Hamas has released a new animated video depicting the moment Gilad Shalit was kidnapped on June 25, 2006

The video, which was published on a website affiliated with Hamas’ military wing, shows an Israeli tank, security cameras on the border fence with the Gaza Strip and an unmanned aerial vehicle circling the air.

In the video, the tank carrying Shalit explodes. At the end the words: “The illusion is shattering” appear in Arabic.

The website’s homepage shows a toolbar with the years that have passed – 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010. Text near the 2010 reads: “Four years on, we still have Gilad.” The date of the kidnapping also appears on the site.

By the way, the YouTube video is from the Ezzedeen01 channel. Subscribers include Hammas4ever, and GiladShalit. These channels are operating freely, despite the obvious support of terrorism and hatred. The latter even contains a death threat against another YouTube user.

My new mission in this world is to find? out who you are, and where you live. I SWEAR TO MY G-D ABOVE, I’M GOING TO CUT YOUR F****ING HEAD OFF

Help me report them.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

10:35PM: Here is a cartoon I found on the Hamas website forum, which seems similar to the one described in the previous update (similar, but not the same, since the octopus is not carrying an Israeli flag with a Nazi swastika).

octopus boat

10:30PM: The Israeli embassy has sent a complaint to the Al-Watani al-Youm (the National Today) newspaper of Egypt’s ruling party, regarding an antisemitic cartoon.

Al-Watani al-Youm (the National Today) published a cartoon on June 15 showing an aid ship apparently bound for Gaza being grabbed by an octopus carrying an Israeli flag with a Nazi swastika in place of the Star of David symbol.

The weekly is the mouthpiece of President Hosni Mubarak’s National Democratic Party.

And why did Israel specifically decide to protest this cartoon, as opposed to all the other ones published in Egyptian papers?

“The Israeli Embassy chose to comment on this caricature specifically because of the comparison between Israel and Nazism,” spokeswoman Shani Cooper-Zubida told Reuters.

“There are a lot of anti-Semitic comments and caricatures in the Egyptian media that we prefer not to comment on. This one didn’t present legitimate opposition to Israeli policy, but defamation,” she said in an e-mailed response.

As if all the others ones are “legitimate opposition to Israeli policy”?

Meanwhile, accompanying the Ha’aretz report is this photo with a caption spelling out the obvious.

obvious caption

In case you are not familiar with the Israeli flag. Or a swastika.

7:48PM: Will they or won’t they? Once again, it seems as though the Iranian ship will not sail to Gaza, but this time organizers are blaming Egypt.

Organizers of an Iranian aid ship said Sunday that they will not set sail to Gaza because Egypt refused permission to enter the Suez Canal.

The Iranian Red Crescent said the boat was loaded and ready to depart from the southern port of Bandar Abbas when Egypt refused the boat passage, in a statement to French news wire AFP.

Egypt, however, has denied that it prevented the mission. Speaking to AFP, a Suez Canal official said, “Under an international treaty, the canal is obligated to let any ship through, whether it is Iranian or not.”

He added, “We have not received any instructions to ban the Iranian aid ships from using the Suez Canal.”

It is the second time the cancellation of the voyage has been announced. At a press conference Thursday, an Iranian official said that the voyage was aborted due to restrictions imposed by Israel.

7:00PM: It’s reaper time!

A member of the Popular Front’s military wing was killed by IDF fire in the eastern part of Gaza City Monday, Palestinian sources in the Strip said.

Another three people sustained wounds in the incident, the Palestinians said.

The army said that an Air Force aircraft targeted a Palestinian who fired mortar shells at an IDF force operating near the Gaza border fence, on the Israeli side.

IDF officials said that a hit was identified and added that a military vehicle was damaged by the Palestinian fire.

Medical sources in Gaza said that the dead and injured Palestinians were brought to a local hospital. The killed man was apparently a member of the Abu-Ali Mustafah Brigades of the Popular Front. The group said its members fired at Israel before coming under attack.

Earlier Monday, a mortar shell was fired from the northern Gaza Strip and landed between two kibbutzim in the Shaar Hanegev regional Council.

No injuries or damages were report in the attack.

5:00PM: US Vice President Joe Biden tells of his encounter with former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir and hearing about Israel’s “secret weapon.”

3:35PM: Who said Hamas wasn’t courteous?

A top Hamas leader has warned Israel to expect more Gaza-bound pro-Palestinian flotillas over the next two months, including vessels “from the Gulf”. Mahmoud Zahar, often seen as the dominant figure in Hamas’s political leadership in Gaza, said that he had been informed by “people … from the Gulf states” that “after the Mondial [World Cup] at least eight ships will come from the Gulf”.

I appreciate them waiting until after the World Cup because quite frankly, it is hard to concentrate on the games when “breaking news” alerts appear on the television screen.

Meanwhile, old wart nose had a lot more to say, including what seems to be a confirmation that the flotilla organizers and “activists” have links with Hamas.

Zahar wart
"I don't understand why FIFA won't consider using my wart as a game ball"

Dr Zahar did not name the states involved but when asked if they included Iran he replied: “Why not?” It is over four weeks since a Turkish-led flotilla was halted by a lethal Israeli commando raid which led to the deaths of nine activists and provoked an international outcry.

In an interview with The Independent, the Hamas leader also accused the Israeli government of reneging on a prisoner swap agreement which he insisted could have led to the release of captive Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit. “Up to this moment, the Israeli intention is not to have an agreement,” he claimed.

Dr Zahar said that those in Hamas’s military wing presumed to be holding Sgt Schalit were still refusing to allow the Red Cross or any other independent humanitarian organisation to visit him, “I asked that to the people concerned and they said to me it [a visit] was impossible.” Asked whether it was believable that the Red Cross would use a humanitarian visit to pass details of the abducted sergeant’s whereabouts to Israel, he said: “I trust nobody.”

—-

Claiming that there would be more flotillas “than in your expectations”, he said that he also expected further vessels to set out for Gaza during Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting, which begins this year on 11 August. On the possibility that Egypt might prevent a flotilla from the Gulf passing through the Suez Canal en route to Gaza, he said; “They have the right in international law to go as the Israelis go. Egypt will never be able to stop such a campaign.” And on the possibility that Iran might sponsor a vessel or vessels, he said: “I ask you about morality. Where is your morality if Iran is going to give food and drugs? What justifies preventing that? Give me the basis [for that] from your bible.”

The Hamas co-founder was bitterly critical of Western policy towards Hamas and Gaza over the four and half years since the Islamic faction won the last Palestinian elections. “Why did the Western people boycott Hamas after the election?” he asked. “Because they want a new Karzai in Palestine”. He was equally contemptuous of Western support for the blockade imposed by Israel when Hamas seized control in a short but bloody civil war with its Fatah rivals and coalition partners in June 2007. He claimed the closure of Gaza conformed to Western definitions of “terrorism” by using “violence” to change the attitudes of its victims. “I am asking you, why did you accept this process four years ago?”

But he appeared to derive considerable satisfaction from recent pressure put by the international Quartet of the US, UN, EU and Russia on Israel to relax the blockade – “a big change” which he attributed to popular discontent within the Western states that he claimed was exemplified by the flotillas. Lamenting that the change of heart had followed what he said were 2,000 Palestinian deaths in “two wars” against Gaza – one after the seizure of Sgt Gilad Schalit in 2006 and the other the winter offensive of 2008-09, he said: “Everybody is fed up with this policy. The politicians in the West don’t have a heart, they have a dry morality. But the people – and this was proved drastically – were ready to sacrifice their lives [to force a change of policy].”

Asked whether there had been close ties between Hamas and the main Turkish organisation involved in organising the flotilla, he replied derisively. “It’s a big mistake to have such a linkage with Turkey, which is Muslim? A linkage between Turkey which is Muslim and Israel which is Jewish is honey but one between Muslim and Muslim is a mistake, a crime?”

But Dr Zahar, who survived an Israeli assassination attempt which killed his son in 2003, was as uncompromising as ever in rejecting the three pre-conditions imposed by the Quartet for ending its boycott of contacts with Hamas – recognition of Israel, adherence to past agreements with Israel and renuciation of violence. “What is the real border of Israel? What about the occupation of Jerusalem what about the occupation of the Golan Heights? I ask Israelis to renounce violence,” he said. “I ask your country and then the Americans to renounce violence in Afghanistan and Iraq and Pakistan and then we are going to speak about renouncing violence.”

He also roundly blamed Fatah – which he said had a past history of “100 per cent” corruption – for the lack of progress in talks on reconciliation between the two factions. He said Fatah needed to rescind what he claimed was its “refusal” to recognise the 2006 election result.

Dr Zahar strongly defended the executions of those identified as collaborators, or “spies” for Israel, while acknowledging that “not many” ex-collaborators offered an amnesty which is due to end next month had come forward. He sought to brush aside persistent criticisms that the regime in Gaza – as well as the Fatah dominated one in the West Bank – had acted repressively against politicial opponents. He also said that Hamas had eliminated kidnapping of foreigners since its success in freeing the BBC correspondent Alan Johnston.

1:15PM: It has been revealed that three Israeli Arabs “inspired by global jihad” were indicted for the 2009 murder of an Israeli taxi driver.

Yefim Weinstein, a 54-year-old taxi driver from Upper Nazareth, was found dead near Kibbutz Kfar Hahoresh in November 2009. Weinstein’s body was found after passersby noticed his cab on the side of Route 75, between Nahalal and Nazareth, near the entrance to the kibbutz.

The alleged murderer, a Nazareth resident, and two friends who allegedly helped him flee the murder scene, were part of a cell of seven men who police said were tied to global jihad. The three were arrested during a joint operation between the police and the Shin Bet security service.

According to police, the seven-man cell regularly watched al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden’s speeches online and had wanted to join the fight against Jewish and Christian “infidels.”

The indictment states that the suspects, all of whom are between 19 and 26 years old, were also allegedly involved in several other attacks against Jewish and Christian targets over recent years.

The group was exposed after two of its seven members were arrested in Somalia and extradited to Israel after they allegedly planned to fight against United States soldiers stationed there.

Police said that during questioning over the Somalia incident, the two revealed their involvement in the Nazareth cell.

Police said the men admitted that they had decided to murder a Jew and that their victim would be a taxi driver. Police added that the men said they ordered a taxi from “Ben Gurion Taxis” in Upper Nazareth. Weinstein was the driver sent to pick them up late one night in November.

Police said the suspect apparently asked Weinstein to pull over at the side of the road near the Kibbutz Kfar Harosh, and then he shot him.

According to police, the investigation also revealed that in 2008, the group attempted a similar murder. They allegedly ordered a pizza from Domino’s Pizza, and when the delivery man arrived at their destination, three of the group members allegedly attacked him, stabbed him and tied him up. The victim of that incident survived.

The group is also suspected of torching several tourist buses and throwing Molotov cocktails at a store belonging to a Christian resident of Nazareth.

12:04PM: Tel Aviv (#19, up from #24 in 2009) and Jerusalem (#22, up from #27 in 2009) feature on a list of the world’s most expensive cities (unfortunately).

12:00PM: When the extent of suffering is not as bad as you make out, just recycle old photos.

11:00AM: Turkey Jerkey, the sky is closing down.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday announced that Israel will no longer use Turkish airspace, according to an Anatolian state-run news agency report.

The report quoted Erdogan telling reporters in Canada that Turkey imposed a ban on flights after the May 31 Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla. He did not elaborate on whether the ban includes civilian flights.

9:04AM: Sarah Palin has criticized US President Barack Obama for “selling out” Israel.

The former John McCain running mate addressed a paying audience of several hundred people in Norfolk and accused Obama of selling out ally Israel over its naval blockade of Gaza and treating Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shabbily.

75 thoughts on “The Day In Israel: Monday June 28th, 2010”

  1. youtube is nothing like facebook

    they allow the most virulent lies to be posted (from both sides…there is some real nasty stuff there from former kahane supporters)

    just do what i do…make multiple accounts and spam the vids

  2. Michael Zvi Krumbein

    I see only Manhattan is in the top 30, at the end, behind Canberra and ahead of Melbourne. How could Yerushalyim get so much more expensive in one year – or is it that other places fell?

  3. What disgusts me is how well-made that video clip is. It reminds me of an episode of NCIS where Ziva David's terrorist captor in Somalia is a Yale graduate.

    And I don't get it… Youtube wanted to avoid legal troubles with Latma's We Con The World/We Are the World parody, yet they're okay with promoting jihad? Al-Qassam isn't exactly hiding their identity.

  4. Dave – I'm not sure that quoting the crack pot that is Sarah Palin as a source for the defence of Israel is such a good idea.

      1. Michael Zvi Krumbein

        I have to admit, this bit of faint praise almost made me click on the negative button. Please don't believe foreign press reports. Look at how they discuss life within Israel.

    1. Michael Zvi Krumbein

      Please try to see beyond your personal political bias. We need support from people from across the political spectrum. Sarah Plain has a great deal of influence among a large portion of the American electorate.

      And if you are not from the U.S. (as seems from your spelling), please recall that the press cannot be trusted regarding the internal politics of other countries. I found that out speaking to the British kids in my Yeshiva here many yeays ago, and finding out the strange things they believed about the U.S. (They were from Hasmonean, a school with very high-level secular studies.)

      1. Jim from Iowa

        I trust you speak better than you type, Michael. And you should take your own advice on seeing beyond personal political bias. How does a figure as polarizing as Sarah Palin (alternate spelling) exactly help the pro-Israel cause?

        1. Whatever the consequences, the radical left in the U.S. seems hellbent on turning Palin into a fount of common sense despite herself. Their last attack on her was over whether or not she had breast implants. Such stupidity.

          1. Jim from Iowa

            You have a point, but the left needs to expose Ms. Palin for what she is–a vapid opportunist who has no real ideas for making America a better place. "Drill Baby Drill" is not really much of an energy policy. Exposing the lie of Obama's "Death Panels" is necessary to promote acceptance of health care reform. The left needs to continue to educate the public on Sarah Palin so that her base, even the stupid ones, will realize what they're dealing with and go in another direction.

                1. Categorizing. Most of her policies and actions could be described as socialist. Her pro-life and whatnot views would be Christian-based. Together, that makes her a Christian socialist. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_socialism

                  Even now in her statements you can parse out a good bit of socialism, despite what she tries to masquerade as.

                  Alaska is also kind of weird. Ive heard the rural areas are Democratic and the urban areas are Republican.

                  1. Michael Zvi Krumbein

                    What policies were socialist? The Christian stuff I like.

                    (Ironically, the term "Christian" at one time was (in Europe) a euphamism for anti-semitic, which is itself a euphamisc for Jew-bashing. I recall reading about one European anti-semite who thought that the YMCA was an anti-semitic organization.)

        2. Michael Zvi Krumbein

          Speaking of vapid opportunists, Obama is perhaps the most polarizing figure in America today, but I would welcome his support of Israel and praise him for it. I CAN see beyond my political bias. Any supposrter of Israel should welcome Palin's support, even if they have to hold their nose, like I would for Obama. (At least she has executive experience, which is more than you can say for Obama.)

          But if I understand you correctly, people on the left are so stupid and narrow-minded that they would be against Israel because she is for it?

              1. I think criticism of Obama can be compared to criticism of Israel, more often than not. While many specific critics may not be racist, the source of a lot of the criticism is, in fact, racism. I honestly doubt a man with much lighter skin color would be scrutinized this much, this early. Remember, Bush was only criticized after he started dicking things up in 2004/5.

                1. Michael Zvi Krumbein

                  That's 'cause Bush was a moderate, and Obama started messing up right away.

                  Why would any man with zero experience, no accomplishments, who associates with an anti-semite and and an unrepentant terrorist who helped bomb the PENTAGON, for heaven sakes – why would such a man be nominated EXCEPT for the color of his skin.

                  Obama's "strongly disapprove" is generally at 40% or higher (Rassmussen). I do not believe modern American is Racist.

                  You could make a better argument that the source of the criticism of Sarah Palin is misongyny, and plenty of people have.

                  As they say, when they call you a Racist, you know you've one the argument".

                  1. Obama didnt start messing up right away. He hasnt really messed up yet (of course conservatives will strongly disagree). The only thing he has really messed up is strategy (the health care thing was bungled completely, but the end goal was mostly achieved…not taht I really like the end goal). He has not really bungled anything as serious as Bush did (Iraq, Katrina, etc).

                    This experience business is overhyped. The only people with experience are vice presidents and those up for re-election. Those associations are overhyped as well. If youve ever seen the film Head of State, the candidate was slammed for once saying "wassup" to an infamous drug lord at a gas station. Of course this meant he was a criminal himself and deserved an FBI investigation. He was not as "close" to Ayers as its amde out to be.

                    "In an op-ed piece after the election, Ayers denied any close association with Obama, and castigated the Republican campaign for its use of guilt by association tactics."

                    And then we can get into how Ayers was not charged or convicted of anything.

                    If you compare the irrational treatment of Israel to Obama, you can understand what I mean. While an individual may not be racist, the core and foundation are. Once that foundation is built, all the other stuff naturally forms on top/around it.

                    Palin does not appear to be subject to much of that. She is pretty much a dunce who shouldve never been brought out in public. Everything she says is a complete disaster and destroyed politics and her life. She wouldve gone down as a fairly decent governor, when now she had to resign for who knows why. Other Republican women are not treated like her: Kay Bailey Hutchison, Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe, Lisa Murkowski (in her own Alaska). So the argument of misogyny is quite shaky. She is just a plain old dunce who got the right nepotism and lucky breaks. (Also, a lot of conservatives dont realize this—it ruins their narrative—but the media adores Palin.)

                    1. Michael Zvi Krumbein

                      This is funny. You are bringing RINOs as examples? You know what Michelle Malkin was called? How about Michelle Bachman?

                      I don't think Bush messed up at all either. Obama passed the stimulus package in month one, full of pork, immediately broke his pledges on transparency, etc. Experience is as a Governer (executive) or a legislator on the Federal level. Sarah Palin is infinitely more qualified than Obama. Besides, he shows his inexperience in practice all of the time.

                      I consider the Socialized Medicine bill, weak as it is, an epic fail, and so do most of the american people. So you are saying I oppose Obama because of racism, although I don't know it? As far as I'm concerned, that means I've won the argument.

                    2. RINOs: I guess the Republicans should have the lockstep 100% identical party. We may as well clone Glenn Beck and elect his clones in every state.

                      Michelle and Michelle are crazy extremists that deserve the criticism they get. Rush Limbaugh and John Boehner get the same crap.

                      Bush messed up horribly. To deny this would be like saying one is blind. Would you prefer Obama wait a few months, have some tea and crumpets, before passing a stimulus? Im no fan of the stimulus. Personally, I would have pledged a half trillion dollars to build a national rail infrastructure. Theres your super-stimulus. Create hundreds of thousands of jobs doing something that will save billions, if not trillions, of dollars in transportation and energy expenses. And could well grow our GDP by $2 trillion.

                      But the stimulus did still work somewhat. Even the Wall Street Journal agrees. Theres really no other way to do it than "pork" projects and assuming the road repairs here are stimulus money, I am quite thankful for Congressman Holts work.

                      What the stimulus was actually full of is tax cuts.

                      Obama has only broken 19 of 505 promises. http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/ He has kept 118 and compromised on 36. 81 are stalled because Obama is not dictator.

                      Governors dont have foreign policy or national experience (Jon Huntsman excepted perhaps) and Senators dont have executive experience (unless theyve been Governor). Hillary Clinton had less experience than Obama. To say otherwise would mean Chelsea Clinton should run in 2016. Charlie Crist will filled the mixed experience by 2016, hopefully. And back to Jon Huntsman. THAT MAN will be extremely well qualified once he is done as ambassador to China. Executive experience, moderate views, and foreign policy experience and contacts with the most important foreign country in the world. I would probably vote for him if he ran.

                      Sarah Palin has about as much experience as a cardboard box in the White House dumpsters. She was governor of a the most backwater state in the country for 30 something months and then quit.

                      Dont even insult me by calling that bill socialist. No true socialist in the world would have voted for it. Bernie Sanders and Dennis Kucinich, unfortunately did. The bill is a corporate handout, a Republican bill.

                      As I said, I am not calling you a racist necessarily, but the source of much criticism against him is racism in my view, just like criticism of Israel at its source.

                    3. Michael Zvi Krumbein

                      You are applying your own political views to other people, then drawing conclusions. When you get out of the University, you may have a more balanced view. For example, I was simply saying that RINOs of course are not attacked, because they aren't a threat.

                    4. Michael Zvi Krumbein

                      "As I said, I am not calling you a racist necessarily".

                      Ah, so I may be a racist. Better warn the wife.

                    5. Michael Zvi Krumbein

                      That I may be a racist?

                      And you are mixing your personal opinions with fact.

                    6. Ah the ageist arrogance. I was waiting for that. 😉

                      I have a quite balanced views. I regularly detect and (internally) criticize or laugh at some of the left wing antics of my professors. So far i havent really had anyone that far left (Cornell West, Ward Churchill, etc..). Although Prof. Baker was off in that direction a little bit and did slam Israel on politico.com once (unfortunately I wasnt in his class that semester and was unable to challenge him).

                    7. Michael Zvi Krumbein

                      I used to get the left-wing side by listening to the network news on the hour. Occasionally I would see a right-wing slant, and I did detect that.

                      My point was that the world of the University (and journalism) tends to be an extremely closed world quite different – especially politically – that normal America. How many people there voted for W? I always thought it interesting that he was demonized, since he was actually quite moderate.

                      How many people out in the real world deny that the Soviet Union made the Nazis look like pikers? Frankly, that puts you out there with the truthers and the birthers and the Holocaust deniers. (BTW, you never did tell me whether you were justifying the religious persecutions of Jews by the Soviets.)

                    8. Michael Zvi Krumbein

                      Glad to see that Charchill and West are too left-wing for you. I once looked through Race Matters at a store. I was reading about the NYC teacher's fight which I knew a little about. I got so upset, I literally threw the book back onto the shelf. Luckily it landed properly.

                    9. West came to Rutgers, but I didnt see him speak. I wasnt really saying they are too left wing (Im not denying it either )

                      My views are somewhat complex. Although I am "leftist", I can spot and critique "leftist" yipyap.

                    10. Michael Zvi Krumbein

                      I was working. A little nervous driving home, approximately passing the NSA. It was nice to see a little patiotism in the country for a while, although that died down. A kid in my grade in High School (only about 45 in the grade) died in the towers.

                    11. I was in school and they had announced a "telecommunications and transportation problem in NYC" and that our parents may come home. Although my class didnt find out until the next period because we were outside for science class.

                      When I came home, my mom was outside like the town crier for those of us coming off the bus. I dont really remember my emotion. I think it was amazement. We had eaten at Windows on the World within the past year or so and saw them the Saturday prior.

                      Afterwards, I will be honest. I blamed the US and felt it an evil entity. I still partially blame the US, but not as radically as then. A lot of our actions (unrelated to Israel) are responsible for 9/11.

                      Last night I found an American flag in my room and did my best to put it up. I am supportive of the US, but also can be harshly critical. I put more legitimacy in the old flag with the circle of stars than the current one, which represents 50-odd years of bad policy and national decline to me.

                    12. Michael Zvi Krumbein

                      And I just took down my Israeli flags. But I still like to see any form of patriotism, here of there.

                    13. Michael Zvi Krumbein

                      None of this has anything to do with my point, which was that, as much as I can't stand Obama, I would applaud him for backing Israel. Appreciation ought to be given to Palin for her stand, even if you need to hold your nose.

                      Two notes: 1. Ayers said "we should have bombed more", NYT, 9/11/2001. He got off on a technicality.
                      2. The media loves Palin so they can bash her.

                    14. Her support is worth little more than a drunken sailors.

                      1. I am pretty sure he said "we should have done more" which can easily be interpreted as more activism.
                      2. Not really. Its the "elites" like Olberman and Maddow that bash her. The overall media does, in fact, adore her. Because in reality, they are neither liberal nor conservative, they are capitalist.

                    15. Michael Zvi Krumbein

                      Once again, I am sorry you can't see past your politics. Why should I care that you want the left more pro-Israel (so do I) if you can't appreciate support from mainstream conservatives like Rush, et. al. That is where most of Israel's support comes from, and it is the failure of the Jewish community to appreciate it that lets people like Buchannan speak up.

  5. Michael Zvi Krumbein

    My wife offered to get me the new book from Reagan (his letters or diary; I forget) for our anniversary. I said OK, as long as she gets me Palin's book also.

  6. Michael Zvi Krumbein

    That "secret weapon" is an old adage of Israel (maybe before).

    "Ein Beraira". There is no choice.

    Or, as the modern adage goes: "Ein Lanu Medina Acheret". "We have no other State".

    As disgusted as I am with the State right now, for holding a Yemenite in jail because he want to send his children to a school that supposedly discriminates against his children (which it accepts) – I firmly believe this. There is no alternative for the Jewish people.

  7. Michael Zvi Krumbein

    Oh, and Latma covered Emmanuel, in a show purporting to be a psychological experiment on the concept of the Big Lie.

    Why did it take the Dati Leumi 2 months to finally wake up?

    1. Michael Zvi Krumbein

      Eretz Yisrael, the proper Hebrew term for Palestine, prefered by Menachem Begin and us Chareidim?

        1. Michael Zvi Krumbein

          But Eretz Yisrael is several countries: Lebanon, Israel, Northern Jordan, parts of Syria and Iraq.

  8. Am I the only person who doesn't understand this whole "cooling relations" between the US and Israel?

    To me, Barack Obama seem anymore anti-Israel than other US presidents (I believe that he is pro-Israel).

        1. Michael Zvi Krumbein

          I assume you mean the first part?

          Of course, from the viewpoint of Islam he is a Muslim, just a from the viewpoint of Judaism a person born of a Jewish mother is Jewish. But I think he meant more than that. Frenkly, it's his brand of Christianity that worries me.

          1. I dont think so. His father was an atheist, as was his mother. I suspect he is to, but went to church to "walk the walk". I dont think he has been to church more than a few times since taking office.

            1. Michael Zvi Krumbein

              Well, then you are in agreement with Ann Coulter.

              But he speaks of the influence Rev. Wright had on him, and I am willing to give him the benefit of doubt on this. I consider left-wing Christianity, which to some extent includes much of what was once mainstream Christianity (although there are extermely few Episcopaleans left in the U.S.) extremely dangerous.

              1. Perhaps, but I still think he has since lapsed and may have always put up a sort of façade…but that itself might be something to worry about. With two atheist parents, it really would not seem a stretch to consider him the same. Perhaps there were years in between he was "Christian", but I think now he has stopped. (Unless he is going to church and I dont know it. As far as I know, he isnt)

        2. obama's stepfather was muslim and brought Barry (obama) sortoro to Indonisia were obama studied the quran and learned arabic. read the book that obama wrote about his life.

    1. IMHO, Obama is a fool, not a hater. He continues down the same blind alley that his predecessors and diplomats have followed year after year to no positive effect, that pressuring Israel for concessions without applying at least corresponding pressure on the Arabs will somehow bring peace. It takes time for stubborn men like him to realize that when you stop beating your head against the wall, the pain subsides.

    2. Michael Zvi Krumbein

      Perhaps by European standards he would be pro-Israel, but not by American standards. In many ways he is not worse than some others; he is just too incompetent to do these things secretly like everyone else. The problem with doing these things publically is that it emboldens others, such as Abbas, Turkey, the EU, and the flotilla people. He did set up Biden as good cop – bad cop, but that doesn't fool anyone.

      Bush II and Clinton in their earlier years were pro-Israel, but then they took an anti-Israel turn. Obama started out that way, and got worse and worse. Basically, an ally should not be threatening another ally, or get insulted when they appove a housing project in their capital (recognized as such by Congress, including the Eastern part), for heaven's sake!

        1. Michael Zvi Krumbein

          Congress did, but the presidents keep on sending in fake "Security concerns". For all we know, Israel is asking them not to. Of course ,the last time an Israeli official said somethign like that publically, there was a public outcry.

          1. Considering how the "peace process" has gone and the sucking of Arab you know what, even under Bush, I would imagine they are trying to avoid it.

            Micronesia or something could do it though…if they have an embassy.

            1. Michael Zvi Krumbein

              There are two embassies a little West of Jerusalem. Unless I am mixing up countries, we run Micronesia's affairs for them under a voluntary agreement.

              1. Ah yes Micronesia would probably be better served by an interests section. We? I assume you mean the US.

                Im kind of curious about this now…

                    1. Michael Zvi Krumbein

                      Wikipedia went through it, but that line might have been removed. I remember wwhen there were still a few embassies (El Salvador, I think) in Jerusalem.

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