Stand With Us' Festival of Lights - Israel U.N. Amb Dan Gillerman offers insights from 6-years inside the U.N.

Addressing an annual, Israel-supportive, Stand With Us, "Festival of Lights" Dinner audience, Ambassador Dan Gillerman, Israel's outgoing Ambassador to the U.N. looks backward and forward upon stepping-down from having represented the Jewish State at the U.N. for the past 6-years.

Amb. Gillerman professes optimism that the threats from imperialist Iran might motivate the Arab world to unite with Israel.  He declares that Islamic militantism is as great a threat to moderate Muslims as it is to the general public - yet the Muslim world is not adequately routing-out militantism from its midst - to everyone's peril.

"Will Arabs ally with Israel to thwart Islamist imperialist Iran?" Israeli UN Amb. Dan Gillerman asks Stand with Us.

Stand With Us' annual Chanukah-time dinner, the "Festival of Lights," is a gathering for the Los Angeles, pro-Israel advocacy community.

New Israeli group, "the18," seeks support in fighting "Two-State Solution"

Here’s a powerful new video produced by a group named The 18, formed to oppose the “two-state solution” that Barack Obama and his advisers plan to force on Israel. (Hat-tip LGF)

We look to the hero of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising for inspiration. In April 1943, a young Jew named Mordechai Anielewicz showed that a fearless handful of committed men and women can make a rebellion and he forever laid to rest the myth of the passive Jew.
the18 will challenge every aspect of the 2-state solution.
the18 will be organized as a 21st century political campaign.
the18 will operate strategically, intelligently, and relentlessly.
the18 will join the fight on a worldwide basis.

If two-state is frighteningly near its tipping point, what does this mean for those of us who reject a two-state solution? What are the consequences for those of us who carry a Zionist vision of a Jewish homeland from the river to the sea? How does this affect those who advocate a return from exile, the unification of Jerusalem, restoration of the Temple, and await Moshiach?

Well, it means turn out the lights, the party’s over.

Once two-state is tipped over into ir-reversibility, the deluge will leave Judea and Samaria bulldozed flat as surely as disengagement flattened Gush Katif; a divided Jerusalem a fait accompli; an internationalized Jerusalem a possibility; the Temple Mount in the possession of the Waqf in perpetuity; and the image of a bifurcated, ethnically neutral Israel looming on the horizon. Peace Now will be driving the bus.

And we must always factor in Arab propaganda. Holocaust denial has been joined by "Temple denial" as part of the ongoing Arab strategy to delegitimize Jewish claims to holy sites and to Jerusalem itself.

Naomi Ragen wrote recently that she feels, “helpless to stop this juggernaut towards disaster.” Yes, ma'am. I know how you feel

Is there anything we can do? Maybe.

To give ourselves a chance, a long shot maybe, but a chance, we must first recognize that the front line for the Israeli Right is two-state.

All other issues are a diversion. No matter how drawn we are to other battlegrounds we must steel ourselves to the reality that all else must be secondary to fighting two-state.

If we lose the two-state battle – and we are badly overmatched, out-gunned and out-manned – we lose the whole game. The fight must be joined on the issue of two-state. Period. We cannot let our attention wander or our resources be diverted to other fronts.

'G-d withdrew his angels from India to atone for our failing to live His ways' - religious Zionist doctor at Chabad memorial

At the Chabad (West Coast) memorial for Mumbai emissaries Rabbi Gavi & Rivka Holtzberg (slain in the sanctification of the G-d of Israel (Kiddush Hashem)), this Swiss immigrant to Israel asserts that the couple was martyred to atone for our sins of failing to behave in godly ways.

The Muslim atrocities to destroy the G-d of Israel were sadistic. Indian and Israeli pathologists confirmed that the Jews were tortured by their Muslim captors before being bound together and killed in cold blood.

DEBKAfile adds: Israelis were the largest group of foreigners murdered by the Islamist terrorists. The single captured gunman confirmed they had been specifically targeted.

Laid to rest Tuesday, Dec. 2 in state ceremonies were Norma Schwartzblatt-Rabinovitz, 50, from Mexico, who was due to immigrate to Israel and two of whose children already live there; the center's director Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, 29, and his wife Rivka, 26; Ms Yocheved Harpaz, 59, mother of four from Givatayim; Bentzion Chroman, 28, father of three, who held dual US-Israeli citizenship, and Leibisch Teitelbaum, father of 8, an American from Brooklyn.

Rivka Holtzberg was six months pregnant. Her two-year old child, Moshe Holtzberg, was saved by his Indian nanny who fled the building with him in her arms. He was found later to be covered in bruises from a beating.

Pro-Israel social activist found dead in suspicious circumstances at San Francisco's Pacific Arabic Resources' offices

A memorial service is being held for a prominent San Francisco physician who was found dead inside the elevator shaft of the Arabic-language night-school he attended.

Dr. Daniel Kliman, 38, was believed to have fallen down the elevator shaft on Tuesday evening 11/25/08, on the same day as the Mumbai terror attacks. The memorial service will be held on Sunday, Dec 14, at 7:30 pm at the Beth Jacob Congregation, 3778 Park Blvd., Oakland.

There were no classes the week of 25 November. There were very few people in the building at the time. The defective elevator was "secure". It is still unclear how this happened. The S.F. Gate reports:

Brad Bernheim, the building manager, said the elevator was not working last week and had been secured so that no one could enter it. Workers showed up Monday to repair the elevator and discovered the body.

Last Tuesday, a surveillance camera recorded Kliman waiting for the elevator in the lobby. It wasn't clear, however, how he ended up in the elevator shaft or whether he fell from that floor or higher, Bernheim said.
He said the victim was a student at the Pacific Arabic Resources School on the seventh floor of the building. He said there were no classes last week.

"I don't know why he was there. That's what we're investigating, how he got down there," Bernheim said. "Yeah, it's strange. You don't normally find bodies in the elevator shafts."

Kliman was scheduled to fly to Israel on Thanksgiving Day as part of the Honest Reporting Mission, a pro-Israel media initiative.

"He was the public face of grass-roots Israel advocacy in the San Francisco Bay area," said Mike Harris, his colleague at Voice for Israel. "He was passionate about standing up for Israel, literally -- standing up in public with flags and signs."

Kliman, also known as a fervent environmentalist, often was seen bicycling around the Bay Area instead of taking rides to reduce his carbon footprint, friends said.

Harris told the Chronicle he knew of no specific threats against Kliman, but he had been assaulted before at a pro-Israel rally. Kliman's body was buried in his hometown of Schenectady, N.Y.

A memorial service being held for Dan on Sunday, Dec 14, 7:30pm at the Beth Jacob Congregation, 3778 Park Blvd., Oakland.  The blog, Zombietime, has ongoing coverage of the controversial investigation of the circumstances surrounding Dr. Kliman's death. (photo by Dan Kliman of anti-Israel demonstrators; Courtesy: Zombietime)

Mumbai doctors shocked at Muslims' torture of Jewish hostages

"Of all the bodies, the Israeli victims bore the maximum torture marks," remarked Mumbai-hospital doctor.

 Rediff India Abroad reports:

Doctors working in a hospital where all the bodies, including that of the terrorists, were taken said they had not seen anything like this in their lives.

"Bombay has a long history of terror. I have seen bodies of riot victims, gang war and previous terror attacks like bomb blasts. But this was entirely different. It was shocking and disturbing," a doctor said.

Asked specifically if he was talking of torture marks, he said: "It was apparent that most of the dead were tortured. What shocked me were the telltale signs showing clearly how the hostages were executed in cold blood," one doctor said.

The other doctor, who had also conducted the post-mortem of the victims, said: "Of all the bodies, the Israeli victims bore the maximum torture marks. It was clear that they were killed on the 26th itself. It was obvious that they were tied up and tortured before they were killed. 

It was so bad that I do not want to go over the details even in my head again," he said.

Corroborating the doctors' claims about torture was the information that the Intelligence Bureau had about the terror plan. "During his interrogation, Ajmal Kamal said they were specifically asked to target the foreigners, especially the Israelis," an Intelligence Bureau source said.

Rabbi Avraham Sutton discusses the transcendance of your life from the Jewish perspective

Rabbi Avraham Sutton presents Jewish mystical insights at the Carlebach Happy Minyan of Los Angeles.

Israeli Kabbalist teacher, Rabbi Avraham Sutton, celebrates Havdalah with the So Cal Carlebach- Happy Minyan

The Israeli spiritualist teacher, Rabbi Avraham Sutton, celebrates Havdalah, acknowledging the conclusion of the holy Sabbath day of rest with the Happy Minyan-aires, Carlebach-orthodox congregation of Southern California.

Prayer and musical accompaniment by Shifra Hastings, Ira Caplan on guitar, Steve on percussion, & Joshua Spiegelman on flute. Another Joo-Tube original.

Moshav Band plays Shlomo Carlebach tribute at L.A. Concert

Havdalah is the prayer which ends the holy Sabbath, distinguishing it from the mundane. Led by Moshav's Yehuda Solomon.

"Yibane Ha Mikdosh / Stand-up for your rights" with guest fiddler, Lior Kamenitsky

ADL hosts "Defiance" screening; Director Edward Zwick reveals religious influences underlying epic tale of partisan resistance against Nazis

Hundreds of leaders from across the country gathered November 13-15 in Los Angeles for the annual meeting of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) where they heard from an array of political leaders, journalists, Hollywood executives and experts on anti-Semitism. The League, which is celebrating its 95th year, released important new polls on American attitudes toward immigration, as well as religion and Hollywood, and issued a status report on anti-Semitism driven by the financial crisis.

The ADL Conference presented a pre-release screening of "Defiance" - a story of the Bielski brothers' inspired resistance against Nazi-era, Jew-hatred and genocide.

The screening was followed by a panel discussion with (pictured from left to right)

Hollywood Reporter Publisher, Eric Mika, Defiance director, Edward Zwick, and ADL Executive Director, Abraham Foxman about the story and the issue of combating anti-Semitism.

Director, Edward Zwick, intimates the personal and biblical Jewish influences involved in the structure and making of this movie.


Defiance opens December 31 in NY and LA, and worldwide after January 9th.

A candid view inside El Al: Israel's airline to the world. Exclusive video interview with Chairman Izzy Borovich & Americas' President Offer Gat

El Al Airlines' Chairman Prof. Izzy Borovich and Mr. Offer Gat, Chief Executive, North America, relate how El Al's uniqueness as the flagship carrier of Israel provides global travelers a special travel experience. El Al has a colorful history beyond commercial aviation, it's also a 'magic carpet' which rescues Jews in peril around the world in times of crisis, e.g., historic airlifts from Yemen and Ethiopia, and recently in the Republic of Georgia.

'When you fly with El Al,' Prof Borovich proclaims, 'you're flying with Israel!'

He details how he came to head the privitized national carrier, and mentions some of the company's commercial interests that prospective shareholders may not know. As Mr. Haim Romano assumes the chairmanship as of December, Prof. Borovich will maintain a seat on the Board of Directors. (30-minute total-running-time original video exclusive).

Executed Swiss theology student honored for Hitler assassination attempt on day of Kristallnacht

GENEVA, Switzerland — Switzerland's president expressed regret Friday that his country failed to use diplomatic channels to stop the Nazis from executing a Swiss theology student who tried to assassinate Adolf Hitler 70 years ago.

Student Maurice Bavaud, 25, who was from the western Swiss town of Neuchatel, was executed in Berlin's notorious Ploetzensee prison after failing in his attempt to shoot Hitler at a Nazi parade in Munich on Nov. 9, 1938.

By coincidence, Bavaud made his attempt just hours before Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass, when Nazis destroyed synagogues and Jewish businesses across Germany and Austria.

"He seems to have anticipated the doom that Hitler would bring to the whole world," President Pascal Couchepin said in a statement posted on his official Web site. "For this he deserves our remembrance and recognition."

Bavaud, who regarded the Nazi leader as a danger to Switzerland, Christianity and all of humanity, was arrested several days after his failed assassination attempt and tortured into confessing his plans to the Gestapo, the secret police.

Switzerland, which followed a policy of neutrality toward Germany before and during World War II, failed to intervene on Bavaud's behalf, and he was guillotined in May 1941.

Bavaud's story is little known outside Switzerland, unlike the so-called Stauffenberg plot in which a group of German officers tried to kill Hitler on July 20, 1944, almost six years after Bavaud's failed attempt. That plot is the basis for an upcoming Tom Cruise film, "Valkyrie," in which the American actor plays the plot leader.

Arab narrative to deny historical, Jewish essence of Jerusalem receives widespread support among the West

In the JPost's Warped Mirror article, Don't Mention Islam, blogger Petra Marquardt-Bigman reveals popular international support for politcal Islam's insidious denial (and rewriting) of Jerusalem's Jewish history - the campaign to replace Judaism with Islam in popular Muslim narrative, denying and destroying factual evidence.

I believe that this episode illustrates a broader phenomenon: the fashionable Western denial of the deep-seated religiously motivated hostility of Israel's enemies in the region. And I would suggest that this episode also illustrates a closely related trend that seems to grow ever stronger: when it comes to Islam, freedom of speech, and indeed freedom of thought, is increasingly restricted. The statements I made were directly taken from Muslim websites, and yet, just for daring to suggest that Islam plays an important role in the hostile intransigence of Israel's enemies, I was accused of bigotry and "Islamophobia."