RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.frontpagemag.com/honoring-the-75th-anniversary-of-israels-first-free-elections/

January 25 is the 75th anniversary of Israel’s first open and free elections for its national legislature, the Knesset. Contrast that with the last time Palestinian Arabs had elections for their parliament—it was in 2006. And in 2006 the Hamas terrorist organization overwhelmingly won those elections. As a result of the Hamas win the Palestinian Authority’s presidential elections were postponed indefinitely and Mahmoud Abbas, elected in 2005, has never allowed elections again.

In its first 75 years Israel has had 25 national elections. Israel’s 1949 elections took place eight months after the Jewish State declared its independence and a month before Israel and Egypt signed its armistice agreement. In other words Israel was still at war when they held their first elections.

Israel’s commitment to free elections was without a doubt extremely important to Israel’s founding fathers otherwise they would not have held elections while a war was ongoing. Multiple parties led by Arabs participated in this initial Israeli election. Israel has always been an extremely vibrant democracy. Its politicians and jurists, as well as everyday Israelis, have gone to great lengths to ensure that anti-democratic ideas are marginalized while also protecting civil rights at the same time. None of the Arab nations that have fought wars against Israel have shown any interest in regular, free elections like the ones we have in the United States. Not one.

At the same time it is well worth noting that back in 2006 former president Jimmy Carter had a lead role in legitimizing Hamas as a political entity when nearly all Westerners had seen it as a terrorist organization up until then.

The headlines have been full of specious accusations of “genocide” against Israel. Here is a pro-Israel argument from Spiked magazine in England: https://www.spiked-online.com/2024/01/13/these-accusations-of-genocide-bring-shame-on-humanity/

These accusations of ‘genocide’ bring shame on humanity South Africa’s case against Israel is the most absurd and sinister spectacle of the 21st century so far. Brendan O’Neill

Read it all: The last line is “I accuse you of dishonoring the values of Enlightenment, truth and reason by falsely accusing the survivors of genocide of being genocidal.”

As Michael Ordman details weekly, Israel contributes more to the life expectancy and to the better standard of life for billions of people than all the hypocritical and anti-Semitic participants of the kangaroo trials in South Africa. rsk

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com 

POSITIVE NEWS DURING A WAR

US charity provides $7 million in supplies. (TY UWI) US non-profit Operation Israel has provided more than $7 million worth of supplies, medical equipment, and protective gear to IDF soldiers since Oct 7. 10,000 soldiers with a total of more than 50,000 items, including ceramic vests, ballistic goggles, and tactical gear.

https://www.jns.org/3pm-us-based-volunteers-helping-to-equip-idf-fighters/  

https://www.operationisrael.org/

https://www.livenowfox.com/video/1382593   https://www.operationisrael.org/donate

Free food for troops. (TY Yanky) Anyone in uniform can get a free pizza at Jerusalem’s La Piedra – the only Israeli pizzeria in the World’s Top 50 Pizza Guide. Also, free food (monthly) at Muffin Boutique; Friday buffet to lone soldiers at Piccolino; at Aroma Beit Kama soldiers eat free; and Hamal Hamatok (the sweet war room).

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-779932

Italian Jewish leader cooks for the IDF. (TY UWI & I24 News) Italian Jewish leader Riccardo Pacifici, the Vice President of the European Jewish Association, cooked for soldiers in Israel’s southern city of Sderot. He cooked pasta, sauces, and other foods to lift the spirits and hearts above the conflict.

Special delivery. At the IDF’s Emergency Logistics warehouse in Ramla, young soldiers of the “Special In Uniform” program join regular recruits to pack food and clothing, and prepare equipment to be delivered to IDF units across Israel. Their enthusiasm, diligence, and resilience contribute to a unique, positive atmosphere.

https://www.jns.org/soldiers-with-disabilities-contribute-to-israels-war-effort/

Operation Suitcase. (TY Yanky) Several members of UK’s Sussex Jewish Representative Council have just completed Operation Suitcase. They visited Israel with 13 suitcases, ten with supplies for the army units they visited, two with chocolate for children, and one filled with black wool for knitting woolly hats for soldiers.

https://www.thejc.com/community/sussex-group-extends-solidarity-to-israel-i0o3tekv

Kibbutz closed but the factory is open. Kibbutz Sasa near the Lebanese border has been evacuated to protect residents from Hezbollah attacks. But employees of the Plasan armor factory inside the Kibbutz are working around the clock producing body armor plates for bulletproof vests and bolt-on armor kits for military vehicles.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/shield-of-israel-at-evacuated-kibbutz-sasa-an-armor-factory-toils-to-protect-troops/

Green energy kept cellular networks running. The Oct 7 fighting crashed the Gaza border electricity grid and disrupted mobile communications. But networks supported by Israel’s Phinergy (see here previously) based on innovative “green” aluminum-air technology, kept going, providing essential connectivity.

https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-phinergy-backup-prevented-collapse-of-cellular-networks-on-october-7-1001461554

Wounded soldier is treated at father’s hospital. Dr. Roni Eichel, head of neurology at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, was relieved when one of his IDF soldier sons woke up in SZMC’s intensive care unit. A bullet / shrapnel penetrated his ceramic vest but stopped short of the thorax and any permanent disability.

https://www.jns.org/a-wounded-soldier-ended-up-being-treated-at-his-fathers-hospital/

Book of Psalms found in Gaza. IDF soldiers have found a Book of Psalms dated 1986 in the home of a Hamas terrorist in Jabalia, Gaza. It contains a personal dedication to an Israeli Shmuel Goldring. The sender has been identified but at the time of writing, the recipient has not.

https://www.jns.org/israeli-soldiers-find-hebrew-book-of-psalms-in-gaza-home/

IDF soldier finds reporter’s house sign in Gaza. 19 years after Amiel Yarchi was evacuated from his home in Netzarim during the 2005 disengagement from the Gaza Strip, IDF soldiers in Gaza retrieved the name plaque that was on his house. Amiel reported the find on the Kipa News site that he works for. See the photos.

https://www.jns.org/19-years-on-idf-soldier-finds-gush-katif-evacuees-house-sign-in-gaza/

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

A new way to treat Sleeping Sickness. Scientists at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University have been able to destroy the genetic code of the trypanosome parasite that the tsetse fly infects with, to cause trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness). It opens the way for development of RNA-based therapies to prevent transmission of the disease.

https://www.israel21c.org/scientists-discover-new-way-to-tackle-sleeping-sickness/

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-43263-6

Battlefield medic simulation training.  IDF medics have been receiving training using computer-controlled, anatomically correct, mannequins to learn key lifesaving procedures for use on the front lines. The Israel Center for Medical Simulation (MSR) based at Sheba Medical Center also trains civilian and overseas medics.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/high-tech-medical-simulation-training-arrived-just-in-time-for-idf-medics/

Medicare pays for ReWalk exoskeleton. Medicare Administrative Contractor Noridian Healthcare Solutions has paid the first ever claim by an eligible Medicare patient for a personal exoskeleton from Israel’s ReWalk. ReWalk is now an authorized medically necessary device when prescribed for a patient with spinal cord injury.  

https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2024/01/05/2804599/32993/en/First-ReWalk-Personal-Exoskeleton-Claim-Paid-by-Medicare.html

Award for pressure sores detection. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s IR-MED (see here previously) has been awarded the “Most Innovative Non-Invasive Diagnostics Technology Developer 2023 – Israel” by UK-based Corporate Vision Magazine for the company’s PressureSafe device and technology platform. 

https://www.ir-medical.com/about-us/#Awards  https://www.corporatevision-news.com/winners/ir-med/

PTSD device is Best Startup. Israel’s GrayMatters (see here previously) was named the Prix Galien USA Best Startup 2023 winner. Its technology uses an EEG headset device to read biomarker activity in the amygdala. AI software, including an Avatar, relaxes the part of the brain which is overactive in people suffering from PTSD.

https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-israeli-startup-graymatters-treats-ptsd-with-avatars-1001463926

EMT volunteer saves her own niece., United Hatzalah volunteer Adele had just left her mother’s Rehovot home when she was alerted that her niece was choking back at her mother’s apartment. She quickly returned and used Heimlich thrusts, plus back slaps to clear trapped food from her niece’s mouth.

https://israelrescue.org/stories/a-family-emergency-emt-saves-her-own-niece-from-choking/

The effect of missing genes. Williams syndrome is caused by 25 missing genes. Tel Aviv researchers have discovered the function of one of the deleted genes – Gtf2i. Its absence impairs the production and regulation of mitochondrial organelles in the brain’s neurons. Impacts include dental, cardiovascular, and visual problems,

https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/article-781703

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20298/international-court-of-injustice-israel

What is the International Court of Justice? It is not international, because it excludes judges from certain countries. It is not a real court, because the judges are selected by their countries and many of them simply follow the instructions of those who appointed them. And it has never done justice, because it has long been biased against Israel. It is the United Nations court, and that tells you all you need to know about it.

The United Nations has become the megaphone of bigotry and anti-Semitism…. Both the United Nations and its court are shams.

It is the Hamas charter that calls for genocide against the Jews of Israel, and it is South Africa that is harboring Hamas terrorists and defending its murders and rapes. It should be Hamas that is on trial for attempted genocide and South Africa that is on trial for complicity with Hamas. Instead, the nation-state of the Jewish people is being accused of a blood libel, despite going to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties in its legitimate efforts to destroy Hamas.

The evidence is indisputable that Hamas has committed numerous war crimes.

Were the International Court of Justice to falsely conclude that Israel was guilty of genocide, it would destroy whatever remaining credibility that court might have. If that were to happen, the United States and some other nations should and probably would leave the court: it would not deserve the legitimacy afforded by membership of any decent country.

The blood libel accusation against Israel has now begun in The Hague. The failed nation of South Africa has brought genocide charges against Israel in the International Court of Justice.

What is the International Court of Justice? It is not international, because it excludes judges from certain countries. It is not a real court, because the judges are selected by their countries and many of them simply follow the instructions of those who appointed them. And it has never done justice, because it has long been biased against Israel. It is the United Nations court, and that tells you all you need to know about it. The United Nations has become the megaphone of bigotry and anti-Semitism. As an Israeli diplomat once put it, if Algeria introduced a resolution that the earth is flat and that Israel flattened it, it would win 120 to 27 with 32 abstentions. And you can name the countries in each of the groups before any evidence is presented.

https://www.frontpagemag.com/genocide-the-population-of-gaza-tripled-under-israeli-occupation/

What does Israel do in Gaza? Does the IDF deliberately rape, torture, and murder Palestinian civilians, as Hamas did to the Israelis at the dance party and in the kibbutzim? Does the IDF take delight in killing, in as sadistic a way as possible, as many Gazan civilians as it can? No, of course not. The IDF tries instead, to minimize civilian casualties. It has no desire to harm the truly innocent. Unfortunately, Hamas wants to maximize those civilian casualties, and to exploit that result to undermine Israel’s standing in the world.

Whenever it can, the IDF warns civilians away from areas about to be targeted. These warnings are enormous undertakings. When the IDF had concluded that it was first going to concentrate its war-making in northern Gaza, it dropped 1.5 leaflets on that area, urging inhabitants to move south of the Wadi Gaza, so as to avoid the most intense fighting that was about to begin in the north. 900,000 Gazans ultimately heeded the warning, and headed south on the north-south corridor of Salah al-Din Street. Hamas fired on, and killed, some of the Gazans trying to move south, in order to keep their civilian shields trapped in the north. Later, when the IDF began to attack Hamas in the south, it dropped both leaflets, and sent emails, with maps included, that showed Gazans the precise areas in the south, in and around Khan Yunis, where the IDF would not be attacking, and that, therefore, they should move to for safety’s sake. It was the same with buildings — schools, apartment buildings, mosques — where the IDF was about to attack. The IDF messaged, emailed, telephoned, and used the “knock-on-the-roof” technique to warn civilians living in or near those buildings soon to be targeted to leave them. Furthermore, Israeli pilots will call off an airstrike if they detect too many civilians near the target.

https://nationalinterest.org/feature/charging-israel-genocide-orwellian-208514

Three months after a genocidal, anti-semitic terrorist group slaughtered 1,200 of its citizens in a barbaric fashion, Israel sits in the docket of the International Court of Justice, accused of committing genocide because it hasn’t defended itself from future attack as pristinely as the world demands.

The court is holding hearings this week on an application that South Africa filed in late December, asking the court to begin proceedings against Israel for committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

“Acts and omissions by Israel,” South Africa wrote, “… are genocidal in character, as they are committed with the requisite specific intent… to destroy Palestinians in Gaza as a part of the broader Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group,” putting Israel “in violation of its obligations under the Genocide Convention.”

It is a quintessentially Orwellian affair, a spectacle of the victim as the perpetrator, and it fits within a longstanding pattern of the global community holding the singular Jewish state to a singular human rights standard. No one should buy it.

In its “Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide,” the United Nations General Assembly defined genocide as action “committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.”

Ironically, it is Hamas, created in 1987 as the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood movement, which has set out to commit that very crime—against Israel and the Jewish people.

https://www.jns.org/surge-in-illegal-arab-building-along-green-line-a-security-threat/

 An alarming increase in illegal Arab construction along the Judea and Samaria security barrier has come to light thanks to research by Israeli NGO Regavim.

Analyzing photography obtained through aerial reconnaissance, Regavim discovered tens of thousands of illegal structures built along the barrier, which runs roughly along the Green Line, the 1949 armistice line that followed Israel’s War of Independence.

Much of the Arab construction is new, created within the last 10 months, reports the think tank, which focuses on land and sovereignty issues.

In the first stage of its research, Regavim studied three sample clusters, in the South Hebron Hills, Judea-Etzion, and Samaria, finding 7,675 illegal structures in those clusters alone.

It next looked at illegal construction along the entire security barrier, from the northern tip of the Jordan Valley to Ein Gedi in the south. It identified 16,866 illegal structures.

They were all within 1 kilometer of Israeli communities in the Central and Coastal Plain regions.

“Some of these structures are so close to the line that you can reach your arm out from them and touch homes in Jewish communities in Kokhav Ya’ir, Rosh HaAyin and Modi’in,” Naomi Kahn, director of the International Division at Regavim, told JNS.

https://dianebederman.com/two-flags-same-evil-only-one-is-condemned/

These two flags represent the death of Jews, as a people and as a country.

We are living in a time when Jew hatred is once again condoned. There is no difference in the messaging between the Nazis and Muslims, today, who carry their flag while screaming “Palestine will be free from the River to the Sea.”

While the Swastika, the Nazi flag, represents the annihilation of all Jews, let us not forget that the Palestinian Flag, which represents a non-existent country, that according to the “Palestinians” includes the STATE OF ISRAEL. “Palestine will be free from the river to the sea.” Where is Israel? In other words, the flag is a call for the eradication of Israel. But that’s OK in Canada and apparently around the world.

The Nazi flag, the Swastika, as a symbol, became associated with the idea of a racially “pure” state. The swastika became the most recognizable symbol of Nazi propaganda. The Reich flag became associated with hateful laws against the Jews. The government passed the Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor, which prohibited marriages and sexual relations between citizens of “German or those of kindred blood” and Jews.