Will the Peace House be evacuated tonight (on Shabbat) despite further incontrovertible evidence that it was properly purchased by Hebron Jews?

Most likely, as the court is already suggesting that despite the additional new evidence they may want the house evacuated of Jews until they make a final decision (whenever that may be).

Every now and then the good guys win. Well, maybe not win, but it is clear that they should have won. And that is in of itself a victory.

Almost a year ago I wrote about the Beit HaShalom in Hebron. The Left and the government have been doing everything they can to kick the Jews out of their lawfully purchased home.

The courts actually ordered all the Jews to be out by tomorrow - or else.

In a last minute save (hopefully) Hebron's Jewish residents have produced an audio tape of the former owner admitting he sold the house to the intermediary in question (after he claimed to the courts that he didn't).

The courts have rejected hard evidence in the past (signed sale documents, etc.), let's see what they do with this.


The Though Police have released the Kiryat Arba resident who cursed the security forces who destroyed the Federman farm. They discovered his identity only after he outed himself and apologized for what he had said. After learning of his identity (through the apology) the police arrested him.

He has since been released but his thoughts will be closely watched by those in charge.


And finally, in an excavation near Beit Shemesh a 3000 year old pottery piece was found with what appears to be ancient Hebrew writing on it.

Dr. Eilat Mazar has found a new tunnel under the City of David. This lady is great.

And the Copper Mines of King Solomon may have been found.


That's a good way to end the week.

Back when I was a soldier, one of the most important values they felt was a prerequisite for becoming an IDF officer was honesty. Honesty to one's self and to others. The IDF is built on trust and loyalty, and certainly the ability to honestly evaluate a situation.

When honesty doesn't exist, trust and loyalty soon follow suit.

The IDF lied to its soldiers.

During the destruction of the Federman farm the army gave troops orders to keep the area clear of Jewish civilians as they were going to be capturing a terrorist.

They lied specifically to their religious soldiers as they suspected they wouldn't follow the order if they knew they were going to be destroying a Jewish home. I hope they were right.

But now, all this means is that the IDF no longer has credibility in the eyes of its soldiers. They will now always question their orders. They will assume they are false. They will not trust their commanders again.

Once again, the IDF shoots itself in the foot as it lets itself be used as a political pawn in Barak's pre-election campaign.

Rumors are flying high on the internet that Sarah Palin is Jewish.



While she looks like a nice frum girl in this picture (except for the seatbelt), the rumors are probably quite false.

Sarah Palin: MoT? Unlikely.

What an exciting evening it was.

I headed over to the OU Center to exercise my right to (absentee) vote and found myself surrounded by hundreds and eventually (probably) thousands of other Americans doing the same.


American expats were just streaming in and out of the building all night long.

Exit polls should be released on Thursday.

That was some shindig that VotefromIsrael put together.

Here's today's Voting event:

Jerusalem
For you residents near Jerusalem you can submit your absentee ballot and vote:

When: Tuesday, October 28.
5:00 p.m. till 10:00 p.m.

Location: The OU Center
22 Keren HaYesod, Jerusalem


If you have questions, just contact VotefromIsrael.org at: 052.569.7236


You will be able to drop off your official ballot, or for those who have not received their official ballot in the mail there will be Federal Write-in Ballots available at the event.

Now go and vote.

I was talking to a friend who bought a Hefziba apartment in one of the Yishuvim. He's very angry.

It's not bad enough that Boaz Yona got the equivalent of a slap on the wrists and a minor fine, but worse, anyone who bought from Hefziba is going to get royally *******.

As we all know, people gave their checks to the banks for their mortgages, and then a number of the banks, at the request of Boaz Yona, deposited the money into the wrong accounts.

And now the court has made a number of really wrong decisions.

The first is they gave exclusivity for handling this to the law firm of Yitzhak Molcho. No tenders, nothing, they just gave it to him on a silver platter. How exactly does that happen? Why does he get to get richer on the backs of everyone else?

Second, they all reached an agreement (umm, but who was representing the buyers?), that all the buyers would all pay an additional fee (1% to 2% of the cost of their house) to cover the shortfall caused by Yona's duplicity and the bank's irregularities (the banks broke the law actually by depositing the money into the wrong account, but no one is calling them on that).

So now the new homeowners (including those who thought they already paid in full) will be forced to shell out thousands of more dollars. If they don't, they can be fined, not get their apartments listed in the Minhal Karkain under their name, and possibly even even have their apartments repossessed for not complying with the court order!

There is something very wrong here.

As near as I can tell, HaAretz has written an article that apparently criticizes (again) the IDF Chief Rabbi.

From before, we know that Rabbi Ronski is a very active IDF Chief Rabbi.

He's feels it his duty to go accompany troops on their way to battles - even on Shabbat. He was criticized from a lot of religious circles for that, but he views his job as that of the Cohen Gadol before battle. In my opinion rightfully so.

But Rabbi Ronski has been in HaAretz's sites for a while.

A few days ago they wrote an article attacking him for providing some Jewish education to IDF soldiers. Apparently (as we all know) the Education Division doesn't exactly provide much in the way of Jewish content, and Rabbi Ronski has filled that gap - after all, isn't that what a Rabbi does?

HaAretz calls that brainwashing.

Personally I think they are worried that an IDF soldier that has a basic familiarity with Jewish values and Jewish history in Israel won't be able to throw another Jew out of his home.

Now, it seems that Rabbi Avichai Ronski has taken on a personal initiative to go to Jewish prisoners held incarcerated in the Jewish section of the prison (you know, the one that holds the right-wingers), and has been sitting with them teaching them Torah.

Shades of Reb Aryeh Levine!

The article is meant as an attack, certainly its tone indicates that, as do its words. But I can't understand what they are trying to criticize. Nor do I see what it is they are attacking. Yet that is what they are doing.

I read these articles and think, this guy sounds amazing, and what a shame he wasn't Chief Rabbi when I was in the army and needed a good one.

"Handcuffed Settler Beats up 10 Policemen." - That's what the headline might as well have said.

Noam Federman was arrested today as his house was illegally being destroyed by government forces.

He was charged with attacking policemen.

The court was forced to release Noam after the court discovered that some exceptional policemen were offering up some very different (and more credible) testimonies from their fellow policemen.

What became undeniably clear was that at the time Noam was supposedly bashing heads (according to the bad cops), he happened to have been already handcuffed and detained.

Can't hold much water in that cup full of holes.

Unfortunately the "Rule of Law" and those related to perjury are pretty meaningless at the moment, though it is nice to know that some cops can tell the truth on the stand, even though apparently most can't.

Two weeks ago I spoke about how Matan Vilnai (to name one Leftist) would like to see more of these false arrests result in jail time for the innocent victims of police brutality and perjury, as opposed to jail time for the cops who are acting illegally.

It's unfortunate that there are so many of these cases (another 2 girls were released at the same time, as they were innocent too).

Hundred of wonderful Jews spent the day rebuilding the Federman farm.

People there said the destruction reminded them of Gush Katif. Perhaps one day soon we will be Zocheh to also rebuild Gush Katif and the Third Temple.

For more info.

It looks like new election might be on the table, but we have another 8 hours or so to see if Livni really follows through.


On Shabbat, residents of Otniel stopped another instigation attempt by leftists and Arabs who were pretending to go and pick olives - in the fields belonging to the town, within the towns boundaries no-less.

The Leftists came armed with their cameras hoping to film one-side of the story (the part after their provocation).

Otniel residents called the army and security forces quickly kicked the Left wing provocateurs out.

A similar event happened this morning near Kidumim/Shvut Ami.

While on Friday, the anarchists were seen near the gates of Efrat.


A volunteer policeman in Modiin spotted a suspicious Arab and captured him when he then attempted to stab the policeman in an attack similar to the one in Jerusalem last week.

This was followed today by a near stabbing attack of a municipal worker on Har HaZeitim (Mount of Olives, Jerusalem). The inspector happened to have been armed and subdued his Arab attacker.

In Acco, the Hesder Yeshiva was torched by local Arabs.



Police and Army destroyed the farm of Noam Federman near Kiryat Arba at 1-2AM in the morning. Police destroyed the home and all the contents inside - including smashing glass windows in on little children. The farm has been in existence for some 10 years. It is suspected that their is a connection between the Police's acts of vandalism and destruction to Federman's protests against allowing hundreds of armed Palestinian terrorists (policemen) into Hebron.

I popped into the Great Synagogue this evening to hear the candidates for Mayor of Jerusalem debate it out to an English-speaking crowd.

Perhaps I'll give my thoughts another time as there were some clear winners and losers, as well as some mistakes, but politicians aside, it was unbelievable how packed the auditorium was - all the way to the coat room, and up the stairs (both sides).

I heard that people were waiting outside the shul, but weren't allowed into the building as it was so packed.

I can't believe I forgot to bring my camera!

I’ve said it a number of times and it is worth repeating. The Right builds, while the Left destroys.

Let’s look at Gush Katif. Ignoring the obvious of the Right building incredible communities, and the Left coming along and destroying them, something more subtle was going on there.

The same is true in Judea and Samaria.

The Left come here specifically to snitch (to foreign governments), instigate and agitate for the purpose of destroying the Settler/Zionist enterprise. Meanwhile it is the Settlers who are building.

After the expulsion, thousands of Gazan Arabs suddenly found themselves out of jobs - thanks to the Left.

In Judea and Samaria thousands of Arabs may also find themselves out of gainful employment because of the activities of the Left.

What are you talking about, you ask?

Due to the agitation of the Left at least two large international companies have been forced to leave their factories in the Barkan Industrial Park.

Those on the Left actually see this as a great victory, and not as the Pyrrhic victory it really is. There is no doubt these people would cut off their noses to spite their face.

As a result of these factories leaving the Barkan Industrial Park, hundred of Arabs are now out of well-paying employment in jobs they liked with their good working conditions.

Of the 6000 employees in the Barkan Industrial Park, some 3500 are Arabs.

The Left would love to leave them all unemployed.

Meanwhile the Barkan Industrial Park is not concerned. The space is already being filled by new factories that want to move in, and they are even expanding the park due to high demand.

But I guess as far as the Left is concerned, these thousands of Arabs can go pack to picking olives, or just be out of work like they are in Gaza.

Daniel Pipes has been running a series of articles that are investigating and piecing together the actual biographical history of Obama.

What he has put together is quite interesting.

So while it is a minor note, it seems pretty clear that as a child Obama was raised as a Muslim. But even after 9/11 that doesn't disqualify one to be President.

What is actually worrisome are his second-degree ties to various different Arab organizations with financial ties to radical Islamic groups and individuals.

"That Obama's biography touches so frequently on such unsavory organizations as CAIR and the Nation of Islam should give pause. How many of politicians have a single tie to either group, much less seven of them?"

Here is the article.

Here is a photo of Obama's elementary school record listing him as a Muslim

Here is a list of Pipes articles on Obama's history.

There is no doubt that the question of whether one should or shouldn’t vote from Israel is a serious one for readers of this blog.

But if you are one of the many that think that as an American you have a patriotic duty and civic right to vote, then VotefromIsrael.org is going to make it very easy for you.

Tel Aviv
For you residents near Tel Aviv you can submit your absentee ballot and vote:

When: Sunday, October 26.
6:00 p.m. till midnight

Location: The Dancing Camel
HaTaasiya #12, Tel Aviv - Corner of HaMasger near the Central Bus Station


Jerusalem
For you residents near Jerusalem you can submit your absentee ballot and vote:

When: Tuesday, October 28.
5:00 p.m. till 10:00 p.m.

Location: The OU Center
22 Keren HaYesod, Jerusalem


If you have questions, just call VotefromIsrael.org at: 052.569.7236


You will be able to drop off your official ballot, or for those who have not received their official ballot in the mail there will be Federal Write-in Ballots available at the event.

Every now and then I get the urge to play farmer, and it's always with my Etrogim from Sukkot. I'm at it again, and I got the whole family involved.

Usually I get the samplings to live for around 2 years. It takes around 7 before they grow an Etrog.

So I gathered the clan and cut up our Etrog (Yellow with a Shoshana pitom- Lefkowitz variety I believe).

We made an "Al HaEtz" and "Shehechianu" and tasted it, and then cut out all the seeds.



The seeds will sit in the fridge for the next 10 days, and then go into a cool dark place for another 2 weeks, and then we will plant them and see what germinates.



I'll update you with a progress report.

The blogs are ablaze with talk of an Iranian (Radioactive) Dirty Bomb that was on its way to Israel to be blown up on Yom Kippur.

According to the stories, the hold of the ship was filled with radioactive sand.

Somali pirates intercepted the Iranian ship and opened the sealed hold. 16 Somali pirates have supposedly since died of extreme radiation poisoning.

The ship was meant to be detonated near Israel with the fine sand to be carried over Israel.

If this story is true, then all I can say is that God works in mysterious ways, and now we know why the Somali pirates have been running free and pirating these past few years.

We're all still a little skeptical about this story over here, even if it does have a ring of truth to it.

Why hasn't the mainstream media (besides Arutz-7) started picking up on this story yet?

Remember when Sderot and the Negev were under constant, overwhelming attack, rather than the more sporadic attacks they are under now?

Remember how the Left loved to say how there were rocket attacks from Gaza before the Expulsion (they used the word Disengagement), and so it’s no different than the attacks afterwards?

I was doing some research and learned something interesting.

Of the 24 people in Israel that have died from Gazan rocket attacks in the past 8 years, approximately 17 of them were in the 3 years since the Expulsion.

Of the 1010 people that have been injured from Gazan rocket attacks in the past 8 years, approximately 832 of them were in the 3 years since the Expulsion.

In the past 6 years, of the 8477 rocket attacks from Gaza, approximately 6357 of them were in the 3 years since the Expulsion.

Ratios like these remind of the numbers before and after Oslo.

Meanwhile, the number of Israelis killed by terrorists has already exceeded last year’s numbers.

What I’m really curious about is how many Palestinians have the Palestinians killed, as it relates to my post at the end of last year correlating foreign aid to Palestinian homicides. I’ll let you know when I find it out.

B”H we are having a wonderful Sukkot so far. The country is full of exciting events and happenings. We spent today in Beit-El and Shilo. (We also happened to bump into a few bloggers including Jameel and Lurker).

But like the song say every silver linings got a touch of gray.

Shilo was amazing. There were activities for the children, historical reenactments, activity booths, an audio-visual presentation, archaeological discoveries, and of course the location of the original Mishkan (and the Mishkan Shilo Synagogue).


But that’s were the touch of gray comes in.

Shilo used to be the spiritual capital of Israel. The Mishkan used to be located there for hundreds of years. Shilo is a site that is tremendously important in terms of Jewish history.


Yet, from what I saw, except for what the local residents have organized and built themselves, the government has not invested a single agurah in what is such an important site.

This has been bugging me all day long.

How can this country ignore something that is so important, so critical, and so central to our history?

In fact, if you look at most of the important historical locations (such as Hebron for example), the government has chosen to completely ignore them – simply because they are located over the green line.

These sites should be turned into the most important tourist sites in the country, instead they are neglected, and worse, under threat of destruction and loss by the very same government that should be protecting and fostering them.

That is just wrong.

---

Here is a cool thing at the Tel Shilo site that I haven't seen before.

You can get information on each specific location by calling the number on your cellphone and entering the specific site number. The cost is just air time.


This is an amazing piece of artwork that lists all the towns of Gush Katif (click on it to get a better view). It's viewable in the Shilo gift shop.

Once again the police violently attacked Jewish residents of the Gilad Farms (Havat Gilad), without cause and as expected without condemnation from the Prime Minister (still Olmert) or the government.

The instigating policeman, masked his identity, (but was subsequently identified as Khaled Hugi Gah) began beating a newlywed husband at the Gilad Farm. When others in the vicinity began to film the incident and attempt to identify the policemen at the the scene, the other policemen began to beat them too.

The latest excuse for this police instigated pogrom is unknown.

“Attorney Orit Struk, representing the Human Rights Organization, sent a letter to Border Police Commander Yisrael Yitzchak demanding that Gah be kept away from contact with civilians and asking him to enforce protocol requiring officers to wear tags with their names and numbers.

Struk pointed out that she was unable to turn to Judea and Samaria Border Police Commander Shlomi Even-Paz for help because he is currently on trial for allegedly destroying evidence of border police officers' violence against civilians in Homesh.”

While Acco burns, Arabs stone and firebomb cars on the roads of Yesh(a), and Arabs and Leftists are caught destroying Arab olive fields so that settlers get framed, Matan Vilnai (Labor) is planning an inter-agency task force to combat Settler violence.

A number of comments in the article struck my attention.

According to figures presented to the Knesset Internal Affairs Committee last week, police have opened 407 criminal files against Israelis involved in public disturbances in Judea and Samaria since the beginning of the year. Thirty-six cases were opened against left-wing activists, while the remaining 91% were opened against right-wing activists.

You’ve got to admit that that 36 leftists is an amazing low number considering how many justified arrests of Leftists they could do near Chashmonaim (Bi’ilin) or Hebron if they only wanted to stop the Leftwing-incited violence there.


The next line was this.

“While there is an increase in the number of arrests [of Settlers], most of the people arrested are then released without even being charged or convicted. This needs to change."

You’ve got to admit that that is quite interesting. Police arrested 371 settlers and having the charges against nearly all of them failing to pass even the most minimal (and liberal) of court requirements (even for charging, much less convicting).

That means one of two things. The police are falsely and aggressively arresting settlers and therefore (rightfully) are unable to charge them with anything as they are innocent, or the police are totally incompetent and can’t even make a proper arrest.

But this is the kicker.

“Vilna'i's task force would work to come up with ways to deter settler violence and ensure swift processing of cases brought to court.”

As the charges never stick, because they are fake or illegal, this line can only mean one of two things. (1) They will ask the judges to ignore the evidence (or lack of evidence) and convict Settlers regardless, or (2) they will radically change the laws so that Settlers can be arrested and charged for anything the police feel like and that evidence or facts won’t play a role in swiftly convicting Settlers.

It’s been bothering me for a while, and then Baruch Marzel mentioned it, and this past Shabbos, BaSheva mentioned it in 2 separate articles.

The key to the elections for mayor in Jerusalem relies solely on the vote of the Dati Leumi community.

Yet here we are again, debating whether to put in a Chareidi mayor (who has been good for the Settler community, but is primarily concerned with the Chareidi community) or a Secular mayor (who clearly doesn’t want Jerusalem divided, and is reaching out to the DL community, even if he doesn’t really understand it).

Yet both candidates are linked to communities and ideologies that are not necessarily aligned with what’s best for the dati-leumi community (or the country).

Another time I may give a breakdown of the differences between them, but the point of this post (and keep your responses to this point), is that the DL community has again fumbled the ball and not put up one of its own.

True, the DL community (with the Settlers taking the lead) are building up our (mid/high level) leadership roles in key positions throughout the country (army, industry, government, education, etc.), but so far, no one has taken the leap for the top jobs (Feiglin aside).

One explanation is that it simply takes time to build up candidates to reach the level required, but I don’t accept that answer, as there are people with the right qualities (and better qualities than those currently running) that could go for the jobs – particularly in politics, where even a nobody can move to the top very quickly (Livni proved that).

They just aren’t putting themselves forward.

It’s an attitude. It’s a bad attitude. It means that we haven’t yet internalized that we must take up the mantle of leadership if we are to help Israeli society move forward. Instead we continue to think that we must work from within, not from on top.

Effy Eitam is the perfect example. If only he had gone to the Likud (which had been courting him), instead of to a sectoral party, he could have been a serious contender for Prime Minister.

I have been talking with my wife a lot lately about how we want to direct our children.

I am a firm believer that parents should help direct their kids to the right career and life choices.

Obviously kids end up doing what they want, but parents should make sure their kids know what opportunities there are, which are the best ones, and help them open those doors. As parents we have experience, insight and vision that kids don’t yet have.

During our idle Shabbat afternoon discussions my wife and I talk about what we want him to do for a long-term career. Doctor? Soldier? Lawyer? Kablan? Hill-top farmer? Yeshiva student/Rabbi?

This Shabbos we settled on Prime Minister of Israel.

Am I serious?

Lately when you hear Prime Minister of Israel you think corruption, you think betraying your voters, you think scandal, you think dirty politics.

You think, who wants to go into politics? Who would want their kid to be Prime Minister?

(Admit it, that was your first reaction).

But imagine if we trained a generation which views the idea of going into politics as one of properly leading this country to the level of excellence it can achieve (both religiously and materialistically), and not for his or her own personal power and capital gains.

Imagine a generation raised on Jewish ideals and values taking on the mantle of leadership and bringing those values with him from the settlements to the entire country.

It could be amazing.

Most of our generation may be afraid or incapable of taking that visionary leap into actively attempting to become the leaders of our people and country, but that means all the more that we need to train the younger generation to be prepared to do so instead.

You won't be reading this in the Lefty papers, but T"G for Arutz-7.

Yitzhar security forces called in the IDF after seeing a group of Arabs approaching their town.

The IDF caught this group of Arabs red-handed as they were violently destroying their fellow Arab's Olive trees. They had planned to blame us Settlers for the damage.

Long-time readers of this blog have seen the hidden camera footage of Arabs destroying (and an Israeli leftist has even been caught with a saw) their own olive trees to blame it on the Jews, so news of this capture doesn't surprise us, nor that it won't be mentioned in the Israeli mainstream media.

Here's wishing everyone an easy fast, a Happy New Year, and may all your sins be forgiven (because you won't be doing them anymore).

Shana Tova

Bibi Netanyahu was attacked by Uber-leftists Yair Lapid on a TV interview the other day.

Lapid was upset that the Israeli market lost NIS$40 Billion in the past few days, and blames it on Bibi for opening up the markets so Israelis could include foreign companies in their porfolios and pensions.

Since 2003, Lapid wasn't upset when his portfolio and pension was invested in US companies and he was making a handsome profit. I don't recall him inviting Bibi onto his show, and thanking Bibi for allowing his mother's pension to profit as part of the global economy.

But now that it had a loss, Bibi was to blame.

That's quite pathetic Yair, why don't you go to a socialist Kibbutz and whine there.

(What? The socialist Kibbutz system utterly collapsed and had to be bailed out at the Israeli taxpayers expense, and now they are turned capitalists. Hmm.)

If you didn't catch the drift of the previous post.

Go and register to vote before it is to late.

(And do not vote for Obama).

I was looking for something else entirely when I found this information from 1998. It is count of the number of Americans living abroad and in which countries.

(I have not found any more recent data than this - so please remember that these numbers are from 1998, but it is safe to assume that the ratios have remained relatively the same, even though all the numbers have grown).

As America goes to the polls, certain types of people like to single out Jews living in Israel as not having the right or entitlement to vote (or crying dual loyalty) because they’re Jews living in Israel or maintain dual citizenship. They would prefer to ignore American law as well as the concept of "no taxation without representation".

The problem is that when you single out the 159,000 Jews (10 years later, around 250,000) living overseas, you are ignoring that Jews make up a mere 5% of the population of Americans overseas who have the right to vote.

In 1998 3.3 million American resided permanently abroad (and you can bet that a significant number of them are dual citizens, and that's not counting the dual citizens living in America).

In fact, Israel is hardly the country with the largest expat community. It ranks #4 and well below the larger communities of expats.

• Canada 683,000
• Mexico 261,000
• UK 216,000
• Israel 159,000
• Italy 145,000
• Germany 130,000
• Phillipines 105,000
• Australia 89,000
• Greece 88,000
• Dominican Republic 82,000
• Japan 75,000
• China 68,000
• France 64,000
• Spain 59,000

(There's other countries that should be listed here, but I couldn't be bothered).

The number of American living permanently abroad today far outreaches these number and is believed to approach 10,000,000. The number of Americans with dual citizenship is also at an all-time high.

So next time someone singles out American Jews living in Israel (with or without dual citizenship) and says they shouldn’t be allowed to vote (for whatever reason), just remember that they just singled out the Jews who make up a mere 5% of the total number of Americans abroad.

You don't have to call them anti-Semites to their face, but you know they are (and they know they are), especially when they should be going after Americans permanently residing in Canada instead.

After reading this weekend's papers I've come to the conclusion that the Sternhell attack was a setup.

Besides that no one on the Right really cares about this guy (unless he's being giving another Israel prize) the Left's reactions have been so over the top and so in line with the current agenda to smear the settlers and the Right, that it was too opportune and too ridiculous.

And come on, he was "nearly killed"?!

From the pictures, it looks like the damage made by a "bomb" was the size of a large firecracker, not something that would kill. (And if it wasn't the Shabak or the Left that planted it, it is from that crazy guy trying to frame the RealRight website owner, which no one but Makor Rishon has bothered to write about).

What's annoys me more is how the papers minimized the attack in Yitzhar. Even this weekend one paper wrote that the boy only needed a "few stitches". Well, that's a few stitches more than Sternhell needed (none).

Jackie Levy got it right this weekend when he wrote:

"Something about the automatic responses to the attack on Professor Ze’ev Sternhell was too loud, too generalizing, and too theatrical in the negative sense of the word. In short, there was something about the reactions of leftists such as Zahava Gal-On, Haim Oron, and Peace Now members that insisted on turning them into a caricature."

As a settler, and knowing some of the people and places being names in the articles, I can honestly say that there is way too much emphasis being placed on hearsay and Arab inventions rather than hard facts, much less the truth (after all, truth shouldn't get in the way of the agenda) - the story of the Shepherd and the fabricated settler human hunters being a perfect example.

I'm debating whether to cut off all left-of-center papers this week in protest to this early start to what is clearly the beginning of RabinFest.

Was there a single paper you read that didn't discuss the Palestinian Shepherd that was "shot by settlers" on its front page? Was there a single paper that didn't mention the white car the Settlers drove away in after doing their murderous deed - as reported by Arab witnesses?

But how many of you read the retraction (not on the front page)?

The shepherd managed to kill himself when he picked up an old shell which then exploded.

Did any left-wing group apologize after trying to fob off on us another Arab BS story in order to malign the settlers? Obviously not.

In case you didn't realize, "It's Wabbit Season".

I'm just waiting for Olmert to call it another "Jewish Pogrom" and example of Settler lawlessness and violence.

Last night 9 cars (owned by Jews) were stoned and firebombed, and one Jewish boy (age 7) was injured as was another unidentified individual. All done (apparently) by residents of the Arab village of Azun.

Didn't you see it mentioned on the news? No!

You probably only heard about the Arab rock throwing incident in Devoriyah near Afula (that's within the Green line, if you weren't sure).

Azun is an Arab village in the Shomron, near the Jewish town of Karnei Shomron and Ma'aleh HaShomron.

After the attacks kept going on, and the local Jewish residents noticed the dearth of IDF soldiers and policemen responding to the attacks (they showed up, but only after 9 cars were hit in a 20 minute period), this morning the local residents decided to respond on their own.

Dozens of residents blocked the entrance and exit to Azun with their cars. The roads were backed up for miles, and the police, who for a change rushed to the scene (in far less than 20 minutes), only managed to back it up even more when they tried to bypass the roadblocks.

Many Jewish residents then strode through the village (not attacking anyone or damaging property, but making it clear that they were there). The Arab residents did not come out of their houses (they were placed under curfew by the army for yesterday's attacks).

The police decided to ticket all the cars that were blocking the offending village and arrested 4 Jews. No Arabs were arrested for throwing stones or firebombs.

Oh come on, this is just getting ridiculous.

Olmert's latest last week is that Israel will give up the Golan Heights.

What is this? Is it a fire sale? Going out of business? Does he think the Left will somehow let up, and he'll manage to hang on as PM for longer? Has his wife totally warped his brain? Has he given up and lost everything, and therefore assumes the rest of the country should follow suit.

The real question is how much longer until new elections so we can get these clowns unscrewed from their seats.

While all the other Rosh Hashanah papers were going on about the new Right Wing Undergound and their website, and how all right wingers (anyone not far left) need to be suppressed for the good of democracy, only one paper managed to break the real story.

All the papers have been talking about a right-wing website "The Real Rightwing", where the threats of attack were first seen.

Except that they were never seen there.

Apparently no paper except for Makor-Rishon (Tzofeh/Daily Edition) actually bothered to talk to the website owner.

After the story broke in the papers, the shocked site owner went to the police with all his forums records.

Why?

Because first of all, the story that threats were published on his forum were completely untrue.

It turns out, the story of the threat was emailed using a spoofed name to the various news sources that ran with the story without bothering to check with the site itself - where the threats never appeared at all.

The site owner, Aharon Levi, went to the police, who themselves confirmed that they were aware that the email was obviously spoofed.

In fact, they apparently have a good lead as to who it is, as their prime suspect is some kid who was banned from the forum for anti-social behavior, and has been stalking and harassing Levi ever since (including spoofing his name in emails).


Do with that information, what you will.