Jewish Jihadis

Those Who Say Israel Is Always Right and The World Is Out To Get Us Are Causing Long-Term Damage To Israel.

The NGO promoting aliyah from North America and Britain has a flawless PR operation. On Monday morning, it brought a plane-load of 338 new immigrants to Ben-Gurion Airport for a stage-managed rally attended by President Rivlin. The central attraction was a group of 108 young men and women who will be inducted into the IDF in a few weeks.

With all the patriotic fervor sweeping the country in the wake of the Gaza operation, no-one is asking the necessary question whether military service should be the first stage in a new life in Israel. Moreover, should the IDF continue opening its ranks to hundreds of young Jewish men who do not plan to become citizens and spend their lives in Israel?

No-one wants to ask this question so soon after Los Angeles-native Golani sharpshooter Max Steinberg was killed in the fighting in Gaza, but it should be asked nonetheless. Is the IDF doing itself and these recruits a disservice by becoming a foreign legion for the Diaspora?

Some writers in America and Britain have raised this issue in columns accusing various pro-Israel organizations of “brainwashing” and asking why these “Jewish Jihadis” are different from Muslim men going off to fight for ISIS in Syria and Iraq. 

Religion & The US Military

UPDATED ON: FRIDAY, JUNE 26, 2009
13:17 MECCA TIME, 10:17 GMT
Courtesy Of Al-Jazeera

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The United States is a deeply religious country. More than 90 per cent of the population say they believe in god and while 80 per cent profess to believe in miracles.

In depth

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For the US military, dealing with its' own religious identity has become an internal battle.

Growing evidence points towards a rising influence of evangelical Christianity, and with two wars still raging in Muslim countries with significant religious overtones, there could be serious consequences for the US mission.

Pentagon officials say incidents are isolated, aberrations occur, but others closely tied to the military and its' religious leadership say a transformation is taking place with dire costs.

On this week’s episode of Fault Lines, we look at the battle over the religious soul of the US military.

Also, we meet Brent Scowcroft, the national security advisor under Presidents Ford and George H.W. Bush.

He gives Fault Lines a fresh take on the issue of religion in the military and how it is impacting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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This special edition of Fault Lines can be seen from Saturday May 30, at the following times GMT: Saturday: 1130, 2330; Sunday: 0630, 2030; Monday: 1430; Tuesday: 1230; Wednesday: 0300;

A 'Religious War' In The Making

By Haaretz Service
Last update - 17:44 06/03/2010
Courtesy Of Haaretz NewsPaper

The Organization of the Islamic Conference on Saturday called the fighting one day earlier between Israel Police officers and Muslim worshippers on the Temple Mount "a sacrilegious act of profanation of the holy Islamic site," according to French news agency AFP.

Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, secretary-general of the Jeddah-based pan-Islamic body, called for international intervention to end what he described as "Israeli aggression."

Clashes broke out between Israeli police officers and Muslim rock throwers at the end of Friday prayers on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem following a sermon on a recent Israeli decision to include two West Bank shrines on a list of national heritage sites.

Rocks were thrown from the direction of the mosques above toward Jews praying below at the Western Wall plaza. Israeli police entered the Temple Mount compound to quell the rock throwing. The stone throwers eventually retreated to inside the Al-Aqsa mosque.

Fifteen police officers were lightly hurt in the incident; three were transported to Hadassah Hospital on Mount Scopus, two to Shaare Zedek and the rest were treated at the scene.

Palestinians reported that dozens were injured by Israeli security forces.

The pan-Islamic body on Saturday said Israel's police action was "a violation of international law and a flagrant attack on the freedom of religion of the nature that could take the region into a war between religions," reported French news agency AFP.

The UN Security Council on Friday voiced concern over the fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinians in Jerusalem and the West Bank and urged both sides to resume peace talks.

President of the Security Council for March, Gabon's UN Ambassador Emmanuel Issoze-Ngondet, told reporters "The members of the Security Council expressed their concern at the current tense situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, including east Jerusalem."

"They urged all sides to show restraint and avoid provocative acts," he said after a closed-door meeting. "They stressed that peaceful dialogue was the only way forward and looked forward to an early resumption of negotiations."

The permanent Palestinian observer to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, welcomed the council statement, adding that the U.S. decision not to block it "is a signal that the United States wants this effort to succeed" and Israel to restrain itself.

A U.S. official, however, told Reuters on condition of anonymity that the American delegation had not agreed with the statement and said it was adopted due to what the official described as "procedural confusion".

Council statements are agreed by consensus and are nonbinding. The U.S. delegation has often blocked proposed Security Council statements condemning Israel.

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