Opuscula "Obama’s" aid To Israel: The conditions

SOON TO BE EX-PRESIDENT Obama reminds everyone how many billions of dollars “he” arranged for Israel over the next 10 years (in excess of US$38 billion) to counter the pro-Palestinian/anti-Israel UN Security Council resolution he initiated.

What no one talks about is that MOST of those billions come back to the U.S.; the “catch” for Israel is that it must buy U.S.-made war materials, e.g., F-35s from Lockheed Martin. Israel MAY be able to add/substitute a few Israeli-made components in the plane, but 90% of the aircraft will be at least “assembled in the U.S.A.”

Obama is not the first president to give Israel presents with not just “strings” but "hawsers". I discovered this while working in Israel’s defense industry “back in the day.”

While it LOOKS good on paper -– “Obama authorizes $38 billion deal for Israel” — in reality — a reality the general media conveniently ignores — is that it is a way for the U.S. government to subsidize its OWN defense industry.

Moreover, it is a way for the U.S. government to test its “Made-in-America” war materials in actual combat without risking American lives. If Russia supplies weapons to one of Israel’s enemies and if the U.S. and Russia can provoke a war — or at least a skirmish — then their weapons’ functionality can be seen in real life (and death) situations.

Crass but reality.

Worse, in some cases, the U.S. provides weapons to BOTH Israel and its enemies; as an example, the PA “police” are outfitted with U.S. made rifles. They also are trained by U.S. instructors paid by U.S. tax dollars.

In the world of “foreign affairs,” everything is muddled, clouded.

There is nothing particularly wrong about propping up your own industries, and there is nothing inherently wrong with attaching “strings” to a country’s largesse.

The problem is that the administration — any and all administrations — claims it gave a nation “n” number of billions in foreign aid when in fact Congress had to authorize the aid and when in fact much of that aid will be coming back to the U.S. as payment for orders for U.S. made — or at least assembled — products.

Moreover, as the Israelis learned, U.S. products cannot be improved upon in Israel and then resold sans U.S. approval. Case in point:

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Excerpt from United States-Israeli Relations by Adam Powers (Editor), Clyde R. Mark (Editor), Kenneth Katzman (Editor)

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Taken in context, Obama’s legacy vis a vis Israel is a black eye for the soon to be ex-president. His pique that Netanyahu failed to bow to Obama’s wishes — as Obama bowed to Saudi royalty — was expressed many times during Obama’s residence in the White House, culminating with the latest, albeit not expected to be the last, slap at Israel and Netanyahu.

Petty and vindictive easily describes both Obama and Netanyahu — to the disgrace of both the U.S. and Israel. Truly Dilbertian leadership.

Opuscula Why does Israel Act as if Obama’s UN action is A surprise?

IN A MOVE TO MAKE THE U.S. State Department trolls happy, soon-to-be ex-president Obama told his rep to the UN Security Council to abstain on an anti-Israel vote, assuring that his friends in the PA would remember him as if he was a shahid to their cause.

Israeli media seems “shocked” by Obama’s order, yet any Israeli — certainly any Israeli in politics or the media — knew the abstention was in the works. It was the culmination of the almost ex-presidents anti-Israel bias over the last eight years.

Blame it on the personal feud between Obama and Netanyahu, but don’t act surprised.

Obama’s dislike of Netanyahu, Israel, and Jews embarrassed even leaders of his own (Democrat) party.

According to media reports,

The Obama administration’s decision to abstain from a United Nations Security Council vote on Israeli settlements on Friday was the subject of intense opposition from lawmakers in the president’s own party, with Democratic leaders warning that the resolution will damage efforts to advance peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Incoming Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said hours before the vote that “the proposed resolution does not bring us any closer to the goal of a two-state solution. Peace must come from direct negotiations between the two parties.”

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) similarly condemned the resolution on Thursday, saying that the vote “seeks to place responsibility for continued conflict fully on Israel and ignores violence and incitement by Palestinians and the Palestinian Authority and Hamas leaderships. Any workable and long-lasting solution to this conflict must come about through direct, bilateral negotiations, and this resolution undermines that effort.”

Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, added on Thursday that “the UN should stop wasting its time trying to embarrass Israel, and the United States should continue the policy of vetoing anti-Israel resolutions.”

The ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), said on Friday that the resolution “does nothing to move forward the shared goal of two states living side-by-side in peace and security. This resolution is one-sided and unfairly calls out Israel without assigning any blame for the Palestinian role in the current impasse.” Cardin emphasized his support for “direct negotiations between the parties” and criticized the speed with which the resolution was pushed to a vote, saying that “by introducing the resolution yesterday and scheduling a vote this week, other members of the Security Council have not had sufficient time to consider the text.”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) warned on Thursday that the “resolution would undermine, if not undo, the chances for productive discussions between the two sides,” remarks echoed the following day by Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), who also called the resolution “unconstructive.” Sen. Sherrod Brown called (D-Ohio) stressed on Friday that “any lasting peace must be negotiated between Israelis and Palestinians, not imposed by the international community.”

Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) noted that “longstanding U.S. policy has been to stand with Israel against attempts to use the United Nations to internationalize the peace process, and that policy should be maintained.”

“I am concerned that some delegations to the United Nations continue to advance counterproductive resolutions such as the one introduced this week, while they turn a blind eye to international crises that should demand our immediate attention and action, including the conflict in Syria and Russian aggression in Ukraine,” he added.

Perhaps those who agree with the almost ex-president — including many of Hollywood’s luminaries, even those who forgot their promise to leave America — continue to ignore the reason why there cannot be a peace treaty between Israel and the so-called Palestinian Authority.

The Arabic language media reports that Fatah, the party of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, praised its “most outstanding” terrorist attacks in two posts over two days on its Facebook page, according to the monitoring group Palestinian Media Watch. One post highlighted the “10 most outstanding operations” in the entire history of Fatah; the other the “10 most outstanding operations in the Al-Aqsa [Second] Intifada”, the wave of Palestinian violence lasting from 2000-2005 and killing more than 1,000 Israelis. The former post showed a flag of “Palestine” depicting all of Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Incitement to violence by Fatah and Palestinian leaders has been a constant driver of the conflict, and was responsible for a wave of stabbings and car rammings that has killed more than 40 Israelis since September 2015. Fatah boasted in August that it had “killed 11,000 Israelis.” Abbas praised a Jordanian who was shot while attempting to stab Israeli Border Police officers as a “martyr” in a condolence letter to his family last month. He has consistently refused to condemn acts of terrorism. A senior adviser to Abbas stated this past June, “Wherever you find an Israeli, slit his throat.” When a Palestinian terrorist went on a stabbing spree in Jaffa that killed American Army veteran Taylor Force, the PA’s official TV news station called the terrorist responsible a “martyr” and on Twitter, Abbas’s Fatah party hailed him as a “martyr” and a “hero.” Last February, Abbas met with families of terrorists who carried out attacks against Israelis, telling them: “Your sons are martyrs.”

Inciting terrorist acts is the PA “leadership’s” idea of pressuring Israel to commit national suicide. The single democratic state in the region has repeatedly caved to Arab pressure only to find the Arabs’ promises of peace were not worth the paper on which they were printed.

Why Israel remains a member of the UN, in which it is the only nation condemned for “human rights” violations when even the left-wing media occasionally reports on atrocities around the globe , while “PA” terrorists daily attack Israelis and the “PA” leadership incites hatred of Jews and Israel from pre-kindergarten until the grave, is beyond my ken.

Why the U.S., which soon thankfully will have a new president, continues to fund an organization that unfairly condemns its ally and that often berates the hand that feeds it, likewise if beyond my ken.

There will soon be three countries that can deal with each other and all other states without need of the (dis)United Nations: China, Russia, the U.S.

The UN failed in its mission to avoid wars. The UN failed in its mission to protect human rights (consider Africa, consider China and North Korea, consider Muslim-dominated nations). The IDEA of the UN -– a later-day League of Nations whose failures soon were recognized and the League disbanded — was good; the implementation is found lacking.

As for Israel, even the retiring UN Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon, admits to the world press that (T) he organization has a “disproportionate” volume of resolutions against Israel, which he believes has “foiled the ability of the UN to fulfill its role effectively”.

Addressing the UN Security Council, Ban said: “Over the last decade I have argued that we cannot have a bias against Israel at the UN.

"Decades of political maneuvering have created a disproportionate number of resolutions, reports and committees against Israel.

”Two state solution” Reality check

LIBEREALS LOVE IT, REALISTS ACCEPT IT, HAREDIM REJECT IT

“IT” is a “two state solution” to the Israel/”Falistinian” problem.

“IT” is “complicated.”

“IT” requires cooperation from Jordan and Egypt and support from the more pragmatic Muslim nations (e.g., those afraid of Iran).

“IT” in reality is a THREE (3) state “solution."

“IT” won’t work until Hamas and Abu Mazen & friends stop attacking Israel.

FIRST AND FOREMOST, a “two state solution’ is NOT a solution. There are at least five (5) entities involved:

   1. Israel

   2. Egypt

   3. Jordan

   4. Abu Mazen’s “Palestinian Authority”

   5. Hamas’ Aza (Gaza)

Why politicians — U.S. and otherwise — insist on an unworkable “two-state solution” is beyond this scrivener’s ken. It ignores the reality on the ground.

WHAT DOES A “STATE” NEED?

Consider what a viable state (nation, country) needs.

   Access to “the world”

      To import raw materials

      To export finished products

      To permit residents and visitors access/egress

   Productive organizations (that EXCLUDES “government”) to employ its populace and pay taxes to support the non-productive organizations (e.g., government)

The so-called “Palestinian Authority” lacks ALL of the above save for the non-productive government.

It effectively is land-locked. It lacks both functioning airport and seaport; the only way it can get to either is via Israel. It also lacks a direct (not via Israel) land corridor to Jordan and its air and sea ports as well as access to Syria and Saudi Arabia, two potential trading partners.

Aza, on the other hand, DOES have access to the sea and it does have — albeit now in disrepair — the Arafat International Airport.

There are, according to Wikipedia, four airports in PA or Hamas controlled territory.

Two are in Hamas’ Aza:

Yasser Arafat International Airport in Rafah once had flights to several Muslim countries, including Egypt and Jordan. The IAF closed it in 2000 in retaliation for attacks on Israeli civilians originating in Aza.

Gush Katif dates back to WW 2 and was once Aza's northern airport.

In 2004, the airfield was in a good state of repair. The runway was kept clear, and runway markings were maintained. Following the handover to the Palestinian authorities along with the rest of Gush Katif, the airstrip was no longer maintained. It became partially covered by sand and reduced from a width of 75 ft to approximately 30 ft of usable tarmac, and the 225 ft overrun and backtracking loop at the northwest end became blocked with sand. By 2014, it was clear from aerial imagery that expansion of UNRWA Khan Younis, including a sewage treatment plant constructed on the former runway threshold, made it entirely unusable.

Atarot Airport -- built where the Jewish settlement of Atarot was located before the British leveled it and its fields for airport expansion. The airport is located near Jerusalem and Ramallah; it was closed by Israel to civilian traffic after the breakout of the Second Intifada in 2001.

Before its closure, Atarot accommodated international flights.

Muqeible Airfield is an abandoned military airfield located in the northern West Bank, approximately 1 km southwest of the village of Muqeible, and 3 km north of Jenin. The airfield consists of two crumbling concrete runways.

Even if the airports were repaired, Israel cannot permit their use since they would be used by the PA and Hamas to bring in materials to murder Israeli civilians. The only way Israel can tolerate use of these airports is to control all flights in and out. This cannot happen if Hamas’ Aza and the PA become states; the UN — with its proven role in Aza as a supplier of terrorist hiding places and its role in teaching hate for Israel and Jews in UN schools — cannot be trusted to honestly monitor flights into (and out of) these airports.

If Hamas had used the concrete imported to rebuild the area to rebuild, rather than to build more tunnels into Israel and Egypt, the Arafat International could have been repaired; if Hamas would stop killing Israeli civilians, it might be able to have limited use of the airport.

Israel has established peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan.

It is possible that an Egyptian army presence at the Aza airfields to control what comes in and what goes out, and a Jordanian presence at the airstrips located in the PA territory to do the same thing might be acceptable to Israel, the PA, and Hamas; however, given Hamas’ attacks on Egyptians, it is not likely Egyptian soldiers would be welcomed in Aza.

THE ROAD TO JORDAN

The PA needs direct access to Jordan.

The map shows the PA territories A and B and the current Israel-Jordan crossings. Note that there are no ways to travel from PA A or B directly to Jordan. (Travel from Aza to Egypt is direct via the Rafah crossing.) Indeed, for the most part there are few contiguous areas in Areas A and B, and no connection between the PA and Hamas’ Aza. The closest PA community to an established crossing is Jericho. There is a Jordanian highway that parallels the Israel-Jordan border.

Until the PA can work with Israel to join its fragmented communities and to develop a secure roadway to Jordan, it must depend on Israel’s good offices to permit transit to Jordan (or to Israeli ports). That depends on the PA ceasing its incitement against Israel — including cessation of its “kill the Jews” indoctrination of school children via texts and tv. So far there has been no indication that this will soon occur.

While PA citizens have been able to work in Israel, the PA prohibits Israeli firms from opening productive business in the “Jew-free” PA territories. Yet, while the PA has proven financial support from both Muslim and non-Muslim benefactors, it has so far been unable to create employment for its citizens. (The same applies to Hamas’ Aza.) A nation must encourage private enterprise to provide employment for its people — and tax revenue for its government. Neither the PA nor Hamas have shown any inclination to entice businesses to set up in their “countries to be.”

Unlike the PA, Hamas’ Aza has access to the sea. It’s problem is that neither Israel nor Egypt trust it to bring in materials for use in projects other than those leading to the murder of Israelis and Egyptians.

Israel, the PA, and Hamas’ Aza have one thing in common: none is rich in natural resources; all must import-manufacture-export as revolving door countries.

THE REALITY

The reality as I see it — and I am not a politician or pie-in-the-sky diplomat – is that statehood for the PA and Hamas’ Aza depends solely on peace with Israel and Egypt. So far, neither Abu Mazen nor Hamas’ leadership has shown any inclination to coexist with Israel and Egypt.

After WW 2 the U.S. rushed to the aid of its allies AND its enemies to help restore battered economies — even at the expense of American businesses. Once the shooting stopped, the rebuilding commenced. For the most part, that approach was successful in keeping the peace (except of course for U.S. manufacturers put out of business by the former enemies’ new, more efficient equipment; it effectively put an end to U.S. steel manufacturing).

Neither the PA nor Aza are ready for nationhood. Unlike Cuba, they have no natural resources (Cuba had sugar and tobacco) and they lack a guaranteed market (Cuba had the Soviet Union). Until they have access to raw materials, the ability to manufacture something from those raw materials, and a way to move the manufactured goods to foreign customers,, they have no way to sustain themselves.

Nationhood for the PA and Aza is guaranteed to end in failure and eventually insurrection against the despotic governments pressing for statehood.

A two or three state solution to the Israel-PA-Aza festering sore will do nothing for the people living in the PA areas or Aza; it’s a pipe dream.

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Yaakov Kirschen's Dry Bones cartoon for 2 March 2017. (This blog entry, "Reality check," originally was published 15 December 2015.)

Opuscula Opposing sides Of Muslim coin

MUCH OF NORTHERN ISRAEL is burning; at least some fires were caused by arsonists.

At least some of the arsonists are alleged to be Muslims.

Interestingly, the “Palestinian Authority” has offered to send fire trucks to aid Israel in fighting the flames. The PA has helped in the past.

At the same time, some Muslims distant from the fires are celebrating, claiming Israel is getting what it deserves.

There are some rabbis in Israel also “celebrating” the fires, claiming it is HaShem’s punishment for failing to keep Shabat or the abandonment of parts of Israel to the PA.

Fires in Israel are nothing new, and there is, according to

PA Muslims or Israeli Muslims — or anti-Israel Jews?

Internal Security Minister Gilad Erdan said it was estimated that roughly one half of the fires were deliberately set by Arab arsonists.

Police have arrested eight individuals believed to be responsible for some of the fires over the past three days.

The eight are suspected of operating across northern Israel, setting multiple fires in the midst of a long dry spell, which, along with strong winds, has made for rapid spreading of blazes around the country.

Interior Minister Aryeh Deri (Shas) said Thursday evening that he would consider every option available to him to punish the arsonists responsible for the series of fires that broke out in Haifa.

Apparently suspecting that Israelis are among the arsonists, speaking in Haifa Thursday evening, as the number of evacuees topped 85,000 in a fire that reached 8 neighborhoods in the mixed Jewish-Arab city, Deri said the Interior Ministry would use all of the tools at its disposal to punish those responsible, including possibly stripping the arsonists of their citizenship.

Arutz Sheva reports that About half of the 200 wildfires raging across the country were "deliberately set," according to Internal Security Minister Gilad Erdan.

A number of people have been arrested on suspicion of setting fires, and students from a yeshiva in Haifa spotted an individual attempting to start a fire near their yeshiva.

Earlier, Prime Minister Netanyahu called the arsonists who set many of the wildfires terrorists.

Help from the outside

In addition to the PA sending fire trucks — realistically to assure the fires don’t spread to its territories — a number of countries are contributing firefighting equipment.

According to the i24 web site, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, US, France, UK, Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Croatia, and Russia are sending aid to Israel.

Israel, which frequently sends teams to assist countries in crisis, has for the first time found itself on the receiving end of significant foreign aid which includes assistance from several Arab nations.

Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, and the Palestinian Authority have all joined the international firefighting effort to respond to a wave of fires that have forced some 80,000 Israelis from their homes and burned at least 2,224 acres since Wednesday.

Egypt is expected to send two firefighting helicopters while Jordan will send fire trucks and ground crews to douse flames fed by strong winds and unseasonably dry conditions.

Turkey, with whom Israel recently normalized relations following six-year diplomatic crisis sparked by a deadly Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla, offered to send two planes and eight personnel to battle the blazes.

Also on Friday, Muslim nation and Israel's regional ally, Azerbaijan, committed to sending one plane to join the firefighting effort.

Other nations' contributions include:
Croatia: 2 planes and 19 personnel (delivered)
Cyprus: one plane and seven personnel (delivered)
France: two firefighting aircraft (promised)
Great Britain: a helicopter and five personnel (promised)
Greece: three planes and 32 personnel (delivered)
Italy: two planes and 13 personnel (delivered)
Russia: two planes and 19 personnel (delivered)
U.S.: One Boeing 747 "super tanker" (promised)

Now, it’s time for the rains to come to Israel and the region.

Opuscula Through the Looking Glass

According to Paris-based UNESCO, the organization strives to build networks among nations that enable this kind of solidarity, by:

• Mobilizing for education: so that every child, boy or girl, has access to quality education as a fundamental human right and as a prerequisite for human development.
• Building intercultural understanding: through protection of heritage and support for cultural diversity. UNESCO created the idea of World Heritage to protect sites of outstanding universal value.
• Pursuing scientific cooperation: such as early warning systems for tsunamis or trans-boundary water management agreements, to strengthen ties between nations and societies.
• Protecting freedom of expression: an essential condition for democracy, development and human dignity.

"UNESCO is known as the "intellectual" agency of the United Nations. At a time when the world is looking for new ways to build peace and sustainable development, people must rely on the power of intelligence to innovate, expand their horizons and sustain the hope of a new humanism. UNESCO exists to bring this creative intelligence to life; for it is in the minds of men and women that the defences of peace and the conditions for sustainable development must be built." http://en.unesco.org/about-us/introducing-unesco

Based on its recent Jerusalem Israel decisions, if anyone believes the UNESCO statement, I have a bridge to sell them.

TWO ARTICLES from the Times of Israel web site on Sunday, Oct. 30, 2016 prompted the look at the United Nations Education, Scientific & Cultural Organization (UNESCO) mandate.

The first, headlined

Oldest Hebrew mention of Jerusalem found on rare papyrus from 7th century BCE
belies every recent UNESCO vote on the Jewish connection to Israel’s capital, Jerusalem.

A “drop head” adds

Reference to consignment of wineskins ‘to Jerusalem’ appears on 2,700-year-old First Temple-era scrap believed plundered from Judean Desert cave

The article leads off claiming A RARE, ancient papyrus dating to the First Temple Period — 2,700 years ago — has been found to bear the oldest known mention of Jerusalem in Hebrew.
The fragile text, believed plundered from a cave in the Judean Desert cave, was apparently acquired by the Israel Antiquities Authority during a sting in 2012 when thieves attempted to sell it to a dealer. Radiocarbon dating has determined it is from the 7th century BCE, making it one of just three extant Hebrew papyri from that period, and predating the Dead Sea Scrolls by centuries.

Note five critical words: mention of Jerusalem in Hebrew.

Not Aramaic.

Not Arabic.

Not even Greek or Latin.

Hebrew.

Since the founder of Islam, Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdullāh ibn Abdul-Muttalib ibn Hashim, was not born until – according to most scholars – the year 570 of the Current Era (a/k/a AD), it is chronologically impossible to link Jerusalem solely with Islam. Only fools – which apparently populate UNESCO – would close their eyes to historical and archeological facts of which the latest discovery is included.

UNESCO most assuredly will contend that the fragment is a fake; that the radiocarbon dating is tainted and, in the end, that it all is a Judeo-Christian conspiracy against Islam.

Israel’s prime minister, in a “glass half full,” Pollyanna stance, kowtowing to the so called “Palestinian Authority” told reporters

Despite defeat, Netanyahu hails progress for Israel at UNESCO

noting a second United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (UNESCO) vote ignoring Jewish ties to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem was actually a diplomatic achievement for the Jewish state.

Prime minister’s statement notes that fewer countries supported resolution ignoring Jewish ties to Jerusalem than in previous years, more abstained.

Apparently Netanyahu is as politically blind as the UNESCO members who deny Jerusalem’s Jewish history and who automatically vote against Israel on every issue.

Opuscula UNESCO: Blind In one Eye Can’t see from other

IS IT STUPIDITY OR FEAR that caused 31 nations to deny any historical Jewish presence in Israel’s capital.

The 31 nations passed a resolution acknowledging only Islamic history of the Temple Mount – referring to the site only as “Al-Ḥaram Al-Sharif” and ignoring any Jewish history at the sacred site.

In all, there were five Israel-related items on the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) agenda: Muslims prevailed in all five.

This DESPITE archeological proof that Jews were on the mount centuries before Muhammad arrived on the scene. This despite literary evidence that the Temple was on the mount centuries before Muhammad arrived on the scene.

Don’t take the Jews’ word for it – check it out in Rome where Titus’ arch still depicts Roman soldiers carrying off the Temple menorah.

Discount if you will all the writings as “sepur savta” – grandmother’s stories – disregard the unchallenged life in Babylon where Jews wrote “if I forget thee o’Jerusalem.” If the Jews never were in Jerusalem, why cry over the loss of the city? (Even then, some Jews remained in Jerusalem. It NEVER has been completely free of Jews; not when the Babylonians ruled, not when the Romans ruled, not even when the Moslems ruled. Even under Jordanian control – when Jews had few freedoms – Jews still lived in their holy city.)

In July 2011, USA Today headlined Ancient bell found in Jerusalem Old City sewer and reported that A tiny golden bell pulled after 2,000 years from an ancient sewer beneath the Old City of Jerusalem was unveiled Sunday by Israeli archaeologists, who hailed it as a rare find.

The orb half an inch in diameter has a small loop that appears to have been used to sew it as an ornament onto the clothes of a wealthy resident of the city two millennia ago, archaeologists said.

HaAretz, an Israeli newspaper and propagandist for the Palestinian Authority, headlined on Oct. 21, 2015 Were There Jewish Temples on Temple Mount? Yes has as its lead paragraph The preponderance of archaeological and historical evidence is overwhelming and the argument that there is 'no proof' of the Temples is a modern political artifact.

The Wall Street Journal reported under the headline A Boy’s Discovery Rebuts Temple Mount Revisionism that while "Palestinians deny Jewish roots at the holy site, a newly unearthed artifact confirms historical truths."

An unidentified writer for Palestine Facts notes that In 715 AD, Prophet Muhammad SAW made a journey to Heaven from the Dome of Rock, the site built by Caliph Abd al-Malik in 687 AD. Muslims all over the world could now associate with the place even more and al-Aqsa Mosque was built on the same site. Based on this, Jerusalem became the third most sacred city for Muslims after Makkah and Medina. Dropping the Roman name, it was given a Muslim name ‘Bait al-Muqaddas’ in line with al-Bait al-Haram in Makkah.

No one denies the Muslim presence in Jerusalem. The Temple was allowed – rightly or wrongly - by the Israeli government to remain under Muslim control after the city was returned to the Jewish state. Allowing the Muslims to control the Temple mount never denied that the first and second Temples were Jewish or suggested anything other than the Muslims were late arriving, even after non-Jews had control of the city.

But UNESCO, blind to reality, denies the history of the site, proving that the organization belies its name: the United Nations Educational (no), Scientific (no) and Cultural (no) Organization.

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THE RESOLUTIONS

According to Middle East Resolutions: Detailed Voting Results on UNESCO’s web site were as follows:

The first item that came up for a vote was Item 5, Implementation of 35 C/Resolution 49 and 184 EX/Decision 5 (IV) relating to the Ascent to the Mughrabi Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem. The roll call vote was 31 voting for the resolution (against Israel), 5 against (in support of Israel), and 17 abstentions. The five votes supporting Israel on this item were from Germany, Denmark, USA, Italy, and Slovakia.

The second item was item 14, Jerusalem and the Implementation of 35 C/Resolution 49 and 184 EX/Decision 12. The roll call vote was 34 voting for the resolution (against Israel); 1 against (USA), and 19 abstentions.

The third item was item 15, Implementation of 184 EX/Decision 37 on “the two Palestinian sites of al- Haram al-Ibrahimi/Tomb of the Patriarchs in al-Khalil/Hebron and the Bilal bin Rabah Mosque/Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem”. The roll call vote was 44 voting for the resolution (against Israel), 1 against (USA), and 12 abstentions.

The fourth item was item 36, Implementation of 35 C/Resolution 75 and 184 EX/Decision 30 concerning educational and cultural institutions in the occupied Arab territories. The roll call vote was 41 voting for the resolution (against Israel), 1 against (USA), and 15 abstentions.

The final item was item 37, Report by the Director-General on the reconstruction and development of Gaza; Implementation of 184 EX/Decision 31. The roll call vote was 41 voting for the resolution (against Israel), 1 against (USA), with 15 abstentions.

Opuscula Ladies seats Hot topic For airport

THE NY/NJ PORT AUTHORITY banned an advertisement a Reform organization wanted to post in the El Al section of the Newark terminal.

The ad’s rejection was due to the Port Authority rule banning most ads. The details were written in an Israel National News article headlined Ad against modesty 'seats switching' barred from NJ airport.

I consider myself an observant Jew. I don’t label other Jews as conservative, orthodox, reform, or any other yoni-come-lately qualifier. To me, a Jew either is (a) more observant that me, (b) observant at my level, or (c) less observant than me. (Yes, in this case, it IS “all about me.”) A Jew is a Jew is a Jew.

In this case, I agree with the advertisers.

I also agree that passengers’ preferences should be honored whenever possible.

That means haridi men traveling alone should be clear when making a reservation that they want to sit next to a man. The airlines should make an effort to honor that request. It won’t always be possible, but an honest effort by all concerned will go a long way to keeping everyone in their place.

AT THE SAME TIME, I blame the haridi men for failing to control themselves.

They can’t hear a woman’s singing voice for fear it will arouse their sexual desires. They can’t sit next to a woman on a public conveyance for the same reason.

A guy who sat next to me where I used to make minyan turned around to the women’s section – separated by a 1/2 –height opaque curtain topped by a ½-height gauze curtain so the women, when standing, could see the Torah being carried to/from the Ark and watch as their husbands, brothers, and sons had aliyot – and said to me the barrier should be opaque top-to-bottom.

My reply: Don’t turn around.

This particular person, an obvious ba’al t’shuva, was doing what he thought was expected of him by his equally “noveau frum” peers, blaming someone else for HIS lack of self-control. A pendulum swinging from one end of the arc to the other.

I don’t object to black hats wanting to sit with other black hats; they will have something in common to discuss/debate over long flights. But if they are “stuck” with a female passenger beside them – assuming the woman was dressed for travel rather than a nudist beach – let them read tehillim for understanding rather than speed reading. Let them read (or write) commentaries on a Torah portion. In other words, let them busy themselves with things other than the woman next to them.

It would be nice if flights to/from Israel – on which most of the problems arise – could set aside “n” seats for haridim traveling alone. Maybe a row behind the bulkhead separating upper class from peon class. Children could be seated near the back of the bus, closer to restrooms and the galley (for snacks and warming bottles, etc.)

The airline reservations could include a line in the seat preference section:

   Aisle or Window
   Will accept opposite sex passenger in adjacent seat (Yes/No)

I don’t know what to do about “in progress” transsexuals or cross-dressers.

Alternatively, in the pre-flight waiting area, single haridim could seek out others of their ilk, check seat assignments, then approach an airline representative to try and arrange seating before boarding the plane. That might be acceptable to even the most extreme feminist.

Perhaps there needs to be a well-advertised haridi travel agency that could book blocks of seats for single men. (Funny, I’ve never heard of a haridi woman asking a male to change seats so another female could sit beside her. Likewise, I’ve never heard that haridi women should not hear a man singing; I guess hairs women can control themselves better than their men.)

Opuscula Trumpl promises To move embassy To Israel’s capital

IN AN EFFORT TO WIN Jewish (but not necessarily liberal) votes, presidential candidate after candidate promised to move the U.S. embassy – now in Tel Aviv – to Israel’s capital, Jerusalem.

The U.S. congress, in 1995 !, passed the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995.

According to The American Thinker, in an article dated June 8, 2015,

This past Wednesday, despite the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 and the will of the current Congress, President Obama joined the ranks of previous feckless administrations refusing to move the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

In all fairness to Obama, from Clinton onward, this law, which unambiguously gives full U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel, has been skirted by presidential order under the guise of national security interests.

NOW, the headline reads Trump pledges to recognize Jerusalem as united capital of Israel.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump told Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu that if elected president, he would recognize Jerusalem as the “undivided capital” of Israel, ending a long-standing US policy whih has kept the American embassy in Tel Aviv

If elected, will he or won’t he?

Candidate Clinton has suggested Jerusalem should be recognized as Israel’s capital, but her husband Bill (“I did not have sex with that woman”) made the same noises, but, according to a BBC article titled Hillary in Jerusalem controversy

  

Hillary, when she was seeking the Democratic nomination for the Senate seat for New York, told a Jewish leader that she considered Jerusalem to be the "eternal and indivisible capital of Israel".

  

She also said she believed the US embassy in Israel should be moved to Jerusalem from its present location in Tel Aviv.

  

Mrs. Clinton was replying to a letter from Mandell Ganchrow, president of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America.

  

In 1992, Mr. Clinton campaigned for the presidency on a promise to move the embassy from Tel Aviv, but he has disappointed the Israeli lobby by not fulfilling that pledge.

  

He has since blocked a 1995 law that authorized relocation, citing the danger of undermining final status negotiations on the sovereignty of Jerusalem, as well as threats to US security.

Could, should anything different be expected of Mrs. Clinton given her email, Benghazi, and financial scandals, and her seemingly mixed opinions about Israel and the so-called Palestinians?

Certainly moving the embassy to the nation’s capital would have NO impact on any “peace” negations with the so-called Palestinian Authority (PA); leaving the embassy in Tel Aviv has done nothing to being the PA to the table. But then neither did the Rabin-Peres sellout of Israel at Oslo, Norway. They – and the late PLO terrorists Yasser Arafat – were given the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 for a peace that never happened.

The question for single-issue voters who focus on Israel is simple:

DO THE CANDIDATES TELL ONE GROUP ONE THING AND THE OPPOSITE THING TO ANOTHER GROUP, must as the Muslims say one thing in English for world consumption and another in Arabic (or Farsi) for their own populace?

U.S. politicians don’t have a corner on the “tell them what they want to hear then do something else” market. Most party leaders in Israel are no better.

Once elected we are “stuck” with the new president for at least four years; typically 8 years unless a president is utterly bad (one-term Jimmy Carter comes to mind).

Effective presidents work with Congress, even when Congress is in the hands of the other party. The incumbent has antagonized Congress and, with help from the GOP, has polarized the nation to a degree last seen when Lincoln was president.

People who want the U.S. embassy in the capital must feel akin to Charlie and the MTA.

Opuscula Haridim harass Datee soldier Who protects them

PROVING ONCE AGAIN that, like haridim around the world, they are willing to take while – like the “good Jews" they aren’t – denigrating and harassing those who provide for them, the “good Jews" of the Zichron Moshe neighborhood of Jerusalem prevented a Jewish soldier from praying with a minyan.

May this congregation never make another minyan.

The soldier was datee (religious), and for that reason alone, the “good Jews” of Zichron Moshe harassed him to the point he had to pack up his tallit and tefillin and leave.

According to the Israel National News in an article headlined Radicals target haredi soldier in synagogue,

The soldier, who showed up at the ‘shteiblach’ [small synagogues with multiple prayer groups around the clock] in the Zichron Moshe neighborhood in the capital, was targeted by a group of locals who shouted at him, calling him a “hardak” – a portmanteau of haredi and haydak (bacteria) – and demanding he leave the area.

After enduring the verbal abuse, the soldier gave up and left the building.

TO BE FAIR not all haridim behave as badly as the “good Jews” of Zichron Moshe*. Some learn at hesder yeshivot that combine yeshiva studies with military service.

 *   Zichron Moshe = Remember Moses (rabanu), the man who led the Israelites in the wars in the wilderness.

Opuscula Use drones To check Eruv wires

EVERY FRIDAY AFTERNOON and afternoons before haggim, if a community has an eruv, someone has to check that the wire demarking the eruv is in place and not broken.

It’s a time consuming pain in the neck for the people who assure the eruv is still up and not just some wires dangling from a pole.

Yes, I know, some eruvs take advantage of natural borders or permanent man-made walls, but for most communities, at least part of the eruv consists of wire strung from utility poles.

THE “PAIN IN THE NECK” eruv check may soon be a thing of the past, at least for “modern” observant Jews.

An article in USA Today titled Utilities' drone plans cleared for takeoff tells how the feds are making rules authorizing use of drones for commercial purposes.

Drone prices, as all things “technology,” are falling, A search of the Web will confirm that many drones cost less than US$500, well within most congregations’ budgets.

One drone that would be suitable for checking an eruv is the Hubsan X4 Brushless FPV Quad. Unfortunately, as this is keyed, the drone is listed for US$300 on Amazon.

What’s so interesting about Hubson? Several things that should be important to the eruv manager. The “basic” specs:

• Camera: 1080 pixel HD
• Time in air: 20 minutes
• Video: Live
• Charge time: 35 minutes

The handicap is that the controller must be within 1000 feet of the drone. The blurb does not mention what impact tall buildings and inclement weather (e.g., rain, snow) have on the controller’s range.

Another contender, the Parrot Bebop Quadcopter Drone with Sky Controller Bundle (from US$290) apparently has a controller range of about a mile and includes a GPS homing feature that may - or may not – mean that the person flying the device could launch it from Point A and have it return to Point A without having to follow it around the eruv. The drawback to this unit is its air time – a brief 10 minutes on a 90 minute charge. If the eruv is small, not a problem, but if the eruv is very large . . .

Check with the techies in the congregation and ask them to investigate the drone option. It may not be viable for one congregation but it could be just the thing for another.If multiple congregations reside within a common eruv, the cost of the drone could be shared.

Opuscula Burkinis: What’s the Big deal?

RECENTLY, MOSTLY IN FRANCE, there has been a big brouhaha about the “burkini.”

According to the French authorities, the burkini is “religious apparel” and therefore, in the land of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity, forbidden.

Are kippot (yarmulkas) also forbidden, or a Sikh’s dastar? What about a sari, a sure sign of a Hindu woman? What about a galabiya or thawb?

Granted, wearing a kippa or dastar or sari CAN make the wearer a target for a bigot – or in the case of a burkini on a (not so) Nice beach by the cops.

Orthodox Jewish women, if they swim in mixed company, also “cover up.” Some Jewish sects that take rabbinical Judaism beyond the limits, have taken up the hajab. (Does that mean they still must wear a wig?)

Actually, according to Orthodoxy, toes should not be seen; not men’s feet nor women’s feet, so the burkini needs additional booties, a la Doctor Denton pjs for kids – and now, apparently, for adults.

One thing I find strange about the French – I find many things strange things about the French – is that unattractive people are allowed to display their “wares” on the beaches (and probably elsewhere) sans concern for the modesty of others. That’s permitted, but a woman who feels modest only when her body is 99% covered is forced to uncover . . . and is fined, too.

What next?

I can understand a Muslim’s anger at the French government – as I also can understand the non-Muslim’s anger at the immigrant Muslims’’ take-over of French communities and the imposition of Shiria law on the non-Muslim population.

For all that, I think the burkini flap simply is a façade hiding the real problems with which France must deal. Another dose of perfume won’t cover this stink.

Let the women dress as they wish.

Opuscula Liberals: If you want To help Palestinians, Make jobs in PA-land

 

RATHER THAN DRIVE OUT businesses that employ PA residents - e.g., SodaStream - and rather than complain about other business that give them work in Israel - e.g., - Rami Levy Hashikma Marketing, fund start-ups in the PA zones and Gaza.

Israel's high tech industry is reaching out both to Arabs and haridim, both men and women.

But where will a skilled PA resident find work? Not in Occupied Israel (PA zones and Gaza). Israeli Arabs have a better chance to apply their knowledge in Israeli Arab communities such as Natzeret (Nazareth) as well as throughout the rest of Israel.

RATHER THAN WHINE about the poor Arabs in the PA and Gaza, especially the ones who HAD good jobs with SodaStream and Rami Levy markets, put your money where your mouth is and fund new businesses in the PA zone and Gaza.

Businesses other than those making weapons to use against Israelis - bear in mind that to a bomb, an Israeli liberal looks the same as the most right-wing zealot.

While Gaza might be able to survive on its own - it has the "Egypt connection" to help it (assuming Hamas and the Brotherhood cease attacking Egyptian police and civilians), but the PA zones are fairly well land-locked. Until there is a secure (for Israel) route between the PA zones and Jordan, the PA must look to Israel for jobs.

Unfortunately, between the liberal condemnation of Israeli firms doing business in Occupied Israel (e.g., "over the green line") and the PA leadership's ongoing encouragement of attacks by PA residents on Israelis when they are allowed entry, the prospect of improving their lot is shrinking daily.

That could change if the Israeli left - and left-wing dispora Jewry - would finance businesses in Occupied Israel.

The two obvious questions that must be answered:

Will Israel allow funds to be transferred from Israelis to the PA

Will the PA leadership allow the funds to be used to create non-lethal jobs; no weapons manufacturing.

Because I am who I am, I world suspect that the PA leadership would do as the leadership of other Muslim-dominated countries and claim that any benefits for the people came from within the PA leadership.

I suppose there are more questions to be asked, including who will account for any "Jewish" money funneled into Gaza and the PA zones. Euros already line the pockets of the leadership rather than filtering down to the working folks.

(When something is "filtered," more always goes in than comes out.)

OK, liberals in Israel and elsewhere: stop heating up the air with no visible results; find a way to fund PA-zone and Gaza small, people intensive businesses, be they "high tech" or low. If there are jobs for the residents of the zones and Gaza, there will be less reason for the residents to seek work in Israel.

At the same time, Israel needs to go back to its pioneer roots, when Jews did all the jobs, including stoop labor, cleaning of luls and refets (look up the Hebrew), as well as driving the cabs. Israelis - including leftists in their ivory towers - are as much to blame for the bombs and knifings as the PA/Gaza leadership.

Found and fund job-producing businesses in the zones and Gaza. When people have a decent income they are less likely to give it up for a promised 70 virgins.

Opuscula מצווה is not a "good deed" And צדקה is not "charity"

 

I WAS WATCHING a very good PBS program, The Story Of The Jews With Simon Schama. I know most of the story from other readings, but it still would be a "must see" recommendation.
(The book's ISBNs are: ISBN9780060539184 and ISBN 10: 00605391860)

As with most things PBS, there was a pitch for donations to keep similar programs on the air. That's OK; I get it. PBS has fewer commercials than most tv stations - but contrary to what PBS claims, it DOES have commercials.

In any event, during a house ad - that's a commercial for the "house" - one of two Jewish co-hostesses said that a mitzvah is a "good deed."

She needs to go back to Hebrew school.

A mitzvah is a commandment.

Hebrew is a verb-based language - as are most, it seems.

The root, the "shoresh," for מצווה is צו. (In English, the root for commandment is command.)

So "mitzvah" is NOT "good deed" no matter how many times some ignoramus says it; a "mitzvah" is a commandment, and in most cases, it is not to be ignored. There are, as we all know, 613 mitzvoth (commandments) but no one, no matter HOW religious - not even the most haredi in Beni Brak or Mea Sharim (100 Gates) - can perform all of the commandments. Many apply only to certain classes (kohanim, levim), some apply only to certain jobs (farmers, merchants), some are determined by - dare I write it? - the person's sex. I'm only considering the commandments from Torah Biktav, the written Torah, a/k/a the "Five Books of Moses."

Mitzvah = "good deed" is almost as aggravating as tzdekah = "charity."

The shoresh for צדקה is not (Neil) Sedaka, but צדק.

צדק is defined in my 501 Hebrew Verbs as be right, be just. (Neil may well be descended from righteous people, ergo the transliterated צדקה to Sedaka.)

In only one of its four forms does it carry a connotation other than vindicate/justify. The one exception to the rule is הצטדק = "apologize."

As long as ignorant Jews insist that "mitzvah" is a "good deed" and that "tzdekah" means "charity" they can ignore the negative commandments and feel good about themselves when they drop a dime in the charity box, never being concerned about justice - to their fellow Jews, to their fellow humans, even to animals.

That is not to suggest that these ignoramuses will commit any serious "negative" social commandments, i.e., murder, theft, etc. or that they might knowingly allow a criminal to remain free while an innocent person languishes in gaol.

But ignoring the true meaning of the words can lead to an averah, a sin.

The Jewish talking heads on tv don't need to know Hebrew to the level of Eliezer Ben-Yehuda or even Abba Eban, but they SHOULD know the meaning such common words as mitzvah and tzdekah.

Opuscula Was Jesus A pacifistic, Ignorant Jew?

 According to those followers of Paul's Jesus, the man was mild mannered and passive ("turn the other cheek").

AND THEN they tell the story of Jesus taking a whip to "the money changers in the Temple."

As with most half-truths, much is not reported.

THERE ARE MANY STORIES about Paul's Jesus that would leave all but the most naïve wondering "Is this man really a god?"

Jesus was supposed to be a Jew. No matter what religio-political party he may have favored (Essenes, Pharisees, and Sadducees) he would have known WHY the money changers were in the Temple COURT - not the Temple proper.

Even Jesus' disciple, Matthew (21:12–13) reports that The shulhanim (money changers) in Jerusalem used to set up their "tables" in the outer court of the Temple for the convenience of the numerous worshipers, especially those from foreign countries

The Torah portion for the 8th day of Passover, when it falls, as it did, on Shabat (for those outside Israel) - דברים 14: 22-דברים 26: 17 - explains, plainly, why there were money changers in the Temple court. (Same reason there are money changers in every air and seaport around the world.)

The subject is tithing (עשר תעשר) and we are told to bring our tithes to the Temple. HOWEVER the Torah goes on to tell us that (V.24) if the way is too long for you (to shelp your tithe, be it animal or from the field), because the place is too far … (V.25) then you shall turn it (the tithe) into money (V.26) and you shall buy what your soul desires and you shall eat there before the Lord, you and your household.

The above, slightly modernized, is adapted from the Hertz/Soncino humash.

That same portion (ראה) in V. 21 has one of the three occasions when - usually out of context -
לא-תהשל גדח בהלב אמו (Don't seethe a kid in its mother's milk) appears, from which the rabbis of the Talmuds determined mixing any meat with any dairy is forbidden.

The Encyclopedia Judaica: Money Changers has a fairly lengthy article on the role of money changers during the time Jesus was said to live. The article cites, among others, Paul (Acts) and Matthew (multiple occurrences).

Beyond the facts - authorized by Torah and admitted to by Matthew (ibid.) - where did Jesus get the authority to take a whip to ANYONE.

There were courts to which he could have turned - both Jewish/religious and Roman government. Rather than "turn the other cheek," he apparently lost his temper and decided he could put an end to something already well established.

Even if, as they do today, many bankers behave badly, Jesus HAD places to complain, but he had no authority - Jewish or Roman - to act as he allegedly did. Perhaps he thought he was above the law.

Opuscula Why don't Israeli Politicians listen To constituents?

 

BECAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE TO; their loyalty - if they have any - is to the party bosses, not the voters.

ONE OF THE REASONS I came back to the States is because in the U.S. I have local representatives to the state and federal governments.

Admittedly, some representatives to the U.S. congress - such as Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (¹) - only represent Big Bucks contributors (²), but as I learned, there are other representatives to whom her constituents can turn. Every U.S. citizen also can turn to their state's senator.

The "American way" may not be the best, but at least the person "representing" the constituent must - at a minimum - pretend to live in the district they are supposed to represent.

IN ISRAEL, the majority of Members of Knesset (MKs) live in or around Jerusalem or Tel Aviv's "better" sections. (When last checked, none resided in South Tel Aviv near the illegal immigrants who terrorized the neighborhood.) In my time, one lived in Bet Shean in the Jordan Valley, another lived in Kiryat Shmona in the north. (I had a positive personal experience with David Levy, but I had to travel to Bet Shean to meet with him. I had "Vitamin P" from my father-in-law who lived in the same sekun.)

Rather than having a local representative to Knesset, citizens have to find a like-minded - read "same party" - MK or know what "portfolio" the MK holds or wants to hold. True, as in the U.S., money talks, but most Israelis - myself included - are not Rothchilds who can afford to rent - if not buy - an Israeli politician.

Israel tried, and the politicians quickly discarded the idea, having the prime minister candidates run separate from the party lists.

In Israel, before the attempt and again now, the party functionaries determine who will lead their party's 60-member list. There need not be any connection between what the rank-and-file want and that the party leaders want (much like the 2016 pre-convention GOP leadership that wants (wanted?) to "Dump Trump" even though he is (was) popular with the rank-and-file (³). If, on the eve of the election, the party's most popular vote-getter displeases the party power brokers, the once "top of the list" candidate may slip to the bottom of the list - number 60.

Unlike the U.S. president, until today there are no term limits for prime minister, albeit there is talk among the "out" parties of trying to set a two-term limit. There is no term limit for MKs; the perks are too good for such a bill even to reach discussion stage.

Another difference I found disconcerting was the mingling of powers. Unlike the U.S. where there is - at least in theory - separation of the executive (president, vice president, and cabinet) and the legislative (U.S. House and Senate). The Supreme Court in both counties seems to want to make laws on its own even though that is not its prerogative.

1. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ is an American politician. She is the U.S. Representative for Florida's 23rd congressional district, a member of the Democratic Party and the Chair of the Democratic National Committee.

2.

AN ISRAELI-AMERICAN couple turned to Wassermann Schultz for assistance. Her office ignored them; not even acknowledging their appeal. A letter to then-Representative Allen West produced an immediate response and a rapid resolution to the couple's problem.

3. PROVING DIRECT ELECTIONS need to replace the current "convention" and "electoral college" republican form of government for a truly democratic directly elected government. Note both "republican" and "democratic" are lower case and NOT to be confused with the political parties of the same names.

Opuscula 1000s at Kotel hear Cohenic blessing: What’s the big deal?

 

I'M SURE I'M MISSING SOMETHING, but what's the big deal of the cohenim doing what the Torah obliges them to do?

In Sefardi congregations, cohenim bless the people at every Shabat and hag.

Why the Ashkenazi don't follow the Torah re cohenim is beyond me. (I have heard several explanations.)

דבר אל-אהרן ואל-בניו לאמר תברכו את-בני לשראל אמור להם
Numbers 6:23)

I'M NOT CERTAIN WHY hearing the cohenic blessing at the Western Wall is such a big deal - the same words are spoken at every Shabat and hag morning minyan even when the congregation lacks a real cohen*
Yes, Leonard Nimoy, "Mr. Spock," was Jewish, albeit not a cohen.

I don't know about less observant or "non-traditional" synagogues, but in Sefardi and Mizrachi congregations the cohenim head for the Ark during the Amedah, a/k/a shmonah esray (18). In cohen-less congregations the reader recites the cohenic blessing.

According to Chabad, the reason the cohenic blessing is recited by cohenim only on festivals - vs., being read by whomever is leading the repetition of the Amedah - is because the recitation has to be done at a "joyous" mood, i.e., the festivals.

Bear in mind that since the Torah fails to specify exactly how the cohenim are to hold and wave their hands and there is no mention in Torah that listeners must cover their heads, different traditions will be observed, often within the same congregation.

halachipedia.com explains birkat hacohenim (cohenic blessing) for most - or at least many - Ashkenazi congregations. It notes that

The Ashkenazic minhag outside Israel is not to do Birkat Cohenim except at Mussaf of Yom Tov because Birkat Cohenim should be done when people are relaxed and not bothered by work. Throughout Jewish history, some have made a great effort to change this minhag (in order to fulfill this biblical Mitzvah) and were unsuccessful.

Some have the practice not do Birkat Cohenim when Yom Tov falls out on Shabbat, however, the poskim strongly disapprove of this and urge to discontinue this practice without causing conflict.

Rabbi Ben Hassan of the Sephardic Bikur Holim Congregation in Seattle, on his Ask Rabbi Hasssan notes that while he is Mizrachi, his studies of birkat cohenim explain why Ashkenazim omit the practice.

He starts off asking When we look at the formulation of the mitzvah of Birkat Cohenim it looks very clearly that it is a mitzva De'oraita - a positive mitzvah from the Torah for the Cohenim to bless the Jewish People every day. This is how it is codified by the Sefer HaHinuch. So how did the custom of not doing Birkat Cohenim daily start in the Diaspora? and then offers some answers.

In addition to the Ashkenazi reasoning, he discusses birkat hacohenim in Sefardic and Mizrachi congregations. He notes conflicting customs in Morocco; in Moroccan congregations in the U.S. birkat hacohenim is done every day.

* "Real cohen" In the U.S., and perhaps other Western countries as well, when Jews arrived at the immigration centers, they were asked for their family name.

Most Jews were known as "Peloni ben Peloni" until Napoleon controlled most of Europe and demanded that every citizen have a last (family) name. Jews, like other citizens, took names that reflected their trade, location, or interest.

Some of the names spoken were tongue-twisters for the immigration officials; some simply ignored the immigrant's answer and "assigned" what they considered a "Jewish" name - cohen, levi, aaron/aaronovitch, etc. Consequently, there are many "Cohens" in America who are not cohenim; not even levi'im. After several generations of being a "Big C" Cohen, their actual status might be forgotten.

Opuscula 3 state Solution

 

FORGET ABOUT A "TWO-STATE" SOLUTION to the Israel-"Palestinian" problem.

It's an imaginary problem anyway.

Consider the facts.

WHEN THE ENGLISH MANDATE was in force, "Palestine" included what now is Jordan and Israel.

Then the English, as they are wont to do, carved out a chunk of the their Mandate area - not to be confused with the French Mandatory area to the north - to pay off a Saudi family, England established the Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan.

England then divided Transjordan into two unequal parts; the part on the east side of the Jordan River lost the "Trans" and became, simply, "Jordan." The part of Transjordan on the west side of the river (hence "West Bank") became "Palestine."

A little history on the name "Palestine." According to Wikipedia, Roman Emperor Hadrian changed the name of the province to Syria Palaestina and Jerusalem to Aelia Capitolina, which certain scholars conclude was done in an attempt to remove the relationship of the Jewish people to the region.

Additional references:
Is the name Palestine an accurate name for Israel?
Origin of the Name Palestine
Palestine Since The Romans

Search for "Hadrian" in each of the above articles.

After the Romans sacked the Temple c 70 CE, to further demoralize the Jews the conquers renamed the area "Palestine" a name that was never known when government was in Jewish hands. Even during the Babylonian exile (from 598/7 to 587/6 BCE) the name remained Judea and Israel.

In 1948, the UN partitioned the land west of the Jordan River (hence "West Bank"). Partition plans had been offered to both Muslims and Jews; the former rejected all proposals. When Israel declared its independence, five Arab states joined in the invasion of Israel (Palestine): Egypt, Transjordan, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq; while the two contingents came from Saudi Arabia and Yemen. This in addition to attacks from Palestinian irregulars and volunteers from the Arab world.

Also see The War of 1948

Many Muslim Arabs either left Israel at the urging of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Grand Mufti Hajj Amin El Husseini, to escape the fighting, or were chased out by Jews who feared they were fifth columnists. (Meanwhile, Jews were forced out of Muslim countries that had been their homes for generations. Unlike the Muslims who left Israel, the Jews were absorbed by the state and not left in UN camps.)

According to the US Consul in Haifa, ". . . local mufti-dominated Arab leaders" were urging "all Arabs to leave the city, and large numbers did so." (Aubrey Lippincott, U.S. Consul General in Haifa, April 22, 1948 )

Jordan occupies, abandons the "West Bank"

A History Today entry titled Jordan Formally Annexes the West Bank states that In 1948 King Abdullah’s Arab Legion, trained and led by British officers, took the Jewish quarter of Old Jerusalem and seized control of the West Bank area on the western side of the Jordan, which included Jericho, Bethlehem, Hebron and Nablus.

The annexation of the West Bank, which more than doubled Jordan’s population, was chewed over in talks with Israel which petered out in March 1950. In April, 1950 Jordan held an election for a new parliament to represent both banks of the Jordan. The newly elected parliament passed a resolution affirming support for ‘complete unity between the two sides of the Jordan and their union into one state’ and formally incorporating the West Bank into the Hashemite Kingdom of the Jordan.

A Palestine Facts entry titled Jordan Renounced Claims to West Bank, 1988 details the trials and tribulations Jordan had with the PLO.

According to the resource, Arab and international recognition of the PLO as "the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinians," the overwhelming PLO victory in the 1976 municipal elections in the Territories, and the fact that seventy percent of the Jordanian population is of Palestinian origins, made it impossible for Jordan to compete with the PLO over representation of the Palestinians in the Territories without jeopardizing its domestic stability. In July 1988, in response to the accumulated pressures and the months of intifada demonstrations by Palestinians in the West Bank, King Hussein of Jordan ceded to the PLO all Jordanian claims to the territory.

The "birth" of the West Bank as a Political Entity, "Palestine," was 1988.

Egypt Gaza

According to a Wikipedia entry Occupation of the Gaza Strip by Egypt , Egypt "occupied" but did not "annex," Gaza.

The occupation of the Gaza Strip by Egypt occurred between 1948 and October 1956 and again from March 1957 to June 1967. From September 1948, until its dissolution by Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1959, the Gaza Strip was officially administered by the All-Palestine Government. Although largely symbolic, the government was recognized by most members of the Arab League. Following its dissolution, Egypt did not annex the Gaza Strip but left it under military rule pending a resolution of the Palestine question.

While many suggest that Sadat refused to accept Gaza as part of the Sinai deal, there seems no concrete evidence of this. To the contrary, Sadat apparently wanted to support a PLO presence in Gaza.

Three states?

Israel is not going away. It seems prepared to accept a "Palestinian" presence in a limited portion of the so-called West Bank.

Israel would prefer that the "Palestinian" enclave on the West Bank be reincorporated into and ruled by Jordan as it was until Jordan washed its hands of the "Palestinian" problem (Arafat) and that Gaza be controlled by Egypt.. The majority of Jordan's population is Palestinian.

Jordan, as a stable political entity with an established peace agreement with Israel would be, at least in Israel's point of view, the ideal owner, or at least manager, of "Palestine" areas A and B. A cross-border connection, perhaps initially manned by a joint Israel-Jordan-"Palestinian" guard, would assure that "Palestinian" terrorists are kept in "Palestine" and prevented from entering Jordan or Israel.

A note on Areas A and B. These areas contain places holy to both Muslims and Jews. Under PA control, these areas will be forbidden to Jews (and possibly Christians, too), and unlike Israel with its large Muslim population, no Jews will be allowed to reside in "Palestine."

Egypt, given that Hamas and the Islamic Brotherhood rule Gaza, probably doesn't want the strip, even if most Gazans are Egyptians, but a Gaza divorced both geographically and politically from the "Palestine" of the West Bank, cannot survive. It needs to make peace with Israel or Egypt - preferably both - to develop a deep water sea port and to repair its airport.

A "two state" solution simply won't work. Neither Gaza nor "Palestine" can survive economically - even with all the foreign aid pouring in each year - without a cohesive state.

A "two state" solution might be possible involving Israel and "Palestine" or between Israel and Gaza, but neither is likely given the continuing attacks and counter-attacks.

A "three-state" solution has the best chance of success; one that puts sensible heads in control of the "Palestinians" of the West Bank and Gaza.

Opuscula Hard Impossible To believe the UN

 

אִם-אֶשְׁכָּחֵךְ יְרוּשָׁלִָם

If I forget thee, O, Jerusalem - Psalm 137, composed during the Babylonian exile, 598/7 to 587/6 BCE*; by comparison, Mohammed lived from 571 to 632 CE** - 1,157 years from end of the Exile to the birth of Mohammed.)

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations body responsible for protecting historical and archeological sites throughout the world, has changed its language for the Temple Mount, acquiescing last week to a request by the Palestinian Authority that it refer to the site using the term "Al-Aqsa mosque" only.

The place place in Jerusalem formerly known as "The Temple Mount" is actually "Al-Aqsa" and is strictly an Islamic site.

Never mind the archeological facts..

Never mind that Mohammed's Koran never mentions Al-Aqsa or even Jerusalem.

Never mind that the Tanak (Torah, Prophets, Writings) - mentions the Temple and Jerusalem hundreds of times. All those times must be coincidental "bubbe meise ***" or "sepuray savta" - grandma stories..

Never mind that "It also stands in denial of Islam itself, and the official statements of the ‘Supreme Moslem Council (sic),’ the Muslim Waqf which administers the Temple Mount.. In the English-language booklet ‘A Brief Guide to Al-Haram Al Sharif’ published by the Waqf in Jerusalem in 1924, it states: Its identity with the site of Solomon’s Temple is beyond dispute. This, too, is the spot according to the universal belief, on which ‘David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings’ (II Samuel 24:25)."

The prophet Samuel is believed to have lived between 931 and 877 BCE.

THE UN NEVER has dealt with Israel with an even hand.

UNESCO in 2015 declared Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem and the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron as Muslim sites that are part of a Palestinian state.

According to CNS News

UNESCO in 2011 became the first U.N. agency to admit “Palestine,” a decision that triggered a U.S. funding cutoff mandated by a 1990 law barring financial support for “the United Nations or any specialized agency thereof which accords the Palestine Liberation Organization the same standing as member states.”

Until then, American taxpayers accounted for 22 percent of UNESCO’s operating budget, and the cutoff sparking a financial crisis for the Paris-based agency.

Since then the Obama administration has repeatedly sought waiver authority to enable it to resume funding, without success.

The Jewish Week, obviously a blatantly biased publication, notes that

There’s a kind of parlor game in pro-Israel circles, one usually accompanied by a player’s roll of the eyes or knowing sigh: How unfair to Israel can the United Nations be?

Of course, there’s the infamous “Zionism Equals Racism” declaration from 1975. Then there’s the fact that Israel continues to be effectively barred from membership on the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, a prestigious body that monitors human rights around the world. And last summer there was the U.N.’s claim that Israeli troops deliberately targeted both Palestinian civilians and U.N. facilities during the conflict with Hamas in Gaza.

According to Abu Mazen (a/k/a Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas) the

“Al-Aqsa is ours and so is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. They have no right to desecrate them with their filthy feet. We won’t allow them to do so and we will do whatever we can to defend Jerusalem.”

Look at a map of the ancient Middle East - say from Roman times. Is the City of David shown as "Jerusalem" of "al-Quds"? The following map, titled "The Califate in 750 (CE)" clearly shows Jerusalem - NOT "al-Quds" as one would suspect on an Islamic califate map. (There are links to additional maps at the end of this exercise.)

Click on image to to enlarge

Islamist themselves discuss the Temple and that Israel was given by God to the Jewish people. Somehow UNESCO and Obama refuse to acknowledge what Jews, Christians, and Muslims (chronologically) know to be truth.

Dig this

Finally, if all other literary evidence is cast aside as wishful thinking, there is archeology.

Professional archeologists as well as children have been finding archeological evidence that Jews were present in what is the current political Israel since well before either Christians or Muslims walked the land.

While it is harder for those who insist that "Israel never was Jewish," they somehow manage to close their eyes to reality and science, claiming any artifacts were "planted" by the Jews.

The Jewish Virtual Library provides an abbreviated list of archaeology finds since 2004.

Additional links to archeological resources are found below.

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* BCE=Before Current Era = BC
** CE=Current Era = AD

*** BUBBE MEISE, alt: bubbe-myseh, bubbe-meiseh, bubbe-meise, bubbe mayseh, bobe mays = "Something of little importance, an inconsequential thing or minor happening."

Other map resources

https://www.bergbook.com/htdocs/Cache317.htm

In David's time

Ottoman Empire, c 1481 (CE)

Alexander G. Findlay, F.R.G.S. 1849

Other archeological resources

Jerusalem Even Older Than Thought: Archaeologists Find 7,000-year-old Houses

Biblical Archaeology News 2016

Biblical Archaeology Society

List of artifacts in biblical archaeology

Rare 3,000-year-old King David era seal discovered by Temple Mount Sifting Project