17 Adar I 5779
22 February 2019
Picture of the Day:
At the moment of takeoff early this morning. Genesis (Bereshit) lifts off at Cape Canaveral on its two-week trip to the moon. The little arrow at the top of the capsule is the location of the moon lander.
The News On The Israeli Street
On the Gaza Border:
An estimated 9,000 Hamas foot-soldiers attacked our soldiers at the border fence with more than one hundred IEDs, Molotovs, and grenades.
Early in the afternoon, the Hamas Ministry of Health in Gaza reported that 24 Hamasniks were wounded and one 12-year-old boy was killed. An hour later the Health Ministry declared that its earlier report was a mistake: the boy was actually not wounded at all. It will be interesting to see if the international news media reports the “correction.”
In Judea, Samaria, the Jordan Valley, and Jerusalem:
*A Palestinian terrorist attempted to infiltrate Ma’ale Ephraim along the Jordanian border.
*Palestinian terrorists throwing Molotovs incinerated a car in Ir David in Jerusalem. All passengers in the car managed to escape.
The incinerated car in Ir David today; note a small portion of the cemetery on the Mt. of Olives in the background.
*Palestinian terrorist threw “rocks’ and Molotovs at Israelis at dozens of places including Efrat, Luban A-Sharqiya, Azzun, Al-Khader, Shavei Shomron, and Mount Hevron.
The Palestinian takeover of the Har HaBeit continues . . .
Amazingly, our government is doing nothing to stop the wholesale takeover of the Temple Mount by the PLO. This afternoon, Palestinians broke through the Gate of Mercy on the Mount and immediately raised the Palestinian flag:
Another dark day on the Temple Mount as the Palestinian flag is raised over the holiest place in Judaism. Note the Kipat HaSela (Dome of the Rock) in the upper left background.
TODAY’S BLOG:
Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power): “Racist And Reprehensible”?
In the last 24 hours, there has been a great outcry in the leftist Israeli media and in the international press about the inclusion of the right-wing party Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) as a part of the right wing block running in the Israeli election.
Invariably, Otzma Yehudit is being condemned as “Kahanist“, “ultra-nationalist“, “anti-Arab” and any other supposed slur that the left can dream up. I say “supposed” slur because being Kahanist, ultra nationalist, and anti-Arab terrorists are, in your humble servant’s opinion, positive virtues.
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Just this morning, American Jews have weighed in with J Street declaring that Otzma Yehudit is “racist”, AIPAC referring to Otzma Yehudit as “racist and reprehensible”, and the AJC (American Jewish Committee) terming Otzma Yehudit as “reprehensible and extremist.”
It is all frankly astonishing, but of course not at all surprising.
Let’s examine Otzma Yehudit for a moment and discover what is so reprehensible and racist about it. Here is the Wiki entry about the ideology of the party:
“The party calls for the annexation of the West Bank, and for complete Israeli rule between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. The party is against the formation of a Palestinian state, and advocates for the cancellation of the Oslo accords, as well as for imposing Israeli sovereignty over the Temple Mount. The party also advocates for increased teaching of Jewish history in all elementary schools to ‘deepen Jewish identity in students’. The party is against ‘freezing construction of Jewish settlements, releasing terrorists, or negotiating with the PA’. The party advocates for the deportation of ‘Arab extremists’.”
Racist? Reprehensible?
Actually, your humble servant finds himself agreeing with virtually all of these points. My only point of divergence is that I favor annexing Area C of Judea and Samaria because I believe that a Palestinian state already exists in Areas A and B.
But let’s continue. What are some specific events that the left points to in order to brand Otzma Yehudit racist and extremist?
About a decade ago, one of its leaders, Dr. Michael Ben Ari was recorded at a rally saying that left-wing NGOs that try to delegitimize Israel are “traitors that must be oppressed at any cost,” “internal bacteria,” and “enemies of Israel.”
You know what? That is exactly what left wing NGOs that try to undermine Israel are.
In the 2013 election campaign, Otzma Yehudit put up signs across the country in heavily Arabic neighborhoods in Arabic which read “There are no rights without duties.”
Wow! How racist is that? Of course there are no rights without duties. If you want to have the benefits of being an Israeli, you need to pay taxes and serve in the army or in national service.
In the last few years, much of the knock against Otzma Yehudit has been that another of its leaders, attorney Itamar Ben Gvir, has been heavily involved in defending the Jewish hilltop youth–a group that has been falsely accused of terrorism over and over again.
But wait, there is more.
In January 2018, Otzma Yehudit initiated a plan to film Palestinian terrorists carrying out “rock” and Molotov attacks on Israeli men, women, and children. To do so, the party purchased drones and handed them out to trained volunteers. As a result, numerous terrorists have been captured.
Racist and reprehensible.
And on and on.
Of course what is most damning about Otzma Yehudit from the standpoint of the left, is its adherence to many of the principles of Meir Kahane. Your humble servant invites any of you dear readers to go to youtube and type in “Meir Kahane.” Watch and listen to Kahane talking about the situation back in the 1980s (before he was assassinated). You may be surprised at what you discover.
To make a long story short, Otzma Yehudit should be praised for its principled stands and criticized when its positions deserve criticism.
As for your humble servant, I voted for Otzma Yehudit in 2015 and will do so again in 2019.
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.