Staying Real in Israel
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“Israel-ism” vs. “Juda-ism”…Are they really one and the same thing?

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Israeli author A. B. Yehoshua made some interesting and controversial statements in a speech delivered last week in the U.S. He seriously questions the ability for some one to be a “complete” Jew while still living in the diaspora…A secular, but very Jewish point of view.

On today’s show…

An exploration of A. B. Yehoshua’s speech…What was he saying?…What did he mean?…Why?

Why should Jews live in Israel? (other than the fact that it’s a pretty good place to live, these days)…The Torah-Commandment, religiously observant point of view vs. the purely secular, zionist argument…And what did Ramban (Nachmanides) and other talmudic sages have to say about this issue?

Plus…A. B. Yehoshua and the Holocaust…Was it an unavoidable, tragic event in history, or was the Holocaust a “Jewish failure”?

Also…some comments about the murders of innocent Israeli children and their father in France, an ongoing story…

All this and more on The Marty Roberts Show

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Is Ahmadinejad Amalek?…Haman?

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On today’s show, a look at the parallels between the Purim Story in ancient Persia and what is going on today in modern-day Iran and Israel…What is the same, and what is different…

VERY different, including highlights of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to AIPAC in America this week…Purim revisited?…Never again!!!

Plus…The beauty of Purim in Israel…The Purim Holiday like you’ve never, ever experienced it in the diaspora…This should make you yearn to return home to Israel from exile…

Also…Wealth in Israel…Multiple surprising reports about the meteoric growth of wealth in the tiny Jewish State…

All this and more on The Marty Roberts Show

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Most of Israeli society is thriving, and the movement is in all the right directions…

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Listen to how the divides and social riffs in Israel are narrowing, as Israeli society and the Israeli economy moves forward on all fronts…How the role of women and the ultra-Orthodox is evolving and advancing…contrary to the much reported problems in the religious vs. secular realm…

Also…As Israeli TV hit “Still Standing” is exported to the US and 30 other countries…A special look at Israeli TV…how it is growing and expanding

And…A riveting feature on Official Palestinian Authority-sponsored TV…From Sesame Street to the praising of murderous terrorists, to Israeli parliament members joining in the praise of terrorist-murderers of Israelis…

Plus…Turkish television breaks ground with their programming…From Holocaust documentaries to Israeli chefs…to Jewish singers representing Turkey to the international community on Eurovision…

All this and more on The Marty Roberts Show

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We’re talking the likes of Hizbullah and Al-Quaeda here…Why isn’t anybody doing anything about this???

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Not Twitter, not the American State Department, not the U.S. Department of Justice…They seem to be more concerned with going after on-line poker sites and catching people downloading episodes of TV shows and computer games than international Jihad…

But leave it to the Israelis…Nitzana Darshan-Leitner and her Shurat Ha-Din Israel Law Center is going after Twitter BIG TIME!!!…Details of the battle on the show…

And let’s not forget Facebook…terrorist “Fan” pages and causing divorces…

Than there’s the case of Facebook threatening to sue Mark Zuckerberg…Thought he was the founder of Facebook?…not THIS one (AND he happens to be Israeli)…

Also…Israeli lawmakers are being offered their own training in use of social media (we can only hope, using it for good…)…not to mention social etiquette, like eating with utensils and keeping their mouths closed while chewing…no kidding…

Plus…Saudi hackers gain access to personal and financial information of thousands of Israelis and publish it all on the web…They call it their “gift to the world for the new year”…Listen to the show for more, and other Arab hacking of Israeli websites…for better AND for worse…

Also…The Tagli-Birthright trips to Israel launch the winter season with lots of surprises, plus record number of female Israeli Air Force pilots…

All this and more on The Marty Roberts Show

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On yesterday’s radio show,
(Click HERE to view the articles and listen to the show) I highlighted U.S. Secretary of State Clinton’s remarks in a recent speech. She expressed serious concerns over a small group of religiously observant Israeli Army soldiers unwillingness to listen to a group of female singers performing at an official army ceremony. Hillary is very concerned over the obvious degeneration of democracy and women’s rights in Israel highlighted by this event.

Tsk, tsk.

I guess training American Marines how to urinate, fart and defecate in a way that does not “offend” the religion of Islam is a sterling example of tolerance and democracy in action…

By the way, did you know that the meaning of the work “Islam” is submission???

US Marines ordered never to spit or urinate toward Mecca, the direction Muslims in Afghanistan face when they pray

US Marines: No Spitting Toward Mecca

Reprinted from Diana West

Gen. David Petraeus, Col. David Furness, and Shafiq Mubarak. Mubarak served as Furness’s “right hand” during a recent deployment. “I can’t do anything without him,” Furness said.

And who is Shafiq Mubarak? All I can find out is that he is a Pro Sol contractor (?) hired by the Marine Corps Center for Advanced Operational Culture Learning to help implement “the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan, the winning of hearts and minds.” At least that’s how Col. Furness puts it. According to the North County Times, Mubarak didn’t come to the US until 2008 — from where the story doesn’t say — but has been working with US troops in A-stan “for much of the past decade.”

How is that? Why is that? Dunno. What the story does report is that Mubarak teaches the do’s and don’t's of sharia — kind of, Islam for Leathernecks.

Mubarak teaches US Marines:

Don’t spit toward Mecca.

Don’t urinate toward Mecaa.

Don’t sleep with your boots toward Mecca.

In other words, Mubarak teaches US Marines to become intensely sensitized to the whereabouts of Mecca, and to be guided by that magnetic North for Muslims as a matter of the most personal habits and hygiene — in accordance with sharia (Islamic law). This goes well, of course, with ISAF’s guidance to all troops to revere the Koran and its teachings.

What next, prayer rugs?

Mubarak told the North County Times:

“We can’t win just by fighting,” said Mubarak, who came to the U.S. less than three years ago after working with American forces in Afghanistan for much of the past decade. “Sitting with tribal elders, learning their problems and helping them is crucial.”

Crucial to what? Solving the problems of one set of tribal elders. Such problems, of course, are likely to differ from those of the next set of tribal elders, particularly when there is a blood feud, a la al-Hatfields and al-McCoys. Talk about tar babies. To coin a phrase: You Don’t Win Hearts and Minds by Losing Your Own.

Meanwhile:

Mubarak and Tremore spent hours walking troops through the nuances of meetings, or “shuras” with key local leaders. Both stressed the importance of those meetings. …

Mubarak taught the troops the proper way to sit during a shura. He told them they should plan on at least 30 minutes for an initial meeting, and that they should always finish their tea and eat any food presented.

And that includes all the intestinal parasites.

“If you don’t, that means to them that you don’t trust them, or think what they are giving you is poison or is unclean,” he said.

Mubarak also said the Marines should never spit or urinate to the west, the direction of Mecca that Muslims in Afghanistan face when they pray.

In addition, when sharing a base with Afghan army troops, Marines shouldn’t sleep with their feet pointed west, because that also is considered offensive, he said.

Afghan compounds of tribal elders are always neutral ground, Mubarak said. There is no need to wear protective vests, because the custom is that any person inside the compound will have the full protection of the Afghans who live there.

Mubarek said that when Marine Col. David Furness led Camp Pendleton’s Regimental Combat Team 1 during a recent deployment, Furness was able to win over 200 tribal families through shuras. What began as a violent deployment ended with little shooting, Mubarak said.

At what cost? That is, in exchange for what baksheesh, what edge over the next tribe, what amounts of money or local public works projects? We don’t know. How permanent this little piece of shura-peace is, we don’t know, either. But it all impressed Col. Furness, who gave a service award to Mubarak in June 2011 on behalf of the Regimental Combat Team – 1st Marines (RCT-1) CULAD. In the presence of Gen. Petraeus, Col. Furness said:

“General, this is my cultural advisor, Mr. Shafiq Mubarak. Mr. Shafiq is my right hand and I can’t do anything without him. Mr. Shafiq directly assists in direct engagements with Afghan leaders and political decision makers. He has been instrumental in the pursuit of the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan, the winning of hearts and minds.

Or, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.

What do all three of these “statesmen” have in common? (other than having been appointed to jobs for which they are incompetent to perform by an incompetent president)

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They have all made headline-grabbing statements about Israel in public forums in the past week…All of which were mis-informed, ignorant, wrong and harmful to the Jewish State…

Find out what they said and why they should have kept their mouths shut…

Also…Honor killings in England…Driving women in Saudi Arabia…

Plus…Barbara Streisand to sing to Israeli soldiers…

All this and more on “The Marty Roberts Show”…

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In some tests, like war, for instance, you only get one chance to do or die, but, given a second chance, it pays to learn from your mistakes…

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And that is exactly what Israel has done in dealing with repeated attempts to illegally break the Naval blockade set up to prevent arms smuggling into Gaza, flotilla or airlift…

Israels successful thwarting of “Summer Flotilla II” and the attempted “Human Airlift” of protestors to Ben Gurion Airport…

As Borat would put it, “Great Success!!”…

Also…I-Pod apps…The good, the bad and the discontinued, including some hot Israeli ideas and some not-so-hot palestinian ones…

And…Paul Simon, The Yardbirds and Ziggy Marley…in Israel soon…

Plus…Israel’s first Air Force pilot wearing a long skirt…Religiously observant AND female!…

All this and more on “The Marty Roberts Show”…

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We must keep the pressure on these law-breaking useful idiots…
Their true goals must be revealed to the world…They must be stopped, by any means possible…

Shurat HaDin sues Inmarsat for providing satellite services to Gaza flotilla

ISRAELI HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP FILES CIVIL ACTION AGAINST SATELLITE
GIANT INMARSAT OVER HAMAS SHIPS

Reprinted from imra.org.il

(MIAMI, FLORIDA) On Tuesday June 28, 2011, the Israeli human rights group
Shurat HaDin brought a civil action against the UK and US based global
satellite company Inmarsat, alleging that it was providing communication
services to ships used by suspected terror organizations in the Gaza
flotilla planned for the coming days. The lawsuit was filed in Florida
State Court in Miami-Dade County.

The plaintiff in the suit, Michelle Fendel, a resident of the Southern
Israeli town of Sderot, asserts that under U.S. law, Inmarsat and its
officers have aided and abetted terrorism by providing satellite services to
the Gaza-bound ships. The Gaza Strip is controlled by Hamas, an Islamist
movement designated by the US, the UK, Israel and the European Union as a
terrorist group, and is subject to an Israeli naval blockade. Thousands of
Qassam rockets launched by Hamas have landed in the area of Fendel’s home
in Sderot, which borders on Gaza, killing numerous Israeli civilians and
injuring many more.

The complaint alleges that Inmarsat is one of the largest satellite
telecommunications companies in the world and the main provider of maritime
communication services. The Flotilla ships rely upon Inmarsat’s network to
communicate with ports, naval authorities and other vessels and cannot sail
without it.

Andrew J. Sukawaty, Inmarsat’s C.E.O. was also named as a defendant in the
case.

The plaintiff is represented by attorney Isaac Jarosiewicz of Miami,
Florida, Robert Tolchin of New York and Nitsana Darshan-Leitner of Tel Aviv,
Israel.

One year ago, a previous Flotilla bound for Gaza, was intercepted by the
Israeli Navy. There was a violent battle on board the ships between armed
militants and Israeli SEALs, that resulted in numerous deaths and injuries.

Prior to filing the lawsuit, the attorneys for Fendel sent Inmarsat a
warning letter demanding that it discontinue all satellite services to the
boats being utilized to engaged in hostile operations against Israel. The
letter noted that providing services during the upcoming flotilla, Inmarsat
and its corporate officers were in violation of US criminal statutes
prohibiting the provision of material support for acts of violence and
terrorism (18 U.S.C. § 2339A and § 2339B) and the provision of material
support for naval expeditions against U.S. allies (18 U.S.C. § 960 and §
962), and would also be held civilly liable for any damages or harm caused
by participants in the flotilla.

The lawsuit alleges that: “Inmarsat’s provision of satellite communication
services to the Flotilla Ships constitutes a present and on-going danger to
the life, person and property of Plaintiff Michelle Fendel and other
residents of Sderot.”

The attorneys for Fendel are asking the Miami Court to formally declare that
Inmarsat’s provision of satellite communication services to the Flotilla
Ships constitutes a violation of American criminal statutes and endangers
the life of the Sderot residents. In addition, they have asked the Court
to grant a permanent injunction against Inmarsat which would require the
company to immediately and permanently cease the provision of any services
to any of Flotilla Ships.

Their product is windows that protect a building’s occupants from radiation, while generating power at the same time…
Brilliant!…Israeli ingenuity…

Pythagoras Solar Window

GE awards Israeli startup $100,000 ‘Ecomagination’ grant

Pythagoras Solar creates windows that protect against solar radiation and produce useable energy, CEO says.

Reprinted from jpost.com

GE awards Israeli startup $100,000 ‘Ecomagination’ grant
By SHARON UDASIN
06/27/2011 04:33

Pythagoras Solar creates windows that protect against solar radiation and produce useable energy, CEO says.
Talkbacks (1)

An Israeli solar company that employs windows to both block solar radiation and harness energy from the sun has received a $100,000 grant from General Electric and partners’ “Ecomagination” program, the corporation announced this weekend.

The company, called Pythagoras Solar, is one of five firms to win an Innovation Award from the program’s “Powering Your Home” challenge, in which GE invested $63 million this round and also provided sizeable awards to 10 commercial partners in addition to the smaller firms. Currently in its second year, the challenge has now provided a total of $200 million worth of funds to 22 commercial corporations and 10 startups in total, with an aim of “accelerating the global development of clean energy technologies,” the corporation said. A panel of independent judges selected the winners and included Wired Magazine editor Chris Anderson, executives from GE and academics leaders from the field, according to a statement from the company.

“We knew that GE recognized that this technology could have a huge impact on the way buildings are being built,” co-founder and CEO of Pythagoras Solar, Golan Fink, told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday.

“This is the part of the award that we are most happy about and feel good about the validation and feedback we have.” Pythagoras, established by Golan Fink and partner Dr.

Itay Baruchi in 2007, employs a technology called “Building Integrated Photovoltaics,” which aims to achieve “netzero buildings” in terms of energy consumption.

“The windows themselves include a combination of optical devices and solar cells,” Fink explained. “The unique thing about this combination is that the optical device manipulates sunlight so that instead of getting into the room, the direct radiation is used for generating clean solar energy. It produces energy and also shades the room.” While the company currently has five pilots running – three in the United States and two in Israel – the most longrunning trial has been going on now for six months at the Sears Tower in Chicago, Illinois, according to Fink.

“The Sears Tower itself is looking at the project as part of retrofitting the building,” he said. “Even though Chicago is not the best place for concentrated solar energy, it still suffers from getting too much heat.

“We are looking for this to be the greenest building in the US,” he continued.

They wanted to evaluate this technology because of its unique combination of solar power generation and energy efficiency.” Pythagoras is also in the process of evaluating several potential projects in China, Fink added.

“There is a lot of construction happening in China, and they are not on the forefront of energy efficiency,” he said.

“There are some projects there that are moving more and more toward the green construction industry.” While the company is currently in the process of developing a type of window that would be more appropriate for residential locations, Fink said that the current models – which will hit commercial markets in the US by the end of this year – are better suited for larger buildings at the moment.

“It’s more relevant for buildings with significant amount of glass,” he said, noting, however, that the building need not be as tall as the Sears Tower.

“The current product is less applicable for residential windows because you need a large surface of glass to make this economical.” Fink added that the company hopes to move to marketing larger volumes of installations by next year.

In addition to Pythagoras Solar, the other four startup winners this year were British firm E.quinox for its renewable energy in developing countries, as well as American companies PlotWatt for its smart meter analysis, Suntulit for its climate control systems and Xergy for its green refrigeration systems, according to GE.

GE’s decision to include the Israeli firm among its winners comes just shortly after the corporation opened a multidisciplinary research and development center in Israel, where it will host local projects in medical technologies, clean energy and water – with the hopes of advancing technology by partnering with Israeli companies and academics, the corporation said.

Obama has been the most hostile US president in History to America’s best ally, Israel. His policies literally threaten the existence of the Jewish State and the lives of its inhabitants…

Jews almost universally supported Obama in the last elections with their votes AND huge amounts of their money. He needs the votes and the cash of American Jews more than ever now, after proving to be a pretty awful president on all fronts.

The “tactical disagreements” that Obama spoke about in his address to Jewish campaign donors ARE NOT transcended by Obama’s empty, “feel-good” pro-Israel words. They threaten the existence of the Jewish state and millions of Jewish-Israeli lives…

My friends, the American Jews…it is time to stand up and be counted…You have an obligation to Israel (AND to America) to remove your support AND your dollars from the Barak Obama camp…

Obama: Israel, US stalwart allies

American president tells potential Jewish donors to presidential campaign Jerusalem-DC relations transcend ‘tactical disagreements’

Reprinted from Ynetnews.com

WASHINGTON – US President Barack Obama spoke Monday at a fundraiser for potential Jewish donors to his 2010 presidential campaign and assured then that Jerusalem and Washington’s relations were unshakable.

“One inviolable principle will be that the United States and Israel will always be stalwart allies and friends, that that bond isn’t breakable and that Israel’s security will always be at the top tier of considerations in terms of how America manages its foreign policy – because it’s the right thing to do, because Israel is our closest ally and friend, it is a robust democracy, it shares our values and it shares our principles,” Obama said to roaring applause.

Speaking of the regional changes sweeping the Middle East, Obama stressed that, “Both the United States and Israel are going to have to look at this new landscape with fresh eyes. It’s not going to be sufficient for us just to keep on doing the same things we’ve been doing and expect somehow that things are going to work themselves out.

“We’re going to have to be creative and we’re going to have to be engaged. We’re going to have to look for opportunities where the best impulses in the Middle East come to the fore and the worst impulses are weakened.”

Such achievements, he continued, would have to be carved from a position of strength: “This is why my administration has done more to promote Israel’s security, its qualitative military edge, its defense capabilities than any administration over the last 25 years. And we have made that commitment consistently.

“But it also means that we’ve got to engage diplomatically… there are going to be moments over the course of the next six months or the next 12 months or the next 24 months in which there may be tactical disagreements in terms of how we approach these difficult problems.

“But the broader vision, is one in which Israel is a secure Jewish state,” Obama stressed. “One where it is able to live in peace with its neighbors, where kids can get on the bus or go to bed at night and not have to worry about missiles landing on them, where commerce and interactions between peoples in the region is occurring in a normal fashion, where the hopes and dreams of the original travelers to Israel, the original settlers in Israel, that those hopes and dreams that date back a millennium, that those hopes are realized. That will remain our North Star. That will remain our goal.”

Obama told the crowd that he was “absolutely confident” the goal could be achieved, reiterating that it was “going to require some hard work.”

“It going to require that not only this administration employs all of its creative powers to try to bring about peace in the region, but it’s also going to require all of you as engaged citizens of the United States who are friends of Israel making sure that you are giving us suggestions, you are in an honest dialogue with us, that you’re helping to shape how both Americans and Israelis think about the opportunities and challenges.”

“My hope,” he concluded, “Is that through the kind of conversations that we’re having here tonight, that we’re going to be able to, together, craft the kind of strategy that not only leads to a strong America, but also leads to a strong Israel.”

In my book, a good rule of thumb would be, when evaluating political candidates…actions speak MUCH louder than words…

Glenn Beck rally in Israel hooks no major GOP candidates yet; Lieberman, Cain may be in

None of the major 2012 GOP presidential candidates currently plan to attend an August rally in Israel being held by conservative firebrand and outgoing Fox news host Glenn Beck

Reprinted from washingtonpost.com

But Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.), a former Democratic vice presidential contender, signaled he might show up. And former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain, a long shot in the 2012 nomination fight to face President Obama, said he would like to attend. Lieberman and Cain are the only two politicians listed on the event’s Facebook page.

“I’ve been approached by [Beck] to go,” Lieberman said in an interview Wednesday. “Actually, by clergy both Christian and Jewish, and I spoke to Glenn Beck. I’d love to participate. .?.?. He’s very committed to making it nonpartisan, non-ideological. It’s just going to be a rally to support Israel and the U.S.- Israel relationship.”

The pro-Israel rally, the details of which are vague, is dubbed “Restoring Courage” and is slated for Aug. 24 at Jerusalem’s Western Wall. It is a follow-up to last year’s massive Beck-led “Restoring Honor” rally in Washington, which drew tens of thousands of people and was more religious than political in tone.

But despite Beck’s clout with conservative voters, none of the declared GOP presidential candidates have said they will go. And a Beck spokesman said that none of the major candidates have yet been asked to attend.

Contradicting a Wednesday morning report by an Israeli news organization, Mitt Romney, former House speaker Newt Gingrich and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) all say they don’t plan to attend the rally. Nor does fellow Fox news host and 2008 presidential contender Mike Huckabee.

“There have been some inaccuracies regarding the specifics of the event,” a spokesman for the Beck rally said Wednesday. “No one on the [Web site’s] list has been contacted or asked to appear. Senator [Joe] Lieberman has expressed his support and that he might attend, schedule permitting.”

A spokeswoman for Bachmann, who formally launched her 2012 presidential bid at Monday’s GOP debate, said she “does not have an Israel trip on her schedule.”

Meanwhile, Huckabee wrote on Twitter that he is not going to the rally, despite possible plans to be in Israel in July. A Gingrich aide also denied any commitment to attend.

There was no word on the plans of former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, who is still weighing a 2012 presidential bid. Palin was a featured guest at Beck’s rally on the Mall last summer.

In announcing the event, Beck wrote on his Web site, “I invite you to join me in Israel this summer to stand together and show the world what living a life of faith and honor really means.” He made no mention of U.S. policy toward Israel.

Criminalizing Jewish ritual circumcision (Brit Milah)…

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The newest, yet oldest form of institutionalized anti-semitism gains momentum in the United States…

Next on the list of targets will most likely be kosher meat…These people value the lives of animals more than they do those of humans…
It’s okay with them to kill unborn male children (freedom of choice), but don’t you dare mess with their penises (if they happen to make it to birth), no matter WHAT your Creator says…

The author of the San Francisco bill created these hate-filled anti-semitic comic books to further the cause of stripping Jews of their right to practice their faith in America…
Nazis, anyone?

The Greek-Assyrians first banned Jewish circumcision in 170 B.C.E., and it led to the story of Channukah…
Then came the Romans, the Nazis…now the liberal-progressive atheist Americans…

And…Why do states like Texas, Illinois and Florida need NEW laws to allow a Jew to hang a 2-inch long tube with a scroll inside (mezuzah) on their doorpost?…What happened to freedom of religion in America?…

Bob Simon of "60 Minutes"

Plus…Bob Simon and 60 Minutes spend a month in Tel Aviv, more Israeli technological and medical breakthroughs…

Sorek Water Desalinization Plant

All this and more on “The Marty Roberts Show”…

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Why do actors think that they are qualified to engage in international diplomacy???

Leonard Nimoy

Since when does being very famous and being very good at pretending to be someone that you are not in a situation that is not real in front of a camera or on stage…since when does that qualify you as an expert on international affairs? Why should anyone give an actor any more credence than a plumber (no offense to plumbers…I respect THEM more than I do actors…they do something MUCH more useful to society) when it comes to their opinion on international issues (that they usually know nothing about)???

Nimoy, you may be Jewish, but you do NOT live in Israel, you do NOT have any particular knowledge about events in the Middle East, neither you nor you children serve in the Israeli Army, and you are not even particularly identified as being Jewish or caring about Israel, even if your Vulcan hand signal is an imitation of the Jewish priests’ hand position while blessing the Jewish people (you probably didn’t even know that)…

So, when it comes to your efforts for “peace” in Israel…please keep them to yourself and your family and close friends…

‘Spock’ calls for Jerusalem’s division

Jewish actor Leonard Nimoy known for famous Star Trek role writes letter on ‘Americans for Peace Now’ website supporting two-state solution

Reprinted from Ynetnews.com

The Americans for Peace Now (APN) organization published Tuesday a letter written by actor Leonard Nimoy, best known for his role as Spock in the original Star Trek series and movies, in which the actor supports the establishment of a two-state solution.

The 80-year-old actor called upon the American people to support the peace initiative.

“I reach out to you as someone who is troubled to see the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians continue apparently without an end in sight,” Nimoy wrote.

“In fact, there is an end in sight. It’s known as the two-state solution – a secure, democratic Israel as the Jewish State alongside an independent Palestinian state. Even Israel’s nationalist Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, has come to see this as the shape of the future. The problem is how to reach that end point. It’s something we should be concerned about – not only as world citizens, but as Americans.”

He went on to write that he supports the division of Jerusalem, mentioning 50 other prominent Israelis, including former heads of the Mossad, the Shin Bet and the military who support a two-state solution.

“There is a sizable number of influential voices in Israel saying the same thing… a call for two states for two nations. Their plan includes a Palestinian state alongside Israel with agreed-upon land swaps. The Palestinian-populated areas of Jerusalem would become the capital of Palestine; the Jewish-populated areas the capital of Israel.”

“I’m a strong supporter of APN and the work it does,” Nimoy wrote. “Peace Now’s activities and programs… keep peace on the world’s agenda… Like those Israelis who issued the peace plan, the members of Peace Now have their boots on the ground. They serve in Israel’s military reserves and see every day what life is like without a negotiated peace with the Palestinians.”

Nimoy also addressed the Itamar massacre and the increase in violence in the Middle East.

“A Jewish family was murdered in the West Bank and a woman was killed in a bus bombing in Jerusalem. A rocket attack on southern Israel from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip resulted in a school bus being hit and a teen died of his wounds. Israel, in turn, has retaliated,” he said.

He added that a strong American leadership is needed to “pivot from the zero-sum mentality of violence to an attitude that focuses on the parties shared interests: Security and prosperity.” Paraphrasing his famous Star Trek quote: “Live long and prosper.”

Nimoy recalled a Star Trek episode called, “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield,” in which the Enterprise runs into “two men, half black, half white, are the last survivors of their peoples who have been at war with each other for thousands of years, yet the Enterprise crew could find no differences separating these two raging men… And they were prepared to battle to the death to defend the memory of their people who died from the atrocities committed by the other.”

The actor attempted to convince the American people to act by supporting the APN, mostly through donations, in order to help resolve the conflict.

“I’m a strong supporter of APN and the work it does. It is a leading voice for Americans who support Israel and know that a negotiated peace will ensure Israel’s security, prosperity and continued viability as a Jewish and democratic state,” wrote Nimoy.

Nimoy stressed he does not intend to belittle the issues that divide Israelis and Palestinians.

“What I do mean to suggest is that the time for recriminations is over. Assigning blame over all other priorities is self-defeating. Myth can be a snare. The two sides need our help to evade the snare and search for a way to compromise,” he said.

The actor also noted how the tumultuous situation in the Middle East has a direct effect on the US economy.

“We’ve seen oil prices rise sharply and America become involved militarily in Libya. The cost to American lives and our economy continues to rise at a time when unemployment and deficits are sapping our country’s strength.”

Nimoy explained that it is also in the interest of the US “to spread the message that there is a peace solution, and to let Congress and the White House know it’s preferable for America to be part of the solution than to be drawn into another conflict.”

Sadly, nothing has really changed…RFK was right in 1948, and the facts remain the same…The palestinians want to destroy Israel

The articles show some things have not changed at all, and point to the roots of the Arab-Israeli conflict, which are no different 63 years later:

The Arabs are most concerned about the great increase in the Jews in Palestine: 80,000 in 1948. The Arabs have always feared this encroachment and maintain that the Jews will never be satisfied with just their section of Palestine, but will gradually move to overpower the rest of the country and will eventually move onto the enormously wealthy oil lands. They are determined that the Jews will never get the toehold that would be necessary for the fulfillment of that policy.
They are willing to let the Jews remain as peaceful citizens subject to the rule of the Arab majority just as the Arabs are doing in such great number in Egypt and the Levant states, but they are determined that a separate Jewish state will be attacked and attacked until it is finally cut out like an unhealthy abscess.

Kennedy describes “annihilation” of the Jews as the Arab purpose:

Within the Old City of Jerusalem there exists a small community of orthodox Jews. They wanted no part of this fight but just wanted to be left alone with their wailing wall. Unfortunately for them, the Arabs are unkindly disposed toward any kind of Jew and their annihilation would now undoubtedly have been a fact had it not been that at the beginning of hostilities the Haganah moved several hundred well-equipped men into their quarter.

Read more of what Kennedy wrote in a series of articles for a Boston newspaper in 1948, after his visit to “Palestine”…

Bobby Kennedy in Palestine — Four Boston Post Articles from 60 Years Ago

Robert Kennedy, Special Writer for Post, Struck by Antipathy Shown by ‘Arabs and Jews’

By Robert Kennedy, June 3, 1948 (posted on Lenny ben David’s blog)

Certainly if Arthur Balfour, Britain’s foreign minister during the first World War, had realized the conflicting interpretations which were to be placed on his famous “declaration” calling for a homeland for the Jews, he probably would have drawn it with its meaning clearer and saved the world the bloodshed that its double promises have caused. In his attempt to conciliate both Jews and Arabs in a time of distress for the British empire, conciliated neither.

No great thought was given to it at the time, for Palestine was then a relatively unimportant country. There were then not the great numbers of homeless Jews that we have now and no one believed then that the permission granted for Jewish immigration would lead 30 years later to world turmoil on whether a national home should mean an autonomous national state.

First let us consider the viewpoint of the Arabs in regard to the national homeland promised to the Jews in the Balfour Declaration.
The Arabs by word and deed leave no question in anyone’s mind how they feel. They argue that the Balfour Declaration supports their point that no national state was promised, pointing to the clauses in the declaration that says the national home shall be set up subject to the civil rights of the people living in Palestine at this time. In recent years they have pointed to the United Nations charger and the Article dealing with the self-determination of nations. Let us adhere to that, the Arabs say, and let the people, that is the Arabs who are involved, decide the question by the democratic processes. If this policy of participation was truly adhered to they say, then why couldn’t there be a partition with the “the” partition set aside for the Arab minorities?

The Arabs are most concerned about the great increase in the Jews in Palestine: 80,000 in 1948. The Arabs have always feared this encroachment and maintain that the Jews will never be satisfied with just their section of Palestine, but will gradually move to overpower the rest of the country and will eventually move onto the enormously wealthy oil lands. They are determined that the Jews will never get the toehold that would be necessary for the fulfillment of that policy.

Always Will Attack

They are willing to let the Jews remain as peaceful citizens subject to the rule of the Arab majority just as the Arabs are doing in such great number in Egypt and the Levant states, but they are determined that a separate Jewish state will be attacked and attacked until it is finally cut out like an unhealthy abscess.

The Arabs believe they contributed greatly to making the Allied victory possible in the first World War. At the Paris peace conference they felt that they received nothing comparable to what they were promised for their fight under Lawrence against the Turks. Rather, due to power politics, British and French domination replaced that of the Ottoman empire. The Arab leaders attribute their country’s backwardness to these 400 uninterrupted years as subservience to the Ottoman empire.

The Jewish people on the other hand believe that if it were not for the wars and invasions that racked Palestine and which sent them scattered and persecuted throughout the world, Palestine would today be theirs.

It would be theirs just as when Moses led them from Egypt into the Palestinian plains which they point out were unoccupied except for a few Bedouin tribes.

Set Up Laboratories

Under the supposition that, at the finish of the mandate, this was to be their national state, they went to work. They set up laboratories where world-famous scientists could study and analyze soils and crops. The combination of arduous labor and almost unlimited funds from the United States changed what was once arid desert into flourishing orange groves.
Soils had to be washed of salt, day after day, year after year, before crops could be planted. One can see this work going on in lesser or more advanced stages wherever there are Jewish settlements in Palestine.
From a small village of a few thousand inhabitants, Tel Aviv has grown into a most impressive modern metropolis of over 200,000. They have truly done much with what all agree was very little.

The Jews point with pride to the fact that over 500,000 Arabs in the 12 years between 1932 and 1944, came into Palestine to take advantage of living conditions existing in no other Arab state. This is the only country in the Near and Middle East where an Arab middle class is in existence.

The Jews point out that they have always taken a passive part in the frequent revolutions that have racked the country, because of the understanding that they would eventually be set free from British mandateship. They wished to do nothing to impair this expected action.

During the second World War they sent numerous volunteer Jewish brigades which fought commendably with the British in Italy. In addition to that, many Palestinian Jews fought as volunteers with Allied troops throughout the world and still others were dropped by parachute into German-held territory as espionage agents. They were perhaps doing no more than their duty, but they did their duty well.

The Jews feel that promise after promise to them has been broken. They can quote freely, for example, from speech after speech of Labor Party leaders in the election campaign prior to the victory of the Labor Party in England, to attest to the fact that one need not even refer back to the controversial Balfour declaration to learn Britain’s attitude and promises toward a Jews state was to be one of the first acts of the Labor government if it were put into power. The Jews, remembering this, have rather bitterly named the black bombed out [area] in the Ben Yehuda disaster, “Bevin square.” [An Arab car bomb in Jerusalem in February 1948 killed some 50 people.]

It is an unfortunate fact that because there are such well founded arguments on either side each grows more and more bitter toward the other. Confidence in their right increases in proportion to the hatred and mistrust for the other side for not acknowledging it.

Never Searched

When I landed at Lydda Airport [see picture] I became immediately aware of it. I carried letters of introduction to both Arabs and Jews and at the airport where both sides intermingle it was explained to me by first one and then the other that I was taking a great risk. The Jew said it was all right for me to carry Arab papers in Jewish territory for I wouldn’t be molested, but when I entered Arab territory I had better be rid of all letters to Jews for I would immediately be searched and, if they found anything, would be quickly shot. The Arab said exactly the opposite and I found both to be half right, in that I was never searched by either side.

Another fact I became immediately aware of was a basic violent hatred of the British by both sides. I talked to a British army sergeant who had been in Palestine for two years, and he placed the blame with the Palestine Colonial Police. Later I found many to be in agreement. He called them the “underpaid uneducated dregs of society.” They were evidently the most corrupt group of police in the world, firstly because they were so underpaid and, secondly, because when colonial police were sent to their posts the worst of the lot were invariably sent to Palestine.

The Arab bitterness and also fear toward the British had as its starting point the 1936-1938 revolution, which was crushed most ruthlessly by the British.

Increasing Bitterness

Leading Arabs in the higher committee speak in all sincerity of the Indian brought by the British into the country because of the great skill and knowledge that he possessed in being able to torture with fire while leaving no scar tissue. Many claim to have suffered by having their nails pulled out from their fingers and toes and others of having burning matches thrust beneath their nails. I found little evidence that these stories were true.

The Jewish attitude toward the British has been one of increasing bitterness. The Jews have looked upon the British civil administration, which some years ago took over from the army, as most unfriendly and uncooperative and which has therefore led to much mutual distrust. Jews received virtually no financial help for building schools and hospitals in Jewish settlements and the post office which was set up to serve Tel Aviv wasn’t suitable for a village of several thousand inhabitants. I was forced to wait well over an hour in line in order to purchase stamps.

When told if they wanted a port they would have to build it themselves, the result was the port of Tel Aviv, which was constructed entirely through Jewish capital and labor. Nevertheless, it is taxed as high as the Arab port of Jaffa, which was built and maintained by funds raised by taxing both Arabs and Jews. These arguments are infinitesimal compared with the larger issues that have swept both sides during the last year, but they are mentioned to show that the hate that exists now is not something newly born and has a substantial background.

Kennedy in Palestine — Part Two
Jews Have a Fine Fighting Force
Make Up for Lack of Arms with Undying Spirit,
Unparalleled Courage — Impress the World
By Robert Kennedy, June 4, 1948

The Jewish people in Palestine who believe in and have been working toward this national state have become an immensely proud and determined people. It is already a truly great modern example of the birth of a nation with the primary ingredients of dignity and self-respect.

Malca and her family to me are the personification of that determination. She is a young girl of the age of 23 and her husband and four brothers are members of the Haganah. She herself is with the intelligence corps and worked on the average of 15 hours a day, which evidently was not unusual. She had seen and felt much horror and told me the story of a case she had just handled.

A Jewish girl in her teens was picked up by some members of the Haganah on the road from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and, as she was injured, she was taken to the Hebrew Hospital in Jerusalem. They believed that she had somehow been separated from a Jewish convoy which had just gone through and which had had a scrap with the Arabs.
She was particularly noticed because of the strange people who were her visitors and by the fact that she insisted on being moved to the English hospital. Malca was sent to question her. She was turned away gruffly by the girl after the girl admitted that she had in reality been in a British tank with a boy friend and wanted nothing to do with the Jews.

The Jewish Agency offered to send the girl out on a farm in order to let her regain her health and give her a new start, but she just demanded her release which they were forced to give her. She continued consorting with the British police despite warnings from the Stern gang.

Brother Shoots Sister

One night the Stern gang followed the tactics of the underground forces in the last war. They shaved all the hair off the girl’s head. Two days after Malca told me the story the sequel took place. The girl’s brother returned for leave from duty with the Haganah up in Galilee and, finding her in such a state, shot her.

Malca’s youngest brother is only 13, but every night he takes up his post as a sentry with the Haganah at a small place outside of Jerusalem.

His mother and father wait up every night until midnight for him and his older brother, 15, to return home. The other two brothers, both younger than Malca, give full time duty with combat troops.

An understanding of the institutions it contains, and of the persons that run these institutions, is most important if one would make up one’s mind as to the worth of this “de facto” Jewish state.
I visited and inspected a community farm through the kindness of a Jew who 40 years ago was in Boston making speeches for my grandfather, John F. Fitzgerald, when he was a candidate for congress. A third of the agricultural population live in such community farms which were set up originally to help newly-arrived refugees who had no money or prospects.

They are in reality self-sustaining States with a State and all the people in common undergo arduous toll and labor and make great sacrifices in order that their children might become heir to a home. An example of this is that when a child is one year old he is placed in a common nursery, with the result that all but the sick and infirm are able to devote their talents to the common cause. They get paid nothing for they need no money. Everything is financed by a group of elected overseers who get their money by selling what the farms produce. In our country we shrink from such tactics but in that country their very lives depend upon them.

The whole thing is done on a volunteer bases and one may leave the farm with this proportionate share of wealth at any time he chooses.

Jewish forces
The one we visited was a Givat Brenner and, although no one paid attention to the firing going on in the plain below, one could see all around preparations being undertaken for the coming fight.

I talked to members of the underground organization Irgun. They were responsible for the King David Hotel disaster and told me proudly that they were responsible for blowing up the Cairo Haifa train which had just taken place with the loss of 50 British soldiers.

Disillusioned
They believed the time had long since passed for the Jewish people to expect anything but treachery and broken promises from the outside world. If they wanted an independent state they would have to fight for it, and before they could even do that, they had to rid the country of foreign troops. They believe unquestionably that if it weren’t for their so-called terrorist activities the British would have remained on in their country. Bevin’s recent speeches in the House of Commons, they argue, have been ample proof of that. The question, though, in other Jews’ minds is whether this compensated for what they have lost in good will by such tactics.

I went to the training camp at Netanya, north of Tel Aviv, where for three weeks and with very little equipment, Jewish youths, trained mostly by former British officers, were attempting to learn the basic tenants of army life. We watch a first-week group attempt an obstacle course, and while maybe the flesh was weak, it emphasized all the more what can be accomplished when the spirit is willing. We watched a graduation class make its final round and they gave the appearance that they might well be whipped into a fighting force before much time has passed.

The security forces and Haganah are far more experienced. After landing at Lydda Airport (pictured), I was immediately taken to be questioned and my credentials examined by the Haganah. After being released and going to my hotel in Tel Aviv, I went for a walk around this city of 200,000 inhabitants. I wasn’t out for 10 minutes before I was recognized as a foreigner and picked up by the Haganah, blindfolded and once again brought to headquarters for questioning.
I talked to a Haganah soldier who fled from Prague as the Germans were taking over the city and he and his brother, who was killed, fought with the British throughout the war. He received news that his mother and two sisters who he had left in Prague were killed by the Germans and that his home had been completely destroyed.

Kennedy in Palestine — Part Three
British Position Hit in Palestine
Kennedy Says They Seek to Crush Jewish Cause Because They Are Not in Accord with It

By Robert Kennedy, June 5, 1948

The convoys that didn’t make it
I was in Palestine over Easter week and even then people knew there was absolutely no chance to preserve peace. They just wanted the British out, so that a decision could be reached either way. An early departure of the British has been far more important strategically to the Jews than to the Arabs.

The City of Jerusalem has more Jews than Arabs but the immediate surrounding territory is predominately Arab. Through part of that hilly territory winds the narrow road that leads from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
It is by this road that the Jewish population within Jerusalem must be supplied, but it is fantastically easy for the Arabs to ambush a convoy as it crawls along the difficult pass. On my trip from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem I saw grim realities of the fact and while in Jerusalem the failure and destruction of another Jewish convoy made meat non-existent and lengthened food queues for other items.

Jews lining up for water and rations
The Arabs living in the old city of Jerusalem have kept the age-old habit of procuring their water from the individual cisterns that exist in almost every home. The Jews being more “educated” (an Arab told me that this was their trouble and now the Jews were going to really pay for it) had a central water system installed with pipes bringing fresh hot and cold water. Unfortunately for them, the reservoir is situated in the mountains and it and the whole pipe line are controlled by the Arabs. The British would not let them cut the water off until after May 15th but an Arab told me they would not even do it then. First they would poison it.

Orthodox Community

Within the Old City of Jerusalem there exists a small community of orthodox Jews. They wanted no part of this fight but just wanted to be left alone with their wailing wall. Unfortunately for them, the Arabs are unkindly disposed toward any kind of Jew and their annihilation would now undoubtedly have been a fact had it not been that at the beginning of hostilities the Haganah moved several hundred well-equipped men into their quarter.

This inability to make any long range military maneuvers because of the presence of the British has been a great and almost disastrous handicap to the Jews. If the brief but victorious military engagement on the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem road had not taken place, the Jewish cause would have suffered such a setback as to be virtually lost. If the Haganah had waited for May 15th and the withdrawal of British troops, there would be few alive in Jerusalem today. Strong units of that body had moved into the hills on either side of that strategic road and repelled Arab counterattacks long enough for several hundred truckloads to make the 40-mile trip into the city, and then, only after threats from the British commander to use force against them, had withdrawn from their positions. As a Jew said to me at the time, “This is our battle of the Atlantic.” The maneuvers had to take place and took place despite the British.

Power Supply

The same basic difficulty that exists in relation to the water exists with regard to electric and power supply. Fortunately, an immediate danger is not yet present, but the Arabs have had months of preparations for a maneuver they know their opponents must eventually make.

The Jewish ghetto in the old city of Jerusalem would not have been in such an untenable position if it could have been periodically relieved, or if with a Jewish victory in that area it could have been connected with the main Jewish section in the new city.

The Jews have small settlements or community farms such as Givat Brenner in completely hostile territory. They take pride that, despite the great difficulties, they have not evacuated any of them. From the very tip of Galilee right down to the arid Negev these communities exist with such Jewish names as Zan, Safed, Yehsem, Mishmar Haemak, Ben Sheba, Laza. All have their supply problems. But no great military operation can be undertaken into Arab territory to relieve the increasing Arab pressure.

Need True Facts

In addition to these handicaps that the Jews suffered through the presence of the British, there are many more far-reaching aspects of British administration which unfortunately concern or, rather involve us in the United States.

Having been out of the United States for more than two months at this time of writing, I notice myself more and more conscious of the great heritage and birthright to which we as United States citizens are heirs and which we have the duty to preserve. A force motivating my writing this paper is that I believe we have failed in this duty or are in great jeopardy of doing so. The failure is due chiefly to our inability to get the true facts of the policy in which we are partners in Palestine.

The British government, in its attitude towards the Jewish population in Palestine, has given ample credence to the suspicion that they are firmly against the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine.

The bombing of the Jewish Agency
When I was in Cairo shortly after the blowing up of the Jewish Agency [March 11, 1948] I talked to a man who held a high position in the Arab League. He had just returned from Palestine where he had, among other things, interviewed and arranged transportation to Trans-Jordan for the Arab responsible for that Jewish disaster. This Arab told him that after the explosion, upon reaching the British post which separated the Jewish section from a small neutral zone set up in the middle of Jerusalem, he was questioned by the British officers in charge. He quite freely admitted what he had done and was given immediate passage with the remark “Nice going.”

British Markings

Just before I arrived in Palestine there was the notorious story of the foundry outside of Tel Aviv. It was situated in a highly contested area and the British accused the Jews of using it as a sniper post for the Jaffa-Jerusalem road. One day the British moved in, stripping the Jews of all arms and ordered them to clear out within 10 minutes. The British had scarcely departed when a group of armed Arabs moved in, killing or wounding all the occupants. The British government was most abject in its apologies.

British checkpoint in Jerusalem
I came in contact personally, however, with evidence that demonstrated clearly the British bitterness toward the Jews. I have ridden in Jewish armored car convoys which the British have stopped to inspect for arms. As always, there were members of the Haganah aboard and they quickly broke down their small arms, passing the pieces among the occupants to conceal them so as to prevent confiscation. Satisfied that none existed, the convoy supposedly unarmed was allowed to pass into Arab territory. If the arms had been found and confiscated and the Arabs had attacked, there would have been but a remote chance of survival for any of the occupants. There have been many not as fortunate as we.

British Informants

When I was in Tel Aviv the Jews informed the British government that 600 Iraqi troops were going to cross into Palestine from Trans-Jordan by the Allenby Bridge on a certain date and requested the British to take appropriate action to prevent this passage. The troops crossed unmolested. It is impossible for the British to patrol the whole Palestinian border to prevent illegal crossings but such flagrant violations should certainly have led to some sort of action.

Five weeks ago I saw several thousand non-Palestinian Arab troops in Palestine, including many of the famed British-trained and equipped Arab legionnaires of King Abdullah [of Trans-Jordan]. There were also soldiers from Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Trans-Jordan, and they were all proudly pointed out to me by a spokesman of the Arab higher committee. He warned me against walking too extensively through Arab districts as most of the inhabitants there were now foreign troops. Every Arab to whom I talked spoke of thousands of soldiers massed in the “terrible triangle of Nablus-Tulkarem-Jenin” and of hundreds that were pouring in daily.

Oversubscribed

When I was in Lebanon and asked a dean at the American University at Beirut if many students were leaving for the fight in Palestine he shrugged and said, “Not now – the quota has been oversubscribed.” When journeying by car from Jerusalem to Amman I passed many truckloads of armed Arabs and even then Jericho was alive with Arab troops. There is no question that it was taken over by the Arabs for an armed camp long before May 15.

Our government first decided that justice was on the Jewish side in their desire for a homeland, and then it reversed its decision temporarily. [Editor’s note: In March 1948 the State Department reversed its support for partition and called for a UN trusteeship.]

Because of this action I believe we have burdened ourselves with a great responsibility in our own eyes and in the eyes of the world. We fail to live up to that responsibility if we knowingly support the British government who behind the skirts of their official position attempt to crush a cause with which they are not in accord. If the American people knew the true facts, I am certain a more honest and forthright policy would be substituted for the benefit of all.

Kennedy in Palestine — Part Four
Communism Not to Get a Foothold
Jews Guard against Red Agents in Guise of Refugees – Want No Part of Russian Tyrant
By Robert Kennedy, June 6, 1948

Jewish defenders
The die has long since been cast; the fight will take place. The Jews with their backs to the sea, fighting for their very homes, with 101 percent morale, will accept no compromise. On the other hand, the Arabs say:

Religious Crusade

“We shall bring Moslem brigades from Pakistan, we shall lead a religious crusade for all loyal followers of Mohammed, we shall crush forever the invader. Whether it takes three months, three years, or 30, we will carry on the fight. Palestine will be Arab. We shall accept no compromise.”

The United Nations is scoffed at by both sides and the United States will never be able to regain the position of ascendancy she previously enjoyed with the Arab world. She lost the love of the Arabs when she supported partition. She lost their respect when she reversed that decision. [Editor’s note: In March 1948 the State Department reversed its support for partition and called for a UN trusteeship.] She lost it irreparably. For days on end Arab commentators drummed into their people that finally the power of the Arab world had been realized.

The Jews are bitter in disappointment. As one Jew said, “Britain let us down for 25 years but you bettered them in a week.” The feeling stops at disappointment and there is none of the hatred that exists for the British. They can understand us not wishing to send troops and so become entangled in a war that does not immediately concern us, but they plead only for the right to make this fight themselves. They want arms and frankly admit that if they cannot get them from us they will turn to the East. “What else can we do?” They are fighting for their very lives and must act accordingly.

Won’t Accept Communism

That the people might accept communism or that communism could exist in Palestine is fantastically absurd. Communism thrives on static discontent as sin thrives on idleness. With the type of issues and people involved, that state of affairs is nonexistent. I am as certain of that as of my name.

When I was in Tel Aviv, a group of refugees was landed and amongst them the Jewish Agency’s “FBI” immediately picked up one of these agents. He was loaded down with money and papers, and all agreed that he must have been sent with the intention that he be captured to mislead the security forces into thinking that all the Russian agents would be as inept as this one and equally easy to capture. Lethargy would set in and it would be then that they would smuggle in their Mata Hari.

Demands Allegiance

Communism demands allegiance to the mother country, Russia, and it is impossible to believe that people would undergo such untold sufferings to replace one tyrant with another. Robert Emmet, the Irish patriot, on trial for his life before a British tribunal stated the principle. When accused of attempting to bring French forces into Ireland to help wrest it from the British, he said why he, who loved and had been fighting for his homeland, deem it to his country’s interests to replace a known tyrant by an unknown one. These people want a homeland of their own.

That to them is the sole issue.

“Take that Goliath!” Pretend slingshot
Vehemence and hatred between the Jews and Arabs increase daily. But in many cases Jews and Arabs work side by side in the fields and orange groves outside of Tel Aviv. Perhaps these Jews and Arabs are making a greater contribution to the future peace in Palestine than are those who carry guns on both sides.

The Arabs in command believe that eventually victory must be theirs. It is against all law and nature that this Jewish state should exist. They trace expectantly its long boundary and promise that if it does become a reality it will never have as neighbors anything but hostile countries, which will continue the fight militarily and economically until victory is achieved.

Stabilizing Factor

The Jews on the other hand believe that in a few more years, if a Jewish state is formed, it will be the only stabilizing factor remaining in the Near and Middle East. The Arab world is made up of many disgruntled factions which would have been at each other’s throats long ago if it had not been for the common war against Zionism. The United States and Great Britain before too long a time might well be looking to a Jewish state to preserve a toehold in that part of the world.

Both sides still hate the British far more deeply than they hate one another. There was a British high commissioner who when attending the opera used to have his car parked directly in front of the main door, a place usually reserved for discharging passengers. An even more unpopular practice was the regulation that at the end of the opera everyone had to remain in their seats until the British high commissioner was out of the opera house and in his car.

But the British have left – and now the issue is to be resolved in a bitter war between Jew and Arab. I do not think the freedom-loving nations of the world can stand by and see “the sweet water of the River Jordan stained red with the blood of Jews and Arabs.” The United States through the United Nations must take the lead in bringing about peace in the Holy Land.

Years later his daughter said, “My father was killed by a
Palestinian terrorist [Sirhan Sirhan] because of his strong support for
Israel.” He was killed on the first anniversary of the 1967 Six Day War.

Robert Kennedy’s Yahrzeit (November 20, 1925 – June 6, 1968)
Remembering the Words of a Friend of Israel

Reprinted from lennybendavid.com

A young Harvard graduate, Bobby Kennedy, defied his father and decided to visit Palestine in March 1948, before “Israel” had been proclaimed. The perceptive observer described his experience in a series of articles published in June 1948 in the Boston Post, a newspaper that closed in 1956. Click here to read the pro-Yishuv (Jewish communities) series, including pictures provided by RFK’s family.

Editor’s note: Years later his daughter told me, “My father was killed by a Palestinian terrorist [Sirhan Sirhan] because of his strong support for Israel.” He was killed on the first anniversary of the 1967 Six Day War.