1. Most Americans Against Palestinian Arab State
Date: Sat, 24 Jan 2004 11:16:52 -0500
From: imra@netvision.net.il
Subject: ZOA: New Poll: Most Americans Against Palestinian Arab State

January 23, 2004 Contact: (212) 481-1500
Attn: NEWS EDITOR

NEW POLL: NEARLY 70% OF AMERICANS SAY "NO" TO PALESTINIAN ARAB STATE AND
EXPULSION OF JEWS FROM TERRITORIES

NEW YORK - A new poll has found that nearly 70% of Americans
believe that the Palestinian Arabs have not fulfilled the conditions
necessary to be given a state, and oppose the Arab demand for expulsion of
Jews from the territories.

The poll was sponsored by the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) and
carried out by the firm of McLaughlin & Associates during mid-January of
2004. The poll questioned 1,000 Americans from throughout the United States.
The Zionist Organization of America, founded in 1897, is the
oldest pro-Israel organization in the United States. The ZOA works to
strengthen U.S.-Israel relations, educates the American public and Congress
about the dangers that Israel faces, and combats anti-Israel bias in the
media and on college campuses. Its past presidents have included Supreme
Court Justice Louis Brandeis and Rabbi Dr. Abba Hillel Silver.

2. Benny Morris Replies to Critics
From: imra@netvision.net.il
Haaretz Magazine section 23 January 2004
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/386065.html
Extracts

A few days after the publication of the interview with me ("Survival of the
fittest," Haaretz Magazine, January 9), an angry Israeli-Arab student came
to my office at Ben-Gurion University. He suggested that the Holocaust never
happened (he cited what he called "an important and world-renowned Egyptian
historian"), and claimed that the Twin Towers in New York were destroyed at
the order of the CIA or the Mossad, and that Israeli soldiers and pilots in
the territories are deliberately targeting and murdering innocent civilians.
I mention this so that we all understand the kind of world we in the Middle
East are living in.

The war being waged against us since September 2000 is three-dimensional: On
one level, which is the one highlighted by Palestinian spokespersons, a
struggle is being waged for liberation from Israeli occupation in the West
Bank and Gaza Strip; on the second level, the Palestinians - according to
spokesmen for Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah militants - are waging a war to
eradicate the Zionist state and to restore their "rights" over all of
Palestine; on the third level, the Palestinians' struggle is part of the
global struggle being waged by jihadist Islam against the "Western Satan,"
with Israel being a vulnerable extension of Western culture in our region.

A central accusation in the letters to Haaretz Magazine ("The judgment of
history," January 16) concerned the issue of "ethnic cleansing." I will
repeat my words, which apparently did not register (perhaps because of the
misleading title on the cover): I do not support the expulsion of Arabs from
the territories or from the State of Israel! Such an expulsion would be
immoral, and is also unrealistic. What I said was, that if in the future,
these communities were to launch massive violence against the State of
Israel in combination with a broad assault on Israel by its neighbors, and
endanger its survival, expulsions would certainly be in the cards.

A general comment on the matter of ethnic cleansing: I am aware that "ethnic
cleansing" is not politically correct and is morally problematic. But, what
can we do - the history of the 20th century is replete with instances of
ethnic cleansing that occurred under catastrophic circumstances and were
ultimately beneficial for humanity, including for the expulsees themselves.
Was not the expulsion of the Sudeten Germans (after World War II) - who
contributed to the destruction of the Czechoslovak Republic - justified? And
didn't it contribute, in the end, to their happiness, and certainly to the
happiness of the Czech people? In the final analysis, didn't the ethnic
cleansing perpetrated by the Turks against their Greek minority and by the
Greeks against their Turkish minority after World War I contribute to the
welfare and happiness of the two peoples, and to the peace that has
prevailed between the two nations ever since?

One more thing: Among the biggest religio-ethnic cleansers in human history,
in the distant past and in our time, has been the Arab Islamic nation.
Mohammed and his men cleansed the Arabian Peninsula of its Jewish tribes, in
part through the mass slaughter of the men and the enslavement and forced
conversion of the young women. (According to the Koran, in one day,
Mohammed's men massacred 800-900 men of the Bani Qureiza tribe - a larger
number than all the Arab victims of Jewish massacres through the whole of
the 1948 war.) In the ensuing centuries, the Muslim empires and the Arab
states, with the help of the pogrom and the law, uprooted from their midst
or forcibly converted most of their Christian communities and ethnically
cleansed themselves of their Jewish communities.

(And, by the way, every Jewish
community that was conquered by the Arab armies in the course of the 1948
war, including the Jewish Quarter in the Old City, was ethnically cleansed
and every site was completely leveled.)

In the modern age, no one has been more racist and more intolerant of "the
other" - Kurd, Jew, Sudanese Christian and animist, Maronite Christian,
etc. - than the Arab states. The constitution of Jordan, one of the more
moderate Islamic Arab states, even includes a clause prohibiting Jews from
being Jordanian citizens. The Arabs' attempt to annihilate the Jewish Yishuv
[pre-state community in Palestine] in 1948 compelled Israel to uproot them
from the Jewish territory.

In any event, I will be the first to rejoice if my judgments and predictions
are proved wrong.

3. Arutz Sheva News Thursday
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Jan. 29, 2004 / Shvat 6, 5764
PALESTINIAN TERRORISTS KILL TEN IN JERUSALEM BUS EXPLOSION
Ten people were killed, and another 13 are in very critical or critical condition, after a suicide terrorist blew up on a public city bus in a central Jerusalem neighborhood this morning. Medics on the scene said that it was one of the worst sights they had ever seen; the explosives destroyed the bus almost totally, and caused the floor to collapse, trapping and burying victims underneath. The explosion took place only dozens of meters from the Prime Minister's residence.

The attack - the first one that Palestinian terrorists were able to perpetrate in over five months, due to intense intelligence and security work - took place only minutes before Elchanan Tenenbaum was transferred to Israeli hands in Germany as part of the prisoner/hostage deal. Some analysts say that the Palestinians thus wished to offstage Hizbullah in the competition between them regarding which terrorist group could make Israel bleed more. Others say that the Palestinian terrorists are miffed that "only" 400 of their number are being freed in the exchange. It has been repeatedly emphasized, however, that attempted Palestinian terrorist attacks of this nature are almost a daily occurrence.

Date: Thu, 05 Feb 2004 07:59:56 +0200
Jerusalem News-273
Contents:
1. Women Regret Abortions
2. The Demographic Problem by Prof. Paul Eidelberg
3. Pro-life laws reduce number of abortions, study says
4. Sow Statues in Germany
5. An Alternate Opinion Concerning THE DEMOGRAPHIC PROBLEM

1. Women Regret Abortions
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=36802

MATTERS OF LIFE AND DEATH
Poll: Women say abortion makes life worse
Researcher contends politicians misread their female constituents
A new national poll shows only 16 percent of women believe abortion generally makes women's lives better.

Furthermore, among women who describe themselves as "pro-choice," less than 30 percent believe abortion generally improves women's lives.

The poll results reflect a reality long misunderstood by politicians on both sides of the abortion debate, contends David C. Reardon, director of the Elliot Institute, a conservative research and education think tank that published the survey along with other study results.

"At least one of every four women voters has had an abortion, and most of these women consider it to be an ugly, painful memory," he said. "Most have many regrets about their abortions, even if they believe it to have been their 'only choice.' This is why they don't support the radical agenda of pro-abortion special interest groups. They've been there, done that, and hated it."

He says the national polling data and his studies of post-abortive women show most women would be glad to be rid of abortion, but only if it can be done in a way that helps women. They generally do not support easier access to abortion, federal funding for abortion, or the nomination of federal judges who will strike down abortion regulations.

But they do want politicians to show they understand the pressures women face, Reardon asserted.

2. The Demographic Problem
By Prof. Paul Eidelberg

The September 26, 2003 report of the Central Bureau of Statistics reports that Israel's population is 6.716 million. Of this number, 5.143 million are Jews, and the ID cards of another 282,000 state "other" in the nationality space. The latter are new immigrants and their families who are not registered as Jews by the Ministry of the Interior Population Registry.

The September 26 report indicates that a fifth or 19.2% of Israel's population 1.291 million are Arabs. This is not contradicted by the more recent Central Bureau of Statistics report of February 1, 2004 that the 16% of Israels population are Muslims, if the latter does not include the Bedouin and Druze population.

Now, it should be emphasized that a significant percentage of the 5,143 million Jews listed as such by the Ministry of Interior Population Registry are not halachically Jewish, that, like the 282,000 whose ID cards state other in the nationality space, they, too, came from the former Soviet Union under the grandfather clause of the Law of Return. However, there is no way to substantiate this from the Population Registry.

Unless I am mistaken, but based on conversations with a well-informed Russian, there are at least 400,000 non-Jewish Russians in Israel, in which case the Jewish majority in this country is diminishing and now stands at no more than 74.8%. This number will further decline given the permissive immigration and citizenship standards of the Interior Ministry headed by Avraham Poraz. Nor is this all.

Although the Muslim birthrate is declining, the February 2, 2004 report of the Central Bureau of Statistics indicates that it is 2.4 times that of Jews. The report also states that 450,000 Muslims are under the age of 15, one quarter of the countrys children, and that only 3% are over the age of 65, which is far below that of Jews. This portends an increasing Muslim voting power to say nothing of their fighting power compared to that of Jews.

3. Pro-life laws reduce number of abortions, study says
Feb 3, 2004
By Erin Curry
http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?Id=17559
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Parental involvement laws, bans on taxpayer-funded abortions, informed consent laws and partial-birth abortion bans reduce the number of abortions performed within the jurisdiction of such laws, according to a new study by a post-doctoral fellow at the Harvard-MIT Data Center.

"Those states that adopted pro-life legislation during the 1990s experienced larger reductions in abortion rates and ratios than those states that did not adopt such legislation," the study said, according to LifeNews.com.

The study, published by the Heritage Foundation, said pro-life legislation passed by state legislatures led to the decline in the number of abortions by 17.4 percent during the 1990s.

Laws prohibiting taxpayer-funded abortions with the use of Medicaid dollars reduced the abortion rate by about 30 percent, the study showed. States that passed Right to Know laws informing women of the consequences of an abortion saw the abortion rate drop by 22 percent.

Top-rated Louisiana's score of 36 out of a possible 42 indicates that elected officials in each state can still do more to safeguard women and the unborn, AUL said.

4. Sow Statues in Germany
In a Hebrew newspaper (Makor Rishon 30.1.04, p.3) there was report
(from Yischak Hildesheimer quoting a Professor Mair Shwartz (?)
of "Beit Aschkenaz") that in the time of the Nazis, the Germans erected hundreds of statues of
a sow suckling Jews and that this was a popular theme of the Nazi Newspaper
Der Struemer (?).
According to the report 27 (28?) of these statues are still standing most of them besides churches
and on land belonging to these churches.
20 of the statues are in Germany in Nuremburg, Koln, Warburg, Erfurt, etc
7 of the statues are in Alsace (a French province bordering Germany that the Germans considered
belonged to them) in the cities of Strasburg, and Kolmer. And one is in Denmark (?).

5. An Alternate Opinion Concerning THE DEMOGRAPHIC PROBLEM
Arutz Sheva News Wednesday,
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Feb. 4, 2004 / Shvat 12, 5764
THE DEMOGRAPHIC PROBLEM
It was announced this week that one out of every four children in Israel is Moslem, and that the annual Moslem population growth in Israel is 3.4%, compared with only 1.4% for Israeli Jews.

Some say that "demographic scares" are nothing new and have never been borne out by the facts. Hatikvah Educational Foundation, in a recent full-page newspaper ad, noted the following:
*In 1900, the leading Jewish historian and demographer, Dubnov, cautioned Herzl against the establishment of a Jewish State: "By the year 2000 there will be only 500,000 Jews in the land of Israel." In 2000, there were 5 million Jews in Israel.
*In 1948, Israel's Chief Statistician, Prof. Bakki, lobbied Prime Minister Ben-Gurion to postpone the establishment of the Jewish State: "By 1968 there will be an Arab majority in Israel (Green Line)." In 1968, there was a 17% Arab minority.
*In 1967, Prime Minister Eshkol was pressured to give away Gaza, Judea & Samaria: "By 1987 there will be an Arab majority west of the Jordan River." In 1987, there was a 37% Arab minority west of the Jordan River [including Judea, Samaria and Gaza; and less than 14% within pre-'67 Israel].

Hatikvah wrote that similar "demographic scare tactics" are being used today to convince the public of the necessity of a Palestinian state in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. The numbers ignore important factors, however, such as the artificial inflation of Arab population statistics and the decreasing gap between the Arab and Jewish birth rates.

It is now estimated, however, that the Arab population west of the Jordan River is nearing that of the Jewish population - 4.51 million Arabs to 5.16 million Jews. The Arab numbers are: 2 million in Judea and Samaria, slightly over 1 million in Gaza, 210,000 in eastern Jerusalem areas, and another 1.3 million Israeli-Arabs.

Segal notes that the demographic statistics are a source of satisfaction to the Palestinian Authority - "because the Arabs know that these numbers feed into our fear of being a minority, and therefore bring a Palestinian state closer." But in truth, he continues, the Arabs have a tradition of exaggerating the statistics. Joan Peters, in her book From Time Immemorial, notes this phenomenon, and more recently, the mathematician Yaakov Feitelson has noticed a peculiar phenomenon in this regard. Segal writes that Feitelson, formerly the Mayor of Ariel and demographic advisor to Binyamin Netanyahu, and now a Joint Distribution Committee emissary in St. Petersburg, "noticed that precisely during the 1990's, when a million Russian Jews immigrated to Israel, the Palestinians managed to reach new heights in their own population figures. Somehow, their figures and those of the UN show that they managed to double their numbers, from 1.6 mill! ion to 3.2 million in the same decade that the Jews, with their massive Aliyah from Russia, grew only by 80%. Their growth rate was 7% a year - an imaginary number by all accounts."

One encouraging statistic is that some 150,000 Arabs, according to rough estimates, have left the PA areas in the past several years. One IDF military source said that every day, dozens of PA Arabs arrive at Civil Administration offices requesting papers to be allowed to move abroad - although bureaucratic procedures often thwart them.

SEOUL - A US-based Jewish human rights group has urged the United Nations to investigate claims that North Korea conducted gas chamber experiments on political prisoners, comparing the alleged acts to those in the concentration camps of Nazi Germany.

The Simon Wiesenthal Centre made the appeal yesterday after the BBC aired a TV documentary in which a man, claiming to be a former North Korean agent, described seeing prisoners gassed to death.

There was no way to verify the claim.

'This brings to mind the imagery of Nazi gas chambers and the horrific experiments at Auschwitz and Imperial Japan's Unit 731,' the centre's associate dean, Mr Abraham Cooper, said in a statement.

Unit 731, the Japanese Imperial Army's germ warfare division, is believed to have killed as many as 250,000 people in their experiments during the 1930s and 1940s when Japanese troops occupied much of China.

'The crimes of the Nazi era are a stark reminder that silence is admittance and such state-sanctioned barbarities demand action,' Mr Cooper said.

'The civilised community must put the perpetrators of such crimes against humanity on notice that they will be held accountable.'

The BBC report said the North Korean man, identified as Kwon Hyok, was a former army intelligence officer who defected to South Korea in 1999.

It also said he was formerly chief guard at a North Korean prison camp, reportedly known as Prison Camp No 22.

Mr Kwon said the camp had a gas chamber made of glass so scientists could observe inmates as they were gassed.

'I witnessed a whole family being tested on suffocating gas and dying in the gas chamber,' he told the BBC.

The Simon Wiesenthal Centre urged the UN to establish an international tribunal to investigate the allegations.

As many as 200,000 people are held in North Korean prison camps, from petty criminals to political dissidents and religious activists, according to a 2003 report by the US Committee for Human Rights in North Korea. Prisoners are subjected to starvation and torture, it said.

The Simon Wiesenthal Centre, based in Los Angeles, is an international organisation dedicated to preserving the memory of the Holocaust by fostering tolerance and understanding. \-- AP

Jerusalem News-275
Contents:
1. Germany Frees a 9/11 Suspect
2. Earthquake Strikes Brit-Am Headquarters!
3. Arutz 7 on the Quake
4. Arutz -7 Arabs Prepared to leave
5. Jerusalem Post on the Quake

1. Germany Frees a 9/11 Suspect

NY TIMES
February 6, 2004

By DESMOND BUTLER
HAMBURG, Germany, Feb. 5 Citing a refusal by the United States to allow
testimony from a suspected member of Al Qaeda in its custody, a German
court on Thursday acquitted a former roommate of Mohamed Atta who was
accused of providing support to suicide pilots in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
The court cleared Abdelghani Mzoudi, the second suspect to be tried for
involvement in the attacks, of accessory to murder and membership in Al Qaeda.

Hamburg officials have said they will seek to expel Mr. Mzoudi, who is not
a German citizen. His lawyers have said, however, that they will file for
his asylum in Germany on the grounds that he may face torture in Morocco.

In the early days of the trial, which began in August, a Qaeda informant
testified that he had seen the defendant and Mr. Motassadeq in a Qaeda
training camp in Afghanistan. Members of Mr. Mzoudi's defense team never
denied that their client had indeed been in Afghanistan.

The defense further acknowledged that Mr. Mzoudi knew Mr. Atta, who is
believed to have been the pilot who flew American Airlines Flight 11 into
the north tower of the World Trade Center, and had made financial
transactions for an alleged member of Al Qaeda.

Under German terrorism laws existing at the time of the attacks, specific
knowledge of terrorist activity must be proved in order to convict a
defendant of conspiracy.

2. Earthquake Strikes Brit-Am Headquarters!
On Wenesday, 11.2..04 at approximately 10:30 Yair Davidiy and Brit-Am
assistant, Shmuel James, were in the Brit-Am headquarters near the center
of New Jerusalem. They were studying 1-Kings chapter 22 which relates how
King Jehoshaphat of Judah and King Achab of "Israel" combined forces to
regain Ramat Gilead from the king of Aram. They were defeated and King
Achab (Ahab) was killed.
This chapter shows how the territory of one section of the Israelite
nation was considered to pertain to all of Israel and how the good of one
section was considered the good of the other. On the other hand it also
shows how this early attempt at combining forces between
Judah and Israel ended in disaster.
We had reached this "happy" note when the room started moving.
We are situated on the third floor of a relatively old building so what may
not be significant on the ground is felt
more by us. My first thought was that it must be a low-flying plane but the
moving continued and intensified
and the whole building seemed to sway to and fro underneath us and shake.
The whole thing lasted perhaps no more than less than minute but it
seemed longer.
Reports are now coming in from all over Jerusalem about this earthquake. It
seems that concerning Jerusalem no serious damage was caused but a lot of
people were frightened. Elsewhere in Israel there was some damage. See below:

3. Arutz 7 on the Quake
http://www.israelnn.com/print.php3?what=news&id=57682
Earthquake Hits Israel
An earthquake rocked most of Israel at 10:15 this morning, and was felt
from the north to the northern Negev. No casualties were reported, though
cracks were reported to have formed in the Knesset building.

The epicenter of the earthquake - first thought to be 4.5 on the Richter
scale, but later reported as a moderately-heavy 5 - is thought to be in the
northern Dead Sea. Popular weatherman Danny Ropp captured the feelings of
most Israelis when he said, "Actually, what does it matter whether it was 4
or 5? The main thing is that we all really felt it quite strongly."

Two buildings in the Tel Aviv area were reported to have partially
collapsed, but these reports were soon found to be based on false alarms.
Phone systems in the Tel Aviv area did collapse, however. In Ein Gedi,
close to the Dead Sea shore, nothing more serious than falling objects was
reported.

Officials in the Education Ministry, after consultation with Seismological
Institute personnel, decided shortly before 11 AM that, because of the fear
of aftershocks, all pupils must be kept outside the building until at least
12:30. Despite this, Infrastructures Minister Yosef Paritzky (Shinui),
speaking from the Geophysical Institute 45 minutes after the quake, said
that there appears to be no danger of aftershocks.

The US Geological Survey says that several thousand shocks with magnitudes
of about 4.5 or greater occur each year around the world.

The last major calamitous earthquake in Israel occurred in July 1927.
Centered in Jericho, it killed "some 670 persons--not one of these
reputedly a U S citizen nor Jew," according to a Time Magazine report at
the time. Thousands were left homeless. The last major earthquake to affect
Israel was in 1995; it was centered under the Red Sea, about 70 kilometers
south of Eilat, and caused only very minor structural damage.

The prophet Zechariah foretells a cataclysmic earthquake when the Messiah
comes to the Mount of Olives outside Jerusalem, in which the mountain shall
be split down the middle from east to west, forming an enormous valley.

4. Arutz -7 Arabs Prepared to leave
http://www.israelnn.com/print.php3?what=news&id=57362
P.A. Arabs Less Attached To Land Than Was Thought
A public opinion survey taken in the Palestinian Authority shows that fully
37% of the population would agree to leave their "homeland" in exchange for
material benefits.

The 705 respondents of the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion (PCPO)
poll were asked, "If you were to receive a job offer, a home, and $250,000,
would you be willing to emigrate to a foreign country?" Just a tad over
half said no, while 37% said yes, they would be willing to leave under such
circumstances.

Of those who would leave, not even a quarter would choose an Arab nation,
while 60% would choose Europe or an English-speaking country.

5. Jerusalem Post on the Quake
Earthquake felt across Israel
By JPOST.COM STAFF
A strong tremor was felt in most major cities in Israel and parts of the
West Bank Wednesday morning at 10:16.
The quake lasted about 25 seconds.
Two people were hospitalized at the Hadassah Ein Karem hospital for
stress-related symptoms, and a further 17 people were treated for the same
symptoms countrywide, Magen David Adom reported.

An official at the Seismology Division of the Israeli Geophysical Institute
told the Jerusalem Post that the center of the earthquake was in the
Northern Dead Sea region and measured 5 on the Richter scale.

Magen David Adom reported that a construction worker in Netanya fell off
the fifth floor of a building because of the quake. He was evacuated to
Hillel Yaffe Hospital in a moderate condition.

The tremor was felt in Tel-Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, Kiryat Shmona, Arad,
Kfar Sava, Hadera and the Dead Sea.

At the Knesset, lawmakers sitting in committee meetings feared a large bomb
had gone off, Israel Army radio reported.

A crack developed in the decorative ceiling above the minister's table, and
plenum meetings have been postponed pending engineering examinations.

The ceiling above the exit to the Prime Minister's office has developed a
crack, and an engineering crew inspected the glass partition at the
visitor's gallery.

The quake was felt for about 20 seconds in the Jordanian capital of Amman,
sending frightened residents out of their homes, AP reported.

It also was felt in Lebanon as well as the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Police report many calls from worried residents, but no injuries have been
reported.

Israel Radio reported that residents in various cities have called in
saying some buildings have collapsed, but these reportes have not been
confirmed.

Infrastructure Minister Yosef Paritzky said that institutes had been
waiting for an earthquake from the northern Dead Sea region, but added that
if this was "the one they have been waiting for, we have just witnessed a
miracle."

Paritzky said all communications and electricty centers are operating
normally.

Israel is located on the Syria-Africa great rift which stands over a
friction point between two tectonic plates, an area prone to earthquakes.

The rift runs for 3,000 miles (4,800 kilometers) between Syria and
Mozambique and passes through the Dead Sea, below Jerusalem's eastern hills.

About 35 miles (55 kilometers) to the north, another fault line cuts the
land east to west from the Mediterranean port of Haifa with the West Bank
towns of Jenin and Nablus before reaching the Jordan River.

Recent earthquakes include a 7.2 in 1967 epicentered in Eilat, and another
measuring 6.2 in 1927.

The last earthquake registered in the region was on December 31st 2003 at
10:44 PM, measured 3.7 and was epicentered at Kibbutz Ein Gedi, near the
Dead Sea.

In the 18th century, Israel was struck by a major earthquake, and again in
1837, destroying the northern city of Zefat.

Steve Leibowitz, IBA News: The television building shook fiercely sending
frightened workers into the hallways with many running out of the building.
Mabat Editor Uri Levy said there could be danger that the old building
would collapse, but after several minutes of nervous chatter, all returned
to their offices to work on the news. The first task...find an expert to
talk about earthquakes in Israel and building standards.

Jonny Gaon, Ben Gurion Airport:
Tremor felt at Ben Gurion Airport. Strong shaking of buildings and
accompanied by a low rumble. No reports of problems affecting aircraft,
takeoffs or landings.

Barry Lynn, Efrat: I would guess that you felt it too, but our whole
building just shook for about 5 seconds. Not terrible, but definetely.

Emanuel Reyzer: The Kiryat Atidim tower in North Tel Aviv, where I work,
shacked noticeably twice. Many people left the building.

Andre Cardon: I never felt such a thing in my whole life!!! I was already
used to
see the windows shaking due to the planes, but not everything inside home.
I think Mashiach is coming...

Aviva Noeth, Sefat: I felt the quake, too.

Yoel Fleisher: My apt, shook in Jerusalem for about 10 seconds. I thought
we were being attacked!!

Joyce Kligsberg, Tel Aviv: Our office building shook considerably for a few
seconds with furniture shifting causing many of us to run into the street...

Albert Robinson: On the 26th floor of the Diamond Tower in Ramat Gan we
really enjoyed
swaying around for 20 seconds or so.

David Furst, Herzliya Pituach: We are on the 3rd floor of a warehouse in HP
and we felt the whole building shake uncontrollably for about 5 seconds. We
also ran outside.

Rahel Jaskow, Jerusalem: Our whole building shook for what felt like quite
some time and there was a sound like low thunder. It was different from the
tremors I felt sometime in
the mid-1990s when there was an earthquake in Eilat and we felt some of the
shocks as far north as Jerusalem.

Liz Elsby, Jerusalem: Felt it very strong in our 5th floor flat in Q.Yovel.
My daughter called hysterical from school, please to say, all the kids knew
to get under the tables, they've been well trained.

Jon Shapiro, Petah Tikva: Even though I had experienced the 1989 San
Francisco earthquake and many others, one never really gets used to them.
And here, since they're so rare, it makes it even more frightening.
Yitzchok Berger: I felt it in Ramat Beit Shemesh, the whole apartment
building felt like it was swaying.

Gaila Cohen Morrison: Here in Mitzpeh Yericho, about 10 minutes from the
northern part of the Dead Sea, I heard a loud boom, and then several
smaller booms. I thought it was a sonic boom - but then the walls and
floors and everything started shaking. A few books fell off the shelves and
the pictures are crooked. It lasted (forever) but really only about 20
seconds.

Schelly Talalay Dardashti: I was sitting at my computer at home, 6th floor,
north Tel Aviv, when the motion began with just a flutter, seemed to stop
and began again more strongly. No noise, just vibration and gentle swaying
motion, but nonetheless extremely disconcerting - 25 seconds seemed like an
hour! I knew it was an earthquake from our Los Angeles days.

Michael Atkin (4th year medical student), Tel Aviv: While examining a
patient at an assisted living center in Tel Aviv, the temblor caused the
building to gently undulate as if it was resting on a bed of springs.

Eva Panska, Tel Aviv: It was like being on a boat on the high sea. My
office building was shaking fiercely for about 20 to 25 seconds. The
windows were vibrating and the vertical curtains were making a lot of
noise. Also a low rumble was heard and the furniture kept sliding on the
floor. I left the building as soon as I was able too.

1. Gas Chambers in Korea

UN urged to probe North Korea 'gas chamber'

SEOUL - A US-based Jewish human rights group has urged the United Nations to investigate claims that North Korea conducted gas chamber experiments on political prisoners, comparing the alleged acts to those in the concentration camps of Nazi Germany.

The Simon Wiesenthal Centre made the appeal yesterday after the BBC aired a TV documentary in which a man, claiming to be a former North Korean agent, described seeing prisoners gassed to death.

There was no way to verify the claim.

'This brings to mind the imagery of Nazi gas chambers and the horrific experiments at Auschwitz and Imperial Japan's Unit 731,' the centre's associate dean, Mr Abraham Cooper, said in a statement.

Unit 731, the Japanese Imperial Army's germ warfare division, is believed to have killed as many as 250,000 people in their experiments during the 1930s and 1940s when Japanese troops occupied much of China.

'The crimes of the Nazi era are a stark reminder that silence is admittance and such state-sanctioned barbarities demand action,' Mr Cooper said.

'The civilised community must put the perpetrators of such crimes against humanity on notice that they will be held accountable.'

The BBC report said the North Korean man, identified as Kwon Hyok, was a former army intelligence officer who defected to South Korea in 1999.

It also said he was formerly chief guard at a North Korean prison camp, reportedly known as Prison Camp No 22.

Mr Kwon said the camp had a gas chamber made of glass so scientists could observe inmates as they were gassed.

'I witnessed a whole family being tested on suffocating gas and dying in the gas chamber,' he told the BBC.

The Simon Wiesenthal Centre urged the UN to establish an international tribunal to investigate the allegations.

As many as 200,000 people are held in North Korean prison camps, from petty criminals to political dissidents and religious activists, according to a 2003 report by the US Committee for Human Rights in North Korea. Prisoners are subjected to starvation and torture, it said.

The Simon Wiesenthal Centre, based in Los Angeles, is an international organisation dedicated to preserving the memory of the Holocaust by fostering tolerance and understanding. \-- AP

2. Arutz Sheva Monday
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Feb. 16, 2004 / Shvat 24, 5764
WALL ADJACENT TO KOTEL PARTIALLY TAKEN DOWN
ANTI-SEMITISM IN GREAT BRITAIN
WALL ADJACENT TO KOTEL PARTIALLY TAKEN DOWN
Contrary to some panicky reports, the Western Wall has not collapsed - but the hill jutting out from it under the Mughrabim Gate is another story. Apparently due to the earthquake last week, together with the snow, seeping water and unstable mud, the hill - or its buttressing wall - began to collapse this past Saturday night during the snowstorm.

The women's section of the Western Wall plaza, just to the left and below the hill, has been closed until further notice. Another area of the Kotel has been "granted" to the women worshippers for the duration.

A large crane was at the site this morning, delicately taking apart the top part of the hill's supporting wall. Arutz-7, speaking with the crane operator at the site, learned that he had taken apart the wall to the left of the Mughrabim Gate, but could not continue taking down the lower levels of the wall, "because behind it is earth and the whole thing would collapse." The crane left the site around noon.

A photograph on Arutz-7's website <www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=57924> shows the Mughrabim Gate to the right and above the Western Wall plaza. The wall (at the left of the photo) was dismantled today. For an on-the-spot look at the Western Wall, see Arutz-7's Kotel Camera at
<http://www.jewishstreet.com/controlkotel/viewer/arutz/index.cfm>.

The Mughrabim Gate is located atop the Western Wall, to the right of the main worshipers' area. Visitors to the Temple Mount have traditionally entered through it, but Rabbi Yosef Elboim, a frequent visitor to the Western Wall and Temple Mount, told Arutz-7 today that the Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount are now being routed through the Shalshelet (Chain) Gate, located alongside the Kotel some 100 meters to the north (left) of the Western Wall plaza and not visible from there). "I am happy that the closing of the Mughrabim Gate was not used as an excuse to prevent Jews from visiting the Temple Mount," he said, but added that this is only a partial solution, and demands, for Halakhic [Jewish legal] reasons, that the Temple Mount's Tribes Gate, near Lions Gate, be opened to Jewish visitors.

On the other hand, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch, Rabbi of the Western Wall, told Arutz-7 today that the Halakhic ban on entry to the Temple Mount remains in effect. "There are some rabbis who feel that the southern portion of the Mount is not forbidden," he explained, "but over the years many great rabbis have banned, and continue to ban, all entry - for fear that many Jews will not know where they may walk and will thus violate a very grave Biblical prohibition."

Rabbi Elboim explained that the hill to the right of the women's section is an old one, "built of layer upon layer of old buildings. Of late, the authorities have tried to refurbish the entrance to the Temple Mount, but apparently the construction, together with the earthquake and the snow, rocked the foundations and it began to fall apart."

ANTI-SEMITISM IN GREAT BRITAIN
The Daily Telegraph reports that a wave of anti-Semitic harassment by far-right and Islamic fundamentalist organizations in Great Britain has targeted several prominent Jews. The home of Lord Triesman, ex-general secretary of the Labour party, has been attacked no fewer than 12 times by the Combat 18 neo-Nazi group, while former Labour minister Barbara Roche and Uri Geller, an Israeli celebrity living in London, have been the victims of hate mail and graffiti. In general, a significant rise in anti-Semitic incidents was noted in Britain in 2003.

Mike Whine of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, who works closely with the police to monitor anti-Semitic attacks, told the Telegraph that extremist Islamic groups are behind many anti-Semitic incidents. "There is reliable evidence from the police," Whine said, "to prove that an increasing number of incidents are committed by sympathizers of the Palestinians and Islamists. The promotion of anti-Semitism by the Arab media and by Islamist organizations worldwide is having a significant effect on the attitudes of Muslim communities around the world towards the Jews."

An ICM poll last month in Britain found that one in five Britons would oppose a Jewish prime minister, while one in seven believed that the Holocaust was exaggerated.

The Telegraph reported that a police complaint was filed this week against prominent Sheikh Abu Hamza for preaching alleged anti-Semitic comments about the Holocaust. He is one of a number of extremist Islamic clerics who have been accused of encouraging anti-Semitic views among young Muslims.

3. Pluses and Minuses about Israel
There follows another list of Israeli achievements that are all valid but it should also be stated that Israel also has negative features
including: All the plagues of western society plus A bad primary and secondary education system, exaggerated wage inequality for a developed nation, a bureaucratic mentality that also finds its expression in the private sphere and several other faults.
Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2004 11:54:30 -0600
From: scollins@ll.net
Subject: Fwd: Israeli accomplishments
Shalom Yair,
This item is being passed around in the USA among Israel's friends here. You should have a look at this. It is quite a list of Israeli accomplishments!
Steve

Subject: Land of Promise
As you read of Israel's accomplishments below, keep in mind that have managed all of these and more while engaged in regular wars with an implacable enemy that seeks its destruction, and an economy continuously under strain by having to spend more per capita on its own protection than any other country on earth
============================
Israel, the 100th smallest country, with less than 1/1000th of the world's population, can lay claim to the following:

The cell phone was developed in Israel by Israelis working in the Israeli branch of Motorola, which has its largest development center in Israel.

Most of the Windows NT and XP operating systems were developed by Microsoft-Israel.

The Pentium MMX Chip technology was designed in Israel at Intel. Both the Pentium-4 microprocessor and the Centrino processor were entirely designed, developed and produced in Israel.

The Pentium microprocessor in your computer was most likely made in Israel.

Voice mail technology was developed in Israel. Both Microsoft and Cisco built their only R&D facilities outside the US in Israel.

The technology for the AOL Instant Messenger ICQ was developed in 1996 by four high-school age Israelis.

Israel has the fourth largest air force in the world (after the U.S., Russia and China). In addition to a large variety of other aircraft, Israel's air force has an aerial arsenal of over 250 F-16's. This is the largest fleet of F-16 aircraft outside of the US.

According to industry officials, Israel designed the airline industry's most impenetrable flight security. U. S. officials now look to Israel for advice on how to handle airborne security threats.

Israel's $100 billion economy is larger than all of its immediate neighbors combined.

Israel has the highest percentage in the world of home computers per capita.

Israel has the highest ratio of university degrees to the population in the world.

Israel produces more scientific papers per capita than any other nation by a large margin - 109 per 10,000 people -- as well as one of the highest per capita rates of patents filed.

In proportion to its population, Israel has the largest number of startup companies in the world. In absolute terms, Israel has the largest number of startup companies than any other country in the world, except the US (3,500 companies mostly in hi-tech).

With more than 3,000 high-tech companies and startups, Israel has the highest concentration of hi-tech companies in the world -- apart from the Silicon Valley, US. Israel is ranked #2 in the world for venture capital funds right behind the US.

Outside the United States and Canada, Israel has the largest number of NASDAQ listed companies.

On a per capita basis, Israel has the largest number of biotech startups.

Twenty-four per cent of Israel's work force holds university degrees -- ranking third in the industrialized world, after the United States and Holland - and 12 per cent hold advanced degrees.

Israel has the third highest rate of entrepreneurship -- and the highest rate among women and among people over 55 - in the world.

Relative to its population, Israel is the largest immigrant-absorbing nation on earth. Immigrants come in search of democracy, religious freedom, and economic opportunity.

Israel has the world's second highest per capita of new books. Israel is the only country in the world that entered the 21st century with a net gain in its number of trees, made more remarkable because this was achieved in an area considered mainly desert.

Israel has more museums per capita than any other country. Medicine... Israeli scientists developed the first fully computerized, no-radiation, diagnostic instrumentation for breast cancer.

An Israeli company developed a computerized system for ensuring proper administration of medications, thus removing human error from medical treatment. Every year in U. S. hospitals 7,000 patients die from treatment mistakes.

Israel's Givun imaging developed the first ingestible video camera, so small it fits inside a pill. Used to view the small intestine from the inside, the camera helps doctors diagnose cancer and digestive disorders.

Israel leads the world in the number of scientists and technicians in the work force, with 145 per 10,000, as opposed to 85 in the U.S., over 70 in Japan, and less than 60 in Germany. With over 25% of its work force employed in technical professions. Israel places first in this category as well.

An Israeli company was the first to develop and install a large-scale solar-powered and fully functional electricity generating plant, in southern California's Mojave desert.

1. New Russian Oil Presence via Israel?
Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2004 08:08:51 -0500
From: imra@netvision.net.il
Subject: The odd couple: Israel and Russia challenge OPEC [Within

The odd couple: Israel and Russia challenge OPEC [Within Palestinian Range]
Pipeline becomes vital artery for shipments to far east markets
Moscow seeks to supplant Riyadh as world's top supplier and 'Tipline'
across Jewish state fits into that plan
Ed Blanche Special to The Daily Star 18 February 2004
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/business/18_02_04_g.asp

[IMRA: The loading point of the pipeline is already within range of the
Qassam rockets that the Palestinians have developed. If and when Prime
Minister Sharon's retreat is executed, the Palestinians will be able to
easily import longer range missiles to put the Ashdod port under the same
threat that Israel's other main port, Haifa, faces from the 12,000 missiles
in South Lebanon - all formidable threats that will deter Israel from taking
action to prevent an IDF-free Gaza Strip from developing even greater
threats against the Jewish state (and even preventing Israel from responding
to attacks).]

BEIRUT: Israel's vice-premier and trade minister, Ehud Olmert, was in Moscow
last week with a particular message: "We want more Russian oil."

Moscow is only happy to oblige, because a 250-kilometer pipeline running
from Ashkelon on the Mediterranean to Eilat on the Gulf of Aqaba has become
a vital artery for Russian oil exports to the Far East, the fastest-growing
energy market in the world and one Moscow wants to dominate. By sidestepping
the Suez Canal, the Trans-Israel Pipeline, known as the Tipline, opens up a
shorter and cheaper route for Russian oil exports to Asia and thereby
threatens Arab exports from the Gulf.

The first tanker to sail from Israel with a cargo of Russian crude pumped
through the Tipline left Eilat, bound for Asia, in November. According to
British energy analyst Simon Henderson, an expert on the Gulf, that event
"has the potential to greatly impact the international oil market. Russian
oil exports are unconstrained by the quotas of the Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries, and a steady stream of expanded Russian shipments via
the Tipline could . lower prices worldwide."

The new route also puts Israel firmly on the oil industry map, but more
importantly it will strengthen Russia's position in the global energy
market, challenging Saudi Arabia's as the pre-eminent oil producer. These
days, Russia and Saudi Arabia are jockeying for the No. 1 spot as a world
oil supplier with around 8 million barrels per day (bpd). A confrontation
between Saudi-dominated OPEC and Moscow seems inevitable.

With oil hovering around $30 a barrel, the Russians have little interest in
aiding OPEC dampen prices, and it is expected to push up production this
year. According to French energy analyst Francis Perrin: "Russia has no
interest in collaborating with OPEC."

The Americans have long wanted to undermine OPEC and US control of Iraq's
oil, wealth could go far to achieve that. But the Russians seem to be ones
making the running right now, and want to overtake Saudi production levels
within five years. According to Simon Kukes, chief executive officer of
Russia's giant Yukos oil company, Russian output could reach 11 million bpd
by 2009.

The Tipline connection also cements Israel's relations with Russia, a mortal
enemy throughout the Cold War, at a time when many oil-consuming states are
growing nervous about the security of energy supplies from the Arab world
and are seeking ways to reduce their dependence on countries like Saudi
Arabia. The Japanese, for instance, get 85 percent of their oil from the
Gulf but want to cut that back to 65 percent.

The Tipline was built in 1968 to carry oil shipped up the Red Sea from Iran,
then still ruled by Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, to Eilat and on to the
Mediterranean for transshipment to Europe. At that time, the Suez Canal was
still closed following the 1967 war, with the Israelis holding the eastern
bank and the Egyptians the western bank, so the Tipline saved tankers having
to make the long and costly haul around Africa to reach markets in Europe
and the US.

Israel took what it needed of the Iranian oil for its own consumption. But
the 1979 revolution in Iran changed all that. The new regime cut off all
links to Israel. The surge in Russian oil exports following the collapse of
the Soviet Union in 1991 gave the Tipline a new lease on life. By reversing
the flow, with Eilat instead of Ashkelon as the loading terminal, the
Russians found a new outlet as they drove to develop new markets.

So now tankers from the Black Sea carry the oil to Ashkelon. These are of
necessity not large supertankers because Turkey prohibits ships of that size
using the Bosphorus Straits. But big tankers can be used to carry shipments
from Eilat. The Tipline has the capacity to handle 55 million tons of oil a
year.

Henderson noted that Russian oil shipped through Israel is made more
attractive to Asian buyers because it eliminates the so-called "Asian
premium," the extra $1 per barrel arbitrarily imposed on Asian consumers by
Gulf producers. This has caused considerable resentment against the Gulf
exporters, and provides another incentive to reduce their dependence on Arab
oil.
Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdel-Aziz of Saudi Arabia, the country's de facto
ruler since King Fahd fell ill six years ago, made a landmark visit to
Moscow in September 2003 hoping to improve relations, in large part because
of the strains in Riyadh's relations with the US since Sept. 11, 2001. The
Saudis signed a five-year oil and gas cooperation agreement, but the
Russians, while cordial enough, were not inclined to curtail their campaign
to boost oil exports that are the main driver of Russia's economic boom or
to see prices cut back.

The Russians have not forgotten how in 1985 the Saudis used their excess
production capacity to flood the market and drive down oil prices to $12 a
barrel, which wrecked any hopes that the then-Soviet Union had of an
economic revival and contributed to the collapse of communism soon after.

2. "David Dan: Pawns in the Game" (Adapted and Summarized):
Yitzhak Rabin was born in Jerusalem in 1922; He served in the Palmach (an elitist left-wing oriented branch of the Hagana: the Jewish Defence Forces before the establishment of the State) and after that in the IDF.
He commanded the IDF during the Six-Day War. At the outbreak of the war he suffered from a breakdon that was later described as
"nicotine poisoning". In 1968 he was appointed ambassador to the United States.
In the spring of 1973, Rabin returned to Israel and became active in the Labour Party. He was elected Member of the Knesset in December 1973 . In June 2, 1974, he became Prime Minister.
In June 1976, Rabin's government issued the order for "Operation Entebbe", liberating the hijacked Air France passengers.
After 1977 he was in opposition.
Later he served as Minister of Defense (1984-1990)
In July 1992, Rabin formed Israel's 25th government and became its 11th Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, and acting Minister of Religious Affairs and Labour and Social Affairs.
Reports claimed his party won the lection due to a massive infusion of funds from the CIA. Later, his successor Shimeon Peres, would receive
monies from he European Union.
Rabin and Arafat received the Nobel Peace prize for having signed the 1993 Oslo peace accords.
These accords allowed the arming of pathological murderers whose openly declared aim was to kill as many Jews as possible.
Since then Israel has had not one day of peace but many good innocent people have been murdered.
In 1995 Rabin was assassinated.
Yigal Amir a young religious student of Yemenite extraction who had served with distinction as a soldier received the blame.
Did he do it? This question has received some significance recently
and has importance.
Rabin's mother had been a famous Communist inclined radical nick-named "Rosa the Red".
Rabin himself was erratic in his outlook. At time he considered joining the anti-Zionist ultra Orthodox fringe
of Judaism and at other times he went in the opposite direction. He veered from one extreme to another
but always kept his wavering and weaknesses away from public view. Politically he had been taking steps towards
an Israeli retreat from its liberated lands while encouraging the Defence Forces to treat the Arabs with unnecessary
and UNCHARACTERISTIC physical brutality ("break their arms") thus giving cause for those few amongst them who did not already hate us
to do so.
Rabin allegedly had a problem with alcohol
and personality in general as well as medical limitations. He was an instrument of Billy Clinton who then reigned in
Washington and had antisemituc and anti-Israeli leanings.
Towards the end of his term Rabin had begun preparing the way for a Civil War that was liable to lead to the destruction of Israel.
He was constantly vulgarily inciting against the National Religious segment of Israeli society especially the settlers and had underestimated
just how much support this element possessed in Israeli society.
In his period the Israeli General Secret Services (GSS) infiltrated numerous agents into the ranks of the Jewish religious right wing.
Underground organizations were founded and seriously provocative acts carried out by GSS agents
or by gullible youngsters who had been enticed by them. The intention was to blacked the image of the Zionist Religious
in the eyes of the rest of the population and to justify the employment of force against them.
Two factors came into play:
a. Elements in the Israeli establishment and Secret Services wanted Rabin out of the way since he was endangering the nation
yet could not be removed by conventional means.
b. A Maverick section of the Secret Services had decided to use GSS agent Avishai Raviv and others to send Yigal Amir on an attempted assassination attempt of the Prime Minister. He was supposed to believe in his mission but to be given a weapon with blank bullets.
It was planned to be an unsuccessful attempt that would be used for further incitement against the religious
right. This now looks somewhat silly from our perspective but a similar scam had been used successfully employed
against the Kahalani brothers who had been given a non-operative rifle, persuaded to shoot an Arab with it,
and then arrested and convicted for attempting to do so. And no-body said a thing.
In the atmosphere of the time logic and fairness were not guiding lights.
The GSS agent Raviv (as reported by the Jerusalem Post) had befriended Yigal Amir who was a brilliant University student,
a former elite combat soldier, a voracious reader of religious literature, and an organizer of tour and study groups.
A group of girls in one of these study groups reported:
"Raviv was real macho. He kept saying to Yigal: 'You keep talking about killing Rabin. Why don't you do it? Are you frightened? You say you want to do it. Show us that you're a man! Show us what you're made of!' "

Yigal Amir however was not stupid and it was widely known in Kiryat Araba (where Raviv lived) that Raviv worked
for the GSS. The brother of Yigal Amir prepared special dum dum bullets and at the last minute he switched clips.
Rabin was speaking at a demonstration on behalf of Peace and against the Religious Zionists
at the Kings of Israel Square (since renamed Rabin Square) in the center of Tel Aviv.
Yigal Amir was allowed to enter the restricted security zone, walk right past all the security people and bodyguards,
right up to Rabin and put two bullets in his back from less than a meter away.
Immediately afterwards a voice (assumedly from amongst the security personnel) started shouting:
"Don't shoot! Don't shoot. They are only blanks."
The rest is history.
The question remains: Did Yigal Amir act alone or were elements in the GSS in complicity with him?
About 10 books have been written in Israel claiming that Yigal Amir did not murder Prime Minister
Rabin. The most popular of these books are those written by Barry Chamish who once claimed that
Lead Rabin (Rabin's wife) was responsible for the murder of her husband and had planned it all. Barry Chamish also wrote a book about (Return of the Giants) Aliens from Outer Space plotting to take over the world, and about the wicked British Freemasons
and Zionist leaders (including Rabbi Avraham HaCohen Kook) who had gotten together to work against the Jewish people.

[[On a deeper level maybe he is right to an extent since despite their differences in a de facto sense both Rabbi Kook
and the British at that time were working together to lay the foundations of a Jewish State, not against the Jews but for them.]]

He made numerous other claims that would all be laughable were it not for the fact that many believe these fictions
and some good people have been maligned by this person.
His attitude verges on being anti-semitic but since he is Jewish he gets away with it and several right-wing Jews
may be found amongst his fan club.
Mr Chamish (and some of the other writers) however does appear to have been given "inside" information (possibly doctored)
on some matters to help sell his works and GSS elements do appear to be directing his steps.
Could it be that this is all diversionary? Since BC arrived on the scene no-one any longer seriously
expects a public inquiry into GSS activities at the time.
For many of us the whole period was like a bad dream and we would not like to go back there.

3. Arutz Sheva Thursday
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Feb. 19, 2004 / Shvat 27, 5764
TERRORIST CONFERENCE: "HUGE" ATTACKS ON ISRAEL PLANNED
The Arab news portal Albawaba.com reported today that Muslim terrorist groups - including Hamas, Hizbullah, Al-Qaeda, Islamic Jihad, Ansar Al-Islam and others - decided on a renewed offensive of attacks on Israelis and Israeli interests abroad. The attacks will include suicide bombings and assassinations of Israeli officials.

HONORING THE RIGHTEOUS CHINESE
Boys Town Jerusalem, a religious technical high school in Jerusalem, held a special reception this morning for the daughter of a Righteous Gentile whose efforts saved thousands of Jews during the Holocaust.

Dr. Feng Shan Ho, who served as the Chinese Consul-General in Vienna in 1938-9, used his position to provide visas for Austrian Jews fleeing the Nazis - one of the first diplomats to do so. The title of Righteous Among the Nations was bestowed upon him in October 2000 for his humanitarian courage in issuing Chinese visas to Jews. Nazi policy at the time was not to deport Jews who could show they had visas to foreign countries, and Dr. Ho, disregarding instructions from his superior, the Chinese Ambassador in Berlin, issued visas to Shanghai to all requesting them. At the time, the Viennese consulates of England, France, Switzerland and others refused to do so. Ho died in San Francisco in 1997 at the age of 96.

Boys Town Jerusalem, emphasizing the concept of Hakarat Hatov - acknowledgment and gratefulness - honored Dr. Ho's daughter, Manli, in the presence of the Ambassador of the People's Republic of China, other Chinese diplomats, and representatives from Yad Vashem. In 1996, the school created a special garden to honor Dutch diplomat Jan Zwartendijk, who provided 2,300 visas to Jews during the Holocaust, and a memorial for Dr. Shan Ho has now been added to the garden.

BRIT-AM DOES NOT OFFER A SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEMS OF THE WORLD
BUT WE COULD BE A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

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ISRAEL AGREES TO DELAY GAZA PULLOUT
160e232.jpg
JERUSALEM [MENL] -- Israel has agreed to a U.S. request to delay a unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

Israeli officials said Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has agreed to a request by the Bush administration to postpone any plan for unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip until after the U.S. presidential elections in November 2004. The officials said this would mean that the start of any withdrawal would take place in 2005.

Sharon plans to continue to proceed with preparations for a withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. But officials said there would be no dismantling of settlements or withdrawal from military bases in 2004.

On Thursday, Sharon was scheduled to meet three senior administration officials to discuss his withdrawal plan. They are Assistant Secretary of State William Burns and National Security Council members Elliot Abrams and Stephen Hadley who intend to urge Israel to cooperate with the PA in any withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

2. Most Common Jewish Family Names in Israel
* Cohen 2.52%
* Levi 1.48%
* Mizrachi 0.47%
* Peretz 0.42%
* Biton 0.40%
* Dahan
* Avraham
* Friedman
* Azulai
* Malcah
* Katz
* David
* Gabai
* Amar
* Ochion
* Chadad (Hadad)
* Yosef
* Ben-David
* Adrei
* Levin
* Moshe
* Aschkenazi
* Tal
* Segel
* Chazan
* Shapira
* Yitschak
* Klein
* Golan
* Chen
YA 23.2.04 (Yediot Acharonot)

3. The Mother is Most Important
Jewish Children of parents of European origin (Aschkenazim) do progressively better in school than Jewish children of Eastern origin (Sephardim). The differences are most discernible when the children get older and at infancy are almost inexistent.

The reason for this gap are 80% due to the education levels of the parents especially that of the mother. The educational level of the mother influences the child about 1.4 times that of the father which is however also important.

YA 23.2.04

4. Coming Disasters May Hit Western Europe Very Soon
Following our recent note concerning impending ecological changes the British Observerpublished more details yesterday: Within 15 years Britain and Norway and other regions may freeze over. Holland may be flooded. Drinking water and food supplies may be scarce in all Europe causing friction and possibly wars and the migration of peoples.

Bengladesh and China may also suffer from disastrous flooding.

In areas of Europe and in the USA the temperature may rise extremely.

On the whole the USA may be in a favorable position but find itself under siege from the rest of the world.

The world will suffer from droughts.

The Nile, Danubre, Amzaon, may dry up.

Lack of drinking water and food may cause riots and wars.

The trouble may begin within three years.

An Israeli expert, Dr Dov Chanin, was asked his opinion of the report. He replied that it seems reliable only he disagrees with the timetable.

YA 23.2.04

5. Arutz Sheva News Monday,
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Feb. 23, 2004 / Rosh Chodesh Adar 5764
REMEMBERING THE RAMBAM
The State of Israel will be marking 800 years since the death of Maimonides, known as the Rambam, with an official ceremony this afternoon. The special Knesset session will open at 5:30 in the presence of President Moshe Katzav and his wife, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin, Cabinet ministers, Knesset Members, and other invited guests.

The Rambam (1135-1204) was a religious scholar, physician, philosopher and writer. Born in Cordoba, Spain, he soon fled to Morocco after the Almohads conquered the area. He later lived in Morocco, the Land of Israel, and Egypt, where he served as Sultan Saladin's doctor. One of the most influential leaders and scholars in the history of the Jewish people, he wrote prolifically, including most notably Mishneh Torah, a comprehensive code of Jewish Law; a commentary on the Mishna; and Guide for the Perplexed, on Jewish philosophy. His incredible stature is best summed up in the popular saying, "From Moshe [the Biblical Moses] to Moshe [Rambam], there arose none like Moshe."

1. Arutz Sheva News Tuesday
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Mar. 9, 2004 / Adar 16, 5764
FIGHTING TERRORISM ON ALL FRONTS
A particularly frightening terrorist attack was recently averted, thanks to the last-minute cold feet of one of the participants. A female Palestinian terrorist gave herself up to Israeli security forces, saying that she was part of a plan to perpetrate a two-stage attack. Two terrorists were to blow themselves up on a bus in central Israel, and then she - dressed as a Magen David Adom emergency medical volunteer - was to blow herself up amidst the rescue personnel who were to arrive on the scene. She was indicted this week in an IDF Military Court.

WATER FROM THE AIR
A new solution for Israel's water problems may have been found - at least on a very reduced scale. The Tadiran-Ampa company is marketing, for the first time in Israel, a relatively new gadget that produces water from thin air! The AquaMaker, manufactured by the American company Sky Spring, takes the moisture that is normally found in the air, and turns it into high-quality drinking water. A filter system is employed, minerals are added, and the water can be heated to boiling or chilled to near-freezing temperatures. The cost per unit is currently 6,950 shekels (just over $1,540), and a pair of filters - which must be replaced annually, is another $100. Tadiran representatives assured Arutz-7 that the unit does not cause "dry air" problems. They say that a liter of air-produced water costs only 30 agorot (6.7 cents).

2. How the EU Funds PA Terror
Date: Tue, 09 Mar 2004 04:46:21 +0200
From: ISRAEL RESOURCE NEWS AGENCY <media@actcom.co.il>

How the EU Funds PA Terror
By David Frankfurter
FrontPageMagazine.com | March 8, 2004
Whatever his other failings, European Commissioner for External Relations, Mr. Christopher Patten cannot be accused of beating around the bush. He evidently means what he says.
Take the stance he adopted on the repeated allegations of financial impropriety, relating to European funding of the Palestinians. On June 19, 2002, Patten stated: "I repeat. The documents presented to us by Israel do not prove that EU funds have been misused(nor) has financed terrorism"

Things look much less clear today. Officials from the EU?s anti-fraud OLAF office were in Jerusalem recently, reviewing evidence. Has EU financial aid for the Palestinian Authority (PA) been diverted?

However, OLAF is not the only inquiry in progress. French authorities have announced an investigation into mysterious transfers to Mrs. Arafat's personal bank balance. This might account for some $9 million. Where is the rest?

The scale of the alleged fraud is immense. Brussels has handed around ? 4 billion to the PA since 1993, directly and via non-government organisations like UNRWA. This excludes significant contributions from individual European countries, from the USA, Canada, and from Arab League states. In 2003, EU transfers reached ? 245m. Some suggest that total foreign aid to the PA has finally exceeded the level of funding provided to Israel by the United States.

It's an open secret that the flow of money to the Palestinians has often lacked appropriate controls. This inherent weakness in the EU's budget structure is waiting to be tapped by the unscrupulous. At least some of that cash has funded terrorists and gunrunning, even through the misuse of ambulances.

But let's ask this: How in the name of everything decent in Europe is it that a veritable library of verbal, written and circumstantial evidence, all pointing to the same conclusion:
Massive misappropriation of vast amounts of money intended for the Palestinian Arab people has been ignored and denied for years

Some plain answers are urgently needed.

3. Nighttime: Barry Who and the Witches

Since sending out criticisms concerning Barry Chamish it has become apparent that several people on this list including
some of our best supporters are sympathizers of Mr Chamish whose name in Hebrew incidentally means "Fifth"
which is most appropriate for a de facto fifth columnist like himself.
He and his friends sent us threatening letters and appear to have been somewhat perturbed by the attention we were giving them.
Just for the record in around 1990 Barry Chamish gave an interview to the pro-Nazi journal Spotlight that has favorable article
about him. Other anti-semitic groups frequently republish his writings especially those that attack the State of Israel.
We do not mind Barry writing "Return of the Giants" about aliens trying to take over the earth in cahoots with the powers that be.
Nor do we mind him becoming the darling of the Jew-hating infantiles that inhabit the Conspiracy ranks. He is not all bad and he could even become a humanizing element amongst those simian eaters of their own flesh.
Chamish says that the Queen of England, the Rothschilds, and a host of other people including many Jews are all part of a diabolical plot to take over the world and oppress humanity. These people do not know we exist and even if they did would probably be less than interested in us and they certainly do not need our support and we have better things to do than go around protecting their interests.
We do not like Barry saying that certain Jewish leaders and activists murdered their parents in law, or were guilty of homosexual rape, or are GSS agents etc when such things are not true and the people in question are not in a position to defend themselves but rather at that very moment need public support because they are being unjustly persecuted and discriminated against. Why should Barry make such filthy falsehoods at such moments unless he himself is serving those with an agenda?
And he does it all the time in numerous instances.
Even claiming (as Barry did) that Shimon Peres had an Arab or Polish mother without being able to prove it
is questionable from an ethical point of view despite the fact the "Shimon P" may not exactly be a friend of ours.
All these lies are serious matters But we could look the other way. We do not necessarily have to go around fighting
the battles of other people even though in some cases perhaps we should.
Barry Who also claimed that in effect the State of Israel is the creation of a devil-worshipping cult
that has committed horrible crimes against the Jews and the world. This is a lie. It is antisemitic
no matter what you say and we object to such lies being uttered.

When he attacks the Jewish State of Israel and Zionism and tells lies he attacks the Jewish people
and attacks Brit-Am.

Here is what Barry Who said about us. He refers to "Brit-Am" as British-Israel.
This is news for both "Brit-Am" and for British-Israel
Maybe someone should inform British-Israel as to where their dues should be addressed in future?

Barry Chamish says:
From: Barry Chamish <chamish@netvision.net.il>
Subject: attack
UNDER ATTACK FROM THE RIGHT by Barry Chamish

The past few weeks have seen a concerted attack against me from the Jewish Right. It is a planned campaign with a snowball effect. Here are the four forces which entered the fray:

1. Kach.....

2. The Free Pollard Organization......

3. The "Intellectuals"......

4. British Israel

I saved this group for last since they appear to be marginal. The British Israelites believe the British are a lost Israelite tribe and are ticked at me for pointing out such uncomfortable facts like the British founded a Jewish Home in Israel, reneged on most of the agreement and then banned immigration when millions of lives could have been saved. So angry are they, that they hint I must be a Nazi. Look at this slander:

"Barry Chamish does not speak the truth on many points. He made unfounded
wicked allegations about Rav Kook and other good people. He is anti-British
and in my opinion (despite being Jewish and living in Israel and having
provided some service
in the field of information) a de facto anti-Semite and a friend of those
representing the forces of darkness. He says horrible things about
basically good people who are not in a position to defend themselves. He is
in fact a de facto agent of negative elements
in the establishment.
It was not for nothing that a few years ago that the leading pro-Nazi
magazine in the USA published an interview
with Barry."

I never was interviewed by any pro-Nazi magazine, but I did a search of 750 Google and Yahoo sites where I appear. There was a collection of Jewish, Christian and political sites but no such pro-Nazi magazine. But this is the latest line since I agreed to fly to Sacramento.

Comment:
In around 1990 Barry Chamish gave an interview to the pro-Nazi journal Spotlight.
All of his sources concerning the Conspiracy are written by anti-semitic writers.
Not one or two out of the hundreds of sources he digs into but all of them.
His diatribes against the state of Israel are being spread by anti-semitic groups.
He tells lies about Jewish individuals and about Jews in general.

1. Anti-semitism and anti Anglo-Saxon powers go
together
From: surfer1 <surfer1@tpg.com.au>
Subject: [origin of nations] Anti-semitism and anti Anglo-Saxon powers go
together

Eurabia and Euro-Arab Antisemitism

By Bat <http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/authors.asp?ID=1388> Ye'or
FrontPageMagazine.com | April 5, 2004

Although the vast majority of Europeans today are not Antisemitic or
anti-Israeli, they are immersed in a culture of demonization of Israel,
fomented by a European political entity in which nearly everything that is
written and said on the Middle East conveys this anti-Israeli mentality. We
can recognize in this contemporary phenomenon some aspects of the system of
political, cultural, and moral conditioning that led to the Shoah [Holocaust].
Reactivated during the past four decades, this Judeophobic conditioning,
indirectly, and almost subliminally, is being implemented by the willing
heirs of the genocidal fathers. They transmit and spread this Antisemitism
in a new political and ideological construction, different from Nazism: the
Euro-Arab war for the delegitimization and destruction of Israel.

Herein, I will give a brief outline of the Euro-Arab anti-Israeli policy: 1)
the Project, 2) its institutional structure, 3) its modes of operation, and
4) its themes. The new forms of global Judeophobia that grow and develop
within this system, also have anti-Christian, anti-European, and
anti-Western ramifications.

The Project
The Project is articulated around two entities: European and Arab.

The European policy
The Project is an enlarged vision of the anti-American Gaullist policy
dependent upon the formation of a Euro-Arab Mediterranean rim hostile to
American influence and penetration. The project facilitated European
ambitions to:

[1] play a defining political role in international relations in competition
with the United States, and independent of its influence;

[2] maintain important spheres of influence in the former European Arab
colonies;

[3] open huge markets for the European Economic Community's products in the
Arab world, especially in oil-producing countries;

[4] secure supplies of petroleum and natural gas to Europe;

[5] make the Mediterranean a Euro-Arab inland sea by encouraging massive
Arab immigration into Europe, and favoring Muslim immigrants, mixing
Euro-Arab populations by promoting multiculturalism with a strong Islamic
presence in Europe;

[6] develop a powerful Islamo-Christian symbiosis against Israel, orienting
Europe toward Islam, and liberating Christianity from Judaism, which is
viewed by some Antisemitic factions as the embodiment of evil

To achieve these ambitions European countries had to operate as one entity.
Therefore, the first step was the construction of a common foreign policy.
Each nation would abandon its autonomous foreign policies and forge a joint
Euro-Arab policy. France was a driving force in this unification, which had
already been envisaged by General de Gaulle's inner circle and Arab
politicians, including the former Mufti of Jerusalem, and Nazi-collaborator,
Haj Amin al-Husseini.1

In the 1960s, nostalgic Nazi and fascist Antisemitic groups began
strengthening ties with Arab countries engaged in bellicose actions to
eliminate Israel. This pan-European and anti-American movement formed the
nucleus of a European solidarity with Palestinian Arabs that became more
assertive after 1967. It included fascist movements such as Jeune Europe,
EuropaFront and Europe R elle, the National Socialist Movement in England,
the C. E. Carlberg Foundation in Stockholm, as well as centers in Malm ,
Sweden, and other European cities, such as Strasbourg, Vienna, and Lausanne.

The 1973 oil crisis gave France and Germany a pretext to base the integrated
Euro-Arab policy on the danger of an energy shortage, which they used to 1)
forge a shared European energy policy on petroleum and 2) cement the
European Community's alliance with the Arab League countries in a common
anti-American, anti-Israeli policy. Thus, the French-German duo used the
1973 oil crisis to justify their political reversal. The most tangible and
immediate consequence of this alliance between the nine European Community
countries and the 22 Arab League countries was the isolation and
demonization of Israel.

Themes

The themes of hatred that flourish in the fusion of Euro-Arab cultures on
both shores of the Mediterranean were probably studied within these EAD
committees and disseminated worldwide, since they are founded in Europe as
well as the Arab world, and particularly among the Palestinians who cement
this Christian-Muslim symbiosis against Israel. They are enunciated in
common EAD declarations issued jointly by the European and the Arab parties
associated at the highest state level in the EAD. The committees function
under the strict authority of European Foreign Affairs ministers and heads
of state, and European Council delegates, together with their colleagues on
the Arab side.

The political themes include:

1. recognition of the Palestinians as a people; up to 1973 they had been
known as Arab refugees;

2. recognition of the PLO and its leader Arafat as unique representative of
the Palestinians;

3. obligation for Israel to negotiate exclusively with Arafat;

4. a global and not a separate peace;

5. retreat of Israel to the1949 armistice lines;

6. Arab-Islamic sovereignty in Jerusalem;

7. European pressure on the United States to align with their Arab policy;

8. demonization of Israel, a danger for world peace;

9. moralization of the Palestinian jihad as a just war against the injustice
of Israel's existence;

10. placing the Palestinian problem at the center of international politics.

11. delegitimization of Israel with all the negative characteristics that
follow.

All of these themes, none of which are found in the 1967 UN Security Council
Resolution Number 242, were developed by the European Community in crescendo
from 1973 to 1980.

On January 31, 2001, with the recrudescence of Palestinian terrorist jihad,
European Foreign Affairs Commissioner Chris Patten declared to the European
Parliament that Europe's foreign policy should give special attention to its
southern flank (the Arab countries, in EU jargon), adding that he was
delighted by the general agreement to give greater visibility to the
Mediterranean Partnership. How should his words be interpreted? Suddenly
the diffuse Israelophobia in the media, the universities, and policy
declarations reached a paroxysm in harmony with the Arab world. Europe was
inflamed with the cult of Palestinity and its frantic hatred of Israel in
the press, media, and universities. This Judeophobic prejudice reminiscent
of the 1930s, encouraged Palestinian terrorism in Israel and attacks against
Jews in Europe, revealing that Antisemitic networks exist which can be
activated or repressed by governments. The aim of this paroxysm of
Judeophobia was to use terror and intimidation to detach Diaspora Jews from
the State of Israel, leaving Israel even more isolated.

Bat Ye'or ( <http://www.dhimmitude.org/> is the author
most recently of Islam
and Dhimmitude: Where
Civilizations Collide, and the forthcoming Eurabia.

2.Fifth Column in USA?
From: Johnstembridge1@aol.com
Subject: Fw: Fifth Column in USA? Is Homeland Security Fully Aware?

This is very scary.

This past Fri eve Phyllis and I attended services at Temple Bethel in Palm Beach. We went there specifically to listen to a lecture by Dr. Kahleel Mohammed. Dr. M is a professor of Islamic Studies at Univ. of San Diego. He rcvd his Ph.D. at the Univ. of Riyadh in Saudi Arabia and is an Imam schooled in the Wahabi-Sunni tradition of Islam. The title of the lecture was "Can Militant Islam Co-exist with the State Of Israel?" What we heard was blood chilling, but not at all surprising to me.

His opening statement was, "the people of the U.S. worry about Osama . He is nothing but a tiny offshoot of the problem. The main problem is (and I quote) " EVERY SINGLE MOSQUE IN THE USA ESPOUSES FROM THE PULPIT THAT EVERY SINGLE JEW (not just Israel) IN THE WORLD MUST BE ANNIHILATED. No ifs ands or buts!! And these mosques don't even consider themselves militant.

3. Psalms 1
[Psalms 1:1] BLESSED IS THE MAN THAT WALKETH NOT IN THE COUNSEL OF THE UNGODLY, NOR STANDETH IN THE WAY OF SINNERS, NOR SITTETH IN THE SEAT OF THE SCORNFUL.
Keep away from bad company and avoid being caught up in negative influences.
The sages said that someone who abstains from sinning is considered as having fulfilled a commandment.
SCORNFUL: those who mock people who do good or the Bible are to be avoided.

[Psalms 1:2] BUT HIS DELIGHT IS IN THE LAW OF THE LORD; AND IN HIS LAW DOTH HE MEDITATE DAY AND NIGHT.
It is not enough just to do good and avoid sin. God also wants you to study his word.

[Psalms 1:3] AND HE SHALL BE LIKE A TREE PLANTED BY THE RIVERS OF WATER, THAT BRINGETH FORTH HIS FRUIT IN HIS SEASON; HIS LEAF ALSO SHALL NOT WITHER; AND WHATSOEVER HE DOETH SHALL PROSPER.
Commentary of "Malbim": This tree will prosper and be succesful and so too seed that is sewn from it will be like it. Likewise the righteous man will have succesfukl children due to his virtue. His seed will be mighty in the land. A generation of upright persons will be blessed.

[Psalms 1:4] THE UNGODLY ARE NOT SO: BUT ARE LIKE THE CHAFF WHICH THE WIND DRIVETH AWAY.

[Psalms 1:5] THEREFORE THE UNGODLY SHALL NOT STAND IN THE JUDGMENT, NOR SINNERS IN THE CONGREGATION OF THE RIGHTEOUS.

[Psalms 1:6] FOR THE LORD KNOWETH THE WAY OF THE RIGHTEOUS: BUT THE WAY OF THE UNGODLY SHALL PERISH.

1.
From: David Ben-Ariel <davidbenariel@famvid.com>

Christian Zionism: Israel's Best Weapon?

by Daniel Pipes - July 15, 2003

Middle Easterners were widely puzzled in early 1994 when some leading American politicians, including Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) and Rep. Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), forwarded more assertive, tougher positions vis- -vis the Palestinians than did the government of Israel. They were, for example, more reluctant than Jerusalem to let U.S. funds go to the PLO and they displayed more eagerness to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

One Arabic newspaper, Ash-Sharq al-Awsat, captured the general bafflement when it observed that Likud, Israel's more nationalist party, had "lost in Israel but it still rules supreme in Washington."

The same pattern is again visible these days, as Christian leaders such as Gary Bauer, Jerry Falwell and Richard Land more vocally oppose the "road map" for Palestinian-Israeli diplomacy than nearly all their Jewish counterparts. But this bold Christian solidarity with Israel should not be surprising, as it manifests a Christian form of Zionism that is nearly two centuries old.

Christian support for the creation of a Jewish state originated in England, becoming a significant movement in the Victorian period. In 1840, the British foreign secretary, Lord Palmerston, "strongly" recommended that the Ottoman government then ruling Palestine "hold out every just encouragement to the Jews of Europe to return to Palestine." Lord Shaftesbury in 1853 coined the phrase "A land without a people for a people without a land."

George Eliot put these ideas in novel form with Daniel Deronda in 1876. In 1891, Sir George Adam Smith wrote in his authoritative Historical Geography of the Holy Land that the Ottomans had to be pushed out of Palestine and replaced by the Jews, "who have given to Palestine everything it has ever had of value to the world."

That same year, 1891, saw perhaps the greatest early Christian support in the United States for a Jewish state - the "Blackstone Memorial," a petition that carried the signatures of 413 prominentAmericans, including the chief justice of the Supreme Court, the speaker of the House, the greatest industrialists of the age (Rockefeller, Morgan, McCormick), famous clergymen, writers and journalists.

Addressed to the president of the United States, Benjamin Harrison, and the secretary of state, James G. Blaine, the memorial asked them to "use their good offices and influence . . . to secure the holding at an early date of an international conference to consider the condition of the Israelites and their claims to Palestine as their ancient home." According to one historian, Paul Charles Merkley, the Blackstone Memorial had the effect of "firmly planting in many minds" the "notion of American sponsorship of a Jewish return to Palestine."

The Balfour Declaration of November 1917, whereby the British government announced that it favored "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people," was perhaps the single most important act premised in Christian Zionism. Harry S. Truman's recognition of Israel, against the nearly total opposition of his administration, was probably second. His biographer, Michael T. Benson, finds that Truman's pro-Israel outlook "was based primarily on humanitarian, moral, and sentimental grounds, many of which were an outgrowth of the president's religious upbringing and his familiarity with the Bible." (Truman's just-discovered diary, with its petulant remarks about Jews, makes his Zionist stance the more noteworthy.)

The media has recently focused on Christian Zionism as though it were something new ("How Israel Became a Favorite Cause of the Conservative Christian Right" runs a typical title, this one a front-page article in The Wall Street Journal). The real story is how Christian Zionists are increasingly the bedrock of Israel's support in the United States, more solidly pro-Israel and more robustly Zionist than many in the Jewish community.

To those who wonder why Washington follows policies so different from the European states, a large part of the answer these days has to do with the clout of Christian Zionists, who are especially powerful when a conservative Republican like George W. Bush is president. (In contrast, Christian Zionism has nearly died out in Great Britain.)

One anti-Israel writer, Grace Halsell, recognizes this fact and deems Christian Zionists a "more dangerous" influence in Washington than are the Jewish Zionists. Put positively: other than the Israel Defense Forces, America's Christian Zionists may be the Jewish state's ultimate strategic asset.

©2003 - Daniel Pipes

2. Brit-Am on the radio
Within the next few days (if everything goes well, God willing)
Brit-Am representatives (Rabbi Avraham Feld and Yair Davidiy) will be interviewed
at length in English on what may well be the most important media medium
in the state of Israel. Details later.

3. Psalms 2
This Psalm is speaking mainly about the coming Messiah descendant of David who will eventually rule over the entire world. The heathen non-Israelite nations will be reluctant to accept the authority of the Messiah and therefore will be dealt with. That is according to our understanding. Some Commentators (Radak, Iben Ezra) say it refers to David at the time he became king and the Philistines decided to attack him.

[Psalms 2:1] WHY DO THE HEATHEN RAGE, AND THE PEOPLE IMAGINE A VAIN THING?

[Psalms 2:2] THE KINGS OF THE EARTH SET THEMSELVES, AND THE RULERS TAKE COUNSEL TOGETHER, AGAINST THE LORD, AND AGAINST HIS ANOINTED, SAYING,
Those who set themselves against the people of God (Israel and Judah) or against the anointed of God are considered as setting themselves against God Himself.

[Psalms 2:3] LET US BREAK THEIR BANDS ASUNDER, AND CAST AWAY THEIR CORDS FROM US.
Israel under the messiah shall gain dominion over the nations but they shall attempt to rebel.

[Psalms 2:4] HE THAT SITTETH IN THE HEAVENS SHALL LAUGH: THE LORD SHALL HAVE THEM IN DERISION.

[Psalms 2:5] THEN SHALL HE SPEAK UNTO THEM IN HIS WRATH, AND VEX THEM IN HIS SORE DISPLEASURE.

[Psalms 2:6] YET HAVE I SET MY KING UPON MY HOLY HILL OF ZION.
"Zion" is in Jerusalem just north of the Jewish Quarter. Zion in the Bible is synonymous with Jerusalem and with Judah though in some contexts it can refer to Joseph (Midrash Tanchuma).

[Psalms 2:7] I WILL DECLARE THE DECREE: THE LORD HATH SAID UNTO ME, THOU ART MY SON; THIS DAY HAVE I BEGOTTEN THEE.
On the day that the Messiah is appointed it is as if he becomes the son of the Almighty and the Divine Spirit enters him. The Radak applies this verse to David:
"THEN SAMUEL TOOK THE HORN OF OIL, AND ANOINTED HIM IN THE MIDST OF HIS BRETHREN: AND THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD CAME UPON DAVID FROM THAT DAY FORWARD" [1-Samuel 16:13]

[Psalms 2:8] ASK OF ME, AND I SHALL GIVE THEE THE HEATHEN FOR THINE INHERITANCE, AND THE UTTERMOST PARTS OF THE EARTH FOR THY POSSESSION.

[Psalms 2:9] THOU SHALT BREAK THEM WITH A ROD OF IRON; THOU SHALT DASH THEM IN PIECES LIKE A POTTER'S VESSEL.

[Psalms 2:10] BE WISE NOW THEREFORE, O YE KINGS: BE INSTRUCTED, YE JUDGES OF THE EARTH.

[Psalms 2:11] SERVE THE LORD WITH FEAR, AND REJOICE WITH TREMBLING.

[Psalms 2:12] KISS THE SON, LEST HE BE ANGRY, AND YE PERISH FROM THE WAY, WHEN HIS WRATH IS KINDLED BUT A LITTLE. BLESSED ARE ALL THEY THAT PUT THEIR TRUST IN HIM.
<<KISS THE SON>>: Hebrew, "Nashku Bar".
"Nashku" means "kiss" (plural) or cling to or join with. Rashi quotes a source that derives the word from the same root as "Teshuka" meaning "desire
"bar" in Aramaic means "son" but in Hebrew it means grain (from which we have the English word "barley") or "righteousness, purity".
Cf. HE THAT HATH CLEAN HANDS, AND A PURE [Hebrew: "bar"] HEART [Psalms 24:4]
"Nashku Bar" could therefore mean "cleave to righteousness" or "desire purity".
<< LEST HE BE ANGRY>>: i.e. lest God be angry. God rewards us and punishes us according to our deeds.
The Malbim seems to suggest that "BAR" can also mean "chosen one" from the root "Barar". It could therefore be rendered, "Join the Chosen One (Messiah), Lest He (God) be angry".
There is (as the Malbim mentions) one source where "bar" may mean "son":
<<WHAT, MY SON [Hebrew: beri] ? AND WHAT, THE SON ["bar"] OF MY WOMB? AND WHAT, THE SON OF MY VOWS?>> [Proverbs 31:2]. Here too "bar" may actually mean something else (like "chosen") or it may actually mean "son" since it does mean "son" in Aramaic. Very often the wood roots of Aramaic and Hebrew interchange and they are related languages.
Therefore it could mean, "Cleave to the son" [the Messiah who on the day of his anointment becomes "borne" of God] so that that Almighty will not be angry with you.
Israel is also considered a son of the Almighty and so is Ephraim:
<< I AM A FATHER TO ISRAEL, AND EPHRAIM IS MY FIRSTBORN>> [Jeremiah 31:9].

1. Climate Change Approaching?
November 27, 2002
THE ARCTIC PERENNIAL SEA ICE COULD BE GONE BY END OF THE CENTURY

A NASA study finds that perennial sea ice in the Arctic is melting faster than previously thoughtat a rate of 9 percent per decade. If these melting rates continue for a few more decades, the perennial sea ice will likely disappear entirely within this century, due to rising temperatures and interactions between ice, ocean and the atmosphere that accelerate the melting process.

Perennial sea ice floats in the polar oceans and remains at the end of the summer, when the ice cover is at its minimum and seasonal sea ice has melted. This year-round ice averages about 3 meters (9.8 feet) in depth, but can be as thick as 7 meters (23 feet).

The study also finds that temperatures in the Arctic are increasing at the rate of 1.2 degrees Celsius (2.2 Fahrenheit) per decade.

Melting sea ice would not affect sea levels, but it could profoundly impact summer shipping lanes, plankton blooms, ocean circulation systems, and global climate.

“If the perennial ice cover, which consists mainly of thick multi-year ice floes, disappears, the entire Arctic Ocean climate and ecology would become very different,” said Josefino Comiso, a researcher at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., who authored the study.

Comiso used satellite data to track trends in minimum Arctic sea ice cover and temperature over the Arctic from 1978 to 2000. Since sea ice does not change uniformly in terms of time or space, Comiso sectioned off portions of the Arctic data and carefully analyzed these sections to determine when ice had reached the minimum for that area each year. The results were compiled to obtain overall annual values of perennial sea ice.

Prior to the complete data provided by satellites, most records came from sparsely located ocean buoys, weather stations, and research vessels.

The rate of decline is expected to accelerate due to positive feedback systems between the ice, oceans and atmosphere. As temperatures in the Arctic rise, the summer ice cover retreats, more solar heat gets absorbed by the ocean, and more ice gets melted by a warmer upper water layer. Warmer water may delay freezing in the fall, leading to a thinner ice cover in the winter and spring, which makes the sea ice more vulnerable to melting in the subsequent summer.

Also, the rise in summer ice temperatures by about 1.2 degrees Celsius (2.2 Fahrenheit) each decade could lengthen the summers, allowing earlier spring thaws and later freeze dates in the fall, causing further thinning and retreat of perennial ice.

Comparing the differences between Arctic sea ice data from 1979 to 1989 and data from 1990 to 2000, Comiso found the biggest melting occurred in the western area (Beaufort and Chukchi Seas) while considerable losses were also apparent in the eastern region (Siberian, Laptev and Kara Seas). Also, perennial ice actually advanced in relatively small areas near Greenland.

In the short term, reduced ice cover would open shipping lanes through the Arctic. Also, massive melts could increase biological productivity, since melt water floats and provides a stable layer conducive to plankton blooms.

Also, both regional and global climate would be impacted, since summer sea ice currently reflects sunlight out to space, cooling the planet’s surface, and warming the atmosphere.

While the latest data came too late to be included in the paper, Comiso recently analyzed the ice cover data up to the present and discovered that this year’s perennial ice cover is the least extensive observed during the satellite era.

The study appears in the late October issue of Geophysical Research Letters, and was funded by NASA’s Cryospheric Sciences Program and the NASA Earth Science Enterprise/Earth Observing System Project.

This text derived from http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/topstory/2002/1122seaice.html

2. Arutz Sheva News Friday,
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Apr. 23, 2004 / Iyar 2, 5764
SPECIAL SABBATH PRAYER FOR YESHA
Leading Israeli rabbis have agreed that a special prayer on behalf of the Jewish settlement enterprise in Judea, Samaria and Gaza should be recited every Sabbath, following the public Torah reading. The prayer was composed by Rabbi Chanan Porat of Kfar Etzion, and has received the blessing of Rabbis Chaim Druckman, Yaakov Ariel, Shlomo Aviner, Tzfaniah Drori, Dov Lior and others.

The Hebrew text of the prayer can be seen at <http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=60961>.

An abridged English translation of the prayer:
"Our Father in Heaven, Rock of Israel and its Redeemer, bless your beloved children who dwell throughout Your holy land, from the Negev to the Golan, and from the Jordan to the Mediterranean - including your precious children who cling with dedication and perseverance to the lands of Judea, Samaria and Gaza.
"Please strengthen their spirit and fortify their hearts to stand strong in the face of our enemies who wish to destroy us. All those who wish to harm them and try to uproot children from their borders, speedily incapacitate their counsel and impair their plan.
"Master of the Universe, make it known that You have loved ones in Your world! Let Your promise spoken by Your prophet Amos be fulfilled: 'I will plant them on their Land and they will never be uprooted.'"

Rabbi Porat explained that the prayer is designed primarily to express the Jewish tradition that "Repentance, Prayer and Charity will cancel the evil decree," but also to "help us internalize that the struggle for the settlement enterprise in the Land of Israel is not only a diplomatic and military one, but chiefly a spiritual effort for that which is sacred to our People and the fundamentals of our faith."

"It's possible," Rabbi Porat said, "that the public recitation of this prayer will help imbue the recognition that uprooting Jewish communities from their Land harms not only those who live there, but also Jewish tradition and the longings of generations for the fulfillment of the Biblical promise, 'the sons will return to their borders.'"

Physician's Prayer - A Wonderful print by Raphael Abecassis - Press or call +1-347-427-9042

*** QUOTE OF THE DAY:
"One hears a great deal these days, from people whose vision is shorter even than their memories, about the wisdom of international guarantees as a means of assuring Israeli security. I can't imagine a more misdirected policy than to ask Israel, which has been the model of the self-reliant ally, to transform itself into an American dependency ... Much of the history of international guarantees is the history of countries who have lost their territory, their freedom and even their sons and daughters ... it is a history that the Israelis, for their reasons, and we, for ours, ought to do everything possible to avoid." -- Senator Henry M. "Scoop" Jackson, December 18, 1973

3. More on Climate Change
Extract:
From: Ewin Barnett
Subject: [origin of nations] Abrupt Climate Change,
a possible eschatological predicate?

Friends:

The background events that cause nations and peoples to realign their
efforts and alliances are not necessarily limited to swings in the
current account deficts, trade balances, or rates of foreign exchange.
Exogenous events (those from outside) can also provoke actions just as
well.

Over 1000 years ago, in 986 AD, a large island west of Iceland was
settled by Erik the Red. Over the next 100 years more people emigrated
to this island to farm and raise cattle. This island today is known as
Greenland. Why for a short period of time was Greeland's climate so
warm it could support the growing of row crops?

Starting in the mid 1300's AD, the global climate started cooling. This
cooling peaked (bottomed out?) in the late 1700s when New York harbor
and the Thames River in London froze solid. This period is known as the
Little Ice Age. Scientists cannot explain why this cooling occured,
except to say the data 'suggests' either dearth of sunspots and a
volcanic eruption was the cause. [yet we allow even less solid data to
justify the Kyoto treaty]

Clearly the world's climate is always changing and sometimes the changes
are extreme enough to displace entire groups of nations. Recently, data
from a variety of sources strongly indicate the main current in the
Atlantic Ocean is undergoing a change. Since this current is the main
cause of Europe's present pattern of warm weather, a change would result
in Europe becoming much cooler and over a very short number of years.
Such a change would provoke all manner of massive social, political and
economic changes and realignments in the world.
ICL,
Ewin

from NASA:
(http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/topstory/2004/0415gyre.html)

>>>>
April 15, 2004

SATELLITES RECORD WEAKENING NORTH ATLANTIC CURRENT

A North Atlantic Ocean circulation system weakened considerably in the
late 1990s, compared to the 1970s and 1980s, according to a NASA study.

Sirpa Hakkinen, lead author and researcher at NASA's Goddard Space
Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. and co-author Peter Rhines, an
oceanographer at the University of Washington, Seattle, believe slowing
of this ocean current is an indication of dramatic changes in the North
Atlantic Ocean climate. The study's results about the system that moves
water in a counterclockwise pattern from Ireland to Labrador were
published on the Internet by the journal Science on the Science Express
Web site at:

http://www.sciencexpress.org or http://www.aaas.org

"It is a signal of large climate variability in the high latitudes,"
Hakkinen said. "If this trend continues, it could indicate
reorganization of the ocean climate system, perhaps with changes in the
whole climate system, but we need another good five to 10 years to say
something like that is happening." Rhines said...
==
Ewin Barnett, Boone County, Missouri, USA
[NB: Correspondence email address: ewinb@chrusos.com,

4. Fabled Etruscan Kingdom Emerging?
By Rossella Lorenzi, Discovery News
[
April 21, 2004 The fabled kingdom of the Etruscan king Lars Porsena is coming to light in the Tuscan hills near Florence, according to an Italian University professor.
Known as Chamars, where the lucumo (king) Porsena reigned in the 6th century B.C., this was the leading city-state of the Etruscan civilization that dominated much of Italy before the emergence of Rome.

It was from there that Porsena is said to have launched his most successful attack upon Rome in order to restore the exiled Tarquinius Superbus to the throne. Porsena laid siege to the city, but accepted a peace settlement and withdrew.

If confirmed, the discovery could help shed new light on one of Europe's most mysterious people. It would also raise the possibility of locating the fabulous tomb of the Etruscan king.

Porsena's tomb was said by the historian Pliny the Elder to consist of a labyrinth 300 feet square with pyramids on top. According to legend, it was adorned with a golden carriage, 12 golden horses, a golden hen and 5,000 golden chicks.

"Apart from legend, I believe Chamars has at last been found. This was the biggest Italian city before Rome and it represents the entire Etruscan civilization from the very beginning to its decadence," Giuseppe Centauro, a professor of urban restoration at Florence University who has also worked on restoration projects in Pompeii, told Discovery News.

Living in a loose confederation of towns scattered from the Po River in the north to Campania in the south, the Etruscans forged Italy's most sophisticated civilization before the Romans.

They rose from Italian prehistory around 900 B.C. and dominated most of the country for about five centuries. In 90 B.C., after centuries of decline, they became Roman citizens.

No literature remains to record their culture. Few traces of their puzzling, non-Indo-European language survive. Only the richly decorated tombs they left behind provide a glimpse into their world.

5. Brit-Am on the Radio
Rabbi Avraham Feld and Yair Davidiy spoke on behalf of Brit-Am
on the Israel National News (Arutz-7) radio show hosted by Tamar Yonah.

From Tamar Yonah:
You or your friends can still hear Yair until Saturday night your time, if you go to our web page http://www.israelnationalradio.com and scroll down till you see my box. There, you should see the show I did with Yair. Or, just send this link to your friends... http://www.israelnn.com/metafiles/asx/shows/IsraelNationalRadio/tamary-s-1.asx

1. Al Qaeda Plans Chemical Terrorist Attack in
Jordan
Date: Tue, 27 Apr 2004 03:31:15 -0400
From: imra@netvision.net.il
:[Full text of confession]Al Qaeda Plans Terrorist Attack in Chemical
Weapons against Jordan
www.petra.gov.jo/nepras/2004/Apr/26/19114500.htm

Amman/ April 26/ (Petra-Official Jordan News Agency)-- Al-Qaeda terrorist
group was planning to launch its first terrorist attack with chemical
weapons against Jordan, a leader and members of Al Qaeda terrorist gang
confessed Saturday.
The confessions were made by Azmi Al Jayousi and other members of the gang
and aired tonight by Jordan television.

The Prime Ministry compound, the Intelligence Department Headquarters and
the U.S. embassy in Amman , were the targets of the attack, Jayousi said.
The gang manufactured 20 tons of chemical explosives that were enough to
kill 20,000 people and injured 160,000, he said.

In planning to carry out the attack, the gang manufactured the explosives
and packed them in containers with other equipment and put them in trucks in
various parts of the Kingdom, Jayousi said. He added he was directly
instructed by Zarqawi to carry out the attack while they were in Iraq after
coming from Afghanistan.

There are chemicals that terrorists from al Qaeda were trying to make
explosives from. Their aim was to hit targets in Amman, but security forces
foiled their operations.
Their target sites included: the Prime ministry,General Intelligence
Department and the American Embassy.

These are members of the terrorist group that were going to execute the
operation, which would have been the largest in the history of the kingdom
in terms of its volume and number of victims. It would have killed 80
thousand of Jordanian citizens.

2. Iraq had chemical weapons
April 26, 2004
Laurie Copans, Associated Press

Iraq had chemical weapons and the means to deliver them ahead of last year's
US-led invasion, Israel's military chief claimed in an interview published
today.

Iraq may have transferred the weapons to Syria or buried them in desert
sands, said Lieut General Moshe Yaalon, speaking a month after a
parliamentary investigation criticised Israeli intelligence gathering on
Iraq.

In today's interview in the Yediot Ahronot newspaper, Yaalon said that
before the war, Iraq had developed the ability to fit planes with chemical
weapons that could have been used against Israel.

"There is no doubt that in the eight months leading up to the war, the
Iraqis prepared an ability to deliver by air chemical weapons, at least at
us," Yaalon said.

He said the Iraqis were preparing drones and Russian Tupolev-16 and Sakhoi
aircraft to carry dozens or hundreds of pounds of chemical substances.

He said the US military destroyed the planes in the first two days of the
war - based on Israeli intelligence information.

The chemical weapons, Yaalon said, were more carefully hidden.

"Perhaps they transferred them to another country, such as Syria," Yaalon
said. "We very clearly saw that something crossed into Syria. Perhaps, they
(the Iraqis) buried them."

Yaalon, in tacit criticism of the US operation in Iraq, said he would have
carried out searches in Iraq in a "different way than the Americans", but
did not elaborate.

3. Psalms 3
Hebrew Original begins:
A PSALM OF DAVID WHEN HE FLED FROM HIS SON ABSALOM,
Some Psalms begin with, A PSALM OF DAVID others say, FOR DAVID, A PSALM.
S.R. Hirsch explains that David sometimes composed his Psalms as a result of Divine Inspiration and in other cases he used the act of composition as a means to reach up to the necessary level. So to, we can use music and poetry to draw closer to the Almighty and those who are so gifted may even achieve a degree of inspiration through their own composition.
S.R. Hirsch points out that this Psalm 3 comes after Psalm 2 in which the peoples of the world are summoned to acknowledge the authority of the future Messiah descendant of David who will impose a universal code of morality on all mankind. David himself however had transgressed this very code by taking the wife of another (2-Samuel chapter 11). The revolt of Absalom came upon him as punishment for his sin (2-Samuel 12:11). His enemies took advantage of his predicament to close in for the kill. David however repented and knows that God will draw him out of his present trouble.

[Psalms 3:1] LORD, HOW ARE THEY INCREASED THAT TROUBLE ME! MANY ARE THEY THAT RISE UP AGAINST ME.

[Psalms 3:2] MANY THERE BE WHICH SAY OF MY SOUL, THERE IS NO HELP FOR HIM IN GOD. SELAH.
Many do-gooders apparently claimed that because David had sinned God had abandoned him.
SELAH is of uncertain meaning. It had musical implications and also connoted "upliftment", "eternity", and/or "reflection". Or it is "true", something like "Amen".

[Psalms 3:3] BUT THOU, O LORD, ART A SHIELD FOR ME; MY GLORY, AND THE LIFTER UP OF MINE HEAD.

[Psalms 3:4] I CRIED UNTO THE LORD WITH MY VOICE, AND HE HEARD ME OUT OF HIS HOLY HILL. SELAH.
This is refferring to the Temple Mount. Even though the Temple had not yet been built it was already recognized as a holy site.

[Psalms 3:5] I LAID ME DOWN AND SLEPT; I AWAKED; FOR THE LORD SUSTAINED ME.
S.R. Hirsch points out that david was feeling from his son and beset with enemies all around all striving to physically destroy him and all he stood for. The simple act of falling asleep and awaking refreshed was a source of inspiration for him in time of dire trouble. Sleep can have great therepeutic value.

[Psalms 3:6] I WILL NOT BE AFRAID OF TEN THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE, THAT HAVE SET THEMSELVES AGAINST ME ROUND ABOUT.
David was one of the greatest men who ever lived yet numerous people thirsted for his blood. So too, we should not be disheartened if we encounter opposition or difficulties.

[Psalms 3:7] ARISE, O LORD; SAVE ME, O MY GOD: FOR THOU HAST SMITTEN ALL MINE ENEMIES UPON THE CHEEK BONE; THOU HAST BROKEN THE TEETH OF THE UNGODLY.
Teth are very important: - As someone who now lacks many of his own, I can vouch for it. A great many people in the UK and Australia before WW2 and in the following generations had bad teeth. Nowadays the situatioin is different. In Israel people have good teeth and generally look after them. In Biblical Law, A master who caused the loss of a single tooth of his slave had to set the slave free (Exodus 21:27). I suppose people of a mystical bent could consider loosing one's teeth an atonement (being set free?) or a punishment (ungodly?), or both? Not only teeth but a persons health in general is a God-given blessing that we should endeavor to take good care of.

[Psalms 3:8] SALVATION BELONGETH UNTO THE LORD: THY BLESSING IS UPON THY PEOPLE. SELAH.
Israel is the people of God. We should never forget this.

1. Boycott? Extracts
BOYCOTT SUPPORTERS OF ANTI-SEMITISM
Several weeks ago, Germany announced its decision to stop all arms sales to Israel. Since then, other countries have followed suit. In response, Israel has canceled its annual multimillion dollar contract for its nationwide DAN buses which were manufactured in Germany, and is looking at other bus suppliers in the U.S., and Japan.
The European Union gives over $10 million per month to the Palestinian Authority, knowing full well that the money is funneled to buy, import, and train Muslim terrorists and their weapons of mass murder.

We strongly encourage everyone to buy Canadian, American and Israeli products instead.

Europe is underwriting the Arab war to exterminate the Jewish state.

2. Reasons why I love Israel By Barbara Sofer

Extracted from:
56 reasons why I love Israel
By Barbara Sofer May 02, 2004

Here are some of the reasons I love Israel, in no particular order:

The clock radio rouses me with "Shema Yisrael," the Jewish pledge of
allegiance, and the weather is nearly always fine.

All citizens have health care, and the fight is on to get coverage for foreign
residents.

If my car overheats, even men in designer suits will leap to help me.

Twenty-five percent of Israelis have been close enough to hear a bombing,
yet two million of us were out vacationing on Pessah. That's resilience.

Entire families show up for military graduations and bring enough food to feed an army.

A circumcision ceremony, brit mila, is important enough to take an hour off
from work.

Israelis give out their cell phone numbers - the difference
between our private and professional lives isn't neatly delineated.
Supermarkets deliver.

Our beggars are courageous; they solicit on even the highest-risk street
corners.

Street musicians are good enough to play in chamber orchestras. Despite the stress, creativity flourishes;

Israel has more start-up companies than any country outside the US. We're talkative - both the cell phone and voice mail were invented here.

On Friday, religious or not, everyone is hurrying towards Shabbat. Check
out the bakery lines.

Aliya stories can make the evening news.

We celebrate Independence Day by holding a Bible contest.

Blue and white flags fly from cars and buildings.

You don't have to be best friends or kin to be invited to a wedding.

You don't have to be best friends or kin to attend a funeral.

By the number of scientific papers published (more per capita than any other country), you'd think researchers were in ivory towers. Most do hands-on works, and many serve reserve duty.

First graders read the Bible in the original Hebrew, and celebrate when
they get their personal copies.

Even soldiers carrying heavy M-16's will stop to help a parent with a stroller.

Streets bear names of prophets and medieval poets.

Malls have kosher food courts.

We have more museums per capita than Italy.

We have only one Seder; but Purim, our dress-up holiday, lasts three
days. In Jerusalem, it's hard to tell who's in costume and who isn't.

Israel is the first to offer help and send rescue teams to countries coping with disaster. Israel sent medical staff to care for our people home after the terror attack in Mombasa and then Israeli fighter jets guided the plane home.

For all the talk about the greening of the planet, we're the only country
in the world that started the 21st century with a net gain of trees.

And, number 49: Israel has the highest concentration of hi-tech companies
except for Silicon Valley, and also the most yeshivot.

After a calamity, police have trouble keeping bystanders away who want to help.

The question "What would you like to drink?" instead of "Would you like a drink?" is a measure of hospitality.

The time of the Saturday evening news is adjusted to suit Shabbat observers.

My children and grandchildren can be born in the land of my ancestors.

I will sift the house of Ephraim among all nations, as grain is sifted in a sieve;
yet shall not the least kernel fall upon the earth. (Amos 9:9)

3. Many Europeans hold anti-Semitic views
Tuesday 27 April 2004 04:30 UTC
A survey appears to show many Europeans hold anti-Semitic views
although the situation has improved since 2002.
The Anti-Defamation League, an organisation based in the United
States, conducted the survey.

It found that anti-Semitism was most prevalent in Germany where 36
percent agreed with anti-Semitic statements; Belgium followed with 35
percent. The Netherlands, with 9 percent, scored the lowest of the
ten EU countries tested although the figure was higher than in 2002.

Great Britain was the only other country to show an increase in
anti-Semitic views since 2002, from 18 to 24 percent, according to
the survey. The ADL presented its findings in the lead-up to a
conference in Berlin on anti-Semiticism.

4. Anthony David Marks: References to Jewish Connections in Gaza

In the minds of some there is confusion or lack of knowledge of the Jewish biblical and modern
historical connections to the Gaza Strip area. The following references should elucidate the
subject.

(1. Genesis 15 The area in which Gaza is located was included as part of Abraham’s
inheritance.

(2. Joshua 13:2 - The Lord said to Joshua: This is the territory that remains to be conquered:
all the districts of the Philistines, those of the Gerurites, from the Shihon, which is close
to Egypt, to the territory of Ekron in the north, are accounted. Canaanite, namely those of the
five lords of the Philistines the Gazities (Gaza), the Ashdodites (Ashdod) etc…..

(3. Joshua 15:47 - Most Biblical commentators hold that the modern day Gaza Strip was within the
territory allotted to the tribe of Judah.

(4. Consider in Joshua Chapter 15: This was the portion of the tribe of Judea (15:20); Ekron,
with its dependencies and villages (15:45); Ekron, westward, all the towns in the vicinity and
Ashdod, with their villages (15:46); Ashdod, its dependencies and its villages, Gaza, its
dependencies and its villages, all the way to the Wadi of Egypt and the edge of the
Mediterranean Sea (15:47).

(5. Judges 1:18 - And Israel captured Gaza and its territory, Ashkelon and its territory, and
Ekron and its territory

Historically speaking:

There were Jewish communities in Gaza during the Hasmonean period (166-63 BCE).

During ancient times, in the taking of tithes (schmitah), the Gaza area was included in this
Jewish religious obligation.

During the 4th century CE, Emperor Constantine attempted to build a church in Gaza but the
Jewish population located there was opposed to this. At that time, Gaza was the principal port
for trade and commerce for the Jewish population of the Holy Land. A very ancient synagogue was
excavated there some time ago. Influential rabbis, Israel Najara, author of the popular prayer
and Shabbat song Kah Ribon Olam, and Rabbi Avraham Azoulai, the renowned mekubal, lived in Gaza
Jewish communities.

From 1885 to World War I Jews lived in Gaza.

A renewed Jewish community existed in Gaza until the Muslim pogroms against Jews in 1929.

The following is a list of Jewish communities in the Gaza Strip;

Community

Alei Sinai, founded in 1983
Bedolach, founded in 1986
Bnei Atzmon (Atzmona), founded in 1979
Dugit, founded in 1990
Gadid, founded in 1982
Gan-Or, founded in 1983
Ganei Tal, founded in 1979
Katif, founded in 1986
Kerem Atzmona, founded in 2000
Kfar Darom, founded in 1946
Kfar Yam, founded in 1984
Morag, founded in 1984
Netzer Hazani, founded in 1977
Netzarim, founded in 1984
Neve Dekalim, founded in 1983
Nisanit, founded in 1984
Peat Sadeh, founded in 1989
Rafiah Yam, founded in 1986
Shirat HaYam, founded in 2000
Tel Katifa, founded in 1992

5. Psalm 5
The Hebrew original begins with a verse not included for some reason in the KJ version we use:
The Hebrew begins with words translatabale as meaning:
TO HIM WHO GRANTS VICTORY FOR THE STREAMING-CURRENTS (Nachilot) OF LIFE. A PSALM OF DAVID.
or as meaning (S.R. Hirsch):
TO HIM WHO GRANTS THE ABILITY TO OVERCOME. CONCERNING THE BEQUEATHMENT OF INHERITANCES(Nachilot). A PSALM OF DAVID.
Iben ezra says that "Nachilot" actually means a musical instrument that hums like a band of bees. I agree that it probably means a musical instrument but would suggest that tune is more similar to the flowing of a stream ("nachal") perhaps something like the modern harp.

[Psalms 5:1] GIVE EAR TO MY WORDS, O LORD, CONSIDER MY MEDITATION.

[Psalms 5:2] HEARKEN UNTO THE VOICE OF MY CRY, MY KING, AND MY GOD: FOR UNTO THEE WILL I PRAY.
God is your king and mastrer.

[Psalms 5:3] MY VOICE SHALT THOU HEAR IN THE MORNING, O LORD; IN THE MORNING WILL I DIRECT MY PRAYER UNTO THEE, AND WILL LOOK UP.

[Psalms 5:4] FOR THOU ART NOT A GOD THAT HATH PLEASURE IN WICKEDNESS: NEITHER SHALL EVIL DWELL WITH THEE.

[Psalms 5:5] THE FOOLISH SHALL NOT STAND IN THY SIGHT: THOU HATEST ALL WORKERS OF INIQUITY.

[Psalms 5:6] THOU SHALT DESTROY THEM THAT SPEAK LEASING: THE LORD WILL ABHOR THE BLOODY AND DECEITFUL MAN.
<<THAT SPEAK LEASING>>: Boasters.

[Psalms 5:7] BUT AS FOR ME, I WILL COME INTO THY HOUSE IN THE MULTITUDE OF THY MERCY: AND IN THY FEAR WILL I WORSHIP TOWARD THY HOLY TEMPLE.
One should direct oneself towards the site of the Temple. One should pray in the direction of Jerusalem.
MOREOVER CONCERNING A STRANGER, THAT IS NOT OF THY PEOPLE ISRAEL, BUT COMETH OUT OF A FAR COUNTRY FOR THY NAME'S SAKE; [1-Kings 8:41]
(FOR THEY SHALL HEAR OF THY GREAT NAME, AND OF THY STRONG HAND, AND OF THY STRETCHED OUT ARM;) WHEN HE SHALL COME AND PRAY TOWARD THIS HOUSE; [1-Kings 8:42]
HEAR THOU IN HEAVEN THY DWELLING PLACE, AND DO ACCORDING TO ALL THAT THE STRANGER CALLETH TO THEE FOR: THAT ALL PEOPLE OF THE EARTH MAY KNOW THY NAME, TO FEAR THEE, AS DO THY PEOPLE ISRAEL; AND THAT THEY MAY KNOW THAT THIS HOUSE, WHICH I HAVE BUILDED, IS CALLED BY THY NAME. [1-Kings 8:43]

IF THEY SIN AGAINST THEE, (FOR THERE IS NO MAN THAT SINNETH NOT,) AND THOU BE ANGRY WITH THEM, AND DELIVER THEM TO THE ENEMY, SO THAT THEY CARRY THEM AWAY CAPTIVES UNTO THE LAND OF THE ENEMY, FAR OR NEAR; [1-Kings 8:46]
YET IF THEY SHALL BETHINK THEMSELVES IN THE LAND WHITHER THEY WERE CARRIED CAPTIVES, AND REPENT, AND MAKE SUPPLICATION UNTO THEE IN THE LAND OF THEM THAT CARRIED THEM CAPTIVES, SAYING, WE HAVE SINNED, AND HAVE DONE PERVERSELY, WE HAVE COMMITTED WICKEDNESS; [1-Kings 8:47]
AND SO RETURN UNTO THEE WITH ALL THEIR HEART, AND WITH ALL THEIR SOUL, IN THE LAND OF THEIR ENEMIES, WHICH LED THEM AWAY CAPTIVE, AND PRAY UNTO THEE TOWARD THEIR LAND, WHICH THOU GAVEST UNTO THEIR FATHERS, THE CITY WHICH THOU HAST CHOSEN, AND THE HOUSE WHICH I HAVE BUILT FOR THY NAME: [1-Kings 8:48]
THEN HEAR THOU THEIR PRAYER AND THEIR SUPPLICATION IN HEAVEN THY DWELLING PLACE, AND MAINTAIN THEIR CAUSE, [1-Kings 8:49]
AND FORGIVE THY PEOPLE THAT HAVE SINNED AGAINST THEE, AND ALL THEIR TRANSGRESSIONS WHEREIN THEY HAVE TRANSGRESSED AGAINST THEE, AND GIVE THEM COMPASSION BEFORE THEM WHO CARRIED THEM CAPTIVE, THAT THEY MAY HAVE COMPASSION ON THEM: [1-Kings 8:50]
FOR THEY BE THY PEOPLE, AND THINE INHERITANCE, WHICH THOU BROUGHTEST FORTH OUT OF EGYPT, FROM THE MIDST OF THE FURNACE OF IRON: [1-Kings 8:51]
THAT THINE EYES MAY BE OPEN UNTO THE SUPPLICATION OF THY SERVANT, AND UNTO THE SUPPLICATION OF THY PEOPLE ISRAEL, TO HEARKEN UNTO THEM IN ALL THAT THEY CALL FOR UNTO THEE. [1-Kings 8:52]
FOR THOU DIDST SEPARATE THEM FROM AMONG ALL THE PEOPLE OF THE EARTH, TO BE THINE INHERITANCE, AS THOU SPAKEST BY THE HAND OF MOSES THY SERVANT, WHEN THOU BROUGHTEST OUR FATHERS OUT OF EGYPT, O LORD GOD. [1-Kings 8:53]

[Psalms 5:8] LEAD ME, O LORD, IN THY RIGHTEOUSNESS BECAUSE OF MINE ENEMIES; MAKE THY WAY STRAIGHT BEFORE MY FACE.
We need the help of God to do the right thing.

[Psalms 5:9] FOR THERE IS NO FAITHFULNESS IN THEIR MOUTH; THEIR INWARD PART IS VERY WICKEDNESS; THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN SEPULCHRE; THEY FLATTER WITH THEIR TONGUE.

[Psalms 5:10] DESTROY THOU THEM, O GOD; LET THEM FALL BY THEIR OWN COUNSELS; CAST THEM OUT IN THE MULTITUDE OF THEIR TRANSGRESSIONS; FOR THEY HAVE REBELLED AGAINST THEE.

[Psalms 5:11] BUT LET ALL THOSE THAT PUT THEIR TRUST IN THEE REJOICE: LET THEM EVER SHOUT FOR JOY, BECAUSE THOU DEFENDEST THEM: LET THEM ALSO THAT LOVE THY NAME BE JOYFUL IN THEE.

[Psalms 5:12] FOR THOU, LORD, WILT BLESS THE RIGHTEOUS; WITH FAVOUR WILT THOU COMPASS HIM AS WITH A SHIELD.

1. Dennis Prager: What does 'Judeo-Christian' mean?
The uniqueness of America
http://www.jewishworldreview.com | The United States of America is the only country in history to have defined itself as Judeo-Christian. While the Western world has consisted of many Christian countries and consists today of many secular countries, only America has called itself Judeo-Christian. America is also unique in that it has always combined secular government with a society based on religious values.

But what does "Judeo-Christian" mean? We need to know. Along with the belief in liberty as opposed to, for example, the European belief in equality, the Muslim belief in theocracy, and the Eastern belief in social conformity Judeo-Christian values are what distinguish America from all other countries. That is why American coins feature these two messages: "In G-d we trust" and "Liberty."

Yet, for all its importance and its repeated mention, the term is not widely understood. It urgently needs to be because it is under ferocious assault, and if we do not understand it, we will be unable to defend it. And if we cannot defend it, America will become as amoral as France, Germany, Russia, et al.

First, Judeo-Christian America has differed from Christian countries in Europe in at least two important ways. One is that the Christians who founded America saw themselves as heirs to the Hebrew Bible, as much as to theirs. And even more importantly, they strongly identified with the Jews.

For example, Thomas Jefferson wanted the design of the seal of the United States to depict the Jews leaving Egypt. Just as the Hebrews left Egypt and its values, Americans left Europe and its values (if only those who admire Jefferson would continue to take his advice).

Founders and other early Americans probably studied Hebrew, the language of the Jewish Bible at least as much as Greek, the language of the New. Yale, founded in 1701, adopted a Hebrew insignia, and Hebrew was compulsory at Harvard until 1787. The words on the Liberty Bell, "Proclaim Liberty throughout all the land . . . ," are from the Torah. Vast numbers of Americans took Hebrew names like Benjamin Franklin and Cotton Mather (kattan in Hebrew means "little one" or "younger").

The consequences included a strong Hebrew Bible view of the world meaning, in part, a strong sense of fighting for earthly justice, an emphasis on laws, a belief in a judging, as well as a loving and forgiving, G-d, and a belief in the chosenness of the Jews which America identified with.

The significance of this belief in American chosenness cannot be overstated. It accounts for the mission that Americans have uniquely felt called to to spread liberty in the world.

This sense of mission is why more Americans have died for the liberty of others than any other nation's soldiers.

It is why those who today most identify with the Judeo-Christian essence of America are more likely to believe in the moral worthiness of dying to liberate countries not only Europe, but Korea, Vietnam and Iraq. That is why America stands alone in protecting two little countries threatened with extinction, Israel and Taiwan. That is why conservative Americans are more likely to believe in American exceptionalism in not seeking, as President Bush put it, a "permission slip" from the United Nations, let alone from Europe.

The second meaning of Judeo-Christian is a belief in the biblical G-d of Israel, in His Ten Commandments and His biblical moral laws. It is a belief in universal, not relative, morality. It is a belief that America must answer morally to this G-d, not to the mortal, usually venal, governments of the world.

That is why those who most affirm Judeo-Christian values lead the fight against redefining marriage. We believe that a pillar of Judeo-Christian values is to encourage the man-woman sexual and marital ideal, and to provide children with the opportunity to benefit from the unique gifts that a man and a woman give a child, gifts that are never replicable by two men alone or two women.

That is why those who most affirm Judeo-Christian values are unmoved by the idea that the war in Iraq is moral if Germany, France, China and Russia say so, but immoral if they oppose it. We ask first what G-d and the Bible would say about liberating Iraq, not what Syria and other members of the U.N. Security Council say.

That is why those who most affirm Judeo-Christian values believe that war, while always tragic, is on more than a few occasions a moral duty. Nothing "Judeo" ever sanctioned pacifism. Of course, the Hebrew Prophet Isaiah yearned for the day that nations will beat their swords into plowshares. But another Hebrew Prophet, Joel, who is never cited by those who wish to read the secular value of pacifism into the Bible, said precisely the opposite: "Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weakling say, 'I am strong!'"

And that is why those who want Judeo-Christian values to disappear from American public life affirm multiculturalism, seek to remove mention of G-d from all public life, and make Christmas a private, not a national, holiday.

The battle over whether America remains Judeo-Christian or becomes secular like Europe is what this, the Second American Civil War, is about.

2. Napoleon was the first Zionist: Book
http://in.rediff.com/news/2004/apr/27jew.htm
April 27, 2004 09:32 IST

French general Napoleon Bonaparte was the first "Zionist" who tried to reinstate Jews in Jerusalem, a new book claims in the light of recent evidences.

"Napoleon was the first to see the Jews as a political force in the international arena," Prof Mordechai Gichon, a military historian and archaeologist from Tel Aviv University's Classical Studies department, says in his book, Napoleon in the Holy Land.

The book sums up almost 40 years of research on the subject with most of the material collected from France's war archive, as well as journals and books written by soldiers in Napoleon's army.

"What couldn't be fulfilled under the rule of Napoleon can be fulfilled by Wilhelm II," Theodor Herzl, founder of the World Zionist Organisation, wrote in a letter to Kaiser Wilhelm II, Germany's last emperor, in March 1899, the book says.

The statement corroborated with other findings that have been used by an Israeli scholar to argue that Napoleon was the harbinger of the Zionist movement, which met an untimely death due to the English and the French general himself.

The brief romance took place during the French general's military campaign in West Asia. In the summer of 1798, he conquered Egypt and in the same year, he led 30,000 soldiers through the Sinai Peninsula and into Israel. On March 7, 1799, Napoleon took control of Jaffa, and then headed north to besiege Acre.

Napoleon intends "to restore to the Jews their Jerusalem", read a French report at the time, while another report claimed that "Bonaparte published a proclamation that calls on all the Jews of Africa and Asia to rally around his flag in order to re-establish ancient Jerusalem", Israeli daily Ha'aretz quoted from the book.

While the proclamation itself was never found, a copy translated to German was uncovered in 1939, addressed to "the Jewish nation from France's top general, Bonaparte, and Rabbi Aharon in Jerusalem", saying, "Israelites, France offers you at this very time... Israel's patrimony; take over what has been conquered and with that nation's warranty and support, maintain it against all comers."

Napoleon's idea to establish a national home for the Jews in the Land of Israel, Gichon says, stemmed primarily from political considerations.

Prof Ze'ev Sternhell of Jerusalem's Hebrew University, however, believes the entire story is nothing more than an oddity.

"Napoleon's big contribution came, in fact, in the form of promoting the incorporation of the Jews into French society," he argues.

3. Roman ship in Brazilian waters

http://www.dockwalk.com/issues/2002/february/trivia1.shtml

Titillating Trivia -
"The First Europeans to Reach the New World"
By Gary Fretz
It is now confirmed that a Roman ship reached Brazil around
the year 19 B.C.! Here is the whole story …

Two thousand years ago, the most valuable commodity "known to man"
was salt. This is because most fresh meats and fish were preserved by
packing in salt. In fact, salt was so valuable, it was used in place
of coinage. This is where the word "salary" emerged (as well as the
expression "he's not worth his salt"). The Romans had a large salt
production facility on Ilha do Sal (Salt Island) in the Cape Verde
Islands, which are 350 miles off the coast of West Africa. This
location is directly in the path of the hot, dry winds of the Sahara
Desert, which can easily blow 60 knots from the east. It is believed
that this Roman merchant vessel was heading for Salt Island to pick
up a load of salt and to provision the local army garrison when a
fierce Sahara storm started. Roman ships were clumsy by modem
standards and would have no choice but to lower their sails and to
run with the winds to avoid capsizing. The Sahara winds can blow for
many days and the Salt Ship was carried to Guanabara Bay (near Rio de
Janeiro) in Brazil. In the middle of the - Bay is a large submerged
rock lying 3' below the surface called Xareu Rock (named after a
local fish that congregates here). The ship appears to have been
travelling at a high rate of speed when she struck the rock. She
broke into two pieces and settled in 75' of water near the base of
the rock.

In the late 1970's, a local fisherman using nets around Xareu Rock
kept "catching" some large (3' tall), heavy earthen jars which tore
his nets. He mistakenly thought these were "macumba"jars, which are
used in local voodoo ceremonies and then thrown into the sea. So, as
the jars were hauled up, he smashed them with a hammer and threw the
small pieces back into the water in an attempt to prevent tearing his
nets in the future. If he had only known what treasures he was
destroying! In recent years, a scuba diver was spear fishing around
Xareu Rock and found eight similar jars that he took home. He sold
six jars to tourists before the Brazilian police arrested him with
the two remaining jars for illegally selling ancient artifacts.
Archaeologists immediately identified these as Roman amphorae of the
1st century B.C These containers were originally used to carry water,
grain, salted fish, meat, olives, olive oil and other foods necessary
to feed the ship's crew and to provision Roman outposts. One of the
world's foremost authorities on Roman shipwrecks, Robert Marx, found
more artifacts and confirmed this as an authentic Roman shipwreck.
The world's foremost authority on Roman amphorae analyzed the clay in
the jars and confirmed that these were manufactured at Kouass which
was a Roman seaport, 2000 years ago, on the coast of modem-day
Morocco. The Institute of Archaeology of the University of London
performed thermo luminescence testing (which is a more accurate
dating process than Carbon 14 dating) and the date of the manufacture
was determined to be around 19 B.C. Many more amphorae and some
marble objects were recovered, as well as a Roman bronze fibula (a
clasp device used to fasten a coat or shirt).
This shipwreck may help explain some other intriguing Brazilian finds:
- Several hundred ancient Roman silver and bronze coins were
unearthed near Recife, Brazil. Did these once belong to the castaways
of the Salt Ship?
- A tribe of white, mostly blonde haired, blue-eyed "Indians" has
been found in a remote region of the Amazon jungle. Could these be
the descendants of the shipwrecked sailors of the Xareu wreck? DNA
analysis of these "Indians" will surely bring some interesting facts
to light!

4. Arutz Sheva News Sunday
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
May 2, 2004 / Iyar 11, 5764
<http://www.israelnn.com/tv.php>
ARABS MURDER JEWISH MOTHER AND HER 4 CHILDREN
In a double terror attack at 12:45 PM today, Gazan Arabs opened fire and murdered a Jewish mother in her 8th month of pregnancy and her only four children. Another civilian and two soldiers were wounded in ensuing exchanges of fire. The attack was perpetrated on the Kissufim Road leading into Gush Katif, along Israel's southern Mediterranean coast.

RABBINIC OPPOSITION TO "DISENGAGEMENT"
Two influential former Chief Rabbis of the State of Israel made their
opposition to the Prime Minister's unilateral withdrawal program public and
unequivocal on the eve of today's Likud referendum.

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef reiterated Saturday night his opposition to the Prime
Minister's plan and called on Likud members to vote against it. Rabbi
Yosef, spiritual head of the Shas party, is widely regarded as a leading
Torah scholar, whose decisions and opinions carry significant weight in
both the Torah-observant community and amongst traditional Sephardic Jews,
many of whom are Likud voters..

Former Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu released an impassioned letter to the
public on Friday wherein he states: "On Sunday a referendum is due to take
place of all Likud members, dealing with our faith and security in G-d, and
dealing with our grasp of Eretz Yisrael. ...We request that all teachers in
all the schools and yeshivot spend time praying with their students, to
strengthen the hearts of the voters, that they should vote with faith in
G-d and with security in His Holy Name, with love. We pray also to
strengthen the hearts of all those working with great dedication over the
past few weeks, encouraging those who may be weak and hold up failing
knees...." The letter was also signed by Rabbi Dov Lior of Kiryat Arba.

Many Hareidi and Hassidic rabbis have also made their position against the
evacuation known. These include: leading Halakhic (Jewish legal) authority
Rabbi Shalom Yosef Elyashiv; Kabbalists Rabbi Yitzchak Kaduri and Rabbi
David Batzri; former Chief Rabbi Avraham Shapira; rabbis of Chabad; and
others. The head of the influential and large Sanz Hassidic sect, the
Sanzer Rebbe, Rabbi Tzvi Elimelech Halberstam, characterized the Prime
Minister's "disengagement" plan as part of efforts to uproot Judaism
itself. The religious leaders of Ethiopian Jewry in Israel - the Keisim -
have also called upon their followers to vote against the evacuation plan.

A prayer for Gush Katif distributed with Rabbi Eliyahu's letter says, in
part, "We thank you, G-d, L-rd of our fathers, for all the good that you
have granted us, and especially in the past years, when the evil ones of
the nations try to weaken our spirit and weaken our grasp on the holy land
and that they do not succeed. And while they launched thousands of death
missiles at Gush Katif, You, in your great mercy, helped, saved, and
shielded us with revealed miracles. And now we are threatened, and they are
frightening us and trying to separate us from the land that was sworn to
our forefathers. That we should flee and give into their hands houses full
of good that they did not build, vineyards and olive groves that they did
not plant. And all of this in order to fulfill their evil thoughts, to
expel us from our land."

"...Please G-d, be merciful with us, and with all the citizens of the holy
land. Look from the heavens and see those learning your Torah, in holiness
and purity, in yeshivot, Talmudei Torah (religious grade schools), and
other Torah institutions. Have mercy on them and on the synagogues, that
they should not become mosques, or other places of worship, G-d forbid.
Remember all the residents of these regions who gave their lives in order
to fulfill the verse of the holy Torah, 'And you inherited it and settled
it.' Remember all your beloved sons and daughters who were murdered and
burned and wounded for your great and holy Name, which is upon them.
Remember the pure children who knew not sin who were killed, wounded and
injured by those who hate You."

"...Please G-d, our father, the father of mercy, show that there are those
who love You in this world. Have mercy on the residents of Gush Katif and
on all of Beit Yisrael. That they should not be expelled from their land,
as you promised us through the prophet Amos, 'And you were planted on your
land, and you will not be taken from your land ever again, that I gave to
them, said the L-rd, G-d.'"

5. Israel Becomes Basketball Champion
Israel Sweeps European Basketball
19:21 May 02, '04 / 11 Iyar 5764

4b77a03.jpg
Last night, Saturday, May 1, Maccabi Tel Aviv crushed Skipper Bologna 118:74 to become Euroleague basketball champions for the fourth time.

With the impressive win in the Euroleague Final Four, two Israeli teams now hold leading European basketball league titles simultaneously. Hapoel Jerusalem won the Euroleague B (ULEB) cup in Belgium on April 13.

Maccabi Tel Aviv coach Pini Gershon, who was not at morning practice as he is Shabbat-observant, thanked those who prayed for the team and said, "We played an amazing game today. It's something people will talk about for years." Referring both to Hapoel Jerusalem's ULEB win and his own team's Euroleague win, Gershon said, "In general, I can say that Israel is a basketball superpower."

Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Jerusalem will face each other Thursday in a battle for the national title.

Contents:
1. Arutz Sheva News Tuesday,
SIX SOLDIERS DEAD IN GAZA BATTLE
HOW CNN REPORTED IT
***QUOTE OF THE DAY
2. Colin Powell proud to be a Scot
3. Norweigian Anti-semitism Rising
4. In Defence of Norway
5. The Roman Ship: History and Politics
6. Five IDF soldiers killed on border road at Rafah-
7. A Coming Transfer of Palestinians to Egypt?

1. Arutz Sheva News Tuesday,
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
May 11, 2004 / Iyar 20, 5764

SIX SOLDIERS DEAD IN GAZA BATTLE
Six Israeli soldiers are dead after their armored personnel carrier drove over a 100-kilogram explosive planted under the road in Gaza. Hamas terrorists gleefully displayed and played with the body parts in front of cameras.

This morning's attack that killed the six soldiers occurred towards the conclusion of a heavy battle waged in spurts in the Zeitun neighborhood of Gaza City. IDF forces entered the city on a mission to locate and blow up explosives labs, destroying at least two of them; several others of the 20 suspected labs were also located. The forces include combat helicopters, jeeps, bulldozers, and tanks, and additional forces were later brought in.

The Israeli forces remained in the area for longer than planned in a tireless effort to rescue the bodies. The families of the six have been notified, though their names have not yet been released for publication. The identification process took a long while, as the bodies were in very bad condition, and not all the body parts were found. The destroyed vehicle, which had a capacity of 12 soldiers but was carrying only six, was carrying large amounts of explosives.

Two news agencies transmitted video from the scene showing Gaza Arabs dancing in the streets with pieces of the destroyed IDF vehicle and the dead soldiers' body parts.

The IDF, responding to promptly raised questions as to the wisdom of ground operations of this nature, said that it chose not to attack from the air in order not to endanger the civilian Arab population on the ground. Similar operations to find and destroy weapons-producing factories have proved very successful.

* MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union) called upon the Prime Minister to order the Air Force to bombard the terrorist infrastructures in Gaza, and "not to endanger IDF soldiers for no reason."

HOW CNN REPORTED IT
An hour after the killing of the six soldiers had been reported in Israel, and three hours after it was publicized that an IDF vehicle had been hit, CNN's website headlined the story in the following manner: "Palestinians Die in Israeli Clash."

The story described Israel's offensive operation, detailing how "rockets from Israeli gunships slammed into the heavily populated area," "sirens from Red Crescent Society ambulances echoed through the city," the Palestinian casualties, and the like.

The seven-paragraph story's only hints that an IDF vehicle had been hit were, "Palestinian militia sources said hundreds of its members had taken up arms against the Israelis," and, in the second-to-last sentence, "Military sources said the Palestinians detonated a number of explosive devices."

Only close to 3 PM Israel time - over five hours after news of the bombing was publicized in Israel - did the CNN story mention the deaths of the six Israeli soldiers. The new story, however, was crowned by yet another misleading headline: "11 dead in Israeli operation in Gaza" - leaving the impression that all 11 were victims of Israeli aggression.

***QUOTE OF THE DAY
"...The break-out of the [Oslo War] five months later is a direct result of the retreat from Lebanon." -- IDF Gen. (res.) Yom Tov Samiah, explaining this morning on Army Radio why he is against a unilateral withdrawal
Jerusalem News-285
Contents:

2. Colin Powell proud to be a Scot
From: Joan Griffith <despinn@hotmail.com>
Hi,
The most surprising people are Scots-Israelite!

http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=535722004

Colin Powell proud to be a Scot

WILLIAM LYONS AND JAMES REYNOLDS

FIRST it was Elvis, who it was claimed, hailed from the tiny Aberdeenshire village of Lonmay. Then last month legendary country and western singer Johnny Cash was shown to have descended from the family of an ancient Scots king.

Now one of the most powerful politicians in the world has joined the club. Colin Powell, the four-star general who led 28 nations to victory as the architect of operation Desert Storm in the first Gulf War, is laying a claim to Scottish ancestry.

The Scotsman has learned that the US Secretary of State has petitioned the Heraldry Society of Scotland for a coat of arms to mark his Scottish genealogy.

The coat of arms will contain symbols including the crest of the head of an American bald eagle, below an escrol with the motto "devoted to public service".

Peter Drummond Murray, the editor of the Double Tressure, the annual journal of the Heraldry Society of Scotland, said the Lord Lyon intends to present the arms in Washington, probably in September, but details have not been finalised.

Mr Drummond Murray said: "The grant was originally made to his father several months ago, and so, of course, General Powell inherits it. The Register General of Jamaica was very happy about working on the ancestry of General Powell.

"They are very proud of him, and you would be very hard-put to think of anybody who has done as well as him."

Arguably the world’s most famous living soldier, General Powell had the coat of arms created for him after petitioning the society on the advice of his US army colleague General Jack Nicholson, whose ancestors came from Arran.

As arms cannot be granted directly to non-British subjects it will be given to his father, Luther, who is a citizen of Jamaica and therefore of the Crown.

Luther Powell was born in the British Commonwealth colony of Jamaica in 1901, and the Secretary of State’s mother Maud McKoy’s family originally hailed from Scotland.

One of the duties of the Court of the Lord Lyon is to establish rights to arms and pedigrees, which, when satisfactory evidence is produced, results in a judicial "interlocutor" granting warrant to record in the Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland, or in the Public Register of All Genealogies and Birthbrieves in Scotland, the particular coat of arms and genealogy which have been established.

Contrary to popular belief, there is no such thing as a family coat of arms; a coat of arms at any one time is the property of only one individual and all progeny must have a different version. In times past it was used to denote identity or, if it was on a piece of property, it revealed ownership.

The swelling interest in Scottish ancestry reflects a growing trend in tracing familial roots which experts say is providing a significant boost to Scottish tourism, as access to comprehensive records tempts the Scottish Diaspora back to discover their predecessors.

Elizabeth Roads, Lyon Clerk at the Court of the Lord Lyon, the heraldic authority for Scotland, said about 120 to 150 Grants of Arms are made each year. As well as individuals these include corporations such as schools and bowling clubs, companies and those that are re-recording arms that have existed for a long time.

Mrs Roads said: "Everyone is aware of the American Diaspora but Americans in particular seem to have a desire to learn about their ancestral roots which perhaps people here don’t feel the same need to know about. So certainly there has been a lot of genealogical resurgence, as it were, particularly in North America."

The National Archives of Scotland says it has experienced a resurgence in genealogy; last year nearly 6,000 people visited its searchroom to look at material such as wills, and church and property records.

Romilly Squire, the chairman of the Heraldry Society of Scotland, added: "Genealogy is, I believe, the second most popular subject on the internet these days, after the obvious one. Over the last 30 years it has been growing in popularity and in more recent years it has become a great deal easier for people to trace their ancestry from a distance. It has always been reasonably easy in Scotland because we keep good records back to the start of 1855 which was the start of Statutory Registration.

"America was a colony up until 1783, and if an American can trace their descent back to an ancestor who was living in the US before the revolutionary war, or back to an ancestor who was born in Scotland, then they can petition the Court of the Lord Lyon to grant arms to that ancestor. Then, as a direct descendent of that individual they can then have their own version of that coat of arms."

General Powell’s coat of arms contains symbols including the Azure, which shows "two swords in saltire, points downward, between four mullets Argent in a chief of the second a lion passant Gules".

The swords are a reference to his military career, as are the stars. The lion is intended as an allusion to Scotland, and the eagle is also a reference to the badge of the 101st Airborne Division, in which General Powell served and later commanded. The honorary Knight Commander of the most Honourable Order of the Bath is also included.

James Wilson, chief executive of Glasgow-based Pandaprint which undertakes printing work for the Heraldry Society said: "It is very strange when we look at our mailing list for the society to see the name of the most famous soldier in the world."

3. Norweigian Anti-semitism Rising
From: Johnstembridge1@aol.com
Subject: Fw: Norweigian Anti-semitism Rising

Maybe the rest of us should run down to our local supermarkets with a pad of yellow "post-it" notes so that consumers of Norwegian salmon or Jarlsberg cheese can also pay attention to where those are produced. Stick them on the packages with a note: these products come from a place with a shameful past that continues to operate as a European free zone for Neo-Nazis and other right wing extremists.

Those asking the question of whether Europeans are anti-Israel because of Israel's actions in fighting terror, or because of their own latent anti-Semitism, should study the example of Norway. Behind the current disclaimer of a boycott you will find that Norwegians are quite experienced at boycotting Israel. Norwegian labour unions have recently refused to off-load Israeli farm produce..
Last year, a Norwegian "labor youth movement" organized a demonstration against Israeli singers from the Eurovision song contest.

Another Norwegian group has been boycotting Israeli oranges since the early 90s.

This group, "Boikott Israel l," rejuvenated by the latest "Intifada" to include a boycott of all Israeli commerce, denies on its website that it is anti-Semitic but states its goal is the end Israel's "50 year occupation" of, and the return of refugees to a "free Palestine."

Not anti-Semitic? In 1941, the graffiti on Jewish businesses in Oslo read: "Jews, go to Palestine."

To campaign no w in Norway to get the Jews out of "Palestine" seems anti-Semitic to me, if only by process of elimination. Indeed, the roots of Norwegian boycotts of Israel run deep. Anti-Semitism has held a unique place in Norwegian politics since the 1930s when Vidkun Quisling, later the leader of a Nazi puppet government in Norway, formed the National Union Party.

While many Norwegians fought with the Resistance, many became eager collaborators of the Nazis, including some 60,000 members of the National Union.

Under its auspices, Norway formed its own branch of the SS and established academies sending hundreds of officers the rings of like-minded groups from Sweden and with little fear of official interference.

More significantly, according to a report published by the Stephen Roth Institute of Tel Aviv University, the extreme right wing Progress Party is the second largest party in Norway with 25 out of 1 60 seats in the Parliament. Among other racist and anti-immigration views, this party advocates banning male circumcision.

Schechita, kosher stickers on Israeli goods are the modern-day equivalent of painting "Joden" on the Jewish-owned businesses of Oslo and Trondheim in 1941.

We needn't be reminded that after that, all of Norway's remaining Jews were deported to Auschwitz.

Fewer than 30 (THIRTY!) survived the Holocaust.

4. In Defence of Norway
Subject: Anti-semitism and other subjects
To: Yair Davidiy <britam@netvision.net.il>

Shalom mr. Yair,

I have read so much about how great anti-semitism is in
Europe. I have read that Europeans hate Jews and the state
of Israel. I just want to give a more nuanced and accurate
view of Europe. Generalizing and stigmatizing is dangerous,
as many Jews so painfully experienced.
Europe is far from as anti-Jewish as many say it is.
In nearly all European countries Islam is the target of
criticism. European countries talk about Islam being a
threat, Europeans see pictures of Muslim terrorist acts,
there have been laws made to (especially, but not only) ban
the hidjab, which is the scarf many Muslim women wear. No
other head-gear has been discussed as much - Jewish (not
critizised) nor other garments. Nobody seems to be
protesting against synagogues being built or vacaned, but
there are HEATED debates about mosques (just like about the
hidjab). Many don't want them.
Also crime statitistics fall in disfavour of Muslims, as a
greater proportion of criminals are Muslim than any other
group (religious/ethnic). However, most people can
understand that all Muslims aren't evil. There is just a
mistrust towards Muslims in general. I don't think we
should hate ANY group based on ethnicity or religion, as
long as they are decent people, but I think many get
influenced by the media now. NOBODY mentions the Jews in
relation to crime, religion or any other issue involving
Jews as a group. In Norway, I havn't heard a single
negative word for YEARS. The very few who dislike Jews have
a weak voice - if any! There is a strong pro-Israel
movement in Norway, and those who ARE critical hardly hate
anyone, they just DISAGREE with Israeli politics. I've
heard about many protesters who both love Jews and Israel,
and say they only protest Israeli politics due to love of
Israel and of peace.
Nobody in the media,- may it be TV, newspapers, Internet,
radio, or magazines,- want Israel to be destroyed. If you
say you want Israel to be destroyed on TV in Norway, you'll
be called a Nazi. You'll be regarded as an extremist.
I hear the same message over and over again in Norway and
other countries: "We want peace for the Middle-Eastern
region. We want a state of Israel, but also a place for
those called Palestinians to live"
I honestly don't know what has happened when this has aired
through Israeli medias. I just wanted to tell people that
anti-Semitism in Europe has been vastly exaggerated.
If people in all countries in Europe were asked: "Would you
rather have Judeaism or Islam in your country", I am
CONVINCED nearly all countries would answer "Judeaism" with
a large majority, only Bosnia, Albania and Turkey (Muslim
countries) would probably have said "Islam". There is
VASTLY more anti-Islamism than Jew-hatred. Europe is afraid
of Muslim fundamentalism.
http://www.thankstoscandinavia.org/

http://middleeastinfo.org/article1290.html

Jews have been a part of Norway (almost certainly) for
centuries. Probably, many came as businessmen around the
14- and 1500's. They would (mostly) have come from Germany,
Austria and Holland to do business. Many whom came as
business made a fortune in Norway, and their families
became powerful and strong, and there were enough heirs (it
was usual for upper-class men to take a mistress among the
staff, make her with child and "give" her to a man in the
staff). Many aristocrats had "typical noses" known as
"aristrocatic noses". An insensitive observance would be
that they looked exactly like the sterotypical "Jew nose".
Henrik Wergeland (born 17 Jun 1808, died 12 Aug 1845),
Norwegian author, dramatist and humanist, made it possible
for Jews to enter legally in Norway in 1851 (it had been
illegal for 37 years, since 1814...not before then). He had
pushed for such a law for years, but died before it was a
reality. He wrote,- among other works,- "The Jew" and "The
Jewsess". 37 years of exclusion is nothing compared to many
other countries, and we were one of the most liberal
countries on earth considering the Jews, but still it was
37 years too much.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrik_Wergeland

I was thinking, you see I remember something I'd read about
Odin, the god of gods in Norse religion. He was said to
have been a leader, and there is mention of him leading his
people on a journy, wearing a holy helmet with two crows on
them. The part about "leading his people" just reminded me
of the Jews who were led in the desert.
Also, I've heard that there are carvings on wood in Norway
which says "Ek erular" ("I'm Heruli"). What do you know
about the Heruli?

Regards,
Erik

5. The Roman Ship: History and Politics
Jerusalem News-284 (the first one) was item 3. Roman ship in Brazilian waters
This was an extract from:
http://www.dockwalk.com/issues/2002/february/trivia1.shtml
Titillating Trivia -"The First Europeans to Reach the New World"
By Gary Fretz

We only posted extracts from the article as is our custom concentrating on points
more or less pertinent to Brit-Am interests. This is our policy and this is what our subscribers prefer.
Even so, in this case we overlooked something that is illustrative:
Part of the article (that was not in the extracts we posted) described how:

<<So, why haven't we heard more about this fantastic find? One would think this news would make headlines around the world… The short answer is “politics”. At the time the amphorae were confirmed to be "Roman", the large Italian faction in Brazil were extremely excited about this news. The Italian ambassador to Brazil notified the Brazilian government that, since the Romans were the first to "discover" Brazil, then all Italian immigrants should be granted immediate citizenship. There are a large number of Italian immigrants in Brazil and the government has created a tedious and costly citizenship application procedure for Italians that does not apply to Portuguese immigrants. The Brazilian government would not give in and the Italians in Brazil staged demonstrations. In response, the Brazilian government ordered all civilians off the recovery project and censored further news about the wreck hoping to diffuse the civil unrest. The Brazilian Navy continues to excavate the wreck in secret. We only know about it because of what Robert Marx learned before he was dismissed and what the University of London has leaked. This shipwreck may help explain some other intriguing Brazilian finds:
- Several hundred ancient Roman silver and bronze coins were unearthed near Recife, Brazil. Did these once belong to the castaways of the Salt Ship? ...>>

By way of explanation: Brazil was founded by the Portuguese. Many of the population and most of the ruling elite are of
Portuguese descent. preference is given to immigrants from Portugal. There is also a large Italian community who apparently feel
discriminated against. News of the Roman ship was somehow considered advantageous to the Italian community therefore
it has been hushed up.

How many other historically important finds and possibilities are consciously (and subconsciously) similarly related
to for such reasons?

Would Brit-Am findings be considered "inconvenient" in certain circles?

6. Five IDF soldiers killed on border road at Rafah-
IDF SPOKESPERSON ANNOUNCEMENT 13 May 2004

An IDF officer and four IDF soldiers were killed this evening along the
Israel-Egypt border near Rafah
An armored personnel carrier, responsible for the detonation of the tunnels,
was struck and subsequently exploded while preparing to detonate a tunnel.
The explosion was apparently a result of an RPG fired at the force. The IDF
casualties were suffered in the explosion.

7. A Coming Transfer of Palestinians to Egypt?
Egypt is smuggling weapons to Palestinian terrorists in Gaza and Judah and Samaria.
Egypt is arming heavily and it is only a matter of time before War breaks out between Israel
and Egypt and other such nefarious entities. Egypt is to the west of Israel.

[Isaiah 11:13] THE JEALOUSY OF EPHRAIM SHALL DEPART, AND THOSE WHO HARASS JUDAH SHALL BE CUT OFF; EPHRAIM SHALL NOT BE JEALOUS OF JUDAH, AND JUDAH SHALL NOT HARASS EPHRAIM.

[Isaiah 11:14] BUT THEY SHALL SWOOP DOWN UPON THE SHOULDER OF THE PHILISTINES IN THE WEST, AND TOGETHER THEY SHALL PLUNDER THE PEOPLE OF THE EAST. THEY SHALL PUT FORTH THEIR HAND AGAINST EDOM AND MOAB, AND THE AMMONITES SHALL OBEY THEM.

We interpreted the Hebrew to actually say:
"THEY SHALL FLY THE PHILISTINES AWAY WESTWARD”
The Hebrew says: "VeAFU BeCeTeF PLiSHTIM YaMaH..", i.e. wordforword:
"[veafu] And they will fly ((or cause to be flown)) [becetef] by wing [Plishtim] Philistine [yama] towards the Sea ((or Towards the west))" This will be a combined project of Judah and Ephraim to expel the Palestinians and transport them elsewhere.
We assumed that the Palestinians will we taken far away since airtravel is mentioned.
Nevertheless many may simply move to Egypt where they would feel at home and many of their forefathers came from in the first place.

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1. Tracing Islamic Murderers
From: Lucky <Lucky@artsound.com>
Subject: Re: [prj] chair!

Berg Video Uploaded
From London, Not Iraq
JackBlood.com
5-15-4
http://www.jackblood.com/index/id1.html

JackBlood.com Has Traced The Address Of 'Islamic Website' That Posted The
Berg Decapitation Video To London, England

The Video Was Uploaded From London, Not Iraq

After several hours of research, JackBlood.com has learned the web addresses
for the 'Islamic Websites' that posted the Nick Berg decapitation video. The
website addresses are http://www.al-asnar.net and http://www.al-asnar.biz .
Both websites have apparently been disabled by 'authorities.' The location
of the web server is reportedly in Malaysia. However, the addresses of the
publishers for these sites are located in London, England and Nurnberg,
Denmark.

The location of the publishers for al-ansar.net appears to be at an Arab
Press Building, which appears to be shared by different Arab news
publications. The name of the organization is the Arab Press House. The
building is apparently the headquarters for news magazines such as, Al
Jamilla, Sayidaty, and Al Majallah among others.

The London address is the following:

http://www.al-ansar.net

Arab Press House

Abdel Rahman al-Rashed
184 High Holborn, WCIV78P, London
tel. 020 78318181

The other address is located in Nurnberg, Denmark. It apparently belongs to
a man named Omar AbuOmar. His email address is:
alansar_alansar@hotmail.com .

The complete mailing address is the following:

http://www.al-ansar.biz

Omar AbuOmar
New Dream St. 33
Nurnberg, Denmark, 42114

Phone: +965.15441211
Email: alansar_alansar@hotmail.com

http://www.jackblood.com/index/id1.html

2. ISRAEL URGED TO PREEMPT ENEMIES
Date: Sat, 15 May 2004 14:43:35 -0400
From: imra@netvision.net.il
ISRAEL URGED TO CONDUCT PREEMPTIVE STRIKES ON WMD
[IMRA: The full report appears at
www.acpr.org.il/ENGLISH-NATIV/03-ISSUE/daniel-3.htm ]

TEL AVIV [MENL] -- Israel has been urged by leading strategists to plan
preemptive strikes against weapons of mass destruction arsenals in the
Middle East.

A report, entitled "Israel's Strategic Future," asserted that Israel must
prevent the formation of an enemy WMD coalition through such means as
conventional preemptive strikes against vital facilities. The report said
the Jewish state has been threatened by a biological or nuclear first-strike
that seeks to exploit Israel's small space and high population density.

"To meet its ultimate deterrence objectives -- that is, to deter the most
overwhelmingly destructive enemy first-strikes -- Israel must seek and
achieve a visible second-strike capability to target approximately 15 enemy
cities," the report, presented to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said.
"Ranges would be to cities in Libya and Iran, and recognizable nuclear bomb
yields would be at a level sufficient to fully compromise the aggressor's
viability as a functioning state. All enemy targets should be selected with
the view that their destruction would promptly force the enemy to cease all
nuclear/biological/chemical exchanges with Israel."

The report called on Israel to operate a multi-layered ballistic missile
defense system as well as establish a second-strike capability. Such a
missile defense should include a Boost Phase Intercept capability as well as
enhanced real-time intelligence acquisition, interpretation and
transmission.

3. Arutz va News Tuesday,
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
May 18, 2004 / Iyar 27, 5764
TOURISM TO ISRAEL CONTINUES TO CLIMB
The Tourism Ministry announced today that this past month of April saw 135,900 tourist entries to Israel - a whopping 93% increase over April 2003. Tourism for the first four months of the year is also up significantly; 433,660 tourists entered the country, 86% more than the same period last year.

Tourism Minister Benny Elon noted the increased tourist traffic to Israel with satisfaction, and said that the ministry's direct and focused marketing efforts in the designated countries were now bearing fruit. He said that at current rates, the tourism industry would register 1.3 million entries in 2004, meeting the goal set by the Tourism Ministry for this year.

4. Arutz Sheva News Wednesday,
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
May 19, 2004 / Iyar 28, 5764 - Jerusalem Day
CELEBRATING THE UNIFICATION OF JERUSALEM
Today is Jerusalem Day, commemorating the reunification of Jerusalem, Israel's capital, and bringing it under full Jewish sovereignty for the first time in almost precisely 1,900 years.

The Jerusalem Municipality's website <www.jerusalem.muni.il/jer_main/f1_main.asp?lng=2> states,
"For three millennia Jerusalem has been the heart of the Jewish people. Although throughout the years the city was under the rule of many nations, including the Assyrians, Persians and Romans, Jerusalem is the enduring center of Jewish belief and identity. It has only ever been a capital city under Jewish rule. More recently, the Ottoman Turks ruled Jerusalem until December 1917, when it came under the control of the British.
"On November 29, 1947, the United Nations decided that the Land of Israel would be divided into two separate countries - one Jewish and one Arab. Jerusalem would belong to neither, holding special standing under the auspices of the U.N. The British mandate ended on May 15, 1948, at which time 7 Arab states declared war on the newly created Jewish State. The cease-fire ending Israel's War of Independence left Jerusalem a divided city, with Jordan retaining control of the eastern portion encompassing the Old City and the Western Wall, and Israel retaining the western side. The resulting border was 7 kilometers long from north to south, dividing neighborhoods and even private property. A concrete wall was erected on the Israeli side against snipers.
"The Six Day War began on June 6, 1967. On June 8 - the 28th of the month of Iyar, according to the Hebrew calendar - Israeli forces broke through Lions' Gate to the Old City. On June 28, the Government of Israel proclaimed the Reunification of Jerusalem, the Capital of Israel."

The Chief Rabbinate recognized the 28th of Iyar as a religious holiday of thanksgiving. The holiday features festive thanksgiving meals, Torah lectures on the significance of the day, and Hallel and other special prayers recited in many synagogues.

A memorial ceremony for the 776 soldiers who fell during the Six Day War in 1967 was held this afternoon at the Mt. Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem. 182 soldiers were killed in the battle for Jerusalem.

ALSO REMEMBERING SAMUEL AND RABBI KOOK
Jerusalem Day, the 28th day of the month of Iyar, is also the 100th anniversary of the aliyah (immigration) of Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook, the first Chief Rabbi of the Land of Israel and spiritual father of several generations of scholars and students in Israel and abroad.

Rabbi Kook (1865-1935), known for his saintly character, love of Israel, Torah and Jewish-legal expertise, and deep spirituality, is recognized as the progenitor of much of modern religious Zionist thought and philosophy. Read about his 1904 arrival in Jaffa to become the regional rabbi at
<http://www.israelnationalnews.com/article.php3?id=3689>.

In addition, the 28th of Iyar is the traditional date of the death of the prophet Samuel. His gravesite, known as Nebi Samuel, lies just north of Jerusalem, and was also liberated during the Six Day War. Arutz-7's Adir Zyk writes in B'Sheva that until 1730, the gravesite was under Jewish ownership, and that each year on this day, thousands of Jews would hold a Lag BaOmer/Meiron-type event there. In 1730, however, "Jerusalem Mufti Muhammad Al-Halili managed to steal the site's ownership, closed the grave, and forbade Jews from entering the area. The traditional commemorations stopped, and [after a while] the individual Jews who arrived had to pay the Arab guard to let them in. Because of the strategic importance of the site, fierce battles were waged there during World War I and the War of Independence. The Six Day War conquest of Nebi! Samue l restored us the ownership of the site."

ECONOMY IS UP -
The economy is improving by leaps and bounds, but not everyone is feeling it. First-quarter figures show that the economy grew at a 5.5% rate during the first three months of 2004: commercial production is up by 9.2%, exports have jumped by 49%, and investments have climbed by 6.1%. Demand for employees in April of this year increased by 22% compared with April 2003, according to Manpower-Israel. Economists say that such figures have not been registered since the heady days of 2000. It should be kept in mind that the first quarter often does better than others; last year the economy grew by 3.3% at this time, only to decline by 1.1% in the second quarter.

5. The USA in Iraq: Appraisal
A. Justifications for Invasion
B. Advantages Accruing
Adapted from a Posting on Origin of Nations List
To: origin@yahoogroups.com
A. Justifications for Invasion
From: "hesiodau"

[1. We invaded Iraq to find WMD
[[[ True, "We found them.

[2. Iraq was a threat to the security of the USA.
[[[ True, Iraq was one part of a nest of terrorist-
spawning vipers infesting the world with atrocities - but prompt US-
UK action has curtailed that particular source of evil ]]]

[3. We were bringing freedom and democracy to the Iraqi people.
[[[ True,: that was the intention - yet a minority of
freedom-hating fanatics continue to oppose the freedom delivered to
all Iraqis at such a great cost ]]]

[4. We wanted to bring about regime change, by deposing Saddam
Hussein.
[[[ True; Accomplished more than a year ago, to the
joy of Iraqi freedom-lovers, and to the chagrin of many "non-
Israelite" nations and religious fanatics ]]]]

[5. Invading Iraq was a part of the war against terrorism.
[[[ True: Saddam's Iraq was a terrorist-supporting
regime, intent on the destruction of the children of "Israel" ]]]

B. Advantages Accruing
[1. Oil Supplies Assured. US economy protected. If the US economy suffers so does the rest of the world especially those on the side of Israelite Principles.
[2. The USA now has a base and a large operative armed force at the center of what may be the most strategically important region today and one that is most volatile. As long as the USA remains there chances for world peace are greater.
[3. The terrorist threat of rogue nations is listened. Connected to point 2. Iraq is one terrorist nation that has now been neutralized and is within reaching distance of Iran, Turkey, Syria, Pakistan, Russia, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and even Korea.
[4. Psychologically: The USA has shown itself capable of being "the man on the block".
This may not be a welcome role in the eyes of many but somebody should fulfill it and the USA is more suited
than any other potential contender. The alternatives are Europe, Islamic States, Russia, China, Japan, who are all too horrible
to even think of in the role concerned.

6. Gaza Civilians May Have Been Killed by Arab Bombs
18:34 May 19, '04 / 28 Iyar 5764
http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=62692

The IDF says that it is not clear how 10 or more Palestinian terrorists and civilians were killed this afternoon - but it was definitely not a result of Israeli helicopter fire, and may very well have been the result of Palestinian-placed bombs.

IDF Spokesperson Brig.-Gen. Ruth Yaron said that the incident occurred on a route that is full of explosives, which may have blown up as Israeli forces tried to deter a group of armed Palestinian terrorists from advancing towards Israeli forces. She recounted what happened this afternoon:
"A group of armed terrorists set off on the route from Tel Sultan towards our forces, amidst a group of civilians. An IDF helicopter fired one warning shell towards an open area, and our films show clearly that it did not cause any casualties. At the same time, warning flashes were fired - but the terrorists continued. The ground forces then fired towards them, but the terrorists continued to advance. At this point, a tank force fired four shells towards an empty building - and at this point they were killed. It is still not clear how; we are reviewing the films. But don't forget that this took place in an area that has been the scene of warfare for two days, a city under curfew, where the civilian population is used as hostages by the terrorists to protect their activities, and on a road that is filled with explosives placed by the terrorists - our army vehicles don't travel on it for that reason."

Arab sources are reporting 15-20 dead, including many children. IDF sources say 10 were killed, and 30-50 wounded.

Predictably, the reasons for Israel's counter-terrorism offensive in Rafiach - last week's 13 dead soldiers, the ongoing weapons smuggling from Egypt, and the terrorist infrastructures in the residential areas - have been forgotten, and calls for Israel to stop the operation have resumed. MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union) responded,
"Those who are aiding the propaganda of the terror organizations are taking part in a blood libel against the IDF, just as they did during the battle in Jenin [two years ago, when Israel was groundlessly accused of carrying out a massacre]."

The strike was made in the framework of Israel's anti-terrorist Operation Rainbow. The offensive continues, very slowly but surely, along Israel's border with Egypt in southern Gaza. Though Israel is making efforts to juggle humanitarian treatment of its enemy with the ferreting out of terrorist elements, Arab elements have placed great emphasis on yesterday's deaths of an Arab brother and sister - which actually resulted from a bomb placed by Palestinian terrorists.

An IDF official said,
"Our investigation so far indicates that there is no proof that IDF fire hit [the brother and sister], but rather that the explosives placed by armed Palestinian terrorists near a mosque and school indicate that the two were hit by an explosive of that nature."

Israel has destroyed only four buildings since it sent massive forces into Rafiach on Monday morning. Last night, IDF forces in the Tel Sultan neighborhood tore down the home of the terrorist who shot and killed Tali Hatuel, her unborn son and her four daughters from point-blank range 17 days ago.

Gush Katif residents recalled today that some 20 years ago, the Jews of the area strongly protested the plan to allow Arabs to populate the hill that is now Tel Sultan. The Israelis put up a protest tent on the then-empty hill against the idea of allowing non-local Arab "settlers" to live in such close proximity to the Jewish neighborhoods. One of the houses whose construction the government allowed 20 years ago was that of the Hatuel family murderer - and was turned into rubble by the IDF last night.

As of this morning, some 20 Arabs - almost all of them wanted terrorists - had been killed in the operation; the IDF forces are avoiding alleyways and house-to-house fighting, and have suffered no casualties.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Moshe Yaalon explained the objectives of the operation yesterday:
"We are forced to carry out this operation in Rafiach [the city divided in two by the Israeli-Egyptian border - ed. note] because Rafiach has turned into a gateway for terrorism. RPG missiles have been brought [into Gaza] via Rafiach, and there have been attempts in the past days to bring in other weapons via the tunnels under the border, that which is known as the Philadelphi Route... The Palestinians apparently prefer their arms-smuggling over the lives of the people who reside along the border, and we are therefore forced to take these actions... We plan to arrest and reach all those who are involved in smuggling... We are advancing cautiously and in an organized manner, and we will continue the mission until it is completed."

7. In the Middle East, Its Good Fences for Bad Neighbors
http://www.debka.com/article.php?aid=846
DEBKAfile -

Marking the invisible Iraq-Syrian Desert border with a manmade barrier.

Manmade barriers are springing up around the Middle East at points where manmade conflicts are most intractable. Be they security fences, earthworks, moated ramparts, steel walls, razor wire or combinations thereof, their purpose is to apply division and separation to breaking up difficulties into manageable elements. Will this device work? Some think it’s worth a try.

Israeli forces who drove into the southern Gaza Strip town of the terrorist hotbed of Rafah’s Tel Sultan early Tuesday, May 18, came with giant engineering corps bulldozers. Earth banks were speedily thrown up to isolate from their environment the spaces in which Israeli armored and infantry units are hunting for wanted terrorists, cut off their escape routes and provide perches for Israeli snipers lying in wait for escapees.

Last Tuesday, May 11, after an Israeli armored personnel carrier was blown up, banks were raised to protect and conceal the units looking for the remains of the six-man crew killed in the blast. Two days later, after a second APC blew up, earthworks helped protect units who were scouring sections of the Philadelphi Route for the remains of their five dead comrades against Palestinian harassment. Another two Israeli soldiers were nonetheless shot dead.

These earth barriers and the large-scale wall under construction down the West Bank-Israeli border - are not only found separating Israelis from Palestinians. In Iraq, US forces are finding them useful for besieging guerrillas and al Qaeda terrorists in Fallujah and for blockading Moqtada Sadr’s militiamen at flashpoints in Najef and Karbala.

The largest American military barrier project of all is now underway to seal Iraq against the incursions al Qaeda and Arab fighters from Syria, especially the truck convoys carrying ammunition. The American barrier strategy resembles the new Israeli tactic for sealing off the Egyptian-Israeli-Gaza border against Palestinian smugglers. Both are aim at plugging cross-border leaks with one important difference: in the great Syrian Desert, terrorists find their way across the border overland, while in Rafah, Palestinian smugglers tunnel their way through underground.

According to DEBKAfile and DEBKA-Net-Weekly ’s military sources, the American barrier was well advanced before the Rafah operation began.

DEBKA-Net-Weekly’s military sources report that the earthwork barrier American engineering units together with US and Jordanian engineering firms are throwing up will stretch 500 miles from the conjunction of the Syrian-Jordanian-Iraqi borders in the south to the Syrian-Turkish-Iraqi border junction in the north.

US Ground Commander Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, who fought hard for the wall, has admitted the structure cannot be completely impermeable. But by obstructing vehicular movement, it can substantially cut down the volume of illicit traffic entering from Syria.

DEBKA-Net-Weekly ’s military experts note that the project shares the same shortcoming as every other American endeavor in Iraq, a chronic shortage of military personnel to man and maintain it against sabotage. The itinerant Syrian-Saudi tribes, who subsist on smuggling and who have been helping Syrian intelligence infiltrate anti-US fighters and weapons into Iraq, have roamed the region unrestricted by boundaries from time immemorial. In just a few weeks, they will suddenly find themselves on either side of a dividing wall. Their first instinct will be to knock it down by one means or another, such as a powerful water cannon that can force a breach in the structure. They will not be deterred by ground or air patrols, any more than the Palestinian weapons smugglers will be halted permanently by any Israeli barrier.

Brit-Am Comment:
Is Joseph Coming Home?
[Zechariah 10:7] AND THEY OF EPHRAIM SHALL BE LIKE A MIGHTY MAN, AND THEIR HEART SHALL REJOICE AS THROUGH WINE: YEA, THEIR CHILDREN SHALL SEE IT, AND BE GLAD; THEIR HEART SHALL REJOICE IN THE LORD.
[Zechariah 10:8] I WILL HISS FOR THEM, AND GATHER THEM; FOR I HAVE REDEEMED THEM: AND THEY SHALL INCREASE AS THEY HAVE INCREASED.
[Zechariah 10:9] AND I WILL SOW THEM AMONG THE PEOPLE: AND THEY SHALL REMEMBER ME IN FAR COUNTRIES; AND THEY SHALL LIVE WITH THEIR CHILDREN, AND TURN AGAIN.
[Zechariah 10:10] I WILL BRING THEM AGAIN ALSO OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT, AND GATHER THEM OUT OF ASSYRIA; AND I WILL BRING THEM INTO THE LAND OF GILEAD AND LEBANON; AND PLACE SHALL NOT BE FOUND FOR THEM.
Egypt and Assyria could apply to areas in Europe, as we have explained elsewhere. The exiles of Israel will leave these areas.
Gilead means Syria and Lebanon means Lebanon. These areas will be re-populated by the Lost Ten Tribes represented by “Ephraim”.

[Micah 7:14] FEED THY PEOPLE WITH THY ROD, THE FLOCK OF THINE HERITAGE, WHICH DWELL SOLITARILY IN THE WOOD, IN THE MIDST OF CARMEL: LET THEM FEED IN BASHAN AND GILEAD, AS IN THE DAYS OF OLD.
<<BASHAN AND GILEAD>>: Mean the present-day regions of Syria and Jordan. Zechariah 10;10 says that Ephraim will possess Lebanon and Gilead meaning Lebanon and Syria! These areas actually also include parts of Turkey and Iraq.

1. Arutz Sheva News Thursday,
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
May 20, 2004 / Iyar 29, 5764
UN CONDEMNS ISRAEL, US ABSTAINS
Around the same time as the United Nations was condemning Israel for its anti-terrorism operation in southern Gaza, with tacit U.S. support in the form of an abstention, the U.S. found itself in the same position as Israel: having to defend itself against claims that it had killed innocent Arabs.

Israel was accused yesterday of having killed up to 20 Arab civilians during a demonstration - that number has since gone down to "around ten," while according to Israel, the number is just seven, including five armed terrorists - while the U.S. now stands accused of having strafed an Iraqi wedding party, killing some 40 civilians. American Deputy Ambassador to the UN James Cunningham said after the UN vote, "While we believe that Israel has the right to act to defend itself and its citizens, we do not see that its operations in Gaza in the last few days serve the purposes of peace and security."

Regarding the Americans' bombing of the wedding party in Iraq, U.S. officials said that the target was a suspected safe house for terrorists, that U.S. planes had come under fire, and that the bombing was had been carried out "within the framework of our rules of engagement."

Cunningham explained that the U.S. did not vote in favor of the anti-Israel resolution because it did not mention that which Israel says is the reason for the offensive: the arms-smuggling into Gaza from Egypt and the ongoing terrorist attacks against Israel.

Though some reports said that this was the first time "in many years" that the U.S. did not veto an anti-Israel resolution, in fact the last time was only 20 months ago. On Sept. 24, 2002, the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding that Israel withdraw its forces from PA-controlled cities; the U.S. abstained.

The Security Council ignored the explanation provided by Israel's Ambassador Dan Gillerman. "The whole of Gaza, and Rafiach in particular, is on the verge of becoming a missile base aimed at Israel's cities and civilians," he said. "What would the international community have Israel do? Just sit back and wait for this horrific scenario to materialize?... The suffering of the Palestinian population is a direct result of Palestinian terrorism aimed at innocent Israelis, and the need for Israel to protect its citizens from these abhorrent attacks. Rather than criticizing Israel for damaging private property, those truly concerned for Palestinian welfare should instead demand that the terrorists stop using homes to shield their illegal operations."

WITHDRAWAL FROM LEBANON LED TO OSLO WAR
Only two months after the withdrawal [from Lebanon], Arafat made the decision to return to violence, and two months later, at the end of Sept. 2000, the Oslo War began. Palestinian spokesmen themselves emphasize that it was the withdrawal from Lebanon that sparked the violence: The newspaper Al-Ayam, for instance, wrote in Feb. 2004 that former Prime Minister Ehud Barak "decided to act unilaterally, retreating in defeat from southern Lebanon... The result was the outbreak of the Al-Aqsa intifada..."

VISITING JERUSALEM
Half-a-million people, mainly visitors from outside the capital, took part in Jerusalem Day celebrations yesterday, according to city officials. Most of them took part in festive activities, but some participated in memorial ceremonies. These included the official ceremonies for the 776 fallen Six Day War soldiers, and, for the first time, an official memorial for the 4,000 Ethiopian Jews who died en-route to Israel.

The main feature of the day's festivities was the "Rikudgalim" - the now-traditional dance/march of tens of thousands of people waving Israeli flags. Most of them were youth of the national-religious Zionist youth groups and schools.

2. Norway, Israel, and "Oslo"
The following URL was brought to our attention by "Erik". It brings up an important point:
Many of the do-gooders and their ilk who forced Israel to almost cut its own throat in the Oslo
Peace Agreements actually had good intentions and may have been positively inclined towards
Israel. After all, the Jews are being attacked (as usual) by mad dogs. Maybe if the Jews just lay
themselves down and let the hounds take a few bites things will calm down, decent people will
no longer be disturbed by the noise, and we can all go back to how we thought we were.
http://odin.dep.no/ud/engelsk/publ/rapporter/032041-220003/ind-bn.html

Norway (despite some exceptions) on the whole did fight gallantly against Hitler .
Norway, Norwegians, and people of Norwegian descent have often proven themselves
to be sympathetic and even good friends of the Jewish people and the State of Israel.
Also, unlike other places the impression is that the people of Norway have a positive inclination
towards the Jews and Israel and would be prepared to reconsider any negative attitudes they may have been misled into taking.
See
http://www.britam.org/naphtali.html]
where we identify Naphtali as having settled mainly in Norway.

http://odin.dep.no/ud/engelsk/publ/rapporter/032041-220003/ind-bn.html
Anyway, here are some extracts worth reading:

[2 Part II: How Norway became one of Israel’s best friends

The Middle East conflict was ripe for mediation, one of the
most important factors explaining the Oslo Back Channel.
But this ripeness does not explain how Norway succeeded in
bringing the two parties together. The crucial beginnings,
the decisive formative years of the Norwegian- Israeli
relationship, are of utmost importance for an understanding
of Norway’s political past in the Middle East. The special
relationship, begun then, constitutes the fundament on
which the Oslo Back Channel was later built.

[2.1 Establishing a very special relationship

After its founding in 1948, Israel became much more than
just one of the many states with which Norway was on
friendly terms. After Norway’s governing Labour Party had
gradually and reluctantly given up faith in the non-Zionist
solutions of assimilation and overseas colonization,
scepticism was quickly replaced by an enormous admiration,
bordering almost on a quasi-religious reverence, towards
Israel. This phenomenon was not confined to Norway’s
religious, conservative circles, where such attitudes might
have been expected. In fact, it was within the labour
movement that this religious ‘conversion’ was most clearly
seen.78

Several factors help explain the very special relationship
between the two social democratic governments and parties,
and the extraordinary admiration for and support lent to
the new Jewish State from the whole Norwegian political
environment. Of course, as in many European countries after
1945, general feelings of guilt about the fate of the
Jewish people during World War II underlay the almost
one-sided pro-Israel attitudes then in evidence. In Norway,
the Gestapo, with plenty of assistance from a co-operative
Norwegian police force, had managed to round up about 700
Jews (out of a total Jewish population of about 2000) who
they deported to Hitler’s concentration camps. Only
twenty-five survived. During the war years little had been
done by Norwegians to rescue the Jews. And there was an
additional factor: many leading figures in the Labour
Party, among them both Prime Minister Einar Gerhardsen and
Foreign Minister Halvard Lange, had themselves been
interned in concentration camps together with the Jews. All
this led to widespread feelings of sympathy for Israel. By
supporting the new Jewish State, many Norwegians felt they
could atone for sins committed in the all-too-recent
past.79"/>

Moreover, Norway had long been a country where religion,
rooted in a conservative Christianity, had traditionally
held a firm position. The fact that Norway has a state
church the Evangelical Lutheran Church has meant that
the teaching of Christianity has also had a strong
position, both in the public school system and in the more
general upbringing of new generations. In the compulsory
teaching of Christianity in the schools, emphasis has
always been on stories from the Good Book. Generations of
Norwegians have been raised on tales about the son of the
carpenter of Nazareth, the shepherds keeping watch over
their flocks by night in the hills near Bethlehem, the
fishermen by the Sea of Galilee to mention just a few. In
every classroom there used to hang a map of the ‘land of
the Jews’ no one would ever think of calling it the ‘land
of the Arabs’. This deep-seated Biblical foundation, this
familiarity with ancient religion and history, was
instrumental in creating a positive attitude towards the
new and modern Israel. Most Norwegians felt a naturally
close albeit not always clearly defined relationship
with the Jews. In addition, the more religious segments of
the Norwegian population saw the creation of Israel as a
fulfilment of the prophecies in the Bible. Once the Jewish
State stood there as a reality, strong ties were forged
between present and past, religion and politics.80

Members of the Christian community and socialists in the
governing Norwegian Labour Party both tended to view the
state of Israel through the glasses of religion. For the
more fervent Christians, Israel marked the fulfilment of
the prophecies of old. For the labour movement, it was
their dream of a socialist paradise come true. Both agreed
that a ‘land of milk and honey’ was being created. They
admired how the Jews had stubbornly fought for a state of
their own, and, not least, how they had managed to defeat
what they saw as aggressive Arabs. For Norwegian Labour
Party politicians, the decisive component of their almost
religious conversion was their conviction that a socialist
community was now being built up from the ground.

What was going on in Israel corresponded, on the
whole, to how leading [Norwegian] Labour Party politicians felt a model
society should be created. In addition, there were many
similarities between the two peoples: They both had small
countries. They had both recently been seriously threatened
by aggressive enemies. They were both in the process of
reconstructing. Israel and Norway were two egalitarian
societies. The Israeli ethic of hard work, even their
negative attitude to the "demon alcohol", had a
tremendously positive impact.81

There is not much purpose in trying to rank these factors
in order of importance. The point is that they all
(together with a few more, to be mentioned below) served to
form the basis of Norway’s one-sided Middle Eastern policy
in the late 1940s and 1950s. They played a role in making
Norway one of Israel’s best friends. Except for the efforts
of a few officials in the Foreign Ministry, not a single
attempt was made in the 1940s and 1950s to even try to
understand the actual complexity of the Middle East
conflict, or accept the existence of another party that
also had rights in the area.

Leading officials in the Foreign Ministry did not share
these views, however. In fact, Norwegian Foreign Ministry
officials were critical of Jewish demands for a state of
their own. Even when the state was a fact, they remained
unwilling to express support and recognize Israel. There is
no evidence of anti-Semitic attitudes among them. The
reason, it seems, is mainly that officials were preoccupied
with how best to conduct and protect Norwegian foreign
policy. They were strongly influenced by international law
and had on the whole a legalistic attitude to foreign
policy formation. They were keenly aware that small states
were dependent on broadly accepted rules of state
behaviour. From such a perspective, the creation of a
Jewish State at the expense of the Palestinians who already
lived in the disputed area was problematic indeed. Israel
seemed destined for a conflict-filled future. In such an
unpredictable situation, it did not seem opportune to rush
things and hastily grant diplomatic recognition.82

In addition, the Foreign Ministry had to keep Norway’s
interests in mind, ....Again and again, these considerations had to be
weighed against the possible consequences of an overly
Israel-friendly policy.

The overwhelming majority of Norwegians saw the Middle East
questions differently. For them, the only country and the
only people that counted were Israel and the Israelis.
Almost by an irony of fate, it was a tragic air crash the
biggest civilian crash till then in Norway that acted as
a trigger and contributed to the establishment of the first
close links between the Israeli and Norwegian labour
movements. The plane was carrying twenty-seven Jewish
children from North Africa, on their way to a training camp
in Norway, and crashed in dense winter fog outside Oslo in
late November l949. Only one little boy survived.84

This plane crash marked the beginning of an era of
extremely close relations, also on a personal level,
between leading Labour politicians in Norway and Israel. In
memory of the Jewish children, the powerful and strongly
pro-Israel Secretary-General of the Norwegian Labour Party,
Haakon Lie, got the idea that the Labour Party should
launch a campaign, collect money and build a ‘Kibbutz
Norway’ in Israel. This gift would honour the memory of the
dead children in a way that would also help the Israelis.
At the same time, the Norwegian labour movement would be
making its own contribution to the Socialist experiment in
Israel.85

[2.2 The Palestinian refugee problem

The Middle East picture had a Palestinian side as well. As
a consequence of the war in 1948, between 600,000 and
760,000 Palestinians had fled their homes and were living
as refugees in the surrounding Arab states. ...
As a UN member, Norway was forced to have
an opinion on both the humanitarian and the political
aspects of the refugee problem.

The fate of the Palestinians was neglected, totally.
Prevailing political opinion within both the governing
party and the opposition was that Israel could not be
blamed. The Palestinians had fled because the surrounding
Arab states had told them to do so. ...The solution was,...to
see all the Palestinians integrated into the Arab
countries.87

This stance must be seen in light of the massive Norwegian
support for Israel.

Despite internal opposition
(which was unknown to outsiders) Norway had strongly
supported both the partition plan in 1947 and Israeli UN
membership in 1949.

...neither the Norwegian Foreign Ministry nor any
political representative criticized Israel for proclaiming
Jerusalem as its capital some months later, or for
relocating its Foreign Ministry from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem
in 1952. On both occasions, the United States and Britain
protested, reacting strongly to what they saw as a
demonstrative Israeli policy with a purpose contradictory
to compromise and peace in the Middle East.93 Later, in
negotiating a formal trade agreement with Israel on the
premises of the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem in May 1954,
Norway, represented by Norwegian diplomats, went much
further towards recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s de facto
capital than the rest of the Western diplomatic corps, who
had even refused to set foot inside the Ministry.94

Norway’s Middle East policy was strongly sympathetic
towards Israel. .. The Foreign Ministry was instrumental in
maintaining a certain balance in its policy. The Labour
Party was willing on its side to do its utmost to rescue
what it saw as a Jewish State threatened on all sides by
aggressive Arabs. Border incidents, escalating from 1955,
were always explained in terms of Israeli responses to Arab
aggression. Israel was never criticized, not even when the
number of Arab casualties far exceeded Israeli losses. In
the eyes of the Norwegian Labour Party, Israel had only
good intentions and had to protect itself against
aggression especially now that the UN and the Western
powers had abandoned the little state.100

Norway’s most powerful Israel supporter, Labour Party
Secretary Haakon Lie, felt that he had to take immediate
action to rescue the Jewish State from being wiped off the
map. But what could a small Social Democratic Party in the
far North contribute? Lie’s plan was to use the Socialist
International to set up a campaign that eventually would be
international in scope. ...

In February 1956 a Norwegian delegation, composed of
representatives from the trade unions and the Labour Party
press, went to Israel to prepare the campaign. ....The
high point of the campaign was reached on 1 May that year:
a blue and white banner, with a picture of a young tree cut
by a bloody axe, was carried in May Day parades all over
Norway. The banner bore the inscription ‘Let Israel Live’,
and symbolized the living state of Israel (the tree) being
killed by the Arab states (the bloody axe).104 Never before
had Norway experienced a mass mobilization campaign on an
international question that did not even directly affect
the country and, what’s more, mounted by the governing
Labour Party and orchestrated by the Party Secretary
himself.

Norwegian reactions to Israel’s Suez War in the autumn of
1956 are further evidence of this strong devotion. On the
whole the attack was not criticized by the ‘best friends’
in the Labour Party nor by the non-socialist opposition in
Parliament. On the contrary, it was felt that Egypt and
President Nasser were getting what they deserved. Israel’s
preventive war was defended and understood. On a personal
invitation from Israeli Prime Minister David Ben Gurion,
Haakon Lie went to Israel in December 1956, in order to
help Ben Gurion defend his position on the Suez War,
following internal criticism from the Israeli labour
movement.107

[2.5 Weapons and heavy water

The friends of Israel within the Norwegian Labour Party,
however, were not satisfied with merely organizing mass
mobilization campaigns. The ‘Let Israel Live’ project also
involved providing weapons. The Norwegian government came
under heavy pressure from within its own party organization
and from the press. They wanted to sell Israel a squadron
of 34 outdated ‘Vampire’ aircraft, a step totally at odds
with Norwegian policy on the export of military equipment
in general. In the end, there was no deal; all 34 planes
were finally scrapped.109 On the other hand, the whole
‘Vampire’ discussion is a telling indication of how far
Israel’s Labour Party fans were willing to go.

Far more complicated than the requests for various military
supplies, was the controversial decision to sell Israel 20
tons of heavy water in 1959.110 In the 1980s, this sale
caused major diplomatic frictions and problems between the
two best friends.111 Israel wanted the heavy water to start
a nuclear reactor. The Norwegian government was willing to
sell it to them, but worried that the Israelis might use it
for military purposes as well.112

The worries were not, however, followed up when it came to
practical policies....

In 1959, Foreign Minister Halvard Lange and the Labour
government approved the sale. After much bargaining, an
agreement was signed, obliging Israel to use the heavy
water for civilian purposes only and giving Norway
inspection rights. The deal was reached after strong
pressure from powerful people in the small Norwegian
nuclear research community ......
Israel’s friends in the Labour Party, including Randers and
Hauge, wanted to help Israel unconditionally. ...
The Israeli ambassador was extremely outspoken about
Israel’s intentions: Israel did not, he claimed in a
conversation with Foreign Minister Lange, pay over the odds
for the Norwegian heavy water ‘for the sake of our "blue
eyes"’.114

[2.6 No change until after the Six Day War

This massive Norwegian support for Israel lasted throughout
the 1960s. Internationally, and especially within the
United Nations, Norway was solidly placed in the
pro-Israeli camp, just as in the 1940s and 1950s. The three
Scandinavian countries continued to try to build common
ground for their approach to the Middle East conflict. ...Generally,
Sweden was less pro-Israel than Norway and Denmark. This
had been the situation ever since 1948, when the UN
mediator, the Swedish count and member of the royal family,
Folke Bernadotte, was murdered by a Jewish terrorist group
(Yitzhak Shamir, later Prime Minister, belonged to the
leading troika which ordered the murder). Norway, on the
other hand, was the country least supportive of the
Palestinians.... feelings towards
the Palestinians were not helped of course by their
antagonism towards Norway’s best friend Israel.115

The outbreak of the third Middle East war in 1967
demonstrated once again the traditional cleavage in Norway
between the political environment and the press which
strongly supported Israel and the critical and less
supportive Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In the pro-Israel
camp, Israel’s security was the main theme, both before,
during, and after the war. On this occasion the Labour
Party was not in power: from 1965- 71, a coalition
government, consisting of four non-socialist parties, ruled
Norway. However, this shift of government did not have any
consequences for Norwegian policy towards the Middle East.
As usual, the political milieu sided with Israel.116

As in 1956, the last time the conflict in the Middle East
had been drifting towards war, the Norwegian Labour Party
launched a 1967 campaign to rescue the threatened Jewish
State. In the leading Labour Party newspaper,
Arbeiderbladet, both Party Leader Trygve Bratteli and
Deputy Leader Reiulf Steen strongly supported Israel on
behalf of the whole party. An appeal was signed by 194
public figures in Norway. A committee in support of Israel
was established, led by former UN Secretary-General Trygve
Lie, who, since 1948, had regarded the establishment of
Israel as his personal creation. And in Jerusalem Haakon
Lie was Arbeiderbladet’s special correspondent. In
emotional reports from the war, he asked young men and
women to voluntarily join the fight to help rescue the
little state, fighting for its life.117
... When Egypt, just before the outbreak of the [1967] war,
closed the Straits of Tiran to Israeli ships and other
ships delivering strategic goods to Israel, Norway joined
in the criticism being levelled at Egypt by the two leading
Western shipping nations and NATO allies, the United States
and Great Britain. The principle of free passage should be
respected. But when Britain, supported by the US, favoured
a military operation, the Foreign Ministry declined to even
participate in a consultation about such an option. The
Ministry also turned down a suggestion from the Western
allies to send in ships, escorted by naval vessels.118
Norway should not be associated with any use of military
power towards Egypt. ...the Foreign Ministry did not share the
worries for Israeli ‘security’ at all.
....In the UN, Norway supported Resolution 242: The
UN could not accept territorial expansion with the use of
military power, but recognized at the same time Israel’s
right to exist and Israel’s territorial integrity. The
Foreign Ministry became, however, increasingly more
critical towards Israel’s stance. As time went by, Israel
did not withdraw from the territories occupied during the
1967 war.

... Since 1956, Norway had contributed high-ranking
military officers to UNTSO, the United Nations’ Truce
Supervision Organisation, and, in 1956- 67, a battalion of
soldiers to UNEF, the United Nations’ Emergency Force, to
oversee the border between Egypt and Israel. After the 1967
war Sweden became a part of the UN force, overseeing the
Suez Canal. Norway was not asked to participate. The Arab
states were unwilling to accept military contributions from
countries like Norway and Denmark that had voted against
unconditional withdrawal. Sweden had abstained. In addition
to Sweden’s generally less Israel-friendly policy, the
Swedish government from the middle of the 1960s wanted
to highlight its superpower neutrality and its eagerness to
contribute to peace negotiations in general.121

From the SUMMARY:
http://odin.dep.no/ud/engelsk/publ/rapporter/032041-220003/hov008-bn.html

From the 1970s ....things changed. Norway managed to maintain its old friendship with Israel while establishing contacts with the Palestinians.

In 1967, leading figures in the Norwegian Labour Party were celebrating the Israeli victory. But they had become older, and were on their way out of the Labour Party. The younger generation....began to work for justice for the Palestinians. They wanted information and contact with the other side in the Middle East conflict. These new approaches were part of the political radicalization that swept through Norwegian society in the 1970s.
... the people who made up the ‘Arab refugee problem’ were officially referred to as the Palestinians. This happened for the first time when Norwegian Prime Minister Per Borten spoke in the United Nations in 1970. This represented a powerful symbolic watershed. Prime Minister Borten, Foreign Minister John Lyng and, in 1971, Labour’s Foreign Minister Andreas Cappelen, stated officially that there could be no political solution to the problems in the Middle East unless the rights of the Palestinians were included in future solutions. The old method of mass integration into the Arab countries was abandoned...

These opinions expressed by these ministers reflected a deeper and widening change of opinion in Norwegian society, both in attitudes towards the Palestinians and towards Israel. The new generation was not affected by the extermination of the Jews [in WW2] in quite the same way as their parents’. Many of them were shocked at the injustices committed towards the Palestinians. They were seen as the victims of the Middle East conflict. The new generation, on their way to leading political positions, described the fate of the Palestinians as their parents had described the fate of the Jews....

The growing ambiguity in Norwegian attitudes to the conflict in the Middle East and the widening generation gap, especially within the Labour Party, were given an extra stir when the fourth war broke out in 1973. The old friends of Israel, who still wielded considerable political clout, rushed to the defence of the Jewish state. They emulated their 1956 campaign, even using the same slogan: ‘Let Israel Live’. As in 1956, this campaign aimed at mobilizing the masses. But Israel did not have as many friends as it used to.

As the traditionally warm relationship with Israel cooled and became increasingly tense, relations with the PLO improved and slowly expanded....

By the end of the 1970s, a shift was clearly taking place. Labour Party politicians, high-ranking Norwegian officials and military leaders had all met with the higher echelons of the PLO. .... it had become clear during the 1970s that Norway was isolated in Europe as regards its restrictive policy towards the PLO....

Surprisingly enough, it was Norway’s traditional position as Israel’s best friend that made the remote country suitable and attractive as a possible mediating partner. And, even more surprising, at least at first glance, it was neither Norway itself nor Israel that drew Norway into this position, it was PLO Chairman Yassir Arafat who took the initiative and brought Norway’s name forward. Arafat considered Norway an important channel because of rather than in spite of its close relations with Israel. Arafat saw Norway as an important channel that could be used in possible negotiations in the future, a serious and decent country that could not be accused of mainly wishing to promote its own national interests. In addition to the close links to the adversary, Norway also had strong ties with the USA, something that was definitely needed. In one way or another, the US would have a major role to play in any peace negotiations in the Middle East.

.....From the beginning of the 1980s, it was the Norwegian Labour Party, now in opposition, that forced through the changes in attitudes towards the PLO. The Norwegian Labour Party was following in the footsteps of other social democratic parties in Europe, first and foremost in Austria and Sweden, although in those countries the pro-Palestinian process had been going on for years and was far ahead of the small, uncertain steps being taken in Norway.

.....Being in opposition from 1981 made it easier for Labour to push forward the reconciliation process. Several of the Party leaders met with Arafat....
When the [Norwegian] Labour Party regained power in May 1986, the new government immediately spoke out in favour of a more PLO-friendly approach, signalling a turning point in the Norwegian Middle East policy.

....In January 1993 the back channel option was finally given a careful ‘yes’ by Beilin. It was clear from the beginning that Norway would play the role of facilitator, not mediator. .....The USA did not want to be involved, but as long as the Israelis and the PLO were talking to each other in order to sort out some or all of the problems in Washington, the Americans had no objections. Most likely the negotiators on the American side did not have much faith in the idea. However, the Oslo Agreement, a Declaration of Principles that was to pave the way for the establishment of the Palestinian Self-Government Authority and mutual recognition between Israel and the PLO, would be the eventual outcome of the Norwegian Back Channel.

The signing of the Oslo agreement showed an astonished world the extent to which the small state of Norway had contributed to one of the most successful attempts at peace in the Middle East since the creation of Israel in May 1948. Through secret diplomacy and by playing a role far out of proportion to its size, Norway had succeeded where all others had failed, managing to get the entrenched adversaries to agree to a gradual Israeli withdrawal from some of the Occupied Territories, and to local Palestinian self-determination.

3. Brit-Am Comment on the Oslo Agreements
Brit-Am Comment: Thousands of Jewish dead, thousands injured and bereaved, Jewish self-respect diminished, all the world now against
the Jewish people, Islamic terror treated with sympathy, the State of Israel seriously endangered, NOT TO SPEAK of thousands of dead Palestinians and much superfluous suffering to them though some of them MAY NOT have deserved it. The stability of the whole world threatened and more. Biblical Principles abused. Israelite nations belittled.
At least partly (if not largely?) because of the Oslo Agreements,
AND ALL BECAUSE (instead of Oslo) OF NOT TRANSPORTING THE "Philistine" natives somewhere else in the same way as the Germans were evacuated from Czechoslovakia and the Turks from Bulgaria and similar transferences of population that took place in
recent times and that can be down without bloodshed or needless suffering.

1. EU subsidizes Israeli fifth column
(The Treachery of Issachar)

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=62808
'Peace Now' Under Investigation for Espionage Activities
May 21, '04 / 1 Sivan 5764

The left-wing "Peace Now" organization is being investigated after
conducting aerial surveillance of Jewish communities and army bases in
Jerusalem, Yesha (Judea, Samaria and Gaza), and the Golan.

"Peace Now" says its activities aim "to monitor settlement expansion," but
MK's and journalists suspect that the group - funded by Europe - engages in
questionable activities which endanger Israeli soldiers and civilians. The
Knesset Interior Committee held a special session this week to discuss the
topic of foreign government funding of Israeli left wing movements.

According to investigative journalist David Bedein, documents that were
shared with the Knesset Interior Committee confirmed that "Peace Now"
received 50,000 Euros from the government of Finland to conduct the
surveillance activity of Jewish towns in Judea, Samaria, the Golan, Gaza and
Jerusalem.

The Knesset Committee examined a Peace Now grant application to the
government of Finland, which indicated how Peace Now intended to use the
grant. This included "regular bi-monthly ground surveys to be conducted with
the purpose of documenting construction in Jewish communities."

Also included in the grant was a provision for aerial photography: "Twice a
month a light plane is rented in order to allow 'settlement watch' staff to
ascertain the extent of ongoing physical expansion in existing settlements.
Once a baseline survey is completed, subsequent surveys can be used to
measure expansion using GIS satellite positioning overlays." The document
stated that this "mechanism will yield tangible graphic and quantitative
data for the public."

Peace Now stipulated that the grant of 50,000 dollars would be used in the
following manner: "$17,000 Coordinator, $13,000 Jeep, $20,000 Aerial
Surveys." The report stated that "funding is necessary to support the staff
and rent the vehicles for aerial photography.

In the report given to Finland, Peace Now chose to define itself as an
"educational foundation" and indicated that they also receive $100,000 from
Americans for Peace Now and 150,000 Euros from "European Foundations" for
their "settlement watch project."

A spokesperson for Peace Now told Bedein that the "European Foundations"
mentioned in their grant request to the Finnish government were actually
funds from the European Union. "In other words, from other foreign European
governments," said Bedein, "few of which have been favorable to Israel's
plight in the war on terror. Far from being an indigenous Israeli
organization, it is obvious that Peace Now actually acts as an agent for
foreign governments."

"The Peace Now settlement expansion maps do not only wind up in the hands of
European governments and they do not only include the civilian expansion,"
Bedein warns. "The Peace Now settlement expansion maps also include military
installations and the maps are featured in all PLO offices. Israeli army
bases have been attacked and Israeli soldiers killed. These are the sons and
daughters of Israel drafted to protect the country, not, for the most part,
even professional soldiers."

Bedein went on to describe an extremely disturbing incident involving the
"settlement-watch" team. "In late May, 2002 a settlement watch group
organized by the 'Christian Peace Makers Team' reported to its e-mail list
that it had successfully photographed the fence surrounding the Carmei Tzur
settlement," Bedein said. "The CPT proudly reported that it had shown
several breaches in the fence. The next day, the CSM met with the Fateh
(Arafat's mainstream terror group) in Bethlehem. Two days later, late at
night, armed members of the Fateh infiltrated the Carmei Tzur settlement at
the precise breach that the CPT had photographed. The Fateh used that breach
to murder a civilian couple in their bed. The wife was eight months
pregnant. "

2. Why The Left Hates Israel
By Bruce S. Thornton
FrontPageMagazine

THE DISTASTE FOR ISRAEL EVIDENT in coverage of the current crisis is a
mystery to me. I'm not talking about the Arabs, who have their own
obvious reasons for hating Israel, not the least being that Israel is a living
reproach to Islamic civilization's inability to adapt to the modern
world. The weakness of Islam vis-a-vis a West it once terrified and dominated
is exposed daily by the strength and confidence and prosperity of a tiny
nation dwarfed by the population and resources and armies of its
adversaries.

I'm speaking rather about Israel's critics in Europe and the United
States, where the media's double standard in judging Israel, and their
failure to acknowledge the historical circumstances that have created
the current crisis and explain it, are so commonplace that it usually goes
unnoticed. It is testimony to the bizarre mental universe of many in
the Islamic world that an American media that has made the Palestinians
their pet victims "of color" instead continue to be seen as the puppets of
some Zionist conspiracy.

The answer to this disgust can't be that Israel is as uniquely
oppressive
as it is claimed to be, setting aside for the moment the reasons why
Israel has to do what it does. Given the bloodshed, violence, ethnic
cleansing, seizure of territory, and genocidal rampages occurring daily
across the planet, Israel's offences, even if they were as horrible as
their enemies claim, are pretty small beer, and certainly not as
destructive as those of many Arab regimes in the Middle East.

For example, if seizing territory and interfering with national
autonomy
and self-determination are such a crime, why isn't the international
community bombarding Syria, which controls Lebanon, with demands to end
the "illegal occupation" and withdraw its thousands of troops? Or if
killing Arabs justifies such criticism, why didn't we have marches in
solidarity with Saddam Hussein's Islamic victims, which must number in
the hundreds of thousands? Or if abusing Palestinians is the specific
charge, why aren't there movements to isolate Jordan, which has probably killed
more Palestinians than the Israelis have?

Israel is attacked, then, because it is a Western liberal democracy
tarred with the brush of all the West's crimes against humanity. But let's not
forget another obvious point--Israelis are Jews. A residual
anti-Semitism has lately joined up with guilt-fatigue, particularly in Europe. As the
generation responsible for the Holocaust dies off, I think we'll see
more and more Europeans simply getting sick of the whole thing, sick of the
guilt, the reminders of barbarity, the museums testifying to the insane
depths to which presumably civilized people can descend.

In short, they'll want to forget, and the existence of Israel itself,
its determination never again to be a despised and pitied victim, is a
constant irritating reminder that won't let them forget.

3. Hawaii governor: US Jews shift to Right
HILARY LEILA KRIEGER May. 22, 2004

The situation in Israel has pushed American Jewry significantly to the Right, which means more Jews will vote Republican in this year's presidential elections than ever before, Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle told The Jerusalem Post Friday while on her first trip to Israel.

Herself a Jewish Republican, Lingle has her biases. But as a moderate, she knows that party ideology has its limits.

"I think there's been a big shift, and it's because of Israel and President Bush's support for Israel. While they may not agree with the president on a variety of things, and I don't agree with him on everything, the bottom line is he's a great friend of Israel, certainly among the closest to Israel of any president America has ever had," she said. "You may be a Democrat by your political orientation, but you have to agree that President Bush is supporting Israel at a very difficult time to support Israel, when our European allies are not being supportive, and yet he's willing to stand up for the country."

"We felt that Israel and Hawaii had a lot in common economically because tourism, agriculture, the military, and technology are the same components of our economy," she said of the impulse to forge a pact together. "We also thought that we share an isolation. Our isolation is created by water and Israel's is created by having neighbors who aren't friendly, and so Israel has to achieve success based on its own resources, natural resources, human resources, and Hawaii has to do the same thing."

But some of the impetus was personal, sprung from the well of Lingle's own past and convictions.
The 50-year-old politician can still remember the cardboard sheets, complete with illustrations of trees and semi-circle cut-outs for dimes, that she and her Sunday school friends would use to collect spare change to pay for the Jewish National Fund to plant trees in Israel.

When she arrived in Israel on Monday, the first thing she did was plant a sapling herself.

Hawaii boasts only 10,000 Jews among its population of 1.2 million.

Since her election in November giving the state its first female, first Republican, and, of course, first Jewish chief executive Judaism has received significantly more attention than ever before in the Christian and Buddhist-dominated locale.

The hosting of Pessah Seders in the capitol and this very trip to Israel, for example, have raised the religion's profile.

And Lingle's faith has raised her profile.
"I didn't expect it, but Jewish people all across the country know about me and are proud," she said. "They don't care what party I'm in. They don't care what my position is on a particular issue is. They just are proud I'm Jewish and I'm the governor of a state."

1. India-Israel Ties?
[Note the last paragraph where it seems Israel has also acquired one of
"the gates of his enemies".]
From: imra@netvision.net.il
India to maintain defense ties with Israel
India's Defense Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, makes statement marking
departure from Congress's traditional pro-Arab tilt.
Maariv News Service 27 May 2004
maarivintl.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=article&articleID=7907

India's Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjeehas confirmed the new Congress
dominated government will continue the country's close defense ties with
Israel.

Replying to questions raised by a senior leader of one of the leftist
parties about India's ties with Israel, he said. "Running a coalition
government is a problem... But whatever is for the safety and security of
the country will be done. I don't visualise a problem from that point".

This is a major change in the party's policies, which has, ever since the
days of Nehru, adopted a pro-Arab attitude, and has traditionally been
lukearm towards Israel, refraining, for many years to haivng full diplomatic
relations with it.

Israel and India have forged a close alliance over the past several years,
and Israel has become the biggest foreign supplier to the Indian armed
forces. A few months ago a billion plus dollar contract was signed, undrr
which Israel will supply India with the state-of-the-art Phalcon airborne
control and command system. Other major items include a variety of missile
systems and drones.

Recently an Indian naval squadron paid a courtesy call to Haifa, and there
have been reports of close coordination between the two countries regarding
naval cooperation in the western part of the Indian Ocean, especially the
areas adjacent to the strategic Hormuz and Bab el Mandeb straits.

Foreign sources have reported in the past that Israel has a naval and air
base on Dahlak, a small island off the coast of Eritrea near Bab el Mandeb,
where the Indian Ocean joins the Red Sea.

2. Arutz Sheva News Friday
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
May 28, 2004 / Sivan 8, 5764

BUS SAVED FROM CAR BOMB ATTACK
In a carefully planned but miraculously-failed attack, a Palestinian terrorist driving a car-bomb towards an Israeli bus in southern Gaza was killed in the explosion he caused; two Israelis were lightly injured as an indirect consequence.

The attack occurred around 8:40 this morning. A bulletproof bus carrying guards and workers of the Israeli Ports Authority made its way along the Philadelphi Route, on the Israeli-Egyptian border. An Arab jeep suddenly emerged from a side road - an area permitted to P.A. travel - and careened towards the bus. The terrorist driver, however, did not count on a large dirt hill that was just built three weeks ago, and it prevented him from advancing towards the bus. He or another passenger got out and shot towards the bus, and seconds later, the car bomb exploded. No one on the bus was hurt, but the bus driver's short stop caused the army jeep in back of him to crash into him, and two soldiers were lightly hurt.

A Palestinian terrorist group called the Popular Resistance Committees - apparently associated with Hamas - claimed responsibility for the attack.

A bus passenger said afterwards, "Suddenly we saw a white jeep, and the guards realized that it was coming towards us too quickly. There were shots, and then people in the bus started screaming and saying Shma Yisrael [the 'Hear O Israel... G-d is One' prayer]. After a short while there was a big explosion. We saw bullet marks on the windows... The first thing we did when we got off the bus was to hug each other; some people cried."

IN THE GOLAN
"Cherry Festival" events in the Golan Heights were kicked off yesterday afternoon. Cooking workshops for children, Israeli singers and hikes were among the features yesterday. Visitors to the Golan over the coming months will be able combine cherry-picking - and other forest fruits - with hikes in the many nature reserves and mountains of the region.

In other Golan news, a new underground passage will be built at the Yahudiya River and Falls parking lot, to enable the thousands of yearly visitors to reach the popular site in safety. Transportation Ministry Dir.-Gen. Ben-Tzion Salman, who recently toured the area, gave his approval for a series of projects. In addition to the tunnel, an Artists' Colony is to be established near Aniam, new roads will be built for the purpose, and a bypass route around the central Golan town of Bnei Yehuda will be paved.

Bnei Yehuda is located on one of the relatively few plots of Golan land historically owned by Jews; the Bnei Yehuda society of Tzfat purchased it in 1886. (Some land in Syria, east of the Golan, is Jewish-owned, such as some 18,000 acres purchased by Baron Rothschild in 1891, approx. 15 km. east of present-day Ramat Magshimim).

3. EU Lackies Froth at the Mouth
Caroline Glick: Column One: What Europe wants
The Jerusalem Post May 28, 2004
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=108572
1253715&p=1006953079897

[IMRA: Couteax essentially admitted that France lies to the world about the
nuclear technology it exports when it claims that it is strictly for
non-military purposes.]

Standing before the EU parliament in Brussels on May 16 2001, French EU
parliamentarian Paul Marie Couteax made a stunning statement. After
condemning Israel's actions to defend itself against Palestinian terrorism
as the "theocratic excesses of this religious state," Couteax declared that
Europe should supply the Arab world with nuclear weapons. In his words, "I
have no hesitation in saying that we must consider giving the Arab side a
large enough force, including a large enough nuclear force, to persuade
Israel that it cannot simply do whatever it wants. That is the policy my
country [France] pursued in the 1970s when it gave Iraq a nuclear force."

Couteax's statement, though over the top, follows a flow of seemingly obtuse
and illogical statements and actions by the EU and its member states since
the start of the Palestinian terror war almost four years ago.

For instance, in the midst of the IDF's counter-terror operations in Rafah
last week, Ireland's Foreign Minister Brian Cowan, speaking for the EU whose
presidency his country currently holds, condemned Israel's actions in the
most hysterical and factually inaccurate terms.

As a database compiled by the International Policy Institute for Counter
Terrorism shows quite clearly, Israel targets terrorists in its operations
while Palestinians attack Israelis indiscriminately. The institute's figures
show conclusively that since the start of the Palestinian terror war,
non-combatants have made up 80 percent of Israeli casualties, whereas on the
Palestinian side, 56% of casualties have been verified combatants. Since
Palestinian terrorists generally do not wear uniforms, Dan Radlauer - who
oversees the database - explains that it is quite possible that the
percentage of Palestinian casualties who are combatants may actually be
significantly higher than that figure. This information is readily available
to Cowan and his EU colleagues. They could easily have put together a
similar study.

But that would not advance their interests.

In a revealing incident, earlier this month, the Palestinian Human Rights
Monitoring Group (PHRMG) released a report outlining the systemic abuse of
power by Palestinian security forces against Palestinian civilians.

According to an account in The Scotsman, the report has not won PHRMG
accolades for its brave and honest reporting in an atmosphere of terror and
repression cultivated by Arafat and his henchmen.

Rather, in response to the organization's decision to document human rights
abuses by the PA and by Israel, the group has seen its financial support
from the EU slashed.

Since the 1970s, Europe has embraced appeasement of the Arabs as a central
plank of its foreign policy. This became entrenched in the wake of the 1973
OPEC oil embargo. As well, following the trail blazed by Charles de Gaulle,
sympathy to the Arabs and hostility towards Israel have served Europe's
interest in differentiating itself from the US. Because the US is committed
to European security through the NATO alliance, Europe can curry favor with
the Arabs from whom the US will protect it. At the same time, it can deflect
Arab wrath onto the US, which is unwilling - for strategic and moral
reasons - to sever its alliance with Israel.

Finally, Europe has a domestic interest in currying the favor of the Arabs
over Israel. Europe has a growing Muslim population that has been inculcated
with a fanatical form of anti-Semitism. Anti-Semitism is also rife on both
the left and right sides of the European political spectrum. Given this, it
is good politics domestically to condemn Israel, while turning a blind eye
to Arab terrorism and human rights abuses.

4. Ancient Agricultural Civilization in Amazon Vally
(Extracts Only as is usual for most articles we post)
Bird’s-Eye View of the Amazon
Airborne Archaeologist Challenges the Myth of a Pristine Wilderness

by Ted Mann

Clark Erickson is no typical archaeologist. Oversize rolls of aerial photographs are stacked into tubular pyramids on a desk and worktable in his University Museum office. They fill up file cabinets and populate a storage room. At last count, he had about 700 giant aerial and satellite imagesalmost all of them picturing some region of the Amazon.

He rolls out a 1958 U.S. Air Force photo of a Bolivian savannah. Even with the vast acreage blown up to movie-poster size, the details are as impenetrable as braille to the sighted. “See that,” he says, pointing to a line running across the landscape. “Anything that’s straightit’s not natural.” With a finger, he traces a symmetrical block of toothpick shapes. “These are raised fields. See, you can pick out the linear patterns.” With Erickson’s narration, more and more geometric designs pop off the glossy printsettlement mounds, fish weirs, irrigation canals, roads. The photo begins to look like a prehistoric engineering blueprint. Unlike most archaeologists, Erickson doesn’t begin his research in excavated holes; he starts in the sky, reading the landscape for markers of vanished civilizations.

For the past decade, Erickson has used aerial imagesborrowed from the military, scientists, and even oil companiesto guide his fieldwork. What he’s discovered about the prehistoric Amazon challenges many textbook teachings. Before Columbus, he argues, the area was heavily populated and agriculturally advanced. His work has led to a surprising supposition: Humans may have engineered nearly every aspect of the
Amazon landscape.

In this part of the Amazon, farming is difficult. The soil spends half the year scorched in desert heat and the other half inundated with rain. For this reason, say scholars, the region is incapable of sustaining large civilizations. Erickson believes the raised fields he glimpsed through the back window of his microbus were a solution hit upon by an ancient people. The system of mounds and canals provided irrigation in the dry season and drained the soil during floods. Ten years before, geographer William Denevan had written about the fields, but by the 1970s, when Erickson was there,
no archaeologist had studied them. No one knew the age of the structures, who built them, or if they even worked.

Subsequent digs proved that the mounded fields date back to about 100 B.C. and may have been cultivated until A.D. 1100. The dimensions of the rectangular plots were astounding: Each row rose three feet high, measured up to 30 feet wide, and stretched 1,300 feet long. Between the rows were canals, also 30 feet wide and three feet deep.

As much as he learned about the fields, he kept coming back to one nagging question: Were they productive? To answer this, he tried a little “experimental archaeology” recreating ancient tools and methods in order to better understand how the raised fields worked. With help from colleagues and local farmers, he built a field from scratch and worked it year-round. “We found that productivity was three to four times traditional practices like slash-and-burn,” he reports.

Looking at an aerial photo of the Baures region of Bolivia, Erickson’s index finger dances between dark polka dots covering bare earth. These, he notes, are forest islands and mounds that can rise 60 feet above the savanna. Causeways radiate from them like spokes on a wheel. Erickson and Balיe have shown that the mounds were once settlements, housing between 500 and 1,000 inhabitants. Beneath the canopies of the island forests, the two men discovered pottery, bones, and orchards of fruit trees. The dozens of raised causeways, however, still leave Erickson scratching his head. Most are straight as a ruler, stretching from mound to mound. “It looks like everyone in the society had their own road and used it once!”

For all the evidence that Erickson and his colleagues have offered, there is still resistance to the idea of a once populous Amazon. Old-school anthropol-ogists, like the Smithsonian’s Betty Meggers, hold that the region’s aluminum-rich soil couldn’t have supported the agricultural base a large civilization needs to thrive. .... natural scientists abhor the new anthropocentric view of the Amazon. “When I give talks at the Field Museum in Chicago, there is always a bunch of them literally yelling at me.” Meggers went so far as to claim, in the journal Latin American Antiquity, that “the myth of El Dorado is being revived by archaeologists.”

In an ironic twist, the lost gold of El Dorado may turn out to be that oft maligned soil. In the 1990s, geologists began examining Amazonian earth, and though much was inhospitable, large swaths turned out to be fertile. Called Amazonian Dark Earth, or terra preta by locals, this near-black soil has amazing properties. Dark Earth retains its nutrients during tropical rains, while other soil is leeched, and like potting soil, it is far more productive for growing crops. The trait that makes it so exceptional, and enigmatic, is its ability to regenerate. Locals quarry and farm the rich soil, and their supply always grows back. Dark Earth re-creates itself atop a base layer and growsjust like a living organism.

Scientists are still analyzing the biology, but Erickson believes the Amazon Indians enriched their earth with a microorganism, one that resisted depletion and helped fertilize. If better understood, this process of inoculating poor soil with a bacterial booster could aid parts of the undeveloped world starved for agriculture. Recently, geographers estimated that the creators of this ancient technology managed to terraform at least 10 percent of Amazoniaan area the size of France. Along with the raised fields, fish weirs, causeways, and other anthropogenic features, Dark Earth may in fact be one of countless footprints left by a lost civilization. Indeed, if Erickson is right, the Amazon could be humankind’s largest engineering relic.

5. This is the Enemy
by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz
Arutz Sheva, May 30, 2004

[WARNING: The following contains graphic descriptions of violence.]

Nick Berg, an American from Philadelphia, was kidnapped and tortuously beheaded by Arabs in Iraq sometime in May. The murderers filmed the deed and proudly displayed the victim's severed head.

After killing six Israeli soldiers in an attack on an armored vehicle in Gaza on May 11, the Arabs near the scene of the carnage gleefully held aloft human body parts in front of rolling cameras. One of the Arab terrorists was later interviewed on film with what appeared to be a human head in front of him.

The week before, after shooting at Tali Hatuel's car, causing it to skid and stop, Arab terrorists walked over to the vehicle to finish the occupants off. They looked at the heavily pregnant mother and her four no-doubt frightened girls; the youngest was two years old. And then shot them all. At point-blank range. With sadistic satisfaction, they systematically murdered Tali Hatuel and her unborn son, as well as all of Tali's daughters - Hila, age 11, Hadar, 9, Roni, 7, and two-year-old Meirav.

In Fallujah in March, crowds of townspeople dragged four American civilians out of their vehicles, shot or beat them to death, mutilated their bodies, dragged them through the streets, suspended them from a bridge and burned them.

And they danced and cheered.

With their children.

In Ramallah in 2000, two Israeli soldiers were kidnapped, beaten, stabbed countless times, had their eyes gouged out, and were literally disemboweled and dismembered by an Arab lynch mob.

The people - and I use the term loosely - who carried out the initial beatings threw one of the victims down to the waiting mob, where his face was further crushed with stones, feet, fists and even a heavy metal window frame. One Jew was set on fire and dragged along the street as Arab onlookers danced and cheered. Some of the butchers celebrated their crimes with the victims' internal organs. One of the killers, famously captured on film, proudly displayed his blood-soaked hands to the cheering Ramallah crowd.

And it gets worse. In 2003, nearly two years later, Arab parents in Gaza cheered again when their little children dressed up as members of the Ramallah lynch mob, complete with hands painted blood red, for a kindergarten graduation ceremony.

During the lynch of the two IDF soldiers who had taken a wrong turn into Ramallah in 2000, one of the Arab murderers paused in his savage beating to answer a cell phone belonging to one of the dying soldiers.

He told the worried voice on the other end of the line, "We are killing your husband."

There is a Talmudic dictum that states, "One who is merciful to the cruel, will ultimately cause cruelty to the merciful."

It seems to me that we, Israelis and Americans, have proven the Talmudic sages absolutely correct. Please, no more mercy.

6. Report from Europe: Only UK still Decent?
Verbal reports (that are not always precise) in the name of numerous Jews from France, Belgium, and the rest of Europe
who are increasingly moving to Israel say:
On the streets of most of Europe it is no longer physically safe to be identified as a Jew. Most of the attackers and molesters are
Moslems but a kind of tacit acceptance of their behavior by the mainstream "others" has been felt. In Ireland one is probably safe from physical attack but liable to be subjected to verbal abuse by anyone from taxi drivers to passersby.
In the UK a Jew is usually accorded the same respect as any other person.

1. Bombs on Iraq 1981
Wall Street Journal Online - Jun 01, 2004
WMD, R.I.P.
By L. Gordon Crovitz
http://www.israelunitycoalition.org/html/article.html?id=3703

A familiar news story: A hard-line government uses its powerful military to launch a unilateral pre-emptive strike. The United Nations and Europe are horrified, along with most of the American media. They condemn the strike and brush off claims that it was justified as an act of self-defense against an unpredictable tyrant.

So was it a terrible mistake, a lamentable error of judgment? Not at all. History now smiles on Israel's elimination of Saddam's nearly completed weapon of mass destruction more than 20 years ago.

In June 1981, eight Israeli jets flew at 100 feet across Jordan and Saudi Arabia, evading detection to destroy the French nuclear reactor at Osirak, just outside Baghdad. The raid followed years of failed diplomacy: Saddam's French, German and Belgian suppliers had refused to let anything disrupt their lucrative role in his oil-for-nukes program.

Until now, no one had told the full story of the extraordinary planning required for the raid and the derring-do of the pilots, who had calculated that there was a one-in-four chance of being shot out of the sky before reaching the target. Rodger Claire, a former magazine editor, has gained access to Israeli military records and to the pilots who handled the mission. In "Raid on the Sun" (Broadway Books, 259 pages, $24.95), he evokes the rigors and the risks of the plan.

Prime Minister Menachem Begin and his Likud allies, such as Ariel Sharon, had to stiffen the spines of Labor Party and intelligence officials who feared the repercussions of such a raid. "If I have a choice of being popular and dead or unpopular and alive," Mr. Sharon told fellow cabinet members, "I choose being alive and unpopular."

The 600-mile trip to the facility went well beyond the design specs of Israel's U.S.-built F-16 Fighting Falcons, which carried special 2,000-pound bombs and jury-rigged external fuel tanks. The book focuses on Gen. David Ivry, commander of the Israeli Air Force, and on the eight mission pilots. These included Ilan Ramon, who would later die in the Columbia space-shuttle explosion. Mr. Claire introduces us to each of the pilots -- which ones told their wives of the dangers, which ones developed superstitions about their aircraft and, yes, which one blacked out and missed his target. Mr. Claire describes the brutal sun and desert heat that made a dangerous mission also physically punishing. A movie-maker unafraid of political correctness -- the Israeli military as heroic! -- could build a blockbuster around this story.

World opinion was all but unanimous in its outrage, and American opinion too. The New York Times editorialized that "Israel's sneak attack on a French-built nuclear reactor near Baghdad was an act of inexcusable and short-sighted aggression." Time magazine fretted that "Israel has vastly compounded the difficulties of procuring a peaceful settlement of the confrontation in the Middle East." The U.S. secretary of state called the raid "reckless." The U.S. ambassador to the U.N. said it was "shocking" and approved a U.N. resolution demanding that Israel make "appropriate redress" to Iraq.

This was during the first few months of the Reagan administration, so the secretary of state was Alexander Haig and the U.N. ambassador Jeanne Kirkpatrick. Caspar Weinberger, the defense secretary, feared the reaction in Arab capitals and suspended further sales of F-16s to Israel. If the administration's official reaction was to condemn, the president's private reaction was to admire: "What a terrific piece of bombing," Mr. Reagan said upon seeing photos of the reactor site.

2. Arutz Sheva News Tuesday,
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
June 1, 2004 / Sivan 12, 5764
ETHIOPIAN PM VISITING ISRAEL
Meles Zenawi, the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, will arrive in Israel for an official three-day visit - the first ever of an Ethiopian head of state in a Jewish state since the Queen of Sheba visited King Solomon. The visit will concentrate on the advancement of economic cooperation between the two countries, and the search for Israeli investors in Ethiopia.

Ethiopia took Israel's position in the UN last year regarding Israel being put on trial in The Hague regarding the counter-terrorism partition fence. Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin visited in Jerusalem a half-year ago, and Israel's Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom visited Adis Ababa in January, heading a delegation of 22 Israeli businesspeople.

BEDOUIN MAJORITY FORESEEN IN NEGEV
Newly released statistics show that within 16 years, there may well be a Bedouin majority in the Negev. So reports "Ohr Mesimot," a movement for Jewish settlement in the Negev.

Roni Palmar of Ohr Mesimot says that the population in the Negev currently comprises 230,000 Jews and 160,000 Bedouin. The Jews thus already comprise less than 60% - and the proportion is dropping, as the Bedouin double their numbers every 15 years.

3. Arutz Sheva News Thursday,
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
June 3, 2004 / Sivan 14, 5764
REACTIONS TO JERUSALEM (gay) PARADE
A "gay pride" parade will be held this evening (Thursday) in Jerusalem, for the third consecutive year - and protestors will be on hand all along the route. The parade, which may be a practice run for the 2005 International Gay Parade scheduled to be held in the city, begins at Ben Yehuda St., and will continue via King George St. to Liberty Bell Park.

The city is now replete with posters condemning the parade. "Stop the Parade of Abomination" and "Protect the Children" are just some of the messages being broadcast on poster boards around the city. Rabbi David Batzri, head of the Kabbalistic "Magen David" Yeshiva in Jerusalem, said in his lecture last night, "This is not a disease or a deviation, but a straight-out abomination. Even animals don't behave this way... There is no place in the Holy City for such a phenomenon."

The parade is being held in the shadow of the ongoing campaign to "discredit and even eliminate therapies to assist clients in reducing their homosexual attractions" (Adam Jessel, Jewish Action, Spring 2003). JONAH still believes such therapy is important. The organization (jonahweb.org), according to its mission statement, is "dedicated to educating the world-wide Jewish community about the prevention, intervention, and healing of the underlying issues causing same-sex attractions." JONAH states that because mankind has been endowed with free will, "everyone has the capacity to change. Furthermore, the Rabbis emphasize that parents, teachers and counselors have a special responsibility to educate, nurture, and provide an opportunity for those struggling with unwanted same-sex attractions to journey out of homosexuality. Through psychological and spiritual counseling, peer support, and self-empowerment, JONAH seeks to reunify families, to! heal the wounds surrounding homosexuality, and to provide hope."

A man named Mark is quoted in the above-mentioned Jewish Action article as saying, "The struggle to overcome homosexuality has been long and difficult... Only during the past couple of years have things really started to come together. Looking back, what proved most helpful was a 12-step program, a good therapist, intensive, specially-tailored therapy weekends and the [support of] other strugglers I met through JONAH... Now, at age 39, I'm remarried - happily so - and feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude for my wife, for my kids and for all the ways in which I've grown."

Rabbi Joel Beasley of Alon Shvut has written, "As far as the Jewish religion goes, there are no homosexuals in the world, nor have there ever been. There are no heterosexuals either. Both terms are pejorative. They imply that the essence of existence lies somehow within the crass and the carnal... According to sexual behaviorists like Masters and Johnson, babies are born neither heterosexual nor homosexual in any categorical sense (Human Sexuality, 1995, fifth edition). They are sexually malleable, and can remain in flux throughout their lifetimes... People are inclined naturally towards aesthetic variation. That does not mean they should be free to act on their impulses. The Torah understands that unrestrained pursuit of personal pleasure takes a terrible toll on society, and creates havoc for the stability of the family." (Jewish Spectator, Winter 1998)

REVIVING JEWISH LIFE IN SOUTHERN SPAIN
A Jewish community in southern Spain is gearing up for a special seminar this weekend aimed at reaching out to the region's large numbers of crypto-Jews - people whose ancestors were forcibly converted to Catholicism during the time of the Spanish Inquisition.

Dozens of people are scheduled to attend the event, which will include traditional Sabbath prayers, festive meals, and lectures. Delivered by Spanish, Portuguese and Israeli rabbis, the lectures will be on topics such as "The Dynamics of the Oral Law" and "Renaissance and Recognition of Bnei Anousim [crypto-Jews]."

The event is being organized together with the Jerusalem-based Amishav organization (www.amishav.org.il), which assists "lost Jews" seeking to return to the Jewish people.

Aharon Franco, a Jewish community leader in the event's host city of Murcia, says that Murcia has a long and rich Jewish history. "Many local families observe Jewish customs, such as lighting candles on Friday evening," he says, "although the origin of these practices is not always familiar to them. But political changes in Spain in the past few decades, along with the spread of Jewish culture, have caused many of them to begin to identify once again as descendants of Jews."

Franco estimates that at least 20% of Murcia's population of 350,000 can trace their ancestry back to Jews. In recent years, the community has restored the ancient synagogue at in the nearby town of Lorca, which is now once again being used for prayers.

Amishav Director Michael Freund said that the initiative for the seminar had come from the Bnei Anousim themselves, who are looking for ways to reconnect with their heritage. "In the past year, we have held four seminars in Spain and Portugal, and Murcia will be our fifth," he said. "There is a growing thirst for Jewish knowledge among the Bnei Anousim, and it is our obligation to reach out and help them."

Franco, himself a crypto-Jew who formally returned to Judaism last year, said that his journey of return began when he was young: "When I was 12 years old, I already felt Jewish, even before I learned that my grandfather was from a Spanish Jewish background and that my grandmother was from the Anousim. It was then that my quest and my struggle to find my place within my people began." It wasn't easy, he said, but "thankfully, organizations such as Amishav are opening the doors and enabling many of this nation's lost sons to return home. This is not just an act of historical justice, but also a matter of great importance to Jewish continuity at a time when assimilation is destroying our communities."
[Amishav in some respects is a positive organization. Apart from dealing with "conversos" in Spain Amishav also seeks the Lost Ten Tribes in the East. Amishav denies the presence of the Lost Ten Tribes amongst western peoples
and indications are that it will continue to do so. In this respect Amishav is in error. Brit-Am Jerusalem News editor]

4. BRIT-AM REMAINS THE ONLY ANSWER
Brit-Am traces descendants of the Lost Tribes of Israel (alongside many from Judah) to the WEST.
Brit-Am has provided evidence that cannot be controverted by those who believe in the Bible or in historical
sources. Brit-Am is continuing its research in these fields AS WELL as providing evidence from other (but
related) directions.
Brit-Am remains the only organization that brings all the sources together and has a workable answer.
Brit-Am is also the only organization that presents these truths in a format acceptable to both Orthodox
Jews and Gentiles.
Brit-Am is the ONLY group of its type in the world and probably will remain that way for the near future.
Those who are aware of these truths, appreciate their importance and think that something should be done
in this regard may find a solution through working with Brit-Am. Justifiable alternatives do not seem to be present.
BRIT-AM REMAINS THE ONLY ANSWER.
It is not enough if the individual "Gentile" has received a spiritual or instinctive emotional insight that he/she
are descended from Israel. The knowledge must be made clear and confirmed in a general sense
at the Biblical and academic levels
and be made public to the degree that is possible.
Sufficient knowledge does exist to obtain due consideration in the eyes of a select few.
This "few" must be reached and the level of knowledge improved (in quantity and means of presentation)
in order to reach others.

5. Israeli Offensive Brings Results
http://www.debka.com/article.php?aid=853
DEBKAfile Exclusive Military Update

May 24, 2004, 10:12 AM (GMT+02:00)

Most of the Palestinian armed terrorists based in Gaza Strip's Rafah fled north to Khan Younes during the May 22-23 weekend pause in the large-scale Israeli operation launched seven days ago. Some even dropped their weapons in their haste to get out. The IDF buildup of infantry and armor in and around Rafah Sunday night, May 23, was effected to take advantage of the unusual scarcity of armed terrorists in the town and make sure it stayed that way. The plan now is to keep Rafah encircled and its streets clear of armed men, much like the West Bank towns of Ramallah, Jenin, Tulkarm and Nablus. There, large Israeli contingents are deployed on the perimeters, poised to stage incursions in response to intelligence alerts of terrorist operations in the making. This formula has cut down terrorist attacks against Israeli targets in recent months. The difference in respect to Rafah will be that the surrounding IDF troops will be on the alert for intelligence on the location of tunnels. Raids will then be staged to blow them up.

DEBKAfile's Military sources reveal: Egyptian military and intelligence presence in Gaza and West Bank plus systematic IDF-Shin Beit counter-terror operations hit Palestinian organizations hard, cut terror alerts by half.

Ukrainian arms ship intercepted at Istanbul was another Karin-A Palestinian smuggling ship. Releasing this information would have strengthened hand of Israel's disengagement opponents and placed Cabinet approval at risk. Egypt therefore claimed cargo.

1. The Reason Why the USA is still a Great nation
The USA is the only power that supports the State of Israel.
As such the USA arranges its forces and alignments around the existence of Israel
that stands at the junction of the Universe. North America is at one center of the
world, Israel at the other: Look at a map. This enables the USA to keep the power
it has in potential actuality in usage. All other powers are uncertain of their ability to translate
existing potentiality into effect.
The greatness of the USA through supporting Israel is an outcome of its support.
It is not a justification but rather an effect that Divine Providence has employed.

[So too, we believe that those who support Brit-Am will be also blessed from on High].

The USA invasion of Iraq could, God forbid, end in disaster and has already resulted in casualties.
NEVERTHELESS IT COULD ALSO BE HIGHLY SUCCESFUL. as things go it was a wise and necessary decision and is essential for the USA economy and geopolitical hegemony that also influences the economy: not just of the USA but of the
world.
At present all other nations work and produce in order to sell to and buy from the "supermarket"
that the USA manages, with the help of other "Israelite" nations. This is done reasonably fairly though to the
advantage of "Joseph". There is no alternative that would not result in world war.
The existence of the "Israelite" alliance keeps the non-Israelite nations from annihilating each other.

2. In Defence of France
The article below by Dr. Robert Kaplan has some words of criticism about France.
France is indeed to be criticized for its anti-Jewish and anti-Israelite attitude and for
a lot of nasty characteristics.
BUT one must be fair.
France was ravaged for centuries by English armies attempting to take her over or at least take over
large chunks of her best territory.
[I say "English" since frequently the French were allied with the Scottish and Irish.]
Later after Britain had given up its attempts to conquer France, the British fought several wars
just to keep the French in their place.
French civilization and colonization policies were quite advanced and liberal.
In 1870 France was defeated and humiliated by German Prussia and nobody helped her.
In WW1 the French fought very bravely and lost a vast number of casualties and much of her youngest
manhood.
After WW1 the French were prepared to do almost anything in order to neutralize the German menace.
It was the British and Americans who consistently did what they could to diminish French potential
and nullify French efforts. [To a degree in some cases they may have been justified but this does not
change the fact].
In WW11 the French were beaten by superior German forces and then betrayed from within.
It could have happened to anyone.
After WW11 the French tried to ensure their future security at the expense of Germany but were thwarted by
the USA and Britain.
The French at one stage were the major supporters of the State of Israel and it was due to French help that
Israel became a nuclear power.
The French have now turned inwards, to Europe and Islam, and anti-Israelite elements (that were always present in the background) seem to have taken over.
To some measure however France was pushed into its present position and if other options had been available
it might have considered them. It may yet do so in the future.
[Genesis 29:32] AND LEAH CONCEIVED, AND BARE A SON, AND SHE CALLED HIS NAME REUBEN: FOR SHE SAID, SURELY THE LORD HATH LOOKED UPON MY AFFLICTION; NOW THEREFORE MY HUSBAND WILL LOVE ME.

3. PATTERNS OF HISTORY by Dr. Robert E. Kaplan (extracts only).
For the complete article contact Root & Branch <rb@rb.org.il>
The following extracts are given below for the sake of general interest.
They are worth reading but not unreservedly accepting.
From: "Root & Branch Association, Ltd." <rb@rb.org.il>
Subject: PATTERNS OF HISTORY by Dr. Robert E. Kaplan

PATTERNS OF HISTORY: EUROPEAN UNIONS VERSUS "ANGLO-SAXONS" AND JEWS
Today's European Union is emerging as the kind of undertaking which, harboring imperial ambitions, produced two world wars and the Holocaust.

That the First and Second World Wars were Germany's attempts to conquer and unify Europe under its rule is well known. What is generally not understood (and what I came to see from my study of the Holocaust and my understanding of general European history) is that the Holocaust was an integral part, an instrumental means, to achieve that national goal to which Germany devoted itself to for a half century until its defeat in 1945. This is what made the Holocaust uniquely German. Only Germany pursued the goal of European hegemony by conquest. Therefore only Germany could have produced the Holocaust.

Generally, when the relation between the Holocaust and Germany's enterprise of European conquest is considered, it is thought that the first was detrimental to the second. Before the war, it has been said, Nazi persecution of the Jews alerted the British and Americans to the evil of the Nazis and the danger of a Germany ruled by them. During the war, it is frequently pointed out, Germany’s torture and slaughter of the Jews deprived her of both their labor and the resources devoted to killing them.

How the Holocaust was a means for the achievement of the German national project of European conquest becomes clear once it is understood that in waging war the Germans adhered to the principle that to maximize domestic support for a war of aggression it was necessary that it be understood domestically as a war of defense against a demonized and hated enemy.

At the start of the First World War Russia served the Germans as aggressor and demonic enemy. German propaganda drummed home the message that Russia had started the war and threatened to overrun the country with barbaric Slavic hordes. But as Matthew Stibbe has shown in "German Anglophobia in the First World War", within six weeks of the war's start Britain replaced Russia as demonic aggressor and remained so for the duration. For the rest of the war the French and Russians were enemies to be fought, but not hated and demonized.

Hatred of England was to be found in virtually all sectors of German society and political opinion. "Gott strafe England" was printed on articles such as knives, buttons, badges, handkerchiefs, wedding rings and millions of postal cards. It became an accepted opening to telephone conversations. Countless brochures and pamphlets were printed to stir public hatred of England. "Deep-seated, almost pathological loathing, which went far beyond mere nationalistic rhetoric or xenophobic violence was commonly expressed”. Germany's leading cultural and intellectual lights wrote attacks against England.

Lissauer's famous "Hymn of Hate" expressed the German attitude:

Hate by water and hate by land;
Hate by the heart and hate by the hand;
We love as one, we hate as one;
We have but one foe alone, - England.

As Heinrich Mann, the German novelist and social critic, wrote in June, 1933, in Paris where he had fled after Hitler's rise to power, "Even before 1914 England was hated by many Germans in the same way as the Jews are hated today, for they too are believed to have denied Germany its rightful place in the sun".

Once the Second World War commenced the Jews served the Germans as hated enemy aggressor. As disembodied evil, Jews could be loaded with an infinite burden of hatred. The evil Jews had caused the war and were directing Germany's enemies -- Jews, Bolshevik Jews, Capitalist Jews -- and Germany was fighting to defend itself. For German morale, the value of such an enemy cannot be over estimated.

I have suggested that the Holocaust was uniquely German because it was integral to the enterprise of conquering Europe and that only Germany was engaged in such an enterprise. For the twentieth century this was true enough. But one hundred years earlier the French, during the Revolution and under Napoleon, had attempted much the same thing. The French sought to conquer Europe.

"The Influence of Sea Power on World History" and "The Influence of Sea Power upon the French Revolution and Empire" by Alfred Thayer Mahan. Mahan was an officer in the United States Navy and wrote in the latter part of the nineteenth century. His books were highly influential in their day. (They are said to have inspired Germany, in the 1890's, to build a high seas fleet intended to challenge British naval dominance).

Mahan succeeded in presenting within the covers of one work a picture of France's effort of conquest in the Revolutioon and Napoleonic era. It was an enterprise of vast dimensions in time (from the early 1790s to the fall of Napoleon in 1815) and space (its scenes of war were in Europe, both sides of the Atlantic, the Mediterranean and north Africa). Most important, Mahan made clear the ultimate purpose to which all French efforts at European conquest were directed: The military and/or economic destruction of the world’s great naval/commercial* power of the period, England. Although I knew that England had played an important role in the Napoleonic wars, I had not fully realized what Mahan stressed: That the aim of Napoleon's entire enterprise was the defeat and destruction of England.

Turning my attention back to the twentieth century German wars of European unification, equipped with Mahan's insight about the French motivation at the time of the Revolution and Empire, I came to understand what American students and scholars are largely unaware of: That in both World Wars One and Two the German aim was not simply to gain hegemony in Europe but to destroy the "Anglo-Saxon" naval/commercial powers (Great Britain at the time of the First World War and Great Britain and the United States at the time of the Second).

As Gerhard Weinberg, a leading historian of the Second World War, wrote, "the common opinion that Hitler wanted good relations with Britain and preferred to avoid war with her and wanted to return to peace once war was started, is...largely mistaken". Regarding the United States, Weinberg wrote, Hitler had long anticipated a war against the United States as a necessary part of Germany's future.

For the French of the Napoleonic era, England was not just an enemy, it was the enemy and was hated bitterly as the "perfideous Albion". England's Prime Minister Pitt was "an enemy of the human species".

Evidently the French were willing to make great sacrifices to achieve their objectives. By Napoleon's own reckoning, he led 1,700,000 Frenchmen to their deaths, more Frenchmen than were killed in both world wars. With the defeat of Napoleon the French gave up any idea of using force to unify Europe or destroy England. But the hatred of England and the dream of the Napoleonic project remained and would reemerge. Throughout the nineteenth century the French maintained a phobic attitude toward England. Until the establishment of the Anglo-French entente in the early years of the twentieth century in the face of an increasingly menacing Germany, England, to the French, was the "perfidious Albion".

In the 1890s, facing a Germany rising rapidly in population, wealth, military power and ambition, some Frenchmen advocated a "united states of Europe". At that time evidently, the Germans had other plans. In the mid-1920's, with Russia no longer a feasible candidate for alliance because it was separated from Germany by Poland and with the Americans and British embracing isolationism and appeasement, (having reneged on their post-World War I promises to guarantee France against German attack) the leaders of an isolated France proposed to the Germans that their countries join together to dominate Europe and counter American economic power.

(It was then that today's French anti-Americanism had its beginning. Its main themes were expressed in titles of the time: "L'imperialism economique americain", "L'abomination americaine", "L'Amerique a la conquete de l'Europe", "L'Oncle Shylock ou l'imperialisme americaine a la conquete du monde").

As before, the Germans were not interested. After the defeat of France in 1940 similar thinking motivated French collaboration with the Germans to an extent not yet fully appreciated by scholars. After the defeat Frenchmen, who before the war had displayed no love of Germany, cooperated with the Germans evidently in the hope that over time the French-German relationship would become something other than that of master and slave and France would achieve the cooperative relation with Germany that its leaders had sought in the mid 1920s.

France and Germany are the main promoters of today's project of European unification.

The current project of European unification differs from those of the past. For one, unifying Europe by military conquest is out of the question. For another, today's is a process lasting decades, both regarding the addition of new members to the European Union and the degree of integration into an entity capable of political decisions.

A third significant difference concerns ideology. In Napoleon's day the ideology of the French Revolution filled the minds of French civilians and soldiers who, if you asked them, would say their wars were to "liberate" the "enslaved peoples of the earth", that they were bestowing the blessings of liberty, equality, and citizenship in the places they were conquering. Germans, in their attempts at European unification, were motivated by an ideology of German cultural and racial superiority. Compared with those of the past, today's project of European unification lacks any deeply felt motivating ideology.

Though there are significant differences, the contemporary project of European unification has much in common with those of the past. Most basically, its aim to build a structure that will make and enforce Europe-wide rules and policies. Another is that its leaders are France and Germany, countries that in the past had attempted to unify Europe.

"The truth" declared the Germans to the French during the First World War, "is that, far from threatening you, we are willing to join you in a common crusade against England [then the world’s leading naval/commercial power], who has conspired with some of your meanest politicians to use your blood to crush our trade competition. We will gladly free you from the machinations of England, and help you expand your colonial domain at the British expense. Between us we can dominate Europe, and to dominate Europe is to dominate the world..."

A sound evaluation of European intentions regarding the United States requires a clear understanding of the relationship between hatred, stereotypes, hostile intentions and hostile actions. Contrary to a common fallacy, negative stereotypes are the effect, not the cause of hatred. And hostile intentions, given the availability of adequate means, are the precursor of hostile actions.

Negative stereotypes are attached to objects of hate, are not themselves the cause of hate and are not necessarily hateful in themselves. To say that all the Swiss really care about is business and profits does not imply that the Swiss are hated. But the same claim about Americans could well be part of an anti-American hate litany. This is why contradictory stereotypes can be applied to the same object of hatred. The hated Jews may be the tattered poor or well-dressed rich. The hated Americans may be concerned only with profits or only with gaining entrance to heaven.

The fact that among Europeans, by all accounts, anti-Americanism is strongest among the French and Germans is cause for particular concern given their history and the fact that they lead the current project of European unification. The stereotypes employed in their anti-American litanies include many used in the past as well as new ones suited to current circumstances. America, they say, is uncultured, brash, excessively materialistic, values only money and profit, is an economic and cultural imperium with unlimited appetite.

In the past Germans claimed Americans were a mixed breed who could not fight. Today, with the United States possessing great military power and the ability to apply it at distances remote from its borders, the old stereotype is reversed to claim that the United States is a cowboy, quick on the draw, a bully fast to use its military power, disregarding international opinion, law and organizations (which, as it happens, are likely to have anti-American majorities). Though some of the content of the litany has changed, its key point is the same: The United States is worthy of scorn and hate. Such phobic thinking is characteristic of France and Germany in their aggressive mode.

(Not to be ignored today, is the potential of Moslem terrorists, tolerated or encouraged by the Europeans, to attack and seriously damage the United States).

For Americans the First World War was a war to make the world safe for democracy and a war to end war. The Second World War was a war against fascism, a war against Hitler. Americans are largely unaware of France's long devotion to the project of European unification. They commonly describe France as an "ally" although it is necessary to go back to the First World War to locate such a relationship. Americans think of France as a has-been power concerned primarily with promoting her language, culture, fashion, literature, philosophy not with accumulating power, or humbling the "Anglo Saxon".

Perhaps the most important factor contributing to the difficulty of Americans in recognizing European designs against their country is the profound difference in mentality between the inhabitants of a great naval/commercial power such as the United States and the inhabitants of territorial/administrative powers such as France and Germany which have a history of being motivated by grand imperial ambitions.

The former [Americans] have a tradition of "liberal" small government at home and free trade abroad and little interest in ruling populations not their own. The latter [Europeans] have a tradition of big government at home and seeking abroad hegemonic rule which includes the destruction of independent great naval/commercial powers.

As Germany's hatred, persecution and slaughter of the Jews served its project of European unification, Europe's current hatred of the State of Israel and Jews may serve today's. The European Union's steadfast sponsorship of the P.L.O., whose chief aim is the destruction of the Jewish state, provides Europe with a foreign policy and common cause to rally around. It gives Europe an overseas role replacing the Soviet Union in the Middle East and helps cement European alliances with Arabs and Muslims who are the most hatefully anti-American segment of the world's population and who may be relied upon to produce terrorists wielding bombs.

It may even be that European leaders act in the belief that hatred of Jews and Israel could provide the current project of European unification with an ideology having an emotional force comparable to those which powered France's and Germany's projects of European unification between 1800 and 1945. (Of course, this does not contradict other explanations of the European campaign against Israel: That describing Israel as an enterprise of colonialism and equating Israel with Nazi Germany gives Europeans a means of compensating for their own imperialistic past and neutralizing the evil of their own collaboration with Germany in the Holocaust).

Each of the three projects of European unification in the modern era: The French, the German and the current European Union have been fundamentally antagonistic toward the Jews. The French denied the Jews their peoplehood; the German, their lives, and the European Union attempts to deny them their state.

In ancient times when Europe was a wilderness and the center of Western civilization was the area around the Mediterranean, the Roman Empire, precursor and model for the modern French and German projects of European unification, having destroyed the naval/commercial power Carthage, ruled land and sea. It also destroyed the Jew's Holy Temple, their state and their lives.

It has often been observed that phobic hatred of Jews and "Anglo-Saxons" have much in common and occur together. In 1906 with Germany already mentally prepared for and in the process of arming for its project of European conquest and weltpolitic, the German Otto Ladendorf wrote that in Europe the Jews represent Americanism, "Judiazation is actually Americanization".

German propaganda at the time of the First World War claimed that the British people were fighting their "German cousins" because "they were no longer true Anglo-Saxons, but had adopted a Jewish orientation". The war, one newspaper wrote, "was really a 'Judenkreig', because it pitted the Pan-German (upstanding martial heroes) against the Pan-British/Pan-Jewish weltanschauung (grubby tradesmen, seekers of Mammon)".

During the Weimar period German anti-Americanism conjured "the image of a world-dominating plutocracy", a view held by both right and left wings of political opinion. In the words of Werner Sombart, a leading German intellectual of the period, America is a "state of the Jews".

Germans in the Nazi period claimed that "Uncle Sam had been transformed into Uncle Shylock". America and the Jews represented all that was degenerate and worthy of hate.

Now, especially since 1967, the Jewish target of European opinion is Israel, not the powerless Jews of Europe. In the massive anti-American demonstrations throughout Europe on Saturday, February 15, 2003, "Europeans across most of the political spectrum united in their opposition to America's impending attack on Iraq. Many of the demonstrators carried anti-Israel slogans. This brought together Europe's elites [who had been drumming anti-American and anti-Israeli themes in all branches of the media] and masses, right and left, government and opposition…it united Europeans emotionally for the first time".

Anti-"Anglo-Saxon" and anti-Semitic stereotypes have many similarities: Jews and Anglo-Saxons care only for profits, are treacherous cowards who arrange to have others die for their profit, have no sense of honor, are a "foreign body in the community of nations which must be destroyed in the interest of humanity". It has been suggested that the overlap between hatred of Jews and "Anglo-Saxons" results from the similarity in the negative stereotypes employed against both. The error in this thinking results from accepting the fallacy that negative stereotypes are the cause of hatred rather than its effect. An explanation more on target may be that European phobic hatreds of Jews and "Anglo-Saxons" overlap because both Jew and independent naval/commercial power stand in the way of the total political and spiritual dominion which empires such as the Roman and its more recent European imitators seek.

1. Mammoths in North America
The Denver Post

Hunters, prey in ancient dance
At a dig site in Kansas, evidence was found that humans may have hunted and eaten mammoths
By Diedtra Henderson
Denver Post Staff Writer

Sunday, June 13, 2004 -

A research team that includes a Colorado scientist may have discovered one of the oldest archaeological sites in North America, one that irrefutably places humans and the mammoths they scavenged in the same place at the same time.

Already tantalizing, the site near the Colorado-Kansas border jumped in significance when the crew unearthed a human artifact in the same soil layer as mammoth and camel bones.

"They found a flake," said Rolfe Mandel, a University of Kansas geo-archaeologist who financed and oversaw the 10-day scouting mission that ended Friday.

Scientists have debated whether the first Americans hunted or scavenged massive mammoths, Ice Age relics that went extinct about the same time the climate warmed. Many argue that the animal bones are fractured in telltale ways, suggesting that humans processed them for meat and marrow. Doubters counter that other animals could have shattered the mammoth bones.

"What happens is you get a bunch of archaeologists together, and they'll argue," Mandel said. "Unless you find an artifact ... it always becomes a contentious argument. Well, they found the artifact."

The site in northwestern Kansas - scientists are keeping its precise location secret for fear of interlopers - has two distinct layers of soil where animal bones are concentrated.

2. Arutz Sheva News Monday,
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
June 21, 2004 / Tammuz 2, 5764
VISITING JOSEPH'S TOMB, DISCOVERING GIDEON'S TOMB
PUBLIC SWINGS RIGHT

VISITING JOSEPH'S TOMB, DISCOVERING GIDEON'S TOMB
Hundreds of worshippers prayed last night at the tomb of the Biblical patriarch Joseph, on the occasion of his traditionally-accepted date of birth and death, the 2nd of Tammuz. Arab vandals destroyed the tomb, located in Shechem (Nablus), at the start of the Oslo War almost four years ago after IDF forces withdrew from the site. The terms of the Oslo Agreements state that Israel is to retain control of the holy site, but in fact the IDF has given up virtually all control.

The visit last night was arranged somewhat secretly, but the many visitors included Breslover Hassidim, residents of nearby communities, and Jews from elsewhere around the country. The IDF allows organized visits once every several months, under tightened security.

"When we first arrived," recounted Yishai Fleisher, one of the worshipers, this morning, "there was a palpable feeling of sadness in seeing the tomb's ruined state. The dome on top was broken, there were rocks all over, and everything was burned and filled with soot. As time passed, however - we were there for over an hour - our spirits were lifted, and soon there was a genuine feeling of upliftment and excitement. We broke out into song, such as 'In the merit of Joseph HaTzaddik [the Righteous],' and more."

Among the visitors were MK Benny Elon, Rabbi Moshe Levinger and Noam Arnon of Hevron, and musician Aharon Raz'el. Fleisher noted that the streets of Shechem were filled with posters of children holding M-16 rifles, dead terrorist leader Sheikh Yassin, and the like.

Fleisher told Arutz-7's Yosef Meiri that the buses set off from the nearby Jewish community of Itamar. "We arrived a few minutes early, so we drove around Itamar a bit," he said. "We found ourselves on a winding and very steep road, and suddenly in front of us we saw a beautifully-kept tomb, with two soldiers standing nearby. When we asked them what it was, we were excited to hear that this was the tomb of Gideon, of the Book of Judges."

Meiri then spoke to Rabbi Natan Chai of Itamar, who explained the "circumstantial evidence" indicating that this was Gideon's Tomb: "The Arabs in the area call the place Gadua (pronounced Jadua), and in addition, it is located on the border of the inheritance of the Tribe of Menashe - Gideon's tribe. In any event, the Ari Zal [the saintly 16th-century Kabbalistic Rabbi Yitzchak Luria of Tzfat] investigated many of the holy gravesites, and wrote that even if they are not the precise sites of burial, many of them serve the same purpose in being 'the site of the soul.' I'm not saying that this is the case here, but it could be. Some four families now live on the hilltop neighborhood known as Mt. Gideon, which is a part of Itamar. Approximately five years ago, some of those who live there built the beautiful structure atop the grave. People often come here to pray and the like. This helps us reconnect with our Holy Land."
Rabbi Chai took advantage of the conversation to say, "If you're interested in matters having to do with reconnecting the Jewish People with the Land, I think it's important to note that there is a building in Tiberias that was originally built as the synagogue of the Sh'lah (Rabbi Isaiah Horowitz, 17th century) and now 'belongs' to the Greek Orthodox Church. The Turkish governor 'sold' it to the Greeks, as if it was his property, and unfortunately all efforts to redeem it since then have failed. It is located along the shore in Tiberias, and it is important that people visit it and keep it in the public Jewish awareness."

PUBLIC SWINGS RIGHT
A new popular survey carried out by Haifa University's National Security Research Center indicates some surprises in public opinion on issues such as withdrawals and uprooting Jewish towns. The poll shows that nearly half of the Jewish public - 47.7% - negates the establishment of a Palestinian state, even in the framework of a peace agreement.

In what is possibly the most surprising finding of all, Dr. Daphna Kanati-Nissim, one of those who directed the survey, told Arutz-7 today that if national elections were held today, close to 30% of the public would support a Kach-like party.

In contrast with other surveys, the poll in question shows that 44% object to even a partial withdrawal from Judea, Samaria and Gaza, and 40% are against the dismantling of even one Jewish settlement. Over 55% of the Jewish public feels that Israeli-Arabs are a threat to national security.

3. The Yom Kippur war
From: imra@netvision.net.il

Archives: PM Sharon's powerful argument that Yom Kippur War result of
ignoring Egyptian violation of cease-fire

Aaron Lerner Date: 30 September 2001 <=== redistributed 21 June 2004

Speaking today at the main memorial service for those who died in the 1973
Yom Kippur War, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon noted that Israel was surprised
in that war by Egypt because the Egyptians did not honor the 1970 cease-fire
agreement and thus the lesson of the Yom Kippur War is that one must always
pay attention when agreements are not honored.

Below is the 13 August 1970 statement by Defence Minister Dayan on the
immediate Egyptian violation of the 7 August cease-fire agreement.

Now we know the following:

#1 The Egyptians moved anti-aircraft missiles close to the Suez Canal the
very moment that the cease-fire went into effect.

#2 The US had a spy plane that flew over the area that first day and
photographed the violations. They were aware that first day that the
Egyptians had violated the agreement. It should be noted that at the time
the US asked Israel to provide evidence and for several days said it was
waiting for evidence of violation.

#3 While BEFORE the agreement was signed, the US promised Israel that if the
Egyptians moved up their missiles that the US would press the Egyptians to
pull them back, when they finally had to face up to the violation, the US
explained that they could not pressure Egypt.

#5 Those same anti-aircraft missiles ultimately provided invading Egyptian
forces protection from the Israeli Air Force at the opening of the Yom
Kippur War in 1973.

Sharon's remark hits several levels:

First: The war was a disaster because the Egyptians succeeded in inflicting
heavy casualties and they succeeded in doing that because they were able to
operate under a umbrella thanks to their violating the August 1970
cease-fire.

Second: The Labor Government that ruled the country during that period is
responsible for taking a cavalier attitude towards the Egyptian violation of
the cease-fire.

Third: The United States contributed to the Yom Kippur War by deliberately
turning its back on the Egyptian violation and then refusing to act on it.

4. Hoax entitled: No longer be any Jews in Europe end of 2005

Dear Yair,

Got this tragic email. [entitled: No longer be any Jews in Europe end of 2005]
Do you know anything more on this?

Answer:
It is a hoax or rather a parody of solutions proposed in Israel to "disengage"
from the Palestinians. I do not think it was intended to be taken seriously but rather
as an illustration of where European-type attitudes and "peace-loving" proposed solutions could lead to.

5. Conspiracy Nuts are Pawns of Fascism!
Fascism is behind the Islamic terror campaign!
From: surfer1 <surfer1@tpg.com.au>
Reply-to: origin@yahoogroups.com

Brit-Am Preliminary Comment: I am not a Freemason nor was anybody in my family
on principle. Nevertheless claims against Freemasonry are usually not true and also
frequently a forerunner of a more sinister agenda.
See the "Brit-Am Commentary" at the end of these extracts.
_____________________________________________

Is fascism behind the terror?
NEW STATESMAN

Nick Cohen
Monday 12th April 2004

Islamist extremists believe in a worldwide conspiracy not just of Jews, but also of Freemasons. They thus echo the rantings of Europe's extreme right in the 19th and 20th centuries. By Nick Cohen
[Extracts Only]

Ever since 11 September 2001 reasonable people in liberal democracies have concluded that their enemies must at some level be reasonable, too. Surely such hatred must have been provoked by the west. Surely the solution must be for western governments to stop being provocative. Their rational opponents would then have no reason to commit homicidal attacks, and we would be safe. Unfortunately the belief in a rational motive is an illusion. To sustain the rationalist fallacy, you must ignore vast amounts of evidence. In the Sudan, Iran, Afghanistan and Algeria, millions have died in Islamist wars and massacres that make Srebrenica and the World Trade Center appear paltry affairs. Islamist movements dedicated to persecuting Muslims who believe in the separation of church and state or the emancipation of women are not rational on any terms but their own. This seems a simple point to make. If you pay al-Qaeda and its imitators the compliment of reading what their leaders say, you find a cosmic dream of an Islamic empire dominating the world.

On 9 March, to take the most recent example, two suicide bombers blew themselves up at a restaurant in Istanbul. If their victims had been British, American or Jewish, right-thinking people would have said that the overthrow of the Taliban or the invasion of Iraq or the humiliation of the Palestinians was the "root cause" of the murders. As it was, the dead were members of a party of diners from a Masonic lodge, and the story died as quickly as they did.

In November 2003, 32 people were killed and more than 400 injured when the British consulate in Istanbul and the (Brit-ish) HSBC bank were attacked. Every right-thinking person agreed that the suicidal assaults were a punishment for the war on Iraq, and no one dwelt on the oddity of the statement given by the caller who claimed responsibility on behalf of a Turkish Islamist group and al-Qaeda. "We will continue to attack Masonic targets," he said. "The Muslims are not alone."

Type "Masons" and "Islam" into Google and you get about 14,000 hits. The Masons, you learn, hide subliminal messages in The Simpsons as well as the music of the Eagles, Michael Jackson and Madonna, the better to brainwash the world. (Should you be inclined to play "Hotel California" backwards, you will hear "yeah Satan", apparently.) Abu Hamza, who extolled the glories of martyrdom from the Finsbury Park mosque in London, told the Independent: "I am not saying every American government figure knew about [11 September 2001]. But there are a few people [in the US government] who want to trigger a third world war. They are sponsored by the business lobby. Most of them are Freemasons, and they have loyalty to the Zionists."

The Saudi-educated London preacher Abdullah el-Faisal, who was jailed for inciting racial hatred, ranted about "cabals of Jews and Freemasons plotting to take over the world". Hamas said that its enemies "formed secret societies, such as Freemasons, the Rotary Club, the Lions and others". Saddam Hussein's Iraq announced that the penalty for "who-ever promotes or incites Zionist principles including Freemasonry" was death. Islamist Iran executed 200 Masons after the clerics seized power in 1979. The Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, the country that has done most to pump money to fundamentalists, announced in the 1970s that the Freemasons were "a very evil and dark fraternity".

To British eyes this is all howling mad. Every now and again, journalists receive unprovable accusations that the Masons have tied up a plum job or fixed a planning decision, but on the whole British Freemasonry has become a Pythonesque joke - "the mafia of the mediocre", as a character in Our Friends in the North exclaimed. Men who roll up their trouser legs and exchange silly handshakes are many things, but a conspiracy for world domination they are not. That tyrants and religious fanatics see them as such is revealing. It shows that the paranoias of fascist Europe have spread to many of the third world's reactionary movements.

"You can't say anything for or against the Jews without getting into trouble," said George Orwell in the 1930s. If it was troublesome then, it is near-impossible now.

In a series of learned articles, Daniel Seymour, a historian of Freemasonry, has argued that it helps cut through the confusion if you take a look at Islamist theocrats' paranoia about Freemasons. It was the original paranoia of Europe's ultra right.

In the 1790s, a French Jesuit, the Abbe Barruel, tried to explain how it was that so many of his countrymen had overthrown their sacred monarch, executed the aristocrats who had cared for them and turned on the Catholic Church, which had saved their souls. In a four-volume book he explained that the French had been brainwashed and manipulated by Freemasons - the successors of the crusader Knights Templar of the Middle Ages - who formed a secret conspiracy to achieve a world republic.

The Enlightenment philosophers Diderot, d'Alembert, Condorcet and Helvetius were Masons. So were Benjamin Franklin, George Washington and many of the other founders of the American republic. QED. Representative government, the secular state - indeed, modernity itself - were nothing more than a devilish plot.

Jews were added to the conspiracy in the 19th century. Tsarist Russia used anti-Semitism to distract its subjects from the misery of their lives, in much the same way as the rulers of Saudi Arabia, Syria and Egypt do today. The tsar's secret police fabricated the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which were meant to reveal the Jewish conspiracy to control humanity.

They were and are the essential fascist document. Freemasons were in there.
...And it is worth noting that at the turn of the 21st, Syrian and Egyptian television have shown themselves worthy successors of the tsarist propagandists by dramatising the Protocols and putting them on air.

After the German defeat of 1918, General Erich Ludendorff, controller of the Kaiser's armies, decided that the First World War and the German revolution that followed the Allied victory were the work of Freemasons. He declared that Freemasonry was a Jewish device intended to make "artificial Jews": "It is cheating the people to fight the Jew while allowing his auxiliary troop, Freemasonry, to function."

All European fascist leaders persecuted Freemasonry. About 9,000 Masons were executed in Franco's Spain.

Mussolini banned Freemasonry, as did Hitler.
Europeans ought to be able to diagnose the disease.

There exists a people uniquely blessed by history (the proletariat) or by blood (the Germans, the Spanish, the Italians) or by God (Islamic, Christian, Jewish or Hindu fundamentalists).

These people are destined to inherit the earth. When they do, all modern troubles will vanish. Men will be heroes. Women will bring forth contented children. Yet when the vanguard of those chosen by history, blood or God look around them, they find that the blessed are not marching towards Utopia. How can this be?

The only acceptable answer is: "them". The people who work in the dark. The conspirators who corrupt the blessed, spread disorder in society, who turn women against men and children against their parents. No violence is too great to free the blessed from those who pervert them, for when they are freed an earthly paradise awaits them.

It's an insane story, and one that has produced tens of millions of corpses.

To think it died with the 20th century is pure folly.

Brit-Am Commentary: Biblical "Fundamentalists" (Jewish and Others) really are
(in most or at least many cases) the Israelite Chosen. A true Bible believer
however has compassion towards others, recognizes his/her own shortcomings,
has faith in God, and does not need scapegoats.

6. Water
Problems with starting the day in the morning? Do you suffer from depression?
overeating? substance abuse? thirst for alcohol? caffeine addiction?
lack of energy? stomach upsets? heart palpitations? blood pressure? tension? complexion problems? irritability?
It may be that the solution is to drink more water.
Try it.

7. check out: "Brit-Am Now"-415
item 4. The Biblical Message (based on Isaiah, chapter1)

1. Eliezer: Response to "Conspiracy Nuts"
From: Eliezer <ctsplus@idig.net>
Subject: Response Re: "Conspiracy Nuts"
re Jerusalem News-293
item: 5. Conspiracy Nuts are Pawns of Fascism!
Fascism is behind the Islamic terror campaign!

Yair

Begin with a false predicate, and finish further from the
truth. Fascism IS conspiratorial and uses a lot of "nuts" including
those dumb enough to believe there is no such thing as a
conspiracy. To be sure, conspiracy is the rule in history,
not the exception. True, the victims of conspiracy
are often maligned and persecuted as the perpetrators
and the perpetrators often portrayed as the victims, but then
this is conspiracy in it's most seminal form. As a Jew one
should/must be totally familiar with Haman's conspiracy
to exterminate the Jews of the 126 Provinces of Sushan.
And yes, the Nazis did accuse the Jewish people of
conspiring to enslave the "super race" while they
themselves invaded, plundered and murdered.
Surely, one can not deny the Holocaust was
a conspiracy of well calculated proportions.

The Russian Orchrana did not "fabricate" the Protocols, they
plagiarized material written by Maurice Jolly about the fascistic
proclivities of Napoleon III and adapted it to their purposes -
placing the word Jew where appropriate. The trick was, to
take an expose' of fascism, invert it, and then apply it against
the anti-fascist movements, which primarily was/is democracy.
The principle incorporated in most, if not all conspiracy, is to
cloak oneself in the most acceptable perception of virtue. This
is the Luciferian principle in a "nut" shell - to cloak darkness
in light, slavery in freedom and war in peace.

And you of all people should realize Yair, if one wishes to destroy
a nation, you attack the sexual dignity of the populace. And THIS is
exactly what Madonna and Jackson do. We learn this from Bilaam's
"advice" to Bilak. A direct curse fails, whereas a more calculated
and longer process of moral attrition almost succeeds.

And by the way, the Nazis founded the Nazi Bureau of Occult, and
it was because they outlawed any and all forms of occultic competition
including Rudolf Steiner of Anthroposophy fame, they closed down
Masonry in Germany. The Nazis were intolerant of competing
philosophies, and when they decided conditions were ripe, they
invaded their pal - Communist Russia. National and International
Socialism are birds of a feather but simultaneously viciously
competitive. A Jewish Commonwealth and the American
Democratic Constitutional Republic, in principle, reject both.
Whereas fascism is a people, for and by the government, both
the US and Jewish models are governments "for and by the people."
The real conspiracy, from both within and without, is to destroy the
US and Jewish concepts of accountable representative government
predicated upon moral law. And remember, whereas marriage
might not be "working" very well today, the Torah principle is
itself sound....Cordially, Eliezer

2. More on Water
From: M
Subject: Re: Jerusalem News-293
item 6. Water
RE: Water
Not just any water, LEMON water.. It is a cure all for everything--Even bad Breath!!
8 oz of water-- Just add 1/4 of a Lemon (the juice)--(not juice concentrate, because of the added sulfites).
You should drink a glass at evening (right before bed)-- it is alkalizing to the body. When sleeping, your body tries to rid itself of built up acids that are accumulated throughout the daytime (people who are diagnosed with Cancer have overly acidic bodies). Drinking it in the morning wakes up the mucus membranes in the body-- and also helps to cleanse and alkalize the body. I would not recommend (and I am not a doctor, nor dietician), drinking it with meals (especially meals with Meat) because of the alkalizing nature of Lemon water, it will neutralize the acids in your stomach that are needed for digesting meat proteins; hence, digestion will be slow--and the food may rot in your stomach!

3. Arutz Sheva News Wednesday,
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
June 23, 2004 / Tammuz 4, 5764
-LESS SUPPORT FOR WITHDRAWAL & ARABS THAN THOUGHT: ANALYZING THE NUMBERS
A study carried out by the University of Haifa's National Security Research Center is sending shockwaves through Israel, as political views traditionally relegated to the margins of the political spectrum appear to be nearing a level of public consensus.

For one thing, the study shows that Israeli Jews are not very pleased with the presence of a hostile or potentially-hostile Arab minority in its midst: A full 63.7% believe in what is known as transfer, and said that the government should encourage the emigration of Israeli-Arabs from Israel. 55.3% believe the Israeli-Arab population constitutes a threat to Israel's security, while 45.3% even favor eliminating Israeli-Arab rights to be elected to the Knesset and to participate in elections.

Widespread support of Israel's counter-terror methods was recorded. Nearly 80% of Jews support Israel's policy of killing terrorist leaders; even 11.6% of Israeli-Arabs support this policy.

Contrary to popular perception that the overwhelming majority is in favor of ceding territory, 44.1% of Jews - and 21% of Arabs, including Druze - are against handing over any part of Yesha (Judea, Samaria and Gaza) even in the theoretical framework of a comprehensive peace agreement. A bit less, 39.8%, are against the dismantling of even one Jewish community under a peace arrangement. Surprisingly, 22.4% of Arabs agree with them.

Almost half - 47.7% - say that Israel must object to the establishment of a Palestinian state as a pre-condition for a peace arrangement. One out of seven Israeli-Arabs feels the same.

In what is possibly the most surprising finding of all, Dr. Daphna Kanati, who co-directed the study, said that if national elections were held today, close to 30% of the public would support a Kach-like party - outlawed for its extreme right-wing views. She said that this figure had not yet been publicly released. She herself, however, told Israel National Radios Eli Stutz and Yishai Fleisher that the most surprising statistic for her was the high percentage of Jews - over two-thirds - who support transfer.

4. Clarification. Jews Must leave Europe! False Alarm?
From: William Rasmussen
Subject: Re: Jerusalem News-293

Shalom Yair: Someone wrote in regarding the posting that all Jews would be out of Europe by 2005. That person is unfortunately confused. I too got that posting sent by Women in Green. Women in Green is a patriotic, biblical organization that is fighting the proposed withdrawal from Gaza and parts of Shomron and Judea. Ruth and Nadia Matar, who are zealous in their love of Eretz Yisrael, sent out a posting mocking the removal of Jews from Yesha by writing a parody that spoke of a "Judenfrei" Europe. Anyone reading the posting could immediately see that the real focus was to challenge the removal of Jews from Gaza. Their hopes were to see that the removal of Jews from Gaza was in fact, the same as the Nazi removal of Jews from Europe during World War 2.

I would highly recommend that all members of Brit Am join Women in Green. This can be done by logging on to the Jerusalem Post and clicking the icon for Women in Green. Members will get postings notifying them of events in Israel. Often, participants in Women in Green will be asked to write or call Israeli or American politicians and various Jewish groups to garner support for keeping Israel as a viable Jewish state without sacrificing any land. Hope this clarifies the issue. -Bill Rasmussen

5. History: Some “Righteous Arabs”
Date: Wed, 07 Jul 2004 14:29:27 -0500
From: voices@israelunitycoalition.org
In Search of “Righteous Arabs”

Robert Satloff

Commentary Magazine - July 04, 2004
Extracts Only:

For the Holocaust, although overwhelmingly a European story, was not solely a European story. It was an Arab story, too, and the dimensions of that story are much larger and more complex than such by now familiar facts as the pro-Nazi exploits of Haj Amin al-Husseini, the mufti of Jerusalem, or the largely unsuccessful propaganda rants by the Nazis’ Arabic mouthpieces on Radio Berlin. From the outset, German plans to persecute and eventually to exterminate the Jews extended throughout all the lands Germany and its allies hoped to conquer. That included a great Arab expanse in North Africa, extending from Casablanca to Tripoli and onward to Cairoa region that was home to a half-million Jews. Indeed, the country-by-country plan of extermination laid out at the Wannsee Conference in Berlin in January 1942 makes sense only if the wildly inaccurate figure for the Jews of unoccupied France700,000is understood to include France’s North African possessions: the colony of Algeria an! d the protectorates of Morocco and Tunisia.

In the brief period when they had a chance, the Germans and their allies made a significant start toward their murderous goal for North Africa’s Jews. For three yearsfrom the fall of France in June 1940 to the expulsion of German troops from Tunisia in May 1943the Nazis, their Vichy French collaborators, and their Italian Fascist allies applied in these areas many of the same tools that would be used to devastating effect against the much larger Jewish populations of Europe. These included not only statutes depriving Jews of property, education, livelihood, residence, and free movement, but also forced labor, confiscations, deportations, and executions.

Virtually no Jew in North Africa was left untouched. Nearly 10,000 suffered in labor camps, work gangs, and prisons, or under house arrest. By a stroke of fortune, relatively few perished, many of them in the almost daily Allied bombings of Tunis and Bizerte in the winter and spring of 1943 when the Germans forced Jewish workers to stay at their jobs clearing rubble. But if U.S. and British troops had not driven the Germans from the African continent in 1943, the 2,000-year-old Jewish communities of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and perhaps Egypt would almost certainly have met the fate of their brethren in Europe.

The story of the Holocaust in Arab lands has three main divisions: the extension of Vichy’s “state anti-Semitism” to France’s North African possessions; the imposition of Mussolini’s anti-Jewish regime in Libya; and the six-month occupation of Tunisia by German and Italian troops. Other French possessions in the LevantSyria and Lebanon were affected by Vichy, but to a much lesser degree and for a considerably briefer time. There was also the special case of Iraq, which in 1941 witnessed a rapacious campaign against Jews in the course of a short-lived military coup by Rashid Ali al-Gaylani, a Nazi sympathizer; but neither the Germans nor their other European partners were central actors in that drama.

Particularly hard hit was Tunisia, the only Arab country to come under direct German occupation. In just six months, from November 1942 to May 1943, the Germans and their local collaborators implemented a forced-labor regime, confiscations of property, hostage-taking, mass extortion, deportations, and executions. They required thousands of Jews in the countryside to wear the Star of David, and they created special Judenrat-like committees of Jewish leaders to implement Nazi policies under threat of imprisonment or death. Tunisia was also the training ground for some of the most notorious Nazi killerslike SS Colonel Walter Rauff, who had earlier invented the mobile death-gas van.

Nevertheless, of the three European countries that brought the Holocaust to Arab lands, the most malevolent by far was France. In Morocco and, especially, Algeria, France implemented strict laws against local Jews, expelling them from schools, universities, and government employment, confiscating their property, and sending a number of local Jewish political activists to harsh labor camps. In some respects, Vichy was more vigorous about applying anti-Jewish statutes in Arab lands than in metropolitan France.

Not content with this, Vichy also dispatched more than 2,000 European Jews to forced-labor camps in North Africa. The origins of this tale lie earlier, in the 1930’s, when France’s relatively liberal Third Republic provided safe haven to thousands of Central European Jews fleeing their homelands while they still could. Many of these new arrivals promptly joined the French army. Indeed, when war arrived in 1939, a Jewish veterans’ organization operating out of a single office in Paris reportedly registered 10,000 volunteers, all non-citizens, in a mere ten days.

But none of this made any difference. The collaborationist government established in 1940 under Marshal P tain turned the Jews, both foreign and native-born, into ready scapegoats for France’s shameful collapse at Nazi hands. As recent scholarship has definitively shown, the persecution of Jews under Vichy originated as a French, not a German, affair; eventually, thousands of French Jewish citizens would be herded into cattle cars, sent to notorious transit stations like Drancy, and then on to death camps in “the east.”

It was, however, the foreign Jews living in France who first felt the brunt of the French defeat. For Vichy, the thorniest problem was presented by those who had volunteered for military duty and had been led to believe that their service to France would be repaid with legal residency and perhaps citizenship. Even hardened anti-Semites blanched at the idea of discharging Jewish soldiers one day and consigning them to death the next.

The deserts of France’s Arab possessions offered a ready solution. One of the first acts of Petain’s government was to revive the old imperial idea of a trans-Sahara railway: a thousand miles of track across the sands that would drastically cut the travel time from Niger to Nice and bring the riches of Africa to the metropolis. To level the dunes, clear the rocks, lay the tracks, and mine the considerable deposits of coal and ore near the route, Vichy summarily dispatched more than 7,000 unwanteds to desolate corners of western Algeria and eastern Morocco. Most were political prisoners of various stripesSpanish republicans, Communists, socialists, anti-Nazi Germans, Gaullists; also included were a smattering of Arabs and even a Japanese. More than 2,000 were Jews, who, unlike the rest, were deported not for their politics but for their religion.

The places where these unfortunates arrived were concentration camps, conceived by Frenchmen and filled with individuals whose only “crime” had been to flee fascist tyranny for the safety of a once-welcoming France. Soldiers and legionnaires, technically demobilized from their military service, were immediately compelled to sign contracts reclassifying themselves as “wartime labor conscripts,” which meant they were subject to military discipline. Though the contracts stipulated the payment of a wagetypically, a few francs a day from the payroll of the Mediterranean-Niger Railway Companyfew ever received any money. They were, in fact, prisoners in all but name.

Shipped southward by cattle car from the ports of Algiers and Oran, they were herded into camps from which there was no leaving; some died in the attempt. Given little food, water, or rest, they worked from dawn to dusk gathering, breaking, loading, and moving rocks. Medical care was virtually nonexistent. Having built stone casernes to house their French overseers, the prisoners themselves were consigned to tents; smuggled photographs show 40 individuals packed inside tents designed for eight. Their clothes and blankets were threadbare; often, they had no shoes.

Torture was common and frequent. According to later testimonies, the camp commandants and senior officers, mostly legionnaires themselves, were vicious anti-Semites, sadistic and often drunk, many of German origin or fascist sympathies. They were assisted by Arab and Senegalese guards, notorious for their cruelty. Any Arab or Berber watchman discovered showing sympathy for the Jews, secretly providing them with extra water, blankets, or rations, was quickly assigned to other duties and replaced by local guards whose ruthlessness was more reliable.

Thus far I have touched but lightly on the role of Arabs themselves in the events I have been recounting. There has been, indeed, scant writing about and little documentation of this side of things. But for the past two years, while living in Rabat, the capital of Morocco, I have tracked down stories of Arabs who played a role in the Holocaust, be they villains or heroes. With the help of researchers and investigators in ten different countries, I have been able to unearth the stories of dozens of such individuals.

Their number includes outright collaborators i.e., Arabs who personally participated in the persecution of Jews. Among these were an Arab sadist who commanded a Jewish work brigade in the Tunisian countryside; another Tunisian, Hassen Ferjani, convicted by a French military tribunal of having informed to the Germans on three Jews fleeing across Allied lines, an act leading to their deportation and eventual beheading; Arab patrolmen who tracked down Jewish escapees from forced-labor camps; Arabs who walked alongside German soldiers, pointing out Jewish homes and property for confiscation; the Arab accomplice to a German soldier who raped a Jewish woman in La Marsa, outside Tunis; and Arab camp guards who urinated on the heads of Jewish forced laborers as they lay buried to their necks in the sands of Algeria.

In addition to these individuals were the hundreds of Arabs who volunteered to join Axis and pro-Axis forces like the Phalange Africaine, the Brigade Nord Africaine, and the German-Arab Training Battalion. And then there were the nameless thousands throughout North Africa who extorted money and property from Jews at their moment of abject weakness.

As for the heroes who helped save Jews from pain, injury, indignity, and perhaps death, they included:
the Bey of Tunis and, more famously though less conclusively, the Sultan of Morocco, both of whom bucked their Vichy and German overlords to provide vital moral support to their Jewish subjects, as well as practical help to a number of Jewish personalities and their families;
the Arab country squire who opened his farm to 60 Jews escaping from an Axis forced-labor camp in Tunisia’s Zaghouan valley;
a middle-aged Arab notable in the Tunisian seaside town of Mahdia who, upon learning that a German officer was bent on raping a local Jewish woman, a mother of three, whisked away the entire family in the middle of the night and kept them hidden on his farm for several weeks until the Germans quit the town;* (* In October 2003, this woman’s daughter, Anny Boukris, told her family’s story in detail for the first time to an interviewer I arranged to visit her in Palm Desert, California; she died eight weeks later. I was able to confirm key details of the story in a May 2004 visit to Mahdia.)
the Arab politician who secretly warned and offered shelter to his longtime Jewish friends when Nazi SS troops were planning raids against the Jewish leadership in Tunis;
religious leaders in Algiers who forbade any Muslim from serving as a Vichy-appointed conservator of Jewish property;
Arab inmates of a prison camp in the Algerian desert who forged an anti-fascist bond with their Jewish prison mates;
Arab soldiers whose response to shoot-to-kill orders was to fire wide, purposely missing helpless Jewish laborers;
and, in faraway Paris, the rector of the municipal mosque, Si Kaddour Bengabrit, who is said to have given Jewish children counterfeit certificates of good standing as Muslims, thereby enabling them to escape deportation.

Similarly not to be forgotten are those Arabs who suffered alongside Jewsas prisoners in Vichy concentration camps or, as was the case in Tunisia, as forced-laborers drafted once the Jewish community had exhausted its own manpower. A small number of Arabs and Berbers also participated in one of the war’s most daring and overlooked exploits: the takeover of key sites in Algiers by the predominantly Jewish underground, an action that eased the amphibious entry of thousands of U.S. and British troops on the night of Operation Torch in November 1942.

Egyptian consular records from the late 1930’s....I believe, may contain evidence of an “Arab Wallenberg,” an Egyptian diplomat who I suspect provided marriage or birth certificates to German and Au! strian Jews, enabling them to flee to Cairo and from there to freedom in London. Though one might think Egyptian officialdom would be eager to exploit proof of a great humanitarian act by an Egyptian diplomat, one that would burnish Egypt’s bruised image in the United States, none of my requests to Cairo policymakerssome of whom, at the highest levels of government, I have known for more than fifteen yearshas ever been acknowledged.

1. Health Items
In Jerusalem News-294
item 2. More on Water
we posted a message by "M" concerning lemon water.
The information was either wrong or debatable.
[The advice was probably good but the explanation was problematic].
This is not our field of interest and in future we will abstain from relaying such messages.

2. Sudanese Slave Boys Freed
From: imra@netvision.net.il
Washington D.C.
July 14, 2004

85 Black Sudanese boy slaves were freed from Arab
masters last month through the mediation of the
Arab-Dinka Peace Committee at Warawar, Southern Sudan.
The freed slaves were documented last week by an
international team of researchers sponsored by CSI.

The freed slave boys were among the tens of thousands
of Black women and children who had been enslaved by
Sudanese government-sponsored militias during two
decades of civil war. All of the boys reported that
they were forced to work without pay, and were
frequently beaten and subjected to racial insults.
Over 80% of the boys reported that they had been
forced to practice Islam against their will, while 18%
claimed they had been raped by their masters or by
their mastersEfriends and relatives. One 14-year-old
boy, Mawien Garang, explained that his master forced
him to serve another man as a male prostitute. 65% of
the slaves reported that they had witnessed the
execution of other Black Africans during slave raids
or while in captivity.

The Islamist Government of Sudan has long sponsored
slave raiding in Southern Sudan as an instrument of a
declared jihad against the Black, non-Muslim
communities that have resisted the imposition of
Arab-dominated, Islamic rule. As a result of a U.S.
supported cease-fire in Southern Sudan, the Khartoum
government has recently suspended slave raiding there.
But it has revived the practice against the Black
African tribes of Darfur in western Sudan.

Since the outbreak of civil war in 1983, the
Government of Sudan has implemented genocidal policies
against Black African tribes, resulting in the death
of over two million civilians, the displacement of
over five million and the enslavement of tens of
thousands of women and children.

For more details:
Contact Keith Roderick at (202) 498 8644, or
keith.roderick@csi-usa.org

3. Psalms 9
TO THE CHIEF MUSICIAN, UPON MUTH-LABEN. A PSALM OF DAVID
or
TO HE WHO GRANTS VICTORY, IMMORTALITY FOR THE SON, A PSALM OF DAVID
<<IMMORTALITY FOR THE SON>>: in Hebrew "al mut laben". We have translated this phrase according to S. R. Hirsch but the translation is technically difficult and somewhat forced.
The Psalm speaks in the name of all Israel. In the Bible the chosen king (e.g. Solomon) is referred to by the Almighty as His "son" (2-Samuel 7:14, cf Psalm 80:17). The people of Israel as a collective entity are also referred to as the "son" of God, e.g. <<THUS SAITH THE LORD, ISRAEL IS MY SON, EVEN MY FIRSTBORN>> [Exodus 4:22].

[Psalms 9:1] I WILL PRAISE THEE, O LORD, WITH MY WHOLE HEART; I WILL SHEW FORTH ALL THY MARVELLOUS WORKS.
<<I WILL PRAISE>>: In Hebrew "Odeh" meaning acknowledge.

[Psalms 9:2] I WILL BE GLAD AND REJOICE IN THEE: I WILL SING PRAISE TO THY NAME, O THOU MOST HIGH.

[Psalms 9:3] WHEN MINE ENEMIES ARE TURNED BACK, THEY SHALL FALL AND PERISH AT THY PRESENCE.

[Psalms 9:4] FOR THOU HAST MAINTAINED MY RIGHT AND MY CAUSE; THOU SATEST IN THE THRONE JUDGING RIGHT.

[Psalms 9:5] THOU HAST REBUKED THE HEATHEN, THOU HAST DESTROYED THE WICKED, THOU HAST PUT OUT THEIR NAME FOR EVER AND EVER.
This Psalm was written by David. It has some pertienence to the time of David though it also is describing what will happen after the Messiah son of David appears. Some Commentators say the Psalm is seaking on behalf of ALL ISRAEL in a collective sense.

[Psalms 9:6] O THOU ENEMY, DESTRUCTIONS ARE COME TO A PERPETUAL END: AND THOU HAST DESTROYED CITIES; THEIR MEMORIAL IS PERISHED WITH THEM.

[Psalms 9:7] BUT THE LORD SHALL ENDURE FOR EVER: HE HATH PREPARED HIS THRONE FOR JUDGMENT.

[Psalms 9:8] AND HE SHALL JUDGE THE WORLD IN RIGHTEOUSNESS, HE SHALL MINISTER JUDGMENT TO THE PEOPLE IN UPRIGHTNESS.

[Psalms 9:9] THE LORD ALSO WILL BE A REFUGE FOR THE OPPRESSED, A REFUGE IN TIMES OF TROUBLE.
When you are in trouble and you pray to the Almighty He will help you. Sometimes it is difficulty to pray for psychological reasons. In such cases even reading the Bible or efficacious works can help the point is to somehow direct oneself towards the Almighty.

[Psalms 9:10] AND THEY THAT KNOW THY NAME WILL PUT THEIR TRUST IN THEE: FOR THOU, LORD, HAST NOT FORSAKEN THEM THAT SEEK THEE.
If you search you will find and be helped and be of help to others.

[Psalms 9:11] SING PRAISES TO THE LORD, WHICH DWELLETH IN ZION: DECLARE AMONG THE PEOPLE HIS DOINGS.
<<WHICH DWELLETH IN ZION>>: God makes His presence apparent though Jerusalem and Israel. The God of Israel is the Almighty Himself. There is no other. Only through the God of Israel can salvation be found. All the nations MUST acknowledge the God of Israel. Israel MUST be made aware of their own Israelite ancestral sources. We have an obligation beyond ourselves and our own survival and that of our family.

[Psalms 9:12] WHEN HE MAKETH INQUISITION FOR BLOOD, HE REMEMBERETH THEM: HE FORGETTETH NOT THE CRY OF THE HUMBLE.

[Psalms 9:13] HAVE MERCY UPON ME, O LORD; CONSIDER MY TROUBLE WHICH I SUFFER OF THEM THAT HATE ME, THOU THAT LIFTEST ME UP FROM THE GATES OF DEATH:
<<HAVE MERCY UPON ME>>: in Hebrew "Chanani" which (S.R. Hirsch) can mean, "give me the means". Help me overcome if necessary by way of nature but through your enabling me to realise my own potential. The people of Israel are capable of solving their own problems and also those of the tentire world but first they must turn their hearts back to the Almighty. They must be made aware of where they came from and the corresponding duties laid upon them.
David was persecuted and in danger of his life several times. So too, the future Messiah may initially suffer such tribulations. Also Israel as an historic entity has been indanger saeveral times and still is. The Jews (Judah) have also survuived numerous and continuous attempts to eliminate them by every means possible. The enemy of Judah is the enemy of Israel and the enemy of Israel is the enemy of Judah. The enemy of Judah and Israel is the enemy of the Almighty.

[Psalms 9:14] THAT I MAY SHEW FORTH ALL THY PRAISE IN THE GATES OF THE DAUGHTER OF ZION: I WILL REJOICE IN THY SALVATION.

[Psalms 9:15] THE HEATHEN ARE SUNK DOWN IN THE PIT THAT THEY MADE: IN THE NET WHICH THEY HID IS THEIR OWN FOOT TAKEN.
Our enemies will fall in their own traps.

[Psalms 9:16] THE LORD IS KNOWN BY THE JUDGMENT WHICH HE EXECUTETH: THE WICKED IS SNARED IN THE WORK OF HIS OWN HANDS. HIGGAION. SELAH.
<<HIGGAION>>: From the Hebrew "hegeh" meaning thought, contemplation. The English word "though" (Old English, "thoht") is derived from the same Hebrew root.
S.R. Hirsch explains "Higaion" to mean: "the truth that becomes apparent"; "the truth that reveals the hand of God in history"

[Psalms 9:17] THE WICKED SHALL BE TURNED INTO HELL, AND ALL THE NATIONS THAT FORGET GOD.
<<INTO HELL>>: In Hebrew "Sheolah", i.e. to the grave, to down below, to destruction. "Sheolah" is from "Sheol" (grave, underworld) and perhaps connected to the root "She-al" to borrow. This coukld indicate either a state of limbo or of eternal perdition. The natural destiny of man is eternal life but through sin this can be forfeited.

[Psalms 9:18] FOR THE NEEDY SHALL NOT ALWAY BE FORGOTTEN: THE EXPECTATION OF THE POOR SHALL NOT PERISH FOR EVER.
Everything has a purpose and reason. God hears you and looks after you. He wants you to be with Him in both this world and the next.

[Psalms 9:19] ARISE, O LORD; LET NOT MAN PREVAIL: LET THE HEATHEN BE JUDGED IN THY SIGHT.

[Psalms 9:20] PUT THEM IN FEAR, O LORD: THAT THE NATIONS MAY KNOW THEMSELVES TO BE BUT MEN. SELAH.

1. David Ben-Ariel: Anglo-Israeli Alliance Needed
Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2004 12:12:02 -0400
From: David Ben-Ariel <davidbenariel@famvid.com>
Subject: Call for Anglo-Israeli alliance

The United States should recognize our Hebrew roots and biblical responsibilities, and band together with our Jewish brethren to FIGHT AND WIN THE WAR AGAINST THE NAZI-MUSLIMS.

The Arab regimes only respect force, and with our attempt to be evenhanded, rather than using a proper iron fist, showing the mercy of fools and seeking to appease the Muslim beast, we're only reaping further hatred and contempt, since they consider such foolishness as weakness - and it is
icon_exclaim.gif

Biblical prophecy shows ultimately the Anglo-Israelites, the Joes (descended from the tribe of Joseph) and the Jews (descended from the tribe of Judah), will drive our enemies into the sea and/or relocate the "Palestinian" pricks somewhere to the West, perhaps the Western Sahara - away from Israel, our brother nation and faithful ally (Isa. 11:14, Zech. 9:13).

The Arab world should tremble before our Anglo-Israeli alliance and know that we're serious in winning the war they've waged against us, that we're determined to finish what they foolishly started, and that God is with us and their opposition will be crushed and we'll enforce PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH.

The one in a position to deal with the Israeli-Palestinian issue is the ISRAELIS! They must enforce the Law of Moses as taught by former Israeli parliament member and rabbi, Meir Kahane, that demands the immediate expulsion of every sworn enemy from Israel: THEY MUST GO!

The United States, and the world, should stop preaching to Israel to practice restraint, but encourage them to put an end to Arab terrorism by REMOVING THE THREAT from the Jewish Homeland, once and for all! How logical!

The world understood and didn't utter a word of protest, as is proper, when the Gulf States expelled 500,000 "Palestinians" as a security threat during Operation Desert Storm. I was living in Israel as a volunteer at Kibbutz Dan way up north near Syria and Lebanon at the time, and had a letter published in the Jerusalem Post exposing the hypocrisy of the world on this issue.

The UN only sanctioned what God had decreed: the rebirth of Israel as a nation in 1948. They're now nothing more than a den of thieves and brood of vipers that should be sent packing, since they pollute the world from New York with all their vile resolutions against America and Israel while ignoring or supporting all that is truly evil in the world.

2. Arutz Sheva News Sunday
<http://israelnationalnews.com/>IsraelNationalNews.com
July 18, 2004 / Tammuz 29, 5764
TERROR ATTACK NARROWLY AVOIDED IN JERUSALEM
Released for publication this morning: Diners in the Caffit Cafe in Jerusalem last Sunday night were saved from a suicide attack only because the terrorist turned back at literally the last minute.

Details of the almost-attack, as reported by Arutz-7's Kobi Finkler based on information provided by the intelligence services, are as follows: Two clans in Hevron and Abu Dis (just outside Jerusalem) began preparing the attack a month ago, with the former seeking a suicide terrorist, and the latter looking for holes and openings in the anti-terror wall through which to smuggle him. Finally, last Sunday, it all came together: Hevron Hamas terrorist Malik Nasser A-Din was transported to Abu Dis, while the explosives intended for his use were smuggled there in a carton of cookies. He was armed with a handgun and fitted with the '"traditional" suicide bomb vest.

It was widely noted that the presence of the gun marks a new strategy in the suicide bombings. A-Din was to use it to shoot the security guard at very close range, thus neutralizing that "threat," and then run inside the busy cafe and detonate himself.

From Abu Dis, the terrorist was taken to the Wadi Joz neighborhood in eastern Jerusalem, where he was then provided with a Jerusalem Arab driver - whose Israeli identity card facilitate his mobility in the city. The driver brought the human bomb to Emek Refaim St. in the western Jerusalem neighborhood known as the Germany Colony, and pointed out the exact cafe in which his passenger was to detonate himself. The driver then dropped him off somewhat further down the street. In the ensuing seconds, however, the terrorist saw that security was very high and that many policemen were out in force. The security services were in possession of only a general warning, without knowledge of an attack scheduled for that specific area. In any event, the terrorist was deterred, and left the area without being detected.

On Tuesday night, security forces apprehended A-Din's three accomplices in Abu Dis, and learned the details of what had almost occurred. They placed a high alert on the Emek Refaim area again on Wednesday, and on Thursday found A-Din hiding out in a house in Hevron. They surrounded the building, and in the gun battle that ensued, the soldiers shot him dead. Only then was the alert removed from the Emek Refaim area. In toto, eight terrorists and accomplices were arrested.

This is not the first time the Caffit Cafe has been targeted by terrorists - and saved. In March 2002, another Palestinian terrorist pressed the detonator switch as he walked into the cafe, which held some 50 patrons at the time - but the bomb did not go off. He tried once again to detonate himself, but the security guard then overpowered him. The terrorist is now serving a 22-year sentence in an Israeli prison.

On Sept. 9 of last year, a Palestinian terrorist blew up in Hillel Cafe on the same Emek Refaim St., murdering seven people, including Dr. David Appelbaum and his daughter Nava, 20, who was to be married the next night. A month later, 20 people were killed - including five members of each of two different families - in a suicide attack in Maxim Restaurant in Haifa.

OVER-MOTIVATION IN THE IDF
An IDF officer writes that the problem in the IDF is not a lack of motivation, but rather sometimes the opposite: "My troops suffer from over-motivation." Brig.-Gen. Gershon HaCohen, writing a recent brief for the <http://www.jcpa.org/brief/brief3-28.htm>Institute for Contemporary Affairs, notes that Israeli society has
"undergone a change in its basic approach to the concept of peace. It is not enough to 'make love, not war,' and [to think] that if we want peace enough, it will come. People in America and in Israel understand today that peace is something that comes only if society is ready to fight to keep it, to defend it. Fighting for peace is an ongoing struggle."

Gen. HaCohen also states that one of the main achievements of the April 2002 Operation Defensive Shield - Israel's most extensive anti-terrorist operation since the 1982 Peace for Galilee war - was

"within the consciousness of Israeli society. We succeeded in responding to the challenge, recruiting Israeli reservist soldiers from their homes, sending them to carry out their mission - even to die for their mission - and being proud of their achievements. It was vitally important that the basic achievements in the toughest venues - the refugee camps - were carried out by reservist infantry brigades, because this brought a kind of confirmation of the continuing cohesiveness of Israeli society: that we can still succeed in carrying out this kind of operation with victory."

3. Article Extracts Only: Christian Zionists
followed by Brit-Am Comment
Christian Zionists soldier to prophecy
http://www.washtimes.com/world/20040714-101159-1741r.htm
By Jane Lampman
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR

JERUSALEM - Ray Sanders and his wife, Sharon, grew up on farms in the
American Midwest, but Israel has long been their home. Their journey
began in the 1970s, when they read Hal Lindsey's apocalyptic best seller, "The
Late Great Planet Earth," which laid out a scenario for the end of the
world according to a literal interpretation of Bible prophecies.

"That awakened our understanding to Israel and its prophetic role in the
Last Days," Mr. Sanders said in his spacious Jerusalem office. "That was
a real paradigm shift in our lives."

That shift spurred the couple to leave their jobs, attend Bible college
in Texas and move to Jerusalem, where in 1985 they helped found a biblical
Zionist organization called Christian Friends of Israel (CFI).

With a few similar groups here, they are marshaling financial and moral
support from evangelical Christians around the world, and particularly
in the United States, to fulfill what they see as their role in an
unfolding final drama.

Christian Zionists, an evangelical subset whose ranks are estimated at
20 million in the United States, in the past two decades have poured
millions of dollars of donations into Israel, formed a tight alliance with the
Likud and other Israeli politicians seeking an expanded "Greater Israel," and
mobilized grass-roots efforts to get the United States to adopt a
similar policy.

Christian Zionist leaders today have access to the White House and
strong support within Congress.

For many Jews, the enthusiastic support of these evangelical Christians
is welcome at a time of terrorism and rising anti-Semitism. Several Israeli
leaders have called them "the best friends Israel has."

The prophecy

For Christian Zionists, the modern state of Israel is the fulfillment of
God's covenant with Abraham and the center of His action from now to the
Second Coming of Christ and final battle of Armageddon, when the
Antichrist will be defeated. But before this can occur, they say, biblical prophecy
foretells the return of Jews from other countries, Israel's possession
of all the land between the Euphrates and Nile rivers, and the rebuilding
of the Jewish temple where a Muslim site, the Dome of the Rock, now stands.

Two former chief rabbis of Israel, Avraham Shapira and Mordechai Eliahu,
have approved a ruling urging followers not to accept money from the
groups, warning that their ultimate intent is conversion of Jews. Christian
Zionists believe that during the Last Days, Jews must either accept Jesus as the
Messiah or perish.

Other Christians in the Holy Land oppose what they consider a false
interpretation of Christianity that is heightening tensions here.
"Christian Zionism transforms faith into a political ideology, and one that needs
an enemy," said the Rev. Rafik Khoury, of the Latin (Roman Catholic)
Patriarchate in Jerusalem.

But Christian Zionists argue that Christians' role is to back Israel
wholeheartedly and conform to God's message in Genesis: "I will bless
them that bless thee, and curse him that curses thee" (Genesis 12:3).

To this end, Christian groups have sponsored the migration of thousands
of Jews from Russia, Ethiopia and other countries. They have funneled
resources into social programs for Israeli communities, and they encourage
churches in the United States to support Jewish settlements in the occupied
territories.

"We stand for the right that all the land that God gave under the
Abrahamic covenant 4,000 years ago is Israel's ... and He will regulate the
affairs of how Israel comes into the allotment which is hers forever," said the
Rev. Malcolm Hedding, director of International Christian Embassy Jerusalem
(ICEJ), the largest of the Zionist groups with branches in 55 countries.
Biblical Zionism rejects any effort to read the Scriptures spiritually
or allegorically, Mr. Hedding said. "There is no such thing as a
Palestinian,"
he adds.

Pre-millennialism

Christian Zionism is a more recent term for a 19th-century theology that
began in England, called "premillennial dispensationalism." It divides
history into eras, or "dispensations," based on a complex interpretation
of biblical texts in books such as Daniel, Ezekiel and Revelation.

Israel's creation in 1948 and the Six-Day War of 1967 - in which Israel
captured all of Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza Strip - galvanized
premillennialists to believe the Last Days had begun.

William Blackstone, a fundamentalist lay preacher in the United States,
wrote an 1882 best seller, "Jesus Is Coming," and in 1891 organized the
first campaign in support of a Jewish state in the Middle East.
Pre-millennialists in the British imperial government included Lord
Arthur Balfour and Prime Minister David Lloyd George, who were the first to
officially promise a Jewish homeland with the 1917 Balfour Declaration.

Christian Zionism

Rev. Timothy Weber, president of Memphis Theological Seminary in
Tennessee and author of "On the Road to Armageddon: How Evangelicals Became
Israel's Best Friend."

"Before the Six-Day War, dispensationalists were content to sit in the
bleachers of history explaining the End-Time game on the field below,
pointing out events and identifying players," Mr. Weber adds. "But after
expansion of Israel into the West Bank and Gaza, they began to get down
onto the field and be sure the teams lined up right, becoming involved in
political, financial and religious ways they never had before."

Israeli Prime Ministers Yitzhak Shamir, Benjamin Netanyahu
and Ariel Sharon have addressed Christian Zionist gatherings of thousands in
Jerusalem and met with evangelical leaders and groups during trips to
the United States.
Evangelical leaders began traveling to Israel and organizing tours for
churches from across the United States. Today, a network of more than
200 pro-Israel grass-roots organizations has developed in the United States,
and Christian Zionist groups work to involve American congregations in
prayer, financial aid and advocacy.

Brit-Am Comment: One would think that organizations like Brit-Am with its
Biblical, Rabbinical, and-up-to-date scientific-historical use of evidence would hold
an attraction for Christian Zionists and for those Jewish leaders who appreciate their importance.
One of the previous heads of this organization (after reading "The Tribes") was in fact an enthusiastic believer
in Brit-Am but did little more than (on a private basis) encourage others to read our works.
There seems a certain trepidation to even consider the possibility that Brit-Am is correct
lest their motivations and purity of intention be suspect. Even those who agree with us
(and some people do) are often embarrassed to publicly acknowledge it.
Be that as it may, we do what we can and consider Christian Zionism as a sign of the arousal
of Joseph towards a reconciliation with Judah in the End Times.
This arousal may be accompanied by other, less elevated considerations,
but that is the way of the world and we must concentrate on the main moving force
according to Brit-Am understanding.
Here and there Brit-Am has had a positive influence and can still do so in the future.
Spreading the Brit-Am message is our task.
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"And I will bless them that bless you" (Genesis 12:15).

Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2004 08:01:33 +0200

Jerusalem News-297
Contents:
1. Arutz Sheva News Monday,
YAD VASHEM WARNS AGAINST GENOCIDE IN SUDAN
MEZUZOT
2. Arutz Sheva News Wednesday,
KIBBUTZ MIRACLE: MOTHER AND CHILDREN SAVED FROM ROCKET IN THEIR BED
HIZBULLAH SNIPERS KILL TWO IDF SOLDIERS
BLOGGING IN YESHA
US SENATOR THANKS, BLESSES AND REMINDS JEWS OF THEIR DUTY
3. Psalms 10

1. Arutz Sheva News Monday,
<http://israelnationalnews.com/>IsraelNationalNews<http://israelnationalnews.com/>.com
July 19, 2004 / Rosh Chodesh Avi 5764
YAD VASHEM WARNS AGAINST GENOCIDE IN SUDAN
Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Authority, released a statement yesterday urging "the world to act before it is too late." The statement says,
"The aggregate of news reports about the situation in Darfur [Sudan] indicates that the escalating humanitarian crisis includes aspects of ethnic cleansing and perhaps even genocide. During the era of the Holocaust, the world was slow to respond to news about the murder of six million Jews. In the 1990s, unrestrained genocide occurred in Rwanda with little or no international acknowledgement of it until after it had ended. It is imperative that we learn the lesson from past failures to respond in time to evolving, genocidal evil. Yad Vashem urges the leaders of the nations of the world to take immediate concerted action to halt the tragedy in Darfur before it devolves further, to provide effective humanitarian aid to the region and to punish the perpetrators of the heinous crimes that are being committed there."

Yad Vashem, created by the Knesset in 1953, is dedicated to Holocaust remembrance, documentation, research and education. Director Avner Shalev explained today that he hopes that Yad Vashem's voice, added to those around the world warning about the sorry situation in Sudan, will help stir the world to concrete action.

The UN recently passed a strong resolution calling for sanctions against the Sudanese-government militias blamed for what has been described as a "humanitarian catastrophe" in Sudan. A long-running civil war exploded last year when rebels attacked government property, accusing the government of neglecting mostly black Darfur in favor of the country's Arab population. The government then established Arab militias to put down the rebellion. The militias are now accused of expelling black Africans from the remote section of the country, and in fact many of the latter have either been killed or fled to neighboring Chad.

MEZUZOT
The Knesset Interior Committee began deliberations today on legislation that recently passed its first reading in the Knesset, calling for the placement of mezuzot on the doorposts of every new public building. A mezuzah (singular for mezuzot) is a small parchment on which is written two Torah passages - Shma and V'Hayah Im Shamoa - and placed on the side of the door.

The law does not apply to public buildings in towns with mostly non-Jewish populations.

The proposal was sponsored by United Torah Judaism MK Yaakov Litzman. Interior Committee member MK Yuri Stern (National Union) said that Jewish symbols and signs must be strengthened in Israeli society. "We have become a state that derides its national symbols," he said. MKs of the Shinui party expressed opposition to the proposed law.

2. Arutz Sheva News Wednesday,
<http://israelnationalnews.com/>IsraelNationalNews<http://israelnationalnews.com/>.com
July 21, 2004 / Av 3, 5764

KIBBUTZ MIRACLE: MOTHER AND CHILDREN SAVED FROM ROCKET IN THEIR BED
A rocket fired towards the western Negev this morning exploded through the roof of a house and landed on a bed in which were sleeping a mother and two children - and no one was hurt. "It's simply a miracle," said the local police commander. "There's no explanation how four people escape such a thing without a scratch."

The father later told the story to Ynet:
"I was sleeping upstairs with two children, and my wife was sleeping downstairs with our 10-year-old son at her side, a one-month-old baby in her arms and another child in another bed in the same room. At 5:50 I heard a tremendous boom, and the entire house shook. I ran down, and when I entered the room, I couldn't understand what was going on. There was a burnt smell. My wife came out right away with the baby, and I went into the smoke and took out the other two. We were all in shock at first. The 10-year-old had pieces of plaster fall on him. My wife was burnt in her hand from the Kassam, because it penetrated the roof and got stuck in the middle of the bed - in the empty space between her and my son lying next to her. When she woke up from the blast, she put out her hand to my son - but she touched the Kassam instead and was lightly burned. She is a real heroine. I thank G-d for saving my family."

The family was moved to another house in the kibbutz, which belongs to the Religious Kibbutz Movement, and social workers have already visited.

HIZBULLAH SNIPERS KILL TWO IDF SOLDIERS
One of the two soldiers shot and killed by Hizbullah terrorists yesterday - Sgt. Itai Ilouz, 21, of Afula - will be buried today. The other, Sgt.-Maj. Avishai Korisky, 24, of Nazareth Illit, was to have been married in two weeks.

Hizbullah snipers shot the two soldiers as they fixed an antenna at the Nurit outpost, located near Moshav Zar'it and Israel's border with Lebanon. The IDF has begun an investigation as to why the two were ordered to expose themselves to Hizbullah fire, apparently without sufficient protection, in the face of a high alert for Hizbullah provocations.

The Israel Air Force responded almost immediately with a helicopter and artillery strike, destroying a Hizbullah position in southern Lebanon. Later, a second Hizbullah outpost was targeted - one that was used as an IDF position prior to Israel's hasty withdrawal from southern Lebanon in May 2000 under then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak.

BLOGGING IN YESHA
Residents of Judea, Samaria and Gaza (Yesha) are turning to 'blogging' to tell the world why they have chosen to live on the front lines. Politics, religious faith, history and everyday events are woven together in a fascinating tapestry of life in Yesha.

INN's Ezra HeLevi spoke with Yoel Ben-Avraham, the founder of a purely "Yesha" blog - <http://www.YeshaSpeaksOut.org>'Yesha Speaks Out'. It is intended to show what life in Judea, Samaria and Gaza is really like for the Jews who have chosen to settle there.

Ben-Avraham says it was the 1993 Oslo Accords that made him realize the importance of getting the message out through alternative sources of communication. Since the beginning of the 'Oslo Process,'" he says, "there has been a real need to counteract the negative effects of hostile media, both Israeli and foreign, that effectively de-legitimized the Yesha settlement movement. When both government agencies and world media systematically distort every quote and every fact to create the perception of wrongdoing and malicious intent in everything we as Jewish residents of Yesha do, there is a need to counteract this campaign."

In recent years, the advent of blogging technology - enabling real-time web publishing without knowledge of technical HTML code - has made the implementation of Ben-Avraham's plan eminently do-able. "In the early days of the Internet," he says, "until perhaps as late as two or three years ago, it would have required a significant investment in people and resources to create a site similar to Yesha Speaks Out. It is the maturation of technology that makes it possible to create a multifaceted site capable of publishing material by dozens of contributors for a modest investment."

Ben-Avraham made Aliyah [immigrated to Israel] at the age of 21 after converting to Judaism. He lives in the Shomron community of Shilo with his wife Sharon and six children, one of whom serves as an officer in the IDF Paratroopers. He now works as an Information Technology and Technical Training professional, and of late has participated in an occupational retraining program for hareidi-religious Torah scholars interested in entering the Israeli software industry.

Ben-Avraham saw that "individuals whom we would have thought were our natural allies" had actually rarely had "meaningful contact with the residents of Yesha. Even when they participate in 'Missions to Israel,' for the most part they meet government-approved contacts, which do not always have the best interests of Yesha on their personal or political agenda. That is when the idea of creating an Internet service that would permit people 'in the field' to communicate directly with potential allies abroad was transformed from personal pipe dream to communal necessity in my eyes."

Yesha Speaks Out features a growing list of contributors hailing from throughout Yesha, writing about politics, daily life, isolation from their families around the world, religious faith, organic farming, meditation and much more. The number of both writers and visitors on Yesha Speaks Out keeps growing, and Ben-Avraham now has plans to produce an online compendium of all Yesha's communities, as well as every known archeological site of Jewish or Biblical importance in Judea, Samaria and Gaza.
<http://www.israelnnmall.com/raab.html>
US SENATOR THANKS, BLESSES AND REMINDS JEWS OF THEIR DUTY
"I thank you for bringing the message of God to a world that did not know Him, and for continuing to carry that message in the face of thousands of years of persecution, suffering and death. As a Christian, I thank you for my faith that is rooted in yours. And as a Christian, I deeply, deeply apologize for the pain and bloodshed and deafness to suffering that we have hoisted upon you and your ancestors. May this never, ever happen again!"

So said U.S. Senator Sam Brownback (R, Kansas) in the Knesset on Monday, addressing Knesset Members by invitation of the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus. Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Sharon met with the Senator, who, since his election in 1996, has been one of Israel's closest friends in the Senate. Sen. Brownback, 48, serves on the Senate's Appropriations Committee, Foreign Relations Committee, and the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.

The Knesset Christian Allies Caucus was recently formed to increase communication and promote cooperation between Israel and Christians around the world. It provides Christian churches and organizations with formal and direct lines of communication with the Knesset. The 12 Knesset Members who comprise the Caucus come from six different parties in the Knesset: Likud, NRP, Labor, Shinui, National Union and Shas.

Among the issues raised by the Senator in his remarks were the dangers posed by U.S. military aid to Egypt - aid, he said, that should be totally cut off. He also spoke of the necessity of moving the American embassy to Jerusalem, Israel's right of self-defense in the face of Palestinian terror, and the global war against terrorism.

Excerpts from Sen. Brownback's Knesset speech:
"You cannot know the honor this is for me to be here addressing you. Since my earliest memories growing up on a farm in Kansas in the heartland of America, I have read and studied and been taught about you, the people of Israel. I was raised and steeped in the Bible while growing up. Ancient Israel was, and is, a living reality in my home. Its spirituality, wisdom, poetry, its majesty inspired and encouraged me all my life. You have helped form my soul and I thank you for it.
"The bedrock of support for Israel in America today is comprised of Christians, like myself, who were raised on the Bible, and who see in the Jews of Israel today the inheritors of the tradition of ancient Israel. I've had the great joy of seeing modem Israel, the living spirit of its past. Israel's chain of history and its will to survive with purpose and meaning is a true miracle.
"I have been to Israel several times. The last time I was in Israel, I looked out the window of my hotel and saw the flag of Israel with the Star of David and the thought entered my mind, 'God does keep His promises!' That flag which had been absent in this land for nearly 2,000 years was now flying again. What an awesome God we serve...
"As a member of the United States Senate, my message to you today is to be encouraged. We are with you. We are with you as your allies in this war against terrorism. We are with you in the United Nations. We are with you as your friends as a wave of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic rhetoric is once again on the rise...
"Our past and our present and our futures are intertwined together. So, in my parting, I pray for Israel. That in this season of ingathering you will be a blessing to all nations. That you will be a Holy Nation. A nation of the righteous leading the world in righteousness. It is your duty and destiny. And when you do your duty, the rest of us will be blessed and able to do ours. Thank you and God bless you."

3. Psalms 10
[Psalms 10:1] WHY STANDEST THOU AFAR OFF, O LORD? WHY HIDEST THOU THYSELF IN TIMES OF TROUBLE?
S.R. Hirsch points out that Psalm has no heading and in content is a continuation of the previous Psalm 9. In Psalm 9 however the theme was more against the evil heathen who spitefully oppose and oppress (when they can) Israel and Judah. This present Psalm emphasizes the attitude of individual evildoers who do bad unto the humble and vulnerable. The psychological concept is the same. The heathen non-Israelite nations despise Israelites (such as the British and Americans) because they think they are weak and soft. They consider the good that these Israelites do and the compassion they display to testify to a lack of "backbone". They hate Judah for similar reasons. In their eyes: The Jews are intellectuals, people who pray in synagogues and objects of contempt for all kinds of different reasons. That is also why the Arabs are against the State of Israel. In a similar way evil malicious persons often have contempt for those they see as weaker than themselves. To their mind the victim "invites" the crime. This frame of thought has also penetrated the thinking of social workers, educational supervisors, and law enforcement people. To some degree there may even be something to it. We have all heard of the woman (for instance) who was married three times and in each case was beaten badly by her husband, as if in some way she sought out such men in advance. Whatever the case, God as he reveals Himself in the Bible does not agree that evil be done or tolerated. We must also note that in our own personalities we all have such tendencies and though we suppress them sometimes they come to the surface. We can channel our tendencies in positive directions and are forbidden to let them lead us along a wrong path.

[Psalms 10:2] THE WICKED IN HIS PRIDE DOTH PERSECUTE THE POOR: LET THEM BE TAKEN IN THE DEVICES THAT THEY HAVE IMAGINED.
S.R. Hirsch says that "poor" does not necessarily mean here poverty stricken but rather anyone who is dependent upon others, e.g. an employee abused and exploited by someone in authority over him or her. This could be justified by the Hebrew word "ANI" used here for "poor". "Ani" can also connote "answer" i.e. "answer to" be dependent upon.

[Psalms 10:3] FOR THE WICKED BOASTETH OF HIS HEART'S DESIRE, AND BLESSETH THE COVETOUS, WHOM THE LORD ABHORRETH.
Also translatable as saying:
<<The wicked gives praise to the lust of his mind and blesses the carrying out of his plotting, This is blasphemy before the LORD>>. We all recognize the sinner who laughs over his "conquests".

[Psalms 10:4] THE WICKED, THROUGH THE PRIDE OF HIS COUNTENANCE, WILL NOT SEEK AFTER GOD: GOD IS NOT IN ALL HIS THOUGHTS.
From the negative the positive can be learned. If you are in trouble and forced to behave in ways that are wrong seek after God and you will be enabled to overcome.

[Psalms 10:5] HIS WAYS ARE ALWAYS GRIEVOUS; THY JUDGMENTS ARE FAR ABOVE OUT OF HIS SIGHT: AS FOR ALL HIS ENEMIES, HE PUFFETH AT THEM.
<< HIS WAYS ARE ALWAYS GRIEVOUS>> alternately "He renews his ways constantly". The height (i.e. depth) of Your judegements are beyond him, he dismisses with disdain all who oppose him.

[Psalms 10:6] HE HATH SAID IN HIS HEART, I SHALL NOT BE MOVED: FOR I SHALL NEVER BE IN ADVERSITY.

[Psalms 10:7] HIS MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND DECEIT AND FRAUD: UNDER HIS TONGUE IS MISCHIEF AND VANITY.

[Psalms 10:8] HE SITTETH IN THE LURKING PLACES OF THE VILLAGES: IN THE SECRET PLACES DOTH HE MURDER THE INNOCENT: HIS EYES ARE PRIVILY SET AGAINST THE POOR.

[Psalms 10:9] HE LIETH IN WAIT SECRETLY AS A LION IN HIS DEN: HE LIETH IN WAIT TO CATCH THE POOR: HE DOTH CATCH THE POOR, WHEN HE DRAWETH HIM INTO HIS NET.

[Psalms 10:10] HE CROUCHETH, AND HUMBLETH HIMSELF, THAT THE POOR MAY FALL BY HIS STRONG ONES.

[Psalms 10:11] HE HATH SAID IN HIS HEART, GOD HATH FORGOTTEN: HE HIDETH HIS FACE; HE WILL NEVER SEE IT.

[Psalms 10:12] ARISE, O LORD; O GOD, LIFT UP THINE HAND: FORGET NOT THE HUMBLE.
<<HUMBLE>>: S.R. Hirsch points out that the word for "humble" is here spelt differently from what is usually considered the correct way. The root "ANI" is connected to meanings of "answer to, because of, humility, poverty, oppression": It is here spelt in such a way as to hint that all of these meanings are intended at once. Hirsch says it means that God is being asked not to forget the humble and also those who have departed from the True Path due to poverty, or oppression. People who suffer in life sometimres find it difficult to recognize the fact of Divine Providence.

[Psalms 10:13] WHEREFORE DOTH THE WICKED CONTEMN GOD? HE HATH SAID IN HIS HEART, THOU WILT NOT REQUIRE IT.

[Psalms 10:14] THOU HAST SEEN IT; FOR THOU BEHOLDEST MISCHIEF AND SPITE, TO REQUITE IT WITH THY HAND: THE POOR COMMITTETH HIMSELF UNTO THEE; THOU ART THE HELPER OF THE FATHERLESS.

[Psalms 10:15] BREAK THOU THE ARM OF THE WICKED AND THE EVIL MAN: SEEK OUT HIS WICKEDNESS TILL THOU FIND NONE.
If you punish the wicked for their wickedness they will cease from their wicked ways.

[Psalms 10:16] THE LORD IS KING FOR EVER AND EVER: THE HEATHEN ARE PERISHED OUT OF HIS LAND.
<<HEATHEN>>: Hebrew "Goyim". The wicked non-Israelite murderers and terrorists and oppressors of they consider to be weak will be expelled from the Land of Israel.

[Psalms 10:17] LORD, THOU HAST HEARD THE DESIRE OF THE HUMBLE: THOU WILT PREPARE THEIR HEART, THOU WILT CAUSE THINE EAR TO HEAR:

[Psalms 10:18] TO JUDGE THE FATHERLESS AND THE OPPRESSED, THAT THE MAN OF THE EARTH MAY NO MORE OPPRESS.
<<THAT THE MAN OF THE EARTH MAY NO MORE OPPRESS>>: rather it should be rendered:
<<That humane human beings should no longer be oppressed from off the earth>>. The victims of oppression and evil are sometimes driven to desperation and feel they have no where to go in this world. God is being called upon to terminate the existence of evil and evil-doers so that this bad state of affairs should no more apply.

1. David Ben-Ariel: EU threatens Israel
From: David Ben-Ariel <davidbenariel@famvid.com>
Subject: EU threatens Israel

The Jerusalem Post reports: "The European Union is a very important international power and is going to play a role here, whether you like it or not," European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said Friday.

How deaf, dumb and blind can Israel be to fail to take such European threats seriously?

If Israel concedes to a "Palestinian" state it would constitute "a hideous act of self-mutilation" (as Churchill referred to Great Britain's proposed surrender of India). Such an Amalekite entity on the biblical lands of Judea and Samaria (so-called West Bank) would surely incur divine wrath (Numbers 33:55). If Israel self-righteously refuses to destroy the threat to their existence, such a state will further destabilize and destroy them (Dan. 9:11).

GERMANY AND THE VATICAN ARE BEHIND THE "PALESTINIAN" DRIVE FOR STATEHOOD (Ps. 83). Even as Germany and the Vatican collaborated against Serbia to further their FOURTH REICH, the consequent trouble and turmoil in the Middle East that will surely follow any “Palestinian” attempts to divide Jerusalem will provide the opening and excuse for Europe to intervene!

Israel has failed to follow the old military maxim to "never reinforce failure." Hence the treacherous Oslo accords have followed in succession with more dangerous cessions of the Promised Land of Israel to Ishmael!

Israel's deaf, dumb and blind leaders have ignored every warning issued by Churchillians, seduced by Chamberlain-like false prophets offering visions of a lying peace.

2. Arutz Sheva News Monday,
IsraelNationalNews.com
Monday, July 26, 2004 / Av 8, 5764
- LAND OF ISRAEL SUPPORTERS BUOYED BY HUMAN CHAIN - AND BY ITS SUCCESS
"Nothing can break this chain, because it is reinforced with the faith and unity of the Nation of Israel," marveled Al Nachom, one of several dozen Human Chain participants who came all the way from California. They, and 130,000 others, according to the police - other estimates put the number much higher ([ca.200,000]) - took part in a mostly unbroken hand-to-hand line stretching 90 kilometers (56 miles) from Gush Katif to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem yesterday. The message: No to disengagement and expulsion, yes to the Land of Israel, Gush Katif, and the unity and faith of the People of Israel.

From 5 PM, crowds of people gathered, lining the highways of Israel and streets of Jerusalem all the way to the Western Wall supporting the Temple Mount. At 6:45, the myriads of participants clasped one another's hands and prepared for the singing of "HaTikvah" (The Hope), Israel's national anthem. At 7 PM, shofars (ram's horns) were blown at the Western Wall and elsewhere along the chain, as the words of HaTikvah echoed across the country.

Also at the Wall was bereaved father and husband David Hatuel, whose pregnant wife and four daughters were murdered in their car in Gush Katif on the day of the Likud referendum almost three months ago. Hatuel told reporters that he was overwhelmed by the magnitude of the event. "Sadly, I came alone," said Hatuel, "but the bonding I felt from everyone here on the eve of Tisha B'Av [the 9th day of the Jewish month of Av, a day of mourning for the destruction of the Temple - ed.] is really amazing. This will broadcast to everyone that we have the will to continue to pursue our lives in all parts of the land of Israel."

Several tourists from the U.S.A. arrived in Israel specifically to participate in the Israeli Human Chain. One woman from South Africa told her family that what she would like for her birthday was a ticket to Israel for the Human Chain - and they bought it for her!

Former Cabinet Minister Rabbi Benny Elon (National Union) - fired because of his objections to the expulsion plan - stood nearby. "This chain is a form of prayer," he said. "On the eve of Tisha B'Av, the Jewish people have come together to cry out to Heaven against this latest attempt to expel us from our land."

Elon added that the Human Chain has great significance on many levels:
"First of all, the fact that we can link arms and divide the country in half, reaching from Gaza to Jerusalem, gives some perspective to Israel's situation and tiny size. Based on the amount of news that comes out of the Holy Land, most Americans don't realize that we can fit our tiny country inside Lake Michigan. Second of all, this chain is a tremendous show of strength. I think that this is just a prelude to what the people of Israel are capable of doing to demonstrate their refusal to relinquish parts of the Land of Israel."

3.Subject: Arabs suspect US on Dafur, Sudan
From: imra@netvision.net.il
Subject: Arabs suspect US on Dafur,

+++ARAB NEWS (Saudi) 31 July '04:"US Motives Over Darfur Arouse Arab
Suspicions"Agencies -
QUOTE FROM TEXT:
" 'Many would say that the US administration, as well as some European
countries, have found in the Darfur crisis a long lost pretext to put the
government under the sword of international sanctions.' "
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------
EXCERPTS:
CAIRO, 31 July 2004 - The Arab League is cautioning the West against
threatening sanctions on Sudan over a humanitarian crisis in Darfur, a move
some in the Arab world see as a US pretext for toppling another Arab
government. Sudan says pressure over Darfur, where the United Nations says
the world's worst humanitarian crisis is unfolding, aims to undermine the
country's Islamist government, ... .
"Many would say that the US administration, as well as some European
countries, have found in the Darfur crisis a long lost pretext to put the
government under the sword of international sanctions," Arab League
spokesman Hossam Zaki said, adding an embargo would not help resolve the
crisis, but antagonize Khartoum.
The US Congress has said the Arab militias, known as Janjawid, are
committing genocide against non-Arabs in Darfur, where fighting has
displaced one million and killed 30,000. The Darfur rebels say the
government armed and sent the militias against them. Khartoum denies the
charges.
. . .
Mohamed Mahdi Akef, head of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, said Washington was
using Darfur as part of a plan "designed to fragment all states of the
region, the beginning ... was in Iraq". The United States in 1998 launched
missiles at a Khartoum pharmaceuticals plant linked to Osama Bin Laden,
saying it was making ingredients for chemical weapons. Sudan, which
sheltered Bin Laden from 1991 to 1996, has been under US sanctions since
1997 for sponsoring terrorism.
But the United States, under the Bush administration, has taken an active
diplomatic role in Sudan. Under US pressure, Khartoum and the southern
rebels have made great strides in the last two years toward reaching a final
peace deal to end a 21-year-old civil war in southern Sudan, ... . Khartoum
has agreed to a southern vote on secession six years after a final deal.
Some Arab writers and politicians are suspicious, however, that the US
diplomacy is aimed at splitting the Muslim Arab north of the oil-producing
country from the mainly Christian or animist south.
British and Australian statements of readiness to send troops to Darfur have
provoked official concern, although Washington has said talk of military
intervention is premature.
Sudan's northern neighbor Libya has said it could not accept the presence of
troops from outside the African Union in Sudan, which has said it would
fight any foreign soldiers. The Arab League said it was very concerned by
talk of such intervention. Zaki said Australia's troop offer smacks of human
rights double standard, especially given that it had voted against a UN
General Assembly resolution demanding Israel tear down a wall it is building
in the West Bank.

4.THE TRAGEDY IN DARFUR: WHO IS GOING TO STOP IT?
From: imra@netvision.net.il
Subject: THE TRAGEDY IN DARFUR: WHO IS GOING TO STOP IT?

Tel Aviv Notes, No. 108
The Tragedy in Darfur: Who is going to stop it?

Yehudit Ronen
Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies
Department of Political Science, Bar Ilan University

Extracts Only:
Just as Sudan breathed a sigh of relief at what seemed to be an end, or at
least a tangible lull, in the country's decades-long civil war in the south,
another armed conflict began to ravage the western region of Darfur.

Darfur is a large (roughly the size of France) but poor region that borders
Chad and is inhabited by various ethnic groups, all of them Muslims. The
overwhelming majority of the population is of black African origin rather
than Arab. The most prominent groups are Zaghawa cattle and camel nomads
and Fur, Massalit and other farmers. In early 2003, rebels from among these
non-Arab Darfurians, calling themselves the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army
(SLM/A), took up arms against the Khartoum government, demanding that it put
an end to Darfur's chronic political marginalization, racial discrimination,
economic deprivation and backwardness. The SLM/A also demanded that the
Arab-Muslim elite in Khartoum, which has governed Sudan since independence
in 1956, halt the unceasingly raids of the nomadic Arab Baqqara militias --
the Janjaweed -- on the non-Arab Darfurian farmers. Violent struggles over
land and water resources have long ravaged the region but have intensified
in recent years because the growing chaos in the war-plagued country has
been aggravated by local
circumstances, including accelerated desertification and the consequent loss
of large grazing areas.

Against this backdrop, the Sudanese army, worn out by decades of fighting
against rebels in the south and still preoccupied with the suppression of
other insurgencies and the protection of oil installations across Sudan's
2.5 million square kilometers, delegated to the Baqqara militias the mission
of crushing the SLM/A rebels, now reinforced by another Darfurian rebel
group -- the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). Throughout 2003 and the
first half of 2004, escalating violence produced a fearsome toll of civilian
casualties and human atrocities. As reported by non-Sudanese eye-witnesses,
the Janjaweed, working hand-in-glove with the Sudanese army and government,
have bombarded and massacred the civilian population and engaged in an orgy
of rape, looting, and destruction of food stocks. The result has been
ethnic cleansing of the area. More than one million non-Arab Darfurians
have been driven from their homes. Many escaped to Chad while others are
trapped in special camps, living on the very edge of survival, hostage to
hunger, disease and Janjaweed abuses.

The US administration, for example, is preoccupied with Iraq and engaged in
a hotly contested election campaign. This
reduces Washington's margin of independent maneuver and limits it to
internationally-coordinated measures, such the recent United Nations
resolution for which the United States could secure approval only by
agreeing to remove any reference to sanctions. The EU's capacity to act is
also constrained by its member states, some of which (especially France)
have major political and economic interests in Sudan, particularly in
Sudanese oil, which was first discovered in the early 1980s. In fact, other
foreign oil firms - including Talisman of Canada, the China National
Petroleum Corporation and the Qatari Gulf Petroleum Company -- are also
deeply involved in Sudan's oil industry and its related infrastructures and
would be adversely affected by the imposition of sanctions on Sudan, and
especially on its oil industry. And while Egypt and Libya, as neighboring
states, could give real force to any possible international sanctions
regime, any erosion of Bashir's political standing might pave the way for
the revival of Hassan Abdallah al-Turabi's Islamist influence, which was
strongly detested and feared by the leadership of both those countries.
Consequently, Egypt and Libya prefer to see Bashir's regime remain in power,
despite its dysfunction and extremely cruel handling of Sudan's internal
disputes. Egypt is also worried about any further aggravation of Sudan's
political chaos. That could strengthen separatist tendencies within the
country, possibly leading to its territorial disintegration and the
disruption of the long-agreed flow of Nile waters to Egypt.

5. Islamic Extremists Inheritors of Hitler
Interesting Article Showing the Islamic Extremists to be the Inheritors
of Hitler: Forwarded by Eliezer <ctsplus@idig.net> who has his own right-wing pro-Israel
conservative-friendly mailing list of value.
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/people/hitlers_second_book.php3

6. 12% of Mexican legislators/rulers from Syrian or Arab origins
From: imra@netvision.net.il

Minister of Expatriates/ Meeting
Damascus, Aug 4 (SANA-Official Syrian News Agency)
www.sana.org/english/headlines/4-8/minister_of_expatriates.htm

His Eminence Archbishop Anton Shedrawi of Mexico, Venezuela and central
America for the Roman Orthodox stressed necessity of boosting Syrian-Mexican
relations in all domains.

During a meeting with Minister of Expatriates Dr. Buthaina Shaaban, Shedrawi
pointed out that 12% of the Mexican Senate, Parliament and rulers of
provinces are from Syrian or Arab origins, a matter that requires
coordination and efforts to display the true image of Syria's history and
position abroad.

For his part, Mexican Parliament Deputy Luis Maldonado expressed his country
's solidarity with Arab just issues, pointing out that his parliament passed
a resolution condemning Israel's building of the racial separation wall in
the occupied Arab lands.

Brit-Am Comment: Maybe Mexico and other Latin American countries could
absorb all the Arabs from Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Israel?
This would be consistent with Biblical Prophecy.

7. US Support for Tranfer of Arabs?

OCTOBER 18, 2002
www.forward.com%2Fissues%2F2002%2F02.10.18%2Fnews3.html

Extracts Only
Christians Hail Rightist's Call To Oust Arabs

FORWARD STAFF

WASHINGTON Thousands of Evangelical Christians waving Israeli flags cheered last week as Knesset member Benny Elon called for the "relocation" of Palestinians from the West Bank into Jordan.

Elon, whose Moledet Party advocates the "transfer" of Palestinians to Arab countries,said that a "resettlement" of the Palestinians is prescribed by the Bible.

None of the other high-profile speakers echoed the call for transfer by Elon, a former minister of tourism in Prime Minister Sharon's government and head of the Moledet Party. But they joined him in opposing American and Israeli plans for a Palestinian state a position well to the right of most American Jews and Jewish organizations on Middle East issues.

Still, while American Jewish groups have staked out hawkish views on Israeli security issues since the start of the intifada, most organizations fall far short of endorsing the concept of a mass expulsion of Palestinians. Yet Elon received an enthusiastic response when he quoted from the Bible in an attempt to justify the idea.

Several prominent figures who spoke at the event, including DeLay, Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert and Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson, did so before Elon took his turn at the podium. Since the rally, however, none have criticized Elon's call for transfer.

During his speech last week, Elon quoted from Chapter 33 of Numbers, in which God tells Moses that the children of Israel are mean to inherit the land of Canaan. God then instructs the children of Israel: "Ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you... But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then shall those that ye let remain of them be as pricks in your eyes, and as thorns in your sides, and they shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell."

Drawing loud cheers from the audience, Elon said, "I know, we always have to be politically correct, but it is very, very complicated to be politically correct when you have to correct so many political mistakes."

To correct such mistakes, said Elon, an Orthodox rabbi, "Let's turn to the Bible, which says very clearly... we have to resettle them, to relocate them, and to have a Jewish state between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean."

Another Texas Republican, House Majority Leader Dick Armey, made a similar argument in May, during a television interview with Chris Matthews on CNBC.

A spokesman for the Christian Coalition, Ross Torossian, said that Elon had been invited as a representative of the Moledet party, "which maintains very close contact with the coalition." He said that many other Knesset members were invited as well, but declined to participate. Torossian refused to comment on Elon's message of "transfer." He declined to indicate if the coalition endorses it or rejects it.

However, a senior official of the Christian Coalition said that the organization was well aware of Elon's ideology when it sent him an invitation. The invitation, he added, was sent not despite of Elon's ideology, but because of it.

Although the Israeli government did not authorize a senior government official to address the coalition's gathering, the Foreign Ministry, Tourism Ministry and Israeli embassy in Washington all had booths at the convention.

1. Transfer Proposals
Worth Viewing
www.geocities.com%2Fchaimsimons%2F
A Historical Survey of Proposals to
Transfer Arabs from Palestine
1895 - 1947
Example:
BERTRAND RUSSELL
Bertrand Russell was an English philosopher and mathematician. In his later years, Russell was actively engaged in the campaign for nuclear disarmament. For his numerous writings, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.

In 1943, Bertrand Russell wrote about his views regarding a future Jewish State. With regard to the Arab question, he distinguished between the theoretical solution and the practical realities.

For the theoretical solution, he put forward the idea of transfer. He wrote that "it should be possible to offer adequate compensation for any disturbance, and to cause the Arabs voluntarily to surrender inconvenient rights in return for perhaps more valuable concessions elsewhere."
However, in practical terms, he concluded that the problem was much more complex. This was not because he felt transfer was unethical or wrong, but because "the question is inflamed by the very general rise of Asiatic self-consciousness, and a determination to assert the rights of Asia as against the white man." Even in the eyes of the most enlightened Indian inhabitants, Russell considered that Zionism appeared as an ally of British imperialism. He did not feel that there was "the faintist justification for this view"; however since it was widely held, it was politically important.(146)

2. Dennis Prager: Good Points

EXPLAINING THE ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT THROUGH NUMBERS
by Dennis Prager
Townhall
July 27, 2004

For the many readers who have requested a brief synopsis of the moral arguments in the Arab-Israeli conflict, I offer the following list of numerical data.

Number of times Jerusalem is mentioned in the Old Testament: over 700

Number of times Jerusalem is mentioned in the Koran: 0

Number of Arab leaders who visited Jerusalem when it was under Arab rule (1948 to 1967): 1

Number of Arab refugees who fled the land that became Israel: approximately 600,000

Number of Jewish refugees who fled Arab countries: approximately 600,000

Number of U.N. agencies that deal only with Palestinian refugees: 1

Number of U.N. agencies that deal with all the other refugees in the world: 1

Number of Jewish states that have existed on the land called Palestine: 3

Number of Arab or Muslim states that have existed on the land called Palestine: 0

Number of terrorist attacks by Israelis or Jews since 1967: 1

Number of terrorist attacks by Arabs or Muslims since 1967: thousands

Percentage of Jews who have praised the Jewish terrorist: approximately .1

Percentage of Palestinians who have praised Islamic terrorists: approximately 90

Number of Jewish countries: 1

Number of Jewish democracies: 1

Number of Arab countries: 19

Number of Arab democracies: 0

Number of Arab women killed annually by fathers and brothers in "honor killings": thousands

Number of Jewish women killed annually by fathers and brothers in "honor killings": 0

Number of Christian or Jewish prayer services allowed in Saudi Arabia: 0

Number of Muslim prayer services allowed in Israel: unlimited

Number of Arabs Israel allows to live in Arab settlements in Israel: 1,250,000

Number of Jews Palestinian Authority allows to live in Jewish settlements in Palestinian Authority: 0

Percentage of U.N. Commission on Human Rights resolutions condemning an Arab country for human rights violations: 0

Percentage of U.N. Commission on Human Rights resolutions condemning Israel for human rights violations: 26

Number of U.N. Security Council resolutions on the Middle East between 1948 and 1991: 175

Number of these resolutions against Israel: 97

Number of these resolutions against an Arab state: 4

Number of Arab countries that have been members of the U.N. Security Council: 16

Number of times Israel has been a member of the U.N. Security Council: 0

Number of U.N. General Assembly resolutions condemning Israel: 322

Number of U.N. General Assembly resolutions condemning an Arab country: 0

Percentage of U.N. votes in which Arab countries voted with the United States in 2002: 16.6

Percentage of U.N. votes in which Israel voted with the United States in 2002: 92.6

Percentage of Middle East Studies professors who defend Zionism and Israel: approximately 1.

Percentage of Middle East Studies professors who believe in diversity on college campuses: 100

Percentage of people who argue that the Jewish state has no right to exist who also believe some other country has no right to exist: 0

Percentage of people who argue that of all the countries in the world, only the Jewish state has no right to exist and yet deny they are anti-Jewish: approximately 100

Number of Muslims in the world: more than 1 billion

Number of Muslim demonstrations against Islamic terror: approximately 2

3. E. B. GLICK "Crush or be crushed"
Aug. 3, 2004 20:33 | Updated Aug. 4, 2004 16:54
Crush or be crushed
By EDWARD BERNARD GLICK

Events in both Israel and Iraq prove that the winning-hearts-and-minds approach to ending wars
and insurrections has the same success rate as getting rain by praying for it. If it were
indeed the key to victory, armies would have exchanged their weapons for public relations kits
ages ago.

The ancient Persians conquered the Babylonians, and the Greeks the Persians, and the Romans the
Greeks, and the Turks the Byzantines, and the British the Turks not by capturing their hearts
and minds, but by overwhelming them with so much might that they lost their will to fight and
surrendered.

Swords, not sermons, swept Islam quickly from the Middle East to Africa and the Far East.
Swords, not sermons, enabled King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella to rid Spain of 700 years of
Moorish rule. And it was swords, not sermons, that stopped the Muslims at the gates of Vienna.

During the Revolutionary War, Great Britain's King George III did not relinquish his American
colonies because General George Washington had somehow won his mind and heart. Similarly,
England's Duke of Wellington didn't prevail at the Battle of Waterloo because he won the heart
and mind of France's Napoleon Bonaparte.

And the South didn't surrender and end the American Civil War because Union General Ulysses S.
Grant won the hearts and minds of General Robert E. Lee and his Confederate troops.

Nor did the Allied powers vanquish the Axis powers in 1945 because their brilliant propaganda
and psychological warfare tactics captured the latter's hearts and minds. Germany and Italy
surrendered because they knew in their brains and their bowels that they had been beaten by
slow, sustained, and superior force, applied over a number of very bloody years.

And the Empire of Japan surrendered not because US navy captain (later admiral) Ellis
Zacharias, a specialist in intelligence and psychological operations, was able to broadcast our
surrender terms in fluent Japanese, but because Japan had already taken the measure of
America's atom bomb.

IN 1970, Canada presented an excellent, if forgotten, example of force prevailing over hearts
and minds.

French Canadian terrorist separatists had kidnapped James Cross, the British trade
commissioner, and Pierre Laporte, Quebec's minister of labor. They later murdered Laporte.
Instead of trying to win their hearts and minds, Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, himself
a French Canadian, got parliament to proclaim a War Measures Act and suspend Canadian civil
liberties.

Then he ordered Canadian troops and mounties to search the streets of Quebec house by house.
They arrested 500 people and crushed the terrorists.

The Cold War did not end in the 1980s because Voice of America broadcasts or State Department
exchange programs eventually got to the hearts and minds of the Soviet people. It ended because
the Kremlin leadership finally realized that president Ronald Reagan, with the backing of most
of the American people, was ready to use all means, including economic strangulation and
military prowess, to end communist domination of Eastern and Central Europe.

On the other hand, since the Korean War was at best a draw, and the United States did not win
in Vietnam, many Americans no longer accept war as part of the human condition. So they seek to
appease with nonmilitary approaches enemies who cannot be appeased.

Neither can these Americans fathom that when a nation does go to war, it is entirely proper, as
US president Franklin Delano Roosevelt and British prime minister Winston Churchill knew so
well, for it to sacrifice one in order to save 10, ten to save hundreds, hundreds to save
thousands, and thousands to save millions.

Islam does not look kindly upon infidels who lose. So the issue confronting Israel and the
United States is not whether one is pro-Bush or anti-Bush, pro-Sharon or anti-Sharon, for or
against the invasion of Iraq, or for or against Israel's leaving the Gaza Strip unilaterally.
The issue is how can the United States and Israel defeat their foes?

The Ba'athists and the jihadists will not stop fighting the Great Satan because they have been
made to like, respect, or fear the United States. They will stop fighting only when they are
convinced that America's Vietnam trauma is over and that America is once again willing and able
to use crushing force.

And Israel, the Little Satan, will prevail over its existential enemies only when it realizes
that in order to survive it must fight by the rules of the neighborhood in which it lives.

In short, America's and Israel's struggles will end favorably only if they follow Churchill's
dictum: "Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard
the road may be; for without victory there is no survival."

The writer is professor emeritus of political science at Temple University in Philadelphia and
author of Peaceful Conflict and Soldiers, Scholars, and Society.

4. Digest of the Best
"David S.Devor" <devor@usa.net>
send out a regular free collection of articles
"Digest of the Best" and that is what it is.
The best articles available concerning the USA, Israel, and
the Middle East conflict in general.
You probably would not have time to read them all but if you skim through
them you would always find something of importance that you would be grateful
for having been made aware of.

5. A Biblical Agenda no.1
A Biblical Agenda is something to be aimed for. This does not necessarily mean that it is to be put immediately in practice
but it represents a goal to be reached when possible and to be consciously striven towards.
The Land of Israel at its minimal extent should reach from the Nile to the Euphrates.
This does not mean that all-out war should immediately declared against Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria
with the aim of conquering their lands and expelling their populations. BUT if the said nations impose a war on Israel
or even just maintain their present hostile attitude they should know that they are risking their very existence exactly as they
threaten the existence of Israel.

1. Violence Not the Answer
to Middle East Conflict?

Subject: Re: Jerusalem News-299/EB Glick

This attitude is just so sickeningly common amongst the pseudo intellectual ranks of academia as well as the common person who feels that strength and peace can only come about through violence and force. The only sure way of achieving peace and security for the nation of Israel (Tribe of Judah, and for the rest of the Israelite nations) is to renew and to maintain the covenant with the Lord, God of Israel.
Sincerely,
David McLeod

2. Arutz Sheva News Tuesday,
<http://israelnationalnews.com/>IsraelNationalNews<http://israelnationalnews.com/>.com
August 10, 2004 / Av 23, 5764
BOGOTA, N.J. TWINS WITH BEIT EL
In a moving ceremony in Beit El yesterday, the mayors of Bogota, New Jersey and Beit El, Israel forged a sister-city pact. Mayor Steve Lonegan of Bogota said, "In recognition of the plight of Beit El and the challenges here, we felt that declaring a sister-city relationship with Beit El was our best way of showing our support for you."

Referring to the Gaza disengagement/expulsion plan currently on the table, Lonegan said that it was "inconceivable" that Jews should be deported from their own land. Mayor Moshe Rosenbaum thanked Lonegan for his support, and noted that the Book of Ezra states that some 2,400 years ago, "121 Jews returned from Babylonia to this very area. Beit El has been around for quite a long time, and will continue to be!"

Mayor Lonegan, who is 80% blind, said, "This is the first time I have been in this area, and in addition to the excitement of seeing the Biblical sites, I have been most impressed by meeting with the people here. Today we met with Limor Har-Melekh, [the young mother whose husband Shuli was murdered in a terrorist shooting a year ago]; the randomness of the attacks, and the human fall-out, really make us realize that we, who come from a place where we live in peace and safety every single day, take this for granted, and we don't really appreciate how hard people are fighting here."

Joey Bodner and others from Bogota's neighboring town of Teaneck accompanied Lonegan on his trip. "It's very exciting to be a part of this moving twinning ceremony, and we were proud to be a part of it." Bodner noted that he was here on a short trip to show solidarity and contribute to various towns in Judea and Samaria: "Even very short trips such as this one - only four days long, with visits in Gush Katif, Shomron, and elsewhere - make a difference. Today we dedicated an emergency motorcycle, and visited Homesh in the Shomron; the people there told us that no American group had visited them for two years - and we were that group! That was a little sad to hear. So I just want to emphasize how important it is to come and show our support."

3. From: Steve Collins <scollins@ll.net>
Subject: American Election and Israel
Shalom Yair,

I thought you and the Brit-Am list might be interested in the results of a new poll which was printed in the current issue (8-7-04) of The Economist re: views of Democrats and Republicans in the USA toward the Israelis. The poll, which was printed on page 25, shows that when people were asked "do you feel more sympathy towards the Israelis or Palestinians?", Democrats were split and ambivalent while Republicans were strongly pro-Israeli. Democrats favored the Israelis by only 17% to 14% with 48% indicating equal sympathy for both. Republicans favored the Israelis by a 45% to 3% margin with 34% indicating equal sympathy. Presumably, the others had no opinion.
The poll also asked about how much help the USA gives to Israel. Democrats replied by a 45% to 9% margin that the USA gives "too much" aid to Israel with 22% saying the amount is "about right." Republicans replied by a 22% to 18% margin that the USA gives "too much" aid to Israel with 46% saying the amount is "about right."

It is quite clear which party in America is the pro-Israeli party.

Steve

4. Arutz Sheva News Thursday,
<http://israelnationalnews.com/>IsraelNationalNews<http://israelnationalnews.com/>.com
August 12, 2004 / Av 25, 5764
FIRST OF THE SPANISH HIDDEN-JEWS ARRIVES IN ISRAEL
Yaffa daCosta had tears in her eyes as she sang "Hatikva" (The Hope), Israel's national anthem, after disembarking from the August 4th chartered Nefesh b'Nefesh flight bringing her and hundreds of others on Aliyah (immigration to Israel). "I've waited so long for this day," she told IsraelNN's Ezra HaLevi.

DaCosta is a member of the growing community of "Anousim" - [forced converts to Catholicism] descendents of Jews from Spain and Portugal who are discovering that their ancestors were Jews forced to convert to Christianity.

DaCosta's great-grandmother immigrated to the United States from Azores, a colony off the coast of Portugal. She lived in Texas and Oklahoma before she made Aliyah last week and she says this is her final destination. DaCosta is interested in building, if not settling permanently, in the Negev city of Be'er Sheva. "There is a prophecy in the book of Ovadia that says the exiles of Sefard [Spain] will inherit the Negev," said daCosta. "It also says in Psalm 126 that God will return us from our captivity like 'springs in the Negev' - and that is exactly what is happening."

Though she left her growing community of crypto-Jews in Texas, daCosta, who runs the Crypto-Sephardic-Union (<http://www.cryptounion.com/>http://www.cryptounion.com), plans to continue lecturing and educating in Israel and around the world about the ongoing saga of the Spanish 'Crypto-Jews'. "Something is stirring people all over who have felt some sort of attraction and affinity toward Israel and Jewish culture to research their roots," said daCosta, who is often contacted by such people in order that she assist them in their investigation. "As far as I know, I am the first of the Anousim to come home to Israel with a 'certificate of return'," daCosta said.

Former Sephardic Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu authored a letter instructing that the Anounsim be welcomed and absorbed back into the Jewish people after undergoing modified (without the component of dissuasion usually applied to converts who do not have Jewish ancestors) conversions back to Judaism according to Jewish law.

DaCosta sees more and more returnees to Judaism and Israel as word of the Crypto-Jewish story spreads. "I want to see planeloads of Anousim returnees coming home to Israel," said daCosta.

CATHOLIC FRIENDS OF ISRAEL
While the Presbyterian Church in the US has decided to divest from Israel, a new source of support for the Jewish State has come from another, unexpected Christian source.

Catholic Friends of Israel (CFOI) say they are "faithful Roman Catholics who support Israel... wish to draw more attention to the plight of long-suffering Catholics and other Christians in the Muslim world... and are mindful of the resurgence of virulent anti-Semitism." The group educates Catholics on the Arab-Israeli conflict, monitors anti-Israeli bias in the Catholic press and "resist attempts to politicize [their] liturgy with a pro-Palestinian spin."

5. Irish soldier (VC in British Army) buried in Ireland
Sergeant Major Cornelius Coughlan VC grave in Westport in Western Ireland

From: Roy Garland
Subject: Re: Irish and British
>Dear Yair
>
>I don't really know what you will think of this but I imagine you will find
>it very interesting. It took place near Westport Co Mayo in the Irish
>Republic. Irish and British soldiers participated in uniform at a memorial
>to an Irish soldier who served with the British Army in India and who died
>and was buried in an unmarked grave in 1915.
<<However if you look on the site at The Archives
for the 10th and 11th August you will find the picture of two bandsmen and
follow this through to find the rest of the photos. They are really worth
looking up. I thought I had lost them completely when I got your message
until my wife turned them up in the archives. Roy Garland

> There are a number of different selections:
>
> http://www.castlebar.ie/
>
>Roy Garland