10 Tammuz 5777
4 July 2017
Special Notice
To all of our family and friends in the United States, we wish you a happy 4th of July! And we invite everyone to come to our 30th annual “Ashdod 4th of July BBQ” tonight on the beach. We have plenty of hot dogs and potato salad for all!
The News on the Israel Street
Palestinian terror throughout Judea and Samaria . . .
More than 20 Palestinian terror attacks took place throughout Judea and Samaria yesterday including “rock” assaults along Road 443, near Duma, in Gush Etzion at the T Junction, Deir Istiya, Bekaa, Anata, al Mu’ayyir, Tekoa, El Khader, and numerous other places.
Meanwhile, worshipers and IDF troops were hit with yet another IED at Rachel’s Tomb, and Israeli motorists had their cars hit with gunfire at Kiryat Arba.
The above information is taken from rotter.net and hakolyehudi.
Who are the biggest hypocrites? . . .
An assemblage of hypocrites in Tel Aviv yesterday.
Would the biggest hypocrite be U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, who lost all semblance of courage during his confirmation hearings by backtracking on every principle he apparently had–including his denunciation of J Street?
Would the biggest hypocrite be J Street and its founder Jeremy Ben Ami that spent tens of thousands of donated dollars in a futile attempt to defeat Friedman’s confirmation in the Senate–only to show up on his doorstep during a J Street junket to Tel Aviv?
Would the biggest hypocrites be the seven smiling Democratic Congresspersons in the picture–all of whom denounced Friedman–and then showed up on his doorstep?
In your humble servant’s opinion, they are all hypocrites.
By the way, the Congressional “J Street” hypocrites were:
Reps. Ami Bera and Barbara Lee of California; Brenda Lawrence of Michigan; Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey; Earl Blumenauer of Oregon; Cheri Bustos of Illinois, and Dwight Evans of Pennsylvania.
One final thought: how many times did we hear Friedman say that he was looking forward to working in his office in Jerusalem?
An ecological disaster . . . and other contaminations . . .
With each passing day, the extent of the ecological disaster caused by the leakage of acidic industrial waste water from Rotem Amfert Chemical Plant in the Negev four days ago becomes more pronounced.
An inspection yesterday showed that the entire area around Ashalim and the Ashalim River is contaminated. Numerous bodies of long horned gazelles, foxes, lizards, and birds were found everywhere.
One of numerous animals found dead yesterday.
In addition to the disaster at Ashalim, a number of beaches around Herzliya (Acadia, Zevulun, and Sharon Coast) were closed until further notice yesterday after the Herzliya Water Corporation discovered an unacceptably high level of “effluents” (read: “sewage”) in the area. It is a dirty little secret that a number of towns along Israel’s coast still pipe their sewage out into the Mediterranean.
And of course, we have already reported that beaches around Ashkelon have been closed because of the sewage pouring out of Gaza.
This may be remembered as the “summer of contamination.”
With friends like this, who needs BDS? . . .
Your humble servant was appalled over the weekend to read “A Dose of Nuance” by Daniel Gordis, a man I once held in high regard both for his passion for Israel as well as his highly intellectual discourses about this country.
Writing about his dismay over the recent decision about the Kotel, Gordis calls on American Jews:
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*to boycott PM Netanyahu and everyone in his coalition, going so far as to write “Israel’s consul generals in the US should be shunned and disinvited.” Gordis continues that if they cannot be disinvited, then large scale pro-Israel events featuring them such as Birthright Mega-Events should be canceled.
*to refuse to fly El Al, writing that “They should cancel every El Al ticket they have already purchased and fly United or Delta.”
*to force “layoffs . . . in industry” as well as “faltering” hospitals, and airline “bankruptcy.”
All in all it an astonishing diatribe against this country. As the title of this section notes, with friends like Daniel Gordis, who needs enemies like BDS?
TODAY’S BLOG
The Gazan Humanitarian Crisis Is A Myth
A humanitarian crisis in Gaza? The Gaza Surf Club.
One of your humble servant’s favorite movies is The Magnificent Seven. When the seven gunfighters first arrive in the village to protect the farmers and their families, they find that the village is apparently deserted.
The old wise man in the village tells the seven:
“You must excuse them. They are farmers here. They are afraid of everyone and everything. They are afraid of rain, and no rain. The summer may be too hot, or the winter too cold. If the sow has no pigs, the farmer is afraid he may starve. If she has too many pigs, he is afraid she may starve.”
It is amazing how the Netanyahu government has become afraid of the Palestinians.
It is afraid that if the U.S. Embassy is moved to Jerusalem, there will be Palestinian riots and terrorism.
It is afraid that if Jews are permitted on the Temple Mount, there will be Palestinian riots and terrorism.
It is afraid that if construction of Jewish communities takes place, there will be Palestinian riots and terrorism.
It is afraid that if we don’t transport a million Muslims to Jerusalem to pray, there will be Palestinian riots and terrorism.
The list goes on and on.
Yesterday, PM Netanyahu added to the list when he told a private meeting in the Knesset that if Israel doesn’t do something about the “humanitarian crisis” in Gaza, that the Palestinians in Gaza will explode.
Aside from the fact that here on israelstreet we have long believed that it is absurd for Israel to be involved in any way with Gaza, your humble servant continues to question if there is, in fact, a “humanitarian crisis” in Gaza.
Two weeks ago, Prof. Hillel Frisch of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies published “Gaza’s Humanitarian Crisis is Fake News”.
Your humble servant encourages you to read the entire article by clicking on the above link, but its salient point is:
“One of the most widespread myths about Gaza is that it is wallowing in poverty and forever on the verge of a humanitarian crisis as a result of the Israeli and Egyptian blockade. But indicators such as life expectancy, growth in imports, and electricity demand suggest that the Gazan standard of living is rising, not declining.”
Frisch presents numerous facts to support his thesis and concludes, as we have so many times in the past, that whatever problems exist in Gaza could be easily solved were Hamas not taking all money for its leadership and its tunnels.
The underlying question today is simply “How did we become so afraid of the Palestinians?”
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.