Jerusalem News, Update from the Holy Land. A BRIT-AM HEBREW AWARENESS PROJECT.
7 May 2023; 16 Iyar, 5783.
Contents:
1. French Parliament says Israel is not 'apartheid' state.
2. 'KHAYBAR, KHAYBAR': Palestinian children honor terrorist, call for Jewish genocide.
3. Why are the ultra-Orthodox the happiest group in Israel?
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1. French Parliament says Israel is not 'apartheid' state
https://www.thejc.com/news/world/french-parliament-says-israel-is-not-apartheid-state-SG7YYcrw7lU5NZ3sTPwmx
The members of the National Assembly overwhelmingly rejected a controversial resolution 199 to 71
MAY 05, 2023 11:51
Extracts:
(JNS) The French parliament has overwhelmingly rejected a resolution calling Israel an 'apartheid' state.
Yesterday, after a group of left-wing members of France's National Assembly put forward the measure labeling Israel an 'apartheid state,' the lower house of Parliament rejected it by a margin of 199 to 71.
Arguing for the resolution, Jean-Paul Lecoq, of the Communist Party, said that 'the settlement policy is contrary to international legality' and 'legally comes under a situation of apartheid.' He called the Israeli government 'an institutionalized regime' that is 'aimed at the oppression of one group over another,' and called for France to recognize 'the state of Palestine.'
Jerome Guedj, of the Socialist Party, rejected Lecoq's invocation of 'apartheid,' calling it an effort to 'racialize and essentialize' the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and Aurore Berge, president of the Renaissance party, called the measure 'defamation,' declaring, 'France is the friend of Israel.'
Centrist and right-wing members of parliament condemned the resolution in the debate. Aurore Berge, president of the centrist Renaissance Party, argued that the bill represented a 'gesture of hate against the State of Israel.'
Meyer Habib, a Tunisian-Jewish MP who represents French citizens overseas said that it proved 'antisemitism today is mainly on the left.'
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2. 'KHAYBAR, KHAYBAR': Palestinian children honor terrorist, call for Jewish genocide.
https://worldisraelnews.com/khaybar-khaybar-palestinian-children-honor-terrorist-call-for-jewish-genocide/
May 2, 2023
The chant, 'Khaybar, Khaybar, oh Jews, the army of Mohammed will return,' heard at numerous anti-Israel demonstrations around the world, is in fact call for genocide.
As explained by the ADL, 'Khaybar is a historic Arabian oasis north of Medina in present-day Saudi Arabia that is religiously significant for Islamic history. This slogan recalls a series of seventh-century battles between Mohammed and local Jews during the first few years of Islam's establishment.
'As retold in the Quran and other textual sources, Mohammed's forces took action against Khaybar in response to purported acts of Jewish treachery. Ultimately, these battles resulted in the subjugation, mass expulsion, or slaughter of the area's tribal Jewish communities.'
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3. Why are the ultra-Orthodox the happiest group in Israel?
A strong sense of community and a different set of aspirations have a lot to do with it. Photo: Ultra-Orthodox Jews celebrate the end of the Shavuot holiday in Jerusalem's Old City, June 12, 2016. Photo by Shlomi Cohen/Flash 90.
By Liora Chartouni -February 23, 2023153 1
https://jewishwebsite.com/featured/why-are-the-ultra-orthodox-the-happiest-group-in-israel/87953/?utm_source=mailpoet&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Today+in+JWS
Extracts:
Haredi Jews are the happiest group in Israel, according to a 2022 life satisfaction and happiness survey conducted by Panels Politics. However, a report prepared by the Israel Democracy Institute noted that more than 44% of them live below the poverty line.
But only a very small percentage of the respondents felt poor. In a world where happiness is often associated with wealth, how are we to understand this apparent contradiction?
The Jewish tradition contains a vast amount of teachings that instruct its adapts on how to live and conceptualize life. Pirkei Avot, or the Ethics of our Fathers, a famous character development book, teaches: 'Who is rich? He who is happy in his lot' (Mishna, Pirkei Avot 4). Perhaps this is the first way to explain the situation. Judaism teaches that you will receive whatever is meant for you, and if you don't have it, then it is not supposed to be yours.
Benjamin Porat, director of the Institute for Research in Jewish Law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, says that 'haredim are typically very spiritual and non-materialistic; they measure happiness according to a successful spiritual life, not by the cars one drives or the clothes one wears. There is no correlation between their level of poverty and their spiritual goals. It' s not that they don' t have desires or wishes, but those are more geared towards spiritual goals than material ones.'
This life perspective of being content with one's situation and striving for spiritual rather than material goals certainly helps to explain why haredim are happy despite their generally precarious economic situation.
Moreover, a 2019 research article focusing on life satisfaction in the haredi sector reported that a 'positive connection was found between prioritizing positivity and life satisfaction for individuals with a high sense of community, but a negative connection for those with a low sense of community.' This signifies that being happy with one's lot also means exhibiting a positive attitude towards life, and that a sense of community plays an important role in feelings of happiness. This leads us to our third point.
Haredim's extensive community support can also explain their happiness level. Most haredim choose to live in exclusively Orthodox areas where they feel surrounded and connected to people who share similar beliefs.
Orthodox Jews' economic lifestyle and consumer behavior further explain their happiness level. The character of the haredi community, which differs significantly from that of Western society, forms an almost entirely closed economic market and enables its members to provide for their needs despite their lower incomes.