Bibi Netanyahu: This is How to Fight BDS

Break the BDS

As the BDS picks up steam around the world supporters of Israel are finding unique and successful ways to not only buy from Israel, but lend a hand to those pioneers on the frontlines of Judea and Samaria.

Lev HaOlam, an organization dedicated to sending monthly packages of goods produced in Judea and Samaria to Israel supporters around the world is one of the most successful organizations in breaking BDS activities.

“People who subscribe to Lev HaOlam are receiving every month a box full of those beautiful products and every product has its story, his connection the family that produces it. Where they live, why they live there,” says Nati Rom, founder of Lev HaOlam.

Lev HaOlam received a big endorsement last year when Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the cabinet members came to visit their offices. The support was clear. “These attempts are part of systematic attempt to boycott the State of Israel,” the Prime Minister said.

With supporters of Israel around the world uniting, Lev HaOlam has seen a huge boost over the last year. Still, the organization says much more can be done.  Afterall, the livelihood these producers in Judea and Samaria depend on their products getting sold. Without constant purchases, sustainability is hard. Lev HaOlam is filling in the gaps.

 

 

ON THE FRONTLINES: Free Free Palestine

Free Palestine

In the 21st Century world of political and social justice tweeting, the slogan Free Free Palestine has been used by Israeli BDS movements around the world.  Like anything else in the struggle over the Land of Israel, names are important as is the history behind them.

In 1964, Yasser Arafat built the Palestine Liberation Organization around the idea of recapturing or conquering the Jewish state of Israel.  Either by a stroke of genius or luck, his choice of the name Palestine has been the single biggest weapon the Arabs of the Land of Israel have used against Israel.  If after all Israel is the rightful heir to the Land what was the need to change the name.  Palestine it always was, wasn’t it?

Of course, we all know that the name Palestine was not used as a legal definition to the land in question until the British created the Mandate of Palestine.  In fact, the Arabs at the time demanded the name the Turks used for the area remain, otherwise known as the area of Southern Syria, which included Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Israel. It was the Jews who adopted the word Palestinian for themselves. Up until 1948, that was the name that was most synonymous with the cause of returning and creating a Jewish Homeland.

The name Palestine and Jewish Homeland was so intensely intertwined that the major organization that successfully lobbied the Congress for a sovereign Jewish State in the Palestinian Mandate was known as the American Palestine Committee. Two thirds of congress belonged to the committee whose singular aim was to establish an independent Jewish Commonwealth in the Land of Israel.

Free Palestine

So who are the Palestinians today? The question is one of semantics. If history is our guide, the Palestinians are today’s Israelis and the Palestinian flag is essentially the Israeli flag.  Those Arabs purporting to be Palestinian were residents of Southern Syria pushed to migrate to the southern Levant in hopes of blocking the Jewish resettlement of “Palestine.”

The key to peace in the region is removing the appropriation of one’s culture by another.  The Arabs of Southern Syria are nothing more than a vast collection of unconnected clans now conditioned to believe they were once a glorious nation.  These clans have almost nothing in common other than the religious, political, and cultural goal of serving as the spearhead of the neo-colonialist goal of delegitimizing the Jewish connection to te Land of Israel.

In order to destroy the plans of the Western dominated globalist security state is to free Palestine from its false association and rightfully placing it within its proper historical context.

 

ON THE FRONTLINES: The Internationality of Khirbet Susiya

Khirbet Susiya

A recent NGO Monitor article highlighted the amount of money and organizations dedicated to establishing the Arab narrative in Khirbet Susiya (Susya) as fact.  The list is not a surprise.  The usual suspects range from Rabbis for Human Rights to B’Tzelem.

Despite the clearly anti-Israel bent of these organizations the cause has become top priority for the American leftwing anti-Israel organization J Street, which has called its members to take action and pressure the US Administration to stop Israel from removing the illegal squatters. The backing of this initiative, which seeks to erase Jewish history in the area should be a wake up call for those who have bought into J Streets claim they are really pro Israel.

regavim-banner

With the Israeli Supreme Court known for its anti-settlement rulings in the past, now ruling in favor of removing the squatters, one has to wonder what these organizations have to gain. There is one clear objective here and it is not to stop the demolition of the arab tent village next to Khirbet Susiya, rather the goal of the Europeans and the American administration is to call doubt into the connection between the people of Israel and Judea and Samaria.

By setting up camp next to or on known Jewish historical sites in Judea and Samaria as well as within the 1948 boundaries of Israel and then claim them as Arab, they hope to push back on Israel’s indigenous claims to the land of Israel. If the government fails to remove the internationally backed squatters from Khirbet Susiya, it will open the door to a wide scale attempt by the international community to disconnect the Jewish Nation from its historically indigenous land.

[podcast] “It is Time for Africa to Connect to the Truth”

I had the honor of hosting Shmuel Gordan, vice-president of the Africa Israel Initiative and founder of the House of Jacob in Johannesburg, South Africa.  He spent the Sabbath my family and I and then he joined Israel Levinson, Director of the International Desk of Har Hebron and myself for a first hand account of life deep in the hills of Judea.

This podcast covers:

  • Shmuel’s transformation from pastor to advocate for the Shabbat
  • Love of Israel
  • Spreading the truth about Judea and Samaria
  • Africa’s connection to Israel

 

Bibi, Buhari, and the Gordian Knot of Biafra

When Buhari shut down Bibi’s visit to the ECOWAS conference scheduled oearly 2015, the message was clear: Israeli’s are not welcome here.  Although Buhari is only one voice within the 15 member economic zone, he is a powerful one.

Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, and has been receiving advanced arms from the Obama administration to fight Boko Haram. Despite this, Nigeria itself is on borrowed time.The movement for an independent state of Biafra, which is in southeast Nigeria is serious and its backers are growing.  The Igbo and those tribes that are connected to them have begun to return to their roots, which are directly connected to the Israel.

Buhari understands this and so he pushed back against inviting Bibi Netanyahu to the ECOWAS Summit. If he were to let the summit go ahead with Netanyahu, Buhari would risk being the vehicle that would allow Bibi to commandeer West African support for Israel. West Africa is key for Israel for multiple reasons. The most important is it gives Israel an ability to block the movement of Islam South into the heart of Africa.

Secondly, Buhari has his hands full with the awakening of Biafra in the southeast of the country.   If Biafra gains independence,Nigeria would not only lose a third of it’s land, but the source of its oil.  Besides the economic value Biafra brings, an independent Biafra would rectify the historic wrong perpetrated by European Christians and other colonial forces against the Igbo and the other tribes of the Guinea Coast with Hebrew roots.  Biafra’s restoration is central to the growing rapprochement between Africa and Israel.  If allowed to continue, leaders like Buhari are on borrowed time.

One way for Israel to pressure Buhari is to draw attention to Nigeria’s unlawful imprisonment of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of IPOB. Granting Kanu freedom would be the fasted way for Islamists like Buhari to feel the force of the coming pendulum swing back towards a sane West Africa.  A West Africa that cherishes its lost Hebraic culture and works to safeguard its burgeoning relationship with Israel.

 

WAR DRUMS: Hezbollah Explosives a Precursor to the Next Conflict

The Israeli military has confirmed that the explosives found in Metulah on the border of Lebanon 3 weeks ago were indeed placed there by Hezbollah.  There are two pervading opinions in the defense establishment, one is the explosives were smuggled into Israel for terrorist attacks. The other opinion believes the explosives were placed in the woods near Metulah to be used at some later date in  a war with Israel.

Although Hezbollah is in no shape to fight a war with Israel while they are taking on ISIS, the newly formed understandings between Turkey and Russia may be a sign that Hezbollah can pull back and let Turkey mop up.  If this is the case then Hezbollah will be well positioned to fight another war with Israel, this time with Iranian forces firmly entrenched on the Golan border.

The explosives are an ominous sign for what awaits Israel as changes in the Middle East are fast underway.

ON THE FRONTLINES: Jews Moving Back to Hebron Neighborhood Years After Their Removal

In 2008, then Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak colluded to remove a number of Jewish families living in the Mitkanim neighborhood next to the Avraham Avinu quarter in Ancient Hebron.

The Mitkanim neighborhood historically belonged to the ancient Jewish community in the city before the Jews were systematically massacred by the city’s Arabs in 1929. The Mitkanim neighborhood is an extension of Hebron’s market place known as the Shuk and was the site where Shalhevet Pass, an infant, was brutally killed nearly 16 years ago by Arafat led PA snipers.

Shalhevet Pass
Shalhevet Pass

The new buildings are a welcome development for the Jewish community in Hebron which has seen a real renaissance in the last few years.  The buildings would correct a historic wrong perpetrated by the British colonial forces that stood by while marauding Arabs wiped out the ancient Jewish community.

Rabbi Ben Packer of the Heritage House notes that it is actually private individuals that have pushed the government to act. “It seems the government policy is slightly changing. This could open the door too much more development! However, its important to point out that without the Yeshiva (Shavei Hevron) next door to this army base, this would be very unlikely,” Rabbi Packer says. “The Yeshiva has been developed through private donors and coupled with the recent legal purchases of Beit HaShalom, Beit HaMachpela, Beit Leah and Beit Rachel all exemplify the incredible power that private individuals have in strengthening the Jewish presence.”

Although Beit Machpela, Beit Leah, and Beit Rachel are all in dispute within the judicial system, history has shown that perseverance and patience are the best tools to secure and reclaim Old Jewish Hebron.

 

 

ON THE FRONTLINES: Hamas Fires Rocket at Sderot, Shattering Quietest Summer in Years

Sderot has been relishing in what has been noted as the quietest summer in years in terms of rocket attacks.  Today that quiet was briefly shattered with the blaring of the Code Red siren and the discovery of a detonated rocket that had landed between two homes in Sderot.

The IDF and IAF immediately retaliated and struck a number of military targets in the Gaza strip belonging to Hamas.

“In response to a shooting carried out a short time ago toward the city of Sderot, we attacked, using an Air Force jet, terror infrastructure belonging to the terror organization Hamas, in the northern Gaza Strip,” the IDF tweeted on its Hebrew language account.

The Israeli airforce continued to pound targets in the Gaza Strip into the night.

Although most experts believe that Hamas is not moving towards another round of war with Israel, with the Middle East changing at a rapid rate anything is possible.  Hamas has been said to be preparing for another of conflict, by digging more tunnel and smuggling weapons into Gaza. The question now is if this missile attack was a one off or an opening shot in the next war.

REDEMPTION WATCH: An Alternative Vision for the future Temple

Originally Published on the Global-Report

The Sabbath before the Ninth of Av (the 11th month in the current Hebrew calendar) is called “Shabbat Ḥazon” (the Sabbath of Vision) and in it we read in the Torah the first Portion of the Book of Devarim – Deuteronomy – and continue with the reading from the Prophets (Haftarah) the vision that begins the Book of Isaiah, “The vision of Yesha’yahu the son of Amoẓ, which he saw concerning Yehudah and Yerushalayim…”, which contains admonishments.

Only the next chapter (not included in the Haftarah), deals with the reward for the penitence from sin and brings a comprehensive prophetic vision, “The word that Yesha’yahu the son of Amoẓ saw, concerning Yehudah and Yerushalayim. And it shall come to pass in the last days,[1]that the mountain of the Lord’s House shall be established on the top of the mountains, and and shall be exalted above the hills; and all the nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountan of the Lord, to the house of the God of Ya’ạqov, and He will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths; for out of Ẓiyyon shall go forth Torah, and the word of the Lord from Yerushalayim. And He shall judge among the nations, and shall decide among many people; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not list up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (2:1-4).

The Ninth of Av is the commemoration day for the destruction of the Temples of Jerusalem, whereas the vision of Isaiah is the consolation and restoration for their destruction. There is therefore a Hassidic tradition due to Rabbi Levi-Yitzhaq of Berditchev that was disseminated by the Ḥabad (Chabad) leaders,[2] according to which the Sabbath before the 9th of Av is the very time when “each one of Israel is shown the future Temple from afar”.

The presentation of the outline plan of the temple is a precondition for its realization, as is written in the prophecy of Ezekiel “Thou son of Man, describe the house to the house of Yisra’el, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and let them measure the pattern” (43:10). For those of you who have not had yet the occasion to see this vision, allow me to present the plan of the future Temple as it arises out of the Torah readings of Shabbat Ḥazon. This is a plan that is easy to understand now, in 2010 (5,770) but would have been difficult to understand in, say, 1948 or 1968.

The first thing in a plan, yet before dealing with forms and design, is defining the function that the planned structure or system should serve. This function is indeed defined in the vision of Isaiah cited above – a universal temple that would serve as place of instruction to all nations. Another prophecy of Isaiah adds “my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples” (56:7). The location is, as we saw, in Jerusalem – “for out of Ẓiyyon shall go forth Torah, and the word of the Lord from Yerushalayim”, and the prophecy also gives a preliminary indication of a form – the Lord’s House shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills”, from which we can learn that the intention is not for a replication of the Second Temple, because even Herod’s Temple, with all its glory, when it served a multitude of pilgrims, was lower than the hills that surround the Temple Mount.

The verse continues: “and He will teach us of his ways”, teaching us that the future temple would be, primarily, a place of study and instruction. Even the Second Temple did not serve, as far as we know, as primarily a place of instruction and study. It is actually the institution that replaced the temple – the Yeshivah (Torah academy) – that suggests an interesting model – the temple as a universal Bet Midrash (house of exegesis) for the discussion and interpretation in order to elucidate the divine will, how to fulfill the stipulated demands, such as: “Learn to do well, seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow” (1:17). First “..restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counselors as at the beginning; afterwards thou shall be called, The city of righteousness, a faithful city. Ẓiyyon shall be redeemed with judgment and those that return to her with righteousness” (1:26-27).

As a planner, I learnt that before starting to plan it is incumbent to identify the number of users and the nature of their behavior. This is indeed given in the Torah portion of Shabbat Ḥazon – Parashat Devarim, where Moses blessed the people of Israel “The Lord your God has multiplied you, and, behold, you are this day like the stars of heaven for multitude. The Lord God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as you are…” (Deut. 1:10-11). The number of the tribesmen of Israel, the nation that Moses guided, was more than 600 thousand men of army service (not counting women, old people and children). Moses had much difficulty administering to such a great number, yet his hope and his vision was that there will be “a thousand times so many more as you are” – that is, that in the future the constituency of Israel will number more than 600 millions, all of them potential users of the temple! Moses the prophet (of the tribe of Levi) did not predict the appearance of a “Jewish People” of hundreds of millions, but a public that relates to all the Twelve Israelite Tribes, which will be constituted, as Isaiah defined, from “all the nations” and of “many people” who recognize the Lord God of Israel and the importance of Jerusalem-Ẓion as the place for cleaving to Him. Let us mention also that such a gigantic number of users becomes manageable only nowadays, when humankind numbers in the billions and the Internet and social networks (e.g. Facebook) connect hundreds of millions.

The Haftarah states quite clearly that the desirable temple worship is not the sacrifice of animals: “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to me? Will say (in future tense: yomar-יאמר, that is, in the future Temple) the Lord (YHWH) I have been sated (savaạti, past tense) with the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I desired (in past tense, lo hafazti, that is, in the past temples) not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of goats” (1:11), but “wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do well”.

In the times of Isaiah, such utterances might have seemed blasphemy. But nowadays what may keenly interest hundreds of people in the establishment of the Jerusalem Temple cannot be the sacrifice of animals, not even “the glory of Judaism” (which might be a side product). A temple that may attract many millions must fulfill actual collective needs, must serve the survival needs of contemporary humankind. The greatest current danger to world peace stems from conflicts between “The Children of Abraham” that may bring about a world war – the conflict between “the world of Islam” and the Christian (and Jewish) or “Western World”. The peril of the conflict between “The Children of Abraham” is from nuclear terrorism, which cannot be contained through “balance of threat” between countries. Yet this conflict is not an essential conflict between religions but conflict between certain interpretations of scriptures. The prevention of this conflict would be possible only by way of comprehensive cultural and inter-religious change, in which millions of citizens from all the religions will desire reconciliation and the prevention of terrorism and will be ready to act to bring these about. The symbolic essence of the conflict is at the Jerusalem Temple Mount. The visionary temple that is required is therefore a facility of mass-yet-particular education that will rectify the contradicting interpretations between the religions and would assist its users to find the points of partnership and of mutual understandings.[3]

The precise wording of Rabbi Levi-Yitzḥaq of Berditchev is “each one of Israel is shown the future Temple from afar”. This expression derives from the Binding of Isaac (Yiẓḥaq) where it is written that, at first, “Then on the third day Avraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place from afar” (Gen. 22:4); and then, when the trial was over, “And Avraham called the name of that place YHWH yir’eh (will see, future tense) as it will be said (ye’amer) today, In the Mount the lord will appear”. This way our forefather Abraham already fixed for future generations the place to which his descendents should be aligned to and where they would be able to reach reconciliation – he already fixed then what will be seen and what will be said today concerning the epiphany (divine appearance) at the Mountain of the Lord. Abraham observed the site from a distance of time – a thousand years before David and Solomon and almost four thousand years before our time.

But concerning the physical distance and aspect, there is a difficulty here, as we have already mentioned that the Temple Mount is lower than the surrounding hills and it is not possible to view it from far off. Rashi (the foremost Jewish Torah commentator) explained it in his interpretation of the verse “‘Avraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place from afar’: what did he see? He saw a cloud tied to the mountain”, this means that he saw that the future temple will include a fixed cloud, bound and tethered to the mountain, while its top is in the skies, so that it is necessary to lift eyes to it and possible to see from afar. We may also recall that Rashi stipulated that “the future Temple that we are expecting will be built and perfected and will be revealed as coming from heaven… ”.[4] Such a cloud, that can be artificially provided and enclosed, could serve as a giant 3-dimensional screen for holographic projections of lights arrays that may present the temple and the results of its worship,[5] and may be seen from Tel Aviv to Amman. It will allow to present upon it the (moral and conscious) Ascent to the divine world, a kind of Jacob’s ladder.

When the form of the Temple would appear in the skies as a “Temple of Light” built up of “Living Stones” of lights and reflections, this would remove the main impediment to the realization of the Temple in our times.  What has historically replaced the Temple was, as noted, the Yeshivah – the place of conversational learning – and the shrine of the dome of the Rock is uniquely suitable to serve as a ceremonial multi-faith Yeshivah in which the distinguished pilgrims, the elect (meẓuyanim) among the religions and tribes, would engage in parallel “disputations for the sake of heaven” combined with prayer and appeal for divine guidance to find the straight path for peace and reconciliation.

[1] For an explanation why these “last days” are our present, see Introduction for the Re-GENESIS NOW exegesis.

[2] See Likkute Sichos, volume 39 on Shabat Hazon 5751, inhttp://www.chabadlibrary.org/books.

[3] The Qur’an states explicitly: To each among you, we have prescribed a law and a clear way. If Allah willed, He would have made you one nation, but that (He) may test you in what He has given you; so strive as in the race in good deeds. The return of you (all) is to Allah; then He will inform you about that in which you used to differ” (Surah 5, the Table, verse 48 (official Saudi version). The place marked for this gathering, according to the Bible and also to the Islamic traditions, is the Temple Mount in Jerusalem

[4] Talmud Bavly, tractate Sukkah page 70a and Tosafot there; Tractate Shavuot 15b

[5] Article on cloud and smoke in the future temple

ON THE FRONTLINES: Khirbet Susiya an Ancient Jewish Village is Under Threat

Khirbet Susiya

Khirbet Susiya, also known as Horvat Susiya is an ancient Jewish landmark is the Southern Hebron Hills uncovered by archeologists in 1969 after the area was liberated by Israel.  In the years that followed, Khirbet Susiya has become a national landmark and proof that a solid Jewish existed throughout the Har Hebron Hills up until the Islamic invasion in the 8th Century.  The Jews of the area either converted to Islam or fled.

Now, this ancient landmark known for its oldest freestanding synagogue is under threat by Arab squatters from Yatta backed up by the EU and the United States State Department.  These squatters have amassed a following through the international community and have set up tents on the archeological site. The group from Yatta number around 350 people and claim Khirbet Susiya as their own. They claim the site of Khirbet Susiya is really theirs despite the overwhelming evidence for it being an ancient Jewish village.

“Surveys of villages and populations conducted by the British Mandatory powers in 1945, which mention all of the villages in the area and even some of the inhabitants, prove there is no hint of the existence of an Arab village named Susiya,” says Josh Hasten, spokesman for Regavim an NGO that  fights illegal land use. “More recently aerial photos obtained by Regavim from 1999 show nothing resembling a village in that area. An identical photo from 2013 shows how squatters have infiltrated the locale.”

With the Supreme Court’s ultimatim to the goverment of Israel to destroy the encampment, the government has very little flexibility.  In the coming days and the weeks the left is expected to harm the reputation of the region by continuing to build a false narritive with one goal in mind and that is to appropriate more land from Israel and erase established Jewish history.