Tension and heated debate circled yesterday as the Rutgers University Student Assembly discussed a motion to reconsider a vote recently passed by RUSA allowing the University Chapter of the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund to have the rights to the semi-annual meal sign-away program.

Concerned University students and some RUSA members said that the PCRF, an international humanitarian group that provides Middle Eastern children affected by war with medical care, should not be allowed the right to the sign-away program because they are a highly political international group.

After each side spoke and answered questions for about 10 minutes, they were asked to conclude discussions. Following the meeting in the Rutgers Student Center on the College Avenue campus, the discussions turned contentious as members shouted outside room 411 of the student center.

Kerri Willson, associate director for Student Centers and Programs, tried to calm both sides but they continued to hotly debate the issue for a few more minutes.

“RUSA has shied away from controversy, from taking stances on political issues,” School of Arts and Sciences junior Tali Rasis said. “I can’t think of a more controversial international issue, or definitely among the top that is going on right now.”

Dialla Hamzeh, the PCRF University chapter’s treasurer, said the organization was upset to hear that students were opposed to helping the organization.

“We were actually shocked when we heard this, especially at Rutgers, because we are so diverse,” said Hamzeh, a School of Arts and Sciences junior. “We don’t think [any of the information] is substantial.”

Rasis said PCRF’s founder and President Stephen Sosebee had comments on his blog that indicated he and the PCRF are a partisan organization, which is not a group RUSA should support.

“He supports forceful resistance. That shows clearly [PCRF is] not a neutral group; they’re very much for one side,” she said. “That’s not something RUSA should be fighting [for].”

There were also allegations that the organization had ties with terrorist groups in the past because of their relationship with the Holy Land Foundation, which was brought up on charges in 2007 for funding Hamas, a terrorist group, said RUSA member Avi Scher, a School of Arts and Sciences sophomore.

“It’s the international organization I have a problem with, not the Rutgers chapter,” Rasis said.

But Ghadeer Hasan, president of the University chapter of the PCRF, said these accusations are false and did not come from substantial sources.

“I don’t think we should make a decision over a blog, just anything off the Internet that has no credibility at all,” said Hasan, a School of Arts and Sciences junior. “The PCRF works with the FBI, the treasury department, the Isreali embassy and the Egyptian embassy — none of which we would be able to do if we were funding terrorists or were linked to terrorists.”

She said the PCRF did work with the Holy Land Foundation many years ago, but its only relationship to the group was to help a child.

“Where is the controversy over the right of a child to health care?” Hasan said. “I don’t really see controversy over giving a child a second chance at life.”

RUSA is expected to consider the issue over the weekend and make a decision on Monday through an e-mail vote.
Updates will be posted on dailytargum.com as they become available.

Notice how supporters of the original vote are trying to stifle the debate by portraying this as an attack on diversity – rather than a legitimate concern. They are also trying to undermine the allegations against the PCRF by blanket statements against internet-based sources  – instead of addressing each one on its merits. As for the claim that the PCRF’s only connection with the Holy Land Foundation “was to help a child”, this flies in the face of this NY Times report (which I assume was published in print as well as on the internet).

I encourage students at Rutgers University, as well as other interested parties, to review the available information as I presented in my previous post on the subject. Then I recommend you look again at the statement that the PCRF “provides Middle Eastern children affected by war with medical care” and specifically ask the University chapter of the PCRF to demonstrate when exactly they have assisted Israeli children. The more ambitious of you could contact Stephen Sosebee and ask him to categorically deny he made the alleged statements in the 2000 news article, as well as at the fundraising dinner.

I then ask those of you able to vote on this issue to do so with your conscience.

Meanwhile, a terrorist-swap deal for Gilad Shalit is reportedly nearing completion, with Hamas handing over to Israel a new prisoner list with 70 new names aimed at replacing 70 to which Israel strongly objects.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

4:00PM: PA “peace partner” Mahmoud Abbas is advocating “resistance”:

In an interview to the British Broadcasting Corporation in Arabic, the Palestinian leader implied that his people may adopt a new type of struggle against the occupation.

“Those who have to resist are the people, and there are different types of resistance, like in (West Bank villages of) Bilin and Naalin, where people are injured every day,” he said.

In case you think he is preaching non-violence, be aware that in these places, the “protesters” are throwing rocks and other projectiles.

Even more worrying (but hardly surprising to anyone following this blog and my contention that Abbas and Fatah are just terrorists in suits):

He went on to point a finger at the Hamas organization. “Hamas talk about the importance of resistance, but why aren’t they resisting now. There is a truce between them and Israel, and since the war in Gaza Hamas has not carried out any act of resistance.”

And I assure you here, he is not talking “just” about throwing rocks and other projectiles.

3:45PM: Some recent new immigrants to Israel….from China and India.

1:18PM: Fatah has reportedly made a strategic decision to declare a third intifada against Israel, thus implementing a decision made during its recent sixth convention.

This intifada is supposedly to be in the form of “unarmed resistance”, in order to garner more sympathy for their cause, as well as to embarrass the Israeli government (not because murder is immoral).

1:04PM: While Israelis endeavor to repair bones, palestinians endeavor to break them.

6:16AM: Photo of the day:

This Nov. 16, 2009 photo shows Palestinian teacher Gada Aby Ward teaching in the Omar Ben al-Khattab School. Twenty years after the U.N. adopted a treaty guaranteeing children’s rights, fewer youngsters are dying and more are going to school, but an estimated 1 billion children still lack services essential to their survival and development, UNICEF said Thursday.
(AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Oh, I get it. A palestinian teaching about the human heart, while meanwhile those bad heartless Israelis are making them suffer. How symbolic.

I guess there’s a chance the AP photographer just happened to be in the classroom while the palestinian teacher was teaching about the human heart of all things, but there just seems to be too many coincidences when it comes to foreign press photographs.

“President Obama should not interfere with the rights of the Jewish people to live in Jerusalem,” said Danon. “This … is a racist demand, saying that Jews cannot live in Jerusalem, only Arabs.”

He’s right. I wonder how Obama would react to demands from another country that African Americans not be allowed to live in parts of the US.

Meanwhile, just to give you an idea of Israeli feelings about this, Opposition leader Tzipi Livni – who today blasted the Prime Minister – had this to say.

Britain and France have also condemned the construction in Gilo, but in Israel – as Opposition Chairwoman Tzipi Livni stressed to French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner – there is consensus on the Jerusalem neighborhood.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

10:50PM: Israel’s plans to build 900 new residential units in Jerusalem’s Gilo neighborhood are “unforgivable and dangerous”..according to the country who has constructed nuclear facilities for nefarious purposes.

6:05PM: China has criticized the Israeli government’s move to expand a Jewish neighborhood in Jerusalem, saying it poses new obstacles to the Middle East peace process.

Funny, because I was sure China’s idea of an “obstacle” was this:

5:52PM: In Newsweek, Dan Senor and Saul Singer, authors of Start up Nation- the Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle, answer the questions:

How does Israel—with fewer people than the state of New Jersey, no natural resources, and hostile nations all around—produce more tech companies listed on the NASDAQ than all of Europe, Japan, South Korea, India, and China combined? How does Israel attract, per person, 30 times as much venture capital as Europe and more than twice the flow to American companies? How does it produce, for its size, the most cutting-edge technology startups in the world?

5:30PM: PA President Mahmoud Abbas has said a Middle East peace deal will not happen with him.

He’s right, but I posit it’s because he and his Fatah party are a bunch of terrorists.

And still on the subject..

Palestinian supporters of the Fatah movement loyal to the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, seen, during a march in the west bank city of Nablus. Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009.

5:38AM: With many such as the Obama administration and EU up in arms about Jewish construction in Jerusalem, Israel National News notes the Jerusalem Municipality’s plans for construction on Arab housing.

The Jerusalem Municipality is plowing ahead with plans for construction of more than 5,000 housing units in Arab neighborhoods. These include the following:

• A master plan for the Tel Adasa neighborhood in northern Jerusalem, where 2,000 new housing units are planned.
• A master plan for the Arab a-Sawahara area for a new housing compound with 2,500 units that is currently being prepared for discussion at the local council and district council levels.
• A master plan for the Dir el-Amud and Al-Muntar areas in Beit Safafa in southeastern Jerusalem, currently in advanced planning stages.
• A construction plan for 172 housing units and public buildings at the Jabal Mukabar neighborhood, which has completed the mandatory waiting period and will soon come up for additional discussion and approval in the district council.

Meanwhile, with the mainstream media assaulting us with photos such as this, it is important to note that such homes are illegal, and were demolished pursuant to the Israeli legal system.

The municipality noted that it is also destroying illegal structures in the Arab sector. Three buildings were demolished Wednesday: a structure, 90 square meters in size, that was built  on public land in Isawiya; a structure in Wadi Hilwah, also built on public land, sized 32 square meters; and three temporary structures in Silwan that served as pens for sheep and horses. All of the structures were razed after courts ordered them to be torn down.

12:30AM: A closer look at Jerusalem’s 9-11 memorial.

“The threat that Iran poses is very grave for the state of Israel, for peace in the Middle East and the whole world. Without any doubt, we are the first target, but not the last.”

- Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

10:12PM: Opposition leader Tzipi Livni today blasted Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, but not before experiencing “technical difficulties.”

Here’s hoping she had better luck with the coffee machine.

8:32PM: Hamas is using a photo of yesterday’s “Netanyahu slip” to ridicule the Israeli Prime Minister.

Two can play this game, you know.

7:35PM: Sarah Palin criticizing the Obama administration and expressing her support for Jewish settlements.

8:38AM: The moving story of an Indian doctor and his wife, who converted to Judaism thanks in large part to murdered Mumbai Chabad Rabbi Gabi Holtzberg HY”D and his wife Rebecca Holtzberg HY”D, and who married in Hebron on the first anniversary of their murders.

‘Our whole life centered around the Chabad House, “he said in a trembling voice.” It’s the only place where we could get kosher food. Gabi and Rivki were our guides, we did not move without them. They gave us Judaism and we gave them medical care for their sick child. We began a process of true conversion and found the extraordinary beauty of the Torah commandments. Then came that terrible night, and took away my Master …”. He sobs a few moments and says: “But what we learned from Gabi and Rivki will accompany us and our children forever.”

Read the whole thing.

8:27AM: So much for quitting.

8:26AM: Palestinian terrorists have fired a Qassam into Israel.

5:52AM: Chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat wouldn’t know the truth if it bit him on the backside.

And even then, he’d accuse it of Israeli aggression.

In his latest episode of lying, he now claims the PA are not seeking a unilateral declaration of statehood.

“I want to make sure the Israeli people understand that we are not speaking of a unilateral declaration,” Erekat said. “This is not an option.”

He blamed Israeli leaders for reports that the PA was seeking a unilateral declaration of statehood, saying they were “always trying to twist our words.”

Compare that to some of his other statements.

This is the right time” to seek Security Council recognition of a Palestinian state, Chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat said in response to comments made by EU officials calling the move “premature.”

—-

Erekat responded almost immediately through an interview with Agence France Presse (AFP) from Cairo, saying “it is time to recognize a Palestinian state on the borders of 4 June 1967 with Jerusalem as its capital.” Arguing the case, Erekat argued that the EU recognized the State of Kosovo before other official channels supported its claim for independence.

Sweden is not alone in determining EU policy, Erekat then quipped, noting other EU countries support the Palestinian decision and adding that as of yet, the EU does not have a common foreign policy.

On Sunday, Erekat announced that members of the Palestinian Authority would seek recognition as a state from the UN Security Council.

Meanwhile, PA President Mahmoud Abbas has made the “it’s not unilateral because we have Arab state backing” argument.

Abbas said the move was not unilateral and enjoyed the backing of Arab countries.

“The decision emanates from an Arab follow-up committee (of the Arab League) that was convened recently … and which agreed to go the Security Council for it to say that it supports an independent Palestinian state,” he said.

12:15AM: A former Islamic terrorist tells his story, and in the process dispels a few myths about the root causes of Islamic terrorism.

He’s also got a message for Israel.

12:10AM: French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner tries to outdo Binyamin Netanyahu.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, left, slips during a press conference with Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, right, in Amman, Jordan, Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009. Kouchner is in Amman on his two-day visit to the region as part of France’s efforts to revive the peace negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis. Kouchner will also visit Israel.

Thousands of people gathered Monday in the square opposite Argentina’s congress in Buenos Aires in preparation for a protest march against Israel. The protest was scheduled to coincide with President Shimon Peres’  visit to the country.

Protestors carried signs displaying dead children and calling Peres a “murderer”, and handed out pamphlets condemning Israel and its leaders.

The demonstrators were made up of a number of groups, some of them blatantly pro-Muslim and others from various human rights organizations.

One of the protestors told Ynet, “It’s a disgrace that the president of our country is meeting today with child-murderer Shimon Peres. He should be expelled from the city. There are thousands of people who came here today to protest against the hospitality shown to a representative of an occupying and oppressive government.”

Signs also displayed pictures of former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. One of the signs said: “Get out of Argentina, murderer Shimon Peres”, and another said: “Death to Zionist-fascist Israel, officer of American imperialism in the Middle East, murderers of the Palestinian people!”

Protestors also carried signs glorifying Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, and Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, as well as Lebanese flags. Journalists who were suspected of having Israeli backgrounds were ushered away and threatened with having their cameras broken.

Sounds like a peaceful, peace-loving lot.

Meanwhile, Peres was up to his old tricks.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

8:08PM: Here’s Bibi’s close call captured on film.

7:55PM: Too busy for updates today, but it was worth the wait.

Netanyahu: “Phew! This thing’s not inflatable.”

Guard: “All vests on this vessel are.”

Netanyahu: “I wasn’t referring to the vest.”

[real story here]

I’ve managed to locate all but one part of this episode (I will update this post once the missing part becomes available).

Enjoy!

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

Part Five

Part Six

Postscript: Via Israel21c:

The teens were relieved that there were no cameras on the Sabbath. Jack, in a non-Goth white shirt with black stripes, was amazed that they could have a good time without drugs or alcohol.

Back in England, he admitted that he had snuck in some alcohol, but never touched it. The Sabbath atmosphere resonated well with both. “You could see that Gemma got it,” says Tzippi Shaked. “I had told her it was a good opportunity for her to be on the inside, to see it from a sociological point-of-view.”

How did the Shaked children react to the visitors? The older children are in phone and e-mail contact. Asked what he thought of the guests, five-year-old Chanan says: “I love them.”

In recent conversations, Gemma and Jack both said that they had found jobs and hoped to raise money to help pay for a return trip to Israel. Gemma would like to go to university in Israel; Jack would like to work on a kibbutz. Meanwhile, both teens have re-enrolled in College (11th and 12th grade).

The British docu-reality show is a genre whose goal is to show transformation. Looks like the Shakeds pulled it off – with a combo of love and limits and a strong sense of Jewish values.

And if he is to be believed (which is always in doubt), we can thank the EU foreign policy chief for this.

The Palestinian Authority is mobilizing international support for declaring statehood, chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat said on Saturday.

“The idea is clear and understandable,” Erekat told the Palestinian daily newspaper Al-Ayyam. “Now we mobilize.”

Palestinians will bring the issue to a vote before the United Nations Security Council, which would declare a Palestinian state on the 4 June 1967 border with Israel, he explained. He called the initiative a response to Israel’s policies, which would send a clear message that “settlements and other unilateral actions are null and void and do not establish rights or territory.”

Erekat said he had discussed the idea more than once with the Americans and Europeans, while President Mahmoud Abbas raised the proposal with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Russian officials, who reacted positively. Abbas will seek support from Latin America by the end of the week, Erekat added, and continue to lobby Europe.

The concept was first proposed by EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, he said. “Contacts with the Europeans have been ongoing as well as with Russia and the UN. All Arab countries support the idea and will choose the right time to bring up the issue with the UN Security Council after they consult the other international powers, including Europe and even America.”

In response, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu issued a warning.

“There is no substitute for negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority and any unilateral path will only unravel the framework of agreements between us and will only bring unilateral steps from Israel’s side,”

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

10:50PM: Rare picture of Arafat’s spawn with her equally attractive mother (hat tip: Jewish Chronicle)

10:28PM: To those who want to boycott Israeli and Jewish products:

10:18PM: Interesting CNN story on Arabs fighting for Israel.

5:02PM: Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has confirmed that the PA asked Israel to help crush Hamas, and accused them of playing an “ugly and double game.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Monday accused the Palestinian Authority of playing an “ugly and double game,” by seeking Israel’s support in crushing Hamas while submitting simultaneous complaints to the international community.

“During Operation Cast Lead, the Palestinian Authority pressured us to crush Hamas,” Lieberman told the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. “Then, a month later, they submitted a complaint against us to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.”

Even before the Goldstone Commission published its damning report about Israel’s offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, said Lieberman, “there were a thousand complaints against Israel at the ICC, a large number of them encouraged by the PA.

3:52PM: Former US President Bill Clinton has stormed the Temple Mount, and in response, Arabs have rioted said “Oh.”

Former US President Bill Clinton visited the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock on Sunday, sources said.

The visit surprised officials, however, as neither media nor the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Endowments were informed in advance.

“It seems it was a special visit,” said Jerusalem endowments director Azzam Al-Khatib.

Israeli forces suddenly imposed a number of strict security measures, and then half an hour later, Clinton entered from the Moroccan Gate, Al-Khatib added.

The US Consulate opted not to inform officials of the visit ahead of time as they usually do, he said.

A spokeswoman for the consulate told Ma’an that Clinton’s visit to Jerusalem was personal and thus not coordinated with the Americans.

Meanwhile, Israeli media reported that Clinton visited the Western Wall, as well. Clinton prayed and placed a note at the Jewish holy site, according to these reports.

Clinton was in the region attending the Saban Forum, a conference on US-Israel relations.

Now compare this response to that of the Arabs when Jewish people go up to visit the Temple Mount, even when the visit is announced up front. The Jewish “extremists” or “settlers” are said to be “desecrating” and “storming” Al Aqsa mosque, and the Arabs have used the visits as a pretext to start violent riots and even the second “intifada.”

3:00PM: Heh (hat tip: Ian).

1:28PM: Ma’an reports on a “surprising” statistic.

An estimated 200 million children aged under five in the developing world suffer from stunted growth due to maternal and childhood undernutrition, according to a new UNICEF report.

“Stunting is associated with developmental problems and is often impossible to correct. A child who is stunted is likely to experience a lifetime of poor health and underachievement,” a UNICEF statement on 11 November said.

In the Middle East, the occupied Palestinian territories have a stunting prevalence of 10 percent, a surprisingly better result than other, far wealthier neighbors, which have the following scores:

Egypt – 29
Iraq – 26
Jordan – 12
Kuwait – 24
Lebanon – 11
Oman – 13
Saudi Arabia – 20
Syria – 28
UAE – 17
Yemen – 58

Well, surprising to those who believe that palestinians are starving to death, as pro-palestinians and the media would have us believe.

With a one-vote difference, the University Chapter of the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund won the rights to the Rutgers University Student Assembly’s semi-annual Meal Sign-Away program at last Thursday’s meeting in the Student Activities Center.

RUSA members listened to members of finalist organizations including the International Medical Relief Fund and the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, before making a final decision.

Once the winning organization meets with Executive Director of Dining Services Charles Sams, they can set up a table at dining halls and ask students to sign away no more than two meals for the their cause, Assembly Treasurer Yousef Saleh said.

“It was a very tough choice, especially since both groups have such admirable missions,” said Assembly Chair Werner Born, a School of Engineering senior. “The main difference students saw in the groups [were] the types of medical relief they administer. Both goals are equally important for our University to support.”

He said he thinks what caught the attention of students was that the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund pursues larger medical surgeries that heal disabilities, which obstruct children from enjoying their youths.

The University chapter’s Public Relations Chair Lauren Miller found the Assembly receptive to the organization.
“They were interested in what we’re about, where the funds were going to go and how efficiently we were going to be tabling,” said Miller, a School of Arts and Sciences junior. “We’re a new organization, and we’re excited about our cause, and we will find as many donations as we possibly can.”

Their group has 30 members who regularly come to meetings, but they have a larger base who table regularly at their bake sales, she said. The group also has a listserv of more than 100 members.

The fund’s University chapter formed this fall and is the first student-run local organization for the non-political, non-partisan international fund, which began in 1991, University Chapter President Ghadeer Hasan said.

“The main objective of the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund is to give relief to all the children in the Middle East. Initially, it started with Palestinian youth but expanded to children in Iraq and all children in [the] Middle East,” said Hasan, a School of Arts and Sciences junior.

The organization fulfills these goals by finding volunteer doctors to go to the locations abroad that need medical support and bringing children abroad to where they can get treatment, she said.

“The [fund] also brings children abroad from the Middle East to Europe or America for specialized care,” Hasan said. “When they bring children abroad, they make all the appointments, find doctors [and] find places to stay. The hospital and the doctor volunteer their time for these children.”

The fund runs on a small budget with less than $2 million annually; this year its budget is estimated to be $1 million, she said. The actual value of services is about $69 billion.

“More than 800 children were brought abroad for care since its inception, and in 2008 more than 1,000 children last year had surgery or treatment with more than 3,000 going through expert medical screening and evaluation,” Hasan said.

She said she was excited for the opportunity to raise funds through meal sign-aways.

“[Winning the meal sign-aways] is an amazing opportunity and we’re planning to make the most out of it. We don’t have too many members yet — [only about] 20 members — but we’re asking other organizations to help us out,” Hasan said.

They asked members from organizations, like University volunteer organization Circle K, to help out their cause, she said.
“We’re going to raise money, but what’s more important is that we raise awareness of the organization for their work abroad,” Hasan said.

Leaving aside the blatant lie that the PCRF is “to give relief to all the children in the Middle East” (I do not recall even one Israeli child ever being provided with relief by them), it has been affiliated with the Holy Land Foundation, shut down by the US government because it was suspected of funneling donations to terrorist organizations. In fact, according to the American Jewish Committee, the Holy Land Foundation – which along with three other Islamic charities was found liable for the 1996 murder of 16-year-old American David Boim by Hamas terrorists – tried unsuccessfully in 2004 to divert some of its frozen assets to the PCRF.

While the PCRF now makes a point of stating it’s adherence to the US Treasury Anti Terrorist Financing Guidelines, terrorism seems to be a recurring theme with the PCRF and it’s personnel. According to this site (but provided with supporting links from other sites I found), there are many troubling links between PCRF personnel and terrorism, including (but not limited to) the following:

• PCRF President Steve Sosebee was quoted in a 2000 news article saying: “I thought that this (the PCRF) was a good way to contribute to the struggle and provide humanitarian service at the same time”.
• In 2003 at a fundraising dinner held by the American Friends of Palestine, Sosebee won an award for “his work for Palestinian children and said: “I just want to thank you and will continue until Palestine is free”.
• During a lecture at the Zayed International Centre for Coordination and Follow-Up (ZCCF), Sosebee charged that a “Zionist lobby and Zionist influence” manipulated the U.S. government, its citizens and media.
• Former PCRF spokesperson Rosemary Davis aka Shadya Hantouli ran a website with a photo gallery of suicide bombers called “Palestine4Ever.”

I am guessing the Rutgers decision to sponsor the University Chapter of the PCRF was made without knowledge of these terrorism ties. So I encourage Israellycool reader Mikey – who first drew my attention to the decision – and others like him to write to Rutgers and express their concerns.

And if I am wrong and the decision was made with full knowledge of these problematic connections, the situation on campus is even worse than I thought.

“Nor has a single week gone by in which I have not reaffirmed my conviction that had he not lost his life on that terrible November night, within three years we would have had a comprehensive agreement for peace in the Middle East.”

Interesting theory, given that Rabin himself would have opposed many of the concessions Israel has subsequently stated it is willing to make.

Meanwhile, Clinton also said:

“We are either going to hurt each other or we are going to help each other,” he said of the two foes. “Divorce is not an option.”

Just as likely part of a conversation he had with his wife.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

10:10PM:Ynetnews reports:

An Iranian website reported Sunday that Iranian General Ali Reza Asgari who defected to the West is being held in prison in Israel.

According to the report, an investigation by Iranian security officials showed that “Asgari was kidnapped by the Mossad in cooperation with the British and German intelligence services, and was ultimately transferred to Israel.”

The report was published on the “Alef” news website, which is affiliated with conservative parliament member Ahmad Tavakkoli, one of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s main critics.

Alef is not a state website, but is considered a relatively credible source.

Hey, I think that guy works in the falafel store down the road..

9:42PM: Tel Aviv has banned horse-drawn carriages.

Yeah, I didn’t realize this was a pressing issue either.

6:35PM: Rutgers is sponsoring a terror-supporting organization.

4:45PM: Ha’aretz continues it’s anti-religious campaign with a report containing this inflammatory headline:

IDF Chief Rabbi: Troops who show mercy to enemy will be ‘damned’

Only if you read the report do you get an idea of the context of this purported statement.

The Israel Defense Forces’ chief rabbi told students in a pre-army yeshiva program last week that soldiers who “show mercy” toward the enemy in wartime will be “damned.”

Brig. Gen. Avichai Rontzki also told the yeshiva students that religious individuals made better combat troops.

Speaking Thursday at the Hesder yeshiva in the West Bank settlement of Karnei Shomron , Rontzki referred to Maimonides’ discourse on the laws of war. That text quotes a passage from the Book of Jeremiah stating: “Cursed be he that doeth the work of the Lord with a slack hand, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood.”

In Rontzki’s words, “In times of war, whoever doesn’t fight with all his heart and soul is damned – if he keeps his sword from bloodshed, if he shows mercy toward his enemy when no mercy should be shown.”

In other words, the Rabbi is stating that troops should fight hard and show no mercy when no mercy should be shown. And while there is no elaboration on when this should apply, it seems the Rabbi is not making a blanket statement about troops never showing mercy.

Without having heard the Rabbi’s words, I am not qualified to definitively say what he meant. But it looks to me like Ha’aretz are trying to “spin” his words.

12:40PM: You may recall last week I posted about aspiring Rabbi/boxer Yuri Foreman who was out to become the first Jewish world boxing champion in 30 years.

Well, I’m happy to report he did it.

Coming soon: Fellow Orthodox-Jewish boxer Dmitriy Salita takes on British-Muslim Amir Khan for the WBA light-welterweight crown in Newcastle, England on December 5!

6:20AM: More footage from the 9-11 memorial dedication in Jerusalem last week, including a description of the design.