There Are Women in USA Who Cover their Arms

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                        

The spark that lit my wick this morning happened when I was watching NBC's Today show around 8am when  one of the commentators  was appalled that a high school photo-shopped some of the female student's pictures in their yearbook and created sleeves on their pictures when they were sleeveless.

" What country would do such a thing?" she questioned.

This lady  is my favorite personality on the show, such a darling woman, and I in turn was appalled that she thought this was so terrible an idea, that females had to have sleeved clothing and that the show comes from New York and she has never seen an orthodox Jewish woman, evidently.

What is obvious to me but not to the rest of the world is that orthodox Jewish women wear clothing that has sleeves which are to cover at least the elbows.  It's a part of being modest.  Yes, they have restrictions and conditions of dressing; the dress code.  They also cover their hair, which is considered a sexual part of our body, so in the USA women will wear wigs, but in Israel they first wore scarves and also women, especially in Jerusalem, will wear wigs.

This goes along with the dress code of the Muslims as well.  After all, we are distant cousins and both have come from Abraham, who is considered our father of Judaism.  He didn't want us to be like the people of Ur who were idol worshippers, so moved his family out and into the countryside so as not to be swayed by their customs.  I find this awesome.  Moses, who was born in about 1391 BCE and died at age 120 in 1271 BCE, started our Jewish practices by bringing us the 10 Commandments and the 5 Books found in the Bible (Tanakh) and we are still following his expectations; more than 3,000 years of following the laws.

Today I realize that Americans might consider such a practice of covering the arms to the elbows, let alone have any length of sleeve, would be out of sight bringing on such comments as "get out of here!"  or "who would do that!"  No, the NBC commentator  didn't explode with these comments, but she was pretty shocked.  Of course Michelle Obama has set the scene to have arms fitting for sleeveless clothing by having upper arms fit for the model woman of America in beauty.  There was the day long ago when it was the custom for women to bare their breasts while the rest of their upper body was covered.  How times change.  No matter what one is conditioned to, that is not being modest.  If anything, it would induce sexual thoughts.
                                                                     

Sex is considered in our Jewish thinking.  Women are not to drive men crazy by their clothing.  We're not trying to attract the man on the street.  Yet in our thinking, sex is beautiful and part of life.  We have no big taboos on sex and no guilt trips connected with it.  Sex produces babies which are wanted.  Since our beginning in history, our woman have wanted children and have prayed for them starting with Sarah and Abraham.  When my son was born, the rabbi told me that we never know, he might be the Messiah, so each babe is treated with love and kindness.  You never know who he or she will grow up to be.  So modesty does not cut down on our population density.

Why this particular high school was concerned about having sleeved clothing wasn't mentioned, only that they were adding sleeves.  I doubt if these certain students, for not all had their pictures altered, were Jewish, as most orthodox Jews go to private schools, but it's possible.  Otherwise, there could be other religions that consider modest dress to be including sleeves.

I lived in Safed, Israel which is in the Galilee for over 4 years and Israel is a hot country.  Safed is on top of a mountain so always has a breeze, but it's hot there, and one would think that sleeves would be unbearable and that we would all want to dress like Michelle.  Actually, this is where cloth from India is appreciated.  We orthodox wore loose dresses with loose sleeves that covered our elbows and flowing scarves, looking more like hippies in the USA in the 60's.  It went well with our sandals.   If was so comfortable, much cooler than wearing tight long slacks, and I felt very feminine.   We got enough exercise by walking, but didn't have to lift weights to make sure our upper arms were being stared at.

Resource: 5/29/14 NBC Morning news show, TODAY

Jerusalem Timeline

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                     

Early Bronze Age 
3500 BCE-2000 BCE  U(r(ushamem), Urusalim, Jerusalem from Yarah=to cast the foundation stone or founded and Shalem=name of Semitic god; Jebus=for people inhabiting it before King David., the Canaanites.
Middle Bronze Age
2000 BCE-1550 BCE Jerusalem is capital of Canaanite city state; same as Salem ruled by Melchi-zedek (priest of the most high god) honored by Abraham.
Hyksos revolution left behind in Jerusalem elements of Hittite and Hurrite life
1500 BCE Tel el Amarna Period-Jerusalem ruled by king who was menaced by the Habiru invaders, appealed to his suzerain, the pharaoh,  for help.
         Cushite garrison maintained by Egypt.
1320 BCE Joshua's Conquest of Canaan, king of Jerusalem was Adoni-zedek was defeated at Aijalon.  Jerusalem remained as independent enclave between tribal areas of Benjamin and Judah.
1200 BCE Jebus-Jerusalem kept independence with Philistine help
1010 BCE King David captured Jerusalem, made it capital of united Israel. David treated Jebusites leniently.  Built the fortress of Zion and House of Heroes for his guards, constructed a tomb inside the city for himself and dynasty.  Transferred Ark of Covenant here.  Became his religious center of Israel.  Capital of empire reaching from Red Sea to Euphrates River.
970-930 BCE King Solomon: Commerical  ventures and heavy taxation for city.  Added Palace and Temple.
930 BCE: Secession of Northern Tribes of Israel, was then capital of Judah.  Davidic dynasty ruled until 586 BCE.
933-917 1st king of Judah, King Rehoboam
905 BCE plundered by Shishak of Egypt
785 BCE   King Joash of Israel threatened made breach in its wall, Also so did kings of Aram
730-721 BCE Last king of Israel, King Hoshea
701 BCE Sennacherib of Assyria besieged it.
               King Hezekiah cut the tunnel by which the waters of the Gibon were permanently diverted from Silgam into the Lower Pool inside the city.
Uzziah strengthened the city walls.  He also added towers and engines.  Jotham and Hezekiah made the other wall to encompass his pool.
597-586 BCE Last king of Judah, King Zedekiah
586 BCE Jerusalem fell to Babylonian ruler, Nebuchadnezzar.
       Most of the population was deported and the Temple  and Royal Palace were destroyed.
536-519  BCE: some exiles returned and renewed the Temple worship
519 BCE  Became capital of a Persian  (Iran) Province and was autonomous in internal matters, under rule of high priest of the House of Zadok.
500 BCE Walls were repaired by Nehemiah.  Ezra brought about a spiritual reform.
      All nobles and 1/10 of population were brought in to fill the half-empty city.  Theocratic rule lasted until Hellenistic times, city prospered materially due to growth of a  Jewish Diaspora which regarded Jerusalem as its spiritual  center.
312-198 BCE (growing Hellenization period) under Ptolemaic rule
                        Seleucid Rule
                      Antiochus IV led desecration of the Temple and religious persecution which brought about Hasmonean revolt.
164 BCE After 2 year struggle, Judah the Maccabee occupied the Temple Hill and restored the Temple service (Hanukkah)
152 BCE Jonathan restored Jewish rule.
63 BCE Roman General Pompey profited from war between Hasmoneans, Hyrcanus and Aristobulus to occupy Jerusalem.
40 BCE Parthians captured Jerusalem
37- 4 BCE Jerusalem fell to Roman appointed King Herod  who ruled it as a Roman vassal until his death.  He built a palace in the NW quarter of the city, protected it with 3 great towers; (Tower of David) is still seen.  Rebuilt Temple and Western Wall.  Erected fortress Antonia.

 6CE ruled by Roman Procurators
41-44 CE  ruled by Agrippa who began to build a 3rd Wall to the North.
29 CE Jesus was crucified.
66 CE  People revolted due to unbearable rule
70 CE Under Titus, city was besieged by Romans and fell.   Temple and most buildings were destroyed. The Roman army conquered what had been the glory of the Jewish nation for 1,000 years.  The Romans pillaged Jerusalem and slaughtered or enslaved every Jewish resident.
132  Bar Kokhba, Jewish General,  revolted with his army, held off Roman Army for 3 years
135 Bar Kokhba killed, Roman Emperor Hadrian razed Jerusalem and built Aelia Capitolina on its ruins.  Only Jews allowed entrance were Jewish slaves.  Judah and Israel renamed Palaestina to remove memory/history of Jews and their thousand year history.  Jews prayed from then on 3 times a day to return and rebuild Jerusalem.

300 CE Roman Empire now called Christian Byzantine Empire.  Returned name of Jerusalem, but not the Jews.  Jews still lived in Galilee's thriving towns and in Golan Heights.  Jews could only be in Jerusalem one day each year on Tisha B'Av, the day of the destruction of the Holy  Temple and of Jerusalem.  "The Jews can only come to mourn the city, and they must buy the privilege of weeping for the destruction of the city." Jerome.                                                          

638 Arab Conquest of city; took it from the Byzantines, Caliph Omar, Muslim ruler, permitted Jews to return.  Muslims leveled site and built the Dome of the Rock and the El Aksa Mosque where Hadrian had built a temple to Jupiter over ruins of Solomon's Temple.

1099 Crusaders conquered Jerusalem and killed every Jew and Muslim.  Blood was knee deep in streets.  Christians finally allowed Jewish textile dyers to return.  Benjamin of Tudela recorded that "there are about 200 Jews who live under the Tower of David."

1199 Muslims under Saladin defeated the Crusaders and Jews were again permitted free access to Jerusalem.  Rabbi Solomon ben Samson wrote: "We arrived at Jerusalem by the western end of the city, rending our garments on beholding it...It was a moment of tenderest emotion, and we wept bitterly."

1250  Egypt's Mamluks (soldier-slaves) took over the city.  The Ramban (Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman) came from Spain and found less than 10 Jews; not enough for a minyan.  He turned a house into a synagogue and re-established the Jewish community in Jerusalem and it grew.

1516 Ottoman turks conquered the city.  Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem and encouraged the exiled Jews  from Spain's 1492 Spanish Inquisition  to settle there.  Less than 100 years later, the empire became corrupt and imposed heavy taxes and many restrictions on Jews of Jerusalem, but they continued to return to this important city.

1850 Walled city of Jerusalem was so crowded with Jews that a few suggested moving outside the walls which would leave them exposed to roving bands of brigands.  Sir Moses Montefiore built a protected compound outside the walls; and 20 families took up residence there.  Soon other enclaves sprouted up and the new city of Jerusalem extended beyond what came to be known as the "Old City."

1917 Ottoman Empire holding "Palestine" for 400 years ended with British vanquishing the Turks during WWI.  General Allenby marched into Jerusalem and divided the Old City into 4 quarters.  The Muslim quarter was one part but it was actually half of the Old City.  The majority of the people living here were Jews, not Muslims.  The other parts were the Christian Quarter, the Jewish Quarter and the Armenian Quarter.
     British kept Turkish restrictions on Jews at the Western Wall and would not permit them to bring benches or stools to sit on.  They could not put up a mechitza.  If a Jew blew the Shofar on Rosh Hashana or the end of Yom Kippur they were arrested and put in prison.

May 14, 1948 Birthday of Israel, British left and the Old City of Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount and the Western Wall fell to the Jordanian army (Arab Legion).  All the Jewish residents were exiled.  The men were taken to Jordan as prisoners of war.  The women, children and elderly were forced out through Zion Gate.  Their homes that their families had had for generations were looted and burned behind them.  According to the League of Nations, this land was to go to the Jewish Homeland but the British didn't follow through, though they had accepted the mandate, and they allowed Jordan to do this.  Of course the Jews had their hands full, since 5 minutes after announcing they had the state, they were attacked from all sides.
                                                                         

1967 (June 5th to June 11th) Six Day War with all Arab surrounding states who attacked, yet Israel was victorious against such an onslaught.  In winning, they got back east Jerusalem, Judaea, Samaria and Gaza. Jordanian troops in the Old City and Jordanian sections of the city bombarded the New City but Israel reacted quickly and all was under Israeli control.

1967 (June 29th) formally united the 2 sections of the city and the barriers were removed.

1980 Jerusalem Law:  extended Israel sovereignty over the entire city.

1990 Population  of the eastern portion of the city, including 139,600 Moslems and Christians have been incorporated into the total population of 493,500 by 1990.

Today Sara Rigler tells us that she lives in the Old City of Jerusalem (east Jerusalem).  Her grandchildren are playing in the ruins of the Romans.  Her husband prays in the 13th century synagogue founded by the Ramban.  She takes walks where the Prophet Zechariah proclaimed, Old men and old women will once again dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and the squares of the city will be filled with boys and girls playing in its streets.  Her soul and every cell in her body celebrates the G-d-given gift of the return of the Jewish people to Jerusalem and the return of Jerusalem to the Jewish people.

My cousin, Stanley Goldfoot, lived on Dor v'Dor Street (from generation to generation Street.  He lived near where Golda Meier once lived.

Resource: Aish.com "Why Celebrate Jerusalem Day? by Sara Yoheved Rigler
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

The 3rd Temple Plans of the Temple Institute in Jerusalem

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                  

When I met my 3rd cousin, Stanley Goldfoot, it was at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem in 1980-81. Stanley was a well known figure, the Chief of Intelligence for the Stern Group.  His branch of the Goldfoots had gone from Lithuania to England, Ireland and South Africa and from there he made aliyah to Israel, where he died in 2006 in Jerusalem.  Ours had gone from Ireland to Idaho, USA.  Stanley was an editor and started the Times of Jerusalem.  He is well known for his "Letter to the World."   which tells of his his feelings about Jerusalem.
                                                                               

                                                      Solomon's Temple
He had gone from the Stern Group (don't call it a gang, he had told me) to interest in the 3rd Temple and belonged to that group then.  That's how I found him.  He was in a picture in a Jewish newspaper with others in 1980 who were members of the group, The Temple Institute. I felt like detective when I phoned him and heard his elegant English accent at the other end tell me that I was not to worry, he would know me at the hotel.  Of course he could.  We were the only chubby couple there.  Israelis are not chubby but lean.  It must have been all that shredded carrot salad they eat for breakfast along with their yogurt.

He showed me the plans for the 3rd Temple that he had rolled up in a scroll and I learned about it first hand from Stanley.  The institute works on education about the Temple from Solomon's first Temple to the times of today.  They are also into research and development and their ultimate goal is the rebuilding of the Holy Temple on mount Moriah in Jerusalem which follow our Biblical commandments.

The group has followed the directions of creating vessels according to the original directions.  Priestly garments are made to Biblical requirements for  use in the Temple.What better way to learn of our history that to see it in person!  It would be like a Disneyland of the Temple days and bring history to us.
                                                                       

                                          Helen and Stanley Goldfoot of Dor V'Dor, Jerusalem

This does not mean that they plan on taking down the present site of the first Temple which has a mosque built over it that Jordan has power over, but that the 3rd will be built in the general area.  Mount Moriah does have room for more than what now stands.

Everyone involved in the Temple Institute must be a kosher as the Temple they are reflecting.  Rabbi Yehuda Glick brings to mind many questions.  He is a former head of the Temple Institute. He has been arrested by the police many times now for selling some sort of contraband for the institute.  He may think he is helping out financially by selling bangled bracelets this time with the 1967 motto printed on them, "The Temple Mount is in our hands."  It's a motto said when Jerusalem was liberated in 1967.  Then Moshe Dayan let the Temple Mount be supervised by Jordan because of the mosque that has been built over the Temple.  What that motto is doing is just stirring up problems for the police to keep order. Rabbi Glick also works as a tour guide.  Too bad that there is such an age difference between him and Stanley, who was born in 1914.  Stanley would have vetoed selling bracelets with such a charged phrase on it that wouldn't reflect peace.  Remember, it wasn't King David that was allowed to build the Temple as he was a king that was a warrior, a leader in battles.  It was Solomon, who stood for peace, that was allowed to do so.  So it will be for the 3rd Temple as well, built in the name of peace.  Stanley was also a warrior, a leader of warriors who did the intelligence work, and these bracelets  just don't fit the bill.

Jerusalem is fully charged with vibes from at least 3 different religions; Jews, Christians and Muslims.  We do not need a war to start in the City of David, the City of Peace.  Our Orthodox  rabbis have already said that the Temple Mount is not a place for us to pray at anymore.  They are being wise in several ways.  The biggest problem right now is to keep Jews and Muslims separate on the Temple Mount in order to keep the peace.  The Muslims get hysterical if they see somebody swaying or their lips possibly muttering a prayer in Hebrew.  Our prayers will be gratefully accepted by G-d wherever we stand in Israel.  Say them in groups of 3 if you wish to feel they have more worth that way, or say them in a synagogue in groups of 10, but you don't have to defy the law and say them today on Mount Moriah.  Let the Temple Institute lead the way at least

While living in Israel, we were able to worship in a beautiful synagogue in Jerusalem, the Great Synagogue that even had chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.  The directions for that synagogue may not have been in the Torah, but it is indeed a beautiful place to spend a Saturday morning once in your lifetime if not more times.

"The Temple Institute interprets the opinion of the Rambam (Maimonides) as saying that Jews should attempt to build the Temple themselves, and have a mitzvah (obligation) to do so if they can. The Rambam's opinion, however, is a controversial one and has aroused substantial opposition.

The Temple Institute's view of the Rambam's opinion is not universally accepted by Maimonides scholars. According to seventeenth-century Rabbi Yom Tov Lipman Heller in his commentary on the tractate Yoma, the Rambam did not say that any Jew can build the future Temple, only the Messiah.  According to Maimonides, any Jew who starts rebuilding the Temple is a potential Messiah."  Well, Stanley, you were a potential Messiah.  They say in each generation there are potential Messiahs that are born.  Our Goldfoot line can trace a few of our chromosomes back to Rashi whose oral history was the connection to King David.  

Resource:  http://www.templeinstitute.org/main.htm
http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/temple-mount-activist-rabbi-yehuda-glick-arrested-for-contraband/2014/05/22/
http://www.danhotels.com/JerusalemHotels/KingDavidJerusalemHotel/

Martin Indyk, Former USA Ambassador to Israel, A Kerry Man

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                 

For a  63 year old Jewish USA mediator between the Palestinians and Israel, Martin Indyk shows  me no understanding or empathy at all for Israel, even after living there in 1973 when he lived on a kibbutz and was there during the Yom Kippur War.  He's an immigrant to the USA from London, England and   had become the 2nd Jewish American ambassador to Israel. He had the perfect resume.  Indyk has many titles; Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs during the Clinton Administration is one.  He was a framer of the US policy of dual containment involving Iran and Iraq,  He's the author of "Innocent Abroad:  An Intimate Account of American Peacemaking Diplomacy in the Middle East" (a take off of  of the America's Mark Twain's book, "The Innocents Abroad."  He was a professor at the School of Advanced International Studies and taught Israeli politics and foreign policy.  Then he also taught at the Middle East Institute at Columbia University and the Eastern and African Studies at Tel Aviv University.  He moved to Sydney, Australia and taught in the Department of Politics.  The resume is long.

With all this successful background, he's become an American Democratic company man.  An Israeli official felt he was now a hypocrite.  That's because he used to be on the side of Israel's building program.    Now he  has verbally blamed Israel's "settlement activity" for the case of the failed peace talks.  Thursday's speech at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy included his insistence that both sides were guilty of bad faith and not serious about peace. He gave a specific comment about Israel's fault but not about the Palestinians?   Isn't that being little sir echo to Kerry's comments?

(Not serious about peace?  Israel? Israel has given up much since 1948 in the name of peace.   How many mortars, missile and rockets does Israel have to be hit with until outsiders understand that Israel is very serious about needing peace and this is what they got instead?)  They've been asking for peace since 1948.   Of course Israel wants peace, but is not about to put the whole state into jeopardy and lose it over a false peace.  A peace accord with the PA can also mean a step closer again to the Gaza situation, too.  The settlement activity he aimed at is the construction going on in Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem, the contentious pieces of land that Palestinians have wanted to create for their state of Palestine.  If they were so Gung Ho about a having their state, how about signing a peace paper and getting on with it to end the construction?  That activity is the carrot to put an end to 66 years of hemming and hawing and trying to stick it to the Jews.

 Tell me, Mr Indyk, do you think that Israel is elated about handing over 23% of their tiny land they worked so hard to procure after losing 80% of it to Jordan after the League of Nations promised it for the Jewish National Homeland?  23% is what the Christian Palestinians now want for the state. Have you included Sabeel  into your outline of Palestine?  That's the Presbyterian-Christian Palestinian organization who want 23% of the land.  This Palestine you are sticking up for, do you realize it is to be all Palestinian Arabs?  No Jews at all?   What is Israel going to be left with these days when anti-Semitism is running rampant and Jewish immigrants are still coming to live in Israel for reasons of wanting to stay alive after being threatened?   Do you think anti-Semitism will suddenly stop once Palestine is created?   Do you think there is really a comparison between waiting for 2,000 years for Israel to happen and just deciding on needing a state since 1967, a matter of 47 years?  Israel never put refugees into camps.  They put themselves there.

Of course the Palestinians are blaming Israel's non-stop building program for their reason of stopping the talks.  They had already made the decision to join up with Hamas terrorists anyway, the other half who has connected with them recently in the past.  Who thinks that they are dead set on creating a state in the first place?  They don't want to start from scratch.  They intend to take all of Israel, not just 23% of it.  They took steps they said they wouldn't take, far more assertive and destructive than building a few apartment buildings such as  their  Hamas -Fatah reconciliation and then taking unilateral steps to apply to UN agencies for their state.

  However, Israel has decided that a 2 state solution is the best plan, and have been trying for that for the past 66 years, only to see it fail.  I don't know about Israel's Knesset, but I feel that the Palestinians don't really want their own state.  They're reveling in the role they have taken, being the fighters against the unwelcome Jews who have returned to their land.  Their goal is not a state of their own.  If it was all that important, they would accept a deal and teach their children to behave towards Israel.  They wouldn't create maps minus Israel but telling their people the land is all Palestine.  It doesn't take a genius to figure this out, Mr. Indyk.  This will never happen.  Just look at the charter of Hamas, and realize they are hooked into Hamas.

I might add that Judea and Samaria were the original Judah, land that had broken off from Israel of ancient days and was the land that Jerusalem was the capital of in both Israel and Judah.  Jewish settlement has taken place in the last century on the Western side of Palestine due to ships coming there from Europe, USA, etc. After the 1967 War, this land of Judea, Samaria once again came back to be under Israel.  So did east Jerusalem, home of the Temple Mount, the Wall, and many other important Jewish areas that they were denied from when Jordan held the land after taking 80% of the promised by League of Nations decision to give the land to the Jews for the Jewish Homeland.  How can Indyk be in denial of all these facts?  He's been bought for the price of  the title of Special Envoy for Israel-Palestinian Negotiations.  He had to take a leave of absence from his position as Vice President and Director for Foreign Policy at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC to do this.  .

It was a senior Israeli official that has accused him of hypocrisy after these comments of his who told Reuters that Indyk knew that construction in these areas would continue during the discussions.  Indyk blames Israel while not saying anything about his own responsibility for the impasse.  It's felt that Indyk made no contribution to the discussions that made any progress.

Indyk just threw it back by saying that more building had a very damaging effect and that Israelis knew it had such an effect.  He accused the government officials in charge of the building program of being adamantly opposed to negotiations even though they are part of a government committed to negotiations. He alluded to that fact that if negotiations do not come to a good climax, the result could be the end of Israel's future.

"There are not 2 truths here, only one:  The Palestinians torpedoed the negotiations by choosing to reconcile with Hamas and take unilateral steps to apply to UN agencies," responded Deputy Minister Ofir Akunis of Likud.  Akunis  disagreed  that construction over the 1949 Armistice lines destroyed chances for peace.  "There were no "settlement" until 1967," he reminded everyone listening.  "Why didn't the Palestinians extend a hand in peace before that?

Israel has been hard at trying to come to a peace accord since 1948 when they were a state, but were met with attacks instead.  It's been 66 years of the same old thing.  There's always something the Palestinian Arabs disagree about if they can't take all the land.  Their desire for their own state had only come to a head after 1967 when the leaders of the nations that lost the war in attacking Israel were trying a new assault with a "Palestine" nation of these people sitting in refugee camps in their counties.

It's too bad that Martin is such a quick learner from John Kerry and seems to be his carbon copy.  This must be the only accepted way the USA wants it.  Orders come from Obama, of course, on how to deal with Israel.

Martin was born and raised in London, England.  He graduated in 1977.  He then emigrated to the USA and has 2 children, Sarah and Jacob.  He's a former professor and taught Israeli politics and foreign policy.  He sounds like the perfect person for the job.  He started out to be very pro-Israel in his work, only to be criticized for it.  Several years ago he was one who supported settlement building, and so the Palestinians wouldn't work with him.  Is this it?  In order to keep his job he has thrown out his ethics?  The truth?

This isn't an American basketball game.  You can't back the Portland Trailblazers in one season and then decide to back San Antonio's Spurs the next season because they bought you out.  A man sticks to his truth and doesn't settle for lies.  By being wishy-washy, the Palestinians will  always feel that they can spin any story that suits their political agenda and pull the wool over the West's eyes.  You can't be their friend.  You've got to lead them into logic and the hard cold facts.

Rockets, missiles, and mortars have been aimed into Israel for over 14 years now from Gaza's terrorists, Hamas and their friends.  Yet the Palestinians are not showing that they are willing to sit down and make amends or peace.  If anything, Israel knows the timing is horrid.   Just turn on the TV and listen to a Palestinian children's program to see how they are brainwashing their children into hating Jews and Israelis.  Certain steps have to be taken first to show themselves that they are ready to run a peaceful state, or does the UN and USA just want to create a more vibrant enemy closer now to Israel who has full state rights and will get themselves supplied with an army to use against Israel? Is that it?  Are arms dealers chomping at the bit to sell arms legally to Palestine?  

Martin, you of all people should understand what pressures Israel is under and what the stakes are.  They can't be solved by giving into the Palestinian's off the wall demands, or Obama's, either.  You let Israel down.

Resource: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Indyk
http://mondoweiss.net/2013/07/how-fair-is-martin-indyk-who-says-he-was-motivated-by-my-connection-to-israel.html

Presbyterian Church Joins Islamic Sabeel Against Israel

Nadene Goldfoot                                                               

What else is going to happen?  Fatah just joined up with Hamas again.  Now that makes them both terrorists.  Assad knew that move would bring the peace talks to a halt.  Something always has happened over the past 66 years to stop any peace talks between the Arab Palestinians and Israel.
                                                                       

                                        Christian Theologians in Jerusalem

Christians who support Israel  are now called dangerous and a threat to Middle East "peace by other Christians ."  The name callers are  Presbyterian Protestant Christians, a Protestant denomination of 1,849,496 people as of 2012.  Their membership has been  going down.   This radical change in their church is due to the partnership between the Presbyterians and the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center in east Jerusalem that was founded in 1989.  They are now official partners.  The threat to the Middle East actually means that the Presbyterians  are rooting and doing everything they can to help the Arabs win against Israel.  They think that without Israel being there, everything will be peaceful, as if it always was a peaceful area before 1948.

Presbyterians have not done their homework on history of the Middle East and less on religion but instead have joined up with Sabeel's religious plan.   First of all, the Middle East is not an oasis of peace with a spring and date trees and belly dancers.  It's been a hub of wars over all the centuries when there was no Israel but just called Palestine. Hamas and Fatah are not interested in the Christian Arabs, either. They have their own Muslim agenda.
                                                                       

Sabeel, in Arabic (The Way) or (Channel or Spring), is a Christian liberation theology organization founded by a Palestinian Arab Anglican priest, Rev. Naim Ateek, the former Canon of St. George's Cathedral in Jerusalem.   They now have chapters in the USA, Canada, UK, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Ireland, France, Germany, Netherlands and Australia.   They aim to bring in the Palestinian Christians and their concerns, but how they are doing it is treasonable. They are generating hostility towards Israel by using theologically charged accusations at Judaism and Israel.  Sabeel rejects Zionism on theological grounds.  They promote the idea that Zionism is based on a false reading of the Bible and that it stands for injustice and is in opposition to G-d.   There are 1.7 million Arabs  that are citizens of Israel.  8% of them are Christians.  The rest are Muslims.

What they are is a political organization who want Israel to withdraw from Judea, Samaria and East Jerusalem.  They can't include Gaza as Israel already did that only to have Hamas terrorists take over and be dictating to their people and bombing southern Israel.   They call for Palestine to cover the whole 23%  of the land of Palestine.  Let's see.  Israel is sitting on 20% of the promised 100% because Jordan grabbed 80% in the beginning when Israel was fighting against all the states who had attacked them.  Evidently they are teaming up with Hamas and Fatah, but they want only Muslims in their Palestine.  Jews can't be allowed, they say.

A leader of all this is Dr. Gary Burge who believes in a form of "replacement Theology," which is really the cause of centuries of Christian anti-Semitism.  That's because some Christians have taken it upon themselves to think up this religious theory and that is that they have replaced the Jews in G-d's plan with themselves.  Seems it causes them a fit that the Jews were asked to carry the burden of being the light of the nations and lead the way in this fashion in following G-d's commandments on how to behave.  Jews don't go into actively converting people.  That was stopped long ago by the Christians themselves, but they follow Moses's original plan of just being the examples, the light.

The light must have been bright enough, for Christianity sprang out of it, followed by Islam.  Yes, Mohammad admired both groups and called them the "People of the Book."  He didn't have a book and might have felt bad about it being his people didn't have one, so lo and behold, he was also visited by the angel Gabriel who helped him to to write his Koran with the help of a scribe because he couldn't write it himself.

Now that everyone has their own book, the Presbyterians have thrown Judaism out with the trash and think that their way is the only way.  It's because we refuse to convert to their religion.  For us Jews, however, we made a covenant with G-d about 4,000 years ago and we're still going to keep it.  To us, the Abrahamic Covenant is an everlasting covenant.

This puts the Presbyterians in bed with such groups as Sabeel,  who is all for Palestinian Liberation Theology.  This started in South America because the Communists couldn't infiltrate the Roman Catholic Church so they created this new theology to talk people into their way of thinking.  The Presbyterians are now using a study guide calling for churches to stop using hymns and liturgy that use Biblical terms such as: Exodus, covenant, return, blossoming of the desert, Zion and Israel!  I think that erases most all of what Christians call " The Old Testament."   This is so unbelievable!  It makes me realize that these are indeed weird times we are living in.

This is the USA Presbyterian Church who has changed along with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Sabeel gets help in creating a Palestine without Israel and the Presbyterians become the new G-d's chosen people.  They can all live happily ever after.

  Ateek said "Before the creation of the state of Israel, the Old Testament was considered to be an essential part of Christian Scripture, pointing and witnessing to Jesus.  Since the creation of the State, some Jewish and Christian interpreters have read the Old Testament largely as a Zionist text"...What he can't accept is that it looks like the words in the bible are coming true.  It was prophesied that Israel would be reborn.  This has concerned many to find such prophecy actually happening.  He went on, saying, "to such an extent that it has become almost repugnant to Palestinian Christians......How can the Old Testament be the Word of God in light of the Palestinian Christians' experience with its use to support Zionism?"

Yes, that is something, isn't it?  They want to erase the fact that this is happening, something that other Evangelical Christians are excited about.  Pastor Hagee is a big backer of Israel for his own theological reasons because this is happening.  Prophecy is being fullfilled.

Hagee said that for 1800 years Christian leaders ranted that "the church is the new Israel."  They pointed to the wandering, tormented Jews of the Diaspora saying, "If G-d is with them, why has this befallen them?"  They forgot that Jews were living in papal states controlled by the church of Rome, living without rights, property, legal redress, hman dignity in an environment created by the laws of the Roman church.  Replacement theologian ignore a fundamental fact in the biblical text.  When god replaces something, you never hear from it again.  God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, and they have never been rediscovered.  Jews have returned to their land since May 14, 1948 and were speaking 60 languages.  This state of Israel is a superstate in just 20 years and is not passing away.  Yes, this is bothering the replacement theorists.

There are Hamas and Fatah, joined together against Israel, and there is Sabeel and Presbyterians of the world, joined together against Israel with the latter attacking our religion as well.

Resource:  http://blogs.jpost.com/content/presbyterian-church-gets-bed-radical-islam
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabeel_Ecumenical_Liberation_Theology_Center
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_Palestinian_territories
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presbyterian_Church_(U.S.A.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supersessionism
The Strong  Horse, power, politics, and the clash of Arab civilizations by Lee Smith
From Time Immemorial, the origins of the Arab-Jewish conflict over Palestine by Joan Peters
In Defense of Israel by John Hagee, the Bible's Mandate for supporting the Jewish State.
http://jewishbubba.blogspot.com/2013/03/anti-israel-code-pink-ladies.html
http://jewishfactsfromportland.blogspot.com/2012/07/presbyterian-friendship-with-israel.html
http://jewishfactsfromportland.blogspot.com/2012/01/how-sabeel-movement-is-harming-israel.html
http://jewishfactsfromportland.blogspot.com/2012/01/attacks-on-israel-with-and-without.html
http://jewishfactsfromportland.blogspot.com/2012/02/kairos-palestine-against-israels.html

USA Is A Christian Country

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                    

                                     The 9  US Supreme Court Justices

There are 2.3 billion Christians in our world of 7 billion.  Catholics make up 1.09 billion of them.  Protestants and the Eastern Orthodox  tie for the remaining 1.21 billion.  The United States with 320,050,716 people does have freedom of religion and is not labeled as a so called "Christian Country," but let's not kid ourselves.  It's a Christian country nevertheless.  It was founded by dissident Christians who were unhappy with the Episcopalian England's religious rules saying that you had to be an Episcopalian.  They had other Christian ideas of how they wanted to practice, so braved the unknown ocean in a teeny flimsy ship called the Mayflower and ventured out to the new world, away from Holland where they had gone seeking freedom of religion in the first place.  Many of them died after their first year on this new land.  The year of 1620, when they sailed, was a small world then.  Most Christians were Catholics until Martin Luther (1483-1546) had come along with his Protestant Reformation.  .

By 1654, Portuguese Jews came sailing from Amsterdam  into the harbor of New York/New Amsterdam and Peter Stuyvesant, governor,  was taken over by anti-Semitic feelings and didn't want to admit them into the new land.  He tried to banish the Jews on September 22, 1654 from the city.  However, the Directors of the West India Company in Amsterdam, rescinded his order on April 26, 1655.  It was Jews who had invested much of their capital in shares in this company.  Ha!  They turned out to be company owners!  The Portuguese had been in Spain in 1492 when the Spanish Inquisition turned against them, forcing them to either convert to Catholicism or leave the country, which they did.  They moved to Portugal only to be expelled from there later on for the same reasons.  These had made their way to Holland.

There are 15 countries labeled as a Christian country, but the USA isn't one of them.

1. Argentina: Roman Catholic
2. Bolivia:        "          "
3. Costa Rica  "          "
4. Denmark: Danish National Church
5. El Salvador: Roman Catholic
6. England: Church of England
7. Greece:  Church of Greece
8. Armenia:  Armenian Apostolic Church
9. Georgia: Georgian Orthodox Church
10. Ethiopia:  Tewahedo Church
11. Iceland: Church of Iceland
12. Liechtenstein: Roman Catholic
13. Malta:             "           "
14. Monaco:        "           "
15. Norway: Church of Norway
Vatican City:  Roman Catholic Church

There are majority Christian countries in Europe, Russia, Americas, Philippines, East Timor, South Africa, Central Africa, East Africa and Oceania.   They do not use the label of being a Christian state, or Christianity as a state religion.  Large Christian communities also are in Central Asia and the Middle East where they are 2nd to Islam.

Jews, of where there are only about 14 million in the world, are about 0.02% of the world population.  They make up about 1.7% of the USA population with heavy populations in New York, Florida and California. 16.1% of Americans are either unaffiliated or non-practicing people claiming no connection to any religious group.  .

They are living in a Christian country nevertheless.  This was brought to the forefront with today's article in the Oregonian by Ruth Marcus on the USA Supreme Court and how they vote.  She brings up a case in point that they had to make a decision about.  It was about the town of Greece, New York.  They always begin their board meetings with a prayer by a Christian minister, most often a sectarian one.

"We acknowledge the saving sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross," one guest chaplain said.  "We draw strength, vitality and confidence from his resurrection at Easter."  Board members stand, bow their heads and make the sign of the cross at hearing this.

Out of 120 monthly meetings, invocations were given and only 4 were given by non-Christians.  This rarity happened only in 2008, after a plaintiff in the case complained about it.  Evidently he or she lost the case. Non-Christians haven't been asked again.  Greece, Monroe, New York has a population of 96,095  as of 2010 and lies very near Rochester, New York.  It was started in 1822, and was named Greece for its struggle to break away from the Ottoman Empire, an attribute they admired.  "The racial makeup of the town was 93.37% White, 2.88% Black or African American, 0.24% Native American, 1.49% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.87% from other races, and 1.12% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.55% of the population."  There are several synagogues in Rochester.   Jews could be living in the city of Greece since Rochester is only 12 minutes away.  

We have 9 judges in our Supreme Court.  5 are conservatives.  They are in the majority.  For them this religious decision was not a problem.

"Although most of the prayer givers were Christian," wrote Justice Anthony Kennedy, "this fact reflected only the predominantly Christian identity of the town's congregations, rather than an official policy or practice of discriminating against minority faiths."

The 4 others of which 3 are Jewish were left feeling uncomfortable about it.  For those who feel uncomfortable, the feeling is of exclusion, and Kennedy's advice boiled down to "Suck it up."  There is no way I can tell if those excluded were Jewish and attending or not.  One thing the USA does is not to make citizens carry ID cards with our religion on it.  That's a good thing.  Were there in attendance people of other faiths such as Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism?  We don't know.  The majority were Christians.

He went on. "Adults often encounter speech they find disagreeable and an Establishment Clause violation is not made out anytime a person experiences a sense of affront from the expression of contrary religious views in a legislative forum". ...Ah, this is the difference.   Oftentimes I've been in the same situation in many places where the leader prays for all of us in Jesus's name...Usually I bumped into this in fraternal organizations. ...especially where, as here, any member of the public is welcome to turn to offer an invocation reflecting his or her own convictions."  I've had to suck it up many a time.

I understand.  North America is predominantly a Christian nation, but I live here, too.  I am also an American.  The Constitution, which prohibits elevating one religion over another, demands some sensitivity to this fact.  It was written by brilliant people, but what we have for people are not brilliant in their understanding of it nor in their feelings towards others, unfortunately.  There is this difference.

When I hear "bow your head and pray in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord," it is a big deal to me.  I don't do this and so stand out in the crowd of head bowers who shouldn't really be seeing me just sit with my head held high, should they?  I don't move my lips either.  So I don't worry about it.

Justice Elena Kagan wrote "Honest oversight or not, the problem remains:  Every month for more than a decade, the board aligned itself, through its prayer practices, with a single religion.  That the concurring opinion thinks my objection to that is "really quite niggling" says all this is to say about the difference between our respective views."  In other words, Justice Kennedy had no feeling or compassion for those who weren't of his faith.  Suck it up was his feeling about it.  This is a Christian country after all, title or not.   Not too long ago people complained that there were 2 Jews on the Supreme Court, Brandeis and Cordoza.  Now we have 3.  We've made  progress.

The other case was about affirmative action.  Justice Sotomayor, who is not Jewish, wrote that "Race matters because of the slights, the snickers, the silent judgments that reinforce that most crippling of thoughts:  "I do not belong here."  I think this is the point.  Both such prayers in the midst of others made the minority feel as if they are not a part of the group.  They are, indeed, different people.

The best thing I can say is that before a prayer is said in a group setting which has an audience that may have a newcomer in it, the leader should ask, is there someone here who would like to say a non Christian prayer for us?  Then they could follow it up with their Christian prayer.  Cover your bases, fellows.  Don't hurt someone in the act of praying.

As for public universities, aren't we ever going to be past the point of banning non-whites?  Shouldn't it be a matter of ability today?  Those with high marks get in.  Low marks don't.  It used to be that Jews had a limit of how many could get in. Jewish people of high ability didn't get in because the quota had been met for Jews.  Good grief!!! Probably the person who could have found the cure for cancer was in that group!  So we've had people with non-white skin kept out for reasons of color marking their skill level for all of them and Jews kept out for reasons of high scholarship, the condition found in most Jewish scholars; an overall judgement for all of us, either we're one or the other.  Interesting that we both came from a history of well known slavery, one old and one new.   One can look at this discrimination that way too, former slaves not being worthy of being a free citizen with all the rights by others.

USA is a Christian country.  Schools are open from Monday to Friday.  Business used to close on Sundays unless it was a small Jewish owned store which closed on Saturday.  They nationally celebrate Christmas and Easter with holidays, reflected inside schools and outside in neighborhoods with lights and pageants in the city.  Prejudices up until about the 60s, when fights were going on for Black rights, still showed up in country clubs where Jews were not welcome nor invited.  Jews were not employed in many businesses, even the telephone company in New York, for years and years.  We've been called "Kikes," a very derogatory word, for a long time in the USA.  Americans have called minorities their pet names such as "Wop" for Italians, "Mick" for the Irish, "Chink" for the Chinese.  Those that have such prejudices have used these terms when they've wanted to be nasty.

These same prejudices have also included Blacks as well, who now make up about 13% of our USA population.  Whites make up 72% of the USA and Hispanic or Latinos make up 15%.

When the author of "Kike" was in France going to school, his American father came to visit him.  At Orly airport they asked him to fill out a form, including his nationality.  He wrote, "Jewish."  The author, Selzer, explained that they meant "American."  His father said, "When anyone asks that question, what they want to know is this:  Are you a Jew? " That reflects his past experience, which has actually changed for his son.  He would have written, American.  Our younger generation has little insight as to the mountains Jews have climbed in order to give their children more freedoms.

Resource:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_by_country
Oregonian newspaper; 5/9/14 page A14, Opinion; by Ruth Mrcus-High court justices fail to see others as they see themselves on Rulings on prayer, race.
"Kike" by Selzer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_and_ethnicity_in_the_United_States
http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/
http://religions.pewforum.org/reports
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greece_(town),_New_York
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther

OBAMA FIGHTING GLOBAL ANTI-SEMITISM

Obama urges fight against

global tide of anti-Semitism 

Nadene Goldfoot

                                                                                                      

reads the headlines today.  Great since the affect of today's anti-Semitism is hitting us all like a tidal wave!   We haven't seen or felt this much since the 30's in Germany.  European Jews have been hit the hardest with France, who has had the largest Jewish population other than Israel and the USA, who have experienced everything including terrorists going to a school to shoot Jewish children and staff members.

 England is another hot spot as well as Malmo, Sweden that has changed over the years.  There are a lot of immigrants in both countries.  What happens is that the poorer, more uneducated Muslim youth gang up on the Jews and there you have anti-Semitism.  I know of mature Muslims living in these countries who mind their own business and just want to live a nice life, unlike these other troublemakers.  In Sweden's case, it looks like their law just lets it happen without any stopping and of course from there it increases.  

American Jewish leaders were aghast when they learned that the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk was telling Jews to register themselves with pro-Russian separatists, pay a fee and declare all property holdings. ""All citizens of Jewish nationality over age of 16, living on territories of Donetsk People's Republic, have to register with DPR commissioner of nationality before May 3rd, 2014 at the Donetsk Regional Administration, room 514, registration fee is $50," the leaflet read. "Must have in person $50 cash, passport, all available IDs, and documentation of ownership of real estate and transportation." 

 Russia is why so many Jewish immigrants came to the USA in the early 1900s in the first place-after being kept in the Pale of Settlement for over 200 years.  Ukraine, one of the states of the Pale, treated Jews the worst.  1 1/2 million Jews were killed in Ukraine during WWII by Ukranians collaborators and Nazis.

In Riga, Latvia there was a sign on the kindergarten door that said, JEW FREE.  It didn't mean that Jews didn't have to pay to have their children attend.  It meant that Jews were not allowed to use their facility, just like in the 30s, 40s and 50s in the USA Jews could not be members of country clubs.

London's former mayor was caught peddling anti-Semitic stereotype literature saying they are all conservatives in their voting.  Ha!  Maybe they have reason to do that in England.  If anything, the USA has too many Liberals if you ask me!!  Let's see.  Jews in the USA might be 2% of the population and probably less in the UK.  Hmmm.  There's far more anti-Semitism going on right in England according to my former Enlgish ex-patriot who has gone over every year to visit his mother.  

All this anti-Semitism around the globe is causing more Jews to make Aliyah and move to Israel, especially from France lately.  Swedes have gone over, too.  

Even here in the USA, we've had to be wary as attacks have come to Seattle's Jewish Community Center.  Steps have been taken in various places including synagogues everywhere for protection.  New York City has the most Jews in the USA so have experienced more than most of us so far.  

A 36 year old former NY police officer was caught spraying anti-Semitic graffiti on 15 cars and 4 buildings near a synagogue and school in an Orthodox community in Brooklyn, New York;  a policeman who should know better but is full of hate, evidently who let it all spew out.  

In upstate New York, there is something going on in the Pine Bush School district.  Students are harassing the Jewish students.  

 Kansas has its anti Semitics, some of who turn out to be white supremacists.  After all, if they hate one group unlike themselves, they'll probably have no tolerance for others.  A well known Klansman,  Frazier Glenn Miller (named for my favorite orchestra leader),  is held for murder in the killing of three people outside two Jewish community facilities in Overland Park.   Why was he loitering around this place?  

Abraham Foxman, Director of ADL (Anti-Defamation League)  tells us that actually things have improved since he took over in the 60s.  Then, about 30% of Americans were anti-Semitic.  Today, about 12% to 14% can be said to be anti-Semitic.  

Mel Gibson, Louis Farrakhan and the occasional swastika scrawled on a synagogue wall are things we have lived with begrudgingly, but Jews in North America for the most part live free of discrimination or the threat of violence.  Mel Gibson is a well-known actor who drinks and lets us see his anti-Semitic viewpoints.  Farrakhan is a famous black preacher against Jews who cause all his problems he says,  and of course the people who think they will carry on Hitler's ideals draw swastikas, not having a glimmer of an idea of Hitler's insanity; either that or they share it with him.  

For those of us who were alive as children during WWII, such anti-Semitic attacks are doubly disturbing.  It's like we all have PTSD which make us more aware of the danger of anti-Semitism.  We're here to warn our younger family and friends to nip such acts in the bud either through more education, talks, speeches, program, whatever one can to turn things around.  Anti-Semitism is a virus too easily caught from others who want it to spread.  

One way Obama can fight global anti-Semitism is through the UN.  His secretary of State should not have left when Netanyahu started to speak.  That was disrespectful of her and set a pattern of disrespect for Jews everywhere.  Another way is to treat Israel with respect in such matters as peace programs instead of treating us as underlings that need to kow tow to the word of the mediator.  Set by example, Mr. Obama.  

Read more: http://www.jta.org/2014/02/18/news-opinion/united-states/anti-semitism-in-america-today-down-but-not-out#ixzz319rYHpia

Resource: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/05/05/ex-cop-anti-semitic-graffiti/8712175/

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/a/antisemitism/index.html

http://www.jta.org/2014/02/18/news-opinion/united-states/anti-semitism-in-america-today-down-but-not-out

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/04/18/us-jewish-leaders-deeply-troubled-by-anti-semitic-pamphlets-in-ukraine/
http://jewishfactsfromportland.blogspot.com/2013/05/ukraines-massacre-of-jews-worse-than.html
http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/14/us/kansas-jewish-center-shooting/
http://antisemitism.org.il/list/1

Islamic Front Flatten Carlton Hotel in Aleppo, Syria With Deaths

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                      

The Islamic Front rebel group which amounts to an army of terrorists,  bomb-blasted the city of Aleppo and leveled the Carlton Hotel

which lies next to the city's ancient Citadel or fortress.  Did they call beforehand and warn everyone to get out of the hotel and that they were going to bomb it?  No, they wouldn't want to warn soldiers. So innocent people must have been killed.   The government's army had been using it as a military base.  The soldiers also use other buildings in this government-held area. 50 soldiers were killed in this blast.  How many injured is not known.   Aleppo is the ancient home of a large population of Jews which had made it the largest business center in Syria at one time.  It has history that is being destroyed by the bombings happening from both sides.  .

Syria is a very close neighbor to Israel, so what happens in Syria can affect Israel. The distance from Damascus to Jerusalem is only 135 miles or about 2 hours by car.  Damascus and Jerusalem have similar higher altitudes.  Tomorrow the temperature will be 59 to 78 in Damascus and 55 to 66 in Jerusalem.   Assad has been a terrible enemy as far as Israel is concerned, but sometimes an enemy you know is better than new ones, and in this case, the rebels are terrorists bent on Sharia law, which can include fatwas against Israel and be unrestrained in their zeal to destroy Israel.  Syria is a declared enemy of Israel, but Israel has been accepting injured Syrian to come across their border and they are giving them medical assistance. At least 700 have been treated so far in the Golan alone.  I wonder if Assad, being a doctor himself, understands this.
                                                                 

   
Syria has been engaged with 200,000 missiles aimed at Israel.   Just  last year on May 5th, they had 200,000 missile batteries aimed at Israel.  Israel went over and supposedly bombed the target.  Assad knew he had it coming.
                                                                 
Here, we have Assad being attacked by the Muslim Brotherhood who were the instigators in this case of causing Assad's retaliations and the beginnings of the Civil War.  The Muslim Brotherhood's charter says that their goal is to destroy Israel, so I really have no trust in rooting for the rebels.  Assad was a horrible anti-Semite himself who locked up the Jews in Syria and wouldn't allow them outside his country.  They were virtual prisoners, with many actually being in prison until Judith Feld Carr came to their aid and got them out of Syria.

The group had been called the Syrian Islamic Front up till November 2013 and was anywhere from 13,000 to 25,000 strong and are Salafists who believe in Jihadism.  They have now unified other groups with them so changed their name.

 They are pals of the Al Nusra Front and the Free Syrian Army.  Their aims are of course to topple Assad's government and establish an Islamic state governed by Sharia law for all Syrians.  This is not the case with Assad who has been on the secular side.  Funding for their cause comes from other conservative Salafis in the Persian Gulf, rich donors like the Kuwaiti preacher, Hajjaj al-Ajami, Suadi-based Syrian preacher Adnan al-Aroor, and Kuwaiti politician Hakim al-Mutayi.  They are said to be less extreme than even more radical groups in Syria like Jabhat al-Nusra which is labeled as a terrorist organization by the USA already and is supposedly not a part of their group. They  may  have more support with Syrians according to journalist Liz Sly of the Washington Post.

The Front was against USA intervention against Assad.  On September 5th of last year they issued a statement saying that it rejected Western military intervention in Syria and said they consider such meddling as a new aggression against Muslims and would only serve American interests and not their cause to topple Assad.

On November 22nd, leaders in the Islamic Front were part of a declaration of uniting rebel groups who had been operating under the banners of the SIF, the Syrian Islamic Liberation Front.  They announced on their Google Plus account that it was disbanding and its groups would operate under the new name of the Islamic Front.  Is a brotherhood of Muslims the same thing as this group of Muslims intending to establish a Sharia Law society?  Seems as if the Muslim Brotherhood is alive and well here.  "The group is widely seen as backed and armed by Saudi Arabia.

The pact of 7 groups are made up of the following:

On 22 November, seven Islamist groups agreed to a pact that would dissolve the groups individually and lead to the formation of the Islamic Front. The groups are:

• Aleppo's largest opposition fighting force Liwa al-Tawhid (formerly part of the Syrian Islamic Liberation Front)
• Salafist Ahrar al-Sham^[(formerly part of the Syrian Islamic Front)^[ 
• Homs-based Liwa al-Haqq (formerly part of Syrian Islamic Front)^[
• Idlib-based Suqour al-Sham (formerly part of the Syrian Islamic Liberation Front)
• Damascus-based Jaysh al-Islam^[14] (formerly part of Syrian Islamic Liberation Front)
• Ansar al-Sham (formerly part of the Syrian Islamic Front)
• Kurdish Islamic Front

Resource:  http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4517569,00.html on Syria
http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/1.589514
Messages of a Syrian Jew Trapped in Egypt, http://amazon.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_Islamic_Front
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Front_(Syria)
Jerusalem Post May 5, 2013 Syria aims missile batteries at Israel
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/01/27/evidence-points-to-secret-israeli-strike-on-syrian-missile-launchers/
http://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-allows-first-peek-into-secret-field-hospital-on-syrian-border/