Batya Medad
New York-born Batya Medad made aliyah with her husband just weeks after their 1970 wedding and has been living in Shiloh since 1981. Political pundit, with a unique perspective, Batya has worked in a variety of professions: teaching, fitness, sales, cooking, public relations, photography and more. She has a B.S. in Journalism, is a licensed English Teacher specializing as a remedial teacher and for a number of years has been studying Tanach (Bible) in Matan. Batya blogs on Shiloh Musings and A Jewish Grandmother. ...
Things are heating up here in the HolyLand in more ways than one. We are having one of the hottest and most humid summers ever. G-d's in charge of that. No doubt He's trying to remind us that we're supposed to follow the Torah and not Obama, the U.N., the media or any other fad or celebrity. If only the politicians would straighten up and clean up their acts.
I've written a lot more about things on me-ander and Shiloh Musings. I'm sure you'll find something of interest there. There's a short post about one of the mitzvot (Torah Commandments) in this week's weekly Torah Portion, returning lost objects. Another worth clicking is about the recent digs at Tel Shiloh with some pictures.
But the big news is about negotiations with our enemies:
I've written a lot more about things on me-ander and Shiloh Musings. I'm sure you'll find something of interest there. There's a short post about one of the mitzvot (Torah Commandments) in this week's weekly Torah Portion, returning lost objects. Another worth clicking is about the recent digs at Tel Shiloh with some pictures.
But the big news is about negotiations with our enemies:
At this moment I'm listening to Israeli Prime Minister Bibi' Netanyahu's assistant Ron Dermer on the IBA News. His emphasis on the importance of "making a deal" makes him sound like a used car salesman.
We don't need to "make a deal." We need to develop our country, the State of Israel. This isn't a computer card game with an "undo" option.
True peace won't come from "difficult decisions" and other euphemisms for Israel giving up on its heritage and security.
Be patient. The stronger we make our country, the State of Israel, the more peacefully the Arabs will treat us until there's true peace.
Unfortunately, successive Israeli governments try to be too nice and not demand our due. That's why we end up with egg on our face after each round of negotiations. Successive peace sic treaties have caused horrendous deterioration in our security situation. Long gone is the day when Israelis could safely walk and shop in Arab stores, towns etc.
Why are our politicians, media etc so desperate for a "peace agreement?" An "agreement" isn't true PEACE. It's just a photo op, no more and no less. At least Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is demanding security as a first step, though I think he should go further and elaborate on Israel's red (or call it "blue and white") lines. It's not worth talking if the Arabs won't accept them.
One of our "blue and white" lines should quite obviously be Jerusalem. It is the holiest site in the world for Jews and has that distinction to no other religion, race or people. It's relatively minor in Arab history and culture. Even Arabs recognize it and admit it. That's one of the reasons why it shouldn't surprise everyone that Ramalla is more important to local Arabs.
Long before the modern State of Israel was established in our historic, ancient Biblical Homeland, other countries kept insisting that Jerusalem must be internationalized or divided between Jews and Arabs though there's no historic precedent or justification for such a status. Their interference has prevented the Arabs from accepting Israel and living in peace with us.
So, if Israel makes it clear that Jerusalem is ours, totally Jewish and Israeli and the world then objects, we can stop this whole dangerous and absurd "peace" process and negotiations. Without the world's interference there's a chance that the Arabs will eventually, not tomorrow nor next year, but within a generation for two, decide to stop attacking and terrorizing us.
Another necessary demand is that Jews should be able to live and work any place and every place in the Land of Israel. Anything less than that is blatant racism, antisemitism, discrimination against Jews!
None of these so-called "peace plans" get to the nitty-gritty of true unadulterated peace. They all require Israel to amputate entire sections of our Homeland and give it to Arab terrorists whose aim is our destruction. The Arabs have made their ultimate plans, aims very clear.
We will only have true PEACE when we're willing to fight for it with both words and actions.