Writers

UNESCO MADNESS: U.N. Branch Recognizes ‘Palestine’, Then Loses American Funding
Beer Sheba National Park World Heritage Site

Almost entirely under the news radar, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has voted to deem a geographically undefined ‘Palestine’ worthy of becoming a full member state, on the basis of its supposedly rich cultural heritage.  This vote, which passed by an overwhelming majority against the will of the United States, triggers a law that requires the US to defund UNESCO on the basis that, any organization supporting the PLO must be cut off financially.  As a result, the hammer has fallen on UNESCO. Read More

 

Writers

Gilad Shalit: Is He Worth It? Yes I Believe He Is…
sanctified

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

Yeshua replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Matthew 22:36-40

The prisoner swap between Israel and Hamas which facilitated the release of Gilad Shalit is monumental and deserves deeper reflection than other current events. No doubt Israel’s willingness to trade 1000+ convicted Islamic terrorists for a single Israeli soldier will be looked upon as a watershed event. Some will accuse Israel of insanity, others of pandering. Many questions spring to mind, some of the more obvious being the following: Was this a wise decision? Was the swap politically motivated on the part of Netanyahu and Likud, and if so, to what end? Will this ultimately backfire in our faces, and if so, how soon? Read More

 

Writers

Stop Apartheid!

OK, that title got you reading, so what I really mean is “Stop (with the) Apartheid (rhetoric already)!”. This morning I counter-demonstrated against a group protesting against Israel, and they had “Apartheid” boldly on display. Now, I admit I can be a stickler for words (I am, after all, an author and blogger), maybe even a little OC about them at times. But my thing with “apartheid” is not nitpicking. This is strategic rhetoric designed to invalidate Israel as a Jewish state. Read More

 

Writers

Obama, ’67, and the non-negotiable
Jerusalem is non-negotiable

Back when I was a local rabbi, we had two families leave the congregation within days of each other. One family said the congregation wasn’t Jewish enough, and the other said it was too Jewish. If you’re in Messianic Jewish leadership of any sort, you could probably tell a similar story. And you might have responded like I did. I figured that since we were getting criticized from both sides on the Jewishness question, we must be pretty balanced.

But later, after some reflection, I decided that wasn’t really the best explanation. Read More

 

Writers

Living In The Past

Today President Obama announced that “we” the American people, support a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which, according to his (our?) thinking, must involve Israel moving back to pre-1967 borders. Funny how one man's opinion becomes the opinion of the entire nation once he becomes President. We can only be grateful that Benjamin Netanyahu's opinion is entirely different.

Anyone who is familiar with the basic topography and geographical features of Israel must understand this backward-looking scheme to be entirely untenable, dangerous, and misguided. For those who are unfamiliar with the history of modern Israeli statehood, some background is required. Read More