumers, we are not willing to be a target audience any more, just a sector, just a tenth. We will no longer hole up in our tiny bunkers and wage our war of existence alone.

That era is over.

From now on something new: From now on we are together. We demand change, and we demand to be part of that change.

We have begun a new discourse, a discourse of hope, of sharing, of solidarity and responsibility. I want to ask the Prime Minister, to ask all the politicians: Look at what happened here, at what is happening here – is this what you want to defeat? Is this something you are able to defeat? You are the People’s representatives. Listen to the People. This protest, that gave so much hope to many people – do you want to break this hope? Is that what you want? To melt down the hope? You will never succeed!

And after we jumped all the hurdles and all the spin didn’t succeed, what did they have left? To attack me. This thing started with one person who did something. I set up my tent on Rothschild out of a personal feeling of to be or not to be. A person very close to my heart, Alex, put an end to his life. He was a poet. He wrote that even if you have a heart of gold, you will not manage to change the world. Two months before all this started up, he couldn’t be here any longer, and he chose not to be.

How can a person like that, a dreamer and an idealist, feel that he no longer has a place in this world? If he has no place in this world then I suppose I have no place here either. And my heart hurt. My heart was broken. What kind of a world is it that has no room for dreamers, idealists, poets? What kind of world cuts them out? A world of poverty. Because all of us are dreamers and we all have the right to dream. To be poor isn’t only not managing to make it to the end of the financial month or to be homeless. To be poor is to be troubled by these things, fundamentally, to such an extent that you are not able to dream, to think, to learn, to hug your children.

So I started this thing. But just because I started it doesn’t mean it’s mine only. It’s not just my story, it’s the story of many people who stood up and started walking, stood up and began to do something. We all decided to be. We decided to be here. Here we are.

This summer we learned that we all of us have a place. That tomorrow will be what we make of it. We don’t need them to define us, we know full well who we are. And after this summer we know that it’s okay to dream. More than that. We understood that we must dream! To dream is to be.

7 weeks ago I was a 25 year-old who was struggling alone with her private dreams – to make movies. In the past week I’ve been attacked from all sides, and they almost managed to make me feel alone again. Don’t know about you, but I’ve just started my protest…

I’ll be here as long as necessary. I want to show Alex that yes, you can change the world, that everyone can. You only need to believe, get up, and do something. The responsibility is on each and every one of us. To stand up and move and talk and do and not give up.

In taking to the streets, we found home!

Protests expose BDS hypocrisy

2011-08-29T22:47:00.000+08:00

Yet again the Socialists and Australians for Palestine have made statements defending their Boycott of Jewish businesses. They say that the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement is a peaceful campaign, used to put pressure on Israel and help bring an end to occupation.

Yet again they have been caught out lying. Today I watched a youtube video of a Max Brenner protest in Newton Sydney. The video starts off with the deeply offensive and violent chant; "From the river to the sea Palestine will be free". The message of the chant is very clear. They want a Palestinian state that extends from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, which would eliminate the state of Israel.

Does this chant promote non-violence? Is it trying to put pressure on Israel to end an occupation? Is the chant about Palestinian human rights? The answer is no. This is about the total destruction of Israel, and the exile of over 7 million Jewish and Christian citizens.

In the past many may have turned a blind eye and said that the chant is just rhetoric - just a few loud people singing a catchy tune. But it is not the case. The BDS movement is rooted in antisemitism, the ideals of a one state solution; where the only state is a Palestinian state.

The founder of BDS, Omar Barghouti, gives a true picture of what the movement is all about. Barghouti has stated many times that one day there will be a "Palestine next to a Palestine", in contrast to people like myself who work for an Israel next to Palestine.

Ironically, Barghouti studies at Tel-Aviv University while simultaneously campaigning for a boycott of Israeli educational institutions. He also advocates the complete isolation of Israel economically, politically and culturally. He makes it clear that his intention is not to isolate, but to destroy Israel.

This is a direct quote from Barghouti, “Good riddance! The two-state solution for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is finally dead. But someone has to issue an official death certificate before the rotting corpse is given a proper burial and we can all move on and explore the more just, moral and therefore enduring alternative for peaceful coexistence between Jews and Arabs in Mandate Palestine: the one-state solution.”

Barghouti and Australian Supporters of BDS are advocating the destruction of the world's only Jewish state. This is not consistent with a non-violent ideology. A state doesn't peacefully disappear, especially not when it's overtaken by those who express a desire to drive its inhabitants into the sea. This clearly debunks their non-violence claim and proves to the world that the people standing outside Max Brenner and the Dead Sea stalls are actually a bunch of violent anti-Semites proudly advocating the destruction of Israel.

2011-08-29T11:15:00.003+08:00

Gilad Shalit's Birthday August 28 - 5 years in a Hamas Lock-up

2011-08-24T17:01:00.003+08:00

On Sunday marks Gilad Shalit's 25th Birthday, Sadly it will be his 5th behind bars in a Gaza cell. It is important that we remember Gilad and the struggle he and his family are facing. We must pressure our local government officials so that they can continue placing Gilad in the international lime light. Hopefully the day will come when our prays are answered and we can see Gilad returned back home in one piece.

On June 25, 2006 then Israeli Defense Force Corporal Gilad Shalit was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists from within Israeli territory and taken to the Gaza Strip. The kidnapping was part of an unprovoked attack which involved seven armed terrorists using a tunnel dug under the Israel-Gaza border. Gilad was 19 at the time of his abduction.

During the course of the attack, an IDF soldier, Staff Sergeant Pavel Slutzker, and an officer, Lieutenant Hanan Barak, were murdered, while five others were wounded.

NSW Attorney-General Lays the Smackdown on the Anti-Semitic NSW Greens

2011-08-24T16:44:00.001+08:00

Article published in The Australian on 24/8/2011
Imre Salusinszky

NSW Attorney-General Greg Smith has accused the Greens of echoing the worst aspects of historical anti-Semitism in Europe in their bid to ban economic, sporting and cultural contacts with Israel.

In a speech at Sydney University today, Mr Smith will argue the party's support for the BDS campaign reveals "an ugly underbelly of the Australian Greens' agenda".

"The BDS resolution against Jewish businesses passed in December 2010 by the Marrickville Council and, more recently, violent activist protests against Jewish businesses, in particular Max Brenner chocolate and coffee stores, are eerily reminiscent of Jewish pogroms of earlier times," he will say.
Intensifying his attack on the Greens, Mr Smith will accuse the party of displaying "a strong atheistic and anti-religious tendency" that works against religious freedom. "Where there is an attempt to curtail the rights of religious groups, particularly Christian ones, the Greens are never too far away."

Mr Smith, a devout Catholic, will also rule out the introduction in NSW of religious tolerance (or anti-vilification) legislation such as that which exists in Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania. He will argue such laws can have "a chilling effect on legitimate religious activity" and are "an interference by government in the free exercise of religion".

Today's speech comes after Nationals senator Ron Boswell yesterday accused the Greens of trying to justify a "blatantly anti-Semitic boycott" of Max Brenner stores as part of a global protest aimed at Israel.

The Greens moved a motion in the Senate yesterday to uphold the right of consumers to boycott businesses on the basis of personal ethical judgments.

But the veteran Nationals senator claimed the motion was an attempt to justify pickets on Jewish businesses and, in particular, a protest outside a Max Brenner store this weekend in Brisbane.

Senator Boswell moved an amendment to the Greens' motion seeking to uphold the right of consumers to shop where they liked without being deterred by means of "unlawful secondary boycott, intimidation or picket". It was passed on the voices.

The protests at Max Brenner stores are part of a global movement known as Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, which targets Israeli businesses to try to secure human rights improvements for Palestinians.
Nineteen protesters were arrested and three policemen injured last month when a protest outside a Melbourne Max Brenner shop turned ugly.

Senator Boswell yesterday claimed new NSW Greens senator Lee Rhiannon was leading the Greens down a new socialist path.

Greens leader Bob Brown declined to comment.

Additional reporting: Joe Kelly

Elie Wiesel: Jerusalem is Above Politics

2011-08-23T16:38:00.000+08:00

Here’s the text of full-page ads that Elie Wiesel took out last year in the The International Herald Tribune, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times:

It was inevitable: Jerusalem once again is at the center of political debates and international storms. New and old tensions surface at a disturbing pace. Seventeen times destroyed and seventeen times rebuilt, it is still in the middle of diplomatic confrontations that could lead to armed conflict. Neither Athens nor Rome has aroused that many passions.
For me, the Jew that I am, Jerusalem is above politics. It is mentioned more than six hundred times in Scripture—and not a single time in the Koran. Its presence in Jewish history is overwhelming. There is no more moving prayer in Jewish history than the one expressing our yearning to return to Jerusalem. To many theologians, it IS Jewish history, to many poets, a source of inspiration. It belongs to the Jewish people and is much more than a city, it is what binds one Jew to another in a way that remains hard to explain. When a Jew visits Jerusalem for the first time, it is not the first time; it is a homecoming. The first song I heard was my mother’s lullaby about and for Jerusalem. Its sadness and its joy are part of our collective memory.
Since King David took Jerusalem as his capital, Jews have dwelled inside its walls with only two interruptions; when Roman invaders forbade them access to the city and again, when under Jordanian occupation, Jews, regardless of nationality, were refused entry into the old Jewish quarter to meditate and pray at the Wall, the last vestige of Solomon’s temple. It is important to remember: had Jordan not joined Egypt and Syria in the war against Israel, the old city of Jerusalem would still be Arab. Clearly, while Jews were ready to die for Jerusalem they would not kill for Jerusalem.
Today, for the first time in history, Jews, Christians and Muslims all may freely worship at their shrines. And, contrary to certain media reports, Jews, Christians and Muslims ARE allowed to build their homes anywhere in the city. The anguish over Jerusalem is not about real estate but about memory.
What is the solution? Pressure will not produce a solution. Is there a solution? There must be, there will be. Why tackle the most complex and sensitive problem prematurely? Why not first take steps which will allow the Israeli and Palestinian communities to find ways to live together in an atmosphere of security. Why not leave the most difficult, the most sensitive issue, for such a time?
Jerusalem must remain the world’s Jewish spiritual capital, not a symbol of anguish and bitterness, but a symbol of trust and hope. As the Hasidic master Rebbe Nahman of Bratslav said, “Everything in this world has a heart; the heart itself has its own heart.
Jerusalem is the heart of our heart, the soul of our soul.”

- Elie Wiesel

Please SHARE with your friends and family!

African Refugee Becomes Deputy Speaker of the Knesset

2011-08-23T16:34:00.001+08:00

This another example of why the idiots labeling Israel an apartheid and undemocratic are just a bunch of mindless stooges.

Ethiopian-born MK becomes Deputy Knesset Speaker: MK Shlomo Molla (Kadima) was elected deputy Knesset speaker on Wednesday. Molla, who made aliya from Gondar province in Ethiopia at age 19 in 1984, said he hopes to show Israeli society that "immigrants from any country can be partners in building the land and the State of Israel."

In Australia we round up our refugees, put them in camps and send tom to place like Nauru or Malaysia. But in Israel it is opposite, Israel opens its arms. This is clearly another example of how Israel is a land of opportunity, a place where people like Shlomo Molla a refugee can find a safe place to, get an education and flourish as an individual unlike in Australia where our refugees are marginalized.

Congradulations Shlomo and I hope you can be an example to people around the world that Israel is the land of opportunity.

Green's leader Bob Brown shows true colours by apposing an Anti-BDS motion

2011-08-23T10:46:00.002+08:00

Names of five terror victims released

2011-08-19T17:19:00.002+08:00

The names of five victims of Thursday's terror attacks have been released. They are two sisters, their husbands and a 57 year old man.

Five of the eight victims have been identified: husband and wife Moshe and Flora Gaz, and Flora's sister Shula Karlinsky and her husband, Dov Karlinsky. Both couples lived in Kfar Saba.

The four took off for a vacation in Eilat on Thursday, but never arrived. As they approached the city they were ambushed by terrorists, who fired an anti-tank missile at their car.

After the missile hit his target, a terrorist approached the car and fired on the four to make sure they had all been slain.

Another woman survived after her husband was murdered by playing dead. She was apparently the wife of 57-year old Yosef Levi from Holon, who was also murdered in the attack.

When more names are released I will publish them right away. In the mean time over the weekend it is important that everyone keeps these people in mind. If you are religious pray for their salvation, if you are secular talk about these individuals were aver you go.

It is important that we make sure people know that 8 civilians were slaughtered by Palestinian terrorists. Terrorists that want to destroy the state of Israel and have every Israeli live in fear that another attack is just around the corner.

This weekend please head to a Max Brenner, buy a packet of Bamba, eat Jaffa oranges and wear Ahava Dead Sea products. Support Israeli produced goods in the name of the 8 terror victims.

Turning up the volume for deaf Palestinians

2011-08-17T04:31:00.002+08:00

By Karin Kloosterman
May 29, 2011

Israel's Sheba Medical Center pairs with an American foundation to provide hearing aids to a West Bank population affected by genetic deafness.

The plight of hearing-impaired people in the West Bank fell on deaf ears - until a joint American-Israeli humanitarian project outfitted 1,000 Arabs from the Palestinian Authority town of Tulkarm with hearing aids this month.

The hearing aids were distributed in cooperation with the Sheba Medical Center, the US-based Starkey Hearing Foundation, and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel.

A hearing aid means the world to young people like Riham Zuheir Kassem, a five-year-old girl left deaf after contracting viral meningitis when she was seven months old. Her mother had tried to get medical care for the child in Jerusalem, but couldn't afford it. Now, Riham will be able to hear, attend school and live out her potential in life.

A hearing aid will improve the quality of life for older Palestinians as well, like Muhammad Arzall, a 50-year-old farmer whose hearing gradually deteriorated as he got older. Arzall didn't have the money to purchase a hearing aid, so he went without -- until now.

Ten-year-old Aya Ayman Ahmad Daghmash, and her little sister Youmna Ayman Ahmad Daghmash, nine, were both diagnosed with hearing loss at the age of five. Unable to educate them in local schools, they were sent to a special boarding school far from home. To enable them to attend a school closer to home, the school asked that they be fitted with hearing aids, but the family couldn't afford them. "I must admit I nearly cried to see them receive the hearing aids. This is a present from above for us. We thank everyone who made this dream come true," their dad said.

Operating under secrecy because of security concerns in the Palestinian Authority, where it can be dangerous and even deadly for Israelis to travel, the team of 20 Israeli doctors and hearing specialists, with representatives from the Starkey Foundation, traveled to Tulkarem to do fittings in April. They returned a month later to distribute the hearing aids, answer questions and train users over the course of three days.

"It's a population which is in a great need for this hearing aid, and they can't afford them," Dr. Raphi Walden, a key organizer of the operation, tells ISRAEL21c.

The members of the delegation felt safe with an escort by an elite Palestinian force, and got an extremely positive response from the local community, adds Walden, a vascular surgeon who is the son-in-law of Israeli President Shimon Peres and is the deputy director of Sheba Medical Center and a leader of Physicians for Human Rights. "Lacking medical services, they can't afford to buy this equipment, which costs about $1,000 apiece."

Walden estimates that the new hearing aid owners, who range from the ages of four to 75, may experience a profound turnaround in their lives now that they are able to hear.

Rampant genetic hearing deficiencies

Hearing problems are rife throughout the Palestinian Arab population, Walden says. This is the result of "inbreeding depression," the scientific term for the genetic effects of consanguineous marriage -- a common, even encouraged, phenomenon in Arab culture, where a husband and wife are often cousins. In some cases, all the children in a family are clinically deaf.

Deafness renders the children outcasts, as they are not able to make friends, go to school and, when the time comes, get a decent job. In many cases, the problems are solvable with a simple device. But the $1,000 price tag is about equal to the monthly income for a family in the West Bank.

So the American Friends of the Sheba Medical Center appealed to the Starkey Hearing Foundation to donate assistive hearing devices (along with a year's supply of batteries to power them) to the Palestinians. The Physicians for Human Rights located those in need, and the Israelis fitted and trained patients, and will oversee maintenance checks in the future.

The Starkey Foundation donates 100,000 hearing aids around the world each year, so far improving the hearing of half a million people. Starkey's head, Bill Austin, came to Tulkarm to see his organization's gift being implemented.

“The Starkey Hearing Foundation Israel-Palestine Hearing Mission of Peace is a humanitarian effort unlike any hearing mission we have done before anywhere in the world,” said Austin. “In our ongoing desire to deliver the gift of hearing to those in need, we thank our Israeli partners and the Palestinian people for giving us the opportunity to bring about a life-changing event for each of the recipients we were able to help. It is our hope that this work will make possible greater understanding and communication.”

This small act of kindness by Americans and Israelis to the perceived enemy is just another of tens of dozens of humanitarian projects that Israelis help coordinate on a monthly basis.

ACCC probes anti-Israel boycotts

2011-08-12T03:02:00.001+08:00

From The Age, August 9, 2011, by Adam Carey:

...Consumer Affairs Minister Michael O'Brien has written to the head of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Rod Sims, and asked him to investigate whether a group that protested outside Max Brenner's chocolate shop in QV last month has broken federal law by engaging in secondary boycotts.

''To target businesses because they're owned by Israelis or because they do business with Israel is entirely unacceptable and in our view sets a very, very ugly precedent,'' Mr O'Brien said.

The ACCC will investigate whether the protesters contravened section 45D of the Competition and Consumer Act, which prohibits a group from gathering with the intention of stopping a third person or company from doing business.
Until now, it has only been used to target trade union activity, but Melbourne University competition law professor Dr Caron Beaton-Wells said protesters might have a case to answer if protesters ''had the purpose or their actions had the effect of causing substantial loss and damage to the shop owner's business''.
''That's something the ACCC would have to investigate and form a view on,'' Dr Beaton-Wells said.
...Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews said the protest had ''no place in a respectful, multicultural and multi-faith Victoria'', he said.

Bolt Angers Freinds of Palestine after exposing their anti-Semitic ways.

2011-08-05T18:10:00.003+08:00

Alex Bainbridge and the Friends or Palestine are not happy. They are not happy because the Andrew Bolt has exposed their sinister racist ways. As reported on this blog in the past Australians for Palestine and Friends of Palestine are supporting the vile racist boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign.

Mr Bainbridge took personal offense to Bolt's statement “You remember the boycott of Jewish shops in Germany seventy years ago, here’s what the Greens-backed boycott of a Jewish shop now – today – looks like in Perth.”

Bainbridge's open letter to Bolt then goes on to explain that he is not a racist, he is a supporter Palestinian rights. What I want to know Mr Bainbridge, is why does the BDS campaign single out, Jewish, Australian owned businesses?

Westfield is listed in the Australians for Palestine BDS book. Westfield is not Israeli company. The owner of the Westfield Group, Frank Lowy, is one of Australia's most successful businessmen and has made significant contributions to Australian society. He himself was a refugee who fled Nazi Germany and immigrated to Australia in 1952.

One cannot help then but wonder why Australians for Palestine would target an Australian Jewish business as a part of their disgraceful campaign to boycott Israel. It seems that 59 years in Australia is not enough to validate Lowy's Australian identity for Australians for Palestine. It is no secret that in his private capacity, Lowy is a contributor to Israeli institutions. These contributions are legitimate, regardless of what Australians for Palestine think. They also have no connection to Lowy's successful business.

This act exposes the real motivations of Australians for Palestine. Mr Bainbridge, this is proof that you are advocating for the boycott of a Jewish business in Australia, much like the boycott of Jewish businesses in the Nazi Germany era. Mr Bainbridge, if you are not racist or anti-Semitic I seriously think you should reconsider your affiliation with Australians for Palestine while they continue to vilify local, Jewish, Australian run business.

Mr Bolt's show can be viewed on http://ten.com.au/video-player.htm?movideo_p=44795&movideo_m=121098 and Mr Bainbridge's letter can we read on http://www.fopwa.org/2011/08/fopwa-takes-up-defamation-by-andrew-bolt/