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Updated 11/22/09 @ 01:33PM EDT
- The online auction Web site eBay said it took down an ad offering biological samples from Benito Mussolini before anyone could bid on them.
- Turkey has given Israeli defense contractors 50 days to deliver 10 promised drone aircraft.
- Iran began an air defense drill designed to protect its nuclear program, Iranian state television reported.
- The Gaza war has spurred more Israeli recruits to request service in combat units, the country's army said.
- Fervently Orthodox demonstrators protested again at the Intel factory in Jerusalem for operating on Shabbat.
- eBay removes Mussolini brain, blood samples
- Turkey demands delivery of Israeli drones
- Iran begins air defense drill
- More Israeli recruits seeking to join combat units
- Haredim return to protest Jerusalem Intel factory
- Peres: Settlement building stops if Palestinians talk
- Gaza groups agree to stop rocket fire
- Pakistani Mumbai terrorists arrested in Italy
- Female Orthodox scholars helping women talk about sex
- Obama half-brother has Jewish roots
- Lieberman: Fort Hood could be terror attack
- J Street confab shows generational divide on Israel
- What really happened at the Reform biennial in Toronto
- Rubashkin convicted on 86 charges
- Pro-Israel fliers confiscated at campus speech
- Obama shifts to Israel’s corner, but tries not to show it
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Posted in: Obama on peace talks: Stop talking about talking, and start talking
09/23/09 07:12 PM
Each of the last 5 agreements (Oslo I, Oslo II, Wye River, Hebron accord, etc.) signed by Israel and the PA during the last 16 years REQUIRED the PA to stop incitement of terrorism. Yet, despite their written agreements, Palestinian incitement of terrorism against Israelis (and against Americans and Jews all over the world) continues to this day in daily PA television programs, in PA television specials such as the recent one honoring Dalal Mugrabi (the murderer of 37 Israelis including 12 children in the Tel Aviv Coastal Road Massacre), in PA schools, textbooks, other media, mosques, soccer teams, and most recently, the Fatah convention which called for Israel's destruction. We should demand that the Palestinians must finally keep their existing commitments, before even considering further concessions or agreements.
Posted in: Podhoretz's Jewish question
09/16/09 10:25 PM
It was interesting that Ms. Raivich mentioned FDR in relation to the Jewish voting patterns issue. FDR received 82% of the Jewish vote in 1932 and 85% of the Jewish vote in 1936. However, throughout most of his administration and WW 2 (until the belated establishment of the War Refugee Board in 1944), FDR maintained absurdly low immigration quotas - thereby impeding the escape of millions of Jews trapped in Europe. In 1939, FDR refused to allow the St. Louis ("voyage of the damned"), which was filled with Jews fleeing from Nazi Germany (including my great grandmother), to debark when the boat reached the coast of Florida, and instead turned the ship back to Europe. Two-thirds of the ship's passengers thereafter perished at the hands of the Nazis. Nonetheless, 90% of American Jews voted for FDR in 1940. FDR thereafter refused to bomb the railway tracks to the death camps, which could have slowed down the Nazi killing machine. Nonetheless, again in 1944, 90% of Jews voted for FDR. As with Obama's policy of pressuring Israel to make dangerous concessions on every front, many American Jews were misled, uninformed or did not fully comprehend the consequences to their brethren overseas of the FDR administration's policies. But perhaps some simply did not care enough. Liberals believe that they care about others more than they care about themselves. Hopefully, they will extend that caring to the innocent Jewish citizens of Sderot and other beleaguered Israeli communities, Hondurans, Poles, Iranians crushed by Ahmadinejad, and, of course, fellow Americans, all imperiled by the Obama administration's policies. Liz Berney, Esq. LizBerneyforCongress@gmail.com
Posted in: Israel, Jewish groups seek to discredit new U.N. report on Gaza war
09/16/09 06:02 PM
The Goldstone report is filled with huge inaccuracies from cover to cover, which reveal the anti-Israel bias of its authors. For instance, the "report" repeatedly refers to Israel's "continuing occupation" of Gaza and states that Gaza is "Occupied Palestinian Territory" (or "OPT") (see, for example, report paragraph 1654 on page 515 and report paragraph 1694 on page 526), despite the fact that Israel withdrew from every inch of Gaza years before Operation Cast Lead. The report also uses the Hamas estimate of casualties (1400) , despite the fact that this oversstates the number of real casualties by over 50%. (See paragraph 1682 of the report.) The report also provides so-called damage costs to Gaza, while ignoring the enormous cost of the damage which Hamas rockets inflicted on Sderot and other Israeli towns and villages over the 8-year period during which these rockets fell on Israel on a daily basis. The report also asserts the absurd conclusion that because the Israeli operation was planned, it must have been directed at the people of Gaza (see paragraph 1680) - rather than at stopping the rocket attacks. Hamas rocket attacks on Israeli citizens had increased to 150 rockets a day when Israel commenced the Gaza operation to protect her citizens! In fact, the planning by Israel was designed to keep Palestinian civilian casualties as low as possible, and succeeded in doing so. An unplanned operation would have inflicted far more casualties. Indeed, most of the casualties were if fact Hamas terrorists (or "militants" or "Palestinian armed groups" as Mr. Goldstone prefers to call the jihadists who made life unbearable for Israel's innocent citizens with their constant rocket attacks). The report also claims (through a second hand report) that a Gaza's people show resilience and dignity because a teacher wanted to "resume" "human rights education." (See paragraph 1695) Far more reliable sources (for instance, Palestinian Media Watch - http://www.pmw.org.il/ ) have documented what is really taught in Gaza's schools - namely, unmitigated hatred for Israel, Jews and Americans, lies that Israelis are putting Palestinians into ovens and taking their body parts, praise for terrorists who kill Israeli citizens, and encouraging students to destroy Israel and kill Jews and Americans. I could continue to list the enormous inaccuracies with this shamefully shoddy "report" all day. LizBerneyforCongress@gmail.com LizBerneyforCongress.com
Posted in: Op-Ed: Choose civility
09/14/09 02:34 AM
I agree with the importance of civility - meaning, sticking to the issues and avoiding name calling. However, we should not remain quiet in the name of civility when the very existence of the U.S. and Israel and our other allies is endangered. Jewish leaders (and all of us) should courageously scream to the rooftops if need be about issues such as Obama's attempt to blame lack of peace on "settlements" instead of where the blame really rests (the continuing Fatah and Hamas terrorism, incitement and opposition to Israel's very existence). We should be outspoken about the Obama administration's inaction in the face of Iran's imminent nuclear weapons capability and Iran's intention to strike Israel and the U.S. with such weapons. And we should not remain quiet in the face of constant demonization of Jews, Israel and the U.S. by the enemies of our people.
Posted in: Obama appeals to rabbis to help pass health care reform
08/25/09 03:02 PM
It's appalling to read the continuing, extremely vicious, bizarre anonymous attacks by "Tom" on Ms. Cheryl Mavrikos. Ms. Mavrikos has a right to express her views here no matter what her religion is. I did not have time to write about this previously, but Ms. Mavrikos had a very valid point when she criticized Obama for likening his health care plan to a partnership with G-d, assuming that this is how Obama phrased his remarks. I understand that no transcript of the conference call was released, but news reports state that Obama asked 1,000 rabbis to preach his political agenda in their sermons on Rosh Hashanah, one of the holiest days of the year. Such a request was totally inappropriate. The current healthcare proposals are fraught with problems which are likely to damage the quality of healthcare in this country. According to experts, the proposals will result in the closure of some of some of our best hospitals, as funds are directed away from specialty care. Current proposals risk running afoul of the basic medical maxim "First do no harm." Expanding coverage does not mean expanding real healthcare or improving the quality of care. The experience of Massachusetts is revealing: Although more people have coverage, they often cannot obain an appointment with a physician, or have long waits, due to severe healthcare personnel shortages. The U.S. is also facing projected severe physician and nursing shortages nationwide. The House bill also imposes at least 6 new taxes, including taxes on individuals and families who do not obtain "acceptable" health care coverage, as defined by government bureaucrats. This will be a hardship on middle class families who wish to spend more of their limited funds on food, shelter and education rather than on buying a government-approved "acceptable" healthcare plan. In addition, the House bill assigns to a "Health Benefits Advisory Committee" a huge role in determining health insurance benefits - even though this committee of 27 members (mostly government bureaucrats appointed by the president) may end up not including a single practicing physician. (The House bill only calls for "at least one practicing physician or OTHER healthcare professional" to be on the committee.) There is a huge debate regarding the government's role in healthcare, the current healthcare proposals, and how to achive the best quality and quantity of care. For Obama to say or imply that G-d is on his side of the debate is uncalled for.
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