English As a 2nd Language Gets Muddled By Bezalel Smotrich When Talking About A Palestine

 Nadene Goldfoot                                         

Bezalel talking to David Friedman, US Ambassador to Israel in Sderot, the closest town to Gaza in 2017.  Bezalel Smotrich was born in Haspin, a religious Israeli community in the Golan Heights, and grew up in the Beit El community, deemed illegal under international law, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. His last name is derived from the Ukrainian town of Smotrych, where  his ancestors lived. His grandfather Yaakov immigrated to Mandatory Palestine before World War II and he subsequently lost his parents, who drowned on an Aliyah Bet ship trying to reach Palestine, while his grandmother Bruria survived the Holocaust before immigrating to Israel. His grandfather Shimon was a 13th generation native of Jerusalem and his grandmother Sara was born in Metula to a family of Zionist pioneers.   He's invested in Israel.  He's a Sabra, hard on the outside, butsoft on the inside, but I'm waiting to see the softness (heart).  

   The question of the Palestinian people being a valid title was brought up today by  Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich who  denied the existence of a Palestinian people or nationhood over the weekend, prompting a rebuke from the United States just weeks after calling for a Palestinian town to be “erased.”  I'm sorry to see that the United States is not mindful of Israeli history.

   Not the town, G-d forbid, but the name of being a Palestinian town, for now, the land is all Israel, except for Judea and Samaria, which ironically was the original Israel. So it could be called a Judean town or a Samarian town or an Israeli town but NOT a Palestinian town. It was Jordan who called Judea and Samaria "West Bank" which means the west side of the Jordan River.

They, like the Romans, wanted to erase the memory of Israel which had included Judea and Samaria.  Name change results in mind-altering, and they win without a fight.  It's a brain-washing technique. 

It should be referred to as an Israeli town if its in the parameters.                    

Palestinians started as a Roman term for the people living in Judea-Samaria when Bar Kokhba, the Israelite general, fought against the Romans and took back Jerusalem from 132 to 135 CE.  The Romans hadn't ever lost a battle before and were so furious that they renamed the land for the Philistines, the Israelites fiercest enemy.   From then on, both Arabs and Jews were called Palestinians because the Romans had named the land, Palestine.  

Even in the 1920s at the end of World War I, both people were Palestinians.  However, there had been no government over the land except the Ottoman Empire who lost it all by the end of the war because their side, including Germany, had lost.  They were the losers. If anything, the workers or soldiers of the Ottoman Empire were called Turks, because Turkey was the center of the Ottoman Empire.  

There was no capital of any Palestine, government of a Palestine with a king or a president or a Sultan, nothing.  Nothing except the British who were given the 30 year mandate to keep the peace in the land.  

Jews who have come far and wide to live there.  .                    

Bezalel Smotrich's father is an Orthodox rabbi, and Smotrich received a religious education, attending Mercaz HaRav Kook, Yashlatz, and Yeshivat Kedumim. During his short service in the Israel Defense Forces, he served as a secretary in the Operations Division of the General Staff. He earned a BA in law from Ono Academic College, and began a master's degree in public and international law from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, though he did not complete it. He is licensed as a lawyer.

 Thought of by a few as one of the most brilliant and influential members of the house, he is proud to be the Knesset’s right-wing bellwether, and is perceived as radical even within the national-religious milieu from which he emerged – the settlement movement. In the brief year and a half since he was sworn in, Smotrich has succeeded in guiding the direction of his party (through his leadership of the struggle to prevent the dismantling of the Amona outpost in the West Bank, which needs a lot of explanation.  .  

                          Kedumim, homes that the world has not accepted as being "kosher" who considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank (Judea/Samaria)  illegal under international law. According to the BBC, as of 2008 "every government in the world, except Israel, considered the settlements to be illegal". The Israeli government, dispute this. 

The Palestinians kept Israel away for a long time by notmeeting them for peace talks.  After so many years, this becomes ridiculous.  They went ahead and moved there. 

It's typical of the international world to deny Jews their origin.

 This was  messed up by the British originally, and accepted bythe Jewish delegation who considered the deal "better thannothing" while the Arabs had rejected ittotally.  Today we are left with the anti-Semitic denial of Jewish-origin land to Jews who have come far and wide to live there. 

 Smotrich is an Orthodox Jew, and is married to Revital, with whom he has seven children. The family lives outside the Kedumim settlement in Judea/Samaria.  To me, he is way too narrow-minded to be in government, period.  His style of being Jewish does not go along with the norm, but is fanatical.  Narrow minded people do not see the whole pictures, only their narrow alley of it.  They do not consider consequences that can take lives.  I'm disgusted. 

Law professor Eugene Kontorovich joined Michelle Makori to lay out the legal case for Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights in 2018:, and I hope to one day see what he thinks about Smotrich's views.  

When the Israelites returned to Canaan they found it already populated after their 400 year Slavery in Egypt.  When Jews fled back to Palestine before WWI to be met by their fellow mishpuka who hadn't left, and then right after WWI, they found Arabs living in the land.  Both times, it's been the challenge to oblige G-ds command as to where Jews were to live.  These so-called cousins have been enemies ever since bible days with Isaac and Esau, non-fraternal twins, both trying to get the upper hand.   

Resource:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandate_for_Palestine

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bezalel_Smotrich

Tough Like The Sabra Of Israel

 Nadene Goldfoot                                           

A sabra or tzabar is an informal-turned-formal modern Hebrew term that defines any Jew born in Israel. The term came into widespread use in the 1930s to refer to a Jew who had been born in Palestine, though it may have appeared earlier.

That's right.  Israelis are like  prickly plants called Sabra.  "The term alludes to a tenacious, thorny desert plant, known in English as prickly pear, with a thick skin that conceals a sweet, softer interior. The cactus is compared to Israeli Jews, who are supposedly tough on the outside, but delicate and sweet on the inside."

Here are some examples of that sweetness on the inside, though they seem 

appear tough on the outside just from today's news.  

                        Sabras going elsewhere on their day off, don't  visit the Temple Mount.....

"The Jerusalem Magistrate court ruled yesterday that Jews who prayed on the Temple Mount, in violation of the "status quo" in existence since Israel regained sovereignty over the site in the 6 Day War in 1967, were not in violation of any law.   The Waqf, an arm of the Jordanian Ministry of Sacred Properties, administers the Temple Mount site. Visits by religious Jews to the  area are monitored by Waqf guards and Israeli police – and all Jewish prayer, including silent prayer, is forbidden, according to the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. No sacred Jewish objects, such as prayer books or prayer shawls, may be brought onto the mount, according to the tourism website Tourist Israel.    (It would  be hard to arrest a Jew for praying silently.) 

Israeli security forces walk past the Dome of the Rock shrine, as they arrive at the Temple Mount compound in the Old City of Jerusalem on August 11, 2019, after clashes broke out during the overlapping Jewish and Muslim holidays of Eid al-Adha and Tisha B'Av. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP)

Not peace-makers but stone-throwers, Arabs making problems on Temple Mount for the police...what...do they see a Jew praying?  Could be though rabbis really don't want us there to pray, feeling one could be standing over the sacred part of Solomon's Temple where only the high priest was to stand.  Still, Jews want to at least see the area as it's so well known.  

Yehudah Glick, below, it NOT a Sabra, but he is an American-born Orthodox rabbi.  Glick is an, activist, and politician. As the President of Shalom Jerusalem Foundation, he campaigns for expanding Jewish access to the Temple Mount. He was a member of the Knesset for Likud, having taken the place of former Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon in May 2016 until April 2019.  On 29 October 2014, Glick survived an assassination attempt by Mutaz Hijazi, a member of Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine. 

 (Does anyone remember that King David was also said to be a gingy?  A red-haired man?)  He was also a fighter, AND a Sabra, though Israeli borns weren't called that then.  David was born in Bethlehem, which was in the tribe of Judah's  territory. )      

Jews are prohibited from praying or bringing religious items onto the 

Mount – and are removed and sometimes jailed if caught doing so.

The Police are planning to appeal the ruling, and stopped Jewish worshippers for going up to the Temple Mount today, saying that they will not change the status quo."  Well, at least the court was understanding, and that's what counts.  I feel for the police, though.  The Muslims will throw the fit if they see praying Jews on the Temple Mount, and then, what will take place?  "WAFA’s English-language website claimed that about 432 Israelis entered the complex, however the news agency’s Arabic-language website put the number at 814 Israelis. WAFA claimed that the Israelis performed "Talmudic rituals and prayers" on the Temple Mount."

Oy, vah ah voy!  The shame of it!  Just think!  A Jew, praying!  Such harm to Muslims!  They're doing just what the Muslims supposedly are doing!  Praying!  

                        Sabras of Israel 

Ghaida Rinawie Zoabi (Arabic: غيداء ريناوي-زعبي; Hebrew: גִּ'ידָא רִינָאוִּי־זוּעְבִּי, born 28 September 1972) is an Israeli Arab activist, politician and diplomat. She is currently a member of the Knesset representing Meretz.  She was born in Nazareth, also a city in Israel and part of our ancient tribal land of Judah.  

The first Arab woman to head an Israeli diplomatic mission, Zoabi told Kan radio that her appointment was “a source of pride of all Arab women in the country,” adding, “I am the first to break this glass ceiling and I’m proud about that.”  She doesn't even know the words to Hatikvah!  

"Meretz MK Ghaida Rinawie-Zoabi, who announced she was leaving the coalition government, has changed her mind and is back in the coalition. A no-confidence vote to bring down the government has thus been averted." Zoabi softened up, can't have your cake and eat it too, Ghaida.  You did shake up the government with your threat, though. It looks like Yair Lapid is the Sabra that softened up his attitude towards Zoabi. He was born in Tel Aviv on November 5, 1963, 10 years younger than my own son.  

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid on Tuesday appointed Meretz MK Ghaida Rinawie Zoabi as Israeli Consulate General in Shanghai, China, subject to government approval. Lapid praised Zoabi as "having rich managerial experience and impressive and varied economic and public experience," according to The Jerusalem Post.

"I wish her luck and am certain she will lead the Israeli consulate in Shanghai to new and important achievements," Lapid stated, a true Sabra.

"There is no dispute about China's importance and that of Shanghai, in particular, to the global economy. Our economic relations with China are an important engine of growth for Israel's economy and we should continue promoting them."

Seems that Yair Lapid also had to soften up towards Zoabi. 

Looks like the Sabra plant is in danger these days, like our Israelis have been for many years.  "  Israeli scientists fight to save iconic Sabra prickly pear from devastating pest | The Times of Israel.  Israeli scientists appear to be winning the war — or at least holding the fort — against an insect that has been decimating the iconic prickly pear cactus in northern Israel.  A team working under entomologist Prof. Zvika Mendel at the Volcani Center Agricultural Research Organization has been dispatching armies of predatory beetles and flies to devour a destructive scale insect, Dactylopius opuntiae.

The Indian fig prickly pear (botanical name Opuntia ficus-indica, Arabic name sabr, Hebrew name sabra) has been adopted by Israelis as the symbol of the typical local persona of the Jewish tribe — tough on the outside, but sweet inside.

Resource:

: 


https://www.israelhayom.com/2022/02/23/mk-ghaida-rinawie-zoabi-named-consul-general-to-shanghai/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yehudah_Glick

https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-scientists-fight-to-save-iconic-sabra-prickly-pear-from-devastating-pest/

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/police-remove-jews-praying-from-temple-mount-as-hundreds-enter-complex-604924

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=wm#inbox/FMfcgzGpGBBltVTPhBxssBDrZJThkqKr

Who's Good Looking in Israeli Politics?

Nadene Goldfoot             Israel is oozing with good looking people.  Most all are not overweight, either,                                                   due to lots of walking in Israel.

Benjamin Netanyahu in the IDF

                
Benjamin Netanyahu's father was Professor Benzion Netanyahu and mother was Tzila Segal.   He's  related to Rabbi Eliyahu of Vilna (the Vilna Gaon) on his paternal side.

 Netanyahu joined the Israel Defense Forces during the Six-Day War in 1967 and became a team leader in the Sayeret Matkal special forces unit. He took part in many missions, including Operation Inferno (1968),Operation Gift (1968) and Operation Isotope (1972), during which he was shot in the shoulder.       He attended MIT and Harvard in the USA.  

Benjamin has been everything in Israeli politics.  He's been Prime Minister 2 times.  Right now he's Israel's 9th Prime Minister and is in the middle of another election, said to be very close.  .                                                                                                                                  

                                                                                Benjamin Netanyahu gets my vote in the good looks departments as well as being the next PM.    Born in Tel Aviv on October 21, 1949, age 65 and he's a Sabra born to secular parents.  He's married and has 3 children.  He also fought on the front lines in the War of Attrition (1968-August 8, 1970) and the Yom Kippur War in 1973, taking part in special forces raids along the Suez Canal, and then leading a commando assault deep into Syrian territory.   He was wounded in combat twice.  He achieved the rank of captain before being discharged
                                                                       

Yair Lapid. gets the vote as best looking man.  He was born November 5, 1963, so is 52.  In 2013 he was appointed Minister of Finance.   In May 2013, Lapid ranked first on the list of the "Most Influential Jews in the World" by The Jerusalem Post. In September 2013, he was ranked number 1 on the "The World's 50 Most Influential Jews" list conducted by the Jerusalem Post.  

Tel Aviv born, he's a Sabra and the father of 3 children.  His father is  journalist and politician Yosef "Tommy" Lapid and mother is author Shulamit (Giladi) Lapid.  He has a sister, Merav, who is a clinical psychologist. Another sister, Michal, died in a car accident in 1984.  
                                                                             

Ayelet Shaked  (nee Ben Shaul) won the vote for the women in politics.  She's also a Sabra, born in Tel Aviv on May 7, 1976,  38 years old.  One of her parents was from Iraq, so she's half Ashkenazi and half Mizrachi.  A smart gal of course, "She served in the IDF as an instructor in the Golani Brigade.  Married, her husband is a fighter pilot and she has 2 children.  

At Tel Aviv University, she obtained a BSc in electrical engineering and computer science. She began her career in the Tel Aviv hi-tech industry, working as a software engineer at Texas Instruments, before later becoming a manager of the company's marketing department.

A member of HaBayit HaYehudi Shaked, "She serves as the head of the Knesset Lobby for Infiltrators, the Lobby for Israeli Literature and the Encouragement of Reading in Israel and the Lobby for Jonathan Pollard. She serves as a member of the Lobby to Promote the Employment of Arab Women Academics, the Lobby for Female Knesset Members, Lobby for Equality in Employment, Lobby for Reserve Soldiers, the Lobby for alliances with Christians, the Lobby for the Hi-Tech Industry in Israel, and others."  

Resource:http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Politics-And-Diplomacy/Shaked-and-Lapid-voted-best-looking-politicians-393387

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Netanyahu
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yair_Lapid
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayelet_Shaked