A "Gefilte-Fish" Passover greeting from "Manggis Malaysia"

Happy Passover to All Jews (my friends and my enemies)

Special Passover Greetings from me, a Malaysian Malay Muslim especially to my dear friend Hanan and his family.

Hanan told me a special Passover recipe typical of the Ashkenazi Jews, a Yiddish recipe, a super Jewish tradition called the Gefilte Fish. Here is the video link which shows how to make this dish http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-make-gefilte-fish

Jewish Traditional Gefilte-Fish served during Passover

It really looks delicious to me. I love food and enjoy any types of food from all over the world and of different cultural varieties. I told my doctors that I have one illness only, i.e. I like to eat. This is my sin.

I love also fusion foods, i.e. food made from the fusion of different cultural recipes and these are so common in Malaysia, for example I love to eat the Italian spaghetti bolognaise (spaghetti in meat ball sauce) with sambal belacan (a special very hot prawn paste chillie sauce). I know some races including Jews, Iranian and Arabs (the Smetic people) do not allow meat and fish to be eaten together but I never know why.

This is how I would eat my spaghetti bolognaise with sambal belacan

My favourite foods are those from the Indian culture. I like the extreme flavour of spices and the combination of these, which make new flavours.

Aaahhh! Food, glorious food!

Recently, with the influx of Iranian people into Malaysia, I began to like Iranian foods as well. I am yet to learn how to prepare good Iranian dishes, but not to worry, there are now many Iranian restaurants in Malaysia.

On this Passover, Hanan has made this gefilte fish for his family and he invited me over to his house. Thank you Hanan, inshaAllah, I would drop by someday to enjoy your special recipe, apparently handed down from his mother. Otherwise I can join you online. I can “share” your e-gefilte-fish since we are supported by online multi-media from digitized clours (RGB) technology. But unfortunately I will not be able to smell or taste it electronically. I was discussing with Hanan on the possibility of digitizing smell and taste. I am sure it can be done. We need to look for the primary and standards. Although there are already efforts to digitize smell, I have not found on digital taste bud.

Left is matzo bread and right is chapati.

Before all that technologies made possible, perhaps I could try to make gefilte-fish myself. Looking at the video, it does not look all that difficult. These are quite similar to fishballs except it is difficult to get the “matzah meal” here since it is the crumbs of a special unleavened bread/biscuit Jews would take during the Passover. However, I was told this could be substituted with “chappati bread crumbs”. Emm, I shall try that. As for the fish, we have plenty of white fish, like jenahak, kurau, tenggiri and senangin, these are equally delicious white fish, to cook any which way, their meaty tasty fishy flavours are superb.

However, being a Malaysian and Malay myself, my taste buds are rather too spoilt for extreme taste. I would be tempted to add more spicy ingredients to this authentic Jewish recipe. Therefore, pardon me, may I suggest some modifications to this recipe to suit our Malaysian taste buds. Here are some of those variations to gefilte-fish Malaysian style. I use videojug recipe as the base recipe for 1kg fish meat.

1. Gefilte-fish with coconut

For this variation, just add 100g of grated coconut instead of matzoh meal. The rest of the recipe remains the same. The taste of coconut is rich and makes the fish taste better. Our Kelantanese culture (Kelantan is one north eastern state of the Malay Penansular) has a similar kind of fish ball with coconut stuff in chilli (solok lada), which is served with their nasi kerabu (the only “blue salad rice” in the world). May be, just may be, a long time ago, some Malayan Jews had introduced gefilte-fish recipe to a Kelantanese who later modified it with coconut because he could not get the matzoh meal. Nasi kerabu (blue rice salad) usually eaten with solok lada (on right).

2. Gifilte-fish with basil (daun selasih) and tamarind (asam jawa) sauce

For this variation, the preparation of the fish remains the same, but the sauce is modified by adding a bunch of fresh basil leaves (daun selasih) and a tablespoon of tamarind juice to the pot while boiling the sauce. Daun selasih or basil leaves (left) and tamarind paste (right).

3. Gefilte-fish with spicy sauce (the not so hot version)

For this variation, the preparation of the fish remains the same, but while preparing to boil the sauce, add a tablespoon of coriander, 1 teaspoon of fennel seed (jintan manis) ,1 teaspoon cumin (jintan putih) , 3 cloves (cengkih), 3 cardimons (buah pelaga), and an inch of cinnamon (kayu manis). This will modified a bit the taste of the sauce to the alluring taste of Indian spices.

See if you recognize these spices (fennel, cardamons, cumin, coriander. cloves and cinnamon).

4. Gefilte-fish with hot-spicy sauce

For this variation, just add a lot of hot pepper to the sauce. To make it chanllenging, add small pepper (cili padi), bunga kantan and daun limau purut (kiffir lime leaves). This variation will transform the gefilte-fish into the hot tom-yam Siamese style, wow!

Traditional Siamese tom-yum soup; gefilte-fish in a tom-yum may be delicious.

5. Gefilte-fish with santan (coconut milk)and lemon grass (serai) sauce

This variation will blend the gefilte-fish with the authentic Malay style cooking. Add lemon grass at the beginning of boiling the sauce. When this sauce is read filtered, add coconut milk and simmer it further for another 15 minutes.

There you are, my Passover presents, 5 different varieties of gefilte-fish recipe to try for the future Passover (too late for this year).

In the tropical countries, as with our climate which support mega diversity, we (tropical people) love varieties and variations, and these include our tendency to change traditional cooking recipe. But knowing Hanan and the Jewish tradition (he coaches me on this) the close and exclusive nature of the Jews may take offense on breaking their great tradition. Therefore, I beg you pardon a thousand pardons, if these recipe variations seem to adulterate the original super tradition of the gefilte-fish. It is only a recipe.

Although at the beginning, I greeted to both my Jewish friends and enemies. I do not really have any Jewish enemy. It is only a figurative speech on my part to attract audience, a cheap advertisement trick. However, I do know, some Jews really hate the Muslims. Therefore, here I am appealing to these people at least to review their thinking and outlook. As I write these down, I also realize, there are some Muslims who hate the Jews to their bones, to them I also make an appeal (if they read this article), to change their attitude. There is nothing to fight, really.

Wassalam. Friendship first!

p.s. Happy Passover to D, forgive me I have not reply to you, since I have been extremely busy. I will one day.

By Manggis Malaysia

Ynet News: New project helps pregnant African migrants

'Hagar & Miriam' opens center to assist African women living illegally in Israel with birthing process

Dan Greinfeld Published: 03.25.10, 09:36 / Israel Activism

A new project by the Topaz organization and Brit Olam will assist female African refugees and migrant workers in giving birth to children in Israel.

Almost 20% of the African refugee, migrant worker, and asylum seeker population in Israel are women, mainly between the ages of 15-35. Many of these women arrive pregnant, some following rape they underwent on the way to Israel, and many others become pregnant in Israel.

At the 'Hagar & Miriam' center (Photo: Alex Livak)

Around 200 babies are born to these women each year, but because the mothers are not eligible for welfare or health services the births are often difficult. The language barrier and distance from home also contribute to the mothers' difficulties.

The project, 'Hagar & Miriam – African Israeli Women in Friendship and Motherhood', aims to support and accompany the women throughout the pregnancy and birth.

V, a 23-year old Eritrean migrant and new mother to a three-month old baby, says she came to Israel illegally.

"It's hard for me to say if all women feel comfortable with the things they teach at 'Hagar & Miriam', but I know that they are important – how to prevent diseases, birth control, hygiene lessons – all of these are things I didn't know about where I came from," she says.

Assistance with birth and beyond (Photo: Alex Livak)

But the activists working for the project stress that 'Hagar & Miriam' is not a medical center. "It is a support and assistance organization for the pregnancy and after it, providing explanations about birth and breastfeeding, explanations about prevention of pregnancy, and empowerment workshops," says Debbie Harden, an obstetric nurse by profession who is responsible for the project's medical side.

Harden says the organization cooperates with doctors, social workers, and psychologists who donate their time to help the women. "We mainly guide them," she says, and adds that it was founded due to Israel's lack of policy when it comes to illegal migrants and refugees.

A number of celebrities have also contributed to the organization, among them musician Ofer Eini, whose band produced a music video for its benefit.

"We took well-known faces and filmed them in situations from the lives of the refugees, in order to replace the 'faceless' we don't notice on a daily basis," Eini said, adding that all proceeds from the clip will go to 'Hagar & Miriam'.

"I just want to say thanks," says V, who does not know Hebrew and speaks little English. "I can't know where I would be today without 'Hagar & Miriam'. I tell as many women as possible to come to the center because it really helps."

* The 'Hagar and Miriam' organization requires volunteers who can donate some of their time to accompany the women to visits and volunteer for other activities. Baby products, new or used, are also needed. For additional details: Avital Banai, 050-209-9968.

Ynet News: Anne Frank remained storyteller at Nazi camp

Holocaust survivor Berthe Meijer, 71, offers rare glimpse of Jewish teenager in final weeks of her life in Bergen Belsen, struggling to keep up her own spirits even as she tried to lift morale of smaller children with fairy tales

Associated Press Published: 03.20.10, 08:22 / Israel Jewish Scene

Frail, bone-cold and surrounded by death, Jewish teenager Anne Frank did her best to distract younger children from the horrors of a Nazi concentration camp by telling them fairy tales, a Holocaust survivor says.

The account by Berthe Meijer, now 71, of being a seven-year-old inmate of Bergen Belsen offers a rare glimpse of Anne in the final weeks of her life in the German camp, struggling to keep up her own spirits even as she tried to lift the morale of the smaller children.

That Anne had a gift for storytelling was evident from the diary she kept during two years in hiding with her family in Amsterdam. The scattered pages were collected and published after the war in what became the most widely read book to emerge from the Holocaust.

But Meijer's memoir, being published in Dutch later this month, is the first to mention Anne's talent for spinning tales even in the despair of the camp.

The memoir deals with Meijer's acquaintance with Anne Frank in only a few pages, but she said she titled it "Life After Anne Frank" because it continues the tale of Holocaust victims where the famous diary leaves off.

"The dividing line is where the diary of Anne Frank ends. Because then you fall into a big black hole," Meijer told The Associated Press at her Amsterdam home.

Anne's final diary entry was on August 1, 1944, three days before she and her family were arrested. She and her older sister Margot died in March 1945 in a typhus epidemic that swept through Bergen Belsen, just two weeks before the camp was liberated. Anne was 15.

'Lifted out of everyday nastiness'

The stories Anne told were "fairy tales in which nasty things happened, and that was of course very much related to the war," Meijer said.

"But as a kid you get lifted out of the everyday nastiness. That's something I remember. You're listening to someone telling something that has nothing to do with what's happening around you – so it's a bit of escape."

In addition to her diary, Frank wrote several essays and fragments of fiction while in hiding, including stories about a fairy and a gnome, though they are usually considered only of historical interest. They have been published as "Tales From the Secret Annex."

The stories she told in the camp were "about princes and elves and those kind of figures," Meijer said. Despite having unhappy twists, the tales were "quite a bit less terrible than what we saw around us. So you thought: they didn't have it so bad. As a child, you think very primitively about that kind of thing."

Around 140,000 Jews lived in the Netherlands before the 1940-45 Nazi occupation. Of those, 107,000 were deported to Germany and only 5,200 survived.

The Meijers and the Franks were acquaintances before the war: members of both families had fled Germany during the rise of Hitler's regime and found a place in the tightly-knit Jewish community in Amsterdam. The Meijers lived on the same street where Anne attended a Montessori elementary school.

The Franks went into hiding in a secret apartment above a canal-side warehouse where Otto Frank, Anne's father, had his business.

The Meijers hid in their own home, boarding up the windows and hanging a sign on the door that read "contagious disease" to discourage visitors. They were caught in early 1944 and deported from the Netherlands that March. Both of Berthe's parents died at Bergen Belsen in January 1945.

Dr. Alan Hilfer, director of psychology at Maimonides Medical Center in New York, said it's plausible that Meijer would have recognized Frank and stored the memory all these years if she knew her before the war and then met her again at the camp.

"A 7-year-old can form memories reasonably well and hold on to them, though not in the same way as an adult," he said.

Records obtained by The Associated Press from Yad Vashem, the Israeli Holocaust memorial authority, show that Berthe was an inmate of Bergen Belsen for 13 months until it was liberated in April 1945.

Meijer acknowledged that her recollections of the Frank sisters were fleeting.

'Traumatic experiences don't go away'

She said there were many reasons she had waited until now to tell her story - not least that she was busy growing up, having a career and raising a family. She said a dedication ceremony at Bergen Belsen in 2006 made her realize how few Dutch survivors are still alive, and that there is little record of the impact the camp had on their later lives.

In addition, she suppressed her memories for years, and the horror of the camps have always been a difficult or taboo subject: at the orphanage where Meijer grew up, in polite company afterward, and even among her fellow survivors.

Still, "you remember a lot at age seven," she said.

"You had to take off your clothes because there were lice in them that spread typhus. And you were wrapped in those blankets. And you sat somewhere in a corner half-frozen."

She said Margot had asked Anne to tell stories to cheer up the children, and that it was difficult for Anne to summon the enthusiasm.

The last time she saw Anne was in the camp infirmary, but they were both sick and "too weak and sad to even be pleasant to each other," she wrote.

In some ways, Meijer grew up to be the person Anne had hoped to be, a journalist, a columnist and an author, albeit of a popular Dutch cookbook.

In her diary Anne wrote in April 1944: "I can shake off everything if I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn. But, and that is the great question, will I ever be able to write something great, will I ever become a journalist or a writer?"

Although Meijer associated with leading Dutch writers and artists, she said she suffered lifelong symptoms of post-traumatic stress, with overwhelming memories and emotions surfacing unexpectedly.

To this day she has a paralyzing fear of crowds and public transportation.

In her book, she wonders about her choices in marrying first a gifted, but alcoholic architect and later one of the Netherlands' most famed journalists - not coincidentally, another Bergen Belsen survivor.

She says she can laugh "through the tears" about having become a culinary expert years after fantasizing endlessly about food while starving at the camp.

She describes how the simple act of cleaning sauce from a pan with her finger can trigger the ambiguously pleasant memory of being allowed to lick one of the camp's enormous cooking vats.

And she proudly shows off a concealed crawl space behind an opening in her cellar where she could hide if need be.

In history books, "the war ends when we were liberated. No. Not for a lot of people," she says.

"Not for the lives of the people who survived those camps or went into hiding or had traumatic experiences because of that war. Those things, they don't go away."

Ynet News: PM approves NIS 800M plan for Arab sector

Project to be implemented in 10 towns, include development of employment, infrastructure, transportation and lands

Sharon Roffe-Ofir Published: 03.18.10, 00:48 / Israel News

Amid warnings of a third intifada outbreak, the Ministry for Minority Affairs on Wednesday announced a government plan to invest NIS 800 million (about $215 million) in Israel's minority population, as part of a perennial project.

The plan, signed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister for Minority Affairs Avishay Braverman, will invest the funds in 10 selected towns during the next five years.

The investment will focus on four main realms: Occupational development, infrastructure, upgrading the transportation network and preparing plots of land for construction.

Minister Braverman said the plan "proved that Israel's government sees the importance of giving equal civil rights to Israeli Arabs."

The plan was developed over the course of nine months and was done in accordance with Ayman Sayaf, administrator of the minority sector's authority of financial development and a number of ministries, including the Ministry for Minority Affairs, the Treasury Ministry, the Ministry of Industry, trade & Labor.

The towns that were selected to take part in the project are Nazareth, Shfaram, Sakhnin, Umm al-Fahm, Qalansuwa, Maghar, Tamra, Tira, Kfar Kassem and Rahat.

Strengthen ties between community, police

As part of the plan, some NIS 220 million ($60 million) will be invested in occupational development, which will also include investments in local economic infrastructures and upgrading transportation networks in and outside of the towns.

NIS 100 million ($27 million) will go toward preparing public land plots for construction and an additional NIS 316 million ($85 million) will be invested into private plots.

Another NIS 150 million ($40 million) will be used to promote anti violence programs in the selected towns.

"The aim is to improve the service we give to citizens, and strengthen ties between the community, the police and law enforcement," said a source in Braverman's office.

The ten towns were selected based on their population size, the stability of local government and residents' socio-economic situation.

Over 300,000 citizens live in these towns, constituting approximately 25% of Israel's minority population.

Potential not realized

The program initiators aim at increasing the income per capita, upgrading the economic infrastructures and creating decent conditions for economic development. They also aim at increasing the human capital and personal security while encouraging awareness to issues of violence within the Arab public.

The plan will be presented to the cabinet on Sunday. The prime minister, who already signed the plan, said that "the Arab population's potential is not realized, and we are acting to increase equality of opportunity. This plan can change the face of the State of Israel and expresses the government's commitment to growth and equality."

Braverman added that "the plan signals a dramatic change in the government's policy toward its Arab citizens." According to Braverman, NIS 800 million of the invested funds will generate some NIS 2 billion in profits for Israel's economy.

"The plan will supply solutions to complex issues such as women's employment, the lack of public transportation and housing needs. Now, we must only wait for the cabinet's approval," he said.

Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz also lauded the plan and said that the Finance Ministry will act to strengthen minority populations in Israel. "this is one of the most important plans; it promotes employment, strengthens infrastructures and creates future economic activity," Steinitz said.

Ynet News: Rethinking Palestine

Martin Sherman offers a paradigm shift from the political to the humanitarian

Martin Sherman Published: 03.17.10, 11:22 / Israel Opinion

It is time for the proponents of the two-state solution to admit that the Palestinians have failed the test of history in staking their claim for statehood.

A dispassionate evaluation of the events of the past two decades inexorably compels one towards an increasing evident conclusion: The Palestinians seem far more focused on annulling Jewish political independence than on attaining Palestinian political independence; far more committed to deconstruction of the Jewish state than to construction of a Palestinian one.

Accordingly, further pursuit of a Palestinian state is likely to prove both futile and detrimental. For as past precedents strongly suggest, it will advance neither peace nor prosperity, but only serve as a platform for further violence against Israel.

Thus, both political prudence and intellectual integrity inevitably militate towards the distinctly politically-incorrect conclusion that establishment of a Palestinian state must be removed from the international agenda as an objective that is either desirable or feasible – and certainly as an objective that can be reconciled with long-term survival of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people.

However, even if the Palestinians spurious political demands for statehood are removed from the discourse, this will not obviate the grim realities of the Palestinians humanitarian predicament. This is the issue that Israel and the international community should focus on.

This op-ed piece aims to sketch the outlines of the proposal, in the hopes that this will spark a wider, more detailed debate of its feasibility, economic costs, international acceptability and relative merits compared to other currently espoused alternatives.

To be comprehensive, this alternative paradigm would need to entail three constituent elements, all of an eminently libertarian nature. Two involve the elimination of discriminatory practices against the Palestinians as (a) refugees and (b) as residents in Arab countries. The third involves facilitating free choice for individual Palestinian breadwinners to determine their future and that of their families.

Time to shut down UNRWA

A brutally condensed tour-de-raison of the substantive elements of the proposal begins with refugee issue and the body responsible for dealing with it, UNRWA (UN Relief & Works Agency), a highly anomalous organization that perpetuates a culture of Palestinian dependency and the unrealistic narrative of "return."

All the refugees on the face of the globe are under the auspices of the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) - except for the Palestinians. For them, a separate special institution exists - UNRWA. Yet if the universally accepted UNHCR criteria for refugees were applied to the Palestinian case, the number of "refugees" would shrink from close to 5 million to around 200,000!

These figures starkly illustrate that both the scale and the durability of the Palestinian refugee problem is fueled by the anomalous and distorted parameters of it definition. There is growing consensus that without the abolition of URWA and folding its operations into those of UNHCR, no way-out of the Palestinian-Israeli impasse is possible.

The issue of citizenship

Folding UNRWA into the framework of UNHCR would of course have significant ramifications for large Palestinian populations resident in the Arab countries, who would no longer receive the anomalous handouts paid to them. This leads to the second element of the proposal: the grave ethnic discrimination against the Palestinians resident in the Arab world, where Palestinians have severe restrictions imposed on their freedom of movement, employment opportunities, and property ownership. But most significantly, they are denied citizenship of the countries in which they have lived for decades.

The acquisition of citizenship of the countries of their long-standing residency is something overwhelming desired by the Palestinians - as numerous opinion surveys indicate. Accordingly, with the abolition of UNWRA and the accompanying changes in scope of the population eligible for refugee aid, a diplomatic drive must be mounted to pressure Arab governments to end their ethnic discrimination against the Palestinians; to desist from perpetuating their stateless status and allow them to acquire the citizenship of countries in which they have resided for decades.

Offering compensation

This brings us to the third and final element of the proposal: Allowing individual Palestinians under Israeli administration the exercise of free will in determining their destiny.

While the first two elements of the proposed solution are directed toward easing the plight of the Palestinians in the Arab world, this measure is aimed at those inside Israeli administered areas.

In essence it involves enabling individual Palestinians free choice as to how to chart their future and that of their families. The thrust of these efforts should focus on two major elements:

(a) Generous monetary compensation to effect the relocation and rehabilitation of the Palestinian residents in territories across the 1967 "Green Line", elsewhere in world, presumably predominantly - but not necessarily exclusively - in the Arab/Muslim countries.

(b) "Atomization" of the implementation by making the offer of compensation and relocation directly to the heads of families and not through any Palestinian organizational entity that may well have a vested interest in foiling the scheme.

Time for imaginative new initiatives

acceptability of the proposal to the Palestinians and its economic feasibility, two points should be underscored.

Firstly, substantial statistical data exist indicating that such a measure would be enthusiastically embraced by a large portion of the Palestinian population. According to one poll only 15% would refuse any financial offer that allows them to seek a better life elsewhere, while over 70% would accept it. Indeed, given the choices of a life either under the rigors of Israeli control or worse, under the regressive regime that the Palestinians have hitherto provided, who could blame them?

As for that overall economic cost, it is easy to show that the cost of the proposed plan would be comparable than any alternative under discussion, involving the establishment of a new state, developing its infrastructures and presumably absorbing a large portion of the Palestinian diaspora within its constricted frontiers.

Finally, it should be remembered that for the prospective host nations, the scheme has distinct economic upside. Given the scale of the envisioned compensation, the Palestinian immigrants would not be arriving as destitute refugees, but, as relatively wealthy families in terms of average world GNP per capita. Their absorption would entail significant capital inflows into the host economies - typically around half a billion dollars for the absorption of every 2,000-3,000 family units.

The time has come for imaginative new initiatives to defuse one of the world's most volatile problems, one for which remedies hitherto attempted have proved sadly inappropriate. Accordingly, there seems ample reason to seriously address an alternative proposal, which at least, prima facia, will:

Defuse the Palestinian humanitarian predicament
Inject billions of dollars of funds into the economies of host nations
Ensure the continued survival of Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people

Israel, the Palestinians and the international community can ill afford to dismiss it without a serious debate of its potential payoffs as well as its possible pitfalls.

Dr. Nasoha Saabin: The Taliban

The word Taliban derived from the Arabic word Talaba, which means religious students. Originally, Taliban are religious students who study in the various religious schools in Pakistan and then they turn military and call themselves as Taliban. They obtain their military training in Pakistan. Taliban take over Afghanistan from the Mujahidin. Taliban rule Afghanistan with the Syariat Laws. Whoever committed fornication or adultery are punished under the syariat Laws. Regarded as the sources of evils under Taliban government, women must remain in the houses and not allowed to work or expose to public. Whenever a woman wants to go out of the house, she must cover properly and wear proper veils. Many women lost their jobs during Taliban rules including those women whose husband had died. As a result, many women who lost her husband and her job have to undergo a life of poverty. They were making prayer day and night and asking Almighty Allah to remove Taliban government from Afghanistan. Allah accepted their prayer and in 22 September 2001, Allah used the Americans to remove Taliban government from ruling Afghanistan.

The government that rule Afghanistan now is under the control of Americans. America is not colonizing Afghanistan but whatever Afghanistan wants to do must have the consent of America. When America attacked Afghanistan in September 2001, it took America only seven days to defeat the Taliban. America took over Afghanistan and Taliban disperse all over the country, and some went to the neighboring country of Pakistan. Using guerilla warfare Taliban is attacking Americans in Afghanistan and at the same times, Taliban is attacking the government of Pakistan, which supports America to fight Taliban .In retaliation Taliban try to cause chaos in many large cities of Pakistan such as Lahore and Islamabad by doing suicidal bombing. In the attack, many people had died and most of them are innocent public. With frequent incident of suicidal bombing Pakistan lately has become the land of blood and tear. Taliban and Pakistanis are both Muslims. Taliban has regarded Pakistan government and the people of Pakistan as their enemies because Pakistan support America to attack Taliban. Now the situation seems to become very ironic that Muslims are killing Muslims. The same situation had happened to Aceh, Indonesia prior to Tsunami whereby Muslims were killing Muslims. Whoever suspected by Aceh Liberation Army to be collaborating with the Government of Indonesia was regarded by them as their enemies. Without mercy and proper investigation, they killed most of these innocent people. When Muslims are killing Muslims, we are inviting the wrath of Allah. When Allah’s anger is with us, He will sent catastrophe to punish us. Allah had sent Tsunami to punish the peoples of Acheh whereby more than hundreds of thousands of people died. Taliban must stop suicidal bombing and killing of innocent Muslims. The innocent Muslims have relatives and parents that are Muslims, they will make prayer to Almighty Allah, and they will ask Allah to punish and eliminate the Taliban.

Taliban must accept defeat and stop suicidal bombing that largely killed innocent Muslims. The more innocent Muslims killed by Taliban the more Allah’s anger is with them. The killing of innocent Muslims will be the means of Taliban destruction. When a Muslims kill another Muslims, both will enter hellfire when both want to kill each other. When a Muslim kill another innocent Muslim that does not have the intention to kill the other Muslims, the one that kill the Muslim will enter hellfire but the Muslim that is killed will enter paradise. Allah prohibit us even disgracing another Muslims what more killing a Muslim. The situation that has happened in Pakistan must attract the attention of the World Islamic leaders. Muslims leaders must come with a solution to stop the Taliban from killing the innocent Muslims. In case we failed to solve the problem, Allah will solve it by sending catastrophe to Taliban and Pakistanis as Allah has sent to the Aceh people of Indonesia.

The war between Taliban and the Government of Pakistan is wasting the energy of the Muslims. The war is between Muslims and it should stop immediately. All Muslims leaders in the whole world must try to persuade Taliban to stop the war. The war brings no good to Taliban or Pakistan and the Muslims at large. The whole world is watching Muslims killing another Muslims. In order to end the war Muslim leaders must invite the leaders of Taliban for discussion. In case, discussion does not work to end the war, Muslims in the whole world should conclude that Taliban is the enemies of Muslims. When another Muslim wants to have peace with another Muslim, we must accept and becomes brothers again. When we reject the offer of peace from our Muslim brothers, we are making Allah’s anger with us.

Allah has made America to attack Afghanistan and able to drive away the Taliban from governing Afghanistan. This happen due to Taliban’s own wrongdoings while governing Afghanistan .When Taliban cannot accept defeat and continue to fight the American in order to gain back Afghanistan it cause problems to Pakistan. America asks Pakistan to help them to fight Taliban as America has help Pakistan in many instances in the past. America has help Pakistan from bankruptcy and Pakistan is indebted to help America. Taliban cannot expect Pakistan not to help America as American has helped Pakistan. The best solution to end the problem in my opinion, Taliban should stop the war that has bring the anger of Allah to Taliban and to go back to religious school to learn Islam. When they have completed their studies, they should spend the rest of their life doing dakwah to non-Muslims and reminding the Muslims to obey Allah and His Prophet.

Dr Nasoha Saabin

Dr. Nasoha Saabin: Suicidal Bombing

Suicidal bombing is a new phenomenon in Muslim communities. We have not heard in the past that Muslims are ready to kill themselves because they want to kill their enemies. We have heard about the Japanese soldiers who are ready to commit suicide in order to kill their enemies.

Since the Japanese are not Muslims, we can understand why the Japanese commit suicides but we cannot understand why Muslims can commit suicide. Allah prohibits us from committing suicides and whoever commits suicides they will becomes infidel, and they will enter hellfire forever. Without the orders of Allah, we cannot take another person life or his own life. The work of taking life is the work of Allah and if anyone takes his own life without the order of Allah, he or she is taking over the work of Allah and is committing a great wrong. Suicidal bombing is against the order of Allah. Muslims who died because of suicidal bombing is not a martyr as they claimed to be but died as an infidel who will go to the hellfire.

In one battles at the time of Prophet Muhammad s.a.w there is one man who is fighting very vigorously in the battle and one of the Companion of The Prophet Muhammad s.a.w remark to the Prophet that this man is the inhabitants of paradise. On hearing, Prophet remarked that this man is inhabitant of hellfire. The companion who narrated this incident said that when I heard the Prophet s.a.w said that he was the inhabitant of hellfire, I was puzzled and I started to follow that man whenever he went in the battle. The companion of the Prophet said, later on to my amazement I saw the enemy has injured him very badly and since he was not ready to accept the injury, I testify to the truth of the words of Prophet Muhammad s.a.w, I saw him committing suicide. In Islam, whoever commits suicides he has committed a major sin and his place will be in the hellfire. This incident, which happen at the time of the Prophet Muhammad s.a.w clearly support the stand point that those who died as a result of suicidal bombing is not a martyr as they claimed to be but died as an infidel who will go to hellfire. In a recent article in the local newspaper, I have read that Taliban Pakistan has prepared about 3000 people ready to do suicidal bombing in various cities of Pakistan.

Taliban and Al-Qaeda have regarded the Americans and Jews as their enemies and they try to tell the Muslims in the whole world that Americans and Jews are also the enemies of Muslims. Please read my articles on the enemies of Islam for you to understand this point. Al-Qaeda and Taliban have the opinion that fighting against Americans and Jews is a religious war or Jihad. Whoever died in whatever ways, even suicidal bombing during the war is a martyr or syuhadah. As a martyr or syuhadah, they will enter paradise forever. In my opinion, the war between Americans and Jews on one side and Al-Qaeda and Taliban on the other side is not a religious war or Jihad as Al-Qaeda or Taliban claimed to be. The war resulted, because two parties claim the lands and the wealth are theirs and neither party is willing to relinquish their claim. It is a war to gain material wealth and not the war to gain the pleasure of Allah. Allah give values to iman and good actions and war resulted because the propagation of iman and good action is stop by the enemies is loved by Allah. Whoever died in that war is a martyr and will enter paradise forever. Allah gives no values at all to the worldly material and the war to gain material wealth such as land has no values in the eyes of Allah. Whoever died because of that war is not a martyr and whoever died because of suicidal bombing in that war is an infidels and he or she will never enter paradise.

The war between Americans and Al-Qaeda is not a religious war or Jihad. In order to make you understand more on these issues of war, please read my articles, is war a crime? Whoever Muslims who died in that war is not a martyr or syuhadah? Whoever died by committing suicides died as infidel and will enter hellfire forever. Whoever hears and talks about something repeatedly, even though it is wrong, will finally accept it as truth. Actually, this is what happens to those recruited by the Taliban and Al-Qaeda to become suicidal bombing. Those recruited to become suicidal bombing are bombarded by ideas that war against American and Jews is a holy war, dying in the war will make them to become martyr, and they will enter paradise. Because of continuous brain washing, they have regarded the war as a holy war instead of a crime and they are ready to die as martyr even by doing suicidal bombing.

Dr Nasoha Saabin

Ynet News: Traditional challah recipe

Get ready for Shabbat with some traditional braided bread

Jewish Recipes Published: 03.11.10, 08:20 / Israel Culture

Braiding challah Photo: Yaron Brener 

Ingredients

• 5 pounds flour
• 2 ounces fresh yeast and 1 package dry yeast
• 2 cups warm water
• 1 1/2 sticks margarine
• 2 1/3 cups boiling water
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 5 eggs

Glaze

• 1 egg, beaten
• Poppy or Sesame seeds

 Method

Dissolve yeast in 2 cups warm water in a small bowl, until it bubbles. In a large bowl, place margarine and pour boiling water over it and stir until margarine is melted. Add salt and sugar. Let cool for a few minutes and beat in eggs. Add the bubbling yeast. Gradually add flour. Knead for 10 minutes. If dough is too moist add a little more flour. 

When ready to rise, sear top of dough with oil, cover and let rise 1 hour. Separate a small portion of dough known as 'challah" from the whole dough. Shape and let rise another hour.

Brush with beaten egg to glaze. Sprinkle with seeds.

Bake at 350°F degrees for 1 hour for large challahs and 1/2 hour for smaller challahs and rolls.

Reprinted with permission from Shalom Life

Ynet News: Egypt to pay for restoration of all synagogues

Following rededication of Ben Maimon synagogue in Cairo Egyptian culture minister says Jewish sites part of Egypt's culture

Associated Press Published: 03.10.10, 15:25 / Israel Jewish Scene

Egypt will shoulder the costs of restoring the country's Jewish houses of worship said the culture minister Tuesday, two days after a historic synagogue in Cairo's ancient Jewish quarter was rededicated in a private ceremony.

Farouk Hosny said in a statement that his ministry views Jewish sites as much a part of Egypt's culture as Muslim mosques or Coptic churches and the restorations would not require any foreign funding.

On Sunday, the Ben Maimon synagogue, named after the 12th century rabbi and intellectual Maimonides, was rededicated in a ceremony including half a dozen Egyptian Jewish families that long ago fled the country.

Hosny committed his ministry to restoring all 11 synagogues across Egypt, three of which have already been renovated. The best-known synagogue that of Ben Ezra, is located in Cairo's Christian quarter near a number of old churches and was restored years ago.

The ceremony at the Ben Maimon synagogue was closed to media but attendees said it was an emotional event, especially for the Egyptian-Jewish families invited, many of whom now live in Europe.

"There were some lectures on the Jewish sites in Egypt and the temple. It was nice, emotional and nostalgic," said Raymond Stock, an American close to the Jewish community in Cairo who attended the three-day event.

A group of about 11 Hassidic Chabad-Lubavitch rabbis also came to Cairo from the United States and Israel sang at the event.

Egypt's Jewish community, which dates back millennia and at its peak in the 1940s numbered around 80,000, is down to several dozen, almost all of them elderly. The rest were driven out decades ago by mob violence and persecution tied in large part to the Israeli-Arab conflict.

Egypt-Israel tensions

Egypt and Israel fought a war every decade from the 1940s to the 1970s until the 1979 peace treaty was signed.

Despite that treaty, Egyptian sentiment remains deeply unfriendly to Israel, and anti-Semitic stereotypes still occasionally appear in the Egyptian media.

Last September, Hosny blamed a conspiracy "cooked up in New York" by the world's Jews when he lost a bid from becoming the next head of the UN's agency for culture and education.

At the time, Hosny's candidacy raised an outcry because of a threat he made in the Egyptian parliament in 2008 to personally burn any Israeli book he found in the Alexandria Library.

While he later apologized and Israel said it had withdrawn its opposition to his candidacy, several prominent Jewish activists spoke out against him in the run-up to the vote.

Ynet News: Cairo reopens restored 19th century synagogue

Maimonides' synagogue in ancient Jewish quarter of Cairo reopened after undergoing two years of restoration. Israeli and US ambassadors attend opening along with 150 other dignitaries

AFP Published: 03.08.10, 15:11 / Israel Jewish Scene

The 19th-century synagogue of Maimonides in Cairo's ancient Jewish quarter reopened Sunday after a nearly two-year restoration by Egyptian authorities, participants at the opening told AFP.

They said some 150 people attended the opening, including Yitzhak Levanon and Margaret Scobey, the ambassadors of Israel and the United States respectively.

About a dozen rabbis from Israel and abroad also were at the ceremony.

"When I first set foot here only five years ago, the synagogue was in ruins and its roof opened to the sky", said Rabbi Andrew Baker of the American Jewish Committee (AJC).

Baker praised Egyptian authorities for recognizing that Jewish religious sites are also an integral part of Egyptian heritage and Egyptian culture, and for leading the restoration project, the AJC said in a statement.

Egyptian officials were absent from the ceremony, and Culture Minister Faruq Hosni explained that was because Sunday's opening was a purely religious ceremony.

Renovating the synagogue in Cairo's Jewish quarter (Photo: AP)

Zahi Hawass, Egypt's antiquities chief, said that a more formal opening on March 14 would be attended by Egyptian officials.

Egypt is happy to tout its Pharaonic antiquities, but authorities remain more discrete when it comes to restoration of ancient Jewish sites. Egypt restored diplomatic ties with Israel in 1979, but many in the predominantly Muslim country remain opposed to better cultural ties with the Jewish state.

Egypt began restoration of its Jewish sites several years ago.

Egypt's Jewish population, which numbered in the tens of thousands and enjoyed complete religious freedom, began a mass exodus after Egypt and several other Arab countries fought a war in 1948 with the new state of Israel.

Only a few dozen Jews still remain in Egypt.

The synagogue of Maimonides, known in Egypt by its Arabic name of Musa bin Maymun, is named after the 12th century Jewish scholar, philosopher and physician.

Maimonides was born in Cordoba, Spain, in 1135 and fled from persecution to Egypt where he died in 1204.

The synagogue is built over the site where he was briefly buried before his remains were moved to Tiberias, in what is now Israel.

Egypt has 11 Jewish houses of worship. Some of them have already been restored, such as the Ben Ezer synagogue in Old Cairo and the Shaar Hashamayim in downtown Cairo.

BBC: Lost Jewish tribe 'found in Zimbabwe'

By Steve Vickers
BBC News, Harare
 
In many ways, the Lemba tribe of Zimbabwe and South Africa are just like their neighbours.
 
 

 
But in other ways their customs are remarkably similar to Jewish ones.
 
They do not eat pork, they practise male circumcision, they ritually slaughter their animals, some of their men wear skull caps and they put the Star of David on their gravestones.
 
Their oral traditions claim that their ancestors were Jews who fled the Holy Land about 2,500 years ago.
 
It may sound like another myth of a lost tribe of Israel, but British scientists have carried out DNA tests which confirm their Semitic origin.
 
These tests back up the group's belief that a group of perhaps seven men married African women and settled on the continent. The Lemba, who number perhaps 80,000, live in central Zimbabwe and the north of South Africa.
 

And they also have a prized religious artefact that they say connects them to their Jewish ancestry - a replica of the Biblical Ark of the Covenant known as the ngoma lungundu, meaning "the drum that thunders".
 
The object went on display recently at a Harare museum to much fanfare, and instilled pride in many of the Lemba.
 
"For me it's the starting point," says religious singer Fungisai Zvakavapano-Mashavave.
 
"Very few people knew about us and this is the time to come out. I'm very proud to realise that we have a rich culture and I'm proud to be a Lemba.
 
"We have been a very secretive people, because we believe we are a special people."
 
Religion vs culture
 
The Lemba have many customs and regulations that tally with Jewish tradition.
 
They wear skull caps, practise circumcision, which is not a tradition for most Zimbabweans, avoid eating pork and food with animal blood, and have 12 tribes.

Tudor Parfitt, University of London

They slaughter animals in the same way as Jewish people, and they put the Jewish Star of David on their tombstones.

 

Members of the priestly clan of the Lemba, known as the Buba, were even discovered to have a genetic element also found among the Jewish priestly line.
 
"This was amazing," said Prof Tudor Parfitt, from the University of London.
 
"It looks as if the Jewish priesthood continued in the West by people called Cohen, and in same way it was continued by the priestly clan of the Lemba.
 
"They have a common ancestor who geneticists say lived about 3,000 years ago somewhere in north Arabia, which is the time of Moses and Aaron when the Jewish priesthood started."
 
Prof Parfitt is a world-renowned expert, having spent 20 years researching the Lemba, and living with them for six months.
 
The Lemba have a sacred prayer language which is a mixture of Hebrew and Arabic, pointing to their roots in Israel and Yemen.
 
Despite their ties to Judaism, many of the Lemba in Zimbabwe are Christians, while some are Muslims.
 
"Christianity is my religion, and Judaism is my culture," explains Perez Hamandishe, a pastor and member of parliament from the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
 
Despite their centuries-old traditions, some younger Lemba are taking a more liberal view.
 
"In the old days you didn't marry a non-Lemba, but these days we interact with others," says Alex Makotore, son of the late Chief Mposi from the Lemba "headquarters" in Mberengwa.
 
"I feel special in my heart but not in front of others such that I'm separated from them. Culture is dynamic."
 
Crowds
 
The oral traditions of the Lemba say that the ngoma lungundu is the Biblical wooden Ark made by Moses, and that centuries ago a small group of men began a long journey carrying it from Yemen to southern Africa.
 
The object went missing during the 1970s and was eventually rediscovered in Harare in 2007 by Prof Parfitt.
 
"Many people say that the story is far-fetched, but the oral traditions of the Lemba have been backed up by science," he says.
 
Carbon dating shows the ngoma to be nearly 700 years old - pretty ancient, if not as old as Bible stories would suggest.
 
But Prof Parfitt says this is because the ngoma was used in battles, and would explode and be rebuilt.
 
The ngoma now on display was a replica, he says, possibly built from the remains of the original.
 
"So it's the closest descendant of the Ark that we know of," Prof Parfitt says.
 
Large crowds came to see the unveiling of the ngoma and to attend lectures on the identity of the Lemba.
 
For David Maramwidze, an elder in his village, the discovery of the ngoma has been a defining moment.
 
"Hearing from those professors in Harare and seeing the ngoma makes it clear that we are a great people and I'm very proud," he says.
 
"I heard about it all my life and it was hard for me to believe, because I had no idea of what it really is.
 
"I'm still seeing the picture of the ngoma in my mind and it will never come out from my brain. Now we want it to be given back to the Lemba people."

Ynet News: Israeli Arabs ask Mubarak to help Shalit

Residents of Kfar Kassem protest outside Egyptian Embassy in support of kidnapped soldier

Aviel Magnezi Published: 03.03.10, 14:27 / Israel News

Dozens of Kfar Kassem residents protested in front of the Egyptian Embassy in Tel Aviv Wednesday for the release of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit.

The protestors carried a letter addressed to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak asking him to aid the release of Shalit as well as the Palestinian prisoners demanded in return, and the opening of the Rafah crossing. "Who else can do it, Lieberman?" they asked in the letter.

Those present were equipped with signs in Hebrew, English, and Arabic, some of them plastered with pictures of the kidnapped soldier and Israeli flags, or faceless prisoners and Palestinian flags.

Malik Faraj, founder of the Candle for Peace and Harmony organization, which organized the demonstration, told Ynet Israeli Arabs were tired of the state's politicians.

"There are no foreign relations here because there is no foreign minister. No one in the Arab world recognizes Lieberman, and only Mubarak has the ability to execute this move," Faraj said.

Protest in Tel Aviv (Photo: Ofer Amram)

"This is the message coming from the Arab people in Israel. We want peace and for all prisoners on both sides to be released. This way we can turn a new leaf over. We are sorry for Noam – Gilad is like a son to me and Noam is like a father. Enough with the comments about blood on the hands; there was a war, but now let's say enough!"

Faraj added that the demonstration had received support in Gaza. "The Gazans are happy that the Arabs in Israel have woken up, and we want to convey to them the message that there are good people here who want peace," he said.

As the protest went on, many passers by on the street in Tel Aviv clapped their hands and called out encouragement to the Kfar Kassem residents.

Ahmed Hataha, 26, explained that he was protesting in order to show that the Israeli-Arab youth also care about what happens to Shalit. "We speak about it a lot in the village, among us guys, and everyone wants the deal to go through," he said. "The bottom line is that Shalit is our age and we want him to live his life."

Ismail Badir, father of 11, explained he sees Shalit as his son. "I believe Mubarak can make this deal happen. Many Israelis are originally from Arab countries. We are cousins, so let's give each side back its people and start over on a new path," he said.

The Egyptian ambassador did not deign to come down and receive the letter, so the protestors gave it to his aide. They now plan to protest in front of the Knesset in order to affect Israeli politicians.

Ynet News: Muslim leader issues anti-terror fatwa

Suicide bombers heading to hell, al-Qaeda evil, Pakistani-born scholar says

News agencies Published: 03.02.10, 23:31 / Israel News

The leader of a global Muslim movement has issued a fatwa, or religious edict, that he calls an absolute condemnation of terrorism.

Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, a former Pakistani lawmaker, says the 600-page fatwa bans suicide bombing "without any excuses, any pretexts, or exceptions."

"They can't claim that their suicide bombings are martyrdom operations and that they become the heroes of the Muslim nation," Qadri told a press conference in London. "“No, they become heroes of hellfire, and they are heading towards hellfire.”

Qadri also slammed Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, referring to it as an "old evil with a new name" and saying it has not be challenged adequately thus far.

"There is no place for any martyrdom and their act is never, ever to be considered jihad," he said.

Tahir-ul-Qadri has issued similar, shorter decrees, but Tuesday's event in London was publicized by the Quilliam Foundation, a government-funded anti-extremism think tank and drew strong media attention.

The religious scholar is the founder of Minhaj-ul-Quran, a worldwide movement that promotes a nonpolitical, tolerant Islam. The group has hundreds of thousands of followers around the world, most of them in Pakistan or Pakistanis living in other countries.

Associated Press, AFP and Reuters contributed to the report

Ynet News: Israeli cricket wins Dubai prize

Israel Cricket Association cited for cross-border program bringing together Jews, Bedouins

Anat Shalev Published: 03.02.10, 07:42 / Israel Culture

The Dubai-based International Cricket Council has awarded the Israel Cricket Association with a prize for a cross-border initiative bringing together Jews and Bedouins in the southern Negev desert.

The winning project was initiated by Stanley Perlman, the Israel Cricket Association's chairman.

Arabs playing cricket in southern Israel (Photo: Reuters)

The Association's director, Naor Gudker, who is also an international umpire, told Ynet that cricket is among the top three sports in Asia and in many Arab states, including Pakistan and Dubai.

"A very high percentage of the managers, players, and coaches in global cricket are Muslims," he said. "We do not feel that we are met with revulsion in Muslim states, such as Malaysia, where we played in 1997."

Gudker expressed his excitement over the latest award, which joins a similar prize won by the Israeli association in 2001.

"It's a huge achievement. It's a project we promoted that was warmly received across the world," he said. "This award in general and the project in particular are a good example of how cricket can bridge, bring compromise, and teach us to accept others."

The next move is to make cricket accessible to Arab Israelis in Israel's north, he said.

Gudker used the opportunity to criticize authorities for failing to offer cricket the support it deserves.

"Cricket is rather developed in Israel – there are 21 teams, school leagues, and youth leagues…in Beersheba, 2,000 kids are involved in projects related to the sports. Yet nonetheless, the State is unwilling to build a central cricket stadium and upgrade the sports to an international level," he said.

The Jewish Bagel recipe

picture and recipe by www.bagelrecipes.net

Ingredients:

4 ½ cups of flour.
2 packets of active dry yeast.
1 ½ cups of water, at 110°F.
3 tablespoons of sugar.
1 tablespoon of salt.
1 gallon of water.
1 tablespoon of sugar.

Preparation Instructions:

• In a suitably sized bowl combine 1 ½ cups flour and the two packers of yeast.
• Combine the 1 ½ cups of warm water, 3 tablespoons of sugar and salt; thenp our over flour mixture.
• Beat at low speed for about thirty seconds, scraping sides of bowl constantly.
• Beat for three minutes on high speed.
• Stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can mix in. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface.
• Knead in enough remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough. Continue kneading until smooth and elastic; then cover and allow to rest for fifteen minutes.
• Cut into twelve portions; then shape into smooth balls. Punch a hole in the middle of each with a floured finger. Pull gently to enlarge hole to about two inches.
• Place on a greased baking sheet; cover; and allow to rise for twenty minutes.
• Broil five inches from heat for about 90 seconds on each side.
• Heat 1 gallon water and 1 tablespoon sugar to boiling; then reduce heat.
• Cook bagels, about five at a time, for 8 minutes, turning once in the middle.
• Drain and place on greased baking sheet.
• Bake at 400°F for 25 minutes.