Eretz Yisrael Time

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Tuesday, January 31, 2006
In an eye-opening discussion with my Leftist friends in Gush Dan today they expressed something very scary to me.

Forget for the moment that they completely deny even the possibility that Jews may have bought the Amona land, and if they did it was only with Settler trickery (and besides buying it just damages the State).

More importantly, they said that Jews don’t belong in Hebron, and the land stolen in 1929 is lost, and the Jews should forget about it.


“Why?” I ask.

“Because, your actions are damaging the state.”

“How? It's our land.”

“You’re opening up a can of worms.”

“And what would that be?”

“If Jews can legally claim their land in Hebron, then Arabs can legally claim their land in Tel Aviv, Haifa, Yafo, and everywhere else in Israel.”

I guess that says it all, doesn’t it?

The left don’t feel secure in their claim to the Land of Israel, to living in the land of Israel, or even to their own homes in Israel, and that is the real basis for all their anti-settler sentiment and activity.

We’re opening up their can of worms which they need to keep shut - by hook or by crook.

I’m glad they finally made that clear.
Major HatTip: Robert Klein

Apparently Leftists in Leftistville, Israel are finding themselves insulted, slandered and degraded.

Driving around in their insulated leftist neighborhoods they see huge billboards insulting them and their beliefs, not to mention calling them some very bad names.

The leftists are outraged and have begun to vandalize the billboards (don’t the Leftists normally complain about vandalisim when Hareidim do it to immodest posters in their neighborhoods - sounds kind of hypocritical doesn't it?).

Which right-wing organization is behind the defamation?

How did Kahane’s followers get away with it?

How dare the Right open their mouths against the left!





In the footsteps of Avishai Raviv, in turns out that the perpetrators are none other than…





Meretz and their leftwing PR agency.


You see, there really isn’t that much in the way of real right-wing incitement against the left (lately we've noticed a lot of it going the other way though), and so they decided to drum it up themselves.

Read all about here. Talk about screwed up.

Yeah, that would definitely convince me to vote for that honest, peaceloving, leftwing party.
Monday, January 30, 2006
Honestly, in the past week we've managed to see a number of really stupid comments, but this one takes the cake.

Ami Ayalon: Hevron’s Jews Will Serve in the Palestinian Army
10:59 Jan 30, '06 / 1 Shevat 5766
(IsraelNN.com) Ami Ayalon, former head of the Shin Bet (Israel’s domestic intelligence agency) and former commander of the Israel Air Force, told army radio that in the future, he expects the Jews of Hevron to be citizens of a Palestinian state and serve in its armed forces. Ayalon is a leading figure in the Labor party and is hoping to be elected to the Knesset on the Labor list.


The Runner up was: (HatTip: Robert Klein)

Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz said in Sunday's cabinet meeting that Hamas was, at this point, acting "responsibly," and added that he believed that the organization would soon attempt to rein in terror.


















In this exclusive photo (taken by Jameel during the Gaza deportation) the writing was already on the wall.

Even before the IDF abandoned Neve Dekalim and its Jewish residents had finished packing, Hamas flags were already flying on evacuated buildings and walls at one end of the town.

The message was as clear then as it was this week - Hamas won.

Why is everyone so surprised?
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Lately, a lot of people have been trying to ‘out’ JoeSettler.

Three different friends (who know who I am) from 3 different towns report to me that they are repeatedly accosted and accused of being JoeSettler - every single time they walk into shul or the makolet.

Even my parents have asked me if I know who he is, and if I’ve met ‘him’.

I myself have been accused of being Jameel (ya hear that Jameel - of course he heard, he was standing right next to me trying not to laugh), and a number of bloggers have been playing the guessing game too.

The fact is, there are a few very good reasons why JoeSettler is anonymous.

The most important is that I want my ideas to be weighed and considered, not the author, which is why a number of my published documents are often done anonymously (one document was even attributed to Bibi Netanyahu).

Second, if my identity were publicized I might have to moderate what I write as it would affect my personal and business life.

Third, my leftist friends who think I’m just some quiet convenient right-wing punching bag would suddenly either get super-aggressive, or worse, stop telling me what they actually believe, leaving me without any insights into the Leftist thought process.
(They would still be my friends though. They know I'm an 'activist', just not which one.)

In short, lay off. Enjoy the posts (or not). Stop bothering my friends, and no, I’m not Spock Jameel.
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Since (when it comes to terrorism), there is no functional difference between Hamas and Fatah (other than one claims to be religious and the other not), I'm not sure what the big deal really is.

As the PLO's PA's peace partner, we gave money and weapons to one terrorist group (Fatah) who directly funneled them to the other (Hamas) - now we are just cutting out the middle man.

Look on the plus side, maybe we'll pass on some of the savings to help the poor.
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
JoeSettler made it through in one of the JIB award categories!

You can now vote for JoeSettler again in Round 2!

And thanks to everyone who voted in Round 1.

Jameel at the Muqata also made the cut. Don't forget to vote for him too.
Monday, January 23, 2006

Personal request: A lot of people have been posting anonymously. While I can generally respect that and appreciate the feedback, at least add a unique moniker at the end of your post so you can gain some notoriety as well as continuity vis a vis your other remarks.
Thanks.

A rather obnoxious commentor made some remarks on an earlier post calling me Racist and Liar!

I've decided to answer him in the main section, and then let you, the readers, decide whether he should be banned in the future for such rude and antisocial behavior.

1) There are a number of interrelated issues here.

1A) The basic rights of Jew to own/cultivate land in Judea/Samaria is being stripped away (with ease).

The ownership of the land in the Hevron Market is unquestionably Jewish as has been so for hundreds of years, and the group that administers the land in question for the owners expressly gave permission for the Jews to live there.

Yet the Jews are being expelled.
I guess the inalienable right of a Jew to own or enter his own land isn’t important to you.
(That's racist.)

1B) The Rule of Law is not being applied equally but rather quite selectively as you can see here and here.

There are currently over 7000 standing destruction orders on illegal Arab construction in Judea/Samaria, that have not been and are not being enforced.

Again, in the name of the Rule of Law, why is Peace Now (or you) not demanding equal enforcement (or any enforcement for that matter)?
(That's racist.)

1C) On the legal side, the answer to that is that in Judea/Samaria there is no Rule of Law or even an assumption of jurisdiction. The government has purposely left the law vague and undefined for political reasons.

As you can see, the HCJ itself claims it really doesn’t has the right to apply Israeli law in the territories, but rather it falls solely under the military administration (which normally plays a significant role along with various civil authorities in deciding what constitutes a legal settlement), but it then decides that it has the right to selectively enforce the law on Israelis, but apparently only so far as to take those rights away for “political or security” benefits.

It is a very disconcerting document that clearly shows how convoluted, contradictory, and confused our Left-leaning Judiciary can choose to be when it deliberates in order to come up with the political decision it already decided on before the hearing.

On the other hand, it is a quite wonderful example of typical Israeli Judicial Activism overstepping its bounds (though due to the vacuum the govenment left behind).

1D) It is a rather wide claim to state that a supposedly illegal settlement affects society as a whole, unless you already subscribe to the nonsense that “settlements are obstacles to peace”, because that basically means that Jews living on Jewish owned land are an obstacle to peace - and that is racist.

Are you a racist?


2)
2A) Other than what Israel has created since Oslo, there never was a Palestinian Government/Entity in the Middle East to make it Palestinian Sovereign Land (except perhaps for occupied Jordan). Nor is it occupied according to the Geneva convention (despite the HJC's decisive turn-around in order to implement the disengagement) as there was no former high sovereign power to take occupancy from. This has simply become a politicized/propaganda term. The land is at best disputed, and even that is a fair question.

2b) And, as point of fact, as the Sovereign nation controlling Judea and Samaria, except for Area A, is still Israel. That would make it Jewish controlled territory. (Israel=The Jewish State).

2C) And finally, if any final or temporary borders are ever established, facts on the ground on both sides will decide ultimate sovereignty – so Jews holding onto the land does and will make it Jewish land.


3)
3A) Now let’s see. Between 30,000-50,000 cars are stolen in Israel annually.

Some 90% of those vehicles end up in the Palestinian Authority – including into the hands of senior members of the Palestinian government.

So if in the past 10 years, some 300,000 stolen cars entered the PA, and the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics claims that there are only 122,000 registered (which does not mean they weren’t stolen) vehicles in the PA. That would mean that approximately 150%-250% of the cars being driven around in the PA are stolen.

So yes, at the flip of a coin (either side), it is highly likely that the truck used to drag around the tortured body of the accused Palestinian collaborator was stolen.

Does that make me a racist? I’m not quite clear what the connection is.


3B) With regard to investigating Peace Now’s motivations, you are accusing me of lying.
If I were rude, I'd simply tell you to go to hell.

But, unfortunately for you, I did check their motivations and intentions (someone else asked as I sat there listening), and their lawyer was quite proud to declare them.
Anyone that is familiar with Peace Now (which is nearly everyone in Israel, but I guess not ignoramuses in Illinois) would recognize that that my statement was quite accurate.

So you are also an ignorant liar.

3C) And finally, racist?

I recognize that we the Jewish Nation are currently at war with much of the Arab/Islamic Nation: politically, ideologically, spiritually, physically and most particularly over our land.

That is recognition of fact of the state of war that we are in, not racism.
It is in fact the official position of the Israeli government.

You chose to throw around the term Racist quite easily.

You've already shown that you think like a racist when it comes to Jewish rights.
You must be projecting.


Go learn your facts and improve your behavior before you even think of posting here again.


(For everyone else, I particularly recommend you read both JerusalemCop and Robert's remarks in the comment section below)
Sunday, January 22, 2006
JoeSettler Jr. telling a joke to Moshe Feiglin















JoeSettler Jr., JoeSettler, Jameel, and Moshe Feiglin (in disguise)
at the Muqata Annex Bar Mitzva

Turns out that the police that helped annihilate Gush Katif (and despite their rabid claims) were not hit by acid from the roof. (Well, we actually all knew that, but it did make for a good blood libel anyway).

I wonder if they how much "sensitivity training" they received in order to teach them how to act in front of the cameras.
It's official: There is no doubt that the Jerusalem Post's only saving grace is Caroline Glick.

In her column this Friday Caroline wrote in detail about the Avri Ran story. Exactly how the Arabs were caught in their lies, along with the Leftist organizations that instigated the lying and provocations. The Supreme Court judges that ignored Avri’s civil rights for nearly a year. The Arab landsellers who hide their identity to protect their lives, and the brave judge who chose to act properly once the evidence was made public. And not to mention the Left's cynically selective demand to enforce of the Rule of Law only when it comes to Jewish landowners.

She must be a JoeSettler reader to have all that information.
Friday, January 20, 2006
Yesterday I said that I was going to reveal a secret.

It’s a secret known to only a select few: some settlers, some MKs and employees of the government, various members of the extremist Peace Now, Talia Sasson, and very soon, you too.

It’s a secret that has to do with “illegal” outposts.

And this particular secret has to do with the outpost of Amona (near Ofra), the 40 family "outpost" that Olmert plans to overrun and destroy with thousands of troops in the very near future.


But first let me give you some background.

The latest story with Amona began when the HJC (Israeli High Court of Justice) was petitioned that Amona was on stolen Arab land and construction should be stopped, and buildings demolished.

But here's a catch, the Arab owners, the injured party, were not the ones petitioning the HJC!

So who was it then?

We'll get to that in a minute.


In the meantime, let me give you a little more background information.

The Palestinian Authority has a standing law. Any Palestinian who sells land to a Jew will be executed. Period.


And therein lies the problem, because there are plenty of Arabs that would love to sell their land to Jewish buyers, but they just don’t want to be strung up on a lamppost, mutilated, and then shot.

And there are plenty of Jews who want to buy land from Arabs, but don’t want them to be tortured and killed because of a simple commercial transaction.


The Secret begins to be revealed.
So in comes some mysterious groups of Jews and they make a deal.

You see, the land is bought, deeds and all, clear and proper through various channels, and the Jews in turn agree to not disclose the identity of the seller (to protect the Arab’s lives).

In many cases (particularly if protecting them won’t be possible) the Arab seller along with his family are resettled in a Western country where they live comfortably without any more threats of execution on their heads.


And this is exactly how the land of Amona was acquired.


So now you’re still asking yourself, “If that’s the case, then when it went before the Israeli Supreme Court ( HCJ), why didn’t the settlers simply pull out the Proof of Purchase?”

Ahh, herein lies the story. To understand it, once again, you need just a little more background information.


As I mentioned before, the most recent story with Amona started when the HJC was petitioned that Amona was on stolen Arab land and construction should be stopped, and buildings demolished.

But the former Arab owners, having sold the land were not the ones petitioning the HJC at all.

Let me repeat that in case you missed it; the former Arab owners, having sold the land were not the ones petitioning the HJC.


They sold the land – 100% legal (except in the Palestinian Authority - wow, talk about apartheid!), and there is written documentation that backs that sale up.

If they went to court saying the land was stolen, the Jews would simply pull out the contracts and...

...Bang!

Instant bullet in the head for the Arab sellers (of course, only after being dragged around Ramallah for a while behind a speeding truck - probably stolen).


So who then petitioned the HJC, you are probably still asking yourself?

Why, in the Amona case, it was none other than Peace Now.


You see, they know the settlers would never reveal the Arab’s identities and get those innocent people killed, so Peace Now comes in with their scheme to further implement the destruction of everything Jewish (in Judea/Samaria).

The settlers, having no desire to see the Arabs murdered, won’t pull out the contracts (unless the Arab tries a double cross - and this has happened with properties around the Old City of Jerusalem and the contracts did get pulled out).

And that is why, not even a single Arabs claimant has shown up in the past 10 years (or even gets named as a claimant or petitioner in the Peace Now petition) to make a claim on the Amona land stolen from them – because it simply was never stolen.

So there you have it. The dirty little secret.

Jews secretly buy land from Arabs.
Arabs secretly sell land to Jews.
And then Peace Now tries to get innocent Arabs killed and Jews kicked off their fairly purchased property - all in the name of Peace.

Sick world, isn't it sometimes?
Thursday, January 19, 2006
http://www.kahane.org/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=Unedited;action=display;num=1137624855

Holy Moly. These people are off the wall!

Beintzi Lieberman! Why don't they just call me Shaul Goldstein while they're at it.
Elchonon, one of my more outspoken and convicted (in more that one way) commentors has acquired a new domain name for his blog: www.StateofJudea.com.

I gotta admit. What a great name. I wish I had though of it.
I'll be revealing a little known secret very soon...
Hold on just a little longer, and check back in.


In the meantime I am glad I wasn't the first to express the opinion that the 2000 police and soldiers brutally beating up people in Hebron to cynically gain political points before the elections, could have been put to much better use elsewhere today (especially with all the warnings that were going out all day).

Thankfully plenty of people in Israel still have a head on their shoulders.

And of course, I'll get the typical leftist remark that the settlers forced the police to go in en masse, ignoring the actual flow of events and political conniving. But I wouldn't expect anything less.

But hey, everyone has their priorities (I just thought Tel Aviv would be a little more important than 8 families living on Jewish owned land).
Tomorrow I will be revealing a secret...
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Everyone has been inundated with one side of the recent story.

Here are two articles that describe it from the other.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/article.php3?id=5940

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/article.php3?id=5939
HatTip: JerusalemCop

Must watch video
My guest post is up at the Muqata, you can read it there. It's called "Something the Left and Right can agree on"
Monday, January 16, 2006

Avri Ran, was charged with attacking Palestinians who were trespassing on (and destroying) his Givaot Olam farm (with a tractor no less, instigated by the Leftist Ta'ayush and extremist 'Rabbis for Human Rights' organizations).


Avri was acquitted of the charges of attacking those Palestinians after their testimony proved to be "exaggerated and unreliable" (in English it means they were caught lying).

Avri founded the largest and most elaborate organic farm in Israel. Many of the mainstream Israeli suppliers rely on Avri for their regular stock of organic products.

An excellent article about him can be found here, and more on this story can be found here.
I'll be guest blogging at the Muqata tomorrow, so look for my post over there.

I think it's a going to be a very good one too (well I wrote it already, so I actually already know).
I don’t have much time to blog today, but this is also an important post to read.

A famous man once said that Ariel Sharon is likely to encircle the Knesset with tanks and perform a coup d'etat. (Who was that famous man and when and why did he say it?)

I want you to give something some very serious thought.

Does anyone at all remember voting for Kadima? Yet here we have Kadima running the government.

An important quote from
wikipedia:
Coups typically use the power of the existing government for its own takeover.

The Likud party, not Ariel Sharon, and certainly not Ehud Olmert won the elections. Certainly by default, the ministerial positions (prime or otherwise) should not have gone with them. But that is only the least of it.

Yesterday Peres, Itsik, and Ramon were required to quit both the government and as MKs so they could legally run in the next elections.

From
Haaretz:

Article 6 of the Basic Law on The Government stipulates that MKs who quit one faction without resigning from the Knesset cannot serve as ministers as members of another faction during the current government term. On the other hand, once they quit the Knesset they cannot be appointed to the cabinet because by law, even in a transition government all ministers must be MKs.

Article 6A of the Basic Law on the Knesset bars an MK who leaves his or her faction, without resigning from office at the time, from running in the next Knesset election for a party that was represented in the outgoing Knesset.

Below is the actual current Basic Law text.

Basic Law:
The Government:

6(e) A Knesset member seceding from his faction and failing to tender his resignation as a Knesset member may not be appointed as a Minister during the period of service of that Knesset. This does not apply to the splitting of a faction as defined by law. "Secession from a faction" is defined in section 6(a) of The Basic Law: The Knesset.

Before you ask yourself why then aren't Kadima ministers required to quit, the answer is in the fine print of article 6(e) mentioned above "This does not apply to the splitting of a faction as defined by law. "Secession from a faction" is defined in section 6(a) of The Basic Law: The Knesset":

Basic Law: The Knesset:
The English translation above (from the Knesset) is slightly incorrect. It is not part of the main text, but rather in a Seif Katan 6(a) (sub-section) of another section of the law that is not posted on the Knesset website.

I haven't yet found an actual copy of the text, just references to it.

Anyway, according to the law, Sharon couldn't take the Likud name with him, because the majority of the Likud MKs stayed with Likud.

At this point, I'm no claim to understand what in the world is going on here.

But, it certainly seems to me it seems that there is something seriously wrong here.


The Likud still has 27 seats in the Knesset, Kadima has perhaps 14.
27 - 14 = 13 seats less.

Question: Why exactly was Sharon allowed to take the PM and ministerial positions with him, when he wasn’t even allowed to take the Likud name?

Answer: Technically, this has to do with laws regarding new elections, interim governments, and other unintended and completely unexpected applications of, and holes in, the law.

But in short, Ariel Sharon, via technicalities and gaps in the law, with a grand total of less than 12% of the Knesset seats, completely took over the government without requiring any majority support whatsoever, and now Ehud Olmert, replacing him, has free reign (I like that pun).

In short, Coup d’etat.

Sunday, January 15, 2006
Very quick post.

What a surprise!

It seems that Amir Peretz actually (and finally) quit his position as head of the HIstadrut and has given it to Ofer Eini.

Now that's earthshaking news.

And who says miracles don't happen?
Friday, January 13, 2006
In a disappointing turn of events due to Likud primary rules, it turns out that positions after the 18th are reserved for newcomers and candidates from specific sectors.

So unfortunately, Michael Ratzon and Ehud Yatom got pushed way down to positions 30 and 31. Though some of the candidate from 19 on are also good.

Next week I plan to post a complete Likud Scorecard.

It will list each Likud candidate, his voting record (where relevant), political stance, and so on.

Shabbat Shalom
Interesting results from today’s primaries.

Shinui seems to have self-destructed with the 4 (maybe 5) losers walking out of the party (presumably to start a new party call Chala - Chiloni, Ashkenazi, Lavan, Ashir), though the entry of new blood may actually turn things around for them. Certainly not having Sharon in the picture gives Shinui a fighting chance of making it into the Knesset.

No surprises in NRP. Losers, all of them.

Nice surprise in the Likud though.
A lot of good, solid right, pro-Israel (anti-hitnatkut) people in high spots.

3) Moshe Kahlon
4) Gilad Erdan
5) Gideon Saar
6) Michael Eitan (not really anti hitnatkut– but a good, honest legislator, none the less)
7) Ruby Rivlin
9) Yuval Steinitz
11) Natan Sharansky
13) Haim Katz (I think he's OK)
14) Uzi Landau
15) Yuli Edelstein
17) Lea Nass
18) Naomi Blumenthal (I have mixed feelings, but Sharon really did use her as his scapegoat)
19) Ehud Yatom
20) Michael Ratzon

We’re still stuck with Limor Livnat, Danny Naveh, and Yisrael Katz, but I won’t be surprised when Silvan Shalom jumps ship over to Kadima once the elections are over. He's already stabbing Netanyahu in the back.

Big mistake on Netanyahu's part giving him the #2 position. Silvan still sees himself as a Sharon man.

Overall, this is a very positive development for the Likud.

The top 20 positions are mostly filled by people that clearly make the Likud a good place to vote for. They create a clear differentiation from Kadima that Silvan and his band of seat-huggers can't do.

I was worried that we'd get a bunch of nadas in the top positions.

But now the Likud can give a strong unified message that Kadima with it's mishmash of political refugees and parasites simply can't match.

We'll start to see the polls changing real soon.
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Here is the uprooting video in English
Forget the JIBs (have you voted for me yet?) I am hereby awarding JerusalemCop my "Title of the Week" Award.

JC wrote about the lack of a Mikva in the city of Tzur Haddasah!!!!

Grabbing the title from a movie quote, he approriately named it...

"Well how come we're the only one marching every Friday night 12 miles full pack in the pitch dark."
In an unambiguous victory, there are two new developments in the Israeli/Kosher meat industry.

I was at my butcher this evening, getting some really good steaks, and we discussed these exciting new advances.

Two items are (at least temporarily) are no longer available for the Kosher/Israeli market: “White” Veal and Foie Gras.

(I do admit that I enjoy them both, but I haven’t eaten them in years, ever since I found out how they are raised.)

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef declared that the current treatment/preparation of calves and geese goes under the halachic header of ‘mistreatment of animals’ and therefore he declared these products traif (not kosher).

(To be clear, I am not yet familiar with the exact halchic details he used to forbid them, it may be because they qualify as a sick animal about to die, which would also be forbidden to eat.)

Additionally, the Israeli government has finally forbidden the stuffing of geese for foie gras and all Israeli factories were shut down.

Well they didn’t really shut down. Operations were moved over to Jordan.

But it is a step in the right direction.
A friend of a friend from a Southern town wrote an interesting letter to the Jeusalem Report. I've seriously modified it and posted it here (all with permission).

Sirs,

The recent Jaffe Center for Strategic Studies report (Jerusalem Report "Study", Jan 11) stated "if the Intifada was supposed to undermine the foundations of Israeli society and to bring it to a state of imbalance and destabilization, it has failed."

In November 2000, when the Intifada just began, Fatah leaders Marwan Barghouti and Ahmed Qurei stated clearly in public interviews that the short-term goals of the Intifada were to pressure Israel to dismantle settlements, leave territories, and introduce multinational mediation with the objective of implementing Resolution 242.

Since then, Israel submitted to the Quartet designed Roadmap (which explicitly calls for the end of the 1967 occupation as per Resolution 242 and the Saudi Plan). Israel destroyed 25 settlements, abandoned Gaza, and allows Egypt to oversee the Rafah crossing essentially unsupervised.

Objectively, all the (Arab) openly stated short-term goals of the Intifada have been achieved.

What the Jaffe Center should be studying is why the Israeli government took actions which realized the Intifada's goals - when Operation Defensive Shield already proved in 2002 that there is a military solution to terrorism.

That would be a worthwhile study with practical and far-reaching implications.

The long-term goals of Fatah are to establish a state which would pose a military threat, and to pressure Israel into accepting a large number of so-called refugees.

If we don't study what really went wrong in the past three years, as opposed to some imaginary conjecture as to the Intifada’s motivations and objectives, we may very well conclude the next Intifada by repeating the same mistakes.

Robert Klein
Beer Sheba
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
I've been trying to improve the content of my blog and make it more interesting & relevant to you the reader.
But alas, I need your help to make it so.

Below is a simple poll I've set up to garner your opinion about this blog, to help me direct it better in the future.

Please answer the questions, and feel free to add comments in the comments section.






There are many things you can say about Truth.

More than one blogger has contemplated banning Truth from their blog. Not because Truth hurts, but because Truth, the whole Truth, and most importantly, nothing but Truth never completely comes through in the real world.

The Medrash even talks about Truth being thrown to the ground so everyone could get a piece of him.

So instead we get Truth wrapped up in layers of biting cynicisms, spiteful remarks, perhaps some half Truths, and certainly interpretations of Truth out of context.

And yet, there are the incredibly valid statements of Truth. Truth’s answers are Truth. And questions of Truth certainly can’t be ignored.

But alas, the message of Truth is too often lost in the envelope it is wrapped up and presented in.

If only there was a way to separate Truth from Friction.
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
You’re probably asking yourself, what in the world do these things have in common?

A typical leftist might say the letter ‘B’, but I asked Jameel, as a right-wing test case, and he made the correct connection right away.

You see, these are all items related to crimes that the Arabs have publicly accused Israel of committing, yet never actually happened.

It began with Bubble Gum (first in 1983 and then again in 1997).
The Palestinians began to accuse Israel of lacing their bubble gum with hormones that either amplified or eradicated the sex drive (among other side effects). Go figure.

Perhaps only the gullible believed them then.

But then in 2000 we faced the story of Muhhamad Durah, the Arab boy reportedly shot by Israeli bullets in cold blood on TV. Turns out it didn’t happen.

I believe it was in 2002, Arafat, standing next to Shimon Peres on international TV accused Israel of shooting (illegal) uranium depleted bullets at Palestinians.

Peres, shocked into stupidity by this blatant lie on live tv, froze - reactionless to this wild accusation (perhaps he thought it might be true). And when he finally did answer days later, it was far too late. The damage was done.

And of course who can forget Pallywood (I guess that kills the leftist ‘B’ theory), and the Jenin Massacre (uh, what Jenin massacre?).

But what of the ‘branches’?

Well lately a new version of the bubble gum and bullets story has emerged. The evil settler is cutting down Arab olive tree branches, and it is unquestionably accepted, after all the evil settler is the perpretrator.

Today, Leftist MK Ron Cohen called for the shooting of Settlers in response.

Only, it turns out, the branches story isn’t quite true.

You see, near the village of Yitzhar (where much of these evil atrocities against the Palestinian olive branches were supposed to have occurred), someone brought in a video camera.

And on that video camera we see the Arabs cutting down their own branches, wholesale.

Perhaps MK Ran Cohen also wants some bubble gum while he is targeting settlers?


Bubble Gum, Bullets and Branches.


End of Story.

Sometimes it takes an offhand comment by a third party to really let you put 2 and 2 together.

A commenter on
Jameel’s site asked (paraphrased), “And what are the (presumably selfish) Settler’s doing for residents of the south?”

While the ever uncompromising (I used a thesaurus to replace the word I originally had there) ‘Truth’ raised a valid response, Jameel intends to offer a much more comprehensive answer to the point.

But what does that have to do with basic math?

A few weeks ago, during one of my regular schmooze sessions with my leftist friends in Tel Aviv (where they all talk and I quietly listen – since I no longer waste my breath, where no matter how valid my point, they simply pooh-pooh anything from someone they disagree with, but back to the topic at hand…) we were discussing the missile attacks on Ashkelon.

At the time they were making the point that missile attacks are ineffective when it comes to killing people, and Kiryat Shmoneh citizens managed to go through the attacks for years, and Ashkelon will be able to handle it too, even Tel Aviv had 39 scud hits during the Gulf War for a few months and only 1 person died.

At the time, I understood the point to be that strategically, missile attacks are not very effective weapons, and it’s no big deal militarily that the Gazans are shooting them at Israel.

That was the first 2.

The second 2 was in a discussion with some Outpost Youth. One was ranting how the “Face to Face” campaign was mostly ineffective. Someone else said we “settled in the land and not in the hearts” and most Israeli’s didn’t care enough in the end about the Land of Israel.


It was the third party’s comment on Jameel’s site let me put it together.

When it comes down to it, the settlers did fail to “settle the hearts” of our fellow Israelis.

Or did we?

My friends in Tel Aviv are so blasé about the attacks on Ashkelon (Sderot isn’t even worth a comment) and how those on the periphery are used to it. They, in Tel Aviv are only analyzing how many people haven’t been killed from missile attacks (forget about the quality of life issues). During the expulsion they continued their lives as if nothing else was going on.

That says something very scary.

“Face to Face” didn’t fail to “settle in the hearts” the fate of the settlers.

The problem is much deeper. Those on the left, and perhaps even the average Israeli, have completely disengaged from everybody else as long as it doesn’t affect them directly, so of course the campaign failed.

Why should the average Israeli care about settlements or the Land of Israel when they don’t even care about the effect of missile attacks on Ashkelon, Sderot, or Kiryat Shmoneh.

Settler, take a number.

2 + 2 = 4.
Monday, January 09, 2006

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To the Blog Market
I’ve attempted to translate the piece below (perhaps too freely) and maintain its eloquence and heartfelt plea. Any failing in that are mine and not the authors.

"הרחבה כנגד החרבה"
Construction against Destruction
by a member of “Youth for Eretz Yisrael”

We hear every day on the news that construction of the fence is continuing, about another bomb victim, about the expulsion of Jews from Hebron, about the deportees from Gush Katif – still without a solution.

The wounds from this summer are still open and festering, while our grasp on our only land continues to slip from between our fingers.

We are unable to stand speechless anymore.
We can no longer sit at home in silence.

This is how we feel, the members of “Youth for Eretz Yisrael” and “The Eretz Yisrael Loyalists”.

We joined together before Sukkot to transform this spirit of defeat and passivism (submissiveness) that now infects our community, to instead strengthen our connection with our homeland.

It began with a march to Sebastia with a thousand youths and adults. It continued with the construction of 4 outposts over Sukkot with the message, “Construction – not Destruction”

This Chanukkah we built 21 outposts in Judea & Samaria, and our supporters lit Chanukkah candles in the mountains and city centers of Israel.

We plan and will continue to go up and build on more and more Jewish hills for a number of critical reasons.

- In the past years, no new Jewish towns were built in Judea & Samaria (just expansion of existing frameworks). So while Jewish residents are being closed into their communities like in a ghetto, the Arab enemy walks freely through the homeland.

- We are coming to show everyone with strength and pride that the Jewish people are here!

- The land of Israel is for the Nation of Israel, not our Arab enemy.

- It is clear to us that any land that we do not embrace, will be seized by the Arabs.

- And of course, the separation fence that is a decree of destruction on Jewish life in Judea & Samaria – we will fight in due order.


The purpose of the construction of the Outposts is to wake up the public, to return the focus of Eretz Yisrael to our daily lexicon.

We hope, with G/d’s help, with the additional of help of many of those that are still faithful to our homeland and Torah, that we will continue our construction activities and the result of which will be that the political parties of the Right will raise their voices in pride and represent us in strength and honor.

Everyone who takes an active step is blessed:
- Those who can join and help with the “Face-to-face” organization to help bring back the hearts of our people that have gone so far away.
- Those who can work the media to get our message across and influence others.
- And those who want to join our organization.

The point is – do something.

It’s easy to sit at home and do nothing, only to tell others that they aren’t doing the right thing, when you yourself do nothing.

The responsibility falls on all of us. We need to act immediately, in everyway possible.

It’s time you start too – today.
Sunday, January 08, 2006
One of the young ladies involved in the Outpost project wrote a wonderful piece about what she is doing and about what you can be doing too.

I will translate it at a later date, but in the mean time here it is in the original Hebrew.
(I had a little problem with the Hebrew text, but it should be readable)
אנו שומעים כל יום בחדשות על בניית הגדר שמתקדמת, על פיגוע תופת נוסף, על גירוש יהודים מחברון, ועל מגורשי גוש קטיף חסרי הפתרון

בעוד פצעי החורבן מהקיץ פתוחים, וארצנו היחידה ממשיכה לחמוק מבין אצבעותינו

אנחנו לא מסוגלים לשתוק יותר!
לא יכולים לשבת בבית בשקט!

זה הרגש המשותף של חברי "נוער למען ארץ- ישראל" ו"נאמני ארץ ישראל" שחברו יחד עוד מלפני סוכות כדי לשנות את רוח הייאוש והפסיביות בציבור שלנו, ע"י חיזוק הקשר שלנו לארצנו.

זה התחיל מצעדה לסבסטיה בה השתתפו כאלף בני נוער ומבוגרים, המשיך בעליה לארבעה מאחזים בסוכות בסימן "הרחבה כנגד החרבה"
בחנוכה האחרון עלינו לעשרים ואחד מאחזים בי"וש וקיימנו הדלקות נרות חנוכה בהרים ובמרכזי ערים לתמיכה.

אנו מתכוונים להמשיך ולעלות על עוד ועוד גבעות יהודיות ממספר סיבות קריטיות:

· בשנים האחרונות כמעט ולא קמו יישובים חדשים בי"וש (רק הרחיבו את הקיימים) והתושבים נוטים להסתגר בתוך ה"גטו" של עצמם בעוד האויב הערבי מסתובב חופשי בנחלתנו.
· אנחנו באים להראות לכולם בעוז, בגאווה- העם היהודי כאן!!
· ארץ ישראל לעם ישראל! ולא לאויב הערבי!
· ברור לנו שכל שטח שלא נתפוס- ישתלטו עליו ערבים.
· וכמובן גדר ההפרדה שגוזרת כליון על התיישבות היהודית בי"וש- שנגדה עלינו להיאבק בתוקף.

עצם העלייה למאחזים עוררה את הציבור והעלתה את נושא ארץ ישראל לסדר היום הציבורי, וזו כבר התחלה.
אנו מקווים שבעז"ה בהמשך עם הצטרפות רבים מנאמני א"י ותורת ישראל, נמשיך בפעילות הבניה והפריחה ובעקבות כך ירימו אף מפלגות הימין בכנסת את קולם בגאווה וייצגו אותנו בעוצמה וכבוד.


כל אחד הנוקט בצעד פעיל - יבורך
מי שמסוגל וראוי להצטרף לתנועת "פנים אל פנים" ולקרב לבבות רחוקים בעמנו.
מי שיכול להיכנס לתקשורת ולהשפיע על דעת הקהל מבפנים.
ומי שרוצה להצטרף לנאמני ארץ ישראל - העיקר לעשות משהו.

קל לשבת בבית ולא לעשות כלום, רק להגיד על כולם שהם לא פועלים נכון ובעצם בעצמך לא לעשות דבר.

על כל אחד מאיתנו מוטלת האחריות, ועלינו לפעול מיידית בכל הדרכים האפשריות.

התחילו גם אתם- היום!!
Saturday, January 07, 2006

As there wasn’t much time on Friday between leaving Beerot Yonatan and getting back to my own village in Liberated Israel, I didn’t have time to post the pictures and comments from the "event".

In an attempt to stake a claim on more and more of the Land of Israel, instead of squatting, regional Arabs grab more and more land and plant farms on them, and then claim that the land and the farm was always theirs and there (despite pictures and documents that clearly show otherwise).

That is not to say that all the arab farms you see are illegally acquired, but many and certain strategic ones definitely are.

In response to the army destroying the Beerot Jonathan Outpost, it was decided that (l'havdil) like the Arabs we must also plant a farm to strengthen our claim to the land.

It will have the additional benefit of requiring that the army explain to the courts (not that the courts care) why they are destroying an "illegal" Jewish farm, while not doing the same to the illegal Arab farm just meters away.

We were honored with the presence of Esther Pollard (Jonathan's wife) who planted the first grape vine, and then we were surprised with a personal phone call from Jonathan himself!!!

All the while we were under threat from the army and police that arrived on the scene to disperse and arrest us.

Personally, I don't think the policeman understood when I suggested to him that he arrest Esther first, that way she could join her husband in jail.

The location:
The area inside the Orange line is the location of the Jonathan Pollard Vineyard.
Most of the farms in the valley below ours are legally owned Arab farms. The rest (above and to the sides) have been planted just recently (over the past few years) in an attempt to claim the land.







Police Action:

Officer videotaping the "violent" demonstration.

At one point, a few of the dangerous settlers put on a dancing show for the camera.

I was too busy laughing to take a picture.















Capturing the tractor.












Beware - Dangerous Settlers:




















Esther Pollard:







Friday, January 06, 2006
Been busy doing - not talking, so there isn't time to write.

After Shabbat I will post all about the (surprise) new "illegal" vineyard just outside Efrat, including pictures.

Esther Pollard visited the former site of the Beerot Jonathan outpost and planted the first grape vine in the vineyard named after her husband.

We even had the honor of a personal phone call from Jonathan himself.


Also next week I plan an interesting post on Kahane and on those who claim to follow his ideology.

Shabbat Shalom
Let’s see, where do I even begin?

Olmert is meeting with Peres to beg him not to return to Labor.

In the end, Netanyahu never really succeeded in convincing his fellow Likud Ministers to actually leave the government, so he's now telling them to stay in for the good of the country. (Maybe he’ll ask for his old job back in the meantime).

Shitreet has begun the lobbying to be the head of Kadima, and now so is everyone else who thinks they are most worthy.

Everyone wants a high number now, because they know that not more than 10 are getting in.

Peres’s pollsters are back. Suddenly Kadima under Peres will get the same number of votes as Kadima under Sharon (yet somehow not Labor under Peres). Not quite sure how that works, but then again we mustn’t forget these are the same pollsters who said he was going to beat Peretz.

Of course everyone is rallying around the fact that Kadima will continue following Sharon’s legacy.

I’d like to put any two Kadima members in a room and ask them what exactly is Kadima’s platform and Sharon’s legacy.
Just for the laugh.
Thursday, January 05, 2006
(...or not)

Baruch Dayan Emet.

The unconfirmed report states that Sharon is brain dead after extensive brain stem bleeding.
As we wait for more news to be released, I think it is pretty clear that Netanyahu is likely to be our next Prime Minister. At this point (with his weak moral fiber), I find that to also be a scary prospect.

Rumor has it that Sharon asked President Katsav to replace him as Acting Prime Minister while he was to undergo tomorrow’s (anticipated) surgery, not that that stopped Olmert from taking over. I guess everyone unelectable deserves one chance to be PM in Israel, even if it is by default.

At this point Sharon will either buy the farm or go back to it. I personally hope it’s the second. Let him enjoy his retirement in peace, perhaps with only an occasional Kassam lobbed his way.

This will certainly send the nominees in a tizzy. Everyone will want to run back to their mother party. Netanyahu will probably be weak and say yes (Livnat and Shalom will be pushing him that way). Peretz will certainly say yes to Peres. Olmert will run as the head of what’s left of Kadima. Shinui will get their lost votes back. NRP is still going to disappear (either by lack of votes, or by pulling a "Meimad").

It’s a shame that Sharon made the choices he did in the past few years, whatever his motivation or intended (but also unknown) goals.

Expelling Jews from their homes, not peace and security, will be Sharon’s everlasting legacy.
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
As I mentioned, everyone was expecting the Beerot Yonatan outpost to be destroyed by the army.

And so it was, yesterday.

Everything of value (including the youth) was removed in advance, so while the soldiers took out their anger on whatever they could find, ripping and destroying what was left behind, nothing of real value was lost.

And without any youths there, they couldn’t beat them up like they did at other outposts.

-----

Now that it’s been made public, I can finally discuss it.

As you might recall, I mentioned that I don't think that in the long-term outposts like these help resolve anything. The army/police simply comes in and destroys all the “illegal structures” and beats up whoever is there.

It’s just a game of cat and mouse.

We’ve been working on different/better solutions, and this is what we've come up for Beerot Yonatan.

Just like the Arabs have illegally occupied the State land on the town of Efrat’s border to plant fields, (unofficially) the town of Efrat will also be building an agricultural farm on the land.

The army will have to decide at that point what to do. Do they uphold the law, ignore the law, or hypocritically and selectively enforce it only against the Jews?

There will a planting ceremony in the near future.

Details will be published soon.
Well, well, well.

Listen, I won’t deny that it was just a few years ago that I felt that Sharon was being persecuted by those in charge. After all, he was a hero of the Right, and a successful one at that.

It annoyed me to no end when Judge Cheshin cut off his broadcast in the middle right before the election while he was answering the accusations, while Mitzna got a free hour long infomercial the next day.

But over the past year I’ve had to completely reevaluate my opinion of the man, what he stands for, his motivations, and his accomplishments.

Worse, I’ve had to reevaluate what his opponents have said about him, to see if they were in anyway correct.

There’s no denying there is some truth in many things that were said (not that Peres, for instance, is any cleaner, just smarter), just as there is no longer any doubt that the level of disrespect for laws and societal norms running through the Sharon family is incredible.

As these latest allegations unfold, one can only hope that they will oblige him to stand down (because despite everything, the Israelis will still vote for him). Unlikely, I know, but one can hope.
NRP and NU finally broke off talks and will be going their separate ways. It’s about time too. I honestly don’t know who the NRP is courting as its potential voters.

They can’t even claim to represent wishy-washy Zionism.

Orlev represents everything that is wrong with the NRP.

Orlev is willing to destroy settlement, homes, schools, yeshivas, synagogues – just not State-Religious schools, that’s off limits. Does that make sense to anyone?

The NRP has failed to ingrain the slightest amount of either Torah or Zionism in the general population during their entire tenure.

NRP voters might as well vote Meimad – you’ll get the same results and the same philosophy.


As for the NU, they need to wake up and start taking over the role that the NRP abandoned a long time ago. It’s not enough to be for the Moledet.

It involves making reforms in the Education, Communications, and Justice ministries.

NU must take a more active role in the education the children of this country in Torah values. In self-respect. In Zionism. They must work to free the airwaves from the tyranny of government-controlled mass media. They must work to change the way the Judicial system oversteps its bounds.

The NRP is an example of people holding on to their seats with no benefit for anyone else. They had their chance(s) and they repeatedly failed.

It’s time the NU took up the banner and highlight their multipoint agenda for the future of the country. (Do they have one?)
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
The Army delivered orders this morning (or tried to at least) to 11 residents of the Shalhevet neighborhood to leave their homes.

The area in question is unquestionbly owned by Jews. In 1929 the Arabs massacred 69 Jewish residents of Hebron and the rest of the Jews fled for their lives.

Arab squatters then moved in, stole the land and made it into a Shuk.

Since 1967 Jews have been slowly moving back and reclaiming our property.

This is all the more personal to me because part of the land in question today is/would be actually owned by various members of my extended family, their parents/grandparents having barely escaped from the 1929 Hebron Massacre with their lives.
The youth at Beerot Jonathan had a visit from the army this evening (scoping out the future neighborhood).
They expect to be unilaterally disengaged this evening or tomorrow.
All the expensive equipment was already removed so it wouldn't "disappear" (as it did at other outposts) when the army/police showed up.

We'll update you as we know more.

Images have been modified to protect their identities
Monday, January 02, 2006
Havel Havelim #51 is up, and JoeSettler isn't on it!
Sunday, January 01, 2006
Haaretz is so far left they instinctively find it difficult to use the word town or village when referring to anything Jewish “over the green line”.

Archaeologists have recently uncovered what they believe to be a large Jewish settlement dating back from the time of the Second Temple near the Shweifat Refugee Camp north of Jerusalem.

Crazy Jewish Settlers - even 2000 years ago they were causing problems.
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