UPDATES 9 am Israel time, June 11 2014:
**The new PLO-Hamas terrorist government fired more missiles into southern Israel yesterday morning. There were confirmed strikes just west of Sderot and near the Gaza border fence.
For the record, each of these missiles constitutes a war crime.
And also for the record, there have now been 8 missiles fired at the men, women, and children of southern Israel in the last 8 days since the terrorist organizations merged.
**Reuven Rivlin is now the 10th President of Israel.
Where was the first place that newly elected President Rivlin went yesterday? Not surprisingly, he went straight to the Kotel (Western Wall). Photo: Baz Ratner, Reuters).
His election came after a bruising presidential election process in which his fellow Likud party member PM Netanyahu did everything within his power to make sure that Rivlin would not be chosen (the reasons that Netanyahu despises Rivlin are personal and could fill a novella). It also came yesterday after it seemed virtually certain that Rivlin would lose following the first round of voting.
Despite the fact that Rivlin had led after that first round, Meir Sheetrit was closing fast and appeared to have all the momentum. Sheetrit, who is an immigrant from Morocco (arriving in Israel in 1957 when he was 9 years old), was poised to pick up all of the votes from the religious parties that had gone to Dalia Itzik in the first round. Those votes, combined with the votes of every Knesset member on the “Left” would easily send Sheetrit over the top.
But at the last minute, Shas, the Sephardic haredi (orthodox) party that shares ethnic Mizrachi heritage with Sheetrit, decided that religion trumped heritage. Because Sheetrit had worked with Tzipi Livni to sponsor a number of “anti-religious” bills in the Knesset, all of the Shas legislators voted for Rivlin. In short order the Ashkenazi haredi legislators did the same. Immediately Rivlin’s 44 votes in the first round became 62 pushing him past the magic 61 number (he also managed to pick up one additional vote bringing his second round total to 63).
In sum, the three main points in the presidential race and election are simply these:
1. The process has exposed PM Netanyahu as a petty political hack who has lost control of his own party. Rivlin’s campaign manager was none other than Likud member Gideon Sa’ar who serves as Interior Minister in Netanyahu’s cabinet and has his eyes set on the prime minister’s office.
2. The haredi parties are the kingmakers again in Israeli politics. As was mentioned in a blog a few days ago concerning Yair Lapid, the haredi parties stand poised to join the Coalition government the second that Lapid’s Yesh Atid and Livni’s Hatnua leave the government.
3. Thank goodness that Rivlin won. A win for the leftist Sheetrit who was heavily sponsored and supported by Tzipi Livni would have meant seven more years of leadership like that of Shimon Peres. Rivlin, who was born in Jerusalem, adores the city, and has lived his entire life there. He is firmly against a Palestinian state and will sing a different tune than his predecessor.
Whereas Peres has always been narcissistically focused on the international stage, Rivlin will be more nationalistically focused on the domestic arena. Whereas Peres was always the immaculately attired elder who maintained an aloof distance, Rivlin is more the rumpled grandfather who is a man of the people.
Rivlin’s strengths are his integrity and his devotion to Israel and its diverse population. He will travel to every neighborhood and do his best to champion the rights of minorities. In doing so, he will hopefully be able to unify an increasingly fractured country.
TODAY’S BLOG:
Yesterday israelstreet began a three-part series on the New Israel Fund (NIF)–which by any objective measure is the the most egregiously detestable anti-Israel NGO currently on the scene here in Israel.
Today we continue with seven more organizations that the NIF funds–organizations that have at their core the fervent desire to delegitimize this country.
We begin with number 11.
11. Nine Seven Two Magazine
Self-expressed mission: “[Our] goal is to provide fresh, original, on-the-ground reporting and analysis of events in Israel and Palestine. Our collective is committed to human rights and freedom of information, and we oppose the occupation.”
Also funded by: German Green Party, Moriah Fund, Rockefeller Brothers Fund
12. PCATI: Public Committee Against Torture in Israel
Yet another fraudulent report from PCATI–partially subsidized by the New Israel Fund.
Self-expressed mission: “PCATI advocates for all persons – Israelis, Palestinians, labor immigrants and other foreigners in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) – in order to protect them from torture and ill treatment by the Israeli interrogation and law enforcement authorities. These include the Israel Police, the General Security Service (GSS), the Israel Prison Service and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).”
Also funded by: the European Union, Sweden, Norway, Ireland, Finland, United Kingdom
13. PHR-I: Physicians for Human Rights Israel
From the PHR website–their newest cause is protecting Palestinian terrorist hunger strikers–these activities are partly funded by the New Israel Fund.
Self-expressed mission: “Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-Israel) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization that strives to promote a more fair and inclusive society in which the right to health is applied equally for all. It is PHR-Israel’s view that Israel’s prolonged occupation over Palestinian territory is the basis of human rights violations. For this reason we oppose the occupation and endeavor to put an end to it.”
Also funded by: the European Union, Germany, Norway, Spain, UK Christian Aid, Diakonia (Sweden), Medico International
14. Rabbis for Human Rights
If you look closely, you can see the Rabbis for Human Rights name at the top of the banner–partly funded by the New Israel Fund.
Self expressed mission: ” . . . we are obligated to protest against every injustice enacted against any other person, a view based on the belief that man and women was created in God’s image. We believe that it is our obligation to inform the Israeli public about human rights violations, and that it is our role to pressure state institutions to fix these injustices.”
Also funded by: European Commission, Spain, the Church of Sweden, Norwegian Church, Kerk in Actie, Social Justice Fund, Misereor (Germany), Moriah Fund, Trocaire (Ireland), NGO Development Center (consortium of Denmark, Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland).
15. Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity Movement
A march organized by the Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity Movement–a march subsidized in part by the New Israel Fund.
Self-expressed mission: “The Solidarity Movement . . . is a grassroots organization working towards civil equality within Israel and an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestine”–focusing on the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem.
Also funded by: No other information available.
16. Yesh Din: Volunteers for Human Rights
The Palestinian flag is raised over Homesh in Samaria courtesy of Yesh Din–and subsidized in part by the New Israel Fund (photo: Yesh Din).
Self-expressed mission: “Yesh Din is a volunteer organization working to defend the human rights of the Palestinian civilian population under Israeli occupation.”
Also funded by: European Union, HEKS, Irish Aid, Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations (ifa), Germany, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam-Novib, United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Netherlands Embassy in Israel, CAFOD, George Soros Open Society Foundation
17. B’Tselem: The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories
The newest position paper on the B’Tselem website. Funded in part by the New Israel Fund.
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Self-expressed mission: “B’Tselem acts primarily to change Israeli policy in the Occupied Territories and ensure that its government, which rules the Occupied Territories, protects the human rights of residents there and complies with its obligations under international law.”
Also funded by: Norway, European Union, NGO Development Center, Germany (EED), ICCO (Netherlands), Diakonia (Sweden), Trocaire, UNDP, Christian Aid, the Ford Foundation
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Addendum:
For the next few weeks, your humble servant will append Israel Vocabulary 101 to the bottom of this blog everyday.
Basic Israel Vocabulary 101
1. Use the Jewish and Israeli names for things; here are five to start with:
Har HaBayit instead of Temple Mount
Kipat HaSela instead of Dome of the Rock
The Kotel instead of the Western Wall
Shechem instead of Nablus
The Kineret instead of the Sea of Galilee
2. Use ‘Judea and Samaria’ instead of ‘the West Bank‘. ‘West Bank’ is a term of occupation and exploitation created by the Jordanians to refer to the area west of the Jordan River illegally seized and annexed to Jordan in 1948. Prior to 1948, the land was referred to as Judea and Samaria for almost 3000 years. In the 1947 U.N. Resolution that partitioned “Palestine”, “Judea” and “Samaria” were the terms used.
3. Use ‘Palestinian Autonomous Territories’ to refer to Areas A and B of Judea and Samaria–never under any circumstances use the term ‘occupied territories’ because it is simply not true; Israel is not occupying anything. Areas A and B have been under Palestinian civil administration since the signing of the Oslo Accords two decades ago. By the way, when PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas wants to compare these areas to Gaza, he uses the term “Palestinian Autonomous Territories.”
4. Use ‘Jewish communities’ or ‘Israeli cities instead of ‘settlements.’ How in the world can anyone call the communities and cities of Maaleh Adumin (40,210) and Modin Illit (51,773), Gush Etzion (54,939), and Ariel (41,720) ‘settlements’?
5. Use ‘construction of Jewish homes, schools, and hospitals’ instead of ‘settlement activity’. By obscuring what the activities are, the activities are delegitimized.
6. Use ‘new Jewish communities’ or ‘fledgling Jewish communties’ instead of ‘outposts‘. An outpost is a small military encampment, not a place where people permanently live.
7. Use ‘Jewish community member’ instead of ‘settler’. Are we living in the wild west? Most Jewish community members are suburbanites commuting to jobs in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and elsewhere. If you want to use the term ‘settler’, refer to Palestinians living in Judea and Samaria as settlers–after all, they are the late arrivers to the land (see No. 13 below).
8. Use ‘eastern Jerusalem’ or the ‘eastern neighborhoods of Jerusalem’ instead of East Jerusalem. The city of Jerusalem must never be divided again. Again, areas such as Ramat Shlomo and Gilo are ‘neighborhoods’ of Jerusalem, not ‘settlements.’
You are looking at Har Gilo–a huge 40,000+ person Jewish neighborhood in Jerusalem.
9. Use ‘Palestinian cities’ instead of ‘Palestinian refugee camps‘. Who is kidding whom? Cities such as Kalandiya are huge places with massive construction going on all the time–the Palestinian residents of these cities are not nomads living in tents.
10. Use Palestinian ‘settlements’ instead of Palestinian ‘villages’ or ‘hamlets’.
Accorcing to the leftist Israeli newspaper Haaretz, this is a picture of the Palestinian “village” of Halat Makhoul. Would you call this a “village” or even a “hamlet”? This is a settlement.
Who is kidding whom? “Village” is a word blatantly used to make the West think that the Palestinians are (and have been) living peacefully and sleepily in hamlets for thousands of years. Nothing could be further from the truth.
11. Use Palestinian ‘settlers’ instead of Palestinian ‘farmers’ and ‘villagers’. Let’s call people what they are, not what the delegitimizers would have us believe that they are.
12. Use ‘PLO’ or ‘Palestine Liberation Organization’ instead of ‘Palestinian Authority‘. Mahmoud Abbas has made it clear that the PLO runs the show in Areas A and B of Judea and Samaria, and the United Nations recognizes the PLO–not the Palestinian Authority. Your humble servant was the first to use the abbreviation “PLO/PA” when writing about the governance of Areas A and B–an abbreviation now used by various newspaper columnists here in Israel.
13. When possible, use ‘Palestinian Terrorist Organization–HAMAS’ instead of merely ‘Hamas‘. HAMAS is an acronym for “Harakat al Muqawamah al Islamiyya” which means ‘Islamic Resistance Movement’–which is a euphemism for Palestinian Terrorist Movement. It is easier to say or write HAMAS, but the acronym does not tell what the organization is about.
14. In regard to the new PLO-Hamas “government”, use the phrase ‘terrorist government‘ instead of ‘reconciliation‘ or ‘unity‘ government. They only thing the PLO and Hamas are unified about is their desire to destroy Israel.
15. Use ‘conservative politicians’ instead of ‘right-wing politicians‘. Smearing someone as ‘right-wing’ is a convenient way of dismissing what they have to say. Note how quickly international politicians and media (and the leftist Israeli media) call conservative politicians such as Naftali Bennett, Moshe Feiglin, and Orit Struck “right-wing extremists” and “right-wing fanatics” when in fact all they advocate is Israeli nationalism. We should all be so extremist and fanatic.
16. When possible, use ‘Israeli men, women, and children’ instead of ‘Israeli citizens‘ when referring to those of us assaulted by terrorists. After all, Palestinian terrorists delight in trying to kill all Israelis–regardless of age or gender.
17. When referring to the human results of Palestinian terrorism, use the term‘wounded’ instead of ‘injured’. ’Wounded’ connotes an intentional act committed by someone trying to hurt you; ‘injured’ usually does not.
18. When referring to the human results of Palestinian terrorism, never let someone get away with saying that “no one was wounded.” In fact, an Israeli is wounded in every terrorist attack whether those wounds be physical or emotional–just look at the incidence of PTSD among children and adults living along the Gaza border. In fact, using the phrase “no one was wounded” is part of the underpinning of the absurd ‘disproportionality’ canard.
Note that in this blog, your humble servant often says that “no one was physically wounded but the emotional toll is incalculable.”
19. Use “so-called human rights organizations” or “self-proclaimed human rights organizations” instead of “human rights organizations” to denote the so-called human rights organizations operating in Israel. None of these organizations are in the least interested in protecting Israeli or Jewish human rights.
20. Use international ‘lawbreakers’ instead of international ‘activists’ when referring to those members of the international community who come to Israel for the express purpose of breaking Israeli law and attacking Israeli police and soldiers.
21. Use ‘the suicide bomber prevention fence instead of the ‘separation fence’ or ‘wall’. Have we all forgotten why the suicide bomber prevention fence was built? To stop suicide bombers.
22. The current round of so-called “peace talks” has apparently come to an end, but it will be back in a new form before we know it. Use “Israel concession process” instead of “peace process”. There never has been a peace process between Israelis and Palestinians–only a process of trying to wrench ever more concessions out of Israel in return for nothing.
23. Use “Muslims” instead of Muslim fundamentalists, Muslim extremists, Muslim fanatics, Islamists, militant Islamists, hostile Islamists, radical Islamists, and Salafists. If you must use two words to describe terrorists, use “Muslim terrorists.”
What are Muslim fanatics, Muslim extremists, Muslim fundamentalists, Islamists, and Salafists? They are simply Muslims, and the attempt to cast them otherwise is an obvious attempt to portray just plain old “Muslims” as not fanatic, not extremist, not fundamentalist, not Islamist, and not Salafist. In Gaza, we now have the ludicrous situation in which Palestinian terrorist Hamas–which is one of the most fanatic, extremist, fundamentalist, and Islamist terror organizations on the planet–being portrayed as the “good guys” by the media. The time has come once again to call a Muslim a Muslim.
A student from Malawi, who had worked with an Israeli health volunteer in his country battling AIDS, came up to us as we walked down the street in the UC-Davis Picnic Day Parade and wanted to carry the Israeli flag.