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See patterns and instructions below to participate

By Aviva J. Woolf and Hana Levi Julian
www.IsraelNN.com

A project that started as a weekly knitting get-together has quickly transformed into a worldwide project to warm combat soldiers in Israel.

The hats are especially useful during night operations

“Chicks with Sticks” is the brainchild of Channah Koppel, who described to Israel National Radio’s Eve Harow of the Judean Eve program, how she mustered a group of amazing handcrafters in Gush Etzion to help produce winter hats for Israeli soldiers who serve in cold places.

The mission of kindness, which began in 2007, has grown exponentially from a simple desire to do something to give back to the soldiers of the IDF.

It gets really, REALLY cold up in the Golan Heights, especially on night guard duty.

What better way than to make sure these soldiers had warm winter hats? With a son serving as a paratrooper, Koppel knew conditions can get mighty chilly around this time of year and downright cold in the winter – especially in the north. “The hats provide both physical warmth and emotional support, and we feel good knowing that somewhere tonight, a soldier doing guard duty in the cold will be wearing one of our warm, hand-knitted hats, made with love,” she explained.

Koppel decided to adopt the entire army and send all the soldiers black woolen hats. She sent out some emails and suddenly, hats started arriving from all over the world — mostly from North America, but also from places such as England, Australia, and France. She personally delivered several hundred hats to combat units in the Golan Heights and Mt. Hermon, but realized the task was becoming overwhelming, and contacted Barbara Silverman, founder of “A Package from Home” for help in making sure the hats reached soldiers everywhere in the country.

Hats come in handy even for a quick sprint to the base canteen

The “Chicks with Sticks” enlisted Silverman’s organization for an extra bit of help from its wide network, especially in reaching the “chayalim bodedim” — soldiers without families in Israel — serving in combat units. Silverman’s group also helped get the hats to soldiers stationed in the north, where the crisp mountain air and winter winds cut straight to the bone, as well as to balmier climes in the state.

Stacks of hats by Chicks with Sticks!

It’s “an intimate grassroots kind of thing,” Koppel says, the kind of “homegrown” personal support that comforts those who must fight to defend the homeland. “A lot of people who call me represent other groups, like senior centers, and other organizations that have knitters, so it’s growing exponentially.”

IDF soldier sips a hot coffee wearing his new, warm hat

The “Chicks with Sticks” project has distributed 2000 hats so far, each with a special label sewn inside assuring its wearer in Hebrew that it was “Knit for you with love and warmth.” They’re also knit with special care: each hat must be knit to rigorous specifications set by the IDF that include a certain pattern due to the strict uniform regulations.

Label shows, “Knitted for you with warmth and love”

It’s a tough job, but there are plenty of people out there who are willing to do it. In addition to Israeli knitters, participants have joined the project from around the world. Most are Jewish, but not all. Most are women – but not all. Any and all hats that follow the pattern are welcome, says Koppel.

And when every IDF soldier has a hat, what then? Koppel laughs, and points out “There are a lot of soldiers in the army!”

Channah Koppel

Anyone interesting in joining the project and knitting a hat for an Israeli soldier can email Channah Koppel at: Channahk@gmail.com. Finished hats can also be sent directly to Koppel at POB 3081, Efrat, 90435, Israel.

For those who are savvy with the sticks (read: knitting needles), here are two patterns, one for a hat that can be knit flat on two straight needles and one for a hat that can be knit in the round on a circular needle and/or double pointed needles. The latter method is recommended because it requires less sewing up at the end and tends to look neater. The cost of the wool is approximately $4 in the United States. (A crochet pattern is available at Channah’s website below.)

Yarn: You must use machine washable, plain black worsted weight yarn — this is in order to comply with both the soldiers’ requests and army regulations. Look for a yarn that is soft, warm and non-felting. Super-wash wool is best, although acrylic or a wool/acrylic mix is okay. You’ll probably need about 220 yds / 200 m.

Gauge: 24 or 28 stitches=4 inches / 10 cm in K2P2 rib stitch.

Needles: Use whatever size needle you need to get gauge. The 4 mm – 5.5 mm range is a good place to start. For circulars, use a small circumference, 12″ to 16″.

Pattern A: Knit on Two Straight Needles:
Loosely cast on 98 stitches and work back and forth in K2P2 rib as follows:
Round 1 (right side): K1, [K2, P2] until one stitch remains, K1.
Round 2 (wrong side): P1, [K2, P2] until one stitch remains, P1. Repeat these 2 rounds until work measures 9.5 inches / 24 cm, ending with a wrong side row.

Shape crown:
Row 1: On right side, K1, [K2, P2tog], K1. 74 stitches remain.
Row 2: P1, [K1, P2], P1
Row 3: On right side, K1, [K2tog, P1], K1. 50 stitches remain.
Row 4: P1, [K1, P1], P1
Row 5: K1 {2tog), K1. 26 stitches remain.
Row 6: Purl
Row 7: K1, [K2tog], K1. 14 stitches remain.
Row 8: Purl
Row 9: K1, [K2tog], K1. 8 stitches remain

Break yarn, leaving a 20-inch / 51 cm length. With a tapestry needle, thread the yarn through the remaining 8 stitches (pull tight) and then sew up the back seam using mattress stitch (instructions at www.knitty.com/ISSUEspring04/mattress.html) (to see a video demonstration go to www.knittinghelp.com/videos/knitting-tips, scroll down to “Finishing,” and select “mattress stitch”.)

Pattern B: Knit first on a Circular needle and then on double pointeds (or, you can work the entire hat on double pointed needles if you prefer.) Loosely cast on 96 stitches. Join work, place marker, and work in K2P2 rib until work measure 9.5 inches / 24 cm.

Shape crown:
(Here you begin a series of decreasing rounds. When you find the hat getting too small to work on the circular needle, switch to double pointed needles.)
Round 1: K2, P2tog to end of round. 72 stitches remain.
Round 2: K2, P1
Round 3: K2tog, P1 to end of round. 48 stitches remain.
Round 4: K1, P1
Round 5: K2tog to end of round. 24 stitches remain.
Round 6: Knit
Round 7: K2tog to end of round. 12 stitches remain.
Round 8: Knit
Round 9: K2tog to end of round. 6 stitches remain.

Break yarn, leaving a 6-inch / 15 cm length. With a tapestry needle, thread the yarn through the remaining 6 stitches (pull tight).

Weave in the ends and admire your work! Please wash and dry your hat before mailing. Please include an email address so that you can be notified when your hat arrives.

More information is available at Channah’s website: www.HatsforIsraeliSoldiers.blogspot.com

www.IsraelToday.co.il

A Lebanese ship preparing to set sail from Beirut to break the Israeli maritime blockade of Gaza is crewed entirely by women.

Dubbed the “Mariam” in honor of the Virgin Mary, the ship will carry 50 women, most of them Christian and the rest Muslim, along with cancer medication. Many of the women are also suffering from cancer.

The ship’s leader, Samar Alhaj, told the Nazareth-based Israeli Arab radio station Radio A-Shams that using women in such a way is “the new secret weapon” against what she described as “the thieving enemy.”

Alhaj insisted that Israel, which has warned it will not allow the ship to reach Gaza, will use unprovoked violence against the female crew. When Israel intercepted a five-ship flotilla from Turkey earlier this month, the boarding party was forced to resort to deadly force against the crew of the largest ship, the Mavi Marmara. However, the other four ships were seized and redirected to Israel without violence, as their crews did not attack the Israelis.

The Lebanese ship is being sponsored by Hezbollah. The group’s leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, personally tasked Alhaj with leading the mission. Alhaj is the well-known wife of a Lebanese security officer believed to have participated in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who was an opponent of Hezbollah and the group’s Syrian allies.

Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gabriela Shalev sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noting that Israel will intercept the ship, and that if the international community wants to avoid the possibility of another loaded confrontation, it should preempt the provocative flotilla.

www.IsraelToday.co.il

A top Syrian businessman at the weekend insisted that the Middle East peace process is a farce, and that there will never be peace or coexistence between average Arabs and the Jews of Israel.

“Don’t let the moderate Arab leaders delude you,” Yasser Kashlak, who is of Palestinian descent, said on Hezbollah’s al-Manar television, “[you] cannot make peace with us.”

“Our children will return to Palestine, you have no reason for coexistence,” he continued. “Even if our leaders will sign a peace agreement, we will not sign.”

Kashlak is financing a flotilla of ships departing from Lebanon with the intent of breaking the Israeli maritime blockade of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. He said the Jews of Israel should seriously consider getting on those ships and returning to Europe, as they will never find peace in the Middle East.

During his tirade, Kashlak referred to the Jews as “Europe’s refuse,” suggesting that Jews are foreign to the Middle East, a concept those supportive of the “Palestinian cause” have long advocated. It ignores the fact that there has been an unbroken Jewish presence in the region for at least 3,000 years. That presence has been documented by successive ancient empires from the Assyrians to the Babylonians to the Persians to the Greeks and, most thoroughly, by the Romans.

Kashlak’s remarks also ignored the general consensus that relations between average Palestinians and Jews on the ground in Israel were far better before the introduction of Yasser Arafat’s PLO as the representative of the Palestinians. In the absence of the Arab leaders Kashlak derides, and the extremist Muslim figures they opened the door to, most Jews and Arabs tend to get along.

Associated Press

TEL AVIV, Israel — A concert by Elton John has given Israelis a boost after a string of cancellations by other world-famous artists.

The British rocker performed late Thursday in front of a screaming crowd of nearly 50,000 fans at a Tel Aviv stadium.

John, who wore blue-tinted sunglasses, told the audience those cancellations “ain’t gonna stop me from playing here, baby.”

Recent cancellations by the Pixies and Elvis Costello, who cited Israeli government policies, have added to Israel’s growing sense of isolation.

John swiped at those artists, saying, “We do not cherry-pick our consciences,” before hitting the opening chords of his 1972 hit “Crocodile Rock.”

Israelis gather to watch British singer and songwriter Sir Elton John's concert at the Ramat Gan stadium, June 17, 2010. Various artists have recently come under heavy pressure from activists to boycott Israel because of its treatment of the Palestinians. Elvis Costello recently canceled a planned concert to protest Israeli policies. Others, such as Rod Stewart, are still planning to play Israel this summer. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

British singer and songwriter Sir Elton John, right, and guitar player Bob Birch perform in a concert at the Ramat Gan stadium near Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, June 17, 2010. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

British singer and songwriter Sir Elton John performs during his concert at the Ramat Gan stadium, June 17, 2010. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

By David Waters, www.Newsweek.WashingtonPost.com

America’s largest Presbyterian denomination is preparing for a contentious General Assembly next month as delegates will be asked to consider approving a strongly worded report that calls on the U.S. to stop sending billions of dollars in aid to Israel until it changes its policy toward Palestinians.

“Israel has both the responsibility and the ability to reverse the course of the precipitous decline throughout the region,” states the 172-page report “Breaking Down Walls,” written by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s nine-member Middle East Study Committee.

The report will be considered by the denomination’s 219th General Assembly, meeting July 3-10 in Minneapolis. In 2004, the PC (U.S.A.) became the first mainline Protestant denomination to approve a policy of divestment from Israel. The policy was unpopular with many Presbyterians and was later rescinded.

The new report doesn’t call for divestment, but it does urge the U.S. to halt aid to Israel until the Israeli government ends the expansion of settlements in Palestinian territories, ceases its occupation” of Gaza, and relocates “Israel’s separation barrier” to spots outside of Palestinian territories.

“A just and lasting peace and security for the Palestinians is possible when the occupation has ended and Israel does not need to resort to military force to maintain its illegal land possession. If there were no occupation, there would be no Palestinian resistance. If there was no Palestinian resistance, Israelis could live in peace and security.”

“We also call upon the various Palestinian political factions to negotiate a unified government prepared to recognize Israel’s existence. We proclaim our alarm and dismay–both over the increasingly rapid exodus of Christians from Israel/Palestine caused by anti-Palestinian discrimination and oppression, the growth of Islamic and Jewish fundamentalism, and the occupation-related absence of economic opportunity; and also over the exodus of Christians from other parts of the region caused by various military, economic, religious, and cultural factors. And we oppose the government of Iran’s nuclear ambitions, its sponsorship of international guerrilla warfare, and the threat these pose both to Israel and to Arab states.”

The report is drawing sharp criticism from Jewish groups and praise from Palestinian Muslim and Christian organizations.

The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism adopted a resolution last week, claiming that the report is “distinctly one-sided, traffics in troubling theology, misrepresents Jewish history, and “describes Israel as the occupying army and the major impediment to peace without acknowledging that the Israeli government has the ethical imperative to defend its citizens from terrorist infiltration.”

Rev. Richard Toll, chair of the group Friends of Sabeel North America, which supports Palestinian Christians protesting the occupation, praised the report.

“The Presbyterian Church in the United States has been a leader in confronting the issues of the illegal occupation of the Palestinian land by the state of Israel,” Toll told the Louisville Courier-Journal. “It is important and timely … that Presbyterians stand up for their previous resolutions and challenge other churches and all Americans to nonviolently resist the occupation.”

Several mainline Protestant denominations have issued critical statements about Israeli policies in Palestinian territories, and taken actions to support Palestinians. Evangelical denominations, meanwhile, tend to take the opposite view, strongly supporting Israel and its policies, primarily because of biblical passages that that link Israel’s survival to the Second Coming of Jesus..

In the run-up to the General Assembly, the PC (U.S.A.) study committee issued separate explanatory letters to Presbyterians, “American Jewish friends,” and “American Muslim friends.”

“We deeply value our relationships with Jews and Muslims in the United States, Israel, and the predominantly Muslim countries of the Middle East,” states the report. “Yet the bonds of friendship must neither prevent us from speaking nor limit our empathy for the suffering of others. Inaction and silence on our part enable actions we oppose and consequences we grieve.”

By Wendy Griffith, www.CBN.com

NEW YORK — Thousands of people from across the U.S. assembled in New York City earlier this month to voice their opposition to a proposed mosque planned to be built near Ground Zero.

Although not legally binding, the plan for the construction of the mosque was approved overwhelmingly by a New York City community board in May. Protestors were still hopeful that the public outcry would change hearts and minds and ultimately keep the mosque from being built.

Protestors: Imam ‘No Man of Peace’

More than 5,000 people from all over the United States gathered in the Big Apple to protest the building of a 13-story mega-mosque two blocks from Ground Zero.

Organizers say the man behind the mosque — Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf — is not the man of peace he claims to be.

“He says he advocates for tolerance, but in his book he advocates for sharia law, which is radically intolerant,” said Pamela Gellar, who leads the organization Stop Islamization of America. “We have no idea where the funding is coming from. We know his father built an Islamic Center on 96th street and was funded by 49 Muslim countries. Who’s funding this $50 million monster? We want to know.”

Several members of families who lost loved ones in the World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001, were among the protestors. They displayed photos of their family members who died. They said building a mosque so close to their loved ones graves is an insult.

“This is my only son,” said Eileen Tallon, who lost her son in the attack. “He was a firefighter and he went into rescue people that day. I’m upset about the building of the mosque, because Muslim terrorists murdered my son and 3,000 Americans at this site.”

“Such was the violence on 9-11 that my brother’s remains were never found,” said Christina Regenhard said. “He was killed by Islamists and now they want to build a mosque on his grave. Their victory will be complete.”

“The leader of the mosque is a ‘bad guy’ as we say in New York,” the slain man’s father, Albert Regenhard, added. “His father was a member of Muslim Brotherhood. These are the groups that include Hamas, Hezbollah, al-Qaeda.”

Immigrants Join Protest

Many of the protestors were immigrants, including Russian Jews, Arab Christians, and Indians who love American freedoms and who fear that the growing Islamization of America is slowly eroding that liberty.

“We are very happy. America has given us freedom of religion, but we do not want to destroy this country! Islam wants to destroy this country–that’s the big difference between them and us,” said Narain Kataia, an Indian-American.

The proposed mosque is slated to be built in the old Burlington Coat Factory building, just 600 feet from where the towers fell. Mosque supporters say their hope is to bring something good out of 9-11.

But for people like Lee Henson — who lost his son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter that day — a mosque near Ground Zero is unacceptable.

“They were on United Airlines Flight 175,” Henson said. “My son called; he said, ‘Don’t worry Dad, it’ll be quick.’ I heard ‘Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God.’ Then I looked at the TV screen and saw the plane hit the tower.”

By Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik, www.PalWatch.org

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas was not being honest when he said to President Obama earlier this month that the PA was not continuing its incitement against Israel.

Responding to President Obama’s demand that the PA make more progress “on incitement issues,” Abbas said:

“I say in front of you, Mr. President, that we have nothing to do with incitement against Israel, and we’re not doing that. What we care about is to live in coexistence with Israel in order to bring about the independent Palestinian state that will live side by side with Israel…” [AP, June 9, 2010]

In direct contradiction to Abbas’s claim, Palestinian Media Watch documented in a report released the same week that PA incitement to hatred and violence and non-recognition of Israel has continued unabated in the month since the start of the proximity talks.

For example, whereas Abbas said to President Obama that he supports “living side by side with Israel,” just a few weeks previous official PA TV called for Israelis to leave Israel and “return” to Germany and Poland:

“Where are you [Israelis] from? Of course, you’re from Ukraine; of course, you’re from Germany, from Poland, from Russia, from Ethiopia… I ask of you, return to your original homeland!” [PA TV (Fatah), May 4 and 7, 2010]

PA TV is owned by the Palestinian Authority and under direct control of the office of Abbas.

In addition, the PA this past month has continued to honor terrorists who have killed Israeli civilians by naming sporting events after them, a practice repeatedly condemned by the Obama administration.

These are just two examples among many in the new PMW report documenting that every condition, principle, and expectation set by the US for accepting the Palestinian Authority as a partner in the peace process continues to be violated by the PA.

The following is the new report in its entirety:
(Click to view full report in PDF)

Introduction
The start of the proximity talks in May 2010 created hope for the renewal of the Israeli – Palestinian peace process. Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas declared that the PA would fulfill its commitments, with special focus on their stopping incitement.

Findings
However, an examination of the Palestinian Authority leaders’ statements, official media, children’s programs and PA-controlled events creates a pessimistic picture: Every condition, principle and expectation set by the US and the Quartet for accepting the Palestinian Authority as a partner in the peace process continues to be violated by the Palestinian Authority in the first month of talks.

Contrasting its moderate statements to Western powers in English, with those to its own people in Arabic the Palestinian Authority, the Fatah leaders and the Abbas-controlled official PA media continue to deny Israel’s existence, deny Israel’s right to exist, define the conflict with Israel as an uncompromising religious war for Allah, promote hatred through demonization slander and libel, and glorify terror and violence.

The Report:
Education to deny Israel’s existence:
Official PA TV continues to teach children to envision a world in which Israel does not exist and all of Israel is instead part of the “State of Palestine.” The following lesson was on a new educational PA TV children’s program. The map used in the studio is named “Palestine” and includes all of Israel.

News reporting defining Israel as “Palestine” -1:
Even in sports news the Palestinian Authority official media looks for opportunities to deny Israel’s existence. PA-owned Al-Hayat Al-Jadida reported on the coach of an Israeli Arab football team from a city in northern Israel as follows:

News reporting defining Israel as “Palestine” -2:
Israeli Arab Journalist Sa’id Hasanein:

Redwan Sidr, secretary of the Al-Khalil Youth Foundation:

Maps denying Israel’s existence:
President Obama has called the use of maps as in the above children’s program a security threat to Israel:

Yet all the maps on official PA TV since the start of the proximity talks continue the longstanding PA policy of defining all of Israel as “Palestine,” or in the words of President Obama, “don’t even acknowledge Israel’s existence.”

This map is one example among many that appeared this month.
It was broadcast numerous times on PA TV between May 4 – 17.

In the PA TV children’s program, “The Best House”, a music video called “We are Palestine’s children” featured pictures of map of “Palestine” including all of Israel. [PA TV (Fatah), May 14, 2010]

Denying Israel’s right to exist and calling for end of Israel:
An official PA TV statement lamenting the creation of the State of Israel included the following call for the dismantling of Israel because its land is “stolen” land:

http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=381&fld_id=381&doc_id=2230

PA TV Quiz offers $500 for answering that Israeli city Haifa is a “Palestinian coastal city.”
This PA TV quiz envisioning a world without Israel was broadcast numerous times in May 2010.

PA TV quiz program. Question posed to viewers at home:

Religious war –“Ribat” – against Israel’s creation and existence since 1917

The PA Minister of Religious Affairs, Mahmoud Al-Habbash, continues to define the conflict with Israel as an uncompromising religious war – a “Ribat” – war for Islam. “Peace” as a Palestinian goal is said to take 4th place after the Palestinian “rights”, “cause” and “religion,” none of which will be compromised for peace. Moreover, he elevates the conflict with Israel in religious significance, saying the war was predetermined, being anticipated even in the Quran.

The Mufti of Jerusalem and Palestine, Sheikh Muhammad Hussein, appointed by the PA, likewise defines the conflict with Israel as an uncompromising religious war – a “Ribat” – that began with the “catastrophe” of Israel’s creation.

The PA official daily crossword puzzle presents a world without Israel.

Clue: “Palestinian city”
Solution: “Jaffa” [part of Tel Aviv]
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida (Fatah), May 20, 2010]

Hate promotion, slander, libel and demonization

PA continues to slander Israel, demonize and deny Israel’s history in the land:

PATV News reporter demonizes Israel and its creation:

Animalization of Israel and Jews continues in PA cartoons.

A shark in shape of the Star of David representing Israel is eating a map that includes all of Israel yet is marked as “Palestine.”
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida (Fatah), May 23, 2010]

Gaza flotilla
The PA at all levels exaggerated the Gaza flotilla confrontation and used it as an excuse to demonize and promote hatred of Israel. Whereas criticism of Israeli policies is acceptable, the Palestinian Authority used this incident as a launching point for far greater and more intense hate promotion both by slandering and libeling Israel about the incident itself, and by compounding the defamation, saying that this murderous behavior was part of the Israeli behavior and personality. This will be reported on in greater detail in the June PMW Incitement Watch report.

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas himself accused Israel of premeditated and determined killing:

Promoting and glorifying terror and violence

Honoring terrorists as children sing to future war against Israel
PA TV program “Good Morning Jerusalem” dedicated a program to honoring female terrorist prisoner Sanaa Shehadeh, who is serving 3 life sentences for transporting a suicide terrorist to Jerusalem in 2002. Her two nieces dedicated a song of war to her:

Girl 1:

“I want to recite a song for you [female prisoner Sanaa Shehadeh]:
‘What am I doing here while my enemy is on my ancestors’ land?
I want to defend, I want to fight,
I want to carry a machine gun and a rifle.’”
Girls 1 and 2:
“’And tomorrow, when the war starts,
I won’t care about you [my enemy], or about the West.
And tomorrow when the war starts,
I won’t care about you [my enemy], or about the West.
And we shall strike Israel, we shall strike Israel,
And return you [to us], land of my ancestors;
And return you [to us], land of my ancestors.’”

Glorification of terror
Ignoring the American leadership statements condemning the PA glorification of terror, the PA continues to honor terrorists by naming events after them. Worse still, Palestinian children were explicitly told that the naming of an event after the terrorist Abu Jihad is meant to make them see him as a role model:

Abu Jihad (Khalil Al-Wazir) – A founder of Fatah and deputy to Yasser Arafat. Headed the PLO terror organization’s military wing. Planned many deadly Fatah terror attacks, including the worst in Israeli history, the hijacking of a bus and killing of 37 civilians, 12 of them children.

Football tournament named after terrorist Abdallah Daoud:

Abdallah Daoud – Responsible for many terror attacks. Was one of the terrorists who stormed the Church of the Nativity in 2002, continuing to fight against Israel for several weeks while using the monks and the religious site as shields.

Football team named after terrorist Majed Abu Sharar:
A report on the Shahid Faisal Al-Husseini football festival, held in Rafiah, mentions the “Martyr Majed Abu Sharar” team:

Majed Abu Sharar – A senior Fatah and PLO terror leader in 1970s.

Deputy Secretary of the Fatah Central Committee and former PA senior official, Jibril Rajoub, likewise glorified terror, comparing the value of “throwing a hand grenade” to “building a school.”
Rajoub:

Honoring terrorist Dalal Mughrabi’s bus hijacking in which 37 were killed:
Jamil Dweik, Chairman of the Al-Razi Institute for Culture and Society:

Dalal Mughrabi - Led the worst terror attack in Israel’s history in 1978, when she and other terrorists hijacked a bus and killed 37 civilians, 12 of them children.

Cessation of terror is temporary
In addition to this ongoing terror glorification the PA has repeatedly engaged in apologetics to its population for having acquiesced to the US demand to cease terror at this time during the talks. Twice in two days, senior PA and Fatah leader, Nabil Shaath, made speeches using apologetic language to justify the cessation of violence, which he stressed was because of current conditions. Excuses for cessation of the “armed struggle” that Shaath mentioned included: “At the present time is not possible, or is not effective,” “has become undesirable now,” “international conditions do not permit us,” “the inability to engage in the armed struggle.”

Dr. Nabil Shaath, Fatah Commissioner of Foreign Relations:

Editorials in the PA official daily repeat this excuse for cessation of terror

Fatah leader Abbas Zaki, member Fatah Central Committee, justifies violence:

Conclusion
Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton said in the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Ops, on April 23, 2009:

Examining the Palestinian Authority leaders’ statements, its education of youth, and its controlled media, it is clear that the Palestinian Authority has not complied with the conditions indicated by the Secretary of State nor has it fulfilled its commitment to “work against incitement of any sort.”

In the first month since the start of the proximity talks, not only hasn’t the PA “unambiguously and explicitly” accepted these conditions, but they have done the opposite; the Palestinian Authority has “unambiguously and explicitly” denied Israel’s existence, incited to hatred, and glorified terror and violence.

By Juda S. Engelmayer, www.OpEdNews.com

Listening to the now infamous Helen Thomas interview, I either can be disgusted with her, or I can focus on and be revolted by the real issue here: the state of education, knowledge and bias in the world. Sad as it is, Ms. Thomas–a bright, worldly and cultured member of our elite press corps for over a half-century either does not know or does not care about what the truth really is. Sadder still is the fact that there are millions of people out there who agree with Thomas. In most cases, however, it is not because they ignore the truth but because they do not know it. Instead, they repeat the lies that are consistently told by the anti-Semitic, anti-Israel racists who have made it their mission to delegitimize Israel and degrade the Jewish people.

Thomas’ sentiments that Jews should go back home to Poland and to Germany reveal a deep-rooted animosity. That Jews should go back to the places where they were slaughtered en masse is a sure sign of extreme hatred. Yet, that is not the most troublesome part for me. Thomas, exposed as an intolerant bigot, advises Jews to go home–but the same opinion is rooted even among the people who openly support Israel. The Thomas affair brings to light just how well the anti-Israel lobby has succeeded in distorting the truth that even Israel’s friends repeat the propaganda that the Jews have no legitimate claims to a place in the Holy Land.

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee said as much when he criticized Thomas–and he is a strong supporter of Israel, her existence and right to defend herself. He recalled the Holocaust in his rebuke of the 90 year old columnist, speaking of how inappropriate it is to tell Jews to go back home. Appreciative as I am to hear him do that, he fails the Jewish history test too.

Then Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar chided Thomas on The View, and once again, reminded the viewers of the horrors that occurred at Auschwitz and Buchenwald. Goldberg, in imploring for a peaceful solution to the Middle East, alluded to a time when Jews did not live there, but came to the region. She too failed the Jewish history test.

Here is the bottom line. It truly is set in stone: Jews never left what they and the Bible call the Land of Israel. From the day the Israelites under Joshua crossed over to the west bank of the Jordan River 3,200 years ago until today, Jews have lived in the Land of Israel. They lived there during the Babylonian exile; they lived there during Persian rule; they lived there under the Roman thumb; they lived there throughout the Byzantine and Ottoman empires; they lived there during the days of Mandatory Palestine.

In 1929, for example, 67 Jews were killed in Hebron and the rest of the Jewish population was forced to leave. These were not immigrants from Europe; they and their families had lived in Hebron for at least 800 years. That same year, 20 Jews were massacred in Safed–again a community in which there had been a continuous Jewish settlement for at least 800 years. (Earlier Jewish communities in both places were eradicated by Christian crusaders in the 12th century.)

Jews lived in Jerusalem and Jericho, Nablus and Nazareth, Beersheba, and Beit Shean–and these are provable facts, not Zionist fairy tales.

Towards the end of the 19th Century and through the first half of the 20th, Jews indeed came to Israel from other areas of the Near East, Africa and Europe. Most either were expelled from their homes or were fleeing persecution. Persian Jews were expelled from Iran. Jews from Iraq, Syria, Algeria, Yemen, Libya, and so many more, all fled to the one place they knew they were permitted to live freely. Jews from Russia and Germany fled pogroms, anti-Jewish riots and bloodshed. They left their material homes for their ancestral one because they were no longer allowed to live in the place they themselves were born and raised. So they joined up with the Jews who had always lived in “Palestine” to create a home for the Jews that truly was their home.

As an aside, we never see international calls for Jewish justice; no calls for return to or compensation from the lands they fled. It is always a one way street when it comes to Jews and Israel

Even Israel’s supporters forget the demographics of the Middle East, or they ignore it. They forget–or ignore–other truths, as well, such as that the Jewish Settlement in Palestine on Nov. 29, 1947, announced its acceptance of a United Nations resolution that called for the creation of two separate Palestinian states, one Jewish and one Arab; that the Jews were the only ones in the region to accept this; that seven Arab states immediately invaded the lands set aside for the Palestinian Arab state and occupied those lands for the next 19 years; that the Palestine Liberation Organization was founded in 1964, three years before the first Israelis in a generation set foot in the West Bank and Gaza, before any settlement was ever an issue; that Jordan, which illegally occupied the West Bank, denied the Jews access to their holy places from 1949 through 1967; that in the wake of the Six-Day War in June 1967, the Arab states and the PLO meeting in Khartoum adopted the infamous “three no’s”–no peace with Israel; no negotiations with Israel; no recognition of Israel; and so many other truths.

Israel and the Jewish establishment must bear most of the blame for these misperceptions. They have failed to do their jobs effectively. They have allowed anti-Semites old and new to kidnap the truth and subvert the dialogue. They have allowed the message to be obscured by false rhetoric. Helen Thomas is not the real problem, as someone with her views would not be inclined to report the truth anyway. The outwardly pro-Israel contingents of public figures, newsmakers, celebrities, advocates, and such who defend Israel to the world every day are more worrisome. If even Israel’s friends do not know the truth, how can anyone expect a world, inclined to vilify Israel, to treat her justly?

The Mavi Marmara incident has marred Israel and given the anti-Semites new ammunition to fire, but it triggers an even bigger calling for Jews and for Israel right now to find a way to change the dialogue about Israel and Jewish people as it comes to the Middle East. Israel’s supporters and historians need to do much better to present the truth and purge the spin meant to delegitimize her:

Jews have always been in Israel, and in many ways, 1948 just opened the gates for Jews to return.