Third Intifada begins?

An apparent terror attack in Tel Aviv left one person dead and 17 injured as a 22 year old Arab, alleged screaming "Allah Akbar" plowed his truck into several cars in South Tel Aviv. Local police are showing more restraint, calling for an investigation before they label it a terror attack.The truck driver claims the incident was a "traffic accident"

And in other "Nakba" developments:

*Peaceful non-violent demonstrators threw Molotov cocktails at Hadassah hospital on Mount Scopus, lightly injuring one policeman.

* In east Jerusalem, an 18-year-old Israeli man was injured when stones were thrown at his car in A-Tur, by peaceful non-violent demonstrators . A masked man in A-Tur was arrested after throwing a Molotov cocktail.


Photo by Reuters/ Ammar Awad




In Qalandiya rioters have hidden behind ambulances for cover while they continue to hurl rocks at Israeli security forces. Expect the haters to talk about the IDF targeting ambulances any minute now.

Video available here

*And meanwhile, back at the Gaza Strip, the Erez Crossing is the scene of another riot, er, non-violent peaceful demonstration with hundreds of Palestinian peace activists hurling rocks (peace projectiles?) at Israeli forces.

More later....

BDS Day of Hate: Epic fail

Visitors at the Buy Israeli Goods Website jumped from 3,700 in February to 49,000 in March, 2011 in response to the March 30 anti-Israel boycott and strong promotional efforts by StandWithUs. Over 9,500 visitors to BIG left to go to the websites of Israeli online sellers.

There you have it. Quantitative proof of Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) as a losing strategy.

What do you have to show for yourself, Omar? Oh, that's right. Your little friends attempted a "flash mob" or two.

Locally, in the belly of beast, Northern California, the absence of a single successful boycott attempt in years of trying has weighed heavily on team Hate. What can you do when all your flash mobs and tabling attempts fail? Why, you resort to petty vandalism.




Berkeley knuckle-draggers show off after vandalizing kosher Israeli food at the local Safeway

The Davis food co-op experienced the same phenomenon- many bottles of kosher wine were vandalized after the Co-op refused to yield to boycott pressure.


Even tiny local stores that refuse to capitulate to the demands of BDS'ers have been targeted. Our beloved Zand market in Albany was recently vandalized- the Persian proprietors refuse to capitulate to the bullies, and will continue to stock the products we all enjoy.



Vandalism. Bullying. Threats. Intimidation. All part of the tool chest of the BDS'ers. Can you say "Loser"? I know you can.

Deep Purple: Only Wimps Cancel Concerts In Israel

From Haaretz:

Ahead of their third Israeli tour, English rock band Deep Purple took a stand against other musicians who cancel their concerts in Israel due to politics, saying artists should not take sides in political conflicts, with drummer Ian Paice calling these musicians "real wimps."

The band spoke at a press conference Wednesday ahead of two concerts they are due to perform in Caesarea on Saturday and Sunday. This visit is Deep Purple's third Israeli tour. The last time they visited was in 2008, when they played four concerts to full crowds of cheering fans.

Deep Purple's vocalist Ian Gillen stressed to reporters that musicians should remain impartial in political disputes, and likened this to making the assumption that Deep Purple supported all of Tony Blair's policies because they gave a concert in London ten years ago.

Imagine Deep Purple playing "Smoke on the water" in the Caesarera Amphitheatre, overlooking the sea. Hmmm. Thats the stuff rock legends are made of.

So, Omar, Hows that cultural boycott coming along?

Billionaires in the West Bank? Meet Munib al-Masri

Palestinian billionaire Munib al-Masri has been in the news a bit, lately, having helped mediate the unity government between Hamas and Fatah. Al-Masri's (the name means "the Egyptian", btw... so much for the "indigenous people" claim) personal fortune amounts to 1/3 of the Palestinian economy, and he is the largest private sector employer in the West Bank. (The government is the largest employer). Al- Masri's company Padico, the Palestinian Development and Investment Company today employs some 35,000 people. Another al-Masri company, Paltel (the Palestine Telecommunications Corporation), employs 12,000 people.

His palitial home on Mt. Gerizim, just outside Nablus is built on 70 acres and features a staircase imported from Sicily, a Gothic fireplace from Versailles and a glassed-in winter garden that was a gift from Napoleon to Josephine, and is complete with ancient Greek statues, Picassos, manicured gardens and pools. The home is a copy of a 16th-century house designed by Italian architect Andrea Paldio. Almost all of the building materials, including the gravel and sand, were imported from France

Al-Masri's house (Photo: Atta Awisat)

Al-Masri's house-interior view (Photo: Atta Awisat)

Quite a different lifestyle than you'd expect in the Palestinian territories, perhaps.

Duran Duran to play Tel Aviv concert

Tel Aviv by Duran Duran.

The afternoon, it's one maybe two
Sipping away my last goldstar, not so much to do
Dream away the sunny day until it's time to leave
I'll just watch you pass on by
When I'm on my own in Tel Aviv

With the blocks to one side
The beach on the other
And the trees and the leaves
On my own in Tel Aviv
And the trees and the leaves
On my own in Tel Aviv

From the Daily Jews
Lead singer Simon LeBon is no stranger to Israel. In the late 70s, before he went to university, he spent some time working on a kibbutz which is said to have inspired him to write Tel Aviv. “I have an affection for the country,” le Bon has commented.

Duran Duran will be coming to Tel Aviv this summer, joining musicians Roxette, Moby, Suede, Paul Simon and Bob Dylan, in playing for people, not governments. The iconic British rockers will perform on July 30 2011 at the Tel Aviv fairground.

This will be Duran Duran’s second visit to Israel. They first performed in Tel Aviv and Haifa in 1994.

So, Omar, hows that cultural boycott going, btw?

Lake Merritt United Methodist Church Hosts Hate speech

Today the Lake Merritt United Methodist Church in Oakland is hosting a talk by Gilad Atzmon. Atzmon is an ex-Israeli who now resides in the UK; he has renounced not only being Israeli, but his membership in the Jewish people and now writes and promotes classically anti-Semitic remarks. Gilad was invited as part of a fundraiser for the Free Gaza Movement, to help raise funds for a US boat to Gaza.

Atzmon has left a long slime trail of hate across the web. He has been documented saying:

"I'm not going to say whether it is right or not to burn down a synagogue, I can see that it is a rational act.'"

"It is about time we internalise the fact that Israel and Zionism are the ultimate Evil with no comparison."

"To regard Hitler as the ultimate evil is nothing but surrendering to the Zio-centric discourse. To regard Hitler as the wickedest man and the Third Reich as the embodiment of evilness is to let Israel off the hook."

""Throughout the centuries, Jewish bankers bought for themselves some real reputations of backers and financers of wars, and even one communist revolution. Though rich Jews had been happily financing wars using their assets, Alan Greenspan, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve of the United States, found a far more sophisticated way to finance the wars perpetrated by his ideological brothers Libby and Wolfowitz."

" The 'Elders of Zion' syndrome: Zionists complain that Jews continue to be associated with a conspiracy to rule the world via political lobbies, media and money. Is the suggestion of conspiracy really an empty accusation?
The following list is presented with pride in several Jewish American websites.
Jews in Bush's Administration (a list of some 30 names follows¦)
Let me assure you, in Clinton's administration the situation was even worse. Even though the Jews only make up 1.9 per cent of the country's population, an astounding 56 per cent of Clinton's appointees were Jews. A coincidence? I don't think so."

"I would suggest that perhaps we should face it once and for all: the Jews were responsible for the killing of Jesus who, by the way, was himself a Palestinian Jew....Why is it that the Jews who repeatedly demand that the Christian world should apologise for its involvement in previous persecutions, have never thought that it is about time that they apologised for killing Jesus?"

San Francisco Voice for Israel will hold a vigil outside the church from 4-5. Please join them in solidarity, to remind Oakland that there should be zero toreance to anti-Semitism in our community

Please give the Church a call. (510) 465-4793, or send them an email pastor@lakemerrittumc.org Remind them that virulent anti-Semitism is unacceptable regardless of one's position on the Israel/Palestine issue.

We're Not Kidding About Lacking Partners For Peace

I have been looking for a while for a simple pendant shaped like the State of Israel. It's harder than you might imagine. There are a bazillion chais and chamsas and magens david and the like out there, but relatively few Israel-shaped objects, or stylish Israeli flag jewelry.

I wonder if part of the lack might come from our ambivalence, our never-ending debate, about what the borders of the state really are, or will be, or should be. The most aesthetically attractive candidate I have found on my hunt is the piece above, by Israeli jewelry artist Elanit Leder. It's very pretty, I think. Of course, as observant readers will note, it's missing something--two somethings, in fact--all of the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip.

Look at it. Look, especially, at that vulnerable, breakable-looking little strip of land between the West Bank and the water. Let me think about this. Deep breaths.

The thing is, you see, I'm on record tentatively supporting a two-state solution. I feel that a two-state solution should in an ideal world be entirely unnecessary, since Jordan and Egypt should have provided full citizenship and equality for their nationals displaced from the land they found themselves no longer occupying after '67--but it seems fairly clear that now that they've had a while to think about that, the answer is still "NO," or, as it tends to come out when people are being emphatic in Arabic, "LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA!" So perhaps a Palestinian state is something we're going to eventually have to have, because this is far from an ideal world.

Elanit Leder, the designer of this piece, has discussed what its borders mean to her. “Practically, it’s Israel,” she said, “because I cannot go to Gaza and Chevron, and I can’t go to Ramallah. This is the safe Israel for me, so to call it. … This is the Israel that we practice.”

Maybe it would be OK for me to wear the Israel that we practice?

But here's the thing--I go looking for the linking piece of this, the Palestine-shaped charm necklaces out there. There are more of them than there are Israeli ones, for whatever reason. And they have an interesting consistency to them, for maps of a still-hypothetical nation:

Oh, yes. They're not kidding, here and at our demonstrations here in San Francisco, and abroad, when they chant "From the river to the sea."

At the discussion of Elanit Leder's piece in the Forward above, "Steve" got a little insistent with some people:

What my left wing friends often fail to recognize is that while they may make a distinction between say Chevron and Tel Aviv, the other side (the enemy, thank you) does not. Ask the Palestinian types which part of the country should be for the Jewish State. Let me know what they say.

His language offends "Pontigo":

people who say enemy must believe in war, and war isnt the solution for the state of israel.

"Steve" responds: So.. whats the answer to my question? What exactly is the map for the Jewish State that the, uhm, other side, has in mind?

I wish I had a snappy answer for Steve. But as an honest left-winger, I think we both know what the answer is.

Senate Democrats to Obama: Warn the PA

I'm tempted to snark, and say that this can't possibly be the case, since so many people have told me that the Democrats simply hate Israel...but I'll stop there. Hamas remains the spanner in the works of peace for the foreseeable future, and everyone knows it.

Casey, Menendez and Colleagues Call for Evaluation of U.S. Relations with Fatah-Hamas Government, Possible Suspension of Aid to Palestinian Authority

Friday, May 6, 2011

WASHINGTON, DC— U.S. Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) today sent a letter to President Obama asking him to evaluate the U.S. relationship with the Palestinian Authority and consider taking stronger measures in condemnation of the recently formed Fatah-Hamas unity government. In the letter signed by 27 Senators, the Senators urged the Administration to stand by its refusal to work with any Palestinian government that includes Hamas and consider cutting aid should the U.S. designated terrorist group remain in the government. Preconditions in U.S. law prevent aid from being provided to a Palestinian government that includes Hamas, unless the government and all its members have publically committed to the Quartet principles.

“It is imperative for you to make clear to President Abbas that Palestinian Authority participation in a unity government with an unreformed Hamas will jeopardize its relationship with the United States, including its receipt of U.S. aid. As you are aware, U.S. law prohibits aid from being provided to a Palestinian government that includes Hamas, unless the government and all its members have publically committed to the Quartet principles. We urge you to conduct a review of the current situation and suspend aid should Hamas refuse to comply with Quartet conditions,” wrote the Senators.

The full text of the letter is here.

Denying Culture, Denying History

Getty Images. People meet to pray at a vigil honoring Ben-Yosef Livnat, murdered by PA police at the Tomb of Joseph

As for the bones of Joseph, which the people of Israel brought up from Egypt, they buried them at Shechem, in the piece of land that Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of money. It became an inheritance of the descendants of Joseph. (Joshua, 24:32)

This is the history of my people. This is the story of how they brought the remains of their ancestor home to their own land from exile, and laid him to rest. Joseph's tomb has been a pilgrimage site for Jews for thousands of years. This is our heritage, in the simplest, deepest sense. A tribal ancestor and hero lies buried there. Like Hebron, like Rachel's Tomb, this is a sacred place to Jews everywhere.

Jews have always made pilgrimages to such places. A friend once told me about her grandfather, who made an annual pilgrimage from Baghdad to the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron, by train. I imagine this would have been in the 1930s or early 40s. Only Muslims were permitted to actually enter the tomb, but he would go as far as he was allowed, to pray as near to the shrine as he could. Every year the man did this, at enormous expense and danger, to express his piety. This is whole history lost on people who talk big about the Middle East--a total lack of understanding of what it meant to be a Jew before Jews had a country. In Baghdad, as everywhere else in the Middle East, you were a second-class citizen. Even if you had the money for a ticket from Iraq to Palestine, and most didn't, you couldn't expect to be treated like a human being in either place. And usually, you weren't.

Jews continue to travel to Joseph's tomb to pray whenever they can. The tomb rests inside the Palestinian Authority, which has permitted it to be repeatedly vandalized, but pilgrims continue to make their way there. Often they make their way under IDF guard, by prearrangement. Sometimes worshipers, especially young male worshipers, sneak in. That's what happened on April 24, when a group of young Israeli men quietly made their way to the tomb. As they were leaving, Palestinian Authority police officers opened fire on their cars. One man, 25-year-old Ben-Joseph Livnat, a father of four, was killed.

Baz Ratner/Reuters. Ben-Yosef Livnat's funeral procession.

 Peaceful civilians, leaving a place of prayer, were gunned down by armed police, murdered in cold blood, and the best excuse that could be come up with were, 'they didn't fill out the correct paperwork'. In the aftermath of the shooting, men from nearby Palestinian communities rioted and set the tomb on fire. (Again, this has happened a few time.) (In theory, Joseph's Tomb is, actually, also a Muslim holy site. How the nominal Muslims who have repeatedly vandalized it justify this to themselves is their problem.)

Another tragedy. Another murder. Another desecration of religiously and culturally sacred space.

A man who posts frequently to a blog I contribute to went a little nuts after Livnat's death, and the assault on the tomb. He said a number of things that I and the other bloggers found offensive, and was asked to tone it down. But while I was clear with him that some of the things he was saying were unacceptable, I also noticed that many other people in the group were simply shocked by his anger. Jews, like women, are not supposed to be angry. We are not supposed to feel fury when we are violated. We are supposed to consider what we did to deserve this.

Indymedia UK posted Palestine Today's comment on the incident: On the ground, Palestinian sources reported that hundreds of Israeli settlers, mostly armed, are roaming around the city of Nablus in the northern part of the West Bank. This motion by the settlers comes two days after an Israeli settler was shot dead in Nablus, believed to be by Israeli military gunfire by mistake.

The settlers was killed when a group of settlers invaded Nablus and attempted to enter the Tomb of Joseph in the city. Palestinian police tried to stop them however, the settlers pointed their guns at the police. Palestinian sources say settlers opened fire in the air to stop the settlers. Immediately a nearby Israeli military post responded to eh source of fire, which led to the settlers' death.

Both Israel and the PA are investigating the incident, but no final report has been issued yet.

So, let me see if I've got this straight--the 'settlers' invaded Nablus, tried to shoot the police, and were themselves gunned down by an Israeli military post? Oddly, that does not seem to accord with any other report, but it certainly does make it clear that the 'settlers' were entirely to blame for their own fate.

I'm angry, and I'm alienated. What is holy to me--a man's life, an ancient place of prayer--is merely a distraction to an ongoing campaign to delegitimize a nation and a people.

Celebrating 63 years of Diversity, Democracy and Innovation

"When I get older I will be stronger. They'll call me freedom. Just Like a waving flag."



Great Links for Israel Independance Day/ Yom Ha'Atzmaut


Great youtubes featuring Israel

Yom HaAtzmaut activities around the Bay ( from the J weekly)

“Voices of Israel: Celebrating Israel @ 63” takes place 2 to 9 p.m. May 15 at Temple Sinai, 2808 Summit St., Oakland. Registration required. $10-$25. Information: (510) 318-6453 or http://www.jfed.org.

In Palo Alto, the Oshman Family JCC will be holding a celebration on the actual day of Yom HaAtzmaut, Tuesday, May 10, from 4 to 7:30 p.m. at the Jessica L. Saal Town Square on the Taube Koret Campus for Jewish Life.

The party will feature temporary kibbutzes, each one based on a real Israeli kibbutz. The kibbutz representing the Ein Gedi Kibbutz, the only populated botanical garden in the world, will host a gardening activity; Gvar’am, an agriculture-focused kibbutz, will feature a petting zoo.

There will be more than 20 stations as well as Israeli food, music and dancing. The Oshman Family JCC is located at 3921 Fabian Way in Palo Alto.

Israeli dancing and music by three groups will be featured at a 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 10 party at Temple Isaiah, 3800 Mt. Diablo Blvd., Lafayette. The $5 admission fee includes a falafel dinner.

In Vallejo, Solano County’s Jewish community is throwing a big party for Yom HaAtzmaut. The event is set for May 15 from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Congregation B’nai Israel, will feature Israeli food, merchandise, music and dancing, and a visual display of the history of the nation and the people of Israel.

The keynote speaker will be Gideon Lustig, the S.F.-based deputy consul general of Israel. The event is free and open to the public. Congregation B’nai Israel is located at 1256 Nebraska St. in Vallejo.

Desecration of Holy Places

The Jewish Community knows all too well about the desecration of our sacred sites. We've seen it in Israel. We've seen it throughout the world. We've seen it close to home.

Between 1948 and 1967, when Israel's Mount of Olives was under Jordanian control, some 40,000 graves were destroyed. The tombstones of this ancient cemetery, where Jews have buried their dead for over 2,000 years were used as paving stones for a hotel and for Jordanian army camps. During this period a new road was paved from the top of the Mount of Olives southward and the main road to Jericho was widened on top of graves.

Just last week, an unarmed Jewish Worshipper at the tomb of Joseph near Nablus in the West bank was killed, and the sacred site vandalized.



Photo from Reuters

We are admonished not to "stand idly by" in the face of evil. Again, it is time for the Jewish community to mobilize, not for Israel, or for each other, but for our neighbors.

The Greater Vallejo Recreational District is about to desecrate a ceremonial and burial site sacred to the First nations of the Americas. Glen Cove is a sacred gathering place and burial ground that has been utilized by numerous Native American tribes since at least 1,500 BC. Today, Glen Cove continues to be spiritually important to local Native communities. It is located just south of Vallejo, California along the Carquinez Strait, a natural channel that connects the Sacramento River Delta to the San Francisco Bay. Glen Cove is known as Sogorea Te in Karkin Ohlone language.
The plan is to bulldoze a large section in order to install a parking lot, restrooms, picnic tables and trails, though there are similar facilities nearby. Representatives of the indigenous peoples have been holding an around-the-clock protest vigil at the site for 3 weeks, complete with tepee and sacred rituals.
Let's join them and show our support. After all, as Jews we know what it is to have our own sacred burial sites co-opted and desecrated . We can share our histories and stand in solidarity . All are welcome.
Bring seating and food if you so desire.
Sunday, May 8 at 2:00 PM at Glen Cove, Vallejo. See the Glen Cove website for details for directions and details. Call 510 548-9035 about carpooling

Why should the Jewish community get involved? This is about living Hillel's words "If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am only for myself, who am I? If not now, when?"

Israel's Arab Supreme Court Justice Salim Joubran touring America.

Sponsored by the American Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists, Israel's Supreme Court Salim Joubran is touring the U.S. and recently had a private lunch with five U.S. Supreme Court justices. Justice Joubran has served on the Supreme court since 2003, and became a permanent member in 2004. Joubran is the first Israeli Arab to receive a permanent appointment in the Supreme Court.

From the Detroit Free Press

"Speaking today to a group of attorneys and judges at the law firm of Miller Canfield in Detroit, Justice Joubran said he lives in Haifa, where Muslims, Jews, and Christians live side by side in peace. Haifa “is a unique mix” of Jews and Arabs where “respect and tolerance” are shared values, he said. He added that metro Detroit’s religious diversity reminded him of his hometown."

He noted that in his neighborhood, Muslims, Jews, and Christians often share in the holiday celebrations of other religions.

“We in Israel pray every day for peace,” he said.

Justice Joubran touched upon how Israel allows Jews, Christians, and Muslims to decide some cases based on religious law. For example, Muslims in Israel have sharia courts that they can use in some cases, such as those involving divorce. The issue of sharia, or Islamic law, has become a contentious issue in the US, but in Israel, it’s allowed.

Tim Attalla, an attorney with Miller Canfield of Arab descent who helped organize the event, was recently named a board member of the American Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists, the group that sponsored Joubran’s trip.

Attalla said Justice Joubran was someone who is about “building bridges between folks.”

Justice Joubran has also served as governor of the Israel Rotary and has served as the chairman of the Zeltner Fund for legal research sponsored by Rotary Israel and Tel Aviv University. He has also taught at the University of Haifa.

From Elder of Ziyon

The tooth fairy, Santa Claus and the Palestinian "right of return" . Some of these myths need to be addressed

The conflict in the Middle East has never been about Palestinian independence. The Palestinians have been offered a state on numerous occasions, and have turned it down each time. To those who examine the facts, its increasingly obvious that the conflict in the Middle east is not about the future borders of an eventual Palestinian state - it about the elimination of the only Jewish state in the world

From Aprils' Al Awda (Palestinian Right of Return) Convention:
This piece of "art" depicts their view of "Palestine" as an Arabic nation, from the "river to the sea", as symbolic a rejection of Jewish self determination as any.



Al Awda is an extremist group that has always denied the right of the Jewish people to self determination in their ancient homeland. They claim " Palestinian refugees represent the longest suffering and largest refugee population in the world today. In 2005, there were approximately 7.2 million Palestinian refugees..."

Of course, Al Awda neglects to mention that what defines a Palestinian "refugee" is not that they are "indigenous" to the land of Israel- they simply had to reside in the land after 1946. They did not need to own land. They did not need to have their origins in the indigenous people of the region. And, unprecedented in human history, refugee status also extends to their descendants, a third and fourth generation that has never resided in this land..

From UNRWA's website

Under UNRWA's operational definition, Palestine refugees are people whose normal place of residence was Palestine between June 1946 and May 1948, who lost both their homes and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict.
UNRWA's services are available to all those living in its area of operations who meet this definition, who are registered with the Agency and who need assistance. The descendants of the original Palestine refugees are also eligible for registration. When the Agency started working in 1950, it was responding to the needs of about 750,000 Palestine refugees.

Ziff in his 1938 book "The Rape of Palestine" documents the massive influx of Arabs into the Holy land, stating

"We should expect to find an exodus of Arabs from lands where Jews are settled. But exactly the opposite is true: it is precisely in the vicinity of those Jewish villages that Arab development is most marked. Arab Haifa, profiting from the Jewish boom grew from 1922 to 1936 by 130%, Jaffa by 80% and Jerusalem by 55%...In the vicinity of the Jewish villages Arab workers earn twice the wage paid in other parts of Palestine."

Dr. Rivka Shpak Lissak documents the same phenomenon on her website , unmistakably showing that most Palestinians in the Holy Land prior to Independence were recent immigrants.

"From 1870s to 1948, the Arab and Muslim population grew by 270%. Even in Egypt, the Arab country with the highest birth rate, the population grew by only 105%. The 1931 British census in Palestine(the name the British Mandate gave the country)showed that more than 50 languages were spoken by the Arab and Muslim population...
In short, from about 250,000 around the 1880s' the Arabic and Muslim population grew to almost 1,200,000 in 1948. A large percent of these people were immigrant workers...."

Al Awda has been working in partnership with the "Free Gaza Movement" . Al Awda "activists" are planning to visit Israel en mass in the next few months as part of a project proposed by ISM leader Paul Larudee. Palestinians will fly on commercial flights to Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv airport and will insist on going to their non-existent "homes".

Because this is meant to function as a publicity stunt, it is hoped that Israeli border authorities will stop them upon arrival, place them in detention, and try to deport them. The "activists" all have a history of anti-Israeli activity, and hope to be turned away. They hope for a long drawn out court battle and have been advised to avoid El Al flights because of their strict security.

They will be carrying photos of random doors and random keys gathered from an Al Awda project chronicled here.

Santa Claus, the tooth fairy and the Palestinian "right of return". All myths. If you want to know the real goal of Al Awda- just look carefully at the convention participants

Bomb Threat at the San Francisco Jewish Community Center

The San Francisco Jewish Community center on the 3200 block of California Street received a bomb threat and reported it to police at about 8:25 a.m. May 3. The building was sealed off, and several hundred people were evacuated. Motorists were told to avoid the area, and police and bomb sniffing dogs were brought to the scene. No bomb was found after an extensive search, and the center re-opened mid-morning.

The center includes a gym, classrooms, cafe, gift shop and preschool.
The JCC in San Francisco has been targeted with bomb threats in the past. Several years ago, it received a "different" type of attack, when a group attempted to interupt classes held in honor of Israel's birthday

Palestinian reaction to the death of Bin Laden

Photo from Daylife

The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which governs Gaza condemned the killing by U.S. forces of bin Laden and mourned him as an "Arab holy warrior"." Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh condemned the U.S. operation that killed Osama bin Laden, claiming "this as a continuation of the American policy based on oppression and the shedding of Muslim and Arab blood.” He added “We ask God to offer him mercy with the true believers and the martyrs.”

An imam from the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem vowed to take revenge over "the Western dogs" for killing al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan on Sunday.
In a YouTube video he refers to President Barack Obama, saying: "You personally instructed to kill Muslims. You should know that soon you'll hang together with Bush Junior. We are a nation of billions, a good nation. We'll teach you about politics and military ways very soon, with God's help," he vowed.

From Slave to IDF Officer: An only in Israel story

"My dream is to contribute as much as I can to this country. There aren't enough words to express my thanks.".



It's a tale worthy of Horatio Alger.

from YNET
Losing his parents at a young age, Avi Be'eri (originally Ibrahim)found him self smuggled to Israel, at the mercy of human traffickers. Aressted in Israel, he found local advocates-Susana and Azion Oshri who welcomed him into their home. Under their sponsorship Avi went back to school. Avi's case was appealed to the Interior Minister. The minister decided to offer the case special consideration and presented him with an Israeli citizenship.

"When he received his identity card he changed his name to Avi – making it official. After completing his studies and receiving his high school diploma, Avi enlisted in the IDF.

On Tuesday he is set to complete his officers' course and will then be promoted to the rank of Second Lieutenant. "I really do feel like someone who is making history," he says with pride. "Who would have believed that I, who arrived in this country with nothing, sat in prison and was nearly deported, would become an IDF officer."

Avi continued:

"I feel like every door is open to me and see myself as a Jew in every way. My next challenge is to convert, marry and start a family. I want to go to university and study International Relations and then work in the Foreign Ministry to promote Guinea-Israel relations. My dream is to contribute as much as I can to this country. There aren't enough words to express my thanks."

European Orchestra to play in Gaza: Another scene from the "Open Air concentration camp" that is Gaza

As reported in the Wall Street Journal:

Renowned conductor Daniel Barenboim will perform with an orchestra of European musicians in Gaza today. Enlisting musicians from orchestras in Berlin, Vienna, Paris and Milan, Mr. Barenboim has an assembled an outfit dubbed the "Orchestra for Gaza."

The group plans to fly from Berlin to Egypt and then cross the border into Gaza for a brief visit that will include a concert at a cultural center outside of Gaza City.

What comes to my mind is "Just like the Warsaw ghetto"

Wikileaks: Palestinian met with bin Laden to plan attack in Israel

from J Post

A senior al-Qaida terrorist held at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba raised funds to carry out terror attacks against Jewish and Israeli targets, according to one of the US Defense Department’s Guantanamo detainee reports released by WikiLeaks.

Abu Zubaydah, a Palestinian born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, is listed in the November 2008 detainee assessment as a high-risk threat to the US and its allies and interests, and as a prisoner of high intelligence value with personal connections to Osama bin Laden and other senior terrorists.

The 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM) identified Zubaydah as a senior al-Qaida lieutenant, and that both of them were important travel facilitators for the terror group’s operatives, according to the report.

Abu Zubaydah is one of 763 Guantanamo detainees whose files were released by WikiLeaks starting on April 24. They include information on prisoners who have been released or transferred, and those who died in custody."

Apparently, many experts have doubts about the veracity of the information, which may have been obtained through torture. Nonetheless, it provides an interesting account of the connections between world wide terror groups.

The article continues:

"Zubaydah, for example, supplied the late al-Qaida commander Abu Musab al-Zarqawi with several thousand dollars, according to the leaked detainee report, for an operation Zubaydah wanted to conduct in the West Bank and Gaza. Al-Zarqawi knew smugglers who could be useful for the operation.

He also allegedly plotted with Ayman al-Zawahiri’s former deputy, Abu Samih (Abu Samah al-Masri), to attack Israeli and Jewish targets in Morocco.

The detainee brief states that, simultaneously, Zubaydah suggested attacking Israeli targets in Egypt. He told Abu Dhahhak to ask Wafa Humanitarian Organization fundraiser Abu Ammar to raise $100,000 for anti-Israeli operations. Zubaydah ended up raising $50,000 for an attack against the Israeli Embassy in Egypt, but gave the money to bin Laden, telling him the funding was to be used specifically for attacks on Israeli targets.

In May 16, 2003, a series of simultaneous attacks in Casablanca, Morocco were carried out against, among other targets, a Jewish community center and a hotel with many Israeli guests."

Divestment Defeated at UC San Diego - Congratulations Tritons for Israel!

In yet another defeat for BDS, a proposed divestment initiative was just defeated at UC San Diego - Congratulations are in order to the Tritons for Israel!

From the blog, an All-American Girl for the Restoration of Values

StandWithUs salutes the Tritons for Israel for their strategy and dedication to defeating BDS on their campus.

On April 13th, 2011, the Associated Students (AS), the official student representatives at UC San Diego, passed a resolution authored by Academic Senator Adi Singer, stating that it was not the place of the Associated Students to pass resolutions that will divide the campus community and alienate specific groups. The resolution called for neutrality of the student senate, and reinforced the mission statement of building a cohesive campus community, and representing a diverse but unified voice. Two weeks ago, Student for Justice in Palestine (SJP) submitted a resolution calling upon the UC Regents to divest the retirement and pension funds from General Electric and Northrop Grumman, specifically because of their business dealings with the Israeli Defense Forces. Through intense lobbying of elected representatives an direct, peaceful dialogue with SJP, the Tritons for Israel, a pro-Israel student group at UCSD, were able to achieve great success when last night, April 27th, SJP actually withdrew their divestment resolution, and it was not raised for consideration at the student senate.

In an opinion piece published in the campus paper today and authored by Tritons for Israel student leadership, "Tritons for Israel has always and will continue to stand for peace, dialogue, and justice. Divestment is not the way to a durable peace. Only by speaking to one another can we achieve a true understanding, and build the bridges necessary for a sustainable coexistence. Tritons for Israel hopes that we will someday have a willing partner in the struggle to achieve a sustainable end to the conflict, both in the Middle East and here on our campus."

StandWithUs campus professionals and Board of Directors are very proud of the Tritons for Israel for this tremendous effort and achievement.

Thank you for being excellent role models for other campuses!

Jon at Divest this just reminded us:

"After all, we are now entering the 11th year of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions project and, despite tireless campaigns on campuses across the country, the number of schools that have divested from Israel stands where it did a decade ago: at zero."

Its still zero, Omar. Still zero.

BDS: A Decade of lies, hoaxes and failures

Eric Walberg's recent article "BDS update: Breaking new barriers" probably wasn't meant to be funny, but its hard not to read it and giggle. Since its introduction at Durban, 11 years ago, the BDS tactic has had racked up a well documented record of failures. Walberg doesn't appear to have noticed yet.

Walbergs article- found here- begins with a hoax:
dissidentvoice.org/2011/04/bds-breaking-new-barriers/
He exploits 92 year old activist Pete Seeger who participated in an online special promoting the progressive Israeli Arava institute. Walberg claims Seeger repudiated his involvement with the project which had the audacity to promote peaceful co-existence in the region. The real story "The 92-year-old musician also said that contrary to the Adalah-NY report, he does not regret taking part in last November’s online peace rally “With Earth and Each Other...”

Other "victories" according to Walberg?

Dead end displays on campus that are widely ignored. Dead end petitions that go nowhere. Self congratulatory films. (Surprised he didn't mention this classy display of barbed wire across a busy path at UC Berkeley during " Israel Apartheid week")



Walberg couldn't resist claiming that Hampshire University " became the first to divest from the Israeli occupation, following its anti-racism Action Awareness Week 2008." Does anyone want to remind poor Eric that he is continuing to promugate a lie-one begun by anti-Israel students on Hampshire's campus. An open letter from Hampshire College President Ralph Hexter and their Board of Trustees Chair Sigmund Roos plainly refutes this untruth: "Hampshire College has made a strenuous, good-faith effort to explain its decision to exit a problematic mutual fund. We make this effort again, without equivocation: Israel was not the cause for divestment from the State Street fund."According to the letter, Hampshire's decision was based on a variety of criteria, "none of them having to do with Israel. … No other college or university (should) use Hampshire as a precedent for divesting from Israel, since Hampshire has refused to divest from Israel. Anyone who claims otherwise is deliberately misrepresenting Hampshire's decision and has no right to speak for the college."

Eric claims a year of "spectacular and frequent BDS actions"- referring no doubt to pudgy women in pink bathrobes bothering shoppers, or failed attempts at song and dance routines.

Wallberg claims "The most important BDS-inspired event of 2011, marking the first anniversary of the tragic Israeli attack on the Mavi Marmara last May, will be the Free Gaza Movement flotilla expected in late May, when 12 ships carrying a thousand peace activists with humanitarian supplies will head for Gaza".

Eric. Eric. Eric. Don't you ever read what the leaders of your failed movement have to say? This has never been about delivering "humanitarian aid" to the people of Gaza (frankly, they don't particularly want the mismatched shoes or expired medicine)

From Greta Berlin's Facebook page:




This is about opening the sea lanes to Iranian weapons.