SPECIAL NOTICE: As regular readers of this blog know, your humble servant enjoys giving a monthly update as to the readership of this blog. August was another stellar month, led by readers from Canada (24 different towns and cities), Australia (20), Brazil (19), Germany (16), Sweden (14), India (10), and the United States (1,078). And yes, that last number is correct; israelstreet is now reaching more than one thousand American communities each month!
In July we passed the 100 country total–and August saw us add readers in such interesting places as Ringo, Cameroon; Gasa, Bhutan; Tartu, Estonia; Hargeysa, Somalia; Tamuning, Guam; Almaty, Khazakhstan; Port Louis, Mauritius; Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; Mbabane, Swaziland; and Nuku’alofa, Tonga. You will recognize some of these locations in the list appended to the end of today’s blog.
This brings to 109 the number of countries where people are now reading israelstreet–countries that are literally in every corner of the world. Your humble servant looks at all of you as part of our israelstreet family. Thank you very much for reading this blog–and sharing its information contains with others. Working together, we can make a difference!
UPDATE 10 am Israel time Monday:
The last 24 hours have been violent ones in southern Israel with six missiles (Qassams and Grads) and at least one mortar striking communities near Gaza. There are no reports of any of these strikes in the “mainstream media.” What actions has Israel taken to stop the ongoing rocket fire? Absolutely none: “terror hubs” (empty buildings) were hit in Gaza overnight.
The Migron families ( always fraudulently characterized by the international media as “right-wing extremists”) have all peacefully left their homes for temporary housing in Ofra. It is hoped that their new homes in Givat HaYekev (400 meters from their old ones) will be ready in two weeks. Your humble servant believes that these families deserve our praise and gratitude for being on the front lines just as the Netanyahu government and Israel Supreme Court deserve our condemnation for ordering their evacuation (see yesterday’s blog about the Supreme Court’s duplicity).
There is an amazing report this morning related to my blog of two days ago: “President Obama: Hanging Israel Out To Dry“. It has now been confirmed that President Obama has used two European nations to convey to Iran that the U.S. will not support an Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear facilities–and that the U.S. therefore expects that Iran will not attack American “interests” in the Persian Gulf. Simply astonishing.
TODAY’S BLOG:
What have you done for Israel today?
Annika Hernroth-Rothstein: a picture from her blog site TRUTHANDFICTION (see link below).
Well let me tell you about how Annika Hernroth-Rothstein, a 31 year old Swedish mother of two, has tirelessly been combating the tide of anti-Israel sentiment in Sweden.
Annika engaging in her passion: advocating for Israel!
In a wonderful interview with Adam Levick of CiF Watch (click here for full interview) published five weeks ago, Rothstein describes the evolution in her family from her grandparents hiding their Jewish identity, and her Jewish identity “withering” away (“except when the neo-Nazis in my small coastal town told me I did not deserve to live, that I was scum, less than them”), to her personal rediscovery and embrace of Judaism when she had her own children nine years ago.
Here’s the rest of the story in her own words:
“I have always been a political person. It’s my passion in life. And I feel very strongly about Israel, about our right to our land and to our freedom, our right to defend that freedom and our very existence. I started my political blogTRUTHANDFICTION 4 years ago. I wrote about a lot of things, among them Israel. And every time I did write about Israel, there was a backlash. People got furious. Hateful. Emails, messages. I lost friends. Even people within my family warned me not to pursue this path of being openly pro-Israel and [told me] defiantly not to tell the world that I was Jewish.
But I did anyway. Because it made me so angry that Israel was portrayed as the devil in Swedish media. That it was so mindnumbingly one-sided. I am stubborn, and I persisted to tell the truth. I have gotten so many hateful emails, I get them every day. People call me a murderer, a Zionist whore, a bad mother and an awful human being for writing what I do. I now write as openly as I can about being Jewish, about Israel , and I have accepted the fact that I have lost “friends” through this, and will continue to. I also know that this has cost me job opportunities, that I have become persona non grata in some places because I am so openly pro-Israel. It pains me, but what scares me even more is the thought that this would keep me from writing what I write – and that people every day are silenced because of this terrible consensus-driven media and anti-Israeli society.”
Rothstein concluded her interview with this invitation:
Finally, I would like to include the invitation to an event for Israel that I am arranging. I want the people of Israel to know that they have our support, a support that is growing every day, and that we are working tirelessly to change this situation . . . On the first Sunday of September we will gather in a joyful display of support for Israel. This is not a protest against anything; instead it is a way of highlighting all the wonderful aspects of this country that we know and love and protect its existence in a time of confusion and disinformation. Together, we will change the narrative. Innovation, democracy, freedom and culture is what this celebration is all about.
At 1 pm we will gather in Sergels Torg, the biggest meeting place in Sweden, bring flags and signs in support of Israel. There will be speeches by myself and others on this subject as well as wonderful Israeli music and food. Let’s have a great day and celebrate!
I would like to add that this rally for Israel is organized by me, and me alone. There are no ties to religious or political organizations. This is not about politics, or religion, nor am I acting as an instrument of the Israeli state. This is my initiative, out of love and support for Israel . . .
The scene in Stockholm's central square yesterday.
Yesterday was the first Sunday in September and the outpouring of support for Israel in Stockholm was unprecedented. More than 1200 people rallied in Sergels Torg central square for Israel.
Another picture from yesterday's event in Stockholm.
Eitan Bachar of the World Zionist Organization commented that “This is the first time in a decade that Sweden is holding any event of this kind, certainly in such a central location.”
The first person to speak was Annika Rothstein followed by other pro-Israel speakers. The event ended with the crowd singing Hatikvah, the Israeli national anthem. The feelings expressed for Israel were unbelievably heartwarming.
You may have noticed in the Special Notice of today’s blog that one of the countries whose citizens are now frequently coming to israelstreet is Sweden. When my wife and I were in Stockholm two years ago, we were struck by the support for Israel among everyday people. In one store, a Pakistani-Swedish storekeeper heard us speaking Hebrew and excitedly showed us Swedish/Israeli flag lapel pins he was selling (of course we bought a few). Your humble servant doesn’t know how much of this support is a credit to Annika Rothstein–but in any case, Annika is an example of an amazing person who is making a difference for Israel.
You can do the same. What have you done for Israel today?
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One thing you can do is to visit Annika’s blog and thank her for her efforts! (Click here: of course her blog site is in Swedish–if you access it through Google Chrome it will translate into your chosen language).
Addendum:
As promised above, here’s an extremely partial list of cities and towns home to readers of this blog (with apologies for the fact that I only have time to list one town or city from each country):
Buenos Aires, Argentina; Sydney, Australia; Eichgraben, Austria; Isa Town, Bahrain; Brussels, Belgium; Gasa, Bhutan; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Stara Zagora, Bulgaria; Minsk, Belarus; Ringo, Cameroon; Wolfville, Canada; Santiago, Chile; Wuhan, China; Bogota, Colombia; Karlovac, Croatia; Mezibori, Czech Republic; Glostrop, Denmark; Quito, Ecuador; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Tartu, Estonia; Helsinki, Finland; Pontcharra, France; Halle, Germany; London, Great Britain; Athens, Greece; Tamuning, Guam; San Pedro Sula, Honduras; Budapest, Hungary; Akranes, Iceland; Mumbai, India; Pekanbaru, Indonesia; Goran, Iraq; Pardis, Iran; Dublin, Ireland; Kineret, Israel; Cagliari, Italy; Kingston, Jamaica; Tokyo, Japan; Amman, Jordan; Almaty, Kazakhstan; Seoul, Korea; Kuwait City, Kuwait; Gulbene, Latvia; Beirut, Lebanon; Vilnius, Lithuania; Skopje, Macedonia; Male, Maldives; Misida, Malta; Petaling Jaya, Malaysia; Port Louis. Mauritius; Guadalajara, Mexico; Chisinau, Moldova; Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; Casablanca, Morocco; Kathmandu, Nepal; Maastrict, Netherlands; Auckland, New Zealand; Managua, Nicaragua; Spangereid, Norway; Muscat, Oman; Islamabad, Pakistan; Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea; Lucena, Philippines; Poznan, Poland; Prime, Portugal; Doha, Qatar; Constanta, Romania; Moscow, Russia; Jiddah, Saudi Arabia; Belgrade, Serbia; Singapore, Singapore; Miloslavov, Slovakia; Videm, Slovenia; Hargeysa, Somalia; Durban, South Africa; Madrid, Spain; Colombo, Sri Lanka, Mbabane, Swaziland; Malmo, Sweden; Brutten, Switzerland; Taipei, Taiwan; Ko Samui, Thailand; Nuku’alofa, Tonga; Radis, Tunisia; Izmir, Turkey; Kiselev, Ukraine; Montevideo, Uruguay; Sharjah, United Arab Emirates; Maracaibo, Venezuela; Hanoi, Vietnam.
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A daily feature of this blog is the recognition of those of you who support Israel by donating to this website. Today we are highlighting “N.S.” of Moscow, Russia and “Chi-Hsieh” of Hong Kong:
Israelstreet is building a wall of Israeli flag support. To have your own Israeli flag, simply follow two steps:
Step 1: Click on the “Support Israel Street! Donate” button in the right hand column and submit your information.
Step 2: Send an email to israelstreet1948@gmail.com with the following information:
Your name (or location):
The donation that you made (for purposes of identifying you):
A. A donation of $10 puts your flag on this website for one month
B. A donation of $20 puts your flag on this website for two months
C. A donation of $30 puts your flag on this website for three months
D. A donation of $100 or more puts your flag on this website for a year
What you want on your flag :
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.