Video: Jewish Farmer Protects His Well From Leftist Thieves

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Jewish Boycott of Bank Leumi Pending?

From INN:

Bank Leumi, the main creditor of Jewish neighborhood Nof Tzion’s developers, has rejected an offer by Rami Levy and a partner to pay off its debts – and as a result, an Arab takeover again threatens the seamline Jerusalem area. Rabbis threaten a local boycott of Bank Leumi, and American Jews threaten a boycott abroad.

In light of the Bank Leumi rejection, Palestinian Authority semi-resident Bashir Al-Masri, represented by the same lawyer who advised Ariel Sharon during the Disengagement, Dov Weisglass, has redoubled his efforts to buy the lands of Nof Tzion.

Located to the east of Talpiyot and south of the Old City, the neighborhood was originally planned as a luxury project for wealthy apartment-seekers from abroad. When this did not pan out, the project was saved by the religious-Zionist public, for which its strategic spot, in terms of both Jewish-Arab demographics and a panoramic view of the Temple Mount and the Old City, increased its attractiveness. Thus, a new religious-Zionist neighborhood arose in eastern Jerusalem.

The first phase of the project was completed several years ago, and much has been written about the 90 families' satisfaction with their new neighbors and surroundings. However, they are now greatly apprehensive that if the project falls into Arab hands, the 180 planned units of Stages II and III of the project will not only not be built, but also that their own homes will become an unsafe and unviable Jewish enclave surrounded by Arab homes.

They have therefore threatened to take Bank Leumi – the guarantor of the project – and the Digal development company to court for backing down on their much-touted plans to ensure that the project is for the national-religious public.

Bank Leumi has rejected Levy’s offer, saying that it prefers to break up Digal altogether and sell its assets – including the land of Nof Tzion – to the highest bidder. This once again leaves the field open to Al-Masri. Al-Masri has also taken another step, seeking to buy out the shares of Digal.

A letter of intent to boycott Bank Leumi has already been signed by top rabbis in the religious-Zionist camp.

Rabbis Shmuel Eliyahu, Elyakim Levanon, Yehoshua Shapira, Zalman Melamed, David Druckman, Dov Lior, Yaakov Yosef and others issued a call to Bank Leumi customers to withdraw their monies if the project is sold to Al-Masri. The rabbis call on Bank Leumi to “support and accept the offer by Jewish interests to purchase the neighborhood lands and to save it from Bashir Al-Masri, who does not hide his intentions to build on Nof Tzion an Arab outpost in Jerusalem.”

Globes has reported in the past that if Bank Leumi would enable the sale of the Nof Tzion project to Al-Masri, it would be likely to face a widespread boycott in the United States. Several apartment owners in the project wrote to Bank Leumi as follows: “I have been involved in this project ever since it was presented to the public some eight years ago, and I am in contact with many of its American investors. These people have power and are very influential in their communities. We were under the impression that Bank Leumi would never work against the People of Israel - but we are now quickly concluding that this is not true. It appears that Bank Leumi is taking part in an act of treachery in allowing secret deals that will lead to the sale of Nof Tzion properties to Arab interests.”

Well, if Bank Leumi goes ahead with this treachery I will certainly close my account there.

Additional food for thought: the name "al-Masri" means "the Egyptian" in Arabic.

HH #305

This week's edition of Haveil Havalim is here.

Standing Up For Family Values

This lady entered the Knesset when Haim Ramon quit. A little bit different from the regular Kadima bunch I think:

MK Yulia Shamalov-Berkowitz of the Kadima party continues to criticize Israel's extremist feminist leaders in her stand for family values. Shalamov-Berkowitz told attendees at the Knesset Conference for Gender Equality on Wednesday, "Enlightened feminism has been hijacked by radical feminists. We call it 'the Feminist Jihad.'"

Shamalov-Berkowitz, who recently accused extremist feminist leaders of exaggerating claims of sexual harassment, and of hurting families by uncritically supporting programs for single mothers, said, "radical feminism pressures the 'enlightened' to fund organizations that harm the family."

"The State of Israel is founded on the values of community and unity, but funds activities of organizations working to split the family and enshrine individualism," Shamalov-Berkowitz said, adding she thought the Jewish State should legislate to strengthen the organic family, including state subsidies for counseling. "Today only a family with means can go for marital counseling, but on the other hand, the cost of a divorce can run up to NIS 100,000 for each side. There is a huge money industry on the backs [of divorcing families]."

Shamalov-Berkowitz recommended providing new parents with parenting courses for free, allowing maternity leave for men independent of their wife's maternity leave, and a longer school day "to ensure the safety of children in a safe environment." Causing a media firestorm last month, Shamalov-Berkowitz attacked the trend of women's intentionally becoming a single mother and seeking benefits. "Its kind of a bon ton to be one [a single mother] - to make a baby outside the family and seek benefits from the state."

Here's an interesting film of her listening to Benny Katsover explaining the significance of the Shomron and Shechem.

Notes from an Ex-Agnostic

How does one make the leap from "lack of faith" to "faith"? Shoshana bares her soul in this interesting article:

I was driving down the road one bleak February morning, feeling immersed in a monochromatic world. The gray road snaked its way around a rocky gray hillside. To my left, a large gray river moved sullenly in its path. Gray concrete buildings blended into a sky that was – you guessed it – gray.

And then I asked myself a question: What if God exists?

Something within me shifted. Just a bit, but it made all the difference.

This day came after months of struggle. Actually, the struggle began many years before, while an undergraduate student at a Catholic university. A young woman of simple, unexamined faith who had considered becoming a nun, I embarked upon a double major of psychology and theology. I studied philosophy of religion, where I learned for the first time that there were arguments against the existence of God. I studied Freud, who wrote that religious beliefs are an illusion, a projection of our wishes and fears. And I was counseled by a priest, who ended up acting not very priestly.

Read the rest!

The Future of Egypt: Anybody's Guess

Now that the dictator Mubarak is out of power there is a lot of speculation about what lies ahead for Egypt. Some pundits say we are witnessing the dawn of democracy. Egypt will become a beacon of political enlightenment in an Arab world ruled largely by despots.

Others are almost sure that the Muslim Brotherhood will take over Egypt. The land of the Pharoahs is the way to becoming just a larger version of the Gaza Strip, Hamastan raised to the fifth power.

Still others foresee the army continuing to rule over Egypt if it is not satisfied with the results of the upcoming elections. The army is probably interested in seeing someone from its own ranks taking control of the nation, in the tradition of Nasser, Sadat and Mubarak.

Who is right? Perhaps none of the above. I think that the third option is the most likely. Time will tell.

It's Easy To Be A Jew

Some people say, "It's hard to be a Jew." I say, "It's easy to be a Jew!" Really, it is! You even don't have to sift the flour for the creepy-crawling things anymore. That is to say, the package of flour on the left was processed and packaged in such a way that it does not have to be sifted. What will they think of next?

HH #304

Here!

Former Vice President Dan Quayle to Obama: Free Pollard

Do you think Obama reads his mail?:

Dan Quayle, a former vice-president of the United States, has written to current U.S. President Barack Obama asking him to free Jonathan Pollard.

“I write this letter urging you to consider commuting the sentence of Jonathan Pollard,” the letter read. “I believe that a life sentence for the crime committed is very extreme. Though his crime was very serious, I hope you will once again look very carefully at this pending request.”

So far all the letters from all of the distinguished people that have written to Obama on this matter have not had an effect. Perhaps a letter from Jeremiah Wright will do the trick.

Dear President Obama: Release Pollard

Yet another letter winds up on the president's desk:

January 28, 2011

The Honorable Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500-0001

Dear Mr. President:

I was Counsel to the President in 1993-94. Along with Deputy Attorney General Philip Heymann, who has written to you regarding Jonathan Pollard, I also extensively reviewed the Pollard file while I served in the White House. I write this letter to state that I fully share the view expressed by Professor Heymann – as well as the other distinguished former public officials who have written to you – that the time has come for Jonathan Pollard’s sentence to be commuted.

I will not repeat the cogent reasons set forth in Professor Heymann’s letter except to say that I too believe that Jonathan Pollard has been appropriately punished for his conduct and that a failure at this time to commute his sentence would not serve the course of justice; indeed, I respectfully believe, it would be a miscarriage of justice.
Sincerely,

Bernard W. Nussbaum

The people who have reviewed the Pollard file have confirmed what I have been claiming on this blog for years: that the continued incarceration of Jonathan Pollard is a miscarriage of justice. Now that the issue at hand is so clear, what is President Obama waiting for?

Jblogosphere News

This week's edition of Haveil Havalim is here.

The latest Kosher Cooking Carnival is here.

Jon Voight: The Pollard Case is a Result of Anti-Semitism

See the video here.

From Song to Song

Wow, such a great article, such great writing:

Ironic how I'd sung at least a dozen times in the Crystal Ballroom of the Beverly Hills Hotel, and here I was in that same room attending a Jewish seminar. A 30-something rabbi, slight of build, in a yarmulke, beige polyester suit and a really, really red tie gets up and speaks about dating. I listen, comfortable in a conference-room chair at the back of the room. Then I listen leaning forward in the chair. Then I listen leaning forward in a chair a few rows closer, then move closer again... He's saying that "casual dating" is an oxymoron. An impossibility. He's saying, in short, that intimacy is not casual. It leaves its imprint on the heart and soul, and especially on the heart and soul of a woman. How non-PC!

Flash: I had known this, somewhere in the benthic depths of me.

The rabbi continues. He talks about why Jews should marry Jews… common sense reasons. The biggest question he addresses, however, is whether anything important inheres in being a Jew. I'd never, ever heard anyone ask, never mind address, such issues – not in the Hebrew School I'd detested in my youth, nor at home, where the refrain had been simply, "Don't marry a gentile." Uh…

Be sure to read the whole thing!

Arutz Sheva Interviews MK Einat Wilf

Somebody over at Arutz 7 doesn't seem to understand the severity of intermarriage. How else can you explain this interview with MK Einat Wilf? It starts by listing her credentials:

Dr. Wilf is a member of Ehud Barak's breakaway HaAtzma'ut or Independence Faction in the 18th Kenesset. She served as a lieutenant with the IDF's 'Shmoneh Ma'atayim' or Unit 8-200 in signals intelligence and decryption, holds a BA in Government and Fine Arts from Harvard University an MBA from SEAD in France and a PhD in Political Science from Cambridge University. She was a foreign policy adviser to Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres. She replaced MK Ophir Pines-Paz as the 13th member of the Labor faction of 2009. MK Wilf has found herself at the center of controversy over Ehud Barak's recent decision to break from the Labor Party.

Of course there is a "minor" omission here. They forget to mention that her "husband" is a Gentile, German television personality Richard Gutjahr!

Instead of shunning this lady, they give her a microphone! Since I am a big fan of Arutz 7 it really pains me to say that this is just another example of a supposedly national religious group acting in a way that is neither national nor religious.