Israel | Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion - Part 184
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Posted by David Gerstman on August 18, 2013 20 Comments
Earlier this summer the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and Jewish Voices for Peace (JVP) held a BDS camp. The BDS (Boycotts, Divestments and Sanctions) movement, which we have covered extensively, targets Israel. AFSC BDS These groups claim only to seek an end to the "occupation" of East Jerusalem and the West Bank. That territory, as we've covered here many times, is not illegally occupied. AFSC has a long history of demonizing Israel and seeking to delegitimize Israel under the seemingly benign Quaker movement name. AFSC is one of the most active BDS supporters, providing support for BDS groups on and off campus: AFSC BDS Handout AFSC seeks the de facto destruction of Israel as a Jewish state by pushing for a "right of return" for all Palestinian refugees, based on the false claim that such right of return is required under U.N. Resolution 194. In fact, as readers know, there were as many Jewish refugees from Arab countries as the other way around. There's a very telling remark at the end of Philadelphia Jewish Exponent's Philly-Based Quaker Group Criticized For BDS Camp:
Alexis Moore, an AFSC spokeswoman, said her group rejects “the idea that BDS is anti-Semitic. We are not targeting a country.” Instead, it is targeting specific companies like Israeli-owned Sodastream, that has its home fountain soda maker factory on the West Bank. “We see nothing anti-Semitic in the use of these non-violent tactics. Our work is rooted in human rights and equal justice for everyone.”
By mentioning SodaStream she gives away her game.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 13, 2013 15 Comments
Mahmoud Abbas joined others in welcoming home heroic axe murderers of elderly people sitting on benches, knife and pruning shear murderers of hikers and bus passengers, and other assorted miscreants. It's not easy to watch these celebrations, but it is necessary to do so in order to understand the culture of incitement that pervades Palestinian society and is the main obstacle to peace:
MORE VIDEOS HERE https://twitter.com/BBCWorld/status/367422567767748608 https://twitter.com/Rushdibbc/status/367399847965376512 Part of the celebration was for Palestinians to throw rocks:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 11, 2013 23 Comments

Why not? The Kurds out number Palestinians several times over, and unlike Palestinians, have a real ethnic and cultural distinction from surrounding Arabs (and in Turkey, Turks). But for Europeans drawing lines on maps and Turkish national ambitions, there should have been an independent nation for...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 09, 2013 19 Comments

On this date in 2001, Hamas bombed the Sbarro Pizza restaurant in Jerusalem. 15 people were killed, including 7 children. The bombing was celebrated as a great victory for Palestinians, including by Palestinian university students. Ahlam Tamimi, the women who led the suicide bomber to the location, was...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 31, 2013 7 Comments
The last in my series of posts from Israel: After leaving the Valley of Tears battle monument, we descended from the Golan Heights towards Israel's northernmost town, Metula. But along the way, we stopped at the Druze town of Mas'ade for lunch at the Nedal Restaurant.  Here's the view towards Mount Hermon (lost then recaptured during the 1973 Yom Kippur War) from in front of the restaurant: [caption id="attachment_60845" align="alignnone" width="501"](Mas'ade Druze Village Israel, looking towards Mount Hermon) (Mas'ade Druze Village Israel, looking towards Mount Hermon)[/caption] You can see on this map how far north Metula is: [caption id="attachment_60711" align="alignnone" width="505"](Metula, Israel - Map View) (Metula, Israel - Map View)[/caption] These map view give a good perspective on how Metula is surrounded on three sides by Lebanon: [caption id="attachment_60710" align="alignnone" width="464"](Metula, Israel - Street Map View) (Metula, Israel - Street Map View)[/caption]

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 31, 2013 11 Comments

... in the U.S.A. as of 5:04 a.m. Eastern, after an 11 hour flight from Israel to JFK.  Then the 4.5 hour drive to Ithaca.  So suffice it to say I'm tired. My final Israel travel post, which was mostly prepared yesterday while I was in...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 30, 2013 8 Comments
Another in my ongoing posts from Israel: After we left the Tel Saki Battle Memorial on Monday, we continued north, to the Quneitra Crossing, the only active border crossing between Syria and Israel, manned by U.N. forces.  Several weeks ago Syrian rebels briefly seized the area on the Syrian side, and there still is fighting in the area. Here is the view of the crossing from the recently opened Israeli Avital Volcanic Park.  There was smoke rising in the distance, but it was hard to capture because of the lighting conditions: [caption id="attachment_60691" align="alignnone" width="512"]Quneitra Crossing Golan Heights view from Avital Park (Quneitra Crossing, Golan Heights, view from Avital Volcanic Park)[/caption] We then headed to the nearby Golan Heights Wind Farm, which had a better view of the smoke rising from the area: [caption id="attachment_60693" align="alignnone" width="516"]Golan Heights Wind Farm - map view (Golan Heights Wind Farm - map view)[/caption] [caption id="attachment_60692" align="alignnone" width="537"]Golan Heights Wind Farm - View of Syria (Golan Heights Wind Farm - View of Syria)[/caption]

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 29, 2013 12 Comments
Another in my ongoing posts from Israel: We spent the day on the Golan Heights and the Lebanese border near Metula.  We were accompanied by my good friend from Moscow days who I mentioned in a prior post. We were led by Hadar Sela of BBC Watch blog, who lives on the Golan and has an amazing knowledge of the topography, history, people, and politics. I had intended to do one blog post -- but soon realized there was just too much to cover so I'll break it down into three posts to run on separate days -- The Battle of Tel Saki, The Valley of Tears, and The Lebanese Border.  The blog posts will track our journey from the southern to northern Golan, then down to Metula in northern most Israel. We started the day where we stayed overnight last night, Kibbutz Sha'ar HaGolan to the south of the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee), in the shadow of the Golan Heights: [caption id="attachment_60600" align="alignnone" width="501"](Kibbutz Sha'ar HaGolan, Israel - Map View) (Kibbutz Sha'ar HaGolan, Israel - Map View)[/caption] [caption id="attachment_60601" align="alignnone" width="547"](Kibbutz Sha'ar HaGolan, Israel, view towards Golan Heights) (Kibbutz Sha'ar HaGolan, Israel, view towards Golan Heights)[/caption] We then drove on the snake-like Highway 98 up the side of the Golan Heights facing Jordan across a deep ravine.  The border fence along the road is shown in this photo -- my reaction was the same as yours probably is -- that's the border fence!  We were assured that the Jordanian policing of its side of the border together with the topography was sufficient. [caption id="attachment_60603" align="alignnone" width="527"](Highway 98, Israel, climbing Golan Heights - Jordan Border Fence) (Highway 98, Israel, climbing Golan Heights - Jordan Border Fence)[/caption] Note also the red triangle signifying a minefield -- something we would see repeatedly throughout the Golan even away from the border.  Vigorous warning signs not to leave the established roads and pathways were everywhere.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 28, 2013 14 Comments
We traveled north from Tel Aviv today to several Kibbutzim on our way to exploring the Golan Heights on Monday. First we stopped at Kibbutz Ein Shemer about mid-way between Tel Aviv and Haifa, not far form the large Israeli Arab town of Umm Al-Fahm. [caption id="attachment_60503" align="alignnone" width="480"](Kibbutz Ein Shemer, Israel, map location) (Kibbutz Ein Shemer, Israel, map location)[/caption] Founded in 1927, Ein Shemer is a fairly typical Kibbutz, about 650 people, with a variety of agriculture (dairy, cotton, etc.) as well as factories. Facing pressures facing many Kibbutzim, Ein Shemer voted a couple of years ago to allow limited “inequality” of income (up to 2.5 times what the Kibbutz pays members) for those with outside jobs in order to retain and attract younger residents. [caption id="attachment_60501" align="alignnone" width="545"](Kibbutz Ein Shemer residential courtyard) (Kibbutz Ein Shemer residential courtyard)[/caption] We then went on to climb towards the Golan, stoping at the Mount Barkan lookout point, near Mount Gilboa, which has a tremendous view of the Galilee region of northern Israel. [caption id="attachment_60506" align="alignnone" width="523"](Mount Barkan Lookout Point, Israel, map) (Mount Barkan Lookout Point, Israel, map location)[/caption] [caption id="attachment_60505" align="alignnone" width="552"]Mount Barkan Lookout Point (Mount Barkan Lookout, Israel, view)[/caption]