Why BDS Groups Should Not March in Celebrate Israel Parade!

Dear Hindy,

As you must already know, there has been an overwhelming positive reaction to the letter I sent to you and Michael Miller last week regarding your admittance of the NIF and other BDS supporting organizations to the Celebrate Israel Parade.  My letter’s statements and requests to disinvite these organizations to the Parade have garnered hundreds of very positive and supportive letters from all around the world. Additionally, the public’s online comment threads to the resultingAlgemeiner article, Matzav article, and other publications clearly demonstrate not only to me, but should also demonstrate to you, Michael Miller and the rest of the Board and staff of the JCRC and the UJA that there is a preponderance of evidence and support that BDS supporting groups should not be permitted to march in the Celebrate Israel Parade. 

As per my telephone conversation with you the morning after I sent you my original letter, I spoke with the specifically requested Israeli government official that you felt should be made aware of the impending situation. He stated to me that he was not aware, nor did the JCRC ever inform him that the NIF was going to march in the parade.  He then went on to state that he would like to investigate the situation further and will inform the JCRC whether he will march with his delegation or not.  I am confident that based on his own investigation, he will make the correct decision, for which I will wholeheartedly support. 

In your response email to me last week after I sent you my original letter, you mentioned that you would be setting up a meeting with John Ruskay and others; I have yet to receive any additional information about this meeting.

Your telephone conversation with me on the morning after I sent you and Michael Miller my original letter included several issues, which I would like to list here, as well as to reiterate my own position.  

I will assume you were speaking on behalf of the JCRC and the UJA.  As you know, I was speaking 

on behalf of the four major Sephardic institutions here in NYC.  I also informed you that I would be communicating with several major Jewish institutions for which I have a large presence in and around NYC and beyond.  As you might expect, I have already begun to do so.

1. You commented that as a Jewish Community, we need to have a “big tent” and include many 

groups for which we don’t necessarily agree with their position on every issue regarding Israel.

My position: I would have no problem including groups that we don’t agree with, as long as they only voice their opinion - without taking action - at imposing their opinion on society. However, the moment a group takes action, especially an action that hurts the Jewish People and the State of Israel while consorting with the enemies of Israel, they forfeit their right to be a part of the peaceful “big tent”. The groups has decidedly excluded themselves from such a privilege. Their opinion on the Peace Process or the size of Israel is their right to have. However, the moment any group uses their 

actions to boycott Israel in order to force their opinion, that is what is completely unacceptable, 

immoral and unethical. 

Why is it unacceptable, immoral and unethical?  Because their support of BDS against Israel and its citizens is inflicting tremendous damage on the people of Israel’s livelihood, lives and welfare. The BDS’s mission is to destroy a person, a family, a village, a town and even an entire country, only to make the world know their opinion.  Only the enemies of Israel can support such a movement. How 

can we, as true supporters and lovers of the State of Israel, allow groups that seek to destroy Israel’s wellbeing, the honor of marching together with Israel's most ardent supporters? Either they are friends of Israel or they are not. These groups can no longer act as the proverbial wolves in sheep’s clothing. We need not be apologetic about what we stand for. 

As a Rabbi, I have sometimes been asked, why is it that the pig has become the iconic representative of a non-kosher animal, when a camel, a rabbit and a hare are also not kosher? The answer is that 

since the pig is the only one that has a split hoof yet doesn’t chew its cud, he is outwardly trying to 

mislead people into believing that he is kosher - yet deep inside, he is not. This behavior is analogous to how the BDS supporting groups are acting.  It is time to remove their disguise.

2. Your comments conveyed your defense of some groups that differentiate between boycotting products from "Israel proper” and boycotting products of the “Settlements” in Judea and Samaria.  

This is incongruous. Since when do we have the moral and ethical right to hurt any Jew, regardless of his place of residence? If I am to understand your comments correctly, you are of the position that if we as Jews like where a person lives, then we can help him.  However, if we don’t, then we not only refuse to help him but we try to injure him? Really?

My position: There has not been any historical precedent of Jews denying help to any other Jew, no matter where that Jew lives. Didn't we come to the rescue of the Jews of the Former Soviet Union? 

What about of Ethiopia, Iran and Syria? We are even now coming to the rescue of the Jews of the Ukraine. Does it really make a difference where a Jew lives in order to be responsible for him? We Jews are responsible for each other no matter where that Jew lives, whether it is in prison or on the Moon. To make that differentiation is tantamount to deciding who will live and who will die.  We are not G-d, and therefore we cannot make those decisions. Throughout history, this has been done to us by our enemies and not so long ago, during the Holocaust. 

3. Your comments conveyed that I am boycotting the Celebrate Israel Parade.

My position: This is simply not true. I want to clarify that I am not boycotting the Parade. I want to make it clear that I am abstaining as to whether or not to march with my institutions until the BDS supporting groups are not permitted to march in the Celebrate Israel Parade.  Boycotting has a negative terminology. These BDS supporting groups are boycotting, divesting and sanctioning Israel because they do not support Israel; they are hurting Israel and its population, and they are destroying the lives of innocent Jews living in Israel and their livelihoods. These actions could potentially have a negative ripple effect on Jews from around the world.  I, on the other hand, support the Parade wholeheartedly and want our institutions to march.  My abstention is not hurting anyone and it is not destroying any lives. I am abstaining for now, until my requests are heard and a correct, moral and ethical action is taken by the JCRC.

Lastly, I am attaching two yet unpublished research documents from October 2013, which reveal unequivocally the activities of the NIF.  Its support of groups like B’Tselem, American for Peace Now, Meretz USA, and others that are acting against the welfare of the State of Israel is very clear.  They are helping our enemies seek the destruction of Israel.  If it was up to them, soon there will be nothing for your parade to “Celebrate”.

It may seem to you that I am causing a division amongst the participants in the Parade and creating some discord.  However, it is completely the opposite. I am trying to unite all of the people that support and Celebrate Israel. On the other hand, the BDS supporting groups, which you have invited to march in the parade, are trying to divide and discriminate against their fellow Jews because of their place of living or political views. They are the ones who are sowing divisiveness.

Hindy, I reiterate what I wrote in my last letter - as a friend and admirer of yours and Michael Miller’s selfless devotion and dedication to Israel and the Jewish People, I urge you to disqualify these groups from ever marching in the Celebrate Israel Parade. Nothing less is acceptable. Unless and until you assure me that the BDS supporting groups will not be marching in the Parade, I will pull our support from marching and will not be renewing our contract for a float this year.

I hope this unfortunate issue will be resolved quickly, thereby clearing a path so we can march with pride and support, and really Celebrate Israel.

Sincerely,

Elie Abadie

Rabbi Elie Abadie, M.D.
Edmond J. Safra Synagogue
11 East 63rd Street
New York, NY 10065
Tel +1 212-754-9555
Fax +1 212-754-6211

Iranian Warships Headed To US Represent Threat To Israel

Iranian Warships Headed To US Represent Threat To Israel

By Joel Leyden
Israel News Agency

Jerusalem — February 12, 2014 ... Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended the graduation ceremony for the IDF Ground Forces officer training course and made the following remarks: 

"Today, Iran is marking 35 years since the Islamic Revolution and this 'celebration' has been marked by repeated calls for Israel's destruction. The desire to cut the Jewish People off from its homeland did not pass from the world with the establishment of the state. What has changed is our ability to oppose those who seek our lives and frustrate their designs." 

Israel Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Monday that the reason for his upcoming visit to the US next month is to warn against the Iran threat and to discuss the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian peace process. 

Netanyahu warned that Iran continues its role as a "terror state," and therefore it must never be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons. 

Preceding Netanyahu's visit to the US are representatives of the Iranian government - two naval ships. 

The two Iranian warships which are headed toward the US East Coast are a pair of "rust buckets" that Tehran is using to show to its people that it can project power around the globe. One of the ships barely survived a 1988 run-in with an American fighter jet. 

The commander of Iran’s Northern Navy Fleet said the ships — the frigate Sabalan and Kharg, a supply ship capable of carrying helicopters — began their trip last month from the southern port city Bandar Abbas. Adm. Afshin Rezayee Haddad said that the naval vessels had already entered the Atlantic Ocean near South Africa. The Iranian war ships are said to be on a three-month mission. Haddad characterized the move as a response to the ongoing presence of the US Navy’s 5th fleet, which is based in Bahrain, across the Persian Gulf. 

Netanyahu said the dispatch of the warships was clear evidence of Iran's "aggression" and proof it had not moderated its policies following a landmark deal with world powers to roll back its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. 

"The easing of sanctions against Iran by the international community has not caused Iran to moderate its international aggression - the complete opposite has occurred," said Netanyahu. 

"These Iranian war ships pose no real physical threat to the US, but they do represent a psychological threat to Israel," said an Israeli security analyst. 

"If the Iranians were to develop nuclear weapons, those weapons would be off the US coast and the US would be facing a repeat of the Cuban missile crisis of 1963. But of greater relevance to Israel is that if those ships are attacked by the US, Israel would be attacked by a hail of missiles coming from Iran, Syria, Lebanon and Gaza. Iran is begging for a war and Israel is more than prepared to defend herself. And any action by Israel would be supported by several Western and Arab nations. Israel wants peace but if attacked, we will send Iran back to the stone age. That is not a threat." 

The analyst noted that Netanyahu was highly accurate regarding the easing of sanctions against Iran. 

"As Obama threatens to veto tougher sanctions proposed by the US Congress against Iran, Iran sends warships off the US East coast. Obama's foreign policy has proven to be a disaster. If you think Israel and Western Europe is distressed just imagine those who work in the US Department of Defense, CIA, NSA and the US military."

If they are Arabs, it's a village. If they are Jews, it's a settlement!

If they are Arabs, it's a village. If they are Jews, it's a settlement!

Saving Food, Giving Food To Homeless, Charities

Every day tons of fresh, good food is thrown into garbage cans. 

Please arrange with your local bakeries to pick up their food before they close and destroy food which can go to homeless shelters and charity / non-profit organizations.

Build Bridges, But Be Prepared For War

I'm sitting at a restaurant in New York. I hear a familiar accent coming from a young woman at the next table. 
Her child is smiling and staring at me. 
I ask: "Where are you from?" She says: "Jordan".
I respond: "Where in Jordan?" She answers: "not really Jordan but a place called Rahmallah." 

For the next hour we talked of how Islamic Jihad is destroying the Middle East and how much we both miss houmus. 

The photo above is when I served as a Humanitarian Officer in the IDF at a security checkpoint outside of ..... Rahmallah! 

We must always try to build bridges, but be prepared for war.

BREAKING: Secrets of Web ranking direct from Google:

BREAKING: Secrets of Web ranking direct from Google:

Memorial Condolence Page Created for Israel PM, War Hero Ariel Sharon

Jerusalem, Israel -- INA ... 01/13/2014 -- The Israel News Agency reports that an interactive, online condolence Website has been created for Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. The Ariel Sharon Condolence Page is being hosted by Facebook and within 24 hours has already attracted over 2,000 condolences from around the globe.

"Ariel Sharon, was not just an Israeli Prime Minister and Defense Minister," says Joel Leyden, creator of the condolence site.

"Sharon was and is a Jewish hero whose life illustrated a dedication to Israel's defense and very survival. He served in the War of Independence, the Six Day War, the Yom Kippur War and the Lebanon War. It was through Sharon's wisdom and creative leadership that his forces surrounded the Egyptian army outside of Cairo in 1973. If not for Ariel Sharon, there might not be an Israel today."

Joel Leyden created the very first condolence Website on the Internet back in 1995 for Israel Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and has recruited a few friends to honor the memory of Ariel Sharon today.

"In 1995, we were just a few weeks away from launching Israel's first Website - NetKing - when we heard that Yitzhak Rabin had been assassinated. We decided to use the tools and staff we had available to honor Rabin. It was a huge and historic success, one for which we are now attempting to create for another Israeli hero. There was no social media, no Facebook back in 1995. This condolence site for Sharon on Facebook contains a wide variety of features that a Website could not even come close to - including being able to network, share updates, photos and graphics instantly with nearly a billion members."

The Ariel Sharon Condolence page, a private, non-profit entity, consists of dozens of photos and letters illustrating Ariel Sharon's life as a soldier, politician, statesman, friend and family member. The page is open to the global public to enter words of remembrance and respect for the Sharon family and the people of Israel. A sister Website outside of Facebook is now being developed.

Leyden concludes: "As Jews, as Israeli solders, we promise that the memory of IDF Major General Ariel Sharon, identity number 38166, will not be forgotten."