A personal suggestion: Add the following compilation to your Tisha B'Av Kinot, or post-Kinot readings.

Kinana, Safiya, Rayhana, Kab, and thousands upon thousands more whose names were not recorded.... Al eileh ani bochiya - For these, too, I shed tears....

From Sahih Bukhari, a collection of Muslim oral teachings, Vol. 4, Book 53, hadith no. 392:

Narrated Abu Huraira: While we were in the mosque, the Prophet came out and said, "Let us go to the Jews." We
They replied: 'We shall never abandon the commandments of the Torah, nor substitute any others for them.'
went out till we reached Bait-ul-Midras. He said to them, "If you embrace Islam, you will be safe. You should know that the earth belongs to Allah and His Apostle, and I want to expel you from this land. So, if anyone amongst you owns some property, he is permitted to sell it, otherwise you should know that the Earth belongs to Allah and His Apostle."

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Excerpted from Sirat Rasul Allah, a Muslim biography of Muhammad ("HaMishuga", according to Rambam) written by Ibn Ishaq (704-761 CE)

...The apostle of Allah invited the Jews, possessors of' the scripture, to accept Islam and tried to enlist them in its favour; but he also threatened them with the punishment and vengeance of Allah. He was told, 'Nay. We shall follow that religion which our fathers professed, because they were more learned and better men than we are.' ....

...On another occasion the apostle entered a Jewish school and invited those who were present to Allah. They asked, 'What is your religion, Muhammad?' and he replied, 'The religion of Abraham .' They said, 'Abraham was a Jew.' Then the apostle told them, 'Bring the Torah and let that judge between me and you', but they refused....

....Soon after his return the apostle assembled the Jews in the market place and addressed them: 'Make profession of Islam before Allah punishes you as He has punished the Quraysh!'....

....Then the Jewish tribe asked that the apostle of Allah should not shed their blood, but permit them to carry away as much of their property as their camels could bear. He consented and they loaded as many of their possessions as they could on their camels, even demolishing their houses that they might take away the thresholds. Then they left, with their wives, children, and household goods, and accompanied by their drums, flutes and singers. The rest they left to the apostle of Allah.....
Trenches were dug in the market place. Then he sent for the men and had their heads struck off.

....The apostle of Allah besieged the Qurayza for twenty five days until they were distressed, and Allah struck fear into their hearts. When they had become convinced that the apostle would not depart until he had humbled them, Kab, their chief, spoke to them thus: I have three suggestions to make, of which you may select whichever you prefer. We can obey this man and believe in him.... In this case, your lives, property and children will be secure.' They replied, 'We shall never abandon the commandments of the Torah, nor substitute any others for them.' He went on, 'If you reject this, we can kill our children and women, and go out to Muhammad and his companions with drawn swords; then God will decide between us and Muhammad. If we perish, we shall perish without leaving orphans who might suffer evil, but if we are victorious, I swear we shall take their wives and their children!' They rejoined, 'Should we kill these poor creatures? What would life be to us without them?' He said, 'If you reject this, too, then consider. This is the Sabbath night, and it is possible that Muhammad thinks he is secure. Let us therefore make a sortie, and we may surprise him and his men.' But they answered, 'Shall we desecrate the Sabbath, and do on the Sabbath what none has done before...?'

Then the Qurayza asked the apostle to send them Abu Lubaba - one of the Aus, to which tribe they had been allied - that they might consult with him. When he arrived the men rose, and the women and children crowded around him in tears, so that he was deeply touched. They said, 'Think you that we ought to leave the fort as Muhammad commands?' and although he said 'Yes', he drew his hand across his throat, to show that they would be slaughtered. .....

...In the morning the Qurayza came down from their fort to surrender to the apostle of Allah, and the Aus begged that   as the apostle had dealt leniently with allies of the Khazraj   he would do the same for the allies of the Aus. The apostle said, 'Would you like one of your own people to decide their fate and they welcomed it. He continued, 'Then let Sad b. Muadh decide.' Sad had been struck by an arrow in the defence of the Ditch, so his people mounted him on a donkey   with a leather pillow under him, for he was a stout and handsome man   and brought him to the apostle. They told him, 'Deal kindly with thy allies, because the apostle of Allah has appointed thee for this
The apostle of Allah selected one of the Jewish women, Rayhana, for himself, and she remained with him as his slave until she died.
purpose.' But they entreated him too much and he said, 'Sad will take good care not to incur the censure of Allah by fearing the censure of men.' Then some of his people went away and lamented for the men of the Banu Qurayza, before Sad even reached them, because Sad had spoken thus.

....And Sad pronounced the following sentence, 'I decree that the men be killed, the property be divided, and the women with their children be made captives.' The apostle of Allah said, 'Thou hast decided according to the will of Allah, above the seven firmaments.'

The apostle of Allah imprisoned the Qurayza in Medina while trenches were dug in the market place. Then he sent for the men and had their heads struck off so that they fell in the trenches. They were brought out in groups, and among them was Kab, the chief of the tribe. In number, they amounted to six or seven hundred, although some state it to have been eight or nine hundred. All were executed.

One man turned to his people and said, 'It matters not! By God's will, the children of Israel were destined for this massacre! Then he seated himself and his head was struck off.

Aisha, the wife of the apostle, said, 'Only one of their women was killed. By Allah! She was with me, talking and laughing, while the apostle slaughtered her countrymen in the marketplace; and when her name was called, I asked, "What is this for?" and she replied, "I am going to be slain!" I asked why and she answered, "For something I have done!" Then she was taken away, and her head was struck off. But I shall never cease to marvel at her good humour and laughter, although she knew that she was to die." She was the woman who threw a millstone down from the Qurayza fort and killed a Believer.

Now the apostle distributed the property of the Banu Qurayza, as well as their women and children, to the Muslims, reserving one fifth for himself.

...The apostle of Allah selected one of the Jewish women, Rayhana, for himself, and she remained with him as his slave until she died. He had suggested marriage to her, that she should wear the veil (to separate her from all other persons, as his wives did), but she replied, 'Rather allow me to remain thy slave; it will be more easy for me, and for thee.' At the time of her capture she was an enemy of Islam, and desired to remain a Jewess....

....The apostle occupied the Jewish forts one after the other, taking prisoners as he went. Among these were Safiya, the wife of Kinana, the Khaybar chief, and two female cousins; the apostle chose Safiya for himself. The other prisoners were distributed among the Muslims. Bilal brought Safiya to the apostle, and they passed the bodies of several Jews on the way. Safiya's female companions
'Torture him until he tells what he knows', and al-Zubayr kindled a fire on his chest so that he almost expired.
lamented and strewed dust on their heads. When the apostle of Allah observed this scene, he said, 'Remove these she-devils from me!' But he ordered Safiya to remain, and threw his reda [cloak] over her. So the Muslims knew he had reserved her for his own. ....

...Kinana, the husband of Safiya, had been guardian of the tribe's treasures, and he was brought before the apostle, who asked where they were hidden. But Kinana refused to disclose the place. ...Some of the treasure was found. After that Kinana was asked again about the remainder, but he still refused to tell. The apostle of Allah handed him over to al-Zubayr, saying, 'Torture him until he tells what he knows', and al-Zubayr kindled a fire on his chest so that he almost expired; then the apostle gave him to Muhammad b. Maslama, who struck off his head.

....After the apostle of Allah had conquered the Khaybar forts and possessions, he arrived near the forts of al Watih and al-Sulalim, which were the last strongholds. These he besieged. ...After about ten days, the people realized the hopelessness of attempting to hold out; so they asked for peace and that their lives be spared. The apostle agreed, because he had already subdued all the other territory.

When the people of Fadak, a Jewish town nearby, heard what was taking place they sent emissaries to the apostle to ask him to spare them and they would abandon to him all their property. He agreed. ...but added, 'If we should find it convenient to expel you, we shall do so.'

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From a history of Jews under Islamic rule

Joseph HaNagid, the Jewish vizier of Granada, Spain, was crucified on December 30, 1066 by an Arab mob, who then proceeded to raze the Jewish quarter of the city and slaughter its 5,000 inhabitants.

In the 8th century, whole Moroccan Jewish communities were wiped out by Muslim ruler Idris I. In 1465, Arab
Arab mobs in Fez slaughtered thousands of Jews, leaving only 11 survivors.
mobs in Fez slaughtered thousands of Jews, leaving only 11 survivors, followed by similar massacres throughout Morocco. In Marrakesh, more than three hundred Jews were murdered between 1864 and 1880.

Throughout North Africa in the 12th century, the Almohads either forcibly converted or decimated several Jewish communities.

In Libya in 1785 Ali Burzi Pasha murdered hundreds of Jews; In Algiers, Jews were massacred in 1805, 1815 and 1830.

Decrees were issued and ordering the destruction of synagogues in Egypt and Syria (1014, 1293-4, 1301-2), Iraq (854-­859, 1344) and Yemen (1676).

Jews were forced to convert to Islam or face death in Yemen (1165 and 1678), Morocco (1275, 1465, 1790-92) and Baghdad (1333, 1344).

------------- Compiled by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz ----------------------

A Tale of Two Border Patrol Policemen and Seven Settlers
Nadia Matar, Women in Green

The Israel National News web site has a film in which we see two Border Patrol policemen attacking a Jewish demonstrator from the lovers of Eretz Israel camp and sadistically abusing him. According to most of the responses to the report, the public was shocked by the Border Patrol violence. I, however, am no longer surprised by any police violence. I was shocked by something that, in my humble opinion, is more serious: by the inaction and lack of response by the seven Jews, settlers, who stood by, still to what was happening, and did not step in. I must point out that they did, politely, express their protest: "Hey, stop abusing him," "What's going on here," "Enough," but they did not physically intervene.
 
This scene reminds me of the old sad joke about the eight Jews who are walking around in Europe and two non-Jews come towards them. One Jew asks the others: "Oy vey, what will we do? We are eight and they are two! Let's run away!"
 
I want to ask the young men who are seen in the film, who were present during the sadistic abuse of their friends: Master of the Universe! In the film you look at least 18 years old. Strong youth, who might even have undergone some krav maga (self-defense) training. Why didn't you defend your friend? According to the film, you could easily have overpowered the two Border Patrol policemen, and taken their hands off your friend's face, so they would at least have stopped choking him! I know that they filled all your heads not to raise a hand against a policeman or soldier, but they meant to say that we should not initiate violence. Here, this was a case of self-defense, against an attack. Anyone who defends himself against police violence, or any other kind of violence, is not violent, but is simply defending himself or his fellow. Obviously, it is important to film and document the event, so that the police will not be able to concoct a fake case of "assaulting a police officer."
 
I wouldn't have made anything of this, if such scenarios didn't repeat themselves over and over again. The picture presented by the film reminds me of the fury I felt when I watched a recording of the events of Amona, in which we see a policeman enter a room and bring down his club again, again, and yet again on dozens of the people sitting on the floor in the room. My initial anger was naturally directed against the policeman, but after a few seconds I said to myself: Master of the Universe! How is it that, of the dozens of young men in the room, a few didn't get up, to take the club away from the policeman's hands! And if the reports are correct, that all the young folks there were handcuffed, to prove their being nonviolent, then they should have gotten up on their feet and used their feet until the policeman stopped raining down blows on them. This isn't violence, this is self-defense.
 
The time has come to look at the conduct of our public in light of the attacks against us. The late Adir Zik always said that a considerable part of our public is sick with the "second-rate" disease. That is, it suffers from feelings of inferiority to the secular-leftist public. Others would say that we learn baseless love too extremely, so that we have lost the ability to be angry with those who do us injustice. Yet others will say that the genes of the galut (exile) are still embedded within us. Whatever the reason, the time has come to stop the policy of turning the other cheek. No more hugging a soldier or policemen who come to destroy our home, and we won't let a violent policeman carry out his designs without defending ourselves.
        
Does this mean that we have to be violent? Should we act like our ultra-Orthodox brothers? Many have said that if we had struggled over every house in Gush Katif like the ultra-Orthodox behaved this week after the mother's arrest, we would still be in Gush Katif. Possibly. But what can we do ... our public isn't capable of that, and perhaps that's all for the best.
 
Our strength lies elsewhere: the way for our camp to stop the expulsion decrees is:
 
(1) Nonparticipation by our soldiers in the destruction mission, certainly not in the innermost circle, but not even in the outermost one. The mission of destroying the outposts cannot be implemented without the army. Thank God, there are tens of thousands of young men from our camp in the army. All of us, today, and not tomorrow, must pick up a telephone and call our soldier sons and make it clear to them that we expect them to remain loyal to their mission, namely, the defense of the people and the land, and not, Heaven forbid, participation in the destruction of settlements and the handing over of portions of the homeland to the Arab enemy.
 
(2) A nonviolent, but mass, struggle: our camp numbers hundreds of thousands of Jews loyal to Eretz Israel who understand that the destruction of 23 outposts is the first phase of the destruction of the entire settlement enterprise in Judea and Samaria. If and when we will have to defend the outposts, it must be clear to us all that we are not going to work, we are not going to study in the yeshivah or the girls' mikhlalah (seminary), but we are taking to the streets and going to the outposts in our masses, sitting in on the main roads and preventing the security forces from reaching their target. If necessary, we will remain a day, two days, or even a week. This isn't a demonstration. This is a battle, a battle for the private and national home.
 
These two principles would have saved Gush Katif and northern Samaria. Unfortunately, they were not put into practice, because of rabbis who opposed refusing orders and leaders who organized bombastic two-hour demonstrations at the Western Wall and in Malkhei Yisrael Square, but were incapable of leading a true struggle.
 
Now is the time to correct the mistakes that were made in 2005. This is even more actual and urgent today, when we were informed of the preparations by the IDF and the Border Patrol for the destruction of 23 outposts. For the young people who were seen in the film and all other youth, the time has come to participate in courses in krav maga and self-defense. Not in order to be violent, Heaven forbid, but for the reasons of self-defense, mutual responsibility, and the defense of Eretz Israel.

Here is an important update from the Israeli Initiative headed by forme Knesset Member Rabbi Benny Elon:

100 Days of the Netanyahu Government
This week marks the end to the first hundred days of the Netanyahu Government, the first one in many years which has not based itself on the Oslo process. The climax of these days was marked by Netanyahu’s Bar Ilan speech which we wrote about at length in the last newsletter. His speech did not signify a turn in Israeli policy, and even seemingly adopted the two-state idea, yet it left room for a more national zionistic agenda.
Netanyahu emphasized Israel’s historic right to Judea and Samaria, clarified that any resettlement of refugees will be outside of Israel’s borders, and of utmost importance – demanded that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish State.

The speech was received positively around in the world, except in the Arab world. This is no coincidence. The Israel Initiative has continually stated that Palestinian nationality is sustained through perpetuating the conflict while continuing to de-legitimize Israel. Generous concessions made by Ehud Barak in May 2000 were rejected by Arafat, who was unwilling to agree that the following resolution would signify an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Abu Mazen and co. will never recognize Israel as a Jewish state because it contrasts the narrative of Palestinian nationality, which has been instilled for years among Palestinians in refugee camps and around the world.

This week, in a meeting with officials close to the Prime Minister, we were happy to discover that behind Netanyahu’s speech is an outlook that is similar to that of The Israel Initiative, or at least critical parts of it. We spoke about the importance of relating to the refugee issue on a humanitarian level as opposed to a political one. We have basis to believe that in the future we will see Israel actively seeking to rehabilitate refugees and abandoning the never ending cycle that led to the establishment of UNRWA. Yet this time the efforts will not be despite the Israeli government, as has been in the past, rather with their support.

The Palestinian State Illusion
In the meantime, the illusion of a two-state solution continues to be at the forefront as the path to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. There are many in Europe who believe that if Israel will give the Palestinians a state, the conflict will be resolved. The Israel Initiative has started a series of meeting with European diplomats who work with UNRWA and the Palestinian Authority, with the purpose of giving them a different viewpoint on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. These meetings have proved to be of extreme importance as the diplomats we have met are not in communication with members of the Israeli Government. Their exposure to the conflict has been from the Palestinian standpoint.

In an article published on a blog for the Jerusalem Center for Public Policy, Yonatan D. Halevi explains that there is no difference between Fatah, who rule in Judea and Samaria, and Hamas, who rule in Gaza. In the international community, Hamas is seen as a terrorist organization, while Fatah is an enlightened organization interested in making peace, giving hope for a peaceful Middle East. However, there is no difference between the two organizations, whether they wear a kafiye or are clean shaven.

Why do we Emphasize Rehabilitation?
Why is the refugee issue such a critical part of our initiative? The answer is simple: the complexity of the Israeli-Palestinian problem, which as time goes on seems to be more difficult to fix, its only aspect which Israel has the room to initiate change is the refugee issue. Many Israelis are unaware that perpetuation of the refugee issue serves as a source of strength for the Palestinian national movement. They use the refugee humanitarian crisis as a springboard for achieving political goals. These goals only serve to intensify the problem, which in turn jeopardize the region’s stability. As the columnist Ben Dror Yemini noted, “this continues to be the decisive weapon of Palestinian propaganda.”

Once the rehabilitation of the refugees is initiated, even if only among a minority, the Palestinian problem will decrease in its enormity and the catalyst behind the right of return will become severely weakened. It is noteworthy to mention, in one of the Knesset committee’s, a high ranking member of the Left explained that it is forbidden for Israel to settle the refugee problem, since that would pull the rug out from under Abu Mazen, who needs the refugee crisis as a basis for demanding a Palestinian state. Two weeks ago, the Palestinian Statistics Bureau publicized that the number of refugees reached 4.7 million. The bureau’s numbers are not very reliable, as they and UNRWA have been known to exaggerate in their statistics. However, the numbers are unimportant. Rather the refugee problem exists and continues to be a driving force for the establishment of a Palestinian State. According to these statistics, refugees account for 44% of the total Palestinian population in Judea, Samaria and Gaza: 30.2% in Judea and Samaria and 69.2% in Gaza.

At a conference held in Jerusalem, National Infrastructure Minister, Uzi Landau, responded to the Prime Minister’s assertion that he had obtained a broad consensus on the right solution to the current conflict. He asserted that a Palestinian state will not solve the current conflict and “hiding behind the title ‘Palestinian State’ is an Iranian regime.”

Palestinian Refugees - to the USA
While writing this newsletter it had been published in American media that the US government intends to absorb 1350 Palestinian refugees in the coming fall. This is a great opportunity to illustrate the fact that there is an alternative to ongoing conflict and misery, and that the West can take part in rehabilitation programs. Sure - these are not UNRWA-treated refugees (they are not as lucky) but Palestinians from Iraq, which are being treated as refugees are supposed to be. We hurried to spread this news item in Israel, accompanied by our interpretation:
http://www.inn.co.il/News/News.aspx/191694

Thoughts of 17th of Tamuz
In the Jewish tradition, the 17th of Tammuz marks the breaching of Jerusalem’s walls and begins the mourning process for the Temple that was destroyed. The Talmud relates that even though there was a siege around Jerusalem, the daily sacrifices in the Temple continued as usual. Each day a basket was lowered from the wall and an animal was placed in it to fulfill the daily sacrifices. The Jerusalem Talmud tells of an incident where the besiegers of the city decided to contaminate the daily Temple services. Instead of placing a lamb in the basket, a pig was placed inside. As the pig was being raised up in the basket, it decided to dig its paws into the wall and caused the land of Israel to shake 400 parsot. This story illustrates that Jerusalem was not destroyed because of a siege, rather it was the outcome of a war between brothers and losing a sense for the holiness of Jerusalem.
The Israel Initiative offices are located in Jerusalem, not far from the Damascus gate. Here we can feel the unity of Jerusalem, something that we have merited for the past generation. An important package was put under our guard, shame on us if the walls of Jerusalem fall again.

The following is circulating by email:

An interesting questionnaire  for Palestinian Advocates
By Yashiko Sagamori
If you are so sure that " Palestine , the country, goes back through most of recorded history," I expect you to be able to answer a few basic questions about that country of Palestine :

1.  When was it founded and by whom?

2.  What were its borders?

3.  What was its capital?

4.  What were its major cities?

5.  What constituted the basis of its economy?

6.  What was its form of government?

7.  Can you name at least one Palestinian leader before Arafat?

8.  Was Palestine ever recognized by a country whose existence, at that time or now, leaves no room for interpretation?

9.  What was the language of the country of Palestine ?

10. What was the prevalent religion of the country of Palestine ?

11. What was the name of its currency? Choose any date in history and tell what was the approximate exchange rate of the Palestinian monetary unit against the US dollar, German mark, GB pound, Japanese yen, or Chinese yuan on that date.

12. And, finally, since there is no such country today, what caused its demise and when did it occur?

You are lamenting the "low sinking" of a "once proud" nation. Please tell me, when exactly was that "nation" proud and what was it so proud of?

And here is the least sarcastic question of all: If the people you mistakenly call "Palestinians" are anything but generic Arabs collected from all over -- or thrown out of -- the Arab world, if they really have a genuine ethnic identity that gives them right for self-determination, why did they never try to become independent until Arabs suffered their devastating defeat in the Six Day War?
I hope you avoid the temptation to trace the modern day "Palestinians" to the Biblical Philistines: substituting etymology for history won't work here.

The truth should be obvious to everyone who wants to know it. Arab countries have never abandoned the dream of destroying Israel; they still cherish it today. Having time and again failed to achieve their evil goal with military means, they decided to fight Israel by proxy. For that purpose, they created a terrorist organization, cynically called it "the Palestinian people,” and installed it in Gaza, Judea, and Samaria. How else can you explain the refusal by Jordan and Egypt to unconditionally accept back the "West Bank" and Gaza, respectively?

The fact is, Arabs populating Gaza, Judea, and Samaria have much less claim to nationhood than that Indian tribe that successfully emerged in Connecticut with the purpose of starting a tax-exempt casino: at least that tribe had a constructive goal that motivated them. The so-called "Palestinians" have only one motivation: the destruction of Israel and in my book that is not sufficient to consider them a nation" -- or anything else except what they really are: a terrorist organization that will one day be dismantled.

In fact, there is only one way to achieve peace in the Middle East. Arab countries must acknowledge and accept their defeat in their war against Israel and, as the losing side should, pay Israel reparations for the more than 50 years of devastation they have visited on it. The most appropriate form of such reparations would be the removal of their terrorist organization from the land of Israel and accepting Israel’s ancient sovereignty over Gaza, Judea, and Samaria.

That will mark the end of the Palestinian people. What are you saying again was its beginning?