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| Week ending Shabbat, November 11, 2006 |
20 Cheshvan, 5767 |
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New MK Lieberman Calls for Separation from Arabs
Days after joining the Israeli government, Avigdor Lieberman, Israel's Minister for Strategic Affairs, set the national agenda last Sunday when he said that the best way to achieve peace in the Middle East would be for Jews and Arabs (including Israeli-Arabs) to live apart. His statement has become the talk of the town and, of course, drew a storm of protest from the left-wing. MK Dov Hanin of the joint Arab-Israeli Hadash party said that Lieberman should be fired for his racist remarks. Meretz MK Zahava Gal'on added, "Lieberman was always a Kahanist, and remains a Kahanist." MK Uri Ariel (National Union), on the other hand, justified Lieberman's position: "His words about the threat presented by Israeli-Arabs to the physical existence of the State of Israel are correct. Now that he has entered the government, it remains only for us to see which of his plans he will actualize to deal with this threat."
"We established Israel as a Jewish country," Lieberman said. "I want to provide an Israel that is a Jewish, Zionist country. It's about what kind of country we want to see in the future. Either it will be an [ethnically mixed] country like any other, or it will continue as a Jewish country." Lieberman disagrees with most of his right-wing colleagues in one aspect of his "separation" plan between Israeli Jews and Arabs. While most of the right-wing recognizes Jordan as the original "Palestinian" state, and some, such as MK Benny Elon, would leave many Arabs in Judea and Samaria as a "sub-state" of Jordan, Lieberman wishes to trade Israeli-Arab populated areas for Jewish areas of Judea and Samaria.
Lieberman, head of the Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel Our Home) party, also had some strong words for Iran. Israel is on the "front line of a clash of civilizations between the free world and extremist Islam," he said, adding that Iran is "the base of an axis of evil which is a problem for all the world." "Every week, the president of Iran declares his intention to destroy us," Lieberman said. Lieberman called upon the international community to unite against "an axis of evil led by Iran. Iran is the biggest threat. It's a problem for the whole world, but Israel really has a bad location. We are on the front line between the clash of civilizations between the free world and the extremist Islamic world."
Gay Parade Approved; Violent Protests Break Out; Parade Organizers Quit
On Sunday, Attorney General Menachem Mazuz [right] ordered Jerusalem Police Commander Ilan Franco to issue a permit to allow the homosexhibitionist parade to march through the streets of the holy city of Jerusalem. Senior police officials had met earlier that morning to decide whether to issue a permit that would allow "gay" marchers to parade through the capital. Out of the fear of life-threatening violence by protestors, the police recommended the parade to be canceled. Hareidi religious Jews have been holding violent demonstrations against the parade every night for the past week.
Mazuz rejected the police recommendation to ban the parade. "Either we give in to threats or we deal with them. We have to exert efforts to find an equation so that it can be secured," he said. Mazuz ordered the police to work together with representatives of the Open House gay pride organization to find a way to hold the event "with a modest character." Police Chief Moshe Karadi stated that securing the parade will require a massive enlistment of 12,000 policemen this Friday. He says that it will weaken the police's ability to carry out its duties in other parts of the country. Two petitions demanding that the parade be cancelled have been filed with the court.
On Wednesday, MK Eldad (National Union-NRP) called in the letter for the state's chief legal counsel to apply the principles he elucidated regarding the Jerusalem gay parade to the rights of Jews to worship on the Temple Mount. As of now, police enforce a ban on Jewish worship on the Mount, Judaism's holiest site, due to threats of violence on the part of Muslims. The Arabs were allowed to maintain jurisdiction over the mosques on the Mount even after Israel conquered it in 1967. The ban on Jewish prayer is in effect despite Israeli lower court decisions stating that, in principle, Jews should have freedom of access and of worship on the Temple Mount.
On Thursday, while the Israeli Supreme Court was preparing to hand down its response to four petitioners who demand that the parade be legally stopped, the organizers essentially "threw in the towel" on their own. Fearing that the police would cancel the parade because of both increasing terror warnings and unyielding religious-community threats to actively protest it, the Jerusalem Open House (parade organizers) pre-emptively canceled it. Instead, it will hold a closed event in the stadium of the Givat Ram campus of Hebrew University, not far from the government complex.
Organizers of the religious protests convened afterwards to decide if and how to continue the protests. Rabbi Eldad Shmueli (Shas Party), said that though he perceived a victory of sorts, "it is still our obligation to protest against a public display of rebellion against G-d. True, it is not in the streets - but it is in an open stadium, and the desecration is nearly the same... We cannot be concerned with public opinion, but rather with protesting against open rebellion against G-d's will."
Living in Abraham's Footsteps
This past Shabbat, hundreds of people converged on the community of Elon Moreh (eastern side of Shechem [Nablus]), the largest and most populated Arab city in Samaria. The occasion was the weekly portion of the Bible, read in synagogues throughout the world, where Abraham arrives in Shechem; his first stop in the Land of Israel. It was there that Abraham was told by G-d, "To your descendants will I give this land" (Genesis 6:12). Jacob purchased land in the city, which should make it uncontested real estate. Two of his sons, Shimon and Levi, destroyed the city after their sister Dina was raped by a local ruler. It was also just outside Shechem where Joseph was sold into slavery, marking the beginning of the Egyptian exile.
Unfortunately, the name Shechem is rarely heard in the Western media. They refer to the city as Nablus. The latter name stems from the time of the Roman conquest in 70 CE, when they renamed it Neapolis. Following the Arab conquest in the 7th century, it became Nablus, due to the new invaders' language and accent.
Shechem's centrality in the Bible, as well as its pivotal role in any plan to divide the Land of Israel, has led to the establishment of Jewish towns like Elon Moreh on the mountains overlooking it. In honor of "Parshat Lech Lecha", the previously mentioned Torah portion, families in Elon Moreh fill their homes with complete strangers, as well as old friends. Like Abraham, Jews converge upon Elon Moreh, trying to catch a glimpse of what life in the heart of Samaria is like.
Hebrew University - Top 100
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem has been named as one of the top One hundred universities worldwide. The list was published Wednesday by The Times Higher Education Supplement of London. It ranked Hebrew University at number forty-three in arts and humanities. It outranked Tel Aviv University at number eighty-seven, as well as New York University (NYU) at number forty-seven and Brown University at number forty-eight. The University, located in Jerusalem, was the only one in Israel to be listed in the field of biomedical sciences, at number sixty-three, and ranked number fifty-two in science, two behind Haifa's Technion. Hebrew University was also ranked number twenty-nine overall among universities outside the United States, with Tel Aviv listed at number thirty-five and the Technion at number thirty-nine.
Tour Israel for Hanukkah
It's still not too late to join us as we explore Israel from a genuine Biblical Zionists perspective. Meet the people who are continuing the Biblical narrative in the Land today. See for yourself how ancient prophesies are being fulfilled. Discover how you too can participate in the ongoing process of Biblical Redemption. Join us for an opportunity of a lifetime, to see the real Israel from the viewpoint of those who are living the Bible today. The experience will change your life. The tour has been coordinated and will be guided by Associate Pastor Jon Klein [pictured left].
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