Before I start on my latest post, just to remind you that this coming Sunday and Monday are Rosh Chodesh (beginning of Jewish Month) Adar 2. 

 

I post much more frequently and on a wider variety of topics on my other blogs, Shiloh Musings and me-ander. For instance, read a mother's perspective on sports, winning and losing.

And here's an observation on human nature:

A Leopard Can't Change His Spots, and An Arab Terrorist Will Remain One Even With A "State"

Yesterday when I was reading some old International Herald Tribunes, I came across this article about the abuse many Afghan women suffer from their husbands and in-laws even in New York City.  One line really explained it well:

“I can’t even remember how many times I got black eyes,” said Nadia, 22, who is so fearful that she asked that her last name not be published. “I didn’t know I could call the police.”

She had thought this kind of abuse was a part of the Afghan life she had left behind.

Honestly, why would anyone think that just by changing one's place of residence, their behavior, cultural norms would change, too?

But much more quietly, a culture of domestic violence — not only by husbands but also by husbands’ families — has followed Afghan immigrants to destinations like New York, where women’s advocates say they are now discovering just how widespread the problem is.

I kept thinking of all the misguided policies of western governments, political scientists, philosophers, the media and la la Leftists who insist that by calling a country a "democracy" and instituting a system of elections, human rights abuses and totalitarian policies will just disappear.  And even worse, why do they insist that Israel will be "secure" with a Pseudostinian aka Palestinian sic State in our Land.

 

 

Whenever I think of the fact that the United States is training their police/army to be, I can't help but thinking of the movie The Siege.

It doesn't matter what pretty words U.S. President Obama, former U.K. Prime Minister Blair, Israeli la la Leftists, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, international diplomats media etc say, because the Arabs don't deny that their aim is the destruction of the State of Israel, G-d forbid!

The two-state solution will lead to Israel's collapse, the Palestinian Ambassador to Lebanon said in an interview earlier this month.

"With the two-state solution, in my opinion, Israel will collapse, because if they get out of Jerusalem, what will become of all the talk about the Promised Land and the Chosen People?"

Abbas Zaki told Lebanon's ANB TV on May 7.

Calling these Arab terrorist leaders and supporters president, generals and parliamentarians won't change them one iota.

Just like the Afghan families in New York who physically and mentally abuse the women who marry in, as they remember as acceptable in Afghanistan, giving the Arab terrorists a state will only make it easier for them to terrorize us and worse, may G-d protect us.

May G-d grant wisdom to our leaders, so they will lead us in the right direction.

 

hat tip for cartoon: churi1001

Rosh Chodesh Adar II is approaching, and G-d willing, it will bring us blessings from G-d.  Women are invited for special prayers at Tel Shiloh:

 

G-d willing, it will be beautiful, since the wild flowers have begun to bloom.

I blog much more frequently on Shiloh Musings and me-ander; please visit. And today, here I'm posting about the importance of good titles and headlines.

"Rocket falls on Beersheba," What? Like Rain?

I hate these sorts of titles and headlines.  The Jerusalem Post's article on the Arab attack on Beersheva made things worse by adding "Following Katyusha fire in Negev..."

Do these things happen all by themselves, like spontaneous combustion?  Nu?  Who launched these weapons at Israel?  I stress the who, because people, not chance, not G-d are guilty of attacking Israel and its civilians.

But as much as I dislike the headline, at least it's big news in the Jerusalem Post.  I just checked the New York Times which at this moment, hours after the Arab attack on the main city of Israel's south, there isn't a mention.  Surprisingly, BBC has a better title to their article than the Jerusalem Post:

Gaza militants fire rockets at Beersheba, Israel

Of course I disagree with their use of the word "militants," but at least they rightly put the blame on the Gazans. That's much better than ynet:

Grad rocket hits Beersheba Gaza terror reaches Negev capital for first time since Operation Cast Lead. Grad rocket explodes in Beersheba house yard...

No people seem to be involved in their version of the attack. It reads like one of those science fiction stories in which computers take control. Arutz 7 got it right with:

Terrorists Fire Two Rockets at Be'er Sheva; IDF Retaliates

And lastly, at least for me, will be Haaretz's top story at this moment:

Grad rockets fired at Be'er Sheva for first time since Gaza war

One missile hit building in residential area, causing damage; no casualties reported; Palestinians report Israeli air strike retaliation, wounding two Islamic Jihad militants.

Grammatically, at least, someone/something is blamed for firing the rockets, though we're not specifically told who or what.

An important headline should never be written in passive, because as news it must indicate an active subject.

A good news title must be clear, and the first sentence should summarize the story giving a Who, What, When and Where. Too many news titles leave out the "Who," because they don't want to connect the Arabs, Gazans, or what they call "Palestinians" with terrorism and violence.

It's not racism to state that Muslim Arabs embrace a culture very different from the "western" one
Again, I'll begin with an invitation to women to celebrate Rosh Chodesh at Tel Shiloh:

Women's Prayers at Tel Shiloh

Rosh Chodesh Adar II

Sunday, March 6, 2011 9:30am

Dvar Torah, Short Torah Lesson

Please come and invite family, friends and neighbors

 תפילת נשים ראש חודש אדר ב' בתל שילה

 יום א' 6-3 9:30

 יהיה דבר תורה קצר

נא לבוא, לפרסם ולהזמין חברות, משפחה ושכנות

 

I post much more frequently on Shiloh Musings and me-ander. You may enjoy my photo-post on Mount Zion, Rabbi Goldstein's Diaspora Yeshiva. There's also my latest sighting and filming of Jerusalem's lightrail in action.

Here's something new, not very PC at all:

Different Cultures, Different Values

• Right and wrong are taught. 
• Right and wrong differ from culture to culture.

What's known as "western," Jewish-Christian culture would never accept or encourage kamikazi pilots, suicide terrorism or self-immolation (burning oneself to death.)

It's not racism to state that Muslim Arabs embrace a culture very different from the "western" one.  That's a good reason for Israel to stop negotiating "peace" with the Arabs, because the Arab concepts of "peace" and "negotiations" are fatally and inherently different from ours.

The recent rape of journalist Lara Logan is a case in point.  Just now, as I was googling for news articles about it, I was disappointed that most were from the non-conventional news sites and blogs, not the large mainstream ones.  That means that the big newspapers and news sites have been playing down the attack.  I found an article in the New York Post, because it was mentioned some place else.  Why has the rape been downplayed?  I guess it's just not PC to say that Muslim Arab mobs unapologetically do things considered immoral and unthinkable elsewhere.

I've said many times that I'm a pragmatist.  That puts me on the ideological Right.  I'm a realist.  That reminds me of some very wise words from MK Dr. Arieh Eldad, MD, Ha'Ichud Le'umi, National Union.  He has stated that it must be remembered that there are many scientists, those who deal with real logic on the Right.  They can't pretend; they must see things as they are.

Yes, as I've been saying, all these riots in Muslim Arab countries endanger world peace, and the fact that United States President Barack Hussein Obama finds these riots encouraging and supports them should frighten the "western world."

The Jewish Calendar is based on the cycle of the moon, so we'll be celebrating the next Rosh Chodesh, new moon in just a few weeks.

 

I post much more frequently on Shiloh Musings and me-ander, so I recommend that you visit and check out the comments, too, which are different from what you'll find here.

The following post gives some very basic history, a prerequisite for understanding the Middle-East's current events.
There is no "Jordanian People."

And Who Really Is That Jordanian King Abdullah? And Whose Land is This?

I just read Arlene Kushner's latest posting, which got me thinking.  It's time to remind everyone that the king in Jordan has a very flimsy historical connection to what is called Jordan.  As I write this, "From Israel: Blowin' in the Wind" isn't yet on Arlene's site, but I trust that she'll have it up shortly and recommend reading it in its entirety.

Apparently many Arab leaders are getting nervous because of the spreading instability/unrest/demonstrations/violence and are setting up "insurance/emergency arrangements."

The news this morning was that PA president Mahmoud Abbas has secured Jordanian citizenship, as have his entire family and several other major Fatah figures such as Ahmed Qurei, Abbas’s spokesman Nabil Abu Rudaineh and Muhammad Dahlan.

According to Khaled Abu Toameh's report on this in the JPost, application for citizenship was made by PA leaders at a time when they were urging Jordan not to grant Jordanian citizenship to Palestinian Arabs so that they might "consolidate their Palestinian identity."

Jordan, itself, is a time bomb.  The skeleton, which is ignored by most international diplomats, the media and history books, is that Abdullah's family has a very recent and weak connection to the land and people they rule.

King Abdullah II, a Hashemite, sits uneasy on his throne, and fears the demographic threat of a growing Palestinian population within his kingdom.

Abdullah should be worried.  His family isn't native to the area at all.  They are Hashemites who were brought in and declared royal rulers.  Read this:

Although the Sykes-Picot Agreement was modified considerably in practice, it established a framework for the mandate system which was imposed in the years following the war. Near the end of 1918, the Hashemite Emir Faisal set up an independent government in Damascus. However, his demand at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference for independence throughout the Arab world was met with rejection from the colonial powers. In 1920 and for a brief duration, Faisal assumed the throne of Syria and his elder brother Abdullah was offered the crown of Iraq by the Iraqi representatives. However, the British government ignored the will of the Iraqi people. Shortly afterward, the newly-founded League of Nations awarded Britain the mandates over Transjordan, Palestine and Iraq. France was given the mandate over Syria and Lebanon, but had to take Damascus by force, removing King Faisal from the throne to which he had been elected by the General Syrian Congress in 1920.

In November 1920, Emir (later King) Abdullah led forces from the Hijaz to restore his brother’s throne in the Kingdom of Syria. However, the French mandate over Syria was already well planted, and Emir Abdullah was obliged to delay his pan-Arab goals and focus on forming a government in Amman. Since the end of the war, the British had divided the land of Transjordan into three local administrative districts, with a British “advisor” appointed to each. The northern region of ‘Ajloun had its administrative center in Irbid, the central region of Balqa was based in Salt, and the southern region was run by the “Moabite Arab Government,” based in Karak. The regions of Ma’an and Tabuk were incorporated into the Kingdom of the Hijaz, ancestral home of the Hashemites. Faced with the determination of Emir Abdullah to unify Arab lands under the Hashemite banner, the British proclaimed Abdullah ruler of the three districts, known collectively as Transjordan. Confident that his plans for the unity of the Arab nation would eventually come to fruition, the emir established the first centralized governmental system in what is now modern Jordan on April 11, 1921.

King Faisal I, meanwhile, assumed the throne of the Kingdom of Iraq in the same year. The Hashemite family ruled Iraq until King Faisal’s grandson King Faisal II and his immediate family were all murdered in a bloody coup by Nasserist sympathizers led by Colonel Abdel Karim Qassem on July 14, 1958. The Hashemites suffered another major blow in 1925, when King Ali bin al-Hussein, the eldest brother of Abdullah and Faisal, lost the throne of the Kingdom of the Hijaz to Abdel Aziz bin Saud of Najd. The loss, which was brought about by a partnership between Ibn Saud and followers of the Wahhabi movement, led to the establishment of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and brought to an end over one thousand years of Hashemite rule in Mecca.

Emir Abdullah soon succeeded in loosening the British mandate over Transjordan with an Anglo-Transjordanian treaty. On May 15, 1923, Britain formally recognized the Emirate of Transjordan as a state under the leadership of Emir Abdullah. This angered the Zionists, as it effectively severed Transjordan from Palestine and so reduced the area of any future Jewish national home in the region. The treaty stipulated that Transjordan would be prepared for independence under the general supervision of the British high commissioner in Jerusalem, and recognized Emir Abdullah as head of state. In May 1925, the Aqaba and Ma’an districts of the Hijaz became part of Transjordan. (complete article)

There is no "Jordanian People."  
There is no such thing as a Palestinian people and history

It's a very recent invention of political and diplomatic convenience, less than a hundred years old.  It's much newer than the Zionist movement, and I have no doubt that if the Jewish People hadn't begun its return to the historic Jewish HolyLand, the middle-east would have had been ignored by the western world.

And that brings me to the most important point which must not be ignored nor white-washed.  There is no such thing as a Palestinian people and history.  It's a fiction, a modern invention.  The only People to have a national history and tradition based in this part of the world is the Jewish People. 

Judaism is more than a religion.  We're a People-Religion-Nation. 

We are unique.  We've survived our enemies.  We have returned to Our Land from which we had been exiled.  Statisticians have calculated that very soon most Jews will be living here in our historic homeland.  All those reports, predictions and attempts over the millennia to declare us dead are totally mistaken. 

We the Jewish People live and thrive in the HolyLand, thank G-d. 

Thank G-d it's raining. I'm not even upset that the laundry I hung out to dry keeps getting soaked.  G-d is good.  Don't forget it!  Man is the problem.

There's always more to read on Shiloh Musings and me-ander.

Here's another of my rants against the faux "peace talks," or call them apease talks.

With The Arab World in Increasing Chaos, Let's Take a Sabbatical From "Peace Talks"

And now for the main attraction:

Ehud Barak vs The IDF

I'll never forget how when the present and lame duck IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi was appointed he was considered the antidote for the hands off, pro-tech elitist Ehud Barak.  Pundits had blamed Barak for IDF failings and considered Gabi Ashkenazi of the Golani Brigade to be the best alternative-change possible.
I can't figure out why Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has resurrected Barak's career...

I'm no expert (have no secret knowledge) in the internal workings, political-personal dynamics and manipulations in the high offices of the Israel Defense Forces, but from body language, simple newscasts, events and other kishke judging criteria it's more than obvious that Ehud Barak and Gabi Ashkenazi are polar opposites.  We're talking Antarctic iceberg versus hot tropical jungle.  I've never seen Barak in person, but I'll never forget the live coverage of him at a Labor Party convention showing obvious physical repulsion to an upset Ethiopian political hopeful.  Israeli men, especially those who've been through the army in tough front-line units, are generally big huggers, not afraid to grab a friend in trouble, whether it's physical or emotional.  I was shocked by Barak's obvious coldness.

I have seen COS Gabi Ashkenazi in person.  Our sons play on the same IFL American Football team.  When his schedule allows, he watches the game just like any other parent.  He graciously poses smiling with everyone who asks and spontaneously played with my other son's dog.  Nobody can picture Ehud Barak ever being so friendly and accessible.

I know even less about Barak's latest, very rushed-so-how-carefully-can-he-be-investigated COS nominee, Benny Ganz.  There's just my gut if Ehud Barak wants him there must be something bad feeling.  The latest news is that he's cancelling Yair Naveh's sixty day subbing and rushing in Ganz.  I'm no fan of Naveh, but in my experience, whenever something is rushed like that, it's bad news.  It takes more than a week for a proper investigation.  Of course, extending Askenazi's term another few weeks would have been the wisest, but wise and Ehud Barak aren't synonyms.

This is very worrying.  When Ehud Barak was first nominated as Chief of Staff, his supporters claimed that he was totally brilliant and liked to take apart and put together complex machinery, watches or clocks as I remember.  Now, that may be fine for a university professor, but it's not the sort of hobby needed for Chief of Staff, Minister of Defense or politician.  It's too non-people solitary.  OK, yes, he has reached the top of Israel's political and military echelons, but don't forget that he failed.  He left an army which relied on machinery rather than the old and successful "follow me" practice, and he was booted out of office as Prime Minister because of the rampant Arab terrorism which reached its peak when he was PM.

I can't figure out why Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has resurrected Barak's career and given him so much power.  This is very troubling.