Historic Refusal to Shake Hands

לאחר פרעות תרפ"ט, נזדמנן המרן הראי"ה קוק זצ"ל להיפגש עם המושל האנגלי לוק, שהיה האחראי מטעם השלטון האנגלי בארץ בימי הפרעות, כממלא מקום הנציב העליון. סירב הרב ללחוץ את ידו, כי אין ידיו נקיות מדם, ואמר לו בלשוןחריפה כי עליו להסתלק מתפקידו.
"שיחת אבות", על מסכת אבות

After the riots of 1929, Rav Kook was invited to meet with the HighCommissioner Harry Luke, who was the representative of the British HighCommander at the time of the riots. Rav Kook refused to shake his hand,because his hands were not free of blood, and told him in the strongestpossible language that he should resign his post.
From "Sichat Avot", gathered commentary on Sayings of the Fathers, by Rav Kook

Thanks to Ncoom from Shilo for the tip!

Cruel Canadian Immigration Policy

The Israeli Supreme Court decided Israel has the right to refuse to permit Palestinian spouses of Israeli citizens from automaticly being able to move and live in Israel.

Justice Minister Haim Ramon of the centrist Kadima Party defended the ruling. "No place in the world is required to admit citizens from a country or authority with which it is in a state of conflict," he said. "We have to remember that this law was legislated during the Palestinian uprising, when several people who received citizenship through family unification carried out attacks."

I have news for Mr. Ramon.

Back when my wife and I returned to Canada to help an educational program there, in order to work, my non-Canadian wife had to apply for "Landed Immigrant Status". As incredulous as it seemed at the time, the Canadian authorities insisted that my wife had to live outside the country while her six month application process winded its way through the Canadian Immigration bureaucracy. No one guaranteed that she would receive the visa, despite the fact that her husband and all her children were Canadian citizens!

To read the world press you'd think Israel was such a "cruel" country! You'll never hear any Canadian Minister of Immigration publicly defending their country's policy, or justifying itself as being at war etc etc.

Ongoing War

I received the following from fellow Israeli Blogger Yaakov Ben-Yehuda:

Dear Fellow Bloggers, Journalists, & Activists,

I received the following blog recommendation from David Frankfurfer, and would like to pass it onto you:

http://www.kerenmalki.org/Ongoing_War.htm

Kern Malki's Blog of "Daily Events Under-reported, Unreported, and Simply Misunderstood" is both a memorial to their daughter Malki HY"D and an important effort to publicize what Jews and non-Jews don't know or don't want to know, but MUST know about terrorism and what's taking place in Israel on a daily basis.

I hope to link their blog to mine soon. You may want to consider doing the same.

Shabbath Shalom,

Ya'aqov Ben-Yehudah

K'far Tapu'ah, Shomron

http://ben-yehudah.blogspot.com

Technorati : israel intifada terror

The Virtuous Handshake

The following is a translation of a talk-back to an article in Maariv Online concerning the expulsion from IDF active service, of the soldier who felt incapable of shaking the Chief of Staff's hand at a cermony in the Presidential Mansion. The soldier was to receive a Presidential Award of Excellence:

"From An Old Solider : What the army doesn't seem to understand is something very simple; the same virtues that made Chananel Dayan worthy of receiving an award for excellence as a soldier are the very same virtues that made it so difficult for him to shake the Chief of Staff's hand."

Indicators of Healthy Countries

You've got to read it to believe it. A serious article in the Foreign Policy Review magazine describes what contributes to "healthy" countries, and what looks good (free elections?) but doesn't necessary mean anything. What does work?

There are few quick fixes on the path to stability. Elections might give voice to the disenfranchised, but they don’t necessarily translate into effect1ive governance. High oil or commodity prices may fill government coffers, but they don’t build strong institutions. By contrast, steps that capture few headlines—the appointment of independent judges, the development of a competent civil service, and the implementation of anti-corruption campaigns—are often the key to improving a country’s foundations.

The three things I dream about when I think of a "healthy" Israeli democracy is

1. Am independent judges (instead of a Friend brings a Friend elitest club)
2. A government civil-service there to serve the needs of the citizens (instead of being served by them)
3. Anti-corruption campaigns to eliminate the mafia-like elite that has developed a strangle hold on the politics and law enforcement of Israel

Condi's Cultural Short Circuit?

Ahmadinejad's 18-page letter to President Bush touched only indirectly on the hottest dispute between the two countries - Iran's nuclear program. Instead, it focuses on a long list of grievances against the United States and seeks to build on a shared faith in God to resolve them.
Rice told The Associated Press the letter "isn't addressing the issues that we're dealing with in a concrete way."

If this is for real, there may never have been such a missed opportunity to truly communicate because of the US State Department's "tunnel vission" and the United States "cultural myopia" in modern history. I admit the entire idea of sending such a letter is probably just a good public relations move on the Iranian's side! But like Churchill is quoted as saying, its better to "Jaw, jaw than war, war".

What someone in the State Department (or higher) seems to miss, is that business isn't done the same way in Iran (or the Middle East) the way it is done in Foggy Bottom. Here there is an entire "courtship ritual" of smoke and mirrors, pretenses and platitudes which are obligatory before anything of consequence can be discussed - and even then more likely in the most oblique fashion, to avoid either side from loosing face if a concensus can't be reached.

I'm the last one to be a fan of Ahmadinejad, but Condoleezza blew it this time.

Daled Amos: "They Will Always Hate You"

Daled Amos: "They Will Always Hate You"

When the self-confessed murderers of several Jews, when tried in Israel, can expect to spend a few months or at best years in jail before Israel eventually releases them in some self-deluding attempt at "confidence building initiatives" - how do you expect Arabs to relate to us!

It is clear to me that those who have "blood on their hands" should expect the death penalty. Even if it does not act a deterrent, at least we won't experience additional loss when these released terrorists return to their profession of killing more Jews.

Quota's for National Religious?

According to Middle East Newsline, a news service that specializes in coverage of the IDF, Stern recently revised theIDF's guidelines for recruitment. In light of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's intention to expel tens of thousands of Israelis from theirhomes in Judea and Samaria, the IDF no longer believes that soldiers from the national religious camp are trustworthy. So, according to an officer in the Manpower Division quoted in the report, the IDF willnow limit the recruitment of religious soldiers. The shortfall will bemade up by juvenile delinquents who are currently barred from servingin combat units.

I can't find the quote mentioned in the article by Caroline Glick in the Jerusalem Post "Our World: The IDF's Suicide Attempt:, but if true, what would they do, place quota's on the drafting of National Religious?