Thursday, December 21, 2000

What should we be doing?

You will remember I wrote recently under the above subject, about the project our community took on to adopt a specific front line IDF unit, through the Vaad LeMaan HaChayal ("The Association for the Well-being of Israeli Soldiers") . Some of you wrote back and said that you would like to support the project - and others I am sure intended to! I won't convert my irregular emails into a fund raising drive, so after this, I will not send more "appeals", except maybe to report on progress from time to time.

Saturday night a week ago, a meeting was held at the home of one of our families where the unit commander spoke and presented a video of the activities of the unit.

Rabbi Katzin, one of the local Rabbis, spoke and emphasised that prayer and trust in G-d was important, but it was also our duty to take action to provide for our physical safety and support those who did so on our behalf. Representatives the Vaad LeMaan HeChayal, explained to us their activities and what would be done with our funds. Of significance is that this is a totally volunteer organisation with no overheads – so that 100% of our donations are used for the designated purposes.

On that evening, we raised enough to outfit a lounge at the main base - including basic furniture, basic home entertainment gear and physical fitness equipment. This is particularly important for this unit as a place to unwind after their especially grueling missions, as they have had to build new bases to serve as living quarters since leaving Lebanon, and the soldiers of this unit receive little home leave due to the type of missions that they perform.

We are continuing our fund raising, with a plan to outfit similar lounges in the other smaller satellite bases of the unit.

Donations in Israel should be made out by cheque to the Vaad LeMaan HeChayal, and from the US to the American Friends of the IDF. These cheques should be forwarded to me (together with your name and address):

David Frankfurter
38 Ahad Ha'am Street
Ra'anana 43211
Israel

I will forward on the donation, and you will receive a tax deductible receipt in due course.

From Australia, a tax deductible donation can be made to the UIA, and I am told that you can ask for it to be earmarked to the Vaad LeMaan HeChayal - Haminyan HeChadash, Ra'anana project. Here the funds will be used specifically to support new immigrant refugees, who have made their way to the unit. The address is:

United Israel Appeal
146 Darlinghurst Road
Darlinghurst, NSW, 2010
Tel: (02) 9361 4273

From the UK a tax deductible donation to the Ametz Lochem UK office can be made. Ask for the donation to be earmarked for Ametz Lochem/IDF unit 869. The funds will then be used to provide higher education scholarships for needy graduates of our adopted unit. The details are:

Israeli Ex-Servicemen's Education Fund
87 Bell Lane,
London NW42AS
Tel: 020 8203 7135 Fax: 020 8203 6918 email: ISEF@hotmail.com
representative of Ametz Lochem: Ms Alice Krieger (mobile phone 07931712737)

For Australia & the UK this provides a tax deductlible method of donating. In this case, please send an email to let us know so that we can keep track of our project. If tax deductibility is not an issue - you can also send a cheque made out to the Vaad Lemaan HeChayal directly to me.

The attacks on Synagogues in far away Australia, the anti-Israel and anti-semitic chats on the Washington Post website, the media bias which started these emails all confirm what we know - whether we live in Hebron, Jerusalem, Ra'anana, Los Angeles, London or Sydney, we all rely on a strong Israel and individual young soldiers to defend our borders and our lifestyle. In these difficult times, we all feel that we should be doing something to let the soldiers on the front line who are defending us know that although we don't share the burden, at least we share the concern. This project makes a practical difference & I urge you to join it by making a contribution, and by encouraging your friends and acquaintances to contribute too.

Happy Channuka

I have been a bit quiet

I have been a bit busy at work lately - so you have heard less from me. Next week I am going to the family for a short vacation in Eilat - so you will have another break.

Unfortunately, the "other side" do not intend giving us time off. Although the world media only cover the sensational events, if you have been looking at the "Breaking News" site I referred you to, you will have seen that there are several incidents a day, and the Palestinian Authporities will keep the pressure up.

The latest bulletin tells us that things will not immediately improve.

quote:

PA’s Tirawi calls for increased attacks against Jews

(BNI-DEC.20) PA intelligence commander Toufiq Tirawi has issued a call for increasing the attacks against Israelis living in Yesha communities in order to inflict more pain and loss.

Tirawi, who commands the PA’s intelligence services in Judea and Samaria, explained that the increase in terror attacks against Yesha residents on the roadways over past weeks is the only reason Israel has agreed to return to the negotiating table. Therefore, he explained, there is a need to continue escalating attacks to obtain additional concessions from Israel.

BNI reports are now featured by:
1. The USA Jewish website - http://www.usajewish.com/
2. Israel News - http://www.morashanetwork.com/
3. United Jerusalem.com http://www.unitedjerusalem.com/
4. Efrat - http://www.efrat.org/
5. Shosh's Gleanings Daily - Suwomyn26@aol.com
6. Breaking News - http://www.folksites.com/waisobiken/
7. Dateline Israel - http://www.datelineisrael.com/
8. "In Depth News-2000!" - inhislove@triad.rr.com- http://www.thedepot.com/groups-inhislove
9. atp_us_news http://www.egroups.com/members_add/atp_us_news
10. The Matzav - sherer@actcom.co.il
11. Virtual Holyland – http://www.virtualholyland.com/channels/israel_n/index.htm

equote

I have visited most of these sites, and each one is worth a surf. They range from Evangelical Christian to Evenagelical Jewish and some of the shades in between. Number 4 gives some insights as to how the residents of Efrat (near Jerusalem) are feeling - and it also a general community site, which lets you "into" the day to day life of the community. Number 6. is not updated often - but has a link to a video webcam (with sound) in Gilo pointed at Beit Jala. You can see the rain and hear the traffic. Hopefully there won't be anything more exciting to view! I didn't write to the email addresses, so I can't tell you what they are about.


In the meantime, Happy Channukah to all.

Thursday, December 14, 2000

In Memory of the Israeli Victims of Palestinian Violence and Terrorism

http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/go.asp?mfah0iky0

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has set up the referenced website. It has a profile of the victims, and is part of an overall very informative site.

Wednesday, December 13, 2000

English Language Information Resources

You may be interested to know that the Jerusalem Post has set up a radio internet site. Aside from Israeli and general music, there is news and commentary reports which can be listened to through the internet. Not a bad way to keep informed. You will find it at http://www.jpostradio.com/ . Sure beats the old days that I remember as a teenager of tuning in via indecipherably crackly short wave at an incredibly inconvenient time to grab 3 minutes of English news from Israel.

For people who prefer reading there is the Jerusalem Post at www.jpost.com , Ha'aretz in English at http://www3.haaretz.co.il/eng/htmls/1_1.htm and Globes (business newspaper) in English at http://www.globes.co.il/

To answer those of you who have asked how I feel about the current political juggling, there is a short op-ed piece in Globes (http://www.globes.co.il/ ) on the right hand side entitled "Two Evils" which sums up my mood quite nicely.

Tuesday, December 12, 2000

An exciting weekend

Well, it looks as if Barak has pulled another rabbit out of the hat by resigning - again turning the political situation around in his favour. The Israeli elections set to be about as much fun as those in the US (but possibly with a bit more at stake for the electors).


The weekend news before this announcement was full. The newsite I previously directed you to (www.israelwire.com) is not currently being updated (part of the Virtual Jerusalem company failure), but the content is now featured on the following sites http://www.usajewish.com/ (See the grey left hand side bar. If you go to the end you can see previous bulletins, including the one below or subscribe to get the frequent emails.) or http://www.morashanetwork.com/ .

To give you a flavour of the busy Shabbat, here are just the headlines:

BreakingNews-Israel
BNI – December 9, 2000 –
YeshaBB@netvision.net.il
**** Including Sabbath recap ****
1. Terror victim to be laid to rest on Saturday night
2. Second Friday terror attack claims third victim of the day
3. Shots fired at soldiers at Ayosh Junction Friday
4. Gilo attacked by gunfire on Friday night & Saturday morning
5. Soldiers attacked with gunfire near Enav
6. Disturbances and rioting on Hussan bypass road
7. Soldiers stationed at the Sufa outpost attack by gunfire
8. Shots fired at Ofer base on Saturday night
9. Arabs claim “settlers” shot Arab teenager
10. Riots in Jenin on Saturday morning
11. Shooting into P’sagot on the Sabbath
12. Kfar Darom attacked with anti-tank rockets on the Sabbath
13. Rioter killed in clashes at Rachel’s Tomb Friday
14. One killed in violent clashes in Jerusalem’s Old City on Friday
15. Border police attacked in Shuafat section of Jerusalem
16. Firebomb attacks in Jerusalem’s Atarot neighborhood
17. Second stone-throwing attack on Jerusalem-Tel Aviv Highway
18. Israeli motorist injured in nail gun attack
19. PA: Five killed near Jenin by IDF on Friday
20. PA residents mark 13 years since the start of Intifada
21. Closure placed on autonomous areas by IDF
22. Two Hebron residents arrested on the Sabbath at Rachel’s Tomb
23. Force of 200 on hand to remove Jews from building near Givat HaCharsinah
24. PM announces 9:00pm press conference


And what will peace bring - here is what Faisal Husseini is quoted as having to say:

Ha'aretz Services, 6 December 2000

Palestinian Minister for Jerusalem Faisal Husseini has said the Palestinians are waging a war of independence that will end only when the last Israeli settler leaves the territories, and that when Palestinians become a majority in the Holy Land, they will decide whether to allow the Jews to have a state, Israel Radio reported Wednesday.

It quoted Husseini as saying that the clashes in the territories are not a another intifada, or uprising, but a war of independence that will end only when the last Israeli leaves land captured in the 1967 Six-Day War.

Husseini also said that in another few dozen years the Palestinians will constitute a majority in the area, and that it will be they who will decide whether to grant Israelis a state, if Israel continues with its present policies.

-------IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis Website: www.imra.org.il

Sunday, December 10, 2000

Strike one for the Aussies!

From the Sydney Morning Herald
Saturday, December 9, 2000

Partisan's punch ends anti-semite campaign
By Philip Cornford

An 86-year-old former partisan fighter who lost his entire family in Treblinka threw one punch, putting to heel an anti-Jewish campaigner who has alarmed the Eastern Suburbs with his hate literature.

"I watched him putting his material in letter boxes," the old soldier said. "I went up beside him and hooked him a beauty. He dropped his material and ran for his life, his nose bleeding - the coward!"

Police are seeking to interview a man whose name appears on the literature, which also carried the name of an organisation.

The old soldier's retaliation came after six weeks of tension in the Jewish community following fire attacks on two synagogues.

The B'nai B'rith Anti-Defamation Commission said yesterday it was important not to blame Arab or Islamic communities, but the incidents highlighted the need for Jewish-Arab dialogue.

Police were checking an explosive device left 37 years ago beneath the floor of the Machzika Hatorah synagogue in Bondi and found on Thursday by workmen repairing fire damage.

It contained an ancient battery and a detonator and was wrapped in a newspaper dated August 27, 1963, bringing fresh apprehension to older Jews and Holocaust survivors.

The old partisan is one of them, escaping to the Carpathian Mountains in 1942 when the Nazis rounded up Jews in Slovakia and sent them to Treblinka. He fought until 1945.

Among the Treblinka victims were his parents, his two brothers, his entire extended family.

"I lost everyone," he said, after asking not to be named because of fears he might be arrested for assault.

The man he attacked on Wednesday was wearing an Australian slouch hat.

"I'm a member of the RSL, an old soldier. My brother-in-law fought with the Australians at Tobruk. What he was doing shamed that great hat.

"I did not lose my temper. I learned in war to keep control. But as soon as I'd clobbered him, when he started running, I started shouting insults after him. 'You f--- ing coward, you piece of ----.'

"I'm not proud of it. No-one should hit anyone without warning. But no-one should put out filth like that. Someone had to do something, and I did it."

He came to Australia in 1949. "I've got grandchildren, I've put roots down like a gum tree. Don't call me a Jew. The Nazis called me a Jew, they made it a stigma, they killed my family.

"What's a Jew? I'm an atheist. But if he said that about the Pope, I would have hit him just as hard. It's about decency. After 51 years, I'm Australian. What else should I be ... could I be?''

Thursday, December 07, 2000

More: McDonalds starts the Arab Boycott process again

McDonald's has responded to many of you, saying that the donation to the Palestinian wounded is at the initiative of the local franchisee (and if you read the website, this is one of the Saudi princes). They also advise that any country who has a website is listed on the main page - and that the Israeli franchisee had a website about certain specials in the past, but now is just not maintaining the website. Israel does appear on other pages, including in their annual report.

Having said that, Lynn Farber forwarded me the following article from Ha'aretz. I think with this, unless there are new developments, I will call the McDonald's subject "closed".

From the Arab press

Big Mac is defeated
By Daniel Sobelman

Al-Hayat al Jedida, November 30

In an op-ed by Fuad Abu Hajla, under the headline "McDonald's"

"What has suddenly happened? Why have McDonald's restaurants in Saudi Arabia suddenly decided to help the Palestinian people? They announced a generous initiative to support children's hospitals in Palestine with 26 cents from every hamburger sold during the month of Ramadan. This is unexpected. We know the truth behind American investments in Arab and Islamic countries, and how a large part of the revenues from these goes to Israel to help the military wield influence in the region.

The very thing that America and Israel feared has happened. The position of demonstrators calling for an Arab Islamic boycott has begun to gain momentum, finding its expression in real actions painful to American institutions. If the boycott of the hamburger has prompted McDonald's to announce this initiative, imagine what a boycott of General Motors or General Electric might achieve...

We believe that McDonald's is only the beginning - and we are convinced the Arab and Islamic nations will broaden the boycott... And just for your information, there are still Israeli factories, even now, working to serve Israeli interests in Arab countries that are neighbors of Palestine."


Al-Hayat al Jedida was founded in 1995 by Nabil Amro, a member of the Palestinian cabinet and a close associate of Yasser Arafat. Published in Ramallah, it is considered the official daily of the PA. Hafez Al-Barghouti is the editor-in-chief.

Tuesday, December 05, 2000

McDonalds

I have received some criticism for "jumping the gun" on passing around the email I received on McDonald's.

I think the best expressed concern is as follows:

Quote:

David -

This is first time I ever visited the McDonalds site. Although it states that they have restaurants in 119 countries all over the world, only 34 countries are listed in the list. These are specifically countries that have web sites. Since I never visited the site before, I am not certain that Israel was ERASED. Maybe Israel is just one of the countries that doesn't have a site yet. Also, it doesn't state that McDonalds has made a global corporate stance to donate 30 cents from every McDonalds restaurant in the world for Palestenian casualties, only from those restaurants located in Saudi Arabia. Maybe McDonalds Israel would be willing to donate money for casualties on our side. Are you sure all the facts were checked out regarding this one?

Lynn Farber

End Quote

Usually I do more research - and I suspect Lynn may be right. Let me know if you receive a response to any notes you sent.

Monday, December 04, 2000

McDonalds starts the Arab Boycott process again

I received the attached from a friend.

Quote:
There are some companies that deserve to be punished, I'm talking about McDonalds.

Lately McDonalds announced they will donate 30 cents from each meal sold in the McDonalds restaurants located in Saudi Arabia for Palestinian casualties. Fine.

However, if you go into the McDonalds official site at: http://www.mcdonalds.com/ they ERASED Israel name from the list of the countries!! You can find Egypt, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia but NO Israel!!!!

McDonalds say they have restaurant locations in 119 countries all over the world, so where is Israel? Check out the "select country" menu.

The funny thing is that the new Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of McDonalds is a Jewish guy named Jack M. Greenberg.

McDonalds is considering Israel to be one of the most profitable countries for them, so lets hit them where it will hurt them the most:
DON'T BUY AT MACDONALDS ANYMORE!

You can write to McDonalds at: http://www.mcdonalds.com/countries/usa/corporate/info/contacts/comments/other/other_form.html
End Quote

If McDonalds are embarrassed to operate here in Israel, they should close down. Certainly if enough of us withdraw our business, this will only help them in this direction.

World pressure will make that point in other countries where their customers include people who support Israel. Given that not all my friends - or your friends - restrict themselves to kosher food only, the more protests the better!!

Please write to McDonalds. If you are able, write to a congressman.

We cannot let a new Arab boycott start without taking whatever action is in our hands.