FactsOfIsrael.com covers the basic facts on the State of Israel and the Middle East. This includes Maps, the History of the region, Statistics, and more. We also post articles related to the Victims of Palestinian Terrorism, Anti-Semitism, Jewish History, and also a bit of Humor, News and Opinions.

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Fact 241: "In May 2002, an Orthodox Jew, very much the visible target, was beaten savagely outside the synagogue in Berkeley, California, and was hospitalized. Berkeley is home to some of the more leftist elements of American society, many who are anti-Israeli and also anti-Jewish."

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Note: 15 random articles are displayed below. Refresh this page to display another set of random articles.
Israel successfully launches satellite into space (12.29.2003)


Hi-TechIsrael Insider (www.israelinsider.com) reports that Israel now has two satellites in space:



Amos 2, another Israeli
satellite orbits the Earth


The Amos-2 communications satellite was successfully launched into orbit from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Saturday night. As the satellite prepared to enter into a geostationary orbit, some 36,000 kilometers above the planet, technicians at the Amos Ground Station near Yehud said all systems seemed to be in perfect working order.

Amos-2 is Israel's second commercial communications satellite and will be located in orbit some four kilometers from its predecessor, Amos-1, which was launched in 1996 and is due to stop operations in 2008. Israel's two other satellites in space are the Eros-A observation satellite and the Ofek-5 reconnaissance satellite, launched in May 2002.

Amos-2, which was manufactured by Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI)'s MBT Space Division, was launched into space on a Russian Soyuz-Fregat launch vehicle by Starsem, a European-Russian space launching venture set up in 1996.


I copy the rest of the artcile below.

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Anti-Semitic cartoon in the Los Angeles Times (05.23.2002)


Anti-SemitismI just saw a cartoon depicting two Jews "worshipping their God" in front of the Western Wall, the Jews most sacred spot in the World (in Jerusalem). Unfortunately, according to the cartoon's author, the word "HATE" turns out to be the Jews God.



According to the Los Angeles Times,
Jews worship hate


Was this printed in some government controlled Arabic newspaper, or maybe it was found in a Hitler's Youth handbook?

Nope. It was printed in the Los Angeles Times, which turns out to be not only anti-Israeli but is now openly anti-Semitic.

"In defense, L.A. Times artist Michael Ramirez pointed out that that the second man in the cartoon (sprawled on the ground and much less noticeable) was actually a Moslem praying. Unfortunately, the keffiah which would identify him as a Moslem is practically invisible to the naked eye.

Furthermore, Ramirez was unable to explain why the chosen venue of "hate" was the Western Wall, a site sacred only to Jews, which has never been used as a place of Moslem prayer"

To contact the Los Angeles Times, send an email to feedback@latimes.com
I copy the full article below.

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Racist Russian Nazi tries to kill eight Jews in Moscow, Russia (01.11.2006)


Anti-SemitismThe Jerusalem Post (www.jpost.com) reports that a racist Russian nazi attempted to murder eight jews today in Moscow, Russia:

The Jewish community of Moscow was in a state of shock after a drunken skinhead stabbed eight Jews at the Chabad Bronnaya synagogue Wednesday night.



Aharon Yeheskelia of Kiryat Malachi, currently a Chabad rabbinical student in Moscow, was in surgery at press time after having been slashed in the neck and seriously wounded in the attack. The other victims were in stable condition. [...]



Berkowitz, executive director of the Federation of Jewish Communities in the Commonwealth of Independent States, said Koptsev was screaming "Heil Hitler" and left a "bloodbath" in his wake. Others heard the perpetrator yell, "I will kill Jews." "It was a terrible scene," Berkowitz told the Post.



Witnesses said the assailant attacked a guard who tried to stop him, then stabbed people in or near a prayer room on the first floor before continuing his rampage upstairs. They said the attacker had a shaved head and wore a leather jacket. [...]



Around 100 people were at the synagogue at the time of the attack, but soon after members of the Jewish community flooded the area around it to find out what had happened and show solidarity. Scores stayed at the synagogue into the night praying for the well-being of the victims.


The next time some bastard tells you that Jews don't deserve their own country remember that incidents like this are the reason the State of Israel was created.

I copy the full article below.

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Poland, 1407, Jews are burned alive after blood libel accusations (10.25.2002)


Jewish HistoryThe Jerusalem Post's feature "This day in history" reports on October 26, 1407, when jews are burned alive in Cracow, Poland:

1407: Jews are persecuted in the Cracow Accusations, one of the first blood libels to be recorded in Poland. The Jews try to defend themselves and ultimately take refuge in the Church of St. Anne which is surrounded and then set afire. Any children left alive are forcibly baptized.


I copy below an article that gives more info on the anti-Jewish blood libels in Europe.

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Moving out of the Gaza Strip is good for Israel (08.23.2005)


OpinionCharles Krauthammer has a great article on townhall.com on why it's good for Israel to move out of of the Gaza Strip:

[...] Nonetheless, unilateralism is both correct and necessary. Israel has no peace partner -- Mahmoud Abbas has nothing to offer and has offered nothing -- and in the absence of a partner, there is only one logical policy: rationalize your defensive lines and prepare for a long wait.



[...] The Gaza withdrawal is not the beginning but the end. Apart from perhaps some evacuations of outlying settlements on the West Bank, it is the end of the concession road for Israel. And it is the beginning of the new era of self-sufficiency and separation in which Israel ensures its security not by concessions, but by fortification, barrier creation, realism and patient waiting.



Waiting for the first-ever genuine Palestinian concessions. Waiting for the Palestinians to honor the promises -- to recognize Israel and renounce terrorism -- they solemnly made at Oslo and brazenly betrayed. That's the next step. Without it, nothing happens.


I copy the full article below; for more information on Israel's moving out of the Gaza Strip, click here. Found this article on the excellent LGF.

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Dmoz.org, Open Directory Project, has strong anti-Israel bias (10.26.2002)


OpinionDmoz.org is an open directory project owned by Netscape, and therefore by American Online (AOL). It defines itself as follows:

The Open Directory Project is the largest, most comprehensive human-edited directory of the Web. It is constructed and maintained by a vast, global community of volunteer editors.


It is basically a huge directory of websites with descriptions written by real people, who have volunteered for no charge. In theory that's great: what's better than to have real human beings going over the sites and describing what they see, instead of just getting a result from a random software algorithm?

The problem, or should I say "my problem", is that there's apparently only one guy, going by the alias of "shermain", who decides what the descriptions should be for ANY site related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This "shermain" turns out to be very pro-Palestinian and deliberately twists the descriptions of all pro-Israeli sites into something pejorative.

I was surprised to find out that "shermain" has described my site, FactsOfIsrael.com, as follows:

Commentary suggesting that any act or opinion not unqualifiedly in support of Israel reflects an anti-Israel or anti-Semitic mindset.


That's completely unfair.

I have spent months working on the FactsOfIsrael.com site, newsletter and screensaver - my whole idea was to list facts, not "commentary". Although the site by definition presents the Israeli perspective, I have also posted, in multiple occasions, articles critical of some of Israel's policies. The site's content is very far from only "suggesting that any act or opinion not unqualifiedly in support of Israel reflects an anti-Israel or anti-Semitic mindset."

"shermain" completely ignores the Maps, History, Stats, Palestine and Democracy pages. He couldn't care less about the pages on Victims, Palestinian Terrorism , Anti-Semitism, and Jewish History. The weekly newsletter or the screensaver I wrote and distribute for free don't get one line.

The worst thing is that the Google and Netscape search engines use the descriptions from Dmoz.org in their search results - thousands of potential surfers will certainly not even check FactsOfIsrael.com due to the decision of one person, "shermain", to describe the site in a negative light.

I have sent the Dmoz.org an email requesting an update to my description but I haven't heard yet from them.

This is pretty depressing and I'm thinking of shutting down FactsOfIsrael.com. I get hate messages and even death threats almost on a daily basis, and messages of support are extremely rare. Then comes along "shermain" who takes hundreds of hours of work and squashes it all into a derogatory and offensive one liner.

I feel like throwing up.

Update: After doing a search, I found that the guys at jewishinternetassociation.org have actually published a page on the Dmoz.org anti-Israel bias. It has a lot of good information: check it out here. Maybe there's some hope.

Update2: Little Green Footballs has also posted on the Dmoz.org anti-Israel bias. But the original posting is from July, leading me to think that nothing is going to change easily in the Open Hate Project.

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Alguns Italianos são anti-semitas (Portuguese) (09.03.2002)


Anti-SemitismO site Pletz.com publicou um artigo traduzido do Italiano que mostra como certos Italianos são anti-Semitas.

Quando o cemitério judaico em Roma foi destruído recentemente, trouxe à mente a controversa declaração feita pelo porta-voz da Câmara dos Deputados da Itália, Pier Ferdinando Casini - um membro de um partido de centro da coalizão do primeiro-ministro Silvio Berlusconi - que disse que o anti-semitismo é menos prevalecente na Itália do que em outros países. Acho necessário observar a distinção entre anti-semitismo intelectual e anti-semitismo popular.

O anti-semitismo popular é tão velho quanto a Diáspora. Nasceu de uma reação instintiva por parte das massas a um grupo de pessoas que eram diferentes, falavam uma língua não familiar que evocava rituais mágicos; um grupo de pessoas acostumadas a uma cultura das escrituras sagradas, com as quais os judeus aprendiam a ler e a escrever; eles cultivavam a medicina, os negócios, a prática de emprestar dinheiro - foi aí que nasceu o ressentimento nos olhos dos "intelectuais". O anti-semitismo rural na Rússia teve essas raízes.


Para o resto do artigo clique em baixo.

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Palestinian mass murderers kill 16 Israelis, including a three yeard old child (08.31.2004)


Palestinian TerrorismThe Jerusalem Post (www.jpost.com) reports that a Palestinian mass murderers have killed 16 Israelis, including a three year old child:

Two suicide bombers exploded almost simultaneously on two buses in central Beersheba on Tuesday, killing 16 people and wounding dozens. The explosions took place on buses numbers 12 and 7, traveling opposite the municipality building at 2:55 p.m. [...]

Twelve people died at the scene and four others died later while being treated, including a three-year-old. About 100 people were wounded in the attack, including 16 children. The wounded were taken to Soroka Medical Center, not far from the site of the attack. Seven people are listed in serious condition, 23 in moderate condition and the rest were lightly wounded.

The deadliest attack in almost a year, the double bombing, carried out by Hamas, was the first major terrorist strike in nearly six months and ended what had been one of the most peaceful summers Israelis have known for years.

The relative calm had been attributed to the relentless crackdown on Palestinian terror groups and the security barrier that has effectively blocked terrorist infiltrations into the country. Tuesday's bombings fulfilled fears that terrorists would opt for striking in the south, where there is no security fence.


This is more proof that Israel's security fence is part of the solution in fighting the war against Palestinian terrorism. The Palestinian terrorists did not strike in Tel-Aviv, Jerusalem or any other city in Israel's center, but were only able to kill in the South of Israel, where as the article mentions, the fence is not yet built.

Israel needs to continue doing what has it has been executing for the last two years:

1) On the one hand, Israel needs to continue building its security fence. This will stop the mass murdering freaks from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas to easily kill women and children. Israel also needs to continue ignoring the biased Europeans and their Kangoroo court of "Justice" (click here for more details on Israel's security fence and here for the disregard of human life by the European clowns).

2) On the other hand, Israel's army need to continue fighting the Palestinian terrorists. Israel will continue to track the mass murderers from the Islamic Jihad and Arafat's Al-Aksa Brigades down and kill them, one by one. If they are running like rats, they will not have time to murder Israeli women and children.

For a list of homicide bombings executed by the Palestinian mass murderers, click here. For more information on how the Palestinians reject peace and continue to deliberately kill Israeli women and children, click here.

I copy the full article below.

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The leftist BBC is anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic (07.24.2002)


OpinionThe Jewish World Review (www.jewishworldreview.com) has posted an article that describes how the BBC has become one of the most anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic stations, surpassing even NPR.

Did the BBC, which reaches into virtually every British living room, take a conscious policy decision to allow this arrant nonsense to become an established fact on its air waves? I doubt it. Rather, I believe, that the profound anti-Israel bias -- and now I am convinced that it does exist -- has, over the years, become ingrained in the BBC's corporate culture. Combine that with a massive dose of anti-Americanism and you have a combustible cocktail.[...]

In my judgement, the volume and intensity of this unchallenged diatribe has now transcended mere criticism of Israel. Hatred is in the air. Wittingly or not, I the BBC has become the principal agent for re-infecting British society with the virus of anti-Semitism. [...]

But it was not just the lamentable standards of journalism: I parted company with the BBC over its systematic, hysterical advocacy of the most extreme Palestinian positions; an advocacy that has now transmogrified into a distorting hatred of a criminal Israel and, by extension, into a burgeoning hatred of Jews closer to home.

It is astonishing that little more than half a century after the Holocaust, the BBC, guardian of liberalism and political correctness, should provide the fertile seedbed for the return of "respectable" anti-Semitism which finds expression not only in the smart salons of London but, according to the experts who monitor such phenomena, across the entire political spectrum, uniting the far-left with the centre and far-right.


I copy the full article below.

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A Texan, a Frenchman and an Israeli (11.30.2002)


HumorA Texan, a Frenchman and an Israeli are on a plane flying over the Pacific Ocean when the engines stop functioning. The plane crash lands on a Pacific Island and the three are immediately captured by a tribe of cannibals and taken to their village.

The Chief tells the three captives that these cannibals are civilized and they have a custom on their island that before they eat anyone, they grant that person his or her last wishes--no matter what they are.

He asks the Texan, "What is your last wish?" The Texan replies: "I want a 2 inch thick steak with all thetrimmings, Cajun fries and a case of Budweiser Beer." The Chief motions to some of his tribesmen who immediately runs into the jungle and come back with the steak, the fries and the beer. The Texan eats his meal and he is thrown in the cooking pot.

The Frenchman is asked: "What is your last wish?" He replies: "I would like a case of Dom Perignon and I would also like a big plate of escargots cooked in the French manner." The Chief motions to his tribesmen who immediately rushes off into the jungle and bring back everything the Frenchman asked for. He eats and drinks his fill, and he is then thrown in the cooking pot.

The Chief turns to the Israeli and asks, "And what is your wish?" The Israeli looks the Chief squarely in the eyes and replies: "I want you to kick me as hard as you can." The Chief is bewildered and asks the Israeli again, only to receive the same reply. "I want you to kick me as hard as you can."

The Chief shrugs his shoulders, asks the Israeli to turn around, and kicks him as hard as he can. With that, the Israeli pulls out a gun and kills the Chief and all of the other cannibals. The Texan and the Frenchman get out of the pot, look at the Israeli and say: "If you had that gun why did not you do anything sooner?"

The Israeli replies: "What? And risk being condemned by the UN, the European Union, and the US State Department for overreacting to insufficient provocation?"

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Kiev - Ukrainia, 1941, over 30,000 Jews murdered in two days (09.28.2002)


Jewish HistoryThe Jerusalem Post's feature "This day in history" reports on September 28, 1941, when over 30,000 Jews in Kiev, Ukrainia, were murdered by the German Nazis:

1941: In Kiev, 2000 notices were posted around Kiev ordering all Jews to appear the next day with documents, warm clothes and valuables. Rumors were rife that they were going to be sent to a labor camp. Its result was the Babi Yar massacres. According to German records, 33,771 Jews, were slaughtered in a ravine outside of Kiev The massacre is immortalized in Yevgei Yevtushenko's poem "Babi Yar". The monument placed on the site does not mention Jews.


Those that equate Israel's fight against Palestinian terrorists from the Hamas and Islamic Jihad with Nazi methods, are anti-Semites or bleeding brain leftists. In the last two years about 1,800 Palestinians have been killed, the large majority of these Palestinians were armed men who were attacking Israeli targets. This is in contrast to the German Nazis who, as we can see from above, murdered over 30,000 unarmed men, women and children in two days.

I copy below an article that gives more details on the murder of Jews in Babi Yar, Kiev.

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The killing of unarmed civilians is terrorism - TerrorPetition.com (06.16.2002)


OpinionTerrorPetition.com, a coalition of concerned citizens worldwide, has launched a major petition drive calling on newspapers and broadcast media to label Palestinian suicide bombers as “terrorists.”

News agencies like MSNBC.com, BBC and Reuters have come under criticism for referring to Palestinian suicide bombers as “militants,” “activists,” or even “freedom fighters.”

TerrorPetition.com is collecting 100,000 signatures, at which point the petition will be presented to editors and executives of hundreds of media outlets worldwide. The grassroots campaign is being coordinated by the media watch group, HonestReporting.com.

You can sign the petition now at http://TerrorPetition.com. It takes less than 10 seconds and will influence the media to fix this outrageous policy.

I have also written a couple of articles on this - see an email I sent to NPR which continues to call the Palestinian murderers of a 5-year-old Israeli girl "militants" (by my book, "militants" are Union Officials who parade in front of McDonald's - not homicide/suicide bombers and other Palestinian murderers who kill unarmed civilians, including children).

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Palestinian terrorist tries to murder Israeli family, manages only to get killed (01.01.2003)


Palestinian TerrorismThe Jerusalem Post (www.jpost.com) reports that a Palestinian terrorist broke into the house of an Israeli family with the intent of murdering the family or whoever was inside. Luckily the incompetent Palestinian moron did not properly check his murder weapon, and the rifle misfired:

A special anti-terror unit stormed a house early Thursday morning - in which a Palestinian terrorist had been holed up for three hours in Moshav Maor – and killed the lone gunman without any injuries to residents or troops.

The incident began when an armed terrorist infiltrated into Moshav Maor, east of Hadera, at 1 AM and was holed up in a house surrounded by elite IDF troops. The occupants of the house - a husband and wife - managed to escape.

Media reports said the man may have been armed with an explosive device. Troops from a special anti-terror unit negotiated with the man who was alone in the house and not holding hostages. Sappers were searching for the explosive device.

Israel Radio said the terrorist was armed with a rifle that apparently malfunctioned after firing one shot, allowing the family to escape.

The husband was lightly wounded jumping from a window; the wife was treated for shock. [...]

One resident told Israel Radio that she was awakened by a phone call from her brother telling her there was a terrorist on the moshav. "We shut up all the windows and locked the doors," she said. "I took my two children into the bed, we are very afraid."


I lived in a Moshav a couple of years when I was in Israel - it's basically a small village. Can you imagine what it feels like to have a Palestinian terrorist enter your house at 1 AM with the clear intent of murdering your kids and your wife? Moshav Maor is only 6 miles away from Kibutz Metzer where on 11/10/2002 Palestinian terrorists deliberately murdered five Israelis: one young man, 2 women and 2 children aged 4 and 5 - click here for that story.

Here's my prediction on AP and Reuters' title of the coverage of this story: "Israeli army kills one Palestinian". I copy the full article below.

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Vacation to Brazil: News updates might slow down (05.31.2002)


AnnouncementIn the next few days I'll be on vacation in Brazil. The World Cup just started and although it's happening in Japan/Korea, I decided to go see it in Brazil. I was born in Brazil (or Brasil, with an 'S', as Brazilians spell it), and it's always a great experience to see the country come together behind the national team. It's like the 4th of July for a month!

I'll be updating the News section of FactsOfIsrael.com from Internet Cafes across Brazil, but I might not be able to post as many items as I'd like. It's your opportunity to come back to the site and go over the history, maps, stats and the democracy pages - I have made many updates lately and I'm sure you'll find it all interesting. Just let me know if you have any remarks or suggestions, I always enjoy the feedback.

If you enjoy the web site, the newsletter or the free screensaver, please recommend FactsOfIsrael.com to your family and friends - they'll also enjoy it and I hope they'll learn something about Israel and the Middle East.

Before leaving I just sent the weekly FactsOfIsrael.com newsletter. This week's fact is:

Facts 6 and 7: The West Bank and the Gaza strip were under Jordanian and Egyptian occupation from 1948 to 1967 yet no Palestinian State was ever created.


For more details, click here.

Thanks for being interested in the facts,
David Melle
dmelle@FactsOfIsrael.com

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Racist Bastards deface 50 posters of Jewish politician (08.07.2004)


Anti-SemitismCBS (www.cbs.com) reports that racist bastards have defaced 50 posters of a Jewish politician in San Francisco, California:



One of the posters of Heller, a Jewish politician,
defaced by a Nazi swastika in San Francisco, California


Hate Crime Against SF Supe Candidate, Link
Swastikas defaced dozens of campaign posters in San Francisco's Richmond district.

The anti-Semitic symbols appeared on at least 50 posters for David Heller, who is Jewish and running for the Board of Supervisors in San Francisco. The beauty shop owner lost all of his relatives on his father's side to the Nazis.

Mr. Heller said, "I couldn't believe it. I couldn't handle it. I just broke down. I mean I cried. All day, I couldn't handle it. I couldn't believe it."

Heller used the colors of the Israeli flag for his posters. The Anti-Defamation League says references to Israel can set off anti-Semitic attacks.

On Wednesday, Heller's opponents in the supervisor’s race stood hand-in-hand with him as a show of solidarity.

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