TOO CLOSE FOR MORAL COMFORT

TOO CLOSE FOR MORAL COMFORT

Rabbi Avi Shafran


The New Israel Fund wants a donation from me, its letter says. I’m afraid I’ll have to decline again this year.

Not only for the usual reasons, namely that many of the group’s goals are diametric to mine. What it calls “vibrant social change” in Israel is what I consider anti-Judaism social engineering; what it conceives of as religious freedom is what I view as societal anarchy; what it promotes as pluralism will, I think, create an unbridgeable and permanent chasm between groups of Jews in Israel.

But for something new, too. The NIF’s advocacy for Palestinian rights has always smelled suspiciously to me like an effort to dismantle the Jewish State. But recently the group came under fire from even some of its own supporters when it emerged that among the “human rights” groups it funds are several that promote the “Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions” (BDS) movement, the campaign to brand Israel as an “apartheid state” through economic, political and academic shunning.

Iran--Supporters Of Al Qaeda Terrorists--Claim Murder Of Christians Can Only Be Done By Israel

• October 27, 20009Al Qaeda takes credit for Baghdad suicide bombings
• December 29, 2009 Al Qaeda takes credit for airplane plot
• October 4, 2010 Al Qaeda-Linked Group Takes Credit For Japanese Tanker Explosion, Not Just An "Earthquake"
• November 5, 2010 Al Qaeda Group Takes Credit for Mail Bomb Plot

The above is just a sampling of just one Islamist terrorist group, and just over the past year or so.
We all know that over the years Al Qaeda murdered not just US troops but even fellow Muslims--a tactic that backfired badly.

Now the Muslim persecution of Christians is in the news.
Not just persecution but the slaughter of Christians--and as in the case of the Muslim murder of fellow Muslims, once again we see that Muslims are reacting to the bad press.

Iran using Palestinian "resistance" to further its vision for a new world order

This post originally appeared on IsraeliGirl and is reposted here with permission

Iran using Palestinian "resistance"
to further its vision for a new world order

Over the past week, Iranian media have made repeated reference to the second anniversary of Israel's Operation Cast Lead, citing Palestinian "resistance" (terror) as the only option for resolving the conflict.

As peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians are stalled, Iran fills the vacuum by encouraging Hamas to continue the armed struggle against Israel and by trying to convince arabs from moderate states to support Iran's militant course of action against Israel.

It Isn't About The Israeli-Arab Conflict

The following was written by Arlene Kushner and is reposted with permission

"The Rise of the Islamic-Israel Conflict"

This was the title of the talk delivered by Dr. Jonathan Spyer -- Senior Research Fellow at the Global Research in International Affairs Center -- at the Great Synagogue here in Jerusalem, on Motzei Shabbat (Saturday night). He provided a very cogent and insightful overview of the current situation and today I want to share highlights.

Video: Israel IQ at UCLA

The question is: is this poll indicative of a wider trend--because if it is, we really have our work cut out for us.



Technorati Tag: Middle East.

Video: Training For Jihad In Upstate New York

The name of the place is Islamberg--and there are 29 other places just like it:

James Abourezk On Muslim Persecution Of Christians: Blame Bush And Israel!

James Abourezk served from 1971 to 1973 in the House, after which he became the first Arab-American to serve in the Senate--representing South Dakota from 1973 to 1979.

Not surprisingly, he has been critical of US support for Israel.
Equally unsurprisingly, Abourezk has come out in defense of the Arab world in the face of the many recent attacks on Christians in the Arab world that have gained media attention.

So it's only natural that Abourezk's response to Arab persecution of Christians is to attack th 'Israel Lobby':

New York Times' Ethan Bronner On The Difference Between Covering Israel And The Arab World

I missed this when it first came out in February, but fortunately CAMERA did not. Ethan Bronner, the Jerusalem Bureau Chief of the New York Times gave a talk at the Brandeis University on February 2, 2010--during which Ethan Bronner spoke about how open Israel is to journalists and how closed the Arab world is:

And when you arrive for example in Israel as a reporter you go to the government press office they give you a list of the phone numbers of all the ministries and within about five minutes you can get the cell phone numbers of the various ministers and that is not true in Palestine or in the Arab world generally. You will get phone numbers for people, but there isn’t that same robust debate. There is very little investigative journalism, basically none, in Palestine and there are no columnists complaining about the situation the way they are in Israel.

Palestinian Orchestra Debuts--73 Years After The Original Jewish One

Palestinian Arabs are taking a cultural route towards creating a state--by starting the Palestine National Orchestra

Today an orchestra, tomorrow a state.

With these words, Suhail Khoury, director of the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music, introduced the Palestine National Orchestra in its debut Friday in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

More than 40 Palestinian and foreign musicians came together to make the dream of a national orchestra a reality. The task was not easy, particularly because most of the musicians also play with renowned orchestras around the world. But for most of them, putting together a Palestinian national orchestra is seen as a stepping stone toward building an independent state of Palestine.

Read the whole thing.

It's an interesting idea--and maybe they will be as successful as the ones who first created the Palestine Symphony Orchestra 74 years ago:

What's Happening in Europe: Holland As A Case Study on Islam and Israel

This post was written by Barry Rubin and is reposted here with permission.

What's Happening in Europe: Holland As A Case Study on Islam and Israel

By Barry Rubin

One should not generalize in describing European states. Still, the case of the Netherlands shows interesting points regarding both attitudes toward Israel and Islam.

Let's start with the Israel issue. I've been closely following the new Dutch government, formed after an election in which 55 percent of the voters supported explicitly pro-Israel parties.