Contents: Jerusalem News nos 541-570

Portrait of Winston Churchill by Sir John Lavery, 1921

A reminder of the historic significance of the Jewish People's first day in the Holy Land was provided by a trip for Russian-speaking Israelis to Joshua's Altar on Mt. Ebal outside Shechem.

The story began just before this past Chanukah, when two busloads of Russian-speaking Israelis - new immigrants, veteran immigrants, and some tourists - made their first visit to the site known as Joshua's Altar near Shechem (Nablus).

Security concerns notwithstanding, the visitors - many of whom had never been to the area - came away greatly inspired, and some were even moved to tears.  Secular Jews found themselves reciting special blessings and prayers appropriate to the novelty of the experience.

What was so special?  "To see the actual altar that Joshua built, by Divine command, on the day the Jewish People entered the Land of Israel, is simply overwhelming," one participant tried to explain.

The trip was organized by the Maof organization - helping Russian-speakers get to know the Land of Israel - and ex-MK Uzi Landau's Machatz (Zionist Camp), whose Eretz Nehderet (Beautiful Land) program does the same for people all over the country.  The two buses were targeted by a small bomb hurled by Palestinian terrorists in the region, but no damage was caused. 

Prof. Adam Zertal, an archaeologist from Tel Aviv University, was the man who discovered and excavated the area and determined that it is the remnants of Joshua's Altar.  He appeared recently on IsraelNationalRadio, speaking with hosts Yishai and Malkah Fleisher. 

"How do you know that this was in fact Joshua's altar?" Yishai asked. "Perhaps it was built by other peoples over the years, for instance."

Prof. Zertal, author of " A Nation is Born: The Mt. Eval Altar and the Beginnings of the Nation of Israel," appeared not to know where to start, given the amount of evidence he can provide.  He began with the discovery itself:

"We discovered this place, all covered with stones, in April 1980. At that time I never dreamt that we were dealing with the altar, because I was taught in Tel Aviv University - the center of anti-Biblical tendencies, where I learned that Biblical theories are untrue, and that Biblical accounts were written later, and the like.  I didn't even know of the story of the Joshua's altar. But we surveyed every meter of the site, and in the course of nine years of excavation, we discovered a very old structure with no parallels to anything we had seen before.  It was 9 by 7 meters, and 4 meters high, with two stone ramps, and a kind of veranda, known as the sovev, around."

The Torah itself, in Deut. 27, 4-8, recounts the command to build the altar on Mt. Ebal (Eval) when the Jewish People would cross the Jordan River into the Holy Land.  The command stipulates that the stones should not be hewn by iron, and that sacrifices should be brought there.

Joshua 8, 30 states that Joshua fulfilled the command and, in fact, built the altar on Mt. Ebal.  This occurred, according to traditional chronology, in the year 2488 to the creation of the world, or 3,252 years before Zertal began his excavation of the site.

A very critical piece of evidence cited by Zertal in support of his identification of the structure as Joshua's Altar appears to be the animal bones found there:

"There were more than 1,000 burnt animal bones - exactly of the type that were used for sacrifices.  It was clear that this was not the remnants of some village, but rather a cultic site.  But the critical turning point [in our excavation] came when a religious member of our team showed us the Mishna describing the altar of the 2nd Temple period - 1,200 years later than our discovery.  The description was very similar to what we had found - meaning that the Mishna was clearly and definitely a continuation and prototype of the one on Mt. Ebal.   They both have ramps, just as the Torah stipulates, for the High Priest to ascend to the altar without going up steps, and the sizes matched, and more...  The architecture itself was the evidence."

"We found 1,000 bones in the site, and another 2,000 around it - representing something like 700 animals," Prof. Zertal said. "We sent them for analysis to the zoology department of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and all the males were young males around one year old - as the Torah commands - and were of the four animals that were brought as sacrifices: goats, sheep, cattle, and fallow deer. In addition, most of the bones had been burnt in open-flame fires of low temperature."

Explaining why the area around the altar is so barren, Prof. Zertal said, "Both in Deut. 27 and in Joshua 8, the implication is that the altar will serve for a one-time ceremony, as opposed to becoming a permanent holy area such as the Temple in Jerusalem...  Afterwards, it was covered up with stones in order that it not be desecrated, and the people moved southward, to Shilo, and then further south, to Jerusalem, where the final eternal Temple was built."

The Talmud (Sotah 45b), in fact, agrees that the altar was quite temporary, and that Joshua took it apart and moved the stones to the Gilgal area.  The Talmud states that this happened on the same day the altar was built, and the Medrash adds that another altar was built on Mt. Eval some 40 years later. 

Asked if he had found the 12 stones on which the Book of Deuteronomy was written there (Joshua 8, 32), Prof. Zertal said that this would be a hard task.  He explained that the exact location of the stones is not clear from the Biblical account, and that in any event, "The words of Torah were written on plaster that covered the stones, because iron tools were not allowed to be used on the stones...  But we did find 60 pieces of plaster near the altar; this is unusual, as usually they did not plaster the structures.  The pieces are very fragile, but we are trying to see if we can find something."

As with many archaeological theories and findings, Zertal's has its detractors as well. Zertal is not fazed, however.  In response to claims that the structure was a residence, he notes that "there was neither a floor nor an entrance" and it was "obviously not regularly lived in." Neither could it have been a watchtower, he asserts, because all transportation routes avoided the area, nor were there any Iron Age settlements nearby, "such that there was nothing to guard."

The Special First Day Another local scholar, Lt.-Col. (res.) Nechemiah Perelman of Kedumim, has a different approach.  He says that whether or not the stone structure on Mt. Eval is actually Joshua's Altar, it is more important "for us to remember and instill in our national consciousness all of the events that happened on that day.  That was Israel's first day in the Holy Land!" 

Specifically, Perelman said, "The people of Israel miraculously crossed the Jordan River; they took 12 stones out of the river, and then replaced them with 12 other ones - and the significance of this must be studied; they gave up their share in a plot of land that Jacob had purchased in order to provide a burial spot for Joseph; Joseph was buried; the blessings-and-curses ceremony at Mt. Gerizim and Mt. Eval took place; and the altar was built.  Each of these special events must be studied carefully - especially by us, the generation that has returned to the Land of Israel - in order that we understand their full significance."

Midreshet Shomron, an institution in the nearby community of Shavei Shomron, also organizes periodic trips to the area.  However, the trips are often thwarted by the terrorists in the area.  One ill-fated tour, in October 2000, ended with the death of Rabbi Binyamin Herling, one of several hikers who left the main route and were shot at by Palestinian terrorists in Shechem.  The army was widely accused of not taking offensive action to save the hikers when the terrorists pinned them down with long-range but accurate fire.

Another trip to the same area this past Chanukah was canceled by the army with just two days' notice, because of intelligence warnings of another planned terror attack.  However, the people of Midreshet Shomron, Maof and Machatz all agree that they will continue to organize the trips and cement the bonds between the people of Israel and their Land.

Jerusalem News-556
Date: 8 Tevet 5767, 29 December 2006
Contents:
1. U.S. blocks arms, technology to Israel
2. Arutz Sheva News Thursday
(4. CELEBRATIONS OF MODERN-DAY JUDAISM
(5. NETANYAHU BLOG: LIKUD LEADER UNEDITED
(6. WINTER WONDERLAND, TRAFFIC NIGHTMARES AND ACCIDENTS
3. Guysen Israel News Thursday

1. U.S. blocks arms, technology to Israel
http://www.israelunitycoalition.org/news/article.php?id=642

2. Arutz Sheva News Thursday
http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com
December 28, 2006, 7 Tevet 5767
Extracts
(4. CELEBRATIONS OF MODERN-DAY JUDAISM
By Hillel Fendel

Among many others, three sample events that have taken or will be
taking place in December and January show the versatility and dynamism
of contemporary Orthodox Judaism.

   The Jerusalem Talmud
Two institutions - the Jerusalem Institute and the Shilo Institute -
hosted a symposium last week highlighting the "Relevance of the
Jerusalem Talmud in Modern Times."  The Jerusalem Talmud, like the
more well-known Babylonian Talmud, includes the explanations and
teachings of Sages from the third to sixth centuries C.E. on the Six
Orders of the Mishna. 

The Jerusalem Talmud scholars seek to bring out the wisdom thereof, in
fulfillment of the Medrashic teaching, "There is no Torah like the
Torah of the Land of Israel and no wisdom like the wisdom of the Land
of Israel."

   Bnei Akiva
World Bnei Akiva will be holding its 11th International Conference in
Israel next week.  Leaders of the movement and over 200 shlichim
(emissaries) from around the world will be in attendance.  The themes
of the event: Pioneering and Strengthening the North.

Bnei Akiva seeks to empower and inspire Jewish youth with a deep
commitment to the Nation of Israel, the Land of Israel, and the Torah
of Israel.  Its motto is Torah V'Avodah [Toran and Labor], standing for the combining of
Torah study and observance with active contribution to the Jewish
people in advancing the rebirth of the Jewish nation on its Land.

   16th Annual World Conference on Monetary Matters in Jewish Law
Rabbi Ratzon Arousi, the unofficial Chief Rabbi of the Yemenite
community in Israel and the Chief Rabbi of Kiryat Ono, is the
President of this conference.  Taking place in Jerusalem, this year's
edition is dealing largely with "Jewish Financial Law During War
Time."

Among the questions dealt with at the conference are the definition of
a "national calamity."  Rabbi Arousi explained to Arutz-7's Uzi Baruch
two questions that arose in this context:
"A tenant paid a high rent for a store in the north this summer,
expecting a high volume of business.  However, because of the war,
buyers stayed away - and the renter asked for a partial return of his
rent money.  In another case, a rented apartment was damaged by a
rocket.  It turns out that based on the definition of 'national
calamity' - where most of the houses or fields are affected - the
rulings in these cases are different.

"In the first case, since business in the entire area is affected, the
renter is not to be held [totally] liable, and the owner must bear his
share of the responsibility. But in the case of the specific apartment
that was damaged, since most of the apartments were not damaged, it is
fully the renter's liability and not the owner's."

"The goal is to show how the Torah of Israel is a living document,"
Rabbi Arousi said, "with a response to every situation.  We are
enriching the treasure of Jewish Law, and identify with the desire to
once again make the Torah's laws the law of the land."


(5. NETANYAHU BLOG: LIKUD LEADER UNEDITED
By Hana Levi Julian

Likud Chairman Binyamin Netanyahu had harsh words for the government
in a statement Wednesday on his new Hebrew-language blog.

The former Prime Minister outlined an itemized response he demands
from the Olmert government to the incessant rocket attacks from Gaza
against Israel. 

The rocket fire aimed at Sderot has become routine in the past few
weeks since the government agreed to the ceasefire, wrote Netanyahu.
More than 50 rockets have been launched at Sderot since that
imaginary truce and it has been a miracle that no one wounded until
now...  The expected has finally occurred [on Tuesday night]: people
have been hurt.

Netanyahu demanded that the government carry out the following four
steps:
* Take control of the Kassam launch areas.
* Stop the smuggling by taking control of key areas.
* Set the goal of deposing Hamas and act in accordance with this goal.
* Immediately cease all negotiations and the implementation of
gestures until there is a complete end to terror.

No other country in the world would have put up with incessant
shelling of its towns and houses, he wrote.

Netanyahu's blog, only three weeks old, is intended to bypass the
media and present his messages to the public in an unadulterated
fashion.  A spokesman for the Knesset opposition leader said that
Netanyahu also intends to start an English-language blog in the near
future.

(6. WINTER WONDERLAND, TRAFFIC NIGHTMARES AND ACCIDENTS
By Hana Levi Julian

Major arteries in the Golan Heights and Galilee are still sealed off
in the wake of Wednesdays stormy winter wonderland.

The first snow of the season shut down traffic and caused blackouts
that left thousands of Israelis from the north to the Negev without
heat or lights for various durations on Wednesday.

On the other hand, it marked a welcome end to the drought that had
plagued the country for the last several weeks. 

Public transportation in Beitar Illit was shut down and the
communitys snow committee urged residents not to leave the town
limits.  Access routes in and out of the community were blocked by the
drifting snow, according to municipal hotline director Guy Akriv, who
said the Tunnel Road and the Ein Kerem Road were both impassable.

Galilee police blocked off traffic on Route 889 between Tzfat (Safed)
and Rosh Pina due to the heavy accumulation of snow.  The access road
to Tzfat between Biria Junction and Meron was also sealed off, with
drivers redirected to detour routes. 

Traffic in the Upper Galilee and northern Golan Heights was moving,
but very slowly, due to the icy conditions.  Snow continued to fall
overnight in the Mount Hermon area.

A 19-year-old Tiberias youth was seriously injured when he was struck
by a marble tile that flew off a building.  In Akko, a woman was
lightly injured when she was trapped under a tree that was blown down
by the strong winds.

Motorists were crawling down the icy streets of Jerusalem as an
accumulation of some 8 centimeters (3 to 4 inches) of the white stuff
coated the capital.

Local travelers found themselves walking to their destinations rather
than wait endlessly for public bus service that was forced to a
standstill for several hours by the messy weather.

Heavy snowfall was also seen in Judea and Samaria, with residents in
many small communities reporting they were snowed in Wednesday
evening.  More than 10 centimeters (4 inches) of snow was reported in
Kiryat Arba; a similar accumulation was seen in Beit El.

The snowstorm made its way south from Mt. Hermon, reaching as far as
the Negev desert town of Mitzpe Ramon by Wednesday afternoon.  Strong
winds blew down a group of tents and shacks in a small Bedouin village
outside the city of Rahat, lightly injuring a pregnant woman and six
children.

Some 200 tent dwellers were taken to a school in Rahat to spend the
night and 30 members of the community were treated for frostbite.

The Israel Electric Company announced it had reached capacity by early
evening and that reserves were running very low.  Electricity use
reached a record 9,450 megawatts as severe weather conditions and
plunging temperatures sent Israelis straight to the electric space
heaters.

Power outages were reported in a number of communities in the south,
including Yatir and Arad.  The company asked consumers to refrain from
using high-consumption appliances overnight in order to relieve the
national grid.  Dishwashers, washing machines, baking ovens, electric
grills, water heaters and vacuum cleaners were all on the
please-dont-use-these-tonight list.

3. Guysen Israel News Thursday
Extracts Only
From: Guysen Israel News <webmaster@guysen.com>
[] 2006-12-27 , 6 Tevet 5767
23:45  The famous Israeli singer, Sarit Haddad, is on tour in the United States. Choosing to appear only dressed in Israel's colors (blue and white), Sarit Haddad said that she would not work on Shabbat and that she only ate kosher food.  (Guysen.Isra l.News)
23:21  A preliminary agreement has been reached between representatives of El Al and the ultra-orthodox community according to which the company commits to consult a rabbinic authority in the case of a need for flights on Shabbat. The contract specifies that El Al will maintain its current policy of not flying on Shabbat. (Guysen.Isra l.News)
22:28  Pope Benedict XVI received Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki who gave him a message from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.  (Guysen.Isra l.News)
21:38  Hamas condemned Israel's decision to eliminate the kassam launchers. The terrorist organization's spokesman Ghazi Hamad, denounced the "continuing aggression against the Palestinian people". "We are convinced that the cease-fire is still in force and that it must be respected by both sides", he said. (Guysen.Isra l.News)
17:13  In 2006, 35% of children were living below the poverty threshold in Israel. The National Council for Childhood presented its annual report to Ehud Olmert. At the end of 2005, there were 2.3 million children in Israel, of whom more than one third were living in poverty, as against 33% in the previous year. (Guysen.Isra l.News)
14:56  France is calling on Israel and the Palestinians to show restraint. The Foreign Minister criticized the construction of a new Jewish town in Judea and Samaria intended to house the Israeli]s expelled from the Gaza Strip, but he also criticized the firing of kassam rockets on Israeli towns.  (Guysen.Isra l.News)
13:31  Israel and Turkey may face the Iranian threat together. According to the Saudi daily Al Watan, a Turkish military delegation, composed of high ranking officers, is currently in Israel to examine how to present a joint front to counter the Iranian threat. (Guysen.Isra l.News)
12:40  A new contingent of American soldiers in Kuweit. The Pentagon announced that it was going to send a contingent of 3,500 soldiers to Kuweit to support the American forces in Iraq if necessary. (Guysen.Isra l.News)
07:46  Former president Gerald Ford passed away last night at the age of 93. Ford was president of the United States from 1974 to 1977 following the Watergate affair, which led to the resignation of Richard Nixon.  (Guysen.Isra l.News)

Jerusalem News-557
Date: 11 Tevet 5767, I January 2007
Contents:
1. Saudi cleric denounces Shi'ites as infidels
2. Arutz Sheva News Sunday 
(2. MOMENTS BEFORE DEATH, SADDAM HUSSEIN: PALESTINE IS ARAB
(3. JEWISH CALENDAR IN ACTION
(4. SAUDI ARABIA BARS BIBLE-BEARING FLIGHT ATTENDANT
3. Guysen Israel News
4. RAYMOND HAINEY: Climate change: The crack of doom?
5. Archaeology: Brit-Am Version of Explorator 9.36

1. Saudi clericdenounces Shi'ites as infidels
The Peninsula - 30 December, 2006
www.gulfinthemedia.com/index.php?id=273548&news_type=Top&lang=en

An influential cleric of Saudi Arabia's hardline Sunni school of Islam has
denounced Shi'ite Muslims as "infidels" in a new religious edict that comes
amid rising sectarian tension in the region.

"The rejectionists (Shi'ites) in their entirety are the worst of the Islamic
nation's sects. They bear all the characteristics of infidels," Sheikh Abdel
Rahman Al Barrak said in the fatwa, or ruling, distributed on Islamist Web
sites.

"They are in truth polytheist infidels, though they hide this," it said,
citing theological differences 14 centuries after the death of the Prophet
Mohammad, such as reverence of shrines which followers of Saudi Arabia's
Wahhabi school consider abhorrent.

Concern is growing in Saudi Arabia, birthplace of Islam, over Shi'ite-Sunni
violence in Iraq which has taken the northern neighbour to the brink of
civil war. Sunni-Shi'ite tensions are also high in Lebanon, where Shi'ites
are leading efforts to bring down a Sunni-led cabinet.

"The Sunni and Shi'ites schools of Islam are opposites that can never agree,
there can be no coming together unless Sunnis give up their principles," the
fatwa said.

Barrak, an independent scholar, has come to be regarded by many as the
highest authority for Wahhabi Muslims.

Clerics of the austere Wahhabi school of Sunni Islam have long dismissed Shi'ites
as virtual heretics and Saudi Arabia's Shi'ite minority complains of second
class treatment.But Barrak's fatwa was the strongest in recent years.

The fatwa, which was published on Barrak's Web site in response to a
follower's question, also appeared to criticise efforts by some
government-backed Saudi preachers at reconciliation between Sunnis and Shi'ites.
 --------------------------------------------
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
Website: www.imra.org.il

2. Arutz Sheva News Sunday 
http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com
December 31, 2006, 10 Tevet 5767

(2. MOMENTS BEFORE DEATH, SADDAM HUSSEIN: PALESTINE IS ARAB
By Hana Levi Julian

Even during his final moments, Saddam Hussein made sure to shout
encouragement to Palestinian Authority terrorists.

As the noose was slipped around his neck, and the trapdoor about to
open for him to plunge to his death, Hussein called out, Allah is
great. The nation will be victorious, and Palestine is Arab.

Around the Muslim world, the festival of Eid al-Adha dawned Saturday
morning with the news that Iraqs murderous dictator was dead. The
families of the thousands of his countrymen whom he slaughtered
throughout the 35 years he ruled Iraq with an iron fist celebrated his
death, as did Kuwaitis and Iranians, who had suffered during Iraqs
invasions.  This is the best Eid gift for humanity, said former
Kuwaiti Information Minister Saad bin Tafla al-Ajmi.

Al-Ajmi said the families of hundreds of people who went missing
during Iraqs seven-month occupation of Kuwait were ecstatic, saying
Husseins death was the fair punishment for the one who executed our
sons without trials.

The former Iraqi ambassador to the United Nations prior to the 2003
U.S. invasion of Iraq said, The Arab nation has lost a hero. So have
all of those who are against Iran and Israel and for Arab unity.
Mohammed al-Douri added that Husseins death was no triumph for the
U.S.  They think this is a victory, the execution of President
Saddam. They have no other victory to claim. There is no new Iraq, no
democracy, no example for the region, he said.

In Israel, the death of Saddam Hussein was welcomed.  Former Foreign
Minister Silvan Shalom, writing for Ynet, explained, "We have no
reason to mourn the death of Saddam... Let us not forget the dozens of
Scuds he fired at Israel with the intent of killing innocent people.
This cruel dictator did everything he could to harm the State of
Israel and the stability of the Middle East.  For years he aided and
funded Palestinian terrorism in the territories and within the State
of Israel."

Not everyone agreed.  MK Ahmed Tibi (Taal Raam) said the hanging was
an act of sadism, adding, Even dictators deserve to be treated
humanely.

Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh expressed concern about the
post-Saddam era in Iraq.  We have to be worried about what is going
to happen now, he said, noting that Iraq has become a regional power
station for terror.  He also said that Irans influence was growing
in Shiite areas of Iraq, as well as in the central government there.

Hamas official Mohammed Barghouti condemned the execution, saying that
despite the disputes between his deeply religious terror organization
and the secular leader, the Iraqi government was wrong to hang Saddam
Hussein.  Barghouti, serving as Labor Minister in the Hamas-led PA
government, said that PA Arabs had bonded with Iraqis in
brotherhood.

During the first Gulf War in 1991, PA Arabs cheered Saddam's missile
attacks on Israel, chanting, "Beloved Saddam, strike Tel Aviv," as the
Scud missiles flew overhead.  He later gave $25,000 to the families of
PA suicide bombers who managed to kill Jews and $10,000 for other
martyrs killed by the IDF.

Indeed, PA residents mourned their generous Iraqi backer, who had
proved his support with money and missiles.

We heard of his martyrdom, and I swear to G-d we were deeply shaken
from within.  Nobody was as supportive or stood with the Palestinians
as he did, said Khadijeh Ahmad, a resident of the PA-controlled
village Qadora.

Residents in the PA town of Bethlehem opened a house of condolence,
hanging Iraqi flags and pictures of the dead dictator. Visitors to the
center drank black coffee and black strips of cloth were tied to the
antennas of vehicles in the streets.


(3. JEWISH CALENDAR IN ACTION
By Hillel Fendel

Today, the 10th of Tevet, is a day of fasting, commemorating the siege
of Jerusalem led by Nebuchadnezzar - the ancient Babylonian despot of
whom Saddam Hussein claimed to be a reincarnation.

Just a day after the hanging of Saddam Hussein, Jews around the world
remember another cruel tyrant - Saddam's self-proclaimed role model -
and his murderous plans for the Jewish People.  Nebuchadnezzar was
more successful than Saddam in this regard, in that he destroyed
Jerusalem and the Holy Temple, and put hundreds of thousands of Jews,
including the nation's king and leaders, to death with unspeakable
cruelty.

On this day, the 10th of Tevet, Nebuchadnezzar instated a tight siege
on Jerusalem, setting off the chain of events that led to the
destruction of the First Holy Temple and a 70-year exile of the Jewish
People from their Holy Land. 

Today, nearly 2,500 years later, Jews around the world - and
especially in the modern renewed edition of the Jewish State that
Nebuchadnezzar tried to rub out - refrain from eating and drinking
until sunset to remember the calamities that occurred at that time.

Saddam Hussein, who was hanged yesterday in Baghdad, just 90
kilometers from Nebuchadnezzar's palace in the ancient city of Babyon,
modeled himself in many ways after Nebuchadnezzar. 

Much of the brickwork in the throne room of King Nebuchadnezzar's
palace, for instance, was built by Saddam Hussein's workers.  Just as
the original bricks are inscribed with words praising Nebuchadnezzar,
the newer ones - 60 million of them! - state that they were fashioned
in "the era of Saddam Hussein, protector of Iraq, who rebuilt
civilization and rebuilt Babylon."

In addition, in his book "Saddam Hussein, the Stairway to Heaven and
the Return of Planet X," William Henry writes, "Saddam is saying he is
the reincarnated Nebuchadnezzar... He is attempting to recreate and
outdo the feats of the biblical king...  It is well known that [he]
has connected himself with Nebuchadnezzar, spending over $500 million
during the 1980s on the reconstruction and the re-establishment of
ancient Babylon, the capitol of Nebuchadnezzar."

Nebuchadnezzar was Divinely changed into an animal for a period of
time - an event that many recalled when the once-opulent Saddam
Hussein was captured two and a half years ago living in nearly
animal-like conditions.

The Tenth of Tevet has also taken on another facet, in connection with
the Holocaust.  Many bereaved Jews who do not know the date or place
of death of their loved ones recite Kaddish, the Jewish prayer for
those who have died, on this day.  For this reason, some consider this
day as a Holocaust remembrance day.

   Yishai Fleisher contributed to this article.


(4. SAUDI ARABIA BARS BIBLE-BEARING FLIGHT ATTENDANT
By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

A Bible-bearing Christian flight attendant has been barred by her
British employer from flying to Saudi Arabia, where Christianity is
illegal.

The flight attendant, who works for British Midland Airways (BMI), is
"a committed Christian [who] likes to take her Bible, which was once
her mother's, with her when she travels," according to journalist
Claire Bergen. 

The British Foreign Office backed the airline. "The importation [to
Saudi Arabia] and use of narcotics, alcohol, pork products and
religious books, apart from the Quran (Koran), and artifacts are
forbidden," it stated.  The London Telegraph quoted a BMI
official as saying, "We issue advice to all our staff and passengers
that these are the guidelines. She is saying she wants to carry her
Bible with her. We are saying we cannot start designing rules around
individuals when we have several hundred members of staff. To take
every personal preference into account would be impossible."

The stewardess has taken the case to an industrial (labor) court.

It is not the first time that religious practice of airline workers
has been curtailed because of Saudi rules. A flight attendant working
for British Airways (BA)  was forbidden to wear her cross visibly on
the route to Saudi Arabia.

Even Christmas trees are banned in the oil-rich kingdom, which claims
to allow religious freedom. An Iowa woman wrote in the Wichita
Eagle earlier this month about her experience in 2003.
"Christianity was not allowed to be practiced," wrote Charlotte Brock
Rady. "Shopping in the back alleys of Jeddah one night, we discovered
a market that had hidden away upstairs in a dark room a small
artificial Christmas tree and lights."

Another worker in the country reported that her tree was confiscated
at the border.

Nevertheless, on a recent visit to Princeton University, Saudi Prince
Turki al-Faisal declared, "Arab tradition and Muslim tradition is
geared towards having an open mind. Muslim religion accepts
Christianity and Judaism."
 
Last year, a Saudi Arabian court sentenced a teacher to 40 months in
prison and 750 lashes for discussing the Bible and praising Jews.
 
He was charged with promoting a "dubious ideology, mocking religion,
saying the Jews were right, discussing the Gospel and preventing
students from leaving class to wash for prayer," according to a local
newspaper report.

A report in 2005 by the U.S. State Department criticized Saudi Arabia,
saying religious freedoms "are denied to all but those who adhere to
the state-sanctioned version of Sunni Islam."

3. Guysen Israel News
EXTRACTS ONLY
Date: Sun, 31 Dec 2006 11:28:06 +0000
From: Guysen  Israel News <webmaster@guysen.com>
[] 2006-12-30 , 9 Tevet 5767
[]Saddam Hussein was hung at dawn, on Saturday 30th December. 69 years old, the former dictator from Baghdad had ruled over Iraq for a quarter of a century. He had been sentenced to death for crimes against humanity.
20:16  Summary of the news of the day from ... (Guysen.Isra l.News)
SATURDAY AFTERNOON
The execution of Saddam Hussein has provoked a wave of attacks in Iraq. Several car bombs have exploded throughout the country: 73 dead.
The EU condemned the crimes against humanity perpetrated by Saddam Hussein but it also disapproved of his execution. "Despite the crimes of the former dictator, the EU is opposed to the death penalty" the high representative for foreign policy of the EU, Javier Solana said.
19:48  The Palestinians are in mourning. "We have lost a leader," the PA said. Elsewhere, the Palestinians are said to have been very touched by the last words of the former dictator: "Palestine is Arab".  (Guysen.Isra l.News)
19:15  Whilst many in the western world have expressed their satisfaction following the execution of former dictator Saddam Hussein, voices have been raised in condemnation of this sentence: Russia, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Austria, Hungary, Holland and the Ukraine are amongst the countries that officially condemned the execution. (Guysen.Isra l.News)

4. Climate change: The crack of doom?

RAYMOND HAINEY
http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1928862006

Comments

An interesting article followed by equally interesting comments giving the
pros and cons.

5. Archaeology: Brit-Am Version of Explorator 9.36
From: david meadows <rogueclassicist@gmail.com>
Subject: [Explorator] explorator 9.36

================================================================
explorator 9.36 December 31, 2006
================================================================
================================================================
AFRICA
================================================================
More coverage of that early ritual site in Botswana:

http://tinyurl.com/y994pk (NG)
================================================================
ANCIENT NEAR EAST AND EGYPT
================================================================
No evidence of Medes at Ecbatana:
http://www.chnpress.com/news/?section=2&id=6905

================================================================
ANCIENT GREECE AND ROME (AND CLASSICS)
================================================================

A piece on the early Olympics:
http://tinyurl.com/ymussn (LA Times)

Reviews of a couple of well-reviewed books on Caesar and Augustus:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/31/books/review/Coates.t.html
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/12/29/features/IDLEDE30.php

... and another:
http://tinyurl.com/ye6oe9 (LA Times)


================================================================
EUROPE AND THE UK (+ Ireland)
================================================================
That Bronze Age log boat from the River Tay is in the news again:
http://tinyurl.com/yma4al (BBC)

... while there is ongoing controversy about plans to move those
Viking ships (we mentioned last week):
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/25/world/europe/25viking.html
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/12/25/news/viking.php

13th century finds from Berwick:
http://tinyurl.com/ybcd7c (Berwick Today)


Review of Stella Tillyard, *George III and his Scandalous
Siblings*:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/27/books/27grim.2.html

Archaeology in Europe Blog:
http://www.archaeology.eu.com/weblog/index.html
================================================================
ASIA AND THE SOUTH PACIFIC
================================================================
Humans are being blamed for the demise of Australia's giant
kangaroos:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16359687/
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061226/ap_on_sc/australia_megafauna

Trying to identify a caucasian mummy from China:
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20061224-032826-6357r

cf.:
http://english.people.com.cn/200612/25/eng20061225_335707.html

A Mongolian fresco/mural appears to depict the funeral of Genghis Khan:
http://en.ce.cn/National/culture/200612/27/t20061227_9905492.shtml
http://tinyurl.com/ymzzlk (Washington Times)

Mysterious rings from the tomb of China's only empress:
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200612/21/eng20061221_334509.html

New Zealand Archaeology eNews:
http://www.nzarchaeology.org/netsubnews.htm
================================================================
NORTH AMERICA
================================================================
A 9000 b.p. spear point from New Brunswick:

http://tinyurl.com/whpus (Star Tribune)
http://tinyurl.com/y2uc2l (UPI)
http://tinyurl.com/yaj9l8 (Globe and Mail)
http://tinyurl.com/ymjxj7 (CBC)

And piles of stuff from beneath a Halifax hotel:

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/550002.html

Toronto's heritage is in danger from development:

http://tinyurl.com/ycmrx6 (National Post)
================================================================
OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST
================================================================
A nice sort of 'overview' of what DNA studies are telling us
about our past:
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1980639,00.html

The mystery of the deaths of Francesco I Medici and his wife
appears to have been solved (very interesting):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/italy/story/0,,1979151,00.html

The secret of Stradivarius violins' distinctive sound has
been solved:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/11/061129151126.htm

Interesting item on painters' fingerprints:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/31/arts/design/31cole.html

Piece on pomegranates has a nice overview of their history:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1227/p13s02-lifo.html?s=hns

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Lives of the Week:
http://www.oxforddnb.com/public/lotw/

================================================================
CRIME BEAT
================================================================

Interesting piece on some of the folks who recovered Nazi-looted
art at the end of WWII:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-2524245,00.html


================================================================
NUMISMATICA
================================================================
Big bucks for a coin of Henry VIII at auction:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/cumbria/6220490.stm

Review of a book on Cumberland Mining Tokens:
http://www.whitehaven-news.co.uk/leisure/viewarticle.aspx?id=447775


================================================================
EXHIBITIONS, AUCTIONS, AND MUSEUM-RELATED
================================================================
Athens-Sparta:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/29/arts/design/29onas.html


Jerusalem News-558
Date: 14 Tevet 5767, 4 January 2007
Contents:
1. Quotation
2. Israel Security Maps
3. Kicking is more dangerous than fists or weapons
4. Why are Danes the world's happiest nation?
5. Moslems in England

1. Quotation
From: dailyquote@thequoteboard.com
Subject: yair, your daily quote from the Quote Board

Hi yair,
----
It costs five times more to obtain a new customer than to retain an existing one.

Hugh Mackay.

2. IsraelSecurity Maps
http://www.iris.org.il/security_maps.htm

3. Kicking is more dangerous than fists or weapons
http://dienekes.blogspot.com/2006/12/kicking-is-more-dangerous-than-fists-or.html
Researchers at Cardiff University in Wales examined the medical records of nearly 25,000 people treated in a local hospital between 1999 and 2005 (related photos: the new Wales).

The researchers tallied the victims' injuries according to a five-point triage scale based on the urgency of treatment needed.

Reporting in a recent issue of the journal Injury Prevention, lead study author Jonathan Shepherd and colleagues found that while kicks were less common, such assaults caused greater damage than either punches or attacks with weapons.


4. Why are Danes the world's happiest nation?
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-12/bmj-wad122106.php
44-020-738-36529
BMJ-British Medical Journal

Comparative study of life satisfaction in the European Union

Earlier this year, Denmark came top in a world map of happiness (the UK ranked 41st out of 178 nations). And for more than 30 years it has ranked first in European satisfaction surveys. So what makes Danes so content?

Researchers in this week's Christmas issue of the BMJ decided to find out why life satisfaction in Denmark substantially exceeds that in Sweden and Finland, the two countries most similar to Denmark.

Their hypotheses range from the unlikely (hair colour, genes, food and language) to the more plausible, such as family life, health and a prosperous economy.

However, their analysis points to two explanatory factors. Firstly, winning the 1992 European Football Championship put Danes in such a state of euphoria that the country has not been the same since. This may explain the high level of life satisfaction in Denmark after 1992, they write.

Secondly, while Danes are very satisfied, their expectations for the coming year are rather low. In contrast, Italy and Greece, which rank low on life satisfaction, rank high on expectations for the year to come, together with Swedes and Finns.

The causes of the stolid depth of Danish wellbeing are undoubtedly multifactorial, they say. The Danish football triumph of 1992 has had a lasting impact, but the satisfaction of the Danes began well before 1992, albeit at a more moderate level. The key factor that explains this, and that differentiates Danes from Swedes and Finns, seems to be that Danes have consistently low (and realistic) expectations for the year to come.

5. Moslems in England

From: eidelberg@foundation1.org

Ponder this from England:

http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/014639.php

Extracts

Yes, of course, Moslems are an alien body in our midst.
Every day in London - on the tube, in shops, in parks,
whilst shopping, whilst going about the 101 tasks that make
up an average life - this is borne in on me.

In London today Moslems dress differently, are rude to
locals, jump queues, shout at us, wave their fists at us,
call us 'worthless infidel' in public and in loud voices. I
have, just four days ago, been elbowed aside by a moslem
couple, with sidekicks, whilst trying to top up my Oyster
card at a tube station at the automatic machine. Apparently,
I had taken longer than the ten seconds that they were
prepared to wait and so three burly males forced me aside
and, when I objected, pushed me to the floor and - quite
literally - and took over the machine which I was attempting
to use.

Not, in a crowded and impatient city like London that this
was a surprise, but that in this instance that I was
insulted by these people was a surprise. The eldest male in
the group, dressed in the usual and ridiculous garb of
mohammedans everywhere, looked directly at me amd said, in
quite clear English, (and I quote verbatim) "Get out of our
way infidel slave".

You may imagine how I felt at that moment. To be so insulted
in my own capital city was stunning. It took all my
self-control not to do something rash at that moment.

Knowing that CCTV cameras would have captured this incident
I complained, some three hours later (after having completed
my journey and return), to the British Transport Police on
the Broadway. I need not have bothered. Not only would
no-one there take my complaint of 'technical assault and
insult' seriously but no-one to whom I spoke was even
prepared to initiate any paperwork whatsoever nor were they
remotely prepared to find and look at the video recordings.
Indeed, one Officer even said to me that I 'should swallow
my pride' and live with it because - and, once again, I
quote verbatim 'you are just being racist and you have to
remember that it's cultural with them'.

Boker Tov [Good Morning],
 
After reading
Psalm 62,
I took a tour of your site.
You delivered such a clear and interesting commentary to Psalm 62!! So why the need for all that mud throwing; why do you have to besmirch yourself, your site and all that you stand for here?? Even if you are only quoting, it is repulsive to say the least that you put this filthy yellow pages story about wombs and testicles, together in one pot with the Psalms and Prophets. AND it is adding insult to the injury, hurt and pain that those youngsters have gone through in Amona that day.
 
Let Barry Chamish be and dont drug your readers into that slander.
 
With Love of the Land of Israel
 
Graciela Kittel

"How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries!
Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries, improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live. A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property, either as a child, a wife, or a concubine, must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men. Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities, but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science, the science against which it had vainly struggled, the civilization of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilization of ancient Rome."

Sir Winston Churchill; (The River War, first edition, Vol. II, pages 248-50 London)

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