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Iyar 22, 5767, 5/10/2007
Khazarei:by Steven Plaut
This week I published an article on how Neo-Nazis, Palestinian terrorists, and leftist anti-Semites are obsessed with the "Khazar Myth", holding that all Ashkenazi Jews are descendent from Khazar converts to Judaism over a millennium ago. It is a way to delegitimze Israel and Jews:
It is one of the great ironies of the 21st century that anti-Zionists and anti-Semites on both the Left and the Right, have returned to racialist arguments against Jews that most of us thought had died out after World War II. Nearly every anti-Semitic and neo-Nazi website denounces Zionists and Israelis as "Khazars." Web chat lists in which Jews defending Israel are dismissed as "Khazar usurpers" are too numerous to count. The racialism once again in vogue holds that Jews would only have legitimate claims to the right of self-determination in their homeland if they were appropriately Semitic from a racial point of view. Palestine is part of the Semitic racial lebensraum and those who do not possess the correct pure racial markings have no business being there. Racial purity is suddenly the new basis for national rights. The "Institute for Historic Review" is a Holocaust Denial Neo-Nazi web site. Here it behaves as a wonderful member of the Axis of Evil, Nazis allied with Arab terrorists, banning together to promote the Khazar Myth:
Furthermore, the Jews of Ashkenazi extraction are descendants of the Khazars, a people of Turkish stock, who occupied an area between the Black and Caspian Seas, a territory now a part of the Soviet Union. The Khazars, originally pagans, had in 740 A.D. embraced Judaism and their descendants, while they may profess the Jewish faith today, cannot claim to be of the "seed of Abraham" and "heirs according to the Promise." The ancestors of those Jews who today immigrate to Palestine from Europe and the Americas and claim Palestine and beyond as their ancestral homeland, came not from Jordan but from the Volga, not from Canaan but from the Caucasus, and that genetically, they are more closely related to the Hun and Magyar than to the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Besides, religion does not confer heritage or property rights on people! The writer, Hadawi, claims to be a Palestinian refugee. Sure, we believe him. Finally, a Neo-Nazi "blogger" named Kurt Nimmo, who is an unemployed New Mexico conspiracy nut, a groupie of Holocaust Denier David Irving, and a regular on the Uruknet web site of exiled Iraqi Baathists, has called ME a Khazar: Plaut and his Ashkenazic buddies are actually descended from the Turkic Khazars in eastern Europe, although they like to pretend they are direct descendants of the ancient Hebrews, a Semitic people closer to the Palestinians than Plaut would ever admit. Plaut and his poseur settler friends are a far cry from the ancient Assyrians, Babylonians, Chaldeans, Arameans, Hebrews, and Arabs. They are more akin to English colonists attacking Pequot villages and killing innocent men, women, and children than I will ever be. I would have no problem with finding a family connection to folks with Khazar lineage, especially if they are in a position to make me a cheap loan.
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Iyar 22, 5767, 5/10/2007
Richard Gere -- Suicide Kisserby Jack Engelhard
This would not be a good time for Richard Gere to revisit India. There’s a warrant for his arrest. What did he do? He kissed India’s leading lady, Shilpa Shetty, during an AIDS-awareness event in New Delhi. All that took place out in the open, in front of the news media and others who craned for a glimpse of these two glamorous actors staging a worthy extravaganza. Apparently, Gere failed to read the “Thank You For Not Kissing” signs posted across the country. Extremists over there started rioting for what they termed lewd behavior. A court in Jaipur wants Gere to present himself before a magistrate, and Shetty also faces charges, though anyone who has seen the footage can attest that Shetty demurred and wanted no part of Gere’s public display of affection. India’s “Bollywood” turns out more movies than our own Hollywood and it’s doubtful that most citizens of that great democracy support the moralistic and legalistic hysteria -- like this reaction from former attorney general Soli Sorabjee: “Magistrates should not behave like the Taliban moral police. The [arrest] order is unsustainable and makes us look ridiculous.” Gere has apologized for his disorderly exuberance and Shetty continues to be burned in effigy. In one particular hot spot, Meerut, mobs have been chanting “Down with Shetty.” They want her movies banned. That probably won’t happen in movie-crazed India, where Shetty is a film goddess. Obviously, though, she’ll never eat lunch in that town again. Shetty tried to calm the protesters by saying that kissing derives from Gere’s culture, not her culture: “I understand people’s sentiments,” she said, “but I don’t want a foreigner to take back bad memories from here.” Planting a kiss is not the same as planting a bomb and should be appreciated as a welcome distraction in a world gone mad -- or so you’d think. This really isn’t about India as much as it is about a world that’s gone topsy-turvy. Mickey Mouse, anyone? Hamas has been broadcasting a Mickey Mouse look-alike to recruit Arab kindergarten children into the business of murdering Israelis – Jews and Christians. Is there no end to depravity? All this from Hamas in Gaza, the same Gaza that Israel handed over as a concession to peace. (We're told that this Mickey Mouse show has been pulled by the PA, Too late. Damage done, and those PA textbooks still carry the same message of hate.) Gere is a practicing Buddhist, an adherent of the Dalai Lama, whose message is international harmony and interfaith healing. India generally encompasses those virtues and is famed as a literate nation that values inclusiveness and tolerance. So all that feverish denunciation (by only a fringe of the population) is truly an exception for India, not the rule Those of us who’ve seen the (now disgraced) footage can only wonder what Gere (once dubbed the sexiest man alive) could have been thinking. He was indeed overly affectionate. Is that a crime? Yes, if you do it in some dark alley, but not when you’re promoting AIDS-awareness in front of the whole world. He was only trying to make love, not war, and must still be mystified that his gesture backfired. Who knows if there’s an extradition treaty between the United States and India for the crime of kissing, which could lead to dancing, and in fact, here’s part of Gere’s apology: “My clumsy attempt at a ‘Shall We Dance’ move was a naïve misread of Indian culture, and I assure you, nothing more.” Can’t happen here, you say, this brand of moral outrage? Okay, back at the office, try this: “Hi, Deborah.. Love your new dress, and you look sensational today.” Go ahead.
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Iyar 20, 5767, 5/8/2007
Creating Our Future Leadershipby Nissan Ratzlav-Katz
It is banal to say that Israel is facing a major crisis in leadership these days. Elections alone cannot resolve it. An investigative commission of our political and security leaders - no matter how thorough in its recommendations - cannot resolve it. Mass resignations cannot resolve it (although I'd personally settle for that as a temporary salve).
To truly be a leader means to bring out the best in those being led, to motivate, to 
"We ignite the spark in each of them to fulfill their innate potential."
 empower and to strengthen. It means to be an example of perseverance, honor, discipline and integrity.
But who leads the leaders? How are they created, if they can be created?
Recently, I was privileged to learn of a place where leaders are being created. Perhaps not leaders in the sense of politicians rising to the top in a game of influence, money and pull, but true leaders - people who lead by example; those very people of perseverance, honor, discipline and integrity that Israel needs.
The Mechina Program of the Northern Negev is a unique post-high-school, military preparatory academy that set as its goal the realization of the full potential of young Jews from Israel's underclass to become positive, contributing members of Israeli society. Focusing on youths from troubled or impoverished backgrounds, the Mechina seeks to transform low self-esteem, limited ambition and underachievement into motivation, self-respect, success and authentic leadership. Mechina of the Northern Negev
According to the English-language website of this important, all-blue-and-white program, the Mechina gives its students "an intense year of quality Jewish education, an opportunity to move from risk to success, and most importantly, we ignite the spark in each of them to fulfill their innate potential, in a religious Zionist framework.
"Without the Mechina program, these students would have little hope of excelling in the Israeli military, or getting a higher education, or ultimately assuming leadership roles in their communities."
And the Mechina, established only five years ago, has already proven itself. 12 of the program's graduates received outstanding soldier awards, four became officers and one was granted the President of Israel's Award for Excellence in Service. And that is just
12 of the program's graduates received outstanding soldier awards.
what they have accomplished in the IDF - just wait until these young adults spread their wings and really begin to fly.
According to a 2006 UJA study, the Northern Negev Mechina graduates report increased motivation, strengthened values, greater self-assurance and a deeper commitment to their community and their Jewish identity.
The Mechina and programs like it, I believe, are doing more to bring about a positive change in national leadership than all 200,000 people who demonstrated against the government last week in Tel Aviv's Rabin Square. It may be the "long way," but it is the right way. And it's the only way that will last beyond next week's newspaper headlines - because it is based on a foundation that is older than last week's newspaper headlines.
To offer your help in transforming Israel for the better, contact Executive Director Naftali Kandler at naftali@mechina.org.il or 972-52-4239740. Donations can be sent to the PEF Israel Endowment Fund, Inc. at 317 Madison Avenue, Suite 607, New York, NY 10017. In Israel, donate to "Mechina Kiryat Malachi" at the Mechina Program, POB 57, Kiryat Malachi, or by way of direct deposit to account no. 209396 at the Kiryat Malachi branch (450) of Bank Mizrachi (20).
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Back to Sanity
by Arutz 7 Analysts
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