Rabbis to US Ambassador: Time to 'Go Biblical' with Arabs

[TonyGosling]

Rabbis to US Ambassador: Time to 'Go Biblical' with Arabs

Rabbis Want Palestinians Ethnically Cleansed From The West Bank And Gaza?

Rabbis to US Ambassador: Time to 'Go Biblical' with Arabs

By Gil Ronen

January 02, 2009 "IsraelNN" -- A delegation of the Rabbinical Congress for Peace (RCP) met with U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mr. James Cunningham, today and called for a reassessment of the entire U.S. policy vis-à-vis the Israelis and Palestinians. The rabbis told Ambassador Cunningham that it was time to try the Biblical approach to the dispute over the Land of Israel.

"The past 17 years have proven without a shadow of a doubt that every square inch ceded by Israel to the Palestinians was transformed into a platform of hatred and terrorism," RCP Director Rabbi Avrohom Shmuel Lewin told the ambassador. "In other words, the 'land for peace' formula in the Israel-Palestinian context, besides being a formula that goes against the Divine will, is ineffective, obsolete, and an exercise in futility. Most of all it is a dangerous policy that only leads to bloodshed and instability in the region and harms vital American interests in the region as well," Lewin said.

'Land for peace doesn't work'
The delegation was headed by Rabbi Joseph Gerlitzky, Chairman of the RCP, who is also the Rabbi Central Tel Aviv where the US embassy is located. Rabbi Gerlitzky presented the ambassador with the Halachic (Jewish legal) ruling signed by over 350 prominent rabbis in Israel that it is forbidden to give up even one inch of territory controlled by Israel today because it will bring bloodshed and instability to the region.

"In the name of the overwhelming majority of rabbis in Israel," he said, "we request of you Mr. Ambassador, to convey our Halachic message to President Barack Obama that it is time for a complete reversal and reassessment of U.S. policy in the Middle East. The 'land for peace' policy never worked and harms U.S. interests in the region and the world at large."

The ambassador was visibly moved by Rabbi Sholom Gold, a leading rabbi in Jerusalem, who described the suffering that the Jewish People have endured ever since the implementation of the Oslo Accords and the agreements that followed. "It's all a play of words, there is no peace process," he said. "From the day that we started conceding and withdrawing we did not have one day of rest and peace. Why should our enemies want to make peace with us when they see that with terrorism they get what they want? Even the U.S., Israel's supposedly best friend, sides with them in demanding a freeze and evacuation of settlements. Is the triumph of Arab terror one of American interests?" Gold asked.

Going Biblical
"Who knows, Mr. Ambassador, maybe this is your defining moment."

Rabbi Dov Lior, the Rabbi of Kiryat Arba-Hevron, said: "G-d gave the US the power and influence to affect the rest of the world and supporting Israel is the key to America's success."

Ambassador Cunningham told the rabbis that he does not see how the problem can be solved “without taking into consideration the Palestinians,” to which Rabbi Gold remarked: "Ever since we started taking the Palestinians into consideration the situation only worsened."

The ambassador asked the rabbis, "So what is your solution to the problem?"

Rabbi Gerlitzky replied: "You must switch the entire approach to the situation. We all believe in the Holy Bible and up until now we tried every formula except for that which is delineated in the Bible. Let's try it and who knows, Mr. Ambassador, maybe this is your defining moment, that G-d Almighty has placed you in this capacity in order to precipitate a new course which will bring a true peace to the entire region."

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/135283
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24308.htm

[TonyGosling]

Interesting adjunct from William Engdahl - "Not even Jesus could reverse the decline in the US"

Link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLuJNYW6AtU

[Andrew Chapman]

[fish5133]

[xmasdale]

I have read Arthur Koestler's Thirteenth Tribe and no way does he argue that Sephardic Jews are not descended from the inhabitants of the Biblical Israel and Judea. He does, however argue that Ashkenazi Jews (northern and eastern European people who developed the language Yiddish) are mainly descended from inhabitants of the Khazar empire which collapsed around 1000AD. So far as I recall he argues that the Khazar empire became Jewish, firstly by immigration of Jews to that area following their expulsion from Palestine by the Romans, secondly by a mass official conversion to Judaism brought about by the Khazar emperor, a choice he made after consulting not only Jewish religious leaders, but also Moslem leaders from Baghdad and Christian leaders from Constantinople. Once it had been established that Khazaria was officially Jewish it be came an attractive place for Jews to migrate to and settle.

In discussion with Jews I have learnt that Koestler's theories for obvious reasons, are not popular among Zionists. But I also learnt there are Jews who do not consider it important whether they are directly descended from the Jews of Palestine or not, since they regard themselves as the cultural and religious inheritors of Judaism. It is possible to convert to Judaism and at certain periods of history, particularly during the early years of the first Christian millenium, there were many such conversions within the Mediteranean area.

One weakness of Koestler's argument which puzzled me, however, is why descendents of Khazars, a Turkic-speaking people, should have stopped speaking any form of Turkish and started speaking Yiddish, which linguistically speaking is a dialect of German. I speak a bit of German and on the rare occasions I have heard Yiddish spoken have found I could understand it to a degree, though I can't understand its written form as it uses the Hebrew alphabet, which I don't know. I find it particularly odd that northern and eastern European Jews, the majority probably living in Slavic-speaking lands, should have used a German dialect (albeit with certain Hebrew and Aramaic vocabulary borrowings) to speak to each other.

BTW if anyone's looking for a copy of The Thirteenth Tribe, I think you will find it out of print.

[Andrew Chapman]

[outsider]

Naughty Rabbis! They talk of 'Going Biblical', but ignore their 'G-d's' injunction to kill every man, woman, child and living thing of the present dwellers in the land (though their actions speak louder than their words, with phosphorus shells, massive strafing, bulldozing houses, shooting unarmed men, women and children, shooting and bombing International observers or 'accompaniers', high-explosive bombs, destroying civilian infrastructure and orchards and olive groves.....
Moshe Dayan pulled no punches when he told it like it was; when asked on camera if he thought their would ever be peace between Jews and Arabs, he didn't revert to biblical injunctions, but said quite categorically, 'No, because we stole their land' (See him on video making this statement in 'Loss of Liberty':

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4113285887114591367#

Ambassador Cunningham would do well to watch this, as well as 'Dead in the Water', on same link (Correction; the link for 'Dead in the Water' on the same page does not work; here is correct one):

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3319663041501647311&ei=G_pSS9 XNAYvM-Abq9KnSCA&q=Dead+in+the+Water+%2B+video#

[outsider]

Useful quotes from 'Boycott Israel Campaign':

http://www.inminds.co.uk/article.php?id=10149

Instead of making ridiculous, extremely hurtful and damaging 'Holocaust Denial' statements that would make the BNP blush, it would be useful to make use of genuine quotes from previous Israeli leaders and 'Fathers of Zionism', to show just how evil the past and present Israeli actions have been, and continue to be.
They have condemned themselves out of their own mouths many times over.

[Andrew Chapman]

Egypt closed the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping and ordered the UN Peacekeeping Forces out of the Sinai. Both sides had military men itching for a fight. Thus:

[Andrew.]

[Andrew.]

[outsider]

I suggest Andrew Chapman (and anyone who supports his position) watch 'Loss of Liberty' (as well as 'Dead in the Water').
Egypt did not want a war; Israeli hardliners were itching for it.
They had already stitched up a deal with US for covert support (including US photo-reconnaissance planes that went in with the waves of Israeli attack aircraft, photographing the damage - Israel claimed that the later published photos were from the Israeli gun-cameras; rubbished by experts; the photos were too detailed (see Peter Hounam's 'Operation Cyanide'), and covert US groups were already in place in the Negev, to process these photos. Also, of course, the 'USS Liberty' stiitch-up had been arranged.
Yes, Israel and the US wanted that war; and once again, we come up with the perrenial detective question, 'Cui bono?'.
And, of course, though I cannot dig the quotes out easily, Israelis have admitted that Nasser didn't want a war, and that Israel did, and was sure of victory (actually, one of their top guys actually told the Yanks that they would finish the job in a week (took six days), and that there would be less casualties than in the American Civil War.

[Disco_Destroyer]

http://www.paltelegraph.com/palestine/west-bank/4778-israel-plans-to-s torm-al-aqsa-mosque
Israel plans to storm Al-Aqsa Mosque
Sunday, 14 March 2010 10:31 Added by PT Editor Mohammed Said El-Nadi .
Occupied Jerusalem, March 14, 2010 (Pal Telegraph)- Israeli occupation authorities have continued to close Jerusalem, the Old City and the area around Al-Aqsa Mosque for the third day consecutively, to ensure that extremist Jewish groups break into Al-Aqsa today, as Israeli war minister Ehud Barak has ordered forces to close the West Bank fully until Tuesday midnight.

Settler groups, backed by Israeli army, announced earlier they would storm Al-Aqsa Mosque on Sunday and Monday, to establish a Jewish synagogue, followed by laying the foundation for constructing the alleged Temple on Tuesday.

Israeli occupation forces have increased on Sunday their presence at the entrances to the Old City and Al-Aqsa Mosque, prohibited men under the age of 50 from attending prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque and carried out extensive search campaigns in the area.

Israeli occupation forces have sealed off the West Bank and imposed a full curfew until Tuesday-which was supposed to be lifted on Sunday.

Israeli radio reported that these decisions were made to prevent rioting and public order disturbance; however, Israel would allow in humanitarian cases with permits, issued by Israeli Civil Administration.

Violent clashes erupted on Saturday between the Palestinians and occupation forces at the courtyard of Bab Al-Amud, Sultan Suleiman Street and Al-Misrara market, adjacent to walls of the occupied Jerusalem, due to strict siege imposed by Israeli occupation forces on Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Old City.

Prominent Palestinian Islamic and national figures urged Palestinians to station at Al-Aqsa Mosque in the coming days, in response to settlers' radical schemes of opening the synagogue and laying the foundation of the alleged Temple on Tuesday.


Tensions persist in the West Bank
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/03/20103176131690457 2.html

Dozens of people were injured in clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians on Tuesday [AFP]

Clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police have continued in the occupied West Bank despite the reopening of access to and from the area.

Ehud Barak, the Israeli defence minister, ordered the closure to be lifted on Wednesday, five days after imposing it citing security reasons.

Officials also reopened the al-Aqsa mosque compound in East Jerusalem, where dozens of people were injured on Tuesday as Palestinian demonstrators clashed with Israeli security forces.

"Access to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem is now free for both Muslim worshippers and tourists," Micky Rosenfeld, an Israeli police spokesman, said, using the Jewish name for the site.

It had been closed to Muslim men under the age of 50 and all non-Muslims.

State of alert

Despite the apparent relaxation of controls, Rosenfeld said about 3,000 police remained stationed across East Jerusalem and nearby villages to keep up the state of alert, the AFP news agency reported.

Al Jazeera's correspondent in the West Bank reported clashes in Qalandia on Wednesday, where she said Israeli soldiers have been firing tear gas at Palestinian protesters.

"There is an increased presence of Israeli soldiers at the Qalandia checkpoint," Nour Odeh said.

"We haven't had any confirmation if there have been any injuries but the clashes have taken on more force in nature than in the last 24 hours.

"These clashes are going further into the refugee camps ... rather than remaining at the checkpoint - an indication of the level of anger on the streets."

Palestinian groups had called for a "day of rage" on Tuesday to protest against the reopening of the Hurva synagogue, considered by some to be one of Judaism's most sacred sites.

The synagogue is located in the Jewish quarter of Jerusalem's Old City.

The walled Old City was annexed by Israel after the 1967 Middle East war, but is viewed by the Palestinians as a key part of any future independent state.

An Israeli government decision to include two West Bank religious sites in a Jewish national heritage plan had already raised tensions and the announcement of Israeli plans for new settler homesnear East Jerusalem further contributed to the volatile situation.

"This anger on the Palestinian street is all about control," Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros, reporting from East Jerusalem, said.

"They feel increasing frustration at the fact that Israel can ease, and lift, and put on more restrictions as they please, which is a hallmark of this occupation.

"So, whether we're talking about restrictions on their holy sites, restrictions on where they can move, its all part of the same thing - frustration over Israel's control over the Palestinian people and their territory."

Quartet meeting

The unrest comes before a meeting of the Middle East diplomatic Quartet, which includes the US, Russia, the EU and the UN, in Moscow on Thursday.

The lead-up to the meeting has been overshadowed by tensions between the US and Israel over the East Jerusalem settlement announcement, made during a visit by Joe Biden, the US vice-president.

Ahmad Yousuf, a senior Hamas official and former adviser to Ismail Haniya, the deposed Palestinian prime minister, called on Tuesday for a non-violent intifada, or uprising, to protest what he called "Israeli provocations".

"We are not talking about violence. We are talking about people's right to defend themselves," he told Al Jazeera.

"When the Israelis are committing all these crimes against Muslim's holy shrines, the people [are] called to go defend themselves, to defend their holy shrines.

"This can escalate, there will be more bloody clashes if the world community doesn't do anything to stop this craziness."

Khaled Meshaal, Hamas' political chief who is exiled in Syria, has also urged Palestinians to protest, though he stopped short of calling for an intifada in remarks on the demonstrations.

He said Palestinians in Jerusalem should "take serious measures to protect al-Aqsa mosque from destruction and Judaisation".

[Disco_Destroyer]

Is there something specific in the Jewish calender around these dates?

[TonyGosling]

yus
Keep an eye on this one
Looks like this may be the way Netanyahu's thoroughly abhorrent Israeli state plans to up the stakes ion the Middle East

[TonyGosling]

Iran calls for 'serious' action against Israeli plot
Thu, 25 Mar 2010 - Press TV
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has urged the international community to foil an Israeli plot to change the identity of Jerusalem (al-Quds).
"Unfortunately, the recent developments and comments made over the past few months by the officials of the Zionist regime (Israel), clearly show the seriousness of the occupiers' plot to give a Zionist identity to the first kiblah of Muslims," Mottaki said in a statement on Thursday.
"This has set off the alarm for the people across the world and has highlighted the necessity for taking serious measures and maximizing the potential in all Muslim nations,” the statement added.
The Iranian minister said that the expansion of the Israeli settlements, destruction of Islamic and Christian structures and construction of new synagogues in Jerusalem (al-Quds) have unveiled the Israeli plot, "which, unfortunately, has been approved by Washington."
Mottaki warned that the Israeli plot will have "dangerous consequences."
He urged Arab states to put the issue high on the agenda of the Arab League conference, which is underway in Libya.
Mottaki also called for formation of a committee of the foreign ministers of the Arab League and the Organization of the Islamic Conference member states to discuss the latest developments in Jerusalem (al-Quds).
http://www.presstv.ir/classic/detail.aspx?id=121653&sectionid=35102010 1

http://www.radio4all.net/files/dialect@tolatetobewitty.co.uk/4129-1-28 0310.mp3

[Disco_Destroyer]

Arab leaders gather in Libya for 'Jerusalem' summit - Middle East Online http://bit.ly/9StnjA

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=38094

Arab leaders gather in Libya for 'Jerusalem' summit


Gathafi hosts his first Arab summit dominated by Israel's expansion of illegal settlements.


SIRTE, Libya - Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas arrived in Libya on Friday for an Arab summit expected to be dominated by Israel's expansion of illegal settlements homes Israeli-occupied Palestinian East Jerusalem.

Abbas was the first Arab leader to fly into the Mediterranean city of Sirte, hometown of Libyan leader Moamer Gathafi who will be hosting his first Arab summit on Saturday and Sunday.

Gathafi was not present to greet Abbas, who was received by Libyan Prime Minister Baghdadi al-Mahmudi.

Shortly afterwards, however, the flamboyant Libyan leader, who is known for his unpredictability and for ruffling the feathers of fellow Arab heads of states, was on the tarmac to receive Jordan's King Abdullah II.

Abbas landed in Libya as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to pursue his illegal settlement policy and convened his security cabinet.

The Palestinian leader was to meet UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon later on Friday and also to discuss the latest crisis with Israel with a special ministerial committee.

The committee was set up after a Saudi-inspired peace offer to normalise Arab ties with Israel if Israel withdrew from all Arab lands conquered since 1967 was adopted at an Arab summit in Beirut in 2002.

The UN chief is expected to brief the committee on a call by the Middle East Quartet -- European Union, Russia, United States and United Nations -- urging Israel to freeze illegal settlement construction in Palestinian East Jerusalem.

Ban, who also flew in to Friday in Libya, said in the run-up to the summit that he would ask leaders to back US-brokered indirect peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians despite tensions over Israel's settlement plans.

"Settlements are illegal under international law. This must stop," said Ban, who is to address the summit's opening session.

But a defiant Netanyahu told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz he refuses to halt settlement construction because of his own beliefs and not because of pressure from his right-wing coalition.

Meanwhile, a Hamas official on Friday urged Arab leaders to bolster their efforts to "save Jerusalem" from illegal Israeli settlements.

"Real will from the Arabs (is needed) ... to mobilise efforts, to put pressure on the international community to save Jerusalem and to stop the Zionist aggression," Ezzat al-Rushok told said in Damascus.

The member of Hamas's political bureau called on Arab leaders to "adopt useful and responsible positions to confront the challenges imposed by the Israeli goverment."

"Arab leaders must pressure the United States and European countries, through the economic interests of those countries in the Arab and Islamic world ... to force the Zionist entity (Israel) to halt its acts of terrorism and its threats to the Al-Aqsa mosque," in Jerusalem's Old City, he added.

The leaders of Kuwait, Algeria, Mauritania, Somalia also arrived for the summit while the rulers of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates sent representatives.

Several leaders from the 22-member Arab League will be absent.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is recovering from surgery in a German hospital and Lebanese counterpart Michel Sleiman is also staying away, amid a diplomatic spat with Tripoli.

It was not clear if King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, who traded insults with Gathafi at last year's Arab summit in Doha, would attend.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, meanwhile, is to travel on Saturday to Sirte as the only foreign head of state to have been invited to attend the summit, officials in Rome said.

Berlusconi is expected to call for an Israeli settlement freeze in a speech at the summit and urge Arabs to show signs of normalisation of ties with Israel, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said.

Italy has longstanding links with its former colony Libya.

[GodSend]

Yahweh to Humanity: Time to "Go Biblical" with "the Rebellious House of Israel" (Ezekiel 22:20)