Tag Archive for: West Bank

A U.S. Senate Bill to Bring Back ‘Judea and Samaria’ to Replace ‘West Bank’

In 135 A.D., following the suppression of the revolt by the Maccabees, the Roman overlords of what was then called Judaea decided to change its name to “Syria Palaestina” — “Syria of the Philistines” — which was then shortened to “Palestine.” The Romans wanted to efface, through a change of toponym, the connection of the Jews to the land that was made obvious in the place name “Judaea.” They also attempted to change the name “Jerusalem” to “Aelia Capitolina” but, unlike “Palestine,” that place name never caught on.

During the Arab-Israeli war of 1948, the Arab Legion of Jordan — led by British officers under John Bagot Glubb (“Glubb Pasha”) — managed to seize and hold onto the territory that had been known, for more than 3,000 years, not just to the Jewish people but to everyone in the Western world, as “Judea and Samaria.” It would never do, the Jordanian Arabs believed, to continue to use the toponyms “Judea and Samaria,” which would remind people of who had inhabited that territory for millennia. So, like the Romans with their toponymic change — “Judaea” becoming “Palestine” — nearly 1800 years before, the Jordanians, after a year of reflection (the war officially ended in 1949), in 1950 decided to replace “Judea and Samaria” with the place name “West Bank.” It is a most peculiar appellation. After all, the riparian zone along a river is usually envisioned as of a uniform width, but the Jordanians’ “West Bank” is shaped like an ear. The Jordanians, and their fellow Arabs, by dint of repetition, made sure that “West Bank” was used so often, came more trippingly off the tongue than “Judea and Samaria” (it helped that people were uncertain whether “Judea and Samaria” were two distinct places, inked by a conjunction, or constituted one territory) and stuck so well in the popular mind, that it pushed “Judea and Samaria” out of common usage, save by the Israelis themselves. Even non-Israeli Jews now use the term “West Bank.”

People outside of Israel, including orthodox Jews and evangelical Christians, who persisted in using “Judea and Samaria,” found that “West Bank” had become so widely adopted that it was they who experienced a certain self-consciousness about using “Judea and Samaria.” “West Bank” is now used everywhere; it is up to us to undo that offense to history. When the Western media reports on Israelis, especially on those much-maligned “settlers,” they are often described as “using the Biblical terms Judea and Samaria,” as if that made such usage illegitimate. In other words, the fact that these place names had been used for three millennia by Jews and the rest of the Western world was not a point in their favor, but rather, was held against them. Amusing, isn’t it, that those people who would dismiss the use of “Judea and Samaria” because they are Biblical names have no objection to using the toponym “Gaza,” which is also a place name found in the Bible.

Now Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Congresswoman Claudia Tenney of New York have introduced a bill requiring the U.S. government to drop that preposterous “West Bank,” and to use the venerable, correct, imbued with history, place names “Judea and Samaria.” It’s an important bill; if it passes, it will put back into general circulation, by government fiat, “Judea and Samaria.” If every time a government official, from Trump and Rubio on down, gives a press conference, or holds a Congressional hearing, uses the terms “Judea and Samaria,” it will be an important victory, with the world being reminded that this territory has for more than three millennia been linked to the Jewish people; it was in Judea and Samaria, not in Haifa and Tel Aviv, where their history was made.

More about the legislation introduced Tom Cotton when he announced his resolution can be found here.

Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) today introduced the Retiring the Egregious Confusion Over the Genuine Name of Israel’s Zone of Influence by Necessitating Government-use of Judea and Samaria (RECOGNIZING Judea and Samaria) Act, legislation to require all official U.S. documents and materials to use the historically accurate term “Judea and Samaria” instead of the “West Bank”. This bill would require the use of historically accurate terminology and align U.S. policy language with the geographical and cultural significance of the region. This legislation was introduced in the House by Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (R-New York).

“The Jewish people’s legal and historic rights to Judea and Samaria goes back thousands of years. The U.S. should stop using the politically charged term West Bank to refer to the biblical heartland of Israel,” said Senator Cotton.

“The Israeli people have an undeniable and indisputable historical and legal claim over Judea and Samaria, and at this critical moment in history, the United States must reaffirm this,” said Congresswoman Tenney. “This bill reaffirms Israel’s rightful claim to its territory. I remain committed to defending the integrity of the Jewish state and fully supporting Israel’s sovereignty over Judea and Samaria.”

To some this will seem a minor matter. “Words, words, words,” as Hamlet said to Polonius. It is not. It is important to escort back into common usage the words, including place names, that the Arabs have managed to push aside and replaced with others that diminish or efface altogether, the Jewish link to the land. Senator Cotton and Congresswoman Tenney deserve the gratitude of all those who care about history and the truth.

Striking “West Bank’” And Inserting “Judea and Samaria”

The bill making this change of place-name mandatory throughout the American government has now been introduced by Senator Tom Cotton (D.-Ark) and Representative Claudia Tenney (D.-NY). It can be found here.

A BILL

To prohibit the use of materials that use the term ‘‘West Bank’’, and for other purposes.

1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Retiring the Egregious   Confusion Over the Genuine Name of Israel’s Zone of Influence by Necessitating Government-use of Judea and Samaria Act’’ or the ‘‘RECOGNIZING Judea and Samaria Act’’.

118TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION

Striking “West Bank’” And Inserting “Judea and Samaria”

The bill introduced by Senator Tom Cotton (D.-Ark) and Representative Claudia Tenney (D.-NY) can be found here. https://www.cotton.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/west_bank.pdf

A BILL

To prohibit the use of materials that use the term ‘‘West Bank’’, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SEC.1 SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Retiring the Egregious   Confusion Over the Genuine Name of Israel’s Zone of Influence by Necessitating Government-use of Judea and Samaria Act’’ or the ‘‘RECOGNIZING Judea and Samaria Act’’.

118TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

2  It is the sense of Congress that the United States Government—

(1) should refer to the land annexed by Israel from Jordan during the 1967 Six-Day War by its historical names of ‘‘Judea and Samaria’’, with the land south of Jerusalem being considered ‘‘Judea’’

and the land north of Jerusalem being considered ‘Samaria’’; and

(2) should no longer use the term ‘‘West Bank”  in official government materials.

2. SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON USE OF MATERIALS THAT USE THE TERM ‘‘WEST BANK’’.

3. (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, none of the funds authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available after the date of the enactment of this Act may be obligated or expended to prepare or promulgate any policy, guidance, regulation, in this section if the Secretary—determines that is in the interests of the United States to do so; and

(2) submits to Congress an explanation for the waiver not later than 30 days after the date on which the Secretary makes the determination.

  1.   SEC. 4. CONFORMING CHANGES TO UNITED STATES LAW. FOREIGN ASSISTANCE ACT OF 1961.—The For- Assistance Act of 1961 is amended as follows:

(1) In section 620K(f)(3) (22 U.S.C. 2378b(f)(3)), by striking ‘‘the West Bank’’ and inserting ‘‘Judea and Samaria’’.

(2) In section 620L (22 U.S.C. 2378c)—

(A) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘THE WEST BANK’’ and inserting ‘‘JUDEA AND SAMARIA’’; and

(B) by striking ‘‘the West Bank’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘Judea and Samaria’’.

(b) TAYLOR FORCE ACT.—Section 1004 of the Tay- lor Force Act (22 U.S.C. 2378c–1) is amended—

(1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘THE WEST BANK’’ and inserting ‘‘JUDEA AND SAMARIA’’; and

(2) by striking ‘‘the West Bank’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘Judea and Samaria’’.

(c) MULTINATIONAL FORCE AND OBSERVERS PAR- TICIPATION RESOLUTION.—Section 2 of the Multinational Force and Observers Participation Resolution (22 U.S.C. 3421) is amended by striking ‘‘the West Bank’’ and inserting ‘‘Judea and Samaria’’.

(d) OMNIBUS DIPLOMATIC SECURITY AND ANTITERRORISM ACT OF 1986.—Section 414 of the Om- nibus Diplomatic Security and Antiterrorism Act of 1986 (22 U.S.C. 4862) is amended—

(1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘WEST BANK’’ and inserting ‘‘JUDEA AND SAMARIA’’; and

(2) by striking ‘‘the West Bank’’ and inserting ‘‘Judea and Samaria’’.

(e) UNITED STATES-ISRAEL FREE TRADE AREA IMPLEMENTATION ACT OF 1985.—Section  9 of the United States-Israel Free Trade Area Implementation Act of 1985 (Public Law      99–47; 19 U.S.C. 2112 note) is amend-ed by striking ‘‘the West Bank’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘Judea and Samaria’’.

(f) IMPLEMENTING RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE 9/11 COMMISSION ACT OF 2007.—Section 2021(i) of the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 (22 U.S.C. 2151 note) is amended by striking ‘‘the West Bank’’ and inserting ‘‘Judea and Samaria’’.

(g) FOREIGN RELATIONS AUTHORIZATION ACT, FIS-CAL YEAR 2003.—Section 699 of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 2003 (Public Law 107– 228; 22 U.S.C. 2301 note) is amended—

(1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘WEST BANK’’ and inserting ‘‘JUDEA AND SAMARIA’’; and

(2) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘the West Bank’’ and inserting ‘‘Judea and Samaria’’.

(h) NITA M. LOWEY MIDDLE EAST PARTNERSHIP FOR PEACE ACT.—Section 8005 of the Nita M. Lowey Middle East Partnership for Peace Act (division K of Public Law 116–260) is amended by striking ‘‘the West Bank’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘Judea and Samaria’’.

Got it?  STRIKE “West Bank” and INSERT “Judea and Samaria.”

O where? Here, there, and everywhere.

AUTHOR

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EDITORS NOTE: This Jihad Watch column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Biden regime plans to label goods made by Jews in Judea and Samaria so they can be boycotted

Government-led boycotts of Jewish businesses. Hmmm. Where have we heard of such a thing before?

U.S. plans to label goods from Jewish settlements in occupied West Bank

by Felicia Schwartz, Financial Times, April 5, 2024:

The Biden administration is drawing up plans to require goods produced in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank to be clearly labelled as coming from there, according to US officials, another sign of White House unhappiness with the government of Benjamin Netanyahu.

The final go-ahead for the move, and its timing, have not been decided but it is intended to increase pressure on Israel over rising settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, and comes amid US frustration with the Jewish state’s conduct of the war in Gaza.

The move would reverse a policy introduced by the Donald Trump administration in 2020 that required goods produced in the West Bank to be labelled as “Made in Israel”….

Read more.

AUTHOR

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EDITOR NOTE: This Jihad Watch column is republished with permission. ®All rights reserved.

Attacks in West Bank Highlight Futility of Two-State Solution: Expert

Last week, an Israeli civilian was killed and several were left wounded after a Palestinian terrorist shot at cars around the Maale Adumim settlement. In response to the attack, Israel’s finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, announced that over 3,000 housing units would be built in the West Bank, also known by their biblical names of Judea and Samaria. This decision, however, seems to have sparked further controversy.

As The Jerusalem Post reported, other than a short period of time during the Trump administration, “Israeli settlements in the West Bank have almost always been a thorn in the relations between Israel and the U.S.” Secretary of State Antony Blinken has already condemned the construction initiatives. He stated that he’s “disappointed” because “settlements are counter-productive to reaching an enduring peace” and “inconsistent with international law.” He added that the Biden “administration maintains a firm opposition to settlement expansion,” holding the belief that the settlements “only weakens … Israel’s security.”

Some have pointed out that Blinken’s comments, as well as Biden’s developing stance on the issue, are the opposite of “the Trump administration’s view in 2019, which did not consider Israeli settlements in the West Bank as inconsistent with international law.” But as Family Research Council President Tony Perkins pointed out on “Washington Watch” Monday, the Biden administration has only widened the “divide between the U.S. and our strategic ally Israel.”

In addition to that statement, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said that the claim Blinken made during Friday’s press conference, that Israel’s decision was inconsistent with international law, was simply “not true.” He stated that Blinken’s belief implies “the Jewish people have no right to live in their biblical homeland.” And ultimately, “It really is just a gut punch to those who take a theological view to biblical Israel.” And “people need to know,” Perkins added, “when you hear this term ‘West Bank,’ we’re talking about everything we read about in the Bible.”

But aside from the biblical significance, Friedman highlighted that “Biden’s been nothing but difficult on some of Israel’s most important issues.” For instance, Biden has pushed for a two-state solution, Friedman pointed out, “which nobody in Israel wants. … [N]obody with half a brain should want.” In the past, when a two-state solution was in place and the Palestinians in Gaza were self-governing, Perkins noted that “all they did was focus on how they could attack Israel.”

Not to mention that the people in Gaza “have yet to denounce the October 7th attacks on Israel,” Perkins said. As a matter of fact, the Palestinian National Authority (PA) “has a pension system … where they award funds to terrorists … based upon the severity of the terrorist attack,” Friedman explained. In short, “The more Jews you kill or wound or maim, the more money you get as a pension,” he said. “And this goes on to this day.” In other words, Perkins explained, “the PA is just hostility by another name.”

Biden’s agenda for Israel, Friedman argued, would only lead to “another terrorist state and another October 7.” Perkins agreed, adding, “It would not even be kicking the can down the road, because we know exactly what’s going to happen with this setup. They regroup and they attack again.” To which Friedman concluded, whether it’s a two-state solution or ceasefire the administration is pushing, “It’s just a terrible idea on many fronts.”

AUTHOR

Sarah Holliday

Sarah Holliday is a reporter at The Washington Stand.

EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2024 Family Research Council.


The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

Palestinian poll shows overwhelming support for terrorism, and suggests that international attention is misplaced

An extraordinary survey of Palestinians shows widespread popular support for the Hamas massacres of October 7, with nearly all Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank feeling a sense of national pride since the attack.

The Arab World for Research and Development sociological center, or AWRAD, published the results on November 14 from its offices in Ramallah, West Bank. The main findings reveal a strong sense of unity and high morale:

  • 75 percent of residents in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank support the massacres of October 7;
  • 98 percent feel pride as Palestinians in light of this terrorist attack;
  • only 9 percent believe that reaching a peaceful agreement with Israel is possible;
  • a mere 7 percent consider the possibility of coexistence between the Arab and Jewish peoples;
  • contrary to demands of Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden, only 17 percent support a two-state solution;
  • nearly 75 percent support the creation of an Arab state “from the river to the sea,” meaning the physical destruction of the state of Israel;
  • almost 70 percent expect the continuation of war;
  • nearly 73 percent believe the Arabs will prevail;
  • only 3% think that Israel will emerge victorious.

The survey of 668 people was evenly conducted across the entire territory of the West Bank and Jerusalem. The conflict in Gaza limited the survey to Palestinians in Rafah, Khan Yunis, and Deir al-Balah, the southern and central parts of the territory.

Answers to questions, as a percentage of respondents:

Questions Sector Gaza West Bank Total
How much do you support the military operation carried out by the Palestinian resistance led by Hamas on October 7th? 63.6 83.1 75.0
Considering the ongoing events, do you feel a sense of pride as a Palestinian? 97.8 98.2 98.0
Now, has your commitment to a solution based on the restoration of historical Palestine as a final resolution increased? 66.4 74.4 71.1
Now, has your conviction in the possibility of achieving a peaceful solution with Israel increased?   9.0   9.2   9.1
Now, has your conviction in the possibility of coexistence between the Palestinian and Israeli peoples increased?   7.9   6.6   7.2
Do you support the solution of establishing one state or two states in the following formats:

Two-State Solution for Two Peoples

A Palestinian state from the river to the sea

 

 

22.7

70.4

 

 

13.3

77.7

 

 

17.2

74.7

Do you believe that Palestine or Israel will emerge victorious from this war?

Palestine

Israel

 

 

66.4

6.5

 

 

77.0

0.8

 

 

72.6

3.1

The overwhelming majority of those surveyed in Gaza and the West Bank rejected proposals expressed by Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden for the peaceful coexistence of Arab and Jewish states.

The survey also gives an idea of the levels of support among the population of Gaza and Ramallah for various current parties, terrorist groups, organizations, news media, and foreign countries. The United States and Israel rank dead last.

Positive assessment of the following parties/organizations/media/states, as a percentage of the number of respondents

Parties/Organizations/Media/States Sector Gaza West Bank Total
Al-Qassam Brigades 79.1 95.2 88.6
Islamic Jihad 71.9 92.9 84.2
Al-Aqsa Brigades 69.7 86.9 79.8
Hamas 59.6 87.7 76.0
Arabic media 37.5 56.0 48.4
Hizballah 44.1 45.8 45.1
Russia 34.7 43.0 39.5
China 35.3 33.2 34.4
Turkey 31.1 36.1 33.9
Iran 32.9 32.5 32.6
International Red Cross 26.7 27.8 27.3
Fateh, or Al-Fatah 18.4 26.6 23.2
Egypt 18.8 10.7 14.0
Jordan 13.0 11.5 12.1
Palestinian Authority   8.3 11.7 10.3
Western media 12.6   6.4   9.2
United Nations 14.8   5.1   9.1
EU   8.0   2.6   4.7
Saudi Arabia   1.4   4.1   2.9
UAE   1.5   3.3   2.5
UK   1.8   0.5   1.0
US   0.7   0.3   0.4
Israel   1.1   0.0   0.4

Among the Arabs of Gaza and Ramallah, Hamas ranks high but not at the top. In terms of the level of public support, other terrorist organizations –the al-Qassam Brigades, Islamic Jihad, and al-Aqsa Brigades – are at the top of the list.

Russia under Vladimir Putin enjoys support substantially higher than any Arab country in the survey. Qatar, which supports Hamas and other terrorist groups in addition to hosting a vital United States military facility, was not mentioned in the survey. Russia is also more popular than the Fateh Party, the old party of Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat, also known as Al-Fatah; and the wildly unpopular Palestinian Authority. Survey results show that Russia is more highly regarded than Islamist-run Turkey and Iran, and almost as popular as the Hezbollah terrorist group.

Conclusion

West Bank residents surveyed show markedly more support for violence and extremism than residents of Gaza, site of nearly all the combat during the conduct of the survey from October 31-November 7.

Survey results show that Hamas is far less popular in Gaza than the West Bank, and that three other terrorist groups are far more popular in both areas.

A conclusion to draw from the results is that international focus on Hamas and Gaza, and not on other terrorist groups and the people in the West Bank, is to miss the most crucial points of the latest war against Israel.

AUTHOR

Andrei Illarionov

Senior Analyst for Russian and European Affairs.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Center for Security Policy column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Those territories are not “occupied,” and there is no “West Bank” and no “Palestine”

This article makes supremely important points that are all too often overlooked. Find out how and why the “Palestinians” were invented in The Palestinian Delusion: The Catastrophic History of the Middle East Peace Process.

“Losing the Semantic War on ‘Palestine,’” by Mitchell Bard, Algemeiner, December 5, 2019:

I have written before about the importance of semantics in the discussion of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and how frustrated many people are about losing various battles over nomenclature, such as references to the disputed territories as “occupied,” and “Judea and Samaria” as the West Bank. An arguably more important semantic battle regarding this area has gone largely unnoticed — and been lost without a fight.

Many of Israel’s detractors, professors, the media, and others now routinely refer to the conflict as “Israel-Palestine.” Here are a few examples:

  • Jewish Voice for Peace has a web page for Israel Palestine Conflict 101.
  • Human Rights Watch’s website has the header “Israel/Palestine” as does the respected journal Foreign Policy.
  • The Global Policy Forum goes one better with its page on “Israel, Palestine and the Occupied Territories.”
  • Brown University’s newspaper headlined its coverage of a discussion by two Middle East analysts, “Policy experts talk Israel-Palestine conflict.”
  • Tablet ran the story, “How To Talk About Israel And Palestine.”
  • Haaretz, Newsweek, NPR, and The Independent are just a sample of media outlets listing articles under “Israel-Palestine.”
  • The Middle East Studies Association routinely has panels and papers such as “Regional Politics and the Palestine/Israel Conflict” and “Memory and History in the Palestine/Israel Conflict.”
  • The University of Colorado has an endowed professor of Israel/Palestine Studies in the Program in Jewish Studies.

Why is this a problem?

Any scholar who is not pushing a political agenda knows Palestine ceased to exist in 1948 when Israel won its war of independence, and Jordan (which is also part of historic Palestine) seized the West Bank and Egypt captured the Gaza Strip.

The use of the word “Palestine” is sometimes unclear. Is it referencing the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Israel, Gaza, or some combination of these areas? Depending on the interpretation, this could delegitimize the existence of Israel and the right of the Jewish people to self-determination in their homeland.

It is also problematic because it can imply that the conflict is over an area where the Palestinians were once sovereign. This feeds the narrative of Israel as an occupier. The Palestinians have never had a state, and had no interest in one during the Jordanian occupation.

Referring to the Israel-Palestine conflict also reinforces the idea that the dispute is over land. Often misleadingly described as a fight by two peoples over one land, the reality is more complex, as it involves politics, psychology, history, and religion. In recent years, the Islamization of the conflict has eclipsed other factors, as many Palestinians reject the historical Jewish connection to the land and will not contemplate Jews living on Islamic territory or ruling over Muslims.

The most pernicious aspect of the reference to “Palestine” is to create a false equivalency with the sovereign nation of Israel. Israel is a democracy that shares the values and interests of the West. Palestine does not exist; it may one day in the future, but for now, there is only the Palestinian Authority, which is autocratic, denies its people their basic rights, and does not share the values or interests of the West…

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EDITORS NOTE: This Jihad Watch column is republished with permission. © All rights reserved.

The Malice of the Leader of the Democratic Party

President Barack Obama is the leader of the Democratic Party. It is expected that after he leaves office on January 20th, 2017 he will continue to be the de-facto leader of the Democratic Party.

His legacy is the legacy of the Democratic Party.

In my column “How Democrats Fundamentally Changed from the Party of JFK to the Party of BHO” I asked, “Where are the Blue Dog Democrats? Purged from the BHO Party? As Ronald Reagan once said he did not leave the Democratic Party, rather the Democratic Party left him. So it is with many Democrats. The BHO Party has left them in the lurch.”

The Democratic Party has become the party of protests, anarchists and tribalism. They cling to illusions of racism, bigotry and embrace an anti-American world view. 

We have been writing about how President Obama has warmly embraced Islam as a person, as President and as the leader of the Democratic Party. Since his election in 2008 there has been malice, with forethought, against America in general and Israel in particular.

In a May 2015 column Dissected: President Obama’s Anti-Israelism Jerry Gordon wrote:

Both Vic Rosenthal’s Abu Yehuda  blog post, “For Obama it’s a Moral Crusade” and Brett Stephens’ Tuesday Wall Street Journal column,“The Rational Ayatollah Hypothesis” suggest that the President’s comments sinuously convey anti-Israelism.

Rosenthal gives the following evidence:

Some of the reasons I and others find Obama anti-Israel are these:

  1. His stubborn attempts to force Israel into a suicidal agreement with the Palestinians.
  2. His acceptance (regardless of his words) of a nuclear-armed Iran, and his efforts to stop Israel from acting against it.
  3. His open contempt for our Prime Minister.
  4. His taking the Turkish president’s side in the Mavi Marmara affair, and forcing PM Netanyahu to apologize to the Turks.
  5. His acceptance of Hamas claims that the IDF acted ‘disproportionally’ in Gaza (as shown by his demand for an immediate cease-fire and imposition of an arms embargo during the recent war).
  6. The aforementioned leaks about Israeli actions in Syria and elsewhere.
  7. His acceptance of the anti-Israel narrative that Israel’s right to exist rests on the Holocaust and that it must be balanced against the rights of the ‘deserving’ Palestinians (as expressed in his 2009 Cairo speech).
  8. His attempts to interfere in Israeli politics, including trying to defeat Netanyahu at the polls. It’s ironic that American money was used to help get out the presumably anti-Netanyahu Arab vote — and then Obama bitterly criticized Netanyahu for telling his supporters that they should get out and vote because the Arabs were!
  9. The double standard he displays: compare his condemnation of the PM for his election-day remark with his lack of response to the daily barrage of Israel-hatred and veneration of terrorists coming from the official Palestinian media. Or look at his expressed concern for Palestinians suffering the indignities of checkpoints against his failure to mention the almost daily Jewish victims of Palestinian terrorism.

I could go on, but this should be enough to show that the belief that Obama is anti-Israel is substantive, not simply a political reflex as he suggests.

Obama and Democratic Party have now shown malice toward Israel.

This malice began when Obama was first elected to the Presidency. His remarks about embracing Israel, and its people, and having their backs was a fabrication, a political calculation to lure them into a spiraling chamber of death.

The Nazis tried to exterminate the Jews under Adolf Hitler. President Obama has given the followers of Mohammed another signal that its alright to exterminate the state of Israel – the definition of malice. Obama with one abstention has made possible the unthinkable.

Lutheran Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, an opponent of Adolf Hitler, wrote, “Not to act is to act, not to speak is to speak.” Obama chose not to act, not to speak, at the United Nations on December 23rd, 2016.

That is his and the Democratic Party’s legacy.

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VIDEO: Which is the Apartheid State? This sign says it all…

Have you ever wondered why there are so many people who refer to Israel as an apartheid state? Well, most have no interest in the truth. They simply hate Jews and this is just another way for the haters to hate.

While in Israel we came across a road sign to Jericho, a city located near the Jordan River in the Palestinian controlled West Bank, which reads:

This Road leads To Area “A” Under The Palestinian Authority. The Entrance For Israeli Citizens Is Forbidden, Dangerous To Your Lives And Is Against The Israeli Law.

This video of the sign demonstrates how APARTHEID the state of Israel really is NOT. An urban legend gone wrong:

EDITORS NOTE: The featured image of the road sign leading to Jericho is by .

VIDEO: Iranian-Backed Harakat al-Sabireen Terror Group in West Bank and Gaza

 reports:

A new Iranian-backed terror group is making inroads in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, where it operates underground with the potential capacity to deliver devastating attacks to Israel, according to regional experts who have been investigating the organization’s rise.

The group, which goes by the name Harakat al-Sabireen, was established around May 2014 but has begun in recent months to boost its public profile on social media and brag about its plots to wage jihad against Israel, according to information gathered by regional analysts and provided to the Washington Free Beacon.

Al-Sabireen is believed to receive $10 million a year from Iran via funds that are smuggled through a large network of tunnels built by terrorists to facilitate illicit travel beneath the Gaza Strip, according to estimates disseminated in the Arab language press.

Read more.

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Hamas Murderers of Israeli Yeshiva Students Killed in Shootout near Hebron

hamasmurderers

Marwan Kawasmeh and Amer Abu Eisha killers of three Israel Yeshiva students.

Marwan Kawasmeh and Amir Abu Eisha, the two alleged perpetrators  of the June 2014 kidnap/murders of  three Israeli Yeshiva Students, were killed early Tuesday morning in a shootout at an armed compound near Hebron by a special operations unit of Israeli Border Police aided by Shin Bet. Hamas, which took responsibility for the murders, praised the two slain perpetrators  as so-called ‘martyrs’ during a funeral today. See our NER interview with Dan Diker,”Exposing Hamas’ Kidnapping Strategy.

According to a report in Arutz Sheva, Israel National News, “Murderers of the Three Teens Eliminated”, the kidnapping and murder of the three Yeshiva students was preplanned. A relative of the family obtained a car with Israeli license tags and the perpetrators were dressed as orthodox Jews  to mislead  and entrap the three hitchhiking victims, Eyal Yifrah, Gilad Sha’ar, and Naftali Frenkel.   Hamas used the manhunt that ensnared hundreds of its members on the West Bank as a pretext for the launch of 50 day rocket and terror tunnel campaign and IDF Operation Protective Edge in July and August 2014.  67 IDF soldiers and 6 Israel civilians were killed, while 2,100 Palestinians were killed, nearly half of whom may have been Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters.

Here are excerpts from the Arutz Sheva report. On the raid that killed the two murderers:

The operation was carried out by the Yamam, a special unit of the Border Police, and the IDF, in Hevron. An attempt was made to arrest the suspects but an exchange of fire developed in which they were killed.

The operation was made possible by the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), which located the murderers’ hideout. In the last few days, several Hamas suspects were arrested and questioned on the assumption that they were assisting the fugitives.

“We have been pursuing these two since the abduction,” said Judea and Samaria Division Commander Brig. Gen. Tamir Yadai. “Last night the investigation ripened as regards their location and we have been surrounding the place where they were hiding since 1:00 a.m. We killed them and there are arrests of several other collaborators.”

“We began arresting suspects and at the same time we applied [IDF] ‘pressure cooker’ protocol on the house. It is a big house and they hid out in a secret arms store on the basement floor. The floor is not visible from the outside. At one stage they went outside and opened fire. One was shot and the other fell inside, into a hole.”

“There was use of weapons, like hand grenades and the deployment of explosives that were prepared ahead of time,” he added. “We know that they have been staying in this location quite a lot in the last few days. We know for certain that they were not here the whole time. They had weapons like M-16s, a Kalashnikov and handguns, too.”

3 isreali students murdered

Naftali Frenkel, Gilad Sha’ar,  Eyal Yifrah Two Israelis and an Israel American kidnapped and murdered by slain Hamas operatives.

The accomplices and planning for the kidnapping:

Kawasmeh’s close relative Hussam was arrested in Jerusalem in August for planning the attack, which was carried out physically by Marwan, along with Amer Abu-Eisha.

The abduction and murder reportedly was planned by a third Kawasmeh, Mahmoud, along with Hussam, under the support of Hamas’s military branch, the Al-Qassam Brigades, through their branches both in Gaza and abroad.

The Brigades transferred funds via Mahmoud to purchase a car with an Israeli license plate, weapons and hideouts which were arranged in advance, according to security sources. They added that the three Israeli teens were buried on land purchased by the Kawasmeh family long before the attack. Hussam admitted in investigation to having shaven his beard off and obtained a forged passport in an attempt to flee the country to Jordan.

[…]

The source claimed the kidnappers used a silenced weapon, indicating their attempt to actually use the gun, and dressed up as religious Jews to lure the victims into their car.

The Jerusalem Post reported Israeli PM Netanyahu saying that Israel “had fulfilled its pledge”:

“I said from the very first that Hamas was responsible for the kidnapping and murder, and as the evidence that we brought mounted, Hamas admitted that it was also behind that attack.”

Netanyahu, who thanked the security services for their efforts, said he spoke to the families of the murdered teens in the morning, and said that nothing could balm their pain or bring the boys back. “But I said there was justice, and that we carried out the mission that we pledged before them and the entire nation that we would carry out”.

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared in the New English Review.