Points of Jew

Headlines that mean something

A few days back, British Asian blog ran an entry under the headline:

"Israel exists and will exist. Get over it."

Plenty of comments from various folks.

Raz says:

I believe the Muslim world needs to follow the example of Pakistani President Musharraf, who has taken the bold step of engaging with Israel and putting so many decades of mistrust behind them.

Both nations have shown commendable determination to survive in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. It’s about time these two great nations broke down the barriers of mistrust and engaged with one another. Hats off to Musharraf.

Later on Raz further adds:

There is a clear hypocritical standard by many Muslims on the issue of Israel compared to recognising other nations (who often have a far worse human rights record than Israel). Fact is - there are 5 millions Israelis living there and they have a right to their own state and freedom. People need to forget the past and concentrate on resolving the future. Recognising the state of Israel does not mean abandoning the rights of Palestinans any more than recognising Russia or Indian means ignoring the plight of Chechens or Kashmiris.

This is what makes blogging great. Intelligent debate by intelligent people. 

Whether we are Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Sikh or anything, blogging gives us the ability to talk and debate on a level playing field with each other.

We need to keep it up!

Israeli rabbis ban baby names

A group of rabbis in Israel have issued a list of names which should not be used to name children.

Haaretz reports:

A group of Israeli rabbis has put together a list of names they say should be off-limits to Jewish children - including Ariel and Omri, the given names of Israel's prime minister and his eldest son.

Saying the name Ariel is problematic because it could beckon an angel instead, drawing down his wrath, the rabbis caution.

What other names raise rabbinical ire? All those that sound non-Jewish - like Donna, Barr and Shirli. So do typically male names given to girls - like Roni and Danielle- and names that include the suffix or prefix "el," which means God in Hebrew.

Alas, Haaretz doesn't actually provide any names of the rabbis who have said this, nor provided a link to the discussion where parents ask advice on what to name their children.

Anyone know which rabbi or rabbis are behind this?

Israeli police bust Kabbalah leader

In the best of tabloid traditions, I give you the above headline. But seriously, it's good to see that Israel is taking some action against those Jews who feel that they can exploit others in the name of Kabbalah.

According to Ynetnews:

Police arrest Shaul Youdkevitch, head of Kabbalah Centre in Israel, on suspicion he extracted money from cancer patient, convinced her donations will make her recover from illness.

Hopefully others will come out and reveal how they have been taken for a ride by the Kabbalah Centre. Sure, they may have done some good, but there are also important questions that need asking as to how the Kabbalah Centre operates.  As it stands, the Kabbalah Centre has many supporters but equally, it has been accused of exploiting others for financial gain when they are at their most low.

This case in Israel could just be the tip of a worldwide iceberg which looks into how the Kabbalah Centre works.

A case of mad cow disease?

British Asian blog Picked Politics always has a good perspective on global matters and its recent posting on the Iran wants to get rid of Israel recent statement is worth reading under the headline The Iranian Mad Cow Disease:

So. The Iranian president has a foot in mouth problem. Not that he sees it that way obviously, or the hardline Iranians went on a spontaneous march, North Korea stylee, straight after.

Understandably there has been a diplomatic orgy of condemnation and I will not even bother to defend him. Calling him idiotic might be too nice.

Full posting here.

Iran verus Israel

No, the headline is not about a football match or even some arm wrestling, but about recent statements the leadership of Iran has been making.

"Israel must be wiped off the map," said Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. 

BBC News reports:

Mr Ahmadinejad told some 3,000 students in Tehran that Israel's establishment had been a move by the West against the Islamic world.

He was addressing a conference entitled The World without Zionism and his comments were reported by the Iranian state news agency Irna.

"As the Imam said, Israel must be wiped off the map," he said, referring to Iran's late revolutionary leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

In 2001, former Iranian president Hashemi Rafsanjani called for a Muslim state to annihilate Israel with a nuclear strike.

The full report on Irna can be found here.

Orthodox Jewish riots in Jerusalem

It is not just Islamic terrorists Israel has to worry about, it's also Jewish people themselves who are just as dangerous.

Ynetnews reports:

Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox men rioted Tuesday night in Jerusalem's Shabbat Square, stoning police and injuring four officers.

One officer was taken to Shaare Zedek hospital in the capital, and four people were arrested, including three teens. Several civilians were hurt (and) promptly treated at the scene. Several cars were also damaged in the riots.

Police believe the riot was in protest of plans to build the trans-Israel highway over ancient Jewish graves.

Circle of violence - yet again

Israel kills a terrorist leader a few days ago and now Palestinian Islamic Jihad has claimed responsibility for today's suicide bomb attack in northern Israel that has killed at least five people.

The bombing occured in the northern town of Hadera.

Ynetnews reports:

The suicide bombing in Hadera was a response to the IDF's assassination of Louie Sa'adi, commander of Islamic Jihad's military wing the al-Quds Brigades in the West Bank, Abu al-Muaman, one of the organization's leaders in the Bank, told Ynet.

"This attack is merely a preliminary response by the Palestinian rebellious groups, and harder retaliation is on its way," he said.

BBC News reports:

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas condemned the attack, saying "it is against our interests and it only increases the violence in this region."

Yes, but these attacks against Israel and its people only show once again that Abbas has no real control over his own people.

If Abbas has no control over the various terrorist groups that are within his own territory, how does the circle of violence come to an end?

There are things Israel can do and it has done to make peace. Leaving the West Bank being one of them, but Israel also needs to start seeing Abbas crack down on those who are stopping any peace in the region.

JPost goes Christian once a month

Israeli English language newspaper, The Jerusalem Post is to start publishing a special monthly Christian edition for readers in the States.

The Guardian reports:

The paper is getting together with the International Christian Embassy (ICE) in Jerusalem - an organisation that says it exists to "comfort Zion" and "declare the purpose of God to the Jewish people" - to publish a monthly Christian edition from January principally aimed at American fundamentalists.

"The content is going to be jointly put together by the Jerusalem Post and the International Christian Embassy," says the Post's editor, British-born David Horowitz. "It'll be things like archaeology and tourism and ideological arguments and dilemmas and so on. Obviously, when your predominant mindset is a Jewish audience there are different stresses that go into providing content, whereas if you're doing it for a Christian audience there are going to be very different emphases and different focuses."

More info on the International Christian Embassy is here.

For some, myself included, it is a bit of a shock given that many of the Christians who will support this are the very same who are very active in converting Jews.

Indeed, it is hard not to believe that ICE is not just a front to engage with Jews in the hope they will convert.  While, active conversion is not allowed in Israel, it does go on behind the scenes and outside of Israel.

For Christians obsessed with converting Jews, the Jerusalem Post may have given them something they can truly exploit for their own PR gain which is worryingly for Jews all around the world. It sends out all the wrong messages to Christians intent of converting as they can use this to show examples of how the "message" is getting through to Jews and how they are working for the "glory of God".

What next?  Jews for Jesus special weekly newspaper?

Behind the scenes, this is a business decision and the Post is welcome to do whatever it likes, but sometimes, even for all the money in the world, you don't do certain deals that can impact on the negative to your own people.  This is one of those sometimes, when a deal like this does not need to be done.

Reminding ourselves of what good is being done

A syndicated article published in the US makes interesting reading to show that Israel and Muslim countries may find peaceful ways to work together.

Israel's ties with Muslim nations on upswing

In the weeks since Israel ended 38 years of military rule over the Gaza Strip by forcibly removing thousands of Jewish settlers who had lived amid 1.3 million Palestinians, it has racked up significant political rewards.

First came a long-planned public handshake in Istanbul, Turkey, between the foreign ministers of Israel and Pakistan, marking the first official contacts between the Jewish and Muslim nations. Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom hailed the moment as the beginning of the end for the "iron wall" that's long separated Israel from most of its Arab neighbors.

With so much bad stuff happening, isn't it good to keep on reminding ourselves that there is also much positive work going on.

Come to Tel Aviv or come in Tel Aviv?

A new advertising campaign to promote Israel to UK tourists has come under attack.  No, it's not anti-zionists this time, but rather Jews who feel the Think Israel campaign is too sexy.

A picture of a woman wearing a bikini on a beach in Tel Aviv as well as other "suggestive" images (see and enjoy below) appears to be too hot for some people.

The Jewish Telegraph reveals some of the outrage:

"This sells Israel short. The country has so much more to offer than scantily-clad models," said Adrian Cohen, managing director of Manchester-based Israel Travel Service.

The whole idea actually reminds me of the rather brilliant Crazy People which starred the late and great Dudley Moore as an advertising executive who has a breakdown and enters a mental institute.  He then teaches his fellow patients some of the rules of advertising.

One of the ideas they come up with is for a campaign to encourage people to visit the Bahamas. So instead of telling people to just "come to the Bahamas", they suggest it should be "Come in the Bahamas" with an appropriate image of a good looking babe.

Did the Israel tourist folks take a leaf out of Crazy People?  Who knows, but they've succeeded in rule number one of advertising, get people talking about the adverts.