ISRAEL MATZAV: What's wrong with supporting the Third Temple?

In the summer of 1990, before we made aliya, Mrs. Carl and I and the then-three children spent half a day with an organization that was creating the priestly garments and the vessels for the Temple - may it be restored speedily and in our time. The highlight of the day (for us) was when they showed us a model of the wash-basin and asked who knew how the Kohain (priest) stood when washing from the wash basin. Son # 1, child # 2 - then just short of 5-years old - immediately reached down and grabbed his ankles with his hands. We snapped a picture, and it instantly became the talk of the pre-1A class at YKP, where he went to school at the time.

The place we visited that day is known as the Temple Institute. On Sunday morning, the Leftists at Army radio (yes, even IDF radio is dominated by the Left) reported with horror that the Temple Institute is receiving government funding. No, it's not a huge amount, but it's enough to set the chattering classes into a tizzy. Fortunately, the government agencies in question aren't saying 'we didn't know.' Instead, they are defending the funding. For now.

The Education Ministry responded to the Army Radio report, saying: “The nonprofit meets criteria for receiving subsidies that go toward instructing students who visit the institute, and this has been the case for over 10 years now.”

“The Temple Institute deals with research, and it is supported by the ministry in accordance with professional criteria that has nothing to do with directly supporting the individual who heads it,” a Culture and Sport Ministry spokesperson said in response.

“Thus far we have found nothing that would raise suspicions of incitement or anything unusual as it relates to the temple. In light of the Army Radio report, it is the ministry’s intention to bring this matter to the attention of our legal department.”

The Temple Institute responded:

“For over 25 years the Temple Institute has stood at the forefront of research, education and preparation towards the time of the rebuilding of the Holy Temple,” a spokesperson for the Temple Institute told The Jerusalem Post. “The Institute's efforts have been recognized and awarded by Israel's Ministry of Education. Its trailblazing educational materials and scholarly publications have revolutionized these difficult areas of Torah knowledge for young and old alike.”

“Over one million people from all over the world, of every background and religion, have visited the Institute's exhibition located in Jerusalem's Old City," the spokesperson said. "The Temple Institute's website is the most popular and educational web site on the subject of the Holy Temple in the world."

"The rebuilding of the Holy Temple, called by the prophet Isaiah a 'house of prayer for all nations,' is a positive commandment, and the vision of the Temple's rebuilding, which will usher in an unparalleled era of world peace and harmony, is the central theme of the entire Torah. The Temple Institute is proud to represent the concept which has been heartfelt prayer of the Jewish people for two millennia.”

Any Jew who goes to synagogue prays for the restoration of the Temple. Orthodox Jews pray for it at least three times a day. As far as I know, prayers for the restoration of the Temple continue to appear in prayer books of the Conservative movement as well. While the Reform movement originally removed all references to the Temple, that was part and parcel of their removing the land of Israel (pre-state) from their prayers. But the land of Israel was restored to the Reform prayer book many years ago and I believe that the Temple was restored then too (caveat - I have not seen conservative or reform prayer books in recent years).

Let's be honest with ourselves. When the Temple is rebuilt, it is going to be rebuilt on the very same mountaintop where the dome of the rock and the al-aqsa mosque sit today. By definition, the rebuilding of the Temple, which is something we pray for every day, means no more false religions on the Temple Mount. And while no one is suggesting that we send the IDF to clear the Temple Mount tomorrow morning (maybe we should), we should not fool ourselves that we are praying for something else when we say in our prayers, "And may our eyes see when You return to Zion with mercy."

If the Israeli government cannot support an organization that is educating people about Jewish belief in our future, I have to wonder by what right the Israeli government calls itself a Jewish government.

Nasrallah briefly emerges from his cave

ISRAEL MATZAV: How the 'Palestinians' are preparing for peace

On official 'Palestinian Authority' television, 'Palestinian' factions unite to beat up Jews and cut off their sidelocks (peyoth).

Let's go to the videotape.


This is how they're preparing for 'peace' as the 'peace process' goes on. What could go wrong?

Opinion: Enough Editorializing About Neturei Karta; It’s Time for Action by Rabbi Avrohom Rotter

I was somewhat amused to read the “editorial comment” of a chareidi publication in response to the Yerushalayim resident - a member of the so-called “Neturei Karta” group - who was charged with offering himself as a spy to the Iranian government.

The man had contacted the Iranian government and offered his services as a spy back in January 2011, when he visited the Iranian embassy in Berlin. The man said at the time that he aims to replace the current Israeli government with one controlled by non-Jews and then offered the Iranians to gather information about Israel for them.

The editorial showed to me, called “Remove Your Disguise,” referred to the “fringe group Neturei Karta,” stating that there is no point to appeal to the conscience of those who have shown to have no conscience, and that the truly tragic part of all this is that these men insist on dressing like and claiming to be religious Jews. The editorial goes on to state that they and they actions have been condemned by chareidi leadership for decades, and since they repeatedly express disdain for daas Torah, it is impossible for chareidi Jewry to stop them from being mechalel Sheim Shomayim.

With all due respect, I believe a few points are in order.

Firstly, can we stop calling them “a fringe group”? They are not “fringe.” They are rodfim. If there was a Sanhedrintoday, they’d probably be brought to justice as rodfim. They aren’t mere “fringe.” They are out and out rodfim.

If a group of thieves, abusers or murderers were roaming our streets, we wouldn’t be writing about “fringe groups” posing a danger to us. We would call them what they are - dangerous, villainous, wicked people.

Enough with giving the so-called Neturei Karta crooks the courtesy of being called “fringe.” They are not “fringe.” They are wicked, depraved, heinous people.

Secondly, true, there is no point to appeal to the conscience of those who have shown to have no conscience, but the truly tragic part of all this is not merely that these men insist on dressing like and claiming to be religious Jews. The tragic part is that our response to these crazies has not been as strong as it should be. In fact, I will make a statement that may not sit well with some people, but as long as we allow some “chareidim” to disgrace gedolei hador whose view of Eretz Yisroel and the proper approach in dealing with the State of Israel is different than theirs, we are allowing the breeding of extremism.

I once entered a bais medrash (name and location are not important) and saw a sign on the wall that shook me to my core. That someone could write such disgusting words about my manhig, about my Torah leader, was one thing to swallow. But that no one else tore down the sign was even more painful to me.

If we allow this type of disgusting behavior to go on, then let us not be surprised when the extremism reaches levels that were previously unthinkable. If we tolerate the teaching of such hatred, or curriculums that seem to tolerate and feed into such ideologies, then we are at fault for allowing this form of rodef to be grown, nurtured and raised in our communities. (I understand that the man convicted of offering to spy for Iran recently became religious and was not raised in this environment. My point is being made on a more general level.)

So no, the true tragedy is not that the people who have hijacked the Neturei Karta name are dressing like and claiming to be religious Jews. The tragedy is that we allow them to live where they do and walk our streets.

I am not advocating violence, but somehow, when we need to, we know how to protect our turf and maintain the purity of our communities. We should be doing no less when it comes to these dangerous - yes, dangerous, not just crazy - radicals, rather than editorializing how, “Oh my. We can’t do anything about it because they won’t listen todaas Torah.”

If they were missionaries, we would expunge them.

If they were thieves, we would drive them out.

If they were spreading immorality, we would do everything in our power to drive them from our midst. In this case, we should be doing no less.

In the past, some people said, “They are small. They are insignificant. Ignore them.” Whether that was the right approach at any time is debatable. But it is clearly not a viable approach at the current time. And no, it is not “impossible for chareidi Jewry to stop them from being mechalel Sheim Shomayim.” It is possible - if we want to.

Instead of editorializing, we should be focused on throwing these people out of our communities. Yes, I am advocating making their lives miserable and intolerable until they leave us alone. I am advocating doing everything - everything - within the law to ruin their lives until they stop ruining ours.

And when they go to meet with politicians and they hold rallies, we should be right there, on their tail, hunting them down, drowning them out and letting the media know who and what they are. Somehow, whenever they are given a news reporter’s microphone, there is no one in sight to respond to their claims and expose them for the charlatans they are.

Let’s stop making nice, shaking our heads or laughing it off. Let’s stop with pointless commentary that does nothing but regurgitate the same rhetoric about how sad it is that these fools are wearing Chassidic garb and how if only they’d “remove their disguise” all would be well.

Enough talking. It is time for action. Throw them out of shul. Throw them out of school. Throw them out of your community mikvah and grocery. And if they aren’t in your community, but in another one, or in their own, track them down anyway. Don’t let them walk in peace. Treat them as the rodfim they are. Hound them and don’t let them rest. Don’t let them sleep at night peacefully and don’t let them walk the streets without incident. And be there, every step of the way, to counter their dangerous activities. Enough is enough.

flash mob - hora jerusalem

Rabbi Shmuley & Cory Booker at AIPAC - Chicago 2008

Chazen Ushi Blumenberg & Yedidim Choir Singing "Mimkomchu

ATLAS SHRUGS: SAUDI BLOGGER RAIF BADAWI FACES JAIL AND 600 LASHES FOR INSULTING ISLAM

Only 600 lashes? The libs will say that is progress. The question is, how many lashes can any human being withstand? I think beheadng is more .... humane.

"We believe that when public speech is deemed offensive, be it via social media or any other means, the issue is best addressed through open-dialogue and honest debate," said US State Department spokeswoman

As for the State department's hollow remarks, I submit that the State Department should cease meeting with the OIC in Washington in order to impose restrictions on speech in accordance with the blasphemy laws under the sharia. I submit that the State Department should withdraw the Secretary of State's remarks. I submit that the Department of Justice should withdraw its vow to criminalize postings on social media that offend Muslims. I submit that Obama should cease blaming youtube and freedom of expression for murderous attacks on Americans in Benghazi and beyond. I submit that Obama should stop championing the adoption of anti-free speech resolution by the UN.

"Saudi Blogger Raif Badawi Faces Jail and 600 Lashes For Insulting Islam" IBTimes, July 31, 2013 (thanks to Matsu)

Raif Badawi has been sentenced to seven years in jail and 600 lashes (Twitter)

An international outcry was triggered by a Saudi Arabian court that handed a seven-year jail and 600 lashes sentence to the editor of a liberal website for violating Islamic values.

Raif Badawi has been in detention since 2012, after being arrested on cyber-crime charges related to Free Saudi, the website he founded which hosted discussions on religion in the ultraconservative Islamic kingdom.

The US and France expressed deep concerns at the punishment also slammed by human rights groups.

"We believe that when public speech is deemed offensive, be it via social media or any other means, the issue is best addressed through open-dialogue and honest debate," said US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki.logger makes a mockery of Saudi Arabia's claims that it supports reform and religious dialogue," said Nadim Houry, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.

"A man who wanted to discuss religion has already been locked up for a year and now faces 600 lashes and seven years in prison."

Judges at Jeddah criminal court reportedly dropped the heaviest charge of apostasy - which carries an automatic death sentence - after Badawi, gave assurances he was a Muslim.

"The judge asked Raif, 'Are you a Muslim?' and he said 'Yes, and I don't accept anyone to cast doubt on (my belief)'," Badawi's wife, who moved abroad in 2012 with her children, tweeted.

However, the court found Badawi guilty of insulting Islam and ordered the closure of the website, Al-Watan newspaper reported.

Judges also gave Badawi an additional three months in jail for disobeying his father, a crime in Saudi Arabia. The two allegedly had numerous public confrontations over the years.

Part of prosecutors' evidence consisted in postings by Badawi and anonymous members of his site critical of senior Saudi religious figures, HRW reported.

Badawi's troubles with the authorities started shortly after he started Free Saudi in 2008.

He was forced to leave the country in May that year, after authorities charged him with "setting up an electronic site that insults Islam".

As the charges were dropped he returned to his homeland but continued his online activity, HRW said.

In March 2012 he was designated as an "unbeliever and apostate" by a well-known cleric Sheikh Abdulrahman al-Barrak.

Al-Barrak reportedly claimed Badawi was guilty of saying "that Muslims, Jews, Christians, and atheists are all equal".

In accordance with a strict interpretation of Islamic law, Saudi courts implement a series of corporal punishments, of which flogging is considered the most lenient. 

ATLAS SHRUGS: VIDEO: SHARIA COURTS IN THE UK

The dehumanization and diminishment of women is universal in the Muslim world -- "you can't go against what Islam says." These sharia courts should be banned in Western nations. They are vicious, misogynistic, and brutal.

A BBC [!] Panorama Documentary goes undercover in one of the 85 sharia courts operating as a parallel legal system in the UK, uncovering the extensive abuse of women, refusal to grant divorces, charging of the woman but not the man for divorce proceedings, and even the taking away of the woman's children, and rulings contrary to British law.

"Men are the managers of the affairs of women for that God has preferred in bounty one of them over another, and for that they have expended of their property. Righteous women are therefore obedient, guarding the secret for God's guarding. And those you fear may be rebellious admonish; banish them to their couches, and beat them." (Qur'an 4:34)

I am sure that all the Muslim spokesmen in the U.S. who constantly assure us that only greasy Islamophobes think that that verse actually means beat them are jetting over to Egypt right now, to explain to Mahmoud Al-Denawy how he is getting the wife-beating verse all wrong, wrong, wrong.

"Egyptian Cleric Mahmoud Al-Denawy Instructs European Muslims on Wife Beating," from MEMRI, June 17:

Following are excerpts from a religious call-in show featuring Egyptian cleric Dr. Mahmoud Al-Denawy, which aired on Iqra TV Europe/Africa, on June 17, 2013:

Mahmoud Al-Denawy: Here is an important question from sister Hagar from Norway. She says: What’s the Islamic view on the beating of wives? Non-believers use this point against Islam. May Allah reward you, sister.

Indeed, many people take this as something [with which] to stab Islam and to stab Muslims. They say: Here Islam is calling for the beating of wives. Islam is urging Muslims… There are so many sayings and many misconceptions about this, but they forgot an important thing: Allah says that if there is a problem – or a lady, for example, who is disobedient, she has a bad behavior, for example – the husband should do his best to correct her, to fix this issue, first of all, by admonishing, by leaving her bed. For example, he shouldn’t sleep with her. He should sleep in a separate room, or whatever. And, at the end… Allah says: “Sleep in beds apart, and beat them.”

The issue of beating… First of all, if someone [does it] just for admonishing, or whatever… When it comes to beating, he should never beat her harshly. He should never raise his hand. He should never beat her on her face. But he can use something very simple – like a siwak [dental stick] or something like this pen. The beating should not lead to breaking her arm or a tooth. He should avoid this, because the Prophet urged us and told us that when you beat someone, you should never beat him or her on his or her face. This is because the face is owned by Allah.

What? The rest isn't?

ATLAS SHRUGS: MUSLIM ANGER AND OUTRAGE OVER JEWISH HISTORY

Always angry, Always agitating over truth. Always at war.

The Dome of Rock was a delapidated, broken down and decaying old relic up until the early 20th century. It was of no import and it was no longer used as a place of worship. When the calls for a Jewish state were reverberating thourought the world, the genocidal leader of the Muslim world in the 20th century and Hitler's partner, the Mufti of Jerusalem, realized that he had to create a territorial fiction in order to deny the Jewish people their holiest site.

It was the vicious Jew-hater, the Mufti Al Husseini, who undertook the gold plating of the dome and the making of improvements to the Al Aqsa mosque.

This served the purpose of enhancing the importance of Jerusalem in the Islamic world which, up until that point had been an insignificant religious backwater for Muslims. Photos of Jerusalem before this time show a relatively colorless and non-descript dome on top of the Temple Mount.

The endless cycle of anger. Muslims outraged over the truth. Truth is the enemy. Light is the enemy. Good is the enemy.

Muslim Anger over Virtual ‘Third Temple’ By Maayana Miskin, INN, July 31, 2013 (thanks to Christian)

A website with a simulation of a Third Temple has been met with an angry backlash from the Arab and Muslim world.

Model of 2nd Temple

A Jewish website that aims to teach Israelis about the Temple has been met with an angry backlash from the Arab Muslim community.

The Har Hakodesh (lit. “The Holy Mountain”) website includes educational material about the historyof the Temple Mount, which was the site of the First Temple and Second Temple. The Temples were the focus of divine service for the Jewish nation.

The site also includes stunning photographs of the Temple Mount, including pictures taken by a non-Jewish photographer from parts of the Mount which Jews may not enter.

What has caused upset in the Muslim world is a representation of the Temple Mount as it would appear with a rebuilt Jewish Temple atop it rather than Al-Aqsa Mosque that currently stands there.

The site has been repeatedly targeted by hackers, and has been the focus of criticism in the Arab media. Sheikh Raed Salah, who heads the hardline northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, has called for an “Islamic awakening” in response to the website.

Arutz Sheva spoke to Boaz Yaakovi, from the Lev Hauma NGO behind the website. “We didn’t do this to provoke or to annoy the Arabs,” Yaakovi insisted.

“We’re presenting history as it was,” he argued.

When asked whether he sees the simulation of the Third Temple as provocative, he said, “If someone wants to get angry, what can I do? Because he’s angry, I should ignore my truth?”

The desire to see a rebuilt Temple is central to traditional Judaism, and the Amidah prayer, which religious Jews recite three times daily, calls for the Temple to be rebuilt.

MUQATA: Raise Your Hands if you Approve of Releasing Palestinian Terrorists!

A Palestinian raises his bloodied hands in victory to a cheering crowd after brutally murdering 2 IDF reserve soldiers who made a wrong turn into PA controlled Ramallah.

If you think that a pre-condition for peace talk negotiations should be to release savage murderers from jail, then raise your hands!

If you think Israel should make a mockery of it's judicial system, and spit in the faces of the broken Israeli families whose children and parents were slaughtered by Palestinian terrorists, raise your hands!

If you think that Prime Minister Netanyahu should ignore popular sentiment and release terrorists just for the privilege of  sitting down at a table with a society that glorifies civilian murderers, then raise your hands!

If you think that Israel should bow to American pressure, endanger the lives of its citizens and soldiers, and free murderers while the US refuses to free Jonathan Pollard, raise your hands!

 Click here for more ElderOfZion stuff.

MUQATA: How to Annoy Abbas - All of Eretz Yisrael is OURS!

Sick of the Palestinians displaying their "map of Palestine"? Nothing will enrage them more than this (and in Arabic as well to make sure they get the message).

ELDER OF ZION: Apartheid! Israel closes Temple Mount to non-Muslims for two weeks

From JPost:

The Joint Committee of Temple Organizations condemned on Wednesday the closure of the Temple Mount to non- Muslim visitors for the last two weeks of Ramadan.

According to the committee, an association of right-wing groups seeking to assert Jewish prayer rights as well as Israeli sovereignty on the Temple Mount, access to the site during the Muslim holy month has always been granted in previous years, although on a slightly reduced scale compared to the rest of the year.

Outside of Ramadan, the Temple Mount is usually open to non-Muslims for three hours every morning and one hour in the afternoon, while during Ramadan it has previously been open only in the morning.

This year, however, all access to non-Muslim visitors has been prohibited in the two final weeks of Ramadan.

According to Rabbi Yehuda Glick, a spokesman for the committee, in previous years the Temple Mount has been open in the morning to non- Muslims for the entirety of Ramadan.

Glick attributed the change in policy to a new phenomenon in which hundreds of Palestinian youths have slept at the site during this year’s Ramadan.

This year, the site was open in the morning for the first two weeks, although Jewish visitors were harassed and verbally abused, which led the police to evacuate them on several occasions.

Guess what? Threats and harassment work! Muslims have managed to turn Judaism's holiest site into a Muslim-only zone.

If the police wanted to avoid riots, they should ban the potential rioters, not the innocent victims. Rewarding abuse and harassment is the best recipe to increase it.

And how is the Arabic media reporting it?

Saudi Arabia's Al Yaum writes:

Israeli authorities raised the state of alert in Jerusalem and has increased the number of troops, and tightened their siege on the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and banned settlers from daily visits to the mosque until the night of the Qadr, which falls next Sunday.

As usual - pocketing the gains and then complaining that it is not enough.

ISRAEL MATZAV: Will his daughter's murderers go free?

Many years ago, when our financial pressures weren't quite what they are today, Mrs. Carl used to take classes at a seminary in Jerusalem. One day, just before Rosh HaShanna in 1995, we were driving our car, and she was telling me about how someone from the US came to speak about his daughter at the seminary. Mrs. Carl was telling me about how the speaker said he understood how our forefather Abraham felt when he put his son Isaac on the altar, when suddenly, my wife burst into tears....

A week or two later, I was in the synagogue on the second day of Rosh HaShanna. I was praying the Musaf prayer, and when I got to the part where we ask God to remember the akeida, the binding of Isaac to the altar, as a merit for his children, I thought of Stephen Flatow talking about his daughter Alissa HY"D (May God Avenge her blood) and I suddenly burst into tears. I had never done that during prayers before....

Stephen Flatow and I have never met, but we know a lot of people in common, because I used to live in the same part of New Jersey where he lives. He is worried that his daughter's murderers are about to be released. And with good reason (Hat Tip: Ricky G). 

I thought that by now Israel would have learned the first lesson of negotiating: Never negotiate with yourself.

I appear to be wrong, because, apparently at the behest of Secretary of State John Kerry, over 100 terrorists are going free, including many directly involved in multiple murders — as a good-will measure to “bolster” Abbas and to give Kerry something to say he accomplished after racking up so many frequent-flyer miles traveling to the Middle East.

What will Israel get in return? From all news accounts, it appears the answer is nothing more than the Palestinians returning to the negotiating table.

So I ask Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: Will my daughter’s murderers, now in an Israeli prison, be released for the sake of good will? Can you show me anything concrete that will come from this action that will allow my son and his family, citizens of Israel, to sleep safely in their home in Jerusalem?

Show me something that will allow me to go to my eventual rest knowing that my personal efforts to assist in the ongoing development of the state of Israel weren’t a waste of time. Show me something, anything at all, and I will support you.

Unfortunately, I don’t think you can. Your present course of action will only lead to more tragedy.

Someone took me to task yesterday for referring to our Prime Minister as 'Bibi' (Hat Tip: Gershon D). (The third quote in his post was from me). He argued that calling the Prime Minister 'Bibi' is an undeserved term of endearment. Point taken. I will try not to use that name in the future. It's just faster to type than Binyamin....

Prime Minister Netanyahu has shown himself to be no better than Ehud K. Olmert or Yitzchak Rabin (who was likely the one who referred to Alissa Flatow as a 'sacrifice for peace' - he was the one who coined the term). Netanyahu has no backbone, just like they had no backbone. In fact, he may even have gone over to the side of the appeasers.  

It is time for him to be replaced. The Flatow family deserves better and so do the people of Israel.

ISRAEL MATZAV: Abu Mazen talks about how the 'Palestinian refugee' problem was created

The quote above is 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President Mahmoud AbbasAbu Mazen talking about how the 'Palestinian refugee' problem was created. Rewriting history cannot erase the truth. More here.

Neturei Karta Jew Offered to Spy for Iran A member of the extremist, anti-Israel sect Neturei Karta volunteered to spy on Israel, murder a ‘Zionist.’

An Israeli man from Jerusalem was indicted Thursday for making contact with Iranian officials and offering to betray his country.

The man, 47, is a member of the extremist anti-Israeli sect Neturei Karta. The sect has been repudiated by the vast majority of Jewish leaders, including those in the hareidi-religious community.

Members of the small splinter sect receive significant media attention due to their frequent meetings with Arab leaders and participating in anti-Israeli rallies, all while wearing traditional hareidi Jewish garb.

According to the indictment, the man took the initiative to spy on Israel, without having been contacted by enemy agents. He looked online to find out where Iran hasembassies.

In January 2011, he flew to Berlin and went to the local Iranian embassy, where he presented himself as an Israeli citizen interested in speaking to Iranian officials. He was allowed to enter. He met with three Iranian men who did not give their names; one presented himself as “Hajj Baba.”

He explained to the Iranians that he is an Israeli citizen who believes the state of Israel should not exist, and that he wishes to see Israel governed by non-Jews. He offered to gather information and pass it on to them.

During the conversation, the man asked the Iranians why they were unable to protect their people from assassination by Israel within Iran. One of the Iranian men asked him why he was mocking them, while he sought refuge in Iran.

The Neturei Karta man countered by saying that he does not want refuge in Iran, and that he is even willing to murder a “Zionist.”

The Iranians ended the conversation by telling the Neturei Karta man that they needed to discuss the matter with their superiors. “Hajj Baba” gave the man an email address and password, and told him to enter the email account to see their response. He also told the man to stay in touch using the embassy’s phone number.

On January 20, 2011 the man returned to Israel. He checked the email account he had been given several times, using a computer at an internet café in Jerusalem. He also called the Iranian embassy in Berlin twice, each time from a public phone. On one occasion embassy officials did not answer. On the other, the man asked to speak to “Hajj Baba” and was told he was not present that day.

The suspect was questioned by the Israel Police’s Lahav 443 unit.

Kenyan sues Israel and Italy... for the crucifixion of Jesus

This might just be the craziest story of the day, probably even of the week, maybe even of the month and year..

A Kenyan has filed a lawsuit with the International Court of Justice in The Hague against Italy and Israel for the wrongful death of Jesus.

From the Jerusalem Post:

A Kenyan lawyer has filed a petition with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, suggesting that the trial and crucifixion of Jesus Christ was unlawful, and The State of Israel among others should be held responsible, Kenyan news outlet the Nairobian reported on Friday.
Dola Indidis, a lawyer and former spokesman of the Kenyan Judiciary is reportedly attempting to sue Tiberius (Emperor of Rome 42 BC-37AD), Pontius Pilate, a selection of Jewish elders, King Herod, the Republic of Italy and the State of Israel.
"Evidence today is on record in the bible, and you cannot discredit the bible," Indidis told Kenyan Citizen News.
Yes, those he suggests should have been convicted during the original trial have not been alive for more than 2000 years, however Indidis insists that the government for whom they acted can and should still be held responsible.
“I filed the case because it’s my duty to uphold the dignity of Jesus and I have gone to the ICJ to seek justice for the man from Nazareth,” Indidid told the Nairobian. “His selective and malicious prosecution violated his human rights through judicial misconduct, abuse of office bias and prejudice.”
Indidis apparently named the states of Italy and Israel in the lawsuit because upon the attainment of independence, the two states incorporated the laws of the Roman Empire, those in force at the time of the Crucifixion.
He is challenging the mode of questioning used during Jesus' trial, prosecution, hearing and sentencing; the form of punishment meted out on him while undergoing judicial proceedings and the substance of the information used to convict him.
The case was first filed in the High Court in Nairobi, but was rejected. Indidis had then applied to have it heard at the ICJ, which, the Kenyan news website Standard Media (SDE) reported constituted a pre-trial panel that would consider his case.
Indidis says he wants to establish what crime Jesus was charged with and prays that the court decides “that the proceedings before the Roman courts were a nullity in law for they did not conform to the rule of law at the material time and any time thereafter.”
“Some of those present spat in his face, struck him with their fists, slapped him, taunted him, and pronounced him worthy of death,” Indidis also told SDE.
When Jesus died, Indidis insists he was not given an opportunity to be heard. "I am suing as a friend," he said.
Indidis insisted on the validity of his case, saying "I know with a matter of fact and truth we have a good case with a high probability of success and I hope it is done in my lifetime."
When asked about the case, a spokesperson from the IJC told legal news website Legal Cheek, "The ICJ has no jurisdiction for such a case. The ICJ settles disputes between states. It is not even theoretically possible for us to consider this case."

This Kenyan should continue to beat us at marathon running, and forget about the courts and 2000 year old cases... this whole thing is ridiculous and silly...

He is suing Italy and Israel because these two states adopted the Roman legal system? That makes two states that did not exist at the time of the crucifixion responsible for it?

CAMERA: Ashrawi on CNN: So Predictable – Anti-Israel Vitriol and Distortions

Palestinian Legislative Council member Hanan Ashrawi, a fluent English speaker with a high news media profile, is a veteran anti-Israel propagandist who habitually shades when she does not shred the truth (see, e.g., here and here).

Ashrawi appeared on Christiane Amanpour's July 23 CNN International show on TV to discuss the position of President Mahmoud Abbas's Palestinian Authority in negotiations soon to take place. An Israeli spokesperson, Tzipi Livni, Israeli minister responsible for negotiating with the PA had appeared with Amanpour the day before. Transcripts for the appearances of Ashrawi and Livni are available.

Livni’s strongest remark involving Palestinian Arabs was still mild: “The whole idea is to build trust and confidence and not to enter into this blame game that we used to have in the last years.” But Ashrawi, characteristically bending truth into the great Palestinian pretzel, wasn’t as diplomatic and non-combative, let alone accurate. Here’s a sampling:

Settlement activities are illegal. Annexing and stealing land which is not your own is illegal.

[…]
We have specific U.N. resolutions, particularly 194, dealing with the Palestinian refugees' right of return. We have the Arab initiative that, in a sense, places the whole issue of refugees in a regional context, which is important, because most of the Palestinian refugees are in neighboring Arab countries.
This is a source of instability. It's a source of tremendous pain throughout the region. And this needs to be resolved in a just and legal manner. So the Arab Peace Initiative talks about a just and agreed-upon solution to the Palestinian refugee question. We are not going to say we will start negotiations by violating international law, relinquishing the rights of the refugees. We have already given up 78 percent of historical Palestine, on which Israel was established. That is a major and painful compromise. 

Amanpour failed to challenge any of Ashrawi’s distortions and falsehoods:

• Ashrawi’s false accusations concerning the legality of settlements and “annexing and stealing land”: There is no international law that declares settlements illegal. The Jewish people's return to their ancient homeland, including what is now known as the “West Bank,” was not theft but repossession, as both the British Balfour Declaration in 1917 and League of Nations' Palestine Mandate in 1922 recognized. Article 6 of that Mandate calls for "close Jewish settlement" on the land west of the Jordan River. Article 6 is incorporated by Article 80 of the U.N. Charter, sometimes referred to as "the Palestine article." The United States endorsed the mandate, including Article 6, in the 1924 Anglo-American Convention.

The Arab population of the territory that became Israel, sparse in the late Ottoman period, grew rapidly as Jewish settlement improved health and economic conditions. There never was a sovereign Arab state from which Israel took land. As for the West Bank (Judea and Samaria), Israel gained this territory in a successful war of self-defense in 1967 and it remains to be allocated according to negotiations about legitimate Jewish and Arab claims under U.N. Security Council resolutions 242 and 338.

Jewish villages and towns built in the West Bank since 1967 are no more illegal than areas built since then in previously existing Arab villages and towns. As for Ashrawi's "theft" allegation, the large majority of Jewish settlements have been built on property that was classified state or waste land during Ottoman, British, Jordan and Israeli rule. It is on just such land, and that purchased privately, that the mandate encouraged Jewish settlement. Though many people, including U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, insist otherwise, their charges of "illegal settlements" are political, not legal.

• Ashrawi, claiming a right of return for Arabs who fled what became Israel during the 1948-1949 war (and for their descendants), states “We have specific U.N. resolutions, particularly 194, dealing with the Palestinian refugees' right of return.” In fact, no such "right" exists – which is one reason all Arab countries at the United Nations voted against General Assembly Resolution 194 in 1948, against resolutions 393 and 394 in 1950, and 513 in 1952. These called for either peaceful return when practicable or compensation, resettlement of the refugees in the neighboring Arab countries and their integration into the local societies and economies.

It is the Arabs, including the Palestinian leadership, who have been in violation of the recommendations – not rights – included in those resolutions. Hence this particular source of "instability and tremendous pain" in a region featuring the Syrian civil war with more than 93,000 killed and several million made homeless in two years, the bloody turmoil in Egypt, escalating Sunni-Shiite violence in Iraq and so on.

In an essay published in Commentary in May 2001, historian Ephraim Karsh discussed Israel's policy on Arab refugees: “In 1949, Israel offered to take back 100,000 Palestinian refugees; the Arab states refused. Nevertheless, some 50,000 refugees have returned over the decades under the terms of Israel's family reunification program, and another 75,000 who were displaced from the West Bank and Gaza in the 1967 war have also returned to those territories.” Furthermore, a large majority of the Palestinian Arabs worldwide already live in what was "Palestine" under the original post-World War I Mandate – Jordan, the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and today’s Israel.

• The falsehood, “We [Arabs] have already given up 78 percent of historical Palestine …,” is typically allowed to stand. In fact, the only “historical Palestine” since Roman times was the 1922-1948 League of Nations/United Nations mandate, held by Great Britain. As envisioned by the drafters of the San Remo Treaty in 1920, it included all of what today is Jordan, Israel, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and the Golan Heights. Israel, including the disputed territories, accounts for roughly 22 percent of historic Palestine. If Israel were to withdraw completely from the West Bank, it would possess a little more than 17 percent of the mandatory lands.

Where's the Coverage? Abbas' Nazi Rhetoric

Just as this week’s preliminary negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs got underway in Washington, across the globe in Cairo, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas laid out his vision for the end result:

“In a final resolution, we would not see the presence of a single Israeli – civilian or soldier – on our lands,” Abbas said in a briefing to mostly Egyptian journalists.

This was reported by Reuters, UPI and made its way into The Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and other media outlets. This is good as far as it goes.

But what about the implication of such a statement? The statement – and the idea behind it – is so blatantly racist, that it’s hard to believe only a few media outlets have mentioned the real meaning. Giulio Meotti writes in Arutz Sheva:

This is not “peace”, but pure Nazism, it is ethnic cleansing. And instead of the expression “final resolution”, Abbas should have said what he really means, “final solution”.Addressing a session of Arab League in Doha, Qatar, Abbas in 2011 declared that “when an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital is established, we won’t allow the presence of one Israeli in it”.
A Palestinian Arab State on Western Eretz Israel would be “jüdenrein”, or cleansed of Jews. A state founded on the ethnic cleansing of every single Jewish man, woman and child.

No one should be surprised by Abbas’ sentiments. CAMERA has reported on Abbas’ Nazi sympathies and media analyst Tom Gross wrote about this subject ten years ago:

When negotiating with Abu Mazen [another name for Mahmoud Abbas], politicians should ask what kind of a man would choose to write his entire PhD thesis (at Moscow’s Oriental College) on the subject and follow it up with a book in 1983, “The Other Side: The Secret Relationship Between Nazism and the Zionist Movement,” which denies the Holocaust occurred. Abu Mazen has never specifically repudiated his book, which purports to refute “the fantastic lie that six million Jews were killed” in the Holocaust.Abu Mazen has written that the German gas chambers were never used to kill Jews, but only to disinfect them and to burn bodies of others to prevent the flow of disease (quoting a “scientific study” to that effect by French Holocaust-denier Robert Faurisson), and to the extent that Jews did die in World War Two (Abu Mazen cites a figure of 890,000 dead), he says this was a joint effort between Jewish leaders and the Nazis. Abu Mazen claimed that Hitler did not decide to kill the Jews until David Ben-Gurion provoked him into doing so when he [Ben-Gurion] “declared war on the Nazis” in 1942. These were not some throwaway lines, but the result of three years spent studying a pseudo-academic science. (Just in case anybody on this list needs reminding, these claims are complete nonsense.) Surely in relation to someone who lies so easily and deeply, we need to be a bit cautious as to his ability to be trusted and tell the truth.

In addition, as recently as January of this year, Arutz Sheva reported:

Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas spoke glowingly last Friday of the “legacy” of the infamous Hajj Amin al-Husseini, who was a collaborator with the Nazis, and was prepared to conduct the mass murder of the Jews of the Land of Israel in the event of a Nazi invasion. The Mufti, Abbas said, was a great man whose ways should be emulated by all PA Arabs, and was worthy of great praise.

Far from being, as the popular press often calls him, “moderate,” Abbas is expressing views that are far outside the mainstream. Imagine for a minute what would happen if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said something like “As part of the final settlement, we envision not a single Arab living in Israel.” Front page of The New York Times, above the fold. Guaranteed.

Yet, the president of the Palestinian Authority denies the Holocaust, praises a notorious Nazi collaborator, and freely expresses his desire to make his envisioned state “jüdenrein”, not once but on several occasions, and the media yawn. Where’s the opprobrium? Where’s the condemnation? Or at the very least… Where’s the coverage?

Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin al-Husseini meets with Adolf Hitler

WATCH: Netanyahu's response to Arab MK who said Arabs were here first Arab MK rejects Jews' claim on the land in late-night Knesset debate: "We were here before you; we will be here after you" • This prompts the prime minister to deliver a rebuttal: "The first part is not true and the second will never take place."

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Late Wednesday night, the Knesset voted on a bill to make the controversial "referendum law" a basic law, which would necessitate a national referendum on any peace deal that would require territorial withdrawals.

During the plenum debate, Arab MK Jamal Zahalka (National Democratic Assembly) said that the bill was irrelevant because it referred to "occupied territory, and as such, what applies is international law; the referendum should apply to the nations of the world."

Zahalka was subsequently heckled by Habayit Hayehudi lawmakers, who said, "You are the foreigners in this land," to which Zahalka responded, "We were here before you and we will be here after you." 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seen in the video immediately raising his hand to be allowed a response from the Knesset podium.

"I did not plan to speak but I heard what MK Zahalka had to say. You said 'We were here before you and we'll be here after you're gone.' The first part is not true and the second part will never take place," the prime minister said, slamming his hand on the podium and leaving.

Netanyahu's comments were met with applause from much of the Knesset, even though Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein asked MKs to refrain from clapping.

Zahalka later clarified that his attack on Habayit Hayehudi MKs was directed "against racists, not Jews."

On Thursday, the Prime Minister's Office released the video of Netanyahu's comments, as well as tweeting them, under the heading: "The conflict twitterized."

Speaking at the U.N. General Assembly in 2012, Netanyahu said: "The Jewish people have lived in the land of Israel for thousands of years. Even after most of our people were exiled from it, Jews continued to live in the land of Israel throughout the ages. The masses of our people never gave up the dreamed of returning to our ancient homeland. Defying the laws of history, we did just that. We ingathered the exiles, restored our independence and rebuilt our national life. The Jewish people have come home.

"We will never be uprooted again."