By Adam Turner, EMET

Recently, the Republic of Turkey barred both Israel, and the European Union, from participating in a NATO summit in Chicago on May 20-21.  Apparently, the Turks were miffed that the member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) were not invited, and they were also still “troubled” about Israel’s legitimate actions to defend its blockade of Hamas ruled Gaza from violently “peaceful,” pro-terrorist blockade runners on the ship Mavi Marmara, who were sponsored by Insani Yardim Vakfi (IHH), an Islamist Turkish group.  Many of that ship’s passengers were members of IHH, by the way, including some of those who were killed and injured in their attack on the Israeli commandos who boarded the vessel. Several had indicated a willingness to engage in martyrdom prior to the incident.
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B’Tselem video shows Yitzhar settlers firing rubber bullets at Palestinian who hurled stones at them. Victim in stable condition. Footage shows IDF soldiers failed to intervene

It is imperative that Israel not tolerate these provocations. Israel’s response must serve as a deterrent. If the GOI won’t do it, the people must. Ted Belman

Yitzhar spokesman Avraham Binyamin said that the settlement’s emergency squad and fire extinguishing team had been called to put out several fires started by Arabs from the village. “This is the third Saturday in a row that Arabs start fires in the purpose of harming Yitzhar’s western parts,” he said. “The team was attacked by a mob of hundreds of rioters who hurled stones at them.”

“Our Homeland”: A Speech Before the European Parliament

The dynamic head of the Shomron Regional Authority, Gershon Mesika, gave a stirring, well received speech at the official meeting of the EU Parliament in Brussels.
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Heads of the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs,
Members of Parliament from European countries, Distinguished guests,

The prophets of Israel predicted that before the Messiah comes there will be a time of confusion, when good is turned into evil and evil is turned into good.

We see this clearly today.

The Shomron, or Samaria, which I am honored to represent in this distinguished place, the European Parliament, is a region that is in the center of international attention, since it is a sizable part of the territory that is in dispute between the Jewish nation and its neighbors in the Middle East.

But this area, which for many in the world is nothing but “disputed land,” is a homeland for us, the place that characterizes and determines our national and religious identity, the scene of the great events described in the Book of Books, the Bible.
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By Rick Richman, AMERICAN THINKER

Last week, the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research held an extraordinary conference in New York, with 18 scholars presenting formal papers on “Jews and the Left,” addressing such issues as “present-day understandings of Jewish attraction to the Left in the 19^th and 20^thcenturies,” whether today’s left is “in whole or in part anti-Semitic,” and the relationship between the left and Israel.

The response to these issues — coming from a group of scholars who were largely leftists or liberals themselves — was quite remarkable.

In his “Introductory Remarks,” Prof. Jack Jacobs of CUNY asserted that “the one-time ties between Jews and the left can best be explained by political, economic, and sociological conditions which existed in the 19^th century, and which went out of existence in the twentieth” — that Jewish leftism was thus a creation of a time and place that no longer exists, not an enduring reflection of either Jewish religion or Jewish traits.
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Prime Minister Netanyahu:

“Thank you. The work is indeed considerable and impressive and is being carried out under your leadership and, of course, in cooperation with, and led by, Government ministers. Each one of them has contributed of his or her time and energy and, I must say, from their budgets.

There is very great commitment to the unity and development of Jerusalem. We are translating this, first of all, into a lot of money that we are investing here. We also see this in the aesthetic change that has come over the city – in infrastructure, education, tourism and tourist sites. We are continuing this here today with the decisions that we will make.
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Fresno Zionism

On Friday, the NY Times — which often speaks for the Obama Administration — published an article about the ongoing nuclear negotiations with Iran. There is a message between the lines, and it is not very well hidden. Here are a few excerpts with added emphasis, in case it isn’t obvious:

With signs that Iran is under more pressure than it has been in years to make a deal, senior Obama administration officials said the United States and five other major powers were prepared to offer a package of inducements to obtain a verifiable agreement to suspend its efforts to enrich uranium closer to weapons grade…
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Terrorist enablers oppose DEFENSIVE anti-missile system
by Bill Levinson

Join a Stand Out at Harvard Graduation to Protest US Military Aid to Israel by the Boston Coalition for Palestinian Rights makes it emphatically clear that “Palestinian rights” include the right to fire missiles at Israeli civilians.

Did you know that the US is giving Israel an additional $680 million for its “Iron Dome” project – on top of the annual $3.1 billion in military aid we have pledged to give each year until 2017? Did you know that the US House by a vote of 411 – 2 (Ron Paul and John Dingell) just passed The US-Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act of 2012 to give Israel even more weapons and support to ensure that it keeps its “qualitative military edge”?

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Yisrael Medad, MY RIGHT WORD

Alerted to this following item by EOZ, I was amused as it recalled to me that when her name – and chest – came across my screen, my first reaction was the Betar song composed by Ze’ev Jabotinsky, “Two Banks Hath The Jordan“.  Except with Katie Priceit is “Two Banks has Jordan”.

Here she is (but not in the Jordan River):-

Here it is - and it is a spoof:
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Haaretz says

According to Association for Civil Rights in Israel, main reason for the poverty is the high unemployment rate – 40 percent of the men are unemployed, as are 85 percent of the women.

First of all, the Report is by a Leftist HR NGO. Am I repeating myself?

Secondly all the reasons mentioned blame Israel’s policies. No allowance is given for the fact that Arab terror necessitates our policies or that the Arabs have a policy in Jerusalem and elsewhere of confronting us rather than cooperating with us.

Who says they won’t be happy to emigrate if given the chance, especially to the New Jordan.

Report: Syria rebels kill Assad’s Defense Minister, brother-in-law near Damascus

Al-Jazeera cites rebel leaders as saying that Free Syrian Army special forces kill Defense Minister Rajiha and former head of military intelligence Assef Shawkat; Syria TV says alleged casualties officials call in to deny report.

By Anshel Pfeffer, HAARETZ

Syrian opposition forces have killed several top officials in President Bashar Assad’s regime, rebel leaders reported on Sunday. Among the dead, according to the rebels, were Assad’s brother-in-law Assef Shawkat and Defense Minister Dawoud Rajiha.

According to an al-Jazeera report, Free Syrian Army special forces also killed former Defense Minister Hasan Turkmani in an overnight operation near Damascus.

The report could not yet be confirmed, with a rebel spokesperson saying proof would be revealed in the coming hours. Syrian state television denied the report.

Another reason not to support the SNC being promoted by Obama and Erdogan.

Syrian opposition: Israel is Assad’s biggest ally>

Syrian National Council head Burhan Ghalioun tells Saudi paper that Syrian opposition has no intention to normalize relations with Israel after fall of regime

Roi Kais, YNET

Leader of the Syrian opposition bloc Burhan Ghalioun said Saturday that the Syrian regime signed an agreement with Bashar Assad’s regime falls.

By Joby Warrick, WaPo

The Obama administration is accelerating its planning with Middle Eastern allies for a series of potentially fast-moving crises in Syria in the coming months, including the possible loss of government control over some of the country’s scattered stocks of chemical weapons, U.S. and Middle Eastern security officials say.

The planning, involving intelligence and military officials from at least seven countries, includes detailed arrangements for securing chemical arms with special operations troops in the event that parts of Syria are seized by militants, the officials said. Western and regional intelligence officials are increasingly concerned that Islamic extremists could attempt to seize control of whole towns and districts if the country slides into full-scale civil war.
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Via andrewbostom.org:

Dr. Wafa Sultan, a remarkably courageous and thoughtful Muslim freethinker, recently debated Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad. Dr. Sultan watched passively while the good Sheik expressed without equivocation his pious views—in full accord with classical, mainstream Islamic doctrine on jihad —and then politely added her own plain spoken commentary in response.

This less than 8-minute video segment, if viewed objectively and dispassionately, could do more to educate the American public on the theory animating the practice of “Islamic international relations,” without any further explanation required.

By Ted Belman

I posted Steven Plaut’s article under the title Beneisch shows how left wing she is. I have reconsidered.

He wrote:

But even worse, for all intents and purposes it overrides the fundamental principle of all democracies that one is innocent until proven guilty. Beinisch’s latest venture into judicial activism is to reverse that principle when it comes to women claiming to be victims of discrimination. Henceforth in Israel employers will be presumed guilty unless they can prove that they are innocent whenever any woman can be found who drew a salary less than any man.

First of all we are not dealing with criminal law. Secondly, in many cases in the civil world, when one party makes a prima facia case the burden of proof shifts to the other side. No biggy.

In no way is this an act of sabotage of Israeli democracy as he alledged.

What it is, is an interference in the market place. Pure socialism. Plaut correctly notes how difficult it would be for an employer to prove his case. For that matter it would be difficult for an employee to prove his or her case.

The best option is to let the market dictate. Wages will be determined by supply and demand. The cream always rises.

By Ted Belman

I wrote to a couple Israeli lawyers asking them to answer these questions. The answers to these questions will give me a better understanding of what is going on in Area C. If anyone can answer them, please do.

Assuming the Fourth Geneva Convention applies, then, as I understand it pre-existing law applies. This law is an amalgam of Jordanian Law and Ottoman Law.

1. What are the rules to apply in order for someone to get the permanent right to cultivate the land

2. Do the same rules apply to Jews and Arabs?

3. Are they being equally enforced?
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Barry Rubin , PJ Media, May 19, 2012

When a delegation of Syrian Kurdish rebels recently visited Washington, D.C., the State Department met them to ask for a favor. What was it? The Obama administration urged them to join the Syrian National Council (SNC), the organization created by the U.S. government through Turkey to lead the opposition movement and receive Western aid for all Syrian opposition groups.

But the Turkish Islamist regime, which Obama put in charge of forming the SNC, put the Muslim Brotherhood in control, a fact I pointed out within hours of the announcement of the SNC leadership’s names.

Now that several SNC leaders have resigned complaining about Brotherhood domination, followed by some Arab journalists pointing out the obvious Brotherhood domination at the SNC’s last meeting, that reality is clear. But the implications of such an incredibly foolish policy—America putting an anti-American, antisemitic group into the “official” leadership of Syria’s rebels — have never been properly examined as a case study for Obama’s disastrous Middle East policy.
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by Soeren Kern, Gatestone Institute

Muslims cast the deciding voted that thrust Hollande into the Elysée Palace. He also pledged to change French electoral laws so that Muslim residents without French citizenship would be allowed to vote in municipal elections as of 2014, enabling the Socialist Party to tighten its grip on political power.

An analysis of the voting patterns that barrelled François Hollande to victory on May 6 as the first Socialist president of France since 1995 shows that this overthrow was due in large measure to Muslims, who voted for him in overwhelming numbers.

The French vote marks the first time that Muslims have determined the outcome of a presidential election in a major western European country; it is a preview of things to come.
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DEBKAfile Exclusive Report May 19, 2012,

Dangerously fruitful dialogue
Yukiya Amano, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, is entrusted with a decisive mission in Tehran Sunday, May 20: collecting Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s broad endorsement of the interim eight-point deal he and US President Barack Obama have drafted through secret dialogue. DEBKAfile has obtained exclusive access to the eight points – with the caveat that they may not be final. The details are still to be hammered out and proved practicable. But the way the deal stands now, it will be unacceptable to Israel because if affords Iran enough leeway to carry on developing a nuclear bomb program with no real hindrance.

The White House is waiting tensely for Khamenei’s nod to activate the link promised by Obama between their back-track talks and the formal negotiations the Six Powers (P5+1) negotiations with Iran, which go forward in Baghdad on May 23. This link would grant the bilateral US-Iranian deal UN-world power imprimatur and vindicate the US president’s contested Iran policy.
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