Thursday, February 26, 2009

Hachnosat 8 Sifrei Torah Celebration for the Kedoshim of Yashlatz and Yeshiva Harav Kook. Happiness and sadness fused

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HACHNOSAT 8 SIFREI TORAH by ANONYMOUS DONOR FOR 8 KEDOSHIM

On Rosh Chodesh Adar, on the Yahrzeit of the 8 Kedoshim, 5 from the Yashlatz Yeshiva a high school adjacent to Mercaz Harav Kook and 3 from the Beth Medrash of Mercaz Harav Kook a tremendous celebration took place.  If you are a Rebbe or Mechanech(es) please take the time to watch this celebration on the blevechad.com website and share it with your students. 

The best way to describe this celebration is intense emotional feelings of happiness and joy at the hachnasos Sefer Torah and the intense sadness of our loss simultaneously.

See the celebration at www.blevechad.com  The ceremony took place on Tuesday, February 24th at Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav at 17:30 (5:30 PM).

Also please forward it to other Mechanchim to do the same.

The following material will serve as tremendous lessons in Emuna and Bitachon.  An utube of Rabbi Weiss speaking with his Talmidim immediately following the massacre and the transcript and an edited utube of an interview Rav Weiss had with Ilana Dayan, interviewer of Israeli TV


Part 1: Harav Yerachmiel Weiss talking to his students immediately following the Pigua not even knowing who had perished

Rav Weiss, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Yerushalayim L'Tzeirim (Yashlatz) is interviewed by Ilana Dayan on the Sunday after the Rosh Chodesh attack in which six of his students were killed. An edited version of this interview with subtitles can be found at

Part2:  Rav Weiss being interviewed by Ilana Dayan 
after the burial.

A  transcription of Rav Weiss's interview can be found on

Faith Through Tears  http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/125521

Lecture and Book Launch  (see attached flier)

PRINCES AMONG MEN

Memories of Eight Young Souls

A Memorial volume produced by the senior class of Yashlatz (the high school which lost six students in the attack) about the eight young souls that were taken from us in a storm last Rosh Chodesh Adar, containing a collection of impressions, recollections and divrei Torah written by family members, friends and teachers of the eight boys.

Lecture and Book Launch:

Efrat- Motzei Shabbbat Feb 28th at the home of Chaim and Chaya Lea Guggengheim, 22 Netzech Yerushalayim at 8:00pm

Bet Shemesh - Wed Mar 4th at Yeshivat Reishit at 8:30 pm

Yerushalayim - Motzei Shabbat Mar 7th at the OU Israel Center at8:30pm

------------------------
To RSVP or for ordering information please contact Yaakov:

email: memorialbook@yashlatz.com
telephone 050-833-1309
for details: www.yashlatz.com/book

Flier Sponsored by Feldheim and OU


Clarification:

5 of the Kedoshim were from Yeshivat Yerushalayim L'Tzeirim and not from Mercaz Harav Yeshiva.

Otherwise known as Yeshivat Yerushalayim L'Tzeirim, Yashlatz is a dormitory high school for 340 students. Although founded in the spirit of Rav Kook zt"l and adjacent to "Yeshivat Mercaz HaRav" in Jerusalem, Yashlatz is a separate institute of learning with an independent administration and student body.

On the night of Rosh Chodesh Adar Bet, March 6, 2008, the Yashlatz Bet Midrash was being set up for the traditional Rosh Chodesh party. A few dozen of the most diligent students walked over to the Mercaz HaRav library next door to continue their studies. At 8:30 pm, a terrorist entered the campus and went on a rampage, murdering eight students in and around the library.

Five of the boys killed were from Yashlatz, which a sixth was a recent graduate in his first year of studies at the Mercaz HaRav Yeshiva. The other two young men killed both studied at the Mercaz HaRav Yeshiva.

Excerpt
:

from a diary entry of a fifth year, Mercaz HaRav student, written two days after the attack.

"My emotional state was stable all that evening, and the next morning.  But when I got to the yeshivah on Friday, took a look around the library, and went down to the dining room with everyone trying to decide which funeral to attend, a friend came up to me and said - "You know that Moses was murderd.  Your young friend. Avraham David."

Avraham David?!? There was no words to describe what overpowering emotions swept over me at that moment. 

Avraham David?!? What?! Avraham David?  How can that be?? He is such a tzadik! And so young! It  can't be!.....

Why did it have to be him?  Why not me?? For I was also there!  I also could have been murdered!  But he had to be murdered?!  If it had been me, it wouldn't have been so terrible because there are lots of boys like me. But he was so special, such a rare kind of boy.  I am not such a tzaddik.  I don't always do what I should, and I even sometimes do things that I later regret.  But him?! If I had been murdered I wouldn't have asked any questions.  But why him?!!" ....


The Obama Administration Sacrifices Israel, Forbes Anne Bayefsky

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This isn't the only time that American Foreign Policy Sacrificed Israel.   It also happened when Jonathan Pollard worked for the American intelligence. When Jonathan Pollard became aware that America was not sharing intelligence that should have been shared as per an agreement between Israel and the US. he made the decision to become Israel's agent.  He did this not because of big money.  He did it because  he was a caring Jew and a caring and loyal US citizen as well.  He knew and understood that when the US endangers Israel it ultimately endangers itself.  

Durban I and Durban II is an antisemitic, anti Jewish and anti Israel forum and speaks of Israel's racism against the Palestinians.  Read this article and also read the comments.  Many of the comments take it as fact that Israel are the occupiers of Palestinian territory.


When will the Jews, and their organizations and Rabbinic leaders stop being silent regarding our entitlement to the Land of Israel based on G-d's everlasting Covenent with our forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their seed the Nation of Israel? This is the Torah and it is not Old and antiquated and it is relevant to current events!  Failure to speak out with clarity, and publicly,  of our entitlement of the Land of Israel is a Chillul Hashem.  This chillul Hashem is the source of anti-Semitism (Semi comes from Shem which means name. i.e. w/o G-d's name)

How can we then reasonably expect the US speak out at Durban when we ourselves are Silent?

Please read the following article:

Doesn't the Talmud teach us, Shtika Kehodoya Damia.  Silence and agreement is synonomous

http://www.forbes.com/2009/02/22/obama-israel-holocaust-durban-opinions-contributors_united_nations.html

Commentary

The Obama Administration Sacrifices Israel

Anne Bayefsky, 02.22.09, 11:48 AM EST

The cover-up on Durban II's anti-Semitic agenda.

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The Obama administration's decision to join the planning of the U.N.'s Durban II "anti-racism" conference has just taken a new twist: cover-up. On Friday, State Department officials and a member of the American Durban II delegation claimed the United States had worked actively to oppose efforts to brand Israel as racist in the committee drafting a Durban II declaration. The trouble is that they didn't.

The Feb. 20 State Department press release says the U.S. delegation in Geneva "outline[d] our concerns with the current outcome document" and in particular "our strong reservations about the direction of the conference, as the draft document singles out Israel for criticism." One member of the delegation told The Washington Post: "The administration is pushing back against efforts to brand Israel as racist in this conference." In fact, tucked away in a Geneva hall with few observers, the U.S. had done just the opposite. The U.S. delegates had made no objection to a new proposal to nail Israel in an anti-racism manifesto that makes no other country-specific claims.

Getting involved in activities intended to implement the 2001 Durban Declaration--after seven and a half years of refusing to lend the anti-Israel agenda any credibility--was controversial to be sure. But late on Saturday Feb. 14, the State Department slithered out a press release justifying the move. It claimed that "the intent of our participation is to work to try to change the direction in which the Review Conference is heading."

Following what was clearly a planned public relations exercise, Washington Post columnist Colum Lynch championed the U.S. bravado in an article based on the story orchestrated by the American delegates. In his Feb. 20 article entitled: "U.S. Holds Firm on Reparations, Israel in U.N. Racism Talks," he fawned: "The Obama administration on Thursday concluded its first round of politically charged U.N. negotiations on racism, pressing foreign governments ... to desist from singling out Israel for criticism in a draft declaration to be presented at a U.N. conference in April."

The reality, however, was nothing of the sort. Instead, Obama's Durban II team slipped easily into the U.N.'s anti-Israel and anti-Jewish environs, taking the approach that "fitting in" was best accomplished by staying silent.

On Tuesday, the Palestinian delegation proposed inserting a new paragraph under the heading "Identification of further concrete measures and initiatives ... for combating and eliminating all manifestations of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance..." with the subtitle "General provisions on victims ... of discrimination." The paragraph includes: "Calls for ... the international protection of the Palestinian people throughout the occupied Palestinian territory." In other words, it claims that the Palestinian people are victims of Israeli racism and demands that all U.N. states provide protection from the affronts of the racist Jewish state.

Furthermore, the new Palestinian provision "Calls for ... implementation of international legal obligations, including the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on the wall..." This is a dramatic attempt to change an "advisory opinion" into a "legal obligation"--a status which attaches to no advisory opinion. The ICJ decision, which advises that the Israeli security fence is illegal, has always been rejected by the United States--hitherto. And with good reason. The Egyptian judge had voiced his opinion on the result before the case was even heard, in his capacity as a leading Egyptian diplomat. The terms of reference from the General Assembly who asked for the decision, and the documents they laid before the Court, predetermined the outcome. And as the strong dissent by the American judge and Holocaust survivor Tom Buergenthal pointed out, the Court came to its preposterous conclusion that "the right of legitimate or inherent self-defense is not applicable in the present case" without considering "the deadly terrorist attacks to which Israel is being subjected."

But when the Palestinian delegation laid their new proposal before the drafting committee, what did Obama's team do? Nothing, absolutely nothing. They made no objection at all.

It is impossible to argue that their silence was unintended. Over the course of the week's negotiations the American delegation had objected to a number of specific proposals. They had no trouble declaring "we share reservations on this paragraph," in the context of a demand to criminalize profiling. They "called for the deletion" of provisions undermining free speech like the suggestion to "take firm action against negative stereotyping of religions and defamation of religious personalities, holy books, scriptures and symbols."

Their silence when it came to Israel was, therefore, deafening. It also had the very concrete result of not placing the Palestinian paragraph in dispute, and the diplomatic rule of thumb is that paragraphs that have not been flagged as controversial cannot be reopened for discussion, as negotiations finalize an end product.

The Obama team was not only silent on the new "Israel is racist" language, it also said nothing when faced with Holocaust denial. Negotiators from the European Union suggested on Wednesday a new provision to "condemn without reservation any denial of the Holocaust and urges all states to reject denial of the Holocaust as an historical event, either in full, or in part, or any activities to this end." Iran--whose president is a Holocaust-denier--immediately objected and insisted that the proposal be "bracketed" or put in dispute. The move blocked the adoption of the proposal and ensured another battle over the reality of the Holocaust in April--at these supposedly "anti-racism" meetings. After Iran objected, the chair looked around the room, expecting a response. He said: "Is there any delegation wishing to comment on this new proposal by the European Union? It doesn't seem the case. We move on." U.S. delegates said nothing, even after the prompt.

Again, the American silence must have been deliberate. In marked contrast, after the E.U. objected to a provision calling for limits on free speech, the American delegation had no trouble piping up immediately: "I want to echo the comments from the E.U. This ... call for restrictions is something that my government is not able to accept."

Evidently, a U.S. team bent on legitimizing Durban II believed it would be counter-productive to object vigorously to sections most likely to be noticed by Americans skeptical about participation in the conference. They must have figured that no objection would mean no controversy, which in turn would mean there would be no cause for complaint from U.S. observers. That's one way to buy favors on the international stage, but it sure doesn't forward a stated intention of changing the Conference direction. Nor does it promote the ultimate need to change the anti-Semitic and anti-democratic direction of global human rights policy.

The week's events also revealed that European negotiators have adopted the same strategy at Durban II that they did at Durban I. After the United States and Israel walked out of Durban I on Sept. 4, 2001, it was the European Union that cut the deal trading off a mention of the Holocaust and anti-Semitism for a reference to Palestinians victims of Israeli racism. Likewise, this week the European Union said nothing in response to the Palestinian proposal but pushed the Holocaust reference instead. No matter that discrimination against the Jewish state, and against Jews for supporting the Jewish state, is the major form of anti-Semitism today.

The manipulation of Holocaust remembrance--knowing that Israel is the bulwark of the Jewish people against "never again"--is as cynical as it gets.

European Union delegates confirmed that their silence on the Palestinian proposal was deliberate, commenting off-camera that the references to Israeli racism had already been made in the Durban I Declaration, and the purpose of Durban II is to implement Durban I.

State department officials and U.S. delegates to Durban II's planning committee insist that their minds have not been made up. Friday's State department press release said "the United States has not made a decision about participating in the Durban Review Conference or about whether to engage in future preparations for the Conference, but the work done this week will be important information for taking these decisions." Similarly, The Washington Post reports, quoting an American delegate: "This is a fact-finding mission; it's just a first step ... Negotiations will probably resume in March or early April."

The strategy is painfully obvious--spin out the time for considering whether or not to attend the April 20 conference until the train has left the station and jumping off would cause greater injury to multilateral relations than just taking a seat.

The delay tactics are indefensible. The U.S. administration attended four full days of negotiation. During that time they witnessed the following: the failure to adopt a proposal to act against Holocaust denial, a new proposal to single out Israel, which will now be included in the draft without brackets, broad objections to anything having to do with sexual orientation, vigorous refusal by many states to back down on references to "Islamophobia" (the general allegation of a racist Western plot to discriminate against all Muslims), and numerous attacks on free speech.

This "dialogue" is not promoting rights and freedoms. It is legitimizing a forum for disputing the essence of democracy, handing Holocaust deniers a global platform and manufacturing the means to demonize Israel in the interests of those states bent on the Jewish state's destruction.

But you can be sure that the State Department report now on Obama's desk reads "can't tell yet, don't know, maybe, too early to tell." Why?

If the Obama administration does not immediately announce that its foray into the morass of Durban II has led it to decide this is no place for genuine believers in human rights and freedoms, there is only one conclusion possible. His foreign policy of engagement amounts to a new willingness to sacrifice Israel and an indeterminate number of American values for the sake of a warm welcome from the enemies of freedom.

Anne Bayefsky is a senior fellow of the Hudson Institute, director of the Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust and editor of www.EYEontheUN.org.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

USA Putting Israel at Risk Fwd: ARLENE KUSHNER: SOUNDING THE ALARM

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Caroline Glick writes:

...Every single Middle East policy the Obama administration has announced has been antithetical to Israel's national security interests. From President Barack Obama's intense desire to appease Iran's mullahs in open discussions; to his stated commitment to establish a Palestinian state as quickly as possible...; to his expressed support for the so-called Saudi peace plan...; to his decision to end US sanctions against Syria and return the US ambassador to Damascus; to his plan to withdraw US forces from Iraq and so give Iran an arc of uninterrupted control extending from Iran to Lebanon, every single concrete policy Obama has enunciated harms Israel.
"At the same time, none of the policies that Obama has adopted can be construed as directed against Israel. In and of themselves, none can be viewed as expressing specific hostility toward Israel. Rather, they are expressions of naiveté, or ignorance, or - at worst - deliberate denial of the nature of the problems of the Arab and Islamic world on the part of Obama and his advisers.
"The same cannot be said of the administration's decision to send its delegation to the Durban II planning session this past week in Geneva. Unlike every other Obama policy, this is a hostile act against Israel. This is true first of all because the decision was announced in the face of repeated Israeli requests that the US join Israel and Canada in boycotting the Durban II conference. (emphasis added)
"...what lies behind Israel's requests for a US boycott is not a partisan agenda, but a clearheaded acknowledgement that the Durban II conference is inherently devoted to the delegitimization and destruction of the Jewish state. And by joining in the planning sessions, the US has become a full participant in legitimizing and so advancing this overtly anti-Jewish agenda. (emphasis added)


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Israel Kaplan <israelkaplan@yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, Feb 23, 2009 at 1:42 PM
Subject: ARLENE KUSHNER: SOUNDING THE ALARM
To: IZZY <israelkaplan@yahoo.com>



February 22, 2009
 
"Sounding the Alarm"
 
My postings go out to many people in the US, and it is to all of you in particular that I speak now.
 
That Israel has friends in the US is incontrovertible.  This is the case notably within right wing segments of the Jewish community, and within certain segments of the Christian community. 
 
But there is the sense here in Jerusalem today that as a nation we stand alone among the nations of the world as perhaps never before. (The one exception at the moment being Canada, which I note with gratitude.)
 
This is how Jerusalem Post editor David Horovitz puts it: 
 
"Israel is the only sovereign state whose destruction international society will excuse."
 
Horovitz wrote this in the context of talking about the state of politics in Britain today, where, according to British journalist Nick Cohen, the modern Left, "succors and indulges...the clerical fascists of radical Islam":
 
"From the broadcasters, through the liberal press, the Civil Service, the Metropolitan Police, the bench of bishops and the judiciary, anti-Semitism is no longer an unthinkable mental deformation.  As long as the conspiracy theories of the counter-enlightenment come from the ideologues with the dark rather than white skins, nominally liberal men and women will not speak out."
 
~~~~~~~~~~
 
Why do I address this to you, in America?  Because Horovitz also tells us that Israel's Ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor warned, during a talk at the recent Herzliya Conference, that:
 
"...where Britain is today, America will be in a few years time."
 
Exaggeration?  I think not.  I am watching as a president with Muslim identifications and connections actively courts the Muslim world, while a good portion of the American populace still thinks he's great and deigns not to criticize him.
 
As I face this truth, an icy chill grips my heart.
 
~~~~~~~~~~
 
I know that there is precious little that I can do to stop Obama, except to sound alarms such as this one via my writing, and to consistently provide pertinent information.  And that is why I address each of you. 
 
I hope you won't find the picture of the finger pointing, below, offensive.  I most certainly don't mean it to be: I intend it, rather, to emphasize the significance of having each of you take this message personally.  
 
 
For the unvarnished truth, the painful reality, is that the future of Western society, with the US at its core,  depends on people like you.  And it's time for each of you to take this charge seriously.  A simple silent agreement with what I write won't cut it. "Tch tch" or "Oy!" is useless, even if most sincerely intended -- useless, unless it is accompanied by action.
 
How does that saying go?  "All that is required for evil to prevail is for good people to do nothing."
 
~~~~~~~~~~
 
Action: 
 
Work hard to convince others  -- relatives and friends -- of the dangers the US faces.  Write (brief, unemotional, fact-filled) letters to the editor.  Contact foreign desk editors, registering complaints (nicely --nasty doesn't work) when the news reflects an anti-Israel bias.
 
Of great significance, contact elected and appointed officials and register protests, clearly and frequently.  The White House, the State Department, and members of both Houses of Congress must hear what you have to say.  I will follow with specific names of greatest import.
 
Garner groups of local activists to do all of these things with you.  Get out contact information of Congresspeople (information on this follows below), and provide talking points for important issues (which I will always help with).  Be a catalyst.  Be brave and determined.  Form a list.
 
If you are a member of a major Jewish establishment organization -- American Jewish Committee, American Jewish Congress, Hadassah, Emunah, ORT, B'nai B'rith, AMIT, etc. etc. raise your voice within those circles and insist that they be involved officially in making protest.  The majority of these organizations have been all too quiet, and they need to hear from their members and financial supporters on this issues.
 
No more passivity. Act as if the lives of your children and grandchildren will depend on this. For they will.
 
~~~~~~~~~~
 
To those on my list already doing these things -- and some of you have been in contact with me -- I say thank you, and please don't stop.  (Bunny S., you're great!)
 
~~~~~~~~~~
 
There will many issues to be addressed that I will raise over time.  Here I want to return once again to the Durban 2 preparatory committee and the issue of US participation.  This participation is the single most alarming decision Obama has made yet.  It not only has serious repercussions, it points in an exceedingly dangerous direction.
 
That is why the Obama administration must get the message -- immediate and vociferous -- that this is not acceptable.  The US is headed down a very slippery slope.
 
~~~~~~~~~~
 
Today I begin with the most recent column of Caroline Glick. 
 
In part she reviews material covered the other day by Anne Bayefsky of Eye on the UN (whom I cited last week).
 
Ostensibly, the US delegation sent by Obama to participate in the preparatory committee -- along with the likes of Libya, Cuba, Iran and Pakistan -- is only there to try to make things better.  The US says it still holds out the option of refusing to attend the actual sessions in Geneva in April if improvements aren't made in the document that will set the agenda of the conference.
 
But, says Bayefsky, this is exceedingly disingenuous for several reasons:
 
-- The decision to participate at all represents a major shift in US policy, as the US government, since 2001, has boycotted all Durban proceedings.
 
-- The stated purpose of Durban 2 is "to foster the implementation of the Durban Declaration and Program of Action. This is non-negotiable and cannot be changed by U.S. participation, period." 
 
"...all U.N. states attending these preparatory sessions have already agreed to 'reaffirm the Durban Declaration.'...joining negotiations now means agreeing to its provisions for the first time."
 
As Glick puts it, as the original Durban Declaration "include[s] the anti-Israel assertion that Israel is a racist state, it is clear that the Durban II conference is inherently, and necessarily, anti-Israel."
 
~~~~~~~~~~
 
But Glick now carries this further:
 
"The second reason that both the State Department and the White House must realize that they are powerless to affect the conference's agenda is because that agenda was already set in previous planning sessions... and that agenda includes multiple assertions of the basic illegitimacy of the Jewish people's right to self-determination.
 
"Beyond all that, assuming that the Obama administration truly wishes to change the agenda, the fact is that the US is powerless to do so. As was the case in 2001, so too, today, the Islamic bloc, supported by the Third World bloc, has an automatic voting majority."
 
Writes Glick:
"SINCE IT came into office a month ago, every single Middle East policy the Obama administration has announced has been antithetical to Israel's national security interests. From President Barack Obama's intense desire to appease Iran's mullahs in open discussions; to his stated commitment to establish a Palestinian state as quickly as possible...; to his expressed support for the so-called Saudi peace plan...; to his decision to end US sanctions against Syria and return the US ambassador to Damascus; to his plan to withdraw US forces from Iraq and so give Iran an arc of uninterrupted control extending from Iran to Lebanon, every single concrete policy Obama has enunciated harms Israel.
"At the same time, none of the policies that Obama has adopted can be construed as directed against Israel. In and of themselves, none can be viewed as expressing specific hostility toward Israel. Rather, they are expressions of naiveté, or ignorance, or - at worst - deliberate denial of the nature of the problems of the Arab and Islamic world on the part of Obama and his advisers.
"The same cannot be said of the administration's decision to send its delegation to the Durban II planning session this past week in Geneva. Unlike every other Obama policy, this is a hostile act against Israel. This is true first of all because the decision was announced in the face of repeated Israeli requests that the US join Israel and Canada in boycotting the Durban II conference. (emphasis added)
"...what lies behind Israel's requests for a US boycott is not a partisan agenda, but a clearheaded acknowledgement that the Durban II conference is inherently devoted to the delegitimization and destruction of the Jewish state. And by joining in the planning sessions, the US has become a full participant in legitimizing and so advancing this overtly anti-Jewish agenda. (emphasis added)
~~~~~~~~~~
Glick goes on to describe what happened at a committee session last Thursday, when the Palestinian delegation proposed that a paragraph be added to the conference's agenda, which "calls for implementation of... the advisory opinion of the ICJ [International Court of Justice] on the wall, [i.e., Israel's security fence], and the international protection of Palestinian people throughout the occupied Palestinian territory." 
"The American delegation raised no objection to the Palestinian draft. (emphasis added)
"Issued in 2004, the ICJ's advisory opinion on the security fence claimed that Israel has no right to self-defense against Palestinian terrorism. At the time, both the US and Israel rejected the ICJ's authority to issue an opinion on the subject.
"On Thursday, by not objecting to this Palestinian draft, not only did the US effectively accept the ICJ's authority, for practical purposes it granted the anti-Israel claim that Jews may be murdered with impunity."
~~~~~~~~~~ 
Glick's conclusion:  "...through its behavior at the Geneva planning sessions this week, the US has demonstrated that State Department protestations aside, the administration has no interest in changing the agenda in any serious way. The US delegation's decision not to object to the Palestinian draft, as well its silence in the face of Iran's rejection of a clause in the conference declaration that mentioned the Holocaust, show the US did not join the planning session to change the tenor of the conference. The US is participating in the planning sessions because it wishes to participate in the conference. (emphasis added)
 
"The Durban II conference, like its predecessor, is part and parcel of a campaign to coordinate the diplomatic and legal war against the Jewish state...
 
"By participating in the conference, the US today is effectively giving American support to the war against the Jewish state.
"The open hostility toward Israel expressed by the Obama administration's decision to participate in the Durban process should be a red flag for both the Israeli government and for Israel's supporters in the US. Both Israel and its Jewish and non-Jewish supporters must openly condemn the administration's move and demand that it reverse its decision immediately. (emphasis added)
 
~~~~~~~~~~
 
Now, as the alarm gets louder, I add information from one more very recent article by Anne Bayefsky.  This is what she says:
"The Feb. 20 State Department press release says the U.S. delegation in Geneva 'outline[d] our concerns with the current outcome document' and in particular 'our strong reservations about the direction of the conference, as the draft document singles out Israel for criticism.' One member of the delegation told The Washington Post: 'The administration is pushing back against efforts to brand Israel as racist in this conference.' In fact, tucked away in a Geneva hall with few observers, the U.S. had done just the opposite. The U.S. delegates had made no objection to a new proposal to nail Israel in an anti-racism manifesto that makes no other country-specific claims. (emphasis added)
It's an Obama administration "cover-up," says Bayefsky.  Which means we cannot depend on what is reported on this issue by government sources or journalists tending to support the administration. 
The silence of the U.S. delegation is all the more disturbing because Bayefsky reports that it had no trouble raising objections on other issues at the meeting.
~~~~~~~~~~
Contact the White House, the State Department, and your elected Senators and Congresspersons on this issue.  Be strong and clear in your demand that the US pull out of Durban planning sessions.  Use the information provided above to make your case succinctly: The US cannot change the anti-Israel direction of the proceedings and is instead legitimizing the process of undermining Israel.
Phone calls and faxes are most effective.  Use e-mail if that is what is possible for you.
An important hint when contacting Senators and Congresspersons:  Call their respective offices and ask for the staffer who is responsible for foreign affairs or Middle East affairs.  Either speak to that individual directly, fax in care of that individual, or secure an e-mail address for him or her for sending a direct message.  Members of Congress do not have the time or energy to read all messages, or consider all facts. They depend upon key staffers to advise them.  You reach the members of Congress most effectively by reaching the appropriate high level staffer.

President Barack Obama:  

http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/  (for email contact form)

Fax: 202-456-2461 

White House Comment line: 202-456-1111  

 

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton:

Public Communication Division

Phone: 202-647-6575

Fax: 202-647-2283 

e-mail: secretary@state.gov

To locate your representatives in Congress, see:

http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW.shtml

To locate your senator:

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

You can often secure best contact info. by logging on to the website of the representative or senator. 

~~~~~~~~~~

 
IZZY KAPLAN
416 824 2858
416 256 2858
Check out my new blog http://israelonisrael.blogspot.com


Re: Speaking up THANK YOU SUSIE DYM of Mattot Arim ! לפתוח את הפה

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Dear Susie, amv"sh

Thank you so much for continuing to raise awareness!

Friends, amv"sh

I hope that those of you that are reading this email will scroll down to the very end of this email, absorb the contents and then actively engage in setting the record straight regarding our entitlement of the Land of Israel.

As Susie Dym notes in her email copied below, the people in this past election did not vote for a Palestinian State.  Yet that is what Netanyahu is promoting. Netanyahus leadership is not reflective of the National Camp. The purpose of this campaign is to get themselves into the newspapers, Internet and radio both in Israel and abroad (Jewish press and general press).

Mattot Arim emphasizes the security catastrophe that would unfold if Judea, Samaria and the Golan do not remain in Jewish Hands. While this is of course extremely valid, it does not get to the root of the problem.

Addressing and emphasizing  Biblical, historical, religious and legal arguments in defense of Jews settling all of Israel does get to the root of the matter..

Therefore this letter writing campaign inititated by Susie Dym of  Mattot Arim is so urgent and important!

Our message of entitlement is not being reported or heard.  Our entitlement to the Land of Israel is a fundamental given that can never be compromised. Our  relationship with the Land  of Israel is that she is unconditionally exclusively divinely earmarked for the Jewish People with the stipulation that we keep the Mitzvoth of the Torah, the laws and precepts.  This in turn will bring peace and prosperity to the entire world.

I was disgusted when I read the following article in this past weeks Forward. 

To Sue or Not? Palestinians Face Dilemma After Report On Settlements

This supposedly Jewish newspaper is educating its readers of newly opened classified data on 30 settlements that were" built on Palestinian Land"  in violation of Israeli law and how the Palestinians are  (foolishly from their perspective) in a dilemma on whether to to sue Israel for appropriating their land.

I am sure it can be proven that Tel Aviv and much of the Dan Block is built on top of Arab villages.

The fact that Olmert and Barak consistently speak about Israel "occupying" Gaza and Israel's desire not to "occupy" Gaza clearly educates the people that the Jews have no entitlement.

The Forward apparently takes the position that the Jews are the occupiers and that Jews have no entitlement in Judea and Samaria..

If we have no entitlement to East Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and Gaza then what gives us entitlement to Tel Aviv or Haifa?

I think an excellent contact person for Mattot Arim is Aryeh King whose work involves returning former Jewish Land to Jewish owners. Please google Israel Land Fund Arieh King and many excellent articles will come up describing Arieh King battle with JNF and how the JNF has allowed Land bought with Jewish Donor money earmarked for Jewish settlement is given away unlawfully to the Arabs.  Afsi, and in particular Helen Freedman, has been actively engaged regarding this matter.

Now is the time to do Panim el Panim with our neighbors and friends and to the MK's on the email list  regarding this matter..

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2009/2/24 <mattot.arim@gmail.com>

 

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נתניהו: מדינה פלשתינית ורמת הגולן
 
נתניהו ניצח בבחירות - לא כי הליכוד קיבל יותר מקדימה -  אלא כי המחנה הלאומי ניצח את מחנה השמאל. כך אמר נתניהו בעצמו, בנאום הנצחון שלו http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART1/852/201.html. אבל... יתכן שנתניהו יוותר על עקרונות  "המחנה הלאומי" שבזכותם הוא עצמו ניצח!
 
מהן העקרונות? כן לארץ ישראל -- לא למדינה פלשתינית ביהודה ושומרון - לא לנסיגה ברמת הגולן.
 
הפוליטיקאים אחראיים להכניס את העקרונות הנ"ל לכל המקומות הבאים:
   א. קווי היסוד של הממשלה (בניסוח זה או אחר)
   ב. ההסכמים הקואליציוניים
   ג. החלטת הממשלה הראשונה בישיבתה הראשונה (בניסוח זה או אחר)
   ד. הנאום הראשון של ראש הממשלה
   ה. מכתבי סיעות שיימסרו לנתניהו
    ו. איוש תפקידי מפתח (חוץ, בטחון, התישבות) ע"י אנשים לאומיים מובהקים או פיצוי הולם
 
כדי שכל הנ"ל יצליח, כל הפוליטיקאים צריכים לתפוס יוזמה (כלומר: לתפוס בדחיפות מיקרופונים) ולדבר על: ארץ ישראל, רמת הגולן, מדינה פלשתינית. כך, תיווצר אוירה ציבורית ותקשורתית מתאימה כדי להציב את הדרישות הנ"ל לנתניהו לכל אורך השבועות הקרובים.   
 
נא ליצור קשר דחוף עם ראשי הרשימות ועם חברי הכנסת הלאומיים הבכירים, הזכירו להם בנימוס רב, שאיננו שומעים אותם די, מתבטאים בנושאים הנ"ל, באמצעי התקשורת. תוכל להעביר להם את המייל הזה (חלקו או אפילו במלואו אם אתה ממהר). או, כתוב מכתב אישי, עם כותרת קצרה ומתאימה.
 
הנה הכתובות של: נתניהו בעצמו, אביגדור ליברמן - ישראל ביתנו, אלי ישי - ש"ס, זבולון אורלב - בית יהודי, מאיר פורוש - יהדות התורה, אורי אריאל - איחוד לאומי. ובליכוד: גדעון סער, גלעד ארדן, רובי ריבלין, משה כחלון, סילבן שלום, יובל שטייניץ, ישראל כץ, יולי אדלשטיין, לימור לבנת, חיים כץ, זאב אלקין:
 
 
תודה רבה על פועלכם. כעת - תורם של הפוליטיקאים - עקבו באמצעי התקשורת ונראה מי עובד ומי "הלך לישון"!
הנה דוגמא של חבר כנסת חרוץ, אמיץ ונאמן: http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART1/856/937.html
אגב: כל הכבוד למי שפנה לישראל ביתנו בעקבות המייל הקודם שלנו. זה עזר, הם המליצו על ממשלת ימין.
 
 
Netanyahu: Palestinian state and Golan
 
Netanyahu won the elections -- not because his party came out biggest (Zipi Livni's Kadima did) but because the National Camp (the Right) beat the Left by a large margin -- as Netanyahu himself pointed out in his victory speech. However, there is a concern that Netanyahu will abandon the principles of the National Camp, by virtue of which he won in the first place! The principles, as we all know, are Eretz Yisrael -- yes; Palestinian state -- no, Golan -- yes. 
 
Please help to ensure that the above principles  make their way into all of the following documents and decisions: * the Government Guidelines, * the Coalition Agreements, * the crucial first Government Decision, which is voted upon in the first meeting of the new government, * the premier's first speech, * any official letters the factions may submit to the Prime Minister, and * the decisions on relevant portfolios and positions such as Defense, Foreign Affairs, and settlement policy positions.
 
To do so please contact Israel's senior politicians and politely ask them to get themselves into the newspapers, Internet and radio both in Israel and abroad (Jewish press and general press) so that they can energetically explain why Palestinian state is catastrophic for Israel and the Golan is crucial for Israel. This will create the atmosphere that will allow the above governmental documents to be properly shaped. It is a pity for them to be sitting around when they can be creating public opinion and that is what you will be reminding them. Here is an (old) example of an MK doing good hasbara: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1221142472433&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull We need several articles like this one every day - rather than one such article every several months!
 
If you are in a hurry or don't like writing, just forward this email or part of it to the following email addresses: 
 
 
(Netanyahu himself, Avigdor Liberman, Eli Yishay head of Shas, Zvulun Orlev of Bayit Yehudi-Mafdal, Menachem Porush of hareidi UTJ, Uri Ariel of National Union and the senior Likud MKs such as Saar, Erdan, Rivlin, Cachlon, Shalom, Steinitz, Yisrael and Hayim Katz, Livnat, Edelstein and Elkin, cc us)
 
Thank you very much for helping. Keep your eyes on the press to see which MK comes through for us. Also thanks to all the great people who read our previous email and contacted Liberman's representatives and asked them to recommend a no-Palestinian-state oriented government. Liberman's people came through for you and made the right recommendation (pun) as you probably saw in the press.
 
Mattot Arim, Israel  
 

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Monday, February 23, 2009

Mercaz Harav Massacre - One year later, Utubes of Rav Yerachmiel Weiss Rosh Yeshiva

bs"d

Dear Yeshivoth, Friends and family, amv'sh

One can not watch these utubes without crying. Tonight is the yahrzeit of the massacre of the Kedoshim

part1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIqY7kD4vbI
part2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwd8p5fq-I4&feature=channel_page

Sent to me by Yaakov Cohney
Communications Director
Yeshivat Yerushalim LeTze'irim (Yashlatz)
050-833-1309 (israel)
646-810-8743 (us line)
ycohney@yashlatz.com


A transcription of Rav Weiss's interview can be found on

http://shemittahrediscovered.blogspot.com/2008/03/faith-through-tears-rabbi-yerachmiel.html

If you are a Yeshiva this material is a tremendous lesson in Emunah and Bitachon and you may wish to share it with the students who can identify with their peers and deeply share the pain with the students of Yashlatz and Mercaz Harav Yeshiva.