A Modern Perspective

A Modern Perspective Has Moved to Greener Pastures

2010-06-15T21:03:00.003+03:00

Please visit: http://amodernperspective.wordpress.com/

I've changed the web address of the blog.

See you there.

Some Sanity From the Spanish Left

2010-06-14T15:57:00.000+03:00

Pilar Rahola is a well known Spanish politician, journalist and activist and member of the far left. Her articles are published in Spain and throughout some of the most important newspapers in Latin America. She writes:

"Why don't we see demonstrations against Islamic dictatorships in London, Paris, Barcelona?

Or demonstrations against the Burmese dictatorship?

Why aren't there demonstrations against the enslavement of millions of women who live without any legal protection?

Why aren't there demonstrations against the use of children as human bombs where there is conflict with Islam?

Why has there been no leadership in support of the victims of Islamic dictatorship in Sudan?

Why is there never any outrage against the acts of terrorism committed against Israel?

Why is there no outcry by the European left against Islamic fanaticism?

Why don't they defend Israel's right to exist?

Why confuse support of the Palestinian cause with the defence of Palestinian terrorism?

And finally, the million dollar question: Why is the left in Europe and around the world obsessed with the two most solid democracies, the United States and Israel, and not with the worst dictatorships on the planet? The two most solid democracies, which have suffered the bloodiest attacks of terrorism, and the left doesn't care.

And then, to the concept of freedom. In every pro Palestinian European forum I hear the left yelling with fervour: "We want freedom for the people!"

Not true. They are never concerned with freedom for the people of Syria or Yemen or Iran or Sudan, or other such nations. And they are never preoccupied when Hammas destroys freedom for the Palestinians. They are only concerned with using the concept of Palestinian freedom as a weapon against Israeli freedom. The resulting consequence of these ideological pathologies is the manipulation of the press.

The international press does major damage when reporting on the question of the Israeli-Palestinian issue. On this topic they don't inform, they propagandize.

When reporting about Israel the majority of journalists forget the reporter code of ethics. And so, any Israeli act of self-defence becomes a massacre, and any confrontation, genocide. So many stupid things have been written about Israel, that there aren't any accusations left to level against her.

At the same time, this press never discusses Syrian and Iranian interference in propagating violence against Israel; the indoctrination of children and the corruption of the Palestinians. And when reporting about victims, every Palestinian casualty is reported as tragedy and every Israeli victim is camouflaged, hidden or reported about with disdain.

And let me add on the topic of the Spanish left. Many are the examples that illustrate the anti-Americanism and anti-Israeli sentiments that define the Spanish left. For example, one of the leftist parties in-Spain has just expelled one of its members for creating a pro-Israel website. I quote from the expulsion document: "Our friends are the people of Iran, Libya and Venezuela, oppressed by imperialism, and not a Nazi state like Israel."

In another example, the socialist mayor of Campozuelos changed Shoah Day, commemorating the victims of the Holocaust, with Palestinian Nabka Day, which mourns the establishment of the State of Israel, thus showing contempt for the six million European Jews murdered in the Holocaust.

Or in my native city of Barcelona, the city council decided to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the creation of the State of Israel, by having a week of solidarity with the Palestinian people. Thus, they invited Leila Khaled, a noted terrorist from the 70's and current leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a terrorist organization so described by the European Union, which promotes the use of bombs against Israel.

This politically correct way of thinking has even polluted the speeches of president Zapatero. His foreign policy falls within the lunatic left, and on issues of the Middle East he is unequivocally pro Arab. I can assure you that in private, Zapatero places on Israel the blame for the conflict in the Middle East, and the policies of foreign minister Moratinos reflect this. The fact that Zapatero chose to wear a kafiah in the midst of the Lebanon conflict is no coincidence; it's a symbol.

Spain has suffered the worst terrorist attack in Europe and it is in the crosshairs of every Islamic terrorist organization. As I wrote before, they kill us with cell phones hooked to satellites connected to the Middle Ages. An yet the Spanish left is the most anti Israeli in the world.

And then it says it is anti Israeli because of solidarity. This is the madness I want to denounce in this conference.

Conclusion:

I am not Jewish. Ideologically I am left and by profession a journalist. Why am I not anti Israeli like my colleagues? Because as a non-Jew I have the historical responsibility to fight against Jewish hatred and currently against the hatred for their historic homeland, Israel. To fight against anti-Semitism is not the duty of the Jews, it is the duty of the non-Jews.

As a journalist it is my duty to search for the truth beyond prejudice, lies and manipulations. The truth about Israel is not told. As a person from the left who loves progress, I am obligated to defend liberty, culture, civic education for children, coexistence and the laws that the Tablets of the Covenant made into universal principles.

Principles that Islamic fundamentalism systematically destroys. That is to say that as a non-Jew, journalist and lefty I have a triple moral duty with Israel, because if Israel is destroyed, liberty, modernity and culture will be destroyed too.

The struggle of Israel, even if the world doesn't want to accept it, is the struggle of the world."

Paying Tribute to the Endless Mission of the Combat Medic

2010-06-13T15:08:00.000+03:00

Afghanistan. Battleground of the last decade for many US troops. Now that the intensity of the ground campaign in Iraq is lowering, even more boots are entrenched in this mysterious, mountainous, and vicious country. As more troops are inserted into the fighting, more are exposed to danger. As the number of casualties mounts, one branch of the service gets busier and busier. Here is a tribute article to the harrowing and ongoing life-saving mission of the Medevac combat teams of the US military.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/13/world/asia/13medevac.html?hp

Even The Weather Channel is Political Now

2010-06-05T22:12:00.000+03:00

For the last 4 days my Weather Channel, Yahoo powered Ipod application was simply saying "update failed" when I tried to check the daily weather in Jerusalem, where I work. Finally I decided to simply delete it and reload the app. When I searched for Jerusalem in the Weather Channel's database I discovered the source of my "update failed" error. It seems that I was not updated that the Weather Channel had changed the name of the capital city of my country to "West Jerusalem." The Weather Channel seems to be taking a political stance declaring the city divided.

I do not see this demarcation yet on the online version, but it is very clear on my web-linked Ipod application.

Another affront to Israel's integrity from an unexpected source.

More Evidence Revealed About Flotilla's True Intent

2010-06-03T14:44:00.002+03:00

'I want to be a shahid': Flotilla activist hoped for martyrdom

In footage apparently captured on board the Gaza-bound boat Mavi Marmara and released by the IDF, passenger wishes for death in confrontation with Israel troops.

For the rest of the Haaretz article go to:

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/i-want-to-be-a-shahid-flotilla-activist-hoped-for-martyrdom-1.293953

After Initial Reports of Bloodshed at Sea, it is Clear What the Gaza Flotilla's Goal Was: an Altercation with Israeli Troops

2010-05-31T12:29:00.004+03:00

My initial perception of the flotilla has been, sadly, confirmed by their hostile actions towards the Israeli Navy and Israel's security rights at large. This is a sad day for all who truly long for peace.

This is the actual statement issued to the flotilla just prior to the forceful action taken by the Navy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6jDIQr59Sk&feature=player_embeddedhttp://

The "Humanitarians" on Hamas's Side

2010-05-27T13:51:00.002+03:00

Israel Prepares to Fend Off Ships Heading to Gaza, Wall Street Journal

"Israel says it intends to prevent, by force if necessary, the ships from reaching port. It has also said that if the ships dock at an Israeli port first, it will allow the full shipment of humanitarian cargo to reach Gaza, after undergoing security checks."

Why didn't the title of this Wall Street Journal article simply state Israel's willingness to allow the aid into the Gaza strip if the "humanitarians" would simply follow the security protocol? After all, Israel is at war with the Hamas ruled Gaza strip whether these people on the aid ships notice that or not. In fact, this aid shipment would not be very different form the daily truck convoys allowed into Gaza by the Israeli military (even during the 2008/9 month-long offensive), despite this ongoing conflict.

It seems that the main point of this "humanitarian aid" flotilla is not to provide Gazans with the building supplies that they already receive and smuggle daily across the border. The clear purpose of this mission is to declare exactly which side the members of the flotilla are on in this bloody conflict over the right to exist.
The flotilla has chosen to actively support Jihadi Hamas and their entrenched ideology that Israel has no right to exist in the Middle East.
The flotilla can call their efforts "humanitarian" for the purpose of gaining world sympathy. But regardless of what is on board, the members of this flotilla are making a declaration of support for one side over another in a protracted and very violent conflict between two peoples not their own. Both Israel and Hamas will manage this challenge at the front line (make no mistake, world PR is part of the front line of this one)however they see fit.

It is about time that more of the world recognizes that Israel is not solely to blame for any humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The tragic narrative of the Arabs in the Gaza strip is filled with a complicated history. There should be no blame on Israel for putting its own security at the top of the priority list, while trying to cater to world PR during its fight for survival against Hamas.

Go Suns!!!

2010-05-11T20:30:00.001+03:00

We Slayed the dragon (our dragon). Onward we march...

http://valleyofthesuns.com/

The Wrongful Case of Shalom Rubashkin

2010-04-26T14:00:00.000+03:00

Please take 2 minutes to watch this short awareness piece about a man and a case that truly affects us all.

http://justiceforsholom.org/

A Profound Moment... of Silence

2010-04-19T12:03:00.004+03:00

Today is Israel's national memorial day for fallen soldiers and victims of terror attacks. As on every Israeli memorial day, there is a 1 minute moment of silence at 11am.
This is not like any moment of silence I have ever taken part in. I stand on the street in statue-like reverence, surrounded by others in equally still poses. A woman's cigarette burns in her hand.
In my relatively short time in this country I have experienced a deep exposure to the reality of Israeli life. I have spent 6.5 years here. Not a lifetime. Not even half of my young life. Yet in this chapter of my life here I have felt the sacrifice, I have seen the pain, and I have the faces of lost friends burned onto my conciousness . My moment of silence is filled with images of my young compatriots who fell defending their homes and the ideals thats stand among them. All of this is reinforced by the stand-still scene that surrounds me on a busy street in Tel Aviv.
There is much behind this fervently observed moment of silence. Seeing the cars come to a stop; their drivers standing alongside in the street, the never-ending stream of city busses sitting in their places, the throngs of pedestrians on the sidewalks, all standing motionless and deep in thought.
This scene means something. It means that the sacrifice laid down by the hero soldiers we stop and remember today, was not in vain. The people here remember. The loss of a soldier matters. The nation cares.

Each soldier that falls in the line of duty here is remembered as a hero, and their deeds will never be forgotten or taken for granted.
This is why the Israeli Defense Force is the best army in the world. The whole country stands behind us. The whole nation cares.

A Migrant Thai Worker Killed by an Indiscriminately Fired Rocket from Gaza

2010-03-18T16:56:00.000+02:00

"I condemn any kind of violence. We have got to find a peaceful solution to the issues and problems,"
Catherine Ashton during her visit to Gaza as the top diplomat from the EU.

Thanks for being the voice of the EU Cathy. But we arent talking about "violence of any kind" today.

What a weak and insulting comment / condemnation from the EU's top diplomat in response to a blatant act of murderous terrorism targeting civilians... while she is actually present in the strip no less!

A proper response could have been: "If this is how you people are going to act then we are withdrawing all of our aid." But then maybe she is worried that the rockets might simply get pointed in Europe's direction instead. Then again, they are already pointed at Europe from one of Gaza's largest supporters today.... Iran.

The story in the Wall Street Journal:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704207504575129213578261560.html?mod=WSJEUROPE_hps_SECONDTopStories#articleTabs%3Darticle

Ron Artest Looks For Some Defensive Help From Hebrew

2010-03-11T17:57:00.000+02:00

I turned on the Lakers - Magic game the other night and could not believe my eyes... Ron Artest of the Los Angeles Lakers, decided it would bring him some extra defensive ability on the court if he had the word "defense" written on his head. He imprinted the word in three different languages: Hindi, Japanese, and Hebrew!

Jewish Jamaican History Now a Tourist Attraction

2010-03-09T12:02:00.000+02:00

This is a great article from the Wall Street Journal about Jewish heritage in Jamaica and the new efforts being made by the Jamaican tourist industry to preserve it.
Lets Go!!

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703382904575059113221038280.html?mod=WSJ_World_MIDDLENews

The Dubai Police Mockery

2010-03-02T16:29:00.002+02:00

For far too long we have been hearing about the "alleged" Israeli assassination of a top Hamas operative in Dubai. Why has the media carried on so long (over a month now) about the death of this Hamas operative? Why does the world seem to care so much?

The answer: because it "allegedly" involves Israel.

We have always seen this disproportionate amount of attention on Israel in the media but this time there is nothing even concrete to tie Israel to the story except that it involves an operative of Israel's vile enemy, Hamas. If the world media was so quick to point the finger at Israel for this murder without ANY evidence, then there must be a reason that Israel would want such an agent of Hamas dead. It turns out that this particular Hamas operative was the go-between of Hamas and Iran for smuggling weapons to the Gaza strip.

Now Dubai's response is to ban entry to ALL Israeli citizens (who before this were only allowed to enter using an alternate foreign passport, if they were dual citizens). To do this the police force in Dubai says that they will "seek to identify Israelis by physical features and the way they speak.'' said Lt. Gen. Dahi Khalfan Tamim, chief of the Dubai Police Dept.

The Dubai police are making a mockery of themselves with this high profile response and should instead focus their efforts on the many high profile exiled terrorists (with similar resumes to the Hamas operative killed) residing peacefully in their emirate.

It is quite clear that it is not in the interests of the Dubai Police force to crack down on local Islamic militancy, but rather to point the finger ignorantly at Israel for all of Dubai's embarrassing woes.

This Wall Street Journal Article expands:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703429304575095124162751164.html?mod=WSJ_World_LEFTSecondNews#articleTabs%3Darticle

The Passing of a National Hero

2010-02-08T15:39:00.005+02:00

This morning I learned of the passing of Zvi Shafir ז"ל, the grandfather of good friends of mine here in Israel. This man was a great representative of a fantastic generation here who pioneered the establishment of the modern Nation of Israel. He was one of the lucky Jewish refugees from a morally tattered Europe who made it to then Palestine and toiled to create this country for the generations to come. Zvi was part of a generation who will hold legendary status in the lengthy annals of Jewish history. It is of my opinion that proper tribute can hardly be paid to Zvi and the many others of his time who created a new future, pride, and a hope of surviving and prospering for the Jewish People. I feel lucky to have known him. His passing simply highlights how my young generation must truly cherish the opportunity to still sit and learn first-hand of the tribulations of those times over 60 years ago.

Please take some time to watch this incredible video interview produced just weeks before his death by his granddaughters:

Zvi's Memories from Gustavo Sales on Vimeo.

The Newest Method to Indiscriminately Attack Us

2010-02-07T17:19:00.005+02:00

Hamas has resorted to new outrageous offensive maneuvers against us... indiscrimately floating explosive barrels towards our beaches. So far, thanks to our diligent naval and intelligence services, no real harm has been done.

Israel Searches for Explosive Barrels in Sea

By JOSHUA MITNICK

TEL AVIV—Israel closed a stretch of beaches north of the Gaza Strip after two explosive-laden barrels washed ashore and Palestinian militants promised more, in revenge for what some in Hamas said was Israeli's assassination of a top Hamas leader last month.

Reuters Mounted police officers patrol a beach in Ashkelon, Israel, on Tuesday.
.
Maritime authorities warned civilian vessels to be alert to possible dangers in the Mediterranean after the military linked the barrels to two explosions at sea Friday. At the same time, police deployed helicopters and mounted units to comb the length of Israel's coastline to the Lebanon border in search of additional explosive devices.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a news conference that Israel would respond to the explosives found on the beaches, and Israel launched airstrikes in Gaza shortly after that, officials on both sides said, according to Reuters. No injuries were reported. An Israeli army spokesman said the strikes targeted two sites where tunnels were dug to help gunmen infiltrate from Hamas-ruled Gaza into Israel and to smuggle in weapons from Egypt.

continued...

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052748703338504575041521232295824-lMyQjAxMTAwMDAwMzEwNDMyWj.html

Our Efforts in Haiti

2010-01-17T18:03:00.003+02:00

Life amid death: Baby born in Israeli field hospital in Haiti

By Natasha Mozgovaya, Haaretz Correspondent, and News Agencies

Amid the tragedy and devastation encompassing the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince since Tuesday's 7.0-magnitude earthquake, a happy event took place Sunday inside the field hospital erected by the Israeli relief delegation in the city. Doctor Shir, who works at Hadassah, delivered the first healthy baby in the Israeli hospital.

The mother told Dr. Shir that she would name her son Israel. "Amid all the death around us," the doctor said, "it is very symbolic." He said that childbirth in impoverished Haiti doesn't normally take place in hospitals, and that this particular woman received the best care from the best doctors.

"She was very quiet," he said. "It wasn't even clear initially that she was in labor."

"It is very exciting," Shir continued. "It offers some small balance to the things that are happening. Life is stronger, after all, and a woman will give birth even if the ground is shaking. This is what maintains the human race. This country has a very high infant mortality rate, and we delivered this healthy baby." ...

For the rest of the article:

http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1143165.html

Our Nation is Forever Indebted

2010-01-12T22:08:00.004+02:00

If not for the undaunted courage of Miep Gies, the world-changing diary of Anne Frank would not have survived, or perhaps ever have been written at all. Anne's diary is undoubtedly the most widely known personal message that survives from the Holocaust. This story sheds an unequivocal light on the futile struggle for survival faced by all the Jews of Europe during the war. The story, or rather the printed book form, is a priceless element in the historical narrative of the Jewish People, and has told the world of our plight in those dark days like nothing else could.

We owe a collective gratitude to Miep Gies and the thousands of others like her that not only saw what was right and wrong, but acted upon it.

Some articles related to her passing at the age of 100:

http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1142077.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/12/world/europe/12gies.html?scp=1&sq=miep%20gies&st=cse

Media Attention could Use a Realignement

2010-01-09T13:49:00.003+02:00

Islamic Christianophobia
The world ignores the persecution of Christians in the Muslim world, while fixating on Israeli - Muslim relations.

In Egypt, seven Coptic Christians were murdered yesterday by a Muslim gunman as they filed out of a midnight mass in the southern town of Nag Hamadi. In Pakistan, more than 100 Christian homes were ransacked by a Muslim mob last July in the village of Bahmaniwala. In Iraq that same month, seven Christian churches were bombed in Baghdad and Mosul in the space of three days.

Such atrocities—and there are scores of other examples—are grim reminders that when it comes to persecution, few groups have suffered as grievously as Christians in Muslim lands. Fewer still have suffered with such little attention paid. Now a new report from the non-profit ministry, Open Doors USA, shines a light on the scale of oppression.

In its annual World Watch List, Open Doors ranks eight Muslim countries among the 10 worst persecutors of Christians. The other two, North Korea (which tops the list) and Laos, are communist states. Of the 50 countries on the list, 35 are majority Muslim.

Take Iran, which this year ranks as the world's second-worst persecutor of Christians. Open Doors reports that in 2009 the Islamic Republic arrested 85 Christians, many of whom were also mistreated in prison. In 2008, some 50 Christians were arrested and one Christian couple was beaten to death by security officials. At least part of the reason for the mistreatment appears to be the result of Muslim conversions to Christianity: Apostasy carries a mandatory death sentence in Iran.

In Saudi Arabia (No. 3), all non-Muslim public worship is forbidden. The state forbids the building of any type of non-Muslim house of worship, and Christian expatriates in the kingdom must practice their faith in private. The same goes in the Maldives, where the report notes that all citizens must be Muslim; "the handful of indigenous Christians are forced to believe in complete secrecy." Similarly in Mauritania, conversion to Christianity or any other religions is formally punishable by death.

Little wonder, then, that once-thriving Christian communities in the Muslim world have now largely voted with their feet by fleeing to safer havens, often in Europe or the United States. That's true even in religiously important communities such as Bethlehem, where the Christian majority has largely fled since the arrival in the 1990s of Yasser Arafat's repressive government and the ascendancy of Islamist groups such as Hamas. By contrast, Christians practice their religion freely and openly in Israel, just a few miles distant.

It might seem natural that at least some attention would be paid in the West to the plight of these Christians. Instead, attention seems endlessly focused on "Islamophobia," not least at the U.N.'s misnamed Human Rights Council. In November, much of Europe went berserk over the Swiss referendum to ban the construction of minarets (though not of mosques). But the West's tolerance for its large Muslim populations stands in sharp contrast to the Muslim world's bigotry and persecution of its own religious minorities. That's a fact that ought to be borne in mind the next time Westerners berate themselves about their own supposed "intolerance."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704130904574643821742562800.html

While Much of the World Worries About "Settlements"...

2010-01-04T12:18:00.003+02:00

This excellent WSJ editorial written by the former US Marine commander in Lebanon highlights how Iran is making a mockery of the world.

Iran Expands Its Target List
I was the Marine commander in Beirut in 1983. I've seen these tactics before.
By TIMOTHY J. GERAGHTY
The nagging question of the nuclear age has been what if a madman gets hold of an atomic bomb? That question is about to be answered as Iran's defiance puts it on a collision course with the West.

On Nov. 4, 2009, Israeli commandos intercepted an Antiguan-flagged ship 100 miles off the Israeli coast. It was carrying hundreds of tons of weapons from Iran and bound for Hezbollah in Lebanon. Since the 2006 Israeli-Hezbollah war, Iran has rearmed Hezbollah with 40,000 rockets and missiles that will likely rain on Israeli cities—and even European cities and U.S. military bases in the Middle East—if Iran is attacked. Our 200,000 troops in 33 bases are vulnerable. Shortly before this weapons seizure, Hamas test-fired a missile capable of striking Israel's largest city, Tel Aviv.

Iran is capable of disrupting Persian Gulf shipping lanes, which could cause the price of oil to surge above $300 a barrel. Iran could also create mayhem in oil markets by attacking Saudi oil refineries. Moreover, Iran possesses Soviet made SS-N-22 "Sunburn" supersonic antiship missiles that it could use to contest a naval blockade.

Iran could unleash suicide bombers in Iraq and Afghanistan or, more ominously, activate Hezbollah sleeper cells in the U.S. to carry out coordinated attacks nationwide. FBI, CIA and other U.S. officials have acknowledged in congressional testimony that Hezbollah has a working partnership with Mexican drug cartels and has been using cartel smuggling routes to get personnel and contraband into the U.S.

While Iranian centrifuges continue to produce low-enriched uranium, the mullahs and their henchmen have been carrying out a campaign of deception. In October 2009, Iran rejected a plan to ship its low-enriched uranium out of country, primarily to Russia and France, to be highly enriched and then sent back to Iran for "peaceful medical purposes."

On Nov. 28, 2009, reacting to increased pressure from the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran warned it may pull out of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. This would seriously undermine international attempts to stop Iran's nuclear weapons program. Two days later, Iran announced plans to build 10 new nuclear plants within six years.

In another sphere, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez are openly cooperating to "oppose world hegemony," as Mr. Ahmadinejan has said, while weekly flights between Iran and Venezuela are not monitored for personnel and cargo. Meanwhile, Russia is building an arms plant in Venezuela to produce AK-103 automatic rifles and finalizing contracts to send 53 military helicopters to the country.

I have seen this play before. In 1983, I was the Marine commander of the U.S. Multinational Peacekeeping Force in Beirut, Lebanon. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' (IRGC) Lebanon contingent trained and equipped Hezbollah to execute attacks that killed 241 of my men and 58 French Peacekeepers on Oct. 23, 1983.

Today, Hezbollah directly threatens Israel, destabilizes Lebanon, and undercuts the Israeli-Palestinian peace accords. Something similar is underway in Venezuela. Remember Hezbollah used the Beirut truck-bomb model for the attack on the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires on March 17, 1992 and the July 18, 1994 attack on the Argentine Israeli Mutual Association that killed 85 and wounded 200.

The man directly responsible for those bombings was the commander of the IRGC's Quds Force, Gen. Ahmad Vahidi. He is listed on Interpol's most wanted list and was a key operative in the 1983 attacks on peacekeepers in Lebanon. In August 2009, he was named Iran's minister of defense. He succeeded Gen. Mostafa Mohammad Najjar, who was the commander of the IRGC Lebanon contingent and the chief organizer of the 1983 Beirut bombings. Both have Beirut peacekeepers' blood on their hands and are the same key leaders who today are orchestrating Iranian deception and defiance as they march lock-step toward their ultimate goal—nuclear weapons.

Col. Geraghty, USMC (Ret.), is the author of "Peacekeepers at War; Beirut 1983—The Marine Commander Tells His Story" (Potomac Books, 2009).

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704152804574628334107697564.html#articleTabs%3Darticle

The Baron

2009-12-11T14:14:00.004+02:00

A sunny day in December, as beautiful as a day can be. It is my first official day at my new job. I am leading a group of 36 of my Jewish peers from around the world, and we are exploring the vast and well kept Ramat HaNadiv Memorial Gardens National Park in Israel. Living 6 years in Israel, I have come across the name “Rothschild” more than once, as many streets and establishments bare the name. But it was not until today that I truly grasped the real vision and impact that the man behind the name had on this small country and the Jewish People for all of eternity.

Baron Edmond de Rothschild was raised and resided in France. He decided to invest his family’s vast fortune, accumulated through savvy banking over the previous century, in the forgotten province of the Ottoman Empire that over 2000 years ago had been known as the Kingdom of Israel. The pure scope of this man’s vision is hard to fathom given the circumstances in which he decided to make this great investment. In the words of Mark Twain upon his journey overland here in 1867:
“….. A desolate country whose soil is given over wholly to weeds… a silent mournful expanse…. a desolation…. we never saw a human being on the whole route…. hardly a tree or shrub anywhere. Even the olive tree and the cactus, those fast friends of a worthless soil, had almost deserted the country.” Clearly Baron Rothschild was up against much as he attempted to implement his vision of Jews returning to Zion, the Land of Israel. Statehood was still hardly on his mind. Rothschild was trying to build Jewish settlement.

Through massive land purchases he became known as “Father of the Yishuv,” the first Jewish settlements, Rishon Letzion, Zichron Yaakov, and Rosh Pina among them, which are now well established Israeli suburbs and towns. He brought agronomists, and other experts to aid and instruct the Jews escaping from Eastern Europe, who were mostly merchants, how to farm and how to develop the land. The Rothschilds left a legacy in Israel which included the reclamation of nearly 500,000 dunams of land and 30 settlements.

I stood stoically in front of the smoothed and shined black basalt rock headstone slab that marks the grave of Baron Edmond de Rothschild and his wife Adelaide. Located within the park, the tomb was cave like and a bit dark, but shining above the burial spot was a thick white limestone disk about the size of my head with a grand Magen David sculpted on the surface. This spectacular piece is actually an incredibly intact relic excavated in Jerusalem from the 2nd Temple Period. It was entombed with the Rothschilds as a dedication from the State of Israel to a man and a vision, and a symbol of the miraculous redemption of a nation after more than 2000 years of wandering.

Some Truth Still Shines Through the Clouds Regarding Climate Change

2009-12-06T15:08:00.004+02:00

This Notable Quote and other editorials from the Wall Street Journal explain much about the sometimes misleading field of Climatology and findings regarding "Global Warming."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB40001424052748703939404574566124250205490.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704107104574572093483921568.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704342404574576073505546070.html

A Thanksgiving Feast for the Immigrants

2009-11-27T17:05:00.004+02:00

Hi all and happy Thanksgiving.
We had close to 100 people at our Thanksgiving potluck feast / party last night and it was an amazing networking event for all. Introducing the new immigrants here to each other and especially the young people in the army goes a long way in helping those who need it. It is the network of support between us all that is so priceless in Israel. I cooked up two giant birds for the celebration as well. The most important thing is simply connecting everyone.

This brief article that was in The Jerusalem Post today gives a summary and quotes me about the event. In case you don't know, a "Lone Soldier" is some one who came from another country to join the army in Israel and has no immediate family (parents) in the country.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1259243016253&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

US Marines Gain Hard-Earned Experience in Afghanistan

2009-11-22T14:56:00.003+02:00

This is an NPR clip telling the story of the hard fight the US Marines are currently waging for their country.

On the Watch for European Anti-Zionist Rhetoric

2009-11-19T12:46:00.005+02:00

This is a good editorial from the Wall Street Journal with a rational perspective on the recent Zionist bashing "documentary" in the British media.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704204304574543671980025770.html#articleTabs%3Darticle

Getting the Most from the Space Shuttles

2009-11-15T22:39:00.003+02:00

This is the closing of an era as the shuttles retire. Right now the rush is on to get as much equipment up into space as possible.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/16/science/space/16shuttle.html?_r=1&hp

A Great Angle On Unfortunate Times

2009-11-13T08:54:00.007+02:00

Orthodox Jews Flock to SD, Support Leader on Trial

The New York Times
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 5:11 a.m. ET

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- In the musty conference room of a South Dakota hotel, Sholom Rubashkin helps a disheveled man in a hooded sweat shirt wrap black bands around his left arm and head. Attached to each is a black box containing inscriptions from the Torah.

''It's on your arm close to your heart, on your head close to your thoughts,'' Rubashkin, a leader in the Orthodox Jewish community, tells Robert Graham in a thick Brooklyn accent. Graham nods.

For the 50-year-old Rubashkin, and the dozens of Orthodox Jewish men who arrive almost daily from across the country to support him, such spiritual guidance is partly why God led him to his federal trial in Sioux Falls.

The former manager of Iowa kosher slaughterhouse Agriprocessors Inc. is accused of defrauding a St. Louis bank and, if convicted, could spend the rest of his life in prison. But for now, he's spreading his spiritual message to people like Graham, a South Dakota Jewish man who was only remotely familiar with the broadest outlines of his religion's traditions.

That devotion and respect for the Rubashkin family is what draws the men to support a fellow member of their Hasidim, a branch of Judaism that translates to ''the pious.'' Its members are easily identifiable in long black coats, fedoras and beards. They know Rubashkin more as the former teacher at an Atlanta Jewish school explaining his faith to young pupils.

''They have a solemn faith it's going to go the way it should,'' said Graham, a bus driver from Sioux Falls. ''Even if it comes back guilty, they would say that's what God wanted.''

While they pray in the hotel conference room, a jury of seven women and five men discuss in a courthouse five blocks away whether Rubashkin is guilty of 91 counts including bank, wire and mail fraud. They carry a combined maximum prison sentence of more than 1,000 years.

Rubashkin also will face a second federal trial on 72 immigration charges.

Despite the uncertainty, the conference room is anything but somber. As it has been for weeks, the room is filled with men who have been arriving and departing in waves, about 10 at a time.

At one table sit two Orthodox Jewish men who joined four others in a Dodge Caravan on Saturday night in Brooklyn. They drove in shifts nearly nonstop to Sioux Falls, roughly 1,400 miles away from their New York City borough, stopping only for gas and to pray.

They're smiling and eager to talk about their faith and Rubashkin, a man they had only met once or twice. Although confident that he will be freed, they say any verdict would be God's will.

''We believe everything is by divine providence,'' said Zalman Levin, 23. ''Coming to see him, it's not a religious duty. It's something we should do. We consider the whole community a family. Even if we would have never met him before.''

Levin grew up in Palo Alto, Calif., but is studying at a Jewish school in Crown Heights, a Brooklyn neighborhood with a large Orthodox population. He and Rubashkin are Lubavitchers, a branch of the Hasidic movement in Orthodox Judaism. They met once in Brooklyn, when Levin was about 15.

Levin said that because they share a faith, he at least owes Rubashkin a visit. It's difficult, he said, for outsiders to understand why the men have been regularly rolling into this city of about 125,000.

To them, Rubashkin and his father Aaron are the ideal Lubavitchers, men who founded Agriprocessors Inc. in northeast Iowa, far from the lives they knew in New York, and supplied inexpensive kosher food to Jewish men and women who otherwise couldn't afford it.

To many, the Rubashkins' image in Crown Heights is of generous and devout people who donated money without a second thought and opened a restaurant that didn't charge those who couldn't pay, said Isaac Gurewitz, who traveled to Sioux Falls with Levin.

Rubashkins' trial began Oct. 12, moved to South Dakota in part because of pretrial publicity in Iowa. At least 60 Hasidim packed in an overflow room in the Sioux Falls federal courthouse. They came from Brooklyn, Minnesota, Chicago, corners of the country with small Orthodox populations and even Italy. They rocked back and forth while reading from the Torah, and flocked to Rubashkin when he stepped outside during court breaks for a cigarette.

Levin acknowledges that the Hasidim are oddities to the locals -- during jury selection, one South Dakota man confused them with the Amish.

''It's a bit of a strange sight,'' he said with a smile. ''You haven't seen many people like us.''

Former Agriprocessors employees have testified that Rubashkin personally directed them to create fake invoices. Days before an immigration raid in May 2008, former employees said Rubashkin scrambled to get new documents for his workers, at least 389 of whom were found to be illegal immigrants.

Rubashkin's defense attorney has argued that Rubashkin never read the loan agreement with St. Louis-based First Bank and tried to show Rubashkin as a bumbling businessman in over his head.

Rubashkin's son Getzel said his father has been a calming influence on his worried family. He said he's amazed by his father's perseverance, but shares his faith in a verdict of not guilty.

But the allegations weren't the focus of a recent morning in a hotel room packed with kosher food. The Lubavitcher men instead wanted to talk about a new believer.

Graham, the Sioux Falls man, said Rubashkin showed him last week how to apply the tefillin, the black arm bands attached to Torah scripture. To the Lubavitchers, it was Graham's initiation into Jewish society, and one of the reasons they believe God led them to Sioux Falls.

''This room is the biggest synagogue here,'' Levin said, laughing.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/11/11/business/AP-US-Kosher-Slaughterhouse-Rubashkin.html?scp=1&sq=rubashkin&st=cse

Magen David Adom, Tel Aviv

2009-11-11T19:27:00.010+02:00

An exposure like no other.

As an active volunteer EMT with MDA Tel Aviv, Israel, I see the inner workings of the city from the streets to people's homes. As a new immigrant in this society, no other experience has so intimately introduced me to the city and the country as a whole. It provides me with a unique cultural exposure by entering peoples homes across all strata of society.

With much of the "clientele" being elderly, this has given me a great opportunity to learn their amazing stories. This is the generation who escaped the persecutions of Europe and elsewhere in the world and established this country.

For example, this last Sunday during my shift on the intensive care ambulance, we took an 87 year old woman to the hospital with chest pain and other irregularities. On the way, I was responsible for monitoring her status as closely as possible. One of the best ways I have learned to do that is just by talking conversationally.
Captivating my imagination, she told me of her journey through British displaced persons camps in Cyprus as a Holocaust refugee from Poland. Glaring at the wrinkled blue tattoo of still legible numbers in the center of her forearm, what she described to me was the long story short. She came through the flames and built this place from scratch.

This incredible generation is, sadly and inevitably, being taken to the hospital by day and night more than I'd like to admit. I am profoundly grateful for my exposure to their lives and stories, and realize that this is an opportunity that will not exist for my children.

The stories and experiences must live on through us.

More on this to be posted soon...

A Story Close to Home With Many Israelis

2009-11-01T16:34:00.009+02:00

Israeli households are filled with many stories similar to those of these women featured here in the The New York Times. In this tribute story to American women combat veterans, heroic stories of service are told, and the issue of post traumatic stress disorder is addressed. Few countries find their servicewomen on front lines or in dangerous battlefields. Driven by necessity and extraordinary will, women serve vital roles in both the American and Israeli armed forces. Their exploits serve to inspire us all.

"In early October 2004, her convoy of about 30 vehicles set out from Kuwait for Mosul, one of Iraq’s most violent cities. On the way, she said, they were hit three times with roadside bombs. One exploded 200 feet from the unarmored Humvee in which Mrs. Pacquette spent day and night pointing her rifle out an open window. " Please take a look at the rest of the article to learn more about their stories.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/01/us/01trauma.html?pagewanted=1&ref=us

Liberal Movement Hijacked by Extremists

2009-10-29T16:21:00.005+02:00

This editorial piece from the Wall Street Journal is written by prestigious Egyptians criticizing their country's own "liberal" movement. This criticism holds true for many of the liberal movements around the world. Many modern-day liberal movements have been hijacked by extremists, and the "if you are not with us you are against us" mentality prevails.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704335904574497143564035718.html

Inspiration In Arms

2009-10-25T22:32:00.008+02:00

The narrow streets were dark and filled with sounds. Figures moved behind blackened windows on the overbearing buildings. My finger on the trigger, senses honed on my surroundings, I ensured my fellow Jews the right to a sacred prayer at the grave of one of our revered heroes. I was filled with a profound sense that this was the right thing to do. We stood as symbols of modernity: guardians of the Jewish State. This moment embodied the spirit of why I joined the IDF, and was one of the proudest of my life. While we were not welcomed, and our presence required military defense, our mission sought only peaceful access to a Jewish holy site and our ancestral roots.

During my recent IDF Reserve duty, my fellow soldiers and I rode into the heart of Nablus to Kever Yosef to pray Slichot before the coming holiday season. It was an experience I will never forget. After 5+ years of being an Israeli citizen I have had innumerable experiences to instill in me a faith and unwavering confidence in our nation. It was in this spirit that I felt fortunate to be a part of this unique excursion that, sadly, many do not have the chance to ever partake in.

Kever Yosef --Joseph’s Tomb – according to biblical tradition, is near the ancient Canaanite city of Shechem, in the heart of the modern-day Palestinian city of Nablus. Believed to be the site of Joseph’s burial, it has been a place of prayer, worship and preservation by Jews for millennia. With increased tensions in the area at the beginning of the Second Intifada, the IDF had soldiers stationed to protect the tomb for Jewish visitation, study, and prayer. This era of Jewish guardianship came to an abrupt end in October 2000. Early that month, an armed Palestinian mob converged on the site, killing one of the soldiers on guard and causing massive destruction to the tomb. Following this attack, the IDF withdrew its presence from the site; it was a strategic weak point surrounded by armed, densely populated Palestinian areas within the city. Since this incident, Jews have been unable to safely go to this holy place, and it has been continuously pillaged and defaced. Only those Jews willing to brave the serious risks associated with entering the city of Nablus in very limited, organized military convoys have made it to the Kever in recent years, and sadly, such groups have been few and far between. A small group of Jews were able to sneak onto the site in 2008 to perform some minor restoration work. But the tomb has been inaccessible to the Jewish public since 2000. Today, the Kever Yosef stands as a burnt, desecrated ruin, which I believe is a grave insult and dishonor to Jews the world over.

Based on requests coming in from many of his soldiers, my Battalion Commander decided it was worth the risk to visit the Kever Yosef. Early in the day, the Commander collected the names from each company of those willing to participate in this voluntary mission. The primary objective was to pray Slichot at the Kever Yosef that night. This traditional prayer for forgiveness is said during the week prior to Rosh Hashana. I eagerly placed my name on the list and was allocated to the cover team that was assigned to hold a defensive perimeter around the Kever. I was filled with pride to be part of a mission so noble in purpose. The plan was to reach the Kever Yosef in the cover of the deep night, while most people slept, so as to create as little disruption as possible to the inhabitants of the city and their Ramadan celebrations. Once on site we had up to thirty minutes to pray and extract by an alternate route.

Conditions upon our arrival were not to permit the inconspicuous, stealthy mission for which we had hoped. The City of Nablus turned out to be alive with Ramadan celebrants crowding the streets, deep into the early hours of morning. The greeting of our armored convoy in the city was less than hospitable. This was not to deter us, however, and we made a successful insertion into the neighborhood surrounding the tomb, where we quickly set up our defenses. Soldiers began their Slichot prayers as soon as we were able to secure the perimeter. When my turn came to enter the Kever I was filled with a sense of history, purpose, and pride for my Jewish Nation. I stood shoulder-to-shoulder with my comrades, dressed in full combat gear, reading from my prayer book by the wan light of the candles and flashlights. I prayed from my heart and with the deepest conviction for the forgiveness associated with the beginning of the new year. The tomb’s condition was just as I had expected: burnt, broken, and abandoned; a truly sad sight. I found just enough space to place my candle among the other candles on top of the burial site, a concrete slab, inside the tomb. I was profoundly moved to participate in this rare event, one of the few times in almost a decade when people came to this place with the purpose of reverence rather than desecration.

One of the key morals in the story of Joseph’s life, and his role in the development of the Nation of Israel, is the aspect of unity between brothers. After Joseph’s brothers turned on him and sent him off to an uncertain fate, it became their destiny to suffer and struggle. Only after the brothers reunited and saw the error of their ways did the Nation of Israel have a chance of surviving and even prospering. It is this strength in unity that we, the modern Nation of Israel, must always hold dear. If we do not stand together as a united people, then someday it may, once again, be the Kotel that is in the condition of the Kever Yosef.

David Matlin

Maccabi Gets Robbed At Staple Center?

2009-10-24T16:36:00.003+02:00

Police: Thief nets $22K in goods, cash

Associated Press
LOS ANGELES -- Police say $22,000 in cash and valuables were stolen from a visiting Israeli basketball team during an exhibition game with the Los Angeles Clippers at Staples Center.
Lt. Albert Gavin says somebody apparently got into the locker room Tuesday and stole watches, jewelry and $15,000 in cash from 10 members of Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv.
Gavin says the team noticed the theft during halftime of Maccabi's 108-96 loss.
Gavin says police weren't notified of the theft until after the game and weren't able to get statements from the victims.
Investigators hope to identify a suspect from the arena's security video.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4588259

World Media Creating Mistrust for Israel

2009-10-23T17:02:00.003+02:00

The media posts another libel piece against Israel. Stories like this are so damaging as they lead people to believe that this guy was an Israeli spy (which he was not), and breed mistrust for Israel.
The article title and content was basically all about the caught Israeli spy. The reality of the story was only explained in one line in the middle of the article. If you read the whole article or just glance at the title (like most people do) it is very misleading.

Quoted one line from the middle of the article below, exonerating Israel:
(unfortunatley most people do not read this far in the article)

New York Times, Oct 21: "The Justice Department said on Monday that "the complaint does not allege that the government of Israel or anyone acting on its behalf committed any offense under U.S. laws in this case."

Link to article.

Wall Street Journal, Oct 21: "U.S. officials said the Nozette case doesn't include allegations that Israel or its agents were involved."

Link to article.