He paused outside the door to hear if she would express her satisfaction and thank God. As soon as his shadow was invisible, she cried out, “Why didn’t I say ten?”

Rabbinic wisdom teaches us that he who has $100, wants $200. It is the nature to want more than what we have. When I think of this story, the wisdom of Eric Fromm comes to mind. Fromm survived the camps and published a fascinating book, “To Be or to Have?”  In his study, he raises one of the most important questions of our age: How do we find contentment in our modern contemporary society?

Fromm insists that there are two modes of existence struggling fiercely for the soul of humankind: the “Having mode” vs. the “Being mode.” The Having mode is dedicated to the accumulation of wealth, material possessions, and property. People dedicated to the acquisition of gelt generally tend to be aggressive. Indeed, the reality of war is a grim reminder that people who define their existence by materialistic values will stop at nothing to achieve their values—the recent BP oil disaster is an excellent case in point. Driven by the love of money, principles, ethics often get sacrificed for the bottom line—but always at a cost.

The Being mode represents more of a spiritual attitude. It is not the man who has much who is much; rather, it is the man who is much who has much. Such an attitude focuses one inward development, love, compassion, a kinship with nature, and spiritual evolution as the only values worth perpetuating.

In a prosperous society such as ours, it is not hard to see why there is so much crime and violence. Too often we teach our children that money is the only value that counts. In God we trust, all others pay cash! The advertising industry spends billions to enslave our souls and minds.

Sex is frequently used in commercials to make a product tantalizing; yet, despite the prosperity of our society, record numbers of people committing suicide are on the rise. The wealthy and the powerful are not immune to the same problems we all face.

Without a spiritual orientation, we are indeed, a generation that is lost in space.

What wisdom can we draw from the wellspring of our tradition and parsha? Consider the following thought—consider the lesson of the manna.

Remarkably, rabbinic tradition attributes many wonderful qualities to the manna, which was purported to taste like anything you wanted it to taste like. Hamburger, cheeseburger, you name it—it could taste like your favorite food. Yet, no one person could hoard it all. Each family had exactly what it needed—not more, not less.

The sacred biblical author attributes the following wisdom to Moses:

What  was the purpose of the manna ?  Here the Torah conveys a timeless truth: “Man  does not live on bread alone, but on the emanations that proceed from the mouth of God” ( Deut. 8:3 ).

The  important  lesson  of  the manna was  to  realize  that all sustenance we receive comes from a Higher Source. It makes little difference whether you’re eating a crust of bread, or for that matter expensive caviar. It is all the same. Rav Nachman in own of his famous stories, deals with the  motif of contentment in a story called ” The Simple Man And the Sage.” In Nachman’s writings, the Sage is the sophisticate who is never content with what he has; but the Tam (“simpleton”) recognizes that all of life is a gift from God. To him, a stale crust of bread taste like the manna from Heaven.  As you can see, it is all a matter of perspective. Nachman extols the virtues of the Tam—and for good reason.

Some Jewish mystics, like R. Isaac Luria (16th century)  explains in his commentary that a human being does not live solely on the vitamins and nutrients of bread alone, but on the spiritual energy that gives bread its existence. Man is not just a material   being living in a material world;  we are spiritual beings having a physical experience. Even Madonna, the “material girl” studies and teaches Kabbalah!

Learning to recognize that life is a true gift is the key to finding the peace of mind that will enable us as families to make it through these difficult times. Would it be nice to win the lottery? Of course, but the parsha reminds us that our true sense of wealth and wellbeing must come from our inner attitude that recognizes the miracle of blessedness that saturates and fills our lives.

Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone! Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.  Take to heart these words which I enjoin on you today. Drill them into your children. Speak of them at home and abroad, whether you are busy or at rest. Bind them at your wrist as a sign and let them be as a pendant on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates (Deut. 6:4-9).

The recitation of the second and third paragraph of the Shema  generally fails to inspire the same kind of enthusiasm. Here is the passage in question:

“If, then, you truly heed my commandments which I enjoin on you today, loving and serving the LORD, your God, with all your heart and all your soul, I will give the seasonal rain to your land, the early rain and the late rain, that you may have your grain, wine and oil to gather in; and I will bring forth grass in your fields for your animals. Thus you may eat your fill. But be careful lest your heart be so lured away that you serve other gods and worship them. For then the wrath of the LORD will flare up against you and he will close up the heavens, so that no rain will fall, and the soil will not yield its crops, and you will soon perish from the good land he is giving you. “Therefore, take these words of mine into your heart and soul. Bind them at your wrist as a sign, and let them be a pendant on your forehead. Teach them to your children, speaking of them at home and abroad, whether you are busy or at rest. And write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates, so that, as long as the heavens are above the earth, you and your children may live on in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers he would give them” (Deut. 11:13-21).

Simply put, actions matter. Actions have consequences. Moderns might feel uncomfortable with the carrot-and-stick approach of Deuteronomy, but its message is still nevertheless compelling.

Our scientific age is certainly far more sophisticated than anything the ancients might have imagined, yet the meaning of the second paragraph of the Shema conveys an idea that is surprisingly modern and contemporary.

An ecological appreciation of the world reveals that all life forms are interconnected. The old paradigm of Newtonian and Cartesian physics conceived of the world through the metaphor of the clock. The universe was once seen as  a set of simple systems that resembled a steady ticking pendulum. These systems, if disturbed, bore minor consequences for their behavior is correspondingly slight. Their movements seemed predictable and manageable in its very nature.

Now we have discovered that there are in a manner of speaking, clocks within clocks—exponentially . The inner workings of our world are so exquisitely sensitive to circumstance that even the smallest disturbance produces large and ever-growing changes in their behavior that are difficult to fully calculate.

The meteorologist Ed Lorenz observed while studying  the earth’s weather systems that the smallest variation in the input to his equations produced exponentially large deviations in the behavior of his solutions.  He referred to this cascade of changes as the “butterfly effect.”  Thus, a butterfly stirring the air with its wings in the African jungle today will generate consequences for the storm systems affecting Boston within three weeks. Since our knowledge about African butterflies is limited, detailed long-term weather forecasting will prove to be difficult to anticipate–but the effects are nevertheless in a perpetual state of causality. (By the way, this same kind movement can also be applied with respect to economics, as seen this past year’s gyrations of the stock market.)

Actions matter–and what applies to the realm of natural events especially applies to the moral events we as individuals make. With the recent BP oil spill disaster, we can see an ecological impact that effects not just the Gulf region, but ultimately the life-forms of the entire planet based on the principle of the butterfly-effect.

The Gulf of Mexico has been the home for tons of marine and aquatic life forms that are going to be drastically affected. According to one article,  the North Atlantic Bluefin Tuna, whales, dolphins, pelicans, oysters, shrimp, and blue crab. The Bluefin Tuna, which are famous for sushi, spawn in the Gulf of Mexico around mid-April to mid-June. Since the oil has been spewing into the waters where they hatch all throughout this time, they are now in danger of becoming extinct.

Marine animals like whales and dolphins not only live in the water, but need to surface to breathe. Therefore, the oil within the water is not the only threat to them. As they surface above the water to breathe the fresh air, the toxins that the oil gives off are inhaled.

The Brown Pelican recently came off the endangered species list in 2009 and is in grave danger yet again. Their breeding season is in the spring, during the spill, and their eggs are now incubating. The oil is posing a significant threat to this tropical bird.

When nature is injured and harmed by human greed, it will exert an economic impact on millions of people, whose livelihoods depend upon the ethical and mindful stewardship of their environment. The sea-food industry, for example, produces vast assortments of oysters, shrimp, and crab.

Residual effects of the oil and hydrocarbons will prove to be toxic to oysters for decades because hydrocarbons can be retained in coastal sediments for months or even years. Estimates so far indicate there will be a loss of $13 billion alone in tourism, and $11 billion in oil.  Florida and the entire Gulf region depends upon the revenue generated by these important industries.

Who knows how much damage will result from BP’s arrogance and greed? When a corporation worries about its profits more than the ethical operation of its operations, disasters such as the BP oil spill will impact humans and non-human life forms for generations to come.

So are the words of the Shema’s second paragraph relevant for our age? You betcha! We dare not ignore its spiritual message and importance in a postmodern era such as ours. The idols of today are much more subtle than the idols of antiquity. Today’s idols are the symbols of power and money; the love of money creates a society that values material goods over life itself. BP’s justification has been cavalier and disturbing. We can only hope that this tragedy will move nations in the direction of finding practical alternatives that are worthy of consideration.

The Midrash thus teaches: “God took Adam and placed him in the Garden of Eden to work it and guard it” … If you ruin it, there is nobody to restore it after you (Ecclesiastes Rabba 7:28). We would be wise to remember this wisdom and hold corporations like BP accountable to this timeless truth.

More recently Anshel Pfeffer, a columnist of the Ha’aretz newspaper, argues that the fast of the 10th month would eventually come to an end, and with the other fast days[1], will become transformed into days of feasting and happiness (Zech 8:19).

Pfeffer writes:

“Changed attitudes by God and Israel prompted a question: What is the need for all these fasts? There was none. Instead of having fasts to remember all the bad moments in their history, God instructed them to have joyful feasts. In other words, the fasts were to be turned to feasts and occasions of joy. “The fast … shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; therefore, love the truth and peace” (8:19). The horrors of the fall of Jerusalem, the burning of the Temple, and other calamities would drift into obscurity as joy flooded their hearts through the manifold mercies of the Lord . . . ”

One must ask: Have we in our own day realized this ancient biblical prophecy? Well, in a word: yes and no. The Jewish return to her ancestral homeland is indeed one of the most remarkable chapters of Jewish history–both ancient and modern–and logically one could make the case that Tisha’ B’Av has finally fulfilled its purpose. However, the fact remains that the Third Temple has not yet been built, and given the draconian attitude of the Haredi (Ultra-Orthodox and Hassidic leadership), one can safely conclude that the Third Temple will not be built any time in the near or distant future.

Exile is more than just a brute physical fact, it is a way of thinking; unfortunately, our spiritual healthiness today reflects a religious community that is at odds within itself. The recent attempt to delegitimize the Diaspora Jewish community only proves that there are many obstacles that prevent us from truly fulfilling the biblical passages cited above.  When Jews attack and destroy synagogues in Israel as the Haredi did earlier this year with the Intel building just because this gentile business remained open on Shabbat, we have a serious problem that all Jews must earnestly address.

Hurling stones on Shabbat in the holy city of Jerusalem reflects a spiritual disease of intolerance that is far deadlier to the Jewish people than all the missiles shot by the Palestinians in Gaza or from Lebanon. The Talmud (BT Gittin 55b-57a) describes how the zealots purposely burned the food silos rather than make a truce with the Romans, killing anyone who got in their way. When we watch how the Haredim are behaving in Israel today, joining forces with the Palestinians who wish to uproot the Jewish presence altogether, we must wonder whether we have sunk to a new historical low.  

How can we as a “chosen people” bear witness to our unique vocation when in reality, we are doing everything to rip our nation apart? The religious fanaticism that propelled our ancestors to fight against Rome ended in the destruction of our homeland. The real enemies of the Jewish people proved to be–not the Romans–but Jews who acted violently toward their own fellow Jewish citizens.

Rabbinic wisdom in the Talmud and subsequent texts explains how “sin’at hinnum” (gratuitous hatred) resulted in the exile of our people; the real question we must ask is: Have we learned any wisdom from the mistakes of our forbearers?

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Notes:

[1] Of course, one might ask: What other fast days was the prophet Zechariah referring to? Simply put, the fast of the fifth month marked the tragic destruction of the temple on the seventeenth day (2 Kgs 25:8). The other subsidiary events were included under the greater (cf. 8:19): the ninth day of the fourth month is recorded as the date when the city wall was breached (Jer. 39:2); the fast of the seventh month commemorated the murder of Gedaliah (2 Kgs 25:25; Jer. 41:1f.), and the tenth day of the tenth month marked the beginning of Nebuchadrezzar’s siege of the city (2 Kgs 25:1, 2; Jer. 39:1) These special days had become hallowed by observance for over sixty years

During the Three Weeks, we reflect upon the events that led to the loss of Jewish independence. We remember how the death of two million Jews marked the largest number of Jews killed (according to Josephus) prior to the Holocaust. As Jews, memory is never something that is passive; it must be active, dynamic, and—hopefully—transforming.

Unlike most Jewish holidays, Tisha B’Av recalls the time when the Babylonians destroyed the Temple of Jerusalem in the year 586 B.C.E. Jewish tradition also teaches that the Second Temple was also destroyed on this day, but this time it was by the Romans in the year 70 C.E.

THE QUESTION

Thus far, I did not tell you anything you probably did not already know. However, anyone familiar with the biblical chronology of the Temple’s destruction will see an obvious problem with this rabbinic tradition. Historically, the Tanakh teaches us that the Temple was really destroyed on the 10^th of Av (cf. Jer. 52:12-14).

You are probably asking yourselves, “Wait a minute! Something’s wrong with this picture. Jews do not fast on the 10^th of Av, but on the 9^th of Av!”

 Ok, we can now ask the most important Jewish question of the day: Why did the Sages designate the 9^th of Av as the fast day commemorating the Temple’s destruction? One reason suggested is that the Babylonians originally torched the Temple on the 9^th; and from this perspective, the beginning of a tragedy is believed to be greater than its ending. However, this explanation seems to fall short of the mark for according to 2 Kings 25:8-10 plainly states the destruction began on the 7^th of Av and ended on the 10^th!

 To understand the Bible, you must learn to read in between the lines; this same principle applies no less to reading rabbinic texts as well. 

 I suspect the symbolism has more what to do with the Jewish attitude of hope, for the number nine corresponds to the period of pregnancy; our Sages thus teach that the Messiah was born on the 9^th of Av! This would indicate that the seeds of renewal and hope lay in the ashes of the past; despair must not have the final word. The theme of redemption in Jewish history reminds us that each of us plays a pivotal role in the healing of the world that must begin first with healing our own wounded spirit.

 A SHORT TALMUDIC LESSON

 A famous Talmudic story illustrates my point quite nicely.

 About 25 years after the Temple was destroyed by the Romans, four rabbis had a most remarkable discussion when they visited Rome. As Rabban Gamaliel, R. Eleazar b. ‘Azariah, R. Joshua and R. Akiba were walking on the road, they heard the noisy crowds that had just arrived from the Italian port city of Puteoli . . . The Sages began to weep, but R. Akiba was buoyant.

 Shocked by their colleague’s demeanor, they asked him, “Akiba, why are you so happy?” Akiba answered the rabbinic question the same way all rabbis answer a question—with another question! Akiba retorted, “Why are you weeping?” They replied, “Look at these good for nothing pagans, who worship graven images and burn incense to their deities. Why should they be entitled to live in safety and ease? Our Temple, the ‘Footstool’ of our God, has been destroyed by fire—how can we not weep?!”

 Akiba’s answer reflected an optimistic attitude the Sages did not consider. He replied, “That is precisely why I am merry! Look, if this is the fare of those who offend God, how much better will the fare be of those who truly worship their Maker!” Had the Rabbis seen the Vandals’ sack of Rome in 455, they probably would have felt vindicated.

 Scene Two:

As the Sages eventually made their way back to Jerusalem, they arrived at Mount Scopus they saw a fox emerging from the place that used to be the Holy of Holies. Once again, the Sages began to weep, while Rabbi Akiba looked happy.

 They asked him, “Why are you so happy?” He replied, “Why are you so sad?” The Sages replied that the sacred place that proscribed death to anyone else who was the High Priest had now become a haunt for foxes, “How can we not weep at the sight of this tragedy?” But Akiba replied that there were two prophetic predictions about the destruction of Jerusalem.

 Simply put, as far as Akiba was concerned, the prophecy of gloom and doom pertained to the destruction of the first Temple and the Second Temple, but Akiba believed that there would come a future time when the streets of Jerusalem would once again be inhabited by the sound of music and young people. Listen to the prophecy of Zechariah:

 Thus says the LORD of hosts: Old men and old women, each with staff in hand because of old age, shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem. The city shall be filled with boys and girls playing in her streets.  Thus says the LORD of hosts: Even if this should seem impossible in the eyes of the remnant of this people, shall it in those days be impossible in my eyes also, says the LORD of hosts?  Thus says the LORD of hosts: Lo, I will rescue my people from the land of the rising sun, and from the land of the setting sun. I will bring them back to dwell within Jerusalem. They shall be my people, and I will be their God, with faithfulness and justice. Thus says the LORD of hosts: Let your hands be strong, you who in these days hear these words spoken by the prophets on the day when the foundation of the house of the LORD of hosts was laid for the building of the temple (Zech. 4-9).

In other words, rather than focusing on the destruction of the past, it is far better to believe that God will someday rebuild the fallen city of Jerusalem and restore it to her former glory. When the Sages heard Akiba’s comforting words, they replied, “Akiba, you have truly comforted us! Akiba, you have truly comforted us!”

 BACK TO THE FUTURE

 Whenever I read this Talmudic passage, I think about how we—in our generation—have been so privileged to see Jerusalem restored to her former glory in our time. Yet, I find it also so appalling—even disturbing—that the Jewish communities of the Diaspora have yet to recognize this great miracle that God has allowed us to see and witness before a cynical and anti-Semitic world.

When Obama, Biden, and Hillary dared to call East Jerusalem, an “occupied territory,” the Obama administration made an error that no previous presidential leader had ever made before.

Dear friends, if the area of East Jerusalem is not considered “Jewish,” then none of Israel is “Jewish” either. Rabbinic tradition teaches us that the Temple was destroyed because Jews failed to stand together as a community against Rome. The United States should not be standing side by side with Hamas, it should be standing side by side with Israel.

Obama once had 80% of the Jewish voters; statistics now say he has only 50% backing him. Frankly, he deserves 5% of the Jewish voters for showing a vitriolic hatred toward Israel—even now as Iran plans to wipe Israel off the map. Let me remind you that six million Jews now live in Israel. Does this number sound vaguely familiar?

 Let us use this time to show our support for the Jewish State—especially now in a time of great adversity.

 Hillel once said, “If I am not for myself, who will be for me?” This period of Jewish history must be remembered as a time when the Jewish people learned from the mistakes of the past.

 We can become a united people—despite our religious or political differences. It begins with a choice and a positive attitude. Let us do our part, and pray that God will give us the strength to survive against our multitude of enemies.

The connection between Obama and his administration with Hamas is very disturbing. Frankly–it is downright amazing in light of the 9/11 attack on our country, yet Obama continues to court the very terrorists organizations that carried out this devastating attack upon our country.

Enabling evil is a serious and moral crime. Churchill said it best, “Appeasement is throwing someone else to the crocodiles in the hopes of being eaten last.” Our spineless presidential adminstration embodies this sick pathological attitude Churchill warned the future generations about.

Recently, we discovered that about 50% of the American Jewish community supports Obama–a far cry from the 80% who supported him during the last election. Now, let’s see if we can cut his support to 5% of  the Jewish community. Unfortunately, many Jews love the Democratic Party more than they do the State of Israel. While it is true, Israel’s flirtation with Haredi Jewish leaders certainly does not engender warm and fuzzy feelings toward Israel, nevertheless, I believe this moment of history is a very special one. Our ancestors prayed for our eventual return to our homeland, are we going to trade our spiritual home for a pot of political-flavored lentils? 

Remember: Supporting Hamas is like supporting the KKK.

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How Hamas rises in the West

By Caroline B. Glick

It is not surprising that Obama is siding with Hamas. Here’s why

http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Since the navy’s May 31 takeover of the Turkish-Hamas flotilla, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his advisers have deliberated around the clock about how to contend with the US-led international stampede against Israel. But their ultimate decision to form an investigatory committee led by a retired Supreme Court justice and overseen by foreign observers indicates that they failed to recognize the nature of the international campaign facing us today.Led by US President Barack Obama, the West has cast its lot with Hamas. It is not surprising that Obama is siding with Hamas. His close associates are leading members of the pro-Hamas Free Gaza outfit. Obama’s friends, former Weather Underground terrorists Bernadine Dohrn and William Ayres participated in a Free Gaza trip to Egypt in January. Their aim was to force the Egyptians to allow them into Gaza with 1,300 fellow Hamas supporters. Their mission was led by Code Pink leader and Obama fund-raiser Jodie Evans. Another leading member of Free Gaza is James Abourezk, a former US senator from South Dakota.

All of these people have open lines of communication not only to the Obama White House, but to Obama himself.

Obama has made his sympathy for the Muslim Brotherhood clear several times since entering office. The Muslim Brotherhood’s progeny include Hamas, al-Qaida and the Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Last June, Obama infuriated the Egyptian government when he insisted on inviting leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood to attend his speech at Al Azhar University in Cairo. His administration’s decision to deport Hamas deserter and Israeli counterterror operative Mosab Hassan Yousef to the Palestinian Authority where he will be killed is the latest sign of its support for radical Islam.

Given Obama’s attitude toward jihadists and the radical leftists who support them, his decision to support Hamas against Israel makes sense. What is alarming however is how leaders of the free world are now all siding with Hamas. That support has become ever more apparent since the Mossad’s alleged killing of Hamas terror master Mahmoud al-Mabhouh at his hotel in Dubai in January.In the aftermath of Mabhouh’s death, both Britain and Australia joined the Dubai-initiated bandwagon in striking out against Israel. Israel considers both countries allies, or at least friendly and has close intelligence ties with both. Yet despite their close ties, Australia and Britain expelled Israeli diplomats who supposedly had either a hand in the alleged operation or who work for the Mossad.It should be noted that neither country takes steps against outspoken terror supporters who call for Israel to be destroyed and call for the murder of individual Israelis.For instance, in an interview last month with The Australian, Ali Kazak, the former PLO ambassador to Australia, effectively solicited the murder of The Jerusalem Post’s Palestinian affairs correspondent Khaled Abu Toameh. Kazak told the newspaper, “Khaled Abu Toameh is a traitor.”Allowing that many Palestinians have been murdered for such accusations, Kazak excused those extrajudicial murders saying, “Traitors were also murdered by the French Resistance, in Europe; this happens everywhere.”Not only did Australia not expel Kazak or open a criminal investigation against him, as a consequence of his smear campaign against Abu Toameh, several Australian government officials cancelled their scheduled meetings with him.

AND OF course, this week we have the actions of Germany and Poland. They are considered Israel’s best friends in Europe, and yet acting on a German arrest warrant, Poland has arrested a suspected Mossad officer named Uri Brodsky for his alleged involvement in the alleged Mossad operation against Mabhouh. Israel is now caught in a diplomatic disaster zone where its two closest allies — who again are only too happy to receive regular intelligence updates from the Mossad — are siding with Hamas against it.And then of course we have the EU’s call for Israel to cancel its lawful blockade of the Gaza coast. That is, the official position of the EU is that an Iranian proxy terrorist organization should be allowed to gain control over a Mediterranean port and through it, provide Iran with yet another venue from which it can launch attacks against Europe.For their part, the Sunni Arabs are forced to go along with this. The Egyptian regime considers the fact that the Muslim Brotherhood took over Gaza a threat to its very survival and has been assiduously sealing its border with Gaza for some time. And yet, unable to be more anti-Hamas than the US, Australia and Europe, Mubarak is opening the border. Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa’s unprecedented visit to Gaza this week should be seen as a last ditch attempt by Egypt to convince Hamas to unify its ranks with Fatah. Predictably, the ascendant Hamas refused his entreaties.As for Fatah, it is hard not to feel sorry for its leader Mahmoud Abbas these days. In what was supposed to be a triumphant visit to the White House, Abbas was forced to smile last week as Obama announced the US will provide $450 million in aid to his sworn enemies who three years ago ran him and his Fatah henchmen out of Gaza.So too, Abbas is forced to cheer as Obama pressures Israel to give Hamas an outlet to the sea. This will render it impossible for Fatah to ever unseat Hamas either by force or at the ballot box. Hamas’s international clout demonstrates to the Palestinians that jihad pays.

THERE ARE three plausible explanations for the West’s decision to back Hamas. All of them say something deeply disturbing about the state of the world. The first plausible explanation is that the Americans and the rest of the West are simply naive. They believe that by backing Hamas, they are advancing the cause of Middle East peace.If this is in fact what the likes of Obama and his European and Australian counterparts think, apparently no one in the West is thinking very hard. The fact is that by backing Hamas against Israel, they are backing Hamas against Fatah and they are backing Iran, Syria, Turkey, Hamas and Hizbullah against Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. They are backing the most radical actors in the region — and arguably in the world — against states and regimes they have a shared strategic interest in strengthening.There is absolutely no way this behavior advances the cause of peace.The second plausible explanation is that the West’s support for Hamas is motivated by hatred of Israel. As Helen Thomas’s recent remarks demonstrated, there is certainly a lot of that going around.The final plausible explanation for the West’s support for Hamas is that it has been led to believe that by acting as it is, it will buy itself immunity from attack by Hamas and its fellow members of the Iranian axis. As former Italian president Francesco Cossiga first exposed in a letter to Corriere della Serra in August 2008, in the early 1970s Italian prime minister Aldo Moro signed a deal with Yasser Arafat that gave the PLO and its affiliated organizations the freedom to operate terror bases in Italy. In exchange the Palestinians agreed to limit their attacks to Jewish and Israeli targets. Italy maintained its allegiance to the deal — and to the PLO against Israel — even when Italian targets were hit.Cossiga told the newspaper that the August 2, 1980 bombing at the Bologna train station — which Italy blamed on Italian fascists — was actually the work of George Habash’s Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Eighty-five people were murdered in the attack, and still Italy maintained its agreement with the PLO to the point where it prosecuted and imprisoned the wrong people for the worst terrorist attack in its history.Cossiga alleged that the deal is still in place today and that Italian forces in UNIFIL have expanded the deal to include Hamas’s fellow Iranian proxy Hizbullah. It isn’t much of a stretch to consider the possibility that Italy and the rest of the Western powers have made a similar deal with Hamas. And it is no stretch at all to believe that they will benefit from it as greatly as the Italian railroad passengers in Bologna did.True, no one has come out and admitted to supporting Hamas. So too, no one has expressed anything by love for Israel and the Jewish people. But the actions of the governments of the West tell a different tale. Without one or more of the explanations above, it is hard to understand their current policies.Since the flotilla incident, Netanyahu and his ministers have held marathon deliberations on how to respond to US pressure to accept an international inquisition into the IDF’s lawful enforcement of the legal blockade of the Gaza coast. Their deliberations went on at the same time as Netanyahu and his envoys attempted to convince Obama to stop his mad rush to give Hamas an outlet to the sea and deny Israel even the most passive right of self-defense.It remains to be seen if their decision to form an investigative panel with international “observers” was a wise move or yet another ill-advised concession to an unappeasable administration. What is certain, however, is that it will not end the West’s budding romance with Hamas.The West’s decision to side with Hamas is devastating. But whatever the reasons for it, it is a fact of life. It is Netanyahu’s duty to swallow this bitter pill and devise a strategy to protect the country from their madness. 

Now, let’s see if we can get the other 50 % of the Jewish community to get rid of him and his leftist buddies.

After some thought, the idea occurred to me that the Flotilla is yet another type of smoke-screen intended to deflect the world’s attention from Iran and their race to build a nuclear bomb. As with baseball or tennis, it pays to keep our eye on the ball.

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Photo by: ASSOCIATED PRESS

This episode reminds me a lot of the current crisis with Hamas, who is winning the PR war against Israel. No matter what Israel offers the Palestinians, nothing short of national suicide or genocide will satisfy the radical Muslim blood-lust. Steeped in a millennial hatred of the Jew, Europe supports Hamas because they hate seeing the Jew as vibrant and more virulent than they are. I realize these words probably will sting the sensibilities of leftists–Christian and Jewish–but that’s too bad.

Europeans have proven time and time again why the Holocaust occurred on their continent. In my opinion, the political left of Europe is bereft of a moral backbone, not to mention, a conscience. Obama’s lack of support speaks volumes. If reelected, you can be sure that Obama will be leading the chorus against Israel. A recent report says that 80% of American Jews voted for Obama. Now, he has only 50%. Frankly, he should have only 5%. Are we that foolish?  Obama is Jimmy Carter redux.

Can we do better? YES WE CAN!

RMLS

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Charles Krauthammer on the president’s Israeli response
Thursday, June 03, 2010

HH: I’m joined now by Charles Krauthammer, who is a Washington Post columnist as well as a Fox News All-Star. Charles, earlier today, Jimmy Carter said that these tragic deaths are a terrible reminder that the failed policy of besieging Gaza mainly hurts civilians. He went on to say there is no way to realize the goal of a two-state solution as long as the people of Gaza remain isolated and deprived of their basic human rights. He certainly isn’t standing with Israel, is he?

CK: Yeah, and he also knows no history. I mean, his animus towards Israel overrides even logic in his case. The fact is that long before the blockade, long before any of this, Gaza, run by Hamas, is committed to the destruction of Israel. It has never accepted a two-state solution, so it is totally fatuous to say that in the absence of a blockade, or there was some change in Israeli policy, Hamas would ever agree to a two-state solution. It has repeated its opposition to Israel’s existence, and its determination to fight to the end to its destruction at every opportunity for thirty years. So what Carter says is the usual nonsense coming from him on the Middle East, and it’s worse than nonsense. It’s highly, highly prejudiced nonsense.

HH: Less than an hour ago, CNN released tape of Larry King asking President Obama about the Carter statement. Let me play you that tape, Charles, from CNN.

LK: Former President Carter has condemned the Israeli raid against those ships in the flotilla trying to break the blockade of Gaza.

BHO: Right.

LK: Where do stand on that? A former American president has condemned it.

BHO: Well, the United States with the other members of the UN Security Council said very clearly that we condemned all the acts that led up to this violence. It was a tragic situation. You’ve got loss of life that was unnecessary. And so we are calling for an effective investigation of everything that happened, and I think the Israelis are going to agree to that, an investigation of international standards, because they recognize that this can’t be good for Israel’s long term security.

LK: Premature, then, to condemn Israel?

BHO: Well, I think that we need to know what all the facts are, but it’s not premature to say to the Israelis, and to say to the Palestinians, and to say to all the parties in the region, that the status quo is unsustainable. We have been trying to do this piecemeal for decades now. And it just doesn’t work. You’ve got to have a situation in which the Palestinians have real opportunity, and Israel’s neighbors recognize Israel’s legitimate security concerns, and are committed to peace.

HH: What do you make of that, Charles, that both the question, how it was answered, and how it should have been answered?

CK: Well, I find it equally fatuous for the president to say that we need to have, the present situation is unsustainable, you have to have a situation in which the Palestinians have what they need, and the Israel security needs are recognized. Everybody knows that Hamas is not going to recognize Israel’s security needs. Israel withdrew from Gaza. It took out every settler, every soldier, every Jew. There wasn’t a Jew left in Gaza. They were given independence. Israel had an open hand. It was quite willing to have open, friendly relations. And what did it get in return? Remember people used to say land for peace? If you offer land, you’re going to get peace? It got war. It got 6,000 rockets launched into Israel attacking schools and houses wantonly and gratuitously, and purposely. So to speak about this as if somehow Israel is at fault because it blockaded an entity that’s attacking it with weaponry, and wants to prevent the importation of even more rockets, is simply  astonishing. I think the United States under this administration has left Israel out in the cold, and that’s why the world has been so eager and sort of enthusiastic in attacking Israel in the UN and elsewhere, because it sees that the kind of protective, moral umbrella that the United States has held over Israel all these years, understanding its needs, understanding its democracy, understanding its incredible yearning to have a real peace, that umbrella has been removed under this administration, and it’s open season on Israel.

HH: Now Charles Krauthammer, I believe that the Monday UN resolution was a huge breach with past American policy on Israel. But then Jake Tapper comes out the next day and says there are sources in the White House who says there will be no daylight between the U.S. and Israel. Last night, Joe Biden goes on Charlie Rose and says what’s the big deal? Israel’s running a blockade. And then today, Barack Obama goes on Larry King and opens up the daylight again. It’s like there are two administrations here.

CK: No, I think the Biden stuff is just to allow him to get, you know, lengthen his leash to say a few things that might reassure a few naïve and gullible pro-Israel Americans, of which I would say 98% of the pro-Israel community in the United States, amazingly, is not Jewish. I mean, there’s an unbelievable constituency who support Israel because it’s a democracy, and because it’s a brave country holding its own against a lot of despots. But no, the policy of the U.S. was to support the statement out of the Security Council, which condemned the acts. Well, who’s acts do you think are involved here? But the worst part is what was in the resolution, what was in the statement, and what the president said on Larry King, which was we want an international investigation. We just had one on the Gaza war. It’s called the Goldstone report. It is a calumny against Israel. It’s a blood libel. It accuses it essentially of having conducted a criminal operation in Gaza when in fact, it was one of the most restrained and humane military actions probably in the history of counterinsurgency. And it compares very favorably with anything American has done in Afghanistan, Iraq or elsewhere. So we know what the UN will give us. It will give us a report that you can write in advance, is going to be anti-Israel and inflammatory. So that’s what we, we are demanding a second Goldstone report on this incident?

HH: Now you’ve already said that it is because of the withdrawal of the umbrella that Israel’s critics feel so emboldened. But what do you make of people like, for example, Peter Beinart, a very well-respected, very established supporter of Israel, blasting Israel in the aftermath of the flotilla even before, as far as I can see, the videos came out. Within 24 hours, people were unwilling, long standing, traditional supporters of Israel, unwilling to wait here, Charles. I can’t believe it, but what’s going on?

CK: Well, I mean, there are a lot of people who, let me say, that are rather weary of supporting the right and the good and the just here, with the unrelenting opposition from of course the Arab world, Islamic world, from the European and American left. Particularly if you’re on the left, as Beinart is and others are, you’ve got to choose. You know, do you really want to go into your cocktail parties and your dinners and have to actually spend the evening defending an extremely unpopular cause? Or would you rather acquiesce to the general zeitgeist of piling on Israel and taking the side, essentially, of parties who have declared themselves, like Hamas and like others, to have no use for Israel? I mean, there is a great movement, even among, particularly in the European left, of declaring that the whole creation of Israel was in and of itself either a mistake or a crime, and needs to be undone. We’re not speaking about a two state solution these people want on the left. It’s the one state solution, and it doesn’t include Israel.

HH: That’s very dispiriting, Charles, because…

CK: Well, it is, but if that’s where you want to go, I mean, if you’re on the left, and that’s who you hang out with, that’s the way you go.

HH: But that would mean even intellectuals like Beinart cannot see the obvious problem with allowing any ship to go to Gaza. It’s insane. They can’t let ships freely enter Gaza.

CK: It’s quite obvious, isn’t it? Didn’t we have a blockade on Cuba in October, 1962?

HH: Well, we wouldn’t let the Taliban receive convoys without checking them right now.

CK: Correct.

HH: I don’t care if they said they were…it’s just nuts.

CK: And do you think the Turks would allow a procession of vehicles carrying “humanitarian aid” on the way to the Kurds in the interior of Turkey?

HH: Excellent. Now Arthur Brooks, who will be my guest next week, has written a book that says this is a 70/30 country, 70% conservative, freedom-loving, and I would argue supporting Israel, 30% in control of all the power right now, but anti-free enterprise, and I’m going to say, not Brooks by extension, anti-Israel. Does the 70% use this last occasion this week, Charles, to solidify their resolve to toss these people out in November?

CK: Well, I’m not sure what the reaction is going to be. There was a Gallup poll on Israel recently, 63% pro-Israel, about, I think, 10 or 12 pro-Palestinian. That’s about a six to one ratio. It’s been that way consistently for the last thirty years or so, which makes American remarkable. That is not the way it stands in Europe and elsewhere. I think Americans have a basic decency, and also an incredibly calm sense of common sense, and they know what’s right and who’s right. Look, ten years ago next month, Israel offered the most generous peace settlement in the history of the Middle East – a Palestinian state, half of Jerusalem, a swap of territories, everything that the Palestinians had asked. And what did it get? Not just a refusal, but it got war in response. That’s all you have to know.

HH: Charles Krauthammer from the Washington Post, thank you.

Here Is Daniel Gordis’s excellent article that appeared in the NY Times today.

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We lost the 2006 war in Lebanon, believing – incorrectly – that our venerated air force could win the war from the skies. The strikes on Gaza in December 2008 were a military success, but we have utterly failed to convince the world that it was a defensive effort precipitated by eight years of Hamas’s firing Qassam rockets at us, killing and maiming and destroying any semblance of a normal life for Israelis living near the border. And then came Monday’s attack on the flotilla trying to break through the naval blockade of Gaza.

Yet, despite widespread criticism at the way the raid was conducted, few here doubted that stopping the flotilla was the right thing to do. Life in Gaza is unquestionably oppressive; no one in his right mind would choose to live there. But there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza; if anyone goes without food, shelter or medicine, that is by the choice of the Hamas government, which puts garnering international sympathy above taking care of its citizens. Israel has readily agreed to send into Gaza all the food and humanitarian supplies on the boats after they had been inspected for weapons.

Thus this flotilla was no “peace operation.” It was intended to break the blockade or to increase international pressure to end it. Its leaders, with the connivance of the Turkish government, set a trap, and Israel blundered smack into it.

But that does not make the blockade wrong. Hamas is a terrorist organization that completed its takeover of Gaza through brute force. It executes its political enemies at will. It is one of the world’s most misogynist regimes, allowing the murder of women for the slightest infraction of family honor.

Hamas kidnapped an Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, from Israeli territory and has held him for four years without giving the Red Cross any access to him, in violation of the most basic international standards of conduct. And, of course, Hamas openly insists that it will countenance no long-term peace with Israel; the resistance will not end, it says, until Israel is destroyed.

Like every other country, Israel has as its foremost obligation the protection of its citizens. Given that, why should it have allowed the flotilla to enter without inspecting its goods? If the United States were to impose a blockade on Iran (which seems unlikely), and another country dispatched a string of ships in a similar operation, is there any chance the United States Navy would let them through without inspection?

Israel will, of course, endure tremendous international condemnation for this week’s events. Sadly, though, we Israelis are becoming somewhat inured to such criticism. And we know that we dare not capitulate now.

It is no accident that Turkey sent the flotilla at this time. It is clearly cozying up to Iran these days, even teaming with Brazil to offer Tehran a deal on atomic fuel that would allow the mullahs to maintain their effort to build a nuclear arsenal. Ankara’s warmongering talk this week was not intended for global consumption; it was meant to show Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, that Turkey is playing a new role in the Middle East.

Iran finances Hezbollah and Hamas and does everything it can to weaken and marginalize Israel, inching toward its vision of a world without a Jewish state. The West has known of Iran’s nuclear intentions for well over a decade, but has effectively done nothing. Israelis understand that we – and we alone – will have to ensure our security and our survival.

The recent avalanche of international condemnation is very painful for Israelis, who remember the years in which we were seen as a beacon of democracy and sophistication in a repressive part of the world. Those days are gone, of course, because of the world’s impatience with the “occupation” of the West Bank and Gaza.

Our problem is that though most Israelis want peace with two states – one Jewish and one Palestinian, living side by side – we cannot find anyone to make a deal with us. A decade ago, President Bill Clinton and Prime Minister Ehud Barak, tried, but Yasir Arafat, the Palestinian leader, walked away. Now the supposedly moderate Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, refuses to negotiate, as of course does Hamas.

Israelis are resigned to the fact that reason will not shake the world’s blatant double standard. Our blockade of Gaza is “criminal”; yet nobody mentions that Egypt has had a blockade of Gaza in placesince 2007, and has never hesitated to use lethal force against those trying to break it. Israel’s attempt to enforce a blockade becomes an international crisis, while most of the world shrugs when North Korea sinks a South Korean ship. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared his willingness to sit with Fatah leaders any time, anywhere, but they insist on mere “proximity talks,” which they will probably now scuttle, using the flotilla as an excuse.

Israel’s geographic vulnerability means that we do not have the luxury of caving in to the world’s condemnation. We will have to gird ourselves for the long, dangerous and lonely road ahead, buoyed by hope that what ultimately prevails will be not what is momentarily popular, but rather what is just.

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From scramble to pre-emptive diplomacy

By ISRAEL KASNETT
06/01/2010 23:21
Israel must pre-empt negative PR by informing foreign governments on the exact circumstances it faces and the course of action it will take.

After the 2006 Second Lebanon War and the 2008 operation in Gaza, the Israeli government was left having to explain its actions to leaders around the world. The Foreign Ministry had to move quickly to do damage control and while then-foreign minister Tzipi Livni did make efforts to launch a public relations campaign by sending ambassadors and diplomats to explain Israel’s actions, it was already too late. Israel’s lack of public relations foresight resulted in “scramble” diplomacy.

The recent events concerning the so-called Gaza aid flotilla turned unfortunate when some of the activists were killed during a confrontation with IDF Navy commandos. Yet, having dealt with similar aid convoys in the past, the Foreign Ministry should have been well aware of the negative PR Israel would receive regardless.

The State of Israel does not reveal the inner workings of its secret diplomacy and obviously there is a lot of diplomatic activity that takes place behind the scenes. However, the public must be able to see at least a portion of what can be called “pre-emptive” diplomacy, by which foreign governments are informed of Israel’s intentions and subsequent reasoning prior to taking action. This way, Israel has already explained the legal reasoning and logic behind its decision to use force without having to sprint to the phones during each crisis.

Israel must be able to pre-empt negative PR by preparing and educating foreign governments and populations on the exact circumstances faced by Israel and the course of action that will be taken based on unfolding events. Pre-emptive diplomacy would at least minimize the harsh reaction Israel often witnesses when events take a wrong turn.

This time, Prime Minister Netanyahu, his spokesman Nir Hefetz and Minister of Public Diplomacy Yuli Edelstein were all in Canada and Israel was left with Tzipi Livni as a spokesperson. Again, there was lack of coordination between the Foreign Ministry, the IDF Spokespersons Unit and the Prime Minister’s Office. While the foreign press announced “worldwide condemnation” for a “botched raid” creating a “diplomatic crisis” and “international outrage,” Israel yawned. As events unfolded and it was becoming clear that Israel needed to clarify the facts and present legal reasoning for its actions, Israel’s leaders rolled over and went back to sleep instead.

HAD ISRAEL used pre-emptive diplomacy at the same time the Navy was planning its raid on the ships, the government would have been preparing legal arguments for any potential scenario. For instance, Israel could have pointed to the San Remo Manual on International Law dealing with armed conflicts at Sea, which specifies in Article 47 that “vessels engaged in humanitarian missions are exempt from attack” only if they are recognized by Article 48 which demands that they are “innocently employed in their normal role.”

According to Article 67 of the manual, the Gaza aid flotilla is guilty of “carrying contraband,” “breaching a blockade,” “engaging in belligerent acts on behalf of the enemy,” “acting as an auxiliary to an enemy’s armed forces,” “refusing an order to stop,” and actively resisting visit and search.

Israel could have also highlighted Article 98 which states, “Merchant vessels believed on reasonable grounds to be breaching a blockade may be captured. Merchant vessels which, after prior warning, clearly resist capture may be attacked.” Article 100 declares, “A blockade must be applied impartially to the vessels of all States.” Legally, Israel has the right to stop any vessel approaching Gaza’s shores to prevent the passage of materials that would aid Hamas in attacking Israel.

In light of the activists’s planned attack on Israel Navy commandos, they are also in violation of Article 110 which specifies that vessels such as theirs are prohibited from actively simulating the status of vessels on humanitarian missions when their intentions do not correspond.

There is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza as its residents do have access to food and medical supplies. Israel withholds only certain materials such as metal and cement which can be used to manufacture rockets and build tunnels. Hamas is directly responsible for Palestinian suffering in Gaza and while Israel must fight the occasional aid convoy with better PR, it must also look at the broader picture and prepare the world for a long struggle against radical extremists.

On May 31, J Street’s Jeremy Ben-Ami sent out a newsletter stating that “J Street has been and continues to be opposed to the blockade – believing that there are better ways to ensure Israel’s security and to prevent weapons smuggling than a complete closure of the Gaza Strip.”

If people like Ben-Ami don’t seem to understand the reality Israel faces then it is clear that Israel needs a long-term public relations campaign which would educate foreign governments and populations on the war against Hamas, the blockade on Gaza and radical Islam in general.

The writer is a freelance political adviser who has worked with, amongst others, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. israel.kasnett@gmail.com

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• Early this morning (May 31), Israel Defense Forces naval forces intercepted six ships attempting to break the naval blockade of the Gaza Strip.
• The intercept took place after numerous warnings from Israel and the Israel Navy that were issued prior to the action. The Israel Navy requested the ships to redirect toward Ashdod, where they would be able to unload their cargo which would then be transferred to Gaza over land after undergoing security inspections. The IDF stressed that the passengers could then return to their point of departure on the same vessels.
• During the interception of the ships, the demonstrators onboard attacked the IDF naval personnel with live gunfire as well as light weaponry including knives, crowbars and clubs. The demonstrators had clearly prepared weapons in advance for this specific purpose.
• According to reports from sea, on board the flotilla that was seeking to break the maritime closure on the Gaza Strip, IDF forces apprehended two violent activists holding pistols. These militants apparently grabbed the pistols from IDF forces and opened fire on the soldiers.
• The activists were carrying 10,000 tons of reported aid to Gaza. Israel provides 15,000 tons of aid weekly to Gaza.
• As a result of this life-threatening activity, naval forces employed riot dispersal means, including, when they determined that their lives were in immediate danger, live fire. According to initial reports, these events resulted in over 10 deaths among the demonstrators and numerous injured.
• A number of Israeli naval personnel were injured, some from gunfire and others from knives and crowbars. Two of the soldiers are moderately wounded and the remainder sustained light injuries.
• All of the injured, Israelis and foreigners, are currently being evacuated by a fleet of IDF helicopters to hospitals in Israel.
• Reports from IDF forces on the scene are that some of the participants onboard the ships had planned a lynch-mob attack, using lethal force on the boarding forces.
• The events are still unfolding. Israeli Naval commander, Vice Admiral Eliezer Marom is overseeing the activities.
• In the coming hours, the ships will be directed to the Ashdod port, while IDF naval forces will perform security checks in order to identify the people on board the ships and their equipment.
• The IDF naval operation was carried out under orders from the political leadership to halt the flotilla from reaching the Gaza Strip and breaching the naval blockade.

• The provocateurs were organized by an Islamist organization that has links to fundamentalist jihadi groups.
• The extremists brought small children on board knowing that they intended to violate international maritime law.
• The activists were carrying 10,000 tons of what they said was aid. Israel transfers about 15,000 tons of supplies and humanitarian aid every week to the people of Gaza.
• “We fully intend to go to Gaza regardless of any intimidation or threats of violence against us, they are going to have to forcefully stop us,” said one of the flotilla’s organizers.
• Using the Arabic term ‘intifada,’ Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said “We call on all Arabs and Muslims to rise up in front of Zionist embassies across the whole world.
• Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said this week: “If the ships reach Gaza it is a victory; if they are intercepted, it will be a victory too.
• Israel left Gaza in hopes of peace in 2005 and in return received more than 10,000 rockets and terrorist attacks.
• Israel has said that it will deliver any humanitarian aid to Gaza, as it does daily.
• No country would allow illegal entry of any vessel into their waters without a security check.
• Earlier this week, Noam Shalit, father of Hamas-held Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, approached the flotilla’s organizers asking them to take supplies to Gilad. He was refused.