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Tuesday, November 29, 2011
fwd:The Demolition Derby Disease by Helen Freedman Director AFSI
Honenu mailing address correction. The zipcode of US Honenu mailing address. It is 11219 not 11210
bs"d* Honenu - Checks payable to Central Fund for Israel. Earmarked HonenuP.O.B. 2 Kiryat Arba, Israel 90100 Tel 02-653-5802US office - 1327 45th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11219 Tel: 718-853-9216
Honenu, Har HaZetim Preservation, Notzrim, protectors of Judea and Samaria. Har Habayit
- Standing Up for Justice in Israel: The Honenu Organization. It is our duty to stand up and speak out against injustice and that is exactly what Honenu is doing.*
- The Law Is the Law – Except on Har Hazeism Menachem Lubinsky of Har Ha Zeitim Preservation. Why is Israel allowing a Mosque to be built on Har HaZeitim??????. November 28th, 2011 It is hard to fathom that the Israeli public is simply indifferent to this serious defamation of Judaism's holiest and oldest (3,000 years old) cemetery.
- Christian Tourists Angry at Discrimination at Outpost a must read. Tourists ask Netanyahu "Why would you so easily let these confessed enemies of Israel wander around with immunity, and arrest us who support you?"
- A Voice for the Temple Mount! By Yosef Rabin http://tmount.org/2010/11/22/controlsmount/ Where are the rabbis, communal leaders and Knesset Members? Why are they not speaking and crying out? How can we remain silent as the Arabs with the consent of the Israeli government, destroy the very remains of the Temple itself? How do we justify protesting for the Sabbath, while ignoring the Mount. Does not Maimonides teach "As it is written: 'My Sabbath you shall guard and my Temple you shall fear', just as guarding the Sabbath is eternal, fearing the Temple is eternal as well".
Robin Ticker
Activist emails sent to my list are L'Ilui Nishmat Yisrael ben David Aryeh ob"m (Izzy - Kaplan) a great activist and lover of Eretz Yisroel, Am Yisroel and the Torah. Yehi Zichrono Baruch.
Most of these emails are posted on Shemittahrediscovered.blogspot.com
Sunday, November 27, 2011
report on Brooklyn event and More Honenu events: Today: Honenu events in Great Neck 10:00am in Bronx 7:00pm
Sincerely,
Robin Ticker
Activist emails sent to my list are L'Ilui Nishmat Yisrael ben David Aryeh ob"m (Izzy - Kaplan) a great activist and lover of Eretz Yisroel, Am Yisroel and the Torah. Yehi Zichrono Baruch.
Most of these emails are posted on Shemittahrediscovered.blogspot.com
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Fwd: Almost 800 Attend ZOA Dinner - Media Superstar Glenn Back, Cong. Ros-Lehtinen, Cong. Michele Bachmann Spoke
Subject: Almost 800 Attend ZOA Dinner - Media Superstar Glenn Back, Cong. Ros-Lehtinen, Cong. Michele Bachmann Spoke
To: ZOA <email@zoa.org>
November 21, 2011
Contact Dr. Michael Goldblatt at: 212-481-1500
Attn: NEWS EDITOR
U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann,
Adelsons and Six Congressmembers Attended
Almost 800 Attend ZOA Dinner - Media Superstar Glenn Beck, House Foreign Relations Chair Ros-Lehtinen, Cong. Michele Bachmann & PM Netanyahu Spoke
NEW YORK – Almost 800 people attended the Zionist Organization of America's (ZOA) 114th Louis B. Brandeis Award National Dinner on Sunday, November 20 at the New York City's elegant Grand Hyatt Hotel. Media superstar and seven-time NY Times best-selling author Glenn Beck, U.S.Congresswoman and House Foreign Relations Committee Chair, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) were keynote speakers at the Dinner at which they were also honored. Mr. Beck was awarded the Dr. Miriam & Sheldon Adelson Defender of Israel Award. U.S. Cong. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu also spoke. Prominent philanthropists Dr. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson spoke and personally presented the Adelson Award to Beck.
U.S. Cong. Ann Marie Buerkle and Robert Turner from NY, Cong. Dan Burton from Indiana and Cong. Joe Walsh from Illinois also attended the Dinner; other prominent guests included Richard Stone, Chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and Steve Emerson, terrorism expert. Rep. Ros-Lehtinen was awarded the Dr. Irving and Cherna Moskowitz Award. William K. Langfan and Mark Langfan, prominent lawyers and real estate entrepreneurs were honored with the Louis B. Brandeis Award. Jerome & Judy Taylor, distinguished philanthropists, received the Maccabee Award.
In his video address to the Dinner guests, Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke of the "remarkable and important ZOA." ZOA's "courage and integrity" which, he observed, under Mort Klein's leadership, had been "absolutely fearless" in fighting for the truth and working to advance the cause of Israel with the government, media and the American public. Mr. Netanyahu said, in these times of "seismic changes across the Middle East," the ZOA had been "unflinching" in its advocacy for which "I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart." "I also want to congratulate Glenn Beck for winning the Adelson Defender of Israel Award. If Dr. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson put their name on something, it must stand for a lot." Netanyahu said. "Glenn…you stand for a lot. You too have been fearless in defending Israel against the slanders that are hurled against [it]. You've done that with considerable personal cost, but you've never backed off, you've never flinched, you've never walked away. And I want to tell you how deeply we appreciate this stand of courage and integrity." Prime Minister Netanyahu also strongly praised Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, and Miriam and Sheldon Adelson s long-time and powerful supporters of Israel.
ZOA Board Member Harvey Friedman introduced Rep. Ros-Lehtinen, describing her as a "national treasure to every Jew in the U.S." and describing her legislative efforts opposing U.S. funding of both Mahmoud Abbas' Palestinian Authority (PA) and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). Rep. Ros-Lehtinen came to the podium and was greeted with a standing ovation. In her address, Rep. Ros-Lehtinen commenced by saying that she was "proud to be associated for so many years with ZOA." She spoke of two Dinner attendees, residents of the Jewish community of Kedumim in Samaria, stating sarcastically that "they're an impediment to peace, because they live in the Judean & Samarian community of Kedumim." Turning to the Iranian threat, Rep. Ros-Lehtinen said that the Obama Administration's policy for stopping Iran had been completely ineffective - "all we've got is a further three years closer to Iran getting a nuclear bomb." She called for further U.S. action, including genuinely "crippling sanctions to help bring this regime down … We passed the sanctions bill [H.R. 1905] targeting Iran's Central Bank." Speaking of the U.N. Reform, Transparency and Accountability Act [H.R. 2829], an earlier law which the Congress had passed that cuts funds to UN agencies that raise the states of the Palestinians, Rep. Ros-Lehtinen recounted how the Obama Administration had sought "flexibility" in its application, to which she had retorted with emphasis that "no flexibility" on the law would be allowed. She also referred to the views of the Obama Administration and Palestinian apologists before pausing and adding, "Did I repeat myself?"
Israeli scholar and director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University, Professor Efraim Inbar, presented the Louis B. Brandeis Award to William K. Langfan and Mark Langfan. Inbar said, "Bar-Ilan University is the only Zionist university left in Israel," saying that Tel Aviv University and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, for example, were "not Zionist" in his opinion. "There are many Bolshevik post-Zionists at these universities, who pack their faculties with similar-minded lecturers. The Israeli universities are overflowing with post-Modernists who undermine not only Zionism but academic truth itself."
Inbar said that although he knows that there are also Zionist lecturers at the various Social Studies faculties, they are outnumbered. "An evil wind is emanating from these places," he said.
ZOA National Chairman of the Board, Dr. Michael Goldblatt delivered the presentation to Maccabee Award recipients Judy and Jerome Taylor, noting that they had been "long-time pro-Israel activists" who had worked side by side for years on behalf of Israel. He also noted that Judy Taylor's father had been involved in prosecuting Nazi war criminals at the Nuremberg war crime trials, so that working "to protect Jews was in her genes."
ZOA National President Morton Klein introduced U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, observing that, while many speak of the importance of Israeli security, all too few speak of "the sacredness of the land of Israel. "If security was the entire issue for Israelis, they should move to Minnesota, it's safer there." That's why we're there. While noting that the ZOA does not endorse any political candidates, Klein described Rep. Bachman as "dynamic, principled and committed to her beliefs." Rep. Bachman opened by describing herself as a lover of Israel. "Although I'm not a Jew, I'm a Christian, we have something in common, the book of Genesis, which states that 'Those who bless Israel will be blessed and those that curse Israel will be cursed.' I stand with Israel."
She said her first foreign policy directive on Day 1 of her presidency would be moving the U.S. embassy to Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The Palestinians "must recognize Israel's right to exist and renounce violence" if they expect to become a serious partner for peace. and that, under current conditions, Israel should cede to the Palestinians "not one acre, not one square foot, not one inch." She chastised President Obama for failing to support Israel, saying, "President Obama stands with Occupy Wall Street, but he doesn't stand with Israel. When Israel looks at President Obama, they don't see a friend." The United States "must sell Israel the additional fighter jets, bunker buster bombs, refueling tankers, and other materials they need to defend themselves," she said. She also said the United States should continue its "comprehensive missile system" in the Middle East. Rep. Bachman also spoke of the existential threat posed by Iran to both Israel and the U.S., declaring that the "Pentagon should prepare a war plan as a last resort, should all else fail in preventing Iran from getting nuclear weapons." She said that, while "only a fool wishes for war," other steps, like but a naval blockade of Iranian ports, increased intelligence operations against Iran and "crushing economic sanctions" were adequate the gravity of the threat. She called on President Barack Obama "to accelerate covert operations and cyber operations in Iran and order the CIA Director to take all means necessary to stop Iran from getting the Bomb before it is too late." Asserting that Iranian President Ahmadinejad was "striving for a second Holocaust" Bachman said that "once again millions of Jews are at the precipice of losing their lives today". Ahmadinejad, she said, "will seek to use nuclear weapons against the US as well – and the US will learn what it is to be Israel if it does not act quickly." She said that the US Secretary of Defense, Secretary of State and CIA director must all support this "freedom policy" and that those in the bureaucracy who fail to do so – "especially in the State Department" – should be replaced.
ZOA Vice-Chairman of the National Board Steve Goldberg introduced Morton Klein pointing out that "Without Mort, there would be no ZOA. Mort rescued it when it was moribund .. Your shoes are too big and cannot be filled ... all the ZOA's past leaders, including Louis Brandeis and Abba Hillel Silver pale in comparison to Mort Klein."
Mort Klein commenced his address by praising Christian Zionists for their heartfelt support of Israel, especially at a time Israel has few reliable friends. "We applaud Christian Zionists, thank G-d for you ... People forget that Israel is called the Promised Land for a reason - because it was promised to the Jewish people by G-d." He emphasized that, unlike several other Jewish organizations, the ZOA was active in bringing Jewish students , not just to Israel, but specifically also to Jewish communities in Judea-Samaria like Efrat, Gush Etzion, Maale Adumim, Hebron, Ariel, and so on.
Klein spoke of the ZOA Law and Justice Center, headed by Susan Tuchman, and its important breakthrough in having Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which has applied to blacks and Hispanics, now applied to protecting Jewish students from discrimination, intimidation and harassment. He noted that the Office of Civil Rights would be investigating incidents involving Jewish students at Rutgers University.
In his remarks, Klein criticized Abe Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League and David Harris of the American Jewish Committee for their strong opposition to an Israeli bill on sovereign foreign countries providing millions of dollars to anti-Israel non-governmental organizations that operate in Israel under the guise of being human rights organizations.
Turning to the Arab war on Israel, Klein observed that "the Arab war against Israel has nothing to do with borders, land, settlements or a Palestinian state. It is simply old-fashioned Jew- hatred and anti-Semitism. The Arabs don't want a Jewish state within any borders. Please understand, Arabs don't want peace with the Jewish state, they never wanted peace with the Jewish state. And as much as we want peace, Israel will live and thrive without it as it has since 1948." Klein also noted that the world was silent on the fact that Hamas, with which Mahmoud Abbas' PA had signed earlier this year a unity government agreement and with whose leader, Khaled Meshaal, Abbas had met earlier in the week, calls in Article 7 of its Charter for the global murder of Jews - "This is a Nazi document, these are Nazi terrorists" and, to show that Fatah is similar, Klein held aloft the Fatah emblem, encompassing all of Israel under a Palestinian kfiyyeh, with a picture of arch-terrorist Yasser Arafat and a Kalashnikov rifle.
Klein continued, "The PA has violated the three legs of the Oslo accords. The PA has not stopped terrorism, has not accepted Israel's right to exist, and refuses to stop anti-Israel incitement. Why are U.S. officials and Israeli officials not speaking out against this in our serious manner. We should be telling the PA- no more money, no more support, no more concessions. People speak as though a Palestinian state was the solution. It isn't. Iran, Syria, North Korea - they're all states, but that hasn't made them lovely and peaceful. In fact, it gives them more power to advance their terrible agenda. American Jews are now understanding this for the first time since Oslo, a majority of American Jews oppose establishing a Palestinian state." In a blistering attack on the Palestinians and on U.S. policy, Klein listed unjust accusations hurled against Jews since the time of the Crucifixion, drawing parallels to the current situation of Israel and the Jews and summing up with a sentence that seemed to encapsulate the attitude of most of the evening's participants: "The whole world is wrong, and the Jews are right." Klein received a standing ovation.
Sheldon Adelson and Dr. Miriam Adelson, stalwart supporters of ZOA and recipients of its rarely bestowed Theodor Herzl Gold Medallion and Brandeis Award respectively, introduced keynote speaker Glenn Beck. Mr. Adelson said first of Mort Klein that "I used to think that my wife was the strongest Zionist until I met Mort. He's my Zionist mentor. He's the greatest and most passionate Zionist, not only in this country but in the world." In introducing Mr. Beck, Mr. Adelson described him as a "very special man .... We knew he was a giant even before we met him. I'd never known a Christian Zionist like Glenn Beck. Glenn Beck tells the truth about the Arab war against Israel." Adelson, also the publisher of Israel Hayom (now Israel's largest daily newspaper), added there is "no greater supporter of Israel in the media today" than Beck. When Palestinians murdered five members of the Fogel family in last March's Itamar massacre, Beck dedicated an entire show on Fox News to the tragedy and "displayed the pictures that almost every other television network ignored" – Palestinians celebrating the event by handing out candles in the streets – Adelson said.
Glenn Beck came to the podium amid a standing ovation and commenced his address with the words, "Well, this isn't going to help my popularity with the media .. I am a proud Christian Zionist. I know what that means in today's world. But I put all my chips on the table. Is there a G-d? And if so, how shall I serve Him? The whole world is in the middle of a profound and dramatic change, but the change need not be bad. History is calling us now." Beck talked about the danger facing Jews because today the world is "aiding and abetting" the ranting of many madmen who are out to destroy Israel and the Jewish people. He pledged to announce on December 8 where he is headed – "there is a vacuum and I intend to stand in its place," he said – but gave no details as to what he was referring to. Beck said, "Many times you cannot tell the difference any more between peace activists and the terrorists and fascists they claim to stand against." Mr. Beck reflected on the eight years since he had first gone to Israel and the evolution of his understanding of the country, and how few genuine friends it has, joking, "This is what bad shape things are in, you've got me."
Speaking of the numerous individuals and groups working actively against Israel and the Jewish people, Mr. Beck said that "It's a badge of honor to be called an enemy of George Soros. Soros is not a friend of Israel and, let me say, neither is the Administration. But let me tell you we, the people of the United States are not the government, we are a country built on the individual, not on the government."
Mr. Beck cast his mind back to several predictions and warnings he has given over the past decade and how he had been looking for what he called the "Archduke Ferdinand moment," referring to the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand which had triggered World War One. "I spoke of a coming caliphate. I was ridiculed. I even once put it up on a chat on my program, saying 'This is what is coming' ... It will get worse if we don't stand together now. We must stand with Israel ... Jerusalem must remain Israel's "united and undivided capital ... I don't come here as a Christian. I come here as a brother. Evil hates you. It has since the beginning of time. Evil thinks it can somehow force G-d to break his covenant and that it can destroy the Jewish people. Israel wasn't established because of the Holocaust. That's just the last time such an attempt was made. Israel was promised by G-d to the Jews." Mr. Beck pledged to continue his work to speak the truth and to arouse the conscience of his listeners and was given a tumultuous standing ovation.
This year, a record number of college students - well over 100 - attended the Dinner. James A. Tisch, former Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and NY Jewish Federation, and CEO of Loews Corp.; and Martin Gross, President of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and Member of the Board of Trustees of Brandeis University, were Dinner Co-Chairmen. Rabbi Mark Wildes, director of the Manhattan Jewish Experience, delivered the invocation. ZOA Executive Director David Drimer and the entire ZOA staff worked hard on all aspects of the Dinner and Dr. Alan Mazurek, Chairman of the ZOA's National Advisory Council, was Master of Ceremonies, presiding over proceedings with his usual aplomb and elegant wit.
Sincerely,
Robin Ticker
Activist emails sent to my list are L'Ilui Nishmat Yisrael ben David Aryeh ob"m (Izzy - Kaplan) a great activist and lover of Eretz Yisroel, Am Yisroel and the Torah. Yehi Zichrono Baruch.
Most of these emails are posted on Shemittahrediscovered.blogspot.com
Monday, November 21, 2011
hot off the press great inspirational videos plus Reminder, Tomorrow night 7:30 Kingsway Honenu lecture with Shalom PollackWow! CNN interview with Rick Santorum regarding Judea and Samaria
With Whom is the JCC Partnering?
QUESTIONER: Do you think Israel should dismantle its settlements?
SANTORUM: No. The West Bank, is this part of Israel?
QUESTIONER: [inaudible] According to 48? [inaudible]
[...]
SANTORUM: How did we get New Mexico and Texas?
QUESTIONER: Through war.
SANTORUM: How did they get the West Bank? [inaudible] Through a war. Should we give Texas back to Mexico?
QUESTIONER: Well I don't think you should recognize recent annexations.
SANTORUM: Oh, so it depends whether it's recent or not? So we should have given New Mexico and Texas back 150 years go?
[...]
The bottom line is that that is legitimately Israeli country. And they have a right to do within their country just like we have a right to do within our country. If they want to negotiate with Israelis, and all the people who live in the West Bank are Israelis, they're not Palestinians. This is Israeli land.
Robin Ticker
Activist emails sent to my list are L'Ilui Nishmat Yisrael ben David Aryeh ob"m (Izzy - Kaplan) a great activist and lover of Eretz Yisroel, Am Yisroel and the Torah. Yehi Zichrono Baruch.
Most of these emails are posted on Shemittahrediscovered.blogspot.com
Monday, November 14, 2011
Honenu Event in Brooklyn - November 22nd at 7:30pm. Please publicize, announce in your shuls, publicize in print and radio media, send to email lists and/or post on Community Calenders. Yasher Koach!
"Learn to do good, devote yourself to justice, aid the wronged, uphold the rights of the orphan, defend the cause of the widow...How has the faithful city, once filled with mishpat tzedek, now become a city of murderers..." (Isaiah 1:10-21, see also 1:3-9!)Recall also how Yeshayahu concludes this n'vuah (1:27):
"Tzion b'mishpat tipadeh, v'shaveha b'tzedaka - Zion will be redeemed by our doing "mishpat"; her repentance - through our performance of "tzedaka."
Robin Ticker
Activist emails sent to my list are L'Ilui Nishmat Yisrael ben David Aryeh ob"m (Izzy - Kaplan) a great activist and lover of Eretz Yisroel, Am Yisroel and the Torah. Yehi Zichrono Baruch.
Most of these emails are posted on Shemittahrediscovered.blogspot.com
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Honenu Events in Queens, Brooklyn - Nov 15, 22nd at 7:30pm. Please come, forward to your friends and. Post Yasher Koach
Robin Ticker
Activist emails sent to my list are L'Ilui Nishmat Yisrael ben David Aryeh ob"m (Izzy - Kaplan) a great activist and lover of Eretz Yisroel, Am Yisroel and the Torah. Yehi Zichrono Baruch.
Most of these emails are posted on Shemittahrediscovered.blogspot.com
Thursday, November 03, 2011
RCRF Dinner - Fantastic Honorees - This Sunday November 6th at 6:30pm Brooklyn, NY
bs"dDear List, amv"shAs an Israel activist for Judea and Samaria I have a working rrelationship with Aliza Karp, Beth Gilinsky and Lori Lowenthal Marcus. I have also recently just met Rabbi Zaltsman and his beautiful family. So please allow me to sing praises for the honorees I know best. .Aliza is a dynamite lady in that she is focused and when she sets her mind to do something she does it and does it really well bli ayin hara. I see her work for Chabad Chevron and the brochure that she publishes yearly. When I read it my heart loves that organization for what it does and I cry tears and I don't even know why. I have read some of her articles and she writes really well. I am looking forward to buying Banished at the Dinner. I am aware of what happened in Gush Katif, as many of you are, but I would like to benefit from research Aliza has done, both through personal interviews and consultations with professionals. Banished is based on the actual history of the expulsion and gets the reader to experience it through her fictional characters. The story of the expulsion of Gush Katif is heartbreaking from many angles and this book highlights the tragedy and at the same time lets the reader experience the superlative lifestyle that Gush Katif enjoyed. Something not to be forgotten. This book has received rave reviews. Here is some additional information about Aliza that was submitted to me.-BIO: Aliza Eisenberg Karp
Pen Name: Aliza BasMenachem
BANISHED is Aliza BasMenachem's first novel. She has published and posted articles about the Land of Israel and assorted Jewish topics including the Shomer Shabbat contingent at the Boy Scout Jamboree. Most of her writing has been under the name Aliza Karp. During the Disengagement era she wrote a monthly opinion column which was regularly published by israelnationalnews.com, Beis Moshiach Magazine and other media outlets.
Since its inception almost ten years ago, Aliza has been a vital staff member of Chabad of Hevron, assisting with administration and publicity. Her passion for Hevron, and for Chabad, is expressed in her writings on the Chabad of Hevron website –chabadhebron.com - and in the yearly newsletters.
When not at her computer, or traipsing around places in the Holy Land where others fear to roam, Aliza can be found baking Challah and spending time with her grandchildren.
Next let me briefly speak about Beth and Lori. They are filling a void in Jewish Leadership in these dangerous times addressing evil when others refuse to face reality head on. May G-d bless them with health, happiness and success for the good and with their wise guidance and counsel may Am Yisroel be worthy of fulfilling our daily prayer said in Aleinu,לתקן עולם במלכות שד-י Letaken Olam BeMalchut Shakai, to perfect the Universe with the Sovereignty of the Almighty.
Submitted by NCJA:Celebrate with Beth & Lori (National Conference on Jewish Affairs) this Sunday, Nov 6th
To all NCJA members,
Our very own Beth Gilinsky & Lori Lowenthal Marcus are being honored for their vital work on behalf of the Jewish People with the prestigiousRachel Imeinu Leadership Award. Please see the invitation attached. Let's all of us come out this Sundayand participate in this wonderful event. - Richard Allen
RACHEL'S CHILDREN RECLAMATION FOUNDATION
The Seventeenth Annual NY Citywide Commemoration of the
YAHRZEIT OF RACHEL IMEINU
11 MarCheshvan 5772
JEWISH MOTHER'S DAYSunday Evening, November 6, 2011, 6:30 P.M.
GALA BUFFET JOURNAL DINNER
Manhattan Beach Jewish Center –60 West End Ave Brooklyn, NY
Keynote Speaker:
RABBI YITZCHOK FINGERER
"Mama Rachel Cry for Us Again:
How One Woman's Sacrifice Shaped World Destiny"
Sincerely,
Robin Ticker
Activist emails sent to my list are L'Ilui Nishmat Yisrael ben David Aryeh ob"m (Izzy - Kaplan) a great activist and lover of Eretz Yisroel, Am Yisroel and the Torah. Yehi Zichrono Baruch.
Most of these emails are posted on Shemittahrediscovered.blogspot.com
Tuesday, November 01, 2011
Moshe Dann and Howard Grief: Op-Ed INN: What is Really Behind the Yesha Demolitions? Howard Grief on Israel's lnternational legal rights to Judea and Samaria
bs"d
Op-Ed: What is Really Behind the Yesha Demolitions?
Moshe Dann
Moshe Dann
Moshe Dann is a writer and journalist living in Jerusalem.On September 12, Chief Justice Dorit Beinish rendered a highly controversial decision, based on an unwritten policy she had been using, which broke with traditional interpretations of law, yet, the media (with the exception of Arutz Sheva, the Hebrew Makor Rishon and Beshevaed.) largely ignored it.
In a case brought by Peace Now against neighborhoods ("outposts") in the Binyamin communities of Eli, called Hayovel, where Eliraz Peretz's widow and children live and Harisha, in the Talmonim bloc, Justice Beinish directed the State, i.e. Civil Administration for Judea and Samaria, to determine what constitutes State land.
According to her ruling, all land not specifically designated as State Land would henceforth be considered "private [Palestinian] land," by default, rather than unowned land.
She also gave the State 60 days to provide a schedule for destroying all (Jewish) building on "private land," with the exception of the Peretz home; Major Peretz was killed in a battle with Hamas terrorists in March, 2010.
This ruling radically shifts the burden of proof from Arabs who claim that their land was taken illegally and places it on Jewish communities who claim the land is not privately owned and available for settlement. Since there is no appeal from her decision, unless the Knesset acts, her decisions constitute the law.
Justice Beinish decision overrides important distinctions and categories of land established by prior administrations and accepted by Israeli courts. Her ruling redefines which lands are to be considered "disputed" and seems to accept at face value Arab land claims that have not been verified and lands which Arabs have simply expropriated illegally.
Moreover, since Israel has not declared sovereignty or annexed land beyond the 1949 Armistice lines (except for eastern Jerusalem and Golan) Beinish's ruling could apply to many other areas in Judea and Samaria as well. Not only "hilltop" communities like Migron, Amona, Givat Asaf, and Havat Gilad are vulnerable; large parts of Ofra, Bet El, Eli, Elon More and others would be targets for destruction.
At issue is what constitutes "State land" and "private Palestinian land." According to Israeli law, questions of land ownership in Judea and Samaria are decided by the Civil Administration in conjunction with the State Prosecutor's Office (in the Ministry of Justice); both have been accused of pursuing anti-settlement policies.
Decisions about land ownership should be based on impartiality, objectivity and professionalism; often influenced by political agendas, they are not. In the absence of documentation and detailed land surveys, for example, the Civil Administration relies on old aerial photographs for evidence of the land once being worked, which are used to support claims of ownership.
NGOs and Arabs often cite maps produced during the British Mandate to claim land and contest Jewish settlements. But these maps, as Dr. Dov Gavish explains in his authoritative Survey of Palestine, 1920-1948 (2005), were fiscal maps, often arbitrary and inaccurate, not proofs of ownership.
Since "State land" means ownerless land that was once controlled by Turkish, British and Jordanian administrations, then Israel, as the sole legitimate sovereign successor seems to have full legal rights to the land. That would include all conditions, restrictions, obligations and responsibilities attached to the land.
Similarly, land which had been gifted or designated by the state to an individual, clan, or village, but was not used, abandoned property, and land in which the owner dies intestate reverts to the State by law.
Beinish's ruling seeks to overturn the meticulous work of respected expert Plia Albeck, who directed the Civil Department of the State Prosecutor's Office for 24 years, until she was fired by Attorney General David Libai in 1993, when Yitzhak Rabin became Prime Minister. During her tenure, Albeck was responsible for determining land ownership and provided the legal basis for establishing Jewish communities in areas acquired by Israel in 1967.
Using Ottoman/Turkish, British and Jordanian law, Albeck, who died in 2005, defined many areas in Judea and Samaria as State land, thus allowing their subsequent designation for settlement. She describes (and defends) her work in Land Use in the West Bank (2002) (in Hebrew), published by Ariel College of Judea and Samaria.
Attempting to reverse Albeck's efforts for his own agenda, then PM Ariel Sharon, in 2004, when he was formulating his plans to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and Northern Shomron, hired Taliya Sasson, a member of Peace Now and formerly an attorney in the State Prosecutor's Office. Her report in 2005 castigated government agencies for their involvement in settlement building, sought to redefine State land, and asserted Palestinian claims that all settlements were illegal. Justice Beinish seems intent on implementing Sasson's report.
Claims that Jews have stolen and built on "private Palestinian land" should be decided by competent objective authorities based on evidence in courts of law – not by politically motivated individuals and advocacy groups.
The larger question, however, is to whom this disputed territory belongs. Since "Palestine" was never a separate legal or sovereign entity, designating land as "Palestinian" or belonging to "the Palestinian people" lacks accuracy and authenticity.
Ironically, Justice Beinish's decision to make the question of landownership in Judea and Samaria subject to Israeli civil law may provide the basis for establishing sovereignty over and extending the State's jurisdiction to areas currently under military control. That would be a step forward for Israeli democracy and fulfilling the historic mission of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Howard Grief
Attorney and Notary
13/2 David Goitein Street,
Pisgat Ze'ev Mizrah, 97782 Jerusalem, Israel
Tel. (Fax): 972-2-656-0085
E-mail: GriefIsrael@yahoo.com
Jerusalem 16 Iyar 5771
May 20, 2011
The Right Honourable Mr. Stephen Harper,
Prime Minister of Canada,
Ottawa, Canada
Your Excellency,
As a devoted friend of the State of Israel who has earned the everlasting gratitude of the Jewish People for your outspoken and unstinting support of the Jewish State of Israel in the face of its many detractors, I wish to bring to your kind attention the most important document of international law that paved the way for the establishment of an independent Jewish State in what was known in the past as Palestine. This document is the San Remo Resolution that was adopted at the San Remo Peace Conference on April 25, 1920 by the Prime Ministers of Great Britain (David Lloyd George), France (Alexandre Millerand) and Italy (Francesco Nitti), as well as Japan, represented by its Ambassador, K. Matsui. This peace conference was convoked for the express purpose of carving up the defeated Ottoman Empire and distributing mandates for the new states that were then being created. Among those states was Palestine, which the Supreme Council of the Principal Allied Powers had decided would become the Jewish National Home and future independent Jewish State, as evidenced by the recorded minutes of the Conference. That, it must be emphasized, was the sole reason Palestine was created as a mandated state, and not for any other reason. The same San Remo Resolution adequately met Arab national aspirations by also creating the new states of Syria and Mesopotamia, later re-named Iraq, in addition to those already being established in the Arabian Peninsula, Egypt and North Africa, numbering 21 in all.
By virtue of the San Remo Resolution, the Arab peoples received more than 95 percent of the territories comprisng the Middle East, while Palestine was allotted exclusively for Jewish self-determination, as can easily be verified by the statements made by those British and other Allied leaders who at the time were instrumental in crafting the global political and legal settlement for the Middle East, that resulted from the adoption of the San Remo Resolution.
How important was the San Remo Resolution? It was, as just indicated, the document that shaped the modern Middle East and as regards Palestine, it was described as "the Magna Carta of the Zionists" or the national charter of freedom of the Jewish People by the British Foreign Secretary, Lord George Nathaniel Curzon, in a letter to Prime Minister David Lloyd George shortly after the San Remo Peace Conference. As a result the legal existence of the State of Israel is directly traceable to the San Remo Resolution and not, as commonly believed, to the UN General Assembly Partition Resolution of November 29, 1947.
It is also very important to understand that there was never any intention to create an Arab state in Palestine. The Mandate for Palestine incorporated the San Remo Resolution in the first three recitals of its Preamble and was, in fact, a detailed elaboration of it. As just noted, Arab self-determination was fully satisfied in the adjoining territories of Syria, Iraq and Arabia, but Palestine was reserved exclusively for the Jewish People to reconstitute the ancient Jewish State of Judea destroyed by Rome, as stated by Lord Arthur James Balfour himself.
As the foundation document of the State of Israel under international law, the San Remo Resolution continues in force till the present day mutatis mutandi, with the State of Israel taking the place of the Mandatory Power, Great Britain, for putting into effect the Balfour Declaration in all parts of Palestine, especially in Judea and Samaria, the ancient cradle of the Jewish People.
All Jewish legal rights to Palestine set down in the San Remo Resolution and the Mandate Charter and related documents were preserved intact by Article 80 of the UN Charter, as well as under the doctrine of estoppel and Article 70(1)(b) of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. That means it is illegal to create a 22ndArab state in Judea and Samaria that was part and parcel of the Jewish National Home, as explicitly determined by the Franco-British Boundary Convention of December 23, 1920.
Mr. Prime Minister, your support of Israel will be even more pronounced upon your acquainting yourself with the provisions and principles of the basic documents of international law that led to the creation of the State of Israel, that are either ignored today or willfully dismissed by most Western Governments. You can gain additional information about these documents by consulting my book, The Legal Foundation and Borders of Israel under International Law (2008). While Jewish legal rights are firmly implanted in international law, there is, on the other hand, no binding document of international law that provides for the creation of a new Arab state in former Mandated Palestine. In this respect, UN resolutions do not constitute international law, nor does the Road Map Peace Plan or other similar initiatives.
In these days of incessant attacks upon the legitimacy of the State of Israel, and repeated calls for Israel to withdraw to what are clearly indefensible "Auschwitz-like" borders that existed prior to the outbreak of the Six-Day War on June 5, 1967, the lies and fabrications concerning Israel can be effectively refuted by citing the true meaning of the San Remo Resolution and the Mandate for Palestine, which designated Palestine as the Jewish National Home. Israel's rights to the land cannot be legally taken away by the UN or by any other body, just as Canada's rights to its own land cannot be legally taken away by the UN. If reality were otherwise, the rights of all states would be in jeopardy.
I urge you, therefore, Mr. Prime Minister, to mention the San Remo Resolution whenever you relate to the question of who has the right to Palestine and the Land of Israel. That right belongs exclusively to the Jewish People and its devolee, the State of Israel. No new Arab state can thus be legally created in Judea and Samaria, where it would imperil Israel's very future and serve as a means to destroy it, as is evident to any impartial observer.
Most respectfully,
Howard Grief, Attorney
Resident of Jerusalem, Citizen of Canada and Israel
Sincerely,
Robin Ticker
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