The Apartheid state of Lebanon.

The Lebanon Budget Draft for 2021 grants permanent residency in Lebanon for any foreigner that invests in real estate. As long as the investor keeps  property in their name permanent residency will be granted to the investor and their family.

Syrian and Palestinian nationals are excluded.

Over 470,000  Palestinian refugees are registered with UNRWA in Lebanon, with 45 per cent of them living in the country’s 12 refugee camps.  Palestinians in Lebanon cannot work in at least 39 professions and cannot own property. The refugee status is passed down from generation to generation.   Even third and fourth generation Lebanese born Palestinians do not have the rights of citizens.

Lebanon is an apartheid state, and the silence of the so-called Palestinian civil society and international human rights organizations is quite telling. This is one of the 3 "Ds" of Natan Sharansky's  definition of antisemitism- the double standard.  

The relationship between sleep deprivation and cancer: Dispatches from the apartheid state

More dispatches from Israel,  the apartheid state. Cutting edge research from an Israeli Arab doctor, Fahed Hakim has the potential to change the way we view sleep.  Hakim is a Christian Arab-Israeli pediatrician and pediatric pulmonologist at the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa. He was born, raised and lives in Nazareth. He is a married to a dentist and has two sons, 11 and 7 and has worked at Haifa’s Rambam Center since the completion of his medical degree in 2000.

Fragmented sleep accelerates tumor growth and progression through recruitment of tumor-associated macrophages and TLR4 signaling.

Hakim F, Wang Y, Zhang SX, Zheng J, Yolcu ES, Carreras A, Khalyfa A, Shirwan H, Almendros I, Gozal D.

Cancer Res 2014 Mar 1;74(5):1329-37. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-13-3014. Epub 2014 Jan 21.

Sleep fragmentation (SF) is a highly prevalent condition and a hallmark of sleep apnea, a condition that has been associated with increased cancer incidence and mortality. In this study, we examined the hypothesis that sleep fragmentation promotes tumor growth and progression through proinflammatory TLR4 signaling. In the design, we compared mice that were exposed to sleep fragmentation one week before engraftment of syngeneic TC1 or LL3 tumor cells and tumor analysis four weeks later. We also compared host contributions through the use of mice genetically deficient in TLR4 or its effector molecules MYD88 or TRIF. We found that sleep fragmentation enhanced tumor size and weight compared with control mice. Increased invasiveness was apparent in sleep fragmentation tumors, which penetrated the tumor capsule into surrounding tissues, including adjacent muscle. Tumor-associated macrophages (TAM) were more numerous in sleep fragmentation tumors, where they were distributed in a relatively closer proximity to the tumor capsule compared with control mice. Although tumors were generally smaller in both MYD88(-/-) and TRIF(-/-) hosts, the more aggressive features produced by sleep fragmentation persisted. In contrast, these more aggressive features produced by sleep fragmentation were abolished completely in TLR4(-/-) mice. Our findings offer mechanistic insights into how sleep perturbations can accelerate tumor growth and invasiveness through TAM recruitment and TLR4 signaling pathways.

And in plain English, via Israel 21 C:

"We knew from epidemiological studies that people whose Circadian rhythm is disrupted – like night-shift workers – have a higher incidence of cancer," says Hakim.

"We also knew that sleep apnea sufferers, who snore and wake up dozens of times a night, have a higher tendency to cancer. In other words, the more hypoxic a person is – the lower the levels of his oxygen – the more he is disposed to cancer. Studies on this emerged just when we began to think about our next research project. So we decided to ask how it happens and why."

Hakim and his research team experimented on two groups of mice. The control group was allowed to sleep normally. The other group was wakened repeatedly. After a week, cancerous tumor cells were injected into all the mice.

Within four weeks, the volume of the tumors – as well as the amount of cancer cells — in the mice whose sleep had been interrupted was double that in the mice that slept soundly.

And the tumors in the sleep-disrupted mice were more invasive; they spread into the adjacent tissue, muscles and bones. The tumors in the mice that had slept better, meanwhile, were better contained.

"To understand why, we looked at the tumor micro-environment," says Hakim.

"When you have an invader in your body, your immune system tries to attack it. The cells that eat invaders, like bacteria, are called microphages

Hakim's team discovered that these M-2s were sitting on the edges of the tumors and calling other macrophages to the area by sending messages to the TLR4 receptor –a protein that activates the immune system.

"What we found was that the TLR4 in the sleep-deprived mice was highly activated,"Hakim says. "So we decided to knock out the TLR4. And we discovered that the tumors in the mice in which we knocked out the TLR4 did not grow as quickly."

Arab doctors are doing innovative cutting edge scientific research in Israeli hospitals. Just another in a long series of apartheid fails, from the only democracy in the Middle east.

 

Israel: The struggle for equality

You'd never know it by listening to the racist rhetoric of the UCLA divestment hearing last night, or if you've been on campus during the notoriously biased "Israel Apartheid week".  The reality is that Israel has done more to equalize socioeconomic disparities within her society than most countries in the world.  There are some fascinating statistics in this article by Joshua Muravchik , a fellow at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University that go a long way in dispelling the “Israel apartheid” myth, and explaining some of the cultural disparities within Israeli society.

Discussing Israel's Arab citizens and their struggle for equality, he writes:

Consider first health, the best summary measurement of which may be life expectancy. This is higher for Jews than for Arabs in Israel, but not by much. For Jews, the numbers are 83.9 years for women and 80.7 for men. Among Israeli Arabs the number is 80.9 for women and 76.5 for men. According to a study released in 2010 by Ben-Gurion University, the most recent data put the life expectancy of Israeli Arabs overall at 79 years, which is two years less than that of Israeli Jews, but one year more than that of Americans. This is also almost ten years longer, according to UN statistics, than the life expectancy of the Arab world as whole, and longer than for any individual Arab country except Lebanon.

The other main measure of public health is infant mortality. Sikkuy, The Association for the Advancement of Civic Equality, an Israeli advocacy group, reports ‘a large gap in infant mortality between Jews and Arabs: 3.2 vs. 8.0 per thousand live births, respectively.’ Sikkuy’s report acknowledges that the figure for Arabs is driven upward by the Bedouin whose rate is 13 per thousand and is due largely to factors that are not easy for the state to control, to wit, ‘The main reason for infant mortality among the Negev Bedouin is birth defects and hereditary diseases.’ Other data show that Israeli Arabs are far less likely than Jews to submit to prenatal testing of fetuses which presumably means that Jews are more likely to abort abnormal fetuses which also happen to be at higher risk of infant death.

Joshua Muravchik continues his essay, discussing disparities in education and in economics, and Israel's struggles  to achieve equality for all her citizens. Read it all here
 
Are there disparities in Israel along cultural and religious lines?  Certainly, and Israel is struggling to address them.    What affirmative attention programs are working?   Which ones aren't?  What more needs to be done? People that love Israel, both within her borders and in the galut  are asking these questions. This is a conversation that needs to take place, but this is not a conversation that begins "Israel is an apartheid state"
 

Israel Apartheid Quiz

From the LA Times, penned by Seth M. Siegel- a quiz to examine the intellectual integrity of the Israel apartheid allegation.

1. The valedictorian of the most recent graduating class at the medical school at Israel's MIT, Technion, was:

a) A West Bank settler
b) An Orthodox Jewish man
c) A wounded veteran
d) A Muslim woman

2. The only country on the following list in which the Christian population isn't falling precipitously is:

a) Iraq
b) Syria
c) Egypt
d) Israel

3. Which of the following is true of Israel's Arab Christians?

a) They make up about a third of Israel's pharmacists
b) They are among the winners of the Israel Prize, the country's highest civilian honor
c) Their high school students have a higher rate of success on their graduation exams than Israeli Jewish students
d) All of the above

4. Since Israel left Gaza in 2005, the number of rockets fired from there into Israel is:

a) 8
b) 80
c) 800
d) 8,000

5. Which of the following is not true:

a) Arabs from Israel, the West Bank and Gaza have access to Israeli hospitals
b) Arab doctors and nurses treat Jewish and Arab patients in Israeli hospitals
c) Hundreds of wounded civilians and fighters in the Syrian civil war have been treated in Israeli hospitals
d) By law, Israeli Jews may refuse to be treated by an Arab doctor

6. When West Bank Palestinians have a claim that their rights have been abrogated by an Israeli action, they can file a lawsuit with:
a) A West Bank military court
b) A special court for Palestinians
c) No one
d) The Israeli Supreme Court acting as a court of primary jurisdiction

7. The number of Israeli Arabs currently elected to serve in the Knesset, Israel's 120-person parliament, is:

a) None
b) 1
c) 3
d) 12

8. The Golani Brigade, an elite Israeli army unit, recently made news when it:

a) Blew up a Hezbollah arms depot
b) Stopped a suicide attack on a city bus
c) Disbanded because Israel faces few military threats
d) Appointed Col. Rassan Alian, a Druze, as its commander

9. Salim Joubran is:

a) An Israeli Arab serving a five-year sentence for insulting Israel's president
b) A human rights organization fighting for Palestinian rights
c) An Israeli restaurant shut down because it doesn't serve kosher food
d) An Israeli Arab who serves on Israel's Supreme Court

10. Israel's 2013 Miss Israel beauty queen was:

a) Bar Refaeli, a fashion model
b) Agam Rodberg, an actress
c) Sandra Ringler, a fashion stylist
d) Yityish Aynaw, a black Ethiopian immigrant to Israel


Israel isn't a perfect country. Criticism of Israel is legitimate, and Israelis themselves do it every day. But as the quiz reveals — D is the correct answer to each question — whatever Israel is, it isn't an apartheid state.

AMP's Apartheid Ads. The backlash continues.

What do you do when the truth doesn't serve your narrow political agenda?   American Muslims for Palestine chooses to ignore it.    In an effort to stem the backlash against their defamatory "apartheid"  ads, AMP  has urged its constituency to call the City's Board of Supervisors, claiming that “free speech” is under attack by the JCRC, a "pro occupation" organization

Pro occupation?  Since at least 2007, the JCRC has had this consensus statement on its website:

Endorsing a two state solution with equal rights for all puts JCRC squarely in the camp of the moderates, as opposed to AMP or JVP, who will not endorse the only solution that grants self determination to both the Jewish people and the Palestinian people.

From AMP:

The JCRC has issued a press release referencing a letter signed by seven SF supervisors that
     A) Condemns AMP
     B) Asks the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority (Muni) to ban political speech ads
     C) Asks Muni to donate the proceeds from AMP”s ad to a fund to serve the Jewish community. (To counter the hurtful effect of Geller’s hate-speech ad, Muni donated the proceeds from it to fund a study of the health impact of Islamophobia on Arabs and Muslims in the Bay area.)

Here’s the letter:   It does none of these things.  It does not condemn AMP, only the inappropriate ads, characterizing them as "hurtful" and "alienating".   It does not ask for a ban on political speech, but rather an exploration of  "a creative solution' to this "growing war of words".  It asks that the proceeds of the ad go to the Human Rights Commission.

With its use of the term  "apartheid", and with the incendiary and inexact language  it uses to spur its constituency to action, the American Muslims for Palestine show again that are living in a truth optional world, continuing to propagate misinformation in order to promote their extremist agenda.
Fortunately seven of our City Supervisors were able see through this.

American Muslims for Palestine Joins Billboard Wars

Hatem Bazian is one of the founders of  American Muslims for Palestine. You may remember him  infamously called for an  intifada in America

"Are you angry? [Yeah!] Are you angry? [Yeah!] Are you angry? [Yeah!] Well, we've been watching intifada in Palestine, we've been watching an uprising in Iraq, and the question is that what are we doing? How come we don't have an intifada in this country? Because it seem[s] to me, that we are comfortable in where we are, watching CNN, ABC, NBC, Fox, and all these mainstream... giving us a window to the world while the world is being managed from Washington, from New York, from every other place in here in San Francisco: Chevron, Bechtel, [Carlyle?] Group, Halliburton; every one of those lying, cheating, stealing, deceiving individuals are in our country and we're sitting here and watching the world pass by, people being bombed, and it's about time that we have an intifada in this country that change[s] fundamentally the political dynamics in here. And we know every-- They're gonna say some Palestinian being too radical -- well, you haven't seen radicalism yet!" 

The extremist organization had previously emphasized indoctrinating students and recently held a  training session for high school students.   Nearly 200 students from grades 10 to 12 attended workshops on  such topics as the "Islamic significance of Palestine".

American Muslims for Palestine is branching out as the latest participant in the Billboard wars. Their current entry, now in 25 New York Metro stations spreads the egregious "Apartheid" lie, as it calls for the end to aid for America's closest ally in the Middle East

This ad campaign isn't simply about  25 ads- its accompanied by a rather well oiled PR campaign, timed to coincide with the Jewish holiday of Passover  to prevent opposing voices.   Speaking at the press conference   were Raja Abulhaq, president of AMP-NY; Lamis Deek, director of Al Awda-NY; Abi Hassan of the National Lawyers Guild; Felice Gillman of Wespac Foundation and Michael Letwin of Jews for the Palestinian Right of Return.  

Following the formal press conference, AMP called for a twitter onslaught on members of the mainstream media.   

UPDATE:

Throwing even more fuel onto the fire, the American Freedom Defense Initiative (identified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Institute) has developed a series of ads to counter those posted by the American Muslims for Palestine

Election Day in Israel

Today is election day in Israel.   The Central Elections Committee said turnout was 66.6%, with over 3,767,000 people casting a ballot, an increased from the 64.7% voting in the 2009 election. Yahoo News has run  a series of photos, showing just why Freedom House  again has classified Israel as the only free country in the Middle east.

With 99.5% of the votes counted:

• Likud-Yisrael Beiteinu: 31
• Yesh Atid: 19
• Labor: 15
• Shas: 11
• Habayit Hayehudi: 11
• United Torah Judaism: 7
• Hatnua: 6
• Meretz: 6
• United Arab List-Taal: 5
• Hadash: 4
• Balad: 3
• Kadima: 2

Photos from Yahoo news

Druze Woman votes in Israeli  election

Arab Woman votes in Israeli election

Prisoner votes in Israeli election

Hadassah Hospital. Making Miracles Happen every Day

We don't hear enough about this amazing organization. Hadassah Hospital is a model of peaceful co-existence in a difficult region. At Hadassah, Arab doctors treat Jewish patients. Jewish doctors treat Arab patients.  Hadassah- the largest Zionist Women's organization  in the world is celebrating their 100th anniversary this year. Here's  what they've been up to:

A Bridge Over Troubled Waters

Osnat Moskowitz

Prof Eitan Kerem is Head of the Department of Pediatrics and Cystic Fibrosis Center at Hadassah-Mt. Scopus and Coordinator of the European Cystic Fibrosis Society (ECFS) Registry. And he was very concerned about the reception he would receive when he made his presentation to the ECFS meeting in June this year in Spain. He was scheduled to speak about Hadassah’s work with Cystic Fibrosis patients in Gaza and the CF Center Hadassah recently created there with support from the Peres Center for Peace.
The Gaza CF Center is an amazing story in itself. In years past, Hadassah’s CF Center treated dozens of young patients from Gaza since there was no CF specialist in Gaza. When politics prevented them coming to Israel, some of them traveled to Cairo to undergo CF treatment there – a 12-hour trip – but this soon became difficult, and then impossible. The parents of these chronically sick children turned to the international community for help in establishing a CF center in Gaza.

And Hadassah responded. “We devised a program together with the Peres Center,” Prof. Kerem said. “Three doctors came from Gaza to Hadassah for an intensive one-year training course at Mt. Scopus. We organized dormitory accommodations in Jerusalem, and the Peres Center arranged the complex logistics.
“Just three months ago a nurse and a physiotherapist also began training with us. Just like the doctors who trained here last year, they work in harmony with the entire team, the patients and their families.”
Prof. Kerem was pleased he would be able to tell this remarkable story.

Yet when the time came, he left for Spain some trepidation. His place on the program had been planned early in 2010. The ECFS meeting took place in June – after the Gaza flotilla incident. He had been warned that many delegates from Arab countries were attending and that the audience and the atmosphere could be hostile.

His presentation is powerful and professional. The pictures and the facts speak for themselves. It concludes with a photograph of a beautiful river whose flowing waters are bright red.
“There was an audible gasp of shock from the entire audience when the picture appeared on the screen,” Prof. Kerem said, “and I knew I had made my point.” He then showed the same photograph from a wider angle – revealing trees with autumn leaves turning deep red that were reflected in the water.
He told his audience: “Not everything you see is what it seems to be. Never take things at face value.

“The applause almost deafening,” Prof. Kerem said, “and the response totally positive. People congratulated me and many wanted more details. I was even approached by medical professionals from Arab countries who were interested in coming to specialize in CF at Hadassah.”

Yascher Koach, Hadassah. May you go from strength to strength

Haifa Maccabi vs the Golden State Warriors In Oakland tonight

The BDS'ers missed the boat on this one, and have been scrambling furiously to make up for lost time. The best they could    do was to crank out yet another petition,   which was largely ignored by all involved
I'm think- what was that again? Oh, yes. Its yet another "BDS  fail"

The failed petition contains the usual rant from the BDS-holes:
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
"The 2005 Palestinian civil society call for boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) calls for broad boycotts on Israel. In solidarity with the Palestinian BDS call, activists around the U.S. are calling on sports teams to boycott upcoming games with Maccabi-Haifa basketball team...There should be no sports as usual with ambassadors for Apartheid Israel!

With a sense of urgency, we ask you to boycott the exhibition game against Maccabi-Haifa, the Israeli team that you are scheduled to play. Israel is committing grave human rights abuses involving an elaborate system of racial apartheid which discriminates against the native Palestinians in violation of international law. Israel's abuses have been confirmed by the United Nations Security Council and the International Court of Justice. Israel has been convicted by the Russell Tribunal of the crime of apartheid. Nobel Laureate Desmond Tutu has described Israel's apartheid system as worse than the apartheid that existed in South Africa. Yet, despite worldwide condemnation, Israel not only refuses to dismantle its apartheid system, but it continues to expand and reinforce it." 

Here's a photo from tonight's game.  Maccabi James Thomas is  playing against Festus  Ezeli.    I'm not quite seeing the "crime of apartheid"  here .

Maccabi Haifa's James Thomas defends as Golden State Warriors' Festus Ezeli drives for the basket during the first half of an NBA exhibition basketball game in Oakland, Calif., Thursday, Oct. 11, 2012. (AP Photo/George Niktin)  

Golden State Warriors' Brandon Rush goes up to shoot past Maccabi Haifa's Bryan Cohen during the first half of a preseason basketball game in Oakland, Calif., Thursday, Oct. 11, 2012. (AP Photo/George Niktin)

Florida-based billionaire Jeff Rosen, purchased the team in 2007 .   While visiting Haifa's sister city, Maccabi players and coaches  participated in a basketball clinic for San Francisco children., organized by the S.F.-based Jewish Community Federation’s Israel Center and the S.F. Recreation and Parks Department.  Simply evil.

 Alas. the Golden State Warriors beat Israel's Haifa Maccabi 108-100.

Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Shuhada Street?

Hebron is the oldest Jewish community in the world, and is the second holiest city to the Jewish people. According to Jewish tradition, Abraham purchased the field where the Tomb of the Patriarchs is located as a burial place for his wife. Our forefathers and mothers- Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Sarah, Rebecca, and Leah are all buried there.

From Jewish Virtual Library

"Hebron has a long and rich Jewish history. It was one of the first places where the Patriarch Abraham resided after his arrival in Canaan. King David was anointed in Hebron, where he reigned for seven years. One thousand years later, during the first Jewish revolt against the Romans, the city was the scene of extensive fighting. Jews lived in Hebron almost continuously throughout the Byzantine, Arab, Mameluke, and Ottoman periods. It was only in 1929 — as a result of a murderous Arab pogrom in which 67 Jews were murdered and the remainder were forced to flee — that the city became temporarily "free" of Jews. After the 1967 Six-Day War, the Jewish community of Hebron was re-established. It has grown to include a range of religious and educational institutions. "

After the signing of the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement ("Oslo II"), authority for most civil affairs regarding Hebron's Arab residents was transferred from the Israeli Civil Administration to the Palestinian Authority and the (Arab) Municipality of Hebron.

From The Israeli ministry of foreign Affairs

"Providing security for Hebron's Jewish residents is a particular challenge since Hebron's is the only Jewish community in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza which is situated directly in the midst of a city with a large Arab population. Moreover, the community is not concentrated in a single area or bloc, but is, rather, comprised of dispersed and separated sites. Terrorists could thus threaten one individual site, or isolate one site from the others by creating pressure on the roads (traffic jams, etc.) and thus impede the arrival of Israel security forces should one site be attacked, or could attack the roads joining the sites. Additionally, some of the sites are situated lower than the surrounding areas, and thus face clear threats. "

Under the Hebron Agreement, the city was divided into two areas: H-1, under full Palestinian Authority, and H-2, under full Israeli control. At the outset of the second intifada in 2000, the IDF resumed operations in the H-1 area.
Map From Elder of Ziyon :




Whats the real story of Shuhada (King David street)?
This road was open to Arab traffic prior to the Intifada. It was closed to Arab traffic following numerous terror attacks, including a suicide bomber who exploded and killed two people on this road. A bypass route is accessible. Except for a kilometer and a half of Shuhada st, all of Hebron is open to Arabs. Does this constitute Apartheid in Hebron? According to the "Israel must go" crowd, it does.

The week of February 20 will be a "Week of Rage", directed against the second holiest city in the Jewish tradition

Their event announcement:

A CALL TO ACTION!!!

“Youth Against Settlements” invites you to participate in the
3rd annual Global Day of Action to Open Shuhada (Apartheid) Street!

This year, Palestinian activists in Hebron are planning a week of activities to commemorate the Baruch Goldstein Massacre and demand the opening of Shuhada Street. The planned activities in Hebron are as follows:

Monday : 20/02/2012 : Photo Exhibition about the Ibrahim Mosque Massacre and Non-violent Resistance in Palestine
Tuesday : 21/02/2012 Tour For Israeli Parliament Members (if Possible )
Wednesday : 22/02/2012 Film screening about Shuhada Street
Thursday : 23/02/2012 Presentation about Apartheid System in Hebron
Friday: 24/02/2012 Main Demonstration
Saturday : 25/02/2012 Visit to The Families of the Massacre Victims and Families in H2
As we have done for the past few years, we urge all people who are against Israeli Apartheid in Hebron to organize solidarity actions on February 25, 2012. Below is a list of suggested solidarity actions that we hope you will consider.

1. Demonstrations, Marches, Vigils, Flashmobs
2. Presentations about Apartheid in Hebron
3. Photo Exhibitions concerning Apartheid in Hebron
4. Twitter: Use this hashtag #OpenShuhadaSt to spread the word and educate the masses about Hebron. This is especially important during the week of actions.
5.Video Message: Create and send video messages to community forums, media, and social media outlets urging the international community to use diplomatic pressure to re-open Shuhada Street.
6. Letter-writing and Petitions to the Israeli Ambassador and elected officials in your country asking them to intervene
7.Write letters to the Palestinian Families in Hebron to show solidarity
8.Close roads to show the public the effects of closing the main road in Hebron.
9.Visit Hebron to gain an understanding of the situation and the daily suffering of the people living there.
10. Any other non-violent activity you feel supports the cause, be as creative as possible!!

For more information please contact : Media.YAS@gmail.com

*************


TERRORIST ATTACKS AND VIOLENT INCIDENTS IN HEBRON SINCE 1929

(The following list is intended to provide a representative -- not exhaustive -- summary of terrorist attacks and violent incidents which have occurred in Hebron since 1929.)

23.08.29 67 Jews (including women, children, and the elderly) were murdered, and 60 injured in a vicious pogrom which had been well-planned by Arab rioters. In the course of the pogrom, women were raped, homes and synagogues were plundered and burned, and Torah scrolls were desecrated and burned.
09.10.68 A 17 year-old Arab youth threw a grenade at Jews praying on the steps of the Tomb's main gate. 47 Jews, including an eight month-old baby, were injured.
05.11.68 A Jewish man and his son, an elderly Arab man, and three Arab children were injured by an explosive charge near the Tomb.
29.12.68 Terrorists attack a security post near the Tomb. One terrorist was killed; the others fled. No Israeli soldiers were injured.
07.08.76 Two Jews were wounded when terrorists shot at a tour bus in the city.03.10.76 On the eve of Yom Kippur, a mob of Arab youths burst into the Tomb and desecrated several Torah scrolls. Three soldiers fired in the air in an attempt to prevent their entry. 61 rioters were arrested in the Tomb.
02.05.80 Arab terrorists ambushed a group of Jews returning from the Tomb to Beit Hadassah. Six Jews were murdered and 20 wounded.
21.05.80 A Molotov cocktail was thrown at an Israeli vehicle in Hebron. A Jewish woman was wounded.
02.06.80 11 Arabs, including four schoolchildren, were injured when a booby-trapped grenade exploded in the Hebron market.
16.12.80 An Arab resident of Hebron was wounded by a bomb at Glass Junction in Hebron.
10.02.81 A Jewish resident of Kiryat Arba was stabbed and wounded in the Hebron casbah.
07.07.83 Beit Romano Yeshiva student Aharon Gross was attacked and stabbed by three Arab youths in the market area. He later died of his wounds.
25.07.83 Jewish terrorists opened fire at the Islamic College in Hebron. Three students were murdered and approximately 30 wounded.
10.08.85 A Jewish resident of Kiryat Arba was stabbed and wounded in the Hebron casbah.
25.04.86 A 16-year old Jewish youth was stabbed and lightly wounded in the casbah.
06.06.86 A Jewish resident of Kiryat Arba was stabbed and wounded in the casbah.
14.09.86 A young Arab woman, the daughter of a local mukhtar, stabbed a soldier at the entrance to the Tomb. She was shot and killed.
16.10.86 A Jewish resident of Kiryat Arba was stabbed in the city.
25.10.92 Three Arab terrorists shot at soldiers guarding the Tomb's generator. One reserve soldier was murdered; two were wounded.
28.05.93 Yeshiva student Erez Shmuel was stabbed to death approximately 500 meters from from the Tomb, while on his way to Friday evening prayers at the Tomb.
06.12.93 Mordechai Lapid and his son Shalom were shot to death near Glass Junction in Hebron. Hamas claimed responsibility.
25.02.94 Kiryat Arba resident Baruch Goldstein opened fire on Muslim worshippers inside the Tomb, murdering 29 and wounding 125.
07.07.94 Sarit Prigal (17) was shot to death in a drive-by shooting, when terrorists opened fire from a passing car near the entrance to Kiryat Arba.
19.03.95 Nahum Hoss (31) of Hebron, and Yehuda Partus (34) of Kiryat Arba, were murdered by shots fired at their bus from a terrorist ambush near Glass Junction in Hebron. Six others were injured.
26.03.01 - An Israeli infant, Shalhevet Pass, age 10 months, was killed by sniper fire at the entrance to the Avraham Avinu neighborhood in Hebron.
11.03.03 St. Sgt.Tomer Ron, 20, of Moshav Moledet, was killed and an Israel Defense Forces officer and two soldiers were injured when Palestinian snipers ambushed their IDF patrol in Hebron.


Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem. Keep Hebron in your thoughts as well.

Palestine: The next apartheid state? Maen Areikat calls for a Jew-Free Palestine

The Palestine Liberation Organization's ambassador, to the United States, Maen Areikat, wants a new state of Palestine to officially prohibit Jews. It would be the first country since Nazi Germany, which sought a country that was judenrein, or cleansed of Jews, said Elliott Abrams, a former U.S. National Security Council official.

****
From an article by Oren Dorell, in USA Today

WASHINGTON – The Palestine Liberation Organization's ambassador to the United States said Tuesday that any future Palestinian state it seeks with help from the United Nations and the United States should be free of Jews.
"After the experience of the last 44 years of military occupation and all the conflict and friction, I think it would be in the best interest of the two people to be separated," Maen Areikat, the PLO ambassador, said during a meeting with reporters sponsored by The Christian Science Monitor. He was responding to a question about the rights of minorities in a Palestine of the future.
Such a state would be the first to officially prohibit Jews or any other faith since Nazi Germany, which sought a country that was judenrein, or cleansed of Jews, said Elliott Abrams, a former U.S. National Security Council official.
Israel has 1.3 million Muslims who are Israeli citizens. Jews have lived in "Judea and Samaria," the biblical name for the West Bank, for thousands of years. Areikat said the PLO seeks a secular state, but that Palestinians need separation to work on their own national identity.
The Palestinian demand is unacceptable and "a despicable form of anti-Semitism," Abrams said. A small Jewish presence in a future Palestine, up to 1% of the population, would not hurt the Palestinian identity, he said.
"No civilized country would act this way," Abrams said.
*********
In a stretch worthy of an circus contortionist, the Electronic intifada's Ali Abunimah claims "that Anti-Palestinian propagandists are trying to spin this comment as being anti-Jewish".

Well, duh… Ali.

Ali, instead claims that Maen Areikat, instead has "espoused Israel’s brutal vision of apartheid and racial segregation."

Read the article and decide for yourself.

The South African Mail and Guardian Suspends Intern for Online Anti-Semitism

The thing that most intrigues, or maybe turns my stomach, about this, is that it is an example of the way the anti-Israel narrative has been permitted to usurp and override the histories and issues of, well, everyone else.

During the First Durban Conference, that UN gathering on racism that turned into a single-minded attack on one country, and one country alone, I recall seeing a picture of two ladies from Brazil, in indigenous Brazilian dress, holding signs denouncing Israel. Indigenous people in Brazil have a lot of problems. I dare say that Israel is not responsible for any of them. But what were these women doing, in front of the cameras of the world, in their beautiful woven dresses? Denouncing Israel, to advance another people's agenda at the cost of their own.

At the same conference, a man who was there to discuss the often dreadful discrimination against, and difficult situation of, the 'scheduled castes' of India, once known as 'untouchables', complained that the Palestinians and their supporters took over everything. His group would hold a demonstration, and the next thing they knew they would be surrounded by Palestinian flags. The struggle of a wretchedly oppressed social group shoved aside--to make room for the neverending, ever-expanding, Palestinian narrative.

And now we have a young South African man who may not be old enough to remember the days of apartheid himself, but his parents and grandparents certainly do. And his first response when asked about it is to effectively deny his own experience, his own people's fight for freedom, and to accede--even actively promote--the ahistorical, dishonest appropriation of the word 'apartheid', and what it meant in South Africa--and to give away his birthright of liberation to the anti-Israel movements.

Ngoako Matsha may be posting anti-Semitic drivel on Facebook, but I'm not angry with him. I feel bad for the kid. He's been brainwashed into giving away what's rightfully his--and he's not even getting a nice bowl of lentil soup out of it.

The Mail & Guardian has suspended an intern, Ngoako Matsha, for an anti-Semitic comment posted on social media platform Facebook. Matsha has been a trainee at the M&G since February 2011, but was commenting in his personal capacity.

In response to a posting by Facebook member Benji Shulman, requesting that users suggest a "basic decent history of apartheid", Matsha posted "Petty apartheid is building tall walls to separate Israel from Palestines." Shulman responded, posting, inter alia, "Thanks for that peace of pseudo-politics but I need something that will stand up to logical argument." Matsha made the following statement in response: "You racists! No wonder Hitler killed all the Jews, because you’re all a bunch of racists."

At 10.23am on June 15, as he was arriving at eTV for an interview with Jeremy Maggs, M&G editor-in-Chief Nic Dawes was informed of the comment by Twitter user @SteveMagid. He immediately spoke with Matsha’s supervisor, who spoke to Matsha and confirmed the authenticity of the comments. By 1.15pm, Dawes had returned to the M&G offices, spoken to Matsha and informed him of his suspension, and that he would be subject to a disciplinary hearing.

In an email sent to staff at 14.12pm, Dawes wrote that "The remarks made on Facebook discussion are fundamentally at odds with the most fundamental values of the Mail & Guardian, the Constitution, and basic human decency. Justifying the Holocaust in this fashion is hate speech and is completely unacceptable in any forum."

The M&G editorial code of ethics clearly stipulates that hate speech is unacceptable. Said Dawes, "I was deeply disappointed and angry when I learned of these remarks via Twitter, and when their authenticity was confirmed by Matsha. Obviously it was appalling to see the Mail & Guardian associated in any way with the hatefulness of anti-Semitism, but more importantly these comments were an awful violation of our most deeply held beliefs, and would have required serious action even if they had never been made public."

The M&G has just completed a series of editorial workshops, at which the outline for a social media policy was discussed, and where it was made clear that the basic foundation would be that an employee would say nothing on social media platforms that he or she would not be willing to see published. Clearly, Matsha's anti-Semitic comment would not be acceptable to the M&G in any forum whatsoever.