As I raise my children here in Efrat, in Gush Etzion surrounded by Palestinian Arabs with whom we share roads and supermarkets and, frankly, with whom we share the land, I work very hard to drive home the distinction between our terrorist enemies and "the Arabs."
It isn't always easy. When Hallel Ariel, (z"l) a young girl from Kiryat Arba was murdered as she slept in her bed in her home by a Palestinian Arab terrorist last June, I tried to shield my kids from the news.
They are very young and I didn't want to terrify them.
Hallel's mom is from Efrat. Her grandmother is a neighbor of ours. So despite my best efforts not to expose them to the news of what had happened, they came home from school – and preschool – knowing all about it. And they were frightened, and they had questions, good questions.
Why do the Arabs want to murder us? Will we be killed? Does our alarm work? What if you can't get your gun out in time? Do all Arabs want to kill us?
These are all excellent questions and I had answers for them and we worked our way through them, one by one.
The answer to the last question was the easiest one.
No, not all Arabs want to kill us. Only bad Arabs do. And there are a lot of good ones.
"Do you know any Arabs, Mommy? How do you know that they don't all want to kill us?" They wanted to know.
"Mommy has a very close friend who is an Arab and a Muslim. His name is Khaled Abu Toameh. He is a writer just like mommy and we have been friends for many, many years, since way before you were born," I answered.
And then I told my kids all about Khaled Abu Toameh and how the Jerusalem Post's former Palestinian affairs correspondent is the bravest reporter I know and one of their mommy's oldest and dearest friends.
Khaled has made it his life's work to tell the truth about the PLO's corruption and human rights abuses against the Palestinians. He insists that everyone recognize the pernicious ideology of hatred and jihad that the PLO and Hamas inculcate in the minds of the Palestinians from the cradle to the grave and why this represents a crime, not only against Israel, but against the Palestinians.
And, as everyone has ignored the plight of the thousands of ethnic Palestinians in Syria who have been systematically murdered by the Assad regime, Khaled has highlighted it.
In writing my book The Israeli Solution, I cited and relied on Khaled's reporting heavily.
I write this about Khaled and his brilliance, bravery, honesty and friendship because I was amazed over Rosh Hashana when friends of mine told me that Khaled is now the focus of a campaign of slander being carried out by Mudar Zahran, the pro-Israel Jordanian who claims to be the key to solving the Palestinian conflict with Israel by turning Palestinian-majority Jordan into Palestine.
Zahran has made a name for himself among right wing Israeli opponents of a PLO-Hamas state west of the Jordan by claiming that he is a viable alternative to the Hashemite monarchy in Jordan.
Since 1967, the fervent and entirely rational dream of many many Israelis has been for the Palestinian majority in Jordan to take over the country and allow Jordan to be Palestine, thus solving the problem of Palestinian self-determination, where it should be solved. Zahran promises to make this dream reality.
As far as I am concerned, it would be fabulous if this were true.
For years, I have written at length about the less than positive role that Jordan's King Abdullah II has been playing in the region.
Specifically, last March, just shy of the 20 year anniversary of the massacre of seven Israeli schoolgirls from Beit Shemesh in Jordan while they were on a class trip to the "Island of Peace," I condemned Jordan and Abdullah for the hero's welcome and VIP treatment the Jordanian people demanded and Abdullah's officials gave the murderer, Ahmad Daqamseh.
Daqamseh was an active duty Jordanian soldier charged with protecting the girls but instead turned his rifle on them. Rather than being sentenced to death on seven counts of capital murder, as he would have been if his victims hadn't been Israeli Jewish schoolgirls, Daqamseh was convicted of a weapons charge and sentenced to 20 years in jail. That's less than 3 years for each child he killed.
After I published the article, I received a string of emails from Zahran where he made the case for regime change in Jordan and for himself, as Abdullah's replacement. I didn't know at the time that the reason Zahran is not in Jordan, but is living in London is because he on the lam. I also didn't know that his Jordan Opposition Coalition, where he serves as secretary general, is more of an internet creation than a viable, going concern.
The next week, I wrote about Abdullah's hosting of Hamas mass murderer Ahlam Tamimi. Tamimi is the monster female terrorist who masterminded the massacre at Sbarro pizzeria in August 2000. 15 people, including 7 children were brutally murdered in the attack. Tamimi selected Sbarro as the site of the attack, and lunchtime as the time for the attack in order to maximize the number of children who would be murdered.
She was wrongly freed by Israel in the 1,027 terrorists for one hostage swap with Hamas to secure the release of IDF Sgt. Gilad Schalit.
In the column about Tamimi, I excoriated Abdullah, who rejected the US's extradition request for Tamimi to stand trial for the murder of the American citizens who died in the Sbarro bombing. I also cited Zahran and described his vision of Jordan as Palestine. I recommended that President Trump and/or Prime Minister Netanyahu meet with Zahran if Abdullah continues to protect Tamimi from extradition.
After I wrote the column, I was contacted by three knowledgeable sources, with whom I have longstanding relations. They did not coordinate their calls. Each one told me independently that that Zahran is not a credible source. He is not a leader of an opposition movement. He doesn't have an organization.
He has multiple websites, they said.
I was disappointed to hear the news. But I respect and believe my sources. I was disappointed because, as I wrote in my second column, I think the best way to compel Abdullah to behave responsibly, as behooves an ally in the war against jihadist terror, is to make clear to him that he isn't the only option.
My colleagues effectively told me that despite the fact that we could use an alternative to Abdullah, none exist today, at least none that are better than he.
This then brings me back to Khaled, and the shocking campaign that Zahran is waging to smear his good name.
I didn't know this was happening. I didn't know because Khaled didn't tell me. He didn't tell me because he didn't want to drag me into this. And I appreciate that very much, (although I yelled at him for ten minutes last night for leaving me in the dark).
But whether or not I want to be in this mud, the fact is I am in it and so is everyone else. Because if Zahran causes a scintilla of harm to the reputation of the only Palestinian journalist who earns our respect every single day, then we are all worse off.
I have done a lot of things in my career to date. From a purely journalistic perspective, the achievement I am proudest of is that in 2002 I convinced then Jerusalem Post editor Bret Stephens to hire Khaled Abu Toameh.
Day in and day out, Khaled produces top quality reports. He is not intimidated. He follows the facts where they lead him and he reports them without bias and without fear. He has been an esteemed colleague, and as I tell my children, he has been my dear friend for 15 years.
Now that I know what is going on, I will not stand on the sidelines and watch his name dragged through the mud, not by Mudar Zahran, and not by anybody.

ISRAELHAYOM.COM
The new Greeks
Here's an example of woke totalitarianism in action. BlackRock, the world's largest asset management firm will push its companies to hire non-whites, women and LGTBs and adopt climate change friendly policies. They will also examine the companies' political contributions, lobbying efforts, etc. In other words, BlackRock intends to enforce the political positions of the progressive totalitarians on the US business community.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but this is a recipe for the destruction of economic prosperity and freedom in America.
I don't know anything about this company aside from what is written in this article. But assuming this is accurate, I would strongly encourage companies and individuals to work with BlackRock to end their affiliation with this frightening behemoth as quickly as possible.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-10/blackrock-plans-to-push-companies-on-racial-diversity-in-2021
Please help Larry Franklin and his family by contributing to this Go Fund Me campaign.
My Newsweek article about Col. Franklin's plight is on the Go Fund Me page and linked in the first comment below.
https://t.co/2cmk4VwzHNhttps://www.gofundme.com/f/a-call-for-late-justice-for-col-larry-franklin
"Mal nommer un objet, c'est...



















