Israel Matzav: Jordanian Sheikh: 'There's no such thing as Palestine'

Sheikh Ahmed Aladoan of Amman, a member of Jordan’s well-known Adwan tribe, posted on his Facebook page this week that Israel belongs to the Jews and that there's no such thing as 'Palestine.' He backed up his assertion with verses from the Koran. 

One of the Koranic verses provided states that Allah gave the Holy Land to the sons of Israel until the Day of Judgment (Surah Al-Ma’ida, verse 21), and the other (Surah Al-Shara’a, verse 59) says that the land was bequeathed to the Jews.

The sheikh turned to those who “distort the words of the Koran,” whom he labeled as liars, and questioned where they had even come up with the name “Palestine.” He insisted their claims to the Land of Israel were forfeit because “Allah is the protector of the Children of Israel.”

And if that wasn’t enough, the sheikh went on to turn the tables on the anti-Israel propaganda machine by accusing the Palestinians of killing children, the elderly and women, of using human shields, and of having not an ounce of mercy for even their own children.

The sheikh’s words caused a storm in the Arab media, and were picked up by the Israeli Embassy in Amman.

The Arabic daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi further explained the sheikh’s position, noting that he supports the notion that Jordan is Palestine, and insists that Arabs living both in Jordan and the Palestinian Authority-controlled territories would almost all love to be Israeli citizens.

The Adwan tribe issued a statement distancing itself from Sheikh Aladoan’s remarks. But the sheikh was not intimidated, and insisted he would continue to make his voice heard on these matters.

Last year, Sheikh Aladoan visited Israel and spent time with the chief rabbi of Tsfat (Safed), Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu. The sheikh informed Rabbi Eliyahu and his students that in the Koran, “there is no name ‘Palestine’ for this land, and therefore, the Arabs should not be fighting the Jews over control of this land.”

Read the whole thing. Now, if only he could get that message through to Obama and Kerry.

Rebuttal The Real Truth about Palestine

Watch Ambassador Danny Ayalon as he rebuttals to "The real Truth about Palestine" 
"Palestine was the Greco-Roman name for a region. In the year 135 AC, the name of the region became the official name of one of the provinces of the Roman Empire in an attempt to obliterate the connection between the Jewish people and Judea - the land they've inhabited for over 1000 years. 
However, like Antarctica, the Amazons or the Sahara, naming a place doesn't create a nation of Antarcticans or Saharans.
Oh, and for the record, Jesus was not a Palestinian, he was a Judean Jew."

What Kind of Palestinian State? - Ron Prosor (Wall Street Journal Europe)

• For more than a year, PA President Mahmoud Abbas has attempted to bypass peace negotiations with Israel by unilaterally seeking state recognition at the UN.
• Exactly what kind of state will the UN General Assembly be voting for?
  • A state with no control over its territory. The PA has zero authority in Gaza today.
  • A terrorist state. States recognized by the UN must pledge to be "peace-loving." This month, Hamas showed its commitment to peace in Gaza by firing more than 1,200 rockets into Israeli cities.
  • An undemocratic state. Hamas has imposed brutal tyranny in Gaza. In the West Bank, President Abbas' mandate to rule expired three years ago. His government continues to jail and torture journalists, bloggers and activists.
  • A bankrupt state. PA institutions remain completely dependent on foreign aid. Yet this year, the PA tripled payments to convicted terrorists.
• Israel is urging the Palestinian leadership to work with us to forge constructive solutions at the negotiating table. When the foundations for lasting peace are in place, Israel will be the first to welcome Palestinians to the UN.
  
  The writer is Israel's ambassador to the UN.

LA Times Remakes Judah Ben-Hur into 'Palestinian Nobleman'

The Los Angeles Times has converted Judah Ben-Hur, the fictional enslaved Jewish nobleman who serves as a protagonist in Charles Heston's 1951 Hollywood blockbuster, into a "Palestinian nobleman." Today's paper reports:

Based on the novel by Lew Wallace, the period drama revolves around Judah Ben-Hur (Heston), a Palestinian nobleman who is enslaved by the Romans, engages in one of the most thrilling chariot races ever captured on screen, and even encounters Jesus Christ.

Of course, there was no such place as "Palestine" in the time of Jesus, since the Romans didn't rename Judea as "Palestina" until a hundred years after the death of Jesus (a fact that even the New York Times had to correct).

In earlier coverage, the Los Angeles Times had correctly described Ben-Hur's Jewish/Judean identity. For instance, a March 15, 2001 article referred to "the rich, honorable Jewish man Judah Ben-Hur"; a June 17, 1994 article correctly described him as "the Judean"; and a Sept. 14, 1990 article referred to him as "prince of Judea."

Perhaps the paper's 2011 remake of Ben-Hur, the Judean, into Ben-Hur, the "Palestinian," is testament to the success of ongoing efforts to misleading the masses into believing that a sovereign Palestinian entity did in fact exist before 1948, either in antiquity or in more recent history.

Send corrections requests to readers.representative@latimes.com .

ISRAEL MATZAV: Yesha Council produces 3-dimensional topographical map

The Yesha Council - the council of the Jewish communities of Judea, Samaria and Gaza, has produced a three-dimensional topographical map (currently only in Hebrew, but will be available in English), which shows the danger to all Israel of having a 'Palestinian state' in Judea and Samaria.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the feeling at the Yesha Council is that a 3-D map is worth a million words – and can explain with a glance how Judea and Samaria tower above the Gush Dan (Tel Aviv) area of Israel, in which live millions of Israelis.

Similarly, the Golan Heights are clearly shown towering above the Galilee, just as the mountains of Jordan stand much higher than the Jordan Valley. The surrounding of Jerusalem on three sides by PA-controlled areas is also plainly depicted.

The map is being or will be disseminated by mail, in schools, and elsewhere, and a Powerpoint presentation is in the works as well.

Yesha Council Director-General Naftali Bennet says, “The map is designed to make clear to the citizens of greater Tel Aviv that Judea and Samaria is not far away, but rather overlooks their back yards. Most of the population is unaware of this, because maps are generally two-dimensional. Residents of Kfar Saba and Raanana might not be happy to find themselves literally under the thumb of a State of Palestine, and it’s time they knew of this danger.”

The back of the map has 11 important facts about Yesha. Among them are the following:

# The mountains of Judea and Samaria are the central mountain range of the Land of Israel, running 140 kilometers from the Jezreel Valley in the north to the Arad Valley in the Negev.

# The width of the Judea and Samaria mountains is 55 kilometers, and the width of Israel’s coastal plane near Tel Aviv is only 16 kilometers.

# Yesha’s main north-south route, Highway 60, is also the national watershed line, and runs mostly along the same route taken by the Patriarchs in the Bible.

# The mountain aquifer, which supplies half of Israel’s water, is in Judea and Samaria.

Let's hope this map comes out in English real soon and gets disseminated virally.

Rabbi Meir Kahane debates Ehud Olmert on Nightline

The unforgettable televised debate between the late Rabbi Meir Kahane and Ehud Olmert, over 20 years ago. Olmert had no answers then, and as we see he has not yet found an answer to Israel's Arab demographic threat.