Israeli Court Limits Blogs Freedom of Speech

Orthomom Redux? While Freedom of Speech is protected by the US Constitution, it's a whole different ballgame in Israel. Disagree with your local municipal council? One blogger did...and found his blogger anonymity disappearing under court order to Google. (Till a few minutes ago, the blog could be found at the address: http://shaarei-tikva.blogspot.com/ and was entitled "What's going on in Shaarei Tikva")

From Globes today:

In an unprecedented move, Google Inc. (Nasdaq:GOOG) has agreed to supply the IP address of an Israeli blogger who used "Google Blogger" for a blog in which he slandered Shaarei Tikva council members running for reelection. The election is being held today. So far as is known, this is the first time that Google forewent legal action in such a case.

The slandered Shaarei Tikva council members asked Google for the blogger's name. They reached a settlement with the company on the basis of an Israeli ruling on the subject. The settlement stipulates that 72 hours before a hearing on the case at the Rishon LeZion Magistrates Court, the council members would leave the blogger a message on his blog summoning him to the hearing, or else his IP address would be handed over. The notice would invite the blogger to disclose his identity, participate in the hearing, or oppose the disclosure of his identity by filing a motion as "anonymous".

For more than a year, the anonymous blogger slandered three Shaarei Tikva councilmen: local council chairman Gideon Idan, Shaarei Tikva director general Haim Blumenfeld and council member Avi Yokobovich. The blogger accused the men of criminal acts, such as pretending to be handicapped in order to receive discounts on local property taxes, receiving bribes from a contractor, and having ties to criminal gangs.

The three councilmen filed a NIS 300,000 lawsuit against the blogger, who was named "anonymous" in the statement of claim. They also asked for a court order ordering Google to disclose the blogger's IP address, which would enable the court to contact the blogger's Internet services provider and order it to disclose the blogger's identity.

Google initially said that disclosing the blogger's identity violated rulings on the balance between freedom of expression and a person's right to his reputation.
However, in a pre-ruling, Judge Oren Schwartz said that the blog's content raised suspicions of criminal conduct, and Google took the hint. Judge Schwartz applied the strict position of Tel Aviv District Court Judge Michal Agmon that the details of a surfer may be disclosed only if the slander was tantamount to criminal defamation.

Following Judge Schwartz's ruling, Google and the councilmen reached a settlement in their dispute. Google was represented by Adv. Keren Beer and Adv. Hagit Blaiberg of Goldfarb, Levy, Eran, Meiri & Co. /a> and the councilmen were represented by Adv. Ben Zion Adoram and Tomer Altus of Adoram & Co.

The court's decision (in Hebrew) is here. Sources in Hebrew here, here, and here.

A sad day for Israel's bloggers indeed.


Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael

The Jerusalem Feint

Cross-posted on JoeSettler
The views of this post do not necessarily represent those of the Muqata

If you’ve driven from Malcha to Gilo, you know how ridiculous and impossible the idea of dividing Jerusalem really is. You drive through the main road that divides the town of Beit Safafa in two.

I am sure I can’t even count on one hand the number of residents of Beit Safafa that want to be cut off from Jerusalem, from the Israeli government subsidies, from their jobs, and from their lives - to join the PA.

And what are they going to do? Build walls, and tunnels, and then somehow link it to Abu Tor, which will via some magical underground tunnel link to Ramallah? (Hell, they can’t even get the light rail moving).

The physical impossibility of carving this city up which has become so integrated (whether some people want to admit it or not) is far more difficult than untying a mere Gordian knot.

The Arab residents of Jerusalem have made it clear they don’t want to be residents of the PA. They don’t want to give up their freedom, their lives, their safety, and their jobs.

Sure, they continue to physically reside in their own ethnic enclaves, but that doesn’t meant their lives haven’t been integrated into one united and undivided Jerusalem.

And Olmert knows his government would collapse the second he gave away sovereignty over the Temple Mount, much less allowed PA policemen into the residential sections of the Old City.

And everybody knows this.

I believe the whole Jerusalem discussion is a feint, a ploy, a trick.

Olmert will give something major away at Annapolis, but it won’t be Jerusalem.

Instead he’ll come back, declaring himself the hero for saving Jerusalem from American pressure, while having seriously damaged us somewhere else.

And with a nod and a wink, his coalition of the power-hungry of Shas, Lieberman and the rest of his cronies will remain intact, they after all did their job protecting Jerusalem (sic).

Olmert has already frozen construction in Judea and Samaria. Personal security for the average Israeli has once again dropped.

What Sacrifice for Peace Power has Olmert in store for us?

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael

Jerusalem of Gold and Orange

Starting yesterday, the "One Jerusalem" organization initiated a new campaign, hoping to match or trump the "orange ribbon" campaign that supported Gush Katif before the Disengagement.

On the eve of the Annapolis Conference where Israel's government is willing to unilaterally concede to terror by abandoning it's control over the West Bank and parts of Jerusalem, the "One Jerusalem" campaign is distributing at street corners throughout the city golden ribbons to be flown from cars, backpacks, and clothing.

The orange streamer hanging from our cars' rear view mirror is now joined by a gold one...as on my laptop backpack and all my kids school knapsacks.

Those giving out the streamers were the same teenagers that distributed the orange ones. Since most high schools are still on strike, the teenagers have plenty of free time, which is why they're distributing these streamers now.

I wonder if when Ehud Olmert gets word that these "Unity for Jerusalem" streamers are being given out everywhere by students -- whether he will quickly order the Treasury to end the strike.

Education's never been high on his priority list before...but now he has the perfect excuse to end the strike and prevent more people from having a "politically annoying" gold streamer on their car.

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael

Who Rules Israeli Chareidi Judaism?

Some of the guest contributors at the right hand side of my blog often comment to me privately that my more interesting posts are those still "in draft mode" -- the ones I jot down, but never publish. It's not due to procrastination or laziness, but the post doesn't just "click".

Though I don't know if the following is one of those "best" posts, it comes as a response to the following YNET op/ed piece by a Chareidi Yeshiva student.

Last week, IDF Human Resources Directorate head Major General Elazar Stern joined those who have lashed out against the widespread "draft dodging" among the ultra-Orthodox.

Even though there is nothing new in the arguments, this time around, something did attract my attention, and I quote the Maj.-Gen. Stern: "The existence of the Haredi Nahal regiment refutes the claim that ultra-Orthodox life and the army cannot be combined. They have conditions there that are even better than Bnei Brak," Stern said, referring to a heavily Haredi town in central Israel, "they see no women, not even at a kilometer's distance. Now society must play its role and encourage (Haredi youths) to serve in the army."

I was almost convinced. But, there are problems with the magic solution Stern outlined: To the best of my knowledge, the Haredi Nahal was established as a rehabilitative setting for Haredi dropouts. And… success rates are not something to brag about. Stern should talk to the commanders about their painful failure before trying to convince more ultra-Orthodox to join in.

For us, enlisting means losing our moral code and values for which we are ready to die.

Stern and his likes, on the other hand, transform their values according to the latest trend. With the tiny Yarmulke on his head, Stern lectures us on what's right and wrong. There are too many parents in the ultra-Orthodox sector who sit Shiva for sons who died a spiritual death while serving in the army.

Stern also ignored other key issues that are crucial for an observant man: Kashrut, Shabbat, and the militaristic viewpoint that emphasizes physical strength over spiritual fortitude. So, dear Maj.-Gen., hear this:

When the IDF decides to follow the Torah's laws, my friends and I will gladly fulfill our duty – i.e. Bar Kokhba's army – until then, I'd rather die in the tents of Torah!

A few comments on this posting...

1. I have many issues with the IDF following their politicization during the Disengagement, and I am far from a ultra-idealist gung-ho believer in the IDF today. That said, I still volunteer.

2. The most correct statement above was that the Nahal Chareidi is viewed within Chareidi circles as the last bastion for Chareidi dropouts. It's better for a Chareidi kid to go off the derech or hang out all day in the center of Jerusalem (still wearing a kippa), than to go off to the treif army of the Zionists. (Clarification: The above statement is not my own view, but that of the general Chareidi community.)

3. No one dies in the tents of the Torah unless a bookcase falls on someone's head. That's probably the most offensive aspect of the editorial -- does the author honestly think he is promoting a Chareidi viewpoint by saying such things in YNET?

And now...the author is simply a fool to begin with, because he doesn't even know why it's "forbidden" to be in the treif zionist army. Which leads us to my posting below...

Warning: The posting is not directed against Gedolim or Chareidi Judaism. On the contrary, we love Gedolim and Chareidim...and admire their acts of chessed for the benefit of Klal Yisrael in Israel. This posting however addresses a sinister, much darker shade of black.

Mishpacha newspaper in Israel via RafiG reports:

The head of Human Resources in the IDF, major general Elazar Stern, has been working towards finding a solution for the situation with the yeshiva boys and kollel members who currently have their army service deferred, but then they cannot go to work (even if they want to leave kollel and begin working) until they fulfill their army obligations, which because of societal pressures (and other reasons) is difficult for them to do.

Stern has been working towards a solution in which he would exempt completely any and every yeshiva student. Any yeshiva student or kollel member who wants to study in yeshiva would receive a full exemption from the army. That's right - an exemption - not a deferment. And if one day student x or y decides he does not want to continue in kollel but wants to go join the workforce, he would be able to do so without having to be concerned about any obligations to the army.

For the record, Yossi Beilin from Meretz has been proposing to abolish the draft in Israel altogether, which would accomplish the same end result; Chareidim could avoid service in the IDF, attend college, get better jobs, pay more taxes, not be reliant on government stipends...

Good or Bad?

If you're a Chareidi politician, this is a doomsday scenario. Without forced reliance on government stipends and Chareidi politicial parties in Israel for their existance, Chareidim could "move up in the world" (if they so desired), and even vote for other parties.

Worse, the big fear is that many Chareidim in yeshiva today who ostensibly are learning in yeshiva because of "Toraso Umnaso" (Torah learning is their profession), and thereby avoiding the culturally unacceptable position of serving in the IDF or helping Israel via "National Service", would no longer stay in yeshiva. They would leave yeshiva to start working and/or study in college.

This would prove "The Emporer Has No Clothes" -- the reason so many Chareidim are in Yeshiva is to avoid the culturally unacceptable position of serving in the IDF or helping the "State" and far less to do with "Toraso Umnaso".

Don't shoot me -- I'm only the messenger -- Chareidi politicians admit it outright!

[Ultra Orthodox Shas Minister of Communications MK Ariel]Attias said to Stern, "your concern is not really for the yeshiva boys. It is for the general workforce. This is really an attempt to allow more people into the workforce and weaken the ranks of those studying Torah [by making it easy for them to leave yeshiva, not just making it easy to stay in yeshiva]. Of course the decision will be made by the gedolei yisrael, however we the representatives will recommend against this precedent to remove yeshiva boys from the world of Torah."

Who Rules Israeli Chareidi Judaism? Actually, my original title was Who Ruins Israeli Chareidi Judaism.

It's very simple: The Askanim and Chareidi Politicians.

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael

Target: Jerusalem

Since 10:30 Sunday morning, traffic around Jerusalem has been snarled.

The IDF, ShinBet, Police and MDA are all reportedly on the highest alert possible for Israel's capital and surrounding areas.

Let's hope they get the terrorist soon.


Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael

Happy Thanksgiving.

(Click the turkey to see a unique Thanksgiving card)

First thought that came to mind when I got the above (from friend YG) was the Juggling Frogs blog. Seems like something she would do in reality.

Will post more later. In the meantime, Happy Thanksigving. Give thanks for the little things.




Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael

Olmert still Charging...

Despite the Shin Bet, Mossad, IDF military intelligence (and the Muqata blog's) strident warning, Olmert has decided to allow the transfer of 25 armored vehicles, 2 million bullets, and 450 terrorist prisoners to Fatah before the upcoming summit in Annapolis.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has approved the supply of 25 armored vehicles to the Palestinian security organizations in the West Bank, as a "goodwill" gesture to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ahead of the Annapolis peace conference.

Olmert's office denied that had authorized the transfer of rifles.

The Prime Minister's Office denied previous reports that Israel would supply 50 armored vehicles and 1,000 rifles to the Palestinians: "Not one rifle was approved."

Russia offered to transfer the armored vehicles to the Palestinian Authority two years ago, but the IDF and the Shin Bet opposed the proposal for fear that the equipment would reach terror organizations.

The objection grew stronger after Hamas took over the Gaza Strip.

According to diplomatic sources in Jerusalem, the prime minister decided to agree to the offer several days before the US-sponsored summit, and to allow the Palestinian president to receive the armored vehicles, the weapons and the ammunition. It is unclear when the equipment will be transferred to the PA.

Security sources still believe that this is a dangerous move. Although the armored vehicles are considered defensive rather than offensive equipment, weapons transferred through official channels have been known to reach Hamas in the past. YNET

Why worry about reaching Hamas?

It's Fatah who's doing the killing! (see yesterday's post)



Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael

Dust off your Heritage

-- Advertisement --

As everyone already knows, NJOP (National Jewish Outreach Program) is offering a Free Trip for 2 to Israel with their Judaica Across America Contest.

To enter, you need to submit a picture of a piece of Judaica you own along with a related story. The winner gets the tickets.

NJOP has begun to showcase some of the entries online.

I've reprinted one of them here:

Kiddush Cup
My family likes to joke about it sometimes - they say "don't forget to polish the holy grail" or "make sure to put the chalice in the dishwasher," and they 're not wrong; our Kiddush cup looks like it was swiped from King Arthur's court and mistakenly placed on our Shabbat table.

It isn't until you closely examine it that you see inscribed between the flowers & flourishes, the words “zechor et yom ha shabbat li kadsho” remember Shabbos & keep it holy.

Our kiddush cup has borne witness to almost 80 years of shabbosess remembered and kept holy, beginning in 1928 when my great grandfather received the cup as a wedding gift from his parents. It has presided over Friday night dinners in Germany, Saturday lunches in Poland and many yuntifs in New York, moving with my family as they traveled across the globe, running from Hitler’s Nazi regime.

The cup embodies the strength and perseverance of my great grandfather and is a testament to his commitment to Jewish life. After my great grandfather’s death, the Kiddush cup and its history were passed on to my father, who in turn relayed its story to my sister and me.

And one shabbos afternoon, im yirtzah hashem, my sister and I will gather our children round and tell them about the adventures of the Holy Grail.

--Suffern, NY

So "Dust off your Heritage", enter the contest, and maybe you will win a free trip for 2 to Israel.

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael

And you shall not sacrifice your children to Molech

Ido Zoldan with his wife and son
Reproduction photo: Yossi Dagan, Homesh First headquarters

"And you shall not sacrifice your children to Molech".

Last night there was a terror attack in our area. At 11:18 PM there was a drive-by shooting attack, in which a 29 year old Ido Zoldan was killed. The terrorists riddled Zoldan's car with bullets and escaped. Zoldan's car drove off the road and came to a stop. The first person to stop and help already determined Zoldan wasn't breathing and had no pulse. A resident of Shavei Shomron, I met Zoldan during the Chomesh "standoff" during the Disengagement, when I lived in Chomesh in a tent. He was a charismatic idealist, an officer in the IDF reserves paratrooper brigade, married to Tehila, father of 2 little children.

Immediately after the attack, the Palestinian Authority's "Fatah Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigade" group proudly claimed responsibility for the attack.

There are many who say that living in the settlements in a ridiculous thing to do, a needless endangerment of people's lives. I have heard leftists say "why sacrifice your children to Molech, why worship the land?"

And yet, I think back to when I moved to the settlements. There didn't used to be terror on the roads like this. This official security establishment estimate in 1993 was that there were a grand total of 15 weapons in the West Bank on the eve of the Olso accords.

And yet, even when we say it's a terrible idea, PM Olmert continues to free terrorists...even Fatah terrorists...who then continue to shoot at us. Ehud Olmert and Condoleeza Rice have the blood of Zoldan on her hands. The US is forcing Israel to release even more Fatah terrorists (450) before the upcoming Annapolis Peace convention. Fatah, not Hamas, as a goodwill gesture to PA PM Muhamed Abbas. We said this would happen.

We do the best we can to protect ourselves, but when Rice and Olmert are willing to sacrifice our lives for the Molech Annapolis Convention, they must be told that their actions are immoral.

Don't sacrifice our lives, do not demand that Israel release more terrorists.

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael