Israel prevented 17 sight-impaired Gazans from leaving for cornea transplant operations on time

*If this is something you can defend, you are incapable of caring.*

The Israeli authorities at Erez checkpoint this week prevented the exit of 17 sight-impaired patients, suffering from various eye diseases, from the Gaza Strip in order to undergo cornea transplants, a treatment that is not available in the Gaza health system. Because of this delay, the medical window of opportunity to perform the transplants for these patients was closed, because corneas can be transplanted only within the shortest time frame (24-48 hours after they are extracted from the donor’s body). The patients from Gaza whose exit was prevented will therefore have to wait for another donation, which may or may not happen.

At the beginning of the week Physicians for Human Rights – Israel (PHR-Israel) received an appeal from the Musallam Medical Center in Gaza. According to the appeal, a large group of 14 patients from Gaza, who were invited to Ramallah for cornea transplants from Sunday to Wednesday this week (January 3-5, 2010), did not reach their destination. Three other patients approached PHR-Israel separately. The group of patients includes some who were waiting weeks or even months for cornea transplants. The longest wait was 31-year-old S.A., who has been waiting for this operation for three years.

The main Musallam Medical Center in Ramallah this week received two deliveries from the US with dozens of corneas, donated by Tissue Bank International, an American organization that facilitates cornea and tissue transplants. Every year corneas are sent during Christmas break, during which such operations do not take place in the US, as a donation to the Palestinian health system, and dedicated especially to eye patients from Gaza.

The inquiry by the medical center in Ramallah raised the concern that the exit of the patients from Gaza was being prevented by the Israeli authorities, and accordingly PHR-Israel on Sunday made an urgent request to the DCO in Gaza, responsible for issuing exit permits to patients. In its appeal to the DCO, PHR warned that preventing the exit of the vision-impaired patients for eye operations this week will necessarily cause them to lose the opportunity for cornea transplants in the near future, if ever, because the corneas designated for the transplants have a very short expiration date.

Despite this request, the Israeli authorities prevented the exit of the 17 patients for the operation on time. Five patients were not given any answer; two patients were summoned to investigations by the General Security Service (GSS), scheduled for dates later than the cornea expiration dates; two requests were rejected; and eight requests were approved only after media intervention, but after the corneas had already expired.

This case, with its far-reaching consequences for the vision-impaired patients who now lost the opportunity to repair their eyesight, illustrates the many difficulties that face the residents of Gaza who need medical care that is not available in the Gaza Strip. The delays, apathy and rejection by the Israeli authorities, which every month curtail the access of dozens of patients to medical care, had particularly severe significance in this case, because prevention of these patients’ exit from Gaza caused the loss of the corneas (which can be transplanted within no more than 48 hours from the moment of donation). Now the patients will have to wait for another cornea donation, at an unknown time and likelihood.

Therefore, PHR-Israel strongly protests the blatant disregard of the Erez checkpoint authorities for the medical urgency of allowing the exit of patients for cornea transplant operations.

For more information, please contact Ran Yaron at ranyaron@phr.org.il or +972-54-7577696

http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/Article_58061.shtml

Zionists dress up as Native Americans and protest to US: Give us back Manhattan

*It really has to be seen to be believed.*

Some 20 people protested Wednesday outside the American Embassy in Tel Aviv against US pressure on Israel to freeze settlement building. Some of the protesters were dressed as Native Americans in a reminder to the US authorities that their country did not exactly ask the natives where they could live or build.

The protestors carried signs emblazoned with slogans like “Three countries for three races” and “America, we understand you – understand us, too” and “Freeze building west of the Atlantic Ocean. Red-skinned American within 1492 border.”

Their feathered headdresses and colorfully painted faces attracted the attention of passersby on the beachfront promenade. As a finishing touch, the protesters released balloons decorated with portraits of President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

“The protest today is against US meddling in Israel’s internal affairs,” Yossef Mendelvich, one of the protest organizers, said to Ynet. Mendelvich is a writer and a former prisoner of Zion.

http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-3764489,00.html

‘FBI sting was a case of anti-Semitism’

*You know what? If you don’t see through this, you are an idiot.*

Anti-Semitism was behind the highly publicized arrests last week of rabbis, including three from the Aleppo-Syrian Jewish community in New York and New Jersey, according to Yitzhak Kakun, editor-in-chief of the Shas weekly Yom Le’Yom.

“There is a feeling here that the FBI purposely attempted to arrest as many rabbis as possible at once in an attempt to humiliate them,” Kakun said in a telephone interview Sunday.

“Regardless of the details of the case – I am not familiar with the precise charges and the evidence – you would never see the FBI and police behaving that way with Muslim sheikhs or Christian priests. It is so obvious that the whole thing is motivated by anti-Semitism,” he said.

Kakun added that he planned on devoting the editorial of his paper to an attack on the Obama administration for attempting to whip up anti-Semitic feelings against the Orthodox Jewish community in the US.

Meanwhile, Shas MK Nissim Ze’ev said US police authorities had deliberately created the false impression that members of the Aleppo community were somehow connected with organ trafficking and extortion, when in reality their only crime was money-laundering.

“There is absolutely no connection between the rabbis from the Aleppo community and those others,” said Ze’ev, who was once a rabbi for the Aleppo community in Brooklyn and continues to pray with the community on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.

“The US police are trying to make it seem as though there is some kind of Jewish mafia,” he said.

Ze’ev was referring to impression some media outlets had given by calling the group of rabbis involved the “Kosher Nostra,” a play on the words “Cosa Nostra.”

He also rejected any special connections between Shas and the Aleppo Jewish community in the US.

“Saul Kassin [one of the suspects in the money-laundering scheme] is a man who contributes to many different causes, many of them very Zionistic,” said Ze’ev.

“He helps various charitable institutions in Israel and he has also helped fund IDF projects,” added Ze’ev. “We are not talking about a community that is particularly supportive of Shas. They are much more Zionist and nationalist.”

Members of the Aleppo Jewish community who were arrested on suspicion of money laundering are Eliyahu Ben-Haim, rabbi of Congregation Ohel Yaacob in Deal, New Jersey; Edmond Nahum of the Deal Synagogue; and Saul Kassin of Shaarei Zion Synagogue in Brooklyn.

Ben-Haim is known to have ties to Yehaveh Da’at, a Torah institution headed by Rabbi David Yosef, the son of Shas mentor Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. Members of the Aleppo community contributed to the construction of its large building, located near the elder Yosef’s home in Jerusalem’s Har Nof neighborhood.

Two other Orthodox Jews – Mordechai Fish of Congregation Sheves Achim, and Label Schwartz – were also charged with money-laundering.

Another man, Levy Izhak Rosenbaum of Brooklyn, was charged with allegedly acquiring and trading in human organs.

Ze’ev claimed there was no connection between the members of the Aleppo community and the others, besides their mutual connections with Solomon Duek, an Aleppo Jew charged with bank fraud in 2006 who apparently turned FBI informant.

Revelations regarding the money-laundering came after the haredi community in Israel had been the subject of several negative media reports.

In recent weeks, a haredi woman from Beit Shemesh known as the “Taliban mother,” due to her custom of wearing multiple layers of clothing and covering all parts of her body, including her face and hands, was convicted of child abuse.

Meanwhile, another haredi woman from Jerusalem’s Mea She’arim neighborhood was accused recently of starving her three-year-old son. Her arrest sparked a string of violent street demonstrations and clashes between groups of haredim and police in the capital.

Moshe Grylak, editor-in-chief of the haredi weekly Mishpacha, said the recent spate of bad publicity had put the haredi community in Israel on the defensive.

“The secular population is convinced we are a bunch of Talibans who starve their children and money-launder,” said Grylak, who argued that the local media had broken the rules of journalistic ethics by labeling the perpetrators as haredi.

“And on top of it all, we are also a bunch of parasites who don’t work,” he said. “It’s been a tough time for us. And Tisha Be’av is just around the corner.”

Grylak added that the FBI had purposely created a media fanfare around the US incident in an attempt to cover up the bureau’s failures in uncovering the Madoff scam.

“It was obvious they were trying to prove something, trying to show they were capable,” he said.

Both Grylak and Ze’ev were concerned about possible anti-Semitic repercussions from the incident.

“After Madoff, now there is this. I’m frankly concerned about the rise of anti-Semitism in the US,” said Grylak.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1248277897130&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter

Is this HATE SPEECH??

*Hmmm…I am called the hateful one. I wonder…*

Chabad rabbi: Jews should kill Arab men, women and children during war

Like the best Chabad-Lubavitch rabbis, Manis Friedman has won the hearts of many unaffiliated Jews with his charismatic talks about love and God; it was Friedman who helped lead Bob Dylan into a relationship with Chabad.

But Friedman, who today travels the country as a Chabad speaker, showed a less warm and cuddly side when he was asked how he thinks Jews should treat their Arab neighbors.

“The only way to fight a moral war is the Jewish way: Destroy their holy sites. Kill men, women and children (and cattle),” Friedman wrote in response to the question posed by Moment Magazine for its “Ask the Rabbis” feature.

Friedman argued that if Israel followed this wisdom, there would be “no civilian casualties, no children in the line of fire, no false sense of righteousness, in fact, no war.”

“I don’t believe in Western morality,” he wrote. “Living by Torah values will make us a light unto the nations who suffer defeat because of a disastrous morality of human invention.”

Friedman’s use of phrasing that might seem more familiar coming from an Islamic extremist has generated a swift backlash. The editor of Moment, Nadine Epstein, said that since the piece was printed in the current issue they “have received many letters and e-mails in response to Rabbi Friedman’s comments – and almost none of them have been positive.”

Friedman quickly went into damage control. He released a statement to the Forward, through a Chabad spokesman, saying that his answer in Moment was “misleading” and that he does believe that “any neighbor of the Jewish people should be treated, as the Torah commands us, with respect and compassion.”

But Friedman’s words have generated a debate about whether there is a darker side to the cheery face that the Chabad-Lubavitch movement shows to the world in its friendly outreach to unaffiliated Jews. Mordecai Specktor, editor of the Jewish community newspaper in Friedman’s hometown, St. Paul. Minnesota, said: “The public face of Lubavitch is educational programs and promoting Yiddishkeit. But I do often hear this hard line that Friedman expresses here.”

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1091469.html

Canada’s leaders swoon over Israel

*No comment.*

Rosie DiManno

Have you hugged a Jew today?

Couldn’t hurt, on any day, given some worrisome trends in Canada – though less here than in Europe – to demonize both Jews and Israel, particularly via the rubric of anti-Zionism, which anybody with half a brain recognizes for what it is: The same old anti-Semitism tarted up in sleazy pedantic finery.

But yesterday, at the Beth Emeth Bais Yehuda synagogue in North York, the most astonishing thing happened. Leaders of Canada’s political parties got all gushy and goopy, practically falling over one another to show they love Jews – and Israel – best.

How gratifying this must have been for those assembled, and a wider constituency that has found itself besieged anew, bewildered and alarmed by the increasing brazenness of Jew-bashing in this country, a toxic debate that finds fertile soil in the political sludge of the Middle East.

There was Prime Minister Stephen Harper using the occasion to announce a new bill that would allow victims to sue perpetrators and sponsors of terrorism – whether individuals, organizations or foreign states – through Canadian courts, civilly.

And there was Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff, sounding rather ticked that the Tories had thus pre-empted a private member’s bill on that very issue, which justice critic Irwin Cotler had planned to introduce in the Commons.

Jack Layton had no such bill in his back pocket – perhaps left it in his other pants – but was adamant that New Democrats stood four-square with the Canadian Jewish Congress as human-rights advocates, whilst denying that new-wave anti-Semitism is a phenomenon of the modern left.

The Green party’s Elizabeth May extolled Israel as “an exemplar of democracy” in the Middle East, while claiming violence in the region is fuelled by “petro-dollars to petro-dictators.” The Bloc called in sick and was excused.

Of course, this was the 29th plenary assembly of the CJC and none of the invited speakers would dare wrangle with their hosts on the details. But beyond the core consensus of a two-state solution in the Middle East, it’s always the details that kibosh any proposals for ending the Palestinian conflict, securing Israel’s security, or civilizing the discussion.

Harper was there to accept the prestigious Saul Hayes Human Rights award, named for a former CJC executive director, the first time it’s been given to a sitting PM. The standing ovation lasted for several minutes. While traditionally tilting Liberal, many Canadian Jews now embrace Harper as Israel’s staunchest defender.

“I am troubled, very troubled, by the degree in which opposition to the government of Israel has become, in some circles, an intellectual cover for anti-Semitic discourse,” Harper said, to rousing cheers.

“It is all too common nowadays for people to claim to support Israel and the Jewish people. Yet when Israel is attacked for the umpteenth time, because its enemies refuse to accept the right of the Jewish state to exist, these same people are quick to condemn Israel and accuse it of war crimes and to demand that it unilaterally suspend its right to self-defence.

“You will not hear that kind of double-talk from our government – ever.”

While certainly not all Jewish Canadians support Israel’s conduct, the Harper government has been widely praised for being among the first to cut aid to the Palestians following the election of terrorist-designated Hamas, withdraw from Durban II and refuse to sign a francophone nation summit anti-Israel resolution.

Ignatieff yesterday conceded no ground to Harper’s Tories on steadfastness with Israel.

First he teed off on Iran, “a dreadful regime that uses a great religion and then poisons the wellspring of generosity in that great religion with statements inspired by hatred. This is a state seeking weapons of mass destruction. This is a member of the UN denying another member of the UN the right to exist. Canada cannot be silent when one state denies another state their right to exist. Canada cannot be silent when a president of a state denies the Holocaust. And we cannot be in the room when the president of a state engages in vicious lies. Denial of the Holocaust is an unacceptable moral disgrace.”

Ignatieff reminded that his father was a Canadian diplomat who served on the UN committee that recommended partitioning Palestine – “a plan accepted by Jews, but rejected by the Arab world. Too much violence has followed.”

Five months ago, Ignatieff drew intense criticism for refusing to assail Israel’s protracted military assault on Gaza, in response to incessant rocketing of Israeli towns. “I was proud to stand with Israel, my party was proud to stand with Israel, during that hour of trial.”

As an elected politician, Ignatieff added, he is required to represent and listen to all factions. “But it does not mean agreeing with everyone and there are some lines I cannot cross. I cannot be neutral between a member of the UN and a terrorist organization. I cannot be neutral between democracy and terror. I cannot be neutral with historical facts. I cannot meet groups or appear on platforms with groups that have links or connections to terror.

“I cannot say one thing in a synagogue and another in a mosque.”

But Ignatieff, sensing electoral drifts ahead, warned against exploitation of solidarity with Israel as a partisan political wedge.

“It is reckless, reckless, for leaders to try to score points by branding one another as anti-Israel, to try to claim votes by claiming a monopoly on support for Israel. The true interests of Israel will not be served if Israel becomes a domestic political football in this country.”

Sounded a lot like third-and-long yesterday, though.

http://www.thestar.com/news/columnist/article/643445

Suspect in officers’ shooting was into conspiracy theories

*OOGAH BOOGAH!! Cannot wait to get on the list!*

Richard Andrew Poplawski was a young man convinced the nation was secretly controlled by a cabal that would eradicate freedom of speech, take away his guns and use the military to enslave the citizenry.

His online profile suggests someone at once lonely and seething. He wrote of burning the backs of both of his hands, the first time with a cigarette, the second time for symmetry. He subscribed to conspiracy theories and, by January 2007, was posting photographs of his tattoos on white supremacist Web site Stormfront. Among his ambitions: “to accumulate enough ‘I punched that [expletive] so hard’ stories to match my old man.”

“Crazy to me is going through the motions,” he wrote on his MySpace profile three years ago. “Crazy to me is letting each day slip past you. Crazy is being insignificant. Crazy is being obscure, pointless.”

No longer obscure, the 22-year-old is charged in the worst police shooting in the modern history of Pittsburgh. No one is calling his actions anything but pointless.

“He was really into politics and really into the First and Second amendment. One thing he feared was he feared the gun ban because he thought that was going to take away peoples’ right to defend themselves. He never spoke of going out to murder or to kill,” said Edward Perkovic, who described himself as Mr. Poplawski’s lifelong best friend.

Mr. Poplawski’s view of guns and personal freedom took a turn toward the fringes of American politics. With Mr. Perkovic, he appeared to share a belief that the government was controlled from unseen forces, that troops were being shipped home from the Mideast to police the citizenry here, and that Jews secretly ran the country.

“We recently discovered that 30 states had declared sovereignty,” said Mr. Perkovic, who lives in Lawrenceville. “One of his concerns was why were these major events in America not being reported to the public.”

Believing most media were covering up important events, Mr. Poplawski turned to a far-right conspiracy Web site run by Alex Jones, a self-described documentarian with roots going back to the extremist militia movement of the early 1990s.

Around the same time, he joined Florida-based Stormfront, which has long been a clearinghouse Web site for far-right groups. He posted photographs of his tattoo, an eagle spread across his chest.

“I was considering gettin’ life runes on the outside of my calfs,” he wrote. Life runes are a common symbol among white supremacists, notably followers of The National Alliance, a neo-Nazi group linked to an array of violent organizations.

“For some time now there has been a pretty good connection between being sucked into this conspiracy world and propagating violence,” said Heidi Beirich, director of research at the Southern Poverty Law Center and an expert on political extremists. She called Mr. Poplawski’s act, “a classic example of what happens when you start buying all this conspiracy stuff.”

Mr. Perkovic said Mr. Poplawski’s parents had split when he was young.

“His dad’s totally out of the picture,” said Mr. Perkovic.

According to his MySpace profile online, Mr. Poplawski lived in Stanton Heights, was an avid Penguins fan, considered Mario Lemieux his hero, and held his grandmother, Catherine Poplawski, whom he called “Cukie,” in warm esteem.

Mr. Perkovic said his friend essentially dropped out of North Catholic High School. Officials there would only say he was asked to leave.

After the 9/11 terrorist attacks — a day before Mr. Poplawski’s birthday — he decided to join the military, stopped going to classes and pursued a general educational development certificate.

“In boot camp he had missed his girlfriend so he had to make a decision … he got himself dishonorably discharged so he could come back,” Mr. Perkovic said.

According to Mr. Perkovic, Mr. Poplawski tossed a lunch tray at a drill instructor.

The relationship with his girlfriend, Melissa Gladish, went sour after Mr. Poplawski returned to Pittsburgh.

Court records show that on Sept. 14, 2005, Mr. Poplawski attacked Miss Gladish outside 1016 Fairfield St., the same address at which he would later be accused of killing the three police officers.

Miss Gladish said she had gone to Mr. Poplawski’s house “and he began to argue with me and call me names. When I argued back he grabbed me by my hair and said, ‘Do you think I’m going to let you talk to me like that? I don’t let anyone talk to me like that.”‘

He threatened to kill her, the records show. In a form asking Miss Gladish to list all weapons Mr. Poplawski had used, she listed “gun that the defendant says is buried in the park near his house.”

Less than a month later, police sought Mr. Poplawski for violating a protection-from-abuse order after he went to Miss Gladish’s workplace, a King’s Restaurant, and asked her to marry him. He then moved to the West Palm Beach, Fla., area. Mr. Perkovic said he worked there as a glazier for two years.

Two years later, back in Pittsburgh, Mr. Poplawski wrote on MySpace of the episode: “She’s lucky I didn’t kill that broad myself. Hahaha.”

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09095/960750-53.stm

Judge acquits David Ahenakew of wilfully promoting hate at second trial

SASKATOON — A Saskatoon judge acquitted former aboriginal leader David Ahenakew Monday of wilfully promoting hatred against Jews.

The former head of the Assembly of First Nations was charged after a controversial speech and subsequent interview with a reporter more than six years ago. In the interview he called them a “disease” and appeared to justify the Holocaust.

Provincial court Judge Wilfred Tucker said the comments were disgusting but he didn’t believe Ahenakew intended to promote hatred.

It was the second trial for Ahenakew on the charge. He was found guilty the first time and fined $1,000. But the conviction was overturned on appeal and a new trial was ordered.

The 75-year-old testified at his second trial that he doesn’t hate Jews but still believes they caused the war.

His controversial comments date back to December 2002, when he delivered a rambling and fiery speech during a health conference organized by the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations in Saskatoon.

During the speech, Ahenakew blamed Jews for causing the Second World War. A newspaper reporter later asked him to clarify his comments.

“How do you get rid of a disease like that, that’s going to take over, that’s going to dominate?” Ahenakew responded. “The Jews damn near owned all of Germany prior to the war. That’s how Hitler came in. He was going to make damn sure that the Jews didn’t take over Germany or Europe.

“That’s why he fried six million of those guys, you know. Jews would have owned the God-damned world.”

Amid public outrage, Ahenakew lost his position as a senator with the Saskatchewan First Nations group. Following his initial conviction, he was also stripped of his Order of Canada.

Ahenakew testified at his most recent trial that he doesn’t hate Jews.

“Everybody says I’m a Jew-hater,” he told court. “I don’t hate the Jews, but I hate what they do to people.”

His defence lawyer, Doug Christie, argued Ahenakew got sucked into an argument with the reporter and did not intend for his spontaneous comments to be published.

Crown prosecutor Sandeep Bains told the court Ahenakew knew what he was doing and clearly consented to the media interview.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5jEnnMsWHwSXRbqc2Ib4zVsgpaXaw

A Jewish cartoonist tells the naked truth (to other Jews) that non-Jews wouldn’t dare!

The Shonda, a cartoon by Eli Valley that appears in The Jewish Forward, is an example of how Jews can say to Jewish audiences what Gentiles would not dare say. In fact, any Gentile cartoonist who penned the following cartoon would lose his syndication in every American newspaper.

The cartoon is set with three Jews on a tropical island: a rabbi, a Jewish communal leader and an international fugitive. The Jewish criminal fugitive who made a fortune by dumping arsenic and poisoning the people of Peru is dearly loved by the other two Jews because he supports Jewish causes. (note: This is not some cartoon fantasy, in real life, many murderous Jewish gangsters such as Moe Dalitz and probably the biggest organized crime boss in 2oth century America: Meyer Lansky, were famous for supporting Jewish causes. There have literally been hundreds of gangsters and fraudsters that have given huge sums to Jewish causes and Israel.)

The fugitive says, “No amount of racketeering, wire fraud or tax evasion gives me the same pleasure as alerting people to the dangers of anti-Semitism.” The rabbi and communal leader ask and receive his support for a Jewish “Ethics Chair” at a university.

Then Bernie Madoff shows up and the other Jews are effusive in their praise for Madoff’s illegal ponzi scheme calling him a genius on the order of King Solomon. Madoff is wonderful as long as he supports Jewish causes such as, “…supporting trips to Israel for Jewish teens.”

Then Madoff breaks the news that he didn’t just steal from Gentiles but from Jews too.

This revelation brings horrendous outrage from the three Jews. “This is AN OUTRAGE!!! It cuts to the soul of who we are as a people! What happened to our ETHICS? Our VALUES? You have shamed not only yourself but the entire community! I intend to write several op-eds about this!”

At which point they ask for 2 million dollars from the Jewish gangster who had poisoned the people of Peru so they can have conferences on the immorality of Jews cheating other Jews!

The cartoon shows three things. First, it truthfully illustrates the damning reality that powerful Jews, even ones who do horrendous harm and evil to non-Jews, are protected and honored by the Jewish community, unless, of course, they do harm to their fellow Jews.

Secondly, it shows that there are at least a few Jews who see this evil process and protest it. They are to be commended by Jews and Gentiles alike.

And third, it reveals the fact that non-Jews cannot even tell the truth and defend themselves from these racist Jewish predators. For surely, there is not a single Gentile in the America or Europe who could publish such a cartoon in the mainstream press without him being attacked as an anti-Semite and without having his career completely destroyed.

Just take a look at the cartoon, look at it closely, read it closely.  This cartoon, it’s theme, the fact that Jews can speak about what we can’t, it is all very instructive for the non-Jews of the world. It should help all of us wake up!

–David Duke

http://www.davidduke.com/general/jews-can-say-to-jewish-audiences-what-gentiles-would-not-dare_7448.html#more-7448

Army rabbi ‘gave out hate leaflet to troops’

*What would happen if it were the opposite?*

The Israeli army’s chief rabbinate gave soldiers preparing to enter the Gaza Strip a booklet implying that all Palestinians are their mortal enemies and advising them that cruelty is sometimes a “good attribute”.

The booklet, entitled Go Fight My Fight: A Daily Study Table for the Soldier and Commander in a Time of War, was published especially for Operation Cast Lead, the devastating three-week campaign launched with the stated aim of ending rocket fire against southern Israel. The publication draws on the teachings of Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, head of the Jewish fundamentalist Ateret Cohanim seminary in Jerusalem.

In one section, Rabbi Aviner compares Palestinians to the Philistines, a people depicted in the Bible as a war-like menace and existential threat to Israel.

In another, the army rabbinate appears to be encouraging soldiers to disregard the international laws of war aimed at protecting civilians, according to Breaking the Silence, the group of Israeli ex-soldiers who disclosed its existence. The booklet cites the renowned medieval Jewish sage Maimonides as saying that “one must not be enticed by the folly of the Gentiles who have mercy for the cruel”.

Breaking the Silence is calling for the firing of the chief military rabbi, Brigadier-General Avi Ronzki, over the booklet. The army had no comment on the matter yesterday.

Rabbi Arik Ascherman, the executive director of the Rabbis for Human Rights group, called the booklet “very worrisome”, adding “[this is] a minority position in Judaism that doesn’t understand the … necessity of distinguishing between combatants and civilians.”

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/army-rabbi-gave-out-hate-leaflet-to-troops-1516805.html

109 Locations whence Jews have been Expelled since AD 250

*I can understand once or twice…but, uh…*

YEAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PLACE

                          250 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  Carthage
                          415 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  Alexandria
                          554 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  Diocese of Clement (France)
                          561 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  Diocese of Uzzes (France)
                          612 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  Visigoth Spain
                          642 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  Visigoth Empire
                          855 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  Italy
                          876 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  Sens
                        1012 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Mainz
                        1182 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - France
                        1182 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Germany
                        1276 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Upper Bavaria
                        1290 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - England
                        1306 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - France
                        1322 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - France (again)
                        1348 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Switzerland
                        1349 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hielbronn (Germany)
                        1349 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Saxony
                        1349 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hungary
                        1360 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hungary
                        1370 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Belgium
                        1380 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Slovakia
                        1388 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Strasbourg
                        1394 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Germany
                        1394 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - France
                        1420 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Lyons
                        1421 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Austria
                        1424 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Fribourg
                        1424 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Zurich
                        1424 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Cologne
                        1432 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Savoy
                        1438 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Mainz
                        1439 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Augsburg
                        1442 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Netherlands
                        1444 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Netherlands
                        1446 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Bavaria
                        1453 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - France
                        1453 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Breslau
                        1454 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Wurzburg
                        1462 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Mainz
                        1483 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Mainz
                        1484 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Warsaw
                        1485 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Vincenza (Italy)
                        1492 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Spain
                        1492 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Italy
                        1495 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Lithuania
                        1496 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Naples
                        1496 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Portugal
                        1498 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Nuremberg
                        1498 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Navarre
                        1510 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Brandenberg
                        1510 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Prussia
                        1514 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Strasbourg
                        1515 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Genoa
                        1519 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Regensburg
                        1533 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Naples
                        1541 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Naples
                        1542 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Prague & Bohemia
                        1550 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Genoa
                        1551 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Bavaria
                        1555 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Pesaro
                        1557 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Prague
                        1559 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Austria
                        1561 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Prague
                        1567 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Wurzburg
                        1569 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Papal States
                        1571 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Brandenburg
                        1582 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Netherlands
                        1582 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hungary
                        1593 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Brandenburg, Austria
                        1597 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Cremona, Pavia & Lodi
                        1614 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Frankfort
                        1615 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Worms
                        1619 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Kiev
                        1648 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Ukraine
                        1648 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Poland
                        1649 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hamburg
                        1654 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Little Russia (Beylorus)
                        1656 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Lithuania
                        1669 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Oran (North Africa)
                        1669 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Vienna
                        1670 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Vienna
                        1712 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Sandomir
                        1727 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Russia
                        1738 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Wurtemburg
                        1740 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Little Russia (Beylorus)
                        1744 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Prague, Bohemia
                        1744 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Slovakia
                        1744 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Livonia
                        1745 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Moravia
                        1753 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Kovad (Lithuania)
                        1761 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Bordeaux
                        1772 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Deported to the Pale of Settlement (Poland/Russia)
                        1775 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Warsaw
                        1789 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Alsace
                        1804 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Villages in Russia
                        1808 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Villages & Countrysides (Russia)
                        1815 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Lbeck & Bremen
                        1815 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Franconia, Swabia & Bavaria
                        1820 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Bremen
                        1843 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Russian Border Austria & Prussia
                        1862 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Areas in the U.S. under General Grant's Jurisdiction[1]
                        1866 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Galatz, Romania
                        1880s - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Russia
                        1891 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Moscow
                        1919 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Bavaria (foreign born Jews)
                        1938-45 - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  Nazi Controlled Areas
                        1948 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Arab Countries

[1] On December 17, 1862, General Ulysses Grant wrote
to the Assistant Adjutant General of the US Army:

"I have long since believed that in spite of all the vigilance that can
be infused into post commanders, the specie regulations of the Treasury
Department have been violated, and that mostly by the Jews and other
unprincipled traders. So well satisfied have I been of this that I
instructed the commanding officer at Columbus to refuse all permits to
Jews to come South, and I have frequently had them expelled from the
department. But they come in with their carpet-sacks in spite of all
that can be done to prevent it. The Jews seem to be a privileged class
that can travel anywhere. They will land at any woodyard on the river
and make their way through the country. If not  permitted to buy cotton
themselves, they will act as agents for someone else, who will be at a
military post with a Treasury permit to receive cotton and pay for it in
Treasury notes which the Jew will buy at an agreed rate, paying gold."

Also, on December 17, 1862, General Ulysses S. Grant issued General
Orders No. 11. This order banished all Jews from Tennessee's western
military.

General Orders No. 11 declared:
"1. The Jews, as a class, violating every regulation of trade
established by the Treasury Department, are hereby expelled from the
Department. 

"2. Within 24 hours from the receipt of this order by Post Commanders,
they will see that all of this class of people are furnished with
passes required to leave, and anyone returning after such notification,
will be arrested and held in confinement until an opportunity occurs of
sending them out as prisoners, unless furnished with permits from these
headquarters. 

"3. No permits will be given these people to visit headquarters for the
purpose of making personal application for trade permits. 

"By order of Major Gen. Grant.

"Jno. A. Rawlings, 

Assistant Adjutant General"

http://www.biblebelievers.org.au/expelled.htm