Israel on the left, Iran on the right. How’s this for perspective?
While the world’s attention has been focused on North Korea these past few weeks, one does not need to be particularly astute to connect the goings on in North Korea, with Iran. The two rogue nations have been surreptitiously and intimately connected for many years, particularly in the field of nuclear weapons development and their delivery systems.
Given Iran’s oft-stated desire to wipe Israel off the map, the consequences of North Korea successfully developing a missile-capable nuclear weapon along with an intercontinental delivery system, are extremely worrisome.
The working assumption is that if North Korea can do it, so can Iran.
It is anyone’s guess how the current tension between the U.S. and North Korea will play out, but it is now being reported that the Iranians are increasing their military spending, and are working to create a Shi’ite arc across the Middle East, from Iran, through Iraq and Syria, to Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea. The Iranians are already the main player in Iraq and Syria, and Hezbollah in Lebanon is really just one arm of the Iranian military machine.
Within Israel, the threat Iran poses is understood. Israeli Education and Diaspora Affairs Minister Naftali Bennett released a video this past Thursday detailing the danger that Iran poses to Israel, the Middle East and the rest of the world.
Whereas ISIS, Hezbollah, Hamas and other terrorist organizations are major terror threats to Israel and the rest of the Middle East, the ultimate terror threat originates with Iran.
Today, with so much turmoil within the United States, with Europe focusing on the ever-growing problem of “refugees”, and the world focused on eradicating ISIS, we ignore the ominous threat that Iran poses right now, at our peril.
Last week, AFSI’s South Florida chapter, led by Chairperson Carol Flatto, sponsored a discussion with great friend of AFSI, Jerusalem City Councilman Arieh King. He spoke about the recent Temple Mount Crisis to a receptive crowd of almost 60 people.
AS reported, During the dinner, King told the audience that his home in Ma’ale Zeitim on the Mount of Olives was stoned 60 times and recently had Molotov cocktails and paint thrown at it. However, he said that this is a regular occurrence.
“If this is the price for having the Temple Mount in our hands, I would welcome one hundred stones every day.”
King is also founder and director of the Israel Land Fund and explained to the attendees how his organization is developing affordable housing projects aimed at building Jewish neighborhoods in demographically strategic areas of Jerusalem.
South Florida AFSI Chair, Carol Flatto; Jerusalem City Councilman Arieh King; Dan Gelber, Miami Beach mayoral candidate
Please click on this link for a full description of the event.
AFSI’s annual Ze’ev Jabotinsky Memorial Conference, held on Thursday evening, August 3, was sponsored in conjunction with the Nordau Circle, with the very welcome addition of Students Supporting Israel from Columbia University. Park East Synagogue in NYC was the setting for the standing room only crowd of over 200 who listened intently to the powerful speeches of our guest speakers.
AFSI Co-Executive Directors Helen Freedman and Judy Kadish kicked off the evening with nods to Chairman Mark Langfan and acknowledgement of the dedication of the evening to AFSI’s Founder and Chairman, Herbert Zweibon, z”l. Following the singing of the American and Israeli anthems, Rabbi Harold Einsidler of Park East Synagogue chanted the Jewish Memorial Prayer for Jabotinsky.
The program featured two Israelis of note: Ambassador Dani Dayan, Consul General of Israel in New York was the featured speaker. His presence greatly enhanced the evening. David Hatuel, former resident of Gush Katif, whose pregnant wife and four daughters were brutally murdered by Arab terrorists in 2004, spoke to the crowd in Hebrew. Dror Vanunu, Gush Katif Representative, translated for him.
Ambassador Dayan’s message, citing Jabotinsky’s 1923 “Iron Wall” speech, was riveting. He emphasized that if people had listened to Jabotinsky’s words, that there could be no peace with the Arabs, and that the only way to deal with them would be by creating an “iron wall” of strength, many lives, and much time and energy could have been saved, and could still be saved.
David Hatuel’s pregnant wife Tali, and her four children, were murdered in 2004, the year before the Sharon decree to expel the 9,000 Jews from the 21 communities of Gush Katif. Sharon, who had campaigned on the fact that Gush Katif was the security belt for southern Israel, and was recorded stating that Gush Katif and Tel Aviv were equally vital to Israel, had totally reversed himself. Not only did the expulsion take place, with Israeli soldiers, tanks, and demolition crews entering the communities, physically removing the residents, and destroying everything, but the promise that afterwards ‘THERE WOULD BE A SOLUTION FOR EVERY FAMILY” was blatantly broken.
This August, 2017, twelve years after the expulsion, David Hatuel, his new wife and five children, along with the members of the former Katif community, are still living in caravans, or trailers. Is this an “Iron Wall” of strength and support for the Jews of Israel, or a cowardly betrayal with false promises?
David is fundraising so that a new synagogue can be built in memory of Tali Hatuel and her children. The KARMEI KATIF Synagogue would be located in the new Karmei Katif community in Lachish, where David and his neighbors hope to finally build and move into permanent homes. Those wishing to contribute to this effort should contact AFSI: 212-828-2424. Tax deductible checks can be made out to Friends of Gush Katif and mailed to AFSI at 1751 Second Ave., New York, NY 10128.
After the singing of the Beitar Anthem, and two beautiful songs sung by Rebecca Teplow, Dalia Zahger, Vice President of Students Supporting Israel, Columbia University, was introduced. While invoking the name of Jabotinsky, she updated the crowd on the status of pro-Israel activity on college campuses and the challenges faced by Jewish and pro-Israel students today.
AFSI Co-Executive Director Helen Freedman kicking off the eveningAFSI Co-Executive Director Helen Freedman; AFSI Treasurer & Board Member Mark Zweibon; AFSI Outpost Editor Rael Jean Isaac; Israeli Consul General, Ambassador Dani Dayan; AFSI Co-Executive Director Judy Kadish
Israel’s Consul General to New York, Ambassador Dani Dayan
Dahlia Zahger of Students Supporting Israel (SSI), Columbia University
The Jordanian Option: Jordan is Palestine
For those unfamiliar with Middle East history,
the map below speaks for itself!
The mandate for a Jewish nation in Palestine originally included what is today Jordan.
The British lopped it off and gave it to the Arabs, thus eliminating 77% of the land meant
for the Jewish nation.
This video is a must-watch!
An interview with Mudar Zahran
If you are in Jerusalem on Tuesday, October 17, check out the JORDAN OPTION conference at the Menachem Begin Center.
See AFSI’s Calendar of Events below for details.
Last week we posted a video titled, Why No Peace? It Takes Only 13 Seconds To Explain. Unfortunately, there is no shortage of videos or other media showing the true intent of the Palestinian Arabs.
One organization that studies Palestinian society from a broad range of perspectives and maintains a media repository of their findings is Palestinian Media Watch (www.palwatch.org). Over the years, PMW has amassed thousands of videos and other material showing Palestinian intent to indoctrinate its people with hatred toward Israel and Jews, and the “glory” one can attain by achieving martyrdom through the murder of Israelis and Jews.
On March 8, 2016, U.S. Army veteran Taylor Force, who was neither Israeli nor Jewish, was murdered in Israel by a Palestinian Arab from Qalqilya. Force was an American MBA student at Vanderbilt University and was touring Israel with a group studying global entrepreneurship. Eleven others were injured.
Fatah, the party of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, posted a statement online praising the attacker as a hero and a “martyr,” and suggested such attacks would continue “so long as Israel does not believe in the two-state solution and ending its occupation.”
Hamas said is a statement: “We applaud the courageous attacks in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Yafo. This is proof of the failure of all the conspiracies meant to eradicate the intifada, which will continue until its goals are achieved.”
Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine also praised the attack, and said that the continuation of the attacks sends a clear message to those who are doubtful, proving that the intifada is continuing and growing more intense.
These reactions have been documented fully, and proof of their validity can be found on PMW’s website. Here is one such video:
We bring this up now because the United States Senate is finalizing a bill titled the Taylor Force Act. This legislation would cut off U.S. funding for the Palestinian Authority over its compensation program for terrorists and the families of terrorists. Of course, PA leadership is vociferously against the bill, and has pledged to continue paying those “martyrs” serving time in Israeli prisons.
The legislation has already gone through several versions which have resulted in it being watered down, to the satisfaction of the Palestinian Arabs, and consternation of those opposed to any financial aid being distributed to murderers of Americans. The United States currently gives the PA nearly $500 million in aid annually, and the legislation passed in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last Thursday would allow only the portions designated for security assistance – roughly $60 million – and humanitarian aid to remain in place. (In 2016 the U.S. provided roughly $350 million to UNWRA of which $95 million was earmarked for the West Bank and Gaza, and $300 million in humanitarian aid to the PA through the USAID program. Click HERE for the humanitarian aid breakdown as summarized by the Times of Israel). This version gained the support of Senator Chuck Schumer and AIPAC.
We fail to see how the “humanitarian aid” provided to the PA can be prevented from being distributed to the terrorists in Israeli prisons. Will there be mechanisms in place to guarantee that this aid will be used only for reliable humanitarian purposes? Or will the U.S. accept what can only be defined as “credible attempts” on the PA’s part to limit violence, to keep the aid flowing?
Today, the Trump administration, although offering cautious support for the Taylor Force Act, stated that the bill better not interfere with efforts to forge a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs (as if the Arabs are actually interested in peace.)
The bill is a work in progress. It must be passed by the Senate, sent to to House, finalized, and then voted on. It will most likely continue to be modified as it moves forward.
In the meantime, here is a summary of the bill’s key issues:
– Funding for humanitarian efforts and security cooperation would not be interrupted.
– An escrow account would be established for aid dollars in the event that aid would be cut. That escrow period would last one year.
– The bill would not include a waiver that would grant the U.S. president the ability to disregard the law on national security grounds.
– All Republican Senators on the committee voted for the bill.
– New Jersey Democratic Senator Cory Booker, bowing to Arab pressure, voted against the bill. Three other Democratic Senators also did; they are: Chris Murphy (Conn.), Tom Udall (N.M.), and Jeff Merkley (Ore.). SHAME ON THEM. TERRORISM MUST NOT BE REWARDED!
Jewish visitors on the Temple Mount. Note the dearth of Muslims and nearly as many police as Jews in this group.
(Photo: Arutz Sheva)
Today is Rosh Chodesh Av – the first day of the month of Av on the Jewish calendar. It begins the Nine Days leading to Tisha B’Av, when we mourn the destruction of the Temples in Jerusalem, among other calamities that have befallen the Jewish nation throughout history.
As Jerusalem’s Temple Institute Co-founder Rabbi Chaim Richman said, “We are no longer in exile: Sixty-nine years ago we miraculously returned to our land and re-established Jewish sovereignty. Fifty years ago we were reunited with Jerusalem and the Temple Mount.”
“It’s time to wake-up and re-frame Tisha B’Av into a day of hope. We cannot continue to mourn robotically as if nothing has changed in the last century.”
In that spirit, the Temple Institute presents the following short video.
In response to the brutal murders in Halamish Friday night, Member of Knesset Bezalel Smotrich (Jewish Home), called for the construction of a synagogue on the Temple Mount.
MK Smotrich said, “The Zionist response would largely be to make the other side understand and feel that they have lost. They must understand that they gain nothing from terrorism. They are the only ones who will lose, and this will happen on three levels.”
These three levels include:
1. Build a synagogue on the Temple Mount
2. Exact a very steep price from the (Arab and Muslim) population in Judea and Samaria.
By now we are all too familiar with the horrendous news of the murder of three Jews in the town of Halamish, Israel, this past Friday night. All these innocent people were doing was sitting around a Shabbat table, enjoying a festive meal, and celebrating the upcoming circumcision ceremony for a newborn male grandchild.
An Arab carrying a knife and a Koran was able to scale the community’s security fence. He then entered a home, and stabbed three people to death, a grandfather, and his son and daughter. The murdered were: Yosef Salomon, 70, and his children Chaya, 46, and Elad, 36. Yosef’s wife, Tovah, was severely injured and as of this writing, remains hospitalized
As is typical, the Arab and Muslim community both in and out of Israel celebrated these murders as an act of heroism, not as the heinous act that it is; even the terrorist’s mother! (click HERE). Today, we learned that the terrorist committed these murders knowing that he (i.e., his surviving family) would be financially compensated for his actions, another disgusting behavior practiced by Israel’s enemies.
How many times do we need to cry out, Enough is Enough! What does it take to understand that among Arabs and Muslims, compromise is viewed as a sign of weakness and capitulation? When will appropriate punishment be meted out to the savages who refuse to admit Jews have a permanent homeland in the Middle East, and that homeland is Israel, including Jerusalem?
Events in Israel and the greater Middle East are occurring at breakneck speed, and we await the decisions, pronouncements and actions of the Netanyahu government. Strength is required. Capitulation of any sort is not, and can never be an option.
The following short video was made by security expert Ben Goldstein, while on a security mission driving through Judea and Samaria right after the Halamish murders. It is a small taste of what reality is like on the ground, and what Israelis deal with on a daily basis.
There has been so much speculation and growing anticipation these past few days: Will President Trump announce the moving of the U.S embassy to Jerusalem? Will he announce that Jerusalem is the undivided capital of Israel? Will Bibi escort him to the Kotel? Will Trump speak at Masada? What will Trump say when he visits with Abbas? Will there be a resumption of peace talks? On and on it goes. Continue reading
On this last day of the tour, the group arrived in Hebron to celebrate Hebron Day there with original “settlers”. Yehudit Katzover, co-leader of Women in Green and spearhead of the Sovereignty Conferences, was there with WIG co-leader Nadia Matar. Rabbi Waldman, founder of the Yeshivat Nir in Kiryat Arba, Elyakim HaEtzni, another Hebron pioneer, and Sarah Nachshon, whose remarkable courage opened the Hebron cemetery to Jews, were also present. These individuals formed a panel, over which Noam Arnon, leader of the Hebron community, served as moderator. The AFSI group heard their amazing stories about the efforts to reclaim Hebron after the 1967 victories. Continue reading
Here are a few pictures from AFSI’s participation yesterday in the Temple Mount Sifting Project, followed by dinner in Jerusalem’s one-of-a-kind Machane Yehuda marketplace: Continue reading
