Points to Ponder 20th May, 2021
Millions have died and are dying in armed conflicts throughout the world, including in Ethiopia/Sudan, Taliban/ISIS, Yemen, Houthi/Saudi Arabia, Myanmar/Cochin, Iraq, Syria and the massacre of Christians by Boko Haram in Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon to name but a few.
Have you heard of these conflicts? Have you seen pictures of starving refugees? Do your media keep you up to date with the daily death rate in each of these wars, skirmishes, battles ? Of course not.
The headlines are mainly about those nasty Israeli Jews who are once again killing innocent Palestinians, this time in Gaza. Only rarely is one told that hostilities began when the Palestinians indiscriminately fired hundreds of rockets on the civilian population of Israel.
Sky News host, Rowan Dean, tried to do just that on Australian TV. Did you see his broadcast? No? Not surprising because YouTube decided that “the following content has been identified by the YouTube community as inappropriate or offensive to some audiences”. Please take the time to view the “offensive” clip.
These are the links I was able to find.
https://www.skynews.com.au/search/Gaza%20conflict (first clip on the page)
https://m.youtube.com}watch (The photo which tells you all you should know about the Israel Gaza conflict – YouTube)
Thank you.
It is ages since I last sent a “Points to Ponder” newsletter. While much seems to be as it was a year ago, there have also been mindboggling changes.
On the one hand Israel and the Palestinians are no closer to an agreement, mainly because of the Palestinian Authority insistence to pay monthly “salaries” to any Palestinian who murders a Jew as well as to their families. On the other hand, to the dismay of the P.A., some of the Arabian Gulf States have established diplomatic relations with Israel, or are in the process of doing so.
However, there is one thing which is going from bad to worse – antisemitism. Some of the articles I have written on the subject can be viewed on my site www.ratzer.com. For many it is unbelievable that antisemitism today is so similar to that of the Nazi propaganda seventy years ago which resulted in the Holocaust and murder of six million Jews.
It is equally unbelievable that any sane person can deny the Holocaust when there is so much German and Nazi documentation describing it in meticulous detail. Jews are attacked equally by those on the left or right, communists or capitalists, Christians, Moslems or atheists.
Historically we were attacked for being a people, descended from Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca and Jacob and his twelve sons, the tribes of Israel. Surprisingly, DNA testing shows this to be more correct than anyone could have imagined.
Then we were attacked for being a religion, following the Ten Commandments and the laws of the Torah, many of which are relevant and applicable throughout the world in our day, but without recognition of the source.
Now, by equating Jews and Zionists and Israelis, we are attacked for being a sovereign nation, with our own county once again, two and a half thousand years after our First Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians and two thousand years after the Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans.
In addition, there is now a new version of the blood libel accusations. Once it was because we suffered less during instances of plague, thanks to our observance of the laws of cleanliness in the Torah. Then it was the ridiculous allegation that we killed non-Jews in order to use their blood to bake matza for Passover, ludicrous because, as anyone who has tasted a kosher steak knows, we are forbidden to eat blood and matza is flour and water baked in seventeen minutes maximum.
Now it is corona. Never mind the Chinese, the true and proven source of this plague. It’s the Jews. And although, as anyone can witness, all citizens of Israel, Jews and non-Jews alike are being successfully vaccinated, Israel is accused of discrimination against the Arab population.
There are many theories about the longevity of antisemitism in its various forms. As valid as they are I have my own theory which I have saved till the end of this newsletter.
But first, please enjoy the following quotes about Jews by famous people.
Winston S. Churchill: British P.M.
“Some people like the Jews, and some do not.
But no thoughtful man can deny the fact that they are, beyond any question, the most formidable and most remarkable race which has appeared in the world.
John F. Kennedy: U.S. President
Israel was not created in order to disappear- Israel will endure and flourish. It is the child of hope and the home of the brave.
It can neither be broken by adversity nor demoralized by success.
It carries the shield of democracy and it honors the sword of freedom.
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe: German Poet
“Energy is the basis of everything.
Every Jew, no matter how insignificant,
is engaged in some decisive and immediate pursuit of a goal.
It is the most perpetual people of the earth.”
John Adams: Second U.S. President
“I will insist the Hebrews have [contributed] more to civilize men than any other nation.
If I was an atheist and believed in blind eternal fate,
I should still believe that fate had ordained the Jews to be the most essential instrument for civilizing the nations…
They are the most glorious nation that ever inhabited this Earth.
The Romans and their empire were but a bubble in comparison to the Jews.”
Leo Tolstoy: Writer
“What is the Jew?
What kind of unique creature is this whom all the rulers of all the nations of the world have disgraced and crushed and expelled and destroyed; persecuted, burned and drowned, and who, despite their anger and their fury, continues to live and to flourish.
What is this Jew whom they have never succeeded in enticing with all the enticements in the world, whose oppressors and persecutors only suggested that he deny (and disown) his religion on and cast aside the faithfulness of his ancestors?!
The Jew – is the symbol of eternity. …
He is the one who for so long had guarded the prophetic message and transmitted it to all mankind.
A people such as this can never disappear.
The Jew is eternal.
He is the embodiment of eternity.”
Eric Hoffer: American Philosopher
“The Jews are a peculiar people:
Things permitted to other nations are forbidden to the Jews.
Other nations drive out thousands, even millions of people, and there is no refugee problem.
Russia did it. Poland and Czechoslovakia did it. Turkey threw out a million Greeks and Algeria a million Frenchmen. Indonesia threw out heaven knows how many Chinese– and no one says a word about refugees. But in the case of Israel , the displaced Arabs have become eternal refugees. Everyone insists that Israel must take back every single Arab. Arnold Toynbee calls the displacement of the Arabs an atrocity greater than any committed by the Nazis.
Other nations when victorious on the battlefield dictate peace terms.
But when Israel is victorious it must sue for peace.
Everyone expects the Jews to be the only real Christians in this world.”
Mark Twain: Writer
“…If statistics are right, the Jews constitute but one percent of the human race.
It suggests a nebulous dim puff of stardust lost in the blaze of the Milky Way.
Properly, the Jew ought hardly to be heard of, but he is heard of, has always been heard of.
He is as prominent on the planet as any other people, and his commercial importance is extravagantly out of proportion to the smallness of his bulk. His contributions to the world’s list of great names in literature, science, art, music, finance, medicine, and abstruse learning are also away out of proportion to the weakness of his numbers.
He has made a marvelous fight in this world, in all the ages; and had done it with his hands tied behind him.
He could be vain of himself, and be excused for it.
The Egyptian, the Babylonian, and the Persian rose, filled the planet with sound and splendor, then faded to dream-stuff and passed away; the Greek and the Roman followed; and made a vast noise, and they are gone; other people have sprung up and held their torch high for a time, but it burned out, and they sit in twilight now, or have vanished.
The Jew saw them all, beat them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his parts, no slowing of his energies, no dulling of his alert and aggressive mind.
All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?”
…………….
I do not profess to know why we Jews have, despite more than two thousand years of dispersion and persecution, returned to the land where we originated, speaking the same language we did then and practicing the same religion, given to us by Moses more than three thousand years ago.
We celebrate the Passover festival this year, as we have since Moses led us out of Egypt, for we are told: “in every generation one ought regard himself as though he personally had come out of Egypt.” And how true are the words we read in the Haggadah: “in every generation there are those who rise against us to annihilate us, but the Holy One, Blessed is He, ever saves us from their hand.”
This unique history and the inexplicable immortality of the Jewish people frighten those who cannot or will not accept it. Fear breeds hatred. And that hatred is called antisemitism.
Hag sameach to all my Jewish readers and best wishes to those who will be celebrating Easter.
2nd May, 2020 Israel celebrated its 72nd birthday a few days ago. That is if you date its birth from the declaration of statehood by David Ben Gurion when the British Mandate ended and the last British soldier departed the shores of Palestine, the name given to the Land of Israel by the Roman Emperor Hadrian in the second century.
However, the children of Israel have lived in the land of Israel more than three thousand years. They built a Temple in Jerusalem, and then a second when the first was destroyed by the Babylonians, only to have it destroyed by the Romans.
The Balfour Declaration of 1917 and the League of Nations endorsement at the San Remo conference exactly one hundred years ago merely acknowledged those historical facts, confirmed by written sources and archaeological excavations.
The prophet Ezekiel prophesied 2,500 years ago “Thus saith the Lord God: Behold I will take the children of Israel from among the nations whither they be gone and I will gather them on every side and bring them into their own land. And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel”. (Ezekiel 37:21-2) I am one of those “children of Israel”.
I came to Israel a half a century ago and have seen it change and mature. The Israeli poetess and song-writer Rachel Shapira in her song Ha-Aretz Sheli – My Land/Country – has succeeded in describing Israel and its contrasts.
As a guide I would read my English translation to each of my groups prior to their departure after touring the land/country with me.
I invite you to enjoy her portrayal, as they did.
Ha Aretz Sheli words – Rachel Shapira, music – Moni Amarilio
Ha Aretz sheli, it’s an ocean and it’s a mountain,
It’s a green valley and it’s a wild desert,
It’s the horizon drowning in the clouds,
It’s sandstone and white beaches.
Ha Aretz sheli, it’s the heat and it’s the frost,
It’s steep cliffs and it’s gentle plains,
It’s the wide open spaces and it’s so tiny,
It’s the heavens above and the ground below.
Ha Aretz sheli, it’s colours and it’s smells,
It’s narrow alleys and it’s the four winds,
It’s the peace of the village and it’s the pace of the city,
It’s choked weeping and the melody of a song.
Ha Aretz sheli, it’s my dozen loves,
It’s thousands of strangers passing me by,
It’s pain and hate and it’s deep fear,
It’s a bouquet of love and laughter.
Ha Aretz sheli, it’s salt and it’s honey,
It’s an ancient book and it’s a modern miracle,
It’s the saga of a never despairing struggle,
It’s my country, it’s my land, really, really.
It’s my country, it’s my land, really, really.
17/12/2019
There are so many “Points to Ponder” these days that I can’t choose between them.
Should I write about the Palestinian claim that there never was a Jewish presence in the Holy Land or a Temple in Jerusalem and all archaeological and historical evidence to the contrary are forgeries by the Israelis/Zionists/Jews?
Or about the rising antisemitism around the world? No. Too boring. How about something new and exciting? Or rather, old and exciting.
“A 5,000 year old metropolis uncovered in the north” reads the Jerusalem Post headline. Actually not in the north but, for those of you familiar with the map of Israel, on the modern road between Hadera and Afula, following the ancient road which connected the Mediterranean coast with Megiddo and the Jezre’el valley, known by some as Armageddon. The very road used by the Egyptian pharaoh Thutmose III who took Megiddo in 1457 BCE from the local Canaanite king thereby opening his way for further conquests on his way northwards to Mesopotamia and Asia Minor.
The site was known but, as happens so often in Israel, only when work began on a planned junction interchange was the extent of the archaeological remains realised.
In 2017 the Israel Antiquities Authority began what they thought would be a minor excavation but soon understood that this was to be a major find, both in terms of size and historical importance.
Over the next two years more than 5,000 teenagers and volunteers took part in the excavations. Netivei Israel, responsible for the construction of the interchange, has made alterations to the original plans so that the site can be preserved.
Initially it will all be covered thereby allowing the interchange to be built above the site. When the interchange is completed the site will become an archaeological park open to the public, as is nearby Megiddo.
Millions of artifacts, including potsherds, flint tools, and basalt stone vessels have been found including articles which were brought from Egypt and other surrounding kingdoms.
A selection of the items discovered can be seen on Getty images: https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/en-esur?sort=best&mediatype=photography&phrase=en%20esur
The site is at least 160 acres and was probably home to about five thousand people, larger than any in the land of Canaan at that time – the Bronze Age, about 5,000 years ago.
Surrounded by walls, which in some places were preserved to a height of two metres, the city was laid out with streets and squares, storage areas and drainage. A cemetery was also discovered.
Digging deeper, the remains of a temple which the archaeologists believe is from the Chalcolithic period, two thousand years earlier were uncovered. Burned animal bones, a stone basin and figurines give credence to this theory.
For historical perspective, the rule of King David was about three thousand years ago, the conquest of the Land of Canaan by the Israelites was about two hundred years earlier and Abraham was a bit more than 3,500 years ago.
Holocaust Memorial Day, 2nd May, 2019
Holocaust Denial
Holocaust denial is part of the strategy used by those who attack Israel / Zionism / Jews and it is used by those deliberately straying from the truth and their followers, who, through ignorance or inherent anti-Semitism, don’t bother to check the facts. Continue reading
“Apartheid”, has become an epithet to attack Israel / Zionism / Jews. “Apartheid – segregation; (lit. ‘Separateness’) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation in South Africa between 1948 and the early 1990s”.
Points to Ponder Number 47 16th October, 2016
It is ages since I last wrote mainly because I have been feeling rather like Don Quixote ineffectively confronting windmills, but without his perseverance. However the latest windmill has roused me from my inertia – the incomprehensible UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) resolution proclaiming that there is “No Jewish Link to the Temple Mount”.
This malevolent resolution ignores the testimonies of written historical sources and the evidence of archaeological excavations. It is one which everyone with even a minimal sense of what is right and what is wrong should confront at every opportunity.
To quote the 18th century philosopher Edmund Burke: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” And on the same note: “Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.”
Every little bit counts –letters to your local press and political representatives; postings in the social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram; discussions in class, work, at your place of worship or at social gatherings with friends.
Our silence may well hasten a resolution of this learned body proclaiming “Galileo was wrong. The Earth and planets do not revolve around the Sun.”
It has already decided that, contrary to the Hebrew Scriptures, King Solomon never built a Temple in Jerusalem and the Babylonians never destroyed it and exiled the Jews to “the rivers of Babylon” in the sixth century BCE.
It has already decided that, contrary to the Cyrus Cylinder and Ezra, the Persian King Cyrus did not give the Jews permission to return to their land and rebuild their Temple.
It has already decided that, contrary to the Dead Sea Scrolls, there was never a Dead Sea sect whose members refused go to the Temple in Jerusalem because sacrifices were not being offered according to their interpretation of the Law.
It has already decided that, contrary to the testimonies of the Gospels in the New Testament, the infant Jesus was not brought to the Temple in Jerusalem by his parents; did not go up to Jerusalem every year at Passover; did not sit among the teachers in the Temple courtyard (Luke 2:21 ff); never went to Jerusalem with his disciples (Mark 10:32 ff); did not drive out the money changers from the Temple Mount and declare “my house shall be a house of prayer” (Luke 19:43); did not walk through the alleys of Jerusalem, the via Dolorosa, carrying the cross on which he would be crucified. In a nut shell, he never existed.
It has already decided that, contrary to first century Roman chronicles, the Roman Emperor Titus did not destroy Jerusalem and the Jewish Temple there-in.
It has already decided that, contrary to second century Roman chronicles, the Roman Emperor Hadrian did not build a pagan temple dedicated to Jupiter in Jerusalem on the site of the razed Jewish Temple; did not change the name of Jerusalem to Aelia Capitolina and did not rename the Roman province Judaea Syria Palaestina.
No doubt soon it will pass a resolution confirming the Palestinian claim that Jesus was a Palestinian, despite the fact that there is obviously no mention of the non-existent Palestine in the New Testament.
If you have read this far and before you shrug and delete I would like to leave you with a few words of wisdom from people far wiser than me.
“We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” Elie Wiesel
“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” Desmond Tutu
“The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis.” Dante Alighieri
The passing of this resolution is a moral crisis.
Points to Ponder 46 3rd May, 2016
As I have written, the purpose of Points to Ponder is to bring to my readers attention articles and video clips which may have been overlooked by the more popular media outlets. It is not meant to convey my personal opinions. That I have done in letters to the editor which were published in the Jerusalem Post (latest one today) and even in an occasional op-ed. Not so this time. This ptp is very much an op-ed. Continue reading
Points to Ponder Number 45 26th March, 2016
Rarely do my readers get an opportunity to see video clips from the Arab speaking media even if the broadcast is your own country.
This Shabbat Ban Ki-moon is scheduled to visit a synagogue to mark international Holocaust Remembrance Day. In view of Ban Ki-moon’s anti-Israel stance, this visit is rather hypocritical. Continue reading
Herbert Pagani was born In Libya in 1944. Although he spent his childhood and adolescence between Italy, Germany and France he died in the USA in 1988. As an accomplished painter, sculptor, musician and singer he was known both as Italian and as French.
This remarkable speech, broadcast on French TV, was his reaction, as a Jew, to the 1975 UN resolution, which was revoked in 1991, equating Zionism to racism. The point to ponder is that nothing has changed in over forty years. Continue reading
I ended my last ptp questioning the Palestinians desire for peace with Israel.
Here then are some highlights from the poll conducted in cooperation with the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in Ramallah by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip between 10 and 12 December 2015. Continue reading
The current Palestinian acts of violence are described as a normal outcome of the Israeli occupation and the frustration caused by the economic situation facing the population. Continue reading
Points to Ponder No 40 14th December, 2015
Often, we read that a Moslem who commits murder and suicide bombings, especially but not only against Jews/Israelis, in the name of Allah will be recognized as a shahid (martyr) and will be rewarded with 72 virgins. We shrug our shoulders and say “who can possibly believe that?” Continue reading
Points to Ponder No 37 28th October, 2015
So often people, Jews and non-Jews alike ponder: “What is a Jew? Who Is a Jew?” Eitan Chitayat, creator of viral video #IMTHATJEW gives the most encompassing answer I have ever encountered. Take just five minutes to see and hear his definition. I too am that Jew. Continue reading
It is common knowledge that there is no censorship in the Western and Democratic world. In fact one of the early signs that democracy is in danger is when a government curtails freedom of the media, of the press.
But there is another form of censorship, subtle but insidious. Continue reading
Points to Ponder No 36 23nd October, 2015
The executive members of UNESCO have decided that the Tombs of the Jewish Patriarchs and Matriarchs (Abraham and Sarah; Isaac and Rebekah and Jacob and Leah) in Hebron and that of the Matriarch Rachel in Bethlehem are Moslem Holy Sites.
They ignored the Jewish connection including the recorded purchase of the burial site by Abraham as it appears in Genesis 23. Whatever dating one gives for the Torah, this deed of sale predates the advent of Mohammed and Islam by more than a millennium. They ignored the fact that the Josephus Flavius recorded that the site as it is today was built by King Herod two thousand years ago, six hundred years before the advent of Mohammed and Islam. Continue reading
Points to Ponder No 35 20th October, 2015
In the face of the lies, rumors and propaganda against Israel disseminated by the Palestinian leadership and endorsed, validated and corroborated by the international media one cannot but ask when does a lie become the truth; when does a rumor become a fact; when does propaganda become actuality? How long does it take till people believe the lies they tell?
Points to Ponder No 34 17thth October, 2015
Is the media coverage of the current violence in Israel and on the West Bank non-stop and repetitively exaggerated in order to avoid reporting what is occurring elsewhere in the world? Continue reading
Points to Ponder No 33 15.10.2015
Point to Ponder: How can one get a better understanding of Islam in these days of political correctness? Continue reading
Points to Ponder: No 32 9th October, 2015
Is the latest “wave of violence” in Israel and the West Bank because of Israeli non-adherence to the “status quo” on the Temple Mount as some would have us believe? Absolutely not! Continue reading
Points to Ponder Number 31 23rd February, 2015
Is it possible that Jews are so hated because they are unique? Unique in that despite all that has befallen them over three and a half thousand years of expulsion, persecution and genocide, the Jewish people have persevered and are returning from the four corners of the earth to the land of their forefathers, reading from the same Torah, practicing the same religion and speaking the same almost forgotten language? Continue reading
Points to Ponder Number 30 17th February, 2015
Who is a terrorist? What is terrorism? Ostensibly the answer should be quite straightforward. If terror is “extreme fear” (Oxford dictionary) a terrorist is one who uses terror as a modus operandi and terrorism is the ideology he invokes. Continue reading
Points to Ponder Number 29 17th January, 2015
I believe there is a bias against and a double-standard in everything connected to Israel throughout the world, fueled by the often spurious media. The events in France last week have highlighted that anti-Israel anti-Semitic double-standard bias. Continue reading
Number 28 4th January, 2015
Is it because I am getting older that the years seem to pass by so fast? It seems like only yesterday that we stumbled on the giant step which took us from the twentieth century to the twenty first! Yet, with all that changes, some things seem to never change.
For years many have had the feeling that Israel is being held to a double standard in particular when defending herself against threats of annihilation from her neighbours and acts of terrorism from within. Proportionality is a word which is constant bandied about. Continue reading
Points to Ponder Number 27 22ndh December, 2014
Further to my letter in the Jerusalem Post today, UNRWA (UN Relief and Welfare Agency) is the organisation which handles Palestinian refugees who left Palestine in 1948 and their descendants while UNHCR (UN High Commissioner for Refugees) takes care of all other refugees world-wide. Continue reading
Points to Ponder Number 24 8th November, 2014
Which status quo on the Temple Mount?
This letter was addressed to the editor of the Jerusalem Post and most of it was printed on 4th November, 2014 Continue reading
Points to Ponder Number 23 4th November, 2014
Did you know that the Christian population of the ME, which was 20% at the beginning of the twentieth century, is now less that 4%?
Point to Ponder: Why have the heart-rending words of Father Gabriel Naddaf to the 27th session of the UN Human Rights Council been totally ignored by the international media? Continue reading
Points to Ponder Number 22 29th October, 2014
Points to Ponder: Children as human shields and cannon fodder; militant Islam incitement to violence and Bibi – chicken shit. Continue reading
Points to Ponder Number 21 19th October, 2014
Writing Points to Ponder has become more and more difficult for me. Not because there is insufficient material. Just the opposite. I am overwhelmed by and fearful of the ever growing anti-Semitic anti-Israel vitriol, not only in the Muslim world but in what are supposed to be enlightened and democratic countries. Continue reading
Points to Ponder Number 19 28th September, 2014
How many times have you heard, or been told, that the Jews/Zionists control the world – the media, finances, governments, Hollywood? To support this theory “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” is cited despite the fact that this is known to be a Russian forgery of the early twentieth century.
Have you ever paused for a moment to ponder how fourteen million Jews, 0.02% of the world population, could achieve this? Continue reading
Points to Ponder Number 18 22nd September, 2014
As the eve of the 24th September marks the beginning of the year 5775 for Jews all over the world I would like to take this opportunity to wish my Jewish readers a happy, healthy and peaceful new year.
One of the problems with which we, the Jewish people, grapple is that of the epidemic more commonly known as anti-Semitism. Very simply put, when Jews are demonized, delegitimized or examined under microscope of double standards, that is anti-Semitism. Continue reading
Points to Ponder Number 17
We have been told so many times that Islam is a religion of peace and that the various fundamentalist organisations are aberrations that we believe this canard. Continue reading
Points to Ponder Number 16 10.9.2014
Following the last ptp where we countered two canards, we now tackle the third as we ponder: is Israel’s “occupation” of Judah and Samaria, the West Bank, indeed illegal thereby making the “settlements” illegal, or is this too a canard so oft repeated that we believe it without checking it? Continue reading
Points to Ponder Number 15
“Israel is the only country in the world occupying another country”. How many times have you heard that accusation against Israel when the rights of the Palestinians to their independent country in the West Bank, Judah and Samaria, are being discussed? So many times and by so many seemingly authoritative people that it has to be true. Continue reading
Points to Ponder Number 14 4th September, 2014
How is it that the UN, EU, most of the media and virtually all liberal activists refuse to acknowledge that Hamas used UNRWA schools and hospitals as safe houses from which to fire rockets on the civilian population of Israel and used their children as human shields while Egyptian writer Magdi Khalil does recognize this. Continue reading
Points to Ponder No. 12
The Middle East is in turmoil and unless one really studies the players and events in the various conflicts it all becomes a blur. Although Sunni Moslems are killing Shia Moslems certain factions ally with Shia Moslems to kill other Sunni Moslems. Some Moslems are members of the Moslem Brotherhood, which wants to establish Sharia law wherever Moslems live. Others have joined IS, also known as ISIS. Re-establishing the Caliphate, stretching from the Arabian Peninsula to Spain, is the battle cry as they slaughter Syrians and Iraqis alike. Continue reading
Points to Ponder Number 13 26th August, 2014
Most of my readers and certainly all those who have toured with me realize that I am a bit of a history buff, as do those who have read my book “A Historical Tour of the Holy Land”, which briefly mentions the Empires of old. I have to admit though that I could not cover five thousand years in 90 seconds. Enjoy. Continue reading
For the material in this edition of Points to Ponder I have to thank my readers from all over the world. Continue reading
The media showers us with pictures of Palestinian children to arouse our sympathies but is very careful not to show those which will make us ponder about what we see. Continue reading
Events seem to be moving so fast that it virtually impossible to keep on top of things. A brokered ceasefire, to which Israel agrees, is immediately broken by Hamas. Then another, ostensibly for humanitarian reason but it too is broken. And now Hamas is not only firing rockets, they are attempting to infiltrate through their tunnels. People throughout Israel prefer to be close to shelters as the rockets are deliberately aimed at the civilian population so no one is really enjoying the summer vacation. Continue reading
Once again Israel is fighting a war on two very different fronts.
On the one hand men, women and children in cities, towns and villages from the north to the south are being indiscriminately bombarded with rockets, missiles and heaven knows what else, mainly but not only, from the Gaza Strip.
Continue reading
After a long break, Points to Ponder is back bringing you, the thoughtful and discerning reader, food for thought, food for thought and not political polemics, by presenting articles and TV clips you might not have seen in your local media.
I hope you will find them illuminating. Continue reading
Every year, on the National Day of Mourning for those who have fallen while serving the country, we, the Southern African Jews in Israel, collectively remember the eighty seven fallen from our community.
Their names are engraved on a memorial wall in the heart of the JNF-KKL Lavi forest close to the Golani junction, on a plaque in the offices of the SAZF in Raanana and appear at the end of this article. Continue reading
The State of Israel is 550 km from top to bottom. At its narrowest point, where I live, it is sixteen km wide. It takes six hours to go from Metulla in the north to Eilat in the south. It takes less than a quarter of an hour to get from my home to the West Bank, or Judea and Samaria, their accepted geographic names until the 1970’s. Continue reading
The Gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke and John relate the events in the life of Jesus ending with his crucifiction, resurrection and ascent to heaven. There is reference to Judaea, Samaria, the Galilee and the Golan. Nowhere is there any mention of ‘Palestine’ or ‘Palestinian’ simply because they did not exist then.
Continue reading
Points to Ponder: Ari Shavit writes for Haaretz, Israel’s “newspaper for the thinking man”, which is also considered by many to be some what left of center. Ari’s latest book gives the history of Israel from a strictly Palestinian view point so the following article is particularly interesting.
Follow the link and enjoy it..
Waiting for the Palestinian Godot
Points to Ponder: One sure way to ascertain if the Palestinians and the Israelis really want to reach a peace agreement is to check what they are teaching their children. Follow the link and see what the Palestinians are teaching theirs on the official PA TV programs Continue reading
Points to Ponder: If one reads and listens to the general media only, then there can be no doublt that the lack of progress in the Israel-Palestinian talks is solely because of Israeli intransigency. Follow the link and see what PA leaders really think of peace with Israel. Continue reading
Points to Ponder: With the realisation that schools in Bimingham have been inflitrated by a ‘Trojan Horse’ which has been able to replace school staff, including headmasters and mistresses, with with supporters of radical Islam and Sharia law in the UK, the British education Department is now investigating complaints from other schools. Follow the link and see how widespread this ‘silent war’ really is.
Continue reading
