Doc's Talk: Sports Breaks All Boundaries-Maccabiah Games 2013

Tuesday, April 02, 2013

Sports Breaks All Boundaries-Maccabiah Games 2013

Nurit Greenger

Birthright through the sports

There are approximately 6 million Jews living in the state of Israel today. They are the new image of the Jew: independent, smart, educated, happy and free. A Jew who will stand up for himself and defend his homeland and his life. The Jew who, for 2000 years lived on the margin of society, who had a Sha, shtil mentality is definitely disappearing fast. But, there are also approximately 7 million Jews who live outside Israel, they are called the Diaspora Jews and they are not like the Israelis. The common denominator of all Jews is them being Jewish.

The state of Israel was built, and is still largely supported by the Diaspora Jews; but the greatly needed connection between Jews all over the world and Israel is weakening. Nowadays many Jews say they do not have much in common with Israel, Israel does not represent their Jewish values or take an important place in their thoughts and actions. The claim that the Diaspora Jews do not connect with Israel, as they should, is wrong, and must be dealt with. Huge effort must be made to correct this "standoff". Reason: in WWII Hitler did not want to kill the Jews, he just did not want them living in any country he had conquered and hoped to rule over. Since no country, including the USA, opened its doors to absorb the millions of European Jews, Hitler came up with the "Final Solution" idea: no one wants this vermin, disgusting people, then I will simply get rid of them, I will kill them all.

But now Jews have a homeland and if, God forbid, they are no longer wanted where they live, as it appears to be the case in most of European countries, they have a home to go to where they are wanted and are needed.

Israel is the body of the Jewish nation; Jerusalem is the heart of the Jewish nation through which ALL Jews' blood flows. In order for the nation of Israel to survive, for Jews living anywhere in the world to be able to walk tall, with dignity, respect and no fear, Israel must be looked upon and treated as such and every Jew in the world must have an interest and give much support for the state, even when he or she do not agree with certain issues about the Jewish state.

The State of Israel is a phenomenon unlike any other country, a miracle that happened to the Jews 65 years ago. At the end of the day every human being on earth, a Jew or non-Jew, can find something in common with Israel but especially Jews must find and have a deeper connection with her.

This brings me to the July 2013 Maccabiah games, the third largest world sports event and the largest Jewish event, which takes place in Israel every 4 years, one year after the Olympics are held.

I have already written about this event: 'The Maccabiah Games 2013-Building Jewish Pride Through Sports in 2013 Maccabiah Games: http://newsblaze.com/story/20120817081345nurg.nb/topstory.html. However, I see the need to touch on the subject again, through a new lens of our Jewish youth, the leaders of tomorrow.

I first met Tami Adams in August 2012 when, like myself, she attended a meeting of Maccabiah Games enthusiasts with Steve Soboroff, the Chairman of the 18^th Maccabiah Games and Eyal Tiberger, the Executive Director of Maccabi World Union, in Israel.

Tami told me that her daughter, a volleyball player wants to make the Los Angeles team for the Maccabiah Games for teens. I suggested that Tami contacts the Maccabi Club Los Angeles to see how her daughter can apply to be a member of the team. In January 2013, Tami informed me that her daughter Michelle has made the Los Angles Volleyball Team to the 19^th Maccabiah Games of 2013.

In a recent follow up meeting of Maccabiah Games enthusiasts with Eyal Tiberger and Steve Soboroff, hosted by Marvin Markowitz, the owner of the Mark Events' Hall, I met Michelle Adams. Her demeanor and disposition has given me a good reason to place her in the category of the future of the Diaspora leaders who will connect Jews with Israel in ways like never before.

Eyal Tiberger

Steve Soboroff

Michelle, age 15, is a student at Beverly Hills high school, in Beverly Hills California. She is a member of the soccer and volleyball team and the secretary of Teen BHED (Beverly Hills Education Foundation), a community awareness service organization that raises funds for the Beverly Hills Education System. Last summer Michelle also participated in the JCC Maccabi tournament in Houston, Texas (Jewish teens compete in JCC Maccabi Games in Houston - http://blog.chron.com/believeitornot/2012/07/jewish-teens-compete-in-jcc-maccabi-games-in-houston/), which triggered her wish to partake in the Maccabiah Games.

I was curious to know how Michelle got into the Maccabi Los Angeles volleyball team to the Maccabiah Games and what are her views regarding Israel so I conducted an interviewed with her as follows:

NG: How did you get to participate in the JCC Maccabi Games in Houston?

MA: "I asked my coach what summer volleyball tournament are available. She told me about the tryouts for the JCC Maccabi, which I knew nothing about. I was curious and I wanted to play. So I showed up to all the tryouts because I did not have enough time playing. I was picked up and flew to Houston. There, about 1000 youths formed a camaraderie and togetherness. We all had similarities coming from Jewish household, even if we came from different places, and the love of sport. We were all like one.

In Houston there was a group from Maccabi USA (http://maccabiusa.com/ - http://maccabi.org/) who handed out flyers. I picked up one and I followed up with some research.

Then my mother attended the meeting where you met. I called up my coach from last summer and asked her for recommendations. Maccabi USA called her and asked questions about my level of playing, my achievements at school and about the club where I play. In January 2013 I was informed I have made the team and they confirmed my participation in the games. I now train four days a week for the games and I am raising the funds needed to pay for my trip and perhaps even help others who need financial help to get to Israel and play. For that purpose I set up a webpage for people who wish to support me and others: http://friendraising.towercare.com/Markslist/campaign/display/profile.do?campaignId=13623

The Maccabiah Games are 81 years old, in existence since 1932. In this year, 2013 Games (http://www.maccabiah.com/), 72 countries will participate, 18 countries more than in last one, the 18th Games; it offers the 9,000 participants 46 different sports in which one can compete in the group categories: 14 yr old-to-18 yr old, Junior Games; 18 yr old-to-35 yr old, Open Maccabiah, and from 35 yr old, Master Games.

Michelle Adams

NG: How do you see yourself connecting further with Israel?

MA: "With all the wonderful opportunities relating to Israel there is much that can be done. I started to volunteer to JCC (Jewish Community Center) Bar and Bat Mitzvah Project; I am getting more involved in my temple and Jewish activities that are connecting to Israel. Connecting with Israel must begin internally and spiritually. We need to keep the youth interested and involved so they are driven to act. For example, making connections to topics like the Holocaust. Maybe start a 'Across the Ocean Pen-Club' with Israeli youth through Social Media."

NG: What do you want to gain from participating in the Maccabiah Games?

MA: I want to have connection with more people in Israel and the land and bring my experience and story back home to inspire other youths to duplicate me and follow my footsteps, get involved so the bridge with Israel gets stronger."

NG: thank you Michelle for you input.

My fellow Jews, we must cultivate the next generation so they can pick up the torch and run with it. Michelle is just one example of so many other like her who need to join her on her road.

The Maccabiah Games is the largest interactive, international Jewish networking, combining sports and entertainment that strengthens Jewish unity through sportsmanship.

Through JLTV (http://www.jewishlifetv.com/) over 100Million people will be able to watch the games.

In approximately 100 days the games will begin. Israel does not have Maccabiah village, with all facilities and accommodation in one area. To organize such event it takes a great deal of logistics and thus it becomes the effort of the entire country; the entire state of Israel becomes the Maccabiah Games village.

Sports breaks all boundaries.

The Maccabiah Games' mission is to be the best Israeli-Zionist experience, where the participants arrive as athletes and return more connected to their Jewish heritage and Israel and also become new ambassadors of Israel.

If you want to have the best, a one in a life time experience, unless from here-on you will partake in every Maccabiah Games, pack up your bags and join the greatest experience ever, that will begin on July 18^th 2013, with the opening ceremony, at Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teddy_Stadium), and will end on July 30^th, with the closing ceremony and much tears of joy and pride.

משחקי המכביה 2013

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The IDF’s Minorities in Numbers and Pictures

In honor of IDF Diversity Week, we present diversity through numbers and pictures. Each year, more and more Muslims, Christians, Druze, Bedouin and immigrants from around the world take on the responsibility of defending Israel.

MUSLIMS:

Muslim Arab Israelis are not required to draft in the IDF, but there are many who volunteer. In 2013, there were over 200 Muslims serving in the IDF and over 300 in the reserves.

Bedouins:

Bedouins are nomadic Muslims who were in Israel when modern borders were set in place and are now considered Israeli citizens. They are not required to draft but a growing number choose to enlist. In 2012, there were over 1,400 Bedouin Muslim soldiers doing regular IDF service and almost 1,500 in the reserves.

Read more:http://www.idfblog.com/2014/02/27/truth-idf-numbers-pictures/#more-34027

Are you aware that in 2013, Middle class taxes go up-significantly?

In January of next year, the federal income tax rate for middle-class taxpayers is scheduled to rise from 25 percent to 28 percent, and the payroll tax is scheduled to rise from 13.3 percent to 15.3 percent… This drives the marginal tax rate based on the aforementioned three taxes to 48.12 percent. Add in state and local property, corporate, excise, and other state and local taxes, and the percentage of each additional dollar that is taxed hovers around 50 percent… When half of each additional dollar earned is taxed away, taxpayers experience a disincentive to start businesses or expand existing ones. This leads to fewer jobs being created.

Why is HAMAS Inside Tampa Schools?

Clare Lopez

Kelly Miliziano, who teaches history classes at Steinbrenner High School in the Tampa, Florida area apparently thinks it’s perfectly OK to invite a senior official of a HAMAS-affiliated organization into her classroom to discuss Islam with her students. According to local media reports, not only has this been going on for years, but in spite of the civil and criminal proceedings that could result from such reckless negligence, the Hillsborough County school superintendent, Mary Ellen Elia, and the chairman of the school board, Candy Olson, also expressed approval for students under their responsibility to be exposed repeatedly to guest speaker, Hassan Shibly, who is the Executive Director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in the Tampa area.
More...

Did You Know... Ignoring the Call to Islam will Bring Jihad

‘Conquest through Da’wa [proselytizing] that is what we hope for. We will conquer Europe, we will conquer America! Not through sword but through Da’wa.’
-- Yousef al-Qaradawi , Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader The Arabic word ‘Da’wa’ means the “call to Islam.” But do not think that Da’wa is the same thing as an invitation to an optional holiday event. The classical Islamic doctrine of jihad mandates that enemies must be given the opportunity to convert to Islam or pay the jizya tax before it is permissible to attack them.
Clare M. Lopez

Who is being discriminated-facts tell the truth

Religious bias

Hate crimes motivated by religious bias accounted for 1,409 offenses reported by law enforcement. A breakdown of the bias motivation of religious-bias offenses showed:

65.4 percent were anti-Jewish.
13.2 percent were anti-Islamic.
9.5 percent were anti-other religion, i.e., those not specified.
4.3 percent were anti-Catholic.
3.8 percent were anti-multiple religions, group.
3.3 percent were anti-Protestant.
0.5 percent were anti-Atheism/Agnosticism/etc.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/hate-crime/2010/narratives/hate-crime-2010-incidents-and-offenses.

On March 31, 1977, the Dutch newspaper Trouw published an interview

with PLO executive committee member Zahir Muhsein. Here's what he said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct "Palestinian people" to oppose Zionism.

For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

In March 1977, Zahir Muhsein, a PLO executive, said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct Palestinian people to oppose Zionism."

"For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

The Arab Apartheid

Ben-Dror Yemini
In 1948, the Arab countries refused to accept the UN partition proposal and they launched a war of annihilation against the State of Israel which had barely been established. All precedents in this matter showed that the party that starts the war - and with a declaration of annihilation, yet - pays a price for it. Between 550,000 and 710,000 Arabs fled because of the war and a larger number of 850,000 Jews were expelled or fled from Arab countries (the "Jewish nakba").
Population exchanges and expulsions were the norm at that time, occurring in dozens of other conflict points and affecting about 52 million people. In all the population exchange precedents that occurred during or at the end of an armed conflict, there was no return of refugees to the previous region, which had turned into a new national state.
Only the Arab states acted completely differently from the rest of the world. Instead of assimilating the refugees, they crushed them despite the fact that they were their coreligionists and members of the Arab nation - instituting a regime of apartheid. So the "nakba" was not caused by the actual dispossession, which had also been experienced by tens of millions of others. The "nakba" is the story of the apartheid, oppression, abuse and denial of rights suffered by the Arab refugees at the hands of the Arab countries. (Maariv)

International Law and Military Operations in Practice - Col. Richard Kemp

"Islamist fighting groups study the international laws of armed conflict carefully and they understand it well. They know that a British or Israeli commander and his men are bound by international law and the rules of engagement that flow from it. They then do their utmost to exploit what they view as one of their enemy's main weaknesses. Their very modus operandi is built on the correct assumption that Western armies will normally abide by the rules, while these insurgents employ a deliberate policy of operating consistently outside international law. "

Lost Historical Moments

What Rabin’s last Knesset speech really said:repudiation of a Palestinian state

Rabin ruled out a fully sovereign Palestinian state :

“We view the permanent solution in the framework of State of Israel which will include most of the area of the Land of Israel as it was under the rule of the British Mandate, and alongside it a Palestinian entity which will be a home to most of the Palestinian residents living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. We would like this to be an entity which is less than a state, and which will independently run the lives of the Palestinians under its authority.”

Rabin ruled out a total withdrawal from Judea and Samaria and thus a return to the pre-June 1967 borders :

“The borders of the State of Israel, during the permanent solution, will be beyond the lines which existed before the Six Day War. We will not return to the 4 June 1967 lines.”

Rabin ruled out withdrawing form the Jordan Valley:

“The security border of the State of Israel will be located in the Jordan Valley, in the broadest meaning of that term.”

Rabin ruled out uprooting settlement blocs, like the Gush Katif bloc in Gaza (which was subsequently uprooted by former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon):

“The establishment of blocs of settlements in Judea and Samaria, like the one in Gush Katif.

AND

Rabin ruled out removing any settlement before coming to a full peace agreement with the Palestinians:

“I want to remind you: we committed ourselves, that is, we came to an agreement, and committed ourselves before the Knesset, not to uproot a single settlement in the framework of the interim agreement, and not to hinder building for natural growth.”

Rabin insisted on Israel retaining full security control of the borders with Egypt and Jordan, contrary to Israel’s relinquishment of the Philadelphia Corridor on the border with Egypt:

“The responsibility for external security along the borders with Egypt and Jordan, as well as control over the airspace above all of the territories and Gaza Strip maritime zone, remains in our hands.”

Correcting Oslo Myths-Part 2

3) Kuttab laments that the post-1993 Oslo process resulted in a Palestinian Authority "whose ministers and legislators are not guaranteed passage between Gaza and the West Bank ...."

Before free passage or other perquisites, PA leaders were obligated, among other things, to eliminate the terrorist infrastructure in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, end anti-Israeli, antisemitic incitement in schools, mosques, and communications media, and resolve all outstanding issues through peaceful negotiations. They met none of these commitments, sometimes bolstering terrorism and greatly increasing incitement.

4) Kuttab complains that under Oslo the PA got "lightly armed police ---- but no real sovereignty over the land or contiguity between our communities in Gaza and the West Bank."

Oslo agreements repeatedly were revised, regardless of Palestinian non-compliance, until the authorized number of police grew from 8,000 to 40,000. Though they were to be the only armed forces in the territories, Israeli estimates early in the second intifada put the number of gunmen - police, "security services," terrorists, and armed gangs - at 85,000. Their armament reportedly included not only heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, but also anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles.

Sovereignty was to be negotiated in the envisioned 1998 "final status" talks - after a five-year period of confidence-building. Palestinian leadership chronically undermined the process. Palestinian terrorism made the 1993 - 1998 Oslo period more deadly for Israelis than the 15 years preceding it.

The United States doesn't have contiguity between the lower 48 states and Alaska and Hawaii; territorial contiguity between the West Bank and Gaza Strip - that is, through the 20 miles of Israeli territory between them - was never promised and would destroy Israeli contiguity.

5) "Palestinians have been made to endure hundreds of checkpoints in the West Bank, an eight-foot wall deep in our territories, and tight Israeli control over borders."

The security barrier is not "deep in Palestinian territories," but rather encompasses less than 8 percent of Judea and Samaria, and is mostly a fence, rarely a wall; the land in question is not "our [Palestinian] territories" but disputed territory to which, according to the authors of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, Jews as well as Arabs have claims; and there are no international borders, only the 1949 armistice lines with Jordan. Under 242, borders remain to be negotiated. As for checkpoints - like the security barrier and "tight Israeli control" - Palestinian Arabs precipitated these measures themselves. No terrorism and there would be no fence or tight Israeli control and few checkpoints - like before the first intifada.

Correcting Some Oslo Myths

1) In Oslo "Israeli, Palestinian and other world leaders promised that ... Palestinian sovereignty would be solidified."

No, they didn't. The 1993 Declaration of Principles and subsequent Oslo agreements outlined a process by which final status negotiations about the West Bank and Gaza Strip would be reached. The process required an end to anti-Israel terrorism and incitement and a commitment to peaceful negotiations. The PA, Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and other terrorist groups, sabotaged the process from the start.

2) "The reality is that, in defiance of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, which states that it is inadmissible to occupy land by force, Palestinian territories are still under foreign military occupation."
Wrong again. Resolution 242 (1967) does note "the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war." It also affirms the right of every state in the area "to live in peace with secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force." There were no "Palestinian territories." Jordan occupied the West Bank, Egypt controlled Gaza. Israel did not have "secure and recognized boundaries," so retention of some of those territories was possible under 242. Israel is not a "foreign" military occupier in the West Bank but, pending final negotiations, the lawful military administrator as a result of a successful war of self-defense.

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