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November 2023

POSITIVE NEWS FROM ISRAEL FROM MICHAEL ORDMAN

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com

Israel has a diverse and dedicated citizen army defending historical truth against enemies with fanatical hatred. Behind the headlines is a remarkable democracy. Michael Ordman, to his enormous credit, brings us positive news even during a war. rsk

 
Unexpected heroes. One website containing the stories of 27 Israeli citizens who were thrown into life-saving situations on Oct 7.  https://www.israel21c.org/unexpectedheroes/
 
Angels in orange. So many stories about United Hatzalah EMTs who rescued dozens of wounded Israelis on Oct 7.  Some were too harrowing for this newsletter.  At least these ones have positive endings. Since Oct 7, UH EMTs have treated thousands, evacuated hundreds, delivered tons of medical supplies, and much more.
https://israelrescue.org/stories/emt-reunites-with-policeman-he-saved-in-under-fire-rescue/
https://israelrescue.org/stories/jewish-emt-reunites-with-muslim-bedouin-father-and-son-he-rescued-following-october-7th-hamas-attack-that-killed-the-mans-wife/
 
How Kfar Maimon was saved. On Oct 7, dozens of Hamas terrorists invaded the fields of Kfar Maimon, a religious Moshav about 5km from Gaza. They made the mistake, however, of shooting down a passing low-flying helicopter. It was carrying Israeli paratroopers who exited unhurt and eliminated the terrorists.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/379945
 
IDF base reopens. The Nahal Oz surveillance control center overrun by Hamas terrorists on Oct 7 has been reopened at a temporary site on the Re’im army base 2km south of the original base. The (mostly female) surveillance soldiers belong to the Intelligence Corps as did hostage Ori Megidish who was rescued from Gaza.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/a-story-of-heroism-and-fighting-army-reopens-surveillance-center-raided-by-hamas/
 
Natebuzz is in Israel. Australian actor Nate Buzolic (natebuzz on Instagram with 3.4 million followers) is in Israel for the 26th time. He founded Rova Media 3 weeks ago and has partnered Rabbi Ari Lamm (grandson of former YU chancellor Rabbi Norman Lamm) to change Israel’s poor online image for the younger generation.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/aussie-influencer-natebuzz-in-israel-to-fight-social-media-battle/  
https://www.instagram.com/rovamedia_/ https://www.youtube.com/@RovaMedia
https://www.instagram.com/natebuzz/
 
Protecting civilians in Gaza. Finally, a positive Israel story from the BBC. How Israeli intelligence worked with a Gazan dentist to ensure that hundreds of Gaza civilians were unharmed as the IDF prepared to bomb tower blocks housing Hamas terrorists.  https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67327079
 
215 Bnei Menashe make Aliyah and join IDF. Since Oct 7, 75 members of the Bnei Menashe community from India have made Aliyah and joined IDF combat units. Another 140 new Olim have joined the reserves.
https://israfan.com/2023/11/07/from-india-to-israel-the-brave-bnei-menashe-joining-israels-defense/
 
Miracle births. (TY Ari) On Oct 7, Hevda Malca was in a safe room in Sderot while Hamas terrorists were rampaging outside. Her sister-in-law Ayala Shlomo was in a safe room in Kiryat Gat when a Hamas rocket hit their house. Both Ayala and Hedva have just given birth at Laniado hospital in Netanya.
https://newsrnd.com/news/2023-10-27-life-is-stronger-than-everything–on-simchat-torah-hide-from-the-missiles—this-week-they-gave-new-life-%7C-israel-hayom.rJk12LFGp.html
 
 
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
 
Successful trial of heart support device. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s Magenta Medical (see here previously) reported positive results in a 15-patient trial of its Elevate System. The percutaneous Left Ventricular Assist Device (pLVAD) supports circulation in high-risk percutaneous coronary interventions (HR-PCI).
https://www.prnewswire.com/il/news-releases/magenta-medical-reports-positive-results-for-us-early-feasibility-study-of-elevate-heart-pump-in-providing-temporary-mechanical-circulatory-support-during-high-risk-pci-procedures-301968986.html
 
Long-term relief from migraines. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s Theranica (see here previously) has reported successful long-term use of its Nerivio Remote Electrical Neuromodulation (REN) device for 409 migraine sufferers in the US. It consistently gave pain relief, functional disability relief and freedom.
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-study-demonstrates-consistent-positive-long-term-adherence-and-efficacy-of-nerivio-for-treatment-of-migraine-301966050.html
 
AI to develop new therapies. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s Can-Fite (see here previously) is developing small molecule medicines that address oncology and inflammatory diseases. It has partnered with Collaborations Pharma to use AI and Machine Learning techniques that significantly reduce development time and costs.
https://ir.canfite.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/1032/can-fite-to-harness-artificial-intelligence-to-develop
 
 

‘You Zionist Pig’: Pro-Palestinian Protesters Vandalize New York Times Building, Grand Central Station By Ari Blaff

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/you-zionist-pig-pro-palestinian-protesters-vandalize-new-york-times-building-grand-central-station/

Pro-Palestinian protesters marched through central Manhattan on Friday, tearing down American flags on city blocks and kicking in the doors of Grand Central Station as law enforcement sheltered inside.

Beginning at Columbus Circle, the mob burned an Israeli flag and led chants of “We don’t want a Jewish state. We want ’48!” referring to a historical period prior to the establishment of the country. Others demanded, “Settlers, settlers, go back home! Palestine is ours alone!” and “It is right to rebel. Israel, go to Hell!”

As one protester told the New York Post, “Since ’48 Israel came and occupied Palestine. Since that day and today they’re killing kids and children. Every day they’re bombing hospitals, kids and schools, and houses.”

An organizer of the demonstrations, Within Our Lifetime, called on protesters to “flood Manhattan for Gaza,” demanding, “Cease genocide. Cease the siege. Cease the blockade. Cease occupation. Cease funding Israel. Cease settler colonization. Cease Zionism. Cease imperialism,” in a pinned post on Instagram. The leader of the group, Nerdeen Kiswani, during an appearance on Piers Morgan’s talk show in late October, would not condemn the Hamas atrocities committed on October 7.

Along the marching path, the mob vandalized the New York Times building before encircling Grand Central Station and forcing the transit hub to close for the second night in a row. Outside the media outlet’s headquarters, young men flipped off a Daily News reporter screaming, “F*** you! You Zionist pig!”

Despite it being the night before Veterans Day, demonstrators wearing Palestinian keffiyehs repeatedly tore down American flags across the city to wild cheers from the crowd of supporters. Some were detained by NYPD officers. In at least one instance, NYPD officers looked on and decided not to intervene as people scaled city street lights to desecrate the flag.

Despite the destruction and violence, CBS reportedly described the mob as “mostly peaceful,” according to Atlantic journalist Judith Shulevitz conjuring up CNN’s infamous defense of Black Lives Matter riots. “They were chanting from the river to the sea, and that calls for the elimination of Israel and the genocide of the Jews,” one counter-demonstrator told the Post.

Israel, Iran and the Biden Administration: If America Does Not Win, Its Enemies Do by Guy Millière

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20141/israel-iran-and-the-biden-administration-if

Above all, to have the hostages released faster, there must be as few “pauses” as possible and no let-up by Israel in military pressure.

While the Israelis were urging the residents of northern Gaza to move south to avoid airstrikes, Hamas’s leaders were ordering the Gazans, to stay in their homes, or were shooting at them as they tried to flee — presumably so that Hamas could have more dead bodies to show the television crews how evil the Israelis supposedly are.

To Blinken’s credit and that of the Biden administration… on November 5, he rebuffed the request of Egypt and Jordan for humanitarian aid, saying that “such a halt right now would only allow Palestinian militant group Hamas to regroup and attack Israel again.”

Unfortunately, Biden also announced that the US will send $100 million in “humanitarian aid” to Hamas and the West Bank, thereby freeing up other funds to be used for further attacks

Israel, regrettably, evidently under US pressure, has just agreed to four-hour “humanitarian pauses.” The concession sounds virtuous, but actually breaks a law that prohibits resupplying terrorists. To Hamas, any pause is a gift. It can restock and plan attacks, and keep re-hiding the hostages. What chance is there that a terrorist group that shoots its own citizens to keep them from fleeing to safety will hand out food water and medicine to anyone but its cohorts?

In fairness, Biden immediately sent US ships , welcome materiel, and a nuclear submarine to the area…

The US president, nevertheless, has not failed to repeat his support for a “two-state solution”, even though it is now clear more than ever that the creation of a genocidal Palestinian state on what is left of Israel’s small border must be unthinkable…. In such a volatile region what if Iran or Islamic State were to take over the new Palestinian State?

If the US were to incapacitate the port Iran uses to ship oil China, or take out base of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) — or at the very least, as Gen. Jack Keane has been advocating, the base Iran uses to train troops — the war would likely be over in a minute.

The Ukraine is indeed a worthy US involvement: if Russia can keep the Donbass and Crimea, China’s Communist leader Xi Jinping will be encouraged to take Taiwan, perhaps the Philippines, all the sea lanes in the Indo-pacific, as well as further threaten Australia and Japan.

In January 2021, Iran was on the verge of economic asphyxiation, barely able to continue financing Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas. The Abraham Accords outlined the prospect of regional peace, and Saudi Arabia was considering joining the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kosovo, Morocco and Sudan. Israel was a respected regional power.

Anatomy of a Paris Demo by Amir Taheri

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20138/paris-demonstration-gaza

A poll for the daily Le Figaro shows that 37 percent of the French still have sympathy for Israel, while Palestine gets 20 percent and Hamas 5 percent.

Those I talked to in the demo seemed as if they had forgotten October 7, reminding me of Isaac Bashevis Singer’s phrase “What a miser is a human memory!”

In the Saturday demo, there was no mention of the nearly 250 Israeli hostages held by Hamas. The so-called elites have adopted a one-way indignation posture against Israel.

“Paris could become a battlefield!” This was how commentators speculated about a “solidarity with Palestine” demonstration that the police had authorized for last Saturday. The concern was not groundless.

A few days before, a Harris opinion poll had shown that 82 percent of the French feared a wave of terrorism in France and 72 percent believed that something like the 7 October attack by Hamas would happen in Paris.

“People are right to have concerns,” says Brice Hortefeux, a former Minister of the Interior.

In the past decade, France has been hit by over 400 terrorist attacks or attempts, almost all related to the Middle East or what is shorthanded as “Islamic World.” The same concern was expressed in numerous editorials, reminding people that as home to Europe’s largest Jewish community, some 500,000, and highest number of Muslims, around 7 million, France was already “part of the Middle East.”

Iran’s Less than Nuanced View of Bi-Lateral Relations: ‘Death to America!’ is not just a slogan – it is a policy By Thaddeus G. McCotter

https://amgreatness.com/2023/11/11/irans-less-than-nuanced-view-of-bi-lateral-relations/

One of the more odious aspects of the cornucopia of hypocrisy that is the Left’s “woke” ideology is how, after assuming its intellectual and moral superiority and “privilege” within society, the Left further assumed others cannot elevate their own status without the woke cult’s intercession and assistance. Not surprisingly, such a “top-down,” condescending ideology has consequences, though the affluent “woke” Leftists driving, voting, donating, and foisting these disastrous policies are often insulated from the consequences of their actions. Not so, however, for the “oppressed,” who through no fault of their own have been targeted for “liberation” by the woke cult’s offensive attitude and its injurious, unwelcomed “help;” nor for society as a whole.

For example, the woke cult’s “bail reform” has led to an increase in crime for residents of urban areas, especially those communities already suffering high crime rates.  Other residents and tourists in these cities also are now at greater risk of being victimized by criminals. But this is of no concern to the self-congratulatory Leftists who imposed these perilous policies upon them – unless, of course, these elitists happen to emerge from their gilded communities and are accosted by the physical incarnation of their own smug imbecility.

Yet, the woke cult’s physical incarnations of their own smug imbecility do not end at the city limits or even the waters’ edge.  And nor do the consequences of the woke ideology.

As reported by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), “Supreme Leader” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei took to Iran’s Channel 1 on November 1 and reiterated his less than nuanced position on bi-lateral engagement with the United States: “The situation between America and Iran is this: When you chant ‘Death to America!’ it is not just a slogan – it is a policy.”

After carping how this is not the first time he has had to publicly state the obvious and his historically revisionist complaints for it, Iran’s Supreme Lesion deigned to do so again; and, waxing homicidal, railed against the U.S., Israel, and current events:

“For many years, from the 1940s to the 1970s – that is 30 years – the Americans did everything they could do against the Iranian nation.  They hit Iran in any way they could – financially, economically, politically, scientifically, and morally.

Pro-Hamas protestors shut down New York’s Grand Central By Monica Showalter

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2023/11/prohamas_protestors_shut_down_grand_central.html

The pro-Hamas protestors are at it again, bolder than ever, this time shutting down Grand Central train station on a Friday rush hour in New York and forcing the cops to hole up in their own police station.

According to Fox News:

Service at Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan was temporarily suspended on Friday after a mob of pro-Palestinian demonstrators flooded the streets of New York City to protest Israel’s war in Gaza, creating chaos as some tried to break into the closed station.

The pro-Palestinian rally began at 5 p.m. Friday with over a thousand individuals marching through the streets. Some were seen tearing down posters of the hostages being held by Hamas terrorists and crumbling them up while other demonstrators burned an Israeli flag.

According to an Instagram post from pro-Palestinian organizations Within Our Lifetime and the City University of New York for Palestine, the protest was to “flood Manhattan for Gaza.”

As Fox News’s Bill Melugin aptly put it:

And why is this even legal?

The Catholic Church Against Slavery: Setting the Record Straight By Janet Levy

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2023/11/the_catholic_church_against_slavery_setting_the_record_straight.html

The Catholic Church, like many ancient institutions, has a checkered past.  Its record has been marred by the horrors of the Inquisition, its ambivalence towards the Nazis and the Holocaust, and its complicity in – and even cover-up of – child abuse by priests.  To its credit, however, the Church – despite some lapses – has a long and consistent history of opposing slavery.

That is the thesis of The Worst of Indignities: The Catholic Church on Slavery, the latest book by Paul Kengor.  A professor at Grove City College, Kengor is the bestselling author of over a dozen works, such as The Devil and Karl Marx: Communism’s Long March of Death, Deception, and Infiltration; Dupes: How America’s Adversaries Have Manipulated Progressives for a Century; and Takedown: From Communists to Progressives, How the Left has Sabotaged Family and Marriage.

Citing scriptural depictions of Jesus healing slaves, Kengor asserts that an exemplary, forward-thinking role against slavery can be traced to the very beginnings of Christianity – as early as the first century.  Since then, the Church’s stance has been consistent.  Papal bulls and encyclicals have condemned the abominable commerce in humans, which soared during the trans-Atlantic slave trade from the 1480s through much of the 19th century. 

The stance continues to this day.  Early in the 20th century, in an encyclical called Lacrimabili Statu (Latin for in tears), Pope Pius X described slavery as “the worst of indignities,” from which the book draws its title.  Pope John Paul II, whose papacy ran from 1978 to 2005, apologized for slavery and warned against “new forms of it, often insidious.”  In the encyclical Veritatis Splendor,  he condemned slavery as “intrinsically evil,” and in a 2002 letter to Archbishop Jean-Louis Touran described human trafficking, organized prostitution, and forced labor as a “modern plague.”  The current pontiff, Pope Francis, has often condemned sex trafficking, low-paid labor, organ trade, the drugs and weapons trade, war, and organized crime.  In Fratelli Tutti, he described them as “scourges.”

NYC parent, teacher groups promoted pro-Palestinian student walkout: Kids yelled ‘F–k By Deirdre Bardolf and Susan Edelmanthe Jews!’

https://nypost.com/2023/11/11/news/a-brooklyn-parent-advisory-board-promoted-and-organized-a-student-walkout-for-palestine-this-week-a-clear-violation-of-state-regulations-

A Brooklyn parent advisory board promoted and organized a student walkout for Palestinians this week — a clear violation of state regulations, outraged critics told The Post.

The Community Education Council for District 14, which covers ultra-liberal Williamsburg and Greenpoint, used its platform to encourage the 700-student protest involving 100 schools — and even shared resources including antisemitic signs proclaiming, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”

Recommended chants included, “Resistance is justified when people are occupied” and “Say it loud, say it clear, we don’t want Zionists here!”

Students protesting on Thursday near Franklin Delano Roosevelt High School in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, were captured on video yelling, “F–k the Jews!”

Jewish students were horrified.

One Fort Hamilton High School mom said her daughter didn’t go to school Friday out of fear.

When the mom called the school, an administrator told her it’s “complicated.”

A toolkit created by parents, teachers, and activist groups provided protest signs with graphics supporting Palestinians.toolkit

“I know firsthand what antisemitism is but I never in my life thought my daughter would have to go through something like this,” the mom said.

The Latest Antisemitism on College Campuses Is Beyond Sickening Matt Vespa

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2023/11/10/all-the-young-kids-want-to-do-is-intimidate-or-kill-jews-n2631079

Jewish people are running for cover, and can you blame them? In America, most Jewish communities probably never thought they’d have to arm themselves—ever. That all changed when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, butchering 1,400 Israelis and leading to an outpouring of antisemitism not seen since the rise of Nazi Germany. There are no rallies with disciplined men and women wearing swastikas. Still, the disjointed rabble that has gathered on college campuses and in our cities speaks the same language as the National Socialist German Workers’ Party: kill all the Jews.

The phrasing and messaging are different; many will claim they’re anti-Zionist, not antisemitic—all while holding a sign showing the Star of David in a wastebasket with the caption “Keep the world clean.”  That’s a distinction without a difference. And when pressed, it’s an incoherent mess about how they don’t hate Jews but want everyone in Israel to die. 

Some street interviews also exposed an appalling ignorance that causes one to do double-takes. How can kids be unaware that Hamas is a terrorist organization? Some didn’t even know Hams invaded Israel. Of all people, Bill Maher delved into this nonsense, wondering where all this illiberal, illogical, and antisemitic sewage is coming from, and that would be colleges. The kids want to kill Jews. They call for it daily since the Israeli operations against Hamas commenced in earnest after October 7, even going so far as to claim Israel is worse than Nazi Germany. 

It’s not about ideas; you see that with these interactions. It’s about the oppressed/oppressor paradigm that leads to painfully stupid takes from these people, notably the members of the LGBT community who stand with Palestine. Hamas would chuck these people off the roof if they could. Women can’t travel outside the home without a male companion. The sexual liberation that these anti-Israel women also preach would lead to an epic stoning so complete that Gaza City’s streets would be knee-deep with their blood if they ever said one-eighth of the woke nonsense they peddle here. The irony is that Israel’s minorities fare the best in the Middle East for obvious reasons: they’re the only beacon of Western values in that part of the world.

Jewish students at MIT blocked from attending classes by ‘hostile’ anti-Israel protesters By Patrick Reilly

https://nypost.com/2023/11/10/news/jewish-students-at-mit-blocked-from-attending-classes-by-hostile-anti-israel-protesters/

Jewish students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology say they were prevented from attending classes by a “blockade” of hostile anti-Israel students — and fear the school is “not safe for Jews.”

An open letter penned by the MIT Israel Alliance alleges that Jewish and Israeli students were “physically” obstructed from classrooms by a “hostile” pro-Palestinian group called the Coalition Against Apartheid (CAA).

“This is after students from the CAA harassed MIT staff members in their offices for being Jewish and interrupted classes in the past few weeks,” the letter read.

“Many Jewish students fear leaving their dorm rooms and have stated that they feel MIT is not safe for Jews,” the letter continues.

“This message is compounded by the public and private warnings of Hillel [the school’s graduate Jewish community] and many faculty that Jewish students should not enter MIT’s main lobby today.”

Four hours after the CAA protest began, the administration told students to leave the lobby and threatened them with suspension — but only the Jewish students who were there to counterprotest left, according to the group.

“Indeed, the CAA proceeded to invite more students and non-MIT protestors to join them in calling for a violent uprising (“Intifada”) and justifying the terror attacks of Hamas on Israeli civilians,” the alliance said.