Latest Terrorist Attacks in Israel

Nadene Goldfoot

Israel has warned the Gazans that it will not stand by and allow Israelis to be shot from Gaza without reprisal.  On Tuesday a civilian, a Bedouin Israeli,  was shot and killed near the Gaza border fence by sniper fire.

The IAF retaliated by hitting a base west of Khan Younis.  As Prime Minister Netanyahu stated, "This is an extremely serious incident and we will not stand idly by.  Our policy up until now has been to thwart and retaliate with force.  That's what they are doing.

The Defense Minister in Israel said, "If there is no peace in Israel, there will be no peace in Gaza.

"The Palestinian Authority continues to instigate against the State of Israel and its citizens and is not encouraging a culture of peace, so Israel feels that they are forced to deal with terror attacks."  mentioned Ya'alon.   It's an intolerable situation for Israel who has had to deal with attacks in southern Israel since 2001.  The people in Gaza, the Hamas terrorists,  have not accepted any thoughts of peace and it's high time they did.

Such action from Gaza encourages other acts of violence in Israel.  On Sunday a bus driver near Tel Aviv was alerted by a passenger that a large black knapsack was sitting in the bus unattended.  The passenger opened it to find  a bomb in it whereupon the driver had the passengers disembark from the bus.  A sapper attempted to defuse the bomb then but it blew up.  A policeman was slightly injured in the blast.  This was a terrorist act.

Another 41 year old police officer on the security force was stabbed literally in the back by a long knife wielding Palestinian as a terrorist attack in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Adam.  The attacker fled to a nearby Palestinian neighborhood.  This happened the day after the bus attack.

And so, the state of Israel on this 24th of December must always be aware, at least in this era, of attacks on its population that can come at any time so long as the Arabs are withholding any measure of peace for all men  and no good will towards any Israeli.

Resource:  http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4469142,00.html
UPdate 12/25/13 http://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-man-severely-wounded-by-sniper-fire-from-gaza/
UPdate 12/25/13http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4469142,00.html
UPdate 12/25/13http://www.algemeiner.com/2013/12/24/israeli-worker-shot-and-killed-by-gaza-sniper-update/

Two Palestinian States? Oy!

Nadene Goldfoot
It looks like Khaled Mashaal of Hamas and Mahmoud Abba of Fatah, both Palestinian terrorist leaders, fight each other as much as they both do with Israel.  They've had an on and off love affair with each other, but right now it must be divorce time as Jordan and Qatar's leaders are pushing  for Mashaal to be chair over a future PLO  while Abbas still has his sights set on this role of being their next president or prime minister.  Abbas is the present PA chairman.

They can't come to any agreements, but the governments of the world  expect Netanyahu to pull out miracles and get both in agreement with him.  It's almost hilarious.

Hamas is in Gaza on the west side of Israel and Judea-Samaria is in what they call the West Bank, which is on the eastern side of Israel but west of the Jordan River.  Hamas has their charter which is almost the same as the Muslim Brotherhood in which they both have the goal of destroying Israel.  The Palestinians still are sniping at Israeli citizens when they can, which was today when a Palestinian from Judea stabbed a 17 year old Jewish teenager for nationalistic reasons at Tapuah Junction, he said.  .

Ten years ago Mashaal and other Hamas leaders were expelled from Jordan and lost their citizenship there for acts unbecoming a citizen, so King Abdullah certainly doesn't want them back, but instead has been restoring relations by allowing visits.  This is because of the Hamas promise of refraining from meddling in the King's internal affairs.

Now the King of Jordan has been living peacefully since 1972's war with Israel in which Arabs lost.    He's saying that he thinks Hamas is ready to soften their position and live peacefully next to Israel!  They're becoming a little more realistic.  Yahya Moussa al-Ebadsh of Hamas  had a come-back with a statement on their website saying that their relationship with Israel would not change.  "The only relationship with this enemy is the resistance,"  he vowed.

Religion should be used as a prescription for getting along peacefully with one's neighbors, but Hamas is using their religion as a dictum for war and death.  How can John Kerry ever deal with people in this state of belief?  I think it would take the highly evolved  James T. Kirk and  Spock from the USS Enterprise to deal with such characters.  They do not compute in my mind at all.

Resource:  http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=301391&rz=n_20Jan13 by Khaled Abu Toameh
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek_(film)
http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=301402&rz=n_20Jan13

Making Peace? Fatah's Abbas Lacks Clout

The PLO, once ruled by Arafat, was a terrorist party called Fatah. It started in the early 60's and took over in 1968. Fatah means: conquest by mean of jihad. Jihad means: Islamic holy war.

Abbas took over as its leader when Arafat died. He lost the last election to Hamas in 2007 , an extreme terrorist organization who chased him to Judea and Samaria on the Eastern part of Israel.

The PLO Executive Committee is the governing body of this party. They are made up of 18 un-elected influential political men. They called a meeting to approve direct negotiations with Israel. Only nine members showed up. They needed twelve according to their constitution to approve of Abbas's participation.

The problem is that Abbas's term as President of the Palestinian Authority ended in January 2009. There have been no elections since Hamas won the 2007 election.

Abbas cannot negotiate for Hamas, who has sworn no recognition of Israel as its charter says they will drive Israel into the sea; meaning to destroy and end Israel. Fatah is now the main faction of the PLO. Therefore, Abbas has no control at all of the Gaza Strip. He has little control of Judea and Samaria shown by the attacks on Israelis recently who were driving there. Fatah has not recognized Israel. Israel cannot begin negotiations without this recognition.

Netanyahu is trying to make peace with a man who has no authority to make legitimate terms. How could he possibly have support from his own people? He can't even keep the Arabs in Judea and Samaria from attacking Israelis. He's done nothing about the text books the children use that show that all of Israel is Palestine or stop the instigative remarks found in these textbooks about hatred for Jews.

Here Israel is going through the motions of negotiating in good faith hoping to come to an agreement of peace. Netanyahu may be hoping that this will cause Abbas to actually win the support of the Arabs that he now lacks. Our hope is that the main body of Arabs in both sectors might enjoya peaceful condition.

I think they will also have to edit their charter. Many of the articles are simply about liberation and Jews.

Article (4) The Palestinian struggle is part and parcel of the world-wide struggle against Zionism, colonialism and international imperialism.
Article (5) Liberating Palestine is a national obligation which necessities the materialistic and human support of the Arab Nation.
Article (6) UN projects, accords and reso, or those of any individual cowhich undermine the Palestinian people's right in their homeland are illegal and rejected.
Article (7) The Zionist Movement is racial, colonial and aggressive in ideology, goals, organisation and method.
Article (8) The Israeli existence in Palestine is a Zionist invasion with a colonial expansive base, and it is a natural ally to colonialism and international imperialism.
Article (9) Liberating Palestine and protecting its holy places is an Arab, religious and human obligation.
Article (10) Palestinian National Liberation Movement, "FATEH", is an independent national revolutionary movement representing the revolutionary vanguard of the Palestinian people.

Reference: mgbard@aol.com Mitchell Bard-Do the Palestinian authority Leaders have a mandate to pursue peace?

http://middleeastfacts.com/middle-east/the-fatah-constitution.php

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Terrorism/Fatah.html

What Palestinians Really Aim For

According to the new PLO ambassador to Lebanon, Abdullah Abdullah, as quoted from September 9, 2010 Al-Hayat Al-Jadida from Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook, the Palestinians do not have peace as a goal.
This is just a stage in their struggle against Israel.

Israel will experience what South Africa experienced. It will become isolated. They are threatening its legitimacy and are presenting it as a rebellious racist state. They are heaping war crimes on Israel. This is shown because many senior positioned Israelis are afraid to travel to Europe for fear of being put on trial for war crimes. One must remember that this man has just spoken about the Fatah, who were called PLO and were under Arafat who live in the Judea/Samaria or West Bank and are involved with peace talks with Netanyahu.

I discovered that Abdullah Abdullah has just recently taken on this position. Unless there are two Abdullah Abdullahs, he is a doctor from Afghanistan that is also a politician. He is known for having challenged the President of Afghanistan, H. Karzai, in recent elections and lost.

There is an embassy of Palestine in Lebanon. They have two Palestinian representatives. There was the Palestinian Ambassador Sharif Meshaal and the PLO (Fatah in Judea/Samaria) Abbas Zaki. They just had a farewell party for them both on October 23, 2009, so Abdullah Abdullah must have taken over for the PLO's.

He's working on the "dignity" of the PLO. Evidently Lebanon has a draft law and there are Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. He wants them to "contribute to the Lebanese economic cycle, progress and development. I guess he figures that's okay by them not working but living on aid from the UN. He said this on March 14th in a document when commenting on the Lebanon draft law. He is concerned with their rights.

Reference: http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/a/abdullah_abdullah/index.html
http://www.palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=3188 (PMW bulletin)

http://www.naharnet.com/domino/tn/NewsDesk.nsf/Lebanon/5EA28A3D4BEECED4C225775F0028A5EF?OpenDocument
http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArchiveDetails.aspx?ID=194395

Accept Us As a Jewish State

by Nadene Goldfoot

Why was Israel created in 1948? It was created as a Jewish state, something we haven't had since 70 A.D. We've been the perpetual "Wandering Jew" without a home, living in other's countries only to be kicked out as we became comfortable, wrongly thinking it was also our country.

There is no other Jewish state. After the Holocaust where 6 million of us were slaughtered, we finally agreed that we sure could have used a state of our own where there wasn't any anti-semitism.

Getting the Arab countries to agree with us has turned out to be impossible. Here they were, on Hitler's side of WWII, agreeing that we should all be killed, and now we expect them to not try to kill us all just because we hold the deed to our old piece of land again.

They continue to not recognise Israel as a Jewish state. This would interfere with their claim in a peace process of the right of their refugees to return to the area. Remember that when Israel was declared a state in 1948, the surrounding Arab states attacked in force to drive us into the sea. While their men were attacking, they told the few Arabs living there to flee and when they won they could return and have the homes of the Jews.

The fact is that they have not been living there for 62 years. They were few in number. The British even stooped so low as to cook the books, making the Arab numbers even bigger than they actually were. The adults have most likely died by now and the refugees are the children and have multiplied greatly. They haven't been working but have remained in Palestinian refugee camps, supported by the UN as the biggest needy group of all people ever. If they were given permission to enter Israel, and I'm not saying returning as they most likely never lived there, they would flood the teeny country and it would no longer have a Jewish majority. We'd be right back to square one only worse as these people hate us and want us dead. Israel is already made up of 20% Arab now with Arabs in the Knessset.

For this reason, Netanyahu has to be given the word that Palestinians must recognize Israel as a Jewish state. After all, there are already 48 states with 50% or more majority of Muslims. Can't we have one Jewish state in this world? We are only about 1% of the population in the United States. We are a noticable but wee group of people, most likely shrinking daily as it is in the U.S.

I'll throw a big party in my neighborhood if Abbas agrees to recognition, but even at that, he doesn't control the extremely hateful terrorist group, Hamas, who vow to never recognize Israel. They get their notoriety from their hatefulness and continuing attacks on Israel. In fact, Hamas still has control of some of Abbas's people, shown by the recent slaughter of four people traveling in the Judea/Samaria area in a car last week.

The 2nd round of talks will take place Tuesday in Egypt with Hillary Clinton present. "Just as we are asked to recognise the Palestinian national state...we also demand and expect the Palestinians to recognise a Jewish state," Netanyahu said at the start of a weekly cabinet meeting. Don't hold your breath, but I won't be far from my TV set Tuesday. Will they or won't they? If they can't do this, why bother discussing the other sticky core issues about the conflict? This would certainly mean that they are not truly serious about any intention for Fatah at least to put an end to the conflict.

Resource: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100912/wl_mideast_afp/israelpalestinianspeace/print

Book: From Time Immemorial by Joan Peters-The Origins of the Arab-Jewish Conflict over Palestine.

Who Recognizes Israel?

by Nadene Goldfoot

Is it so shocking that Israel's Netanyahu is asking for recognition of Israel in order to have peace? Recognition means acceptance of the state in the neighborhood. It means that it will be respected and not shot at. It means it's a legitimate neighbor and all want peace. It would be in a state such as USA is with its neighbors of Canada and Mexico today. Israelis are tired of putting up with rocket firing morning, noon and night. You can't sign a peace treaty with people who are intending to do you in anyway. Palestinians have to say, "Okay! You're a legitimate state accepted by the U.N. in May of 1948. We concede to that. We'll quit trying to drive you all into the sea. "

Palestinians don't want to recognize Israel because they want the West Bank and East Jerusalem to have no building at all by Israelis there. They want it for themselves. Since Jerusalem is the capitol of Israel, Israel feels it is their city. Jerusalem is THE city as far as Judaism goes. It's in our history, our religion, and our soul. We don't mind having Arabs living in East Jerusalem. We have a million Arabs living in Israel. However, the state of Palestine wants their country to be free of all Jews. They want us out. We have fears that they will try to take over all of Jerusalem, also. After all we've been through, we're not about to let that happen. We remember how our cemeteries were desecrated by the Jordanians. People used them as latrines. King David and his son King Solomon would roll over in their graves if they thought we'd let Jerusalem be given away. Most of our give aways that were in the name of peace have just resulted in being used as landing places for our neighbors to attack us.

The West Bank in history was Judea and Samaria. It's also most important in Jewish history. Again, we don't mind and wouldn't kick out the Arabs living there, but we don't like the idea of uprooting all the Jewish people that live there, either.

The Palestinians are always demanding that we give up land. We had a sufficient chunk of land promised to us in the first place, but had to settle for only a small part of it at the formation of Israel and that was okay with us. Something was better than nothing. Ever since then the Arabs have been chipping away pieces of it. We gained land after the 1967 battle of many Arab countries attacking us. Maybe it was a miracle that we won the war, but we won, and gained back Jerusalem from Jordan. Now, we're not about to let it go just because they're demanding.

They're calling out that building in the West Bank and East Jerusalem is illegal by the international community. Well, the international community is not supportive of Israel in any way shape or form, anyway. I feel they're still harboring anti-semitic feelings and have always been against the Jewish people. They certainly haven't condemned Palestinians for attacking Israel civilians with rockets, have they.

The whole affair is so one sided that it makes me dizzy. No wonder a Rabbi in Israel blew up cursing the Palestinian terrorists who are so against Israel. I would have said, may you all lose all your teeth except one, and in that one tooth get a giant toothache. I think that's the curse my grandmother used to use on people she was exasperated with.

Fatah Palestinian Honors Killers of Israelis

by Nadene Goldfoot

King David's old empire of bible days has been reinstituted in a tiny section of it known as the state of Israel. After 2,000 years of patience, hard work and near extinction, Israel was born in 1948 as the world's only Jewish state. By September 5, 1972, Israelis attended and participated in the Munich Olympics, a sport event taken from the Greek Olympics. However, because our state and athletes were Jews, a Palestinian terror organization, Black September, kidnapped and murdered 11 of the athletes and coaches. Oudeh, or Abu Daoud, planned the attack and was never remorseful for it. He just died before his 70th birthday.

Chairman Mahmoud Abbas of the Fatah group honors and glorifies this Daoud as a Palestinian hero and role model. This is not the first terrorist who has killed Israeli citizens who has been honored by Fatah. Abbas has expressed pride in training Hezbollah terrorists, sent greeting to Palestinian terrorists in Israeli prisons and funded a computer center named after Dalal Mughrabi where 37 Israeli civilians were killed.

Fatah honors killers of Israelis and yet expects to be Israel's neighbor. What sort of neighborliness can I expect to see from this close association? This is who Obama is pushing at Israel. Netanyahu is expected to negotiate with this person.

Israel just altered the Gazan blockade allowing in just about everything except articles that can be used against Israel, yet Hamas makes no bones about wanting Israel wiped off the map which has been their stand from the get go, before Israel had to create a blockade. Israel is always the one to give without receiving any promises in return, or promises that are valid, anyway.

Has there been a turnaround preparing Palestinians living in Judea and Samaria to be good neighbors to Israel? Has there been any type of programs of inducing people to get along, or any change in their educational program such as books to show something other than hatred which they now have? Abbas, as a role model, is showing the very opposite in glorifying these killers. That wouldn't get him an invite to my house.
Comment: 6pm Tuesday evening: Netanyahu even commented to Obama today that a political settlement of peace, coupled with security and prosperity "requires that the Palestinian Authority prepare its people for peace--school, textbooks, and so on."
Speaking about Christian evangelicals helping Jews with their grapes in Samaria, Palestinians got into a fight with them and said this about it, "“These people are filled with ideas that this is the Promised Land and their duty is to help the Jews,” said Izdat Said Qadoos of the neighboring Palestinian village. “It is not the Promised Land. It is our land.” There is much history to explain to these Palestinians.

Resource: PMW Bulletin pmw@palwatch.org Abbas honor mastermind of Munich Olympics massacre: "Wonderful brother, companion" from Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/06/world/middleeast/06settle.html?_r=1
The White House Office of the Press Secretary: remarks by President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel in Joint Press Availability.

Why Certain Goods Are Banned From Gaza 2010

Why Certain Goods Are Banned From Gaza

by Nadene Goldfoot

Some question has been raised as to why Israel has banned nutmeg, sage, caramom, cumin , coriander and ginger from Gaza. Though Benjamin Netanyahu failed to call me, Nahama, who sits safely in Oregon for advice, I believe I know why; or at least can give you the reason why I would do so.

There happens to be a war going on. Israel, which is I'm told anywhere from 1/10 to 1/3 the size of Oregon, has the Gaza Strip sitting on its border occupied with Hamas terrorists who have sworn to eradicate both the country and the people. They are not about to make peace. They have demonstrated this by attacking Israel for the past three years by shooting missiles and kassam rockets into it to the point where Israel had to conduct Operation Cast Lead, which is when they went into Gaza in force with its army in trying to stop the attacks.

Even now, though the operation was halted, the missiles keep on coming in. So there's no mistaking their resolve to hate Israel. They have managed to get supplies in through many ways, by ship, and by having tunnels where they get their weapons.

So Israel can't go in and wipe them out or they're condemned at every attempt of self preservation and protection. What else can they do? Earlier, they told terrorists that the result of their terrorism would be to have their homes demolished. Comdemnation flew in from all the do-gooders. What now? I believe they decided to keep basic supplies and necessities going into Gaza as they are a humanitarian people, but to keep certain goodies out. The reason for this is to make the population realize that if they would sign a peace pact with Israel they could again have those goodies.

Thus spices were kept out because they are so important in Arabic cooking. I see that chocolate and potato chips are on the list as well as toys. I'm not sure if this list is correct, but it's what's floating around on the internet. If this is the case it is to bring pressure from the children onto the parents to make peace with Israel. This would be a change from the brain-washing they receive in their schools and family of learning how evil and horrible Jews are and deserve to be killed.

Remember, Israelis are suffering from this Russian roulette life of wondering if they're going to be hit and when at any moment. This is not making them a relaxed people. They're tense! Going without spices and potato chips isn't half that bad. The way to a man's heart is supposed to be through his stomach. I hope they start thinking of the time before Hamas when they had these things to eat and do the right thing by making peace.

I can imagine how Russia or China would handle a situation like this if they had a neighbor constantly shooting at them. I bet they wouldn't be half as nice.

6/9/10 Another thought-the kidnapped soldier, Gilad, has not been released by Hamas. This is also a possibility for another reason of holding back certain items. Release Gilad and we'll release certain products. Nothing else has worked or induced Hamas to free him.

Resource: http://bocktherobber.com/2010/06/items-israel-prohibits-gaza

6/7/2010 I have another thought as to why certain items are banned. It could be that these things such as spices are too similar to powders used to make explosives, and too hard for dogs to deal with, ruining their noses in finding contraband. Also, other items can be where bombs have been found in. I know that I saw a police exhibit in Safed showing all the items that bombs had been hidden in.

6/9/10 http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100609/ap_on_re_mi_ea/gaza_blockade easing up of certain items but not cement
http://www.tomgrossmedia.com/mideastdispatches/archives/001127.html

Land For Peace? Now It's Peace For Land

By GARY ACHEATEL AND ELIZA KAUDER

This article is written by a friend of mine and is is so good that I wanted it on my blog as it is full of excellent information.
Nadene Goldfoot
The division in the American Jewish Community concerning Israel’s continued holding of the disputed territories is a curiosity. Remember, Israel acquired these territories only after being attacked in two major wars, Arab refusal to sign a peace treaty and requiring a buffer zone between Israeli civilians and Arab terrorists bent on Israel’s destruction. Prior to Israel’s more recent “wake-up call” with the daily horrors of intifada II and consequences resulting from their unilateral pullback from Gaza, approximately 50 percent of Israelis desperately dreamed they might be able to “trade land and receive peace.”

Many efforts included Israelis and Palestinians working together in summer camps, schools, and businesses—bridges for peace were being built. Four wars and a resurgent battle against terrorism shattered the dream. The vibrant and hopeful Israeli peace movement withered away. Is it ignorance, indifference or wishful thinking that some American Jews continue to believe Israel might get peace if they pull back from the land that is keeping terrorists away from 80 percent of Israel’s civilians?

Had they lived in Israel recently and been the daily targets of rockets and suicide bombers, would their dreams still exist? The Israelis feel betrayed by their Palestinian “peace partners.” It has become clear to all but the most ignorant that radical Arabs who hold sway among the Palestinians consider ALL of Israel as “occupied territory.” The essential question concerning Israel’s right to exist never disappeared and is paramount to finding a solution to the conflict. That fact gets buried in the propaganda.

To correct the record, occupation does not violate international law. Israel’s presence in the territories began in 1967 as a direct result of the aggressive actions of Israel’s neighbors that forced Israel into a war of self-defense. Should France return Alsace-Lorraine to Germany? Should the Czech Republic or Poland be required to return the German territories awarded to them after Germany’s defeat in World War II? Of course not. Those countries evicted most of the original inhabitants or caused them to flee.

Israel, in contrast, has never evicted a single Arab. Israel seeks peace. Israel’s Declaration of Independence expresses it. Israeli concessions for the Egyptian and Jordanian peace accords showed it. Withdrawals from Gaza and southern Lebanon proved it. Efforts by successive Israeli governments to reach a viable two-state settlement with the Palestinians continue to underscore it. Polls consistently demonstrate it. Can Israel’s critics expect her to ignore Hezbollah’s cries to destroy Israel and the Jews, Hamas’s aim of replacing Israel with an Islamic state, Iran’s objective of a world without Israel, Syria’s hospitality to all the leading terrorist groups in the region and the teaching of incitement and contempt to Palestinian children?

In spite of the above, Israel continues to offer negotiations for peace. Palestinians were again offered the chance to negotiate their borders at Camp David and chose war, unleashing the second intifada. Four years of incessant terrorism killed almost 1,000 Israelis and maimed thousands of others. In March 2002, there were nine suicide attacks in Israel killing scores of Israelis.

The intent of the intifada was to demoralize Israel, destroy its economy and thus force it to withdraw and surrender to Palestinian demands. To many Israelis’ and others’ disbelief, Israel took an amazingly bold move for peace. In Gaza in 2005 every Israeli soldier and civilian left, with Israel receiving nothing in return—a unilateral move by Israel to test Palestinian desires for peaceful negotiations. Everything was ready for the Gazans to start a new period of economic development with no blockades.

Instead of Palestinian nation building, however, rockets and tunnels came, and the destruction of greenhouses where flowers and fruit were grown, and could have continued to be grown. After the Intifada and Gaza, the message to Israeli peaceniks was loud and clear, “it isn’t about the territories; it’s about your existence!” What government could be expected to passively render its population vulnerable to slaughter? Would we in the United States sit quietly by as rockets fell on American cities from terrorist sanctuaries outside our borders? Would we allow such carnage to continue with impunity? Can capitulation and surrender ever be the reaction of a sovereign state sworn to protect its populations? For as long as political philosophers have written about the essential obligations of sovereignty, no state responsibility has been as important as the fundamental assurance of protection.

So while we all dream of peace some day, today’s harsh reality woke up many dreamers in Israel to the fact that in the absence of sincere peace partners handing over territory, a gesture of good will intended to elicit good will in return, has instead been seen as a sign of Israeli weakness. And in a region where, in the apt words of former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak, “there is no mercy for the weak…and no second opportunity for those who cannot defend themselves.” So the current reality is, “give peace then you get land.”

Gary Acheatel lives in Ashland. He is a an independent financial advisor, and vice president of Advocates for Israel. Eliza Kauder lives in Ashland and is director of sales and financial institutions for Nxgen.

Reference: Jewish Review Newspaper Sept 1, 2009 issue, page 22.

Does Obama Understand the Arab Mentality Towards Israel?

Nadene Goldfoot

Obama seems to not understand what he has caused the Arabs to surmise and now expect. Our administration is pushing for us to go along with Abbas of the Fatah party of Arabs and accept a Palestinian state next to Israel. This is coming with a lot of strings attached that they again left on their platform as before. They now think that because Obama has taken a new position of pushing Israel like the USA has never pushed before, that he will force Israel to give in to their expectations and needs and the Arabs won't have to do anything in return. In fact, he will favor the Arabs.

We have seventeen (17) Jewish people in the Obama Administration, I am surprised to find. David Axelrod, the Senior Advisor to the President is the most important. Rahm Emanuel is the Chief of Staff. We have Lee Feinstein in as Foreign Policy Advisor. Middle East Policy Advisor is Eric Lynn. I'd like to have a word or two with him! Perhaps this kettle of fish is due to him. He's not giving the advice I'd like to see given. Special Advisor for the Gulf and Southwest Asia to the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is Dennis Ross. Head of the Middle East desk at the National Security Council is Dan Shapiro. I'd like to know their positions and backgrounds in understanding Israel's position and history. What strengths do they bring to advise the President on the Middle East. Being Jewish is not enough. We have Jews of all opinions, many of which are based on nothing but peer pressure and position in society, not on actual facts.

Four decades ago plus a few years at Khartoum's conference, the Arabs rejected peace with Israel. Now in Bethlehem they again did the same thing. The only thing Fatah and Hamas can agree to is their hatred for Israel and their desire to see its destruction. Otherwise they are vying for the position of the top dog, which is now in the hands of Hamas.

They again voted to not recognize Israel as a Jewish state, not to negotiate with Israel at all, and not to end the fighting against Israel. In other words, they'd like to drive Israel into the sea as they pronounced some 61 years ago when they all attacked Israel in 1948 at it's rebirth.

Not only did they come with this declaration for all to see and read and hear, but they have a lot of demands. They want the Israelis to accept the "right of return" of their people, which would overwhelm Israel entirely with more Arabs than can be counted. They want the release of all Palestinian prisoners from Israel's jails. Most of them are in for murdering Israelis. Of course they want Israel to freeze all settlement construction and list the Gaza blockade. The end result is that they want Jerusalem in their hands and all Jews out of it along with any building that has taken place there.

Fatah is now talking about joining up with Iran in an alliance. This is the "peaceful" group that Obama is expecting to create a state of Palestine. Iran is also against any peace process and has voiced their threat of destroying Israel, which Israel takes very seriously. In fact, the Palestinian Chief Negotiator, Saeb Erekat met with Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki in Egypt already. To make matters confusing, Iran has funded Hamas, their terrorist competitor. Iran seems to like their tactics better, I suppose.

In reality, does Israel have any Palestinian group to work with who truly has peaceful coexistence in mind? There is none. The Palestinian people have again lost any chance of living as others do. Even the king of Saudi Arabia and other leaders are not any help. Perhaps it's not in the cards for a Palestinian state to be next door to the only Jewish state in the world. There's always something that stops the process, and it's not Israel. Israel has been too compliant with trying to get along with the Arabs. Our seventeen Jewish Obama administrators had better hold a conference of their own and re-analyze their strategy in trying to force a peace that has now backfired. I wonder if they have a second plan.

Reference: Mitchell Bard Fact Sheet #71: Palestinians Declare Three Noes to Peace http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/talking/71_noes.html
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/US-Israel/obamajews.html

Jerusalem Post's Geography Lesson by David Harris: New Jersey and Israel-Same Size

Nadene Goldfoot

Almost every responsible political leader today expresses a desire to contribute to peace in the Middle East. Easier said than done. A real effort to promote peace requires an understanding of what motivates the parties to the conflict.I can't say I quite get what makes the Palestinians tick. Like the late statesman Abba Eban, I haven't grasped why Palestinian leaders never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.But I do believe that anyone who genuinely seeks peace, or who aspires to be a friend of the Israeli people, should consider four key factors that inform the Israeli worldview.

Geography

The throwaway line these days is that geography no longer matters in an era of long-range missiles. Not so fast.As the late Sir Isaiah Berlin famously quipped, "The Jews have enjoyed rather too much history and too little geography."Israel is a small country, about the size of New Jersey or Wales, and barely two-thirds the size of Belgium. To put it into context, Egypt is approximately fifty times larger than Israel, Saudi Arabia a hundred times.And there's more. Until its 1967 war for survival, Israel's borders, which were nothing more than the armistice lines from the 1948 War of Independence, were nine miles at their narrowest point, near the country's midsection and most populous area.When President George W. Bush first saw that narrow width from the vantage point of a helicopter, he was reported to have said, "There are some driveways in Texas longer than Israel is wide."Topography matters too. When the towering Golan Heights were in the hands of Syria before the Six-Day War, for example, Jewish villages and farms below were regularly targeted by Syrian shelling. Ask my wife. She was a volunteer in a kibbutz there. With the Golan Heights in Israel's hands, those villages and farms no longer have to rush their children into underground shelters.

My comment is that I found this to be so true as I lived in Haifa and Safed from 1980-1985 and saw how very small Israel truly is. That's why I'm constantly amazed at the willingness of our country to divide it up more and give parts of it away continually. This will never lead to peace, only the destruction of Israel. We started with a piece of land bigger, and it has constantly been chopped apart. We gained land in 1967 but have lost other parts since then for peace which has not come. Has anyone learned a lesson here?

Research: http://cgis.jpost.com/Blogs/harris/

Big Problems With Obama's Speech in Cairo

Condensed by Nadene Goldfoot

There are a lot of good things to be said about Obama's speech in Cairo but there are three things of concern that are very important.

1. Obama's implication that the Holocaust was the main reason for the establishment of Israel

Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people. All our values were shaped here. As President Truman admired Psalm 137; By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We have been praying since 70AD to return to Israel. We've always had Jews living there, but not as many as before Rome destroyed our country.

Arabs are challenging Israel's legitimacy and saying only Westerners are settling there to appease Europeans consciences.

Yasser Arafat denied the history of the Jews to Jerusalem, the city King David has been known to be connected with. He denied history and the Bible. What he thought he passed onto his followers.

2. Obama compares Palestinian condition with black Americans and South African Blacks and others that are suffering, blaming the Israelis by doing this.

In truth, the Palestinians condition has been brought about by themselves, not Israel. Yes, they have suffered, but they have been following their leaders and fighting Israel to bring about its destruction. They have had no leaders that promote non violence. They are the world's largest group receiving foreign aid. Their corrupt leaders and their mismanagement have taken money from the people for themselves, starting with Arafat. Their leaders have not been held responsible for their behaviors. This is the game--keeping the people thinking they are victims instead of leading them to become responsible citizens.

Gaza is controlled by Hamas, a terrorist organization which is a danger to Israel and even Abbas, whom they challenge in the West Bank "Judea and Samaria." Hamas ran Abbas out of Gaza and they took over. They want to do it also in the West Bank.
The one million+  Palestinians living as citizens in Israel are fairly treated and are living better than they would ever live under the Arab rule.

3. Obama is demanding something from one country; Israel. He wouldn't dare demand something from other countries, and he is the first president of the USA to demand.

He is demanding that all settlement building in Israel be stopped. The Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, is also demanding this as she takes orders from Obama. Once she professed such sincere understanding of Israel and an eagerness to help them as did Obama. Not now. Both have turned 180 degrees.

This causes Abbas to be able to say that he will wait for a freeze in settlements before he makes any commitments. Palestinian leaders are using the settlements as the cause of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute while they should only be used in negotiations. It's like saying someone is guilty of a crime before they have had the hearing in court.


It's a terrible thing to tell a soverign country that they can't build whatever in their own country because another group plans on taking it over, but this group breaks the law constantly by attacking and killing people who live in that country. If they can't control themselves and stop being killers, do they also have the right to swallow up that country? It means that the bullies win in the world, and that's who Obama is backing. Killers. Bullies. They're not victims, it's Israel who is the victim here.
This is the most dangerous situation in the world. Arabs want control over part of Israel and their only goal is to destroy Israel. There is so much to negotiate here, and Israel has to be so careful. They hare completely surrounded by people ready to slaughter them and have to rely on themselves for protection, themselves and Ha-Shem. America seems to have stepped out of the picture and like other European countries, have disengaged themselves at this time, though are quick to expel some nice platitudes.


Israel will never go back to the 1967 armistice lines as it was almost impossible to defend Israel under that condition. Is that Obama's goal, to put Israel into a defenseless position and thus bring about its destruction? That's what he is actually doing, whether he understands this or not. He is siding with the Arab's goals.

Israel has endured 60 years of warlike conditions without peace from all sides. Now Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah call for its destruction, which all the Arab nations tried to do at its birth in 1948. They haven't changed their goals, they have just created new groups with names to fight against Israel.

Israel alone has been surviving all the attacks and have made many painful concessions in the name of peace. Israel has proven beyond a doubt that they want peace but are not about to commit suicide. Who is speaking for us now besides ourselves?

Reference: Jerusalem Post Newspaper: http://cgis.jpost.com/Blogs/harris/

Netanyahu and Palestine

by Nadene Goldfoot

One thing I've always been able to count on since 1948 is that the Arabs have refused all our offers of being able to create their own nation next door to us. Arafat refused so many times that it simply was amazing to me. We've offered them everything including the kitchen sink and they have refused doing so. We've moved out of land we were living in and it only led to another place they could stage rocket firings upon us.

I've become very jaded in my attitude wondering which will happen first; the Messiach's arrival or a change in the Arabs. Not Netanyahu. He remains hopeful. Maybe it's because he's the prime minister, younger, and I'm not. He is ready to talk to their government leaders without preconditions. He said it wasn't Israel that had preconditions but that they have been placed on Israel, something that has not happened to previous Israeli governments. This is another stone thrown at Israel by the Obama government, as far as I can see.

Netanyahu isn't even saying that the "Palestinians have to recognize Israel as a Jewish homeland before he will talk with them. He's hoping that after the talks they will, though. He's hoping that the talks will be like a reconciliation of two people who will emerge with dignity, respect, and cooperation-something that has never taken place yet.

Netanyahu also has a vision for regional peace. All of Israel does and has been praying for it since 1948. It's not fun to always be immersed in a war or constantly threatened. Imagine what it does to the people. They cannot let their guard down. Their family members are always doing a milueem, which is going into the army for at least a month every year of practice. No one in Israel wants to be a warrior, but have to be alert and ready at anytime.

Netanyahu rightly hopes that many Arab states need to change their attitude and get involved in the peace process and help out the Palestinians economically, and not just arm them with weapons to be used against Israel. They need to advance income producing projects like commerce, agriculture and tourism. Palestine has to be demilitarized. Two Arab states have signed a peace treaty with Israel like Egypt and Jordan, but others have not. It's a belligerent neighborhood that Israel finds itself.

Our biggest problem with Abbas and his followers is that they still refuse to recognize the legitimacy of Israel and that it is a declared Jewish state. They refuse to accept Israel's right to national self-determination. They refuse to accept Israel-period.

Then again, the Hamas group living in Gaza refuse to accept Abbas or Israel. How in the world can there be a state of Palestine when their total being is to destroy Israel? Well, like waiting since 1948 when I was a little girl, it may have to take the arrival of the Messiach to bring this about.

Right now Netanyahu is going through tremendous pressure from the USA, Europe and from the Arab states to give in to their demands and expectations which are not considering the welfare of Israel at all. The whole world is pressuring him and they have not placed themselves in Israel's shoes at all. He's a bright man and does not want to repeat what happened in Gaza to happen in the "so called West Bank which we call Judea and Samaria". He will expect some international guarantees, especially from the USA. This cannot be conducted like promises in a political race where promises suddenly are off the table once elected. They must be made honestly. Obama is the one pressuring Israel so much. Will he take the responsibility of these guarantees? If the Arabs truly believe in peace, they will guarantee their acceptance of Israel and desire to live in peace. I haven't been able to count on that for 60 years. Why is this different now?

Netanyahu took a big step towards peace as Israel has done many times. He's using the word "state". He also intends to honor the road map, but then Bush also added guarantees onto that that haven't been met, and the wordage is not understood as having the same meaning by both Israel and the USA. (Read my blog article before this ). I wonder if he feels like me in that the Palestinians will exhibit the same old-same old attitude of rejection. They have yet to bend to anything that would spell out peace. Their response to Netanyahus speech has been most negative. I'm not surprised. Again-it's the same old same old attitude as usual.

I've had nightmares of Israel being surrounded by two Palestinian states; Gaza and the "West Bank". Gaza hasn't stopped firing upon Israel yet, and people in the West Bank have managed to get their licks in at Israel many times in ruthless terrorist attacks. Well, why should I be worried. Looking at past history, it'll be the day when they accept anything said by Israel to make peace.

Reference: http://www.theisraelproject.org/atf/cf/%7B84dc5887-741e-4056-8d91-a389164bc94e%7D/PRESS_CONFERENCE_WITH_MARK_REGEV_15.6.09.PDF

Israel: Driving Our Own Destiny

This is a piece just sent to me, and impresses me so much that I am keeping it here for others to read. This is how I also feel. Nadene
by Howard Teich - May 29, 2009Long Island Jewish World

Nadene Goldfoot
View article onlineThere is a bottom line, for now. Negotiations for a two state solution to the Israeli- Palestinian conflict have been nearly disastrous, and have led down a path that has failed to bring peace closer. While those who push for the solution are well meaning, it will not work now, and it’s time for American Jewish leaders to take their heads out of the sand and forcefully and loudly support a strong and effective future for Israel on its own terms.The Israeli population spoke in the last election, voicing the opinion that a two-state solution is off the table for the time being. Their message was that continuing policy initiatives of the past is not the way to go.Oslo has proven to be a false start. Retreating from southern Lebanon only set up a new front for anti-Israel terrorists. The withdrawal from Gush Katif created a strongly militant terrorist state in Gaza that refuses ever to recognize Israel, and in fact calls for its destruction. And let’s not forget earlier withdrawals from the entirety of the Sinai and parts of the Golan that Israel made in the name of peace. Israel has given back more territory than the size of its entire country today for the possibility of peace.In return, Israel has faced intifadas in its own country, wars in Lebanon and then in Gaza, the need to build a wall to thwart suicide killings in Israel by separating Israel proper from its homeland in Judea and Samaria, attacks on Jewish citizens in Judea and Samaria, and the threat of a new Iranian power.Additionally, the number of worldwide anti-Semitic incidents has risen, in direct correlation to Israel and the Islamic fundamentalist terrorists. Although money continues to flow into Palestinian territory, the people living there seem to be increasingly militant without developing economically or furthering peace.

Let’s get it straight. After 61 years as a state, Israel is facing the threat of extinction by 100 million Arabs who surround it, from the Palestinians on its borders to the Iranians thousands of miles away. The Arabs remain unwilling to let Israelis live in peace. Going back to 1947 and earlier, the Arabs used the term “Palestinian” to gain additional land from the Jewish people, and succeeded. We cannot let that happen again.The Land of Israel today is on the historic land of the Jewish people dating back to Moses and before. That land included Judea and Samaria as well as Jerusalem and Gaza, and in fact, a significant part of Lebanon and Syria. Through wars and extermination, the land of the Jewish people was reduced in size by foreign occupants, until it was re-established and recognized by the world community.Multiple wars later, the Jewish people continue to fight for their right to have a homeland. The Arabs refuse to recognize this reality, and continue to use force, and now diplomacy, world opinion and terrorism, to destroy Israel. Those are the facts on the ground. The Arab world’s attempts to thwart peace with the mission of ridding the Middle East of a Jewish civilization must be seen for what it is, and brought to an end.

So, yes it is time for a change. Certain principles guide my view. First, Israel should never again retreat from land it possesses. It has no obligation to do so. Of paramount importance, we must abide by the principle that Jews should be allowed to live any place in this world that they choose to live.How outrageous to think that a peace agreement is being proposed and discussed based on the idea of all-Arab territory, where Jews would not be able to live, whether it be Gaza, or Judea and Samaria, or even as it was with Yamit in the Sinai. I hope that we have learned never again to accept the word “judenrein” when it applies to our Jewish community.The second principle is that Israel cannot turn its enemies into friends through retreat, but only through strength. That was one of the earliest teachings of the great founders of Israel, such as Ben Gurion, and the lesson remains the same today. The threats posed by the Palestinians and other Arabs, as well as the Iranians’ words of destruction against the State of Israel, must be taken seriously.The third principle is that we must be proud of our Jewish heritage and our return to Israel. Perhaps the term “Greater Israel” is appropriate here. The original vision of Israel in the Bible encompassed the land West of the Jordan River, including our previous kingdoms of Judea and Samaria, the entirety of Jerusalem, and the land of Gaza. Israel has every right to exist in that land forever, and its claim is not secondary to that of the Palestinian Arabs. I reject the concept and the terminology that the lands are occupied territories.The fourth principle is the most clear for me. Israel can never enter into a peace agreement unless it can be convinced that it will both offer a real, long-term peace and negate the probability of enhancing the strength of Israel’s enemies.

We must remember certain facts. With the great wealth of the Arabs, and their vast resources of land, the Palestinian people could be guaranteed by their brethren Arabs an incredible future on their land if they so choose. Jordan was to be the Palestinian state, and they threw many of their Palestinian people out of their country. Maintaining the U.N. refugee camps has only continued the hardships of many of the Palestinian people. It is clear that the plight of the Palestinian people will not necessarily be resolved by an independent Palestinian state.Although I opposed the withdrawal from Gush Katif, it was done, and Gaza was set up for the Palestinians to demonstrate that they could establish a positive society on their own land. They did not, and the fact is that Hamas set out in Gaza under Iranian guidance to disrupt, if not destroy Israel. That cannot, must not and will not be.Until the day that the Palestinians accept Israel’s right to be a Jewish state, their leadership credentials remain clouded. There can be no peace with them, and no one should be pushing Israel into a peace that is no peace at all.It is time that American Jewry recognizes the realities on the ground, and stands firmly with Israel on them. We must be steadfast in our paramount interest that Israel’s right to determine its own future is non-negotiable.Rabbi J.B. Soloveitchik said with regard to the Holocaust, as I learned from the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s new Moriah Film, Against the Tide, “We must drive our own destiny, and transform fate into destiny during our life.” This must be the commitment of world Jewry today. We may not live in Israel, and yet, living in America, it is clear that we can do something they cannot do alone. We can proudly shout out with a clarion call that Israel exists, and is entitled to a secure future just like every country on Earth. We must convince the world.
Am Yisrael chai. (We the people of Israel live).

Howard Teich, a practicing attorney in New York, has held many leadership positions in the Jewish community. For comments, e-mail howardbteich@aol.com.

A Letter From David to Gazan Neighbors

"My friend, from Zichron Yaacov Israel, sent this to me from her friend. "

A letter to the citizens of Gaza from a concerned neighbor

Dear neighbor,
My name is David and I live in Israel, thirty minutes (or one minute rocket time) from you, in a beautiful house by the woods. I hope someday to have you over for a cup of tea. We have a lovely view from the balcony. On a clear day we can see our jets bombing your neighborhood.

I think it's time we had a heart to heart. It's time you knew the truth. After all, what are neighbors for? You might have wondered why both you and your parents were born in a refugee camp. Why is it that even though we live only 30 minutes apart, I live in prosperity and you live in poverty and filth? Why you live in despair and hatred while we live in hope and love.

Here is the truth, neighbor:
There really was a Holocaust. I realize you've been taught otherwise. I know, that ever since you were a small child you've been told that the Holocaust is something the Jews fabricated to justify taking your land. Well, dear citizen of Gaza, it really happened. Not very long ago. It happened. And guess what? It's NEVER going to happen again. The time in history when Jews were led to slaughter, persecuted, raped and pillaged is over and will never recur. Never. Now we have our own country. Now we have the bombs. We will never forget what was done to our people and you better not either.

We don't hate you. We don't hate anyone. Jews are a peaceful people. We do not want your land. We don't want oil. We don't want to rape your women or murder your children. We never tried to force our religion on anyone. Our eternal capital, Jerusalem, is open to all faiths to love and to worship. We treat your Arab brothers who live among us as equals. Our hand has been extended to peace with our neighbors since day one. We have proven this time and time again through numerous negotiations and extensive compromise.

We ask only for one thing. Leave us in peace. That's right. We have no other demands. Just leave us in peace. It's as simple as that. If you don't, we will fight back ferociously and mercilessly. We will destroy your homes and your cities. We will make your miserable lives even more miserable. If you don't want this to happen any more, leave us in peace.

Our soldiers are not motivated by hate but by determination. We embrace life and will do anything to preserve it. However, we will kill and die to protect our land and our way of life. That's what they should be teaching in your schools instead of useless lies.

A terrorist is a terrorist. Sorry to be the one to break the news, but it's about time somebody told you that a terrorist is nothing more than a coward. Not a hero. Not a Shahid. There is nothing heroic in blowing yourself up amongst a crowd of woman and children. Anybody can do it. Anybody can hide inside a school or a mosque and blindly fire rockets into cities, hoping to kill as many babies as possible. There is nothing courageous or admirable in these acts of cruelty. To take pride in an act of terror is pitiful and pathetic. I know you've been raised to believe the contrary, but it is a lie. I have seen how your children are taught to commit suicide. How your suicide bombers are glorified. This is tragically sad. A real hero faces his enemy and doesn't hide in schools and hospitals. A real hero protects his people and will die for them but not among them.

Israel exists and it belongs to the Jewish People. I've seen your school books. I know that Israel has been omitted from your maps. Contrary to what you've been told, the State of Israel really does exist. Look outside your window. We are here and we are not going anywhere. Dear Palestinian neighbor, it's time to deal with the facts. We love our beautiful little country. We will protect it with our lives. You are not getting it. This was explained to you in 1948. You got your country and we got ours. Your arrogant and stupid leaders promised you that you will get the whole thing. Thousands of lives have been lost for nothing. It's NEVER going to happen! While you have been foolishly drooling over our land instead of nurturing your own, we have built one of the most beautiful and successful countries on Earth. We have done it not to spite our greedy neighbors, but rather in spite of them. We've planted forests and quenched the desert. We've drained wetlands and culivated fields. We built universities, opera houses, superhighways, hospitals, skyscrapers and stadiums. We have millions of refugees, but no refugee camps.

You could do the same. Focus on what you have and not on what you will never have. It takes love, hard work and determination. We can help. We have experts and scientists helping developing nations across the globe. Accept the facts, lay down your weapons and join us in making this great region of the planet even greater.

Remember, we're neighbors.
David -- Sarigim, Israel – Jan. 9th, 2009

Syrian Hatred For Israel

A Syrian actress was interviewed about how she would feel if peace were made with Israel. She explained that hatred for Israel was in their genes. They grew up with it suckling their mothers. If there was peace, Isreal would remain a black dark murky spot with Syrians, and they would pass it down to their children.

The way she explained it sounded like their total environment consists of hatred for Israel in many ways. Hatred for Jews is shown in the Koran. Hatred came about when Syria attacked Israel and lost the battle.

How does one combat such hatred other than education? When will Israel ever get an opportunity to change their attitude?

Resource: http://www.jpost.com/ This Jerusalem Post page has the article to see the video interview.

Abbas Must Gain Control of Gaza

Nadene Goldfoot

There is no sense in talking about a state of Palestine until Abbas, the leader of Fatah who have settled in the West Bank, has gained control of Gaza which is now in Hamas terrorist hands.

Israel is sustaining constant daily shelling, sometimes surviving 24 hour bombardments now. It seems that everyone expects Israel to concede to pressures and give in to the Palestinian's aim to drive them out completely.

The Palestinians are having a fit over Israel's announcement that they are going to build apartments in East Jerusalem. The neighborhood this is going to take place in was already annexed by Israel after the 1967 war. The problem lies in the fact that the act has not been internationally recognized. I suppose that means by the United Nations, which is top-heavy with Arab leaders. The 2003 Roadmap to Peace Plan is worded in such a way that Israel feels it is not violating it and others think they are. The situation has changed since sitting down in 2003 and discussing a roadmap.

In 1967 after the Six Day War when Israel was attacked by all the surrounding Arab countries, Israel won. The Palestinians are sore losers. The Palestinians claim all of the West Bank as part of a future state of Palestine. They want East Jerusalem as their capitol. They lost a chance to this area by losing the 67 war. They haven't done a thing to show that they have earned it. It was never in their hands to begin with. Jordan had control of Jerusalem and the West Bank. We know how they had treated it; like a trash dump. They're also losing a chance to it by allowing constant shelling into Israel. That's not a very friendly gesture. It makes Israel mad. Abbas has no influence on the warring Gazans.

We now have 180,000 Israelis living in East Jerusalem and 250,000 Israelis living in West Bank settlements. They won't be allowed to live there if "Palestine" is created there. Hence, another problem of where they should live in their shrinking state.

Rice, cool your heels. You're not accepting the beligerance of Hamas and its affect on Israel. I don't believe you were brave enough to visit Sderot and Ashkelon. If a rock were thrown in your yard you'd have a tizzy. You just see the big picture of making these two parties sign a piece of paper, and you getting the credit. Israel would have to live with this hatred. Have you asked the Palestinians to change their charters, their hearts and their school textbooks yet? When that happens, the Messiah may be here, but there won't be a peace until these things happen.

For now Israel will not consider any peace agreement until Abbas is the leader of the Gazans and not Hamas. You can't make peace with people who want you dead and that is their stated aim in their charter. June 2007 saw the decline of the prospect of Palestine next door to Israel. It's been a year since that happened, and things are only getting worse.

Reference: Reuters News

Oregonian Newspaper 6/15/08 page A10 Rice to press Israelis on settlements

Giving Up Golan Heights For Peace ?

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                      

Giving Up Golan Heights For Peace

Let it not be said that Israel hasn't given up land for peace. It has in the past and is willing to do it again. Surprisingly, Israel's Olmert has offered Syria the Golan Heights in exchange for peace. He has asked that Syria cuts it ties with terrorist groups of Palestinians in Damascus. Israel had received the Golan Heights after the 1967 Six Day War where Syria was one of many Arab countries attacking Israel.

The problem is that the Golan Heights is now home to 20,000 Israelis. It is a beautiful area. Even the rabbis are against the offer and say it goes against Halacha. Army officials are saying that the topography is less important now than it was in 1967. Fighting has changed. What they might be worried about is guerilla warfare.

Reference: Jerusalem Post

What's the Big Deal About Jerusalem? Stanley Goldfoot's Letter to the World Tells All

Nadene Goldfdoot                                                                  

So what if Israel has to give up parts of Jerusalem for peace? What's the big deal? Why is Jerusalem important to Jews, anyway?    Many people are probably saying this right now, even some Jews.

To us it's not like saying, let's give up Arizona, California, New Mexico and a few other states to Mexico. After all, lots of Mexicans are living in these states.

 There's an even deeper relationship of Jerusalem to Jews and to the state of Israel. It's connected to our very religion, which is quite complex. In our prayers we say, "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, may I lose my right hand". .... Our history and connection with Jerusalem goes back farther than our King David. We've been a part of Jerusalem forever, and it is a part of us. The atmosphere there is special for us. Our deepest thoughts and deeds have come from there. It gives us our mental and emotional food. We've been deprived for 2,000 years and have yearned for it.

We've waited all this time to return. It didn't just happen out of the blue. A lot of planning preceded the move, years and years of planning.   We were immersed in the 1948 War minutes after the declaration that the UN created Israel.   2,000 years of wandering and suffering preceded it where no UNRA helped us out.

This connection is not the same for Arabs. They have one claim; that Mohammed of the 6th Century AD (born 570 CE) rose from Jerusalem and went to heaven on his horse. Their holy places are in Saudi Arabia. They lay claim to Jerusalem because it is our eternal city, and they want what we have in order to get rid of us. It's all a chess game.

My distant cousin, Stanley Goldfoot, a resident of Jerusalem, had this to say about his city. It is the most profound statement I've ever read.

A Letter to the World from Jerusalem

by Eliezer ben Yisrael (Stanley Goldfoot)

This was originally an editorial published in the Jerusalem Times in 1969. It is still highly relevant considering the current political situation and the upcoming celebration of Yom Yerushalayim. The letter was reprinted by the Israel Center of the Orthodox Union in Torah Tidbits #211)

I am not a creature from another planet, as you seem to believe. I am a Jerusalemite-like yourselves, a man of flesh and blood. I am a citizen of my city, an integral part of my people.

I have a few things to get off my chest. Because I am not a diplomat, I do not have to mince words. I do not have to please you or even persuade you. I owe you nothing. You did not build this city, you did not live in it, you did not defend it when they came to destroy it. And we will be damned if we will let you take it away.

There was a Jerusalem before there was a New York. When Berlin, Moscow, London, and Paris were miasmal forest and swamp, there was a thriving Jewish community here. It gave something to the world which you nations have rejected ever since you established yourselves- a humane moral code.

Here the prophets walked, their words flashing like forked lightning. Here a people who wanted nothing more than to be left alone, fought of waves of heathen would-be conquerors, bled and died on the battlements, hurled themselves into the flames of their burning Temple rather than surrender, and when finally overwhelmed by sheer numbers and led away into captivity, swore that before they forgot Jerusalem, they would see their tongues cleave to their palates, their right arms wither.

For two pain-filled millennia, while we were your unwelcome guests, we prayed daily to return to this city. Three times a day we petitioned the Almighty: "Gather us from the four corners of the world, bring us upright to our land, return in mercy to Jerusalem, Thy city, and swell in it as Thou promised." On every Yom Kippur and Passover, we fervently voiced the hope that Next Year would find us in Jerusalem.

Your inquisitions, pogroms, expulsions, the ghettos into which you jammed us, your forced baptisms, your quota systems, your genteel anti-Semitism, and the final unspeakable horror, the Holocaust (and worse, your terrifying disinterest in it)- all these have not broken us. They may have sapped what little moral strength you still possessed, but they forged us into steel. Do you think that you can break us now after all we have been through?   Do you really believe that after Dachau and Auschwitz we are frightened by your threats of blockades and sanctions? We have been to Hell and back- a Hell of your making. What more could you possibly have in your arsenal that could scare us?

I have watched this city bombarded twice by nations calling themselves civilized. In 1948, while you looked on apathetically, I saw women and children blown to smithereens, after we agreed to your request to internationalize the city. It was a deadly combination that did the job- British officers, Arab gunners, and American-made cannon. And then the savage sacking of the Old City-the willful slaughter, the wanton destruction of every synagogue and religious school, the desecration of Jewish cemeteries, the sale by a ghoulish government of tombstones for building materials, for poultry runs, army camps, even latrines.

And you never said a word.

You never breathed the slightest protest when the Jordanians shut off the holiest of our places, the Western Wall, in violation of the pledges they had made after the war- a war they waged, incidentally, against the decision of the UN. Not a murmur came from you whenever the legionnaires in their spiked helmets casually opened fire upon our citizens from behind the walls.

Your hearts bled when Berlin came under siege. You rushed your airlift "to save the gallant Berliners". But you did not send one ounce of food when Jews starved in besieged Jerusalem. You thundered against the wall which the East Germans ran through the middle of the German capital- but not one peep out of you about that other wall, the one that tore through the heart of Jerusalem.

And when that same thing happened 20 years later, and the Arabs unleashed a savage, unprovoked bombardment of the Holy City again, did any of you do anything?

The only time you came to life was when the city was at last reunited. Then you wrung your hands and spoke loftily of "justice" and need for the "Christian" quality of turning the other cheek.

The truth- and you know it deep inside your gut- you would prefer the city to be destroyed rather than have it governed by Jews. No matter how diplomatically you phrase it, the age old prejudices seep out of every word.

If our return to the city has tied your theology in knots, perhaps you had better reexamine your catechisms. After what we have been through, we are not passively going to accommodate ourselves to the twisted idea that we are to suffer eternal homelessness until we accept your savior.

For the first time since the year 70, there is now complete religious freedom for all in Jerusalem. For the first time since the Romans put a torch to the Temple, everyone has equal rights (You prefer to have some more equal than others.) We loathe the sword- but it was you who forced us to take it up. We crave peace, but we are not going back to the peace of 1948 as you would like us to.

We are home. It has a lovely sound for a nation you have willed to wander over the face of the globe. We are not leaving. We are redeeming the pledge made by our forefathers: Jerusalem is being rebuilt. "Next year" and the year after, and after, and after, until the end of time- "in Jerusalem"!

You know what Stanley would say to Olmert and Netanyahu now if he could.