Saturday, April 13, 2019

The moral case for recognizing Jewish sovereignty on the Golan Heights

By Noam A. Rotem

A snowy Mount Hermon as seen from the summit of Mount Bental in the Golan Heights. (Wikimedia Commons)

Psalm 133 opens with the iconic lyrics:
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.
הִנֵּ֣ה מַה־טּ֭וֹב וּמַה־נָּעִ֑ים שֶׁ֖בֶת אַחִ֣ים גַּם־יָֽחַד׃
The verse was popularized into one of the most famous Jewish folks song of the 20th century. That same psalm ends with a reference to Mt. Hermon (at the tip of the Golan Heights):
like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore.
The name Golan appears for the first time in the Bible in the book of Deuteronomy: “And the Golan in Bashan for (the tribe of) Menashe.” “Golan” in this verse refers to a name of a city, in the Bashan region, which was the ancient and biblical name for the Golan Heights region.

The Hasmonean King Alexander Jannaeus conquered the Golan in the first century BCE, and settled the city of Gamla. During that time, many Jewish settlements were established in the Golan. The remains of one of the earliest synagogues is situated inside the city walls of Gamla. The synagogue is thought to date from the late first century BCE, and is considered among the oldest synagogues in the world.

During the Great Jewish Revolt against the Romans, 66–73 CE, a major battle is described in detail by Josephus, between the Romans and the Jews of Gamla, whereupon the city was captured and destroyed by the Romans.

In the days of the Mishna and the Talmud, many Jewish settlements existed in the Golan as evidenced by sources of both Hazal (the Jewish sages of the Mishna and Talmud eras), and backed by archaeological findings.

But from the beginning of Ottoman rule until the middle of the 19th century, the Golan turned into mostly a desolate frontier region, with few permanent residents, and ruled by Bedouin tribes. Druze settlements were established in the northern Golan Heights, and exist there to this day.

At the end of the 19th century, several attempts were made by Jews to resettle in the Golan, including on lands purchased by the Baron Rothschild, as well as in several other locations, along the western slopes of the Golan overlooking the sea of Galilee.

At the height of World War I, a secret pact known as the Sykes-Picot agreement was reached between the British and French governments. The pact carved up the floundering Ottoman Empire into spheres of British and French influence. Borders were drawn on a map, in disregard of any historic, tribal, or ethnic considerations. In its wake, states like Syria and Iraq were created, without any nation-state coherency, setting the ground for the bloody rife and turmoil that has been going on in the region for over a century.

In 1946, Syria gained independence from France and with it control of the Golan Heights. Between 1949 and 1967, the Syrian army used the strategic Heights to shell Israeli civilian settlements along the border. There were many incidents of shooting at fishing boats on the Kinneret. As a result of these shelling, 140 civilians were killed and many more injured. Property was also damaged, and many fields of grain were burned. In the early 1950s, the Syrians did a land grab, and took control of Israel’s territory west of the international border, along the eastern shores of Lake Kinneret.

At the start of the Six Day War, the Syrians shelled the Hula Valley and Rosh Pina settlements, and Syrian tanks tried to advance towards the agricultural settlement of Kibbutz Dan. In the very last days of the war, following pressure from Jewish settlements in northern Israel, the Israeli government decided to conquer the Golan Heights and put an end to the threat of Syrian shelling on the Hula Valley communities.

Following several military coups in Syria, Hafez al-Assad came to power in 1970. In 1973, Assad launched a surprise attack against Israel, on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, in an attempt to capture back the Golan Heights. Some of the bravest battles in the annals of modern Israeli military history took place in defending the Golan, and the IDF turned that perilous and near fatal attack into a gallant victory.

In 1982, Assad conducted an infamous massacre in Hama Syria, which left 20,000 Syrian civilians dead, in response to a local uprising against his regime. At the time, it was considered one of the deadliest acts by any Arab government against its own people in the modern Middle East.

His son Bashar al-Assad would outdo him. Following an uprising against his regime in 2011, Bashar ruthlessly bombarded civilian populations en masse. His war crimes included the use of chemical weapons against his own civilian population, and his army conducted widespread ethnic cleansing. Syria spiraled into one of the bloodiest civil wars in modern history, with the overall death toll estimated at 500,000, and with an estimated 7 million internally displaced and 5 million refugees.

Given the long history that Jews have in the Golan Heights, going back 2 and 3 millennia, coupled with the belligerent, brutal and immoral Syrian regimes, Presidents Trump’s decision to recognize Israel’s sovereignty on the Golan Heights is a just one, both historically and morally.


This Op-Ed was originally published on The Times of Israel Blogs:
The moral case for recognizing Jewish sovereignty on the Golan Heights by Noam A. Rotem

Saturday, February 9, 2019

Words Matter, The Content of Words Matter, Critical Thinking Matters

The following is a 5 minute speech I wrote, prepared and delivered at Toast Tel Aviv a branch of Toastmasters International in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Jan 30 2019


Good evening ladies and gentlemen I’d like to speak to you tonight about why:

Words Matter, The Content of Words Matter, Critical Thinking Matters

Two incidents that I recently encountered served as triggers for composing this talk.
The first -- I was watching a political event, and a young woman spoke about human rights. She stitched together some sweet, Politically Correct statements, that were superficial and even incoherent.
But not just that, what she was implying, was also untrue.
Human rights, women’s rights, freedom of expression, freedom of religion, due process, are not even close to being the same across the globe.
But to my surprise, not to say dismay, she got a huge applause.

And I’m thinking what…?
Does the content of words have no meaning any more?

The 2nd incident, a few months back, a statement was thrown around, that 93% of communications is non-verbal. It’s based on a research from the 70’s that communication is:
55% Body Language (including facial expressions, hand gestures, posture).
38% vocal tone (rate and volume).

Only one problem -- it’s not true.

The study was based on an experiment where they had people say a single word like “thanks” and “maybe” and in that limited single word context: tone and facial expression may outweigh the meaning of the word. The study was never about public speaking communication, yet — it’s often quoted in that context.

Let's think about it for a moment.

Anyone who’s ever been to a foreign country where they speak a foreign language, will immediately know that they can’t guess 93% of the content, by watching body language and listening to tone of voice [1].

When I was researching this topic I came across someone with over 40 years of experience in journalism and international marketing communication [2]. He writes that Toastmasters (apropos), devotes the first 4 chapters of its beginner's manual to: organizing the speech itself, including a chapter specifically on the importance of words in conveying meaning… Only in Chapters 5 and 6 does it discuss body language and vocal variety.

Words matter, critical thinking matters.

Who won the Nobel prize in Literature for brilliant oratory (i.e., public speaking)?
The Nobel Prize in Literature 1953 was awarded to Sir Winston Churchill "... for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values."

Many of his great historic speeches, were delivered over the radio, in a time that preceded Television (no visual communication).
3,500 years ago one of the more important speeches of western civilization was delivered, that contained the timeless words: “Let my people go!”
The message of those profound words, would inspire men & women, thousands of years later, from the American civil rights rights movement, to the freeing of Soviet Jewry.

My Call to Action:
  • Don’t be seduced by pretty words, if they are superficial.
  • Profound words and content matter.
  • Don’t be afraid, to be a counter-voice to group think -- when it doesn’t stand up to common sense and critical thinking.
So let me leave you with one final quote -- appropriately by Winston Churchill, about the Truth:
The truth he said is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.

Thank you very much.



References:
[1] Debunking the myths of non-verbal communication By Ian Brodie
[2] The 7% Rule Fact, Fiction, Or Misunderstanding By Philip Yaffe


#publicspeaking #wordsmatter #toastmasters #toastmastersinternational #communication #rationalism #freethought #speech #speechwriting #telaviv #israel #tlv

Sunday, November 26, 2017

Israeli Mainstream Media Fails to Cover Zionist Statements by Muslim Kuwaiti Writer on Kuwaiti TV

By Noam A. Rotem

The renowned Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) translated and published on Sunday, November 19th 2017, a 6 minute long video clip, with one of the more extraordinary interviews to emerge from within the Arab Muslim world in recent memory.

The video includes excerpts of Kuwaiti writer, Abdullah Al-Hadlaq (with a history of realistic and positive views about Israel), articulating remarkable statements about the Jewish state. Statements, that had they not had been spoken by a Muslim Arab on Kuwaiti TV, one would be forgiven to have thought that they were communicated at some rightwing Zionist convention in Israel.

Here are a few incredible examples:
"Israel is an independent sovereign state.... and most peace-loving and democratic countries recognize it. The group of states that do not recognize Israel are the countries of tyranny and oppression…

"The State of Israel has scientific centers and universities the likes of which even the oldest and most powerful Arab countries lack…

There is no occupation. There is a people returning to its promised land…

When the State of Israel was established in 1948, there was no state called 'Palestine.'...

From the religious perspective, Quranic verse 5:21 proves that the Israelites have the right to the Holy Land. Allah says: 'When Moses said to his people... Oh my people, enter the Holy Land which Allah has assigned to you.' So Allah assigned that land to them…

Are you aware that the history of the Israelites is ancient, predating Islam? Therefore, we Muslims must acknowledge that the Israelites have a right to that land, and that they have not plundered it…

I support the establishment of a three-way alliance, consisting of Israel, the Arab Gulf states, and America, in order to annihilate Hizbullah beyond resurrection."
The full transcript you can find on MEMRI along with the video clip.

The clip was ignored by Israeli mainstream Hebrew media. The Jerusalem Post and The Times Of Israel (both English publications not consumed by mainstream Hebrew speaking Israelis), were the first to pick-up the story on Wednesday November 22.

Following that, the clip started spreading on Israeli social media, including a Hebrew translation by Yoni Barak, so that by Friday evening, November 24, Israel channel 1 news, could no longer ignore it, and showed 2 brief parts from it, mixed into other clips about the winds of change taking place in the Arabian peninsula, regarding attitudes towards Israel. Channel 1 news offered no commentary on it, and instead spent most of their 2 hour long Friday evening week-in-summary news, on other matters that best fit their blatant biased center-left commentary and political agenda.

But here’s the amazing thing, if you go back and read these statements:
“There is no occupation. There is a people returning to its promised land”

“When the State of Israel was established in 1948, there was no state called 'Palestine'.”

“From the religious perspective, Quranic verse 5:21 proves that the Israelites have the right to the Holy Land”
Here is a Muslim Arab, stating historical truths, that have been censored and derided by a politically correct liberal mainstream thought police for decades. These statements stand in stark contrast to everything mainstream media, the Israeli left and center-left, and so called western liberals, have believed in, and promoted, for the past 40 or 50 years.

For decades now mainstream media and the political left have ignored or marginalized brave and internationally renowned Zionist truthsayers from the Arab and Muslim world, the likes of Brigitte Gabriel, Nonie Darwish, Mosab Hassan Yousef and Kasim Hafeez just to mention a few of the more famous ones.

The time has come for mainstream media and the political center-left in Israel and the west, to wake up and acknowledge the truth as simply stated by Abdullah Al-Hadlaq. Their relevance will depend on it, history will judge them by it, and true democratic free-speech is waiting for it.



This Op-Ed was originally published on The Times of Israel Blogs:
Israeli Mainstream Media Fails to Cover Zionist Statements by Muslim Kuwaiti Writer on Kuwaiti TV by Noam A. Rotem

התקשורת הישראלית המרכזית התעלמה לרוב מדבריו הציוניים של הסופר המוסלמי הכוויתי בטלוויזיה הכוויתית

מאת נעם רותם   By Noam A. Rotem
המכון הנודע לחקר התקשורת במזרח התיכון (MEMRI) תירגם ופרסם ביום ראשון, ה-19 בנובמבר 2017, סרטון וידיאו באורך של כ-6 דקות, עם אחד הראיונות היותר מדהימים שיצאו מתוך העולם הערבי המוסלמי בזמן האחרון.

הסרטון כולל קטעים מתוך ראיון עם הסופר הכוויתי, עבדאללה אל-הדלק (עם היסטוריה של ביטויים והשקפות ריאליות וחיוביות על ישראל), המבטא אמירות מדהימות על המדינה היהודית. אמירות, שלולא נאמרו ע״י ערבי מוסלמי בטלוויזיה הכוויתית, אפשר היה לסלוח למי שיחשוב שמדובר על הצהרות מתוך איזה כנס ציוני ימני בישראל.

להל״ן כמה דוגמאות:
"ישראל היא מדינה ריבונית עצמאית ... ורוב המדינות שוחרות השלום ודמוקרטיות מכירות בה. קבוצת המדינות שאינן מכירות בישראל הן מדינות עריצות של דיכוי ... 
למדינת ישראל יש מרכזים מדעיים ואוניברסיטאות שכמוהם אפילו המדינות הערביות הוותיקות והחזקות ביותר חסרות ... 
אין כיבוש. יש אנשים שחוזרים לארץ המובטחת שלהם ... 
כאשר הוקמה מדינת ישראל ב -1948, לא הייתה מדינה בשם "פלסטין". 
מנקודת המבט הדתית, הפסוק בקוראן 5:21 מוכיח כי לישראל יש זכות לארץ הקודש. אללה אומר: "כאשר אמר משה לעמו ... הו עמי, היכנסו לארץ הקודש אשר אללה הקצה לך." אז אללה הקצה להם את האדמה הזאת ... 
האם אתה מודע לכך שתולדות ישראל הן עתיקות, וקדומות לאיסלאם? לכן עלינו המוסלמים להכיר בכך שלישראל יש זכות לאותה ארץ, וכי הם לא בזזו אותה ... 
אני תומך בהקמת ברית תלת-כיוונית, המורכבת מישראל, ממדינות המפרץ הערבי ומאמריקה, כדי להשמיד כליל את חיזבאללה."
את התמליל המלא אפשר למצוא באתר MEMRI יחד עם הוידאו קליפ.

תקשורת המיינסטרים הישראלית בהתחלה התעלמה מההקלטה. הג'רוזלם פוסט והטיימס אוף ישראל (שני פרסומים באנגלית, שהמיינסטרים הישראלי הדובר עברית לא קורא בדרך כלל), היו הראשונים שפרסמו את הסיפור ב -22 בנובמבר.

לאחר מכן, הסרטון החל להתפשט במדיה החברתית הישראלית, כולל תרגום עברי של יוני ברק, כך שביום שישי בערב, 24 בנובמבר, ערוץ החדשות 11 של התאגיד הישראלי לא יכל עוד להתעלם, והראה שני חלקים קצרים, יחד עם קליפים נוספים על רוחות השינוי המתרחשות בחצי האי ערב, ביחס לעמדות כלפי ישראל. חדשות ערוץ 11 לא הציעו שום פרשנות על הקליפ, ובמקום זאת בילו את רוב השעתיים של חדשות השבוע עם תמר אלמוג ויאיר ויינרב, על עניינים אחרים המתאימים במיוחד לפרשנות המוטית למרכז-שמאל, ולאג׳נדה הפוליטית שלהם.

אבל הנה הדבר המדהים, אם תחזרו לקרוא את המשפטים הבאים מתוך דבריו של הסופר:
"אין כיבוש. יש אנשים שחוזרים לארץ המובטחת שלהם ... " 
"כאשר הוקמה מדינת ישראל ב -1948, לא הייתה מדינה בשם פלסטין". 
"מנקודת המבט הדתית, הפסוק הקוראני 5:21 מוכיח כי לישראל יש זכות לארץ הקודש"
הנה, ערבי מוסלמי, מציין אמיתות היסטוריות, שזלזלו בהן ושצונזרו במשך עשרות שנים, ע״י משטרת המחשבות של המיינסטרים ה״ליברלי״, עם השקפת עולם של תקינה פוליטית. דבריו של הסופר עומדות בניגוד מוחלט, לכל מה שהאמינו וקדמו, אמצעי התקשורת המרכזיים, השמאל והמרכז-שמאל הישראלי, והליברלים לכאורה במערב, במשך 40 או 50 השנים האחרונות.

מזה עשרות שנים תקשורת המיינסטרים הישראלי יחד עם השמאל והמרכז-שמאל הפוליטי, מתעלמים וממעיטים בחשיבותם, של דוברי אמת, ערבים ומוסלמים אמיצים וציוניים, בעלי שם עולמי, כמו- בריג'יט גבריאל, נוני דרוויש, מסעב חסן יוסף, וקסים חפיז, אם לציין רק חלק מהיותר מפורסמים מביניהם.

הגיע הזמן שתקשורת המיינסטרים ומפלגות המרכז-שמאל בישראל ובמערב, יתעוררו ויכירו באמת הפשוטה והצרופה שבדבריו של עבדאללה אל-הדלאק. הרלוונטיות שלהם תלויה בהכרה הזו, ההיסטוריה תשפוט אותם על פיה, ושיח של חופש דיבור דמוקרטי אמיתי מחכה לזה.



This Op-Ed was originally published in English on The Times of Israel Blogs:
Israeli Mainstream Media Fails to Cover Zionist Statements by Muslim Kuwaiti Writer on Kuwaiti TV by Noam A. Rotem


Friday, September 1, 2017

An Inconvenient Truth About Anti-Semitic Violence

Study shows, antisemitic violence in Europe is perpetrated mainly by Muslim extremists, followed by left-wing radicals

By Noam A. Rotem

A recent study titled “Antisemitic Violence in Europe, 2005-2015 Exposure and Perpetrators in France, UK, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Russia”, was jointly published this past June, by the Center for Studies of the Holocaust and Religious Minorities in Oslo, together with the Center for Research on Extremism (C-REX) at the University of Ohio. The complete copy of this report can be found here.

The research combined, incident data based on police reporting, along with a 2012 survey on Antisemitism carried out by the European Union’s Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA). Though the writers were cautious to call the findings tentative, with more research needed, these findings corroborate with other studies from across Europe, like the German parliamentary report from 2016 that found that Jews in Germany are feeling a growing threat of anti-Semitism, especially from Muslims.

The survey part of the research report, shows that Muslim extremists significantly lead those perpetrating violence against Jews, followed by members of the political left. In France for example the survey showed that 53% of the attacks were perpetrated by Muslims, 18% by left-wingers, and only 7% by either right-wingers or extreme Christians, while in Sweden 51% of attacks were carried out by Muslims, 25% by leftists, only 5% by rightists, and none by extreme Christians (see additional results in the graph below).

The study, got no coverage by Israeli mainstream media, just like virulent anti-Semitism in the Palestinian territories and across the Arab and Muslim world, that gets little coverage by Israeli mainstream media, in proportion to how deep and widespread the phenomenon is.

Like their mainstream media compatriots in the west, Israeli media tends to sensationalize beyond proportion any sign of fringe right-wing Antisemitism, while either omitting altogether, or greatly marginalizing the dangerously growing unholy alliance in the west of the radical left with Islamic extremism. An alliance rampant with poisonous anti-Zionism, steeped in latent Antisemitism, and as this study shows, is far more dangerous, threatening and violent towards Jews, at this present time in history.

So for all the people in the media, politicians, liberals and conservatives, who were rightfully distraught by the Neo-Nazi display in Charlottesville earlier this month, if you have good intentions of demonstrating a semblance of moral integrity, then reality backed by facts, cries out for proportionally more coverage, and more concern about Antisemitism within radical Islam, and the regressive left.


This Op-Ed was originally published on The Times of Israel Blogs:
http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/an-inconvenient-truth-about-anti-semitic-violence/

Friday, April 21, 2017

Old Habits Die Hard

Israeli mainstream media, the Israeli left, center-left and #FakeNews


By Noam A. Rotem
(
Op-Ed originally published on Times of Israel Blogs: http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/old-habits-die-hard/)

For years and up until very recently, news anchors on Israeli primetime TV and radio, along with politicians from Israel’s center-left and left parties, have been repeating an old and decayed axiom that the majority of the Israeli public knew was no longer true, yet no one appeared to be supplying the evidence for its demise.

But finally the proof is in. A new poll conducted by leading Israeli pollster Dr. Mina Tzemach for the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, found that a majority of the Jewish public in Israel no longer supports, the Clinton parameters for a two State solution. See full poll results here.

The reasons (not covered by the poll), are obvious, as I wrote in an op-ed last September:
Both the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, systematically teach and preach virulent hatred of Jews, and the liquidation of the Jewish State. Suicide bombers are not just venerated as national heroes, their families are rewarded with lifetime pensions. Both regimes systematically deny the factual 3,000 year old history of Jews in and to the land of Israel. And when Israel in a gesture of goodwill, handed over the Gaza strip, complete with state-of-the-art greenhouse agriculture, the response of the Palestinians, was to destroy those greenhouses, and vote in a tyrannical terrorist regime, bent on allocating all monetary and human resources, to the destruction of the state of Israel.
(From my op-ed: Questions Israeli Mainstream Media didn’t and won’t ask Hillary, published on Tel Aviv Vistas and Arutz Sheva, on September 12, 2016).
Not surprisingly, the poll, published on March 30, got virtually no coverage by Israeli mainstream electronic media. But thankfully, Caroline Glick cited the poll, both in an op-ed of hers (‘Israel’s silenced majority’ 03/31/2017), as well as in an interview with Avi Abelow, on his Daily Israel Straight Talk Facebook page.

The poll results are actually really big news, particularly for the center-left and mainstream media, who have continued to stubbornly believe and sanctimoniously insist, that the Israeli consensus is still firmly behind their steamrolled two state solution. But the Israeli public was not oblivious to the fact, that nearly every concession Israel made towards a two state solution, was almost always met with rampant murderous Palestinian terrorism. No matter how hard they tried, the Israeli mainstream media and center left parties, could not whitewash this self-evident evil.

Yet, despite the lack of coverage, the poll seems to have had an impact. Until its publication, on almost a daily basis, across the spectrum of Israeli mainstream electronic media, news anchors, political pundits, and politicians from the left and center left, would whip out this false pretense of alleged overwhelming public opinion support, for a two state solution. They especially would bring it up, when trying to suppress any open debate, about alternative solutions. But since its publication, at least for now, there appears to be almost “radio silence” by the Israeli troika (comprised of the Israeli left, center-left and their mouthpiece — Israeli mainstream media).

According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, the idiom ‘Old habits die hard’ is used to say it is hard to stop doing things that one has been doing for a long time. This adage, resonates appropriately well in this case, of the Israeli left, center-left and mainstream media.

Sunday, September 11, 2016

The Tough Questions That Israeli Mainstream Media Didn't, Couldn't and Wouldn't ask Hillary Rodham Clinton

By Noam A. Rotem

On September 8th, Israel Channel 2 News published an interview conducted by their primetime evening news anchor Yonit Levi with Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The interview had all the trappings of so called "liberal" mainstream media in general, with Hillary Clinton being treated to kid-glove questions. In this case it had an additional twist of Israeli left-leaning mainstream media, where by Yonit Levi, fairly unabashedly was seen fawning over every statement of Hillary Clinton through out the 20 minute interview.

As typical for such a contrived media stage, where interviewer and interviewee, share a mutual political agenda, neither difficult questions, nor questions of true substance, were asked.

At least a half dozen difficult and substantial questions could have been asked. Here are three out of the many I would have liked to hear.

Right at the opening, Yonit, who can be totally adversarial when she interviews someone on the right, goes into a long-winded compliment about how much political experience Hillary has and says that even her detractors would agree with that.

The more real, relevant and tough question that should have been asked is:
During your tenure as secretary of  state, under president Obama, Iraq spiraled into mayhem with the complete retreat of American forces, spawning ISIS; Iran is on the march, in Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Lebanon; the Iranian reformist protest of 2009 was brutally crushed, while the US stood by silently; the Muslim brotherhood rose to power in Egypt; Libya descended into complete chaos, leaving in its wake 4 dead Americans, including the Ambassador; Christians are being persecuted and ethnically cleansed through out the mideast. Russian influence is growing in the Mideast and eastern Europe; North Korea is a menace to American allies in the Far-East. 
Given that record, why should Americans trust you when it comes Foreign Policy?
Early on in the interview Hillary dissed all Trump supporters as being either racists or disenfranchised, begging the following question to be asked:
So given that most polls show between 40%-45% of Americans support Trump, are you saying that at least 40%-45% of Americans are either racists or disenfranchised? 
Regarding the Israeli-Arab conflict, here's a question that many Jews and Israelis like me would love to hear, yet it will never be asked by Israeli mainstream media, as while in their misguided fantasy they see themselves as the so call "watchdogs" of democracy, in fact many times they're no more than a mouthpiece for the political agendas of the center-left. And the question is:
Both the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, systematically teach and preach virulent hatred of Jews, and the liquidation of the Jewish State. Suicide bombers are not just venerated as national heroes, their families are rewarded with lifetime pensions. Both regimes systematically deny the factual 3,000 year old history of Jews in and to the land of Israel. And when Israel in a gesture of goodwill, handed over the Gaza strip, complete with state-of-the-art greenhouse agriculture, the response of the Palestinians, was to destroy those greenhouses, and vote in a tyrannical terrorist regime, bent on allocating all monetary and human resources, to the destruction of the state of Israel. 
Given that, why should Israelis support a Two-State solution, which the Republican party has removed from their platform.
Watching Yonit Levi's display of exaggerated flattery, one gets the sense, that in her fantasy, she actually believed she was asking difficult questions, making her performance all the more embarrassing, almost sophomoric, and underscores the mind-set of elitist mainstream Israeli media, that have virtually no self-awareness, of how disconnected and biased they are, nor how the public actually perceives them for what they actually are -- a mouthpiece for a center-left political agenda.

Israel is very much in need of a media reform, one in the form of a free market, that would enable a "marketplace of ideas" where the truth and excellence in reporting, can emerge via free and open competition.

This article was also published on the Op-Ed page of Arutz Sheva:
Op-Ed: Questions Israeli Mainstream Media didn't and won't ask Hillary

As well as in Hebrew on News1 מחלקה ראשונה:
שאלות שתקשורת המיינסטרים לא שאלה את הילרי

Saturday, May 21, 2016

An Open Letter To The Outgoing Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon

From a member of the Liberals in the Likud 

By Noam A. Rotem

Dear Minister Ya'alon,

I'd like to start off by saying that I've been your longtime fan and supporter, and saw you as someone very qualified, dignified, and imbued with many of the qualities required to be the successor to lead the Likud party. A rare and refined politician, with above the fray integrity and intellect. An officer and gentleman, soft-spoken, who shied away from the media limelight, yet was always ready to speak the truth to it, in an unwavering manner.

You also represent many of my liberal-right values.  On the one hand a clear-eyed view of the Israeli-Arab conflict, which is, and has always been imbued by radical Islamic antisemitism, thats shares and borrows poisonous hatred of Jews, directly from Nazi antisemitic propaganda. Something that the Israeli left, center-left and mainstream media, almost always go out of their way to overlook.

On the other-hand, you consistently supported and defended core liberal western democratic values, that not just live in harmony with the concept of a "Jewish and democratic state", but in fact are rooted and inspired by the great universal tenets, that Judaism imparted to western civilization. The most fundamental of those tenets, being that all humankind, men and women, are equal, as they were equally created in the image of God. In that spirit you stood-up for women's rights, gay rights, and the equal inclusion of Israelis, from all backgrounds regardless of gender, race, or religion into Israeli society.

Having said all of that, it was impossible not to be perplexed, not to say outright dismayed, by your support of deputy chief of staff Yair Golan for his Holocaust Memorial Day statement:
"If there's something that frightens me about Holocaust remembrance it's the recognition of the revolting processes that occurred in Europe in general, and particularly in Germany, back then – 70, 80 and 90 years ago – and finding signs of them here among us today in 2016."
The statement is outrageous and immoral, especially when coming from a leading general in the IDF. Additionally, it supplies dangerously fraudulent ammunition, to the many worldwide anti-Israel and antisemitic movements, devoted to the delegitimization and liquidation of the Jewish state. How could you do that?

Your support of such a statement seems in complete contrast to everything I thought you stood for in this regards.

What became even more disconcerting, was your follow-up, when you urged top generals in the Israeli army, to continue to speak their mind, in what appeared to be an additional nod of support, to deputy chief of staff Yair Golan's Holocaust statement. Netanyahu's rebuttal was duly in place to Likud supporters like me, where he said that "army commanders voice their opinions freely in the relevant forums on issues for which they are responsible. The IDF is the people's army and it needs to be kept clean from political divisions."

Lastly your claim that extremist elements have taken over the Likud party, is fodder for the highly biased left-leaning mainstream Israeli media, who will never miss an opportunity to bash the Israeli center-right. When I look at leading Likud members of Knesset and Ministers, like Gilad Erdan, Yuli-Edelstein, Yuval Steinitz, Anat Berko, Miri Regev, Yoav Kish, Avraham Neguise, Amir Ohana, and Ofir Akunis, I see nothing of the so called extreme elements you ominously refer to. So if they do exist, then please state exactly who they are, so liberal Likud members like me can influence to democratically counter them. Otherwise, your statement sounds like the work of some biased left-leaning Israeli media copywriter, which I'm sure it is not.

Like most all Likud members, I'm very sorry you turned down the offer to be foreign minister for the state of Israel, as I believe you could be a formidable one, especially in these treacherous times, where the very legitimacy of the state of Israel is being undermined by systematic propaganda, made up of mendacious lies, that include relentless attempts to erase 3,500 years of Jewish history and its connection to the land of Israel.

It is unquestionable that you care deeply for the state of Israel. If you still consider yourself a Likudnik, with a liberal and nationalist outlook, then "do the right thing", do what you've always done in the past, rise above the political fray, and reconsider the offer to be the Israeli foreign Minister!

Moshe Ya'alon
"The Liberals in the Likud" is a faction of Likud members, within the Likud Party, that promotes individual freedom and free markets

This article was also published on the Op-Ed page of Arutz Sheva:
Op-Ed: A "Liberals in the Likud" member writes the outgoing Defense Minister

As well as in Hebrew on the Hebrew edition of Artuz Sheva:
מכתב גלוי לשר הביטחון היוצא

Sunday, February 28, 2016

David Cameron is No Friend of The Truth

True friends don't pander to mendacious lies against their friends

By Noam A. Rotem

Last week, in what became a widely discussed incident here in Israel, British Prime Minister David Cameron, in a discussion at the British Parliament, called Israeli construction in East Jerusalem “genuinely shocking”,  while insisting at the same time, that he is a “great friend of Israel”. What's genuinely shocking, is David Cameron's historical ignorance, hypocrisy and utter lack of moral clarity.

From the Islamic theocracies of Iran and Saudi Arabia, through the Sunni-Shia blood baths in Iraq and Syria, to all the offshoots of the Islamic State, Al-Qaeda and Muslim brotherhood across the entire length of North Africa, the Islamic Mideast is producing some of the most horrifying levels of rampant murderous violence and persecutions the world has seen in the 21st century.

In the 20th century, the Arab and Islamic mideast, was ethnically cleansed of its Jewish population, that lived across many parts of the region for more than 2,000 years. Now in the 21st century, religious persecution of the remaining ancient Christian communities, along with other ancient minorities, are being brutally persecuted and ethnically cleansed, across many parts of the Islamic Mideast and Africa.

Israel is the only western liberal democratic country in the entire mideast, where minorities of all faiths, including Arab Muslims, enjoy democratic freedoms, unprecedented and unheard of anywhere in the entire region, and where Christians in particular are prospering and growing.

Under the Muslim Ottoman occupation, Jerusalem descended into a backwater forsaken city of little interest to the Arab and Muslim world. And under the Jordanian occupation of east Jerusalem in 1948, the Jewish Quarter in the Old City was destroyed, and its residents expelled.  Over 50 synagogues, some of them hundreds of years old, were destroyed and looted. Jewish religious sites were desecrated and turned into animal stalls. The Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives, where Jews had been burying their dead for over 2500 years, was ransacked, and thousands of tombstones were smashed and used as building material.

Contrarily, since 1967, when Jerusalem was liberated by Israel from Arab Muslim rule, there's been full freedom of religious practice for all faiths, and the holy sites of all religions are treated with utmost sanctity. Moreover, under Israeli rule, many holy sites in Jerusalem of all religions have been restored, and renewed.

By pandering to the question of the British Muslim MP, David Cameron, unwittingly or not, has aligned himself, with those perpetrating a systematic campaign of mendacious lies designed to undermine the Jewish State and rob it, of its more than 3,000 year old history to the land of Israel. Ever since King David made Jerusalem the capital of Israel more than 3,000 years ago, the city has played a central role in Jewish culture, religion and existence. In all of history, Jerusalem was never the capital of any Arab country.

In this unprincipled stance, David Cameron is leading Great Britain down the slippery slope of depraved multicultural political correctness, to a place where historical facts no longer matter, and where moral clarity is a pejorative.

This article was also published on the Op-Ed page of Arutz Sheva:
Op-Ed: David Cameron is no friend of the truth

Saturday, January 23, 2016

Is the Swedish Foreign Minister an Anti-Semite?

Examining Natan Sharansky's 3D litmus test for modern anti-Semitism

By Noam A. Rotem

At the annual foreign press meeting, on Jan 14, organized by the Israeli Government Press Office, a foreign press reporter, asked PM Netanyahu, regarding the anti-Semitic accusation, that one of Netanyahu's cabinet ministers made, about the Swedish FM, who singled out Israel, for using so called "extrajudicial killings", in response to the wave of stabbing attacks by Palestinian terrorists, and called for an international investigation. This same reporter, in the same breath, asked the PM a follow-up question, as to how does he answer those who accuse Israel of being above criticism.

Netanyahu answered emphatically and poignantly that Israel is not above criticism, but it should be held to the same standards that everyone else is being held to. The PM went on to say, that the Swedish FM's comments are outrageous, immoral, and unjust. People are defending themselves against assailants wielding knives, who are about to stab them to death, and they shoot the terrorist, and that's extra judicial killings? Netanyahu asked the reporter.
You can view the full exchange in the following video clip:



The Swedish foreign minister's remarks are outrageous, immoral, unjust, wrong, and stupid.==מה שאמרה שרת החוץ השוודית הוא שערורייתי, בלתי מוסרי, בלתי צודק, מוטעה וטיפשי.
Posted by ‎Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו‎ on Thursday, January 14, 2016


The exchange went on, but in the end, PM Netanyahu, correctly refused to be pushed by the reporter, to label the Swedish FM, Margot Wallström, anti-Semitic.

But here is how I'd answer that unanswered question. Natan Sharansky, one of the great human rights activists, and democratic thinkers of our times, devised a widely accepted 3D litmus test for modern anti-Semitism: Demonization, Double Standards and Delegitimization and is a set of criteria intended to distinguish legitimate criticism of Israel from antisemitism.

It's clear that on the double standard test, the Swedish FM passes with flying colors, especially when one looks around the mideast, at the horrifying levels of rampant murderous violence and persecutions going on, not to mention medieval judicial systems that execute punishments by heinous means of beheadings, stonings and amputations. By not mentioning these, and singling out Israel, the Swedish FM's accusation also serves to demonize the State of Israel. So labels aside, the facts are she fulfills at lease 50% of this 3D criteria. That being the case, the Swedish FM needs to seriously check her blatantly biased statements, if she sincerely wants to avoid aligning herself with anti-Semites.

Moreover, since this biased statement of hers against Israel, two horrifying Palestinian terrorist attacks on innocent Israeli civilians took place. In one, a 38-year-old mother of six was murdered in a stabbing attack, at the entrance to her house, as her 17-year-old daughter, who heard her screams, ran to her aid, only to see the terrorist stab her mother again and again. In the second, a pregnant Israeli woman in her 30s, was seriously wounded in her lung after being stabbed in clothing store, thank god in this case, both mother and fetus are doing well.

The Swedish FM's silence about these heinous attacks on innocent Israeli civilian women, in contrast to her deriding criticism of Israel responding in self-defense to murderous terrorists attacks, demonstrates prejudice and bias against the Jewish state of Israel.


This article was also published on the Op-Ed page of Arutz Sheva:
Op-Ed: Is the Swedish foreign minister an anti-Semite?

Sunday, January 3, 2016

The Fallacy of Moderate Mideast Muslim Countries

And The Misguided Tenets Of The Israeli Left, Center-Left and Mainstream Media

By Noam A. Rotem

Yitzhak (Isaac) Herzog, chairman of the Israeli Labour party (aka The Zionist Union), came out with a statement on Saturday, that the latest wave of terror needs to be stopped by security or diplomatic measures, and that this is the time for negotiations with the Palestinians, and with moderate Muslim elements in the region, including Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States.

Throughout this most recent wave of savage Palestinian stabbing attacks, against Israelis, the Israeli left and center-left, with the backing of mainstream media, have consistently insinuated that the source of this latest wave of terrorism, is somehow related to a lack of diplomatic negotiations with the Palestinian Authority, rather than the Nazi style incitement and propaganda that the Arab masses are fed each day, by both official Hamas and PA media, as well as online social media. They also often fail to talk about the virulent antisemitic religious hatred, preached in mosques, and taught in schools. And lastly, they make little mention of the veneration, and massive funding, in millions of dollars, that Palestinian terrorists are granted, by the PA. In the same breath, this Troika (of the Israeli left, center-left and mainstream media), suggests, that there's some historic, almost cosmic, last opportunity, for cooperation with so called "moderate" regional Sunni regimes, like those mentioned in Herzog's statement.

Here are the facts. Saudi Arabia is an Islamic theocracy and one of the most repressive regimes on the face of the earth. Religious minorities do not have the right to practice their religion and conversion from Islam to another religion is punishable by death. It practices gender apartheid against women, and capital punishment without western due-process, that is carried out by beheading with a sword, stoning, or firing squad. Just last week the Associated Press reported that Saudi Arabia carried out at least 157 executions in 2015, with beheadings reaching their highest level in two decades. Last year, liberal Saudi blogger, Raif Badawi, was sentenced to 1,000 lashes for "insulting Islam". Other forms of punishment in the kingdom, include amputations of hands and feet for robbery, and flogging for crimes such as "sexual deviance" and adultery.

A Pew Research Center study published in 2013 of the world's Muslims, found widespread support for Sharia law, in Egypt 74%, Jordan 71%, and in the PA 89%. And among those, a very high percent supporting the death penalty for apostasy (those who leave or convert out of Islam), in Egypt 86%, Jordan 82%, and the PA 66%.

In Egypt, 92% of married women aged 15 to 49 have been subjected to female genital mutilation, according to an official Egyptian government report from 2014. And Jordanian law criminalizes speech deemed critical of the king, government officials, institutions, and Islam.

Last but not least all of these so called "moderate" Arab countries, in one form or another, continue to actively support the BDS, uphold rampant lies about the Jewish state, consistently vote and operate against Israel in the UN, and antisemitic teachings and hatred of Israel, is widespread in all these countries. The Israeli Troika refrains to point all of this out, about their "moderate" Sunni Arab partners, as their entire political belief system would collapse should they do so.

Moreover the Israeli left, center-left, and mainstream media, fail to realize, that true peace cannot be achieved in the mideast, until real democratic reform comes to the Arab and Muslim world, and it doesn't look like that will be happening anytime soon. True peace, is one between nations with shared democratic values, and not just between governments, and certainly not dictatorships. Sadly the Israeli Troika, fails to grasp this most basic foundation to what makes a real and lasting peace.

Having said that, Israel by all means should be pursuing tactical and strategic alliances with Mideast regimes who are sincerely interested in joining forces, to combat terrorists and state sponsored terrorism. Moreover, Israel's moral and existential imperative, must be to seek out and build bridges to true moderates, and democratic reformers, that do exist in the Mideast, and work together with them, to be agents of true democratic change and coexistence. Often these reformers are pro-Israel, believe in cooperation with the Jewish state, yet are sadly ignored by the Israeli Troika. One such example is Greek Orthodox Israeli priest, Gabriel Naddaf, who is a proponent of integrating Arabic-speaking Christians into Israeli society, and to serving in the Israeli Army. Like him, there are Christian, Muslim, and democratic reformers of other faiths and ethnicities, around the Mideast and in exile beyond, who see Israel as a beacon of democracy in this troubled region.

Arab nation states are crumbling before our eyes, and deteriorating into barbaric, bloody and violent chaos. This is hardly the time to be pursuing peace agreements, based on concessions, to authoritarian, anti-Israel and immoral regimes, that may not be around tomorrow. Let us not forget the cry of the center-left, to quickly pursue a 'peace' agreement with Syria, while Assad was still in power, in exchange for the Golan Heights, before it is too late...

The refrain "when will they ever learn", from the 1960's political folk classic "Where have all the flowers gone?" feels likes a curiously appropriate question for the Israeli Troika.

Map of the Arab Spring

This article was also published on the Op-Ed page of Arutz Sheva:
Op-Ed: The fallacy of moderate mideast Muslim countries

Sunday, November 15, 2015

Paris, France, Pays The Terrible Price of Europe's Inability To Recognize The Real Enemy: Radical Islamism

By Noam A. Rotem 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his statement on the Paris attacks tonight said:
On behalf of the people and Government of Israel, I extend our deepest sympathies to the people of France and to the families of those who were brutally murdered in Paris last night. We also extend our wishes for a speedy recovery to the wounded.
It would be nice if France and the EU, could show the same solidarity with Israel, when innocent Israeli civilians are massacred by Palestinian terrorists, who share the same barbaric and murderous Jihadist ideology, with those of the Islamic State, al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas, and the other related and affiliated, radical Islamic terrorist groups around the world. Sadly though, France and the EU instead of recognizing the real enemy and threat to western democracy, have been spending their time, singling out Israel, and labeling Jewish produce, made by Jews, in their ancestral homeland.

What happened in Paris on the horrifying night of Friday November 13 2015, is Europe's chickens coming home to roost. For decades Europe turned a blind eye to virulent humans rights violations of despot radical Islamic regimes across the mideast. Within Europe, and across western intelligentsia, a politically correct ideology took hold. Backed by an omnipotent politically correct mainstream media-- violent, misogynist, antisemitic, and anti-democratic rhetoric and behavior, by radical muslims at home and abroad was either given a free pass, or got little to no media coverage, while Israel was singled out for biased, hypocritical and immoral condemnation. And thus by ignoring, what is the real threat to western civilization and democracy, Leonardo Da Vinci's immortal words turned into a devastating reality: "he who does not punish evil, commands it to be done".

France, Europe, and the West will be making yet another terrible miscalculation, in the aftermath of this horrendous attack, if they interpret these attacks, as only emanating from the Islamic State. The issue is much broader than that, and is a clash of civilizations (as the term was coined by Prof. Samuel Huntington), between democratic modernism and theocratic medieval barbarism. The west needs to recognize and acknowledge the enemy, namely radical Islamism. Sadly this is not a fringe movement, as PC ideologues would like to believe, and enjoys widespread and popular support.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ended his statement tonight with the following poignant words:
Terrorism is the deliberate and systematic targeting of civilians. It can never be justified. Terrorism must always be condemned. It must always be fought. Innocent people in Paris, like those in London, Madrid, Mumbai, Buenos Aires and Jerusalem, are the victims of militant Islamic terrorism, not its cause. As I've said for many years, militant Islamic terrorism attacks our societies because it wants to destroy our civilization and our values.

I call on the entire civilized world to unite to defeat the plague of worldwide terrorism. An attack on any one of us should be seen as an attack on all of us. All terrorism must be condemned and fought equally with unwavering determination. It's only with this moral clarity that the forces of civilization will defeat the savagery of terrorism.
Photo from World Jewish Congress FB page: Israelis gathers in solidarity with France, in front of Tel Aviv city hall which is lit up in the Tricolors of the French flag. 

Article was also published on the Op-Ed page of Arutz Sheva:
Op-Ed: Paris pays the price of Europe's inability to recognize the real enemy

Monday, October 5, 2015

הסכסוך הוא על עצם קיומינו בארץ מולדתנו ההיסטורית

מאת נעם רותם   By Noam A. Rotem
בראיון לאולפן שישי, בערוץ 2 (ב-02/10), שרת המשפטים איילת שקד, נשאלה ע״י אודי סגל מה לגביי מהלך מדיני (הקליקו כאן לראות). היא ענתה יפה ונכון, שכשברק הלך למהלך קאמפ-דיוויד, בשנת 2000, קיבלנו אינתיפאדה שנייה, עם יותר מאלף ישראלים הרוגים, ובעקבות המהלך בעזה קיבלנו טרור של טילים.

המדיה, המרכז-שמאל, והשמאל, נאחזים בטענה שלא מחזיקה מים, שכאילו הגורם לטרור הפלסטיני האיסלאמיסטי וברברי, הוא העדר תהליך מדיני -- זוהי תפיסה, שלא מסוגלת לראות נכוחה את המציאות. וע״כ הייתי מוסיף לתשובה שלמעלה, ומזכיר למדיה ולצופים:
שגם הרשות הפלסטינית וגם החמאס, מחנכים להסתה, שנאת יהודים, וחיסול מדינת ישראל. הסכסוך הוא על עצם קיומינו בארץ מולדתנו ההיסטורית, וכל מי שמנסה לרמוז אחרת פשוט חוטא למציאות, לאמת, ומוליך את הציבור שולל. 
אין פרטנרים בצד השני נקודה.
וגם לא בעולם הערבי, שעדיין ממשיך לפעול ללא הרף נגד מדינת ישראל כמעט בכל זירה בינלאומית, החל מחרמות ועד הצבעות נגד ישראל, בכל ארגוני ומוסדות האו״ם. מכל מקום שלא נסוגנו, קיבלנו טרור, המקושר או לאיראן, או לג׳יהד העולמי, או לשניהם גם יחד.

העולם הערבי, רובה ככולה, רדיקלית, ואיסלאמיסטית, ועד שלא יתחולל בה רפורמה דמוקרטית אמיתית, אין סיכוי לשלום אמיתי (1). וזה המכשול היחידי שמונע את האפשרות לכל מהלך מדיני רציני. אפילו עם מצריים וירדן אין לנו שלום אמת, אלא רק הסכמי אי-לוחמה, ושיתוף פעולה על תנאי. ברגע שקיצונים איסלאמיסטים ישתלטו שמה, ייגמר גם השלום, כי אין כאן שלום בין עמים, וכל עוד שבכל העולם הערבי ומוסלמי, ממשיכים לחנך לשנאת ישראל ויהודים, גם לא יהיה שלום אמת. תקשורת המיינסטרים, השמאל, והמרכז-שמאל, מעלימים עין מהעובדות האלו, ובכך מרמים את עצמם ואת הציבור. 

מדינות ערב מתפוררות לנגד עינינו, ומתדרדרת לכאוס אלים, ברברי, ושותת דם. לא נכון לעשות הסכמים או חס וחלילה וויתורים, למשטרים רודניים, ולא מוסריים, שלא יהיו כאן מחר. בל נשכח את זעקת המרכז-שמאל, בגיבוי התקשרות, להסכם ״שלום״ עם סוריה, תמורת ויתור על רמת הגולן.

צריך על כן לעמוד איתן, על הצרכים הביטחוניים שלנו, זכותנו ההיסטורית, והערכים הדמוקרטים שלנו. כי רק עמידה על עקרונות אלו, יביא בסופו של דבר (וזה ייקח זמן), לביטחון ושלום אמת.


הכתבה גם פורסמה ב-News1 (חדשות מחלקה ראשונה): הסכסוך הוא על עצם קיומנו


(1) מומלץ לקרוא:
Natan Sharansky: Peace Will Only Come after Freedom and Democracy, The Middle East Forum, Winter 2005

Saturday, October 3, 2015

Frontpage Mag: Palestine is Terroristine

This is what it has always meant. It stands for the murder of Jews. That is its only real objective and goal. 


Palestinian Authority Celebrated UN Bid w/Murder of Rabbi in Front of his Children | Frontpage Mag

By Daniel Greenfield
After Abbas disavowed negotiations with Israel and the Oslo Accords at the UN, after the UN flew the flag of Terroristine over New York, the killers of the Palestinian Authority celebrated the only way they knew how. By murdering more Jews.
Read full article at Frontpage Mag

Also from Frontpage Mag: Time To Deport The PLO From Israel

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

The Utter Hypocrisy About The Boycott Against Israel

Short intro and commentary to Yair Lapid's article by Noam A. Rotem
Yair Lapid did a great job of putting the Israeli Palestinian conflict into its correct proportions, and no less importantly, its correct moral proportions where he writes:
12,000 Palestinians have lost their lives in this conflict. A large proportion of those were terrorists, suicide bombers, terror tunnel diggers from various global jihadist organizations...  in 67 years less innocent Palestinians were killed than in one week (!) in Syria. In fact, in that same period around 12 million people were killed in the Arab world. A simple calculation shows that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict caused 0.01% of the numbers killed in conflicts in the Islamic world.
He poignantly ends the article with:
Hamas has no intention of creating a Palestinian democracy but a dark theocracy in which homosexuals are hanged from telephone poles, women aren’t allowed to leave their homes and Christians and Jews are murdered for being Christians and Jews. Are those values acceptable to the Reykjavik City Council? If not then that’s strange, because they voted in favor of them. 
My only small criticism, would be that missing from the article, is a little more info about the violent Jihadist and virulent anti-Semitic indoctrination that Palestinians are subjected to massively and systematically, not just by Hamas, but also by the Palestinian Authority. Their intention, is the liquidation of the Jewish State, and in the case of Hamas, also includes a call to obliterate Israel and murder of all its Jews.

Also worth pointing out, the heinous persecutions, and human rights violations across the rest of the Arab Muslim world. From rampant suicide bombings of civilians, mass rape and enslavement of women in the Islamic State, persecutions of Christians and other minorities, corporal punishment and execution of LGBTs, as well as gender apartheid in Saudi Arabia, and the wide spread practice of FGM in Egypt, is but a partial list of countries with terrible human rights, yet aren't being boycotted by Reykjavik, Iceland or the EU.

One last thought, given this, how can Lapid seriously be against the Likud and Netanyahu on this matter, who are saying very similar things. Moreover, how can he seriously be for the so called two state solution, given the above, and given the Palestinian's relentless hate preaching and delegitimizing of Jews and Israel.


The Hypocrisy of Boycott


By Yair Lapid 

Originally appeared in Fréttabladid (Iceland) on September 18, 2015 and as a Post on Yair Lapid's Facebook Page

As you know by now, the Reykjavik City Council decided this week to boycott products from Israel. All products. From all of Israel.

I have a few questions:

Does the boycott include products made by Israel’s Arab minority which is 20% of the population? Does the boycott include the 14 Arab Israeli parliamentarians who sit beside me in Israel’s parliament?

Does the boycott include Israeli factories which employ tens of thousands of Palestinians for whom this is the only opportunity to provide for their children?
Does the boycott include Israeli hospitals at which tens of thousands of Palestinians are treated every year?

Does the boycott include produce made by the 71% of Israeli’s who, according to the latest survey, support a two state solution and the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel?

Wait, don’t go yet, I’ve got a few more:

Among the products being boycotted is Copaxone, for MS sufferers, included?
Does the boycott include “Tulip” wine which is made by people with special needs and those who suffer from autism?

And what about the books of Israeli Nobel Prize Laureate in literature, Shai Agnon?
Does the boycott include Microsoft Office, cellphone cameras, Google – all of which contain elements invented or produced in Israel?

If the answer to all these questions is “yes” then I’ll move aside and wish you all an enjoyable life until the sadly unavoidable heart attack (sorry but pacemakers are also an Israeli invention). The other option is that someone at Reykjavik City Council didn’t think the issue through.

If they had then why stop at Israel? One of the best kept secrets about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is that it is one of the smallest conflicts in the Middle East. In fact, there is no correlation between its actual size and the media coverage it receives.

Since the end of Israel’s War of Independence, 67 years ago, around 12,000 Palestinians have lost their lives in this conflict. A large proportion of those were terrorists, suicide bombers, terror tunnel diggers from various global jihadist organizations.

With that we can’t ignore the fact that in those years there were a few thousand innocents who lost their lives. I believe that’s terrible. It keeps me awake at night, like most Israelis. With that the simple fact is – and it’s easy to check – that in 67 years less innocent Palestinians were killed than in one week (!) in Syria. In fact, in that same period around 12 million people were killed in the Arab world. A simple calculation shows that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict caused 0.01% of the numbers killed in conflicts in the Islamic world.

An interesting question then is what is the position of Reykjavik City Council about the Islamic world? Do they boycott it also? All of it?

But of course this isn’t a discussion about statistics, it is about morals. Israel is a vibrant democracy fighting for its existence in tough circumstances. Our major sin, in the eyes of the world and the Reykjavik City Council, is that we are winning that war.

Yes, in this conflict more Palestinians are killed than Israelis. Why? Because we have a better army and we have the Iron Dome system which protects our cities from rockets. If our military lays down its weapons and we disarm Iron Dome, we’d be murdered within 24 hours.

So Israel will continue to defend itself, and will continue doing all it can to avoid civilian casualties.

At the same time, we will continue to search for the path to peace with the Palestinians. Twice, in the year 2000 and in the year 2008, Israel offered them over 90% of the land so they could build a state for themselves. Both times they refused.

The boycott industry is not new. It is a vast industry of media and public relations organized by Islamist groups funded by Qatar and Iran. Their purpose is not the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel but a Palestinian state on the ashes of Israel.

They know that message won’t be acceptable to liberal Europe. So they decided – as has been exposed time and again – to sell the naïve Europeans humanitarian values of freedom and solidarity which they don’t believe for even one second.

Hamas has no intention of creating a Palestinian democracy but a dark theocracy in which homosexuals are hanged from telephone poles, women aren’t allowed to leave their homes and Christians and Jews are murdered for being Christians and Jews. Are those values acceptable to the Reykjavik City Council? If not then that’s strange, because they voted in favor of them.

Saturday, September 12, 2015

Palestinians Rejoicing the Violent Murder of Thousands of Innocent Civilians on 9-11

A reminder of which side of humanity the Palestinians are on

By Noam A. Rotem (a repost from last year)

They're with those who rejoice the violent murder of thousands of innocent civilians, their national heroes are suicide bombers (they glorify and name city squares after them), and they celebrate when members of their people (Arab, Muslims) conduct indiscriminate, cold blooded, murderous attacks on free western democratic societies.



From The Palestinian Hamas Covenant

Islam Will Obliterate Israel
In The Name Of The Most Merciful Allah “Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it”.

Article Seven:
“The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.

Encouraging Martyrdom
Article Eight:
Allah is its target, the Prophet is its model, the Koran its constitution: Jihad is its path and death for the sake of Allah is the loftiest of its wishes.

And if you think radical Jihadist hatred stops with Hamas, you need to be spending time at Palestinian Media Watch, like this section on Demonization of Jews/Israelis where most all of the hateful material is from the so called "moderate" Palestinian Authority. These are the people ill-informed liberals in the west want to give a state to -- violent, Anti-Semitic, corrupt, undemocratic, supporters of theocratic, fascist radical Islam. 

Monday, September 7, 2015

The Root Cause, Triggering the Wave of Refugees into Europe, is Conspicuously Missing from Mainstream Media Reports

By Noam A. Rotem

What is glaringly missing from many reports by the mainstream media on this topic, is that there is no mention, of the key root causes and culprits, triggering this historic migration. Namely, the disintegration of 20th century fabricated Arab nationalism, and the vortex of violent, anti-democratic, often barbaric and fascist, radical Islam, swirling across swaths of the middle east, and projecting far beyond -- from the far-east, through central Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas.

Take this CBS News report for example:
The story behind the images that shocked Europe.
Screen-capture from CBS News. See article link.
From the title one would expect it to also weigh-in on the barbaric Arab Syrian regime, Islamic State, the bloody and explosive hatred between Sunnis and Shiites in Iraq, fundamental Islam in Afghanistan, and lawless Arab gangs in Libya, as causes for this unprecedented migration. But no, stating the painful and naked truth of reality would just be politically incorrect.

Another thing that till now, has not gotten enough focus in western broadcast media, but is generating quite a bit of discussion on social media, is the question as to why the nearby rich Arab gulf states aren't taking in any of their brethren refugees. To be fair, this debate is being held in some online news-outlets like this article from the "Daily Beast": The Middle East Needs To Take Care Of Its Own Refugees, and has even made in into some online mainstream publications, like this article from "The Washington Post": The Arab world’s wealthiest nations are doing next to nothing for Syria’s refugees.

Having said that, neither article, weighed-in on the role that Radical Islam is playing, in creating these waves of refugees.

Mainstream media, plays a powerful role in shaping public opinion. For decades now, it has been narrating news according to a left leaning politically correct ideology. The media's focus on the tragic image of the 3 year old Syrian boy who washed ashore, is deliberate, and intended to create pressure on western European governments to open the floodgates. The media largely omitted offering any alternative destinations, like the much closer wealthy gulf states, as PC European politics has a long standing policy,  in favor of large scale immigration from the mideast and North Africa. Similarly their omission of what is causing the plight of these refugees is intentional.

For the past 4 years, children have been killed and murdered on a daily basis in Syria and Iraq, yet their photos are not regular headlines in mainstream media news, as that would undermine their political correct ideology, that desperately promotes the notion, that radical Islam, is only a fringe phenomenon.

Saturday, August 1, 2015

חובה לטפל בטרור היהודי כמו באיסלאמי, אך לא להתעלם מהפער המוסרי שבין ישראל הדמוקרטית, לרשות שתומכת בטרור

מאת נעם רותם Noam A. Rotem
מתוך מכתב גלוי ששלחתי אתמול בבוקר לשרת המשפטים:
נושא: פשעים נתעבים, שהם גם פיגוע קשה לתדמיתה ומעמדה של מדינת ישראל, חובה למצות את מלוא חומרת הדין‎

כבוד שרת המשפטים איילת שקד,

לאור פשעי הטרור היהודי (עצוב להגיד את זה, אך אלה הן העובדות), שמחתי לשמוע את הצהרות הגינוי, שלך, בנט, ראש הממשלה, שר הפנים ושר הביטחון. מעבר למילים חובה גם מעשים. טרור יהודי צריך לטפל בדיוק כמו בטרור איסלאמי, כולל הריסת בתי הטרוריסטים.

זה שנים, ועוד כשניהלת את דף הפייסבוק של ישראל שלי, ניתן היה לראות מספר לא מספיק מזערי של אנשים, שהתבטאו שמה בצורה גזענית כלפי ערבים ונוצרים. חובה להוקיע ולמגר את התופעה הזאת שנוגדת את רוח היהדות האמיתית, וכפי שהיא צריכה להיות, ולהגשים את עצמה, בתור אור לגויים.

נדרש כאן טיפול עומק, לחינוך לדמוקרטיה, וסובלנות יהודית-אוניברסלית לזולת ולגר, שחייב לבוא ממנהיגי ורבני הקהילה. זה, יחד עם עונשים כבדים, וסובלנות אפס למעשים וביטויי שנאה, זה המתכון למיגור התופעה הנתעבת ומאד מצערת הזאת.

תודה מראש לתשומת לב,
בכבוד רב,
נעם רותם
תל אביב-יפו

Having said that

חשוב לדעת ולזכור, שהחברה הפלסטינית ככלל, לא רק שלא מגנה את הטרור הערבי-פלסטיני נגד מדינת ישראל, אלא תומכת ומהללת אותה. חינוך לשנאה אנטישמית, והסתה לרצח, היא חלק מתעשיית ההסתה היומיומית של הרשות הפלסטינית וחמאס. רוצחי ישראלים ויהודים, הם גיבורי התרבות של החברה הערבית-הפלסטינית. רק לעיתים, רק לאחר לחץ מהמערב, ולרוב לא בשפה הערבית, נשמע מהם, מס שפתיים עמום כנגד הטרור האיסלמיסטי שלהם.

כבר עכשיו יש אנשי מדיה שחוזרים על המנטרה השקרית ״שגם להם יש קיצוניים וגם לנו יש קיצוניים״, כאילו זאת משוואה שווה --  אך לא כך הם הדברים. זוהי השוואה מוסרית פֶּרְוֶרְטִית, בין חברה חופשית ודמוקרטית (גם אם לא מושלמת) למשטר רודני ג'יהאדיסטי. זוהי משוואה זדונית. 

ראיה אחת מרבים, לכך שזו אינה משוואה שווה, היא רשימת הנרצחים ע״י הטרור הפלסטיני-איסלמיסטי מאז ספטמבר 2000 (מאתר משרד החוץ):
Victims of Palestinian Violence and Terrorism since September 2000 
1,269 people have been murdered by Palestinian terrorism since September 2000.
(Source: Israeli Foreign Ministry)

מסכימים? נא שתפו, תודה מראש, נעם

Saturday, July 11, 2015

Pope Francis Decries the 'Genocide' of Middle East Christians

Finally, the Pope weighs in on the terrible persecution of Christians in the mideast. 

By Noam A. Rotem

AFP reports from Santa Cruz de la Sierra (Bolivia), that Pope Francis, this past Thursday, called for an end to the "genocide" of Christians taking place in the Middle East and beyond. Quote:
"Today we are dismayed to see how in the Middle East and elsewhere in the world many of our brothers and sisters are persecuted, tortured and killed for their faith in Jesus," he said in Bolivia, part of a three-nation tour to his native South America. 
"In this third world war, waged piecemeal, which we are now experiencing, a form of genocide is taking place, and it must end."
Sadly what appears to be missing from his statement is a clear accusation of the perpetrator, namely, fundamental Arab Islamism, which is the ruling doctrine across vast areas of the Arab mideast, and despite its brutal, violent, genocidal, bigoted, anti-Semitic and misogynistic nature, enjoys widespread support across many parts of the Arab and Islamic world.

(Used here according to its Creative Commons licensing)

Please share if you agree, thanks in advanced, kindly, Noam Rotem

Sunday, June 21, 2015

אבו מאזן לירדנים: ״אנחנו עם אחד שחי בשתי מדינות״

מאת נעם רותם   By Noam A. Rotem
כך דווח בכתבה במעריב: אבו מאזן בירדן: "אנחנו עם אחד שחי בשתי מדינות" . גם העיתונאית המוערכת מהג׳רוסלם פוסט, שרה הוניג, ציטטה את אבו מאזן באותו ציטוט, בכתבת עומק חשובה: Mahmoud Abbas’s careless candor

ואני אומר - אם הוא יכול להגיד את זה, הגיע הזמן שאנחנו נאמר את זה. זו האמת, ורק עם האמת נוכל לנצח את מסע השקרים כנגדינו. זה הפיתרון היחיד שהוא הוגן, ישים, ואף צודק היסטורית -- ירדן היא מדינה פלסטינית, אין שום סיבה היסטורית או מוסרית לעוד אחת, נקודה

כרגיל המיינסטרים מדיה לא סיקר את הידיעה החשובה הזאת, שמראה את פניה האמיתיות, ואחיזת העיניים של מהי ומיהי התנועה הפלסטינית. כי הם (המיינסטרים מדיה) נעולים בתפיסת עולם, שיש להקים עוד מדינה ערבית (שלא לומר גם מוסלמית וגם קיצונית), ברצועה הקטנה שממערב לירדן, ולרצועת החוף הצרה. 

ולהזכיר שיש  כבר 22 מדינות כאלו, לא דמוקרטיות, לא מעט מהן מתפוררות, רובן כושלות עם תעודות זכויות אדם מתחת לכל ביקורת. ולמי שלא שם לב, הלאומיות הערבית מתה, ואיתה הסיבה לעוד מדינה ערבית, שמפעילה הסתה, שנאה, וטרור כנגד המדינה הדמוקרטית הליברלית היחידה במזרח התיכון.
(מפה של מדינת ירדן, בצבעי הדגל הפלסטיני, כפי שצריך להיות)

להלן הפוסט שלי בדף הפייסבוק של ציפי חוטובלי בנושא לתשומת ליבה, ולינק לטוויט.

אני ממליץ על כתבה יותר רחבה שכתבתי בנושא ירדן הנקרא:
מלך ירדן מתקיף אותנו באו״ם למה אנחנו שותקים!?

Saturday, June 6, 2015

השמאל והמרכז-שמאל בגיבוי המדיה, לא מסוגלים להפנים, שהדבר היחיד שמניע את ה-בי.די.אס., בגיבוי הרשות הפלסטינית, הוא חיסול המדינה היהודית

מאת נעם רותם     By Noam A. Rotem
השמאל ומרכז-שמאל, בגיבוי המדיה, נעולים בתפיסת עולם, שמתעלמת מעובדות, וע״כ הם  לא מסוגלים להפנים שהדבר היחיד שמניע את ה-בי.די.אס. בגיבוי אש״ף והרשות הפלסטינית, הוא חיסול המדינה היהודית.

״הסבב הבא כבר בדרך״ כותב עופר שלח בפוסט שלו בפייסבוק, אך לא בגלל חוסר תהליך מדיני כפי שהוא טוען, אלא בגלל,  שעד שלא יובס הטרור האיסלמיסטי, המונע משנאת יהודים, שנאת מדינת ישראל, שנאת נוצרים, המערב, ערכים דמוקרטים והאחר, הם ימשיכו לנסות לחסל אותנו.
הנ״ל היא תגובה שלי לפוסט של עופר שלח:
https://www.facebook.com/OferYeshAtid/posts/893380460734091
עופר שלח -- או שאתה מנותק מהמציאות, או שבוי בתפיסה אידאולוגית שלא נותנת לעובדות לבלבל אותך. תראה את הברבריות האיסלמיסטית האלימה חסרת הרחמים המשתוללת בכל האיזור. הפלסטינים הם חלק מאותה רקמת תרבותית ג׳הדיסטית.

לך תבלה כמה שעות טובות באתר מבט לתקשורת פלסטינית - ותראה שכל מטרת התנועה הפלסטינית מבוססת על שנאת יהודים וחיסול המדינה היהודית -- את זה אתה לא אומר, ולא מסביר, למרות שזאת האמת ואלו הן העובדות. אתה מתעלם לגמרי מאמנת החמאס שקוראת להריגת כל היהודים.

תראה מה עשו, כשנתנו להם במתנה את כל החממות החקלאיות - הם הרסו אותן, במקום לדאוג לכלכלת התושבים שלהם (וזה היה אש״ף, לאלו שאתה קורא מתונים).

מיליארדי דולרים השקיעה החמאס בכלי נשק, ע״מ לרצוח אזרחים במדינת ישראל, במקום להשקיע ברווחת האזרחים שלהם -- איפה אתה חי? על מי אתה מנסה לעבוד? עם ישראל רואה את המציאות שאתה בוחר לצנזר.

לבסוף בוא תראה את קלואי ולדרי, סטודנטית אפרו-אמריקאית צעירה, שמבינה יותר טוב ממך, מהי האנטישמיות החדשה, ומהי באמת תנועת ה-BDS.



אם אתם מסכימים, נא שתפו, תודה מראש, נעם

Monday, April 27, 2015

​בתוכנית סדר יום של רשת ב׳ - המרואיינים לא מוצאים קשר בין ארגוני טרור איסלאמיסטים לדוקטרינת איסלאם רדיקלי רצחני‎

מאת נעם רותם     By Noam A. Rotem
מתוך מכתב גלוי לרשת ב׳
בתוכנית סדר יום מה- 15.04.15, קרן נויבך ראיינה את פרופסור גליה צבר. סביבות הדקה ה-43:00 לתכנית, תיארה גליה, חלק מפשעי הטרור הנוראיים שמבצעת בוקו חראם, ארגון טרור ג'יהאד איסלאמיסטי קיצוני סוני בניגריה, ואמרה שאין שום קשר ביניהם לאיסלאם...

בהמשך אותו ראיון' הזכירה גליה גם את ארגוני הטרור האיסלאמיסטים- א שבאב, ואל קאעידה. כשהיא נשאלת למקורות האלימות של הארגונים הללו, היא מדברת על תסכול כלכלי, פוליטי, ומקטינה כל קשר לדוקטרינת איסלאם רדיקלי, כאיזשהו מקור לבעיה. לא משנה, שלא מעט מהטרוריסטים המוסלמים שהגיעו מהמערב, כמו גם מנהיגי הארגונים האלו, הם מבני מעמד ביניים וגבוהה עם השכלה גבוהה.

קרן נויבך, בוחרת לא לראיין מזרחנים ומומחים בנושאי טרור איסלאמי כמו ד״ר מרדכי קידר, ד״ר גיא בכור, ד״ר ראובן ברקו, ואישתו וחברת הכנסת מטעם הליכוד ד״ר ענת ברקו, רק לציין כמה מומחים בתחום, עם דיעה שונה בנושא. גם מומחים בינלאומיים מובילים וחשובים, כמו בריג'יט גבריאל ואייאן חירסי עלי, לא מצוטטים, ובכלל לא מוכרים למאזיני התכנית.

קרן נויבך, ושותפה לתכנית צ'יקו מנשה, יש להם היסטוריה ארוכה ועקבית, בלהביא מרואיינים עם הטיה פוליטית ברורה אם לא לומר בוטה, התואמת את השקפת עולמם, הנוטה שמאלה מהמרכז, ובכך הם מצנזרים דעות מהמרכז-ימין, והימין. חמור מכך, גם מצונזר מידע, שהוא קריטי ע״מ באמת להבין, לנתח נושא לעומק, ולגבש דיעה מושכלת.

ב-25 ליולי 2014 קרן נויבך בתכנית שלה, סדר יום, בנושא על התנהלות התקשורת בעת מבצע צוק איתן (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fozU_Dd_vzs), אמרה: ״תפקידם של המגישים יחסית מינורי״. אבל אני יכול להוכיח בצורה אמפירית שלמגישים כמו קרן נויבך, וצ׳יקו מנשה, יש קביעה מז׳ורית, לסוג הדיעות שנשמעות בתכניות הפריימטיים שלהם, כמו בדוגמה הנ״ל, אך היא רק אחת, מאלפי דוגמאות, שאפשר להביא רק מהתכנית סדר יום, לאורך השנים. כי מידי יום יש כמה בחירות כאלו בתוכנית הזאת.

למשל, לכל אורך מבצע צוק איתן (ולאחריה) ראיינו רק את הפרשן הצבאי של עיתון הארץ, שקשר בין העימות בקיץ שעבר, לחוסר התקדמות בשיחות עם הפלסטינים, ובלי שום איזכור לאמנה האנטישמית, של ארגון החמאס, הקוראת להשמדת העם היהודי בכל שטחי ארץ ישראל. אמנה שרוויה בסיסמאות הלקוחות היישר מפרקי האנטישמיות של הנאצים -- את זה לא נשמע בתכנית סדר יום , למרות שהיה מאד רלוונטי לציין את העובדות האלו בקונטקסט כזה.

תקשורת המיינסטרים הישראלית יש לה הטיה שמאלה מהמרכז. ניתן להוכיח את זה בצורה אמפירית. סדר יום היא דוגמה מובהקת להטיה הזאת.

אשמח לדבר אם מישהו אצלכם על איך אפשר להביא דיעות ותכנים מגוונים ומאוזנים יותר, גם מהמרכז-ימין, ע״מ שהמאזינים יחליטו בעצמם, בהישמע מידע ודיעות מכל הצדדים. כי החד-צדדיות הנוכחית, יש בה אופי של תעמולה אידאולוגית, שלא לומר משטרת מחשבות.

תודה מראש לתשומת לב, 
נעם רותם, 
מנהל מוצר ושיווק בכיר בהייטק,
תל אביב-יפו

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

זו הדרך טמבל! איך המרכז-שמאל והמדיה פשוט ​לא ​מבינים את תוצאות הבחירות

המדיה, המרכז-שמאל, והשמאל הישראלי, לא מבינים שזו הדרך, והשקפת עולמם המדינית וכלכלית שכשלה

מאת נעם רותם     By Noam A. Rotem
בן כספית, בכתבה לאחר הבחירות בגלובס, ניסה להסביר את ניצחון הליכוד והפסד המחנה הציוני בכך שמול נתניהו לא עמד ביטחוניסט כמו גבי אשכנזי, מאיר דגן או יובל דיסקין. זוהי דוגמה מופתית על איך המדיה פשוט לא מסוגלת לנתח את המציאות, כתוצאה מהטיה אידיאולוגית מובנית ועמוקה.

מאיר דגן ויובל דיסקין הרי תמכו במלוא כובד משקלם הביטחוני באופוזיציית ״רק לא ביבי״ יחד עם עוד 200 ביטחוניסטים -- והעם לא קנה את זה. כי מה שבן כספית, המדיה, והמרכז-שמאל לא מבינים, שמה שפשט את הרגל, זוהי השקפת עולמם המדינית, פוליטית וכלכלית. בפרפרזה של משפטו המפורסם של ביל קלינטון --״זו הכלכלה טמבל!״ - זו הדרך טמבל!

האינטיפאדה השנייה, גבתה מחיר דמים נוראי של כמעט 1,500 אזרחים ישראלים שנרצחו, בפיגועים ברוטליים ונוראים. לאורך כל תקופת הפיגועים, שלאחר הסכמי אוסלו, השמאל ,והמרכז-שמאל, ברוח גבית מונוליטית של תקשורת המיינסטרים הישראלי, עשו הכל ע״מ להציג לעם ישראל, שלמרות זאת, אש״ף והרשות הפלסטינית הם ״פרטנרים לֹשלום״. זו הייתה מצגת שווא, שאמנם הם בעצמם האמינו לה, אבל האמת והמציאות הייתה ונשארה שאש״ף והרשות הפלסטינית הם זורעי שנאה אנטישמית, מחוללי טרור ורצח, מבית-סיפרם של האיסלאם הרדיקלי, שלעולם לא יכירו במדינה יהודית בארץ ישראל. לא בכדי, בינמין נתניהו, בחוכמה ובצדק, דרש הכרה ״במדינה יהודית״, ביודעו שזוהי מבחן הלקמוס, לרצינות המנהיגות הפלסטינית להגיע להסדר היסטורי, וגם על זה המרכז-שמאל, והמדיה ביקרו אותו בזמנו. אבל העם ראה, והבין את המבחן, וגם ראה שהפלסטינים, יחד עם השמאל, המרכז-שמאל והמדיה הישראלית, נכשלו במבחן!

מכל מקום שלא נסוגנו, קיבלנו טרור, המקושר או לאיראן, או לג׳יהד העולמי, או לשניהם גם יחד. בבחירות דמוקרטיות העם הפלסטיני בעזה בחר במשטר טרור של החמאס, שהאמנה שלה, היא רסיטל אנטישמי אחד ארוך, שקוראת לחיסול המדינה היהודית, הריגת כל היהודים, והקמת חליפות איסלאמית.

אוסלו הוא כשלון דרך קולוסאלי . ועד שהשמאל לא יבין את זה, גם לא ישתנו תוצאות הבחירות, כי עם ישראל ואזרחי ישראל הם חפצי חיים! וברגע שנפנה את יהודה ושומרון, נקבל את החמאס, דאעש והג׳יהד עולמי, קילומטרים ספורים-- מנמל התעופה בן-גוריון, ממרכזי האוכלוסייה הגדולים של ישראל, ומהמרכז הכלכלי של מדינת ישראל -- מה שיביא לחיסול מדינת ישראל. ולכן לא ניתן לפנות את השטחים הללו.

העולם הערבי מתפורר לנגד עינינו, ומתדרדר לכאוס ברברי, כשממשל אובמה כמעט בכל פנייה, בצורה פאסיבית או אקטיבית, תמכה כמעט תמיד בגורמים האיסלמיסטים הרדיקלים. שתק כנגד הדיכוי האלים של מחאות הדמוקרטיות באיראן ב-2009, תמך באחים המוסלמים במצריים ב-2012. נסיגת ארה״ב מעיראק הביאה את דאע״ש. הממשל היה פאסיבי כשלוב נפלה, ועכשיו גם כשתימן נכנעת לאיסלם הרדיקלי. אך המרכז-שמאל והתקשורת הישראלית לרוב החניפו לאובמה, למרות שלא היה מסוגל אפילו להגיד את המילים ״איסלאם רדיקלי״, ובו זמנית  לעגו לנתניהו, כל פעם שעמד על האינטריסים של מדינת ישראל, כשאלו היו בניגוד לשביעות רצונה של הממשל האמריקאי. וגם את זה העם ראה.

העם גם ראה את האנטישמיות החדשה -- אנטי-ציונות, שעושה דלגטימציה, דימוניזציה, ומפלה במוסר כפול כנגד מדינת ישראל. היא נתמכת ומונעת ע״י הפלסטינים, ומרבית מדינות ערב ואיסלאם כולל ״המתונים״ מבינהם. אך המרכז-שמאל והמדיה ישראלית, העדיפו לסוכך על הקשר הזה, כי זה הרי פוגם בתפיסת עולמם שאלו הם פרטנרים. והעדיפו להפחיד את אזרחי ישראל שהחרם כנגד ישראל, היא תגובה לגטימית של אירופה, והאו״ם למדיניות של נתניהו.

העם ראה איך המיינסטרים מדיה והמרכז-שמאל התגייסו יחד להשתיק את עיתון ישראל היום, היחידי עם פופולריות רחבה, שגם מביאה ידיעות ודיעות שהמיינסטירם מדיה כמעט ולא נותנת להם קול, כמו דרור אידר​​, בועז ביסמוט, דורי גולד, זלמן שובל, ד"ר ראובן ברקו, רשימה חלקית . המרכז-שמאל לא אוהב את הדיעות וידיעות שמביא העיתון -- אך לא בגלל זה, צריך להגביל את חופש הביטוי במדינה דמוקרטית. יש לזה שם, וזה נקרא משטרת חשיבה -- וזה בדיוק מה שהמדיה והמרכז-שמאל עושים מזה שנים.

גם בנושא הכלכלי, לממשלות נתניהו יש קשת רחבה של הישגים מכובדים. במסגרת הזאת חשוב לציין שרק נתניהו ידע והיה יכול להביא נגיד בנק ישראל, עם שם עולמי, מבין הטובים בעולם בזמן המודרני, כמו סטנלי פישר, שעזר למדינת ישראל לנווט בשלום את ספינת הכלכלה הישראלית באחת מהסופות הכלכליות הסוערות של התקופה המודרנית. ועדת ששינסקי, שהוקמה בידי שר האוצר יובל שטייניץ, היא אחת מרפורמות המס החשובות בתולדות המדינה, בנושא משאבי נפט וגז בישראל. גם בקדנציה הנוכחית יש מספר הישגים ראויים, החל מאבטלה נמוכה, ומהנמוכות בעולם המערבי ובמדינות ה-OECD ועד רפורמת השמיים פתוחים, ותכניות לשילוב חרדים וערבים למעגל העבודה. גם רפורמת הסלולר בקדנציה הקודמת שהנהיג כחלון, נעשתה הרי בממשלת הליכוד, ולא פחות חשוב, זוהי רפורמה של שוק חופשי, שהורידה את יוקר המחיה, עבור כל משפחה בארץ. וגם בזה העם בחר, בשוק חופשי, עם רגישות חברתית. שוק של שמיים פתוחים, של תחרות הוגנת. כלכלה שיוצרת הזדמנויות, וחירות, לכל אזרחי מדינת ישראל ללא הבדל דת, גזע ומין.

בסופו של דבר, חכמת ההמונים ניצחה, ונתנה רוב למפלגת הליכוד - מפלגה לאומית וליברלית, שזהו שילוב, שבעת הזאת, מייצג את רוב המרכז-ימין הישראלי.


הכתבה גם פורסמה באתר: מחלקה ראשונה News1: זו הדרך, והשקפת עולם שכשלה מאת נעם רותם

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