WAR ON THE TRUTH: Why Did Israel Ban UNESCO From Hebron?

Israel’s ambassador to UNESCO, Carmel Shama-Hacohen said the following concerning Israel’s refusal to allow UNESCO to come to Hebron on a fact finding mission:

“As a matter of principle, Israel will not provide legitimization to any Palestinian political move under the guise of culture and heritage.”

UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee is set to meet from July 2-12 in Krakow, Poland, for its annual assembly. Listed on the agenda is Hebron as ‘Hebron/Al-Khalil Old Town, Palestine.’ Given the fact that UNESCO has already denied the connection between the Jewish people and the Temple Mount and Western Wall area, there is little doubt that the international body would not refrain from continuing to rewrite history.

Shama-Hacohen described the Palestinian request as “tainted by politicization, lies and libel against the State of Israel and against the Jewish people’s connection to the site… the Palestinians have opened another front in the religious and cultural war they are trying to impose on us.”

Jewish Connection to Hebron is Ancient

From the time Abraham bought the double cave from the Ephron as a family burial site in Hebron, the city has served as the foundational place for Israel and the Jewish people whether in the Land or exiled. From King David’s time onward, the burial cave became a site of increased pilgramages. By the Second Temple period, King Herod had to build a giant structure above the cave to service the many Jews who came to visit.  This monument/building is the oldest Jewish still standing free structure in the world and can be seen by all who come to Hebron. It was built 650 years before a single Arab stepped foot in Hebron.

Long before the Arabs came to Hebron, the Jewish community thrived and grew and existed in the city well after the Muslim conquest of Israel in the 7th Century.  In fact a groups of Jews who had fled the Spanish Inquisition settled in Hebron and revived the failing community.

There they lived until 1929 when the Arabs went on a rampage massacring the Jews of the city, effectively rendering Hebron Judenrein. Jews tried returning after the massacre but were pushed out completely in 1936 as part of a series of Arab riots across Israel. It was not until 1967 when Israel liberated the city that Jews began to come back to their ancient residences.

Today the city is thriving, with young couples and children spread throughout multiple neighborhoods.

The idea that Hebron is a “Palestinian” city is presposterous, but then again when it comes to Jews UNESCO believes in fake history.

So Why Do the Palestinians Insist on Claiming Hebron?

The Palestinians being an amalgamation of various people who migrated into Israel at different times, have no collective or historical national experience. There only long term chance at winning a war against the rightful indigenous nation is to deny that nation (Israel) a connection to the Land. Hebron is key for this strategy as it is part and parcel of Israel’s claim to the entire Land of Israel.  Afterall, not only Jews agree that Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob, and Leah are buried there, but Christians and many moderate Muslims do as well.

So the Palestinians must attack the roots of our nation and Hebron is the ultimate place to start. Afterall, if we are denied a connection to our patriarchs and matriarchs, then who are we?

Israel banned UNESCO from Hebron, because the upcoming vote has nothing to do with creating peace or ensuring the Palestinians have individual rights (national rights would be a farce), it has only one aim and that is an assault on a very clear historical truth.

David Ben Gurion said the following about Hebron:

“However, don’t forget: the beginnings of Israel’s greatest king were in Hebron, the city to which came the first Hebrew about eight hundred years before King David, and we will make a great and awful mistake if we fail to settle Hebron, neighbor and predecessor of Jerusalem, with a large Jewish settlement, constantly growing and expanding, very soon. This will also be a blessing to the Arab neighbors. Hebron is worthy to be Jerusalem’s sister.” 

Just two weeks I went with my son and his class to the Cave of the Patriarchs.  On the side of the Herodian structure was a place that marked the furthest Jews were allowed to go when the site was run by Arabs. There, as if marking the place where Jewish tears yearned for centuries to have full regained access to our second holiest site is a hole, which was blocked up until after the city was liberated 50 years ago.  This hole leads into the cavern containing the tombs of our patriarchs and matriarchs.

Our connection to Hebron is beyond historical or political or even religious.  We are bound to Hebron by way of eternal deed.  No UNESCO vote can change that. In fact our deed will long outlast UNESCO or any other international body that warps history and seeks to sever the connection between the Jewish people and their Land.

 

Justice Minister Shaked Takes on EU Funded Anti-Israel NGO

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked called on Israel’s attorney general Avichai Mandelblit to open a criminal investigation against “Bladna,” an Israeli-Arab non-profit organization that she says incites Druze youth against IDF enlistment.

“Incitement against IDF enlistment is not only a violation of the law, but harms the cultural fabric and ethos of Israeli society,” said Shaked. “It is inconceivable that this illegal activity occurs under the noses and with the backing of elected officials.”

Shaked’s statement came in response to a report released by the Zionist organization Im Tirtzu, which claimed that Bladna’s anti-enlistment activities were in violation of the law because they targeted Druze youth who are required to serve in the IDF.

According to the report, Arab members of Knesset including Joint List head Ayman Odeh have publicly supported the organization and have participated in their events at recent as April 2017. The report also notes that Bladna’s donors include the US-based New Israel Fund and the European Union, which donated nearly 2,000,000 NIS to the group in 2015.

Druze members of Knesset also responded to the report.

d“I am proud of the members of the Druze community who enlist in the IDF and sanctify the ‘blood covenant’ that exists between the Druze community and the State of Israel,” said Minister of Communications Ayoob Kara.

“I will not allow for any organization, whether political or extra-parliamentary, to harm the unique and strong social fabric created over the years by inciting against IDF enlistment.”

Yisrael Beiteinu MK Hamad Amar, Deputy Speaker of the Knesset, pointed to the high percentage of Druze enlistment, calling their loyalty to the state “unquestionable.”

“Not Bladna nor any other organization will be able to uproot the deep and strong connection between the Druze community and the State of Israel,” said Amar.

Kulanu MK Akram Hasson also responded to the report by requesting the non-profit registrar to disband Blanda. “They will not succeed in stoking the flames of quarrel between brothers,” said Hasson.

Chairman of the Subcommittee for Personnel in the IDF, MK Amir Ohana (Likud), announced his intention to convene an emergency committee session to discuss the findings of the report.

“We cannot allow for the haters of Israel to harm the IDF and its soldiers,” said Ohana. “These despicable individuals are trying to discourage IDF enlistment of the Druze community, which includes the best of our warriors and heroes.”

Im Tirtzu CEO Matan Peleg emphasized how the New Israel Fund and European governments are trying to “brainwash” Arab youth against integrating in Israeli society.

“It is inconceivable that anti-Israel incitement can penetrate unhindered into Israeli schools,” said Peleg. “It is important to note how the ones to suffer the most are the Arab youth who are being brainwashed to oppose the society in which they live.”

“We are calling on the Attorney General to open an investigation against this foreign agent organization, for both inciting the Druze sector against IDF enlistment and for engaging in seditious activity by calling on an entire population of society to oppose the state.”

Israel, American Jewry and Trump’s GOP

To understand what can and ought to be done, it is first important to understand the nature of the BDS movement.

Earlier this month Norway, Denmark and Switzerland did something surprising.

Norway announced that it was demanding the return of its money from the Palestinian Human Rights and Humanitarian Law Secretariat, for the latter’s funding of a Palestinian women’s group that built a youth center near Nablus named for PLO mass murderer Dalal Mughrabi.

Denmark followed, announcing it was cutting off all funding to the group.

And last week, the Swiss parliament passed a resolution directing the government to amend Swiss law to block funding of NGOs “involved in racist, antisemitic or hate incitement actions.”

For years, the Israeli government has been urging these and other European governments to stop funding such groups, to no avail. What explains their abrupt change of heart? In two words: Donald Trump.

For years, the Obama administration quietly encouraged the Europeans to fund these groups and to ratchet up their anti-Israel positions. Doing so, the former administration believed, would coerce Israel to make concessions to the PLO.

But now, Trump and his advisers are delivering the opposite message. And, as the actions by Denmark, Norway and Switzerland show, the new message is beginning to be received.

If the US administration keeps moving forward on this trajectory, it can do far more than suspend funding for one terrorism-supporting Palestinian NGO. It can shut down the entire BDS industry before Trump finishes his current term in office.

To understand what can and ought to be done, it is first important to understand the nature of the BDS movement. Under the catchphrase BDS, two separate campaigns against Israel and against Jews are being carried out.

The first BDS campaign is a campaign of economic warfare. The focal point of that campaign is Europe. The purpose of the campaign is to harm Israel’s economy by enacting discriminatory, anti-Israel trade policies and encouraging unofficial consumer and business boycotts of Israeli firms and products.

The US Congress can end this economic war against Israel by passing laws penalizing European states for engaging in trade practices that breach the World Trade Organization treaties. The US Treasury Department can also push strongly and effectively for such an end in its trade negotiations with the EU. The Treasury Department can also investigate whether and how EU trade practices toward Israel constitute unlawful barriers to trade.

Unlike the situation in Europe, where the BDS economic war against Israel is fairly advanced, efforts in the US to mount economic boycotts of Israel hit an iceberg early on due to the swift preemptive actions taken by state legislatures.

In 2015, then-South Carolina governor Nikki Haley became the first governor to sign a law barring her state government from doing business or investing in companies that boycott Israel. Last week Kansas became the 21st US state to pass an anti-BDS law along the same lines. Last month, all 50 state governors declared opposition to BDS.

The second BDS campaign being carried out against Israel is a form of political and social warfare.

Its epicenter is US academia. Its purpose is to erode US support for Israel, by making it politically unacceptable and socially devastating to publicly voice support for Israel on college campuses and more generally in leftist circles.

As is the case with the economic BDS campaign, the best way to defeat political BDS is through state and federal government action. If state and federal governments withheld funding to universities and colleges that permit BDS groups to operate on their campuses, campus administrators, who to date have refused to lift a finger against these hate groups, would be forced into action.

If the US Education and Justice departments opened civil rights investigations against major BDS groups for antisemitic bigotry, campus administrators would finally begin banning them from their campuses.

For many Israelis, the notion that defeating BDS is a job for the US government rather than for grassroots, American Jewish activists, will come as a surprise.

When Israelis think about the BDS movement, they tend to think that the American Jewish community is the place to turn for assistance.

This is not merely incorrect.

As two studies published in the last few weeks show, the notion that Israel can look to the American Jewish community for help with anything is becoming increasingly dubious.

To be sure, there are several American Jewish groups that devote massive resources to combating BDS on campuses. But their actions are tactical.

They fight specific BDS resolutions coming to votes before student councils. They train pro-Israel students to defend Israel to their peers.

While helpful, none of these actions constitutes a serious challenge to the movement.

On a strategic level, the effective moves made to date against BDS have been initiated by Republicans.

Alan Clemmons, the South Carolina lawmaker who initiated the anti-BDS bill in his statehouse and has since gone on to spearhead the state government anti-BDS drive nationally, is a Christian Zionist.

Clemmons didn’t act out of concern for South Carolinian Jews. The Jewish community of South Carolina numbers a mere 20,000 members. The state-by-state anti-economic BDS campaign is neither the brainchild of any major Jewish group nor the product of their efforts.

So, too, to the extent that the Trump administration and the Republican-controlled Congress take action to defeat BDS on campuses and in Europe, they won’t be answering the call of their Jewish constituents. American Jews vote overwhelmingly for the increasingly anti-Israel Democratic Party. And while making up a mere 2% of the US population, American Jews contributed 50% of the donations to the Democratic Party in the 2016 elections.

This then brings us to the two studies of the American Jewish community and its future trajectory.

The first study was published by the Jewish Agency’s Jewish People Policy Institute. It analyzes the data from the 2013 Pew survey of American Jewish attitudes. The Pew survey demonstrated that the Jewish identity of American Jews is growing increasingly attenuated and superficial.

Famously, while 19% of American Jews said that they view observance of Jewish law as an essential part of their Jewish identity, 42% said they viewed having a good sense of humor as an essential part of their Jewish identity.

The JPPI study analyzed the Pew data regarding rates of marriage and childbearing among American Jews aged 24-54. The study started with the data on intermarriage. Sixty percent of non-haredi American Jews are married to non-Jews. A mere 32% of married American Jews are raising their children as Jewish to some degree.

From there, the JPPI study considered marriage and childbirth rates in general. It works out that a mere 50% of American Jews between 24 and 54 are married. And a mere 40% of American Jews between those ages have children living with them.

The JPPI study tells us two important things.

First, in the coming years there will be far fewer American Jews. Second, among those who are Jewish, their Jewish identity will continue to weaken.

Clearly, it would be unwise for Israel to believe that it can depend on such a community to secure its interests in the US for the long haul.

The second study shows that not only can Israel not expect the American Jewish community to help it maintain its alliance with the US, the number of American Jews willing to spearhead anti-Israel campaigns is likely to grow in the coming years.

The second study was produced by Brand Israel, a group of public relations experts that for the past decade has been trying to change the way young Americans think about Israel. The idea was to discuss aspects of Israel that have nothing to do with the Palestinians, with an emphasis on Israel as a hi-tech power. The hope was that by branding Israel as the Start-Up Nation, leftists, who support the Palestinians, would still support Israel.

Fern Oppenheim, one of the leaders of Brand Israel, presented the conclusions of an analysis of the group’s work at the Herzliya Conference this week and discussed them with The Times of Israel. It works out that the PR campaign backfired.

Far from inspiring increased support for Israel, Oppenheim argued that the hi-tech-centric branding campaign made leftist American Jews even more anti-Israel. She related that over the past decade, there has been an 18-point drop in support for Israel among US Jewish students.

To remedy the situation, which she referred to as “devastating,” Oppenheim recommended changing the conversation from hi-tech to “shared values.”

The problem with Oppenheim’s recommendation is that it ignores the problem.

Young American Jews aren’t turning against Israel because their values are different from Israeli values. By and large, they have the same values as Israeli society. And if they know anything about Israel, they know that their values aren’t in conflict with Israeli values.

Young American Jews are turning on Israel for two reasons. First, they don’t care that they are Jewish and as a consequence, see no reason to stick their necks out on Israel’s behalf.

And second, due in large part to the political BDS campaign on college campuses, supporting Israel requires them to endanger or relinquish their ideological home on the Left. Since their leftist identities are far stronger than their Jewish identities, young American Jews are joining the BDS mob in increasing numbers.

This then brings us back to BDS.

The only way to diminish the groundswell of American Jews who are becoming hostile toward Israel is to defeat the forces of political BDS on campuses. To do this, Israel should turn not to the Jewish community but to evangelical Christians, the Trump administration and the Republican- controlled Congress.

As for the American Jews, Israel needs to stop viewing the community as a resource and begin to view it as a community in crisis. To this end, the most significant contribution Israel can make to the American Jewish community – particularly to non-Orthodox American Jews – is to encourage them to make aliya. Assuming that current trends will continue, the only way non-Orthodox American Jews can have faith their grandchildren will be Jewish is to make aliya.

No, this won’t appeal to all American Jews. But nothing Israel does will. Israel’s job isn’t to reach the unreachable. It is to protect its alliance with the US and to help the Jews that remain in the room.

Originally Published in Jerusalem Post

Jared Kushner is in Israel, Is Peace Actually Happening?

Jared Kushner landed in Israel just under 24 hours ago and after rushing to visit the grieving Malka family over their daughter’s murder on Shabbat he wasted no time going to visit Bibi Netanyahu.

The purpose of Kushner’s visit is to push Trump’s “ultimate deal” to broker Israel-Palestinian peace.  To casual observers it appears that there is really momentum towards a peace deal.

Perhaps there is, but let’s look at five reasons this could all be just a show or even more importantly a deal that has nothing to do with the Palestinians:

  • Trump agrees with Israel’s rights as the sovereign in Jerusalem, “Palestinians” will never agree to that.
  • Trump does not really care about “settlements,” “Palestinians” believe they must go.
  • Trump has opted for regional normalization first before any agreement on final status issues.
  • If Mahmoud Abbas, the “Palestinian” strongman agrees to any deal he will be killed by his own people.
  • Trump agrees that Israel should have full security control over Judea and Samaria.

Given the above list, peace does not seem likely anytime soon.  So what’s really going on?

Interim Deal and Normalization

Trump’s team is pushing normalization first and then an interim solution leaving out final status issues for the foreseeable future. This is essentially a rendition of Education Minister Naftali Bennett’s Stability Plan. The interim deal will see some sort of non contiguous Palestinian State arise in Area A and B where they already have some sort of autonomy.  C will continued to be controlled by Israel.  “Settlements” will continue in two different capacities.  In the main blocks there will unrestrained building.  In the rest of the Jewish communities in Area C building will continue to allow for natural growth.

Furthermore, Israeli communities across Area C will be given the same political status as any other Israeli community.  This has already been established by Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked earlier in the month.

So they would Abbas or the Sunni Arab world go for any of this?

Abbas doesn’t want a real deal for reasons mentioned above. He does want a long-term status quo with an upgrade for the territory he manages.

The Sunni world has never liked the Palestinians.  They have created a “cause” in order to push back on Israel.  Now they need Israel and they need the “cause” they created to quiet down.  The interim plan is the way for this to happen.

Look for Kushner to push the beginnings of an interim solution, a solution that will be so long-term it may just be permanent.

 

Why is the Iraqi Government Supplying ISIS with Humanitarian Aid?

BasNews, a Kurdish magazine reports that the Iraqi government is tranferring, “thousands of tons of medicine are being transferred to the Islamic jihadists.”

Below is the video proof:

If the Islamic State falls apart, why is the Iraqi government who is headed by a secular Shiite aiding a Sunni Jihadist group?

The answer is simple, the Iraqi government has always functioned on two levels.  On the national level it is run by a Shia who heads a secularist Sunni party, but Iraq has its own Deep State, which has been penetrated by Baathists from the Saddam years.

More than that, a Der Spiegel report published two years ago, blew the lid off of the minds behind ISIS. The report details how the Islamic State was in fact birthed by the same Baathist leadership that had been behind Saddam Hussein.

The Der Spiegel report named Samir Abd Muhammad al-Khlifawi other wise known Haji Bakr as the architect of the Islamic State.

“The former colonel in the intelligence service of Saddam Hussein’s air defense force had been secretly pulling the strings at IS for years. Former members of the group had repeatedly mentioned him as one of its leading figures. Still, it was never clear what exactly his role was.

But when the architect of the Islamic State died, he left something behind that he had intended to keep strictly confidential: the blueprint for this state. It is a folder full of handwritten organizational charts, lists and schedules, which describe how a country can be gradually subjugated.”

The secular Baathists understood to regain control of Iraq they had to align with far more driven Jihadists.  It was in this vein that they penetrated the countless Jihadist cells fighting against the US and its nascent Iraqi government. Bakr methodically implemented a plan of using Islamic labels to attract and set up a Baathist control structure that allowed them to capitalize on the chaos in Syria to take over the Eastern part of the country in order to launch a war to regain Iraq.

To do this they needed Islamic underpinnings in order to attract young fighters as well as an excuse to use religion to control their planned Baathist superstructure.

“In 2010, Bakr and a small group of former Iraqi intelligence officers made Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the emir and later ‘caliph,’ the official leader of the Islamic State. They reasoned that Baghdadi, an educated cleric, would give the group a religious face.”

Der Spiegel goes on to methodically build a case that the Islamic State is nothing more than a Baathist initiative to regain control of Iraq.

“Although Iraq’s dominant Baath Party was secular, the two systems ultimately shared a conviction that control over the masses should lie in the hands of a small elite that should not be answerable to anyone — because it ruled in the name of a grand plan, legitimized by either God or the glory of Arab history. The secret of IS’ success lies in the combination of opposites, the fanatical beliefs of one group and the strategic calculations of the other.”

Below is a channel 4 report on the real beginnings of the Islamic State:

The US Inadvertantly Lent Help to ISIS Under Obama

Whether the Obama administration understood the depths of the Baathist roots to ISIS or not may never be known, but what the White House and the Department of Defense believed was that transferring weapons to Sunni Jihadist in Syria would help aid the downfall of Assad.  Not only that the Department of Defense also believed that such “weak” mini caliphate would be able to hold off the Iranian march to the Meditereanean.  The White House wanted the caliphate to be strong enough to destabilize the region, but weak enought to allow the Iranians to march across the Middle East.

The Baathist roots to the Islamic State explains why the goup was successful in utilizing every opportunity to grow into a force that nearly took back Iraq, but why is Iraq still supplying them with weapons?

Although the Baathists as mentioned above have penetrated the government at various levels, another possibility for the transferring of such a large amount of humanitarian supplies is that Iran itself who influences the official army of Iraq and is control of large parts of Iraq through aligned Shiite militias is keeping the Islamic State.  The Iranians are doing this to encourage continued instability in Syria in order to bog down the American backed SDF while utilizing the chaos to establish their control.

What ever the reason behind the shipments of supplies one thing is clear: If we don’t stop the desire  to create chaos in order to establish neo-fascist controlthen the region will continue to experience war and instability.