It’s Photo Friday!
Here’s a moment to treasure — two kids playing along an empty streetcar track on a rainy afternoon in Jerusalem.
“Do the skies themselves send down showers? No, it is you, LORD our God. Therefore our hope is in you, for you are the one who does all this” (Jeremiah 14:22). Shabbat Shalom to all — have a wonderful weekend.
Comments (2) »Friday, February 3rd, 2012 at 3:34 PM | Stand for Israel
Iran’s a joke — but the world’s not laughing
It’s no longer news that Iran wants a world without Israel and that it’s leaders seek to wipe Israel off the map. But, if it were news, we’d want to report to you that the Tehran improv comedy troupe known as “the Iranian government” was at it again today. “The Zionist regime is a cancerous tumor and it will be removed,” said Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at Friday prayers in Tehran. No word yet on whether they’ll use the latest Israeli-made techniques for treating cancer.
We’ve come to look at these guys as a joke – and their own words make it easy. In the same speech, Iran’s Supreme Leader claimed that the Islamic Revolution that installed his theocracy in 1979 had “replaced dictatorship with democracy.” He said that war with the United States – which only Iran is seriously talking about right now – “would be 10 times worse for America.” Usually when they speak, we roll our eyes and maybe laugh at them. And that’s okay – they deserve to be laughingstocks.
But we should keep in mind that the threat they pose is not a joke. Today, Iran announced that it had successfully launched an advanced observation satellite into space. The concern here is twofold: first, Iran claims that the imaging and surveillance capabilities of the satellite are far more advanced than they’ve had access to previously; and, second, the continued development of Iranian rocket technology means that we’ve taken another step closer to one of the world’s worst regimes having Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs).
And, as if we need further reminders of how close Iran is to developing nuclear weapons, the news today also carries a report that UN inspectors were, just today, denied access to a key Iranian military facility. Such denial is a violation of Iran’s treaty obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (which they’ve been serially violating for decades and been sanctioned for by the UN Security Council four times…so at least it’s familiar territory).
Comments (1) »Friday, February 3rd, 2012 at 12:44 PM | Stand for Israel
A memory of the Intifada
As we come to the 10-year anniversary of the height of the 2002 terror war against Israel, IFCJ and SFI staff will be sharing with you their memories of those difficult days.
The second intifada had already started by the time I got to Israel – most people say it began with Sharon going up to the Temple Mount in September of 2000, others say it had been ongoing for some time. I arrived on June 2, 2001 (the day after the bombing at the Dolphinarium) for my first year in seminary. I settled in to my apartment at 5 Lincoln (yes, THAT Lincoln) St. in the neighborhood of Rechavia. One block down the hill was my school. A ten minute walk from the Old City. 15 minutes from the Wall. Still one of the happiest times of my life.
But gradually, over the course of the year, the violence got worse. It’s hard for most people to remember now, but the Israeli army had left the West Bank and Gaza years before as part of the Oslo Accords. The forces of Yasser Arafat were solely responsible for security and police work in the territories.
Around this time, in early 2002, the situation started to come to a head. The violence against civilians escalated severely and there were attacks or thwarted attacks every single day. It was during this time that I developed a policy of emailing my parents as soon as I could after a bombing to let them know that I and my classmates were alright. My father saved many of those emails and sent them to me a few years ago.
And then, in early 2002, in the middle of my year in Jerusalem, things started to get really bad. Ten years ago this afternoon, a suicide bomber blew herself up on Jerusalem’s busy Jaffa Road (Yaffo, in Hebrew). Pinhas Tokatli, 81, of Jerusalem was killed and over 150 people were wounded, four seriously. The female terrorist, identified as a Fatah member, was armed with more than…
Read More » Comments (7) »Tuesday, January 31st, 2012 at 3:53 PM | Rabbi Jonathan Greenberg
International Holocaust Remembrance Day
The Hall of Names at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem (Photo: David Shankbone)
Today is International Holcaust Remembrance Day. It’s also the 67th anniversary of the liberation of the notorious Auschwitz death camp, which was captured by Russian troops on January 27, 1945.
It’s difficult for us to imagine what it must have been like to be one of those soldiers encountering for the first time such a staggering example of man’s inhumanity to man. Dwight Eisenhower, commander of U.S. forces in Europe during World War II, wasn’t present at the liberation of Auschwitz, but he did visit a forced labor camp. He never forgot what he saw there. Several years after the war, he wrote of the experience:
“The same day I saw my first horror camp. It was near the town of Gotha. I have never felt able to describe my emotional reaction when I first came face to face with indisputable evidence of Nazi brutality and ruthless disregard of every shred of decency.
“I visited every nook and cranny of the camp because I felt it my duty to be in a position from then on to testify at firsthand about these things in case there ever grew up at home the belief or assumption that ‘the stories of Nazi brutality were just propaganda.
“Some members of the visiting party were unable to go through the ordeal. I not only did so but as soon as I returned to Patton’s headquarters that evening I sent communications to both Washington and London, urging the two governments to send instantly to Germany a random group of newspaper editors and representative groups from the national legislatures. I felt that the evidence should be immediately placed before the American and British publics in a fashion that would leave no room for cynical doubt.”
Remembering can be painful, but it is necessary. So, today, remember the six million who were killed during the Holocaust simply for being Jewish, as well as the millions of others who fell victim…
Read More » Comments (2) »Friday, January 27th, 2012 at 11:48 AM | Stand for Israel
Responding to an Israel-hater
A Soldier’s Mother responds to a hateful comment on her blog that asks, “How does it feel to live in a country [Israel] hated by millions of people all over the world … because of your country´s hatred, racism, war crimes and evil acts.”:
So how does it feel to accept who you are, where you live, and what your country must do to survive? How does it feel to finally be in control of your own destiny, to be free in your own land? To raise your children in the place where they belong? How does it feel to have sons and daughters who are proud of their country and choose to defend it…and more, have the option to choose life – for the first time in 2,000 years, and the power to make that option reality? Pretty darn good. Thanks for asking.
The entire response is worth your time. Read it all.
Comments (15) »Thursday, January 26th, 2012 at 10:02 AM | Stand for Israel
"informing, equipping and mobilizing individuals and churches to support the
State of Israel"
State of Israel"
Recent Posts
U.S. closes embassy in Syria
Remembering the victims of the 2002 terror war against Israel
It's Photo Friday!
Iran's a joke -- but the world's not laughing
Palestinians throw shoes at U.N. Secretary-General
