Aliyah – the ingathering
Aliyah – Israel’s Body and Soul
Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger, “Second Thought”
“Israel Hayom”, April 13, 2012
Global economic, social and educational circumstances provide Israel with a window of opportunity for 500,000 Olim, during the next decade, from the former USSR, France, England, Germany, Latin America, the USA and Canada. Is Israel’s leadership up to the challenge, which requires tenacious pro-activity and defiance, rather than relative-passivity and timidity, in encouraging Aliyah (Jewish Ingathering)?!
For the first time, Israel attracts Olim due to economic – not only ideological – considerations. Against the backdrop of global economic meltdown and uncertainty, Israel’s credit rating has been upgraded and its GDP growth exceeds any Western country. Unemployment is 5.4%; the national debt is less than 75% of GDP; inflation is at 1%-3%; no mega-stimulus; banks are managed with fiscal...
UK MPs: We speak up for Israel – and get death threats
MPs who have spoken in support of Israel have been forced to limit the information they make available to constituents and take other security precautions after being sent death threats or abusive messages by post, by phone or online, a JC investigation has revealed.
Two years after Labour’s Stephen Timms was stabbed by a radicalised student, security remains a key concern, especially for MPs who are vocal about controversial topics such as Israel – and suffer threats as a consequence. Two weeks ago Conservative MP John Howell was forced to seek police protection after becoming the target of a campaign by pro-Palestinians.
Louise Ellman, Labour MP for Liverpool Riverside, has been dealing with death threats for a decade. The problem has worsened in recent years and she now receives emails as well as letters.
“It’s very unpleasant and I am concerned – so I take advice from the police and the CST,” said Mrs...
Perfidious Pete, treacherous Tom – Part I
Into the Fray: Stop calling a “spade” a “manually operated tool for producing elevation differentials in earth’s crust.”
- There is something frankly silly to me about a Jewish community that feels so self- confident in how our values apply in Bosnia, the former Soviet Union and Darfur, but is so timid in talking about how our values apply in the place we care about most. – Peter Beinart, Temple Beth Am, Los Angeles, June 21, 2010
- Benjamin Netanyahu, understands that the standing ovation he got in Congress this year …was bought and paid for by the Israel lobby (September 17, 2011)…. The powerful pro- Israel lobby in an election season can force the administration to defend Israel at the UN, even when it knows Israel is pursuing policies not in its own interest or America’s. (13 December, 2011) – Tom Friedman, New York Times
Peter Beinart and Tom Friedman have for all intents and purposes declared...
Abdullah, the Bedouin, the MB and the Palestinians
A year ago Mudar Zahran was interviewed by Yoel Meltzer and FPM published it under the title A Voice of Reason from an Arab Dissident. Since then Zahran has created the New Jordan Party to prepare to mobilize the Palestinian vote after the fall of the king. Ted Belman
Introduction: The following is an interview with Mudar Zahran, a Palestinian Jordanian and former political insider who fled Jordan and currently resides in England. In an open and honest manner, Mudar briefly discusses the current unrest in Jordan, the various players in Jordan and their links to Islamic groups, his vision of a Palestinian state in Jordan as opposed to the two-state solution, his attempts at effecting change and the subsequent threats against him.
Protests in Jordan
Yoel Meltzer: Like most Arab countries, protests are also taking place in Jordan. According to what I’ve read the king is claiming that the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) is responsible for the protests. Is this true?
Mudar Zahran: Not...
Beinisch has an inflated opinion of the High Court
Beinisch in her speech on Monday made a number of statements that I challenge below Ted Belman
By Yuval Yoaz, HAARETZ
Chief Justice Dorit Beinisch Monday attacked Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann, calling the minister’s proposals for curbs on the High Court constitued a direct assault on Israeli democracy.
Friedmann has urged restrictions on the universal right to petition the High Court of Justice and on the constitutional validity of its rulings in matters of public affairs.
In her speech, Beinisch said that
- “judges can fulfill their role as the defenders of human rights if, and only if, the judicial system is accessible to everyone; only when judges face human suffering, or the distress of the unprivileged.”
This is outrageous. It is not the job of the Court to defend human rights but to uphold the law. the Knesset alone has the right to decide what human rights to protect. The courts...
Israel Supreme Court and democracy
All U.S. federal judges are chosen by the political branches without any influence from the judiciary. In Israel, the judiciary has the ultimate say over what is law, and it is the judges themselves who have the most influence over who are judges.
A few days ago, U.S. President Barack Obama launched a preemptive attack on the U.S. Supreme Court for considering the constitutionality of his healthcare legislation, saying that overturning the legislation would be “unprecedented” and “extraordinary,” especially because it “was passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected Congress.”
Obama fears that the Court, which is comprised of a majority of “conservative” justices and which is headed by Bush-appointee Chief Justice John Roberts, may accept the argument that forcing individuals to purchase health insurance may stretch the U.S. government’s constitutional authority to regulate interstate commerce beyond its limits.
What’s...
Abdullah seeking divorce from Palestinians. Good luck with that.
The author is right in some things and wrong in other. There is no intifada to spread from J&S to Jordan Rather what he fears is that the Palestinians living in Jordan will take to the streets and challenge him. I have been promoting the Jordan is Palestine solution headed by Mudar Zahran and his Party the New Jordan Party. It is this movement that he fears. There is no chanced that the Palestinians and the MB will get together but there is a good chance that the Palestinians and the Bedouin will get together. In fact I have a draft of their tentative agreement.So far, only the Bedouin have taken to the streets. The Palestinians are biding their time.The kings days are numbered and the latest reports I have read is that he is shipping his valuable art, cars and other moveables out of the country. Neither Abdullah nor Israel wants the Palestinians. If one wins the other loses and they both know it. So while they have established a quiet border, there interests are in direct...
What settler violence.
The latest obscenity from the Quartet. It issued a statement, to wit;
- The Middle East Quartet expressed concern on Monday over “ongoing settler violence and incitement in the West Bank” and called on Israel to take “effective measures, including bringing the perpetrators of such acts to justice.
Althought it didn’t blame the settlement construction for the impasse in the talks, which is no small thing, it
- “expressed concern about unilateral and provocative actions by either party, including continued settlement activity,which cannot prejudge the outcome of negotiations, the only way to a just and durable solution to the conflict.”
For the umpteenth time, settlement construction is not illegal and it will “prejudge the outcome”. It is the Quartet who are guilty of doing and saying things to prejudge the outcome. Taking sides by castigating Israel is one of them.
You cannot exclude tactics from the negotiations. If Israel...
South Sudan captures big Heglig oil field
Israel is training and supplying the S. Sudan Army.
Breaking News »
DEBKAfile April 11, 2012, 7:24 PM (GMT+02:00)
After two weeks of fierce fighting, newly-independent South Sudan has seized control of the big disputed Heglig oil-rich area on its border with Sudan. It is usually recognized as part of the North but South Sudan disputes this. The Khartoum government has vowed “all legitimate means” to push the South Sudanese army out.
Heglig is linked to Port Said, the country’s only oil exporting outlet. Its capture gives the South an lever against objections from the North to the new nation using the pipeline to Port Said. Both armies are pumping reinforcements into the area.
Ted Belman
Jerusalem, Israel
Posts
