Thursday, June 25, 2015

Fwd: The Druze factor by Shalom Pollack


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Shalom Pollack <shalompollack613@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Jun 23, 2015 at 1:51 PM
Subject: The Druze factor


Yesterday, about one hundred and fifty Druze from their village of Majdal Shams on the Golan Heights, lynched  two severely wounded  Syrian men  being evacuated in  an IDF ambulance.

A similar attack was carried out in the Druze village of Churfesh in the Galilee.

What is  this all about? Well, its like this; The Druze in Syria are allies of the Assad regime, and they serve in  his  army, making them  foes of an array of rebel groups there.

With government armies now  on the run, the Druze are feeling the heat . Indeed there was a little massacre of Druze last week when  one of their villages was abandoned by the Syrian army. So the Druze are nervous.

Israel, remaining  neutral in the  now, four year old civil war, has frequently  extended humanitarian aid  to severely wounded civilians and  have hospitalized thousands in Israel. 

It seems that the Druze suspect Israel of favoring or aiding  some of the rebel forces fighting against  the Assad / Hizbullah / Iran Axis, including tending to rebel wounded.

 After the massacre of their kinsmen  last week,  Israeli Druze decided to stop any further  transfer of Syrian wounded  into Israel for treatment. Thus the lynching. The ambulance was stormed and the wounded were torn limb by limb. Two Israel officers were wounded as well.


It seems certain that this was not a spontaneous attack. It took intelligence gathering,  communication and transportation. Israeli Druze soldiers may have played  a part. It may be  part of a Syrian government plan to discourage Israel from aiding any of the regime's enemies.  Any thing is possible  in the  bloody  mess that was once called Syria. 


 Druze serve in the IDF, some along the Syrian border. Some, in IDF uniform have been sited celebrating with local Druze in the after math of the lynch.

The Druze are a tight knit community and for the Druze of Israel it is difficult  to watch  as their Syrian brethren are quickly  finding themselves on the losing side in the civil war. In Syria if you  lose - you really lose.

Israel is a country, not a sect, and thus has national  interests that  are often nuanced. For the Druze it is far simpler. As long as the Syrian Druze were safe behind Assad's  regime , all was fine. Now  they are ready to jump  across the border to fight for their kinsmen.

And you thought that Jews struggle with "dual loyalty"?...


This is not the first time that Druze  interests conflicted with those of their country, Israel. During the 1982 Lebanon war, Israel was allied with the Christian forces against the PLO and Syrian army. There  was one problem. The Christians  are historic, bitternemies of the Druze in Lebanon. On some occasions, Israeli Druze soldiers bolted  to stand at the side of their kinsmen.


Who are the Druze and how did the Druze - Israel relationship evolve?   


The Druze are  a minority  sect found  in parts of  LebanonSyria ,Jordan and Israel..

 They  are an  ethnic and linguistic Arabs  but cling to their  secretive religion  their founded by Al  Daruzi, when  they  broke  away  from Islam in the Middle Ages. 

The Muslim world has never forgiven the Druze  for this act of apostasy and treason and so the Druze  have carefully  kept  the details of their  religious  dogma a secret to the hostile out side world. They have also historically chosen the protective mountainous areas for their homes thus keeping the Muslim majority safely at arms length. They are also tough fighters

 

In 1948, as the beleaguered Jewish population of Israel fought off the combined Arab forces, the Druze at first chose to "go with the obvious winner", the Muslims. However, after being bloodied in a key battle for the Galilee, the Druze reconsidered and withdrew  from the war declaring their neutrality.

 

After Israel's victory, the Druze leaders requested to enter a pact with the victorious  new Jewish state and offered their sons to serve in the IDF which they do with distinction until today.

 

They are  often found in the para military units responsible with  security vis a vis the Arab populations since they are familiar with the language and culture.

Often when an Arab riot got out of hand and IDF troops were not effective, the very sight of a Druze manned jeep was enough to disperse the threatening crowd. They clearly  spoke each other's language.

The Druze  have come to see Israel as a spunky little country  delivering bloody noses to the  ever menacing Muslim world threatening to wash over her. In this, they identified a parallel with their own experience. However, a "New Israel" has emerged in the last generation. Suddenly, Israel is retreating; Sinai, Lebanon, Gaza, Judea, Samaria. No longer are Israeli soldiers feared but rather  have their hands tied as they  flee  from stone throwing Arab youngsters. This is not the Israel that won their respect in 1948 ans 1967. This is the Israel of  Shimon Peres' "New Middle East"

In the  this New middle East, the Druze revert to their Old Middle East mold and take care of number one - their way.


www.shalompollacktours.co.il








--
Sincerely,

Robin Ticker

Activist emails sent to my list  are L'Ilui Nishmat Yisrael ben David Aryeh ob"m (Izzy - Kaplan) and Howard Chaim Grief great activists and lovers of Eretz Yisroel, Am Yisroel and the Torah. Yehi Zichronum Baruch.  May their memories serve as a blessing. 

Most of these emails are posted on Shemittahrediscovered.blogspot.com 

Personal emails to individuals will not be posted to my blog. 

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Fwd: PM Netanyahu Meets with Druze Community Leaders


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: <imra@imra.org.il>
Date: Wed, Jun 24, 2015 at 5:06 PM
Subject: PM Netanyahu Meets with Druze Community Leaders
To: imra@imra.org.il


PM Netanyahu Meets with Druze Community Leaders
(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this evening (Wednesday, 24 June 2015), met with Druze community leaders and told them at the start of the meeting:

"Your sons, all of our sons, serve and fight in the IDF and defend our state. We all uphold the law and we are all loyal citizens. And if there is someone who deviates from these rules and takes the law into his hands, it is our duty, of course, to condemn this and see to it that these offenders do not become the norm. This is something that we must prevent – the recurrence of such events.

I think that it is also especially important to prevent attacks on IDF soldiers or hindering them as they carry out their missions. We have been successful in keeping Israel out of the anarchy that is happening around us. We did so because we always knew measure things and act prudently. This is, and will remain, our policy.

However, I would also like to say a personal word to the community. I appreciate the community, its actions, its contribution to the state in general and to the security of the state in particular. I gave expression to this only recently in the five-year plan that allocates NIS 2 billion. This is a practical expression of this appreciation and of the understanding that we have a commitment to our Druze brothers as citizens of the State of Israel in the fullest sense of the word – not just equal rights but also full involvement in the life of the state. Out of this respect, partnership and brotherhood, I ask that we work together, as we have up until today, to ensure the security of the state and orderly operation of the IDF and our security arms – in every respect and in every place. I thank you for coming."

The spiritual leader of the Druze community in Israel, Sheik Muafaq Tarif, said, "We have the honor, Mr. Prime Minister, of coming to you. We know what you are doing. We know about the understanding and wisdom with which you leading on this issue. I am very familiar with everything that you are doing on behalf of the state and the community. We thank you also for the five-year plan. After what happened, we convened at the tomb of Jethro, Nebi Shueib, all of the community's religious leaders, local council heads and MKs and condemned what happened. We are all together and we have the honor that our sons serve in the IDF, and we are part of the IDF, and we will not lend a hand to those who would harm the IDF, whoever they may be. Of course, we condemned what happened. Our faith, traditions and values are against attacking an ambulance or the injured. This is not our way. We did not educate for this. We strongly condemn what happened and of course we hope that you will continue to wisely and prudently lead on this issue. We are at your service."

Among those also attending the meeting were Druze Local Councils Forum head Jabar Hamed, Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, Deputy Minister Ayoub Kara and former MK Salah Tarif.
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--
Sincerely,

Robin Ticker

Activist emails sent to my list  are L'Ilui Nishmat Yisrael ben David Aryeh ob"m (Izzy - Kaplan) and Howard Chaim Grief great activists and lovers of Eretz Yisroel, Am Yisroel and the Torah. Yehi Zichronum Baruch.  May their memories serve as a blessing. 

Most of these emails are posted on Shemittahrediscovered.blogspot.com 

Personal emails to individuals will not be posted to my blog. 

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Samir Kuntar once again in 2015 inciting terror attacks this time against IDF inciting Syrian Druse to whip up violence.


bs"d

A recent post 


 encouraged Israel to help save the Syrian Druse community from Isis attack.  

The Syrian army under Assad basically abandoned the Druse community in Syria and the Druse community were left defenseless and surrounded by ISIS. 

Caroline Glick writes the plight of the Druse grows more dire from day to day. With the regime on the verge of collapse, the government ordered the units that had been securing the Druse villages along the border with Israel on the northern Golan to return to Damascus. Some 30,000 Druse centered around the village of Hader are surrounded by rebel forces.
...

They were terrified.  Druse MK Ayoub Kara and the Druse community within Israel were very worried about their Druse cousins in Syria and vowed that they would not allow genocide and atrocities perpetrated by Isis as seen in other nonethnic Islamic communities such as the Yezidis  threaten the Syrian Druse.  They collected millions of dollars as well.


Maj. Gen. (ret.) Uzi Dayan, head of The Security Council for Israel, called for Israel to immediately assist Syrian Druse because they face an existential danger that can be averted. 

Uzi Dayan: We are committed to our brothers the Druse and this is the time to show it 


Dayan said that it is Israel's duty to help them since it is in the country's interest that southern Syria is dominated by an entity supportive of Israel and not jihadist groups.

Israel's intervention has apparently worked. The Rebels do no want to start up with Israel apparently so they have assured the Syrian Druze communities that as long as they remain neutral they will not be a target. The big stick (namely Ayoub Kara with the backing of the Israeli govt) stopped the rebels in their tracks from attacking the Syrian Druze.

However, Druse villagers in the Israeli Golan Heights on Tuesday attacked an Israeli military ambulance they said was carrying two insurgents from a group fighting President Bashar Assad.

The incident in the Golan village of Majdal Shams overlooking Syrian territory was the second attack by Druse on an Israeli army ambulance in less than 24 hours.  


Samir Kuntar, the Lebanese Druse terrorist who was incarcerated for 29 years in Israel for murder and then released in a prisoner swap with Hezbollah in 2008, is responsible for whipping up violence among Druse on the Israeli side of the Golan Heights, community leaders charged on Tuesday.

The comments came less than a day after Golan Druse carried out what Israeli authorities have termed "a lynching" http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Druse-leaders-urge-calm-after-locals-slay-wounded-Syrian-traveling-in-IDF-ambulance-406833 of a wounded Syrian who was being transported by an IDF ambulance across the frontier late Monday.

fyi Samir Kuntar has many links in the chain of violence and terror against Israel.  This is the latest incident in his personal chain of terror.....Samir Kuntar Terrorist Release. One of the links in a Chain of Terror and Violence. History lesson repeating itself Hashem Yishmor..... http://shemittahrediscovered.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-murder-of-klinghoffer-rooted-in.html

Sincerely,

Robin Ticker

Activist emails sent to my list  are L'Ilui Nishmat Yisrael ben David Aryeh ob"m (Izzy - Kaplan) and Howard Chaim Grief great activists and lovers of Eretz Yisroel, Am Yisroel and the Torah. Yehi Zichronum Baruch.  May their memories serve as a blessing. 

Most of these emails are posted on Shemittahrediscovered.blogspot.com

Personal emails to individuals will not be posted to my blog. 

Monday, June 22, 2015

JCCWatch is working on Tikkun (fixing) UJA Federation! Will UJA finally admit they are wrong? UJA enriches, empowers Israel's bashers and enemies through their "Israel" funds.

bs"d

Tikkun Olam, fixing, perfecting the world is a very lofty ideal.

Yet, before fixing the world,  (Tikkun Olam), one must work on perfecting oneself as well. 

JCCWatch, founder Richard Allen,  is hard at work doing Tikkun (perfecting) UJA Federation.  Will UJA finally admit they are wrong? UJA has enriched, empowered Israel's bashers and enemies through UJA's "Israel" Jewish Communal Fund.  Yes, you heard right!  Israel's enemies, not Israel. Here is a link to an excellent post on Arutz7 by Susie Dym spokesperson of Mattot Arim.

An interview with Richard Allen of JCCWatch and other related posts.

To quote Richard Allen   I see the leadership of the UJA-Federation abandoning the guiding principle of support for the land and people of Israel. Let's all say the buck stops here, take responsibility, and reject BDS, so next year, we all march together in the Israel Day Parade and work for a strong and secure Israel and Jewish community."
--
Sincerely,

Robin Ticker

Activist emails sent to my list  are L'Ilui Nishmat Yisrael ben David Aryeh ob"m (Izzy - Kaplan) and Howard Chaim Grief great activists and lovers of Eretz Yisroel, Am Yisroel and the Torah. Yehi Zichronum Baruch.  May their memories serve as a blessing. 

Most of these emails are posted on Shemittahrediscovered.blogspot.com 

Personal emails to individuals will not be posted to my blog. 

Thursday, June 18, 2015

Syrian Druse threatened by ISIS. Jordan threatened by ISIS. Israel threatened by Isis?Israel should empower her potential allies thereby saving their lives and by extension save Israelis from being threatened!

bs"d

In the war against ISIS....

I can't help but think how much worse it would be for Jews today, without a Jewish Sovereign State and without a Jewish army etc. 

 Jews facing ISIS today would feel like they did in Nazi Germany Chas Veshalom....helpless...

The sheer terror of being at the mercy of horrific evil without the means of defending and protecting oneself, ones family, ones property and ones land... We've been there...

Our fate would be no different than the unprotected Druze in villages in Syria or the Yezidis in Iraq,  G-d forbid. 

BH, we feel much more secure. We know that we can't rely on our might and strength alone but if G-d is on our side then we have a vessel (kli) for Him to operate.

We are still surrounded by our enemies... 

We should not take the friendship of allies of Israel for granted and we must share a sense of responsibility for them as well. 

June 19, 2015 Op-Ed: The Druze and the Middle East's Minority Pact 
Israel must, simply must, save the Syrian Druze. by Dr. Mordechai Kedar
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/17095#.VYO-3vlViko

June 18, 2015 Op-Ed: Not to Act Against Evil is to Act

Evil triumphs when good people do not stand against it. And we may be on the way to seeing a repeat of the good Europeans who disagree with Hitler - in their living rooms. by Dr. Phyllis Chesler
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/17094#.VYPCNPlViko
Evil triumphs when good people do not stand against it. Like Europeans and Americans in the Nazi era—privately disagreeing with Hitler’s policies did not save eleven million people. One must resist—or the Devil wins. Covering up Stalin’s crimes—40 to 50 million died—is not resisting the Devil.
According to Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “SILENCE in the face of evil is itself evil, God will not hold us guiltless, NOT to speak is to speak, NOT to act is to act.”

According to Caroline Glick,  Israel betrayed  Palestinians who had normal relations with Israel as well as betrayed Palestinians who helped Israel fight terrorists once Arafat moved into Judea and Samaria and Gaza in  1994.  After the expulsion of Gush Katif  in 2005,  Arabs who befriended Israel and worked with Israel had to flee Gaza for their safety. Caroline also mentions the betrayal by Israel of the Lebanese Christians in its "helter-skelter withdrawal from the security zone in south Lebanon on May 31, 2000" .

 She adds that Israel can now rectify these mistakes of the past,  by helping the Druze in Syria...  Please read on..

June 18, 2015 Opinion: Caroline Glick column One JPOST
http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Column-one-Israels-great-opportunity-406531.  Caroline warns us not to repeat past mistakes.  She writes:

Israel has managed to destroy its regional reputation.

With our own hands, we have twice shown our neighbors they have little reason to tie their fates to ours. We are unreliable.

In 1994, Israel betrayed the Palestinians in Judea, Samaria and Gaza who had helped us fight against PLO terrorists for decades. Open season on our Palestinian allies officially began in July 1994 with the entrance of thousands of PLO terrorists – led by Yasser Arafat – into Gaza and Jericho. Arafat's henchmen did not limit their murderous wrath to the Palestinians who saved countless Israeli lives by working with the Shin Bet and the IDF. They killed Palestinians who sold their lands to Jewish buyers. Palestinians who simply enjoyed normal work relations with Israelis found themselves targeted as suspected "collaborators."

Six years after Israel betrayed its Palestinian allies, we abandoned our allies in south Lebanon.

After 18 years of fighting shoulder to shoulder with the IDF, Israel left the soldiers and commanders of the South Lebanese Army and their families to face Hezbollah alone.

In its helter-skelter withdrawal from the security zone in south Lebanon on May 31, 2000, Israel left most of the SLA soldiers and their families behind. Those who managed to cross the border to Israel were treated shamefully by the Israeli bureaucracy.

We caught a glimpse of the suffering we caused those who remained behind during the Second Lebanon War in 2006. As IDF soldiers returned to Lebanon they were beset by the families of SLA soldiers who seized on their return to make a run for the border. Men, women and children sprinted across fields to the newly returned IDF units with whatever they could carry.

When we returned to Lebanon that summer, no Lebanese militia offered to fight at our side.

And indeed, after we betrayed our allies, it was hard to imagine a situation where anyone would again agree to fight alongside us. And yet, thanks to the demise of the Syrian and Iraqi states, Israel has a chance to undo the damage. We can rebuild our credibility with our neighbors by helping the Druse in Syria.

Twice in the past 90 years, the Syrian Druse had the potential for independent action. In 1921, when the French established their mandatory rule in present-day Syria and Lebanon, they divided the territory into six "independent," or autonomously ruled, "states."

The Druse received a state of their own centered in Jebl Druse – the Druse Mountain. The area under their control stretched across the Syrian side of the tri-border area with Israel and Jordan. The Druse state existed until 1936, when the French reorganized the mandate and set up a central government in Damascus.

The possibility of establishing a Druse state arose again, fleetingly, in 1967. During the Six Day War, then-labor minister Yigal Allon put together a plan to establish a Druse state, again centered on Druse Mountain. He tried but failed to convince then-defense minister Moshe Dayan to send the IDF units that had just taken over the Golan Heights south to Druse Mountain rather than eastward toward Damascus.

In 2007 the transcripts of a series of taped memoirs Allon recorded a year before his death in 1980 were made public. Of his plans regarding the Druse, Allon explained, "I had visited Sweida [the capital of Druse Mountain] several times and I dreamed a dream of a Druse Republic that would stretch across southern Syria...that would be in military alliance with Israel. I had great expectations from the Druse in Israel, that were already serving in the IDF. I believed they could serve as a bridge between us and the other Druse."

Today Allon has a strategic heir in the government of Israel – and he is a Druse.

Deputy Regional Cooperation Minister Ayoub Kara is probably the most powerful Druse in the world today. The Druse of Syria and Lebanon take him seriously. We should too...

...
Today, the plight of the Druse grows more dire from day to day. With the regime on the verge of collapse, the government ordered the units that had been securing the Druse villages along the border with Israel on the northern Golan to return to Damascus. Some 30,000 Druse centered around the village of Hader are surrounded by rebel forces.
...


As for the nearly three-quarters of a million Druse at Druse Mountain, according to Kara, they wish to defend and govern themselves in an autonomous region for the foreseeable future.

But to fend for themselves, they need weapons.

Without arms, with the regime's collapse seemingly imminent, it is possible that the Druse will be unable to survive. It is also possible that if Israel doesn't provide them with weapons, someone else – perhaps Hezbollah – will arm them and so buy their loyalty.

read more...



Israel must empower  those who would be Israel's potential allies to keep Isis away! 

Obviously, we don't want to empower Hezbollah to fight ISIS.  

Jordan is being threatened by Isis as well!

FRIDAY, JUNE 19, 2015
Jordan Fears Imminent ISIS Invasion - Yaakov Levi

This is how Jordan is dealing with the threat.

Jordan is preparing for invasions by Islamic terror groups by arming Bedouins in Syria and Iraq to prevent incursions, reports say. http://israelagainstterror.blogspot.com/2015/06/jordan-fears-imminent-isis-invasion.html
During a tour of the border areas on June 15, Abdllah stated that it was Jordan's obligation "to assist Arab tribes in Iraq and Syria," hinting that he would rely on the tribes as a first line of defense against incursions by ISIS and Al-Nusra.
The tribes living on both sides of the border have close ties, and Abdullah believes that they would aggressively defend their areas from invasion by the Islamist groups, reports said.
Abdullah's declaration set off rumors in the Arab media that Jordan was preparing to seize border areas on Iraq and Syria in order to fend off invaders. That plan was denied by Ahmad Almoumani, an advisor to Abdullah. 
"Jordan has no plans to expand at the expense of neighboring countries, who we respect and value. We hope to preserve our own independence, and our borders," he stressed. 
The ones ISIS consider to be their worst infidels are the ones who should be empowered since they have the greatest reason to fight because of the horrors that await them G-d forbid.  Especially if they have a proven record of being peaceful, non aggressive and a potential ally for Israel.  

Both the Yezidis and the Druse are tight peaceful religious communities who don't intermarry who are ISIS 's worst "Infidels".  
Syrian Druse like the Yezidi's have their many villages surrounded by ISIS without means to protect themselves.  Israeli Druse are very worried for their relatives in Syria. https://youtu.be/yjpy_Fe6X1k  Listen to Israeli Druze Ms. Angham describe the danger of a peaceful Druze village in Syria under threat by Isis. She appears on Tom Trento on approx 34:00. 

Tom Trento: What's going on in Syria in the Druze Community that you are aware of?
Angham:  She says on 37:58 "I am aware that they are in danger. Real danger.  They are fighting against terrorists. They are in a small village like really small village, their number is small and they are outnumbered, They are in grave threat

(Just look at what happened to the Yezidis and they have good reason to fear for their lives for their husbands and for their women and children.  http://shemittahrediscovered.blogspot.com/2015/06/yezidis-isis-genocide-let-us-help-them.html! )

Tom Trento: How many Druze are we talking about? What is the size of the population?

She answers that she doesn't know about  the numbers there but there are many people in small villages. 

(Caroline Glick says there are 3/4 of a Million Druze on Druze Mountain.)

There are over 1.7 million Syrian Refugees flocking to Turkey http://data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/country.php?id=224 .  Israel obviously can not help them all.  

Why should Israel or America or any country absorb all these refugees? 

Allow them self governance and empower them to defend their own Land.

Let us stand up for evil not only for our own people but for those whom we know are peaceful and are facing genocide. We have been there and we know what it's like. Especially when we owe them and it's a matter of Hakarat Hatov.

It makes sense for Israel to empower their potential allies and those who will be a first line of defense for Israel.  

We can take Jordan's example...
Let Israel act to save many innocent lives, G-d willing,  and it will act to save itself and keep ISIS far from Israel's border!  
--
Sincerely,

Robin Ticker

Activist emails sent to my list  are L'Ilui Nishmat Yisrael ben David Aryeh ob"m (Izzy - Kaplan) and Howard Chaim Grief great activists and lovers of Eretz Yisroel, Am Yisroel and the Torah. Yehi Zichronum Baruch.  May their memories serve as a blessing. 

Most of these emails are posted on Shemittahrediscovered.blogspot.com

Personal emails to individuals will not be posted to my blog.