Over the past several hours multiple Israel based news agencies have reported the disturbing sight of a large Nazi flag flying  over the mosque of the Palestinian village of Beit Umar (Bayt Umar). The town has been a hotbed of violence against Israeli soldiers and civilians as well as a magnet for international anti-Israel groups like the International Solidarity Movement of Rachel Corrie fame and the Palestine Solidarity Project which is based in the village. Beit Umar is located strategically alongside Road 60, a busy North South conduit for Israelis traveling to and from the nearby Gush Etzion bloc of Israeli 

cities and villages.

Beit Umar is associated with the biblical Jewish town of Maarath, referenced in the book of Joshua (Joshua 15:59).  The main mosque in Beit Ummar  houses the tomb of Amitai, the father of Jonah  (of Jonah and the fish).  Nearby Halhul houses the tomb of Jonah.

While Israeli news sources and Pro-Israel blogs have shared this disturbing photo, mainstream media outlets are avoiding this story. Could it be because a Swastika flying over a Palestinian village does not mesh well with the Palestinian as victim narrative?  - The Mike Report.

From the Algemeiner:  A disturbing incident took place Monday morning when Jewish residents of the West Bank villages of Gush Etzion and Kiryat Arba spotted a flag with a swastika flying over the nearby Palestinian Arab town of Beit Omar.

Uri Arnon, who saw the flag, told Tazpit News Agency: “I felt we were going back 75 years, losing our hold on the land. The Arabs no longer feel the need to hide their murderous tendencies, announcing out loud that they wish to destroy us.”

The IDF was notified and according to Israel’s Channel 2 a spokesman said that IDF soldiers were responding to complaints and attempting to have the flag removed.

Excerpt From Elder of of Ziyon blog:

In the United Kingdom, a nation that has embraced the false themes of unlimited Israeli evil and absolute Palestinian Arab victimhood, can we expect people to suspect that they are being fed a diet of lies? Finding out the truth takes time; it takes effort, and it takes commitment, all resources that most people cannot be bothered with. If their newspaper says that Israel is the intransigent party, who will spend the time to research the other side? Who would even consider that there is another side?

In such an environment, how could we expect Stephen Hawking to think differently? Why would he doubt the hundreds of emails he probably received, many illustrated with seemingly authoritative maps showing Zionist expansionism and fake quotes showing Zionist depravity?  He simply has little or no exposure to anything but anti-Zionism and no real ability to check the veracity of the propaganda he and his fellow countrymen have been force-fed for decades. Read the whole thing.

Related articles

• Stephen Hawking Endorses Iranian and Chinese Repression (Algemeiner.com)
• Where the Chips May Fall (Varda Epstein – Huffington Post)

From National Review & The Jewish Press:

The passionately pro-Israel organization Z STREET filed a lawsuit against the IRS, claiming it had been told by an IRS agent that because the organization was “connected to Israel,” its application for tax-exempt status would receive additional scrutiny.  This admission was made in response to a query about the lengthy reveiw of Z STREET’s tax exempt status application.

In addition, the IRS agent told a Z STREET representative that the applications of some of those Israel-related organizations have been assigned to “a special unit in the D.C. office to determine whether the organization’s activities contradict the Administration’s public policies.” . . .

And at least one purely religious Jewish organization, one not focused on Israel, was the recipient of bizarre and highly inappropriate questions about Israel.  Those questions also came from the same non-profit division of the IRS at issue for inappropriately targeting politically conservative groups. The IRS required that Jewish organization to state “whether [it] supports the existence of the land of Israel,” and also demanded the organization “[d]escribe [its] religious belief system toward the land of Israel.”

Related articles

               IRS Targeted more than Tea Party groups (cnn.com)

               IRS May Have Targeted Jewish Groups (algemeiner.com)

In the summer of 1977 thousands of leaking, untrustworthy rafts and boats bobbed in the vast open waters of the South China Sea. Each of the frail vessels was crowded with frightened, parched refugees, embracing the likely death of the ocean waters over the certain death of remaining in Vietnam. While some found safe harbor the passengers of one particular leaky fishing boat crossed paths with an Israeli cargo ship and by so doing found a home. The Times of Israel tells the story of that particular group of survivors which you can read at this LINK.

The children and grandchildren of these once stateless souls have grown up as Israelis in the Jewish state. They speak Hebrew fluently, are ever grateful for their adopted homeland and even serve in the Israel Defense Forces. Watch the video link below to view the emotional  moment when an Israeli-Vietnamese family accompany their children to their enlistment in the IDF.

Proponents of a US built Death Star gathered enough signatures to earn an official White House response to their proposal. The White House identified three primary reasons why the Defense Department would not be pursuing  construction of the moon sized weapon.

“1) The construction of the Death Star has been estimated to cost more than $850,000,000,000,000,000.  2) The Administration does not support blowing up planets.  3) Why would we spend countless taxpayer dollars on a Death Star with a fundamental flaw that can be exploited by a one-man starship?” Read the entire petition response here.

Photo credit: Yourjewishnews.com

For the Jewish parent searching for a fun way to educate your children about our religious leaders while at the same time inculcating them with a hatred of Israel and Zionism, your prayers have been answered.

 Yourjewishnews. com published a story today on the latest card game craze sweeping Jewish neighborhoods from Meah Shearim to um… Meah Shearim.

“The anti Zionist card game lists quotes against Zionism from ultra-Orthodox Jewish rabbis.The new hot item is circling around the Meah Shearim neighborhood of Jerusalem.

The game is divided into four categories. One category lists Jewish people who were allegedly murdered by the evil Zionists.  Another category shows portraits of many ultra-Orthodox Jewish rabbis along with quotes cursing all Israelis.

The Chafetz Chaim is quoted on one of the cards: “For me it is clear that the Zionists are the seed of Amalek.” The Satmar rabbi is quoted on another card as saying: “There is no doubt that the Kingdom of heresy will be burned to the ground before the coming of the messiah.” The Belzer rabbi is featured on another card as saying: “Every Jew should pray to God every day to destroy the Zionists and the Israeli settlers.”

A local resident explained that the game was distributed in thousands of packages for the children in the neighborhood. “The goal is to introduce the anti Zionist ideology to children through a game, and teach them from a young age to hate Zionists,” a Meah Shearim resident who declined to give his name, told YourJewishNews.com.” Read the rest at Yourjewishnews.com

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Israel Hayom is reporting that the Jerusalem municipality has announced plans to build two cable car lines in Jerusalem. One line will connect Dung Gate (the Old City gate closest to the Western Wall) with the Mount of Olives to the east. A second line will connect Dung Gate with the Khan Theater on Hinnom Ridge to the west.

Jerusalem municipal officials said the cable car system will meet the needs of the growing millions of people who visit the Western Wall and the Old City each year and will also benefit the residents of the area. The system will also link up with future additional light rail lines that are planned to be built within the city.

Read the rest at Israel Hayom.

THE MIKE REPORT OPINION: The Women of the Wall represents themselves as a group of activists determined to pray according to their conscience at the Kotel, one of Judaism’s holiest sites. They have been regularly disrupting  worshipers with  acts of civil disobedience at the Western Wall for well over two decades. Earlier this month a compromise was reached whereby a section of the holy wall would be set aside for egalitarian prayer as per the group’s demands. But the goal of the Women of the Wall was never  equality at the Kotel but rather to perpetually disrupt and demean those who do not share their particular mode of worship and expression. It is not the love of G-d that fuels these self righteous rebels but rather disdain for their fellow Jew. How else can one explain their rejection of an historic peace seeking compromise in favor of continued theological battle with their co-coreligionists? 

We look forward to a time when mutual respect trumps arrogance and peaceful compromise is valued above a radical agenda. The decision of the Women of the Wall to reject what was an unprecedented accommodation tells us that we still have a ways to go.

Related Stories:

Foundations falter for Compromise Western Wall plan (Times of Israel)

New Kotel Prayer Area will not Reduce Tensions (The Mike Report)