JEWISH KING JESUS IS COMING AT THE RAPTURE FOR US IN THE CLOUDS-DON'T MISS IT FOR THE WORLD.THE BIBLE TAKEN LITERALLY- WHEN THE PLAIN SENSE MAKES GOOD SENSE-SEEK NO OTHER SENSE-LEST YOU END UP IN NONSENSE.GET SAVED NOW- CALL ON JESUS TODAY.THE ONLY SAVIOR OF THE WHOLE EARTH - NO OTHER. 1 COR 15:23-JESUS THE FIRST FRUITS-CHRISTIANS RAPTURED TO JESUS-FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT-23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.ROMANS 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.(THE PRE-TRIB RAPTURE)
LUKE 21:28-29
28 And when these things begin to come to pass,(ALL THE PROPHECY SIGNS FROM THE BIBLE) then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption (RAPTURE) draweth nigh.
29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree,(ISRAEL) and all the trees;(ALL INDEPENDENT COUNTRIES)
30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.(ISRAEL LITERALLY BECAME AND INDEPENDENT COUNTRY JUST BEFORE SUMMER IN MAY 14,1948.)
JOEL 2:3,30
3 A fire devoureth (ATOMIC BOMB) before them;(RUSSIAN-ARAB-MUSLIM ARMIES AGAINST ISRAEL) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(ATOMIC BOMB AFFECT)
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their eyes shall consume away in their holes,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB)(BECAUSE NUKES HAVE BEEN USED ON ISRAELS ENEMIES)(GOD PROTECTS ISRAEL AND ALWAYS WILL)
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN WW3)(THIS IS AN ATOMIC BOMB EFFECT)
EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.
ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven;(FROM ATOMIC BOMBS) and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND IN THE FUTURE
CHINA SAYS FIRM RESPONSE JAPAN ON SOUTH CHINA SEA
http://ift.tt/2mVd0da
Ahead of sit-down with US envoy, PM promises new settlement-Cabinet members applaud as PM recommits to resettling Amona evacuees, says he’ll negotiate with US envoy on West Bank construction-By Raphael Ahren March 16, 2017, 12:50 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Thursday morning to fulfill his promise to establish a new settlement for settlers evacuated from the illegal Amona outpost last month.Hours before he was set to meet for a second time this week with US President Donald Trump’s special envoy for international negotiations, Jason Greenblatt, he also reiterated his pledge to reach an agreement with Washington on the expansion of settlements in the West Bank.“We’re in the middle of a process of dialogue with the White House and it is our intention to get to an agreed-upon policy on construction in the settlements,” Netanyahu said at the weekly cabinet meeting. He noted that it was preferable to reach such understandings quickly rather than engaging in drawn-out negotiations.“To the residents of Amona I say again: I made a commitment to you to establish a new community and I stand by this commitment,” Netanyahu declared.In response, Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz asked Netanyahu if it he could applaud. Seconds later, he and other right-leaning ministers started clapping their hands in approval. Education Minister Naftali Bennett, the leader of the pro-settlement Jewish Home party, then said that he had never been worried about Netanyahu reneging on his promise.Last month, Netanyahu, after a meeting with Trump in Washington, reportedly told members of his security cabinet that the government may have to back off its pledge to build the new settlement, drawing vociferous protests from the settlers and their allies in the coalition.In early February, the West Bank outpost of Amona was forcibly evacuated by Israeli security after the courts ruled that it had been built illegally on private Palestinian land. Netanyahu, in response, promised to compensate Amona’s evicted residents with the creation of a new settlement. In exchange, the residents committed to a peaceful evacuation.Netanyahu has reportedly been seeking approval from Greenblatt to build the new settlement, which would be the first entirely new state-sanctioned town to be built in the West Bank in more than 20 years.On Monday, Greenblatt held a first meeting with Netanyahu in Jerusalem. During the five-hour meeting, Netanyahu raised Jerusalem’s intention to establish a new settlement to compensate the evicted settlers from Amona, a source close to Netanyahu said.The two also discussed opportunities for advancing peace between Israel and its neighbors, and tried to formulate a coordinated approach for the two leaderships on the issue of settlements.“The Prime Minister and Mr. Greenblatt continued discussions relating to settlement construction in the hope of working out an approach that is consistent with the goal of advancing peace and security,” according to a joint statement released after the meeting.On Wednesday, Netanyahu said his talk with Greenblatt had been substantive but that no agreement was reached on the thorny issue of settlements. “I cannot tell you that we finished,” he said. “We agreed, we are in a process, but a process of genuine mutual, very frank dialogue, in the good sense of the word. Very open and very frank, just not open to the press. You will need to wait a little, I do not think for long.”Greenblatt has been shuttling between Jerusalem and Ramallah for the past few days, meeting with Netanyahu, President Reuven Rivlin, opposition leader Isaac Herzog and the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, as well as with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.On Wednesday Greenblatt made an unannounced trip to Jordan to meet with King Abdullah II in his palace in Amman. A joint statement later described the meeting as “very positive” and said the US envoy and his Jordanian host “both stressed the importance of peace between Israelis and Palestinians and the transformative effect it could have on the region.”Readout of meeting between HM King Abdullah II and Special Rep for Intl Negotiations @jdgreenblatt45. @USCGJerusalem @usembassyta http://pic.twitter.com/s9b5gGDiR3— U.S. Embassy Jordan (@USEmbassyJordan) March 16, 2017-According to Jordan’s official Petra news agency, the king stressed the importance of the US to breaking the peace process deadlock.Greenblatt also visited Yeshivat Hakotel, a Jewish Talmudic seminary in Jerusalem’s Old City.Earlier on Wednesday, he met Palestinian youth leaders in the Jalazoun refugee camp near Ramallah “to understand their daily experiences,” as he wrote on his Twitter account. He also met with senior PA security officials and visited recruits at a Jericho training center to review “our joint work to build their capacity to fight terrorism and provide security that benefits both Palestinians and Israelis.”Back in the White House, Trump “expressed his strong desire to achieve a comprehensive, just, and lasting settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to continue the two countries’ consultations to help reach solutions for regional issues,” according to a statement released after Trump’s meeting Wednesday with Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.Greenblatt’s trip is part of an opening attempt to try and broker fresh peace talks after years of stagnation.His visit marks the first major attempt by the new US administration to address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, after two months that have seen officials dither on support for the two-state solution, the possible relocation of the US Embassy and opposition to building in settlements.
Israel fumes as UN board slams its ‘apartheid, racial domination’ over Palestinians-Jerusalem’s envoy urges UN chief to reject ‘biased and deceitful’ report by Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia-By Times of Israel staff March 15, 2017, 9:09 pm
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations slammed the UN’s Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) on Wednesday after the commission released a report accusing Israel of establishing “an apartheid regime that oppresses and dominates the Palestinian people as a whole.”The report, titled “Israeli Practices towards the Palestinian People and the Question of Apartheid,” says that “available evidence establishes beyond a reasonable doubt that Israel is guilty of policies and practices that constitute the crime of apartheid as legally defined in instruments of international law.”The Beirut-based commission slammed Israel’s Law of Return, “conferring on Jews worldwide the right to enter Israel and obtain Israeli citizenship regardless of their countries of origin and whether or not they can show links to Israel-Palestine, while withholding any comparable right from Palestinians, including those with documented ancestral homes in the country,” as a policy of “demographic engineering” meant to uphold Israel’s status as the Jewish state.The report further accuses Israel of “practices” that have fragmented Palestinians, arguing that it is the “principal method by which Israel imposes an apartheid regime.”“This fragmentation operates to stabilize the Israeli regime of racial domination over the Palestinians and to weaken the will and capacity of the Palestinian people to mount a unified and effective resistance,” the report reads.Danny Danon, Israel’s UN envoy, hit back at the report, saying the “attempt to smear and falsely label the only true democracy in the Middle East by creating a false analogy is despicable and constitutes a blatant lie.”“It comes as no surprise that an organization headed by an individual who has called for boycotts against Israel, and compared our democracy to the most terrible regimes of the twentieth century, would publish such a report. We call on the Secretary General to disassociate the UN from this biased and deceitful report,” he said in reference to ESCWA Executive Secretary Rima Khalaf, a Jordanian national.The report was compiled by Richard Falk, a Princeton professor emeritus with a long track record of vehemently anti-Israel rhetoric who previously was the UN’s Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Palestine, and by Virginia Tilley, an American political scientist who authored the book “The One-State Solution” in 2005.At a press conference accompanying the release of the report, Falk said the document and its findings “come after 50 years of frustrated diplomacy that failed to find a way to liberate the Palestinian people from oppression and denial of rights.”Tilley said “it has become entirely clear that we’re longer talking about risk of apartheid but practice of apartheid.”“There is an urgency for a response as Palestinians are currently suffering from this regime,” she said.
US demands UN pull report accusing Israel of apartheid-Envoy Nikki Haley says Washington outraged by publication; Sec-Gen Guterres distances self from it; Israel slams it as ‘despicable’-By Times of Israel staff and AFP March 15, 2017, 10:16 pm
The United States on Wednesday demanded that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres withdraw a report by a UN body accusing Israel of imposing apartheid on the Palestinians and of racially dominating them.Guterres distanced himself from the report by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) but US Ambassador Nikki Haley said it should be scrapped altogether.“The United States is outraged by the report,” said Haley in a statement. “The United Nations secretariat was right to distance itself from this report, but it must go further and withdraw the report altogether.”Based in Beirut, ESCWA is comprised of 18 Arab countries, according to its website, which lists the state of Palestine as a full member, and works to strengthen cooperation and promote development.“That such anti-Israel propaganda would come from a body whose membership nearly universally does not recognize Israel is unsurprising,” said Haley.Haley has accused the United Nations of being biased against Israel and has vowed as President Donald Trump’s envoy to staunchly defend Israel at the world body.UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said “the report as it stands does not reflect the views of the secretary-general” and was done without consultations with the UN secretariat.Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon earlier slammed the commission for releasing the report which accuses Israel of establishing “an apartheid regime that oppresses and dominates the Palestinian people as a whole.”Danon said the “attempt to smear and falsely label the only true democracy in the Middle East by creating a false analogy is despicable and constitutes a blatant lie.”“It comes as no surprise that an organization headed by an individual who has called for boycotts against Israel, and compared our democracy to the most terrible regimes of the twentieth century, would publish such a report. We call on the Secretary-General to disassociate the UN from this biased and deceitful report,” he said in reference to ESCWA Executive Secretary Rima Khalaf, a Jordanian national.The report published Wednesday, titled “Israeli Practices towards the Palestinian People and the Question of Apartheid,” says that “available evidence establishes beyond a reasonable doubt that Israel is guilty of policies and practices that constitute the crime of apartheid as legally defined in instruments of international law.”The Beirut-based commission slammed Israel’s Law of Return, “conferring on Jews worldwide the right to enter Israel and obtain Israeli citizenship regardless of their countries of origin and whether or not they can show links to Israel-Palestine, while withholding any comparable right from Palestinians, including those with documented ancestral homes in the country,” as a policy of “demographic engineering” meant to uphold Israel’s status as the Jewish state.The report further accuses Israel of “practices” that have fragmented Palestinians, arguing that it is the “principal method by which Israel imposes an apartheid regime.”“This fragmentation operates to stabilize the Israeli regime of racial domination over the Palestinians and to weaken the will and capacity of the Palestinian people to mount a unified and effective resistance,” the report reads.The report was compiled by Richard Falk, a Princeton professor emeritus with a long track record of vehemently anti-Israel rhetoric who previously was the UN’s Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Palestine, and by Virginia Tilley, an American political scientist who authored the book “The One-State Solution” in 2005.Haley described Falk as “a man who has repeatedly made biased and deeply offensive comments about Israel and espoused ridiculous conspiracy theories.”
IDF strikes two Hamas facilities after rocket fired from Gaza at Netivot-Projectile believed launched by Salafist group landed in an empty field late Wednesday-By Times of Israel staff March 16, 2017, 1:05 am
Israeli Air Force jets struck two Hamas installations in the north of the Gaza Strip early Thursday in response to the latest rocket fire from the territory at Israeli communities nearby, the army said.There were no immediate reports about damage or casualties from the Israeli strike.Less than two hours before the strike, a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip landed in an empty field in the Sdot Negev Regional Council near Netivot.The rocket exploded on impact. No one was hurt and no damage was reported from the explosion.The “code red” siren did not trigger, as the army’s sensors determined the rocket would not land near a populated area.Security forces combed the area.Initial assessments suggested that the rocket was not fired by Hamas, which rules Gaza, but by radical Salafist groups in the strip, according to Hebrew media reports citing military sources.A rocket was last fired at Israel from Gaza in late February, leading the IDF to launch air strikes against five Hamas installations in the territory.Israel holds Hamas responsible for all rocket fire and other attacks emanating from the territory.
Jordan rejects US demand to extradite woman convicted in Jerusalem bombing-Ahlam Tamimi was an accomplice in the 2001 Sbarro suicide attack; State Department wants to try her over death of 2 Americans in the blast-By Jacob Magid and JTA March 16, 2017, 11:13 am-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
Jordan rejected on Thursday morning a US demand for the extradition of a Palestinian woman convicted as an accomplice in the 2001 Jerusalem Sbarro suicide bombing, which killed 15 people including two Americans, Shoshana Greenbaum and Malka Roth.On Tuesday, the Justice Department unsealed the charge against Ahlam Aref Ahmad Al-Tamimi, who is in her mid-30s and and also is known as Khalti and Halati, for conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction against American citizens. The charge had been sealed since July 2013.The bombing also left 122 injured, including four Americans.In 2003, she pleaded guilty in an Israeli court to multiple counts of murder and was sentenced to life in prison, but was released and returned to Jordan in 2011 as part of the deal to free IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, for whom Israel exchanged 1,027 prisoners.Jordanian law forbids the extradition of its nationals.Ahlam Al-Tamimi, wanted for 2001 pizza restaurant attack in Jerusalem, named to #FBI Most Wanted Terrorists List: https://t.co/Xulbi3jQjH http://pic.twitter.com/9cuvAv4q1C— FBI Most Wanted (@FBIMostWanted) March 14, 2017-According to the US affidavit, Al-Tamimi traveled with the suicide bomber, led the bomber to a crowded area and provided instructions on how to detonate the weapon. She had agreed to carry out attacks on behalf of Hamas’ military wing, the affidavit said.The FBI said it had placed Al-Tamimi on its Most Wanted Terrorist List.Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security Mary McCord called Al-Tamimi “an unrepentant terrorist who admitted to her role in a deadly terrorist bombing that injured and killed numerous innocent victims.“The charges unsealed today serve as a reminder that when terrorists target Americans anywhere in the world, we will never forget — and we will continue to seek to ensure that they are held accountable,” McCord said in the statement.US Attorney Channing Phillips for the District of Columbia said the US had not forgotten the victims of the 2001 bombing.“We will continue to remain vigilant until Ahlam Aref Ahmad Al-Tamimi is brought to justice,” Phillips said.
For Jewish Feminists, New Set Of Minefields-‘Intersectionality’ moves beyond the quad.By Hannah Dreyfus March 15, 2017, 9:53 am-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
The intersection of Zionism, feminism and other progressive causes is so fraught these days that young Jewish women are reaching back to middle school math class for the proper metaphor to capture their dilemma.“It’s like a Venn diagram,” said Yael Reisman, 34, the director of outreach at a progressive Jewish women’s organization. “It’s harder and harder to find a place where the Zionist circle and the progressive circle overlap.”Reisman’s comments come as Jewish feminists of all stripes, who are also Israel supporters, find themselves increasingly caught in the crosshairs of a culture war that seeks to isolate them both on campus and far beyond the quad. The bind they are in is a delicate one: jettison the progressive movement altogether, based on its harsh Israel positions, and not have a seat at the table, or agree to disagree on Israel but preserve a much-needed voice in the debate on a whole range of issues.The new political volleys come in the wake of the controversial platform of last week’s International Women’s Strike, which called for the “decolonization of Palestine,” among other political goals. The Women’s Strike, or a “Day Without a Woman,” was intended to be the first major follow-up event to the Jan. 21 Women’s March on Washington, which attracted a record-breaking 500,000 participants and nearly 3 million worldwide.Jewish women participating in the March 8 Women’s March. Via The Jewish Week.For Jewish feminists — many of whom participated enthusiastically in the Women’s March — the March 8 strike’s decision to call for the liberation of Palestine in their official platform raised ambivalence, disappointment and questioning. (The platform includes the “decolonization of Palestine” as one of the seminal goals at the “beating heart of this new feminist movement.” “We want to dismantle all walls, from prison walls to border walls, from Mexico to Palestine,” it reads.)-Organizers of the Strike have not responded to requests for comment.Further complicating the issue was a letter published in The Guardian on Feb. 6 announcing the Women’s Strike; it was signed by Rasmea Yousef Odeh, a Palestinian woman convicted and sentenced by an Israeli military court in 1970 to life in prison for two bombing attacks, including one in 1969 that killed two Israelis and injured nine others. (She was released by Israel in a prisoner exchange as part of an exchange for an Israeli soldier.) The involvement of Odeh infuriated and dismayed many Jewish feminists.“Odeh’s participation is infuriating and appalling,” said Leah Sarna, 25, an Orthodox rabbinical student and passionate feminist. Despite observing the Sabbath, Sarna traveled to Washington, D.C., in January to participate in the Women’s March. “Now, I can’t participate in any part of the strike going forward.” She said that the Women’s Strike day platform, which “singled out Israel as the only example of colonization … smacks of anti-Semitism.Rasmea Yousef Odeh is a Palestinian woman and former United States citizen convicted by Israeli courts for her role in the murder of two Israelis. Courtesy of JTA.“If the only example of colonization you can come up with is Israel, you are out of your mind,” she said.Adding to the controversy, Linda Sarsour, a Palestinian-rights activist and BDS-supporter who was an organizer and featured speaker at the Women’s March, said in an interview this week that Zionism and feminism cannot coexist. “You either stand up for the rights of all women, including Palestinians, or none. There’s just no way around it,” she told The Nation in an article published on Monday. (In recent weeks, Sarsour helped spearhead a campaign titled “Muslims Unite to Repair Jewish Cemetery.” The fundraiser brought in $115,000 to the Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery in University City, Mo., which was vandalized last month.) Sarsour’s interview was prompted in large part by an article penned by Emily Shire, a journalist and editor living in New York who covers feminism and politics. Last week, Shire, 27, who grew up in a Conservative household in a New York suburb, wrote an op-ed for The New York Times about her conflicted Zionist and feminist identities. The article — headlined “Does Feminism Have Room for Zionists?” — was prompted by the controversial platform of the Women’s Strike and the involvement of Odeh.Speaking to The Jewish Week the day after her piece was published, Shire said the “outrage and negative comments” she received in response to the article were “unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before.“I received my first-ever comment from someone wishing I would die,” she said. Though she received significant positive feedback to the article as well — many praised her for being “brave” — on Twitter, insults were aggressively lobbed her way; in the span of a few hours, she was called a “racist,” a “white supremacist” and a “dixiecrat.”“Intersectionality sounds great in theory,” said Shire, who covers campus protests, among other things, where intersectional campus alliances are the topic du jour. Such alliances frequently leave Jewish students isolated. Groups that have no direct connection to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including LGBTQ groups and groups that work to prevent sexual assault, have refused to work with pro-Israel student groups in the past because of their stance. In one instance that garnered headlines in 2015, the Columbia University student advocacy group against sexual assault, No Red Tape, co-sponsored events connecting the experience of sexual assault survivors to that of Palestinians, and used its social media channels to promote anti-Zionist events.But intersectionality and the rigid ideological camps the practice creates have spread far beyond the campus green, said Shire. “It’s a problem when it starts to alienate people.”NCJW supporters and staff convene with fellow Jewish organizations on the National Mall for the Women’s March on Washington, January 21, 2017.Representatives from Jewish women’s organizations were more non-committal about how feminism’s recent embrace of Palestinian rights would affect their involvement moving forward.Nancy Kaufman, chief executive office of the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW), said that “while I truly hope women leading change doesn’t turn into a cover for Israel bashing … everyone is entitled to freedom of speech.” In terms of future participation, NCJW will “navigate as we go along.”“We will continue to have our voices be heard — we’re not going to tell anyone else that they can’t have their voices be heard,” she said.Kaufman pointed out that while Sarsour’s participation in the Women’s March raised some discomfort among Jewish participants, the event maintained a tenor of inclusivity. She also pointed out that the Women’s Strike platform decries anti-Semitism in the same paragraph that it singles out Palestine.“We understand that the organizers do not want Israel criticism to be associated with anti-Semitism,” she said.The involvement of Odeh made the line between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism particularly difficult to navigate, said Sharon Weiss-Greenberg, executive director of the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance (JOFA).“Linda Sarsour’s involvement pales in comparison to this,” she said, referring to Odeh’s involvement. “There is a spectrum, and we understand that not everyone is a lover of Israel. But when you have a convicted terrorist as part of the leadership, most are hard pressed to participate, no matter how much you support feminism.”The decision to add the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to the movement’s agenda is not only troubling, but also not strategic, added Weiss-Greenberg. “It hurts our case dramatically. We lost people who were on board with the feminist mission.”Seffi Kogen, 25, a Conservative Jew and feminist “thought leader” among his peers, said Odeh is the “precisely wrong person to be leading the charge on these issues.” (Kogen is also the assistant director of campus affairs at the American Jewish Committee, though he was not speaking in that capacity.)-“There is no easier way for supporters of Donald Trump to raise concerns about refugees and get behind travel bans and restrictions than to simply point to an actual terrorist and say ‘this is who is representing the left,’” he said. Odeh emigrated to the United States in 1995 and lied about her criminal record (she denied having one). She repeated the same falsehoods when applying for U.S. citizenship in 2004 and was arrested in 2013 for lying to the federal government. She served 18 months in prison. She is currently free on bail and awaiting trial.“It’s self-marginalization,” said Kogen. “Having a terrorist murderer as a face to this new feminist movement only adds ammo to those who already seek to marginalize feminists. This is bad for the progressive movement as a whole.”Jewish feminists participate in the March 8 Women’s March in New York. Courtesy of Caroline Harris.Reisman said she felt the same disappointment when the Black Lives Matter movement released a platform in August 2016 which accuses Israel of perpetrating “genocide” against the Palestinian people and describes Israel as an “apartheid state.” The movement’s polarizing platform blindsided many enthusiastic Jewish supporters, and gave ammunition to the already skeptical right wing.“I felt so strongly about the Black Lives Matter platform,” said Reisman, who described herself as an ally. She called the controversial platform a “bait-and-switch.” “I care deeply about racial equality in this country,” she said, “but there was no place in this movement left for me.”Still, others refused to back away from the new energy of the feminist movement, despite the controversy.“We can’t let others dictate whether or not we sit around the table,” said Rabbi Marla Feldman, executive director of Women of Reform Judaism. “We won’t let them push us out.”While collaborating with those who have different beliefs is always “a dance,” Rabbi Feldman said agreeing to disagree is essential. “We’ll disagree where we must, agree where we can, and continue working towards the common good.”Rabbi Iris Richman, a Conservative rabbi who runs a Facebook group for Jewish feminists, said that she intends to “stay involved at all levels.”“We need to be well-represented so that we continue to be heard,” said Richman, who helped a cohort of Sabbath-observant participants travel to Washington, D.C., for the Women’s March. “If we have the opportunity to get involved, our default has to be to get involved.”Focusing on the “big picture” is key, Richman said. “We need to accept allies who we don’t agree with on everything,” she said. “The focus needs to be on changing things and not wallowing in criticism of other groups. Effective organizing 101 is building alliances, something the Jewish community will need even more in years to come.”Lori Weinstein, the CEO of Jewish Women International (JWI), a leading women’s organization that seeks to empower women and girls by fighting sexual violence and domestic abuse, encouraged young feminists to see beyond the moment, despite the platform’s language.“My advice to any young woman – be brave and bold in your political commitments and your activism,” she wrote in an email, “You can certainly be both a feminist and an advocate for Israel – but if you don’t feel welcome or you feel marginalized or discredited because you are a Jewish woman, in whatever group, then encourage dialogue and conversation – and if that doesn’t work, step away. There is too much work to do and too little time.”
28 And when these things begin to come to pass,(ALL THE PROPHECY SIGNS FROM THE BIBLE) then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption (RAPTURE) draweth nigh.
29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree,(ISRAEL) and all the trees;(ALL INDEPENDENT COUNTRIES)
30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.(ISRAEL LITERALLY BECAME AND INDEPENDENT COUNTRY JUST BEFORE SUMMER IN MAY 14,1948.)
JOEL 2:3,30
3 A fire devoureth (ATOMIC BOMB) before them;(RUSSIAN-ARAB-MUSLIM ARMIES AGAINST ISRAEL) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(ATOMIC BOMB AFFECT)
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their eyes shall consume away in their holes,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB)(BECAUSE NUKES HAVE BEEN USED ON ISRAELS ENEMIES)(GOD PROTECTS ISRAEL AND ALWAYS WILL)
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN WW3)(THIS IS AN ATOMIC BOMB EFFECT)
EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.
ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven;(FROM ATOMIC BOMBS) and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND IN THE FUTURE
CHINA SAYS FIRM RESPONSE JAPAN ON SOUTH CHINA SEA
http://ift.tt/2mVd0da
Ahead of sit-down with US envoy, PM promises new settlement-Cabinet members applaud as PM recommits to resettling Amona evacuees, says he’ll negotiate with US envoy on West Bank construction-By Raphael Ahren March 16, 2017, 12:50 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Thursday morning to fulfill his promise to establish a new settlement for settlers evacuated from the illegal Amona outpost last month.Hours before he was set to meet for a second time this week with US President Donald Trump’s special envoy for international negotiations, Jason Greenblatt, he also reiterated his pledge to reach an agreement with Washington on the expansion of settlements in the West Bank.“We’re in the middle of a process of dialogue with the White House and it is our intention to get to an agreed-upon policy on construction in the settlements,” Netanyahu said at the weekly cabinet meeting. He noted that it was preferable to reach such understandings quickly rather than engaging in drawn-out negotiations.“To the residents of Amona I say again: I made a commitment to you to establish a new community and I stand by this commitment,” Netanyahu declared.In response, Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz asked Netanyahu if it he could applaud. Seconds later, he and other right-leaning ministers started clapping their hands in approval. Education Minister Naftali Bennett, the leader of the pro-settlement Jewish Home party, then said that he had never been worried about Netanyahu reneging on his promise.Last month, Netanyahu, after a meeting with Trump in Washington, reportedly told members of his security cabinet that the government may have to back off its pledge to build the new settlement, drawing vociferous protests from the settlers and their allies in the coalition.In early February, the West Bank outpost of Amona was forcibly evacuated by Israeli security after the courts ruled that it had been built illegally on private Palestinian land. Netanyahu, in response, promised to compensate Amona’s evicted residents with the creation of a new settlement. In exchange, the residents committed to a peaceful evacuation.Netanyahu has reportedly been seeking approval from Greenblatt to build the new settlement, which would be the first entirely new state-sanctioned town to be built in the West Bank in more than 20 years.On Monday, Greenblatt held a first meeting with Netanyahu in Jerusalem. During the five-hour meeting, Netanyahu raised Jerusalem’s intention to establish a new settlement to compensate the evicted settlers from Amona, a source close to Netanyahu said.The two also discussed opportunities for advancing peace between Israel and its neighbors, and tried to formulate a coordinated approach for the two leaderships on the issue of settlements.“The Prime Minister and Mr. Greenblatt continued discussions relating to settlement construction in the hope of working out an approach that is consistent with the goal of advancing peace and security,” according to a joint statement released after the meeting.On Wednesday, Netanyahu said his talk with Greenblatt had been substantive but that no agreement was reached on the thorny issue of settlements. “I cannot tell you that we finished,” he said. “We agreed, we are in a process, but a process of genuine mutual, very frank dialogue, in the good sense of the word. Very open and very frank, just not open to the press. You will need to wait a little, I do not think for long.”Greenblatt has been shuttling between Jerusalem and Ramallah for the past few days, meeting with Netanyahu, President Reuven Rivlin, opposition leader Isaac Herzog and the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, as well as with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.On Wednesday Greenblatt made an unannounced trip to Jordan to meet with King Abdullah II in his palace in Amman. A joint statement later described the meeting as “very positive” and said the US envoy and his Jordanian host “both stressed the importance of peace between Israelis and Palestinians and the transformative effect it could have on the region.”Readout of meeting between HM King Abdullah II and Special Rep for Intl Negotiations @jdgreenblatt45. @USCGJerusalem @usembassyta http://pic.twitter.com/s9b5gGDiR3— U.S. Embassy Jordan (@USEmbassyJordan) March 16, 2017-According to Jordan’s official Petra news agency, the king stressed the importance of the US to breaking the peace process deadlock.Greenblatt also visited Yeshivat Hakotel, a Jewish Talmudic seminary in Jerusalem’s Old City.Earlier on Wednesday, he met Palestinian youth leaders in the Jalazoun refugee camp near Ramallah “to understand their daily experiences,” as he wrote on his Twitter account. He also met with senior PA security officials and visited recruits at a Jericho training center to review “our joint work to build their capacity to fight terrorism and provide security that benefits both Palestinians and Israelis.”Back in the White House, Trump “expressed his strong desire to achieve a comprehensive, just, and lasting settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to continue the two countries’ consultations to help reach solutions for regional issues,” according to a statement released after Trump’s meeting Wednesday with Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.Greenblatt’s trip is part of an opening attempt to try and broker fresh peace talks after years of stagnation.His visit marks the first major attempt by the new US administration to address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, after two months that have seen officials dither on support for the two-state solution, the possible relocation of the US Embassy and opposition to building in settlements.
Israel fumes as UN board slams its ‘apartheid, racial domination’ over Palestinians-Jerusalem’s envoy urges UN chief to reject ‘biased and deceitful’ report by Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia-By Times of Israel staff March 15, 2017, 9:09 pm
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations slammed the UN’s Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) on Wednesday after the commission released a report accusing Israel of establishing “an apartheid regime that oppresses and dominates the Palestinian people as a whole.”The report, titled “Israeli Practices towards the Palestinian People and the Question of Apartheid,” says that “available evidence establishes beyond a reasonable doubt that Israel is guilty of policies and practices that constitute the crime of apartheid as legally defined in instruments of international law.”The Beirut-based commission slammed Israel’s Law of Return, “conferring on Jews worldwide the right to enter Israel and obtain Israeli citizenship regardless of their countries of origin and whether or not they can show links to Israel-Palestine, while withholding any comparable right from Palestinians, including those with documented ancestral homes in the country,” as a policy of “demographic engineering” meant to uphold Israel’s status as the Jewish state.The report further accuses Israel of “practices” that have fragmented Palestinians, arguing that it is the “principal method by which Israel imposes an apartheid regime.”“This fragmentation operates to stabilize the Israeli regime of racial domination over the Palestinians and to weaken the will and capacity of the Palestinian people to mount a unified and effective resistance,” the report reads.Danny Danon, Israel’s UN envoy, hit back at the report, saying the “attempt to smear and falsely label the only true democracy in the Middle East by creating a false analogy is despicable and constitutes a blatant lie.”“It comes as no surprise that an organization headed by an individual who has called for boycotts against Israel, and compared our democracy to the most terrible regimes of the twentieth century, would publish such a report. We call on the Secretary General to disassociate the UN from this biased and deceitful report,” he said in reference to ESCWA Executive Secretary Rima Khalaf, a Jordanian national.The report was compiled by Richard Falk, a Princeton professor emeritus with a long track record of vehemently anti-Israel rhetoric who previously was the UN’s Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Palestine, and by Virginia Tilley, an American political scientist who authored the book “The One-State Solution” in 2005.At a press conference accompanying the release of the report, Falk said the document and its findings “come after 50 years of frustrated diplomacy that failed to find a way to liberate the Palestinian people from oppression and denial of rights.”Tilley said “it has become entirely clear that we’re longer talking about risk of apartheid but practice of apartheid.”“There is an urgency for a response as Palestinians are currently suffering from this regime,” she said.
US demands UN pull report accusing Israel of apartheid-Envoy Nikki Haley says Washington outraged by publication; Sec-Gen Guterres distances self from it; Israel slams it as ‘despicable’-By Times of Israel staff and AFP March 15, 2017, 10:16 pm
The United States on Wednesday demanded that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres withdraw a report by a UN body accusing Israel of imposing apartheid on the Palestinians and of racially dominating them.Guterres distanced himself from the report by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) but US Ambassador Nikki Haley said it should be scrapped altogether.“The United States is outraged by the report,” said Haley in a statement. “The United Nations secretariat was right to distance itself from this report, but it must go further and withdraw the report altogether.”Based in Beirut, ESCWA is comprised of 18 Arab countries, according to its website, which lists the state of Palestine as a full member, and works to strengthen cooperation and promote development.“That such anti-Israel propaganda would come from a body whose membership nearly universally does not recognize Israel is unsurprising,” said Haley.Haley has accused the United Nations of being biased against Israel and has vowed as President Donald Trump’s envoy to staunchly defend Israel at the world body.UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said “the report as it stands does not reflect the views of the secretary-general” and was done without consultations with the UN secretariat.Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon earlier slammed the commission for releasing the report which accuses Israel of establishing “an apartheid regime that oppresses and dominates the Palestinian people as a whole.”Danon said the “attempt to smear and falsely label the only true democracy in the Middle East by creating a false analogy is despicable and constitutes a blatant lie.”“It comes as no surprise that an organization headed by an individual who has called for boycotts against Israel, and compared our democracy to the most terrible regimes of the twentieth century, would publish such a report. We call on the Secretary-General to disassociate the UN from this biased and deceitful report,” he said in reference to ESCWA Executive Secretary Rima Khalaf, a Jordanian national.The report published Wednesday, titled “Israeli Practices towards the Palestinian People and the Question of Apartheid,” says that “available evidence establishes beyond a reasonable doubt that Israel is guilty of policies and practices that constitute the crime of apartheid as legally defined in instruments of international law.”The Beirut-based commission slammed Israel’s Law of Return, “conferring on Jews worldwide the right to enter Israel and obtain Israeli citizenship regardless of their countries of origin and whether or not they can show links to Israel-Palestine, while withholding any comparable right from Palestinians, including those with documented ancestral homes in the country,” as a policy of “demographic engineering” meant to uphold Israel’s status as the Jewish state.The report further accuses Israel of “practices” that have fragmented Palestinians, arguing that it is the “principal method by which Israel imposes an apartheid regime.”“This fragmentation operates to stabilize the Israeli regime of racial domination over the Palestinians and to weaken the will and capacity of the Palestinian people to mount a unified and effective resistance,” the report reads.The report was compiled by Richard Falk, a Princeton professor emeritus with a long track record of vehemently anti-Israel rhetoric who previously was the UN’s Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Palestine, and by Virginia Tilley, an American political scientist who authored the book “The One-State Solution” in 2005.Haley described Falk as “a man who has repeatedly made biased and deeply offensive comments about Israel and espoused ridiculous conspiracy theories.”
IDF strikes two Hamas facilities after rocket fired from Gaza at Netivot-Projectile believed launched by Salafist group landed in an empty field late Wednesday-By Times of Israel staff March 16, 2017, 1:05 am
Israeli Air Force jets struck two Hamas installations in the north of the Gaza Strip early Thursday in response to the latest rocket fire from the territory at Israeli communities nearby, the army said.There were no immediate reports about damage or casualties from the Israeli strike.Less than two hours before the strike, a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip landed in an empty field in the Sdot Negev Regional Council near Netivot.The rocket exploded on impact. No one was hurt and no damage was reported from the explosion.The “code red” siren did not trigger, as the army’s sensors determined the rocket would not land near a populated area.Security forces combed the area.Initial assessments suggested that the rocket was not fired by Hamas, which rules Gaza, but by radical Salafist groups in the strip, according to Hebrew media reports citing military sources.A rocket was last fired at Israel from Gaza in late February, leading the IDF to launch air strikes against five Hamas installations in the territory.Israel holds Hamas responsible for all rocket fire and other attacks emanating from the territory.
Jordan rejects US demand to extradite woman convicted in Jerusalem bombing-Ahlam Tamimi was an accomplice in the 2001 Sbarro suicide attack; State Department wants to try her over death of 2 Americans in the blast-By Jacob Magid and JTA March 16, 2017, 11:13 am-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
Jordan rejected on Thursday morning a US demand for the extradition of a Palestinian woman convicted as an accomplice in the 2001 Jerusalem Sbarro suicide bombing, which killed 15 people including two Americans, Shoshana Greenbaum and Malka Roth.On Tuesday, the Justice Department unsealed the charge against Ahlam Aref Ahmad Al-Tamimi, who is in her mid-30s and and also is known as Khalti and Halati, for conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction against American citizens. The charge had been sealed since July 2013.The bombing also left 122 injured, including four Americans.In 2003, she pleaded guilty in an Israeli court to multiple counts of murder and was sentenced to life in prison, but was released and returned to Jordan in 2011 as part of the deal to free IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, for whom Israel exchanged 1,027 prisoners.Jordanian law forbids the extradition of its nationals.Ahlam Al-Tamimi, wanted for 2001 pizza restaurant attack in Jerusalem, named to #FBI Most Wanted Terrorists List: https://t.co/Xulbi3jQjH http://pic.twitter.com/9cuvAv4q1C— FBI Most Wanted (@FBIMostWanted) March 14, 2017-According to the US affidavit, Al-Tamimi traveled with the suicide bomber, led the bomber to a crowded area and provided instructions on how to detonate the weapon. She had agreed to carry out attacks on behalf of Hamas’ military wing, the affidavit said.The FBI said it had placed Al-Tamimi on its Most Wanted Terrorist List.Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security Mary McCord called Al-Tamimi “an unrepentant terrorist who admitted to her role in a deadly terrorist bombing that injured and killed numerous innocent victims.“The charges unsealed today serve as a reminder that when terrorists target Americans anywhere in the world, we will never forget — and we will continue to seek to ensure that they are held accountable,” McCord said in the statement.US Attorney Channing Phillips for the District of Columbia said the US had not forgotten the victims of the 2001 bombing.“We will continue to remain vigilant until Ahlam Aref Ahmad Al-Tamimi is brought to justice,” Phillips said.
For Jewish Feminists, New Set Of Minefields-‘Intersectionality’ moves beyond the quad.By Hannah Dreyfus March 15, 2017, 9:53 am-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
The intersection of Zionism, feminism and other progressive causes is so fraught these days that young Jewish women are reaching back to middle school math class for the proper metaphor to capture their dilemma.“It’s like a Venn diagram,” said Yael Reisman, 34, the director of outreach at a progressive Jewish women’s organization. “It’s harder and harder to find a place where the Zionist circle and the progressive circle overlap.”Reisman’s comments come as Jewish feminists of all stripes, who are also Israel supporters, find themselves increasingly caught in the crosshairs of a culture war that seeks to isolate them both on campus and far beyond the quad. The bind they are in is a delicate one: jettison the progressive movement altogether, based on its harsh Israel positions, and not have a seat at the table, or agree to disagree on Israel but preserve a much-needed voice in the debate on a whole range of issues.The new political volleys come in the wake of the controversial platform of last week’s International Women’s Strike, which called for the “decolonization of Palestine,” among other political goals. The Women’s Strike, or a “Day Without a Woman,” was intended to be the first major follow-up event to the Jan. 21 Women’s March on Washington, which attracted a record-breaking 500,000 participants and nearly 3 million worldwide.Jewish women participating in the March 8 Women’s March. Via The Jewish Week.For Jewish feminists — many of whom participated enthusiastically in the Women’s March — the March 8 strike’s decision to call for the liberation of Palestine in their official platform raised ambivalence, disappointment and questioning. (The platform includes the “decolonization of Palestine” as one of the seminal goals at the “beating heart of this new feminist movement.” “We want to dismantle all walls, from prison walls to border walls, from Mexico to Palestine,” it reads.)-Organizers of the Strike have not responded to requests for comment.Further complicating the issue was a letter published in The Guardian on Feb. 6 announcing the Women’s Strike; it was signed by Rasmea Yousef Odeh, a Palestinian woman convicted and sentenced by an Israeli military court in 1970 to life in prison for two bombing attacks, including one in 1969 that killed two Israelis and injured nine others. (She was released by Israel in a prisoner exchange as part of an exchange for an Israeli soldier.) The involvement of Odeh infuriated and dismayed many Jewish feminists.“Odeh’s participation is infuriating and appalling,” said Leah Sarna, 25, an Orthodox rabbinical student and passionate feminist. Despite observing the Sabbath, Sarna traveled to Washington, D.C., in January to participate in the Women’s March. “Now, I can’t participate in any part of the strike going forward.” She said that the Women’s Strike day platform, which “singled out Israel as the only example of colonization … smacks of anti-Semitism.Rasmea Yousef Odeh is a Palestinian woman and former United States citizen convicted by Israeli courts for her role in the murder of two Israelis. Courtesy of JTA.“If the only example of colonization you can come up with is Israel, you are out of your mind,” she said.Adding to the controversy, Linda Sarsour, a Palestinian-rights activist and BDS-supporter who was an organizer and featured speaker at the Women’s March, said in an interview this week that Zionism and feminism cannot coexist. “You either stand up for the rights of all women, including Palestinians, or none. There’s just no way around it,” she told The Nation in an article published on Monday. (In recent weeks, Sarsour helped spearhead a campaign titled “Muslims Unite to Repair Jewish Cemetery.” The fundraiser brought in $115,000 to the Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery in University City, Mo., which was vandalized last month.) Sarsour’s interview was prompted in large part by an article penned by Emily Shire, a journalist and editor living in New York who covers feminism and politics. Last week, Shire, 27, who grew up in a Conservative household in a New York suburb, wrote an op-ed for The New York Times about her conflicted Zionist and feminist identities. The article — headlined “Does Feminism Have Room for Zionists?” — was prompted by the controversial platform of the Women’s Strike and the involvement of Odeh.Speaking to The Jewish Week the day after her piece was published, Shire said the “outrage and negative comments” she received in response to the article were “unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before.“I received my first-ever comment from someone wishing I would die,” she said. Though she received significant positive feedback to the article as well — many praised her for being “brave” — on Twitter, insults were aggressively lobbed her way; in the span of a few hours, she was called a “racist,” a “white supremacist” and a “dixiecrat.”“Intersectionality sounds great in theory,” said Shire, who covers campus protests, among other things, where intersectional campus alliances are the topic du jour. Such alliances frequently leave Jewish students isolated. Groups that have no direct connection to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including LGBTQ groups and groups that work to prevent sexual assault, have refused to work with pro-Israel student groups in the past because of their stance. In one instance that garnered headlines in 2015, the Columbia University student advocacy group against sexual assault, No Red Tape, co-sponsored events connecting the experience of sexual assault survivors to that of Palestinians, and used its social media channels to promote anti-Zionist events.But intersectionality and the rigid ideological camps the practice creates have spread far beyond the campus green, said Shire. “It’s a problem when it starts to alienate people.”NCJW supporters and staff convene with fellow Jewish organizations on the National Mall for the Women’s March on Washington, January 21, 2017.Representatives from Jewish women’s organizations were more non-committal about how feminism’s recent embrace of Palestinian rights would affect their involvement moving forward.Nancy Kaufman, chief executive office of the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW), said that “while I truly hope women leading change doesn’t turn into a cover for Israel bashing … everyone is entitled to freedom of speech.” In terms of future participation, NCJW will “navigate as we go along.”“We will continue to have our voices be heard — we’re not going to tell anyone else that they can’t have their voices be heard,” she said.Kaufman pointed out that while Sarsour’s participation in the Women’s March raised some discomfort among Jewish participants, the event maintained a tenor of inclusivity. She also pointed out that the Women’s Strike platform decries anti-Semitism in the same paragraph that it singles out Palestine.“We understand that the organizers do not want Israel criticism to be associated with anti-Semitism,” she said.The involvement of Odeh made the line between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism particularly difficult to navigate, said Sharon Weiss-Greenberg, executive director of the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance (JOFA).“Linda Sarsour’s involvement pales in comparison to this,” she said, referring to Odeh’s involvement. “There is a spectrum, and we understand that not everyone is a lover of Israel. But when you have a convicted terrorist as part of the leadership, most are hard pressed to participate, no matter how much you support feminism.”The decision to add the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to the movement’s agenda is not only troubling, but also not strategic, added Weiss-Greenberg. “It hurts our case dramatically. We lost people who were on board with the feminist mission.”Seffi Kogen, 25, a Conservative Jew and feminist “thought leader” among his peers, said Odeh is the “precisely wrong person to be leading the charge on these issues.” (Kogen is also the assistant director of campus affairs at the American Jewish Committee, though he was not speaking in that capacity.)-“There is no easier way for supporters of Donald Trump to raise concerns about refugees and get behind travel bans and restrictions than to simply point to an actual terrorist and say ‘this is who is representing the left,’” he said. Odeh emigrated to the United States in 1995 and lied about her criminal record (she denied having one). She repeated the same falsehoods when applying for U.S. citizenship in 2004 and was arrested in 2013 for lying to the federal government. She served 18 months in prison. She is currently free on bail and awaiting trial.“It’s self-marginalization,” said Kogen. “Having a terrorist murderer as a face to this new feminist movement only adds ammo to those who already seek to marginalize feminists. This is bad for the progressive movement as a whole.”Jewish feminists participate in the March 8 Women’s March in New York. Courtesy of Caroline Harris.Reisman said she felt the same disappointment when the Black Lives Matter movement released a platform in August 2016 which accuses Israel of perpetrating “genocide” against the Palestinian people and describes Israel as an “apartheid state.” The movement’s polarizing platform blindsided many enthusiastic Jewish supporters, and gave ammunition to the already skeptical right wing.“I felt so strongly about the Black Lives Matter platform,” said Reisman, who described herself as an ally. She called the controversial platform a “bait-and-switch.” “I care deeply about racial equality in this country,” she said, “but there was no place in this movement left for me.”Still, others refused to back away from the new energy of the feminist movement, despite the controversy.“We can’t let others dictate whether or not we sit around the table,” said Rabbi Marla Feldman, executive director of Women of Reform Judaism. “We won’t let them push us out.”While collaborating with those who have different beliefs is always “a dance,” Rabbi Feldman said agreeing to disagree is essential. “We’ll disagree where we must, agree where we can, and continue working towards the common good.”Rabbi Iris Richman, a Conservative rabbi who runs a Facebook group for Jewish feminists, said that she intends to “stay involved at all levels.”“We need to be well-represented so that we continue to be heard,” said Richman, who helped a cohort of Sabbath-observant participants travel to Washington, D.C., for the Women’s March. “If we have the opportunity to get involved, our default has to be to get involved.”Focusing on the “big picture” is key, Richman said. “We need to accept allies who we don’t agree with on everything,” she said. “The focus needs to be on changing things and not wallowing in criticism of other groups. Effective organizing 101 is building alliances, something the Jewish community will need even more in years to come.”Lori Weinstein, the CEO of Jewish Women International (JWI), a leading women’s organization that seeks to empower women and girls by fighting sexual violence and domestic abuse, encouraged young feminists to see beyond the moment, despite the platform’s language.“My advice to any young woman – be brave and bold in your political commitments and your activism,” she wrote in an email, “You can certainly be both a feminist and an advocate for Israel – but if you don’t feel welcome or you feel marginalized or discredited because you are a Jewish woman, in whatever group, then encourage dialogue and conversation – and if that doesn’t work, step away. There is too much work to do and too little time.”
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