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Horrible

Hanging is barbaric and does not belong in a civilized world. Acts like these are so far outside any standard of human decency it is beyond my ability to fathom it:

Iran Condemned for Surge of Youth Hangings - Michael Theodoulou (Times-UK)
    Iran, the world's most prolific executioner after China, has hanged a woman and four men for murder in defiance of mounting criticism from human rights groups.
    The latest hangings brought to 232 the number executions in Iran this year, compared to 317 in 2007, according to Amnesty International.
    Of particular concern is the number of youths facing execution for crimes they committed as children. Amnesty International told the Times, there are "at least 132 juvenile offenders known to be on death row."
    Human Rights Watch said Iran "leads the world in executing juvenile offenders."

Parenting Teenage Girls

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

That is all.

I Can't Believe They Did That

Obama's private prayer that he left in the Western Wall was published in the newspaper (Maariv). What a terrible invasion of privacy. Shame on them.  Link

Copycat Bulldozer Terrorist

Thankfully, though sixteen were injured, no one was killed except for the rabid dog terrorist.

OoooooooooooooOOOOOMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmm

The Jewish World Mourns

Hezbollah Gives Coffins to Israel in Prisoner Swap

Israel and the Shiite militia Hezbollah on Wednesday began an extraordinary exchange, with two coffins containing the bodies of abducted Israeli soldiers being handed over as a prelude to the expected release of five Lebanese prisoners.

After receiving the coffins, Israeli officials positively identified the bodies inside as those of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, who were abducted by Hezbollah almost two years ago to the day in a dramatic cross-border raid that sparked a month-long war.

Even before the identification was confirmed, however, Israelis went into mourning, with friends and neighbors of the soldiers gathering to light candles of remembrance, radio stations playing sad songs and the prime minister, Ehud Olmert, preparing to travel to an army base to express condolences to the families.

Although Israeli officials had said weeks ago that the soldiers were almost certainly dead -- and that fate had long been feared -- televised images of the coffins crossing the border were still greeted by wails of grief just before 10 a.m. when they were shown here, in Regev's hometown.

"This is a family that has been swinging between hope and despair. Now they're in despair, and it's understandable," said Chaim Tzuri, the mayor, after emerging from the family's apartment. "All of Israel mourns with them."

Monsters released from prison in exchange for dead bodies:

Even as the exchange closed one wound, however, it reopened another. Kuntar's attack in 1979 resulted in the deaths of two police officers and three members of an Israeli family -- a father and his two daughters. The man's mother and brother had strongly opposed the deal, and had personally lobbied Olmert, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and President Shimon Peres to call it off.

"I feel that this is a victory for terror," said Ron Keren, whose brother, Danny, died in Kuntar's attack. "We all know that this story is not over, and we will hear from him more in the future."

The mother, 82-year-old Nina Keren, said the release of Kuntar made it feel like "it all happened yesterday. I can't understand how my government could make such a deal." Standing in her living room and pointing to pictures of the son and two granddaughters she lost in Kuntar's attack, she said she was also having trouble understanding how Lebanon could be planning such a rapturous welcome: "He's a hero? Because he killed a four-year-old? Because he smashed her head with his rifle?"

An eyewitness remembers:

Sasson, now 62, remembers every detail of Kantar's attack on April 22, 1979. He said he awoke to the sounds of gunshots, grabbed his two young daughters, placing one under each arm, and sprinted toward his apartment building's bomb shelter. There he found himself face to face with Kantar.

He said the assailant reached for the girls, shoved Sasson and slammed a handgun into the back of Sasson's skull. Suddenly, the hall lights went out. In the dark, Sasson said he scrambled for cover, crawling through the underground bomb shelter as the sounds of gunfire and grenade explosions filled the building.

He hid under a parked car, where he watched Kantar drag his next door neighbor, Danny Haran, and Haran's 4-year-old daughter, Einat, toward the beach.

An Israeli court convicted Kantar, who was 16 years old at the time of the attack and is now 45, of shooting Haran in front of the little girl, then smashing her skull against a rock with his rifle butt, killing her, too.

Back at the Haran apartment, Haran's wife, Smadar, fled into a crawl space in her apartment with her 2-year-old daughter and Sasson's wife.

What happened at the apartment has reverberated in the Israeli consciousness for decades. Smadar accidentally smothered the toddler in a desperate attempt to silence her cries. Sasson said his wife witnessed it all and felt the little girl's fluttering legs against her stomach.

In the usual barbaric celebration of Israel's grief, sweets were handed out to Palestinian children:

Lebanon's Al-Manar TV quoted senior Hezbollah official Wafik Safa at the border as saying the bodies of the two Israelis were "mutilated" from injuries they suffered during the raid.

It was not clear if Regev and Goldwasser were killed in Hezbollah's cross-border raid or if they died in captivity. Evidence at the scene indicated both were seriously wounded.

Goldwasser's father, Shlomo, said the sight of the coffins "was not easy to see, though it didn't come as much of a surprise."

"But coming face-to-face with reality is always tough," he told Israel Radio.

Regev's father, Zvi, said he fell apart the moment he saw Hezbollah take the coffins out of a van and place them on the ground.

"It was horrible to see it. I didn't want to, I asked them to turn off the TV," he said, choking back tears.

"We were always hoping that Udi and Eldad were alive and that they would come home and we would hug them," he added, using Ehud Goldwasser's nickname. "We had this hope all the time."

An aunt of Regev's sank to the ground when she saw the coffins appear on a small TV hooked up outside the soldier's father's house. Some 50 friends, neighbors and family who had gathered there sobbed, rocked back and forth in prayer, lit candles or tugged at their hair. "Nasrallah, you will pay," several of the mourners vowed, referring to Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah.

The family's next door neighbor, Simona Adda, 68, said her children had grown up with Regev. "It's the saddest day for Israel. They kept us waiting until the last second to learn the fate of our sons," she said, then burst out crying.

...Hezbollah supporters set up a makeshift stage in the coastal town of Naqoura, where a brass band awaited the returning prisoners. On the platform stood a large photograph of a weeping Israeli woman. A nearby sign read, "Israel is shedding tears of pain."

"Lebanon is shedding tears of joy," read another.

An official ceremony was planned at Beirut Airport and was to be attended by Lebanon's president, prime minister and parliament speaker. Later, Nasrallah was to address what is expected to be a huge celebration at Hezbollah's stronghold south of Beirut.

In the Gaza Strip, controlled by the violently anti-Israel Hamas group, people handed out sweets to celebrate Kantar's impending release.

And now, Hezbollah and Nasrallah are viewed the heroic victors.  Lesson learned:  Kidnapping soldiers pays off big time:

Palestinians Congratulate Hizbullah for "Freeing Heroes"

- Ali Waked
Palestinians sent their warm wishes to Hizbullah and its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah on Wednesday for getting Israel to release prisoners. Ziad abu Ein, director-general of the PA Ministry for Prisoner Affairs, said, "The Palestinians congratulate Hizbullah and its leader and send their best wishes to all the Lebanese people and to all the Palestinians upon the completion of the deal and the release of heroes, headed by the prisoners' leader, Samir Kuntar." Abu Mujahed, a spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees, said the deal "proves that kidnapping soldiers will continue to be the most efficient, favored and ideal way to release Palestinian prisoners, particularly those defined by the enemy as having blood on their hands."  (Ynet News)

Remembering the Hatuels

One moment David Hatuel had a wife and four beautiful daughters from age 2 to age 10.  The next, he was a bereaved widower.  His wife (8 months pregnant) and children were attacked in their car as they drove down the road.  Palestinians fired upon them and approached the car to see if they were dead. When they saw they were not, they fired at point blank range to finish the job. 

Children.  Shot in the head.  Point blank.

Sometimes when David Hatuel wakes up at night to feed his one-year-old daughter, Tehiya, he has to shake himself to remember which of his children he is holding in his arms. While mixing up your children's identities in the darkness of night is most likely a common occurrence for many parents, for Hatuel - who lost his first wife Tali and their four daughters, Hila (10), Hadar (eight), Roni (six) and Meirav (two); in a brutal terrorist attack four years ago - the experience is chilling.

"I have to stop myself and ask who I'm preparing this [bottle] for," says Hatuel, trying not to let his voice crack and break into tears. "[Holding Tehiya] for the first time was obviously a very happy moment but it was also very difficult. She really reminds me of Hadar, and the first time she said daddy, or when we held her first birthday, were all moments that made me think of my other girls. I don't think I will ever be able to get away from that."

Not that Hatuel, who married Tehiya's mother Limor two years ago, wants to forget his first family with whom he spent 12 happy years in the Gaza Strip settlement of Moshav Katif.

"What I loved about Limor when I first met her was that she not only understood me but that she was also very accepting of what had happened before I met her," says the soft-spoken 38-year-old. "When we got married, I simply said 'I am building a new home but in no way am I willing to erase what has happened in the past. I am merely building a second floor on the foundations of the old building.'

"Limor is very accepting of that and even though she never met them, she knows everything about them. We talk about them all the time and she sits with me when I look at photos of them. Tali's mother and sisters have even welcomed her as part of the family."

Hatuel and I are sitting together in the airy conference room of the non-profit terror victims association One Family Fund, located in Jerusalem's Katamon neighborhood. While up until this point he has refused to be interviewed by the media, Hatuel, who was appointed president of the non-profit organization last September, talks very openly about the tragedy that he has gone through and is philosophical about how he managed pull himself together and rebuild his life.

"It is still sometimes difficult for me to get up in the morning because I miss them all so much," he admits. "Sometimes when I'm out in the street and see a girl from behind with a bag on her back, I think it might be one of my girls. And, of course, I do question why this happened to me. I have many questions but I am a believer and this is what happened, it was decided and that's it. I have managed to move on and start a new family. I chose life after what happened and made decisions that would help me achieve that."

FOR THE Hatuel family, the day of the terrorist attack started much like any other in Moshav Katif.

"I was the principal of an elementary school in Ashkelon and it was the day of the Likud Party referendum on the disengagement from Gaza," Hatuel recalls. "Our community had decided that all families should demonstrate at the polling booths with signs telling the members to vote against the pullout."

The evening before, Hatuel told his wife that he would take the bus to school and that she should join him later in the day with the girls to protest at the polling station in Ashkelon.

"Tali was nine months pregnant and also had a routine ultrasound scheduled for that day in Ashkelon, so it seemed like the perfect plan," he says. "She was going to pick up Hila, Hadar, Roni and Meirav from their school and take them with her to the checkup and then come to meet me."

However, the day did not go as planned. As Tali and the girls drove along the main Gaza thoroughfare near Kissufim, Palestinian terrorists opened fire on the car, fatally wounding the mother and causing the car to stop. Witnesses said that the terrorists then approached the car and shot each one of the four girls at close range while they were still strapped into their car seats. Two soldiers who tried to stop the terrorists were also wounded, as was another civilian.

"I was in a managers meeting at school," remembers Hatuel, who has clearly gone over the scenario many times since that day. "Suddenly someone ran in and said there had been a terror attack near Kissufim but that they did not have any details. I tried to call Tali on her cellphone but there was no answer, so Tali's father and I jumped in the car and started driving toward the scene."

Hatuel's car, however, was intercepted on the way and the two men were informed of what had happened.

"I couldn't take it all in at first," he says. "I just kept asking 'What do you mean everyone? Who was hurt? Someone must have been saved.' I could not get my head around that it was 'everyone,' my entire family, but slowly I started to realize the scope of the disaster."

Hatuel says that even at the shiva, when thousands of people, including government ministers, Knesset members, religious and secular Jews from here and abroad came to pay their respects, most could not provide the grieving husband and father with any truly comforting words.

"Usually people say, 'Stay strong' to the person who has been left alive, but in my case no one could say anything like that," he says.

Hatuel's tragic loss made national and international headlines. Very few Israelis can forget the image of him weeping in front of five freshly dug graves or the harrowing photo of Tali with her four daughters on a recent family outing.

"I felt like a tree that had lost all its leaves and branches. All that remained of me was the trunk," confesses Hatuel, almost choking at the memory. "I could have really given up at that point, but along with all the politicians who came to visit me during the shiva were others who had gone through terror attacks. It was hearing those people's stories that really gave me the strength to carry on."

On the third day of the shiva, Hatuel says he took some of his good friends aside and told them that he had decided to live, that he was determined to get over this tragedy but that he would need their help.

"I told them that I was not willing to let go but that they had to help me find the strength and never leave me alone," he says, emphasizing that at first he felt as though he was climbing up a slippery wall and every few meters was sliding back down again. "There were so many difficult dates that reminded me of all of them - birthdays and other anniversaries - but I had already set myself an aim and had decided that I was going to get over this."

Link

Horror: Placing Ideology Before Your Child

This is terribly wrong. 

Oh

No words could describe it. 

But she finds them.

Quite Frankly...

...watching this video makes me hope the Israelis bomb the living crud out of the Arabs. God help me, it's how I honestly feel. I have stopped mysef from saying it so many times.  Can't do it anymore. 

They aimed at 15 and 16 year old yeshiva boys.

Via Oceanguy:

"The society that preaches martyrdom to children, that rejoices in the street over the deaths of students huddled over sacred texts, that praises death over life – this society has become Amalek."

In Memorium

The roomate of Soccerdad's nephew was one of those murdered in the Mercaz Harav attack. Soccerdad relates what it was like to wait a very long ten minutes before finding out that Yedidyah was not among the victims.

Yedidyah's father wrote the following note to SD with a suggested activity those in the Jewish community could carry out in remembrance of the victims:

I am certain you are wondering how you can properly memorialize the victims of the Mercaz Harav terror attack. Yonadav Hirshfeld - Yedidya's roommate - was a grandson of Rabbi and Mrs. Aharon Batt. In addition to being involved in the Encyclopedia Talmudit, Rabbi Batt is one of the main sponsors of the Halacha/Mishna/Rambam Yomi calendar available in the Torah Tidbits and other places.

One of the aspects of Yonadav which his father mentioned is that he was always getting in an extra few minutes of learning.

In light of all this, a proper memorial for him and the other victims is to resolve to (Bli Neder - of course) add 5 minutes a day of Torah learning - in any of those few times during the day in which we find ourselves doing nothing.

A suggestion, especially for beginners like me, Navigating the Bible II.  Starting from the beginning (Breshit), the verses are written in Hebrew, in transliterated Hebrew, and in English.  There's also a link to hear them chanted in Hebrew.  It is necessary to keep hitting the "forward" link on the upper right to keep up with the printed words as the verses are sung. There's more to the site (table of contents here), which is actually meant to be a Bar/Bat Mitzvah tutor.

**************************************************************************************

The victims:

"His face would glow with joy"
Doron Meherete, 26
Ashdod

Friends of Doron Meherete, the oldest of the eight students murdered Thursday at Mercaz Harav yeshiva, say that his face would glow with joy as he studied with them. Meherete, who came from Ethiopia in 1991 in Operation Solomon, studied for nine years at the yeshiva, where he was known for his trenchant mind and kind heart, challenging others intellectually and lending a helping hand whenever needed.

He was also a counselor at an after-school program for immigrant Ethiopian children. Three years ago he joined the army, under a special arrangement for advanced yeshiva students, served nine months in the armored corps, and fought as a reservist in the Second Lebanon War. He was preparing to become a rabbi, and had already taken some of his ordination exams. Hundreds attended his funeral in Ashdod on Friday. Meherete is survived by two parents and six siblings.

"Like an angel"
Avraham David Moses, 16
Efrat

Avraham David Moses, 16, left behind parents and five brothers aged between two and 11. His parents divorced, remarried and live nearby each other in Efrat. At his funeral, Avraham David's father recounted that his son had visited him at home last Saturday. "I blessed you, put my hand on your head and suddenly grasped how much you had grown in spirit. You did not break. The murderers broke you. You were not a fighter but a loving person - you loved the Torah and studying the Torah. You ended your life studying the Torah."

Avraham David's stepfather, David Moria, said the boy was "like an angel. He had amazing integrity." His mother, Rivka, said thanks for "the 16 years we had the privilege of raising him, 16 years of purity of heart and honesty."

On Thursday night, when they heard of the attack, Avraham David's parents tried to find him but he had no mobile phone. They called all the hospitals in Jerusalem and when they couldn't find his name in any of the lists of the injured, they realized they'd lost their son.


"Everybody always wanted to be with him"

Neria Cohen, 15
Jerusalem

Neria Cohen, who was laid to rest at the Mount of Olives cemetery Friday, grew up in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City, one of 12 children born to Ayala and Rabbi Yitzhak Cohen. His father is a rabbi at the Esh HaTorah hesder yeshiva in the Jewish Quarter, and was for many years among the heads of the Ateret Cohanim yeshiva in the Muslim Quarter.

Many in Neria's extended family are active in programs that combine religious studies with community outreach and education in poor towns. "Neria's most striking quality was boundless joy. Everyone always wanted to be with him," said Eliezer Avni, a ninth-grade counselor at the Mercaz Harav affiliate where Neria studied. "He was a boy who lived all the ideals in the world, who enlisted for every mission, whether it was activity on behalf of Jonathan Pollard, or on behalf of communities, or the needy."


"A pure soul with a good heart"

Segev Pniel Avichail, 15
Neveh Daniel

Segev Pniel Avichail, who was buried Friday in Jerusalem's Har Hamenuhot Cemetery, was the grandson of two well-known rabbis: Rabbi Eliahu Avichail, who studied the Ten Lost Tribes and their disappearance; and Rabbi Yehoshua Zuckerman, the founder of the El Ami movement and teacher at Har Hamor Yeshiva. Segev Pniel's father, Rabbi Elishav Avichail, is the rabbi of Adora, in the south Hebron hills. His mother, Moriah, was head of a girls art school in the community. A few years ago, Segev Pniel and his father escaped injury in a shooting attack on the Telem road. Segev Pniel was the oldest of four children. An uncle, Yair, described him Friday as a "serious student, a pure soul with a good heart."

"A good soul with extraordinary ability"

Yohai Livshitz, 18
Jerusalem

Yohai Livshitz was the second of six children born to Tuvia, a supervisor in Jerusalem's Kotel Yeshiva and Zofiya, a teacher. They live in the city's Jewish Quarter. "His most outstanding quality was his innocence," said Zvi Yehuda Herling, one of the Kotel Yeshiva's instructors, at the funeral. "He had a constant desire to search for his own truth, whether it was to rise before everyone and go to synagogue to study before morning prayer or practice for his army service."

"Thank you for everything you've done and given for 18 years," his father said at the funeral. Yohai's cousin, Jonathan Kelerman, said: "He was a good soul with an extraordinary ability to persist studying the Torah. Even up to his death he was studying Torah in the library."

"An admired guide"

Yehonadav Haim Hirshfeld, 19
Kochav Hashachar

Yehonadav Haim Hirshfeld was the fifth of 13 children born to one of the oldest families in Kochav Hashachar, a community in the Matte Binyamin regional council. His father, Zemah, serves as a mohel in the community and its surroundings. His mother, Elisheva, is a housewife.

Yehonadav went to a highschool yeshiva near Mercaz Harav and later continued to study at the yeshiva itself, where he was killed on Thursday evening. He was a "talented young man with broad horizons, intelligent, and an admired guide in the Ariel youth movement," Haya Meir, a neighbor, said.

When his parents heard of the terror attack on the yeshiva they couldn't get a hold of their son, because he had no mobile phone.

The yeshiva's emergency hotline also couldn't help them and they sent relatives to look for Yehonadav. Finally, after midnight, the community's rabbi arrived to inform them officially of his death.

"Full of joie de vivre"

Yonatan Yitzchak Eldar, 16
Shiloh

Yonatan Yitzchak Eldar was buried with his copy of the Nedarim Tractate of the Babylonian Talmud, soaked in his blood. Despite the celebration scheduled at the yeshiva later that evening for the start of the new month, Yonatan didn't want to miss learning his daily page of Talmud and had taken the book with him to the library. One friend says he saw Yonatan studying alone at 1 A.M. Wednesday.

"Usually you think of someone so young who is so deeply involved in Torah study as being square, but Yonatan wasn't at all like that," said Rabbi Uri Bayar, an educator in Shiloh and a friend of the Eldar family. "He was full of joie de vivre and had many interests," Bayar said.Yonatan Yitzchak was buried in Shiloh. After the funeral his friends gathered at the home of one of them and told stories about their friend. They recalled his love of hiking but also noted that he learned the rules of orienteering out of a book. Yonatan Yitzchak is survived by six brothers and one sister.

His father, Dror, works in high tech. His mother, Avital, is a teacher.

"He felt very close to God"
Roee Roth, 18
Elkana

Roee Roth's friends described him as very spiritual. "He felt very
close to God, and about every problem he would say, 'That, too, is from God' and tried to understand what God wanted from him," Eyal, his roommate and friend from home, related. "He prayed long and loud and everyone in the beit midrash [study hall] could hear his 'Amen,'" another friend from Elkana and fellow student at Mercaz Harav, Menashe Zimmerman, said. "He came late to meals, after his prayers."

Roee's decision to study at Mercaz Harav, with its high demands, was part of a spiritual journey that began in high school. In 11th grade Roee stopped studying Jujitsu, in which he already had a brown belt, because he felt it was cutting into his study time. Roee was the son of Orly and Yaakov Roth. In addition to his parents, he is survived by four siblings.

Link

Where is the Outrage?

From Front Page Magazine:

Two sisters – identified only as Zohreh and Azar – have been convicted of adultery in Iran.

They have now been sentenced to be stoned to death.

Adultery is a crime punishable by death in the Islamic Republic of Iran, in accordance with the canons of Islamic Sharia law. The Iranian Supreme Court has upheld the stoning sentence.

Zohreh and Azar have already received 99 lashes for "illegal relations." Yet they were tried again for the same crime, and convicted of adultery on the evidence of videotape that showed them in the presence of other men while their husbands were absent. The video does not show either of them engaging in any sexual activity at all.

Their crime is non-existent, their trials a miscarriage of justice, and their sentencing a barbarity.

All those who believe in human rights and human dignity should protest against this sentence.

Jerusalem Must Not Be Divided

President Bush arrived in Jerusalem today to discuss plans for a peace settlement between Israelis and Palestinians. According to news reports, this settlement may involve dividing Jerusalem — placing large segments of the city, including Christian holy sites, under the control of the Palestinian Authority. It is important that the president, and other current or aspiring leaders, consider the dangers that would arise from any such plan.

After centuries of strife, destruction, and oppression sown in Jerusalem by a cavalcade of conquering empires, the State of Israel alone has been able to preserve the peace and freedom of Jerusalem.

Within days of its liberation of Jerusalem in June 1967, Israel’s government enacted the Protection of Holy Places law, protecting all religions’ holy sites “from desecration and any other violation and from anything likely to violate the freedom of access of the members of the different religions to the places sacred to them or their feelings with regard to those places.” Israel’s government promptly handed over custodianship of the mosques on the Temple Mount to the Islamic Waqf, which is maintained to this day; the administration of Christian holy sites continues to rest in the hands of representative churches. Thus, in the 40 years since Israel’s reunification of Jerusalem, all people of all religions have been able — for the first time in centuries — to freely access all of Jerusalem’s holy sites.

It is therefore ironic that negotiators, mindless or careless of Jerusalem’s turbulent history and Islamic fundamentalists’ record of degrading and destroying other religions’ practices and holy sites, would seek to wrest control of Jerusalem from the one government that has preserved those freedoms. World leaders should know better than to turn Jerusalem’s important Christian and Jewish holy sites over to Muslim control; it would be a sorry day for any non-Muslim who aspires to visit those holy sites.

As President Bush travels to Jerusalem, he should use his visit to familiarize himself with the historic precedents and territorial infirmities that exist in the city and to contemplate up close the dangers to millennia-old Christian and Jewish holy sites that would arise from a division of the city.

Furthermore, in stark contrast to Israel’s conscientious actions to preserve the holy sites, the Arab forces that stormed Jerusalem in 1948 wantonly blew up 58 synagogues, rabbinical schools, and other buildings in the Jewish Quarter. Remaining synagogues and other holy sites were used as stables and garbage dumps.

Despite a 1949 armistice agreement guaranteeing the Jewish population “free access to the Holy Places and cultural institutions and use of the cemetery on the Mount of Olives,” Arab soldiers prevented Jews from accessing those sites until June 1967.

During the period that it controlled Jerusalem, Jordan also sought to reduce the Christian presence in the Christian quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City by passing laws forbidding Christians to buy property. The Jordanians ordered all schools closed on Muslim holidays and authorized mosques to be built near churches to restrict further Christian growth.

Palestinian efforts to eradicate signs of the Jewish legacy of Jerusalem continue unabated to this day. Fascinating archeological excavations that bring to life remnants of the First and Second Temple edifices have generated Palestinian riots to prevent Israel from opening such sites for the world to see. Excavations below the Dome of the Rock by the Islamic Waqf seek to eradicate other valuable Jewish archeological treasures.

Palestinians have pursued this modus operandi in other parts of the country as well. Although the 1993 Oslo Accords specifically provided that the Palestinian Authority would safeguard all holy sites in territory transferred to it under those accords, after Israel relinquished control of Nablus to the Palestinian Authority, Palestinians savagely destroyed Joseph’s Tomb under the watchful eyes of Palestinian police. Similar desecration occurred in Jericho, where Palestinians sacked the 1,500-year-old Shalom al Yisroel synagogue. At the site of Rachel’s Tomb, adjacent to the Palestinian-controlled territory of Bethlehem, Israel had to construct a virtual fortress around the shrine to protect Jewish worshippers from Palestinian sniper fire. And in Gaza, within hours of Israel’s disengagement in August 2005, Palestinian mobs triumphantly set ablaze or converted into mosques every synagogue that remained.

Read the rest. 

"There MUST Be Violence Against Women"

Women, rest assured, the writer who said this doesn't hate you, he just thinks you need to be knocked around the room every so often.  For the sake of Islam.

Where are the angry feminists? Why aren't they joining in the fight against the extremism that enslaves their sisters? 

Dead Boys

Naomi Ragen Writes:

The Myths of Peace, and the Reality of our Dead Boys

I want to tell you the story of two boys, twenty year olds, both them in the elite of elite army units, both of them from Rabbinical families, both of them living in Kiryat Arba, the Jewish neighborhood of Hebron. Achikam Amichai and David Rubin were out on leave from their IDF units, enjoying a well-earned holiday. They decided this past Friday afternoon to take take a little hike in their backyards. Their friend Naama Ohayon went with them. It was a beautiful day, beautiful scenery, wild and open, as it is in that part of the land of Israel. They passed an Arab, who asked them for water. The boys gave it to him, then waved goodbye and went on their way. A short while later, alerted by the Palestinian they had shared water with, three armed terrorists who had been lying in wait for an opportunity to kill Israelis and steal their weapons, drove by and opened fire on the three young people. Our boys, ambushed and badly wounded, nevertheless, began firing, killing the terrorist driver of the car. The other two terrorists then hopped out of the car, put their guns at point blank range to the fatally injured boys and fired. These "big heroes" then threw their dead comrade out of car like so much garbage, and took off, back to Hebron where they live. Hiding In the forest, Naama Ohayon, who had miraculously escaped, used her cell phone to contact Israeli security forces, who praised her unbelievable cool in the face of the horror she had witnessed. Security forces rescued her, but it was too late for the boys.

Meanwhile, Shimon Peres found time for a photo opportunity to shake hands with a member of Abu Maazen's government who expressed his "condolences." This, of course, before it became known that the killers were Abu Maazen's paid employees.

According to Efrat Weiss, writing in YNET, sometime on Friday evening, the Palestinian Authority started the rumor that it wasn't a terrorist attack at all, but a "drug deal" gone bad. This went all over the Israeli news, and you can just imagine how the parents must have felt. Others said the boys had no right to go hiking. (Right, let's all stay in our homes and quake.) Meanwhile, the two murderers, fearing the IDF was closing in on them, turned themselves over to Palestinian security forces, who didn't say a word about this to the Israelis. However, when Israeli security asked them pointedly to turn over the weapons of the murderers and the victims, they did. But they didn't turn over the killers, who they are still "interrogating." Surprise surprise, these weren't Hamas operatives. They were salary- earning members of the Palestinian Authority, paid for by U.S. and European Union donations to Abu Maazen, the "good Palestinian" as oppossed to the Hamas, who are terrorists and "bad Palestinians," the ones we need to weaken by supporting Abu Mazen and his gang of thugs.

The names of the murderers are: Omar Badar Ali-Halim Teha, a resident of Hebron, 26, a "soldier" in the Palestinian National Security Forces, and an active member of Fatah; Ali al Hamid Regev Dindis, 24 a Hebron resident who is a clerk in the Sharia court of the Palestinian authority, and also connected to the Palestinian Secret service. The dead driver is 23 year olf Radil Abdul Naim Natshe.

There are many conclusions to be drawn from this story. I will leave you to draw them concerning the myths of making peace with the Palestinian Authority.

Ancient Graves of Joshua and Caleb Desecrated

Arabs Desecrate Grave of Biblical Prime Minister Joshua

10 Tevet 5768, 19 December 07 07:21

by Ezra HaLevi

(IsraelNN.com) Jewish worshippers Tuesday were stunned to find Arabs had desecrated the graves of the Biblical Joshua, Caleb and Nun (Joshua’s father).

Joshua served as the Jewish Nation's Prime Minister from the year 2488 until 2516 on the Hebrew calendar (1272 BCE - 1300 BCE).

Members of the One Shechem organization that organizes visits to the graves arrived in the village of Timnat (Kifl) Haress, near Ariel in Samaria, to prepare for a special prayer gathering, discovered that Arab vandals had desecrated the village’s Jewish tombs.  The tombs of Yehoshua (Joshua) ben Nun, Nun, and Calev (Caleb) ben Yefuneh were covered with garbage and feces – both human and animal, and anti-Semitic and Nazi slogans and symbols had been painted in the area.

Nevertheless, worshippers gathered at the tombs Tuesday night for special prayers on the tenth of Tevet, the day Kaddish and other prayers are recited for those whose date of death is unknown, such as Calev ben Yefuneh. Organizers had cleaned up the damage and attendees reported a positive experience.

The prayers were also to mark the end of the 30-day increased-stricture mourning period for murdered Jewish father Ido Zoldan of Kedumim, by a Palestinian Authority police officer.

Organizers reported that a wide array of Jews – hareidi, national religious and traditional – took part in the visit and prayers. They also praised the cooperation of security forces, particularly the Efraim Division of the IDF.

The One Shechem organization issued a call to the public to do everything in their power to preserve the holy sites in Samaria, including Joseph’s Tomb in Shechem and to fight for the right of Jews to visit and worship there freely.

Click here for an Arutz-7 Exclusive Photo Essay of a midnight visit to the graves of Joshua, Calev and Nun.

Unfathomable

Muslims are marching in protest against the 15-day sentence received by the British teacher who allowed the children in her classroom to name a teddy bear Mohammed.  They want her to be shot instead:

Thousands of people have marched in the Sudanese capital Khartoum to call for UK teacher Gillian Gibbons to be shot.

Mrs Gibbons, 54, from Liverpool, was jailed by a court on Thursday after allowing children in her class to name a teddy bear Muhammad.

She was sentenced to 15 days for insulting religion, and she will then be deported.

The Foreign Office was in contact with Sudan's government overnight and is due to repeat demands for her release. 

The marchers took to the streets after Friday prayers to denounce the sentence as too lenient.

The protesters gathered in Martyrs Square, outside the presidential palace in the capital, many of them carrying knives and sticks.

Marchers chanted "Shame, shame on the UK", "No tolerance - execution" and "Kill her, kill her by firing squad".

There are simply no words.

California Wildfire

Horrendous. Thoughts and prayers with all who are suffering through it.

A Voice of Sanity

Nice to know there's at least one among Columbia's faculty.

The Palestinian Authority Parties Alongside James Brolin

Happy 9/11?  Happiness over the deaths of 3,000 innocent victims? Happy to see people jumping off the world's tallest building to escape the hideous heat of burning jet fuel? Happy to hear them having their last conversations with their loved ones just before their plane hit the ground at hundreds of miles an hour? Sick:

Palestinian Authority Celebrates 9/11 Terror Attacks - Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook (Palestinian Media Watch)
    The PA celebrated the World Trade Center terror attacks by publishing cartoons in Al Hayat Al Jadida, its official daily, that glorify Osama Bin Laden and the attacks.
    This year's cartoon shows Bin Laden smiling while making the "V" for victory sign with two fingers in the shape of the burning Twin Towers.
    The PA daily is owned and controlled by the office of Mahmoud Abbas.
    The U.S. continues to fund the PA and to support it politically, while ignoring the continued promotion of Palestinian hate against the U.S.

Remember

People with families, mothers and fathers of young children, went to work on a beautiful September day, never dreaming of the horror that they were about to experience.  May we maintain the strength and will to fight the poisonous evil that caused such heartbreaking destruction and continues to threaten us even now.

Never again.

The video above contains the 911 phonecall of the last moments in the life of Kevin Cosgrove, which was played at the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui.

An excellent collection of 9/11 remembrances, photos and essays can be found here. 

American Immigration Employees Aiding Terrorists for $$

A criminal investigations report says several U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services employees are accused of aiding Islamic extremists with identification fraud and of exploiting the visa system for personal gain.

Link

Executions in Iran

Iran Just Carried Out the Largest Wave of Executions Since 1984 - Amir Taheri
On Wednesday, seven young men were hanged in Mashad, Iran's second most populous city, where a crackdown against "anti-Islam hooligans" has been underway for weeks. The Mashad hangings, broadcast live on local television, are among a series of public executions ordered by President Ahmadinejad last month as part of a campaign to terrorize an increasingly restive population. Over the past six weeks, at least 118 people have been executed, including four who were stoned to death. According to Saeed Mortazavi, the chief Islamic prosecutor, at least 150 more people, including five women, are scheduled to be hanged or stoned to death in the coming weeks.
    According to Gen. Ismail Muqaddam, commander of the Islamic Police, almost a million men and women have been arrested in the enforcement of the new Islamic Dress Code, passed by parliament in May 2006. As of last week, 20,363 men and women were being held on charges related to violating the Dress Code. The head of the National Prisons Service, Ali-Akbar Yassaqi, appealed for a moratorium on arrests, saying Iran's prisons could not house more than 50,000 prisoners, while the actual number of prisoners was above 150,000. He also revealed that each year on average some 600,000 Iranians spend time in one of the 130 official prisons. (Wall Street Journal)

Egyptians Murder Sudanese Refugees

Where the hell is their sense of humanity?  This is warped and psychopathic behavior:

Egyptian Soldiers Kill Four Sudanese Refugees at Israeli Border
Egyptian soldiers shot and beat to death four Sudanese refugees who were trying to illegally cross the border into Israel, Israel's Channel 10 television reported Thursday. A soldier from an Israeli military unit near the border said the Egyptian border police fired many rounds of bullets at the refugees, killing two and injuring one. The fourth refugee tried to climb the border fence. The Israeli soldiers, in what they described as a "tug-of-war," said they tried to pull him over to their side, but the Egyptians overpowered them and captured him.
    The shocked and audibly shaken soldier said he and others from his unit heard screams of agony as they helplessly watched the Egyptian soldiers then beat the two refugees to death, calling the incident a "lynch." Human rights groups say more than 1,000 Sudanese refugees have entered Israel through the porous border with Egypt this year, including at least 250 from the war-torn Darfur region. In late July, reports said an Egyptian military unit shot and killed a female Sudanese refugee as she and others tried to cross the border into Israel. (Deutsche Presse-Agentur)

The Horror of Chinese Communism

Don't tell me that we've learned anything from history. We don't even know enough about history to learn from it.

If you read nothing else today, you simply must read this recounting of what it was like in China during the years under the dictatorship of Mao Zedong.  Few know.

How bad did it get? [In] 1968 an 18-year-old member of the Red Guard, Wei Jingsheng, took refuge with a family in a village of Anhui, and here he lived to write about what he saw:

"We walked along beside the village… Before my eyes, among the weeds, rose up one of the scenes I had been told about, one of the banquets at which the families had swapped children in order to eat them. I could see the worried faces of the families as they chewed the flesh of other people's children. The children who were chasing butterflies in a nearby field seemed to be the reincarnation of the children devoured by their parents. I felt sorry for the children but not as sorry as I felt for their parents. What had made them swallow that human flesh, amidst the tears and grief of others — flesh that they would never have imagined tasting, even in their worst nightmares?"

What light does this shed on China's situation today?  Click the link above to read more.

Palestinian Children are Being Carefully Taught

You may recall a report that the Disney character Mickey Mouse was being used to teach terrorism to Palestinian children. At the time there was a a lot of negative publicity about it - Walt Disney's daughter was horrified.  Hamas TV responded by saying they would no longer use Mickey for this purpose, since it was not working to their advantage. (Turns out, they never stopped doing it)

Now, this story is back in the news because of the sly and nasty way the character has now been written out of the show - by having him killed off by a Jew. Watch, and take particular note of the sarcasm they have the child use:

 

Brings to mind this song from South Pacific, the lyrics of which were written by Oscar Hammerstein in 1949:

You've got to be taught
To hate and fear,
You've got to be taught
From year to year,
It's got to be drummed
In your dear little ear
You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made,
And people whose skin is a diff'rent shade,
You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught before it's too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate,
You've got to be carefully taught. 

A Thwarted Attempt to Draft a 6-Year Old Suicide Bomber

If that's not bad enough:

...a gory Taliban video in April showed militants instructing a boy about 12 as he beheaded an alleged traitor with a large knife.

{Expletive Deleted}

Trying to keep things rated PG, but it takes every ounce of willpower not to curse the people who did this out to high heavens.  I can't begin to imagine the agony of this man's family:

Kidnapped BBC Journalist Shown Wearing Explosives Belt - Sarah El Deeb (AP/Washington Post)
    A video released Monday shows kidnapped British journalist Alan Johnston wearing an explosives belt and warning it will be detonated if an attempt is made to free him by force.
    "Captors tell me that very promising negotiations were ruined when the Hamas movement and the British government decided to press for a military solution to this kidnapping," Johnston says in the recording, looking nervous and stressed.
    "I have been dressed in what is an explosive belt, which the kidnappers say will be detonated if there is an attempt to storm the area," he added.

Unbelievable Gall

Hamas attacks Fatah and then blames it on Israel:

In the early morning of May 15, Hamas used mortars, missiles and machine guns to attack a Presidential Guard contingent belonging to Fatah that was stationed near the Karni border crossing with Israel. Hamas then hit a jeep carrying Fatah reinforcements, and ensured their targets were dead by shooting them in the head at close range.

When the shooting was over, 10 Fatah members were dead, with a similar number wounded.

Suddenly aware that their unprovoked massacre may have gone too far, Hamas claimed it was Israel who had actually killed the Fatah people and threatened any journalist who dared report otherwise.

Then, in a truly perverse twist, Hamas launched more than 20 rockets at the Israeli town of Sderot "to take revenge" for the massacre they themselves had committed.

Given the overwhelming evidence and eyewitness accounts of those who were there, it was clear to most Palestinians that Hamas had committed the massacre. Still, when trying to explain the cause of the current infighting, several Palestinians, including Musa Abu Marzouk, deputy head of Hamas' political bureau, insisted that Israel was somehow to blame.

This is the real Palestinian Naqba, the disaster at the root of Palestinian suffering since even before 1948.

Instead of taking responsibility for their role in shaping their destiny, on virtually every occasion, the Palestinians have twisted their worldview to put the blame solely on Israel.

There is no self-awareness, not to mention self-criticism. No sense of accountability.

No honor, morals, or values either.  

26% of Under Age 30 Muslim AMERICANS Support Suicide Bombing

The first nationwide survey of Muslim Americans revealed that more than a quarter of those younger than 30 say suicide bombings to defend Islam are justified, a fact that drowned out the poll's kinder, gentler findings suggesting that the community is mainstream and middle class.
    "There are trouble spots," noted Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center, which conducted the survey of 1,050 adult Muslim Americans -- two-thirds of whom were foreign-born -- January to April. The results were released yesterday.
    "We should be disturbed that 26 percent of these young people support an ideology in which the ends justify the means," said Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, chairman of the Arizona-based American Islamic Forum for Democracy.
    "But the survey also found that only 40 percent of the overall American Muslim population would even admit that Arabs were behind 9/11. They're in denial, refusing to take moral responsibility, and the radicals will feed on this," Dr. Jasser said.

I was at the Tysons Corner Center Mall in Virginia a few days ago, and as I browsed in Barnes and Noble, I noticed something curious.  There were 6 paperback books placed backwards, so that the spine faced the shelf and the names of the books could not be seen.  I thought it was strange because they were up a higher shelf where little kids couldn't reach.  Who would be placing books backwards and why?

I turned the books around and discovered that they were all the same book, "The Trouble With Islam Today," written by author Irshad Manji.

That's not all though.  Not only had the books been turned backwards, but they had been moved to the wrong section - specifically, the Jewish book section. 

It creeped me out to think that this animosity was so close by and that it visited the same places I do. 

   

Horrendous

Punished for drinking 2 beers in Iran

Hey Kids! - UPDATED

Come along and sing our song and join our jamboree,

M-i-c-k-e-y  M-o-u-s-e!

Zionist resistance, Zionist resistance,

Forever will we blow ourselves up high - high, high, high!

Hey there, hi there, ho there,

You're as welcome as can be,

Attaining Muslim world supremacy is a game for you and me!

Link (Be sure to scroll down and watch the video)

More HERE

UPDATE:

Jihad Mickey earned bad publicity, so he is gone.

Update #2:

Daled Amos has a link to a statement by Walt Disney's daughter condemning Hamas's Jihad Mickey.

Putting Things into Perspective

The universe is so vast and we are so small.

And one day, it all just suddenly burst into existence?  No Creator of this miracle?

I just don't believe it.

But then again, Who/What created The Creator? 

What a Wonderful World

I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world

I see skies of blue and clouds of white
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world

The colours of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of people going by
I see friends shakin' hands, sayin' "How do you do?"
They're really saying "I love you"

I hear babies cryin', I watch them grow
They'll learn much more than I'll ever know
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world
Yes, I think to myself, what a wonderful world

Oh yeah

Liviu Librescu

Witness Tells a Hero's Story - Martin C. Evans
Theresa Walsh was one of the last people to see Liviu Librescu alive. "He looked horrified, almost as if he knew what was going to happen," said the Virginia Tech math major, who had stepped into the hallway from a second-floor classroom across from his when she heard gunshots.
    "A lot of us would not be around today were it not for our colleagues warning us and giving us more time," said Ishwar Puri, chairman of the Engineering Science and Mechanics department, where Librescu was a professor, who said students in Librescu's second-floor classroom jumped from windows as Librescu barred the door. Librescu was hit at least five times and died on the classroom floor, according to Edgar Gluck, a Brooklyn rabbi who flew to Virginia to help prepare Librescu's body for burial. (Newsday)
    See also Virginia Professor Laid to Rest in Israel - Haviv Rettig
The funeral of slain Virginia Tech Professor Liviu Librescu took place in Ra'anana on Friday morning. (Jerusalem Post)

Jimmy Carter

I'll be blunt: The man is doing damage to Israel's reputation, and I don't like it.  He recently spoke in Iowa in an attempt to affect he outcome of the 2008 presidential elections, and also cast negative aspersions on AIPAC.  He received a standing ovation:

"I wrote this book to describe the plight of the Palestinians," he said. "And because I was convinced that we need a debate about where we are and where we need to go."

Carter told the crowd that he chose Iowa out of the 100 university lecture invitations he received because Iowa caucus voters have the power to select candidates who will bolster peace efforts after six years of what he sees as inaction by the Bush administration.

"The main reason I came to Iowa is to make sure you knew you could shape an outcome in the 2008 presidential election. At least you can screen out candidates," he said. "Make them pledge to you ... that they will take a balanced position between Israel and Palestinians."

In response to accusations that he's biased, Carter noted his work with Israeli and Jewish groups. But he said that unlike current U.S. politicians and diplomats, he's not subject to pressure from interest groups such as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. AIPAC, a pro-Israeli lobby group, hasn't made an official statement in response to his book.

Before he bravely opens up his mouth again, I'd like to see him spend a year or two riding the public buses in Israel.

Beheadings in the Phillippines

The heads of seven men who were kidnapped by Muslim extremists on a volatile southern island were delivered to a Philippine army detachment on Thursday, officials said.

The men — six road project workers and a dried-fish factory worker — were kidnapped at gunpoint in two separate incidents Monday near the town of Parang.

Maj. Gen. Ruben Rafael, commander of military forces on Jolo island, said a group of civilians was ordered to take the heads to Parang by Muslim rebel commander Habier Malik, whose men have been battling troops since last week.

"This is a retaliation for the killing of one of their commanders," Rafael said. "This is a terrorist act that should be condemned by all."

He said the company which employed the road workers had refused to pay a ransom.

Link

I've had it! From here on in, I am declaring beings who are willing/able to carry out cold blooded beheadings as belonging to a different species from the rest of us.  No longer homo sapiens, the perpetrators of this hideousness are hereby dubbed, "Homo Medieviali Brutaliens." They are NOT HUMAN.

Chilling

Inside Terrorism: The X-Ray Project - Diane Covert (David Project Center for Jewish Leadership)
    A photography exhibit uses X-rays and CT scans from Jerusalem's Shaare Zedek Hospital and Hadassah Medical Center to explore the effects of terrorism on a civilian population.

The watch of the suicide murderer became impaled in the neck of one young woman, who thankfully survived despite the fact that the watch tore through her carotid artery. Many pictures show ball bearings and hexagonal nuts embedded in body parts. Adults and children, Jew, Christian and Muslim - all victims of suicide bombings - the aftermath in xrays.

From the site:

They represent a broad cross-section of humanity. They are commuters on the London subway system. And on the trains in Madrid. They are celebrants at a wedding in Amman, Jordan and at a bat mitzvah in Hadera, Israel. They are little kids eating pizza; they are tourists in Bali and Egypt. They are people praying in churches and mosques and synagogues. They are celebrating the Passover Seder. Even doctors who try to help can become victims. In September of 2003, Dr. David Applebaum, the head of the ER deparment at Shaare Zedek Medical Center was murdered along with his 20 year old daughter, Naava. They were in Café Hillel in Jerusalem. Naava was to be married the next day. Dr. Applebaum had saved countless lives – Jewish, Christian and Muslim – during his career, but his life ended when a terrorist walked into the cafe and exploded. In Beslan, Russia, terrorists killed 344 innocent people, including 186 children, all held hostage in an elementary school. And on September 11 th 2001, terrorists murdered almost 3,000 people in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington, DC.

The purpose of terrorism is to create victims. The goal is to murder and maim as many innocent people as possible. It is a political tool that has worldwide appeal, because it works. We have allowed it to work by not condemning and isolating those who use it. Terrorism has destroyed thousands of innocent lives in the past six years alone. Civilized people everywhere must condemn terrorism. We must speak in one voice. There is no excuse for terrorism - ever.

Related:

Baghdad Bombings Kill at Least 171 - Kirk Semple
A wave of bombings including four car bombs ravaged Baghdad on Wednesday, aimed mainly at Shiite crowds and, killing at least 171 people. In the worst of the bombings, a car packed with explosives exploded in the Sadriya neighborhood, killing at least 140 people and wounded 150. The explosion incinerated scores of vehicles, including several minibuses full of passengers. (New York Times)

*********************

Palestinian Media Watch has found dozens of examples of the Palestinian Authority glorifying individual acts of terrorism as well as the memory of terrorists past and present. Following is a collection of bulletins released by Palestinian Media Watch cataloguing just some of these examples.