Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS)—The Trump administration’s conference on the situation in the Gaza Strip this week “focused on the need for the Palestinian Authority to take control over Gaza,” a White House official told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. If that report is accurate, it means that the United States still doesn’t understand the basic problem in Gaza—or how to solve it. The idea that Hamas is the “bad guy” and the Palestinian Authority is the “good guy” is a fallacy that began with the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, and is still the mindset of too many... Full story
(JNS)vJ Street and the radical wing of the Democratic Party have worked hard in recent years to chip away at the party’s traditional support for Israel. And they’ve made some progress, to judge by recent public opinion polls, in the changes in the Democratic Party platform and the number of Democratic congressmen who have signed J Street’s letters criticizing Israel. But a speech at the AIPAC conference, made by the senior U.S. senator from New York, Chuck Schumer, has struck a powerful blow against those trends in his party. As the Senat... Full story
(JNS)—A Palestinian state in Israel’s backyard, international control over Jerusalem’s Old City and the mass expulsion of tens of thousands of Jews from Judea and Samaria: Is this the “price” that President Donald Trump recently hinted Israel would have to pay? According to Arab diplomats cited by the London newspaper Asharq al-Awsat, the Trump plan for the Middle East, soon to be unveiled, includes “U.S. recognition of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital”; the imposition of “international protection” over Jerusalem’s Old C... Full story
(JNS)—Stop the presses! A vulgar American Jewish comedian has praised a Palestinian teenage girl who assaulted an Israeli soldier. Put it on the front page! The comedian, Sarah Silverman, recently sent out a tweet demanding that Israel release Ahed Tamimi, the Palestinian teenager who staged a video in which she repeatedly slapped a soldier in the Israel Defense Forces. Tamimi tried, but failed, to provoke the soldier to respond in a way that would make useful propaganda. “Jews have to stand up even when—especially when—the wrongdoing is by J... Full story
(JNS)—A senior Palestinian Authority official this week declared that “Nikki Haley needs to shut up.” He’s referring to the U.S. permanent representative to the United Nations. If a representative of any other regime had used such language against a female American diplomat, feminists everywhere would be up in arms—and rightly so. But for some reason, Palestinian misogyny gets a pass. The P.A.’s Saeb Erekat made his ugly remark about Ambassador Haley in an interview with the Palestinian website Al-Watan Voice on Feb. 3. It came soon after... Full story
(JNS)—Ever wonder why polls consistently show that a large portion of the Israeli public supports creating a Palestinian state? How can it be that despite the Palestinian Authority’s support for terrorism, violations of the Oslo Accords and non-stop anti-Israel incitement, so many Israelis seem to be in favor of establishing a Palestinian state next door? Could it be that the answer is found in the asking? Just last week, newspaper headlines announced that according to a new poll, 47 percent of Israeli Jews still support Palestinian sta... Full story
Why is it that every time a female US government official says something that the Palestinian Authority (PA) doesn’t like, PA leaders respond by making a disparaging remark related to the fact that she is a woman? In his bizarre, two-hour rant before the Palestinian Central Council on Jan. 14, PA President Mahmoud Abbas declared that US Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, “wears high heels not for elegance but to use to hit anyone who attacks Israel.” When Condoleeza Rice was national security advisor, an official PA newsp... Full story
You know that critics of Israel are getting panicky when they start trotting out the old “one state” bogeyman. “As a 2-State Solution Loses Steam, a 1-State Plan Gains Traction,” a New York Times headline announced on Jan. 5, above an article so palpably absurd that it can only reflect the mad panic among advocates of Palestinian statehood as they see their dream fading away. And the fact that The Times chose to make it page one news says a lot about the fearful mindset among the left-wing news media, Israel-bashing pundits and Jewish peace c... Full story
The “P is for Palestine” children’s book that is causing so much controversy presents anti-Israel propaganda and deeply disturbing justifications for “intifada” violence. But it also contains one very important truth. Golbarg Bashi, the Iranian-born author, decided to use the device of an alphabet book to indoctrinate children with anti-Israel messages. The most incendiary part, which has been at the center of much of the public debate about the book, declares, “I is for Intifada, Arabic for rising up for what is right, if you are a kid or grow... Full story
The Taylor Force Act started out as a powerful and long-overdue tool for pressuring the Palestinian Authority to stop paying terrorists. But the legislation has been diluted, weakened and compromised in so many ways that it is now a pale shadow of its former self. The Taylor Force Act has been gutted. Known in the Senate as S. 1697, the Taylor Force Act is named after a young Vanderbilt University student—and U.S. Army veteran—who was murdered by a Palestinian Arab knife-wielding terrorist in Jaffa in 2016. The lead Senate sponsor is Sen. Lin... Full story
The most prominent Jewish leader in America did not mince words when it came to the question of whether the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) should have an office in Washington, D.C. In a telegram to the president, he wrote, “Our country must not permit the killers of Jewish children and the assassins of American diplomats to open an office in Washington, D.C.” But I’m not talking about last week’s news. I’m taking about 1976. The chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations was Rabbi Alexander... Full story
Senior Trump administration officials reportedly are crafting a plan for Middle East peace. Based on the details that are available so far, friends of Israel have good reason for concern. According to a front-page New York Times report on Nov. 12, the administration is preparing what it considers to be an “ultimate deal” between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs. There appear to be two phases to the plan. Phase one will consist of “confidence-building provisions” by each side. The problem is that Israel will be expected to make new concess... Full story
While Americans have been tearing down statues that honor people who don’t deserve to be honored, Palestinian Arabs are doing exactly the opposite. A statue honoring Saddam Hussein, the notorious dictator, terror sponsor and mass murderer, was unveiled last week in the Palestinian Authority (PA) city of Qalqilya. Technically, the statue was sponsored by the Arab Liberation Front (ALF), not the municipality of Qalqilya or the PA itself. But the PA’s district governor for the Qalqilya District, Rafi Rawajba, attended the unveiling ceremony. Raw... Full story
Just when you thought things couldn’t get any messier over at the Center for Jewish History, a New York Times columnist who was invited to speak at an event there has unleashed a barrage of verbal attacks on Israel. The columnist, Roger Cohen, was invited to deliver this year’s Leo Baeck Memorial Lecture. The Leo Baeck Institute is one of six Jewish organizations that operate from the Center for Jewish History building. I did not attend Mr. Cohen’s lecture Oct. 15. But in a pre-lecture interview with the Baeck Institute’s newsletter, LBI New... Full story
European countries are not exactly known for their love of Israel. Yet recent actions taken by the governments of Norway and Belgium suggest that, in at least one important respect, those two nations have gone much further than the U.S. in confronting the problem of Palestinian incitement against Israel. Belgium, which has been giving the Palestinian Arabs more than $20 million annually, announced this week that it “will put on hold any projects related to the construction or equipment of Palestinian schools.” This followed a report by Pal... Full story
The Trump administration is pressuring Israel for further delays in the construction of Jewish homes in Judea and Samaria, according to apparently reliable media reports. If true, friends of Israel have good reason to be concerned. Ynet, the news site of the Israeli daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, reported Sept. 25 that “at the request of the Trump administration,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has delayed a meeting of the government committee responsible for construction in the territories. The meeting is necessary to proceed with con... Full story
Public figures occasionally misspeak. That is, they say something that is clearly untrue, not because they are intentionally lying but because they innocently stumbled in their articulation of some thought. A famous example occurred during the 2008 presidential campaign, when Democratic nominee Barack Obama was interviewed by George Stephanopoulos on the ABC-TV news program “This Week.” At one point, Obama used the phrase “my Muslim faith.” Now, Obama obviously did not intend to say that. He had already said many times that he is a Christi... Full story
A little-reported stabbing incident, coupled with a large dose of Palestinian Authority-generated fake news, have revealed pretty much everything you need to know about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It all began Aug. 18. Qatiba Zahran, age 17, left his hometown of Alar, near the city of Tulkarm, armed with a large knife. He was looking for an Israeli Jew to stab. He couldn’t find any Israelis in Alar, or in Tulkarm, because they have been under the control of the Palestinian Authority since 1995. That was when then-Prime Minister Yitzhak R... Full story
The U.S. government’s reluctance to demand the immediate creation of a Palestinian state has sent J Street into a panic. With its candidates having been defeated in elections on both sides of the ocean, and its proposals crumbling in the face of reality, J Street is trying one last desperate strategy: rewriting history so that it appears Palestinian statehood has been supported by everybody, everywhere, for as long as anyone can remember. Asked by reporters Aug. 24 about the Palestinian state issue, State Department spokeswoman Heather N... Full story
On a recent Friday, several-dozen Jewish hikers happened to pass near the Palestinian village of Kobar. Some locals reacted to the sight of Jews by trying to stone them to death. News reports noted that Kobar is the home town of the terrorist who recently stabbed three Jews to death at their dinner table in the town of Halamish. On Aug. 12, Palestinians attending a funeral of a dead terrorist decided they would try to complete his life’s mission by murdering some Jews themselves. They gathered on the road near the Israeli town of Tekoa and bega... Full story
The newly appointed Middle East director at the State Department has a long record of criticizing and pressuring Israel. Isn’t anybody at the White House paying attention to who’s being hired over at Foggy Bottom? David Satterfield, who is slated to become assistant secretary of state for Near East affairs next month, played a significant role in U.S. policy and diplomacy concerning Israel and the Palestinians in the late 1990s and early 2000s. A look at some of his comments from that period reveals he repeatedly suggested a moral equ... Full story
The newly appointed Middle East director at the State Department has a long record of criticizing and pressuring Israel. Isn’t anybody at the White House paying attention to who’s being hired over at Foggy Bottom? David Satterfield, who is slated to become assistant secretary of state for Near East affairs next month, played a significant role in U.S. policy and diplomacy concerning Israel and the Palestinians in the late 1990s and early 2000s. A look at some of his comments from that period reveals he repeatedly suggested a moral equ... Full story
When presidential adviser Jared Kushner said in a recent private discussion that “there may be no solution” to the conflict between the Palestinian Arabs and Israel, he was just stating the obvious. For nearly a century, self-appointed wise men have been claiming to have the solution, but every such proposal has proved to be a mirage. The British thought they had the solution in 1922, when they sectioned off the eastern part of Mandatory Palestine—78 percent of the original mandate territory—and set up an Arab kingdom there, which came to be k... Full story
The pressure has begun. The State Department’s “evenhanded” statement regarding the Temple Mount. The U.S.-backed Middle East Quartet’s call for “restraint.” The announcement that President Donald Trump’s international negotiations representative is going to the region to “mediate” between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA). It all adds up to one thing: American pressure on Israel to make concessions to the Palestinians. The July 14 terror attack that killed two Israeli policemen at the Temple Mount is a clear-cut case of Palestinian ag... Full story
The U.S. consul general in Jerusalem recently set off on the first leg of a 200-mile hike that will simultaneously promote one pro-Palestinian myth while inadvertently exploding another. That’s quite a “twofer!” Consul General Donald Blome is an avid hiker. For some reason, he has decided to ignore Israeli hiking trails in Judea and Samaria, and instead is making his way across the “Masar Ibrahim Al-Khalil,” or the Ibrahim Path, which runs from northern Samaria to southern Judea. The website of the U.S. consulate general in Jerusalem quotes Bl... Full story
