by Dr. Ben Weider
When the Ghetto walls came tumbling down.
Following in the wake of the Napoleon Wars (1804-1815) in which Napoleon conquered much of Europe, came the emancipation of the Jews of Western Europe. For hundreds of years the Jews had been economically and politically marginalized and physically confined to the ghettoes of Europe. After Napoleon, the Ghetto walls came down and the Jews of Western Europe were free to enter European society for the first time. For better and for worse, this represented one of the greatest periods of transformation for these Jewish communities. These new freedoms allowed the Jews of Europe to prosper and have tremendous impact on European society, but also led to a wave of secularization, assimilation and even conversion to Christianity.
August 15th is the birthday of Napoleon. The following article, written by Mr. Ben Weider, the president of the International Napoleonic Society ,gives us much food for thought about anti-Semitism, assimilation and Jewish identity in the world today.
One of the many contributions that Napoleon has made, and perhaps his most important and lasting one, was his Civil Code. This was written at a time in history when discrimination was rampant. It ...   more »

The rift between Hamas and Fatah, the bloody infighting and the apparent hopelessness of the current situation appear to have left Palestinians disillusioned and seeking alternatives. But from this chaos, a new group of moderates has arisen and announced plans to form a political party and possibly run in the elections. They aspire to be the Palestinian Kadima.
The group, which consists of 120 top businessmen and academics, is by Munib al-Masri, a well-known and respected billionaire from Nablus who is politically unaffiliated, according to the Jerusalem Post.
The members met for the first time this weekend in Ramallah, marking the first meeting of its kind in years.
"We want to offer the Palestinians something different and a new way," said a meeting attendee. "We are actually trying to set up a Palestinian version of the Israeli Kadima Party, which attracted voters from both Likud and Labor. We are aware of the fact that many Palestinians are disenchanted with Fatah and Hamas and would like to see a new party that can offer them a better future."
The group's primary goal is to reunite the Gaza Strip with Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), which were ripped apart by Hamas' ...   more »

Syria is planning to attack Israel, despite the contrary statements of Israeli leaders, insisted a leading military expert on Thursday.
Ron Ben-Yishai, the senior military analyst for Israel's Yediot Ahronot daily newspaper, wrote that Wednesday's closed-door security cabinet meeting in Jerusalem showed that the government is still concerned that Syria could launch a major missile assault on the Jewish state in the near future.
According to Ben-Yishai, Syria has constructed a massive missile array aimed at Israel on the portion of the Golan Heights still controlled by Damascus.
Other analysts and not a few military officials have warned over the past year that Syria plans to launch low-level Hizballah-style violence against the Israeli Golan Heights, and respond with a major missile assault when Israel retaliates as expected.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, meanwhile, continues to maintain his line that there will be no war with Syria in the near future, despite the fact that the government is holding regular meetings to prepare for just such an eventuality.
Original Source
   more »

In Pakistan's newest hit song, produced in the tradition of "We Are The World," the nation's pop stars repudiate terrorism, and proclaim innocence for the nation's Islamic residents who oppose the violence they see being inflicted in the name of their religion.
The song, "Yeh Hum Naheen," is Urdu for "This is Not Us," and was turned from an idea into a YouTube video by Waseem Mahmood and his sons, Khurrum and Khaiyyam.
"This story that is being spread in our names is a lie … The name by which you know us we are not" are the lyrics.  
Fox News reports the Pakistan-born British man simply was responding to what "a lot of people have been demanding: They are Muslims declaring that those who use terror in the name of Islam are wrong."
The song is performed by top pop singers in Pakistan, and the video of the performance has been interspersed with shots of the ugly results of terrorism, and the dire headlines of its impact.
Also included are shots of the joyful and peaceful lives Pakistanis live.
The sons had told their father they were tired of being targeted in Britain by extremist Muslims who thought ...   more »

A global Islamic movement that wants bring Muslims back to the roots of their religion drew a crowd of more than 10,000 at a rally Saturday and denounced the moderate Palestinian Authority leadership in the West Bank as infidels.
However, the Liberation Party espouses non-violent change, and PA security officials said they would not restrict the movement's activities as long as it does not resort to violence.
The movement's annual rally was held at a time of heightened tension between the Hamas and the moderate Fatah movement of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. Hamas seized control of Gaza in June, and Abbas' security forces cracked down on Hamas in the West Bank in response.
The Liberation Party, founded in 1953 by a Palestinian cleric in Jerusalem, calls for re-establishing the caliphate, or Islamic state, across the Muslim world.
Saturday's rally was held on the sports field of the Quaker-run Friends School, a private English-speaking school. "The caliphate is coming," read a large poster on the wall of the field.
Several tents were set up, and speakers explained in detail what an Islamic state would look like. They said 13 ministries would be established, including for media and foreign affairs.
In a ...   more »

The issue of where to take a stand concerning the Land and People of Israel continues to divide Christians who choose to reinterpret the scriptures through liberal and socialist lenses from those who insist that the Bible is the unchanging Word of God.
In a letter published in the Sunday edition of the New York Times, 34 self-styled "evangelical leaders" wrote to US President George W. Bush, urging him to forge ahead with his plan to implement a "two state solution" to the "Palestinian"-Israeli conflict.
The document appears to have been drawn up in reaction to the statements of high-profile evangelicals like John Hagee who have recently asserted anew that tens of millions of American evangelicals identify themselves as Christian Zionists and oppose the globally-supported effort to establish an Arab state on the biblical heartland and national cradle of the Jewish people.
Twisting both the meaning of scripture and historic fact to support their position, the signatories to the letter -- who claimed to speak on behalf of "large numbers of evangelicals throughout the US" -- sought to "encourage" Bush with the assertion that not "all American evangelicals are opposed to a two-state solution and creation of a new Palestinian ...   more »

We have been immersed in ceremonies, exhibits, films, TV talk shows, and even an evening of religious rock singers lauding the people of Gush Katif who were expelled two years ago from our homes and communities. We went to some of these events, choosing those most meaningful to us despite the extraordinarily hot and humid weather. We must not allow the people of Israel to forget.
Last Saturday night the program, ?Diary', was shown on Israel Broadcasting Association TV Channel 1. I walked with the crew near the kassam rocket display in Sderot. "This is the direct result of our expulsion from Gush Katif" I explained. "Freedom for the Arabs to commit wholesale attacks on Israel and its people."
The farmers of Gush Katif have finally taken to the streets. A hunger strike near the Knesset brought the plight of our growers to the people of Israel. Two years later they are still without land, homes and employment.
On the IBA English News one of our farmers, Avraham Sher, spoke of his imminent expulsion from Kibbutz Carmia where he and other Gush Katif farmers have been living. The government's two year contract with the kibbutz is over and the sides ...   more »

Unverified report by Jerusalem-based website of al-Qaeda plot to plant dirty bombs in New York City leads to increased deployment of radiological sensors on vehicles, boats, helicopters, checkpoints throughout the city
New York police stepped up security throughout Manhattan and at bridges and tunnels on Friday in response to an internet report - which authorities said they could not verify - that al-Qaeda might be plotting to detonate a dirty bomb in the city. 
Interview  
DEBKAfile editor says New York at risk / Jonathan Weber  
Illusions? Conspiracies? DEBKAfile editor refutes claims against his site in interview with Ynet following terror alert that put New York police in a panic; warns that Big Apple has much to fear
Full story    
The report triggering the security hike came from Israeli website www.Debka.com, which reported that there has been a rush of electronic chatter on al-Qaeda sites, one saying there would be an attack "by means of trucks loaded with radio-active material against America's biggest city and financial nerve center."  
Another al-Qaeda message mentioned New York, Los Angeles and Miami as targets, the Jerusalem-based DEBKAfile reported.
Security guards at improvised roadbloak in NY (archive photo: AFP) 
New York ...   more »