King David Objects From Judah Revealed

Nadene Goldfoot
Imagine finding objects from the time of King David of Judah!  That's what's happened to Archaeology Prof. Yosef Garfinkel with the Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.  They had digs at Khirbet Qeiyafa, which was a fortified city in Judah next to the Valley of Elah only 30 km from Jerusalem.  It lay near the Philistine city of Gath, which was the home of the giant, Goliath.  The city of Khirbet Qeiafa  was in existence between 1020 BCE to 980 BCE and had been violently destroyed.   They found pottery, stone and metal tools and many art and cult objects there.

In their finds were 3 large rooms that had been used as cultic shrines, dating the period they were from.  They were from before Solomon's Temple by 30 to 40 years. The tribes of Judah and most of Benjamin and Simeon lived in Judah.

King David of Israel (1000 BCE-960 BCE) was the youngest son of Jesse and was born in Bethlehem.  He had become the armor-bearer to King Saul, our first king and probably because of this had become best friends with Jonathan, the son of Saul.  He became a good fighter of the Philistines, and then married Saul's daughter, Michal.   He was buried in Jerusalem.

All this can be found in a new book out, "Footsteps of King David in the in the Valley of Elah", published by Yedioth Ahronoth.

Hebrew University, started in 1918 by Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, Martin Buber and Chaim Weizmann, was able to open in 1925.  It has been ranked 12th worldwide in biotechnology patent filings and commercial development.  Students from 65 countries have attended.

Resource: http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/History/Early+History+-+Archaeology/Cultic_shrines_time_King_David_8-May-2012.htm?DisplayMode=print

Abbas's Green Light for Terrorists

Nadene Goldfoot
I've always thought that that it was beshert that Fatah and Hamas could not agree on ruling in Gaza as both want the power. Both have security forces and would have to merge them, another problem.   David Meir-Levi gives us an update as to what is happening with all of Israel's neighbors and what they are doing.  It's quite alarming.  I'll just remark on Hamas and Fatah.  Be sure to read his insight.

Abbas's Fatah group who live in  Judea-Samaria or West Bank, formerly the PLO of Arafat's years, had been cooperating with Israel for the past 6 years fairly well, but now that they are talking about melding in with the terrorists of Hamas, are going bonkers.  Their PA police have decided not to cooperate and work with the IDF to prevent terrorism.  They are not arresting known terrorists there anymore.  Abbas has even resurrected "Arafat's old Palestinian revolving door policy for jailed terrorists"  Naturally, terrorists see this as the nod to resume their terrorism against Israel.

Abbas has been ruling illegally for 3 years with a term that expired in January 2009.  Arafat pulled the same trick.  He ruled unconstitutionally from 2000 to 2004 when he died from AIDS.  He calls himself a president, but acts like a tyrant in this way.

Abbas and Mesha'al met last year and again last week on the 2nd of May.  They seems to only connect when plotting to attack Israel, so that's what they may have been doing.  What a reason to unify!  Death of their neighbors.

Hamas, who had kicked Abbas out of Gaza in 2006, has refused to go along with Iran and support Bashar al-Assad of Syria and to not cooperate with their Muslim Brotherhood in Syria. This made Iran angry and they cut back on funding Hamas.  Hamas has also been losing their clout with other terrorists who are doing their own thing and not taking Hamas's orders. For instance, they have new mobile self-propelled rocket launchers smuggled in from Libya that they use against Israel.

Israel finds that  Fatah and Hamas are only two of many groups to cause concern lately.  The whole neighborhood is about to catch on fire, it seems.  This has caused Israel to raise their level of terror alerts and as usual, are prepared to protect their citizens from attack wherever it may come from.  We're all praying that it does not turn into a horrible nuclear war.  The Winds of War are starting to blow again, and I think the Arab Spring was the start of it all.  .

Resource:  frontpagemag.com/2012/05/08/winds-of-war/print
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatah%E2%80%93Hamas_conflict

The Very Cradle of Jewish Civilization: Judea and Samaria

Nadene Goldfoot
Judea and Samaria were the cradle of Jewish civilization and had an unfailing Jewish presence until the 1948 War when the many people living there were killed and about 10,000 survivors  were expelled by the Jordanians, who held rule illegally until the 1967 War with Israel.  Jordan  renamed the two states "West Bank."  , being they lay on the west side of the Jordan River.

The Kingdom of Judah, renamed Judea by the Romans,  had existed in 933 BCE when Eretz Yisrael was divided after King Solomon had died.  It was the southerly of the two.  The tribe of Judah and parts of Benjamin and Simeon lived there.  It was the poor and less important Kingdom with no access to the sea.  It did contain Jerusalem and the Temple, however and was able to keep Mosaic monotheism in a pure form.  Solomon's son, Rehoboam took over as King of Judah.  Samaria had been the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel, founded in 880 BCE by King Omri.  He was king of Israel from 887 to 876 BCE.  Omri had been Elah's general and directed the operations against the Philistine city of Gibbethon.  He was the founder of a dynasty.

The British actually were the last legal sovereign authority for Judea and Samaria.  Jordan and  had illegally held them  as well as Egypt illegally holding Gaza Strip between 1948 and 1967.  They remain unallocated portions of the British Mandate since no government formally replaced the Mandate's jurisdiction.  It's guidelines called for Jews to settle the area.  That's what they did from 1967 on.

Arabs wanted to hold onto these lands to attack Israel.  They kept launching attacks against Israel from the "Territories'" strategic locations.  UN Resolution 242 had planned for bilateral negotiations that would give Israel more secure borders and lead to greater regional stability.  When Israel pulled out of Gaza for the sake of making peace, the Arabs used it as a closer place to shoot their rockets, missiles and mortars into southern Israel.

Until 1988, the PLO continued to call for a Palestinian state to REPLACE Israel, not for a a separate state that would exist alongside it.  They still will not recognize Israel and the Muslim Brotherhood continues to push with their goal of replacement, not peace and coexistence.

80% of the Israeli settlers in Judea and Samaria live in communities close to the Green Line, which are suburbs of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.  The Jews have a right to settle the land.  It is a legal right assured by treaty and specifically protected by Article 80 of the U.N. Charter...."the Jewish right of settlement in the area is equivalent in every way to the right of the existing Palestinian population to live there" says Eugene Rostow, former U.S. Under Secretary of State, 1990.

Israelis had built communities after 1967 in undeveloped, uninhabited areas. Arabs have legitimate claims to ownership over some of the land.  Many are longtime inhabitants who felt they have no political rights and self-determination.  Israel  disputes their territorial claims and also has even stronger claims to the land.

Israel was forced to continue having a presence in Gaza and the West Bank from 1967 to 1993 because no Palestinian leader stepped up as a peace partner.  Blame International law and custom that required Israel to be the administrators.  They're just obeying the laws.  .  From 1993 to 2007 Israel gradually ended the "Occupation."  by turning civilian administration over to the newly created Palestininan Authority (PA) in 1994.

Did anyone complain when the Jordanians expelled our 10,000 Jews who were living there?  Why is it that the Jews get the short end of every stick?

Resource:  Israel 101 from StandWithUs
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

Muslim Brotherhood Instigating End of Peace: Israel and Jordan

Nadene Goldfoot
The Muslim Brotherhood is carrying out it's goals from their charter.  They are disrupting the peace between the Hashemite kingdom of Jordan and Israel.  On Friday they organized a rally to end the July 1994 peace treaty  that was signed by Shimon Peres and Jordan's PM, Abdelsalam al-Majali.  They now want to kick out Israel's ambassador.

 Getting to that peace treaty cost the USA 18.3 billion dollars which Abdelsalam declared was to bring an end to the age of wars and Peres had declared that the moment of peace had arrived.  Even Egypt had welcomed the agreement and Syria just played it cool by ignoring it.  As part of the agreement, Israel established a modern medical center in Amman.

 The Hezbollah of Lebanon obviously was unhappy about it and showed their anger by launching mortar and rocket attacks into the northern Galilee towns where I used to live just 20 minutes before the ceremony.  This had been a historical event of Israel;  signing a 2nd peace treaty with an Arab state.

Then they were able to open their borders by  building several border-crossings for tourists, merchants and workers to travel between.  Israeli tourists visited Jordan, enjoying Petra, a stone-carved Nabatean city which is famous.

Jordanians had been coming into Israel to work daily.  Since 1967, when Jordan attacked Israel along with all their friends and lost, resulting in losing the "West Bank" which they had held illegally since 1948, Israel maintained an OPEN BRIDGES policy with Jordan.  This allowed Arabs from Judea and Samaria to travel to neighboring Arab countries and continue to maintain family ties and for business and education.  Arabs from the West Bank were allowed since 1971 to visit Israel without permits.  Israel encouraged coexistence.

It hadn't been easy because between June 1967 and September 1970 the Jordanian army and Palestinian terrorists worked together to harass Israel.  They shelled Israeli villages in the Jordan Valley and terrorist groups were infiltrating and attacking Israelis.

In September 1970 Civil War occurred in Jordan when the Jordanian army crushed the Palestinian terrorist organization.  Jordan wound up becoming populated by many Palestinians with the King marrying one. They had their BLACK SEPTEMBER when the PLO  threatened to overthrow King Hussein.  Almost 3,400 Palestinians were killed  between the 16th and the 26th, 1970.  PLO members actually fled across the border to surrender to Israeli troops instead of Hussein's army.

Many feel that Jordan is Palestine being so many live there.  King Husayn had said that "there should be the separation of the West Bank from the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.  Likud, a major political party in Israel has said over and over that Jordan is Palestine.    

The rallies were in 7 cities where people burned Israeli and American flags and chanted, "death, death to Israel," and "the people want an end to Wadi Araba which is the Jordan-Israel peace treaty.

The Westernized King Abdullah II had recently appointed Fayez Tarrawneh as prime minister who was a man who served in this capacity briefly in the late 1990s and was a key figure in making peace with Israel.  He is a man who would still support the 1994 treaty and the people are rebelling now with the teachings  of the Muslim Brotherhood.

They are saying that this rational man is not respecting the Jordanian's wish to end all peace, calls the Muslim Brotherhood, a group our government mistakenly thinks is "moderate,"  This should be proof that they are radical and dangerous.

The Brotherhood's propaganda is that Israel has not followed through with obligations under the treaty like in water sharing.  They're noting Amman's custodianship over holy sites in Jerusalem and access to the Palestinian territories, meaning Jordanians wanting to gain free access into Judea, Samaria, maybe parts of the Golan and East Jerusalem.

Jordan, with  a population of 5,568,565 people of which 95% are Sunni Muslims, hopefully has strong leaders that can squelch such war mongers that are trying to end an 18 year old peace treaty.  The Muslim Brotherhood is doing the very same thing in Egypt by having Mubakak jailed after he and Sadat had kept them down and illegal.  Can people still say that they are moderate and harmless now?

Resource: http://www.timesofisrael.com/thousands-of-jordanians-call-for-end-to-peace-with-israel/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel%E2%80%93Jordan_Treaty_of_Peace
http://www.danielpipes.org/298/is-jordan-palestine
Facts about Israel, Division of Information, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Jerusalem,  p 50-51
Myths and Facts: a concise record of the Arab-Israeli conflict b Mitchell Bard, Joel Himelfarb

Big Brou-ha Over Israel's Participation in NATO Summit

Nadene Goldfoot
Turkey has the chutzpah to object to Israel's being in the future NATO Summit in Chicago.  Is the USA's Secretary of State Hillary Clinton going to let the only reliable and capable ally in the region to be ostracized?  Their reasoning is that NATO-Israel relations can't be normal until Turkey-Israel relations are normalized.  The question I ask is, "How is that ever going to happen?"

This one member out of the 28 nation alliance is being controlling with no doubt an anti-Semitic bent.  Israel has so much to offer the group; insights on strategic developments such as instability in Syria, knowing more about  Iran and their atomic buildup to make nuclear weapons, etc.

Turkey also has said that Israel can't join until their Organization of Islamic Cooperation can also participate. I wonder if they have any idea about how to cooperate?  They were involved in invading Israel's waters with an illegal ship intending to bring who knows what into Gaza and wouldn't allow Israel to check out the ship.  Israel's intentions of checking out ships  was announced way earlier for all.  They screwed things up themselves with Israel and expect deference now from Israel like an apology, etc.   Turkey was a pain in the neck when they were known as the Ottoman Empire and they still are acting like spoiled children.

The American Jewish Committee has already asked our government to lift this sanction and not allow Israel to be ostracized from the group.  Considering that 75% of NATO's budget comes from the USA, one would think that the USA would have more than enough clout.

Obama has made it known that the big topic of the meeting is about Afghanistan. Russia's opposition to Missile Defense Plans is 2nd on the agenda, and last they are going to discuss their own future as so many of the European members come from countries short on money.   Fifty (50) countries will be represented and attending, from Iceland to Korea.

Resource: http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=8645678
Arutz Sheva news@israelnationalnews.com : Israeli Participation in Upcoming NATO Summit? by Rachel Hirshfeld

Stalemate Ending of Peace Talks While Gaza Exchanges Fire With Israel

Nadene Goldfoot
Supposedly, though  PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad was to meet with President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Netanyahu on the 17th , he did not attend.  Abbas had announced that he would, and seemed to be surprised that he didn't show up.

As it turned out, he wouldn't meet with Netanyahu.  Saeb Erekat, head of the PA negotiating team had told journalists just a few hours before the supposed meeting that he would be there, too.  Erkat had to stand in for Fayyad and was joined by Majed Faraj, PA general intelligence chief.

Netanyahu had his special envoy, Isaac Molho with him and the men talked for one hour 20 minutes.  The time was followed by a joint statement saying they both were committed to achieving peace.  Molho is to meet Abbas in Ramallah in the next 2 weeks and will bring an answer to a letter from the Palestinians about Israel's position on the borders of a future Palestinian state and security arrangements for Israel as part of any peace agreement.  It will no doubt include Israel's expectation that Palestinians recognize the State of Israel.

In the meantime, just 3 hours ago, the IDF and PA terrorists fired at each other on the Gaza border.  One was wounded.  The terrorists fired at the soldiers while they were near the security fence in central Gaza doing routine operational activities of clearing land in the early afternoon along the border.  .

The shooting damaged two armoured cars, so the Israelis answered back.  Israel's military keeps an exclusion zone inside the Gaza Strip along the border and regularly does this chore so that the land is safer and terrorists cannot hide in clumps.

On Tuesday evening, a rocket fired from Gaza and landed in Ashkelon.  This is what they had hoped to prevent.  Things like this that keep on happening.

Resource: http://news.yahoo.com/gaza-militant-killed-israeli-border-firefight-193154283.html

haaretz.com/misc/.../palestinian-delegation-delivers-peace-talks-demands-to-netanyahu-1.424905?trai

Israel's Protective Iron Dome or Kipat Barzel

Nadene Goldfoot

Brig. Gen. Danny Gold, head of Maf'at, decided that Israel needed a system of intercepting all the missiles.  By 2007 Israel commissioned developing the anti-missile Iron Dome.  They chose an Israeli contractor, Rafael. " The Israeli company, mPrest Systems, was put in charge of programming the core of Iron Dome's battle management system."

 They designed it to intercept and destroy short-range rockets and artillery shells fired from distances of 4 to 70 kilometers away.  The trajectory would be taking them to a populated area in all weather conditions.  This is Israel's defensive countermeasure to the rocket threat against Israel's civilian population on its northern and southern borders.   Within 4 years is was combat ready.  There was no system like this in the whole world.  The people involved felt like a start-up business.  This was a remarkably short period of time for a weapons system to be designed from scratch.

Funding for it came from the United States and Israel.   They have invested nearly a million into the Iron Dome, and are willing to invest more, now as long as the USA can get the development rights to the weapon system. Right now they have no right to the technology involved.

To fire at one missile, it costs $40,000.  It's expensive to use.  It was first used on 27 March 2011 near Beersheba.  By the 10 March 2011, it was successful in intercepting a Grad rocket launched from Gaza for the first time.  On 10 March, 2012, it shot down 90% of rockets launched from Gaza it fired at.  By April it had intercepted 93 rockets.  Maybe that's why we haven't heard of rockets landing near Southern Israel's towns.

Rockets which look like they're going to land in unpopulated areas are ignored.

Resource: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Dome
news@israelnationalnews.com Arutz Sheva

Samarian-Judean Terrorism on the Rise on Highways

Nadene Goldfoot
Samaria, which is what some people call part of the West Bank, holds both Arabs and Jews.  Today an Israeli car drove near the Arab village of Duma on the highway NE of Ramallah and was stoned.  The windshield was smashed and the rock had blood on it from hitting the passenger.  The driver contacted the IDF immediately who are searching for the people who threw the rocks.  This is not the first attack in Samaria or Judea. 

Just January 31st an attack happened in Northern Samaria when a woman's car was stoned while driving and she was wounded while 2 other cars were damaged. 

By the middle of February3  women in Judea and Samaria were attacked in their cars by Palestinian Authority Arabs, dragged from their cars which were then stolen.  In retaliation, the Jewish residents of Kedumim blocked the PA Arab drivers from merging onto Route 55.  The attacks had been getting more violent and they wanted the government to protect drivers. 

An attack back in September 2011 on Asher Palmer from Kiryat Arba who was driving on Highway 60 ended in tragedy because he had his baby son, Yonatan in the car.  The rock attack caused Asher to lose control of the car and it crashed, killing the baby. 

The increased Arab rock attacks on the road in Judea and Samaria and in neighborhoods in Jerusalem seem to be the start of a Third Intifada. 

Resource: Arutz Sheva news@israelnationalnews.com
http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/woman-driving-in-samaria-injured-by-rock-thrower/2012/01/31/
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/152919

Ramban in Jerusalem and the Jews Who Lived There 1267-1967

Nadene Goldfoot
1,132 years after Bar Kochba's  last stand in Jerusalem, in 1267 CE, Rabbi Moses Ben Nahman "The Ramban" from Gerona, Spain  entered Jerusalem and saw what the overrunning of the Tartar hordes had done to this precious city.  Tartars were from the Genghis Khan and the Russian Empire who were moving eastward.  They were made up of people of Siberia, Turkestan, and Mongolia from across the Great Steppe to the Caspian Sea to the Ural Mountains.  In 1240 the Mongols had invaded Syria and were successful in 1260.  Some Mongols engaged in raids as far south as Jerusalem and Gaza.  They had taken Aleppo and Damascus in Syria.  They then invaded Hungary in 1285 and were again successful in 1300.  . 

Whole quarters were either ruined or empty, and there were only two people there that he could find, two brothers who were dyers by trade.  There in their home, 10 or more people were gathered from outside Jerusalem for the Sabbath and holiday prayers.  Rabbi Nahman, known as the Ramban, lived there as well.

The Ramban, one of the greatest Rabbis and greatest scholar, was horrified at the condition of the Holy Land and of Jerusalem, so wrote to his son for help in finding a good place to have a synagogue.and finally found a restorable hall.  He also encouraged outside Jewish communities to return and resettle in Jerusalem. He reminded people that the Bible said "We will not forsake the Land to others of the nations" from Numbers 33:53.   He himself stayed for a year, then moved to Acre, but his synagogue was the start of Jewish Quarter.

Most houses grew through the centuries and had chicken coops or kitchen shacks added.  Many walls looked like stony patchwork.  What would be a basement to us looked like caves, but the upper rooms were airy and beautiful.  People moved there from all over the world but most were from Samaria and the Galilee until the mid 1500's when the Sephardic influence became dominant.

During the 17th century a Jew converted to Islam after quarreling with his community leaders. He then built a mosque on his own plot and its minaret stands on the Street of the Jews.

In 1622, Rabbi Yeshayahu Ha-levi Horowitz came from Prague, a city today in Czech Republic but then a city of Bohemia.  In 1700 Rabbi Yehuda Hechassid and Rabbi Hayim Malach brought a large group from Russia and some settled.  Hechassid had made the first down-payment on the site and then died 5 days after his arrival.  When the community couldn't make the next payment the Moslems burned the small synagogue and imprisoned the Jewish leaders.  The Jews paid interest on the debt for 120 years until it was cancelled by order of Ibrahim Pasha.  In 1741 Rabbi Hayim Ben Attar came from Morocco to settle and was followed by a group of Italian families and immigrants from Egypt and Damascus. 

Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt took over Jerusalem in 1831, a liberal-minded and far-sighted man who had fought the Ottoman Empire.    At this time 40% of Jerusalem was still empty or in ruins.  He allowed Jewish and Christian immigration hoping to jolt Palestine out of the Dark Ages.  Churches and synagogues were then built. From 1852, the population more than doubled.  Jews were the largest single religious group at the time of the first census.  Jews started living outside the walls as well.

 By 1870's the Jewish Quarter looked so much better.  The great domes of the Hurva and Tifereet-Israel Synagogues rose high above roofs and cupolas.  The German Square was an absorption center for immigrant families built with contributions from German and Dutch communities.  Nearby was the great Sephardic Yeshiva, Porat Yosef, and hospitals.  Homes and apartments were built.  The Jewish Quarter sent out their own caravanserai-Khan Khalili twice a week to Hebron and once a week to Safed and Tiberias. 

In 1886, the Synagogue of the Ramban was expropriated by ruling Turks.  Synagogues were not allowed to be higher than the nearest mosque.  At this time two new synagogues were built; the Synagogue of the Prophet Elijah was one.

This renewed start continued until May 28, 1948 when the Old City was taken over by Jordan. Then the Arabs systematically destroyed the Quarter and desecrated Jewish holy places both in and around this walled city. It had once occupied one fifth of the old city. The two main streets were Habad and Street of the Jews.  By 1948, 2500 Jews lived in the Old City including students . Some  Arab families moved into  Jewish homes.  Then the invading Arab armies took over.

After the June 1967 Six Day War Israelis returned to the Jewish Quarter of the Old City and they saw that Jordan left a broken and jagged walls of the Hurva Synaogue that had been rebuilt in 1854 and then  halted once more by order of the Sultan until Sir Moses Montefiore  renewed permission.  It was finally completed in 1864 and named the Hurva "the Ruin" in memory of its burned first structure. 

Resource:Jewish Digest December 1975, Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem by Gabriella Rosenthal condensed from Israel Magazine and then again by me. 
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tartary
http://www.ou.org/about/judaism/rabbis/ramban.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czech_Republic
https://www.google.com/search?q=girona+spain&sourceid=ie7&rls=com.microsoft:en-US&ie=utf8&oe=utf8
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibrahim_Pasha_of_Egypt
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongol_Empire
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongol_invasions_of_Syria

Mental Health Problem? UN Human Rights Meshugana When They Praise Iran

Nadene Goldfoot
On Monday, the same day that a motorcycle killer shot a Rabbi and his two children and another little girl at close range at a Jewish school in Toulouse, France, the UN's Human Rights had a debate where the Syrian ambassador told his audience that it was Israelis who were behind the ongoing violence in Syria!  Nobody gasped to show disapproval.  They seems to all be in agreement.  Would Syria lie? 

Also, delegates from Cuba, Syria, Belarus, Zimbabwe, Venezuela and other places praised the Iranian government's human rights record!  Iran is guilty of all sorts of abuses and just last year had the highest number of executions of any country in the world  from crimes like homosexuality,  to  being a member of the Baha'i faith.  A few countries' delegates did condemn Syria and Iran for other matters.  The Baha'i faith has moved its center to Haifa, Israel, where it resides in peace. 

They also heaped praise on Gaddafi's regime's human rights record.  Libya was held guilty from rebel forces, Armed forces and NATO of practicing rape, extrajudicial killings, racism, misconduct and bombing civilians.  It seems that eventually all involved were guilty of human rights violations.  Yet they are now praised by this august body of thinkers. 

Do these people actually believe what they are saying or is it all smacking up to Iran who is the main  provider of Syria's weaponry.  They sit in the council chamber with a painted ceiling that is a work of art that the UN says cost $23 million, that probably came mostly from the USA.  It could have fed starving children in Africa.  At the very entrance to the chamber is a statue of Maat, goddess of truth and justice given by Egypt's Mubarak, and another that reads, A statue of Nemesis, goddess of justice, given by the Syrian government.  Now we know why they kicked these statues out of their country.  It seems they're powerless anyway, as all gods and goddesses are, ever since Abraham broke them up in his father's shop and came into an era of common sense. 

Resource: http://blog.unwatch.org/index.php/2012/03/20/un-watch-summit-of-human-rights-hereoes/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_violations_in_the_Libyan_civil_war
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XV2qZtB8W3c Baha'i in Iran at UN

Kassam Rocket Hits Israel Monday

Nadene Goldfoot
The rockets are falling again from the terrorists, showing that the cease fire has ended between Gaza and Israel.  One kassam rocket fell in the Western Negev Monday morning in a rural area.  This time it didn't hit a building or a person. 

At the same time, the chutzpah of the terrorists is at an all time high with Ismail al-Ashqar speaking to the UN Human rights council on Monday morning.  He has publically called for Hamas to kidnap Israeli soldiers, which is a war crime.  Also, he calls for a Jihad to liberate Jerusalem from the "dirt of Zionist occupation."  The Human Rights Council, made up of 47 states, includes such stand up countries as China, Saudi Arabia and Cuba, who know just how to treat  people.  I wonder  whose ethics they follow? 

Hamas fires rockets at the homes of innocent Israeli civilians yet is received with open arms by the UN who are always denouncing Israel.  If this isn't a mass mental illness, what is? 

Resource:  Arutz Sheva
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4204561,00.html

Why Are Jews Back in Israel Once Again?

We were scattered.  There has always been a reason people have used to hate us, but here we are.  We didn't disappear like all the other nations have.  Am Yisrael  chi.  The people of Israel live.  Please watch the video for an excellent explanation and overview. 
Reference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ydwxy9yqhzM#

New Escalation of 40 Rockets (80) (90+)(100)(120) From Gaza Thursday and Friday: Worse since October

Nadene Goldfoot
The Popular Resistance committees (PRC)  terrorists were planning attacks in the Sinai along the boarder between Israel and Egypt.  Israel Air Force hit the vehicle involved killing their commander Zuheir al Qaisi,  Ahmad Hanini and 6 others on Friday. They had been planning a major attack on Israeli targets.   Two mortar shells were fired at Israel from Hamas causing an explosion in the open fields. 

This brought about a rocket barrage from Gaza of 40 rockets into Southern Israel. In return, the IDF hit terror targets in Gaza.  It continued from Thursday throught Friday.  Since then the number has gone to 80 and now 90 plus rockets, one of which was a 25 mile long range rocket that Israel's Iron Dome stopped. 

Abu Attiya threatened retaliation.  These PRC terrorists called it a grave escalation.  You see, according to their rules, they can attack but don't want to be attacked in return.  They have continued to fire rockets at Israel, yet now that Israel retaliated but good, we see the Arab League screaming and condemning the "Gaza massacre."   So far the air strikes from Israel have killed 15 terrorists. 
The attack continued March 9th and 10th amounting to 80 (90+) rockets shot, mainly into Beersheba and the Eshkal region of Southern Israel.  The terrorists used mobile Grad launchers smuggled in from Libya. 

Reference:  http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=261146
http://www.jpost.com/
http://www.debka.com/ March 9, 10; Palestinians fire mobile Grad launcher smuggled from Libya; count up to 80 rockets.
http://news.yahoo.com/israel-kills-more-gaza-gunmen-rockets-fired-israel-103107234.html
http://news.yahoo.com/arab-league-condemns-gaza-massacre-170856103.html
http://news.yahoo.com/israeli-air-strikes-kill-12-gaza-043900441.html
3/11/12 Fox TV News

Those Terrible Israeli Doctors; Such Chutzpah !

Nadene Goldfoot
The Israeli doctors have a lot of nerve.  PA Health Minister Fathi Abu Mughli and director Ahmed Bitawi also are pretty nervy.  They all toured the Palestine Medical Compound in Ramallah causing an Arab protest.  Ramallah, only 6 miles north of Jerusalem,  used to be a Christian city but is now mostly all Muslim and serves as the capital of Fatah's PA with about 25,500 population. 

How dare they all visit!  Doctors and nurses in the compound were instructed to meet these 3 Israeli doctors!  It amounts to fraternizing with the enemy, they seemed to think, and complained that it was a form of normalizsation with Israel which they are opposed to. 

Against the doctors' visit was Fatah's Dr. Mutasem Muhaisen who described the idea to host the Israeli team of doctors as "irresponsible.  It was an offense to the memory of Palestinian martyrs who died in clashes with IDF soldiers over the past 20 years, he complained.  The accusation was made that the doctors weren't doctors but IDF officers and soldiers.  Abu Mughli knew the truth that they were in fact, simply doctors.  Mughli also reminded people that patients were being transferred to Israeli hospitals on a regular basis.  Probably they are sent to Ashkelon's hospital. 

Mughli also stated that the PA was ready to provide medical services to Israelis, and at least he isn't against meeting with Israeli doctors.  Bitawi also said that this was a part of coooperation between Israelis and Palestinianss in the medical field and that for doctors this is not a political issue but a humanitarian mission. 

However, back in the Gaza Strip, Basem Naim, Minister of Health in the Hamas government, had a fit and claimed it was part of security coordination between Israel and the PA (Fatah).  I can see that Hamas and Fatah are getting along just fine. 

Small steps.  Just a few doctors were amiable to fraternizing with Israeli doctors, but it's a start in the right direction.  Now, if only they could work on the killers who keep shooting at Israelis.  That would be a giant step for mankind.  I guess it depends on their goals; help patients to live and be well or to kill Israelis.  I see what most want.

Resource: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramallah
http://www.jpost.com/ Diplomacy & Politics

Boundaries of Israel, Then and Now

Nadene Goldfoot
Modern Israel has not had permanent boundaries.  Before 1967, boundaries were just temporary armistice lines, agreed on in 1949.  The armistice lines bisected Jerusalem and were 20 minutes away from Tel Aviv.

Since 1967, and pending a peace settlement, cease-fire lines demarcate the area under Israeli control.  The cease fire lines are 523 miles long.  The armistice lines were 570 miles long.  Most of the urban areas of Israel are less than 2 hours away from the nearest cease fire lines. 

Original boundaries found in the Bible were; the Mediterranean Sea on the West and on the East the Syrian Desert.  To the South the Brook of Egypt (Wadi El-Arish) to Kadesh Barnea, and to the Brook of Zin as far as the Valley of Zoar south of the Dead Sea, and in Transjordan from the river Arnon to Mt. Hermon, and to the Valley of Iyon.  This made up 17,500 sq. miles of which 45% is in Transjordan. 

The extent of the Promised Land reached an arm of the Nile Delta, the Gulf of Elath, and the Euphrates River opposite Aleppo in the East.  It included most of Syria and altogether covered 58,000 sq. miles. 

This entire area was occupied by the Israelites under Kings David and Solomon.  There were many gentile enclaves with the Jewish territory.  The Jewish National Home promised by the British was only the area west of the Jordan and excluded part of the Upper Gallilee north of the ladder of Tyre which was given to Lebanon.  The southern Negev past the Rafiah-Gulf of Elath line was given to Egypt for administration in 1906 by the Turks. 

The UN Resolution of Nov 29, 1947 recommended the Jewish state have the larger part of the mandated area of Western Palestine.  The armistice agreements of 1949 left Israel with 8,000 sq miles with complicated borders. 

The attack of all the Arab nations surrounding Israel was a mistake on their part, for they lost, the outcome meaning that Israel gained all of Judea and Samaria, the Golan Heights, Gaza Strip  and the Sinai up to the Suez Canal.  Israel returned the Sinai to Egypt in the early 1980's.  In 1967 there were 352,260 living in the Gaza Strip, of which 172,520 were classified as refugees. 

The Ottoman Empire had done nothing with the land, neither inhabited it or built on it.  Jews coming back found at the end of the 19th century large parts, mainly the Coastal Plain, was barren and in ruins.  Swamps and malaria were widespread.  During the last century more than 800 villages were establied; the moshava, kibbutz and moshav.  This is because the return to the land has been one of the central efforts of modern Israel.  Like the Amish say, working the land makes one closer to G-d. 

It's only 94 miles from Jerusalem to Haifa
               5 miles from Jerusalem to Bethlehem
             59 miles from Tel Aviv to Haifa
              48 miles from Tel Aviv to Gaza

The land is small.  It requires defensible borders.  It's very hot in the lowlands but you can ski on the 3,692 high Mt. Hermon near Safed in the winter.  The Dead Sea is 1,286 feet below sea level, and that's a very hot place.  Israel is on the edge of the desert.  A large part of Israel is the Negev, which is mostly desert.  Jerusalem is on the edge of the Judaean Desert.  The Sinai Desert separates the Land of Israel from Egypt. 

Resource: The Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
Facts About Israel-Division of Information, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Jerusalem

Iran Attacks Israelis, Then Blames Israelis Themselves

Nadene Goldfoot
Israeli embassy staff was targeted both in India and Georgia on Monday by bomb attacks.  Four were wounded in India, one being a woman, wife of the defense ministry’s representative to India, who was hit with shrapnel. She was taken to the American hospital where Israeli doctors helped her. The attempt failed in Georgia, and a bomb was defused.

Israel feels that Iran and its proxy  (people that act in Iran's place), Hezbollah,  were responsible for the attacks.  Iran venomously denies this, saying that it was Israel who put their people in harms way just to blame them.  They don't know how much Jews value life.    Israel doesn't even have a death sentence in their country.  No, Israel did not attack its own embassies. 

Hezbollah has been mum about their participation.  Their headquarters is in Beirut, Lebanon, which is right on Israel's border and they have control in the government there. 

This is not the first time that Israeli embassies have been terrorist targets.  Amsterdam, Netherlands also reports an attack there on Israel. 

Resource: http://news.yahoo.com/israel-says-bombs-target-embassies-india-georgia-115811231.html
http://tucsoncitizen.com/usa-today-news/2012/02/13/israeli-pm-blames-iran-for-embassy-attacks/
http://news.yahoo.com/israel-says-bombs-target-embassies-india-georgia-115811231.html
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/13/us-israel-security-embassies-idUSTRE81C0QZ20120213
http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=257658
http://www.businessinsider.com/bomb-blast-aimed-at-israeli-embassy-in-india-2012-2

Was There Ever a State of Palestine?

Daniel Stuart Eskow and wife Nadene

Danny and I at our farewell party in 1980.  We were moving to Haifa, Israel and leaving Ontario, Oregon.  We were both embarking on a 10 month period of intensive Hebrew Language Studies there, and then our new teaching career.  Dan had been a high school teacher of history and I had taught 4th grade for many years. 

View of the Palestinians -

Couldn't have said it better!

Talk about one picture being worth a THOUSAND words!

Is the world just plain stupid?

An interesting questionnaire for Palestinian Advocates

By Yashiko Sagamori

If you are so sure that " Palestine , the country, goes back through most of recorded history," I expect you to be able to answer a few basic questions about that country of Palestine :

1. When was it founded and by whom?

2. What were its borders?

3. What was its capital?

4. What were its major cities?

5. What constituted the basis of its economy?

6. What was its form of government?

7. Can you name at least one Palestinian leader before Arafat?

8.. Was Palestine ever recognized by a country whose existence, at that time or now, leaves no room for interpretation?

9. What was the language of the country of Palestine ?

10. What was the prevalent religion of the country of Palestine ?

11. What was the name of its currency? Choose any date in history and tell what was the approximate exchange rate of the Palestinian monetary unit against the US dollar, German mark, GB pound, Japanese yen, or Chinese Yuan on that date.

12. And, finally, since there is no such country today, what caused its demise and when did it occur?

You are lamenting the "low sinking" of a "once proud" nation.. Please tell me, when exactly was that "nation" proud and what was it so proud of?

And here is the least sarcastic question of all: If the people you mistakenly call "Palestinians" are anything but generic Arabs collected from all over -- or thrown out of -- the Arab world, if they really have a genuine ethnic identity that gives them right for self-determination, why did they never try to become independent until Arabs suffered their devastating defeat in the Six Day War?

I hope you avoid the temptation to trace the modern day "Palestinians" to the Biblical Philistines: substituting etymology for history won't work here.

The truth should be obvious to everyone who wants to know it. Arab countries have never abandoned the dream of destroying Israel ; they still cherish it today. Having time and again failed to achieve their evil goal with military means, they decided to fight Israel by proxy. For that purpose, they created a terrorist organization, cynically called it "the Palestinian people" and installed it in Gaza , Judea, and Samaria . How else can you explain the refusal by Jordan and Egypt to unconditionally accept back the "West Bank" and Gaza , respectively?

The fact is, Arabs populating Gaza, Judea, and Samaria have much less claim to nationhood than that Indian tribe that successfully emerged in Connecticut with the purpose of starting a tax-exempt casino: at least that tribe had a constructive goal that motivated them. The so-called "Palestinians" have only one motivation: the destruction of Israel , and in my book that is not sufficient to consider them a nation" -- or anything else except what they really are: a terrorist organization that will one day be dismantled.

In fact, there is only one way to achieve peace in the Middle East . Arab countries must acknowledge and accept their defeat in their war against Israel and, as the losing side should, pay Israel reparations for the more than 50 years of devastation they have visited on it. The most appropriate form of such reparations would be the removal of their terrorist organization from the land of Israel and accepting Israel 's ancient sovereignty over  Judea, and Samaria .

That will mark the end of the Palestinian people. What are you saying again was its beginning?

Can this story be presented any more clearly or simply?


When on a train ride, people used to say, "Don't stick your arm out the window or you'll find it in Jordan."

Israel's Vunerability to Rockets, Missiles and Mortars

Nadene Goldfoot
Wednesday night a barrage of about 9 rockets, missiles  and mortars had hit southern Israel from Gaza.  Thursday night Israel's IDF struck back hitting:
 1.  2 weapsons storage facilities in northern Gaza
 2.  3 smuggling tunnels in southern Gaza
 3.  a weapons manufacturing site in central Gaza. 

Israel pinpoints their targets and has no wish to hit civilians.  Often times, though, places where terrorists hide out their supplies are within the area of populated centers, making it difficult. 

A conference of the IDF Intelligence was held in Herzliya where the members were told about 200,000 rockets and missles pointed at Israel which can reach all the cities and towns.  They can even reach Tel Aviv.  Many have the capacity to reach 40 km, and some can also reach 100's of km as well today.  No place is safe from harm as far as reach goes anymore.  These are most likely positioned in Lebanon and Syria. 

Resource: Arutz Sheva http://www.israelnationalnews.com/

Bergen-Belsen Survivors Sing Hatikva:

                           Hatikva means "HOPE". 
Nadene Goldfoot
"As long as the Jewish spirit is yearning deep in the heart,
With eyes turned toward the East, looking toward Zion,
Then our hope - the two-thousand-year-old hope - will not be lost:
To be a free people in our land,
The land of Zion and Jerusalem."

This song was written by Naphtali Herz Imber in 1886, a poet from Bohemia living in England at the time.  It is now Israel's National Anthem. 

Below is the song sung by survivors just liberated from the German concentration camp, Bergen Belsen on April 20, 1945.  It was a recording just recovered by the Smithsonian Center for American Folklife.  It was sung at their first Sabbath service while around them lie corpses on the ground as living people were lying down and dying.  While trying to sing they were sobbing. 

Twenty-four days and 3 years later, Israel was re-born on May 14, 1948.  The process to become a state started much earlier, like with Chaim Weizmann and his knowledge of chemistry which helped to win the WWI.    The pogroms in Russia caused leadership to arise and look for a place to hang their hat and call home once again,  but it took much time to evolve. They quickly learned that the only home that would do was our original one that we were led to by G-d, that land now lying in what was being called Palestine, and it just happened to be lying fallow and up for grabs.   

The trial of Dryfus was another catalyst in France.  A good soldier was tried and found guilty just because he was Jewish and  a useful scapegoat.  These were some major events that happened since 70AD when Jews were forced to wander all over the earth settling in one place only to be forced out, which even happened in England. 

 Little did they realize that Nazis would try to exterminate a whole people.  The state of Israel was not to become a reality until after the 2nd war.  Jews went from being relocated and held in one section of Russia called the "Pale of Settlement", not allowed out without special passes,  to being in the Warsaw Ghetto of Poland and slaughtered in mass and all the gas chambers in concentration camps.

 We have gone to being granted the Jewish National Home in Palestine by WWI's British mandated legalists to find we must settle for a  tiny section of that land only to be attacked  while it was announced and in coming years in many wars from all sides. 

We have gone through a massive war in 1967 attacked by all the neighboring states and won, not only from the attack but gained back Gaza and parts of ancient Israel of Judea and Samaria as well as the eastern part of Jerusalem all held illegally by Jordan.  We have seen the nations deplore our right to this land even though we left Gaza completely for the sake of making peace which didn't happen.  Instead it's a handy place to kill us from. 
\
We are seeing certain Christian groups turn against us in a fight without bullets but are trying to harm us just as much.  Anti-semitism has reared its ugly head to join the masses. 

We haven't been granted much peace, even by the bombastic UN who has done little for this fledgling country, but we haven't given up hope!  Am Israel Chai!  The people of Israel live. 

Resource: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=syUSmEbGLs4
http://stateofisrael.com/anthem/
Victor Sharpe-sending me the website

Shelling in Israel Last Night

Nadene Goldfoot
Eight mortars where shot into Israel last night of which 7 of them were shot within one hour in a barage.  Now the UN Chief Ban Ki-moon will visit Gaza and Sderot Thursday morning.  Netanyahu was repremanded for building.  Abbas got the pat on the back and "Good Job" from Ban Ki-moon.  The bases were loaded against Netanyahu.  Netanyahu replied in the conversation that the real problem is not the building but the Palestinian refusal to recognize Israel as the Jewish Homeland in the first place.  . 

I ask, if the Palestinians can not do that and recognize our state, how does the UN have the chutzpah to expect us to stop building in land that fell into their hands from being attacked ?  Why is it that the Palestinians have never made a peace pact before the issue of building in Judea, Samaria and east Jerusalem?  How do they expect Israel to recognize a Palestine if it isn't reciprocal? 

Are they being so friendly in their aspirations of peace that their overtures just happen to be military shelling into our land that they won't recognize?  What do they think they are doing?  Dropping love notes?

Resource: http://news.yahoo.com/un-chief-urges-israel-halt-settlements-135921410.html
http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?ID=256088&R=R1