Chilul Shabbat in Tel Aviv - Public Buses to start?

How times have changed. The Tel-Aviv municipality poster below was signed by Meir Dizengoff, the first mayor of Tel-Aviv, imploring the residents to not publicly desecrate Shabbat. "Observe the Shabbat and it will protect you!"

(poster source)

Contrast with today...

The Tel Aviv city council decided Monday to seek a Transportation Ministry permit to run buses on Shabbat.

The city's Mayor, Ron Huladi, has supported the move for a while now. During Monday's discussion he said: "Those who don't want to get on a bus (on Shabbat) can choose not to board it."

According to a decision approved by city council, the municipality will now draft a detailed request and submit it to the Transportation Ministry.

Should the ministry reject the bid, city hall will advance the establishment of an independent transportation company. Such service would enable Tel Avivians to travel to city center and to entertainment venues. Another option is for the city to seek a permit to extend the limited service currently offered by minibuses. ynetnews

R' Chaim Navon poses the question: Who is saying the following in Israel?

Who are you to tell us what to do? All the riders on the bus want this solution! If you don't like our solution, don't get on the bus.

Is the answer:

- the Tel-Aviv secular bus riders, who want to take the bus on Shabbat,
- the Ultra-Orthodox Chareidim who want women in the back of the bus, men in the front, or segregated buses altogether?

R' Navon writes a thoughtful article about how we in Israel need to find better ways to compromise on issues of religion. Today, everything is a war -- on both sides of the spectrum.



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Rare Video Footage of Tel-Aviv in 1949

Rare video footage of Tel Aviv in 1949 (the end of the video contains footage from Jerusalem as well).



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Foreign Funded Demonstration in Tel Aviv

Update: 10:22 PM 3 demonstrators arrested in Tel-Aviv's protest tonight; 1 for possessing a dagger, 1 for attacking a policeman, and 1 for waving a Palestinian flag.

In probably the biggest Leftist demonstration in recent history (that didn't require a free concert), thousands have swarmed into Tel-Aviv to protest "anti-democratic trends in the Knesset".

The "anti-democratic trends in the Knesset" they are referring to is a newly passed bill requiring a Knesset committee to investigate the sources of funding for 16 leftist organizations in Israel that have been at the forefront of de-legitimizing the IDF and Israel.

The rather poorly kept secret is that Foreign Governments are behind much of the funding for these organizations that contribute to anti-IDF and anti-Israel activity.

And while it's been known for a while that European governments are funding some of these groups, Im Tirtzu recently exposed that Arab countries are also funneling money to some of these Israeli NGOs.

The reasons these organizations are so terrified of this investigation is three-fold: not only the possible loss of the bulk of their funding, but it would prove to the average Israeli that these organizations aren't "grassroots", but are simply foreign funded organizations who have Israel's worst interests at heart, and third, it will be near impossible for the organizations to continue to attack Israel in the international media based on the claim that they are actually native Israeli organizations.

Could the bulk of the these organizations even continue to operate and exist if they had to rely on Israeli/Jewish funding only?

Palestinian Flags at tonight's Demonstration
(photo credit, Tomer Levy, 9:01 PM)

"Hadash Chairman Mohammad Barakeh said, "We are at a dangerous crossroads where democracy is concerned. Democracy is collapsing, not because of Lieberman but because of the support he is receiving from the prime minister. Jews and Arabs who care about democracy cannot fail at this time." (YNET)

In a brilliant tactical move this evening, PM Netanyahu announced that the Knesset would also investigate the funding sources of right-wing organizations.

Personally I think that's a wonderful idea, as I'd be thrilled to know if any foreign governments are helping to fund:

- the restoration of Jewish Hebron
- organizations like El-Ad and Ateret Cohanim that are helping Jews buy homes in Jerusalem,
- organizations in favor of promoting "freedom of religion and equality of prayer for Jews on the Temple Mount"

Is there even one country in the world that is helping "Civil Rights for the Residents of Judea and Samaria" organization or perhaps, Honeinu, the legal rights fund for residents of Judea and Samaria?

Somehow, I don't think foreign governments are behind them... and the above organizations are a thousand times more "grassroots" than any of those demonstrators in Tel-Aviv this evening.

In the US, there is a law called FARA.

The Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) was enacted in 1938. FARA is a disclosure statute that requires persons acting as agents of foreign principals in a political or quasi-political capacity to make periodic public disclosure of their relationship with the foreign principal, as well as activities, receipts and disbursements in support of those activities. Disclosure of the required information facilitates evaluation by the government and the American people of the statements and activities of such persons in light of their function as foreign agents. The FARA Registration Unit of the Counterespionage Section (CES) in the National Security Division (NSD) is responsible for the administration and enforcement of the Act.

Yet, no one is calling the US anti-democratic.

I would add, this new Israeli law does not impede the actions or activities of these NGOs. It merely exposes them as the foreign agents they are.

It's no surprise that the "New" Israel Fund is leading tonight's demonstration.

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US State Department vs. The Settlers.

The other day I traveled to the US Embassy in Tel-Aviv to apply for a social security number for my son. Despite the "official" policy of the US Embassy's refusal to provide any consular services or "Federal Benefits Unit" services to any resident of the "West Bank", the majority of the time it's not a problem. As recent as 8 months ago, we took care of passports and US birth certificate issuance at the US Embassy Tel-Aviv, and they knew we lived in the Shomron.

The other day however, after taking care of all my paperwork, stamping everything, and I was getting ready to leave the window, the embassy window person said, "Uh Oh, You live in the Shomron"...and she pushed all the paperwork back through the slot in the window.

"You'll have to reapply in the East Jerusalem consulate, since we only service US citizens in Israel, not from the territories," she said abruptly.

"But you issued my son's birth certificate and passport here 8 months ago," I added.

"You'll have to reapply in the East Jerusalem consulate, since we only service US citizens in Israel, not from the territories."

Last week IDF radio informed me that the US State Department has issued a new travel advisory, for all American citizens to avoid "East Jerusalem". The official advisory on the US Consulate website simple said, "exercise caution"...around Salah Ed-Din Street, which as you can see below, is right next "Derech Shechem"...the location of the Jerusalem Consulate that I'm forced to visit.

"Travelers should exercise caution at religious sites on holy days, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Isolated street protests and demonstrations can also occur in areas of East Jerusalem, including around Salah Ed-Din Street, Damascus Gate, and the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood."

I guess the US Embassy doesn't really care about exposing US citizens to danger.

What I did find annoying was the "security update" on the US State Department website (linked from the Tel Aviv Embassy homepage) -- the State Department's narrative of events looks like it was written by Helen Thomas.

The Department of State urges U.S. citizens to exercise caution when traveling to the West Bank. Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces are now deployed throughout the West Bank, including all major cities. As a result, violence in recent years has decreased markedly throughout the West Bank

The violence didn't decrease because of PA security forces, but because the IDF weeded out thousands of terrorists (many of them from PA security forces). Only once things were quiet, did the IDF slowly allow for PA forces to be deployed. The State Department wants to give credit to those who deserve it the least.

Two interesting statements:

In Gaza:

Occasional small clashes continue to occur along the border. Rockets and mortars are still occasionally fired into Israel from Gaza, and the IDF continues to conduct military operations inside Gaza, including airstrikes.

Who is responsible for these "small clashes" or the rockets and mortar fire? Don't worry, the IDF is named as conducting "military operations" inside Gaza.

In Yehuda vShomron (West Bank):

Nonetheless, demonstrations and violent incidents can occur without warning. Vehicles have also been the target of rocks, Molotov cocktails and gunfire on West Bank roads.

No mention of who is involved in these incidents, nor who throws the rocks, molotov cocktails or who is shooting guns.

So who is the guilty party?

U.S. citizens can be caught in the middle of potentially dangerous situations. Some U.S. citizens involved in demonstrations in the West Bank have sustained serious injuries in confrontations with Israeli settlers and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

Israeli settlers!?

Palestinian Terrorists are not named in this entire "security warning". Hamas is only mentioned in passing as:

Israel and Hamas, a State Department-designated foreign terrorist organization that violently seized power in Gaza in June 2007, declared separate truces to end the fighting.

Despite the US State Department's attempts to besmirch the settlers, whitewash Palestinian and Islamic terror, and make it difficult to obtain a social security number for my son, I'm not leaving my home.

PS: For all those living in Modi'in, the State Department says its "ok" to travel on 443, provided you ONLY travel there DURING DAYLIGHT HOURS.

U.S. Government personnel and family members are permitted both official and personal travel on Route 443 between Modi'in and Jerusalem without prior notification, during daylight hours only.

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Britain: Kotel not in Israel

From the British newspaper, "The Independent"...it's misleading to include a picture of the Kotel on a travel advertisement for Israel. (See actual offending ad on right).

The Israeli tourist office has been criticised by the [British] Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for including images of the Palestinian-run West Bank in an advert for a holiday in Israel.

The advert for the Israeli government's Tourist Office stated that you could "travel the entire length of Israel in six hours".

Images shown included the Wailing Wall and the Dome of the Rock – the oldest Islamic building in the world, built in the seventh century. The area in East Jerusalem is at the centre of a dispute between Palestinians and Jews, with more than 500,000 Jews living in the disputed territories.

A reader complained that the printed advert featured a photograph of East Jerusalem and said it misleadingly implied that it was part of the state of Israel. The ASA said that the advert featured various landmarks that were in East Jerusalem which were part of the Occupied Territories.

It ruled that the advert breached truthfulness guidelines and ordered that it not be used again, adding: "We told the Israeli Tourist Office not to imply that places in the Occupied Territories were part of the state of Israel."

It said: "The ASA noted the itinerary image of Jerusalem used in the ad featured the Western Wall of the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock, which were both in East Jerusalem, a part of the Occupied Territories of the West Bank.

"We noted the ad stated 'You can travel the entire length of Israel in six hours – imagine what you can experience in four days', and 'Visit now for more itineraries in Israel', and considered that readers were likely to understand that the places featured in the itinerary were all within the state of Israel.

"We understood, however, that the status of the occupied territory of the West Bank was the subject of much international dispute, and, because we considered that the ad implied that the part of East Jerusalem featured in the image was part of the state of Israel, we concluded that the ad was likely to mislead." Read the rest of their drivel, here.

Not wanting to feel left out, the AFP attacks Israel for the unhelpful planned construction of a synagogue in a settlement...actually the Gilo neighborhood of Jerusalem.

I'm sure Gush-Shalom is drooling over all these attacks on Israel. Its probably one of their activists that complained to the British ASA in the first place.

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Tel-Aviv in the Fog.

I don't know who to credit for this picture, since I've gotten it so many times by email. It was taken during the fog yesterday morning, January 28th. I suggest you click it to see the full clarity of the picture.

In the center of the picture is the Azrieli towers (seen below on a sunny day).

To help put things in perspective and give you a slightly better appreciation of the fog picture.

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