Israel’s News Blog Magazine: Daily Stories Video and Photos

Heres an age-old, yet continuous phenomenon that continues to plague Jews in Israel and throughout the world. I just listened to the news about two Hollywood celebrities who are now doing a film project together. Scarlett Johanssen and Natalie Portman, two beautiful women and divas on the stage and screen. Portman, born in Jerusalem and raised in Long Island, New York grew up with a strong Jewish identification. A graduate of the Jewish “Day School” system (not sure which one, yet this is what I heard from more than one reliable source), Portman hit stardom at the age of 13 when she landed the leading role in the Broadway adaption of “Anne Frank, A Diary of a Young Girl”. From then on, she blossomed into a Queen of Stage and Screen.

Golden Globe nominee and Native New Yorker Scarlett Johannsen began her career in the Off-Broadway production of “Sophistry” with Ethan Hawke. A daughter of a Danish father and Jewish mother, Johanssen identifies as being a Jew and wears the title of “Jewess” proudly. During the many years of assimilation and intermarriage, many of her counterparts who were the product of a Jewish mother and non-Jewish father, tend to lose the identification and consider their Jewish identity as irrelevant. Yet, it is evident that many still consider themselves Jews.

Now, back to the phenomenon. For many decades, Jews around the world have been intrigued and fascinated by other Jews who have achieved celebrity status. Though many other ethnic groups may share this nostalgic feeling, it seems to me that Jews have the monopoly here. Adam Sandler’s famous hanukkah songs with a list of tens of Jewish celebrities are proof of the pudding (or should I say “borscht”). People roared with laughter the first time his song was played on the radio and since its during and before hanukkah, it always coincides with Christmas (which happens to be the birthday of another Jewish man, yet I won’t go there).

So there you have it. Is it pride? Is it intrigue or is it a little bit of both? Fact is, the intrigue and nostalgia behind the statement, “She’s Jewish, y’know”… seems to be more unique in Jewish circles than in others.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel did have her say in the Knesset, including a few halting words in Hebrew, thanking Israeli parliamentarians for giving her the honor of speaking before them. Although her address was received courteously by a nearly full MK delegation, there were several who were absent due to their unwillingness to hear her address in German, the same language spoken so fiercely once by another German Chancellor, Adolf Hitler.

This address was the crowing point of her visit, which is the third she has made since becoming Germany’s leader. Her predecessor, Gerhard Schroeder, did not visit Israel even once during his 7 year term from 1998 to 2005. Although Ms. Merkel appears to be very much aware of her country’s dark past, and it’s responsibilities towards preventing such an occurrence like the Holocaust from ever occurring again, she is also probably aware that as much as she would like to, she cannot guarantee that her countrymen and women will not one day forget the period that has gone down as one of the darkest annals in world history. Some of her remarks, during her 40 minute speech in regards to German responsibility for these events are noted here:

“You may think what you want about Israel and the Jews. Many media and others in Germany defame Israel. Yet I wish, publicly, to show on behalf of the German people our responsibility for the acts of our Nazi forebears, whom we elected. I want to do that in many ways, and my visit to Yad Vashem and my speech in the Knesset - which you may strongly dislike - best symbolize this. ”
I dealing with her personal awareness to her responsibilities concerning the Holocaust, she added:

“Since the war, Germany has been welcomed back into the family of nations and has again become a major political force. However, many abroad wonder how much of the criminal past is still latent within us, and when and to what extent it will reemerge. My frequent visits to Israel - and the nature of our relations with it - also show that I am well aware of that.”

In the end, Merkel’s speech before the Knesset can only be interpreted that as much as she and many other Germans would like to prevent new upsurges in German Antisemitism, she simply cannot be responsible for what will transpire in the future. It will not be long before everyone directly involved in the period of 1938 to 1945 will be dead; and this includes both the victims as well as their tormentors.

When this happens, it will be much easier for historians, in both Germany and elsewhere, to attempt to re-write history as there will be no witnesses around to prove it otherwise. Although there are plenty of photographs, records (the Nazis were excellent record keepers) and other material around, the longer time passes, the less this information will be believed as actual fact.

This is the reality of historical events, including one as awesome and as tragic as the Holocaust. But in a country like Germany where many people are trying to forget what their parents and grandparents did in WWII, history could very well be “re-written” in order to satisfy the nationalistic norms of future generations.

We should wish the efforts of Chancellor Merkel well, and hope that her successor will carry on her efforts to insure Germany’s responsibility in preventing such an occurrence from reoccurring, not only by her countrymen, but from those in other countries as well, especially ones like Iran, with whom Germany has good trading and diplomatic relations. For as the time worn saying goes, “he who does not learn from history is doomed to repeat it”.

After the story about Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama’s black supremacist, anti-semitic, troofer pastor (“Jesus was a poor black man who lived in a country controlled by rich white people…”) broke this week in the mainstream media, many Americans and non-Americans are scratching their heads, mumbling to themselves, “Really?”

The Wright story comes on the heels of Samantha Power– a “humans right expert” and former top adviser to the Obama campaign– calling Hillary Clinton “a monster,” a term she’d previously reserved for brutal dictators like Milosevic and Saddam Hussein.

A closer look at these Obama advisers showed their more frightening sides: Samantha Power, who vehemently condemns the invasion of Iraq, once said that the US should invade Israel in order to force a peace settlement between us and the Palestinians. Nice.

Obama’s connections with the former leader of the American terror group the Weather Undergorund, Bill Ayers, are well established and go un-denied by the campaign. Likewise with his connection to radical PLO supporter Rashid Khalidi, who now takes cover under the flimsy umbrella of Columbia University.

Obama sat on the board of a Chicago charity called the Wood’s Fund with Bill Ayers. During the boardroom tenure of Obama and the former terrorist, the charity funded an organization called the Arab American Action Network, which happened to be founded and run by none other than Rashid Khalidi’s wife.

Obama and his lever-pullers (including those in the media) have fired back saying the group was a “local” charity that helped “local” people improve their “local” lives. The claim looks silly in the face of photos of Barack and Michelle Obama sitting next to the academic Palestinian crusader Edward Said at AAAN fund raisers.

But here’s the rub: Obama was aligned at the time with an Arab intellectual with ties to the PLO; he fund raised directly and indirectly for an organization called the Arab American Action Network; he was tutored by an anti-Semitic, anti-white preacher who carries on a global oppressor-oppressed narrative as if it’s scientific fact; he hired a “human rights” expert who made statements in support of an American ground invasion (!) of Israel.

Any of these associations on their own could be dismissed as benign and passing. Together they leave us asking only one question: Have we been Obama’d?

We have another visitor these days, McCain is in town. After Merkel’s Hebrew words in the Knesset its time for the US presidential hopeful to say a few words. Anything is better then the mess that Obama is in with his rogue role model I guess…

Some Excerpts:

“If Hamas/Hezbullah succeeds here, they are going to succeed everywhere, not only in the Middle East, but everywhere. Israel isn’t the only enemy..”

“They are dedicated to the extinction of everything that the US, Israel and the West believe and stand for. So America does have an interest in what happens here, far above and beyond our alliance with the State of Israel.”

“Someone is going to have to answer me the question of how you are going to negotiate with an organization that is dedicated to your extinction..”

“I really think that we should understand that the US and Israel are partners. Israel is not a client of the United States,” he said. “If you are partners, then you don’t dictate what you think the terms of the survival of a nation should be.”

“I can tell you that I believe that if rocket attacks came across the border of the United States of America, that the American people would probably demand pretty vigorous actions in response. I think I know my constituency in the state of Arizona, and they would be pretty exercised if rockets came across our southern border.”

“At the end of the day, we can still not afford to have Iran with nuclear weapons,” he said. “We know they have ambitions that are not just aimed at the State of Israel.”

Many people living in Israel may not be aware that the Jewish festival of Purim and the (Western) Christian Holy Day of Easter fall on the same weekend this year. Easter, which actually came originally after the beginning of the Passover Holiday, commemorates the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, while Purim, the Jewish festival that is said to celebrate the Jewish People’s victory over the wicked Haman in Persia more than 2400 years ago, usually occurs before Easter and always occurs one month prior to Passover, of Pesach as many Jews refer to it.

This year, due to there being two months of Adar in the Hebrew calendar, Adar Aleph and Adar Bet, this results in all of the Jewish holidays falling much later this year, with Pesach coming on April 20th. While this phenomenon, sometimes referred to as the “Jewish Leap Year” may result in some confusion in secular circles, religious Jews could care less as they go by their own calendar which is based on the lunar cycle, with the extra month of Adar coming every four years to ‘balance out’ the lunar calendar sequence.

Purim, is a joyous holiday, especially when celebrated in Israel; and it gives people an excuse to let off some steam and dress up in funny costumes. Many people go to Purim parties where seasonal foods, included three cornered cookies called “homentashens” or “Ozney Haman” (depending on a persons’ Hebrew or Yiddish orientation) and also partaking in a bit of strong drink (by adults, of course). Jewish kids look forward to Purim and many even plan their costumes months in advance.

While Purim is a festival of emancipation and liberation to Jews, Easter is something else altogether to Christians, and usually heralds the coming of Spring. Both Purim and Easter also fall on the beginning of Spring, or the Spring Equinox, which ushers in the period of longer days than nights which climax with the beginning of Sumner on June 21. Easter is supposed to be a much more solemn than Christianity’s holiest day, Christmas, and this is reflected in the week prior to Easter which includes Good Friday, the day when Jesus was crucified.

Getting back to Purim, though not really a religious holiday for Jews, it’s a joyous time, and in Israel anyway, kids do have a two day school holiday (unless it falls on Shabbat, like it unfortunately does (for the kids anyway) this year. For those who are not aware of the history behind this festival, Purim as based on a non-biblical work known as the Book of Esther that relates how a Jewish woman named Esther who was married to King Xerxes of Persia, known to Jews as Achashverosh, helped save her people from being purged and killed by an evil administrator named Haman who held a high position in the Persian court. Esther convinced her husband to issue an edict to allow the Jews to defend themselves against Haman, who was eventually executed by the King. The resulting salvation of the Persian Jewish Community later resulted in the festival of Purim, which is still happily celebrated today.

Yeshiva youths took matters into their own hands the other day by marching into the Arab neighborhood of Jabil Mukaber by attempting to tear down the home of Ala Abu-Dhaim, the terrorist who murdered eight young students at Yeshiva Mercaz HaRav Kook earlier this month. The youths were angry with the Israeli government’s inaction in response to the murders, in addition to the huge support Arabs have offered this family, decided to once and for all, do something about it.

The protesters first met at a rendezvous at Armon HaNatziv interchange and then marched forth into the Jerusalem suburb which is home to many Arabs with Israeli citizenship. Entering the neighborhood, the young and angry protesters carrying posters decrying the atrocity were met with stones and slurs from Arab residents. The youth retaliated, giving them a taste of their own medicine. Upon proceeding to the home of the terrorist, the youth were met by Israeli police, protecting the Abu-Dhaim home and getting into physical shuffles with the Israeli youth. Some of the youth were arrested and those who weren’t, left the scene.

Odd scene - though the youth were threatening to others in retaliation for cold-blood murder, those who were being defended were those who have been lauding the murder as some sort of victory and have been supporting the terrorist’s family through their loss.

Can this be described as an “only in Israel” story or what?

Personally, I’m not advocating violence, nor do I think it was a truly wise idea for the young men to march into the village and attempt to tear the house down, however, the anger of the youth is more than justified. Not only for the horrific occurrence in Jerusalem nearly three weeks ago, yet for the rather soft response of the Olmert government. Since the Peres government, some years ago, the State of Israel has retaliated against terrorism by laying the home of the terrorist to waste, leaving those he left behind homeless. As far as I know the house still stands proudly, with signs and banners glorifying Ala Abu-Dhaim and the murders that took place.

Just to add salt to a wound, this morning a 49 year old Rabbi, Rav Yechezel Greenwald of Beit El, was stabbed in his neck in the Old City near Damascus Gate. Security cameras managed to catch a picture of the terrorist’s face as he fled from the scene.

This is a campaign to keep in touch with the Savta AKA. Bubi - Give her a call, she is alone.
Before its too LATE !!!

There was a long discussion in recent days about what are going to be the effects of the US drop on the Israeli market. In the local coffee shop the saying was “if the US will sneeze we will catch a cold” others were very confident that the Israeli economy is very strong and would withstand a drop in the US and global markets.

Today I just want to say one thing: AAAHHHHH!!!!!

German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrived in Israel on Sunday for the start of a three day visit to both Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. This is Merkel’s second visit to Israel since being elected Chancellor; and one of her agendas includes addressing the Knesset on Tuesday. Appearing with Prime Minister Olmert shortly after her arrival, Merkel said that her country is strongly committed to Israel’s defense, and added that “a threat to Israel is also a threat to us”.

Merkel went on to mention that she plans to put more effort into confronting the threat that Israel faces from Iran, which many say is Israel’s greatest threat today. Merkel’s address, in German, before the Knesset on Tuesday has upset some Knesset members, as well as many Holocaust survivors still alive and living in Israel. The address will be the first by a German head of state since diplomatic relations were established between the two countries in 1965. Since then, Israel and Germany enjoy thriving trade relations, and victims of the Holocaust, and their families have received more than 18 billion Euros ($25 billion) in retribution payments.

Germany has tried to promote the cause of peace between Israelis and Palestinians, which has often been problematic due to continuous acts of violence between the two entities, as well as Israel’s polices dealing with settlements in what the Palestinians consider to be occupied land. The German Republic’s relations with the Hamas controlled sector of the Palestinian Authority has become even more problematic, and she has no plans to visit Gaza during her visit.

Merkel’s visit will coincide with the visit on Tuesday of U.S. Senator and Republican Presidential candidate John McCain, who is presently on a “surprise visit” to Iraq. McCain is a strong supporter to America’s continued involvement in Iraq, and even commented recently that as far as he is concerned, American troops “will stay in Iraq for even a hundred years if they need to”. McCain is also said to be a strong supporter of Israel, which probably explains his desire to come here for a firsthand look regarding the situation. Whether the two will meet while McCain is in Israel is not known.

It will be interesting to see what kind of response Merkel receives when she does address the Knesset in a language that bring back only the darkest memories to Israel’s more than 200,000 Holocaust survivors. However, as German is her native tongue, many people believe that Chancellor Merkel has the right to speak in this language during her Knesset address, and it must be noted that Israeli leaders have spoken to German government bodies in Hebrew in the past.

Just what does the guy who looks like he just ate a very bitter persimmon have to do with the former President of the State of Israel? Well, it appears that both of them had to resign over a few “problems” concerning women; that’s what! Elliot Spitzer, who just resigned his position as Governor of the State of New York, was nailed by U.S. Federal officials for being involved with prostitutes. This is despite the fact that he was a former prosecuting attorney and won the governorship over a campaign to fight organized crime, of which the world’s oldest profession is definitely a part of. Spitzer, seen standing at a press conference with the future ex-Mrs. Spitzer, confessed that he had been “consorting” with high priced hookers for several years. Some of them, especially a young nymphet named “Kristine” ( actually Ashley Alexandre Dupree), were charging Spitzer fees amounting to as much as $4,500 for a two hour romp.

All together, the now Ex-New York Governor is alleged to have spent more than $80 Grand on these gals, some of which may have come from the State Treasury. What complicates this matter even further is that Spitzer, A Democrat, is a close friend and confidant of Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton, who just happens to the a U.S. Senator from New York. In fact, Mr. Spitzer was one of a group of super delegates whose votes might be crucial for Clinton to push her past Barack Obama and be elected her party’s candidate for the Presidency.

Now for the other guy. No need to say much about him as Mr. Moshe Katsav, former President of the State of Israel, has been mentioned numerous times on this web blog. Katsav’s crimes are far worse than Spitzer’s who only faces misdemeanor charges for consorting with prostitutes, should he be arraigned at all. Katsav refused to resign his post when first implicated for a number of serious sex offenses which included rape, sexual harassment, and sexual abuse; as well as perjury and extortion. In order to get off the hook, Katsav cut a deal with the State Attorney, Manny Mazuz, in which Katsav would plead guilty to much lesser crimes, pay a modest fine and compensation to some of his alleged victims, and formerly resign his post. He finally did resign about two weeks before his term of office officially came to an end.

Both of these guys are now considered as real jerk-offs and scum bags by people in their respective countries. The question is how low a public official can go while holding the people’s trust. Obviously, they can go a hell of along way!