JVP celebrates the Jewish New Year

The "proud to be ashamed to be Jewish" folk at Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) have a new publication out, just in time for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year.  Introducing the "Table Blessing Ritual"

JVP  uses Shehecheyanu to celebrate their BDS  "victories",  giving a shout out to George Soros, the Presbyterians, and the United Church of Christ.

But really, what could we expect from an organization whose Rabbinic council doesn't even know the Hebrew year?

 (Psst, Lynn. Its 5776)

UPDATE (h/t MF)

From a Facebook friend of Lynn Gottlieb, reporting from the Chicago opening of the new "anti-Zionist" synagogue

Daniel Fischer: Getting off easy after terrorizing a Connecticut Synagogue

Daniel Fischer of New Haven, Connecticut has been granted “accelerated rehabilitation”  after he and co-defendant Gregory Williams terrorized an event at a Connecticut synagogue on May 12.

Fischer has been ordered to stay away from Westport's Temple Israel and not to contact anyone from the synagogue.  If the 18 month long program and 25 hours of community service are successfully completed, the charges against him will be dismissed.  Both Fischer and Williams are currently free on $1,500 bond.

Gregory Williams, 25  has an existing criminal record, and was not eligible for the program. He has been charged with criminal trespass first-degree and breach of peace second-degree, and will return to court on Oct. 15.

 From WestportNow

An attorney for Temple Israel, Bruce Koffsky, who was present in court, submitted a letter from the Temple supporting Fischer’s AR request.

The letter outlined the events of May 12, in which some congregants huddled under luncheon tables or fled the synagogue in panic as Fischer and Williams began shouting and banging on a door as they sought to enter a dining hall. 

“Mr. Fischer should be made to understand that his ‘political’ stunt caused panic and fear for both Temple Israel’s staff and guests and has caused Temple Israel to increase its security precautions – and as a result, its expenses,” the letter said. “This was not a victimless crime.”

The letter continued: “We say all the above with the understanding that Daniel Fischer has no criminal record, appears to be eligible for the AR Program and has been charged with misdemeanor offenses.

“That being the case, Temple Israel does not object to the granting of the AR Program for Mr. Fischer provided he engage in substantial community service where he can put his passionate support for the less fortunate to better use.

“Additionally, we would respectfully request that additional conditions of the defendant’s AR be that he not enter or go on Temple Israel property, not contact Temple staff or congregants and that he not attempt to participate in Temple Israel activities.”

Cymru loves Israel. Israel loves Cymru

Scenes of light and love from todays Wales/ Israel EURO 2016 group B qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium

Photos from North West friends of Israel

From Israel in the UK

And from Daniel Jacobs- Mincha at half-time

Hatikvah and Israel flags, posted by our friend Simon Cobbs. Check out that ruach!



In response to the inevitable voices protesting the most egalitarian and diverse team in the Middle East Arieh Miller, executive director of the Zionist Federation, declared:
 “We are here to celebrate an incredible football game between Israel and Wales and welcome the Israeli national team and the fans from Israel to this amazing city.

“We feel the match has the ability to go over and above politics. If some individuals - a small, very vocal minority - choose to bring politics into sport, that really is shame.

“The Israeli national team is the only team in the Middle East where you have Jews, Muslims and Christians all playing side by side with the same shirt in the same colours for the same manager and the common cause of beating their opponents.


“Unfortunately, those protesters are trying to silence that coexistence and cooperation when in actual fact that’s the exact message we should all be promoting for peace.”

American Muslims For Palestine: Inventing a heritage

American Muslims for Palestine is looking for "Palestinian" artifacts  to display at their November convention.

Their call for "coins and currency' is illustrated by the coins of the colonial power, the  British Mandate. 

B'nai Brith International highlights the history of the coins here

In September, 1923, the formal start of the British Mandate for Palestine went into effect. At that time, there was no stable economic system. There were a great number of coins and currencies used from different countries: Turkish, American, numerous European, Russian and Indian. Stamps were sometimes used. Barter was common. Something had to be done. On July 24, 1922, in London, the League of Nations formalized the Palestine Mandate, by issuing a covenant that had 28 articles. Article 22 was concerned with the economy. It read: "English, Arabic and Hebrew shall be the official languages of Palestine. Any statement in Arabic on stamps or money in Palestine shall be repeated in Hebrew and any statement or inscription in Hebrew shall be repeated in Arabic." 

The design was controversial from the very beginning

"To conform to the Balfour Declaration, two additional Hebrew letters were added in parentheses next to the Hebrew script on the coins. These letters, the aleph and yod, were an abbreviation for Eretz Yisra'el, "The Land of Israel." This infuriated the Arab citizens who rioted in protest. Orthodox Jews were also displeased with the text as they believed only the Messiah from the house of David could reestablish the historical Kingdom of Israel. These conflicts still rage on today."

No one doubts that the the British mandate for Palestine existed, and its unclear how  exhibiting coinage that  proclaims the "Land of Israel" supports the AMP claim of the historic existence of a Palestinian people.

A quick search of the New York Times Historical index shows that common use of the term "Palestinian" did not begin until 1970.

Before 1970? Guess who the term "Palestinian" referred to?

Fail, AMP. Fail.

American Muslims for Palestine  knows the true history of the coinage- in their promotional material advertising their conference  they deliberately cut out the Hebrew writing.

After all, you cannot  'reclaim a narrative' with eliminating an existing one.

Co-existence? They'll have none of that in Wales

An exhibit in Cardiff meant to celebrate peace through football was abruptly shuttered, following "complaints". The Cardiff library was hosting the photographic exhibit, meant to show how sports builds bridges across political divides in advance of Sundays Wales vs Israel game at Cardiff City Stadium.

Photographers Gad Salner and Vadim Tarasov highlighted  Muslim, Christian and Jewish communities playing together throughout Israel  lower-league football throughout Israel.

From the Daily Mail:

The project, created by photographers Gad Salner and Vadim Tarasov, records how football can bring rival communities together. It has previously been displayed at the Guardian offices.

The photography project focuses on lower-league football throughout Israel, emphasising how Muslim, Christian and Jewish communities come together through the beautiful game.
One example is the Betar Nordia Football Club in Jerusalem, a small, fan-owned club that promotes diversity and sportsmanship, while opposing violence and racism in football. The club’s Jewish participants play alongside their Arab Muslim and Christian colleagues.

'From forgotten Arab villages in the north to dusty Jewish neighborhoods in the south, we visit places where the seemingly ever-present tension between cultures evaporates, and where diversity is embraced, encouraged and celebrated,' said the photographers in a statement.

Judith Woodman, leader of the opposition at Cardiff Council, called the censorship
"a disgraceful reflection on our city."

Read it all here.

Bay Area Says No to a Nuclear Iran

Hundreds of Bay area resident gathered on Sunday, August 30 in San Francisco's Civic center Plaza to ask their elected representatives to "Say No" to the bad Iran deal.

The bipartisan rally was sponsored by a host of grassroots community based organizations, including 

Zionist Organization of America, Western Region
Russian Speaking Jewish Community of SF
Rimon Club Z
Stand With Us
Jewish National Fund
Golden State Teenage Conservatives 
Phyllis Chesler Organization
Iron Dome Alliance
Americans for a Safe Israel
JCC Watch
Human Rights Voices
Log Cabin Republicans
London Center for Policy Research
Clarion Project
National Council of Young Israel
American Friends of Yeshivot Bnai Akiva 
Middle East Forum
NORPAC
The World Values Network
American Friends of Ateret Cohanim
Frederick Douglass Foundation
One Family
My Liberty
Bay Area Patriots
Christians United for Israel Action Fund
Bay Area Says Vote No On Iran Nuclear Agreement

Speakers included John Rothman, Dr. Mike Harris, Rabbi Shimon Margolin, Rochelle Conner, Director of the Frederick Douglass Foundation of California and retired Judge Quentin Kopp

More photos here.

And todays Darwin award goes to....

Silly Gaza.  Didn't you learn anything from Rachel Corrie?  Caterpillar bulldozers are dangerous. They aren't toys.

Wedding party in Beit Lahiya mugs for the cameras, on a Caterpillar Bulldozer

If the Palestinians don't boycott Caterpillar, why should anyone?

PFLP women complete military training course

Female fighters of terrorist group Palestinian Front for Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) in ‪Gaza‬ celebrate the completion of their military training course.  Remember this when they show you the  "civilian" casualties figures from Gaza

These women will be following in the footsteps of notorious PFLP terrorist Rasmea Odeh, currently fighting extradition from the United States for failing to disclosure her criminal past on immigration forms

Child's Play: Palestinian Terrorists hide ammunition in children's toys

A raid earlier this week has lead to a shocking discovery.  IDF soldiers raiding a Palestinian home overnight discovered a hidden cache of weapons including six rifles and a handgun. The soldiers also discovered a teddy bear with a hidden zipper installed in the back, used for hiding ammunition.

Beautifying Gaza with public art

Constantly on the lookout for new and innovative methods to kill Jews (er, Zionists), Hamas has twice dispatched “frogman” from Gaza to attack Israel, only to have their attempts foiled by the ever vigilant IDF.

This week, Hamas has unveiled some fine public art in Gaza to honor their sea-based terror squad. (Yes, the same Hamas that claims it lacks the resources to rebuild homes can somehow find resources and funds for art, military parades, and terror tunnels.)

The Hamas frogman sculpture joins other terror- themed art displays in the coastal enclave, including this poignant ode to the grad rocket, 

and this memorial to the blockade-running terrorist- wannabes from the Mavi Marmara

You can tell a lot about a society’s values from their public art.

1000 + Rabbis urge Congress: Vote No on Iran Deal

1000 + Rabbis urge Congress: Vote No on Iran Deal
Text of the petition follows:

We, the undersigned rabbis, write as a unified voice across religious denominations to express our concerns with the proposed nuclear agreement with Iran.

For more than 20 months, our communities have kept keen eyes on the nuclear negotiations overseas. As our diplomats from Washington worked tirelessly to reach a peaceful resolution to the Iranian nuclear challenge-we have hoped, and believed, that a good deal was possible.

Unfortunately, that hope is not yet realized.

We have weighed the various implications of supporting-or opposing-this agreement. Together, we are deeply troubled by the proposed deal, and believe this agreement will harm the short-term and long-term interests of both the United States and our allies, particularly Israel.

Collectively, we feel we must do better.

If this agreement is implemented, Iran will receive as much as 150 billion dollars, without any commitment to changing its nefarious behavior.

The Iranian regime denies basic human rights to its citizens, publicly calls for America's downfall and Israel's annihilation, and openly denies the Holocaust. This dangerous regime-the leading state sponsor of terrorism-could now be given the financial freedom to sow even more violence throughout the world.

But what do we get in return?

Even after flooding Iran with an influx of funds, this deal will not subject Iran to an airtight, comprehensive inspections structure-granting the regime the means to violate the agreement and develop a covert nuclear program.

The deal would also lift key arms embargos, so that in eight years Iran will be given international legitimacy to arm terror groups with conventional weapons and ballistic missiles.

The agreement also entitles Iran to develop advanced centrifuges after 10 years-all-but paving Iran's path to a nuclear weapons capability with virtually zero "breakout time."

We fear the world we will leave our children if this deal is approved. And we fear having to someday bear the responsibility for Iran becoming wealthier, further empowered and better equipped to produce nuclear bombs when we had the chance to stop it.

For these reasons, we agree with the assessments of leaders and experts in the United States, along with virtually all Israeli voices across the political spectrum, that we can, and must, do better.

We call upon our Senators and Representatives to consider the dangers that this agreement poses to the United States and our allies, and to vote in opposition to this deal.

Furthermore, we strongly support and heed the call to action of many Jewish organizations to express our collective opposition to this dangerous agreement.

At this historic moment, with so much at stake, we have a critical responsibility to shape the world we pass on to our children. With no less than the safety of future generations hanging in the balance, we must insist on a better deal.

We hope and pray that God will assist us in ushering in for the entire world a time promised by Isaiah (2:4) when "nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they engage in war anymore," when peace will prevail. Until then, we simply cannot afford to empower and enrich a regime that continues to lift its sword without mercy towards so many who stand for good, freedom and peace.

If you are an ordained U.S. Rabbi and would like to sign the petition please click here.

More Dispatches from the Apartheid State

More dispatches from Israel, the failed apartheid state.

A Palestinian woman, Anoush Belian has won the coveted title of Miss Fitness in a bodybuilding competition organized by the National Amateur Bodybuilders Association in Israel.

                                          Photos from Ammar Awad at Reuters 

Global Index ranks Israel fourth best place to raise children

Israel has been ranked as the 4th best place to raise children by the Family Life Index

The Family Life Index ranks countries in such subcategories as availability and cost  of childcare and education, quality of education, family well-being, and available leisure activities.

True Confessions of an International Solidarity Movement (ISM) Volunteer

Just this week, Paul Larudee of the Northern California International Solidarity Movement (ISM) issued an “ an urgent call for volunteers to join us in Palestine”

He doesn’t offer much in a way of a job description, instead stating

The campaign will begin during the last week of September and will last around 5 weeks.  We request a minimum one week commitment from volunteers, but stress that longtermers are needed as well. We ask that volunteers start arriving around the 20th of September, so that we will be prepared when the harvest begins.

We request a minimum two week commitment from volunteers, but stress that longtermers are needed as well. The ISM will be holding mandatory two day training sessions which will run weekly on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Please see the join ISM page or contact palreports@gmail.com for further information.

Fortunately, our friends at Israellycool are able to fill in the blanks, with a post by a Swedish activist, Daniel Borg, who joined the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) a few years back.

Before joining ISM group in Hebron I had my training in Ramallah during two days. How to obstruct IDF ops? How to freely walk in a neighbourhood and alert the coordinators the movements of incoming IDF patrols? When to go out and show your presence to the military, so that they dont dare shoot at your direction? Shield a house that IDF want to demolish? Shield stone-molotov-throwing militants? Yes. Our job. PLO (now Fatah, but it is the same) uses well meaning idealistic western youngsters to aid, shield and make-possible their terrorist agenda. The Fatah-coordinators made it clear to us that ISM uses only non-violent means of resistence, but in the meantime stressed that if the Palestinians chooses to use violence our job is to shield them. It is the Palestinians that live under occupation and humiliation, not us western activists, so we should let them make the operational decisions and we internationals are there to act like human shields and protect them from the IDF.

Daniel’s personal observations of interactions between Israeli soldiers and Palestinians lead him to believe that much of what he has been taught is not true

Yes I was extremely astounished. This encounter between the IDF soldier and the Palestinian kid contradicted everything I was being told and what I thought was the normal mode of IDF-conduct. Surely this soldier’s behaviour must be a very rare glimpse of humanism in the overrall aggressive IDF, like a dolphin swimming in a sea of sharks. But no, it was not. It was rather the normal mode of conduct. I monitored the same group of soldiers from early morning to late evening, and their basic way of treating the Palestinians was that of non-interference and respect. Not once did I see anything that comes close to a violation. I spent three weeks monitoring the IDF soldiers, with my camera around my neck. There was nothing to film, no transgressions whatsoever ...

Daniel concludes

The irony did not cross my mind at the time, that I went to Hebron to document Israeli war crimes but came home with IDF-humanism and Palestinian war crimes.

During my time in Hebron I did not know about the incessant terror attacks against the extremely small Jewish community of Hebron. I did not know that Jewish residents are killed whenever they are not protected, children, women, elderly. I did not know that Israel has effective control of a very small portion of Hebron. I did not know that the actual Apartheid in Hebron is directed from the Arabs against the Jewish community. I did not know the religious and historic importance of Hebron, as the number two capital of the Jewish people.

How could I know? How could my collegues know? We are immersed in the pro-pal false narrative. Fueled by CNN, New York Times, Le Monde, all centrist and leftist poltical parties in Europe, all our left leaning teachers, all our cultural establishment. Among many others. I got social, political, educational status by joining ISM, an anti – Geneva Conventions, terrorist organisation.

Read it all at Israellycool

Why checkpoints are still needed

Why checkpoints are still needed:

Earlier this week,  two tons of rocket-making material destined for Gaza were discovered at the Nitzana Border Crossing in southern Israel.  The fiberglass was likely intended for use in constructing long-range rockets.

Earlier this month, smuggled fiberglass was discovered at the Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel into Gaza, falsely labeled as containing school equipment.  Humanitarian aid continues to flow into Gaza in spite of the smuggling attempts.

From the Times of Israel:
Since the beginning of the year the Tax Authority and Shin Bet have intercepted dozens of attempts to smuggle banned substances into Gaza that were suspected to be heading for the terror groups in Gaza.

Among the shipments seized were diving suits, polyurethane rocket propellant and carbon and sulfur rods for blast furnaces used in metal work...

From Israel National News:
The list of items that Israel prohibits from reaching Gaza is not very long. There are a grand total of 16 types of military materials, and 18 types of dual-use items.

The military items are mostly various types of chemicals, accelerants, fertilizers and carbon products needed for the manufacture of explosives. The idea that Gaza is "suffering" because they are deprived of these things is absurd. Let's hear the State Department explain why Gazans absolutely must have diethylenetriamine, thiethylenetramine, or  E-100-ethyleneamine. 

The dual-use materials are items that can be disguised as being for civilian purposes, but which Israel knows from experience will be used for terrorist purposes. This list includes prepared concrete, hunting knives, and night vision goggles.

Abbas's new Presidential Guest Palace

Writing at Gatestone, Khaled Abu Toameh asks the question, "What  are Palestinians Doing with U.S. Money?", concluding  "One does not have to be an expert on Palestinian affairs to see that the billions of dollars have neither created democracy for the Palestinians nor boosted the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. "

During the past 20 years, the U.S. has invested $4.5 billion in promoting democracy among the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and boosting the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

This is what Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah revealed during a meeting in Ramallah this week with Congressman Kevin McCarthy, Majority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives. Hamdallah said that the money was also invested in projects in various Palestinian sectors.

The $4.5 billion that Hamdallah talked about does not include the billions of dollars poured on the Palestinian Authority (PA) since its creation in 1994. Palestinian economic analysts estimate that the PA has received a total of $25 billion in financial aid from the U.S. and other countries during the past two decades.

One of the "projects" financed by US donations may very well be Abbas's new  Presidential Guest Place. Now serving the 11th year of his 4 year term, Abbas is building himself a facility fit for a king.

The Presidential Guest Palace in Surda, Ramallah

$13 million dollars is budgeted for the project, which includes 2 helipads

New Secretary General of Kairos Palestine Hind Khoury rationalizes suicide bombers.

The new Secretary General of Kairos Palestine is Hind Khoury 

Listen to a 2011 clip of her rationalizing suicide bombing




"...our martyrs, even if they were suicide bombers they are martyrs we can't think of them as criminals. i refuse that. "

Repulsive racism from Anna Baltzer

Meet Ilana Kaufman,  a self described "black, gay professional Jew" 

From the Forward, Ilana writes

I’m about as mainstream as we come. My family lights Sabbath candles and belongs to a synagogue. My daughter goes to religious school and Jewish summer camp. I even grow etrogs in my backyard. My community is mostly Jewish — and many, many are black like me.

Ilana is the JCRC San Francisco Bay Area’s Public Affairs and Civic Engagement Director. She reflects the diversity of the Bay area, and of the larger Jewish community 

Its just one of many reasons that Anna Baltzer's  (aka Anna Piller aka Anna Nardie)  quip about the  "white supremacy" of the Jewish Community Relations Council is so repugnant.  Anna is the head of the extremist US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation - a group that denies Jewish ties to the land of Israel.

In her thoughtless, senseless and racist attack on the JCRC, Anna belittles and marginalizes the contributions of all Jews of color, including Ilana Kaufman.

Repulsive racism from Anna Baltzer

From the JCRC mission statement

JCRC envisions a more just society by sustaining a strong and vibrant Jewish community in the United States and in Israel, and by enhancing that strength through collaboration with other communities.


Toward this end, JCRC's mission is to educate and advocate on issues of vital importance to the organized Jewish community based on consensus, civility and an expanded commitment to living Jewish values of social justice.

The Bay Area unites to say no to a nuclear Iran

We have a few short weeks left to stop the Iran deal

Bay area activists, Dr. Lenny Kristal, Ruvim Braude, Rosalind Frankel and John  Rothmann have drafted a statement that calls upon our elected representatives in Congress to reject the agreement.  In just a few days, hundreds have added their names 

This has run as an advertisement in the Aug. 10 edition of the J Weekly, northern California’s weekly Jewish news publication.

A Facebook page, Bay Area Says Vote No On Iran Nuclear Agreement  has been created, and the statement is now there in the form of a petition.  Please "like" the page, and add your name to those gathered in solidarity  in opposition to this deal.

For more about this initiative, please see

CA Bay Area: Ground Zero of the Left takes on Iran Deal

CA Bay Area: Ground Zero of the Left takes on Iran Deal

Hamas Summer camp

Thousands of Palestinian children, as young as 15  are receiving military training in Gaza summer camps, operated by Hamas.

More than 25,000 children have joined this year's Hamas camps, according to Hamas officials in the Gaza Strip.

 From Palestinian journalist Khaled Abu Toameh, writing at the Gatestone Institute 

Only a few Palestinians have dared to speak out against Hamas's exploitation of children. Palestinian activist Eyad al-Atal criticized Hamas for "depriving an entire generation of Palestinians of their childhood." He said that apart from creating new supporters of the Islamic State, the military training of the children was in violation of human rights principles.

Addressing the Hamas leaders, the al-Atal said: "Teach your children how to play, how to smile, how to rejoice. Build for them an institution for education and entertainment that would raise them on the love of Palestine and not how to get themselves killed."

It is also disturbing to see how international and Palestinian human rights organizations, especially those claiming to defend children's rights, are turning a blind eye to this large-scale child abuse by Hamas. These organizations only care about children's rights when there is a way to throw all the blame on Israel.