Tag: Israel

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What was Hamas Thinking?

Israel has a right to exist and to defend itself. Last week Hamas terrorists crossed the line into evil. They did it with the intent to provoke a response. At this point, eight days after the the terror attack, it is still impossible to determine what the response will be. Hopefully the perpetrators of the attack will be punished and the people who trained, planned and motivated them will be brought to justice. It would be good if all this could be done with the least possible bloodshed among the innocent.

“We will only have peace with the Arabs when they love their children more than they hate us”.

Golda Meir

I’m glad I waited a week before I wrote my first post about this horror. Earlier I just wanted revenge, now I want the unconditional surrender of Hamas without too many civilian casualties. It may not be possible but it has to be tried.

The photo is the beautiful ocean front of Tel Aviv.

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Shabbat Shalom

“It is not that Israel has kept the Sabbath; the Sabbath has kept Israel.”

Ahad Ha’am

A view in the door of the Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island. It is the oldest synagogue building in the United States. The oldest congregation is in NYC and the oldest continuously operating synagogue is in Charleston. So many superlatives, so little time.

Anyway the Touro Synagogue has a wonderful story and is an architectural gem.

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WWIT Episode 2 Israel

What Was I Thinking About Israel

Nowadays most of our politics is about what outrage President Trump has perpetrated this week. The national press has shown itself to be extremely biased against the president. Even the pictures they run of him are the least attractive they can find. But it is what it is.

This week the President in his slightly inarticulate and extremely exaggerated fashion said that Jewish Americans were being “disloyal” if they voted for Democrats. The media went into overload. “Trump is a secret anti-Semite.” was the general tenor of the coverage. The background was that two Muslim Democrat Congresswomen wanted to go to Palestine and get publicity. Israel decided not to issue them visas. Trump supported Israel. Who is the anti-Semite here?

I am not a fan of President Trump. But that does not mean that he is wrong on every issue. Even when he states it in an inarticulate fashion. It reminds me of President Obama’s remark to Joe the Plumber: “You didn’t build this.” Instead of  parsing every word they utter, watch what they do over the long run. On Israel I think Trump is mostly right. On immigration and trade he has points but he is mostly wrong.

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Book Review: Let There Be Water

Let There Be Water

By Seth M. Siegel

Because I have lived for the last fifty plus years in places where there isn’t enough water I read a lot of books about water. Some are better than others. This book tells the stories of how Israel went from being a country with chronic water problems to being a net exporter of water. It tells the stories well. There are many stories because complex problems always have complex solutions. Continue reading “Book Review: Let There Be Water”

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The Holy Land Casino, Las Vegas

This is a republish of a post I made in 2007. It is still a good joke but is now even less likely to be done. Although in this age of Donald Trump maybe the impossible is possible.

by Simon on December 31, 2007 edit

Las Vegas has Paris, New York, New York The Venetian and Caesars Palace.

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The next big resort has to be The Holy Land Casino, Spa and Resort.

It could have the Dome of the Rock Arena, The Western Wall Casino and the Dead Sea Spa. You can have Falafel and Bagels at the Bethlehem Breakfast Buffet, walk on water at the Sea of Galilee Aquatic Center and don’t miss the nightly Jericho City Walls Light Show. Plenty of shopping on Ben Yehuda Street, in the Arab Souk and in the Tel Aviv Mall. The awe inspiring Stations of the Cross would be along one side of the front lobby which would also diplomatically display a reproduction of the spot where Mohammad ascended and an artists re-creation of the Second Temple. All the architectural details will of course be finished in Jerusalem Limestone.

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It will not be possible to make everything perfectly harmonious with the tenets of all three religions for whom the Holy land is sacred. For instance gambling, drinking and alluring women will be not only be allowed they will be encouraged. Expressly forbidden at the The Holy Land Casino, Spa and Resort will be: the expulsion of money changers, throwing Christians to lions, and of course weapons and checkpoints.

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The Holy Land Casino, Spa and Resort another brilliant idea from simonburrow.com/. Thanks to Alan, Sandy and Nurit for helping to create of this idea. We have the ideas you do the work to develop them.

Photos courtesy of Vegas.com.

 

 

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Roosevelt and Israel

Would Israel exist if the United States had let in a million mostly Jewish refugees in the 1930’s and 1940’s?

Almost certainly not. Israel came to be because of the intense need for a place of safety for the Jews of Europe. There was nowhere to go so we created one. If Franklin Roosevelt had been less of an anti-Semite than his contemporaries and used his pen to admit a million refugees then the need for Israel would have been much lower. The anti-Semites in the Middle East the US Department of State and Whitehall would have probably been able to stop Israel’s emergence as a nation.