Islam, That Religion Professing Peace Having It's Problems With Adherents

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                

                                            
The Middle East is raging war.  Islam, the religion touting the label as the "religion of peace", is having its problems in following Mohammad's wishes for such peace.  Perhaps it was his way of recruiting followers; by a sword.  In trying to bring his message to a violent group of tribesmen, he had little choice but to get tough.  He even used this method on Jews who already were living peacefully in Medina, Saudi Arabia,  and believing in the one G-d that Mohammad intended to bring to his own people. He even married a Jewish girl, Safia.   It is said that his own city of Mecca at first rejected his teachings and him, which usually happens to gifted artists, anyway, so he fought hard to spread the word he received from the angel Gabriel.
                                                                         

The differences between the two entities are political as to who the next leader was after Mohammad died. Those that wanted to elect the next leader did so, and Abu Bakr, Mohammad's close friend and advisor became the leader of the Sunni Sect.  The others felt that the leadership should stay in the family and wanted his male cousin and son in law, Ali bin Abu Talib as the leader and he became the head of the Shi'a movement.  This led to some variance in following Mohammad's rules.

Even Arab cousins have disagreed with each other and fought.  The Hajj Mohammed Amin el-Husseini, who was the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, disagreed with his cousin, Abdullah, grandfather of the King of Jordan, Hussein.  The Mufti went to Hitler in Germany and sided with him against the Jews, causing riots in Jerusalem.  His cousin, King Abdullah of Transjordan, had already met with Chaim Weizmann and had a moderate attitude towards Zionism.  He thought the Jews would bring in education for his Arabs to upgrade themselves.  He was later assassinated by his cousin, the Mufti, Haj Amin el Husseini.  Both were probably Sunni Muslims.  Abdullah had been the 2nd son of Hussein, sherif of Mecca who was later the King of Hejaz.  He had been the most educated and recognized Arab leader of his time.

From 1980 to 1988,  Iran, a Shi'a Islamic state,  fought against Iraq, a Shi'a/Sunni secular state so long that they were including young boys in their armies.  Today's papers are full of the violence going on.  The ongoing civil war of Syria, a Sunni/Shi'a state,   has taken over 100,000 lives by the people's own government, and now includes possibly over 1,000 that either the government or their adversaries have taken in chemical warfare.  This political battle includes elements of Shi'a against Sunni with the Alawite president Assad leading the way.  The Alawites are a sect of Shi'a.

Iraq had been ruled by Saddam Hussein. The USA stepped in after 9/11  and on May 1, 2003, killed him  and left  Shiite and Sunni still attacking each other.  A Shiite district was hit by a car bomb around Baghdad in the yesterday morning  that killed 80.  Iraq is spiraling into mayhem again.  Their government is also on high alert due to a possible retribution against Syria by a coalition of Western powers.    Iraq has suffered from a wave of killings of thousands since April, the worst ever since 2008.  The worst seen was in 2006 and 2007 when they were almost in their own civil war.  This month of August has had 510 killed.

A military convoy was hit south of the capital, so security forces sealed off the blast scene.  "What sin have those innocent people committed?" asked Ahmed Jassim who was a witness in Baghdad's Hurriyah neighborhood.  Another neighborhood, Kazimiyah, home of a Shiite shrine, was the worst hit.  2 bombs went off in a parking lot followed by a suicide car bomber who rammed the  crowd who had gathered. This alone killed 10 and wounded 27.  Al Qaida, a Sunni terrorist group under the name of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, is thought to be the culprits.  They've been becoming more practiced and brazen.   Al Qaida, the terrorist group started by Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, is a radical Sunni group also following Sharia law.

Afghanistan, a Sunni/Shi'a Islamic state,  is fighting against the Shi'a Taliban terrorists who just killed 7 Afghans and wounded 10 Wednesday at a base used by Americans and Poland in the eastern section.  The total killed was 19 and 63 were wounded.  3 other attacks were from insurgents in their campaign against the international coalition and government of President Karzai.  Those storming the base in Ghazni were repelled and who suffered 10 killed.  The terrorists had rammed a truck full of explosives into a wall, but the wall didn't break while another terrorist group fired from the opposite side of the base.  Those were killed by Afghan security forces.  Their hospital had 7 dead of which 4 were just civilians and 3 police officers.  35 others were treated including 12 children, all wounded in the melee.

Another suicide bomber rammed into a car on an Afghan army base in the Nad Ali district. which killed 3 soldiers and wounded 4.  Then a rocket fired overnight at another parking lot used by truck drivers carrying fuel for the coalition.  it hit a loaded truck with caught fire, killing 6 Afghani drivers and wounded 10 others.

The one thing all the Middle East groups seem to agree on is to oust Israel, and have tried it in unison in 1947-48, 56, 67, 73 and so on.  Thanks to our one G-d that we all believe in, Israel has survived these numerous outnumbered attacks somehow.  It's odd because they agree that Jews and Arabs stemmed from Abraham of Ur,  They look upon Noah, Moses, Kings David and Solomon as well as Jesus as prophets, forerunners of Mohammed.  Islamic legends absorbed much material from the Jews' Midrash, much as they might want to deny that.  We have many religious laws in common, such as not eating the meat from a pig, images, fixed times for prayers.  Jews and Christians were regarded by Mohammad as "People of the Book"who should enjoy religious freedom in return for paying their poll tax.  The Shi'a were more reactive and stern in their attitude towards Jews.  Jews were rarely  persecuted  for religious reasons, but now political ones have crept in and are being used instead of a deep religious hatred taught to their people since the Ottoman Empire fell in WWI. Today I can't tell the difference between Shi'a and Sunni hatred for Zionistic Jews.

Qaradawi, head Sunni preacher from Egypt living in Qatar, broadcasting from al Jazeera TV, said, "Oh Allah, take your enemies, the enemies of Islam. Oh Allah, take the Jews, the treacherous aggressors. Oh Allah, take this profligate, cunning, arrogant band of people. Oh Allah, they have spread much tyranny and corruption in the land. Pour Your wrath upon them, oh our God. Lie in wait for them. Oh Allah, You annihilated the people of Thamoud(Sodom) at the hand of a tyrant, and You annihilated the people of 'Aad with a fierce, icy gale, and You destroyed thePharaoh and his soldiers – oh Allah, take this oppressive, tyrannical band of people. Oh Allah, take this oppressive, Jewish Zionist band of people. Oh Allah, do not spare a single one of them. Oh Allah, count their numbers, and kill them, down to the very last one"  He thinks of himself as an Islamic Sufist.   Qatar’s new emir, Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa, may have ousted him back to Egypt.  He was seen in demonstrations in Egypt June 30th.  He was probably there to stir up protests for the Muslim Brotherhood.   
                                                                        

If one prefers to blame Zionistic Jews for their problems, what is motivating both sects of Islam who fight in their own territory?  They have had this tendency ever since Mohammad (570-632 CE) came along and tried to tame them.  One needs only to study the clash of Arab civilizations over the centuries to see this.  The culture is much different than found in the West, but the cause of problems comes from within their own competitive culture, not from the Jews or the West.  Christianity is known as the religion of "love."   Jews are to lead  by example and to be the "light of the world,"  Islam's leaders are not practicing peace in order to earn the title of the "religion of peace." Maybe that is because they refuse to turn on the light to see better.

Reference:  Oregonian newspaper 8/29/13 page A6 Morning blasts target Shiite areas of Baghdad by Adam Schreck and Sinan Salaheddin, AP; and Taliban attacks NATO base by Rahim Faiez, AP
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alawite_State
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93Iraq_War
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Qaeda
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
http://shoebat.com/2013/07/06/report-qatar-expels-qaradawi-and-hamas-leader/
The Strong Horse, power, politics, and the clash of Arab civilizations by Lee Smith
http://islam.about.com/cs/divisions/f/shia_sunni.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_invasion_of_Iraq


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How USA Is Helping Iraq Keep Stolen Jewish Antiques from Assyrian Days

Nadene Goldfoot                                                

                                                       Assyrian Empire
                                               
On October 11th, the National Archives in Washington DC will have an exhibit of Iraqi Jewish artifacts dating back to 721 BCE when the Assyrian Empire, an ancient Semitic state of western Asia,  attacked Israel and Judah, the 2 Jewish states,  and took away the loot they were able to procure.

At the time, King Ahaz, the Jews' 12th king,  ruled in Judah.  He died the the year before the attack in 720 BCE.  Jerusalem was the capital of Judah.  Eight more kings would follow him with the last being King Zedekiah who died in 586 BCE.

 King Hoshea (730-721)  was the ruler of Israel, their 22nd king,  died  in 724 BCE when he was imprisoned by King Shalmaneser of Asssyria who took the land in 721 BCE.  .  There were no kings following him, for that was the end of the monarchy.  Samaria was his capital.  Eventually the land surrounding this city also came to be called "Samaria."   King Hoshea had assassinated King Pekah of Israel (735-730 BCE) and had seized the throne.
                                                                       

Assyria had been in a slump.  It was an aggressive kingdom in the 20th century BCE and expanded rapidly in the 13th and 10th centuries with the successes of King David and his son King Solomon of Israel  against the Aramean states in Mesopotamia (Iraq)  and Syria contributing to their recovery.

In 735 BCE King Ahaz of Judah ( 735 to 730 BCE) was attacked by King Pekah of Israel (735-730) ,  who had an alliance with Damascus, Philistiaa and Edom. King  Ahaz asked for help from King Tiglath-Pileser. of Assyria.(745-726 BCE).   The result was that Israel lost its territory in what later became Transjordan (Israel)  and Galilee and  Philistia, Tyre, Moab and Edom became Assyrian provinces.  King Hosea of Israel, who followed Pekah, was king from 730 to 721 BCE.  In 726 BCE Hosea tried to throw off the yoke which led to King Shalmaneser V's of Assyria's siege of Israel-now called Samaria and its capture in 721 by his successor, King Sargon (721-712 BCE).   Shalmaneser died during the siege of Israel.  Shalmaneser was the last of a long line of kings of Assyria since 860 BCE.  .

Sargon annexed the country and deported 27,290 Israelites to Assyria and Media and replaced them with Syrian and Babylonian prisoners. Media was another ancient Asiatic country, descended by the sons of Japheth.  They would cooperate with the Babylonians in the 6th century BCE and were defeated by Cyrus of Persia.   Though during Sargon's reign he had many victories, he was assassinated in the end and was succeeded by King Sennacherib.

However, the city of Ashdod revolted with the support of King Hezekiah of Judah(720-692 BCE)  The revolt ended in 715 BCE.   King Sennacherib of Assyria (705-681 BCE)  in 705 came into power causing another uprising throughout the Assyrian Empire, giving King Hezekiah the opportunity to reassert his independence.  King Sennacherib marched south and took  the Phoenician cities as he came upon them and defeated the Egyptian forces at Elterkeh in 701BCE.  He took Ascalon and Joppa, sacked Lachish and Jerusalem in 700 BCE.  Judah was  destroyed along with their capital, but King Hezekiah was able to hold out, receiving moderate terms by paying tribute and ceding more land.

King Sennacherib of Assyria and his army were hit with a plague so returned to their home.  Judah's 14th king, King Manasseh of Judah (720-692 BCE) was exiled to Assyria in 652 because he had been complicit in a plot against Ashurbanipal (669-626 BCE).   Then Assyria declined quickly and was taken over by Babylon, the next conqueror.   Judah will continue on with 6 more kings before their decline.  King Zedekiah (597-586 BCE will be the last when the Babylonian Empire succeeds.

Jews have continued to live in what came to be called Iraq, land of the city Ur, where Abraham was born with his father Terah.   Central Mesopotamia, (Iraq)  where Jews had been deported to, became the center of Mishnaic and Talmudic learning.   Iraq gained independence in 1932 which brought about the immediate persecution of Jews. A pogrom broke out where hundreds of Baghdad Jews were killed and wounded in a revolt of Rashid Ali in 1941.  Iraq attacked Israel in 1948 when their statehood was announced.

In Iraq was the Iraqi Intelligence headquarters building loaded with Jewish artifacts in the basement.   The building had been hit in 2003 when American forces had come after Saddam Hussein.  A live un-detonated bomb had gone through the building and had destroyed the building's water system which caused the Jewish and  Israel sections to be under water.  American forces rescued religious books and a  tiq (box that held Torahs,  Much more was found later.  Money was needed to salvage all this that was under water.

Natan Sharansky of Israel, famous Soviet Dissident and a minister in the Knesset called the USA's VP Dick Cheney  Then Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense was called.  They brought  action to save materials.

On June 5, 2003, 2nd day of Shavuot when we recall how Moses received the 10 Commandments on Mt. Sinai,  pumps  were brought in to pump out the water.  These antiquities were then flown to Texas and brought to The  National Archives.  $3 million was spent to pack the material safely.  Found was a 400 year old Hebrew Bible, 200 year old Talmud from Vienna, published works dating back to 1568, sermons by a German rabbi in 1692, and lists of male Jewish residents, school records, financial records, applications for university admissions, all seized by the Iraqis.

Jews left Iraq in a mass exodus in 1950-51, and all their property was confiscated.   Those that stayed finally left in the 1970 and couldn't take anything with them either  but the few items  they could carry.  What they left was done under duress.  In 1984 Saddam sent trucks to their abandoned synagogue.  There were still some Jews there who witnessed the thieving.  He did it to humiliate the Jews.  By capturing Jewish archives, he was showing the loss of power of the Jews.

85% of the owners of these antique and old records live in Israel today.  The rest live basically in the UK and USA.  20 Jews still live in Iraq, similar to the 12 old Jewish women who stubbornly refuse to leave Egypt.

The USA plans to give the antiques back to Iraq, who are all Muslims.  They despise Jews and Israel and have never signed a peace treaty. Fighting there continues to this day.  This is like giving loot back to Germany who stole it from the Jews living there.  Iraq has right now a basement filled with ancient Torahs kept in deplorable conditions.  They don't even keep their own antiques in good condition let alone their people, so care less for Jewish things.  They will not preserve a thing.   It is an outrage for the USA to even consider giving things not a part of their personal culture back to them, unless they don't give a hoot as to whether they will be destroyed or not.  Why not give this to Israel, instead, where most of the owners reside?  These antiques were stolen by the Iraqi government from Jewish-Iraqi citizens.

Resource: http://pjmedia.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assyrian_Siege_of_Jerusalem
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

A Muslim "Rabbi" Who Doesn't Like Jews-Especially AIPAC

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                       

                                                  Mosque in Houston, Texas
His name is MD Rabbi Alam and he was born in 1971 in Bangladesh, a country on the border of India.  "In 2008 President Obama hired him as the  “satellite campaign manager” for Barack Obama’s 2008 election effort, who was subsequently rewarded with an invitation to the White House in 2011".  I had to do a double-take when I saw his name and wondered how it would come up on google, and it did-the whole shebang.

First of all, this 42 year old man has had a lot of education but is not an MD.  I don't know what his first name is or what the MD stands for, which is also listed as Md in some places, and he's not from Maryland. He has a Master's degree, but to my knowledge this doesn't give him an MD, which means medical doctor and that type of doctor takes a lot of education.  He's to get his PhD by 2015.

His father is a veterinarian.  You don't inherit that title.  Now for the Rabbi.  What Muslim has ever been named Rabbi?  That is strictly a Jewish term which means teacher in the Jewish religion.  Alam has been a teacher but is far from being Jewish.  In fact, he's very much an anti-Semite.  He is also a Democrat.

He is the founder of the American Muslim Political Action Committee, called AMPAC for short.  He's also the organizer of the Million Muslim March to be held on the anniversary of 9/11 in Washington, D.C. They changed the name to "Million American March.", but it has been changed back to the original one.   The USA had about 2.6 million Muslims in 2010.  They also had 115,000 legal Muslim residents that registered in 2009.  They make up about 0.8% of the USA population.  States which have over 100,000 are California, New York and Michigan.  

The march is a demonstration to bring about their demands.  One is for new laws to protect their 1st amendment civil rights.  They are angry because they feel that ever since 9/11 they have been victimized, and so has their religion of Islam.  The 2nd demand is for the release of the 9/11 Commission Reports.  .Then they are also angry about our government's fight against terrorism in Muslim countries and the NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act Law.)  It's all interfering with their act of Dawa, which is proselyting about Islam, and they want to do more of that.  

  Now it comes.  They are challenging the "stranglehold the Jews of AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) have on American politics", so they say.  He's one who is pushing the conspiracy theory that Jews were behind the 9/11 attacks.  "He also participated in an event with a Muslim cleric who characterized the Israelis as terrorists, and accused the United States of inventing HIV."  

 A favorite plan of attacking Jews is to post complete lies and he has done that which have been debunked by the State Department.  For everyone's information, the World Trade Center tragedy took with it the lives of 5 Israelis and from 200-400 other Jewish people whereas he's been announcing that strangely, why didn't any Jews die and where were they?  If one isn't on the ball and does something like google or Snopes it, you may not learn what it true and what is  passed around propaganda.  

He probably uses Al Jazeera to spread his words around.   Al Jazeera America, the North American flagship of Al Jazeera, the multinational television network of Muslim ownership based in Qatar, was launched with headquarters in New York City in January 2013. It will air on this coming Tuesday.  Al Gore, our former Vice President,  is the co-founder.   Americans will get one version, but a much more extreme version is played to Muslims in Islamic majority countries.  

This is one vicious Democrat who defies all our good values in this country with his discrimination of Jews who have been in the USA long before he ever knew about it.  

Resource:http://frontpagemag.com/2013/arnold-ahlert/the-jew-hating-dem-behind-the-million-muslim-march/?utm_source=FrontPage+Magazine&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1feef76882-Mailchimp_FrontPageMag&utm_term=0_57e32c1dad-1feef76882-156514682
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/15/million-muslim-march_n_3762974.html
 http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/MD_Rabbi_Alam
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_the_United_States
https://www.google.com/#fp=b9a685e5356340ac&q=AIPAC
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/al-jazeera-america-launch-5-609014

Time For Self Evaluation

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                

Like Native Americans and Muslims, Jews have always relied on the moon and its movements to tell time. A lunar calendar, the oldest known type of calendar,  is used today to determine holidays.   "From very early times, the Mesopotamian lunisolar calendar was in wide use by the countries of the western Asia region. The calendar , which was also used by the Israelites, was based on lunar months with the intercalation of an additional month to bring the cycle closer to the solar cycle."  We have already left the month of Av and Elul started on last Wednesday, the 7th of August, which was celebrated as Rosh Hodesh, or the new moon which is the head of the new month.

We are starting to think of the next big holiday period called The High Holy Days that come in Tishrei -Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) and that is followed by Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement).  Though they will come next month, our repentance begins now.

The Jewish belief is that we as individuals as well as nations and the whole world are judged on Rosh Hashanah.  By Yom Kippur, their fate for the year is sealed.  In Elul, we begin a self-examination to "get right with G-d."

"The Hebrew letters that make the word “Elul,” aleph, lamed, vav and lamed, are an acronym for the phrase (from the biblical Song of Songs) ani l’dodi v’dodi li, which means “I am to my beloved and my beloved is to me.”

This beautiful and romantic phrase is that which represents our relationship with our Creator, which is often paralleled to that of a husband and wife, a bride and groom, in our individual lives."

Repentance in Hebrew is teshuvah, which means to return.  If we commit a sin, we are distancing ourselves from G-d.  When we follow his will, this brings us nearer to G-d.   So we are to take inventory of who we are, what we've done, and what we need to do and ask ourselves the hard questions.  What do we need to atone for?  Do we have talents we haven't used?  How about our personality?  What do we need to work on this year?

In very ancient days, a subject could go to visit his king but had to have an appointment.  He'd have to go to his castle, wait at the gate, go through many chambers and finally he would be taken to the throne room.  In Elul, the King is in his fields and is more accessible.  So G-d is the king in the fields at this time as he has come to his subjects and is waiting for us.

Repentance is something we should be doing all the time to improve, which we all need to do.  This is the time to jump start and finish what needs to be done before the new year.

When Rosh Hashanah rolls around at sundown on Wednesday, September 4th, we say that this is the birthday of the world, the day G-d finished the creation of our world by creating Adam.  Each Rosh Hashanah,  G-d reconsiders and re-evaluates the quality of our relationship with Him, and creates our world anew.

If we are found worthy, we are "inscribed" in the "Book of Life." on Yom Kippur which is 10 days later at sundown,   Friday, September 13,  the Book is sealed.  Our repentance, prayers and charity can sweeten the decree and earn g-d's blessings for health, well-being and prosperity for the coming year, 5773 according to the Hebrew Calendar or 2013 by the Gregorian calendar.

Resource: http://www.ifcj.org/site/News2?abbr=sfi_&page=NewsArticle&id=39470&news_iv_ctrl=3342&s_src=SFIEN1&s_subsrc=EN21308XXEXXA
http://www.chabad.org/theJewishWoman/article_cdo/aid/424441/jewish/The-Jewish-Heart.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_calendar

The Jewish Blessing: "May You Live Till 120" and Why

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                        

Our Jewish blessing on birthdays of "May you live till 120" has been challenged by the pundits of America today in the Oregonian newspaper with and article from AP.  NBC news just commented that this decision is because it is bad for our society!  Today's Americans feel that the ideal life span is between 79 and 100.  I hope it was 13 year olds that were polled and said 79, thinking that was really really old, for it's my age next month!  In our great country, women can except to live until age 81 while men expect to live till 76.2 years.
                                                                               

                             Vida in her volunteer position at the Adventist Medical Center

Moses was able to reach 120, and for this reason we always pass on this hope for our loved ones.  People have been known to get pretty close to it.

 Today's paper also includes the exercise regimen of one of Portland's centenarian, Vida Trout, who is 101.  At her rate, she just might make it to 120.  The hope for many people polled is that they reach 90 today instead of 120.  Vida puts me to shame.  She's chubby, but it isn't stopping her.  She exercises 4 days a week for 30 minutes in a class!  On top of that she takes tai chi  twice a week for an hour each, and walks for a mile daily.  Then she spends her time volunteering.  This woman is so social!  She walks about 3 miles in the hospital where she volunteers delivering items to patients.  She attends church every Sunday as well as play all sorts of card games. Every Friday she finds time to play pool with a 19 year old and ping pong on Tuesdays.  Having a definite schedule planned out like a lesson plan is good for you, she professes.  This woman has good bone density tests, and rarely snacks. She's never smoked or tasted alcohol.   No wonder few of us have been reaching her age.  She's bright and can run rings around me!

Moses thought he could sit back in his rocking chair on the porch when he was about 79 years of age when G-d spoke to him, telling him he had a job to do.  He had to return to Egypt where he had come from and free the Israelites and take them back to where they had come from; Canaan.  G-d thought it would only take him a few weeks of his time, most likely.  It took Moses from the time he was 80 to 120 to accomplish this deed that turned out to be harder than he had thought.  He never made it into the promised land but died just outside of it, sending Joshua to lead his people into the Promised Land.  Not only did Moses give the Israelites leadership and the Ten Commandments, but also wrote the Torah for us as he understood it from our maker, giving us the recipe for being good people.  All his good deeds came about in his old age.

I notice that the length of days given to people as documented in our Torah (Old Testament) went consistently downward as time marched on from ages like 900 years down to 120.  Abraham, born in the 2nd millennium, lived until age 175.   It makes me wonder that either the quality of air and water consistently changed or the base of math used changed, but the ages are very consistent.  Foods have no doubt also changed along with the nutrition they are packed with.   Choices of foods have altered a great deal in the past 50 years to our detriment as well as to our advantage while our medical knowledge of prolonging life has improved tremendously.

Our oldest Jewish American just died at 113 years and 301 days in New York City.  This Brooklynite was Evelyn Kozak who was born August 14, 1899 in Brooklyn from Russian parents and died June 11, 2013 in Brooklyn.  She had been the mother of 5 children and died of a heart attack.  She played Scrabble until age 95.  "When someone observed once that she was very honest, she responded: "Honesty doesn't come in degrees. You are either honest, or not."  I believe this shows that living a good clean life has its advantages on the stress we carry.  Stress can do us in.  

Still alive (Barukh ha shem)  is Johanna Mazibuko in South Africa.  She's 119.  I think she's going to make it to 120 for sure.  This active lady was born in 1894 and makes her own bed every morning!  She lives in the small town of Kerksdorp which is NW of Johannesburg.  Her 77 year old son lives with her.  I bet she still does her son's laundry as she does everything else in her house.

Jean Calment of France was born on February 21, 1875 and lived for 122 years and 164 days, dying on August 4, 1997.  She is the longest living recorded by wikipedia which has 99 centenarians listed who lived between the ages of 113 to 122 since 1992.

Most centenarians have all been females, but on the list I found Walter Breuning who lived for 114 years 205 days.  He was born September 21, 1896 in Minnesota and died April 14, 2011.  South Dakota was where he was raised.  He even smoked cigars!  This railroad man was a Freemason belonging to the Scottish Rite part, so he was also very social-minded.

May our Vida live till 120! And may we all strive for better health and longer and improved  life.

Resource: Oregonian newspaper 8/7/13, page A4 Live to 120?  Most Americans skeptical, poll finds, by Lauran Neergaard, AP
 page C6 Thriving centenarian keeps a busy schedule by Nancy Dow, Oregonian
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4g0-LZq51I on Vida
http://eastpdxnews.com/general-news-features/centenarian-says-she-still-delights-in-helping-others/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/28/johanna-mazibuko_n_3658590.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_verified_oldest_people
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Breuning

Peace Talks of 2 Days and Israel's 2nd Holy City, Hebron, is Threatened

Nadene Goldfoot                                                               

Hebron is a large city in Judea, lying only 19 miles south of Jerusalem.  It is in land that the Palestinians want as their state.  Judea and Samaria as well as East Jerusalem were won back after being taken illegally in 1948 by Jordan.  Jordan made the mistake of complying with the other Arab nations when they attacked Israel in 1967.  The Arabs lost and Israel was able to claim the return of their promised land which was part of the already decided Jewish National Homeland.

250,000 Arabs live there and about 800 Jews.  The Arabs live in section H1 which has been controlled or ruled by the PA, and the old city, H2, which makes up 20% of Hebron, is where the Jews live.  In the bible, Hebron is also called Kiriath Arba.

Abraham had bought a plot of land called the Cave of Machpelah in Hebron from the Hittites so he had a place to bury his wife, Sarah.  Today a mosque stands there.  Muslims came around 630 CE and were in control then.  Joshua was appointed by Moses to lead the Israelites and it became a Levitical city, a city of refuge.  King David ruled there for 7 1/2 years before deciding on Jerusalem to be his capital.  Jews have maintained a community in Hebron through the Byzantine, Arab, Mameluke and Ottoman Empire.  It has been one of 4 holy cities in Israel;  Jeusalem, Hebron, Tiberias and Safed.  By 1890, there were 1,500 Jews who had yeshivot and religious schools established there.  In 1925, the great Lithuanian yeshivah of Slobodka was transferred there.

Along came 1929 when the stock market crashed in the USA.  It was then that the Arabs massacred 700  Jews in Hebron and then most of the survivors fled to Jerusalem.   30 families returned in 1931.  Arab rioting occurred in 1936 when it was known that Jews were facing anti-Semitism in Germany. There were 38,310 Jews living in Hebron in 1967 before the attack on Israel and afterwards, with Israel being the victor, more settled in Hebron creating Kiryat Arba, a new quarter east of the city.  There were 3,700 Jews in 1988.
                                                                         

                                                   Jewish Section of Hebron, the Old City

Hebron's spokesman, David Wilder, has been an official for the city's Jewish community for about 18 years and has never said that in order for Jews to continue living in Hebron, the city must be rid of its Arab population.  However, this is how Abbas (Abu Mazen), president of the Palestinian Authority,  has said  about taking over Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem.  He doesn't even mention "east" Jerusalem in his comments. He said, "In a final resolution, we would not see the presence of a single Israeli-civilian or soldier-on our lands.

In 2010 he was quote as saying to reporters in Ramallah, "We have frankly said, and always will say:  If there is an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, we won't agree to the presence of one Israeli in it."

This is what we have to look forward to thanks to John Kerry and our United States partnership, who must know more than I do for pushing this peace discussion with such belligerent folk.  It's getting nauseating already.

Does Kerry and Obama realize that Mahmoud Abbas, the man 55 year old Tzippi Livni, Israeli negotiator who is the newly appointed Minister of Justice, has to talk to, honored a terrorist leader with their "Star of Honor" decoration for Jewish killings in the 1970's ?  Nayef Hawatmeh is the leader of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DELP.  They were the group that carried out many deadly terrorist attacks like the killing of 22 schoolchildren and 4 adults after taking them hostage in Ma'alot.  They killed 9 children and 3 adults in an attack on a school bus.  This group is responsible for killing 7 more people in a Jerusalem bombing.  An apartment building in Beit Shean was attacked and 4 people were taken hostage by the DELP terrorists who then killed them.

50 Jews had been shot by Arab on their own street.  Among those shot was a baby that was targeted by sharpshooters in it's baby carriage.  This is the sort of people that the Palestinians are-to shoot a baby on purpose is unfathomable. For such behaviors, they are honored by their leaders.

In order to give in to Palestinian demands which seem okay to Kerry, Israel is forced to release killers out of prison.  Israel has kowtowed to such demands in the past and has learned what happens.  6,912 militant terrorists were released because of such demands between the years of 1993 and 1999.  About 80% have returned to terrorist activity.  Released killers have killed 177 Israelis.

David Wilder feels that Hebron, Beit El, Elon Moreh, then Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Beer Sheva and Haifa are cities that the Palestinians will want to take over.  This goes along with the charter of the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas.  Speeches from the Palestinians are very direct about it.  Faisel Husseini, their former Palestinian leader who died in 2001 had declared, "Our final aim is the liberation of all of historical Palestine, from the river to the sea, even if the conflict continues for a thousand years, or for many more generations."  Husseini thought that the Oslo accords were a "Palestinian Trojan horse that created the PLO and Yasser Arafat in the territories.  To him this worked as an ambush of sorts that paved the way to the present Intifada.

These are not nice people just wanting to move into the next door apartment and are being stopped because they all speak Arabic, which is about the only situation that Americans have dealt with in their environment.  The UN and the USA could have been much more realistic and could have put themselves in Israel's shoes to understand what they are expecting.

David mentions  in his essay of yesterday, "No 'rules' or 'red lines', that if it is called "racism" to talk about transfer or expulsion of Arabs, it's the same thing to talk about doing it to Jews.  If John Kerry thinks it's okay to talk about moving Jews off of their legal land, Jews could also talk about moving Arabs.  If Israel can't eject Arabs, you also can't eject Jews off of their legal land.  This goes for the whole state of Israel.  It's not up for grabs.

How can Kerry sit there and listen to talk of creating this new Palestine which would be free of all Jews when Israel without any outside pressure never thought of creating their state exclusive of Arabs.  There are 1.7 million Arabs living in Israel as full citizens.  They are in the Knesset and Parliament.

Israel has had to deal with a few lemons.   "There are Arab MKs that even represent Hamas, Hizballah, Syria and the PA working passively and actively against the State of Israel."  MK Haneen Zoabi, an Arab, was a participant on the Gaza flotilla Mavi Marmara.  He helped terrorists who were trying to kill the Israeli soldiers whose job it was to board and inspect.   Former MK Azmi Bishara ran away from Israel just before being arrested for treason for passing military secrets to the enemy during the war in Lebanon.  MK Ahmad Tibi  told his peers that he was a Palestinian patriot whether you like it or not. This is much harsher than what the Democrats and Republicans have had to deal with in Congress.  If these are citizens, what in the world will life be like with Palestinians taking over East Jerusalem 9 months from now?

We all wonder why it is that the EU, UN or any other group condemning Abbas for the Palestinian goals for their new state.  Is this now the accepted norm for states?  Anything that is decided on during these 9 months must be voted on by the Israeli public and they are not going to abide by such demented outcomes.  Tsippi Livni not only has to appease or please the Palestinians, but she will be wasting everyone's time if she doesn't know her own people's fears and expectations.  Israelis have learned from past mistakes.  It's insanity to keep on repeating them. David Wilder has summed it all up.

Rule #1:  There are no rules.  There aren't any red lines.  Anything and everything goes.

Everything can also come to Hebron, such as tourism today.  Dr. Oz, a Muslim, and his friend, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach danced the hora in Hebron in their first visit to Israel. That's a very happy dance done in weddings and bar mitzvas.    Dr. Oz is the author of many books as well as is a TV personality in the USA.  We'll all dance the hora if nothing happens to Hebron.  Right now the community probably feels like mourning .

This ancient Holy Jewish city is being threatened by the future Judenrein state of Palestine's creation.  Jews have lost a lot of blood over this city and it will not cede it easily.  The demands of a Palestine are outragous and completely unnecessary.  This city has been safe even for tourism since it is under Israel's dominion once again where the PA are controlling the government.   Israel has been living  with 1.7 million Arabs.  Why can't the Palestinians live with Jews?     Even Egypt has realized that Muslim Brotherhood goals are not workable.

Resource: Essay by David Wilder of Hebron hebron.mail-owner@lists.hebron.org.il:  http://www.israelnationalnews.com/blogs/blog.aspx/9#.UfqZOdKOTqE
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebron
New Jewish Encyclopedia; Hebron
http://www.pi-news.org/2010/07/hebron-400-jews-and-200-000-arabs/
http://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-Features/Rabbi-Shmuley-Boteach-and-Dr-Oz-dance-the-hora-in-Hebron-321550
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vie/Hebron.html