FresnoZionism.org — ציונות פרסנו

…the Jews have to decide, once again, if we want to survive. If we want to make it, then we need to rekindle one of the basic premises of Zionism, and take matters into our own hands. It’s not enough to simply feel that we’re back where we started, 110 years ago. The question is what we’re going to do about it. The question is, how do we restore hope? — Daniel Gordis, This Place Called Hope

Israelis are struggling with a combination of internal problems and external threats. Gordis asks what the Jewish people — not just Israel — need to do in order to to survive. Read it here.

Israel is not innocent of mistakes, but all Israel’s mistakes are dwarfed by the Palestinian liability. Living under an occupation is no great joy, and criticism of the occupation in general and of the settlements in particular, is legitimate. More than legitimate. We are not dealing with theory, however, but with facts: huge sums of money that were given to the Palestinians went down the drain. And the opportunities to win independence and prosperity were rejected in favor of the supreme objective: wiping Israel off the map. — Ben-Dror Yemini, from Maariv (in Solomonia).

Who provided the billions of dollars that have gone to the Palestinians and have not improved their lives one whit? What did they do with the money? Why are they still refugees and the territories occupied?

Ben-Dror Yemini answers these and other questions in this groundbreaking article, found in the excellent Solomonia blog of Martin Solomon.

By Vic Rosenthal

“If you were to read the Palestinian newspapers these days you’d be appalled by the sinister headlines: killings, kidnappings, arsons, shootings, revenge attacks and Kassam launchings. Then you read calls for a “national unity government” – as though Palestinians were already living in two different countries, one in Gaza (under Hamas) and the other in the West Bank (under Fatah).

The people’s sense of defeat is caused by our leaders’ ineptitude; the violence is fed by poverty, oppression and deprivation.” — Bassam Eid in the Jerusalem Post

Palestinian civil society today is an oxymoron. This is obviously bad for them, but it’s also bad for Israel, since it is not possible to acheive peace, or even a cease-fire, when there’s no stability and no control on criminal behavior.

Read the rest of this entry »

JERUSALEM, Jan. 19 — Israel transferred $100 million in tax revenues to the office of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas as part of a plan to bolster him and keep money out of the hands of the Hamas government, officials said today…

…Israel also has removed some West Bank roadblocks, but Palestinians say they still face many obstacles when they seek to travel. — NY Times

In other news:

(IsraelNN.com) Two Qassam rockets struck Israel on Tuesday. One of the rockets struck the western Negev, while the other hit south of Ashkelon.

Also Tuesday, Arab terrorists fired on IDF troops near the security fence along the Gaza border, and in Jenin, an explosives device was set off near troops, who also came under fire. There were no injuries in all of the incidents.

An IDF reserve soldier was lightly injured Tuesday when a burning tire exploded near the village of Qibya, northwest of Ramallah. Arabs placed ammunition in the tire and then set it ablaze near the separation fence.