In The News

October 11: Egypt proposed posting troops along its border with Israel to prevent more bombings in the Sinai. The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to ratchet up anti-terrorism efforts. October 12: Israel has foiled Al-Qaida attempts to infiltrate the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Israel's top general said. October 13: Israel stepped up its sweep for Palestinians shooting rockets into Israel from the Gaza Strip. An Israeli town's early-warning radar scored a first victory against Palestinian rockets. October 14: Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank will take 12 weeks, Ariel Sharon said. A former Israeli chief rabbi called on religious soldiers not to evacuate settlers. Immigration to Israel likely will hit a 20-year low in 2004. October 15: A leading American Jewish umbrella organization will issue a statement backing Israel's planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. An Israeli missile killed three Palestinians belonging to terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip. October 18: Israel violates human rights in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, according to the annual U.N. human rights report. The Palestinian Authority foreign minister said peace with Israel is more likely if John Kerry becomes U.S. president. A Knesset recount revealed that Ariel Sharon fared even worse than thought in a nonbinding no-confidence vote last week. October 19: Israel set a September 2005 deadline to evacuate settlers from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank. The top U.S. Middle East envoy is in Egypt and will discuss Israeli-Palestinian relations with leaders there.

Myths and Facts about Israel: The Jewish Claim to Their Land

MYTH "The Jews have no claim to the land they call Israel." FACTS A common misperception is that all the Jews were forced into the Diaspora by the Romans after the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in the year 70 C.E. and then, 1,800 years later, suddenly returned to Palestine demanding their country back. In reality, the Jewish people have maintained ties to their historic homeland for more than 3,700 years. The Jewish people base their claim to the Land of Israel on at least four premises: 1) the Jewish people settled and developed the land; 2) the international community granted political sovereignty in Palestine to the Jewish people; 3) the territory was captured in defensive wars and 4) God promised the land to the patriarch Abraham. Even after the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem and the beginning of the exile, Jewish life in the Land of Israel continued and often flourished. Large communities were reestablished in Jerusalem and Tiberias by the ninth century. In the 11th century, Jewish communities grew in Rafah, Gaza, Ashkelon, Jaffa and Caesarea. The Crusaders massacred many Jews during the 12th century, but the community rebounded in the next two centuries as large numbers of rabbis and Jewish pilgrims immigrated to Jerusalem and the Galilee. Prominent rabbis established communities in Safed, Jerusalem and elsewhere during the next 300 years. By the early 19th century — years before the birth of the modern Zionist movement — more than 10,000 Jews lived throughout what is today Israel. The 78 years of nation-building, beginning in 1870, culminated in the reestablishment of the Jewish State. Israel's international "birth certificate" was validated by the promise of the Bible; uninterrupted Jewish settlement from the time of Joshua onward; the Balfour Declaration of 1917; the League of Nations Mandate, which incorporated the Balfour Declaration; the United Nations partition resolution of 1947; Israel's admission to the UN in 1949; the recognition of Israel by most other states; and, most of all, the society created by Israel's people in decades of thriving, dynamic national existence. Source: Myths & Facts Online -- A Guide to the Arab-Israeli Conflict by Mitchell G. Bard, http://www.JewishVirtualLibrary.org. 

Advocacy for Israel Committee Information

The Advocacy for Israel Committee was formed in September of 2001 to organize pro-Israeli activities and to rally support in the form of Hasbara. The A Team’s next meeting is Sunday October 31 at 9:45 am in the CBI Atrium. Please join us and make a difference for Israel! For more information, email A Team Chairmen Jay Epstein (jhe@tampabay.rr.com) or Sheldon Scheinert (Sheldo123@aol.com), or call the CBI office at 381-4900

Speaking out for Israel so that "Never Again" shall Jewish silence lead to an indifferent world