RUTHFULLY YOURS

Jordan-Israel negotiations based on President Trump’s long-awaited peace plan seem increasingly likely to happen – following retired Jordanian Ambassador and former editor of the Jordan Times– Walid Sadi – flagging Jordan’s legal and sovereignty claims in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) and East Jerusalem (“disputed territories”).

Sadi – in an op-ed article in the Jordan Times on 12 August – has forcefully argued that Jordan’s decision to cut off all legal and administrative relations with the disputed territories in July 1988 did not amount to Jordan ceding its claims to sovereignty for the following reasons:

“First of all, the unity of the West Bank with the East Bank was officially and constitutionally adopted on 24 of April 1950. No one disputes this fact. The Constitution of the country at the time was the 1952 Constitution, which stipulated in no uncertain terms that no part of the Kingdom shall be ceded, period. This provision makes the 1988 decision to cut off all legal and administrative relations between the two banks stopping short of ceding the West Bank to any side whatsoever. Any other interpretation of the 1988 political decision is absolutely untenable constitutionally.”

The Jordan Times is published by the Jordan Press Foundation – in which the government-owned Social Security Investment Fund has a majority stake. Wadi’s politically-charged and highly-significant article could only have been published with the knowledge and approval of Jordan’s King Abdullah.

Jordan’s claims are far superior to those of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) – Jordan being the last Arab state to occupy and claim sovereignty (albeit illegally) in the disputed territories from 1948 until their loss to Israel in the 1967 Six Day War.

Indeed the 1964 PLO Charter made no claim to sovereignty in the disputed territories –completely negating any claimed ancient and long-standing rights accruing to its Arab populations which would outweigh the claims by Jordan to these areas – where sovereignty still remains undetermined between Arabs and Jews.

http://daphneanson.blogspot.com/

To quote CAMERAorg:

‘G while speaking at a meeting of the denomination’s House of Bishops during the 2018 General Convention.

During her testimony in favor of a resolution that condemned Israel for allegedly mistreating Palestinian children (but made no mention of the hate-indoctrination on television shows broadcast by Hamas and the Palestinian Authority), Harris accused Israeli soldiers of shooting a 15-year-old Palestinian boy in the back 10 times.

When did this happen? What is the name of the victim? The first that the world heard of this atrocity was from Harris herself speaking at a church meeting a few years after the alleged incident happened. That doesn’t make any sense. Since when would Palestinian leaders fail to broadcast such an atrocity to the world?

Harris also told a story about Israeli security officials attempting to handcuff a three-year-old boy after his rubber ball bounced off the Temple Mount onto the Western Wall.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center highlighted the absurdity of the bouncing-ball story: “There is a high stone wall on top of the Temple Mount that blocks balls and people from going over the side.” Moreover, as anyone who has been on the Temple Mount can attest, Israeli soldiers do not need to “come up” to the Temple Mount as Harris stated, because they are already stationed on the site.

CAMERA has called on Bishop Harris to provide confirmatory details about these stories and if she can’t retract them and apologize for spreading unsubstantiated propaganda to her fellow Bishops. The Israel-Palestinian conflict is tragic enough. It does not need to be made worse by unsubstantiated atrocity stories that only serve to demonize Israel.’ (See also here and here)

I was praying at the Western wall of Solomon’s Temple, the holiest place of Judaism, the place which witnessed the beginning of the transformation of pagan humanity into Western civilisation. The experience of touching the hewn stone blocks, polished by a myriad kisses and caresses, was profound.

israel flag IIThe Jews do not weep at the Western (Wailing) Wall about the loss of their country anymore. They sing and dance with joy. This year we found ourselves in Jerusalem after a three-week stint as volunteers for the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) program called Sar-El. There aren’t that many days in our life which one can look back to and say – truly, Fate gifted me the experience of a lifetime. I found myself in the midst of an historic occasion – a treat which not many people are privileged to witness.

Yerushalayim was festooned with Israeli and American flags. The signs “Trump make Israel great” and “Trump is a friend of Zion” were ubiquitous. Israel was preparing for the American Embassy’s transition to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv. And yet, amid the rejoicing, I was unable to shake the feeling that however important this symbolic act of supreme political realism and courage might be, it was not the main reason for the boundless joy which filled the streets on that day. ews, young and old, Orthodox and secular, atheists and believers — none of them could cared less about what the world thought of Jerusalem and who it does or does not belong to. It was Jerusalem Day, pure and simple.

It was also Israeli Flag Day and most of the people we saw carried the national flag, waving them, wrapping themselves in them. Jerusalem of Gold was transformed into Jerusalem white and blue. That was the main event: the joy of being and belonging and living, of expressing love, patriotism, ancient heritage and pride. All this was mixed up in eruption of overwhelmingly positive energy which demanded release. Intoxicated by the enthusiasm around me, that feeling was infectious. I was whooping and jumping with the rest of the crowd, which accepted me without demur and in the blink of an eye. This was the day the witness of my eyes demolished the sardonic dictum of patriotism being the last refuge of a scoundrel.

I saw Jerusalem’s soul laid bare for anyone to see on that day. I was praying at the Western wall of Solomon’s Temple, the holiest place of Judaism, the place which witnessed the beginning of the transformation of pagan humanity into Western civilisation. The experience of touching the hewn stone blocks, polished by a myriad kisses and caresses, was profound. So, too, watching the emotions of people communing with the Almighty and asking Him favours by way of notes pushed into the cracks and gaps between the ancient stones.

The Jews do not cry at The Wall anymore. On this day, singing at the tops of their voices, there was unashamed joy in observing the public and unadulterated confirmation that Jerusalem is and always has been the eternal capital of the Jewish people. The sentiment was manifest everywhere I turned — on the streets, on the roofs, on the buses and trams – everywhere. The picturesque Yerushalayim of golden sandstone was full of pretty girls handing out sweets and drinks to dancers. There were cars with loudspeakers blaring folk music to the delight of youngsters dancing horas. Smiling police on placid horses calmed the excess of enthusiasm by letting people dance but also making passage for cars stalled by the festive throng. Families with little children waving flags, bemused foreign tourists drawn into the knots of dancers, some of them evangelical Christians wqith Lion of Judah flags.

https://www.jns.org/is-israel-rejecting-right-wing-european-support-it-can-ill-afford-to-lose/

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán told an ethnic Hungarian audience in Romania on July 28 that “there’s a general shift towards the right in the whole of Europe,” predicting a wave of “Christian Democracy” that will sweep away the old European multicultural elites. Orbán was warmly received by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu less than two weeks earlier, the first Hungarian premier to visit the Jewish state.

Many in Israel are against dealing with Europe’s right-wing parties even if Europe’s right does have the wind in its sails. They argue that these parties haven’t really abandoned their anti-Semitic past, and Israel’s acceptance will only legitimize them. This was the main reason given at two conferences in Israel to combat anti-Semitism, in February and March, where there was near unanimity against any dealings whatsoever with Austria’s Freedom Party (FPO).

Michael Kleiner, a former Knesset Member and currently president of Likud’s Supreme Court—the Likud’s highest judicial body, which decides all intraparty matters—has worked to build bridges between Israel and European right-wing politicians. He says “today, the more malignant, the more dangerous, the more effective anti-Semitism is from the left.”

He cites as examples the ruling Social Democratic Party of Sweden, which recognized Palestine as a state, and Britain’s Labour Party leadership, which recently jettisoned parts of a widely accepted definition of anti-Semitism to allow for attacks on Israel—i.e., claiming that Israel is a “racist endeavor” and likening it to Nazi Germany.

In comparison, Europe’s right-wing parties are strongly pro-Israel, Kleiner says, rattling off a number of them, including Holland’s Party for Freedom, Poland’s Law and Justice Party, Italy’s Northern League, Austria’s FPO and Orbán’s Fidesz Party (all but one are part of ruling coalitions).

https://freebeacon.com/blog/hamas-israel-military-confrontation-looks-likely/

Since March, Israel and Hamas have been in a war of attrition that neither wants to escalate into a full-blown confrontation. Ironically, that is exactly where things are leading. Netanyahu just announced the cancellation of his visit to Colombia due to tension in the south.

Incendiary kites and balloons not only light up thousands of acres of Israeli crops and forests, but also Israeli television screens. During the periodic rocket barrage, the last one two weeks ago, Israelis are also treated to the sight of families huddling in bomb shelters.

This week marked a shift in tone from southern residents who so far have shown remarkable patience. Their regional representatives took to the airwaves to say that the Army must do more. Adding an exclamation point to their anger was news that a balloon bomb made it as far as the city of Beersheva—a distance of 30 miles, raising fears about just how far these aerial attacks can go. (The balloons were filled with helium, which Israel allowed into the Gaza Strip for medical purposes.)

Their frustration is fueled by the unfulfilled threats of Israeli government leaders. Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked said on a July 3 tour of the area: “A kite at the Gaza envelope should be treated like a rocket on Ashkelon.” On July 14, Education Minister Naftali Bennett said, “Restraint creates escalation … The IDF must be ordered to act with force, sophistication, and thoroughness.” On July 20, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, speaking in the southern town of Sderot, repeated warnings he had made months earlier: “If they continue pushing us to a wide-scale operation, then we will have a large-scale operation, on a wider scale and more debilitating than Operation Protective Edge,” referring to the 2014 IDF action that earned the south three and a half years of relative quiet.

On Thursday, for the second time Lieberman ordered the Kerem-Shalom border crossing closed to gas shipments. In May, he had ordered the crossing closed for an “indefinite” period only to reopen it six weeks later. To close it and open it and close it again so quickly re-enforces the feeling of Israelis that the government’s response has been tepid.

http://carolineglick.com/israels-holographic-nation-state-law/

There is no connection between the substance of Israel’s newly passed Nation State of the Jewish People law, and the debate its passage unleashed.

On the one hand, supporters of the law led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insist that the law is a vital step in entrenching and protecting Israel’s Jewish identity. After the law passed last Thursday night, Netanyahu declared, “This is a pivotal moment in the annals of Zionism and the annals of the State of Israel. 122 years after [Theodore] Herzl published his vision [of a Jewish state] we affixed in law the founding principle of our existence.”

On the other hand, Arab members of Knesset theatrically condemned the law and claimed that with its passage, Israel had officially embraced “apartheid.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Israel is the heir of Nazi Germany. PLO chief Mahmoud Abbas and his deputies said the UN should reinstitute its definition of defined Zionism, the Jewish national liberation movement as a form of racism.

Israeli leftists, including members of Knesset, the supposedly center-left Zionist Union Party, backed by Haaretz, parroted the Arab-Turkish talking points with Hebrew accents. The American-Jewish leadership, like the New York Times, argued that the passage of the law is proof that Israel is on the verge of rejecting democracy.

Given the unreconcilable claims of the Right on the one hand and the Arabs, the Left and American-Jewish leadership on the other, it is imperative to read the text of the law itself. In reading you discover something remarkable.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/12785/israel-arabs-nation-state-law

Some Israeli Arab leaders speak disparagingly about Israel for publicity. They know that no newspaper would ever mention them if they were dealing with issues such as sewage or a shortage of classrooms in Arab schools. If they say something bad about Israel or provoke the Jews, however, they will certainly receive a headline in the press.

Israeli Arab leaders can incite against Israel as much as they wish. Their slander will not change the reality that Israel is the only thriving democracy in the Middle East, and treats its minorities with respect. While minorities are being persecuted and murdered in Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq, Libya and other Arab and Islamic countries, the Arab citizens of Israel are being integrated into the state. They hold high positions in the Supreme Court, the Foreign Ministry, the health sector and even the Israel Police. The majority of the Arabs in Israel can work anywhere they wish, they can travel anywhere in the country, and they will continue to enjoy all the privileges, benefits and freedoms that Jewish citizens do.

Some Israeli Arab leaders want Israel to give up its wish to be a Jewish homeland because they are hoping that one day Jews will become a minority in their own country. For far too long, they have been inciting their constituents against Israel and Jews. If these leaders are so unhappy in Israel, perhaps they would consider moving to Ramallah or the Gaza Strip or any Arab country. Perhaps they would care to resign from the Knesset. Why do they refrain from doing so? Because it is in the Jewish homeland, supposedly so harmful to them, that they and their children can live and thrive.

The hypocrisy of the leaders of the Arab citizens of Israel, who are now crying foul over the new Jewish Nation-State Law, has, in the past few days, reached new heights.

These are the same leaders whose words and actions for the past two decades have caused serious damage to relations between Jews and Arabs in Israel, and to the interests of their own constituents, the Arab citizens of Israel.