Category: Frontlines

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Ending the Arab Occupation of Al-Haleddiya St.

Al-Haleddeyi St. may seem like an unlikely location for the next stage of Jewish growth in Jerusalem, but this small street that descends from the Christian quarter to Ha Gai Street into what most consider the Muslim quarter, is experiencing an influx of Jewish residents.

Once considered the main street in the Jewish quarter, Al-Haleddeyi St. known first as Hevron Street, because of the high percentage of Jewish residents, saw its Jewish residents driven out in waves between 1929 and 1937. Many of the Old City Rabbis lived on it, including Rav Diskin. At its peak it had 1,299 Jewish residents and was a bustling center of Jewish life in the late 1800 and early 1900’s.   

Now, with organizations like Ateret Cohanim as well as private individuals, cases amounting to squatting are getting reexamined by the courts.  One by one, properties that belonged to Jewish communal boards are being returned to their former Jewish owners or caretaker committees.

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“We aren’t a banana republic and so if our very respected legal system and courts rule that the Arabs don’t have rights in the complex or that they have to vacate the premises, then so be it,” says Daniel Luria, executive director of Ateret Cohanim. “The same court system that backed the government and gave its stamp of approval to expel and relocate 10,000  Jewish residents and citizens from Gush Katif, should also be respected and adhered in these cases inside the Old City of Jerusalem. Behind the court case is really a story of Jews being driven from the area in the 1920s and 1930s by Arabs and their return to the area in these times. “

This past week I had the opportunity to see first hand one of the newest acquisitions on Al-Haleddeyi St. As I walked onto Al-Haleddeyi St,. Sam Goodman, a local activist and I turned left and then a quick right.  Arabs paid no attention to us as we veered into a small courtyard belonging to an unassuming building.  “This is resting on the Hekdesh [Jewish Communal Property],” Sam says to me as we walk straight ahead into the bottom of the building. “Above us are still Arabs, with one Jewish family on top as well. We all get along.”

The apartment is dark and in need of renovations.  The former occupants left most of their belongings behind before they left.  Unlike typical acquisitions that involve a buyer, seller, and often a few middlemen, apartments that change hands due to a court decision can be far more chaotic in terms of entry.

Interior of newest Jewish home on Al-Haleddiya St.
Interior of newest Jewish home on Al-Haleddiya St.

The apartment Sam and I were standing in went back to the courts several times, but like most of the houses on Al-Haleddeyi St. the evidence of land theft and squatting on the part of the Arab population was incontrovertible.

Up and down Al-Haleddeyi St. more and more Jews are moving in. Israeli flags can be seen out the windows and on the rooftops.  The bustling of Jews is beginning to return. In many ways the quarter system, enacted by the British is being busted apart.  Each new acquisition and court case that goes in favor of the Jews returns the city back to its original state, where a decolonization of Western backed Arab land theft is undone

For now Sam lives in the apartment, standing guard until renovations are complete.  “Once there is a family that wants to move in, I’ll move out.  My job is complete.”  In fact since I saw it, the apartment already has a waiting list and more court cases are pending. Jewish life is returning to Al- Haleddeyi St. Perhaps in a not too distant future it will be renamed Hevron St. as it once was known.

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How Israel can help stop the genocide of the Igbo in Nigeria

By mid-1945 when the Allied Forces had helped to liberate the last vestiges of the German occupation of Europe and end the atrocious concentration camps and gas chambers in Auschwitz and other locations, more than 6 million European Jews had been murdered in the genocide which became known as the Holocaust or the Shoah. The extent and ramifications of this evil boggled the mind of every decent and civilized person and society around the world. But the deed had been done and the only reasonable option left for our collective humanity was this all-important resolve: “Never Again.” The international community resolved from then onwards that as a collective and as individual nations, societies and peoples around the world, we can all make efforts and contribute all we can to help prevent, stop and punish all crimes against humanity, including genocides anywhere it is taking place in the world. Today 2016, there is an ongoing genocide of Igbo people in Nigeria. And it is the responsibility of all people everywhere to help stop it and punish the perpetrators of this heinous crime.

Since the last 15 years the agitation for the reestablishment of the State of Biafra has gained traction. For most observers who remember the events that led to the declaration of an independent State of Biafra on May 30, 1967, almost fifty years ago, this current agitation does not come to them as a surprise. It has always been expected. Frederick Forsyth, the British author who witnessed the Nigerian genocide of the Igbo in the 1960s made this observation in his 1968 book on the subject; The Biafra Story: The Making of an African Legend:

“What had started as a belief was transmuted to total conviction; that they could never again live with Nigerians. From this stems the primordial political reality of the present situation. Biafra cannot be killed by anything short of total eradication of the people who make her. For even under total occupation Biafra would sooner with or without Colonel Ojukwu, rise up again.” (Emeka Ojukwu led the Biafran resistance against genocide and the often reminisced Biafran revolution.)

By the time the Igbo Genocide ended in 1970, 3.5 million Biafrans of which 3.1 million were Igbo, had been murdered by Nigerians with help from the Arab League as spearheaded by Egypt which supplied, pro bono the pilots who bombed only civilian targets in Biafra. The British government and USSR (today’s Russia being the successor state) supplied the bomber jets, the speed boats and other arms that enabled the genocidal Nigerian state to carry out an effective blocked of Biafra during the siege. Of the total deaths, more than 2 million died from starvation resulting from the economic blocked.

While the atrocity against the Igbo was going on in the west coast of Africa; in faraway New York in the United States, in the Spring of 1968, a particularly significant lone-conscientious protest of the evil took place. On the first anniversary of the Biafran resistance a young orthodox Jewish student of the Columbia University, Bruce Mayrock after writing hundreds of letters to world leaders to help stop the genocide to no avail, then chose to set himself afire on the premises of the United Nations protesting the genocide of Biafrans. He died a few hours later at the hospital from the wounds he sustained from the fire. The sign he had with him at the UN compound read: “Please help stop the genocide of 9 million Biafrans.” That sign is as current today 2016 as it was half a century ago when Mayrock first displayed it.

With the persistent state murders of Igbo people in Nigeria by government agents, the State of Israel and its citizens and other humanitarian minded people around the world today can still help to stop the continued genocide of the Igbo in Nigeria. As this is being written the government of the State of Israel continues to do business with the genocidal Nigerian state; cooperating closely with Nigeria’s security agencies as well as in other sectors of its economy. The government and policy makers in Israel can help stop the ongoing genocide of the Igbo today by boycotting all dealings with the Nigerian government. For a democratic and progressive state like Israel doing business with a genocidal state like Nigeria is nothing different from the state sponsorship of state terrorism, human rights violation and genocide. On another hand, it can be compared to any responsible or civilized state in the 1930s and early 40s aiding, abating and being complicit with Hitler’s Nazi regime in Germany.

An independent State of Biafra became inevitable in mid-1967 because of the ethnic and religious cleansing of the Igbo population in 1966 by the people and government of Nigeria. The massacre in which 100,000 Igbo and other easterners were killed between May 29, 1966 and May 30, 1967, is also known as the 1966 Pogrom. It was a government organized and executed purge of the Nigerian country through massacres, looting and expulsion of its Igbo population. This systematic elimination of a people based on their ethnic and religious classification by a national government was led by the Nigeria military dictator Yakubu Gowon. It was aimed at cleansing the Nigerian society of all traces of Igbo people whom the others had come to hate and loath for being “too enterprising, dominating all aspects of the society and unwilling to adopt the Islamic way of worship.”

After the Igbo and other easterners had been expelled from Nigeria, more than 3 million of them were displaced. They went back to their ancestral homeland, and in an effort to protect and preserve what was left of their battered lives, they chose the path of Self Determination and independence. They unilaterally declared a sovereign independent state which they called Republic of Biafra. Upon this declaration, the Nigerian state wedged a war of aggression against the Biafran state. The Nigerian state had two clearly declared intentions on embarking on that misadventure of aggression. One, they wanted to capture Biafra land for the Islamic caliphate of Sokoto and convert the oil wealth in the Biafran homeland. Secondly, they wanted to exterminate the entire adult population of Biafra and convert Igbo children to Islam.    

It was these and other factors that led states like Tanzania to choose to stand by Biafrans’ decision to choose to die fighting for their freedom. After Biafra was declared independent, the State of Tanzania clearly understood that it was only an independent sovereign state, separate from Nigeria that could help stop the genocide of Biafrans. Tanzania quickly recognized and advocated for Biafra’s right to self-determination and independence. In April of 1968 the Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere declared his country’s support for Igbo survival in these immutable and timeless indisputable words:

 

“Tanzania has recognized the State of Israel and will continue to do so because of its belief that every people must have some place in the world where they are not liable to be rejected by their fellow citizens. But the Biafrans have now suffered the same kind of rejection within their state that the Jews of Germany experienced. Fortunately, they already had a homeland.

“They have retreated to it for their own protection, and for the same reason – after all other efforts had failed – they have declared it to be an independent state. In the light of these circumstances, Tanzania feels obliged to recognize the setback to African unity which has occurred. We therefore recognize the State of Biafra as an independent sovereign entity, and as a member of the community of nations. Only by this act of recognition can we remain true to our conviction that the purpose of society, and of all political organization, is the service of Man.”

With the current political and social events in Nigeria, and with the renewed mass killings of the Igbo by Nigerian state agents, Nyerere’s words could have been spoken in April of 2016. An independent state of Biafra is still as valid in 2016 as it was in 1966. For some Biafrans like Col. Joe Achuzia, Biafra was defeated in 1970 but was not surrendered. Achuzia as part of Biafrans who negotiated peace with the Nigerian authority at the end of the war, insists that Biafrans did not submit to Nigeria any instrument of surrender or any such thing like Biafra’s insignia and symbols. The import of Achuzia’s claims is that what Biafrans negotiated with Nigeria in 1970 was cessation of hostilities or an armistice but not the sovereignty, the right to independence and the right to self-determination of the people of Biafra.

After fifty years and with the continuation of the systematic elimination and marginalization of Igbo people in Nigeria, the time is now ripe for the Biafran people – the Igbo, to reclaim their sovereignty and independence from Nigeria. Therefore, it is necessary to note that in this renewed all-important life and death effort, the Igbo will appreciate the help and support of all well-meaning individuals and states like Israel which had gone through the same genocidal experience such as the Igbo are going through today in Nigeria. The truth is that since on the 29th day of May, 1966 the ceased forever to be Nigerians.

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Biafra, Israel, and the Hypocricy of the West

Reports continue to race in about scores of wounded and dead Biafrans. With the violence initiated by gangs backed by the Nigerian government, one tries to grapple with the sheer trantsparent morality of both the White House and the State Department. Obama’s foreign policy has always been an enigma and yet the Biafra is the most baffling of all. The American government continues to back a divisive Islamist over the law abiding people in Biafra.  Yet it should not come as a surprise to those that have watched the US government’s treatment of Israel that, America relishes in playing both sides against one another.  After all conflict is good for business, America’s arms business.

In the case of Biafra, which is home to a growing Jewish population as well as a Hebraic form of Christianity, the pretenses of balancing the conflict have gone completely out the window. The question is not is Biafra different, but why is it being treated different?

 

Echoes of the Slave Trade

Within Biafra, the Igbo are the most populous.  They also happened to have made up the majority of the slave population ripped from West Africa and transferred to the Americas.  The presence and perseverance of the Igbo in a similar fashion to the Jewish Nation is a reminder of just how eternal spirit and hope are.  The West hates to be reminded of its hypocrisy.  Biafra is a constant reminder that in truth the West stands for little.  

The pronouncements of rights and freedoms are just that, clever talking points given to stake the moral high ground while painting others as deficient in the realm of ethics. Yet one must be blind not to see the ridiculousness of it all. The West was the largest perpetrator of the destruction of the African continent, including Israel which rests on its North Eastern tip than any other group of Nations.  Starting with the crushing of the Judean Revolt all the way to destructive policies of post colonial Africa, the West has wiped out whole cultures and memories causing everlasting trauma.

Biafra reminds us who the real enemy is.  The Hausa to the North, much like the Arabs that surround Israel are pawns, enabled by those Arabist bureaucrats at the State Department as well as the neo-colonial policies of Europe. Biafra and more specifically, the Igbo reveals how hollow Obama’s and the Lefts pseudo empathy of African suffering really is. By picking Islam over traditional indigenous cultures,  they have shredded Pan Africanism the same way they have called into question Israel’s very connection to its Land.

Biafra, more than anything exposes the lie that Obama and the West actually care.  They don’t, unless it is about money.

The parallel struggles of Biafra and Israel are a reminder that good people need to stand up. Yet, the situation is also a wake up call to Israel, that now is the time to become the leader it is destined to and take a central role in protecting and freeing Biafra. Doing so will send a message to the World, that morality is something worth fighting for.

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Is the Israeli Government Empowering Islam’s Disregard for History?

“Israel is not the problem on the Temple Mount; Israel is the solution,”Bibi Netanyahu said back in October 2015. “We’re keeping the status quo, we’re the only ones who will do it, and we will continue to do this in a responsible, serious manner.”

Over six months after those tense fall and winter months, when it looked like all was about to unravel under an increasing terror wave from Palestinian radicals, the spring seemed to bring an odd calmness.  Even the Temple Mount, the supposed heart of the conflict saw a growing amount of Jews being allowed up.

To many, the Prime Minister’s approach seemed to have worked and yet we see, like always what the real reason is for the reprieve in Palestinian violence in connection to Jerusalem.

With the help of Regavim and other activists, a situation came to light concerning the Muslim Waqf’s intention to alter the status quo by harming the walls of the Temple Mount in order to facilitate increased access for Muslim worshipers in time for Ramadan in June. The site in question is on the Mount’s South side and would irrevocably damage a declared antiquities site.

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In March 2016 the Israel Antiquities Authority  filed a lawsuit against the Muslim Waqf in the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court that petitioned the court  to give a permanent injunction prohibiting the continued work of the illegal site and restitution.  The injunction was in fact granted, yet one day later the Prime Minister’s office intervened and the injunction was lifted.

This is Bibi’s style.  He talks tough and behind the scenes gives the Palestinian Arabs some gifts in order to remain calm. This particular gift is set to be explosive and would be the first time since the Waqf dug up ancient artifacts on the Temple Mount that they would be allowed to completely alter the status quo.

In early May the Antiquities Authority sent a message to the court insisting the government appeared set on settling the matter through discussion with the Waqf.  In fact, the political echelon admitted that they wanted time to have a dialogue and asked for an extension that would lead until July.

“In the meantime, and during the period in which you are active on the political level and try to finish the matter through dialogue with the Waqf, the  illegal construction at the archaeological site continues, in violation of the order to stop work against them with total disregard for their obligations according to the law and instead attempt to talk with them,” lawyers for the Antiquities Authority charged in  written statement. “The construction works are expected to be completed at the archaeological site with the start of Ramadan in about two weeks. The experience of our client says that as soon as work on the toilets will begin, it will be difficult for future enforcement actions.”

This week right wing NGO Regavim issued the following the statement: “This week, we issued an urgent letter to the prime minister, the mayor of Jerusalem and Minister Regev that the (IAA) is under her wing. We are also preparing a petition on the matter to the Supreme Court. This destruction of Jewish History can not continue on the Temple Mount.”

The question of status quo is constantly pushed to frame actions by Jews on the Temple Mount as encroachment, while actions by Muslims and their supporters are merely restoring that which the Jewish presence altered.  The real question for the government is at what cost do we incur by letting the Muslim Waqf radically change our holiest site in exchange for some quiet. Giving up on the Temple Mount sets the stage for the rest of Jerusalem and so forth. The government would be wise to admit to itself and to the public that the farce of a “status quo” is just that, a lie and if the Waqf cannot uphold its part of the agreement, we no longer need to as well.

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A Year After Quake, Israelis Still Helping Nepal Recover

Israeli NGOs were among the first to arrive after the disaster and are among the last to leave, running a variety of programs in stricken areas.

April 25, 2015, an earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale devastated Nepal. Just over two weeks later, the country was rattled again by a magnitude 7.3 quake centered northeast of Kathmandu. Nearly 9,000 people were killed, 22,000 injured and hundreds of thousands of homes destroyed or damaged in the twin quakes.

As with most international disasters, Israel was among the first countries to send humanitarian aid in many forms. The lifesaving and rehabilitation activities of the Israeli government, military and various NGOs were so significant that the Nepalese came to see Israel as a source of inspiration.

Whether it was pulling survivors from the rubble, delivering babies and treating the injured, cheering traumatized children, teaching resilience techniques, rebuilding villages or introducing lifesaving innovations, Israelis were prominent in all aspects of relief work.

A year later, Israeli nonprofits Tevel b’Tzedek (The Earth in Justice) and IsraAID are still on the scene helping Nepali villagers get back on their feet, and expect to be there for some time to come.

The Earth in Justice

Tevel b’Tzedek, founded by Rabbi Micha Odenheimer with the goal of engaging young Jews and Israelis in the developing world, began its humanitarian work in Nepal in 2007. The original plan was to cycle volunteers to one impoverished district at a time.

“When the earthquake hit, we were in the second cycle,” Deputy Director Elana Kaminka tells ISRAEL21c. “But the quake hit the communities from the first cycle and we knew these people, so we redeployed to those communities in addition to continuing with the ones in the second cycle, which also was hit by the earthquake. In addition, we took on a third district that was affected.”

The organization’s connections and understanding of the region were of invaluable help to other NGOs arriving on the scene.

“The JDC [Jewish Joint Distribution Committee], which is one of our donors, showed up the day after the earthquake,” says Kaminka. “We’re not a disaster-relief organization and they have more expertise in that but had no knowledge of Nepal and no staff here, so we joined forces and have been working closely together.”

One of their joint projects is a youth service program modeled after the Israeli shnat sherut, year of national service, in earthquake-devastated villages. “We train and provide a small stipend to 40 youth leaders to take a role in rebuilding their own communities,” says Kaminka. “People always think about Israeli technology and agriculture, and we do introduce technologies such as drip irrigation, but Israeli social models are also interesting.”

Tevel helped an Israeli medical team from Natan International Humanitarian Aid with logistics immediately after the earthquake; and recently finished a project with Magen David Adom, Israel’s national emergency-response network, to distribute building supplies and food to 800 Nepali families.

With support from the Pears Foundation, Shusterman Foundation and Crown Foundation, Tevel has also worked with volunteers from the Jewish Coalition for Disaster Relief, World Jewish Relief and others.

Bishnu Chapagain, the Nepali director of Tevel’s activities in Nepal, earned his doctorate in plant science in Israel at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. His agricultural training is critical to Tevel’s long-term project to introduce Nepali farmers to Israeli farming practices.

Currently, a variety of Tevel recovery programs in agriculture, education, disaster-risk reduction, resilience, crisis intervention and income generation are benefiting some 25,000 villagers in six of Nepal’s most impoverished regions.

Naomi Baum
Naomi Baum, retired founder-director of the Resilience Unit at theIsrael Center for the Treatment of Psychotrauma of Jerusalem’s Herzog Hospital, teaching resilience techniques to Nepalese women on behalf of Tevel b’Tzedek. Photo via Facebook
The projects are run by 80 Nepali and 59 Israeli staff and volunteers working side by side, fulfilling a three-year commitment to the government of Nepal.

“We don’t come and tell them what to do,” stresses Kaminka. “They tell us what they need help with and we approach our work as a partnership with them. Our focus is not only giving out things but developing people in the community who can take on these projects long after we’re gone.”

This year, Tevel b’Tzedek was the first Israeli organization recognized in Nepal as an INGO (international NGO) among 127 others, including major players such as Save the Children and Care International. “This is a major accomplishment for the Israeli development world. The other NGOs see that there is an Israeli face at the table,” says Kaminka.

“We are now recruiting for the fall 2016 sessions of both our one-monthExchange for Change program and seven-month Tevel Fellowship program, which mixes pairs of Israeli and Nepali volunteers in some of the poorest and most remote villages. We need great people who want to help rebuild Nepal.”

IsraAID

IsraAID arrived in Nepal the second day after the earthquake to help rescue survivors and establish a temporary field clinic in northeast Nepal.

The organization now runs a variety of humanitarian projects in Nepal under the direction of 55 Nepali and five Israeli staffers, says IsraAID Global Partnership Director Yotam Polizer, who visits every other month and directs all the NGO’s activities in Asia. “We’ll be there at least three more years because these are all long-term initiatives,” he tells ISRAEL21c.

Polizer was quite familiar with the country before the earthquake through his previous positions at Tevel b’Tzedek and at the Israeli embassy in Kathmandu.

“I had gained knowledge of Nepal and its language and had many contacts there, so I was able to build a team quickly when IsraAID arrived,” Polizer tells ISRAEL21c.

Working in all six affected districts with support from the American Jewish Committee and Jewish Federation network, IsraAID brings in Israeli specialists to train local NGOs to run initiatives such as an emotional support hotline. “We have an office and training center in Kathmandu,” says Polizer.

Ahead of this past winter, IsraAID and a Korean NGO distributed more than 1,000 packages of warm clothing to Nepali children affected by the earthquake. Polizer points out that the goal was not only to protect the children from the cold but also to ensure their ability to attend school during the winter.

IsraAID in Nepal
IsraAID and a partner NGO distributed warm clothing to 1,000 children in earthquake-affected communities of Nepal. Photo courtesy of IsraAID Nepal

“We helped establish a factory that now employs 130 women and is expanding to employ 500 in the next year or so. They sell honey to local stores and to tourists in Nepal. Each woman receives one beehive stacked with a colony of local Himalayan bees to start her venture,” Polizer says.

Nepalese women in beekeeping jackets
IsraAID’s HoneyAID project equips and trains Nepalese women to be beekeepers. Photo courtesy of IsraAID Nepal

“Theater is an important part of the Nepali culture, and they don’t have electricity or Internet so it’s the best way to deliver messages,” explains Polizer. “Altogether, more than 70,000 people have taken part in our theater program, and the model is now being adopted by UNICEF.”

As IsraAID also continues to work actively in Japan five years after the tsunami (the only foreign organization still on the ground after arriving to help in relief efforts in March 2011), several partnerships have developed between its teams in Fukushima and Nepal.

The Japanese government is funding Disaster Specialist Education, a program where Israeli and Japanese experts who have worked with IsraAID in Fukushima are sent to a Nepali university to train a cadre of disaster-relief professionals such as social workers.

Polizer is especially excited about an exchange program involving five high school students from Nepal and five from Fukushima.

“The Nepali teens came to Japan and they learned from one another and created bonds,” says Polizer. “This was significant because it’s rare for victims of different disasters to make contact with one another. We hope to do more of this. We are fundraising for it now because it was really successful.”

(Originally published on Israel21c.org)

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King Ayi: We Have a lot of Work Ahead

The first thing one notices when they meet King David Ayi, is a deep sense of personal humility.  It is this humility which caused him to shy away from his royal lineage after being sent to America in 1987. Despite his yearning to be left alone, destiny caught up to him. In 1994 he was crowned King of the Ayigbe people of the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, and Benin.  The seat of this Kingdom was in Togo, although most historians confirm it started in Accra, Ghana.

“We always refrained from foods deemed forbidden in the Torah,” the Kings says with his big eyes staring at me as I listened. Circumcisions were also performed on the 8th day, in addition to upholding the Laws of Niddah and celebrating Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year.”

This has been a whirlwind eight weeks for King Ayi, his sixth trip to Israel.  He has dropped Christianity and embraced the religion of his forefathers. In the past he has met with Rav Kanievsky and Rav Shmuel Auerbach.  This trip he garnered the support of the Beit Din (Rabbinic Court) of Bnei Brak as well as the nascent Sanhedrin.

The three times I met with King Ayi, I witnessed countless people come and speak with him, seeking confirmation that there is in fact  a Jewish King from Africa. Some asked for blessings and others just wanted to feel part of something amazing.

Jews of the Gold Coast

Most Jewish history centers around Europe, North Africa, Ethiopia, and the Middle East. Most people have long disregarded Jewish Africa as a fairy tale.  However, more and more information keeps surfacing to support claims that Jews were in fact partly involved with all three famous West African Empires, the Songhai, Mali, and Ghana.  

More than this, there is ample evidence that many of the lost tribes as well as well as the Judean exiles that followed Jeremiah into Egypt made their way West across the Sahara and finally to the Gold Coast of Africa.  This applies to the Igbo nation of Biafra in South East Nigeria and seemingly the Ayigbe people.  Many of these tribes have various levels of parallel Jewish traditions and yet centuries after slave traders, colonialism, and war, have nearly erased direct traces of Israelite ancestry.

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Targeted for Destruction

“The Europeans and Muslims purposely targeted our people in West Africa,”  King Ayi says. “They knew what they were doing and worked together with non-Jewish tribes to not only destroy the Jewish tribes of the Gold Coast, but force our people to adopt Christianity.”

Over 60% of African Americans have Igbo blood in them.  Many are descended from the Ayigbe as well. Ultimately history belongs to the conquerors. Any historical records have long been wiped out and yet echoes of the past remain.  From circumcision to reverence for the Shabbat, this past is now reawakening and King Ayi wants to help nurture the homecoming, transforming himself into its standard bearer.  

“We have a lot of work ahead of us.  I want to bring 400 Kings and Queens from Africa to Jerusalem during Succot and scream Shema Yisrael at the Western Wall,” the King exclaims. “We want to bring Jews from all over the world and proclaim to our Father in Heaven that his children have returned!”

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With Civil Disobedience and Direct Action Biafra Will Be Achieved

As our readers know, the editorial staff of Israel Rising feels strongly about Biafran independence.  Besides being the moral and ethical movement to support, Biafrans are made up of Igbo, Ibibos, and other tribes most of whom clearly share Israelite descent.  Due to this fact, Israel Rising believes it is to the benefit of all of our readers to be connected to their struggle.

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) can categorically and experientially conclude that Biafra can be achieved by civil disobedience and direct action contrary to statements made by some saboteurs and Hausa-Fulani slaves from Igbo-speaking area of Biafraland. That Barack Obama is the president of the USA today is directly attributable to the civil disobedience of the days of Malcom-X and Martin Luther King Jr. For 27 years, the blacks in South Africa never stopped carrying out civil disobedience until Nelson Mandela was released from prison. The Arab Spring started with civil disobedience and the outcome is there for all to see. It is therefore preposterous and smirks of political illiteracy for some compromised people to make mockery of the well-organized and peaceful civil disobedience by IPOB that has the twin objectives of pressurizing government to release their illegally detained leader and for the restoration of the nation of Biafra. One of these saboteurs and political neophytes cum Hausa-Fulani slaves is a man called Chekwas Okorie.

Chekwas Okorie has now distinguished himself as the latest and greatest saboteur of the restoration of the nation of Biafra. Chekwas Okorie is from Alayi-Bende in Abia state and he is the son of Late Chief Edward Okorie (a.k.a. Okorie Emeri) who was a fine gentleman but unfortunately gave birth to one of the greatest saboteurs of our time. Retired Major General Muhammadu Buhari wanted to have a negotiation meeting with the objective of finding a way out of the impasse occasioned by widespread demonstrations by the Indigenous People of Biafra. The IPOB leader nominated Chekwas Okorie to go and meet with Buhari on the assumption that Chekwas Okorie is a man of integrity and a Biafran to the core. Chekwas Okorie met with Buhari twice but never came back to Nnamdi Kanu to debrief him. Instead, Chekwas Okorie used the opportunity of meeting Buhari to cut personal deals for himself. Chekwas Okorie should return all the money he collected from Buhari.

To cover up his track, Chekwas Okorie granted interview to Vanguard Newspaper reporter, Francis Igata, where he displayed his crass ignorance of Nigerian politics as well as mocked the victims of Buhari’s genocidal killings in Biafraland. By making mockery of those while praying inside the football field of a secondary school were gunned down by Buhari’s killer squads, Chekwas Okorie has insulted the memory of the dead Biafrans including those who died in the war of genocide of 1967—1970. By mocking the dead bodies of innocent Biafrans such as Miss Nkiruka Ikeanyionwu, Chekwas Okorie will never be forgiven by Biafrans and all lovers of freedom.

From his conducts and recent utterances, and just like his fellow sexually confused Igbo politicians who prostitute themselves to Hausa-Fulani men in return for political favors, Chekwas Okorie is a clear and present danger to the Biafra restoration process. He has now joined the hall of infamy of Biafran saboteurs along with such names as Rochas Okorocha, Sylvester Ude a.k.a. Debe Ojukwu, Dozie Ikedife, Gary Enwo-Igariwe, Monday Ubani, Joe (Judas) Igbokwe, and all members and officials of Ohanaeze Ndi-Oshi na Ndi-Ama otherwise known as Ohanaeze Ndigbo.

Even his postulated political tactics and strategy is replete with ignorance and idiocy. Perhaps, Chekwas Okorie needs to be reminded that a part of the Nigerian electoral law requires 25% votes to be captured in two-third of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) for someone to be declared the winner of a presidential election. Maybe he doesn’t know that Nigeria has a winner-takes-it-all political environment and that if you don’t have the presidency, you are not going to make any impact. So how does he think that an Igbo party which covers only five states will achieve this electoral victory requirement? It was politically naïve people like Chekwas Okorie that ill-advised Dim Odimegwu Ojukwu to join Hausa-Fulani party (NPN) which led to his humiliating defeat in 1983.

From 1970 till date, Igbo politicians have consistently betrayed those from Igbo-speaking areas of Biafraland and have been in the forefront of frustrating the quest for the restoration of the nation of Biafra. Biafrans are therefore, placing Igbo politicians on notice that we will no longer tolerate the sell-out of our people on the platter of the disgusting lucre from the decrepit Nigerian politics. Enough is enough to these Igbo saboteurs who see Biafra and IPOB as a means of personal aggrandizements and cutting of deals with the Hausa-Fulani oligarchy. The monetization of Igbos in Nigerian politics must come to an end. Under the stewardship of political contractors like Chekwas Okorie, they presided over the balkanization of Igboland such that a part of Ika called Igbanke was carved into Edo state. Even Egbema land was divided into two with a part in Imo state and the other part in Rivers state fondly known as part of the unconstitutional South-South and as a result of this, the former IGP of Police Mike Okiro is today regarded as someone from South-South. These Igbo political jobbers and lameducks have not made any conscious efforts to even unite the Igbo-speaking areas of Biafraland. If not for IPOB under the leadership of Nnamdi Kanu, most Biafrans would not have known that Idoma and Igala lands are part of Biafra. Igbo politicians like Chekwas Okorie suffer from the three diseases of a typical Igbo man which are greed, envy and jealousy. Hence their envy against the leader of IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, over his monumental and exceptional achievements and charismatic cum servant leadership qualities. For Chekwas Okorie, he has met his denouement and at the appropriate time, he shall be called to account for his mockery of the dead Biafran heroes. Chekwas Okorie has betrayed the trust and confidence reposed in him by the leader of IPOB and he will never be forgiven. Chekwas Okorie will soon find out that it does not pay to be a Biafran saboteur.

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The Silent Intifada Weekly Report [May 20, 2016]

There were over 150 terror attacks this past week in Israel which injured 5 Jews as a result.

This week as almost every week there were dozens of terror attacks of varying severity not reported in most major media outlets. We report on these silenced events to present a fuller picture of the reality in Israel and balance the picture presented to innocent readers abroad. We hope that by reporting these incidents we can raise awareness so that actions can be taken to rectify this problem and improve reality in the Jewish State.

This week (May 13th- May 19th) there were 151 terror attacks recorded in the ‘Silent Intifada’ updates on Hakol Hayehudi. Among these were shootings, use of explosives, and throwing of firebombs and stones at individuals, vehicles and homes. Six Jews were injured as a result of these attacks.

Two civilians were injured from stone throwing near Baal Hatzor in Binyamin and in Pisgat Zeev in Jerusalem. Four members of security forces were injured during various Arab riots in A-Tur, Issawiya, and Al-Arub.

Two shootings, in which Arabs shot at security forces, took place this past week. On Sunday night May 15th, Arabs shot at IDF forces in Kabatia and on the morning of Tuesday May 17th Arabs shot at IDF forces in Qalandiya. Similarly, on Wednesday night May 19th, Arabs shot from the village of Kalil towards the town of Har Bracha in the Shomron.

There were two attempted stabbings this week. On Shabbat May 14th an Arab was arrested on his way to commit an attack near Mishor Adumim. Intelligence information had indicated his intentions and a knife was found on his person. On Thursday May 19th, a border police officer noticed an Arab acting suspiciously near a bus in Shuafat. The officer followed the suspect onto the bus and found a knife during a search. The suspect admitted to planning to stab police officers near Jaffa Gate.

On Sunday night May 15th, Arabs from Gaza fired rockets at towns in the South, but the rockets landed in the Gaza Strip. On Wednesday May 18th there was a siren alert in Eshkol at night. Residents reported hearing an explosion, but the IDF spokesman claimed the alert was an error.

Arabs also set fires in several locations, which was particularly dangerous due to the dry weather conditions early in the week. Fires were set near Hebrew University on Mount Scopus, near an IDF post in Har Bracha, in Pisgat Zeev, in Kiryat Arba, and in several other locations.

Additional attacks included throwing of stones and firebombs at vehicles, riots against security forces, throwing of explosives at Rachel’s Tomb and other attacks.

Full list of attacks:

Thursday May 19th

  • Arabs throw stones in Haras.
  • Arabs throw stones in Umm Tzaffa.
  • Arabs throw stones in Ras Al Amud.
  • Arabs throw an explosive device at Rachel’s Tomb.
  • Arabs throw stones at vehicles near Beit Umar in Gush Etzion.
  • Arabs throw stones at vehicles near Al-Fawr in Har Hevron.
  • Arabs throw stones near Beit El in Binyamin.
  • Arabs throw stones at vehicles near Shilo in Binyamin.
  • Arabs riot in Zeita in the Shomron.
  • A soldier is injured lightly from stones thrown by Arabs during rioting in Al-Arub in Gush Etzion.
  • Arabs throw stones at the Yavrud spring.
  • Arabs throw stones in Atarot.
  • Arabs throw stones in Bitunia.
  • Arabs throw stones near Tekoa.
  • Arabs throw stones in Malach.

21:24- Arabs throw stones at vehicles near Ateret.

20:42- Arabs throw stones at vehicles between Yakir and Revava in the Shomron.

20:14- Arabs throw stones at vehicles in Wadi Hermiya.

20:13- Arabs throw stones at IDF forces in the Hursa Triangle in Har Hevron.

18:50- Attempted stabbing: An Arab on the way to carry out an attack in the Old City of Jerusalem is arrested.

15:39- Arabs riot in Silwan in Jerusalem.

15:37- Arabs riot in Aida.

13:40- Arabs throw stones near Beit Umar in Gush Etzion.

13:22- Arabs throw stones near Okafim Junction in Har Hevron.

12:17- Arabs throw stones at vehicles near Al-Fawr Junction.

7:57- Arabs throw stones at soldiers in Hevron.

Wednesday May 18th

  • Arabs throw stones in Hermela.
  • Arabs throw stones in Ras Al amud.
  • Shooting: Arabs fire shots from the town of Kalil into Har Bracha. A vehicle is damaged with bulletholes.
  • Arabs throw stones near Tekoa.
  • Arabs throw firebombs near Rachel’s Tomb.
  • Arabs throw stones in Shuafat.
  • Arabs throw stones in Beit Jala.
  • Arabs throw firebombs in Sheikh Saad.
  • Arabs throw stones at vehicles near Hizme in Binyamin.
  • Arabs throw stones at vehicles near Al-Hadr in Gush Etzion.
  • Arabs throw stones at police officers in Shuafat in Jerusalem.
  • Arabs throw stones at vehicles near Tekoa in Gush Etzion.
  • Arabs riot in Ras Al Amud in Jerusalem.
  • Arabs throw stones at police officers in Silwan.
  • Arabs throw firebombs at police in Issawiya in Jerusalem.
  • Arabs throw firebombs at vehicles near Kochav Yaakov.
  • Arabs throw stones in Hevron.
  • Arabs throw stones in Al-Arub.
  • Arabs throw stones in Al-Fawr.
  • Arabs throw stones in Beit Umar.
  • Arabs throw stones near Rachel’s Tomb.
  • Arabs throw stones in Al-Hadr.
  • Arabs throw stones in Bitunia.
  • Arabs throw stones in Luben A-Sharkiya.

20:28- A rider is injured lightly from stone throwing by Arabs at a bus on Uzi Narkiss St. in Jerusalem.

18:12- Arabs throw stones on the Zawiya Bridge.

16:54-  Arabs from Tayibe throw stones near Paron.

Tuesday May 17th

  • Arabs throw firebombs at the fence of Atil.
  • Arabs throw stones near Al-Hadr.
  • Arabs throw stones near Al-Arub.
  • Arabs throw stones in Nachal Kfira.
  • Arabs throw stones in Al-Ram.
  • A Jewish youth is attacked by Arabs in Hevron at the Jilbar Junction.
  • Arabs throw stones in Ras Al Amud.
  • Arabs throw stones at Hasno Junction in Har Hevron.
  • Arabs throw stones at the 160 Turn in Hevron.

21:17- Two border police officers are injured from stones thrown by Arabs in Issawiya.

20:17- Arabs throw stones at vehicles on Route 443.

16:54- Arabs set a fire near the fence of Kiryat Arba

16:53- Arabs set a fire near the fence of Karmei Tzur.

15:16- Arabs set a fire near an IDF post in Har Bracha in the Shomron.

10:45- Shooting: Arabs shoot at a IDF post in Qalandiya.

10:09- Arabs throw stones at vehicles near Tekoa causing damage.

9:25- Arabs throw stones at vehicles near Al-Hadr causing damage.

8:12- Arabs throw stones at vehicles near the Pharmacy Junction in Hevron.

8:09- Arabs throw stones at vehicles on the Husan Bypass Road near Al-Hadr.

Monday May 16th

  • Arabs riot and attack IDF forces in Al-Bira.
  • Arabs riot in Husan.
  • Arabs riot in Beit Umar.
  • Arabs riot in Rentis in Binyamin.
  • Arabs throw firebombs at an IDF post in Anatot in Binyamin.
  • Arabs throw stones at vehicles in Hawara in the Shomron.
  • Arabs throw stones at the security fence of Pesagot.
  • Arabs set fires near the security fence of Kiryat Arba.
  • Arabs throw stones at vehicles at Hasno Junction in Har Hevron.   

23:50- Arabs throw stones at a bus near Shilo Junction.

23:10- Arabs throw stones at a bus near Givat Assaf in Binyamin causing damage.

23:07- Arabs throw stones at vehicles near Ofra.

19:13- ARabs set a fire near Machine Ofrit close to Issawiya.

17:43- Arabs throw an explosive at the Compound of Rachel’s Tomb.

14:42- Arabs riot in Aida near Bethlehem.

8:13- Arabs throw stones at vehicles near Har Gilo causing damage.

1:19- Arabs throw stones at a bus near Beit Umar causing damage.

00:13- Rocket fire: Arabs from Gaza fire two rockets, both of which land inside the Strip.

Sunday May 15th

  • Arabs riot and attack IDF forces in Shechem.
  • Arabs riot in Abu Dis.
  • Shooting: Arabs shoot at IDF forces in Kabatia.
  • Arabs throw stones at IDF forces in Silwad in Binyamin.
  • Arabs throw stones at Rachel’s Tomb.
  • Arabs throw stones at pedestrians near the Lion’s Gate in Jerusalem.
  • Arabs riot in Bitunia in Binyamin.
  • Arabs throw stones in Bitunia.
  • Arabs throw stones near Beit El.
  • Arabs throw stones at Hasno Junction in Har Hevron.
  • Arabs throw stones in Burin.
  • Arabs throw stones in Beit Umar.
  • Hundreds of Arabs riot near Rachel’s Tomb.

22:22- An Arab is caught at the entrance to Beitar Illit with a knife.

21:17- Arabs throw stones at vehicles on the Halhul Bridge in Har Hevron.

21:14- Arabs attack a Jew who entered the village of Azariya near Jerusalem.

21:11- A police officer is injured from stone throwing by Arabs in A-Tur in Jerusalem.

20:52- Arabs throw stones at vehicles in Har Hevron.

18:23- Arabs set a fire near Bostar Negohot in Har Hevron.

18:01- Around 200 Arabs riot and throw stones at IDF forces near Al-Fawr in Har Hevron.

16:40- Arabs throw stones at vehicles near Elias Junction in Har Hevron.

16:28- A major fire breaks out near Pisgat Zeev in Jerusalem as a result of a firebomb thrown by Arabs.

15:20- Arabs throw stones at a bus in Maale Zeitim causing damage.

9:48- A Jew is injured lightly after his car is stoned by Arabs near Baal Hatzor in Binyamin.

9:45- Arabs throw stones at the Beitot Junction.

9:40- Arabs throw stones near Al-Hadr.

Shabbat May 14th

  • Arabs throw stones in Dir-Astia.
  • Arabs throw stones in Al-Ram.
  • Arabs throw firebombs in Issawiya.
  • Arabs throw stones in Shuafat.
  • Arabs throw stones on Route 443.
  • Arabs throw stones in Issawiya.
  • Arabs throw stones in Hizme.
  • Arabs throw stones in Silwan.
  • Arabs throw stones in Abu Dis.
  • Arabs throw stones near the Tomb of the Patriarchs.
  • Arabs throw firebombs in Abu Tor.

23:35- Arabs throw stones near Revava.

22:15- Arabs throw firebombs at vehicles near Ramot.

21:30- Arabs throw firebombs towards the Hebrew University Campus on Mount Scopus causing a fire.

12:00- Attempted attack: An Arab is caught on the way to carry out a terror attack with a stolen police uniform.

10:04- Arabs throw stones in Al-Fawr.

Friday May 13th

  • Arabs throw explosive devices in Abu Dis.
  • Arabs throw firebombs in Kalkilya.
  • Arabs throw firebombs near Beit El.
  • Arabs throw firebombs in Abu Dis.
  • Arabs throw firebombs in Bitunia.
  • Arabs throw stones in Wadi Jozi.
  • Arabs throw stones in Silwad.
  • Arabs throw stones in Al-Hadr.
  • Arabs throw stones in Badu.
  • Arabs throw stones in Bitunia.
  • Arabs throw stones in Bilin.
  • Arabs throw stones in Ramallah.
  • Arabs throw stones at vehicles in Tekoa.
  • Arabs throw stones in Abu Tor.

18:17- Arabs throw firebombs at the fence of Tel Zion. They also set a fire nearby.

17:47- Arabs riot near Beni Naim.

17:23- Arabs place a burning tire near the gate to Beit El.

17:09- Arabs riot in Kadum.

17:07- Arabs throw firebombs on the Modeh Road.

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Regavim Ready to Go to the Supreme Court to Defend Bedouin Rights

When the Begin-Prawer Plan, officially known as the Bill on the Arrangement of Bedouin Settlement in the Negev was passed in September 2011, advocates for the bill believed it would bring much needed reforms to the Bedouin communities of the Negev.  

According to the PMO official press release, the bill is based on four main principles:

  1. Providing for the status of Bedouin communities in the Negev;
  2. Economic development for the Negev’s Bedouin population;
  3. Resolving claims over land ownership; and
  4. Establishing a mechanism for binding, implementation and enforcement, as well as timetables.

Segments within the Bedouin communities had long benefited from a sense of anarchy and lawlessness, yet many more Bedouins were left without real zoning and local organization to advance their communities.

Proponents of the bill argued that it was necessary to integrate the Bedouin communities more closely to Israeli society. With successive Israeli governments putting an emphasis developing and settling the Negev, the bill became threaded into the region’s broader narrative.

Implementing Bedouin Land Reforms Hits a Surprising Snag

Five years after the Begin-Prawer plan  El Sayed, one of the villages in the El Ksom Bedouin Region that has been accepted by the State to be recognized as a community still awaits a new access road, yet the Bedouins are not the road block this time.  The local branch of Leumit Medical Insurance Company, located in an old building blocks the proposed route of the new access road.

Regavim, an organization typically focused on illegal Arab building has stepped into to help.

“One of the most important projects in the Negev is the community of El Sayed and therefore we are investing a special effort”, says Amichai Yogev, coordinator of the Southern District for Regavim.  “We are dealing with a big settlement that the access road  to it was through a narrow dirt road and distorted . The authorities wanted to promote a normal pavement of the road, so we were surprised to discover that it was the very structure of Leumit that had remained standing like a sore thumb on the route of the road, and is one of the last obstacles that prevent the construction of the access road to the settlement.”

regavim-banner

Despite the fact that there is an existing judicial demolition order that was supposed to go into effect in the beginning of 2016, the local authorities have not rushed to start the demolition.  In recent months, Regavim has conducted extensive correspondence with the regional council, and is considering appealing to the High Court in the event the illegal building is not demolished in the near future.

In the last two years the Authority for regulating Bedouin settlements, has finalized the main access road design for the community. In order to pave the road, trees were uprooted and several illegal structures that were on the planned road were evacuated.  The only structure left on the road is an illegal structure where Leumit operates.

“Along with the consistent and systematic requests by us that the Bedouin citizens be citizens with equal obligations, Regavim makes sure that their rights are also taken care of,” says Yogev.  “Since the Leumit structure is illegal, and the residents of El Sayed deserve a proper wide road with proper safety standards, we will continue to apply pressure until the business at hand is taken care of.”

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Why does UNESCO Insist on Rewriting Israel’s History?

“UNESCO ignores the unique Jewish connection to the Temple Mount, the site of two temples for 1,000 years, and the place to which Jews prayed for thousands of years,” Netanyahu said in a statement last month.

No one should be surprised by UNESCO’s resolution, passed April 11th, yet politicians across the spectrum in Israel have reacted angrily towards a UN organization that has catapulted itself into the complicated political quagmire that is the Middle East.  After all, Yair Lapid expressed the outrage by explaining how the most recent decision goes against UNESCO’s charter.  

“This resolution was an utterly irresponsible intervention in one of the most complex places in the Middle East. UNESCO prides itself on promoting tolerance, interfaith and intercultural dialogue, yet it passes resolutions which erase the Jewish people from the historical narrative,” Lapid said.

The resolution in question takes Israel to task for preventing Muslim access to the Temple Mount and even the Kotel. These two sites, holy to Jews around the world are named as Muslim/Palestinian holy sites Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif and Buraq Plaza.

The resolution at one point says: “Further deplores the Israeli decision to approve a plan to build a two-line cable car system in East Jerusalem and the so called ‘Liba House’ project in the Old City of Jerusalem as well as the construction of the so called ‘Kedem Center’, a visitor centre near the southern wall of the Mosque, the construction of the Strauss Building and the project of the elevator in Al Buraq Plaza ‘Western Wall Plaza’ and urges Israel, the Occupying Power, to renounce the above-mentioned projects and to stop the construction works in conformity with its obligations under the relevant UNESCO conventions, resolutions and decisions.”

Another paragraph states: “Calls on Israel, the Occupying Power, to stop violations against the Waqf properties east and south of Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif, such as the recent confiscations of parts of Al Youssefeyah cemetery and Al-Sawanah area by banning Muslims from burying their dead in some spaces and by planting Jewish fake graves in other spaces of the Muslim cemeteries, in addition to the dramatic change of the status and distinctive character of the Umayyad Palaces, in particular the violation of the continued conversion of many Islamic and Byzantine remains into the so-called Jewish ritual baths or into Jewish prayer places.”

With this sort of language, the government has essentially lost control of a process that began a long time ago.  The process of international delegitimization began by an Arab world seeking the help of other UN member states, has systematically attempted to erase Jewish history in Israel for the sole purpose of rendering Israel’s existence just one long occupation based on historical fabrications.  

The question isn’t why the Arab world is engaging in such profuse insanity, but rather why is the rest of the Western world going along with it?  After all, by supporting UNESCO’s denial the Jewish connection to the Temple Mount or even most of the Land of Israel, many countries in the Christian world have in fact undermined the roots to their own history. So why the rush to support such erroneous claims by the Islamic countries pushing these sorts of resolution?

“Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past.”

In his book 1984 George Orwell penned what has now become one of his most famous quotes: “Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past.” The UN and its associated organizations like UNESCO understand full well that history supports Jewish claims in their entirety to all of the Land of Israel.  More than this, history shows that is was not only the Roman Empire and later the Byzantines that contributed to the injustices of the Jewish people in their historic homeland, but the Arab world by and large finished off through forced colonization whatever fledgling community of Jews remained in the Land of Israel.

Dr. Harry Mandelbaum noted the following in an article he wrote for Think Israel:

  • The historian James Parker wrote: “During the first century after the Arab conquest [670-740 CE], the caliph and governors of Syria and the Holy Land ruled entirely over Christian and Jewish subjects. Apart from the Bedouin in the earliest days, the only Arabs west of the Jordan were the garrisons.”
  • In year 985 the Arab writer Muqaddasi complained: “the mosque is empty of worshipers… The Jews constitute the majority of Jerusalem’s population” (The entire city of Jerusalem had only one mosque?).
  • In 1377, Ibn Khaldun, one of the most creditable Arab historians, wrote: “Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel extended over 1400 years… It was the Jews who implanted the culture and customs of the permanent settlement”

These are uncomfortable facts if you are trying to paint the opposite picture.

In order to perpetrate a future dismantling of the 3rd Jewish Commonwealth in its historic boundaries, the claims of the Jewish people must be returned to the realm of myth.  Does this in fact cut away at the roots of Christianity?  It does, but Constantine through the Council of Nicea in 325 showed that he and the Church were perfectly comfortable in doing away with Christianity’s roots by reworking history and projecting that rebuilt history back onto the past.  

UNESCO is in a sense doing what the Council of Nicea did centuries ago; attempting to permanently control the future by controlling the past.  The irony is that today’s Church has by and large made peace with the idea that the Judaism serves as their religion’s roots.  Despite this acceptance, their overtures to the Jewish people came about precisely because of the Jewish Nation’s return to its historic homeland, which destroyed one of the major tenets of early Church philosophy known as the wandering Jew.

The assumption by the Church, was the exile of the Jewish Nation came about due to a rejection of Jesus, proving covenant between the Jews and the Almighty to be null and void.  According to the Church this exile would continue forever.  Aurelius Prudentius Clemens said as far back as 400 CE: “From place to place the homeless Jew wanders in ever-shifting exile, since the time when he was torn from the abode of his fathers and has been suffering the penalty for murder, and having stained his hands with the blood of Christ whom he denied, paying the price of sin.” The Church was forced to dismantle this tenet upon the Jewish people’s return.  By reversing this sort of doctrine, the Church is essentially accepting the veracity of the Mosaic covenant.

For the world, this history, the history of the Nation of Israel and its connection to its land has become a burden.

Supporting UNESCO or at least remaining silent stems from the inherent need to deny a national connection the Holy Land for the Jewish people. For the world, this history, the history of the Nation of Israel and its connection to its land has become a burden. After all, it is far easier to deal with the Jewish burden than the Muslim one and perhaps, just perhaps that tenet of the wandering Jew, so vital to the Church and many Christian theologians, will be reinstated in a very careful way.

The nefariousness of all of this is of course obvious, but what is perhaps more telling is that the Israeli government has assumed this is just some sort of mistake or lack of knowledge. It isn’t, and the faster it understands this, the faster it can start pushing back successfully.