Hareidi Riots in Jerusalem

For the past 48 hours (and scheduled for 8 PM this evening as well) there has been mass rioting in Jerusalem over the arrest of a Chareidi/Ultra Orthodox woman from the Mea Shearim neighborhood, that police and welfare officials claim has been neglecting to feed her child.

See pictures from last night's rioting here.

Hadassah Hospital staff has officially stated as well:

Also Thursday, the Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital rejected the haredi community's claims that the three-year-old child whose mother is suspected of starving him has cancer and had been undergoing chemotherapy.

"The child has not been diagnosed as a cancer patient and has not been receiving medications from the chemotherapy family," said Dr. Yair Birenboim, the hospital's deputy director-general.

According to Birnboim, the hospital's medical staff believes the child is suffering from malnutrition. "He is receiving an enriched diet, and I assume that once he recovers physically all the symptoms he has will pass. Within a few weeks, maybe even two or three months, he will be able to return to his family. We believe we saved his life." (YNET)

The Chareidi Community in Jerusalem feels they are wrongfully under attack, and that the woman did nothing wrong, let alone intentionally or otherwise, starve her child.

Israel has been rather brutal towards the woman and community in general:

Mother suspected of starving toddler son

Herzog: Child was saved from death

Is this brutal media treatment? Maybe not.

I guess the normal reaction should be revulsion; try to save the child, keep him as far away from the mother as possible, imprison the mother...(or send her for psychiatric observation...clinical testing -- maybe she has postpartum depression?)

Yet the Chareidi community overall supports the mother and family, which is why there has been mass rioting around Jerusalem (rather violent and messy as well). Are they living in a dream world, denying reality? Perhaps the police and welfare workers are wrong...and the child was sick (as the family claims)...

The following just appeared on the "Chareidim" website -- documentation that the child was diagnosed with a serious, terminal illness, which would result in...loss of weight (exactly the way the child appears now).

In summary, it appears the child suffered the past year from [disease removed from publication due to privacy] and appears to be towards the end [of a terminal illness]. The results of the long illness are drastic weight reduction and sever malnutrition"

Maybe the family's claims were right all along, and this really was a terrible case of anti-Chareidi propaganda?

Time will tell - I assume by Sunday, this case will be much clearer -- and the streets of Jerusalem will probably be one big nasty mess.

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד

Obama meeting update:

Obama acknowledged that some in the [Jewish] community were worried about his position [on Israel].

Obama acknowledged there is a 'misperception' that the US was disproportionately pressuring Israel.

( Wow! Sounds just like one of his straw men speeches, which He always knocks out at the beginning of his talk: "Some say", "There are those that say", and "Those who oppose us would have you believe" - I guess if straw man arguments convince you, then all must be well).

Only the OU went on record as having a problem with the President's position. It wasn't a great response, but it was better than the lack of public response by anyone else.

However, while the President’s acknowledgment of this perception gap is encouraging, the Orthodox Union remains deeply troubled by the President’s underlying approach – which is to have the U.S. play an “evenhanded” role. The Orthodox Union asks our President to recognize that there are no moral equivalencies between Israel, which has acted time and again to defend itself while actively seeking peace, and those who reject Israel’s legitimacy and make war against her. We look to the United States to be Israel’s friend in a world of enemies and we support the view, expressed to the President in our meeting, that while allies may of course disagree on specifics, there ought not be significant ‘daylight’ between the United States and Israel that would give the nations’ mutual enemies comfort and encouragement.

Other delegates were apparently afraid of getting a fish in the mail, and would only speak anonymously saying they left the meeting "very concerned" about what they heard.

One anonymous leader said,

"This meeting does not allay my concerns because it confirms that this isn't just a willy-nilly decision by some Arabists in the State Department but part of a framework Obama thinks will solve all the problems in the region,"

Of course, the Leftwing organizations that met with Obama were very satisfied with Obama's response.

UPDATE: As reported in the LA Times

He tells American Jewish leaders who are concerned about the public disagreements between Israel and the U.S. that such disputes are useful in the pursuit of peace.

"He said, 'The United States and Israel were very, very close for eight years, and it produced very little,' " said Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League.



Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד

Israel's High Court Targets Widow and Orphans of Fallen IDF War Hero

IDF Major Roi Klein, killed in the Second Lebanon War. From Wikipedia:

Roi Klein (Hebrew: רועי קליין‎; July 10 1975–July 26 2006 was a Major in the Golani Brigade of the Israeli Defense Forces. Klein was killed in the Battle of Bint Jbeil during the 2006 Lebanon War after jumping on a grenade to save his fellow soldiers.

Klein was born in Raanana, Israel. He began his IDF service in the Paratroopers Brigade but later transferred to the Golani Brigade's Egoz Reconnaissance Unit.

In 2002, Klein received a Chief of Staff Citation for his conduct during an ambush near Nablus in which 5 Palestinian terrorists were killed.

During the Battle of Bint Jbeil, a hand grenade was thrown into the house where Klein and his unit were present. Klein told his men "Report that I've been killed" and subsequently jumped on the live grenade and stopped the explosion with his body. Klein was killed on the spot but his soldiers were saved by his act of self-sacrifice. The soldiers reported that Klein recited the Jewish prayer, Shema Yisrael, as he jumped on the grenade.

Roi Klein became a symbol for heroism in Israel. New schools in Netanya and Raanana have been named after him. ^[1]

For his actions during the war Klein received the Medal of Courage posthumously. ^[2]

From today's NRG (paraphrased and translated from Hebrew)

At the request of "Peace Now's" never ending war on Jewish housing in Israel, Israel's Supreme Court announced that the home of the widow and orphans of Major Roi Klein is to be destroyed. The home, along with 11 others slated for destruction are built in "Givat HaYovel" neighborhood of the Eli community in the Shomron/West Bank.

The Supreme Court ruled that these 11 homes were built illegally, on private land, and are to be destroyed.

The Yovel neighborhood is built on a South East hilltop in Eli. According to Eli residents, the neighborhood appears on the official and approved building plan of the community. The first homes were built in 1998 during Israel's 50th anniversary -- HaYovel is a translation for 50th anniversary. Israel's ministry of housing prepared the neighborhood's infrastructure, and the Jewish Agency built some of the 11 homes, now scheduled for destruction by the High Court's decsion.

"We are not an outpost, we are a neighborhood of Eli," said Tamar Asraf, whose home is also scheduled for destruction. The homes are legal, built on State lands and not built on lands taken from private people. We have all the legal building permits and we pay taxes to Israel. All the residents here are law abiding citizens. The time has come for the State to embrace us instead of treating us with revulsion."

The family will commemorate Klein's death is in 2 weeks -- it will be 3 years since he died defending Israel in the Second Lebanon War.

Israel's Supreme Court won't let Israel destory the home of a terrorist, yet destroying the homes of widows and orphans of Israel's fallen soldiers is not a problem.

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד

Senior KKK leader arrested in Tel-Aviv

Israel's most wanted criminals flee to South America. Why one of the USA's Most Wanted Criminals wants to hide out in Israel is beyond me.

Could it be our world famous felafel?

I believe the most interesting part of the story is the revelation of Israel's National Immigration Authority's newly formed Oz enforcement unit.

This could be the answer behind my post from 2 years ago - Who are the Mysterious Graffiti Wizards of Oz?

A high-ranking white supremacist on the run from US federal authorities was arrested on Monday night in a south Tel Aviv hideout.

33-year-old Micky Louis Mayon, one of America's 100 Most Wanted criminals, and a member of the Ku Klux Klan, was arrested in a Florentine apartment by the National Immigration Authority's newly formed Oz enforcement unit.

Mayon is wanted in the US on charges of racist assaults, setting fire to vehicles belonging to federal agents, and a host of violence incidents.

The Oz unit was acting on intelligence relayed by Interpol, which informed authorities here that Mayon had entered Israel illegally.

He is said to have moved apartments often in order to evade police, but his efforts proved fruitless on Monday when a delicate operation by the Oz unit saw officers break into his hideout and arrest him.

Oz unit members have the powers of a police officer but can only use them in cases of illegal entry into the country.

Mayon was the subject of an American arrest operation in November 2007, but officers soon realized he had flown to Israel on a one-way ticket. Earlier that year, he reportedly fired his gun in the air repeatedly after being involved in an argument with an African-American. US authorities have described him as a dangerous fugitive.

Oz Unit head Tziki Sela said Mayon was surprised to be arrested, but cooperated with the officers. He has been transferred to a Holon jail facility, where he underwent an immigration hearing. He was then taken to an Israel Prison Authority jail facility. (JPost)

hat-tip: SJ

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד

YNET Slanders Settlers for Fun and Profit

Last night, 3 Israelis tried to get to the tomb of the Biblical Jewish Leader Yehoshua Bin Nun in the Arab town of Kifel Haris.

Normally, one needs IDF approval to visit the location, and the IDF opens the site a few times a year.

These 3 individuals from the town of Elad, near Rosh Haayin in Central Israel decided to visit without IDF authorization, and apparently got into an accident on the way out and the IDF believes then men blamed a non-existent Palestinian rock throwing attack for their own reckless driving. [Jameel adds: Palestinian Rock and molotov cocktail/firebomb attacks are on the rise, and I was hit by a few rocks 2 nights ago, damaging my car.]

YNET jumps on the bandwagon, and immediately labels the 3 Israelies as settlers, despite that they live in the town of Elad, in pre-1967 Israel.

But why should the YNET factcheckers care, when its a good excuse to slanders settlers for stupid behaviour, regardless of whether settlers were even involved in the first place.

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד

No Bullets, No Booze

If you follow the Muqata twitter, you would have noticed a few days ago that I mentioned that England has decided to begin a partial arms embargo on the Jewish State.

In retaliation for defending ourselves against Gaza terrorism, the UK has decided to place an embargo on replacement parts for some of the guns that our navy uses on the Saar 4.5 gunboats.

Now I've discussed boycotts against Israel extensively in the past.

The funny thing about embargoes and boycotts is that they can go both ways.

Turkey, for instance, decided to insult our President and deride Israel for defending ourselves. Israelis in return decided to boycott Turkey, and as a result, tourism from Israel (which was very significant) has dropped to almost nothing, and the Turkish government is beside itself as a result.

But there are other practical steps one can take on an individual level.

For instance, not long ago, the British government was lobbying the Israeli government to reduce liquor taxes, to boost sales in Israel of Scotch whisky.

With annual exports in excess of £2bn, Scotch Whisky is one of the UK's leading exports and supports thousands of jobs across the economy.

Well there you go. You can shoot off this quick EMAIL to the "Scotch Whisky Association".

Dear Sirs,

I love your country's Scotch Whisky, but due to the decision of your government to place a partial arms embargo against the State of Israel for rightfully defending themselves against acts of terrorism emanating from the Gaza strip, I must regretfully return the favor and boycott all Scotch whisky produced in the United Kingdom (and encourage all my friends and associates who support Israel to boycott your products as well), until such time that your government chooses to rescind their decision.

Sincerely,
YOUR NAME [replace your name here]

Now obviously, no one wants to boycott Scotch Whisky, but isn't this email the least our Kiddush clubs can do for our Jewish State?


Up to $10,000 in scholarships, loans and grants for Jewish men (ages 20-30) to acquire a year of learning in Israel at Yeshivat Hamivtar.

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד

So American Jews do have a problem with Obama!

Turns out, that many mainstream American Jewish organization leaders have a problem with US President Obama.

On Monday, an "off the record" meeting will be held between Obama and the heads of various Jewish organizations.


Among the primary issues to be discussed are the concerns of American Jewry, regarding what they (also) perceive as Obama's damage to the American-Israel relationship, particularly his harsh, incorrect and unfair treatment of the Jewish State (compared to his treatment of Israel's enemies, for instance).

While not all Jewish-Americans might see there is a problem with Obama (76%?), at least a few Jewish organization leaders apparently are beginning too.

But will these Jewish organization leaders have the guts to say what needs to be said, and in the way it needs to be said?

(And will Rahm Emmanuel send them all a dead fish if they dare open their mouths?)


UPDATE

Well so much for this post.

It is now being reported that certain major Jewish organizations, who happen to have very vocal pro-Settler opinions have not been invited to attend.

Obviously, J-Street will be represented at the meeting.

While the National Council of Young Israel (YI) and Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) have not been invited!


For Jewish Women of all ages. Consider a year at Nishmat in Israel.

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד

Facebook Leftists Target Ad that makes IDF Soldiers Look Human

Leftists target the IDF with their new Facebook (Hebrew) group, "I too got nauseous watching the new Cellcom ad." (גם לי יש בחילה מהפרסומת החדשה של סלקום)

The photo at the left is the Facebook group's photo depicting their opinion of the video.

Over 167 people have joined this group so far (obviously, most of them Israeli), and their reactions on their Facebook wall range from calling for an immediate boycott of Cellcom, to a letter writing campaign to the government over Cellcom's "despicable" ad.

See the ad for yourselves, and tell me if you think it's "racist." (click here for the youtube video if the one below isn't loading)



The voice-over at the end: "After all, what does everyone want, just some fun in life..."

I'm not a fan of the wall, (nor are most of my friends), but to turn this into a "racist" video is simply pathetic.

Haaretz:

The Facebook group, called "I too got nauseous watching the new Cellcom ad," severely criticized McCann Eriksson's use of the separation fence in its advert.

"We could go into the media messages spouting racism any which way, but if you have come here than you too think they're uncalled for," reads the introduction to the Facebook group. "The McCann Erickson copywriter displayed an unbelievable propensity for bad taste."

The group also centered on what they feel is offensive in the new commercial, pointing out the fact that the supposedly "good" soldiers fear the possibility that the "monster living on the other side of the wall could steal the ball - but when the ball returns to Israeli hands, we discover that that monster isn't fierce at all, and actually feels like playing with the soldiers - oh joy!"

"Good enough reason to set up a beach party under the wall, complete with sexy female soldiers and musical instruments."

The group ends by demanding the immediate removal of the commercial.

"What our group can agree on is the shame we feel seeing a major Israeli commercial company approving such a beastly advert to be aired in its name, and which brings us to demand - take this racist commercial off the air immediately!"

PS: Lurker, do you remember when we played soccer with some Arab kids from Beit Jalla 25 years ago?

hat-tip: JR



For Jewish Women of all ages. Consider a year at Nishmat in Israel.

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד

Life Keeper Patch Connected to Money Laundering?

Its obvious to me that someone at SafeSky didn't fill out their FBAR report.

Haaretz:

"I can't rule out a development in the cardiac patch affair that will connect it to money-laundering, but it's too early to tell whether there was a money-laundering trick here. In the meantime, the media reports are much ado about nothing."

That was a senior Justice Ministry official's response this weekend to reports that the ministry's Israel Money Laundering Prohibition Authority (IMPA) was investigating the SafeSky affair. The police are not involved at this stage.

(Technical Schematic hat-tip: Lurker)

Investigators believe the deal announced last week, that Amos Bouchnik and Aharon (Arik) Klein's company SafeSky would receive $370 million from Micro-Star International of Taiwan, was intended to cover an illegal cash transfer from shadowy foreign sources to Israeli banks, including Poalei Agudat Israel Bank, of the First International Group.

Micro-Star has vigorously denied any such deal, or even knowledge of the company.

"Many money-laundering schemes throughout the world involve connections between well-connected individuals and top lawyers. When you go to the bank and you want to do something that's not quite kosher, you take trustworthy people with you," the Justice Ministry official said.

Even if the money-laundering theory proves to be correct, it's still not clear why the heads of SafeSky rushed to report their spectacular exit to the media, exposing themselves to scrutiny and subsequent disclosure. The alternative was to present the contract with MSI to their bank and to deposit the money, while benefiting from banking confidentiality.

Dumbest Quote of the Week:

In a Channel 2 news report this weekend SafeSky officers said, "Hagai told us that if every soldier had a Life Keeper patch, we'd know where Gilad Shalit is."


Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד