Arlene Kushner on Al Aqsa Mosque Used To Store Weapons and Today's Palestinian Terrorist Attack

From Arlene Kushner:
November 5, 2014

Never Ending

I am referring to the grief that is leveled at us, here in Israel, on a regular basis.  I don’t really mean “never ending.” This is hyperbole; some day it will end.  But I don’t know when; I only recognize that we must be strong in all respects as we face down the situation.

~~~~~~~~~~

But before I get to our difficulties, I want to say “Baruch Hashem.”  I awoke with great gladness this morning to the news that the Republicans had taken Congress.  May the Almighty grant the Republican majority wisdom and strength as they work to stop Obama in his tracks and turn around a great deal of the bad that has been done.  With the finest of intentions, the results will be far less than ideal, I know.  Obama still sits in the White House.  But there is much that CAN be done.  We have at least hope now for a better America, an America that reflects traditional values and loyalties.

Arlene Kushner on Palestinian Incitement As Moderation, Israeli Rights As Extremism

From Arlene Kushner:
November 2, 2014

How Did We Get to This Place?

Our presence here in the land goes back more than 3,000 years. We prayed for millennia, while separated from the land, to be able to return.  Once we did return, our people sacrificed in order to build and protect the land.

And now, insanely, the Jew who is passionate about our rights to the land and our attachment to the land is viewed as a “radical right winger,” a troublemaker.

Come again?

~~~~~~~~~~

The world certainly sees nationalist Jews this way:  If only these Jews would relent already, then Israel could reach an agreement with the Palestinian Arabs and there could be peace. But the fanatic and troublesome right-wingers keep getting in the way.

Far worse, there are Jews who think the same way.  A good percentage of those who don’t live in Israel certainly do.  Most painfully, and shamefully, there are Israeli Jews who have forgotten who they are.  (I will come back to this at some point, hopefully.)

~~~~~~~~~~

The reason that Jews who seek Jewish rights are seen as troublemakers is because the Arabs tend to negotiate via violence and threats. (You don’t give me what I want, this is what I’m going to do.)

Arlene Kushner on US Backtrack on Abbas Condemnation and Background To Temple Mount Riots

From Arlene Kushner
April 27, 2014

Throwing Up My Hands

How much can one write about the moribund “peace process”?  (Please read through, as I move to another very important subject.)

There is only one piece of good news regarding the “peace process”: Netanyahu and the Security Cabinet came through. After a prolonged meeting on Thursday regarding the appropriate response to Abbas’s rapprochement with Hamas, this  announcement was released by the Prime Minister’s Office (emphasis added):

"The Cabinet today unanimously decided that Israel will not negotiate with a Palestinian government backed by Hamas, a terrorist organization that calls for Israel's destruction...

“In addition, Israel will respond to unilateral Palestinian action with a series of measures.”

3 Recent Mistakes The Media Made About Israeli Geography (Plus A Joe Biden Bonus)

Don't get stuck on stupid, reporters. We are moving forward. And don't confuse the people please. You are part of the public message. So help us get the message straight. And if you don't understand, maybe you'll confuse it to the people.
Lieutenant General Honore addressing reporters about New Orleans evacuation plan for Hurricane Rita

It should come as no surprise that just as it will describe terrorists as activists or militants, the Media will be equally inaccurate in other issues concerning Israel.

This week I came across 3 articles and posts that demonstrate the degree to which the media really does not seem to have a grasp of the basics when it comes to Israel.

Or just doesn't care.

New York Times, Like Iran's Rouhani, Dilutes Jewish History for Its Readers

...however much mullahs or media may seek to distort inconvenient historical facts, people devoted to truth will continue to know better.
Rabbi Avi Shafran

Rabbi Avi Shafran writes that The New York Times, like Iran's Rouhani, tries its hand at Defining History Down.

At a time that Rouhani sidestepped on the Holocaust, the New York Times for its part also watered down the history of the Jews. Last week, Jodi Rudoren of The New York Times wrote Jews Challenge Rules to Claim Heart of Jerusalem.

Shafran takes issue with matters of emphasis in the article. The real issue, however, is the video that accompanies the article:

Arlene Kushner on Israeli and Palestinian Anger At EU Guidelines

From Arlene Kushner:
July 17, 2013:

Will the EU Reverse?

 

Let's wait and see...

Prime Minister Netanyahu delivered a satisfactorily firm response to the EU announcement of new "guidelines" on areas past the Green Line (emphasis added):

"I would expect those who truly want peace and stability in the region would discuss this issue after solving more urgent regional problems such as the civil war in Syria or Iran's race to achieve nuclear weapons. As the Prime Minister of Israel, I will not allow the hundreds of thousands of Israelis who live in Judea and Samaria, on the Golan Heights and in Jerusalem, our united capital, to be harmed. We will not accept any outside diktat about our borders. This issue will be decided only in direct negotiations between the sides."

Read: PM Netanyahu Comments on Intention to Add Conditions on EU-Israel

~~~~~~~~~~

Contrary To Muslim Propaganda, Jews Never Abandoned the Temple Mount

The following by F.M. Loewenberg is reposted here with permission of Middle East Forum:

Did Jews Abandon the Temple Mount?

by F.M. Loewenberg
Middle East Quarterly
Summer 2013, pp. 37-48 (view PDF)

The claim that no Jewish temple ever existed in Jerusalem and that Jews have no rights whatsoever on the Temple Mount is part of the "temple denial" doctrine that has been increasingly internalized in Palestinian academic, religious, and political circles since the 1967 Six-Day War.[1] Others, both Jews and non-Jews, believe that a temple did exist but indicate that the Jews abandoned the area soon after the destruction of the Second Temple nearly two thousand years ago. From that time onward, Jews lost all direct contact with the Temple Mount and relocated their central worship site to other locations, such as the Mount of Olives and later the Western Wall.[2]

The facts do not support either of these claims.

Arlene Kushner on Israel's War of Pre-emption Against Syria and Hezbollah

From Arlene Kushner:
May 16, 2013:

Dead Serious

The NYTimes ran a piece yesterday in which it directly quoted a "senior Israeli official" -- who according to the JPost had contacted the Times (emphasis added):

"Israel is determined to continue to prevent the transfer of advanced weapons to Hezbollah.  The transfer of such weapons to Hezbollah will destabilize and endanger the entire region.

"If  Syrian President Assad reacts by attacking Israel, or tries to strike Israel through his terrorist proxies, he will risk forfeiting his regime, for Israel will retaliate."

Read: 'Israel determined to stop Syrian weapons transfer'

~~~~~~~~~~

Arlene Kushner on Fighting For Israel's Right To The Temple Mount in Jerusalem

From Arlene Kushner:
May 9, 2013

Hold Fast to the Hope

With all that remains disturbing (and I'll get to it), there are also good things happening within the government and the Knesset.  Good people who are ready to fight for Jewish rights.

Yesterday, during an AFSI reception at the Knesset, Deputy Minister of Transportation Tzipi Hotovely (Likud) shared her intentions to fight for the right of Jews to pray on Har Habayit (the Temple Mount).

While at a celebratory plenum session of the Knesset, Speaker of the Knesset Yuli Edelstein (Likud) expressed the hope that the issue of Jewish prayer on Har Habayit would be resolved by the next Yom Yerushalayim:

"All of us must make sure that the city of three religions, which we are proud of for having freedom of worship, should be open to every Jew in every place that they want to pray."

IMPORTANT INTERVIEW ABOUT THE TEMPLE MOUNT. Check out the One Jerusalem interview with Dr. Gabriel Barkay--one of the world's leading Biblical Archaeologists--and Yigal Caspi, of the Committee Against the Destruction of Antiquities on the Temple Mount.

There is a recording of the interview with questions by bloggers, along with some excerpts of some of the key comments, such as:

"The Temple Mount represents the Near Eastern conflict in a nutshell and whatever happens to the Temple Mount will happen to the rest of the country. If the Temple Mount is under Palestinian rule and there is no accessibility to Jews to the Temple Mount and no control upon the antiquities discovered there that means that the legitimacy of Jews in the entire country is questioned."

Check it out.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Temple Mount and Gabriel Barkay and Yigal Caspi and One Jerusalem.

LATEST DEMOLITION ON TEMPLE MOUNT: WHY OLMERT DOESN'T CARE. Based on the reporting from World Net Daily, it is very unlikely Olmert will do anything about what the Wakf has uncovered--and damaged. Take a look at the links below.

Say what you want about Ehud Olmert as a Prime Minister, as a leader--but for a former mayor of Yerushalayim to purposely give away control of the Temple Mound, and to do so with such singleminded determination indicates the degree to which Zionists have turned into mere politicians.

Just how long has this been Olmert's plan--and the plan of prime ministers before him: is this the reason why the Israeli government has so consistently looked the other way and allowed the Wakf to destroy Israel's history?

August 17, 2007

Israel to give up Temple Mount?
Palestinians say no agreement unless Olmert forfeits holiest site in Judaism

JERUSALEM -- Palestinian negotiators drafting an agreement behind the scenes with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office have made clear they will not accept any final peace deal with Israel unless the Jewish state forfeits the Temple Mount, Judaism's holiest site, WND has learned.

August 28, 2007

Holy forfeit! Israel willing to give up Temple Mount
Report: Jewish leader offers Arab coalition joint control

JERUSALEM – Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak told the Egyptian government the Jewish state is willing to forfeit control over the Temple Mount – Judaism's holiest site – to the management of Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority, according to an Arab media report.

August 28, 2007

Israel offers Palestinians control of Temple Mount
Prime minister's office today presents formal plan placing Judaism's holiest site under Arab authority

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office today presented the Palestinian Authority with a formal plan in which the Jewish state would forfeit the Temple Mount – Judaism's holiest site – to Muslim control, according to top Palestinian sources.

The sources said Olmert's plan calls for the entire Temple Mount plaza to fall under Arab sovereignty; Jerusalem's Old City holy sites near the Mount to be governed by a Jewish, Christian and Muslim task force; and the Western Wall plaza below the Mount to be controlled by Israel.

Of course the report has been denied, but not in a way that inspires confidence--then again, when was the last time Olmert inspired confidence in anyone?

Ronen Moshe, a spokesman for Barak, told WND the Egyptian media report is "untrue."

"We do not comment on the specifics of private conversations with world leaders, but this report is not what was said during the talks," Moshe said.

Which is not to say that something very similar was not said instead.

Meanwhile, here are some pictures of what is being done on the Temple Mount--how the Wakf goes about digging a small furrow for installing a pipe. With a bulldozer.

The photos are provided by One Jerusalem from the Committee for the Preservation of Antiquities on the Temple Mount. You can see the police officer in some of the photos trying to stop the tractor. Unsuccessfully.




Technorati Tag: Israel and Temple Mount.

PALESTINIANS PLOW TEMPLE MOUNT, AND WHAT DO THEY FIND? The Palestinian Arabs who have recklessly conducted demolition work on the Temple Mount, may have uncovered a section of the Bayis Sheini--the Second Temple.

Check out Gateway Pundit, who was sent pictures from the scene of how the Wakf digs a narrow channel on the Temple Mount to lay a small pipe for electrical wiring.

About the discovery itself, AFP reports:

Remains of the Jewish second temple may have been found during work to lay pipes at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in east Jerusalem, Israeli television reported Thursday.

Israeli television broadcast footage of a mechanical digger at the site which Israeli archaeologists visited on Thursday.

Gaby Barkai, an archaeologist from Bar Ilan University, urged the Israeli government to stop the pipework after the discovery of what he said is "a massive seven metre-long wall."

The question now is whether Olmert will finally take action.

So far they haven't. (video from One Jerusalem)


Also check out The Temple Mount Archaeological Destruction
[Hat tip: Larwyn]

Technorati Tag: Israel and Temple Mount.

IS OLMERT GIVING AWAY THE TEMPLE MOUNT? Yid With Lid writes:

It looks like while some of us will be having turkey for Thanksgiving the Palistinians will be having a chunk of Temple mount. The Jerusalem Post reported earlier this week and again today WWD reports that Olmert is looking at giving up control of the temple mount as part of a peace plan with the Palestinian terrorists.

Read his posts:

• OLMERT TO GIVE UP TEMPLE MOUNT?
• The Temple Mount Will Be Flying a Palestinian Flag; If Peres Gets His Way

Take a pictorial tour of what the Wakf already has.

Technorati Tag: Temple Mount and Olmert.

A VISIT TO THE TEMPLE MOUNT. Last year, a friend forwarded to me an email with pictures and descriptions from a visit to the Har HaBayis, The Temple Mount. When I asked who had taken the pictures, they were not sure and I ended up with a dead end.

Here are the pictures with commentary from the person who took them.

If I find out who took them, I will post that too.

Here are the pictures, hosted on Google's Picasa.
You can increase the time between pictures to give yourself more time to read the captions.

Technorati Tag: Har HaBayit and Temple Mount.

THE LIBERATION OF THE TEMPLE MOUNT: Kumah has video of the Israel troops entering Jerusalem in 1967--and a link to photos, videos, audio clips, and essays.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Jerusalem.

ON THE NEED TO RELINQUISH THE TEMPLE MOUNT TO THE MUSLIMS: My Right Word quotes from Hillel Halkin's article on the necessity of ceding the Temple Mount to the Muslims.

There is, however, one part of core Jerusalem that Israel will eventually have to give up to, namely, the Temple Mount, even though it is certainly a sacred Jewish site. Fortunately, though (at least in the eyes of all those who are not anxious to see the ancient temple restored and herds of animals led to it for daily sacrifice), it is also the site of the El-Aksa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, and felt even more strongly about by religious Muslims than it is by religious Jews. If Israel is ever to arrive at an understanding with the Muslim world, this will have to be one that places the Temple Mount — as it in any case is de facto even today — in Muslim hands.

Read My Right Word's rejoinder to Halkin.

Considering the history of the Muslim relationship to Jerusalem as documented by Daniel Pipes, Halkin's claim of the strength of Muslim feeling towards Jerusalem is questionable at best. Halkin may well be mistaking religious fervor for simple jealousy.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Jerusalem and Hillel Halkin.

RCA TAKES A STAND FOR THE TEMPLE MOUNT: My Right Word notes a statement by the RCA opposing Jordanian plans on the Temple Mount.

Also see his post about dozens of rabbis visiting the Temple Mount.

Technorati Tag: Israel RCA and Temple Mount.

A NEW CONSENSUS ON THE TEMPLE MOUNT? Israel Perspective has the details:

An increasing number of religious Zionist rabbis are allowing their followers to enter the Temple Mount, contrary to the religious consensus on the matter.

Read the whole thing.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Temple Mount.

A Tour Of The Temple Mount

From One Jerusalem

Technorati Tag: Israel and Temple Mount and Mugrabi Gate.

YouTube: Temple Mount Dig - The Truth

From The Jerusalem Post

In Gaza, Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, and elsewhere, Muslims are up in arms about what even a moderate like Jordan's King Abdullah called "a threat to the foundations of the Al Aksa mosque."

"What is happening is an aggression, we call on the Palestinian people to unite and protect Jerusalem," said Muhammad Hussein, the top Muslim cleric in Jerusalem. Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called for the Islamic world to "retaliate" and make Israel "regret" what it had done.

What is Israel doing that has sparked such violent threats? Some years ago, the pedestrian ramp leading up to Jerusalem's Temple Mount fell apart. Now municipal authorities plan to build a permanent ramp to maintain access to this holy site, and are conducting, as required by law, an archeological salvage dig to make sure no artifacts are destroyed in the process.

All of this is completely outside the Temple Mount platform, and bears no relation or threat to that structure, let alone to the Aksa mosque. Why would Israel dream of undermining the Temple Mount, which is Judaism's holiest site? The claim that Israel is doing so is patently absurd, as anyone familiar with the area can immediately see.

And now you have.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Mugrabi+Bridge and Mughrabi Bridge.