Prayer for Ramadan by Imam: “Grant us victory over the infidels… Allah, delight us with the conquest and liberation of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Allah, make us among the first to enter, the conquerors, the worshippers, and those calling out ‘Allahu Akbar’ inside [the mosque] to You, Master of the Universe. Allah, delight us with the extermination of the evil Jews, O Master of the Universe, and [the extermination] of their hypocritical supporters who have evil in their hearts.”CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO
“The Survivor,” which premieres on HBO just in time for Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, packs a lot in its dense two hours — perhaps too much. Directed by celebrated Jewish director Barry Levinson, the new movie tells the story of Harry Haft, a Polish Jew who quite literally fought for his life as a boxer in Auschwitz. The film is worth watching solely for the haunting performances by its cast, especially Ben Foster who plays Haft. Throughout, he transforms from an emaciated Auschwitz prisoner to a strapping young boxer arriving in America to, ultimately, a settled middle-aged family man. The Jewish actor and father of two told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the role “expanded my relationship to the courage of those who left to come here.” READ MORE
ISRAEL HAYOM Never again? Nearly half of Israelis fear another HolocaustAlmost half of the Israeli public (47%) is worried that another Holocaust will befall the Jewish people, according to a poll conducted by the “Pnima” movement on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, Wednesday, April 27. The poll sought to address sensitive questions about preserving the memory of the Holocaust and Israeli society’s existential anxiety – rooted, among other things, in fears of another Holocaust.
n the winter of 1935, a few months after the German government passed the anti-Jewish Nuremberg Laws, the Nazi family magazine Sonne ins Haus (“Sun in the Home”) sponsored a photographic competition to find “the perfect Aryan child.” On Jan. 24, 1935, the magazine published a front-page photograph of the winner, a beautiful 6-month-old baby girl named Hessy Levinsons. Nazi propaganda showcased the baby as “the perfect Aryan baby.” Unbeknownst to the judges, Hessy was Jewish. Hessy had been born in Berlin on May 17, 1934, to Jewish parents Jacob and Pauline Levinsons. READ MORE
This February, Bruce Harrell, newly installed as mayor of Seattle, made it official: His city is in decline. “The truth is the status quo is unacceptable,” Harrell said in his first state of the city address. “It seems like every day I hear stories of longtime small businesses closing their doors for good or leaving our city.” But it’s not just small businesses. Much of Seattle’s core looks like a pockmarked ghost town. Storefronts on both sides of Third Avenue, a major thoroughfare, are boarded up. Blocks from the Four Seasons hotel and the Fairmont Hotel, tents crowd the sidewalks, and drug users sit under awnings holding pieces of foil over lighter flames. READ MORE
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to meet counterpart Vladimir Putin in Russia, Bennett said in a televised interview given to CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Wednesday evening. The prospects of Russia’s war on Ukraine ending soon are “not looking good,” Bennett admitted, adding that Israel is willing to re-enter serious mediation efforts at Zelensky’s request. Bennett defended his and his government’s stance on Russia, stating that Israel has “condemned Russian aggression many times” and voted for Russia’s suspension from the UN Human Rights Council, in response to Amanpour’s question on whether Israel has taken a strong enough stance against Putin’s regime.READ MORE
i24 NEWS Bennett accuses Amanpour of misleading viewers in tense interviewIsraeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Wednesday accused CNN’s Christiane Amanpour of not giving viewers a complete picture of the ongoing riots at Jerusalem’s Temple Mount. During the tense interview, Amanpour asked Bennett why Israeli security forces sometimes enter the Al Aqsa Mosque. “There you go again, starting the story in the middle,” Bennett fired back. The premier noted that Israeli police entered the Al Aqsa Mosque only after rocks were thrown at officers from inside the building and to restore order to the holy site for the thousands of peaceful Muslim worshippers.
Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded that Israel grant his country control of the Alexander Courtyard in Jerusalem as the previous Israeli government had promised, in a letter delivered to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Sunday. Putin’s letter came barely a day after the Foreign Ministry in Moscow slammed Foreign Minister Yair Lapid for accusing Russia of war crimes in Ukraine, saying that Israel is using Ukraine to cover up for its own conflict with the Palestinians. The Russian Foreign Ministry also summoned Israeli Ambassador Alexander Ben Zvi for a reprimand on Sunday. READ MORE
US Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff served wine made in a West Bank settlement at their Passover seder on Friday. The surprising choice in spirits, given the Biden administration’s critical stance toward Israeli settlements, was spotted on the vice president’s seder table in photos posted on Twitter by Harris and Emhoff. The bottle was from the Psagot Winery, a company based in the West Bank north of Jerusalem that has made headlines in recent years. The winery challenged a 2016 French court ruling that said goods made in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Golan Heights must be labeled as originating in an “Israeli settlement.” READ MORE
The nuclear agreement currently being finalized with Iran will directly endanger the national security of the United States and our regional partners. Having already offered Iran too many concessions and opportunities to take yes for an answer, the Biden administration is long overdue in walking away from this deal. If a deal nevertheless is reached, Congress must reject it. Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine already is making painfully clear what little can actually be done to confront naked aggression by a nuclear-armed adversary…That’s why we joined 46 retired U.S. generals and admirals in opposing it in an open letter organized by the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA). READ MORE
…And as with Hamas in Gaza, while ostensibly guarding their religion and its third-holiest shrine, the rioters were actually dishonoring it. You only had to look at their feet: The stone-throwers who clashed with Israeli security forces in and around Al-Aqsa Mosque had their shoes on — in breach of the respectful Islamic tradition to remove impure footwear when entering the house of prayer…Nobody looking at what unfolded on Friday can reasonably doubt that, in contrast to the tens of thousands who prayed at the same contested spot later in the day, the Palestinians who had gathered at Al-Aqsa on Friday morning were bent on confrontation. READ MORE
GATESTONE Bassam Tawil: How Palestinians Desecrate Everyone’s Holy Sites, Including Their OwnUnless the US administration makes it unmistakably clear that the Palestinians will pay dearly for continuing to reward terrorists and their families, the Palestinians will not even slow down either desecrating holy sites or committing their terror attacks.
Jewish worshipers brutally attacked today in Jerusalem’s Old City.
Israel is determined to maintain freedom of worship for all. That includes clamping down on those that promote violence, desecrate holy sites and pervert the spirit of the holy days.pic.twitter.com/LcUSkOaY7x
According to the February 2022 annual Gallup poll of country favorability, 71% of Americans accord Israel a “very favorable” and “mostly favorable” rating. It matches Israel’s average favorability since 2013, compared to 58% in 2002, 71% in 2012, 69% in 2019 and 75% in February 2021. Israel’s all-time high favorability was in February 1991 – 79% – in the aftermath of the January-February Iraqi Scud Missiles striking Tel Aviv. Israel is ranked 7th among countries rated by Gallup, trailing Canada, Britain, France, Japan, Germany and India. However, none of these countries have been targeted – as has Israel – for daily criticism by the State Department (which fiercely opposed Israel’s establishment in 1948), the United Nations, the NY Times, Washington Post, L.A. Times, CNN, MSNBC and many of the political and social science departments on US campuses. READ MORE
ArchitectGuy on Israel 