Have you
been paying attention to Israel’s news? Do you see any ‘handwriting’ on the
proverbial wall?
Here are
some headlines you might have missed. These news stories—and commentary—are for
January 7 – 9, 2014.
The war
against Israel
- Palestinians fire mortar shells at
Israel; IAF responds (01/09/14, Jerusalem Post)
- Palestinians throw 3 Molotov
cocktails at Israeli bus near Hebron (01/09/14, Jerusalem Post)
- Two Palestinians arrested north of
Jerusalem for stone throwing at cars (01/07/14, Jerusalem Post)
- Three rockets fired from Gaza explode
near security fence (Israel Radio) (01/09/14, Haaretz)
- Palestinians hurl stones at Israeli
car near Qalqilya, driver lightly wounded (01/08/14, Haaretz)
-Stone
hurled at bus in Akko, no injuries (01/09/14, Ynet)
-Palestinian
government hails villagers who beat up settlers (01/09/14, Ynet)
-Israelis
rushed from West Bank hotel after protest (01/09/14, Ynet)
-Dozens of
Palestinians protest meeting of peace activists (01/09/14, Ynet)
-50-year-old
man stabbed in Jerusalem, sustains light injuries (01/08/14, Ynet)
- [Israel] MK [Ahmed] Tibi: I'll Fight
'Strange Idea' of Jewish State (01/09/14, Arutz Sheva)
--
Peace is
upon us, right? US Secretary of State John Kerry comes to Israel with
announcements of peace (see below). Israel’s Left demands ‘peace’. Newspapers
shout, ‘peace’!
But what do
Arabs make of all this peace talk? You
can see what they make—from the news above.
They make
Molotov cocktails to throw at Jews. They arrange protests.
They stone
Jews. They firebomb Jews. They fire mortars at Jews.
During a
single three-day news period, we see at least ten Arab attacks against Jews. We
see hate in action—and an Arab MK who declares with gusto that ’Palestinians’
will never recognize Israel as a Jewish state.
That raises
a question for all those peace-advocates who demand that Israel sign a deal
with the Palestinian Authority (PA): on what basis do you reasonably argue that
these Arabs want peace?
Remember, these
Arabs attack Jews every time peace talks get under way. If the Arabs are true ‘partners
for peace’, why do they attack Jews when Jews sit down at a negotiation table?
Can you
explain that to me?
The peace
talks
-Report:
Kerry is Behind European Boycotts (01/07/14, Arutz Sheva)
-Israel
accuses Kerry of urging EU settlement pressure (01/07/14, Times of Israel)
-Officials:
Kerry Way Out of His League in Talks (01/09/14, Arutz Sheva)
-- Op-Ed: Kerry Wants to Expel 85,000 Jews (01/09/14,
Giulio Meotti, Arutz Sheva)
--
We now get
news that these current ‘peace talks’ may be closer to an American-European
Union (EU) ‘plot’ against Israel than true ‘peace’ talks. News has leaked that
US Secretary of State Kerry is responsible for the July 2013 EU boycott threat.
Reports suggest that Kerry arranged for the boycott. Apparently, he keeps it
ready to implement in case the peace talks fail. If this is true, Kerry has
already decided that if the talks do indeed fail, it will be Israel’s fault—and
Israel will be punished for it.
A second
report came out this week in the form of an op-ed essay by Italian essayist Giulio
Meotti (“Op-Ed: Kerry Wants to Expel
85,000 Jews). Meotti has access to reports that suggest Kerry could be talking
about ‘transferring’ between 59,000 and 94,000 Jews, depending on finalized
details.
Does anyone
in Israel notice this?
Israel has a
track record transferring Jews. The 8,000 Jews ‘tranferred’ by Israel out of
Gaza in 2005 still suffer unemployment, under-employment and related traumas.
Some still do not have permanent housing, almost nine years later.
Is the
Israel government going to repeat the Gaza debacle—but with ten times the
population?
A third
report leaked during this news cycle suggested that Kerry may not even know
what he’s doing. According to some Israelis who have reportedly met with him,
Kerry gives the strong impression he has almost no understanding of the Middle
East. It’s being said, at least from some on the Israeli side, that he can’t
even read a map of the region.
If these
leaks and reports are correct—or, nearly correct--we should wonder about Kerry.
We should wonder about his competence. We should wonder about his attitudes
towards Israel.
We should
wonder how honest he is.
Indeed, if Israeli
officials are having such thoughts about Kerry, why is Israel still doing
business with him?
The
boycott of Israel
- NGO threatens to sue US academic
group which boycotts Israel (01/09/14, Jerusalem Post)
- The Modern Language Association (MLA) ignores word pollution
(01/09/14, Jerusalem Post)
- Pro-Israel Community Braces Itself
for Modern Language Association Vote (01/07/14, Jewish Daily Forward)
-An academic
scandal headed for Chicago (01/01/14, Chicago Tribune)
--
For perhaps
the first time ever, the Boycott movement took it on the nose during this news
cycle. For years, the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement has
appeared to be an unstoppable force, gathering power and momentum as it spreads
from campus to campus across the US. Now, a showdown appears in the making. The
NGO, Shurat HaDin (Israel Law Center) has decided to go after the US BDS
movement.
Perhaps a
new era begins: support BDS and get sued in US Federal and State court.
That has a
nice ring to it, doesn’t it?
You can read
more about the BDS story-line in the essay below. It’s titled, “BDS Boycott and
the MLA Convention, January 9-12, 2014.” It was posted on January 9, 2014.
There were
other news stories during this news cycle. But these stories here seemed
especially cogent for today’s view of Israel.
What do you
think of Israel? Perhaps more important, what do you think of John Kerry and
the BDS Movement?
What you
think is important. But here’s an even more important question: what must the
G-d of Israel think of all this?
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